Before you read this, please promise me one thing: Promise me you won't ever, ever let me go to another NBDL game.
I live right next to Springfield, where there is a new NBDL team, and tonight was opening night. It seemed like fun, plus my friend bought me tickets for free, so I decided to go. After all, it was professional basketball. How bad could it be?
The answer? Pretty. F---ing. Bad. By the time we left, with eight minutes still left in the game, the Springfield Armor were losing 92-58, and I still wasn't sure how they'd even scored 58 points. It was so bad that my brother and I had conversations during the game like this one:
Tommy (my brother): How many points do you think you could score if you played in this game? Me: Probably 15-20. I'm a better shooter than any of these guys, and they don't exactly contest shots. If I played the full 48 minutes, I'd have at least 15 or 20. Tommy: Yeah, that sounds about right. I was thinking the same thing.
And we were dead serious! Meanwhile, I'm the same guy who quit my division three basketball team after not getting any minutes whatsoever. And my team was one of division three's worst programs. I'm not exactly what you would call a super-talented player. But I was convinced -- and, frankly, still am -- that I could have score 15 or 20 points if I played the full game. Even though the Armor had only scored 58 through 40 or so minutes.
Honestly, the most talented player in the gym wasn't even a player. (And, surprisingly, it wasn't Armor coach Dee Brown either.) Nope. It was the guy who participated in one of the shooting contests during a timeout. In the contest, he had to sink three foul-line jumpers and three three-pointers in a minute in order to get the prize, whatever the prize was. He made his first five shots, leaving him with half a minute to make the final shot.
Since I'm telling you the story, you know he ended up making the last shot, but listen to how he did it: Instead of shooting with half a minute left and getting a few chances to win the prize, he waited until the clock ran all the way down, leaving himself with one pressure-filled NBA three-pointer to collect his bounty. Needless to say, he canned it. And, with that sixth made shot, he had made more field goals during a one-minute contest than the Armor did in the entire second half. The NBDL: Where a random fan picked out of the crowd being better than the home team's players happens.
Now that you know just how bad the level of play was, you can imagine how excited I was to get back to the Celtics game. (Which I had DVR'ed.) Think about how hyped I must have been to get back when I kept getting tweets like "The Celtics are shooting 83%. Not in the first four minutes of the game. Nope, it's almost halftime.", "Paul Pierce just crammed on Chris Bosh's head.", and "The Celtics are threatening to break their record for highest single-game field goal percentage." I couldn't wait to get back and get the horrible taste of the NBDL out of my mouth.
I knew the Celtics had won by the time I got back, but I had to see for myself and decide what I thought about this one. Here is what I came up with, a running diary of my thoughts as I watched the game:
First Quarter
First good news of the telecast: Tony Allen is still out tonight. Thank you, Tony, and please, take your time coming back.
The first Celtics bucket: A Ray Allen 15-foot jumper. Not only did no Raptor contest it, but no Raptor even seemed to know that Ray was shooting.
Tommy Heinsohn on Andrea Bargnani's defense: "I tell ya. That Bargnani, he's got his feet stuck in spaghetti." Comcast Sports New England telecasts: Where racial slurs happen.
Of the Celtics first 12 points, ten of them are on easy layups or dunks. Make that 12 of the first 14. Nope, make it 14 of their first 16. Actually, 16 of their first 18.
Mike Gorman just said, "First one to 140 [wins]", and it doesn't even seem like he's exaggerating. The Celtics are having layup lines, and the Raptors aren't having much more difficulty scoring than the C's. The game has been tied seven different times, and it's mostly because neither team can buy a stop.
The Celtics are shooting 9 for 10 from the field, but are down two, 20-18. If you've ever imagined what it would be like to watch NBA players play H.O.R.S.E., here's your chance.
As good as the Celtics look offensively, getting layups and dunks whenever they want, they weren't taking care of the ball at all in the first quarter. Their 6th turnover of the game came with three minutes still remaining in the first. They could play a lineup of five Tony Allen's and probably not have that many turnovers. On second thought, nahhhhhh.
