Celtics (14-4) at Spurs (10-6) 12/3

[vinnie]

Doc put Scal out there to guard Bonner, and considering Mason only scored 2 points, I think Scal did his job. I would've liked our bigs (yes I understand that included Scal) not being out hustled by Bonner. He wasn't boxed out, and he came out of no where on most rebounds to keep the possession alive.

I'd like to think that Blair was the problem, and I won't dismiss Sheldon, but Rasheed not being able to guard Blair bothered me. Maybe Sheldon gives us more rebounds, but getting more rebounds assume he stops Blair from making shots. Does Sheldon do that? I dunno. I just wonder, personally, if people were willing to do Scal and Sheldon for our frontcourt. I don't think so. I don't really have faith in Sheldon guarding Bonner out in the perimeter. Like it or not guys, Bonner had to be accounted for, and you can argue Blair somewhat benefited from that.

KG wasn't guarding Blair any better than Rasheed was.

I think I only saw Blair score one hoop on KG, while saw him completely abuse Sheed.

[Bahku]

Many of us are wondering about the rebounding issue.  This is the same team that has been a top rebounding team the last few years and all of a sudden it's changed for some reason.  Again on many of the Spurs rebounds there really wasn't a Celtic even close to the ball.  It's not like the Spurs were shooting mostly jump shots either.  

A lack of effort?  Lack of positioning?  Not sure what the answer is but I am 100% sure that Sheldon Williams should at least been in the game to stem the tide of offensive rebounds by the Spurs...

Some nights go like that ... I really think it was just "one of those games" ... where the Spurs just kept winning the toss and the ball ended up in their hands most of the time. I think the C's positioning was not bad at all, the ball just wasn't coming to them. I expect tomorrow we'll be rebounding like crazy.

[jadams5214]

Many of us are wondering about the rebounding issue.  This is the same team that has been a top rebounding team the last few years and all of a sudden it's changed for some reason.  Again on many of the Spurs rebounds there really wasn't a Celtic even close to the ball.  It's not like the Spurs were shooting mostly jump shots either.  

A lack of effort?  Lack of positioning?  Not sure what the answer is but I am 100% sure that Sheldon Williams should at least been in the game to stem the tide of offensive rebounds by the Spurs...

Some nights go like that ... I really think it was just "one of those games" ... where the Spurs just kept winning the toss and the ball ended up in their hands most of the time. I think the C's positioning was not bad at all, the ball just wasn't coming to them. I expect tomorrow we'll be rebounding like crazy.

Just to point out though their rebounding woes aren't just a one game thing.  The C's are near the bottom of the league in offensive rebounding and opponent's offensive rebounding so it's much more than a fleeting problem

[misha]

Scalo ver Sheldon made no sense IMO. Especially when he was playing along with Sheed. They both were trying to play outside, and Scal did absolutely nothing. At least Sheldon can rebound and he complements Sheed.

[scoop]

Many of us are wondering about the rebounding issue.  This is the same team that has been a top rebounding team the last few years and all of a sudden it's changed for some reason.  Again on many of the Spurs rebounds there really wasn't a Celtic even close to the ball.  It's not like the Spurs were shooting mostly jump shots either.  

A lack of effort?  Lack of positioning?  Not sure what the answer is but I am 100% sure that Sheldon Williams should at least been in the game to stem the tide of offensive rebounds by the Spurs...

Some nights go like that ... I really think it was just "one of those games" ... where the Spurs just kept winning the toss and the ball ended up in their hands most of the time. I think the C's positioning was not bad at all, the ball just wasn't coming to them. I expect tomorrow we'll be rebounding like crazy.

The Celtics are a mediocre rebounding team. They're 26th in offensive rebounding and 10th in defensive rebounding before factoring this game. Overall, they're 16th in the league. It wasn't an oddity.

