Celtics Forming Identity

February 5, 2012 by 1 Comment

The Boston Celtics began the 2012 NBA campaign with their worst start of any season since forming the “the big three” and things looked very shaky going forward with a 5-9 record. There were rumblings of breaking up the future Hall of Famers and starting from scratch. The Celtics went from having a team that was like family that played together by their “guiding principle” ‘Ubuntu’, to having a team filled with a bunch of guys who’d never played together before and who essentially felt like roster fillers to play alongside the “The Big Three” while they gave it their last try.

This past offseason the Celtics added eight new players to a team that was already dealing with the sudden and scary news that Jeff Green, who was supposed to be the anchor of the C’s second unit, was lost for the entire season due to heart surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm. Having the season cut short due to the lockout was an added obstacle and something that every team had to deal with, but for the Celtics it made things even tougher. Smart and motivated players who worked out, were able to stay in shape during the lockout, while others assumed that the entire NBA season was lost, ditched the gym for the couch and created a season of their own on Xbox, leaving themselves out of game shape and vulnerable to injuries.

The combination of introducing out of shape players and new teammates to one another, while not having a full training camp or nearly enough preparation time together, proved to be a challenge. The Celtics are at their best when they are clicking as a defensive unit, something they couldn’t accomplish quickly enough with all the new faces. Going against established teams, it probably wasn’t fair to expect the Celtics to perform at a very high level and Paul Pierce’ injured heel to start the season only made matters worse. The defending champion Mavericks are another example of a team that had to deal with player movement and it affected their play as well. It took both teams a month to do so, but it seems that they are now heading in the right direction.

The Celtics second unit has turned itself into a “hustle and defend” unit. Avery Bradley can at times suffocate opposing guards, sometimes picking up the pressure before half court and leaving little time on the shot clock for the opposing team to set up and run a play. You can see the frustration boil over on opposing players faces and through their body language. Watch this clip of the Celtics 2nd unit defense and Avery Bradley getting under Demar Derozan’s skin.

Over their last nine games, the Celtics are holding opponents to just 38% shooting from the field, 25% from 3-point range and 79.3 PPG. They are 7-2 during this stretch and they are doing it without Rajon Rondo who injured his wrist against Toronto on January 18th, as well as Ray Allen who missed three games during this stretch with a jammed ankle. It’s an encouraging sign that the Celtics were able to battle through injuries and have bench players like rookie E’twaun Moore, Sasha Pavlovic and Avery Bradley step up. It seems that the Celtics are finally building some chemistry and understanding their respective roles on the team. With a dominant 100-64 home win over the Raptors, the Celtics moved to 11-10, good for second in the Atlantic division and seventh in the Eastern Conference standings. This is only the second time this whole season that the Celtics are above .500. It’s not what was expected, but at least the C’s are finally becoming a team.

That being said, the C’s still have plenty of issues they need to work out. They haven’t been able to hold onto big leads or close out quarters well. They have yet to play a complete 48 minute game and they haven’t shown that they can consistently compete against the NBA’s elite teams. The Celtics are in the midst of a home stand and have six of their next seven games at TD Garden. They need to use this stretch of games as a way of catapulting themselves back into eastern conference relevance. They play the Knicks, Grizzlies, Bobcats and LA Lakers (two road wins all season) – All winnable games. The real tests will come right before the All-Star break when the Celtics go on the road to face Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, and OKC and then again shortly after the All-Star break, when the Celtics go out west on March 11th to face the Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Kings and Nuggets, only to turn around and head east to face Atlanta, Milwaukee and a strong 76ers team all on the road, not seeing the parquet floor again until March 25th.

Injuries are always bad, but Rondo’s wrist injury may have been a blessing in disguise. It allowed the bench players to get increased minutes and to get comfortable with one another out on the court. It forced Doc Rivers to mix and match the lineups, having everyone play together and establishing chemistry. Most importantly, it gave the players and coaches the confidence to know that they can be relied on.

At the conclusion of this difficult road trip, the Celtics will have already played 47 games with only 19 to go. This difficult stretch for the Celtics will paint a clear picture of how they will perform in the playoffs. The return of Rajon Rondo, playing with a determined Paul Pierce, combined with an added confidence and comfort level from the bench players, should boost this teams winning percentage and get them close to the level of play we are accustomed to, and hopefully no worse than a five seed in the Eastern conference. The Celtics are still far from being championship contenders but at least the 2012 Celtics are finally forming an identity.

