wolves in the Garden.

[Kestas]

We're now seeing the fruits of Pierce's absence. The Celtics, thanks to 
that christening-by-fire in the past couple of months, now have other 
options besides Pierce, some semblance of chemistry and occasionally 
even a little bit of defense, and have become a so-so NBA team.

Some observations from the game:

We won because of superior rebounding (+30!), because the T-wolves 
outshot, outpassed, and out-defended us (Hassell's injury was a lucky 
break,  as he gives Pierce trouble).

We nearly lost because of terrible pick-an-roll defense, mostly on KG 
and Hudson. For all his shooting,  Delonte was getting schooled at the 
other end by Hudson. He'd either drop below the pick and have Hudson 
head straight to the hoop, or switch and end up with KG,  who'd just 
turn shoot right over him.  There were also numerous instances when he 
got broken down off the dribble, or on simple feints to one side and 
heading in the opposite direction, by Hudson. Not a strong game 
defensively for DW, nor was he creating well, despite his 10 assists. 
The Celtics built their 11-point lead in the 2nd mainly because Rondo 
contained Hudson and the second stringers. Rajon should've gotten more 
than 12 min.

Veal, on the hand, was terrible offensively, yet was kept in the game 
until he made a stupid pass in the 3rd, after which Doc's patience ran 
out and he mostly played Gomes and GG the rest of the way. It's no 
surprise that Scal doesn't hit anything during games - I started 
watching him shoot jumpers during warmups and he was 3 for 18 until 
hitting a few in a row and finishing something like 7 for 25.  That's 
with no one guarding him! He did play a couple of decent stretches of 
defense in OT.

Gomes should be kept at almost any cost. While not a star, he's one of 
those "glue" guys who do whatever needs to be done to win. Yes, I'm 
aware he was part of the 18-game losing streak but still.

Al got 9 rebounds in the first quarter,  then just 5 in the remaining 40 
  minutes or so.  Still, another strong performance.  He still was a 
little apprehensive about going at KG those few times KG was guarding 
him,  though he had no trouble scoring on Garnett either. Blount and 
especially  Smith were easy meat. Very soon, smart defenses will start 
sending a second defender against his signature move - a jump hook going 
from the left side of the box to the middle. It's money almost every time.

Pierce shows more trust in his big guys and Gerald during the game, but 
in the end,  he still tries to do it himself too much.

The official attendance of 18,271 was overstated by at least a quarter. 
When the game ended up tied after 4 quarters, amazingly, a good chunk of 
the "fans" stood up and left. After the first OT,  a whole bunch more 
left. They had gorged themselves on overpriced FleeceCenter food and 
drink,  the T-shirts and the parachuted toys had already been tossed 
out, the regular Jumbotron and "game presentation" programming had run 
its course - what was there to stay for?  The game itself is completely 
irrelevant to a large portion of the TDBG crowd. They only respond when 
the Jumbotron prompts them to, like Pavlovian dogs.

The fans who stayed did have a nice ovation at the end, without 
prompting.  Also, enough people paid enough attention to steadily boo 
Blount, and to alternatively cheer on or boo Ricky-D. Ricky, of course, 
rose to the occasion again, Blount nailed a critical last-second trey 
that wasn't counted as such, and KG had his typical quiet triple-double.

Lastly, they need to screen the national anthem singers (or better yet, 
do away with the stupid tradition altogether). The kid who attempted to 
sing it today had a decent voice but zero sense of pitch. He was about 
as off-key as Scal's jumpshots.  Amusing,  but kind of felt 
uncomfortable for him and his family.

Kestas