Optimistic thoughts post-Magic

[snively]

The front page and the newspaper stories are full of discontent and disgust with the C's performances, but I actually took heart from the team's performance last night.

1st, we saw the vast defensive potential of the Perk/Sheed/KG frontline.  Howard was a complete non-factor offensively for the last 3 quarters of the game.  After getting burned by 2 3s early, KG blanketed Rashard Lewis.  His block of the running fadeaway was vintage KG.

2nd, we saw the effect Sheed and Daniels can have against a good 2nd unit.  The Ray-Eddie-Daniels-Sheed quartet has been consistently effective thus far this season and the trend continued tonight.  Ray and occasionally Eddie have been able to turn the corner on picks, and generate solid looks for teammates, while holding their own defensively. 

3rd, we showed that we can remain competitive even without hitting 3s.  While the missed 3s hurt a lot, we could have won this game with a slightly better % on lay-ups.  Pierce/Rondo/KG misses in the last 5 minutes come to mind.

So while the team analyzes itself and mopes, and Celtics fans do likewise, I take much more from a gritty, could have gone either way losses of this variety than from sloppy, 3-pt driven victories over crappy teams.

[houlana]

i did not get too see the game.

but it was very low scoring, which is a concern considering that we have four players capable of taking over a game.

and we need to win at home, losing at home like this is a concern and unacceptable.
the yr we won the title, we could always count on out guys defending home court, the games were not even close.

i hope danny calls AI

[Bahku]

TP for a topic that isn't of all the "gloom-and-doom" I keep seeing, (which is getting real old), and the "trade is the answer" stuff, (which is even older). While we had a horrendous 3-point night, had some questionable rotations, and did not get to the line as many times, we still played good defense, caused a ton of turnovers, and almost pulled this one out, regardless. I think all-in-all this team is getting back to what it does best: playing defense, and it's going to start paying off with more win streaks ... mark my word.

[houlana]

The front page and the newspaper stories are full of discontent and disgust with the C's performances, but I actually took heart from the team's performance last night.

1st, we saw the vast defensive potential of the Perk/Sheed/KG frontline.  Howard was a complete non-factor offensively for the last 3 quarters of the game.  After getting burned by 2 3s early, KG blanketed Rashard Lewis.  His block of the running fadeaway was vintage KG.

2nd, we saw the effect Sheed and Daniels can have against a good 2nd unit.  The Ray-Eddie-Daniels-Sheed quartet has been consistently effective thus far this season and the trend continued tonight.  Ray and occasionally Eddie have been able to turn the corner on picks, and generate solid looks for teammates, while holding their own defensively. 

3rd, we showed that we can remain competitive even without hitting 3s.  While the missed 3s hurt a lot, we could have won this game with a slightly better % on lay-ups.  Pierce/Rondo/KG misses in the last 5 minutes come to mind.

So while the team analyzes itself and mopes, and Celtics fans do likewise, I take much more from a gritty, could have gone either way losses of this variety than from sloppy, 3-pt driven victories over crappy teams.

im loving the defense. but with the players we have on our roster. we should not be having any problems scoring. the good defense should help the offense get fast break pts. even when we play half court, we have plenty of players capable of scoring and making plays. this is not happening and is a big concern

[CelticG1]

I liked a lot of what you stated here. My only thing is that although we shot terrible from 3 point, we caused over 20 turnovers for the magic. The Magic have to be ecstatic that they won without there "all-star"* point guard, in Boston, with that many turnovers. I don't care how bad we shot from 3 point territory.

*Jameer played like an all-star for 3 months in the NBA, I don't know why he is labeled as one everywhere.

[LarBrd33]

we're going to be ok.  2-19 from three point range isn't very good... the fact that the best three point shooter on the team was 1-2 is kinda weird too...

Sheed is now 5 of his last 38 three point attempts... 0-8 tonight.  Something is up with that.

We are just out of sync in general.  It's alright, though.  Last couple years we have started seasons off really strong and then faded.  Maybe this year we'll dog it until the playoffs.

[houlana]

we're going to be ok.  2-19 from three point range isn't very good... the fact that the best three point shooter on the team was 1-2 is kinda weird too...

Sheed is now 5 of his last 38 three point attempts... 0-8 tonight.  Something is up with that.

We are just out of sync in general.  It's alright, though.  Last couple years we have started seasons off really strong and then faded.  Maybe this year we'll dog it until the playoffs.

2-19 is awful. but shooting 3's is all about getting hot. after jacking up 10 shots with no success they should have realized its not their night. we have so many players capable of taking it to the rim, instead were shooting 3's. sheed needs to man up and take it inside if the 3 is not working for him

[Drucci]

Agreed with the OP, TP.

