What’s next for the Celtics and Paul Pierce?

4 May 2013 By Leave a Comment

This morning, the Celtics were knocked out of the first round of the NBA playoffs, falling 80-88 to the New York Knicks.  The Knicks dominated early on in the match, however the Celtics scored 20 straight points displaying courage and strength.  They didn’t play well, but they fought hard. That’s the green spirit.

So what’s next for the Celtics? There have been speculations that this was Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett’s last game in a Celtics outfit. KG will probably retire because of his no-trade clause and his previous comments on wanting to retire a Celtic.

Paul Pierce on the other hand, is a different story.

Paul Pierce sitting

“I definitely expect to be playing next year,” Pierce said. – But, for which team? That, is the 5 million dollar question on the minds of all Celtics fans right now.

With 2 years of his $15 million contract remaining, the Celtics could buy out his contract for $5 million.  There have been calls for Danny Ainge to trade Pierce and move on from the Paul Pierce era into rebuilding mode.  Ideally, Ainge should build a team around All-Star point guard and two-time NBA assists leader, Rajon Rondo.  Jeff Green also had a solid season after coming back from heart surgery last year, so it would be no surprise if he remained on the Celtics roster.  It would not be surprising if Courtney Lee, Brandon Bass and Jason Terry were traded in the offseason, with all players under-performing this season. Although I am a fan of JET and he has come up big for the C’s in a few games, his contract has been an albatross. There are going to be a lot of changes in the off-season –no one’s place is certain.

Danny Ainge has been around long enough to know what needs to be done.  I would love to see Pierce retire as a Celtic, but I would also like Boston to start their rebuilding phase soon.  With rumours of KG retiring, his predicted departure would free up a lot of cap space. Building around a Rondo-Green core could work if they approach free agency wisely and (hopefully) grab a sleeper in the draft.

Filed Under: Opinions, Players, Season 2012/2013 Tagged With: ,

One hell of a ride – The 2012/13 Celtics season recap.

4 May 2013 By Leave a Comment

What else could we call it, honestly? Every season is full of ups and downs, but this has been the grittiest fight so far in the KG era, with so much change throughout the season.

Pre-season

125

The promising off-season with a reloaded roster displayed potential in the Europe exhibition games. We were excited at Chris Wilcox and Jeff Green’s return, and also at all the new faces.

We had the JET himself, ready to take big shots. I was really excited to see Courtney Lee, being a fan from his Orlando days. We had two big men in Darko Milicic and Jason Collins, ready to give twelve hard fouls and some tough interior D. We had scoring speedster guard, The Brazillian Blur himself – Leandro Barbosa. Talk about a stacked guard roster.

Best of all, we saw Rondo consistently nailing jumper after jumper. He was making free throws like a man possessed.

Summary: WE HAD OFFENSE. (Albeit, at the cost of defense.)

Sacramento Kings v Boston Celtics

Season start

The season however, began with a shaky start.  The team floundered, and somehow never got on an even keel. Adding multiple new faces took time, and our defense suffered. We were horrible on pick-and-roll defense. Offensive lineups became experimental. Rondo was pounding the ball at the top all too often. JET was running off back screens and taking jumpers the way Ray did, but it wasn’t working. Courtney became hesitant on offense, pulling the ball back in transition all too often. It was obvious Pierce could no longer take a guy off his dribble and make dagger shots consistently, which meant we had to find more offense somewhere else, and nothing was happening.

I was frustrated.

Avery Bradley's Stifling Defence

Good news arrived in the form of lockdown defender Avery Bradley, who said he was going to return from shoulder rehab. His return gave us a boost of confidence, that his defense would set the tone for the Celtics, who looked lost. It looked like it would, and it did. The defense slowly, but surely got better.

Boston Celtics v Brooklyn Nets

A temporary moment of triumph happened. We conquered the Brooklyn Nets on Christmas Day, 93-76.  Sullinger had 16 points and 7 rebounds. Everyone was calling for him to start.

Sullinger Pulls Down The Rebound

As it was since the season began, our undersized rookie Jared Sullinger played his ass off. We loved #TheHustler so much for his tenacity on rebounds, his focus on nabbing the boards above all else. His passing smarts, and his shooting range. He became a starter, to everyone’s joy.

The injury bug strikes again

Then, we had the shockers – Rondo’s ACL tear, and then Sullinger’s back operation. Two starters were out, just like that.

Without Rondo, Ticket and Truth had to shoulder a heavier load, and get involved in playmaking. Everything and anything, for the team.

Avery Bradley and Courtney Lee against the Denver Nuggets

Having no choice but to soldier on, we found our footing and played harder, winning from off-ball movement and ball sharing. Avery and Courtney were The Pitbulls on defense. We were finding some sort of rhythm, even without Rondo. The KG/Pierce two-man game worked. Truth was being a point forward once more, and a gritty defensive rebounder on top of everything else.

Jeff Green of the Boston Celtics dunks on Al Jefferson of the Utah Jazz in the 2012/13 NBA season.

