After every game, we’ll take stock of how each individual performance affects the player’s overall value.
Starters
 |
Offense:
|
Monster numbers over 2 games: 23 points, 22 rebounds, 25 assists, 6 steals, 3 blocks. If he didn’t slip, who knows … maybe he’d have a game-winner under his belt too.
 |
Offense:
|
Garnett shot 16-22 over the two games. He torched Philly, and the way he was shooting, he definitely should have taken the final shot in the first game. I’m also giving him a 4th green arrow for this.
 |
Offense:
|
14-35 shooting isn’t great, but Pierce has shown that he’s not done yet. He repeatedly got by younger, faster defenders to get himself to the rim. He’s struggling from long-range right now (1-10 in the last 2 games) but he still finds a way to get it done.
 |
Offense:
|
Bass is lucky I didn’t put this together yesterday. He redeemed himself nicely with a 5-8 shooting performance and excellent hustle. He worked his ass off in last night’s win. And while he wasn’t slacking off or anything in the loss, he wasn’t helping at all.
 |
Offense:
|
The jumper forgot to get on the team plane to Philly, where JET shot 1-12 in the loss. He wasn’t that bad in the win, but he wasn’t much better. He shot 3-9 last night, but 2-5 from 3 is perfectly fine.
Bench
 |
Offense:
|
Jeff Green is starting to become what we though he’d be. 13-24 shooting for 35 points over the 2 games, including 4-6 from 3. He’s active and he’s aggressive… just what the C’s want him to be.
 |
Offense:
|
Wilcox is doing a good job of running the floor and finishing Rondo’s assists. He had 2 more alley oops last night.
 |
Offense:
|
Defense: Yes, he’s struggling with his shot, but man, the kid just hustles his ass off on defense. He will just not allow you to get a fast break on him when he’s on the floor. He’s obviously down about his shooting, but he’s not letting it affect him on the other end of the court, and that’s very important.
 |
Offense:
|
He’s doing work out there. Here’s the one play that just impressed me last night.
The Sixers had cut the lead down to single digits but the Celtics came back and were looking to end any Sixers thoughts of hanging around. With the score 77-63, the Celtics came down after a Philly make and had a horrible half-court set. No one knew what was happening, it seemed, and ultimately, Sullinger got the ball with :07 on the shot clock. He looked to pass to Jeff Green, but when Hawes dropped into the lane, daring him to shoot, he calmly took the shot, and drained it.
No hint of panic. No “OMG I’M A ROOKIE ON THE FLOOR WITH A BUNCH OF SCORERS” freak out. Just a calm, “Oh, you’re going to foolishly let me take a shot I can make? Ok… thanks.”
Coaching
 |
Play Calling:
|
I liked that he got Rondo a chance to win the game in regulation two nights ago. I liked that he got KG the ball in the OT. I even liked him going big on the perimeter with Pierce at the 2 and Green at the 3 for a short stretch last night.
But most of all, I want to commend Doc for the humanity he brings to this team. He traveled to Rick Majerus’ funeral yesterday in Milwaukee and made it back to coach the game. Majerus is the guy that gave Doc his nickname at Marquette… he’s a tremendous influence on Doc as a person and a coach… and losing him was a blow to the sport of basketball.
And what did he say before the game?
“if I really wanted to piss Rick off, I wouldn’t coach the game.”
Doc’s just a hell of a guy, and he honored his coach by doing what he would have wanted Doc to do.. go coach the game. He’s a fine example to his team.
Overall
I’m a little surprised at how well the guys came out last night, and how well KG and Pierce played especially. They were clearly pissed about the loss, and they came out and did something about it. I wish they played pissed off a little more often.
As for the loss, it’s probably the one that bothered me the least this season. The effort was clearly there, and guys just missed shots they’d normally make. There’s no way in hell Terry is going to go 1-12 again. It was only the 5th time in his career that he’d taken 10 or more shots and made 1 or fewer. The Celtics had plenty of chances to win that first game, but just didn’t. I’ll take that kind of loss over a Detroit stink-bomb any day.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