The Celtics hit 12 of their first 13 shots, and the one miss was a Ray Allen missed lefty runner on the C's first shot. For those of you who still haven't gathered this, that means they hit 12 shots in a row. Not too shabby. Here's one of the shots they hit:
Watching Hedo Turkoglu play defense makes me realize 1) how good Dwight Howard is defensively, to be able to hide Hedo's deficiencies, and 2) how good a coach Stan Van Gundy is, to be able to hide Hedo's deficiencies. The duo of Chris Bosh and Jay Triano hasn't quite had the same success in making Hedo's defense somewhat permissible.
This Toronto team is historically bad defensively. Any time you put two of the NBA's softer big men on the same team, then surround them with a whole bunch of soft, slow-ish players, it's a recipe for defensive disaster. The Raps just give up layup after layup, and when they aren't giving up layups they're giving up wide open jumpers. It's unbelievable how bad they are on "D".
The C's shot 83% for the ENTIRE FIRST QUARTER, and are up 33-27 at the end of one. Really, it should be far worse, but the C's defense is still suiting up in the locker room and their offense is throwing turnovers left and right.
Second Quarter
Early in the second quarter, 'Sheed got a steal, bulldozed an official, then missed an awkward pullup five footer on the break. Less than a minute later, Sheed picked up a technical foul, and the refs had gotten their revenge. Meanwhile, Tommy Heinsohn acted like Rasheed is an absolute class act, saying "I'm getting tired with these officials. I'm getting tired with that type of nonsense, that call. I mean, the guy is upset because he goes to one end of the floor, goes to the basket, doesn't get a foul"... and then Tommy just kind of trailed off without finishing his sentence. Either way, he apparently thinks Rasheed doesn't deserve his technicals, despite Rasheed being the league's technical leader for, oh, about the last fifty some-odd years, and the fact that he argues just about every single call made against him.
The C's defense is non-existent. Somehow, they are only up two points despite scoring just about every time they've taken a shot.
Why, oh why, does Rasheed Wallace not go into the post more often? Especially when he's mired into a seemingly oh-fer-the-season slump, wouldn't you think he would at least try his post game out a little? Well, he did in this game. First post touch: Drop step towards the baseline around Bargnani for an easy bucket. Second post touch (on the very next play), an unblockable fadeaway turning towards his left shoulder for another bucket. Please, Rasheed, don't be allergic to the paint. You are far too talented on the blocks.
I'm not sure exactly what he said, but Rasheed just started woofing at Turkoglu while the two were walking to their respective huddles to begin a timeout. After the game, I received a tweet from thew Globe's Gary Washburn that said: "Rasheed wallace on hedo turkoglu: 'flop. Thats what turkadodo do. Flop.'" It's too bad for the Raptors that "Turkadodo" is too busy flopping to play any semblance of real defense. Also too bad for the Raptors: Nobody else on their team plays any semblance of real defense, either.
Paul Pierce just scored on Marco Belinelli, and Mike Gorman said something to the affect of, "It's like Pierce looked up, saw he had Belinelli on him, and decided he would go ahead and score." Gorman might as well have said, "It's like Pierce looked up, saw he was playing the Raptors, and decided he would go ahead and score."
'Sheed is doing it all in the first half. He's hitting from inside, hitting from outside, rebounding, and blocking shots. When he plays like this, he helps the Celtics SO much. Unfortunately, most of the time he's too busy living in a tent at the three-point arc to play so well.
Comcast just had the following "Roundball debate of perfection": Who is the perfect Celtics shooter? A) Ray Allen, or B) Jo-Jo White. There is no C) option. Now, I know Ray Allen is a great shooter, and so was Jo-Jo White, but don't you have to include a certain white shooter on the list? And, for those of you out there wondering, I don't mean Brian Scalabrine. Larry Bird, people. Doesn't he deserve to at least be an option on the Goddamn list? They called Ray Allen "Jesus" in He Got Game, but they called Larry Bird "Jesus", or at least "Basketball Jesus", in real life. Let's just say the "Roundball debate of perfection" could use a little tweaking.
