I Called Them Out After Game 4...Now I Must Give a Little Praise

[RAcker]

This is exactly how this Celtics team should play both at home and on the road.  Here are my 2 cents about Game 5:

Pierce: It appears that we were all right about Paul needing to take it to the hole with more regularity.  It was a nice stroke by Doc to get him the ball in the middle of the floor around the freethrow line as well.  It opended up all sorts of opportunites.

Garnett:  He kept his head, he busted his tail and in the end, he put his stamp all over this game, especially on the defensive end.  Now, KG, DO IT IN GAME 6!!!  Let's end this thing Friday night and move on.

Ray Allen:  Still settling at times for the 3's, but when you are shooting like that, it's the one time that settling is okay.  Keep hot.  We'll need you Friday.

Cassell:  A real nice offensive spark in the 2nd and nice running of the team in the 4th.  This is what we need from you.  You had one of the best assists of the night, and despite your great shooting early in the game, the extra pass to Posey for the 3 is what I'll remember the most.

Team Defense:  What more can we say?  This is Celtics Basketball!

Conclusiion:  The Hawks WILL come out with a fire in their bellies at home on Friday, but this is exactly why we have to turn it up even more.  If we are fortunate enough again to make a run like the one that got us the 16 to 3 lead in Game 4, we'd better play defense like we did last night to protect that lead.  Don't let this team get any more confident than they already have been.

[Redz]

Shaugnessy had a good column this morning in the Globe covering much the same idea.  It's hard now to believe the Celtics actually lost two games to these guys after the way they dismantled them.  But the doubt was definitely there, and there was a good deal of pressure on the Celtics last night to win a game they absolutely SHOULD win.

And, yes, I'd point to Pierce's ability/willingness to take it to the hole consistently last night as the offensive key to victory for the C's.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/05/01/how_did_we_get_here/?page=2

[fan33]

Yeah, RAcker ageed! For the way in which the TEAM dismantled the Hawks in taking them out of their fast break game , by scoring and then defence, our Celtics deserve praise. Good get on the Shaugnessy link Redz, which sums it up well, I think! I can't believe we lost 2 games to these guys (shakes head). I do think the lesson was worth the losses though, and not to be forgotten.

Now Celts, put these guys out of their misery in game 6  with the same blueprint, although they showed well for themselves and their fans

[X Man]

Shaugnessy had a good column this morning in the Globe covering much the same idea.  It's hard now to believe the Celtics actually lost two games to these guys after the way they dismantled them.  But the doubt was definitely there, and there was a good deal of pressure on the Celtics last night to win a game they absolutely SHOULD win.

And, yes, I'd point to Pierce's ability/willingness to take it to the hole consistently last night as the offensive key to victory for the C's.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/05/01/how_did_we_get_here/?page=2

I agree, I did notice one key adjustment and that was Rondo and Pierce playing the 2 man game with Pierce which forced a mismatch everytime (since Bibby can't off a pick) this made it WAY easier for The Truth to break down the Hawks defense and get his game going.  Doc deserves credit for that!! (I think )

[hpantazo]

This is exactly how this Celtics team should play both at home and on the road.  Here are my 2 cents about Game 5:

Pierce: It appears that we were all right about Paul needing to take it to the hole with more regularity.  It was a nice stroke by Doc to get him the ball in the middle of the floor around the freethrow line as well.  It opended up all sorts of opportunites.

Garnett:  He kept his head, he busted his tail and in the end, he put his stamp all over this game, especially on the defensive end.  Now, KG, DO IT IN GAME 6!!!  Let's end this thing Friday night and move on.

Ray Allen:  Still settling at times for the 3's, but when you are shooting like that, it's the one time that settling is okay.  Keep hot.  We'll need you Friday.

Cassell:  A real nice offensive spark in the 2nd and nice running of the team in the 4th.  This is what we need from you.  You had one of the best assists of the night, and despite your great shooting early in the game, the extra pass to Posey for the 3 is what I'll remember the most.

Team Defense:  What more can we say?  This is Celtics Basketball!

Conclusiion:  The Hawks WILL come out with a fire in their bellies at home on Friday, but this is exactly why we have to turn it up even more.  If we are fortunate enough again to make a run like the one that got us the 16 to 3 lead in Game 4, we'd better play defense like we did last night to protect that lead.  Don't let this team get any more confident than they already have been.