Sure, this loss p---ed me off, but it's the first loss this season that comes with a lot of positives for me.

Except for the horrid 1st quarter, the Celtics stepped it up and got back from a 16 point lead to -3 at the half. Have they been able to outscore Orlando in the third, they would have used their energy to preserve or extend their lead in the 4th but they fought back and forth and tied it with 2 minutes left. Sheed and Marquis' defense in this stretch was just awesome, and we forced many turnovers.

So, the positives :
- our defense is still here... I thought the C's did a great job defensively except for the 1st quarter. But you've got to acknowledge the Magic hit hard, contest shots too.
- We were 2-19 from three and still the game was tied with 2 minutes left! How huge is that? Plus, the threes we took were good wide open looks for the most part. This kind of night happens, but usually when it does, you find yourself down 25 points...
- KG was excellent defensively (again, except for the 1st quarter). He just made Lewis a non factor (notice he got his final two free throws while Pierce was defending him).
- Overall, it came to a one on one matchup. Carter killed us in crunch time. Hate to see the Celtics get beat by Carter but you probably did notice that he hurt his team a lot too (I mean, 25+ points on 29 shots is not so good).

However, it's clear that Rondo hurt us a lot with his inability to hit shots, so basically the Magic defended 5 on 4. That's why Eddie was in the game in the 4th. Don't know why Doc put Rondo back in the end.

- Also, Pierce attacked the rim at the end instead of jacking up for 3's. Good choice which didn't pay.

- Our defense forced A LOT of turnovers to Orlando and Howard became a non factor with Sheed on him in the 4th.

- The absence of Perk hurt us because we didn't have any post-up player.

Frustrated to lose to an elite team once again but I can tell you we won't shoot this poorly many times again - and especially not in the playoffs.

[Ed Teach]

I also noticed that on a night that we can't seem to hit a three, that Ray Allen was not taking any threes.  With Sheed on the court it seems that Ray is taking it to basket a lot more than in the past and Sheed becomes the kick out option.

I would like to see more of Ray Allen catch and shoot off of screens and more of Sheed posting up and kicking out to Ray.

If we are going to keep chunking up threes at least we can have one of the best shooters ever taking them.  I like that Sheed can open up the lane by drawing one of the bigs out to cover him.  But as this shooting slump continues why would anyone cover him outside, just let him shoot.

[greg_kite]

The fact we shot so terribly but were still in the game in the final minute is good and bad.  They just have to get better shot selection or start hitting threes.  The old saying "you live by the three, you die by the three" has been ringing in my head the last few games. 

The bad part is they rely on the three too much.  If they can't hit threes with a lineup of House, Allen, Pierce and Sheed then they're definitely in trouble.  Sheed seems to have forgotten how to shoot inside the arc.  If he posted up half as much as he shot threes last night we would have won.  He's a great post player. 

But Sheed and KG were both afraid to post up on Howard.  They deserved to lose.  This team will go as far as KG and Sheed will take them, and if they are afraid of the post on offense then this is how it's going to look all year.

[celticinorlando]

orlando had 30 plus points from 3...boston had 6 points from three. when the Cs dont hit their 3's/defend the 3 they are very average...

[Fafnir]

orlando had 30 plus points from 3...boston had 6 points from three. when the Cs dont hit their 3's/defend the 3 they are very average...

Orlando will get that many threes of on you though, just how they play. The real problem we had was on the offensive end. They didn't score all that many points on us.

[LB3533]

We could have still won this game even with our putrid shooting from 3 point land.

That's the only positive I can take from this game.

[fairweatherfan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1fWmc1y4qc

Content:
As others have said, we were bricking open shots, dug ourselves a huge hole, and Perk missed extended time with foul trouble, but we still had a chance to win.  I was happy with our defense after the 1st quarter, and happy that we passed on a lot of 3s to look for better shots.  I felt we were clearly the better team for most of the last 3 quarters, but we couldn't seal the deal.

[GreenFaith1819]

I am thankful for a positive thread. TPs for all.

I did not see the game, but from what I saw at the box score we missed a LOT of threes...and from the threads I have read on CelticsBlog a lot of our shots overall were just missed and were open shots.

As frustrating as it may seem, we won't have too many games like this where we just can't seem to hit anything. I am glad to get them out of the way in November rather than in March or April.

As of right now I still believe that this team is built to win This Year AND next year. We still have a bunch of games against ATL, CLE and ORL to prove ourselves, plus I look forward to us getting Glen Davis back. I really believe his presence and experience will be beneficial to us.

Thanks again for a positive thread!