Jeff Green of the Boston Celtics dunks on Al Jefferson of the Utah Jazz in the 2012/13 NBA season.

Meanwhile, Jeff Green was creating poster dunks left, right and center. He was slowly finding his way on offense. Slowly, but surely, we were seeing consistency.

“We’re better without Rondo!”

Things were looking up, some fans began to talk about the team being better without Rondo.

Really? Honestly, no. The problem was the offensive system, not Rondo’s execution of the game plan. He did what he was supposed to, every time. If you thought that, sorry – we have to agree to disagree. And Rondo’s plays in the postseason cannot be measured. The man made countless hustle and gamechanging plays, never ever forget that.

Barbosa’s loss – The straw that broke the camel’s back

Leandro Barbosa goes down with an ACL tear

The rhythm fell apart once more as bad luck struck the team. Bench scorer Leandro Barbosa tore his ACL, injecting yet another blow to an already depleted roster. We weren’t the Minnesota Timberwolves, but things were really looking down.

New faces once more.

We had to get healthy bodies one way or another. Left with no alternative, trades happened and signings were made. We added more new faces in the form of ex-Wizard Jordan Crawford, plus CBA imports Terrence Williams, DJ White and Shavlik Randolph.

Credit: ESPN

Credit: ESPN

Everyone loved Shavlik’s hustle and defensive instincts, and Justin dubbed him #ShavKill. Celtic Nation made jokes about Crawford’s crazy shots.

Boston Celtics v Cleveland Cavaliers

Terrence Williams went from a small forward to being a point guard. T-Will outdid all of our other guards when it came to making plays, no questions asked.

Fighting all the way, the Celtics clawed its way to the postseason, vets rested and ready to fight.

Round 1, playoffs – New York Knicks

Boston Celtics v New York Knicks - Game One

Everyone was eager to see more of the Truth firing his usual daggers at New York, confident that somehow we would make it a contest. Reality was a huge disappointment. The offense was stagnant and one-dimensional. The ball moved too slowly, the Knicks had a field day in steals. We simply could not get the ball to drop into the cursed hoop. The Knicks were not exactly stellar, but made enough to kill us. Avery wasn’t playing with his usual intensity on both ends, and I cringed every time he passed the ball, for fear that someone would cut the passing lane and make a steal.

Bass was playing elite defense on Melo. Truth and Ticket were playing hard, but it just was not enough.

Game 1: we had a 8 point fourth quarter. That was bad. I thought this was rock bottom, we could not possibly get any worse. Boy, was I wrong.

Game 2: the team scored 11 points in the third, 12 points in the fourth. This, was rock bottom. Our offense was so bad, it was ridiculous. Our famed fourth quarter meltdowns in the past were nothing compared to these.

The team went down 2-0, everyone was praying for the team not to go out this way. We missed Rondo. A lot.

It was not until Game 3, when JR Smith gave a vicious elbow to Jason Terry, that the team seemed to find a bit of fire. After losing Game 3, the JET proclaimed:

“I’m coming out with something. I’m going to come out with the heart, the passion, the energy that’s needed to get a win. We have to do that collectively. One man’s not going to be able to provide that. It has to be a collective unit and we’ve got to get it done together.”

Jason Terry of the Boston Celtics takes flight.

And fight we did, taking Game 4 with JR Smith serving a suspension on that silly elbow strike. Dumb luck, the detractors said. We would not have won if JR was playing.

And then, we took Game 5 too, despite an ugly 11-0 start in the first quarter. Melo missed a ton of shots. JR Smith had the same problem, only worse. The unthinkable had happened. New York fans were shaken. Kenyon Martin’s proclamation about wearing black to a funeral, ended up with the Knicks getting buried.

Could the Celtics truly be the first team in league history to come back from 3-0 and clinch the series? We wanted to believe.

Game 6

Today, Game 6. Three quarters of putrid basketball set us back in double digits. We were at 51-75, with 9 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

The odds seemed insurmountable. With the way theyhad been playing, I had given up hopes of the team making a comeback. Tweets were coming in about fans exiting at the end of the third quarter. The Knicks seemed ready to roll into round two.

Never count the C’s out.

Bit by bit, shot by shot, a 20-0 run somehow happened. Avery somehow found himself and became a defensive maniac once more. He stole the ball and finished it, twice. We got multiple stops, thanks to the Knicks’ multiple bricked shots. We got the defensive boards, and Green ran the floor, finishing at the rim with astounding effort. The NY score was frozen solid at 75. They were regressing into Melo iso plays. Melo had an injured left shoulder, but somehow made baskets. The lead was within grasp at 4 points, we were closing in for the kill.

And just like that, it was over. Melo made free throws over a phantom Bass foul. Green fouled out. New York played the clock out, made shots and led by 12. The noose was slowly but surely closing.

Doc called a final timeout. Coming out of the play, JET hit a 3 and closed the lead to 9. It was hope.

