Celtics (15-4) at Thunder (10-8) 12/4

[Kiorrik]

ROFL I just saw a Nets player dive into the 5th row, kneeing a kid on the fourth in the face, and the kid smiled instantly like it was the best thing to ever happen to him :]

[EJPLAYA]

We should all be very honest about the fact that JR Giddens has no place in the NBA. He has NO NBA skill. Lester Hudson tonight showed why he doesn't get any minutes. He is not PG material at this stage of the game and from the looks of it may not have that potential. He may be at best an Eddie House type.

[Kiorrik]

Well, thanks to whoever did it! 100 TPs and 1000 posts in the same topic! Cool.

Well done on both buddy

[Atzar]

We should all be very honest about the fact that JR Giddens has no place in the NBA. He has NO NBA skill. Lester Hudson tonight showed why he doesn't get any minutes. He is not PG material at this stage of the game and from the looks of it may not have that potential. He may be at best an Eddie House type.

JR is a decent defensive player and would be a pretty nice piece on another team where he could play some 1-on-1.  With this team, he can't - and since he doesn't know how to be a cog, he really has no place on this team.

[Surferdad]

We should all be very honest about the fact that JR Giddens has no place in the NBA. He has NO NBA skill. Lester Hudson tonight showed why he doesn't get any minutes. He is not PG material at this stage of the game and from the looks of it may not have that potential. He may be at best an Eddie House type.

I mostly agree, but I think Hudson may have a better array of skills than House. His handle is better, he's tougher, and he's definitely a better defender.  That said, we have to keep in mind that he's 25 so he's actually older than Perk or Rondo.  If he was NBA material he needs to show it soon.

[EJPLAYA]

We should all be very honest about the fact that JR Giddens has no place in the NBA. He has NO NBA skill. Lester Hudson tonight showed why he doesn't get any minutes. He is not PG material at this stage of the game and from the looks of it may not have that potential. He may be at best an Eddie House type.

I mostly agree, but I think Hudson may have a better array of skills than House. His handle is better, he's tougher, and he's definitely a better defender.  That said, we have to keep in mind that he's 25 so he's actually older than Perk or Rondo.  If he was NBA material he needs to show it soon.

I haven't seen Hudson do anything that resembled running the team. Look how sloppy he is with the ball and how he dribbles himself into a corner and then turns it over. He looks like he is either dribbling it to get rid of it, or to get himself a shot. Not saying he couldn't develop it, but playmakers are typically playmakers from the beginning. He appears to be a scorer. Same problem Eddie has. He just isn't as proven a scorer as Eddie.

[Cman]

We should all be very honest about the fact that JR Giddens has no place in the NBA. He has NO NBA skill. Lester Hudson tonight showed why he doesn't get any minutes. He is not PG material at this stage of the game and from the looks of it may not have that potential. He may be at best an Eddie House type.

I mostly agree, but I think Hudson may have a better array of skills than House. His handle is better, he's tougher, and he's definitely a better defender.  That said, we have to keep in mind that he's 25 so he's actually older than Perk or Rondo.  If he was NBA material he needs to show it soon.

I haven't seen Hudson do anything that resembled running the team. Look how sloppy he is with the ball and how he dribbles himself into a corner and then turns it over. He looks like he is either dribbling it to get rid of it, or to get himself a shot. Not saying he couldn't develop it, but playmakers are typically playmakers from the beginning. He appears to be a scorer. Same problem Eddie has. He just isn't as proven a scorer as Eddie.

I'm fine with Lester Hudson -- not every rookie has to perform like Brandon Jennings.  Hudson is older, but I'm willing to take a wait-and-see attitude with him.

I think the jury has spoken on Giddens.  He's certainly not on the Cs next year; the only question is how long he is on this current team.  His spot in the lineup is Tony Allen's to take.

Nice to get the W tonight.  Wasn't able to see the game, but I love what I see from the boxsore (KG: 23 pts & 8 boards... in 25 minutes).

