Re: Celts Smoke(Smelt?) Nuggets: Boston 115- Denver 90

[opi@unesco.org]

Bill Cooper wrote:

>         If Rick Pitino was to imagine the perfect game on the part of
> his club, this effort would be pretty close.  The big matchup between
> Mercer and Pierce turned out to be a non-starter, as Paul stuffed Ron
> the frist 2 times he touched the ball.  (...)
>         The Celts shot .516 to the Nuggets .408, out rebounding them
> 48-40, and for the first time all season, had a big edge in turnovers
> 24-16.  The Nuggets did go to the free throw line more, 44-20.  Even
> at the line, the Celts excelled hitting 17.  The C's had a season high
> 33 assists.
>
> Players:
> Pierce: a very strong game form the opening moments.  Really set the
> tone for the game with the defensive plays on Mercer, and by making
> some strong passes (to Toine especially) to start the game.  Ended up
> with 15 points (5-10), 3 boards, 8 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks in
> 27 minutes.

I love the verb "smelt"! Very original and descriptive.

Thanks for the summary, can't wait to review the video. Sounds like the
game ball has to go to Paul, who set the tone by stuffing Mercer early and
surprisingly made him wilt completely for the game (this happens with
amateurs or soft players, but not often with NBA 20ppg scorers). And boy
did "El Busto" make a statement last night or what?

Now that this game is over we will probably be inclined to underrate
Denver (a sure lottery team IMO just be circumstances), but they were
clearly motivated to win and are as hot a road team as you can find
(Philly was a hot team when Denver crushed them, and the Celts rarely beat
the Knicks in NY). The Denver frontline for now is certainly up there in
the high second tier behind the Spurs, as witnessed by the NBA leading
blocked shots. The combination of Denver being tired and Mercer reentering
the chemistry was bound to throw them off a little at first, and thanks to
Pierce we exploited this and KO'd them early. I'm surprised Potapenko
didn't get in big foul trouble guarding McDyess, but it certainly worked
out.

On any given night, the Celts are already talented and  together enough to
blowout anyone. Of course we don't always sustain these blowout leads, and
even have lost a few of them to veteran teams. If we can take care of
business against Houston at home, the Celts have a good chance to have
another .500+ month. I truly think we will have an awesome second half,
though, with a much weaker schedule and a likely improvement in team
defensive and offensive rebounding by at least +4 per game. The important
thing is that we don't dig our own graves this month, like the Celts did
in the second month of last season.

Griffin certainly hasn't let the ROM get to his head, since it sounds like
he's still letting the game still come to him (which is infrequent
considering the new attention he receives). Still, I hope he can stay
aggressive offensively. He's earned a right within the team to
occasionally try to take a little more from the defense than they actually
give him. If he doesn't do this (he's averaging 4ppg since the award),
then he will start to hurt rather than help his fellow starters. And
should he move to the bench, he definitely needs to bring at least a bit
of a scoring mentality with him, although his primary job will be to
create consistent ball movement and better scoring opportunities for Eric
and Battie as well as the perimeter people (Dana, Waltah, Duck Cheaney).

Joe

p.s. I can live with "Antoinette"'s 8 boards and 5 assists in 26 minutes.
Sounds like his college stats. I can't wait to see this game.