Yet, it was not meant to be. Tyson Chandler got the rebound off a missed Felton shot. The clock continued to wind down. Melo missed a shot, KG corralled the board and Bass managed to get to the line for two. We were 7 points away, with 27 seconds to go. Close, but time had simply run out. It was too late.

Jeff Green and Paul Pierce

The game ended 80-88, with the Knicks advancing after a 4-2 series win. The Boston Celtics end their 2012/13 postseason run in the first round.

Epilogue

The momentuous journey finally ended with a first-round exit. It was more or less what most of us knew deep inside, but just did not want to admit. We wanted to see another magical postseason run, another upset, another round of showing the disbelievers that we could do it one more time.

I was happy to see the fight in the fourth quarter today, to know that the Celtics would not simply roll over and surrender. It just kills me to know that we had a possible Game 7 within our grasp, and yet not be able to reach it.

In the end, it was the first three quarters that did us in, despite a heroic rally in the closing frame. If we had had a perfect free throw game, or made a few more shots, things might have been different. Alas.

Nevertheless, I am stil proud of this team, for battling through all the unsaid injuries and giving it their all at the end. I just wish we could have done it more consistently, that we could have flipped the switch a little earlier.

That’s all behind us now anyway. My thanks once more to everyone in the team, and to everyone in the fan community for taking this journey together.

The Captain.

Onwards, to the next season! Keep believing.

Filed Under: Games, Season 2012/2013, Opinions Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Celtics Knicks game 6 summary and future

4 May 2013 By Leave a Comment

Jeff Green and Paul Pierce​

The Celtics’ postseason hopes ended with an 80-88 loss at the TD Garden. Our men in green showed tremendous heart in the final term, outscoring the Knicks 33-21. They were behind by 26 in the 4th quarter, but made a 20-0 run and eventually cut the lead to 4. It just was not enough as Jeff Green fouled out and the Knicks pulled away to win by 8.

Jeff Green scored 21 while KG added 15-10. The Celtics lost this series 4-2, and the Knicks will play Pacers in round 2.

The Boston Celtics will be back next season.

It is not known who will return, was that the end of KG and Pierce (I hope not) but we all have our great memories if it is! Doc said in the post-game presser that he is not sure if he will return next season. I hope they keep this core group for next season; with a healthy Rondo they will be able to make a push!

All about 18.

Game notes from the Celtics Down Under Facebook page:
- Top scorers: Jeff Green (21), Carmelo Anthony (21)
- Rebounding: NYK led 42-35 with 15 offensive boards
- Truth’s off night: 14 points from 4 of 18 FG, 1 of 9 3P. 7 rebs, 5 assts, 2 steals, 1 block and 5 TOs.
- Bench production: 0 points from Lee/Williams/Crawford, 14 from JET, who was 3 of 5 3P.
- Team ended with 24 of 63 shots, 38.1% from the field.
- Shooting from deep: 6 of 22 from 3P, 27.3%.
- Not perfect: 26 of 33 from the line, 78.8%. This really hurt, the freebies would’ve pulled us in.
- (Lack of) ball movement: evidence by 13 assists and 19 TOs.

Filed Under: Games, Opinions, Players, Season 2012/2013 Tagged With: , , , ,

Three winning reasons – Celtics-Knicks series: Game 5 thoughts

2 May 2013 By Leave a Comment

Jason Terry of the Boston Celtics takes flight.

Was anyone else expect a win? Honestly, I had a feeling we might win this game, and it was so good to see a road win with our backs to the wall. Win or go home? Well, we’re winning and going home – beat that.

The big three reasons

However, the stars were in alignment this game. We had three huge factors to the win:

  1. New York slump: In a game where Carmelo Anthony sputtered on 8 for 24 (22 points) under Bass’s stifling defense, JR Smith’s shot went fishing (or golfing, take your pick) and left him on a 3 for 14 night (14 points), we came out with a 6-point victory.
  2. The hot hands: The C’s shot 50% from downtown, a scorching 11 of 22. Actually, it should have been 11 of 19 if we discounted the three shots T-Will took. I love the guy in transition, especially when he’s driving for the finish. He was forced to toss two up with the shot clock expiring, and gambled on another open shot, none of which were close. So, we shot really, really well from the three-point line this game.
  3. Heavy dose of the Truth/Ticket: KG and Pierce played massive minutes. Rebounding, making plays, you name it, they were on it. Truth had 44, Ticket had 39.The two of them were visibly gassed in the fourth quarter. Kudos to our stars for pulling through and finishing the game.

Reality check

As much as I’d like to see the team shoot 50% in the 3P% column again, something tells me it doesn’t happen every night. We have to make more attempts in the paint. We only had 28 points in the paint, compared to the Knicks scoring 42. Same old tired mantra: jumpshots aren’t going to carry us to consecutive wins, there has to be an established in-out rhythm.

The same goes to Melo and JR’s respective slumps. As much as I love the Bassman defending Melo, things might go in a different direction in Game 6. Expect to see Melo getting his usual 30 points, which would significantly reduce the safety margin. Don’t even get me started on Smith, we’re treading on very thin ice as it is.