[tenn_smoothie]

Watching this unit shows the difference between starters and bench players.  It's almost comical watching these guys try to run any semblance of an offense.  

cant blame them for practically never ever seeing the floor

Definitely some issues down at the end of the bench.  Giddens seems to have a case of Tony Allen-itis.  He just tries to do too much.  Lester was unremarkable.  Scal is Scal.  Oh well, they are not in the playoff rotation anyway.

i do, however, like scal in there with the top 8/9 guys sometimes. he just seems to bring some hunger that is needed. he hustles, keeps the ball moving, goes after the O-boards and he hits a nice 3 when needed.

btw Surferdad - i love your pro-pic of mr. most with the quote. i met him down in atlanta in the late 70's one year vs the hawks. i would love to hear johnny's call on rondo with the ball ................. "and now Rondo's got it on the right, fiddles and diddles, over to Ray-Ray, Bang !!!" no mus, no fuss, just puuuuure Celtics.

[Jon]

We should all be very honest about the fact that JR Giddens has no place in the NBA. He has NO NBA skill. Lester Hudson tonight showed why he doesn't get any minutes. He is not PG material at this stage of the game and from the looks of it may not have that potential. He may be at best an Eddie House type.

I mostly agree, but I think Hudson may have a better array of skills than House. His handle is better, he's tougher, and he's definitely a better defender.  That said, we have to keep in mind that he's 25 so he's actually older than Perk or Rondo.  If he was NBA material he needs to show it soon.

I haven't seen Hudson do anything that resembled running the team. Look how sloppy he is with the ball and how he dribbles himself into a corner and then turns it over. He looks like he is either dribbling it to get rid of it, or to get himself a shot. Not saying he couldn't develop it, but playmakers are typically playmakers from the beginning. He appears to be a scorer. Same problem Eddie has. He just isn't as proven a scorer as Eddie.

I agree.  And while some Hudson supporters may be proven right, it won't be because of anything they've seen so far.  I mean what exactly has he done?  Looked good in the summer league?  Looked good in preseason games?  Had a flash or two in trash time?  The same could've been said of Gerald Green, Kedrick Brown, or Joe Forte.  And they didn't have the luxury of playing some of those preseason games with three hall of famers. 

Again, I'm not saying Hudson's never going to amount to anything, but he hasn't proven anything yet. 

[Tai]

ROFL I just saw a Nets player dive into the 5th row, kneeing a kid on the fourth in the face, and the kid smiled instantly like it was the best thing to ever happen to him :]

Went to the game.

Saw the Net player (Harris) go into the 5th row, didn't see him knee a kid, let alone smile. As long as it didn't hurt that bad, I can't say I would've been too upset about it too, haha. I was in the upper part of the upper level....I didn't have to sit behind a hoop, but I wasn't too amused. The Bobcats not winning, let alone blowing the Nets out to clear the arena and give lowly souls like me better seats didn't help either.

Also, good to see my Celtics won on the scoreboard. I wouldn't want to go home knowing they couldn't get it done in Oklahoma City.

[LarBrd33]

biggest thoughts from the game...

#1 - Kevin Garnett seems like he's back.  He looked really great out there.  It's been almost a year since he's had back-to-back 20 point games.

#2 - Kevin Durant is amazing.

[Drucci]

Well, I was worried about this game and the 2nd quarter confirmed my fears since the Thunder was rolling and getting 2+1 on every possession. But the C's did a great job to keep their lead heading into halftime and getting on the Thunder's throats in the third. Everybody played well (even Ray who struggled from three), KG was awesome (he is just unstoppable right now), and Sheed and Eddie were bombing from three.

Our team has really stepped up on this road trip, as we expected them to do, and it's a pleasure to watch them play like they do. 7 wins in a row and 4-0 on a road trip, what else?

My only concern is that I now think our 2nd unit really needs a true point guard. At the beginning of the season the ball movement of the 2nd unit was OK but now... they're just passing the ball to each other, and then right back to the previous teammate, before attempting a tough shot. When Rondo is on the floor (even when he is not scoring) the team looks totally different.

So maybe we should try to acquire a point guard for the 2nd unit if this problem persists but right now we're on a roll and it's really great!

[wiley]

We should all be very honest about the fact that JR Giddens has no place in the NBA. He has NO NBA skill. Lester Hudson tonight showed why he doesn't get any minutes. He is not PG material at this stage of the game and from the looks of it may not have that potential. He may be at best an Eddie House type.

