Morning Walkthrough: Sense of urgency not the same
The Celtics could use a James Posey or two to bring back their sense of urgency.
Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘Well, I like the fact that I heard Paul and I think Rondo both say they’ve been given the answers to the test, but of late they’ve flunked the test anyway,’ Rivers said. ‘I love that. That’s good. Having said that, I’d like to pass the test. But I’m not that concerned by it. I am concerned by all the injuries clearly. Obviously you don’t want that, and it does hurt your continuity as a group. It’s been difficult to get any continuity as a team. Every time we think we’re about to get it, something happens. But other than that, I like our team a lot.’ Of Rondo perhaps showing leadership, Rivers said, ‘I don’t mind that. There’s better ways of doing that, but I don’t mind that. Even the comments he made, I didn’t mind much at all, because, one, it says that he’s actually listening, and that’s always a good thing.’ But, as Rondo and Perkins intimated, there is room to question whether there’s a sense of urgency. ‘Not as much as the ’08 team,’ Rivers said. ‘But I do think they have a sense of what they want to play for exactly like that team. . . . We’ll have it (by the playoffs). You don’t need it right now. You know, it is January or February. So you need it later.’”
Frank Dell’Apa, Boston Globe – “‘We want everything to be happening now – bickering, whatever,’ Garnett said after the 107-102 win over Miami. ‘You already know the All-Star break is coming around, you’re going to have some things like that. I think, for the most part, we as a veteran team, we’ve done a great job of sort of just keeping it under control and letting it out of our system. Every team has its ups and downs and we are no different from that. We’re not a team here that points fingers, we keep everybody accountable, everybody knows what this is in the locker room. We have anything to be said, it’s said in the closed confinements of the locker room and to each other as men, and I want everybody here to respect that.’ Garnett had 14 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds last night. ‘I’m doing small things, trying to fill my role on this team, that’s play defense and bring a certain level,’ Garnett said,’make sure we’re playing the right way, keep everybody’s confidence and spirits up. And that pretty much comes natural to me.’”
Rich Levine, CSNNE – “But when it comes down to it, this isn’t really about what Rondo said. After all, as Rivers pointed out during pregame, most of Rondo’s words were an exact regurgitation of what Doc has told the team himself on multiple occasions. No, what makes this all so significant, is that Rondo said anything at all. He felt a certain way. He was frustrated with the team’s play. And he believed that it was his place, his job, to speak up and try and make it better.”
Peter May, ESPNBoston – “If you’re an opposing coach watching House coming off screens and firing away, you usually worry. If you’re Erik Spoelstra, the coach of the Heat, you have a personal history with House that guarantees you’re going to worry. Spoelstra was a Heat video guy/scout when House began his NBA career under Pat Riley in Miami in 2000. Riley rarely played House that year (50 games, 544 minutes), which prompted his daughter to bring signs to the Heat games reading, ‘Free Eddie House.’ Spoelstra remembered getting a call one hot summer day from House, asking to meet him in the gym so he could shag balls. House wanted to get off 2,000 shots. ‘My one vivid memory of Eddie is calling me up that day and then getting those 2,000 shots off,’ Spoelstra said. ‘I thought he was kidding at first. He was so determined. He practiced them from all angles, at different speeds, everything. That shot he has is not by accident. He put a lot of time into it.’”
Bob Ryan, Boston Globe – “Danny’s group has some chilling wear-and-tear numbers. His Big Three, Plus One, have each logged in excess of 30,000 minutes. Garnett, in fact, passed Bill Russell’s career total of 40,726 in last night’s game against the Miami Heat. And what must be understood is that today’s NBA minutes are harder than the NBA minutes of 40 or 50 years ago because there is so much more emphasis on consistent team defense than there was in Russell’s day, when teams picked their spots to put the hammer down and when, in Boston’s case, the idea was to funnel people in his direction and yell, ‘Hey, Bill!’ Does this mean the 2009-10 Celtics are doomed? No, especially since they have a very aware and sensible coach in Doc Rivers. What it does mean is that this team has to be nursed gently in the months of February, March, and April, so that when the playoffs come, they will have a chance. Remember, in the playoffs there is plenty of recovery time between games. There are no back-to-backs, no stupid travel. If Doc can get them there, reasonably healthy, they could make some noise. Notice the ‘if,’ however, and hope it’s replaced by a ‘when.’”
Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “The fact is the Big Three are past their primes, as opposed to two years ago when the Big Three were in their primes. Pierce, Allen, and Garnett are all aging and have all slipped since the championship season, but their roles haven’t changed. That’s the issue. There have been many examples of fading but productive superstars diverting to understudies as their careers progress. David Robinson knew it was Tim Duncan’s team during the latter stages of his career in San Antonio and accepted a lesser role without complaint. He won a championship as a reward. In order for the Celtics to gain that magic back, they need to accept their roles. It’s also possible Rivers and Ainge need to redefine those roles.”
Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Marquis Daniels is scheduled for his first true test today – a full-contact practice in which his surgically repaired left thumb will be fair game. Indeed, the swingman wants someone to hit the joint early to get the inevitable out of the way. ‘I’m kind of inviting that,’ Daniels said. ‘But I’m still nervous about it, too. I just want to get my timing down.’ Coach Doc Rivers is concerned about Daniels’ ability to blend. Based on a light practice yesterday, Daniels had a significant distance to cover in terms of his basketball sense, more specifically, regrasping how the Celtics do things.”
Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “‘[Wade] was having a great night tonight, he was cooking,’ said Allen. ‘I just had to try to keep my head and, whenever my number got called, I just focused in on trying to get a stop. I was fortunate enough to go under the pick-and-roll because it was higher than the 3-point line. I knew he was about to split, so as soon as he was about to split, I just reached my left hand out there and got the steal, hit the two free throws, and that was the game.’ It all sounds so simple. But consider this: Wade had absolutely torched the Celtics as the ball-handler in the pick-and-roll this season. According to ESPN Stats and Research, Wade shot 50 percent (9 of 18) as the primary ball-handler in pick-and-roll plays during the first two meetings. What’s more, he hit all five field-goal attempts and added five assists off the pick-and-roll during the first three quarters of Wednesday’s meeting. But in the fourth quarter, the Celtics locked him down.”
Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “But for Doc Rivers the most encouraging number was easily the 41.7 percent shot by Miami in the fourth, as well as the Heat’s 43.9 percent second half number, a striking shift from the team that shot 62.5 percent in the first half. Two games in a row of great fourth-quarter ‘D,’ ‘ Rivers said. ‘But it had to get better. What were they shooting, 60-whatever-percent in the first half? That’s pretty high. But it’s funny, I told them at halftime, and this sounds crazy, I thought we were playing hard defensively. But Dwyane Wade controlled the first half.’”
Paul Flannery, WEEI – “From the beginning, the passing was crisp and excellent, so much so that Ray Allen made a point of telling Rondo that the ball was, as he said, ‘hopping.’ ‘It was contagious,’ Rondo said. ‘It started when we came out, first play of the game. When guys are moving the ball we are a great team. We are fun to watch.’ For a team that doesn’t rely on post-ups and isolation sets, particularly with Pierce out, ball movement is an essential ingredient to offensive success. For one night, at least, it was back in vogue.”
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Related posts:
Celtics Blog, Featured, Morning Walkthrough | Jay King | February 4, 2010
Boston Celtics, Danny Ainge, Doc Rivers, Dwyane Wade, Eddie House, Erik Spoelstra, Kevin Garnett, Marquis Daniels, Pat Riley, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Tony Allen
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