KG needs to get his rest somehow, and playing super small with a 7-man rotation might not be the way to go. Is Shavlik still not worthy of trust, even for 1-2 minutes? I’m hoping for the game plan to be adjusted in Game 6, and for home court to provide a strong enough boost for us to force Game 7.

Nothing too deep, just one game at a time. Onwards to Game 6, LET’S GO CELTICS! #AussieCeltics

Filed Under: Games, Opinions, Season 2012/2013 Tagged With: , ,

We all miss Rajon Rondo

28 April 2013 By 1 Comment

When Rajon Rondo tore the ACL in his right knee at the end of January, the entire Celtics community was hit hard by the news. This particular writer was particularly devastated, having supported the man wearing number 9 wholeheartedly since he began as a talented, raw point guard that has transformed into Mr Triple Double, a perennial All-Star and league-leading assist distributor.

Credit: ESPN

Credit: ESPN

The injury meant a complete reshuffle of the roster, with Danny Ainge failing to secure a suitable point guard for the short-term. This in turn resulted in point play from Avery Bradley, Courtney Lee, Jason Terry, Leandro Barbosa and Paul Pierce over the rest of the 2012/13 season. When the Celtics won 16 of their next 22 games after Rondo went down, many outside the Celtics organisation claimed Boston were better off without their All-Star point guard. Look no further than the 2013 Playoffs to see how wrong those people truly were. In Games 1, 2 and 3 of the series against New York, Boston struggled tremendously on offense in all games.

In the first two games, one thing that stood out was the lack of movement from all four players without the ball on the offensive end, all waiting for Paul Pierce to make the plays single-handedly. While The Truth is lethal with that mid-range pull-up shot, the team couldn’t afford to rely on one play alone for an entire half of basketball. The glaring hole left by Rondo was there for everyone to see, with almost no ball movement and hesitation from all players on the floor resulting in many turnovers, and a miserable total of 25 second half points in Game 1, and a franchise-low 23 second half points in Game 2.

Rondo’s absence meant his teammates weren’t playing with the same rhythm, or were playing out of position. Avery Bradley played out of his comfort zone in the series against New York, with Coach Rivers understanding this wasn’t an ideal situation, telling ESPN:

“…we’re asking Avery to pressure, pressure, pressure, and then try to do something that he’s not. Avery’s a good basketball player, but we never wanted him to be in the position of facilitating offense, seeing that guys aren’t set, and trying to get guys in the right spots, delivering the pass on target — a lot of that. We’re asking a lot”

Although Bradley is a great defensive guard, he does his best work on the offensive end by moving off the ball, slashing along the baseline and cutting to the basket. Unfortunately this was sacrificed in Rondo’s absence. Another teammate who did not look like himself at season’s end was Kevin Garnett. Brian Scalabrine (The White Mamba) attributes Garnett’s struggles to Rondo’s absence, telling CSNNE.com:

“…what I see is Rajon Rondo is not on this team anymore,” Scalabrine said. “Rajon Rondo can get KG a wide open look when he has the extra time. In the NBA a foot makes a difference, an inch makes a difference whether you make the shot or miss the shot. KG is taking more contested shots now than he did before. Rondo always had that ability to get Kevin Garnett his rhythm, and now he doesn’t, so Kevin has to fabricate his own rhythm.”

Due to the nature of Rondo’s unpredictable game, he could drive to the basket in a flash to lay-in, assist or kick the ball outside to spread the floor for his teammates. The improved mid-range jump shot Rondo displayed this season also meant opponents needed to guard him a bit closer outside, adding another dimension to his game. With his pin-point passing, Rondo could find teammates like Bradley and Lee cutting to the basket, find Garnett or Wilcox inside for an easy finish, or catch Bass, Terry, or Pierce on the wings for open jumpers.

Danny Ainge had this to say about Rondo to WEEI:

“Great players at this time really step it up and our guy that was our best player last year in the playoffs, a guy that had 44 at Miami, that got us to the position that we were, that has been the MVP of multiple playoff series over the last handful of years — not just playoff games, but playoff series — he’s a guy that’s certainly capable of being the best guy on the court on any given night. He’s a terrific player and we certainly miss him. We’ve been saying that all year long”

The thing we miss most with the absence of Rondo is the toughness and determination he plays with in the post-season, seamlessly stepping up his game for the playoffs every year. His performances in the post-season are something to marvel at, from his Finals performances in 2010, to playing out a series despite a dislocated elbow against the Miami Heat in 2011. His leadership, athletic ability and will to win are attributes that make him such a great player to watch, and one that we cannot wait to see back on the court for the 2013/14 season and beyond.

Credit: ESPN

Filed Under: Opinions, Players, Season 2012/2013 Tagged With: ,

Stop IsoPierce-ing, start running!

24 April 2013 By 2 Comments

Welcome to the playoffs Celtics, where only 24 minutes of good ball happens in the first half, and everything dies after.

