Steals

[jmc@ptc.com (Jonathan McIntyre)]

When I look at the stats from last night's Celtics/Bulls game, and 
I think about how the Celtics big problem was shooting percentage, 
and the thing that kept them in the game was forcing the Bulls to 
commit a season-high number of turnovers, I think the most telling 
stats are looking at which players contributed most to those 2 things. 

OFFENSIVELY:
The POOR shooters were 
Walker, 8 of 24, and only 1 of 4 from the line, 
McCarty, 1 or 9, and
Knight, 1 of 7.  

The BEST shooter was BOWEN, 6 of 11. 

DEVENSIVELY:
Who was forcing the turnovers?  Although many turnovers and steals are 
the result of team effort, the numbers are glaring: 

The 5 starters had 1 steal COMBINED, and that was by Tyus Edney. 
Walker, McCarty, Ellison and Mercer had none, 
while Walker committed 3 turnovers and McCarty committed 4 turnovers.

Bowen had 5 steals, 0 turnovers
Barros had 4 steals, 0 turnovers in only 16 minutes

Although Knight had 4 steals, he also had 3 turnovers. 

Other than those 3 players, the rest of the team had just 2 steals combined. 

Is there any doubt that Bruce Bowen has the goods?  Pitino wasn't 
just pumping him up when he said in training camp that Bowen was 
their best defensive player, and was a real steal. 

Bowen seems to be consistent and in control, while Walker and McCarty 
are inconsistent and out of control, although when they're on, they're 
incredible.  Hopefully as they gain experience and better judgement, 
they'll become more consistently great. 

Barros also continues to impress me with his improved play.  His defense is 
better, and on offense he's driving to the basket more, creating easy 2-point 
shots and assist opportunities.  In addition to the steals and no turnovers, 
he had 3 assists in just 16 minutes, which has only bettered by 
Billups with 3 assists in just 14 minutes. 

Jon Mc