Game review Cs' Net a good catch

[snoopy1@pig.net]

First of all, sorry for the delay.  I'd written this last night, and was in
the process of sending it, when my pooter went a little nuts.  It seems to
be ok now, but it ate my original post.  Good thing I took good notes and
taped the game.  So, off we go...


The Celtics were coming in off two impressive (and morale boosting) wins;
while New Jersey was on a five game losing streak.  Soon to be six.    Both
teams had injury problems, though Mercer's expected back soon, and Nobody
knows when Sam Cassell will be back for NJ.

The starting lineups were:
Boston with Anderson, Minor, Walker, Pierce and Battie
New Jersey with Murdock, Kittles, Gill, Van Horn, and Williams.

New Jersey also has this really obnoxious sound system which generates an
artificial crowd noise.  It needs to be recalibrated, since it made enough
noise to get me wondering at first if there was an Elton John concert next
door.  NJ should be embarassed of this idiotic device, and banish it
forever.  If you can't play well enough to get the crowd into the game, you
deserve silence.  Not to mention the loss.

The first quarter opened up with The Celtics once again settling for quick
outside shots.  Anderson sat down with two quick fouls early in the first.
Hopefully, Pitino hooked him up to a tape player with a repeating loop
"pass first, shoot second".  Van Horn and Kittles both looked good, leading
the NJ attack inside.  The C's were pressing better in the first than they
had in other games, but there was a lot of sloppy play.  Late in the
quarter, Murdock stretched his thich muscle, but returned later with no
noticeable problems.  McIlvane, true to form, got 3 fouls in 5 minutes.
Guess we take stat improvement where we find it.  :>)  The end of the
quarter came with New Jersey ahead 23-15.  When NJ went inside, the killed
the C's.  Boston was shooting poorly throughout the quarter.

The second quarter showed the C's still making a basic (my opinion, as
always) error.  They were looking for the outside shot, then going inside.
Had this worked, it might have confused the Nets.  NJ, meanwhile, was
playing the C's type of game, and doing it rather well.  Again, a lot of
sloppy play and lots of foul shots--most by NJ.  Battie picked up his 3rd
foul late in the 2nd.  It was the C's defense, combined with some poor shot
selection and turnovers by NJ, that allowed the C's to close the gap,
ending the second quarter 45-42.  The Nets managed to blow a 14 point lead.
 That didn't bode well for NJ.

As of the half, Boston was 19-46 from the field, and NJ was 19-49.  Free
throws were about even, with NJ not shooting quite as well as they usually
did.  The nets had  seven more rebounds than Boston.  Both teams weren't
too careful with the ball, as each team was on a cruise to hit 20 turnovers
each.

The Third quarter got underway with the Net's shooting percentage dropping
to 38%, partly due to Kittle's poor shooting.  But the C's own ragged play
put them over the limit with 5:22 to go.  Bowen made a nice halfcourt steal
from Jones, which results in a quick 2.  Finally, Dana Barros shot a
3-point shot to give the C's their first lead (61-60) since the opening
basket.  As he did so, we heard a voiceover from Pitino, commenting
basically, "live by the 3, die by the three".  He said there were set plays
for the outside shot, but he was of the opinion that when the other team is
tired, you should be driving it in, not settling for the outside shot.  Now
if he could just get his players to listen to him.
*coughkennyandersoncough*  'Scuse me.  But as if to defy Pitino's wisdom,
Barros hits another couple from outside.  A literal last second shot by
minor at the buzzer ended the third quarter with the score tied at 69.  By
this point of the game, Boston was shooting 46%, but NJ was only at 38%.
Both teams had the 3 point disease, as they took a combined 21 attempts,
with only 4 of them made.  Three by NJ.

The fourth got underway as the C's defense was making it's presence known.
Early on, McIlvane literally tore up the floor, as he almost had a large
chunk thrust into his butt.  The piece looked about 3-5 inches long, and
left a nice gouge under the basket.  By this time, the fouls and foul shots
were adding up.  The lead kept changing every other shot, it seemed.  The
C's finally started making the extra pass, and they got good shots, both
inside and out.  Most of the last couple of minutes was a free throw
contest, but the C's were actually shooting their foul shots pretty well at
the end.  Murdock double dribbled then committed his 6th foul, and was gone
before he fould do any more damage to the Nets.  The game ended with the
Celtics winning 101-92.

The free throws.  AAAUUUGGGHHH.  Someday, the C's are going to lose a game
by the number of free throws they miss.  Tonight, they were 18-28.  Amazing
really, they got that many trips to the line.  NJ was 21-31.  C'mon, guys.
They're called "free throws" for a reason.  At this level, those numbers
are simply unacceptable.  

Offense.  Was, frankly, offensive.  The C's should be in better shape than
anyone the way they have to run every night--you either get in shape or
fall down.  They got kind of careless with the ball, and missed a lot of
good shot opportunities.  Part of this was some moments when they tried to
get cute.  Mostly, they didn't drive inside when they should have, often
settling for a weak outside shot, or an even weaker inside lob.  NJ, when
they drove inside, did a lot of damage at first.  Boston needed to drive
harder to the hoop.

Defense.  The C's defense saved their butts, again.  When Boston has the D
running smoothly, they can stop anybody.  Their steals give them a lot of
easy shot opportunities, which they'd get more out of if they got within
say, 30 feet of the basket before launching the ball into orbit.  But they
did settle down and give the offense the chance they needed.

Overall, it wasn't a pretty game, but it was a win.  Good.  But the C's
need to tighten up their ballhandling, Anderson finally seemed to be
looking to pass more late in the game, but he needs to stop thinking about
his shot percentage.  The defense is good, but looking ragged--I think they
just need to smooth out their transition.  I saw more overal defense this
time out, but the C's need to really go at that more.

Boston gets to dance a pax de deux again on Monday, and they had better
come out hard and fast, or NJ is going to break that losing streak in the
Centah.  

And that's the view from the doghouse.  (Hey, there's only ONE person "high
above courtside". ok?)

poof.....