I agree, they deserve praise, especially Pierce, but you forgot about Rondo, he was a beast last night, he brought true playoff intensity and focus on both ends of the floor.

[RAcker]

This is exactly how this Celtics team should play both at home and on the road.  Here are my 2 cents about Game 5:

Pierce: It appears that we were all right about Paul needing to take it to the hole with more regularity.  It was a nice stroke by Doc to get him the ball in the middle of the floor around the freethrow line as well.  It opended up all sorts of opportunites.

Garnett:  He kept his head, he busted his tail and in the end, he put his stamp all over this game, especially on the defensive end.  Now, KG, DO IT IN GAME 6!!!  Let's end this thing Friday night and move on.

Ray Allen:  Still settling at times for the 3's, but when you are shooting like that, it's the one time that settling is okay.  Keep hot.  We'll need you Friday.

Cassell:  A real nice offensive spark in the 2nd and nice running of the team in the 4th.  This is what we need from you.  You had one of the best assists of the night, and despite your great shooting early in the game, the extra pass to Posey for the 3 is what I'll remember the most.

Team Defense:  What more can we say?  This is Celtics Basketball!

Conclusiion:  The Hawks WILL come out with a fire in their bellies at home on Friday, but this is exactly why we have to turn it up even more.  If we are fortunate enough again to make a run like the one that got us the 16 to 3 lead in Game 4, we'd better play defense like we did last night to protect that lead.  Don't let this team get any more confident than they already have been.

I agree, they deserve praise, especially Pierce, but you forgot about Rondo, he was a beast last night, he brought true playoff intensity and focus on both ends of the floor.

You are exactly right. Rondo has been stepping up every game this series, especially on the defensive end. Bibby is completely helpless when Rondo decides to shut him down.

The only reason I didn't include him in the original post is because I really haven't had to call him out this series.  I think he has been consistenly intense and regardless of what kind of night he's having, he's giving it his all at both ends.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Huh? Rondo is playing hard, but he hasn't been a beast. He was great in the first two games, but the last couple have left something to be desired.  Good defense on Bibby last night, but Bibby was awful himself.  Rondo's shot selection has to improve and finish better around the basket... it was one of our main problems in our two loses in Atlanta, needless to say how he stopped defending Bibby as effective as he had been. He's not moving the ball that well as of late to be frank, and that's the main thing I want to see from him on the offensive side.

He was quite bad in Atlanta.  Game 3 doesn't look as bad as it really was for him, but he was bad.  He entered the 4th shooting 3 of 8.  Of those 8 shots, 5 of them came in the 3rd.  A 3rd quarter which was really what lost us the game.  Of those 5 shots, he only made one... which was the buzzer beater layup. So aside from that, a terrible quarter by him.  Then he gets lucky with two terrible shots in the 4th, bringin his shooting percetage up to 50%.  Which is nice and all, but those were two terrible shots that he shouldn't have taken, especially after entering the quarter 3 for 8.

[BballTim]

Huh? Rondo is playing hard, but he hasn't been a beast. He was great in the first two games, but the last couple have left something to be desired.  Good defense on Bibby last night, but Bibby was awful himself.  Rondo's shot selection has to improve and finish better around the basket... it was one of our main problems in our two loses in Atlanta, needless to say how he stopped defending Bibby as effective as he had been. He's not moving the ball that well as of late to be frank, and that's the main thing I want to see from him on the offensive side.

He was quite bad in Atlanta.  Game 3 doesn't look as bad as it really was for him, but he was bad.  He entered the 4th shooting 3 of 8.  Of those 8 shots, 5 of them came in the 3rd.  A 3rd quarter which was really what lost us the game.  Of those 5 shots, he only made one... which was the buzzer beater layup. So aside from that, a terrible quarter by him.  Then he gets lucky with two terrible shots in the 4th, bringin his shooting percetage up to 50%.  Which is nice and all, but those were two terrible shots that he shouldn't have taken, especially after entering the quarter 3 for 8.