Kendrick Perkins is really an underrated passer. He usually makes one or two passes a game that make me scratch my head and wonder how Perk saw the pass when a lot of point guards wouldn't. (Okay, maybe just a lot of power forwards wouldn't make.) This time, it was a wraparound pass to a wide open Garnett underneath the bucket. Perk can do a lot of surprisingly good things with the basketball in his hands.
The Celtics shot 67.6% in the first half. The problem? The Raps shot 66.7%, and actually lead the C's by one point at halftime. The first half was simply a clinic on how NOT to play defense, for both teams. Layup, after layup, after layup, on both ends. Somehow, despite negative defense on both sides, the two teams have combined for 24 turnovers. Go figure.
Third Quarter
The second half started out much the same as the first, with the Raptors getting unmolested shots at the hoop. A layup, a dunk, and another dunk were results from Toronto's first three possessions. Since I am DVR'ing this, I know the Raptors only scored 17 points the whole third quarter, but it looks right now like they are ready to have another 30-or-so point quarter.
The C's were down 61-57, then rattled off a 13-0 run that only ended when Amir Johnson hit a free throw to make it 70-62. During the run, the C's "flipped the switch", finally putting together a stretch of good defense and maintaining their prolific offensive output.
It might just be playing a team softer than a baby's bottom, but the Celtics are pounding the ball down low and scoring easy buckets all day. It bothers me when KG and Wallace spend too much time on the perimeter, because the trio of those two and Perk should be absolutely dominant down low on both ends.
By the time the third quarter was over, the game was over, and I'm getting kind of restless. I just want to see Pierce's dunk...
Fourth Quarter
Well, I saw Pierce's dunk and, of course, I want to say a couple things about it. First, there's no way Pierce intentionally kicked Bosh. To kick him, while simultaneously skying through the air and dunking a basketball, would have been almost impossible. Still, he certainly kicked him. On another note, somebody needs to tell Jay Triano to shut the f--- up. For some reason, he started yapping at the Celtics about something being bullshit. I don't know whether he was talking about Pierce's kick, Pierce's taunt afterward, or what, but I DO know that instead of getting into a shouting match with Rasheed after a Pierce dunk, Triano should have been more focused on coaching his defense.
Dunks happen, offensive fouls happen, and trash talk happens, Triano, but you don't have to make it worse by getting into a shouting match with Rasheed after it. Just shut up and coach your team. It's your defense, not Pierce's dunk, that was bullshit. If you want to argue Pierce should have toned it down a little, I agree, but it's not the coach's place to do something about it. The referees called a technical foul, and the coach should just let bygones be bygones. There is no need for a coach to ever get into a shouting match with an opposing player. Not over a little taunting, at least.
Somehow, Doc Rivers ended up with a technical foul after Triano was up in Rasheed's mug screaming his head off. You wonder what in the hell goes on in NBA officials heads, sometimes.
Instead of watching the end of this game, I'm just going to put that dunk on repeat:
Before I go, I'll leave you with some stats:
Eddie House was the only Celtic to take a shot and not shoot at least 50% from the field. He was 1 for 3.
Rondo had more assists (11) than the entire Raptors starting five (8).
KG and Perk were both perfect from the field, combining for 14 for 14 shooting and 30 points. That would have been a lot more impressive had their degree of difficulty not been higher in layup lines than it was in the game.
The C's shot 62.3%.
Despite playing a frontcourt that would have been overpowered by Mikki Moore, the C's were outrebounded 31-26.
I'm sure there are some other wild statistics from this one, but I have yet to unearth them. Just know it was an unorthodox game with some blistering shooting, and that the Celtics had no problems putting Toronto away once they put it into first gear in the third quarter.
The Celtics played the Raptors again and, again, they blew the NBA’s lone Canadian team out. A lot of people think Toronto could make some noise in the East this year, but they have been no match for the Celtics in two (nonetheless meaningless) preseason games. Kevin Garnett (21 points, 4 rebounds) led the way for the C’s , and by this point in the preseason nobody is asking any more questions about his knee. KG’s leg is A-Okay, and he is going to be the same old Kevin Garnett that everybody has come to respect and admire.
