10/10/2008: Preseason Game 2 vs Cleveland

[Rocky5000]

Scal was just brutal whenever he was involved in a play. POB has a nice looking hookshot, I'd expect him to do a little bit better on the boards though. There were way too many fouls in this game from both sides and it was sloppy. I think TA benefited the most from that, when is the last time a player took 16FTs in preseason? For the most part Tony looked good, he kept trying to hook up with POB and JR for alley-oops though, and they couldn't get the timing quite right.

[EvadedHavoc]

Patrick Obryant looks damn good. Bill Walker is another Gem. Tony Allen is back.

This is going to be one heck of a season!

[MaxwellSmart]

Wow....C's up 2 with like 5 seconds left in the game--and Doc brings back Scal to inbound the ball---which is promptly stolen by the Cavs...only a Non-call by the refs (I guess their whistles were worn out) gave the C's the win....We should be 0-2 because of Scalabrine's horrible play.

[Rocky5000]

One more thing to add, I was pretty impressed that Tony played 42 minutes and only committed one foul. Last season it seemed like he would pick up one a minute every time he was subbed in.

[SmoothLikeButta]

I am very impressed with the celtics bench, we have like 8 guys that I could see starting for lesser teams lol

Did miles get injured though???

[Ortho Stice]

So far the preseason has opened my eyes to many things, namely: Scalabrine is somehow worse than I remember him being. The last game in which he got the ball, turned it over, somehow got the ball again, but then turned it over once more.

Tonight when the Celtics were up by two with a handful of seconds left, all Scalabrine needed to do was inbound the ball to a teammate for them to win. I said to myself before he threw in the ball, "I hope more than anything Scalabrine throws a bad pass, Clevelands gets it, then hits the game winning shot or ties it." To my amusement, this nearly happened, and the Cavs probably would've tied it if it was a regular season game, since the Cavs' player who drove to the hoop at the end clearly got fouled, but the refs didn't want a preseason game go into extra innings.

[MVP16]

TA looking very good in the 1st 2 games. It's not about scoring 25 points, but getting to the line 16 times, and filling up the stat sheet again with 4 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals and a block. Tony even made a few jumpers. Doc left out TA all the 2nd half probably with the goal of TA becoming a leader of the 2nd unit.

Bill Walker again had a good game. He plays hard and isn't afraid to bang in the paint. He plays with a lot of fire and emotion. It's important to not get too carried away though. Walker needs to work on his ball handling and outside shooting if he wants to be part of the regular rotation. His game is strictly around the hoop right now and it gets crowded in there with Powe/O'Bryant and TA looking to drive to the hoop.

O'Bryant was quite for most of the game, but was impressive in the 4th quarter. He again knocked down a 15 foot jumper, had some nice hook shots and showed solid court awareness with a nice pass or two. O'Bryant has all the tools to be pretty good, he just needs to play hard all the time when he's out there.

Giddens looked OK in the time he played. He looked good on defense (with a nice block on Wally) but bad on offense. Part of it was probably him rushing and wanting to score some buckets. He ended up knocking down what would have been a corner 3 if his toe wasn't on the line. If he can knock down that corner 3 consistently that might give him an edge over Walker on the depth chart eventually.

Powe and Babby have to show more. I want to see Powe shooting and knocking down midrange jumpers. And Babby just needs to play smarter.

[canman1971]

One thing I got from this game is Scal should be bought out/cut/traded LOL/ just not on this team. Please Ainge, don't do it just for the contract. I didn't think it was possible he could get bigger and worse, but he did. Other than that, good showing by TA, POB (why did you sign him to only a 2 year deal?) and Walker. Ship is moving on course and on time. "'I'm on top of the world!" Oh wait, that didn't end so well;)

[SmoothLikeButta]

highlights are on the espn site, awesome dunks by skywalker and pruitt... nice movement by POB too

[cloverleaf]

Walker is young but a very good free throw shooter, which tells me his range will come.

[cloverleaf]

With BBD not showing much, can someone comment on how Powe and POB play together? I wonder if POB's mobility and shooting range makes him a center who could compensate for Powe's limitations at the 4 spot.

[BillessuR6]

Didn`t see the game. I would have loved to see Scal dominating again!

So JR didn`t look good on offense? Is that primarily because he doesn`t understands the schemes yet?

[Kefa461]

What I see is this.....with the better talent we get in the 2nd unit, the more Scal sticks out like a sore thumb. He needs not make this team, by the way he's been playing on the floor at game time. I can't say what happens at the workouts or on the books or plans down the road or for trades etc. On the floor he looks out of a job, so far IMHO.

[canman1971]

What I see is this.....with the better talent we get in the 2nd unit, the more Scal sticks out like a sore thumb. He needs not make this team, by the way he's been playing on the floor at game time. I can't say what happens at the workouts or on the books or plans down the road or for trades etc. On the floor he looks out of a job, so far IMHO.

I don't think it is even close talent wise. Those two layups he blew and the out of bounds pass are elementary plays. He looks bigger, slower than last year as well if that is even remotely possible. BBD has not impressed me so far either.

[AlCelticFan]

Scalabrine just looked like damn fool out there last night. I'm not a Scal-basher by any means, and even I thought he was just scary-bad. He just looks totally out of place. I can actually FEEL his unconfidence. He seems like that guy who knows he's not good enough, and feels out of place and tries to overcompensate, and then ends up being an even bigger fool for it.

[Rocky5000]

After the game Doc said he thought Scal keyed the defensive burst that got us the lead. He also said that Miles didn't play well at all.(Which I agree with, but he only got a few minutes.)
Looks like either Doc is setting up the fans for keeping Scal around, or he's trying to motivate Miles a little bit...

[Pogue Mahone]

Scalabrine was very good defensively, imo. He was atrocious offensively and needs to stop overcompensating. I am not really worried about his offense, though, because, when surrounded by talented players who know where to be, he usually only shoots when open. He (usually) plays like a role player and doesn't shoot too much and stays out of the way of more talented teammates. And, defensively, I think he is an asset with his ability and versatility.

Conversely, I think the Celtics should just cut Davis now. He has been terrible defensively and on the glass. For someone spending the majority of his time near the hoop, he has been just terrible in denying position, blitzing the pick and hitting the glass. Good gracious.

[armageddon]

Holy crap. With this team, Scal is just a wart on a supermodel. You can try to say it adds character but in the end you just remove it and the supermodel is better for it. His teammates see who and what he is, they will want him removed. DA must do something quick.

Love POB. Looks like he can score anytime he wants. Has very good hands. Keeps the ball over his head (take notice Perk).

Walker looks solid again.

Pruitt ran the team well and played decent defense.

TA carried the second team and was under control.