  Rondo's played awfully well this series. Right now he's 12th in the league for PER for the playoffs, while Bibby is 128th. Bibby's PER for the playoffs is less than half what it was for the season. Rajon didn't have a great game 3, but he was hardly alone in that regard.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Huh? Rondo is playing hard, but he hasn't been a beast. He was great in the first two games, but the last couple have left something to be desired.  Good defense on Bibby last night, but Bibby was awful himself.  Rondo's shot selection has to improve and finish better around the basket... it was one of our main problems in our two loses in Atlanta, needless to say how he stopped defending Bibby as effective as he had been. He's not moving the ball that well as of late to be frank, and that's the main thing I want to see from him on the offensive side.

He was quite bad in Atlanta.  Game 3 doesn't look as bad as it really was for him, but he was bad.  He entered the 4th shooting 3 of 8.  Of those 8 shots, 5 of them came in the 3rd.  A 3rd quarter which was really what lost us the game.  Of those 5 shots, he only made one... which was the buzzer beater layup. So aside from that, a terrible quarter by him.  Then he gets lucky with two terrible shots in the 4th, bringin his shooting percetage up to 50%.  Which is nice and all, but those were two terrible shots that he shouldn't have taken, especially after entering the quarter 3 for 8.

  Rondo's played awfully well this series. Right now he's 12th in the league for PER for the playoffs, while Bibby is 128th. Bibby's PER for the playoffs is less than half what it was for the season. Rajon didn't have a great game 3, but he was hardly alone in that regard.

He wasn't particularly good in game 4 or yesterday either.  That's 3 games in a row where he has been a bit subpar.

I didn't mean to single him out in game 3, as you pointed out, he wasn't alone in that regard... but that doesn't mean I have to excuse him for it, or pretend him to be the beast that he wasn't. He was one of the main culprits in letting the game get out of hand in game 3. The dude has been jacking up shots as of late, and that's not good. Point in case, in the last game there were two possessions that really illustrate what I mean.  One was a 3 pointer that he jacked-up (luckily made) when he had Pierce asking for the ball with a good portion left on the shotclock when he had Bibby on him.  The other possession was when he held to the ball for the whole shotclock without trying to anything and then jacking up a shot.  I know he's not doing this everytime, but he has started to do it more frequently as of late... and they usually end up being bad shots.

On a team with Garnett, Pierce, and Allen all already sacrificing their offense for each other, we don't need Rondo shooting 14 or 16 shots like he has done lately, especially when he's not shooting it well, especially when he has a terrible shot selection.

[NUMBA 17]

Gotta disagree with Bud about Rondo...the guy has been pretty dominant in this series...the only game I didnt think he played well was Game 3....Game 4 he was the catalyst in the 3rd quarter when they went up by 10...........I actually thought Doc waited WAY too long to put him back in when House was struggling to run the team and the lead was chipping away.....

 Not moving the ball well?  he had 12 assists in Game 4 and 7 last night........  he DOES have to be more aware of where J. Smith is on his drives...

  I know alot of faith was shaken over the 2 Atlanta games, but let me be the one to get our swagger back.....I GAURANTEE THE CELTICS FINISH THIS SERIES FRIDAY NIGHT.....no chance there will be a game 7.....Atlanta played well Game 3, and Celtics blew Game 4 when they shouldve cruised to victory.....IT WONT HAPPEN AGAIN......

[BballTim]

Huh? Rondo is playing hard, but he hasn't been a beast. He was great in the first two games, but the last couple have left something to be desired.  Good defense on Bibby last night, but Bibby was awful himself.  Rondo's shot selection has to improve and finish better around the basket... it was one of our main problems in our two loses in Atlanta, needless to say how he stopped defending Bibby as effective as he had been. He's not moving the ball that well as of late to be frank, and that's the main thing I want to see from him on the offensive side.

He was quite bad in Atlanta.  Game 3 doesn't look as bad as it really was for him, but he was bad.  He entered the 4th shooting 3 of 8.  Of those 8 shots, 5 of them came in the 3rd.  A 3rd quarter which was really what lost us the game.  Of those 5 shots, he only made one... which was the buzzer beater layup. So aside from that, a terrible quarter by him.  Then he gets lucky with two terrible shots in the 4th, bringin his shooting percetage up to 50%.  Which is nice and all, but those were two terrible shots that he shouldn't have taken, especially after entering the quarter 3 for 8.