Garnett was great, and Ray Allen (20 points on 8-13 shooting) shot the lights out, but nobody was as electric today as Eddie House. In the fourth quarter, Eddie got hot like only Eddie can, hitting three three-balls and a long two before Doc mercifully summonsed him back to the bench. When Eddie gets hot, it’s a sight to behold. A sliver of space is all he needs, and every shot seems to go down. There is not a better streak shooter in this league than Eddie House. He is a feared assassin, and he can put opposing teams away with one of his hot streaks, as he did today.
The C’s didn’t get much from Paul Pierce (2 points), but nothing was needed. They have the depth to get by even when the Big Three only has two functioning members. For more in-depth analysis, read my running diary below. Unfortunately, it starts at the second quarter. I live in New York, and couldn’t find a feed for the game until then. Sue me.
Running Diary: Second Quarter
Turned the game on at the end of the first quarter, after I finally found it streaming live on the internet. 33-23, Celtics. The score sounds good. I think missing the first quarter might have been a blessing in disguise: I got to watch the Maccabi Tel Aviv coach get kicked out of his game against the Knicks and then refuse to leave the court.
The NBA preseason; Where European basketball coaches acting like Bobby Knight happens.
Stats come up on the screen, which by the way is one of the worst-quality live streams I’ve ever seen. Anyways, 76.5% shooting for the Celtics in the first quarter. That’s it? They can’t even get to 80%?
Eddie House for three. At least I think it was Eddie. I can barely tell through this grainy computer feed.
I hate Hedo Turkoglu for what he did to the Celtics in the playoffs, but I really respect him. He brings a lot to his team. When he’s coming off screens and knocking down shots, you tend to forget he’s damn near 7 feet tall. He just hit an and-one, by the way.
Marquis Daniels with a great steal, then looks like he might go coast-to-coast! Only to dribble it off his leg and out of bounds. Still, a nice defensive play from the man who still looks a lot like Mikki Moore.
Bargnani and Turkoglu get dunks on back-to-back plays. I wouldn’t have been more surprised if Tom Thibodeau himself went up for a tomahawk slam.
Rondo with a nice jumper from out top. His form is really looking good. The Celtics defense, though, isn’t, and they give up another layup. This time to the fuzzy character who somewhat resembles Amir Johnson. 38-34, C’s.
Rasheed Wallace is looking very active defensively. I always knew he was a good defender, but when you watch him every night you begin to appreciate just how much he affects a game on both ends.
Marquis Daniels is either strong, has a mean streak, or both. He and Hedo are going at it while Hedo guards Marquis, and Daniels’ shoulder seems to be dishing out a fair amount of pain to Hedo.
Breaking news: I have now found a good feed! I no longer have to guess who is who based on the body shape and skin color. I can now actually see players’ faces and numbers! I feel like I was just given glasses for the first time after having impaired vision for my whole life.
Daniels and Wallace are everywhere defensively. You can’t underestimate the impact they’ll have on the second unit. I don’t care if neither of them scores a point all season. They’re still better than Mikki Moore and Tony Allen.
Rondo just threw his patented alley-oop. But this time it went to Rasheed, not KG. I’m surprised ‘Sheed can still get up a little bit. He’s getting old. 44-36, Celtics.
Starters back in. ‘Sheed goes to the bench, but not before proving yet again why I love that the Celtics picked him up. He only has 2 points and 2 rebounds, but I couldn’t be happier with ‘Sheed’s effort.
Kevin Garnett isn’t just one of the best big-man shooters in the league. He’s one of the best shooters in the NBA, period. But for some reason he cannot, and/or will not, step back behind the arc. He hits a lot of shots from just inside the arc, but has never diversified his game to include the three.
The last two games, the Celtics have really started to look like themselves. Better defense, higher intensity, and quicker ball movement. Either they’re starting to work into regular season form, or they’re playing the Raptors. Maybe a little bit of both, although the Raps should be much improved this year with Hedo in tow.
Ray with a picture-perfect pull-up jumper in transition. With Ray, isn’t it always picture-perfect?