Filed under Aviel Weinstein Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Green to suit up in green

February 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment

While Celtics nation may be enraged after losing their big man in a blockbuster deadline deal with the Thunder, the Celtics managed to load up for the playoffs and the future all in one swoop. Celtics fans who clicked the link to Chad Ford’s analysis on the deal, should be cheering, as Chad Ford cannot understand why the Celtics would do this deal, and thinks it’s a perplexing move. Ford, while an entertaining writer and a quality analyst, predicted that Darko Milicic and Nikoloz Tskitsisvili were once in a generation superstars.

The Celtics give up Perkins, who was the a big factor to the team’s stifling defense during their spectacular three year run, since the team assembled the real big three. Fans may be upset that Perk is gone, especially since the Celtics lost without their big man in game 7 of this past year’s finals, mainly due to the absence of Perk’s presence in the paint. However, any way you look at it, this trade was a big win for the Celtics.

After Marquis Daniels went down with a spinal injury that will likely cost him the season, the Celtics knew they needed to make a move for a backup wing. Jeff Green, who the Celtics drafted fifth in 2007 and immediately traded, along with Delonte West and Wally Szecrbiak, for Ray Allen, will add a level of versatility that makes the Celtics an incredibly dangerous team. Similar to Lakers forward Lamar Odom, Green, a combo forward, brings a lot of different skills to the table on the floor, without taking much away from his teammates. After running with stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Green likely won’t have a hard time adjusting to running with Celtics stars KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce.

While there is concern that the absence of Perkins will become a liability in the playoffs, the reality is, aside from Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum, there aren’t any big men the Celtics should have trouble matching up against. Even after the trade, the Celtics still have a dominant front court in KG, Shaq, JO, Big Baby and newly acquired Nenad Krstic.

The first picture I saw of Nenad after the Nets picked him ahead of Carlos Boozer in 2002

Shaq and Jermaine O’Neal were both acquired to help the Celtics match up against Dwight Howard and the Lakers front court, so now, in the absence of Perkins, the C’s veterans will be under more pressure to earn their keep. The surprising effectiveness of Big Baby against Howard and Bynum, should prove vital after the trade. While the team may lose some of the beef with Perk, they gain a new advantage in the added versatility of Green.

As Larry Bird’s career reached its twighlight years, many wondered whether the old big three would have been able to pull out a few more titles had a younger talent come in to take some of the regular season burden off the aging stars. Unfortunately, due to one of the most devastating events in the history of the NBA, Celtics fans can only be left to ask, what if? After today’s trade, Celtics president of basketball operations, Danny Ainge, acquired the young talent who can help ease the old legs of Garnett, Pierce and Allen in regular season situations. With the incredible longevity being shown by the stars of the 90′s, it is not unreasonable to think this move can add another year or two to the Celtics title window.

Prior to Perkins return from injury, the Celtics held the best record in the Eastern conference. The team walked all over the Heat twice (and squeaked by them once), without Perk there in the paint to defend the wanna-be three. Had the Celtics not picked up Krstic in the deal, the loss of depth at center may have been a concern, but as constructed, this deal makes the Celtics better now and in the future. All emotions aside, Green is simply a better player than Perkins, and should prove to be an excellent fit in Boston.

The trade thrusts the Thunder into the thick of the Western conference title race. Prior to the trade, the Thunder were a bit of a weak defensive team in the post, and sorely lacked a wide body to protect the paint. As any casual basketball fan would know from these last three playoffs, there are few centers who can protect the paint like Perk. Aside from acquiring Perk, the Thunder also acquired Nate Robinson and Nazr Mohammed. Mohammed was acquired in a separate deal with Charlotte, in exchange for the expiring contract of Mo Peterson and forward D.J. White. All three players provide finals experience, with Boston and San Antonio respectively, that will prove valuable to the young Thunder squad in the playoffs.

While the Thunder may risk breaking the strong bond the team has developed in Oklahoma City, their need for size made this trade difficult to pass up. Green may have been a vital piece for the Thunder, however, the presence of Durant and up and coming big man, Serge Ibaka and Nick Collison, should plug in the gaps left by Green. The Thunder now have the size in the middle to compete with the likes of San Antonio, Dallas and LA.

While many pundits are calling this trade a huge win for the Thunder, and subsequently a big loss for the Celtics, I think both teams should receive a good grade for this trade. This trade, in my humble opinion, improves both teams in both the short and long term. Besides, any time I have a chance to post a link to this video, everyone’s a winner.

In other news, it appears the Semih Erden/ Luke Harangody era is over.

Filed under AJ Mitnick Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,