10/08/2008: Preseason Game 1 vs Philadelphia

[tk76]

Glad to see games are finally back (although I guess not such a long wait for you guys since Boston played well through June.)

I hope that Young and Lou Williams get good soon enough that we can see some great series between Boston and the Sixers in the coming years. Right now Brand and Iguodala is not enough firepower to match up with the big three (I'll forget the role players- who are good on both teams.) As a Sixer fan, I counting on Young and Lou eventually making the Sixers contenders assuming Brand is healthy and Iguodala continues to rise.

Can't wait to see the 6ers/C's really go at it. I have years of pent up bile and vitriol towards the C's, but when the C's were down it seemed petty, and with the C's as champs it would come off as jealousy. I want both teams to be elite so that we can really get the rivalry going. Good luck this year. Hope Young can make Peirce look bad in a real game that counts.

[GuyClinch]

Scalabrine looked awful out there - and despite Tommy's love I am just not a huge BBD fan. I'd rather have POB play backup center for us.

TA looked good as expected - TA is a pretty good player when healthy. For whatever reason everyone seems to zone out on the good things he does - and remember the bad. Walker had his moments. Miles looks gimpy still but if it comes down to Miles or Scalabrine - I go with Miles.. Unless like Miles can't walk tommorow or something like that..

I think Miles can slip into rotation if we go 10 man.. And the way Doc loves 'second units" that could happen. I don't particularly care for them but I guess from a coaching perspective there are advantages..as you can have the same five guys practice plays out there..

Pete

[BigCelticket]

That was a lot better than I expected some guys to do(POB, Walker, DMiles, TA the PG), and a lot worse than I expected some guys to do(House, BBD, Powe, Coach Tom). Overall I am very excited to see how well these performances stand up to the rest of the preseason. Looks like we may have some “steals” on our hands in DMiles, POB, and Walker.

[BillessuR6]

I was the most impressed with POB. Maybe because my expectations weren`t high but he certainly had a great debut. Walker also looks like a player, he seems to have that feel for the game, which separates him from being just a dunker. Pruitt looked good, I would really like to see him make the team. Miles looked OK, nothing special but he just needs more time. Tony had his good and bad moments, he just makes some really stupid decisions on the court at times...

And Scal was terrible on offense! Absolutely terrible. He can`t hit a shot to save his life. Just frustrating to watch...

[Kids Are Alright]

Based on preseason game one, players getting shoved off the end of the bench (IMO) are Baby and Scals. Funny, I've always liked Glen Davis, but he looked wrong out there, moving with the ball too much, I guess. I really don't ever want to see Powe at the 5 either.

POB looks lots better than I expected and Walker, hmmmm, a loose cannon, but what an athlete. The whole Jailblazer/Miles thing is going to take some time to wear off, but he looks like he's got some nice moves down low.

I liked Pruitt.

[LongTimeFan]

There was so much to watch in this preseason game.

I was favorably impressed with Pruitt. I thought his defense on Williams was very good. On the Celtics defense matters and it especially matters at the point of attack. I don't think Pruit is going anywhere.

POB is a project. But you can't coach length, wingspan and he's got it. Nice pickup.

[humblebum]

First, I was very impressed with POB. A great, smooth athlete of a seven footer. Definitely seems to have a nice pair of hands and good touch around the basket. His length is a big plus on the defensive end. I wouldn't say he's ready for primetime yet but he's also far from a project. He seemed a bit uncomfortable with the defensive rotations but he's clearly physically capable of making them. POB simply needs to master all the rotations and schemes defensively while using his length and hands on the offensive end to score around the basket. Passing could be a strong point for him as well which is encouraging... he definitely is ready to make the outlet pass. I like him.

Tony looks ready to assume a pretty large role off the bench. Miles is still quite a ways away which is OK because he'll have the first 10 games to settle in if he makes the team. Which, I hope he does because Scal is terrible and Miles has the right physical tools to defend those 3-4 tweeners like Scals.

I was underwhelmed by my boy Big Baby but he's going to struggle when he plays on the all bench unit, same for Powe. I see both of these guys losing A LOT of minutes to POB who's got true front-court size.

Finally, Pruitt is the real deal from a physical and defensive standpoint. Very long for a PG, quick, and moves his feet very well. I'd much rather have Pruitt on board to guard the Lou Williams types of the NBA. Very solid performance by him. I agree with Tommy he just needs more minutes. Which leads to, cut Sam or make him an Assistant Coach. Sam doesn't really add much to the table besides leadership because he's so inept defensively (based on last season).

Overall the bench has a long way to go.