The Celtics just had the prettiest play of the preseason. Ball down low with KG. Passes out top to Rasheed. Swings to Marquis on the wing. Hits KG high post. Lob down low to Rondo. Wide open layup. All of those passes were executed before you could say, “Bing-Bang”. Such an impressive play that can only happen when a team really knows how to play the game.
Shelden Williams has now entered the game. Word on the street is that the Raptors are going to double-team him because of the first-half shooting barrage he went on Wednesday night. Or maybe they’ll just realize it was a fluke.
And I think they realized it was a fluke. They left Shelden wide open at the free throw line one of his first possessions. He thought about it briefly and let it go. As you might have imagined, it was a brick.
The half ends with a Rondo heave that actually comes pretty close. 54-49 at the half. Garnett leads the C’s with 15 points, Ray-Ray bounced back from an uncharacteristic bad shooting game to shoot 6-6 for 14 points, and Rondo ends the first half with 6 points and 4 assists. Pierce, though only scoring 2 points, compiled a team-high 5 assists.
Third Quarter
Sloppy start to the second half. Neither team scores ‘til two minutes go off the board. Unfortunately, it’s the Raptors who finally break the ice. Even more unfortunately, it’s Hedo mother---ing Turkoglu. 54-52 Celtics.
Celts don’t look good offensively, but give a little credit to the Raps. They’ve ratcheted up the intensity and are suddenly contesting every shot. Meanwhile, Bargnani all of a sudden looks like the Defensive Player of the Year as he stuffs two Perkins shots right back in his face. 54-54. Tie game.
The Celtics finally score, and I can’t say whether I’m surprised that their first bucket this half was scored on a goaltend. I guess it was destiny that Perkins would have his shot blocked a third straight time, except it would count. After all, the third time’s the charm.
The third quarter has been sloppy on both sides, but not in a preseason “we don’t care” type of way. Both teams are getting after it. 58-54 Celtics, 6 minutes left.
The shooting stats just popped up on the bottom of the screen; The Celtics are shooting 15%, and the Raptors are at a scorching 22%.
Pretty fastbreak by the C’s. Ray Allen dribbles upcourt, then lobs a pass to a perfectly-positioned KG, who turns and scores.
My feed just went haywire. It was working perfectly and then, all of a sudden, pause after pause as the feed backed up. And now Kevin Garnett is talking about Marquis Daniels being underrated, but I can’t hear because my computer has no volume. The only reason I knew what KG was talking about because it said right under Kevin Garnett’s name, “Marquis Daniels Underrated”.
67-59, Celtics. If Ray Allen doesn’t have the smoothest game in the world, I don’t know who does. Maybe Jesus Shuttlesworth. Ray just caught a Rondo pass and drove right into the lane, almost finishing with what would have been an oh-so-pretty fingerroll. Even his misses make me talk about how smooth he is.
Rasheed in for Perk with the rest of the first unit. I like the lineup, and I like that Wallace just drained a three to put the C’s up 71-63.
Jarrett Jack just got accosted by Big Baby, who was at the time being held by Amir Johnson, and Jack went flying to the floor. Somehow, it was a foul on Jack, rather than Big Baby or Johnson. Gotta love the replacement refs.
End of third quarter. 73-63, Celtics. Doc has really tightened the rotation today. Still, I’m surprised we haven’t seen any of Scal or Hudson in the game.
Fourth Quarter
We may not be seeing much of the end of the Celtics’ bench, but we can certainly find remnants of past Boston benches. Patrick O’Bryant, who might be in a tie with Mikki Moore for the worst 7-footer to ever play basketball in Boston, is now in the game for the Raps.
Scal has now entered the game. I’m not sure why Doc has waited until the fourth quarter to put him in during the last two games. Maybe it’s just indicative of the minutes Scal will get come the regular season. I thought the second unit functioned great when Scal was out there with House and Wallace, but maybe Rivers thinks differently.
Big Baby has some limitations defensively, but he sure does know how to take a charge. I fear for the floor every time he does, but he hasn’t dented any… yet.
81-69, Celtics. With the way the second unit has been playing, Red Auerbach is now opening the stogies and preparing to light one.