To every Celtic fan out there who caught the vicious carnage we have been watching in the second halves of Game 1 and 2 so far, I salute you. The offense was in a word, effing-frozen-solid. 8 points in the fourth quarter for Game 1, and topped by consecutive low-scoring quarters (11 in Q3, 12 in Q4) today in Game 2.

I don’t know what we’re watching anymore, it feels like Doc is experimenting with lineups in a season game by playing an almost-exclusive guard rotation (Lee, Terry in game 1, then Crawford, Terry in game 2). I get the point about small ball against New York, but are we overdoing it?

Credit Elsa, Getty Images via SI

Pierce should not be the guy who takes over in the second half via isolation plays. It’s a suicidal strategy for a half, much less a seven-game series. We end up having two guys camp in the corners for the kick out shot, another at the wing, and finally Pierce on isolation with a screener. Not exactly a winning formula, because we know two things will happen:

  1. He gets hit with a trap and be forced to kick the ball out.
  2. He goes to his pullup or a muscling drive. But let’s get real here – Truth isn’t going to shoot 100%, and we don’t get much in the way of offensive rebounds.

What really works against the Knicks though, is pushing the ball up. They don’t get back on transition quick enough at times, and a good long pass catches them off balance. If we keep looking to run and finish inside (I’m looking at your Uncle Jeff) for the entire game, it could make a difference. 17 fast break points in Game 2, it’s got to count for something.

Stop slowing it down into half-court, and let’s keep running. Game 3 awaits.

Filed Under: Opinions, Season 2012/2013 Tagged With: , ,

Could Another Big Man Be The Answer?

23 April 2013 By 1 Comment

With Game 1 done and dusted, the Celtics must regroup for Game 2 against New York and look to level the series at Madison Square Garden. If the C’s can match the Knicks in Game 2 tomorrow, an enticing three game homestand in Boston at the TD Garden awaits.

One thing we learnt from Game 1 of the series was Doc’s plan to roll with a very short rotation, bringing only Jason Terry, Jordan Crawford and Courtney Lee off the bench. It seems like the use of three guards to back up a starting line-up of Bradley, Pierce, Green, Bass and Garnett could be lacking in size. With bigs such as Tyson Chandler and Kenyon Martin to compete with on the boards, perhaps Doc Rivers should look towards two players who watched from the sidelines for 48 minutes from game 1, to add size on the court for rebounding if nothing else.

Credit: ESPN

Credit: ESPN

Chris Wilcox has never experienced a playoff game in his 628-game career, which would have many people believing the man would do just about anything the coach asked of him, if given the opportunity to step onto the floor. With season averages of 4.2 PPG, 3 RPG and a very healthy field goal percentage of 72% in 13.6 minutes per contest, Wilcox provides another big body in the contest with the ability to finish around the basket. CW also did a very good job of filling in for Kevin Garnett late in the season, starting 7 games for the season and showing his defensive knowledge in KG’s absence.

The other big man Doc could look to is new fan-favourite Shavlik Randolph, or as Justin of CDU likes to refer to: #ShavKill. Although he was a late-season addition to the Celtics roster, Randolph proved to be a great energy man off the bench in his 16 appearances this season. With averages of 4.2 points, 4.4 rebounds per contest and a field goal percentage of 58% in just 12.4 minutes of action, Shavlik became a favourite for his energy and hustle on the floor, earning Doc’s praise when he told the Washington Post “he leads with his head”, sighting Randolph’s toughness after taking charges, and copping a few blood noses along the way.

Credit: ESPN

Credit: ESPN

Perhaps Wilcox and Randolph could bring some energy and relief to the Celtics front court for the rest of the series, enabling KG, Bass and Jeff Green some much-needed rest in the process. Bring on Game 2!

Filed Under: Games, Opinions, Season 2012/2013 Tagged With: , , , , ,

Live from the Garden: Where Green happened but Miami prevailed.

19 March 2013 By Leave a Comment

IMG_20130318_152525

It was a really cold day today, even before the snow started falling. Getting to the Garden was a chore because I’d done the Freedom Trail in one sitting with the wife (note: NEVER do the Freedom Trail before watching a game. I did it in 2011, and in 2013 now – both times, it sucked because I was dead tired by game time.)

Instead of buying a loge seat this time, I nabbed a club seat, which cost about $300 or so on Ticketmaster, likely cheaper on Stubhub. It’s my first time sitting in the club area, and honestly? The experience was great. Granted the view wasn’t as good as a loge seat, but the premium features more than made up for it. Much thanks to Jeff Dearman (sometimes known as the Dancing Usher) for showing us around.

What features, you ask? Let’s see:

  • Entry allowed two hours prior. (Normal tickets one hour before game.)
  • Entry to the Boston sports museum, with all sorts of fascinating Boston sports moments and memorabilia. Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics, college, you name it, it’s likely on level 5 and 6. If you’re a Beantown sports fan, this is what you need.