  Rondo's played awfully well this series. Right now he's 12th in the league for PER for the playoffs, while Bibby is 128th. Bibby's PER for the playoffs is less than half what it was for the season. Rajon didn't have a great game 3, but he was hardly alone in that regard.

He wasn't particularly good in game 4 or yesterday either.  That's 3 games in a row where he has been a bit subpar.

I didn't mean to single him out in game 3, as you pointed out, he wasn't alone in that regard... but that doesn't mean I have to excuse him for it, or pretend him to be the beast that he wasn't. He was one of the main culprits in letting the game get out of hand in game 3. The dude has been jacking up shots as of late, and that's not good. Point in case, in the last game there were two possessions that really illustrate what I mean.  One was a 3 pointer that he jacked-up (luckily made) when he had Pierce asking for the ball with a good portion left on the shotclock when he had Bibby on him.  The other possession was when he held to the ball for the whole shotclock without trying to anything and then jacking up a shot.  I know he's not doing this everytime, but he has started to do it more frequently as of late... and they usually end up being bad shots.

On a team with Garnett, Pierce, and Allen all already sacrificing their offense for each other, we don't need Rondo shooting 14 or 16 shots like he has done lately, especially when he's not shooting it well, especially when he has a terrible shot selection.

  You're talking about Rondo taking a few bad shots in his first playoff series. His assist to turnover ratio is 10 to 1, and he's 3rd in assist per game in the playoffs. Bibby has only had 1 game out of the 5 where he has more assists than turnovers. Defense counts too. Rondo's doing fine.

[Bahku]

Rondo does SO many things for this team, not the least of which is setting tempo, and attacking the paint. You really can't assess a player like him completely by numbers or stats, it's just not comprehensive enough. Rondo's doing a lot for this team in the playoffs, and I get a bit nervous every time he comes out of the game ... the tempo drops, the energy drops, and the offense goes into the half-court. He's got a LONG ways to go, but is definitely our point guard of the future, and a vital part of the success of this team now.

[jay_jay54]

A win is a win,regardless of what didnt go right on off/def...i give the whole team a standing ovation for winning game 5.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Huh? Rondo is playing hard, but he hasn't been a beast. He was great in the first two games, but the last couple have left something to be desired.  Good defense on Bibby last night, but Bibby was awful himself.  Rondo's shot selection has to improve and finish better around the basket... it was one of our main problems in our two loses in Atlanta, needless to say how he stopped defending Bibby as effective as he had been. He's not moving the ball that well as of late to be frank, and that's the main thing I want to see from him on the offensive side.

He was quite bad in Atlanta.  Game 3 doesn't look as bad as it really was for him, but he was bad.  He entered the 4th shooting 3 of 8.  Of those 8 shots, 5 of them came in the 3rd.  A 3rd quarter which was really what lost us the game.  Of those 5 shots, he only made one... which was the buzzer beater layup. So aside from that, a terrible quarter by him.  Then he gets lucky with two terrible shots in the 4th, bringin his shooting percetage up to 50%.  Which is nice and all, but those were two terrible shots that he shouldn't have taken, especially after entering the quarter 3 for 8.

  Rondo's played awfully well this series. Right now he's 12th in the league for PER for the playoffs, while Bibby is 128th. Bibby's PER for the playoffs is less than half what it was for the season. Rajon didn't have a great game 3, but he was hardly alone in that regard.

He wasn't particularly good in game 4 or yesterday either.  That's 3 games in a row where he has been a bit subpar.

I didn't mean to single him out in game 3, as you pointed out, he wasn't alone in that regard... but that doesn't mean I have to excuse him for it, or pretend him to be the beast that he wasn't. He was one of the main culprits in letting the game get out of hand in game 3. The dude has been jacking up shots as of late, and that's not good. Point in case, in the last game there were two possessions that really illustrate what I mean.  One was a 3 pointer that he jacked-up (luckily made) when he had Pierce asking for the ball with a good portion left on the shotclock when he had Bibby on him.  The other possession was when he held to the ball for the whole shotclock without trying to anything and then jacking up a shot.  I know he's not doing this everytime, but he has started to do it more frequently as of late... and they usually end up being bad shots.

On a team with Garnett, Pierce, and Allen all already sacrificing their offense for each other, we don't need Rondo shooting 14 or 16 shots like he has done lately, especially when he's not shooting it well, especially when he has a terrible shot selection.