Perkins is just an average rebounder for his position and right now he's our best rebounder. Three of our big men - Sheed, Davis, Scal - are bad rebounders. Pierce and Allen are rebounding worse than they used to (age?). Rondo isn't rebounding as well as last season. The main factor is Garnett, whose decline in the defensive glass is gigantic. In the last 2 seasons we lost 3 of our elite rebounders - Powe, PJ, Posey. Their production wasn't replaced and is now being aggravated with the Big 3 decline.

[snively]

Many of us are wondering about the rebounding issue.  This is the same team that has been a top rebounding team the last few years and all of a sudden it's changed for some reason.  Again on many of the Spurs rebounds there really wasn't a Celtic even close to the ball.  It's not like the Spurs were shooting mostly jump shots either.  

A lack of effort?  Lack of positioning?  Not sure what the answer is but I am 100% sure that Sheldon Williams should at least been in the game to stem the tide of offensive rebounds by the Spurs...

Some nights go like that ... I really think it was just "one of those games" ... where the Spurs just kept winning the toss and the ball ended up in their hands most of the time. I think the C's positioning was not bad at all, the ball just wasn't coming to them. I expect tomorrow we'll be rebounding like crazy.

The Celtics are a mediocre rebounding team. They're 26th in offensive rebounding and 10th in defensive rebounding before factoring this game. Overall, they're 16th in the league. It wasn't an oddity.

Perkins is just an average rebounder for his position and right now he's our best rebounder. Three of our big men - Sheed, Davis, Scal - are bad rebounders. Pierce and Allen are rebounding worse than they used to (age?). Rondo isn't rebounding as well as last season. The main factor is Garnett, whose decline in the defensive glass is gigantic. In the last 2 seasons we lost 3 of our elite rebounders - Powe, PJ, Posey. Their production wasn't replaced and is now being aggravated with the Big 3 decline.

Since when has Posey been an elite rebounder?  I think playing Scal big minutes was one of the main causes of our crappy rebounding.  That and Pierce being a step slow all night.  Scal is a terrible, terrible rebounder.  Even if he slowed Bonner down offensively, he completely failed to contribute anything else to the team, while Bonner was hustling like a mad man.

Blair looked good, but undersized bigs can often sneak up on you. Gomes and Baby had similar success against superior big men just by catching them by surprise.  KG and Sheed were biting on Blair's 1st pump fakes.  In a 7 game series he'd be far less of a factor than he was tonight.  Still a very nice player.

[scoop]

Many of us are wondering about the rebounding issue.  This is the same team that has been a top rebounding team the last few years and all of a sudden it's changed for some reason.  Again on many of the Spurs rebounds there really wasn't a Celtic even close to the ball.  It's not like the Spurs were shooting mostly jump shots either.  

A lack of effort?  Lack of positioning?  Not sure what the answer is but I am 100% sure that Sheldon Williams should at least been in the game to stem the tide of offensive rebounds by the Spurs...

Some nights go like that ... I really think it was just "one of those games" ... where the Spurs just kept winning the toss and the ball ended up in their hands most of the time. I think the C's positioning was not bad at all, the ball just wasn't coming to them. I expect tomorrow we'll be rebounding like crazy.

The Celtics are a mediocre rebounding team. They're 26th in offensive rebounding and 10th in defensive rebounding before factoring this game. Overall, they're 16th in the league. It wasn't an oddity.

Perkins is just an average rebounder for his position and right now he's our best rebounder. Three of our big men - Sheed, Davis, Scal - are bad rebounders. Pierce and Allen are rebounding worse than they used to (age?). Rondo isn't rebounding as well as last season. The main factor is Garnett, whose decline in the defensive glass is gigantic. In the last 2 seasons we lost 3 of our elite rebounders - Powe, PJ, Posey. Their production wasn't replaced and is now being aggravated with the Big 3 decline.

Since when has Posey been an elite rebounder?  I think playing Scal big minutes was one of the main causes of our crappy rebounding.  That and Pierce being a step slow all night.  Scal is a terrible, terrible rebounder.  Even if he slowed Bonner down offensively, he completely failed to contribute anything else to the team, while Bonner was hustling like a mad man.