IMG_20130318_184629

  • Dedicated food/drinks section with seating, no need to fight with the hungry hordes on normal tickets. Gelato, sandwiches, wraps, pizza, sausages, you’ve got a pretty good selection there along with fountain soda (read: unlimited soft drinks). I had a slice of cheese pizza that sent me into a near-coma from carb overload, it was just huge. How huge? It needed two paper plates. One slice. Go figure.
  • Food/drinks orders from your seat. A waitress assigned to your section takes orders and brings them to you. No need to miss the game, just keep watching and wait for your food!
  • A booth to charge your phone if you need it. Granted there’s only one booth on the level, but if you’re desperate anything goes eh?

IMG_20130318_184156

So yes, moral of the story: get a club seat at least once if you can afford it.

A lot of story lines to this game. A 22-game win streak. Heat on national television. Heat not winning the C’s on the road in the season since it got LeBron-ed. The C’s playing without KG – no shit? I honestly had this pegged as a close L when KG was declared as an out. An usher I was talking to said KG was in the building, so I’d hoped for him to suit up. The flu-like symptoms killed any possibility of Ticket Time today, so that was that.

Game summary: Green sent everyone into ecstatic convulsions, the guys in stripes called everything and anything they saw, and we lost.

Heat v Celtics tipoff

Tip off, and Jeff Green won.

Jeff Green exploded. He was driving and finishing a billion times, no one on the Heat could stop him. It looked like he swished every single three he took, his hand was just so hot. The Garden crowd was going wild every time he scored, everyone was in a manic frenzy. Chants of “JEFF GREEN CLAP-CLAP-CLAP” were rampant, rocking the entire place. Let us not forget about the defense he was doing on King James, the way he forced #6 into forced jumpers. 43 points, with 5 of 7 from the arc. He probably would have had 50 if they hadn’t switched the D.

I loved the rebounding effort and focus on getting into the paint. Lee was driving and finishing like his life depended on it (even floating one over LeBron), Bass had a nasty drive and dunk in the first quarter that got my hopes up. JET was making jumper after jumper, silky smooth. And how about that beautiful chase-down block Avery had? What a monster the guy’s becoming.

Call me biased, but I don’t blame the ugly 20 TOs we had, nor the puke-arific 62.5% on free throws. Or how about giving the Heat 10 offensive boards, and being outrebounded 33-39 in the process?

First of all, stupid referee calls. The C’s had 26 PFs. JET had 5, Bass/Lee/Wilcox had 4. I winced every time the whistle sounded, and although Terry probably deserved that PF for trying to stop a James dunk, I felt the zebras were trying to do a bit too much. Last time I checked, we’re not the Indiana Pacers. For a team that’s clearly very, very small right now, we sure got hit with a ton of dubious defensive fouls.

What I didn’t like were some of the Pierce passes that got picked off; Cap had 7 TOs alone, and some were downright blatant to the point of giving it away. And honestly, was that last-minute turnaround three really the plan? Granted most of his shots tonight got me saying “WHAT?” followed by a make, but that last-ditch attempt at a winner wasn’t the best option I was expecting.

Credit goes to Shane Battier for defending Green too. Green got a lot of early points thanks to Haslem being unable to keep up on his drives, and that triggered the 5 PFs. The moment the Heat went small, Green’s offense got stifled somewhat. Let’s not forget about LeBron scoring when it counted. 37 points is nothing to sneeze at. Even if he went 1 of 4 from 3P, he still had 15 of 25 from everywhere else.

The final minutes had two dubious decisions that swung the game. One, a out of bounds video review that showed James touching the ball last, and instead awarded possession to the Heat. What? Exactly. Second, the non-call that Jeff Green got on his drive. The moment that happened, I knew it was mostly over. Even if we got the ball back, it would be an effort to pull OT rather than stealing the W back in regulation. Then the Pierce 3 happened. And Battier’s smarts happened.

It left a really sour taste in my mouth to have the W so close and then have the rug pulled out, just like that. Granted we didn’t have KG (and Rondo and Sully), but it spoiled Jeff’s huge night to have the game lost like this. And with this L, goes my last live game for 2013. More to come hopefully next year, but it was a great night nonetheless – no night like game night at the Garden with everyone else in green!

P.S Did anyone notice Ray? 6 points on 0 of 3, he helped a ton tonight.

Filed Under: Games, Opinions, Season 2012/2013 Tagged With: ,

Backstage! – The press pass experience: Bobcats v Celtics.

17 March 2013 By 6 Comments

Man, what a night it has been. Attending a game this way is absolutely a once-in-a-lifetime experience that leaves the fan in me wanting for more. It might be just another game to the veteran reporter, but to this rookie writer? Nothing but an absolute eye-opener.

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Ninety minutes before the game, I made my way to the security entrance. Identified myself, got the media pass and went, “Now what?” Celtics-land, so close yet so far away. I was facing a locked door with no clue. Thankfully, tips from the friendly ladies saved this clueless bloke.

