Can Danny?

No, I'm not going overboard because the Celtics lost their second game (in a kind of fluky manner with Ray Allen missing two free throws).  I'm talking about this quote from Chad Ford regarding the new International Draft Hype Hero John Riek:
 

"NBA scouts have him in the top 10, and some have him in the top five.

"He's huge, he's athletic, he has a great motor and the kid goes after everything," one NBA scout said. "He runs the floor and attacks. His defense, rebounding and shot-blocking are already great. His offense needs work, but it's more advanced than most kids his size and his age."

We'll see. A little perspective is needed here. The history of mysterious international big men is hit and miss (mostly miss). Remember Pavel Podkolzine? Ha Seung Jin? Mohammed Sene? All showed enormous potential, but none has made his mark on the NBA yet. Last season everyone was abuzz about UConn prospect Hasheem Thabeet, and he's been a bust."

 WHAT?!  Chad Ford preaching PATIENCE about an international prospect?  The man who touted Pavel Podkolzine and Maciej Lampe as the next superstars and predicted that the battle for #1 pick in the 2004 Draft was going to be between Martynas Andriuskevicius and Nemanja Aleksandrov has suddenly gone soft on an international prospect?  The end of the world must truly be near.

Posted by SoulHonky at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tough loss for the Celtics. Ray Allen couldn't hit the broad side of the barn (and spent most of the first half dribbling around with no purpose) and the Celtics opted for a ridiculous defensive strategy to start the game.  Letting Jameer go right and forcing him into the lane made no sense whatsoever.  The C's have been one of the best defensive teams in the league so far, why make such an odd decision to actually let a guy penetrate? 

Besides that, watching Tony Allen play has gone from frustrating to depressing.  He simply doesn't have the same athleticism as he once did.  Hopefully he can get it back.

On the bright side, Rondo's shot looked great, the C's played like crap for a half and still almost won. and it ends the streak (which was getting too much hype and was probably going to become more of a burden that it was worth).

Posted by SoulHonky at 05:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While the Celtics have been beyond impressive in their first 8 games, the real story has been the emergence of Rajon Rondo.  His playmaking skills have improved and he still plays impact defense but the shock is how much his shot has improved.  Whie he's not going to make anyone forget... whoever the best PG the C's had this past decade and a half, he is consistently hitting the open jumper and forcing teams to stay honest.  According to 82games.com. Rondo is knocking down almost 47% of his jumpers.

Up next for the Celtics is a tough three game stretch.  Orlando is off to yet another hot start and starting to generate some buzz.  Still, the team has lost to the two elite teams that it faced (Detroit and Phoenix).  Rondo should be able to make life difficult for Jameer Nelson, which will put a cramp in the Orlando offense. I also think Kendrick Perkins should be able to hold his own against Dwight Howard.  It's a strength against strength matchup; Howard still has no actual low post moves to get past Perk with so I think the C's might be able to corralle him a bit.  That leaves the ball in the hands of Rashard Lewis.  I think you can give him his points.  He still hasn't shown the ability to create for his teammates so I'd be more than happy to let him rack up his points while his team falters.

After that is the dangerous Warriors.  Stephen Jackson might be back for this game so we'd be facing them at full strength.  I think Golden St. could give the C's their first loss.  Andris Biedrins is turning the corner, Al Harrington is finding his place in the offense, and Baron, Ellis, Azubuike is a strong backcourt.  Of course, people will point out their record but it is misleading as five of the first seven games this season have come against playoff teams (Utah twice, Cleveland, Dallas, and Detroit).  Besides the two blowout losses to Utah, they've been competitive in all of their games, losing by an average of 5 points.  The C's should look to play physical with the Warrios (just as the Jazz did).  Like most running teams, the Warriors don't seem to be very fond of having to deal with bumping and banging.

Finally, Kobe and the Lakers come to town.  Despite the controversy, the Lakers already have wins over Phoenix, Utah, Houston, and Detroit under their belt.  The renewed focus on defense that Kobe showed during his stint on Team USA has carried over to the regular season and Lamar Odom has always been a guy that upped his defensive intensity against bigger name opponents. This, however, is another key game for Rondo.  The Lakers losses have come when point guards have gotten into the paint and opened up shots for other players.  Tony Parker went 11-16 with 9 assists while Chris Paul drove the lane and dished for 21 assists (on top of 19 points of his own) in the Lakers last two losses (their first loss was sans Odom and Kobe trying to win the game by himself, which is always another tactic to try to beat the Lakers).

After the Lakers is last year's giant killers, the Charlotte Bobcats, but honestly, they don't worry me all that much.  Their only hope of winning is if Jason Richardson is knocking down the trey and the Celtics defense has been stellar at shutting down opposing perimeter shooting this year. While I like the individual players the Bobcats have, I'm not sure that Felton, Richardson, Wallace, and Okafor are really a good fit for one another.

If the Celtics can get through the next three games and maintain their unblemished record, I see smooth sailing for the rest of the month.