[bruno sundov]

It was 1 game. I'm not getting to excited about walker,O'B and miles yet. I will say this though Powe got doubled often in the game. He was still making baskets.

BBD look fatter than the start of last year. I just want BBD to be what Danny Fortson was when He was here. Just a monster rebounder who if, Fortson didn't break his foot early on, he would have played for the green a long time. Why can't BBD just be that?

[Celtsfan1980]

For those who watched it, did Big Baby try any jumpers? It would make sense that he would test them out in meaningless games to see how he feels shooting them. At some point in his career, he's going to start shooting jumpers so I hope it's this season. From looking at the box score, I still feel Scal will be cut if Miles isn't. He seems popular in the locker room so it would be a shame, but he would probably be considered the worst player on the team so it makes sense. I'm surprised Giddens didn't play more minutes.

[celticfan42487]

My impressions: That was **** awesome. In the first quarter the big 3 were just playing with PHI and making superstar shots as well as easy ones and made our offense look unstopable.

PHIL has A LOT of talent. Brand,Iggy,Young,Miller= KG,PIerce,Ray imo. Although this is basketball so the rule always is, all things equal, quality>quanity

Patrick O'Bryant.= Potential for THIS YEAR. Now he got cut partly because he didn't have enough love for the game to learn it. But, he showed why GS took a chance with a top 10 pick on him. It's too early to see if he doesn't have a basketball mind or if he's a young player out there in a new system but right now he isn't playing in the flow of the game but thinking every move before he makes it as well as some sillier then needed rebounding positioning. He seems to be a slow footed mover out there to me.. just seemed slow getting up and down teh court but nothing like Big Z and will be fine at the C postion. Time will tell but he has easy tools to contribute and if he makes a concentrated effort this year he will get plenty of minutes as the back up Center. If he can mold Perk's intensity and commitment he will get a big payday after this year.

Tony Allen= he's back to what he really is. Tony Allen is not going to be apart of "the big four" as he proclaimed last year. But it looks like he's going to be a decent bench option for a wing player. He'll give you stuff [good defense, nice set up passing, foul drawing] and he'll kill you [stupid turnovers, stupid turnovers, stupid turnovers, and inconsisten shooting]. This is a great sign.

Miles= like O'Bryant he showed that he just has a unique combination for a body. He's length and mass shows that he has the potential to cover strong SFs on this team that only Pierce can handle. He looked fluid with his body motion out there to me. And like O'Bryant he's has mental promblems that he might get over as well as major rust that he may get over. If so between him and TA we have a great defender off the bench. This could be a good one.

Walker/Giddens= rookies, not particulary unimpressive. Should see some time in the D-league and Walker may get early playing time untill Miles get something. (this is off one preseason game don't kill me wich you youtube clicks of Walker's dunks)

Powe= did great imo. He scored in tough situations, drew some fouls, turn the ball over. And with the exception of drawing a charge showed he's going to pick up where he left off last year. Nothing great but good enough for a backup PF on this team.

Pruitt= showed something. The coaches say he's not vocal, or agressive. But he showed he can lob for a alley hoop from half court and he can make a tweener shot in this game. He showed his body allows him to cover taller, albeit still slim, PGs like Lou Williams. I want him to get playing time this year as the 3rd string and the go to guy if Eddie can't handle his matchup as our backup PG.

Baby/Scal= based on expectations for them both.. huge underachivers.


That counts up as Patrick O'Bryant,Miles,TA,Pruitt,Powe all doing better then expected or just as good as could hoped with expectations. This is a great sign and we may have a bench in the regular season this year.

[wetsthebed]

I'll try to get a gamethread up tonight for tomorrow's game.

[ParticleMan]

Seems like the guys who Ainge said were doing well in camp also played well in this game.

I think Pruitt is a keeper. His defense was MUCH better than at any point last season, against a tough cover no less.

Powe was up and down, but in the end more up than down. That's Leon. He'll always be in the middle of things, for better or worse. It would be great if he could be purely a backup 4 and never have to play 5. he is so much better at the 4.

POB... wow. Not that i'm surprised, given his talent level. it's just wow because i can't believe we picked up a more than serviceable 7 footer for damn near nothing. given his camp so far and this game, i'd say he's a lock for some backup mins behind perk. of course it's early, but still, that'd be a huge boost if it works out.

Scal... lol. I've always said how we should keep his contract around for trade value. But let's face it, i wouldn't want anyone cut at this point to keep scal on the roster. he is downright horrible. i mean, that play where he turned it over twice within 4 seconds... i was lmao. i can't remember the last time someone bumbled around that much in the pickup games i play! Danny, just chalk it up to your worst move ever and cut the guy. We need to keep Pruitt, Miles and SamIAm.