With Eddie House catching fire, Red won't even need a lighter. And House is doing it without his trademark headband. His last three was on a beautiful cross-court pass by Daniels, who is doing a good job with his PG duties.
Kevin Garnett is up and cheering for everybody. And by cheering, I mean spewing random swears in a way he hopes will make his teammates play better.
Daniels is doing a great job facilitating the offense, and Eddie House hasofficially ignited in flames. Three threes and a looonggg two THIS QUARTER have put the finishing touches on this one, even though there’s still a bit of time left to play. 90-73, Celtics. This second unit could beat a lot of starting fives around the league.
KG has been on the bench reacting to each House three like it’s an NBA championship-clinching shot. If he realizes it’s only preseason, KG is not letting on that he knows.
Eddie was forced to bomb one from 35 feet as time expired on the shot clock. I think I speak for all Celtics fans when I say I was surprised it missed. Despite being from halfway across Toronto.
Michael Sweetney has entered the game with a little over four minutes left. Hudson is the only one who has yet to see minutes. Sweetney gobbles up a rebound on his first possession… no pun intended.
Hudson and Giddens are now in, joining Sweetney, Scal, and Shelden Williams. Eddie House leaves, but I can still see smoke rising from him on the sidelines.
The last couple minutes were filled with a Lester Hudson three, a Giddens jumper, and a Shelden dunk. Nothing too exciting, but nothing to be ashamed of, either. The third unit looked good. Just like the first unit did, and just like the second unit did. Game over. 101-82, good guys win.
So much for Boston's (brief and tiny) fears about Rajon Rondo. I guess he just needed to get those competitive juices flowing before regaining "Playoff Rondo" form. Last night, he begged Doc Rivers to keep him on the floor so he could lead the undermanned Celtics (playing without the Big Three, Marquis Daniels and Rasheed Wallace) to a victory. It didn't matter to Rondo that it was only preseason basketball; his team was knocked down in the first half, trailing by thirteen points at halftime and getting embarrassed. So Rondo got up off the mat and came back throwing haymakers, finishing with 18 points, 13 assists, 9 assists and a win despite playing with such a depleted roster.
Tonight, Rondo will lead the Celtics into Hartord, CT., where they will play the Toronto Raptors at 7:30 p.m. EDT. Rasheed Wallace will likely miss the game with a "tweaked ankle", but the Big Three should all be back from their one-day hiatus. Thankfully, Rasheed's injury isn't too bad; he looked great yesterday night when he got the time. He spread the floor beautifully with some long bombs, was aggressive every time he got the ball and even showed off the little youth he still has left in those 35-year old legs, rising up and dunking after a gorgeous feed from a driving Rondo.
With Rasheed out, look for Big Baby Glen Davis to earn more extended minutes. Davis has looked very good this year, seemingly becoming more efficient and taking advantage of his minutes off the bench. It seems as if his great run filling in for Kevin Garnett has given Davis a lot of confidence and he has taken that confidence into this year. I went to a preseason game last year and Davis was the worst player on the floor. He did little (if anything) productive, and even passed it directly to the 76ers on more than one occasion. The difference between Davis last preseason and Davis now is night and day. He's ready now to play a big role, whereas he wasn't at the beginning of last year.
The Celtics' depth had been evident throughout the first three preseason games, but was never more obvious than last night. With five (Five!) key players out, the C's still had enough to mount a comeback against the Nets. One of the heroes was J.R. Giddens, more or less the last man off their bench, who provided boundless energy and helped turn the tide of the game. Giddens came into the game in the first half like a man possessed, going after every loose ball and bringing a level of play he doesn't normally show. Thirteen rebounds later, Giddens could sit at his locker after the game happy, knowing he took advantage of the opportunity afforded to him when so many players ahead of him on the depth chart ended up on the sidelines for the night.
It's only preseason, but a great comeback still gets the juices flowing. Hell, I had the juices flowing even in a poorly-played first half that ended up with the C's down 13 points. Four more games and 13 more days until the Quickens Loan Arena hosts the Big Three and Lebron in the season's opening game. But for tonight the Raptors are the opponent, and the Big Three will be back to face them.
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