Posted by SoulHonky at 01:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Facing a questionable officiating job, an unreal shooting performance from TJ Ford, and an interim coach, the Celtics win was very impressive.  They overcame foul trouble from Rondo and KG to hold off a very good Raptors team. The best thing about the game was watching the team's intensity.  KG is always pressing on defense, Posey is on the bench cheering on his teammates, and Ray Allen is the calm, focused assassin.  And I know that everyone is being careful and calling this Paul Pierce's team but let's be honest, in a close game, he's is, at best, the second option.  There was no way he should have gotten the last shot in regulation, given the way he was off and Allen was locked in.  Hopefully, Pierce will be able to take this in stride.  If the wins keep piling up, I don't see why he wouldn't.

All in all, a nice first game from Posey and another solid outing from Rondo.  It would have been nice to watch the final couple of plays but listening to them wasn't so bad.  Reminded me of the good ol' days with Johnny Most... and elite-level Celtics squads. 

Posted by SoulHonky at 09:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

- The Celtics were utterly dominant and Rondo's defense was spectacular.  Still, I'm going to hold off on the We're Going to Dominate! talk until we play a team that can hit a three pointer and actually attempts to play defense. The Toronto game should be more telling than the Wizards matchup.

- Eddie Jordan needs to do something soon or he'll find himself out of a job. The lack of defense is laughable and when the Wizards looked like they could make a run, he left Nick Young in there to get abused by Ray Allen.

- I'm still non-plussed by the smaller signings.  Hopefully Posey will turn back the clock but neither House nor Pollard gave me much confidence.

- Kevin Garnett is amazing. 

Elsewhere...

- Watching the Wolves made Ainge's trade all the more stunning.  Gerald Green was benched, Gomes was airballing corner threes, and Jefferson (who did have an overall solid game) was absolutely abused by Marcus Camby in the 4th.  If you trade Kevin Garnett and the second best player in the deal might be Sebastian Telfair, there's a problem.   

- The TJ Ford for Charlie V deal just gets worse and worse for Milwaukee.  Charlie is slowly becoming the new Tim Thomas and relying too much on his jumpshot rather, while Mo Williams proved to be one of the dumber point guards in the league.  With his team down two and the 'Cats on the line, Mo heads over to the sidelines where Larry Krystowiak tells his team that Felton (shooting two with 7 seconds left) will miss one and the Bucks will still be alive.  Felton proceeds to miss the first. After Felton hits the second, Mo gets the ball, dribbles down the floor, fiddles and diddles... and drives to the hoop for a layup with .4 seconds left.  Bucks lose by 1.

- It looks like I have once again overrated the Bulls and Nets. 

- Philly might not be great but they are better than most people give them credit for. They could be this year's Charlotte, a team that struggled last year yet still managed to take down more than their fair share of elite teams.

- The Hawks are a year away from being a dangerous team.  The Horford/Smith duo looks great.

- With Andrew Bogut owning the boards, Yi Jianlian could average more fouls than rebounds this year. 

- LeBron is going to have a career year. The Cavs will still be worse than last year.

- No matter what the Knicks do, Zeke and Marbury will get the headlines.

- Daequan Cook might help the Heat more this year than he helped Ohio State last year.

- Obieball is back in Indiana.  Not sure if they have enough horses to make a real run but, then again, it's not like Obie ever needed more than two horses to make a team win. 

Posted by SoulHonky at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MVP: Kevin Garnett
Runners Up: Dirk Nowitzki, Chauncey Billips, Jason Kidd, Tim Duncan

Defensive Player of the Year: Kevin Garnett
Runners Up: Josh Smith, Gerald Wallace, Marcus Camby, Tayshaun Prince

Rookie of the Year: Al Horford 
Runners Up: Kevin Durant, Corey Brewer, Al Thornton, Rodney Stuckey

Comeback Player of the Year: Jamaal Tinsley
Runners Up: Andrei Kirilenko, Kenyon Martin, Damon Stoudamire, Peja Stojakovic

Most Improved Player: LaMarcus Aldridge
Runners Up: Danny Granger, Andrea Bargnani, Andrew Bynum, Martell Webster

The Bust Label Cometh: Gerald Green
Runners Up: Andrew Bogut*,  Marvin Williams, Robert Swift, Shelden Williams, Randy Foye
* This isn't to say Bogut is as bad as Green but he'll never amount to much more than a 4th or 5th starter the way the Bucks utilize him.

The KG in Minny Memorial (Player Most in Need of a Trade): Kobe Bryant 
Runners Up: Andrew Bogut, Andre Miller, David Lee, Jarrett Jack

The Good Players on Bad Teams (Stats will jump, skills will stay the same): Delonte West
Runners Up: Mike Dunleavy Jr., Darko Milicic, Nate Robinson, Rashard McCants

Coach of the Year: Nate McMillan
Runners Up: Lawrence Frank, Avery Johnson, Jerry Sloan, Gregg Popovich

Posted by SoulHonky at 07:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)