  You're talking about Rondo taking a few bad shots in his first playoff series. His assist to turnover ratio is 10 to 1, and he's 3rd in assist per game in the playoffs. Bibby has only had 1 game out of the 5 where he has more assists than turnovers. Defense counts too. Rondo's doing fine.

Again, I was replying to a post that was making Rondo look like he has been a beast throughout the whole series, when he hasn't.  I'm I happy with what he has accomplished in his first year in the playoffs? Yes.  Do I think he can do much better? Yes. Is he playing like a beast? No.

If you guys are content with him jacking up shots, when we know that is not his game, then fine. I know Rondo knows better, and I hope he does better.

[hpantazo]

Huh? Rondo is playing hard, but he hasn't been a beast. He was great in the first two games, but the last couple have left something to be desired.  Good defense on Bibby last night, but Bibby was awful himself.  Rondo's shot selection has to improve and finish better around the basket... it was one of our main problems in our two loses in Atlanta, needless to say how he stopped defending Bibby as effective as he had been. He's not moving the ball that well as of late to be frank, and that's the main thing I want to see from him on the offensive side.

He was quite bad in Atlanta.  Game 3 doesn't look as bad as it really was for him, but he was bad.  He entered the 4th shooting 3 of 8.  Of those 8 shots, 5 of them came in the 3rd.  A 3rd quarter which was really what lost us the game.  Of those 5 shots, he only made one... which was the buzzer beater layup. So aside from that, a terrible quarter by him.  Then he gets lucky with two terrible shots in the 4th, bringin his shooting percetage up to 50%.  Which is nice and all, but those were two terrible shots that he shouldn't have taken, especially after entering the quarter 3 for 8.

  Rondo's played awfully well this series. Right now he's 12th in the league for PER for the playoffs, while Bibby is 128th. Bibby's PER for the playoffs is less than half what it was for the season. Rajon didn't have a great game 3, but he was hardly alone in that regard.

He wasn't particularly good in game 4 or yesterday either.  That's 3 games in a row where he has been a bit subpar.

I didn't mean to single him out in game 3, as you pointed out, he wasn't alone in that regard... but that doesn't mean I have to excuse him for it, or pretend him to be the beast that he wasn't. He was one of the main culprits in letting the game get out of hand in game 3. The dude has been jacking up shots as of late, and that's not good. Point in case, in the last game there were two possessions that really illustrate what I mean.  One was a 3 pointer that he jacked-up (luckily made) when he had Pierce asking for the ball with a good portion left on the shotclock when he had Bibby on him.  The other possession was when he held to the ball for the whole shotclock without trying to anything and then jacking up a shot.  I know he's not doing this everytime, but he has started to do it more frequently as of late... and they usually end up being bad shots.

On a team with Garnett, Pierce, and Allen all already sacrificing their offense for each other, we don't need Rondo shooting 14 or 16 shots like he has done lately, especially when he's not shooting it well, especially when he has a terrible shot selection.

  You're talking about Rondo taking a few bad shots in his first playoff series. His assist to turnover ratio is 10 to 1, and he's 3rd in assist per game in the playoffs. Bibby has only had 1 game out of the 5 where he has more assists than turnovers. Defense counts too. Rondo's doing fine.

Again, I was replying to a post that was making Rondo look like he has been a beast throughout the whole series, when he hasn't.  I'm I happy with what he has accomplished in his first year in the playoffs? Yes.  Do I think he can do much better? Yes. Is he playing like a beast? No.

If you guys are content with him jacking up shots, when we know that is not his game, then fine. I know Rondo knows better, and I hope he does better.

In game 5, Rondo was a beast. His intensity on both ends of the floor was a major key to the game. He dove for (and got) loose balls, he shut down Bibby, he interrupted many of the hawks plays, he grabbed boards, he pushed the tempo, he drove to the hoop at will and opened things up for the rest of the team, and he took shots fearlessly and made them when the hawks defense challenged him to do so. He did everything right.  I don't know what game you were watching. He wasn't jacking up shots. When you have as many scorers on the team ans rondo does, and the defense sees you as a weak shooter and plays off you to double the other players, and to keep you from driving, you HAVE to take those shots. He took them without hesitation as he should, and he made a decent amount of them, enough to keep the defense honest.