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.
It seems the Celtics have been trying to solve the mystery of their fourth-quarter disappearances for years, even before the Brad Stevens era began.
It was no surprise that just 2 minutes and 56 seconds into the fourth quarter on Friday night at TD Garden, the Celtics’ once-formidable 17-point lead had been whittled to 9 by one of the NBA’s best teams. Opposing teams not only see vulnerability in the Celtics in the final quarter but weakness.
They realize the Celtics have trouble executing in the final quarter, when the pace slows down and the Celtics are challenged to successfully run their halfcourt offense. It’s no coincidence that teams suddenly step up their defensive intensity, as the Cavaliers did on Friday and Thunder on Wednesday.The Celtics are making themselves easier to stop because they rely too heavily on the perimeter shot and don’t get to the free throw line.
In eight fourth quarters this season — three of those victories — the Celtics are getting outscored, 29.1-24.5, while they are shooting 43.4 percent compared with 51.2 by opponents. What’s more, in the past three games, two of those losses, the Celtics were outscored, 105-65, in the final quarter, including 38-20 Friday.
Boston Globe – Celtics failing to get the job done in crunch time
It’s not that we all needed to be reminded about just how inept the C’s have been at closing out games so far this year, but this hammers it home. Look, when you have a mostly young team, even one that has talent and plays hard, this is one of the pitfalls that comes along with it. During that 2007 catastrophe, those young Celtics were actually close in a lot of games, just found ways to lose at the end. Sure, they defeated the eventual champion Spurs at San Antonio, but overall they lacked the ability to close out games.
In this league, it’s one of the biggest sins of true growth from the bottom, to good, to playoff team to contender. These C’s are painfully close and could get there sooner than we all thought.
On Page 2, Rondo is a monster rebounder at the PG position
Historically speaking, this sort of thing just doesn’t happen. It’s very early and a lot of basketball has yet to be played, but only four point guards in NBA history have ever averaged at least eight boards in a season, per Basketball-Reference: Robertson (five times), Fat Lever (four times), a 33-year-old Jason Kidd and Darrell Walker. Rondo is at least three inches shorter than them all.
Aside from the physically stunning sight it is to see one of the smallest guys on the floor duck into the paint and emerge with the ball time and time again, why is this so meaningful? Two things happen when Rondo corrals a defensive rebound himself: 1.) He doesn’t need to wait for an outlet pass and 2.) a teammate doesn’t need to throw it. This puts turbo thrusters on Boston’s transition offense, giving it an extra second to get ahead of the retreating opposition.
In other words, Rondo isn’t leaving his man on the perimeter just to see how many triple-doubles he can wrack up. All this is productive; it has purpose. Rondo does stray from his assignment from time to time—though mostly when guarding players who can’t shoot—but on plays where he’s single-handedly preventing the other team from grabbing an offensive rebound it’s worthwhile.
On the Celtics, Rondo is second only to Jared Sullinger in rebounds per game, total rebounds and total rebound rate, but his impact on the offensive glass is especially humongous. The team averages 14.5 offensive rebounds per 48 minutes with Rondo on the floor and only 8.6 with him on the sideline. That’s a bit of a difference, and it’s no wonder that Boston, a team lacking an actual starting center, has one of the three highest offensive rebound rates in the league.
Bleacher Report – Rajon Rondo’s rebounding key to what makes him unique
In today’s world of NBA point guards, you’ll find a lot of scorers. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, as long as the rest of the roster has balance and the teammates are fine with a PG that looks for his own shot first. Then you have others who look to pass most of the time. With a guy like Rondo, he has such an incredible rebounding skill for his position, that his overall game provides so much. That entire post referenced above highlights just how good (and rare) Rondo is at rebounding from his position, while also pointing out that he doesn’t “chase” rebounds as evidenced by him closing out on shooters.
And Finally, James Young and Dwight Powell get sent to Maine
The Boston Celtics assigned rookies James Young and Dwight Powell to the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League on Saturday.
Young and Powell are expected to be in uniform when Maine visits Fort Wayne on Sunday evening.
Powell, the 45th pick in June’s draft, trekked to Maine for an intrasquad scrimmage last weekend. Young, the 17th pick, is on his first assignment.
Maine is idle until Friday’s home-opener against Canton after Sunday’s game, which means it’s likely that Young and Powell would rejoin the Celtics after getting some much-needed game reps.
ESPN Boston – Young, Powell assigned to D-League
Earlier in the year, Young said he wanted to avoid being “sent down” to the Red Claws, but aside from that stigma, it’s good for these guys to go get some run there. They play tonight and could be back in Boston for tomorrow’s game against the Phoenix Suns. By the way, if you think the 3-PT happy shooting is going to go away, think again. The C’s D-League team jacked a whopping 48 bombs the other night. Chris Babb hoisted a Walker-esque 12 himself. Antoine may be angling for another comeback.
The rest of the links:
ESPN Boston – Jared Sullinger diary: Celtics’ progress, facing LeBron & Love, wearing No. 7
Boston Globe –Washington Wizards appear to have magic touch recently (Sunday Notes)
Boston Herald – Celtics Notebook: Passing grades for Rajon Rondo’s health | Kevin McHale reflects on TWolves’ dramas (Sunday Notes)
CSNNE – Blakely: Celtics most important player is Smart | Celtics send James Young to the D-League | Babb’s 5 3-pointers lead Red Claws in opener
MassLive – James Young, Dwight Powell assigned to Red Claws
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