Made my way up the stairs, on to the right level, and got my first Celtics-celebrity sighting – Molly McGrath was at a corner rehearsing her opening speech. Now, would any C’s fan in his right mind pass up a chance to talk to the resident lovely lady? I didn’t want to seem too stalkerish, so it was just a polite question about where I should be heading to next. She was very helpful on pointing out where the media room was, and so it came to be that I finally found the room where the media people hung out. (Sorry Francis, no picture.)

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The media room
This room had two purposes; room to eat, and space to work. You got your pregame meal here, watched a bit of TV if you liked, and another area of the room served as work spaces for everyone to think, write, abuse the internet, charge their various devices – you got the idea. It was quite unnerving, trying to eat while Tommy and Mike sat at the next table, leisurely having theirs. And then Danny strolled in and started discussing draft prospects. (No, I couldn’t really hear the details so no juicy rumours.) And Globe legend Bob Ryan was sitting by himself at another table – unreal, just so unreal.

After that came the pregame interview. Doc appeared out onto the corridor, and everyone was ready and waiting. KG’s disappearance in this game was a surprise to everyone, but Doc talked about “putting our five best” from the team against the Bobcats tonight, which meant the insertion of Jeff Green in the starting lineup. He also commented on how the Bobcats “beat us in every way”, which included poor defense on off-the-dribble movement and rebounding. He also commented on DJ and Shavlik not having done enough to differentiate themselves so far, but that he would go with DJ for now.

Doc’s interview was short, everyone got ready and soon enough it was time for tip off.

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I managed to make my way to the assigned press table (official media and temporary guys sit separately) after some weaving to and back, sat down with a reporter from Ecuador named Bolivar from The Daily Hoy, and it was show time.

The game
The first quarter started out with solid Bass jumpers (6 points), money shots. Avery however had a tough mismatch with Henderson on defense. The team held together well enough on defense, especially on the rebounding end – 11 rebounds, 8 defensive. Careless turnovers (5) however caused the lead to be closer than it should have been, and the team did not space as well on offense without Pierce.

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Second quarter saw JET doing many things: defensive rebounding to shooting the three to making the right pass. We saw Crawford trying to be more of a passer, firing a no-look pass to DJ White that resulted in an and one finish. Shavlik Randolph came in, missed two bunnies at the rim and redeemed himself right after. He nabbed the offensive board and drew contact on the resulting finish, nearly getting an and one (nearly, because he missed the FT).

There was a careless push from Pierce passing up court that got picked off by Walker, and ended in a three point swish. I don’t know about you, but turnovers that end up in an open shot make me cringe. The Bobcats were obviously capitalising on the lack of size the C’s had especially with KG out with Mullens/Biyombo/McRoberts, but the presence of DJ/Shavlik made up for it somewhat in the rebounding department. Green gave a much-needed finish at the rim, Lee gave a highlight reel-worthy block on Kemba, and that was half-time.

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During the game, I could barely tweet or post because the Wi-Fi was intermittent at best. 3G wasn’t exactly flying either, and dropped out at times. Went back to the media room for a break at half-time (and got lost along the way), Celtics PR head Jeff Twiss checked if I was good with a smile and a pat on the arm, and after a quick drink it was back to work, only it didn’t feel like work. For the stat geeks, how good is it to have box scores for every quarter delivered promptly? And if only you’d seen the game notes that were compiled pre-game; massive, simply massive.

The third quarter saw a big surge, as the starters made a huge push and scored 27 points. Lee had consecutive baskets all over the place, all kinds of awesome was happening. Along with JET’s 6 points off the bench on back-to-back three pointers, it made for a dominating 33-23 frame, and none of that “turd” quarter stuff we always screamed about. Could this be it? I was really looking forward to my first Gino time at this point.

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The final twelve minutes featured a grind between the Bobcats starters and the C’s bench. Bass and Lee were inserted in the final minutes to inject some offense into a sputtering bench unit that were not getting stops or making baskets due to a variety of reasons. Crawford was still trying to facilitate baskets, but just could not get it going. TWill was spreading the ball well, but could not get his offense going. Randolph over-helped on defense in one possession, and gave McRoberts an open dunk with the and one. Shavlik tried to be aggressive, but got stripped on two possessions without a whistle in the paint. Pargo was turning into a force of nature with 13 points in that quarter – what the hell?

Thankfully, the guys put it together long enough to get the win sealed and done without Pierce or Bradley checking back in. A solid revenge win with the starters playing minimal minutes, without KG at that. I’d take this win, no questions asked.

“They had an emotion to them. They didn’t like losing to us twice and they showed that. The other plus that everybody in this league has is that they were waiting on us. We had a game last night so it was a double whammy in that form.” – Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap on playing the C’s four days earlier.

By the way, I love our new big guys Shavlik and DJ. Both can shoot from a distance, rebound hard and can likely defend well within the system with more practice.

