The C's beat the Grizz tonight 100-96; the game wasn't as close as that, though. There was talk in the locker room afterwards that perhaps the C's were looking ahead to Detroit, but no matter. It was game 31 of an epic season, and a win is a win in this situation. You can't complain about much when you're 28-3. A few things jumped out about the game. Tony Allen: Resurrection continued, as TA poured in 15 in the second quarter, befitting his status as one of the most erratic players the league. We should probably plan on him having another catastrophic injury sometime soon to counteract this week's spectacular pace. All good spells in Tony's career have turned bad, and vice versa. Maybe more mystifying tonight, however, was Ray Allen's complete no show offensively. He had two free throws in the final minute, and that was all. Tony, House and Posey more than made up for Ray's ineptitude, but it was slightly disarming. Slightly, nothing more. If I was Detroit I would be worried that Ray is gonna bounce back in a big way. Another interesting sidenote of the game was Garnett and Posey really beating up on Rudy Gay, I mean they gave him some tough love there, I felt bad for the kid. Pose and KG have to be not only physically draining, but mentally tiring to play against. Near the end of the game KG swatted away Gay's shot well after the whistle had been blown, and Rudy looked at KG with a petulant glare. I'm just glad the Grizz aren't good, because KG didn't make a positive impression on them tonight. If KG messes with the Pistons like that there will be an ejection. Ah, it should be lovely in Auburn Hills tomorrow night...
And we have to talk about the Grizzlies before we go, because they are a darkhorse contender for "most disappointing team that wasn't supposed to be good anyway." Not many of us had Memphis in the playoffs, but most were at least hoping for some highly entertaining aesthetics on the court. Instead we see a team that really isn't up-tempo, looks completely out of sync with their coach, and is getting ready to maybe trade their best player for far less than his value. So where to start the criticism? It might be unfair to lay into Iavaroni less than half way through his first season, but what the hell. His team does not appear to have an identity, and his antics on the sideline seem to only be worsening the situation. A wise fellow sitting next to me at the game asked why Iavaroni did not stop incessantly giving directions to his players, instead of just letting them play. I had no answer. Certainly Iavaroni has alienated Gasol; if not personally, at least on the court. Pau looked to be completely out of sorts - and remember this is a guy was a top 15 player when he was healthy last year. Iavaroni managed to find 18 minutes for Casey Jacobsen, and none for Hakim Warrick. No wonder Damon Stoudemire is mad - there in not much rhyme and reason for who is on the court currently with the Grizz. That said, Conley looks excellent, and Gasol and Gay are big time talents. I'm hoping this situation can be rectified before it gets more ugly.
2 comments:
Actually, sometime in the first half (early 2nd quarter, perhaps?) Gay took a longer range jump shot well after a whistle, and KG leapt up and snatched it from even clearing the rim.
It blew my mind, really, as last night was my first game of the season seeing KG as a Celt. The move screamed fierce gamesmanship to me, as if to say "There's no way I'm going to let you feel good about possibly making that extra shot you were trying to sneak in, not while I'm on the court." Sticking around for KG's second block was even better than seeing the crowd and bench reaction to Ray's two free throws.
***
Also, another thing about Iavaroni - he kept creeping out onto the court while barking orders to his players. Maybe this is much more common than TV's midcourt camera angle suggests, but Iavaroni was pretty awful about it from my up-behind-the-basket vantage point. I honestly think that Iavaroni's intruding presence led to Ray Allen's 2nd half over-and-back turnover pass, yet somehow it was the Cs assistant coach who got T-d up for some reason?
What would've happened if a Celtics player intentionally drove into Iavaroni while he was on the court, as if trying to draw a blocking foul on the coach? Wouldn't that be some sort of automatic technical foul on the head coach? Is there a rule on this, or a precedent that anyone knows about?
the Celtics' name is ringing out even in bukina faso people are talking about kevin garnett.
ouaga douga dou!
Post a Comment