Maine vs. Iowa Preview

Maine Red Claws (8-3) vs. Iowa Energy (11-1)

1:00PM Thursday December 31, Portland Expo, Portland, Maine

Later today your Maine Red Claws face off against the Iowa Energy, who are associated with the Chicago Bulls and the Phoenix Suns. Maine will be looking to hand the best team in the league their second loss of the season just three days after handing the worst team in the league their second victory of the season.

Unlike the Red Claws, the Energy are not packed with NBA talent. The Suns have assigned Taylor Griffin to the D-League, but he is not a points leader on the team. Instead, Curtis Stinson of Iowa State, with no NBA experience, is leading the team to the top. Apart from Griffin, the Energy have three players with NBA time, including Earl Barron, who earned a ring with the Miami Heat in 2006. New Englanders will also recognize Rashad Anderson, a UConn product who was part of the 2003-04 championship team.

This is an important game for Austin Ainge and the Maine Red Claws. It’s always been an important game, but it became doubly so after the Sunday loss to Bakersfield. A home win over Iowa would re-establish Maine as one of the top teams in the league and give their season momentum again. Another loss – especially if it’s a thumping – could lead to roster changes.

This game will be a challenge, to be sure. Thanks to the Celtics’ injuries, the Claws are without the C's assignees, though Bobcat Alexis Ajinca remains. The rest of the team will have to step it up in a way they didn’t on Sunday. These two teams match up well, and Maine can’t let the Energy establish an early lead. They have to return to their usual aggressive defense and prevent the Energy from getting into an offensive rhythm.

NEXT THREE: Friday, January 1, vs. Eerie BayHawks, 5PM, Portland Expo; Monday, January 4, vs. LA D-Fenders, Qwest Arena, Boise, ID 3:45PM; Tuesday, January 5, @ Sioux Falls SkyForce, Qwest Arena, Boise ID, 1PM.

Celtics-Bulls: The rivalry that never was

(Listening.) (Waiting.) (Listening harder.) (Waiting some more.) (Cupping hand around ear.) (Listening one last time.) (Giving up.)

So what the hell was I listening for? Any talk of the "Celtics-Bulls rivalry", that's what. But I can't exactly seem to hear any rumblings about the "rivalry" that was born last playoffs.

Maybe it's because the rivalry was but a passing speck on the landscape of playoff history. With Kevin Garnett's far-reaching influence back in the Boston lineup, and Ben Gordon's scoring and shooting taken away from the offense-deprived Bulls, the rivalry could never materialize.

All that remain now are the memories. Sweet memories for the Celtics, bitter-sweet for the Bulls. But whether you’re a Celtics or Bulls fan, aren’t the memories great? Celtics fans can take pride in beating a game Bulls squad, despite being without their anchor and heart, KG. Bulls fans can take solace, even in the loss, that their team overachieved, overcoming all odds to send the series into a seventh game and providing the country with a far more exciting series than expected.

Watching the Bulls play the other night, I couldn't help but reminisce back to the terrific seven-game extravaganza that was more a mixture of a marathon and a boxing match than it was an NBA playoff series. There were haymakers thrown every game, but neither team ever stayed on the canvas for long. Both teams were both giving it their all, but it was nothing near a sprint.

Gordon would hit a pullup jumper in transition with a Celtic draped all over him, then Ray Allen would answer by coming off a screen to drain a three with a Chicago big man in his face. Paul Pierce would hit a one-dribble pullup to his right, then John Salmons would respond with a herky-jerky drive for a bucket. Rajon Rondo would grab a rebound, sprint the floor with the ball yo-yo'ing in his hands, and find a teammate for an easy score, but Derrick Rose would come right back, split the teeth of the Celtic defense and finish over bigger defenders at the rim.

The two teams stood toe-to-toe for 15 rounds, never once backing down, never once conceding a win or giving an inch in their quests to reach the second round. They staggered to the finish line, beaten and bloodied, fatigued from seven long and grueling games, but never showed it. They reached within themselves for every drop of energy they had left, entering the deepest confines of their bodies to squeeze out every last bit of whatever it was they had in reserve.

My words sound cliché, but if ever there was a time where clichés seemed appropriate, it would have been that series. “Give 110%,” “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over,” “Games aren’t played on paper,” “The series was a battle”; Was there a cliché that didn’t ring true during those seven games?

But to call it a rivalry is wrong. A rivalry is sustained over a long period of time as two evenly-matched teams with hatred and pure respect for each other go to war. A rivalry isn’t just a fleeting seven-game series, no matter how competitive, memorable, and tightly-contested it may be.

It was great while it lasted, but the Celtics-Bulls rivalry that never was has dissipated into thin air as the two teams have gone their separate ways. After last season, it was thought that the Bulls were a young team on the rise, and the Celtics an aging juggernaut on the last legs of a brief but powerful run near the top. Now, the Bulls are a battered team desperately in need of a makeover and some serious revamping, while the Celtics seem tooled to once again challenge for a championship. The rivalry that could have been has disappeared before it even materialized.

But the memories of the exhilarating series, of that time when clichés seemed so true? Those will always remain.