I mostly agree, but I think Hudson may have a better array of skills than House. His handle is better, he's tougher, and he's definitely a better defender.  That said, we have to keep in mind that he's 25 so he's actually older than Perk or Rondo.  If he was NBA material he needs to show it soon.

I haven't seen Hudson do anything that resembled running the team. Look how sloppy he is with the ball and how he dribbles himself into a corner and then turns it over. He looks like he is either dribbling it to get rid of it, or to get himself a shot. Not saying he couldn't develop it, but playmakers are typically playmakers from the beginning. He appears to be a scorer. Same problem Eddie has. He just isn't as proven a scorer as Eddie.

Agree, no future at PG because those skills would already be more apparent.  I don't even like the way he dribbles, in fact.  (pickiest thing I've yet said on Celtics Blog)  Let's hope he can shoot a high enough percentage to be an Eddie House-type player down the road, but with more defense and a bit of driving ability. 

I would like the Celtics to see what would happen if they brought in a true PG, like the end of the last two seasons, sooner rather than later, and let Eddie House/Lester Hudson spot up for shots.  Yes, this means reducing Ray's minutes a bit more, and probably Paul's, but I have zero problem with that, because I want to see Ray drive and maybe even dunk in the playoffs) he really couldn't even get off the ground last post-season.  Once the playoffs start, Paul, Ray and Rondo will obviously play max minutes, and the Celtics could then go back to Eddie OR the Marbury/Cassell replacement. 

[EJPLAYA]

We should all be very honest about the fact that JR Giddens has no place in the NBA. He has NO NBA skill. Lester Hudson tonight showed why he doesn't get any minutes. He is not PG material at this stage of the game and from the looks of it may not have that potential. He may be at best an Eddie House type.

I mostly agree, but I think Hudson may have a better array of skills than House. His handle is better, he's tougher, and he's definitely a better defender.  That said, we have to keep in mind that he's 25 so he's actually older than Perk or Rondo.  If he was NBA material he needs to show it soon.

I haven't seen Hudson do anything that resembled running the team. Look how sloppy he is with the ball and how he dribbles himself into a corner and then turns it over. He looks like he is either dribbling it to get rid of it, or to get himself a shot. Not saying he couldn't develop it, but playmakers are typically playmakers from the beginning. He appears to be a scorer. Same problem Eddie has. He just isn't as proven a scorer as Eddie.

Agree, no future at PG because those skills would already be more apparent.  I don't even like the way he dribbles, in fact.  (pickiest thing I've yet said on Celtics Blog)  Let's hope he can shoot a high enough percentage to be an Eddie House-type player down the road, but with more defense and a bit of driving ability. 

I would like the Celtics to see what would happen if they brought in a true PG, like the end of the last two seasons, sooner rather than later, and let Eddie House/Lester Hudson spot up for shots.  Yes, this means reducing Ray's minutes a bit more, and probably Paul's, but I have zero problem with that, because I want to see Ray drive and maybe even dunk in the playoffs) he really couldn't even get off the ground last post-season.  Once the playoffs start, Paul, Ray and Rondo will obviously play max minutes, and the Celtics could then go back to Eddie OR the Marbury/Cassell replacement. 

I agree that he looks to be a little quicker defensively than House. I think that is his ceiling. He could be a solid backup scorer off the bench like House once Eddie is done. He will get almost no time the rest of the year and next possibly start seeing a few more minutes if he gets better. Then the following he could take over Eddie's role. There is nothing wrong with that as an upside.

[Tai]

I'm gonna say it again; if Pruitt being cut by the freaking Knicks didn't prove Doc doesn't sit people just because they're rookies, nothing will, and I'm not willing to discuss this issue where that's not brought up anymore. Doc's not perfect, but I figured it'd be more telling we're only talking about what Bill Walker, JR Giddens, and yes sadly, Lester Hudson "could be" than what they are. Granted, Hudson hasn't been around for a whole season, but JR Giddens and Walker have had their chance, and Walker may still have one, no matter how small. But...come on, even TA's better than them, and he didn't even play much during the C's/Bulls playoff series, cause he didn't have it at the time, and we already know how most feel about him. What makes most of you think Doc treats the younger players any differently?