Rondo and his Nike Hyperposite’s move onto the next round after collecting 71% of your votes.

This week we continue Round 1 with a battle between:

Terrence Williams’ Air Jordan XX8′s

versus

Paul Pierce’s Nike Air Legacy 3 Christmas Day PE

Check back next week to find out the results!

To celebrate this season’s best kicks, I have selected the best 16 kicks from the weekly Green Kick Of The Week to battle it out. It is now up to you, our readers who will crown the Green Kick of the Season!

Green Kick of the Season 2012/13 brackets

Below is the bracket, showing the matchups. (Click to view a larger version.)

So let’s get this battle underway!

Round 1

First up, we have these kicks in the ring:

Rajon Rondo‘s Nike Hyperposite’s in the black/volt colourway.

versus

Jason Terry‘s Reebok Kamikaze II’s in the black/green colourway.

Check back next week for the results of this contest and to see who battles it out next.

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.

“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.

Pre-season

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.”

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.

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.

Onwards, to the next season! Keep believing.

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.

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

The Boston Celtics managed to outlast the New York Knicks in an OT thriller at the TD Garden.

The Celtics led 54-35 at the half and by as much as 20 with less than 8 minutes to go in the 3^rd period. However, as the Celtics have done all series, they struggled again in the 2^nd half, scoring 14 points in the 3^rd and 16 in the 4^th.

Pierce had a chance to win the game in regulation but couldn’t get it to drop. When OT came around, JET was finally ready to play. He dropped 9 of his 18 points in the OT period, in which Boston scored 13 (1 less than 3^rd period in 7 less minutes).

Paul Pierce finished with 29-8-6, Green 26-6 and KG with 13-17-6. Kevin played like a mad man and helped win this game with a big shot near end of regulation. Celtics held Carmelo Anthony to 10-35 from the field, who still 16-20 from FT.

The Celtics held on and won 97-90 to force a game 5 back in New York.

Schedule as follows.

Round 1 Game 1: 5am 21/4 in New York (85-78 L)
Round 1 Game 2: 10 am 24/4 in New York (71-87 L)
Round 1 Game 3: 10 am 25/4 in Boston (L 76-90)
Round 1 Game 4: 3 am 29/4 in Boston (W (90-97)
Round 1 Game 5: TBD 2/5 in New York
Round 1 Game 6: TBD 4/5 in Boston *
Round 1 Game 7: TBD 6/4 in New York *

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

]]> http://celticsdownunder.com/2013/04/28/we-all-miss-rajon-rondo/feed/ 1 michaelt34 Credit: ESPN http://celticsdownunder.com/2013/04/24/stop-isopierce-ing-start-running/ http://celticsdownunder.com/2013/04/24/stop-isopierce-ing-start-running/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 03:43:38 +0000 Kein http://celticsdownunder.com/?p=2568 ]]> 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.

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

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

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!