Blair looked good, but undersized bigs can often sneak up on you. Gomes and Baby had similar success against superior big men just by catching them by surprise.  KG and Sheed were biting on Blair's 1st pump fakes.  In a 7 game series he'd be far less of a factor than he was tonight.  Still a very nice player.

Posey has always been an excellent rebounder. Exponentially better than our current backup wings (Daniels, Scal, House).

I'm not sure how Scal's 16 minutes explain the team mediocre rebounding throughout the season.

[Bahku]

Perk's defense was awesome tonight ... can't believe how this guy has improved in the last two years ... I'm lovin' this big guy now, and I wouldn't have guessed it two years ago. (MIP?)

[snively]

Many of us are wondering about the rebounding issue.  This is the same team that has been a top rebounding team the last few years and all of a sudden it's changed for some reason.  Again on many of the Spurs rebounds there really wasn't a Celtic even close to the ball.  It's not like the Spurs were shooting mostly jump shots either.  

A lack of effort?  Lack of positioning?  Not sure what the answer is but I am 100% sure that Sheldon Williams should at least been in the game to stem the tide of offensive rebounds by the Spurs...

Some nights go like that ... I really think it was just "one of those games" ... where the Spurs just kept winning the toss and the ball ended up in their hands most of the time. I think the C's positioning was not bad at all, the ball just wasn't coming to them. I expect tomorrow we'll be rebounding like crazy.

The Celtics are a mediocre rebounding team. They're 26th in offensive rebounding and 10th in defensive rebounding before factoring this game. Overall, they're 16th in the league. It wasn't an oddity.

Perkins is just an average rebounder for his position and right now he's our best rebounder. Three of our big men - Sheed, Davis, Scal - are bad rebounders. Pierce and Allen are rebounding worse than they used to (age?). Rondo isn't rebounding as well as last season. The main factor is Garnett, whose decline in the defensive glass is gigantic. In the last 2 seasons we lost 3 of our elite rebounders - Powe, PJ, Posey. Their production wasn't replaced and is now being aggravated with the Big 3 decline.

Since when has Posey been an elite rebounder?  I think playing Scal big minutes was one of the main causes of our crappy rebounding.  That and Pierce being a step slow all night.  Scal is a terrible, terrible rebounder.  Even if he slowed Bonner down offensively, he completely failed to contribute anything else to the team, while Bonner was hustling like a mad man.

Blair looked good, but undersized bigs can often sneak up on you. Gomes and Baby had similar success against superior big men just by catching them by surprise.  KG and Sheed were biting on Blair's 1st pump fakes.  In a 7 game series he'd be far less of a factor than he was tonight.  Still a very nice player.

Posey has always been an excellent rebounder. Exponentially better than our current backup wings (Daniels, Scal, House).

I'm not sure how Scal's 16 minutes explain the team mediocre rebounding throughout the season.

Getting outrebounded by 20 isn't medioce, it's awful, and Scal was a big part of that problem.  Granted, Daniels was part of the problem too.  Very little rebounding aptitude from the 3 spot tonight.  Posey would have helped there, I just thought classifying him as elite was an overstatement.

Games like this make the case for Andres Nocioni: hustle, decent rebounding, decent defensive mobility and shooting/scoring ability.  Doc could keep Scal/Williams as situationals instead of rotation cogs.

[Drucci]

Just saw the game! A thrilling finish but fortunately we managed to keep the lead and win the game.

It's really nice to see that our starting five just dominated the Spurs' one. Their bench kept them through the game and sparked their comeback at the end. DeJuan Blair is a MONSTER! I mean, even when KG and Perk were defending with near perfection on him he still managed to score and make it look easy... wow, he is a key player for the Spurs.

