Game 1 review vs the Washington Wizards

[Snoopy the Celtics Beagle]

Let's get one thing out of the way.  Gilbert Arenas, you wear the 
PERFECT number.

Zero.

Got any more guarantees, hairball?

Ok, on with the evenings festivities, er, game.

First we were introduced to the Red Auerbach court, unveiled just 
prior to the start of the game, 65 years to the day that Red coached 
his first game--a win, of course with the old Washington 
Capitols.  Then the team introductions were made, and you'd have 
thought the Beatles had somehow pulled off a reunion with the ovation 
the Celtics got.  This was after several New England Patriots 
football players were presented, as well as members of the World 
Series winning Boston Red Sox--complete with trophy--made an 
appearance at center court.

The first quarter played a little tight, though not as bad as I'd 
worried about beforehand.   Gilbert helped by playing one of his 
worse games as a Wizard.  I did think that there was a little too 
much deference among the starters, too much "oh, no, YOU shoot it" 
before things settled down near the end of the quarter.

Oddly enough, after all the wailing about the bench, they were the 
guys who broke it open, especially in the second quarter, when the 
lead started steadily expanding.  Part of this was due to Pierce 
getting single coverage by the Washington bench;  and the rest to the 
Wizards determination to take bad three-point shots, eventually 
setting an NBA record 0-16 by the end of the game.

The fans, by now had heard about Gilbert's Guarantee, and serenaded 
him (when they weren't booing him) all game long, even after he left 
the game.  This might also have had something to do with Doc Rivers 
leaving his starting lineup in the game just long enough for Garnett 
to get a double-double with 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter.

The Third quarter saw a bit of a letdown, relatively, as the Wizards 
cut a 27 point lead to around 12.  But part of that was, frankly, 
better shooting by the Wizards and a little too much outside shooting 
by the C's.  The deference had, by this time, coalesced to Ray Allen 
shooting from outside, and Paul Pierce from wherever, as Garnett 
passed the ball better than Rajon Rondo did all night.

But by the final 12 minutes, Boston got back to work, and put the 
game completely out of reach for Washington. The game ended with the 
Good Guys winning,  103-83.

COOKIES AND CRUMBS

Cookies go to:

Red Auerbach.  We still miss you, and hope you enjoyed tonight's 
destruction of the Wizards.

Celtics defense--they played much better defense tonight than most of 
last season, though still vulnerable to the pick and roll.

Celtics offense--despite letting off the gas a little in the third 
quarter, they got things back on track before the Wizards could make 
a game of it.

Kevin Garnett--even when he was on the bench, he was pumped up, 
exhorting the other players on the court.

Brian Scalabrine--he's finally learned to fake the three and come in 
a few feet for an easier shot, so he looks like a much better player 
than he is.

Kendrick Perkins--He bodied a few people under the hoop at both ends 
and Boston NEEDS that.

The ESPN broadcasters who shocked me by saying nice things about Red 
and the Celtics.  I give them hell often enough, they deserved a 
cookie tonight.


Crumbs left for:

Free throw shooting--one of the glaring problems, especially for 
Pierce, who's form just looked bad.  Either his elbow is still worse 
than I thought, or he needs to relearn his release motion.

Paul Pierce--I know, he scored oodles of points, but it was plain 
that Garnett and Allen were deferring to him too much, and his 
shooting really didn't warrant quite THAT much deference.  I really 
like Paul, but I also think he needs to pass a little more.

Rajon Rondo--he's the by-God starting Point Guard, and he's still 
making too many bad decisions.  Despite his declaration of how "easy' 
his job is, in that no matter who he passes to, he's good; he still 
has to learn what decision to make BEFORE he passes the ball.  Also, 
his passes themselves weren't so hot.

Gilbert Arenas.  Moron.

And that's the view from the doghouse.

Snoopy the Celtics Beagle
Please visit the <http://www.celticsbeagle.net/>Celtics Beagle Website