Re: Cleveland preview

[Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

Hi Alex:

Great job on these game previews. It looks like Bill Cooper is still MIA, but
your previews are a nice addition to this list as a useful fan resource, IMO,
and I hope you keep it up.

FWIW, although the Celtics have an undeniably "easy" opening schedule, the
first three games were by no means sure things. In fact, the Celtics I believe
had lost ten straight at Cleveland, six in a row overall to Detroit, and their
last several against Toronto. So while it would have been nice to start the
season with a win on the road and in a back-to-back, the Celts did break a
couple of jinxes with the opening two wins and, in general, should be both
sufficiently rested and much more confident in the next game in the aftermath
of these two exhausting comeback efforts.

BTW, the Celts are off to a promising start despite a poor start for many key
players. You have three starters shooting well under 40% from the field and the
team as a WHOLE is shooting a miserable .399 (you know something isn't quite
right when the best shooter among the top 8 players is Antoine Walker at .459).
So there is still considerable upside on this team that has yet to emerge.

The main thing is that Boston simply isn't turning the ball over much that much
(just 16.7 per game or a +5.6 differential) and they are playing elite defense
(.412FG% and just 88 points per game allowed, both stats among the best in the
NBA). These numbers are very impressive and suggest an incredible underlying
effort from all the players. The comebacks also seem to suggest we have a more
talented, experienced and tenacious bench thus far compared to the competition.

Go you Celts!

Joe

-----

Alexander Wang wrote:

> Another big test for the Celtics -- one of those dreaded back-to-back road
> games. The truth is that the Celtics could beat teams like Toronto and
> Denver at home last year. But these games were a complete killer for them.
>
> Cleveland has surprisingly opened the season 2-0, though neither of their
> wins were convincing -- a 4-pt win over the Nets that went down to the last
> minute, and a double-overtime victory over Sacramento. They haven't played
> since Wednesday so unfortunately they should be rested and prepared for us.
>
> The Cavs may be the closest thing this year to the Orlando Magic from last
> year. They traded away their disgruntled, underachieving superstar and got
> back some interesting role players in Weatherspoon and Gatling. They were
> one of the more active teams this offseason, also moving DeClercq and Sura.
> Could it be addition by subtraction? They've also got their 7'3" $70M
> center coming back from injury, who could be hard for Battie to handle.
>
> Their main offensive threat with Kemp and Sura gone is Lamond Murray, who I
> think has generally played well against us. Their other starters are
> Ilgauskas, Weatherspoon, Harpring, and Andre Miller, which makes an
> oversized lineup with the exception of Weatherspoon at power forward.
> Gatling is their top player off the bench. I'd say that Miller and Gatling
> are the biggest threats other than Murray. They also have the Tractor
> Traylor who has given us trouble in the past.
>
> Defensively they've held their opponents to an amazing 36% from the field.
> Their starting lineup is full of tough defenders headed by Miller at the
> point and anchored by the massive Ilgauskas. They've also outrebounded
> their opponents by 9 per game.
>
> However, they've turned the ball over 20 times per game led by Miller's 5.5
> average and they've shot an anemic 2-11 from three point range.
>
> Despite playing a back-to-back game, I think that we should probably press
> them. That is what our depth is supposed to be for. Cleveland's a pretty
> young team that hasn't had much experience playing together. They should be
> vulnerable to pressure.
>
> If the past is any indication (might not be since their personnel has
> changed so much), stopping their penetration in the halfcourt will be
> vital. In particular, we may want Randy Brown in if Anderson is getting
> beat. Also, Randy Wittman's style last year was to count on only two or
> three people to rebound defensively and send everyone else fast breaking.
> That left them vulnerable on the boards but got them easy baskets. Our
> perimeter players have to be aware of this while our inside players go for
> the boards to punish them.
>
> And of course, if they hold us to 36% shooting we're unlikely to win.
> Weatherspoon has shut down Kenyon Martin and Chris Webber so far this
> season. We may want to try to maximize our open court opportunities because
> they could be a tough team to break down with our half court offense.
> Hopefully Walker brings his A game tonight because he was off last night.
>
> Alex