Getting offensively outrebounded 20 to 2 hurts but we won the game anyway so I'll take it as a silver lining. It means our team played almost perfectly in the other areas of the game. The Spurs turnovers helped us a lot (especially the out of bound 3 from Finley ) but our defense was really good for the most part. I wonder why Shelden didn't play tonight, he could have helped a little on the boards.

Also, did you notice how many times Perk got an offensive rebound, then get stripped of it by a Spur with obvious contact and no calls were made? It happened like on 3 straight possessions at the end of the game and Perk was legitimately crazy about it.

Great game by Rondo (excellent passes, excellent D, especially the turnover he forced on Parker at the end). Plus, he looked very confident taking his shot. Sure, he didn't make all of them but he took many of them and his mechanic is really good. Hopefully he is going on a streak à la KG that will make him develop his midrange game.

Garnett was once again excellent and really aggressive, Ray was OK (really good for the first 3 quarters, not so good for the last), Pierce was a non factor and Perkins was excellent on D but bad on O.

Also, Sheed had a great game. Very aggressive, and going in the post. His two 3's were huge, although it made him only attempt 3's after he made his last one. Marquis was good on D but a non factor on offense, I really would love to see him more involved.

Finally, I wonder why Popovich didn't play Ginobili in the 4th except for the last possession, staying with a ice cold Mason...

Great game for the C's anyway, they're really excellent on the road! 8-1!

[Cman]

Too tired to post after the game last night, but nice solid W on the road.  Not perfect, of course, but I'll take it.

Two plays I loved:
(1) Perkins battling and hustling for the ball amidst a sea of white Spurs jerseys, finally securing the ball, then scooping it to Ray (I believe) for the basket.  Great hustle on that play.

(2) Rondo's nifty drive and behind the back/head pass to Sheed for the three to end the 3rd quarter.

The one time I grimaced: when KG attempted a dunk (it eventually bounced around the rim a couple times before going in) and got the +1.  It looked like he landed quite awkwardly on that one. 

[DinTN]

Many of us are wondering about the rebounding issue.  This is the same team that has been a top rebounding team the last few years and all of a sudden it's changed for some reason.  Again on many of the Spurs rebounds there really wasn't a Celtic even close to the ball.  It's not like the Spurs were shooting mostly jump shots either.  

A lack of effort?  Lack of positioning?  Not sure what the answer is but I am 100% sure that Sheldon Williams should at least been in the game to stem the tide of offensive rebounds by the Spurs...

Some nights go like that ... I really think it was just "one of those games" ... where the Spurs just kept winning the toss and the ball ended up in their hands most of the time. I think the C's positioning was not bad at all, the ball just wasn't coming to them. I expect tomorrow we'll be rebounding like crazy.

The Celtics are a mediocre rebounding team. They're 26th in offensive rebounding and 10th in defensive rebounding before factoring this game. Overall, they're 16th in the league. It wasn't an oddity.

Perkins is just an average rebounder for his position and right now he's our best rebounder. Three of our big men - Sheed, Davis, Scal - are bad rebounders. Pierce and Allen are rebounding worse than they used to (age?). Rondo isn't rebounding as well as last season. The main factor is Garnett, whose decline in the defensive glass is gigantic. In the last 2 seasons we lost 3 of our elite rebounders - Powe, PJ, Posey. Their production wasn't replaced and is now being aggravated with the Big 3 decline.

Since when has Posey been an elite rebounder?  I think playing Scal big minutes was one of the main causes of our crappy rebounding.  That and Pierce being a step slow all night.  Scal is a terrible, terrible rebounder.  Even if he slowed Bonner down offensively, he completely failed to contribute anything else to the team, while Bonner was hustling like a mad man.

Blair looked good, but undersized bigs can often sneak up on you. Gomes and Baby had similar success against superior big men just by catching them by surprise.  KG and Sheed were biting on Blair's 1st pump fakes.  In a 7 game series he'd be far less of a factor than he was tonight.  Still a very nice player.

University of TN Lady Vol coach Pat Summitt has a saying:


Defense wins games

Rebounding wins championships