Deng says Bulls lacking confidence defensively

Confidence is an enormous aspect of basketball.  When a player has the hot hand, all of a sudden the basket looks huge.  He stops thinking about missing and just plays, acting aggressively and simply doing everything he's practiced for so many hours in the gym.

On the other hand, when confidence isn't high, a player hesitates.  He takes a split second too long before letting fly with that open jumper, or forces a drive because he doesn't have faith in his shot.  A player without confidence can look woefully lost and meek on the court, even a player with the talent to be a difference-maker.

But defensive confidence?  Is there such a thing?

Luol Deng thinks so.  (Via the Chicago Tribune):

"We've lost confidence defensively," Luol Deng said. "Our energy isn't the same. We fight for that stop and when we don't get it, it seems like it affects both ends."

Kirk Hinrich played in his second straight game against the Warriors after missing six with a sprained left thumb. And Tyrus Thomas missed his 16th game with a fractured radius in his left forearm.

Those two represent two of the Bulls' better defenders.

"Not to take anything away from them -- we're definitely better when they're here -- but I don't think we're 30 points worse without them," Deng said.

In my experience, defense has nothing to do with confidence.  It has to do with heart, determination, and attitude.  A gritty player will step in and take a charge on an out-of-control penetrator.  He'll get into passing lanes and deny his man the ball.  He'll pressure a ballhandler into miscues, and slide his feet to help a beaten teammate.  And, in my eyes at least, he'll do all that regardless of his confidence level.

But I guess Deng disagrees.  He seems to think the Bulls are lacking confidence in their defensive abilities, and it has affected their performance. 
 
If he's right, I hope their confidence stays low, if only for tonight.

Pierce and Rondo lead way as Celtics thrash Bulls to improve to 3-0

I guess having Kevin Garnett is better than not having Kevin Garnett.

During last year’s postseason, the Chicago Bulls kept it close with the Boston Celtics for seven full games. This time around, with Garnett healthy, they kept it close for, oh, about a quarter. By the time Shelden Williams hit an early second-quarter layup, the Celtics were ahead 29-19 and well on their way to a 118-90 massacre.

There wasn’t much else the Celtics could have done. They moved the ball beautifully, they hit shots and, as has been the early-season trend, were extremely difficult to score on.

For the Celtics, Paul Pierce did the scoring and Rajon Rondo the distributing. It’s almost impossible to control an NBA game while scoring only two points, but Rondo did it. He pushed the tempo when he needed to, facilitated the offense, and found the open shooter. There was one sequence in particular that demonstrated how far Rondo has come in his development. He pushed the ball upcourt in a 1-on-1 scenario with Brad Miller in front of him. Rondo could have and, in the past, likely would have, forced the action and attempted to make a tightly-contested layup.

Instead, he circled the ball out, waited for his teammates to join him, and hit a streaking Kevin Garnett with the lob. The play didn’t result in one of Rondo’s 16 assists -- Garnett was fouled on the attempt -- but it displayed a level of patience and intelligence that Rondo only showed at times last season.

While Rondo was racking up the assists, Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and company were scorching the nets. Pierce shot 8-12 from the field, Allen 7-9, Garnett 7-13, and the Celtics shot 58% from the floor and hit 12 of 24 three-point attempts. The shooting display was impressive, especially in the third quarter, when Pierce hit all seven of his field goal attempts and all five of his three-pointers.

It’s a sign of how well the Celtics have been playing that I was actually disappointed by their defensive effort. I know, I know, they only gave up 90 points and held the Bulls to 41.3% shooting and only 13.3% from the arc. But the Bulls had a lot of easy buckets, especially in the third quarter, when Chicago shot 12-22 (even though Pierce’s long-range barrage made sure that A) the defensive lapses didn’t matter and B) most people didn’t notice the wide open dunks and layups the Bulls kept getting.)

Either way, I’ve seen this team enough to realize that they are a hungry, hungry bunch. Last season, the Celtics won a lot of games but there was always the feeling that they lacked a killer instinct to kick teams while they were down and put them away.

Even as the Celtics got off to a 27-2 start that was the best in NBA history, they worried me and seemed not to be completely clicking. This year, the C’s are firing on all cylinders right out of the gate, leaving no doubt in any of their three games which team was better. Scratch that -- way better.

About Pierce’s third quarter outburst, Garnett said, “That was beautiful to watch.”

I’ll take you one more, Kevin. So was the whole game.

Game Notes

Eddie House did as Eddie House does, shooting 9-13 and piling on the damage in another blowout victory.

Joakim Noah flashed an improved post game, hitting some very tough left-handed hooks and a long perimeter jumper. I’m not quite ready to say he’s a legitimate offensive option, but he’s a lot closer than he was last year.

Shelden Williams posted a double-double, with 10 points and 10 rebounds. I might have sold the Duke product short when I wrote I didn’t think he’d contribute much; Williams is playing great basketball so far, and has admirably filled the void left by Glen Davis’ unfortunate (and stupid) injury.

Ray Allen only played 24 minutes. For all those C’s fans clamoring for Doc to limit Ray’s playing time, you can hold your complaints… until the next time Ray plays 40 minutes in a 30-point blowout.