Similar to Game 5 against Orlando, I think there was a mighty team-wide malaise afoot, one created by the tight whistles that got us into early foul trouble. We can't let a tightly officiated game take away our aggressiveness. So, in that respect, nobody played well.
If you want to look at individual players, I thought KG and Ray were the biggest disappointments, at least in terms of what they can be and what they ended up being in Game 1. KG was just off all night, and I think Doc's comment about being 'too up' is a pretty fair assessment. Ray was both victimized by a quick whistle and by Kobe Bryant, and I guess a case can be made that the quick whistles led to the Kobe victimization, though it looked to me that Kobe was very confident he could get his shot off against Ray. On the other hand, I thought TA and Paul Pierce did a much better job moving their feet and bothering shots. The stats, too, back this up, as Kobe went 6 of 7 against Ray Allen's defense, and 4 of 15 against everyone else's. We're going to need a much better and smarter effort from Ray Allen in Game 2 (and I think we're going to get it).
Maybe I'm biased, but I'd don't get the almost universal conclusion that 'bad' TA showed up in Game 1. Yeah, it wasn't his best game this postseason, but it wasn't his worst either. He got victimized by some pretty cheap calls, but he still played pretty good individual defense on Kobe. Like almost every other Celtic, he could have been more secure with the ball, more aware of team defense responsibilities, and more aggressive in getting after the 50/50 balls.
In terms of who flat out sucked, that was pretty much Mike Finley. He came in, gave up 2 dribble penetrations for layups and then left. You can't do much worse. I think he's a terrible matchup in this series and I hope we never see him again, unless it's a blowout.
Nate played with good energy, but he needs to make shots. He didn't.
Sheed started off well, but his loss of conditioning caused by back stiffness really sapped his game in the 2nd half. Expect a better showing in Game 2, now that he's hopefully regained some of his wind.
Baby, to my eyes, did well in terms of defensive rotations and hustle, though he's going to be at a big disadvantage all series in terms of his less than stellar length. But, as always, an in motion Baby is a hard to defend Baby. I expect more pep from him this evening.
Perk looked tentative and afraid to throw around his weight for fear he might get another bogus double tech. I assume he'll just play his game tonight (his comments in the papers say as much).
Rondo had a great 1st quarter, but then deferred himself into no man's land the rest of the game. He needs to attack the rim, especially in transition. I know all the quick whistles, offensive rebounds and poor defense led to a lack of transition opportunities, but even then I thought Rondo could have forced the issue those few times when we did get out on the break. I know his butt is tight, but in a game where the officials were calling everything, I thought he missed a golden opportunity to get to the rim and get to the line. He should have had 10 FTA in game 1.
Topic: Who contributed and played well in game 1? (Read 2292 times)