Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here…
highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as
satisfying as a good morning dump.
“I saw two or three times after he
scored, he turned around looking for calls,’’ Celtics coach Doc
Rivers said of Garnett. “But you can’t worry about that. You’ve
just got to play.’’….
“It’s a different game from when I was his age, I’ll tell you that,’’
said Allen. Paul Pierce has always been crafty about
drawing fouls and getting to the line. This season he is 20th in the
league with 6.1 attempts per game, but he hasn’t taken more than 13 in a
game.
“We have to be more aggressive going to the basket and fouling
less,’’ Rivers said. “It’s a combination of both of them, it’s not just
one.
“We want to get to the line more, but listen, we shot 60 percent from
the field [Wednesday]. When you shoot that high from the field, you’re
probably not going to get to the line that much because you’re making
everything. So you can’t have a lot of complaints offensively“
Globe: Crying foul hasn’t been helping
I’m begging… BEGGING for the Celtics to stop bitching about the calls. I’m BEGGING fans to do the same.
For every 2 free throws Kevin Durant shot the other night, there’s a play the Celtics blew that could have countered it.
And forget the free throw disparity for a moment. 25 fouls were called on the Celtics. 21 were called on Oklahoma City. 25 to 21 is not a huge disparity. The difference is that Oklahoma’s fouls were on the floor… and the Celtics fouls were on the shot.
That means the Celtics are getting beat off the dribble and then doing things like fouling when they’re late on the rotation to help… or fouling when they try to slap down on the ball for the steal.
Take Pierce’s strip for example. Yes it was clean. That was a horrible call. But I can’t count how many times coaches have told me that refs will look at a big swipe down on the ball and just expect that there was a foul… especially if you or your team has a reputation of fouling like that.
My entire point is this: If you play good defense, and stop getting beat off the dribble so damn much, you won’t foul as much. If you rotate over in time, you won’t foul so much. If you stop yapping at the refs after EVERY…. DAMN…. CALL… maybe they’ll stop calling stuff on you.
A big misconception is that the Celtics played well enough to win and the refs stole the OKC game from them. I’m sorry, but that’s wrong. Jeff Green hit 2 big 3’s right in front of the Celtics bench on the SAME PLAY… and the Celtics didn’t stop it.
104 points should be enough for the Celtics to win. They gave up 109. Play better defense. End of story.
Coming up, Page 2… where Sheed is spending time on the post.
Photo: Jim Davis/Boston Globe
Getting the second unit, with newcomers Nate Robinson and Michael
Finley, more cohesive will also be focused on in the final eight games.
Rasheed Wallace had one of his best games of the season against the
Thunder, and the Celtics will need more of that once the playoffs begin.
Wallace was more of a post presence, taking only three 3-pointers in 26
minutes.
“They haven’t been together, but they’re getting it,” said Rivers.
“Michael has really fit in perfectly with that unit and having Rasheed
with that unit gives them a post player.“Clearly, that was our emphasis (against Oklahoma City) and Rasheed
was phenomenal and did that (down low), and we’ve got to keep doing
that. They got him the ball.”
MWDN: Celtics still searching for rhythm
Watching that Oklahoma City game, I noticed one thing: Sheed’s 3’s seem to come when he’s in there with the 1st unit. When he set picks for Rondo, he flared out to the 3 point line. In fact, he was running pick and roll plays on that first unit in general… but he was setting up shop down low with the 2nd unit.
Makes sense because Kevin Garnett is setting up closer to the basket. Sheed is finding more space further from the hoop with the starters. With a second team of Nate, Davis, Finley, Daniels and Wallace… Sheed is THE post guy. He’s got to get down low.
So that’s when he’s going to be Mr. Post Play. Maybe that’s the best we’re going to get.
Now if only he can grab a damn rebound.
The rest of the links:
Herald: Scouting report: Rockets at Celtics | League looking into Celtics comments on officiating | Globe: Rockets thumbnails | ESPN Boston: Quiet day at the point | Interactive: Playoff predictor | Presti comes back a winner | CSNNE: Rondo racing in to the record books | Celtics Blog: Celtics lack (consistent) offense | Celtics Hub: Perk: The Straight Shooter | North Station: Tim Donaghy to appear on Celtics Late Night Show in May | CSL: Gang Green 3-23
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