Post-game conference
The post-game conference room turned out to be smaller than I’d imagined it to be, so everyone was either seated comfortably, or squashed along the side of the room. I was stuffed somewhere near the door, with just enough room for the door to be closed without me being part of it. After a while, Doc took the stand and talked about doing well in three areas: transition, dribble penetration, rebounding.

He wasn’t very convinced on the game pace however.

“I thought we gave up on ten to fifteen breaks that I thought we had, and we gave up on. We just went into the walk-it-up or middle pace and I just said, just push it up every single time and see. If we can’t get nothing there then we got time to run it. And we scored a ton.”

He wouldn’t give up anything on KG though, leaving it up in the air for now. Let’s hope the Big Ticket shows up on Monday (or Tuesday).

Locker room
Have you ever imagined yourself stepping into the C’s locker room? This was never even a dream as I’d deemed it an impossibility. To be able to be standing right where the guys winded down post-game, it was simply unreal. Granted I didn’t interview a single Celtic player because of shell shock, nervousness, and the fact that I was simply relishing in the experience. I was looking around the room at how the players were relaxing after the game. Some guys probably showered and took off ASAP, others took time to ice themselves the way Jeff did. One thing about height, it never hits you as hard on paper as it does in reality – the guys were literally larger than life. I was a midget compared to Jeff Green. Wilcox and Bass were huge, as was DJ. Avery was unassuming and quiet, but sounded steadfast as always. Just doing his thing as usual, on and off the court.

The interviews were over soon enough, with every media member swarming over the key players (Pierce, Green, Bradley) and the rest mostly being spared. JET had a quiet one-on-one session, and that was it. Everyone left to finish up their own pieces, and I made a quiet exit.

Just like that, the press pass was over. Did I enjoy it? Most definitely. Could I have done better? Undoubtedly. I was just overwhelmed by the things that were happening, did not make the most of my opportunities. Most importantly, I’m reasonably confident that I’ll be better prepared and do better the next time round. My thanks once more to US Sports Down Under, NBA, and to the Celtics organisation for making this experience an unforgettable one.

A good win at home, and I’m looking forward to the Heat game! It’s time to get back to being a fan, and hopefully everything goes well on that day – that means I get to deliver the gifts to the players without a hitch, the Heat lose in a major C’s victory, and shamrock-shaped fireworks explode across the skies in celebration. (Just kidding about the last one.)

Until the next time! Here’s your rookie reporter signing off.

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Filed Under: Games, Opinions, Season 2012/2013 Tagged With: , , ,

Backstage! – Attending a C’s game on a press pass

8 March 2013 By Leave a Comment

For most of us in Australia, the best fan experience one could imagine would be to attend an NBA game played by our favourite team.

Could it get any better, you ask? How great would it be if you actually had a shot at meeting the players up front, and how does being in the game as a member of the press sound?

Sound like a dream come true? We’re definitely reading off the same page here. Boston is on my itinerary this month, and you guessed it – I will be attending a Celtics game as a media representative of US Sports Down Under, when the C’s play the Charlotte Bobcats on 16 March.

I can’t begin to describe how excited I am. For a Celtics fan with no professional experience in journalism, this is a fantastic opportunity. A chance to meet some of the great people who write the columns that fans devour on a daily basis. A shot at covering my favourite team, to meet the players up front and to possibly interview some of them, how stoked can one get? I’d say plenty.

Getting started

The media pass sounded like a really far shot when I got started. It took a fair bit of time to get the paperwork sorted, but approval was finally granted from NBA Asia late last year. Much thanks goes to USSDU owner Andy for helping with the authorisation process; without him I would have been stonewalled.

Now that the pass was ready, what would one do next? Prepare for the session of course. I sought advice from a veteran who had done the deed before; enter Jay King, who runs the popular fansite Celtics Town. He had plenty of helpful tips, which included things like etiquette do’s and dont’s, seating arrangements and interviewing advice.

(One of the dont’s unfortunately was no fandom – this meant no photographs, no autographs and yes, no maniacal stalkerish behaviour. In other words, act professional! Bummer.)

Attending a game is not as easy as it sounds; you don’t just show up with empty hands, although I’d imagine that would work too. There is the not-so-trivial matter of preparing your questions for the players. (You want to be prepared, and not go “ummmm” the first five seconds.) It’s easy enough to say I know the Celtics well, but research on the Bobcats had to be done.

Good to go

Everything is mostly ready now, so here’s hoping I don’t have a serious bout of nerves and melt into a puddle of goo at TD Garden. Wish me luck, and your local Aussie Celtics correspondent will be on hand to cover the game on March 17, 1030hrs AEDT. Stay tuned!

Join in!

Here’s a shout out though: should you have any great questions you would like to pose to a Celtic or Bobcat player, drop a comment below or drop a mail to kein@celticsdownunder.com, I’ll be happy to include them too!

*For the latest updates, follow Kein on Twitter at @CelticsDownUnd, or join the Aussie Celtics community on Facebook.

Filed Under: Opinions, Season 2012/2013 Tagged With: , , ,
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