Saturday Hawk Game

[bird <birdwl@earthlink.net>]

Yeah, that was some game.  I didn't think the Celtics played all that 
badly, though, aside from the woeful defense (Hawks shot 58%) and lack of 
rebounding (50-38).  Of course, that was enough to do it.  One of the keys 
to losing was getting off to that slow, slow start.  They got back to 
within 4 but then didn't have enough in them and also started missing the 
threes (which is what you mean when you say that they'll live and die by 
it).

As for the threes, I was more concerned with the other things, especially 
after looking at the box score and finding out they shot 46& -- not bad.  
Most looked open, and they were only really chucking it up later when, 
really, that was pretty much the last hope anyway.  The flip side was more 
important -- they let Atlanta shoot 58% from beyond the arc.  Not good at 
all.  Let's face it, shooting 58% on any sort of field goal is good for 
the shooting team.  I thought I saw, and I think Gorman & Heinsohn 
mentioned this at one point, too, that the defensive rotation looked 
off -- the last guy wasn't rotating quick enough -- that, and when the 
Hawks settled for the jump shot, they buried it.  Looked to me like the 
plan was to force the outside shot (a good idea, considering Atlanta's 
team and their recent schedule) early and then capitalize on offense, but 
the C's neither bothered the Hawk's shooters enough to miss shots, nor got 
their running game going.

They did set the NBA record for three-pointers in a quarter (10).  Oh, and 
other important factors were the bad game from Joe Johnson (that kind of 
thing is going to happen) and the lack of production from the Troika (4 
pts, 8 rebs), although it may be that Obie is improving (to my mind) the 
distribution of minutes there: Battie/V/Blount went 26/13/8.  I even saw a 
little of a "big" lineup with V and Blount in the low post for a minute or 
two.  Neither that nor the new hierarchy of minutes (if that's actually 
the case) helped much.

Antoine Walker eeked out a decent game: 23 pts, (5-9 3pts), 11 rebs, 5 
steals, 5 pfs, 0 to, as did Paul Pierce (33 pts, (10-21 FG), 5 rebs, 5 
assists, 5 pfs) but neither elevated their game enough to truly take over.
   Atlanta was obviously hungry, but were definitely vulnerable, too, 
because of injuries and the fact that the guys they did have on the floor,
  just aren't all that great, either.  As for guard play, Strickland and 
Palacio looked decent trying to take on the scoring load.  The former, 
especially, looked very capable.  Kenny Anderson looked for his shot, but 
they weren't falling, ended up with 4-9, 9 pts.  I actually think Kenny 
played, and has played, well so far.  I will take Kenny Anderson at this 
level of play.  He is pushing the ball better, looking to improve his FG 
percentage, and is making smart passes.  And if he can improve on this -- 
or, really, even keep this up year-long -- it will mean all the better for 
the team.

Still, there was a difference between how this team responded (never 
really gave up, which I liked seeing) and how last year's team would have,
  I think.  Oh, I still think we'll lose our share of games to sub-par 
teams, I just think there'll be less of them with this lot.  One good 
thing is the team gets four days to prepare for the rematch.  Watch lots 
of tape of this one.  I'd hate to see the same mistakes next game.

(The Celtic "Tird")