Atlanta vs. Boston. Wednesday 4/11/12. 8:00 PM

[Ruhiel]

Suggested lineups
1- Jeff Teague - Rajon Rondo
2- Joe Johnson - Avery Bradley
3- Josh Smith - Paul Pierce
4- Ivan Johnson - Brandon Bass
5- Zaza Pachulia - Kevin Garnett

more realistic is Kirk Hinrich starts and wastes a spot "really getting after" Avery Bradley..

Who knows...Boston is on 4th game in 5 nights. So they're either tired or rolling.
But it would feel good to go Big and get some dunks, get some offensive boards tonight.

Paul Pierce was fouling JJ to the tune of only 27minutes last game and the Cs still won. Josh went 5 for 20 and a few of his makes came vs Brandon Bass.
KG owns Smith. Part of why I wanted him over here. Still elite and yerp I'm chalking it up to a loss.

Unless Teague goes bananas...

[HMFFL]

Boston is favored to win by 3 points.

We should win this one.

[Ruhiel]

We should win this one? Based on which "likely" matchup?

1- Jeff Teague - Rajon Rondo
2- Kirk Hinrich - Avery Bradley
3- Joe Johnson - Paul Pierce
4- Josh Smith - Kevin Garnett
5- Zaza Pachulia - Brandon Bass
6- Bench

We're "fresh" off 3 days rest but Cs are groovin off a win in Miami.

* The More You Know *
Hinrich has been absolute dead weight, with worse PER, WS/48, T.Shooting %, than anyone on the team not named Dampier or Collins!
Wouldn't surprise me to lose by 10.

[Ruhiel]

And lo and behold. Now Cs are saying Avery Bradley (!) can go at Hinrich.

They better have Hinrich come off the bench or Avery's going wipe his ass with his face. Harry Potter doesn't have enough magic to stop Avery tonight.

Celtics are 6-0 on back to backs at home on the second game so i'm not worried. Coming off that huge win I expect big nights from KG, rondo and bradley. I think Bradley will have a big game depending on the lineup situation.

So now we are disadvantaged at the 4 matchup, the 1 matchup AND the 2 matchup???

[Slartibartfast]

And lo and behold. Now Cs are saying Avery Bradley (!) can go at Hinrich.

They better have Hinrich come off the bench or Avery's going wipe his ass with his face. Harry Potter doesn't have enough magic to stop Avery tonight.

Celtics are 6-0 on back to backs at home on the second game so i'm not worried. Coming off that huge win I expect big nights from KG, rondo and bradley. I think Bradley will have a big game depending on the lineup situation.

So now we are disadvantaged at the 4 matchup, the 1 matchup AND the 2 matchup???

We Celtic fans aren't the most unbiased observers so I wouldn't take our analysis as gospel.

That said I would like to thank the Hawks for playing Hinrich at the 2 and JJ at the 3. Makes things much more amenable for our smallish backcourt.

[azuresou1]

We should go Teague/JJ/Marvin/Smoove/Zaza. To me this is a no brainer. We want JJ taking it to the significantly smaller Boston guards, and Teague schooled Bradley hard last year.

[Ruhiel]

We should go Teague/JJ/Marvin/Smoove/Zaza. To me this is a no brainer. We want JJ taking it to the significantly smaller Boston guards.

Classic azuresou1. Coming into make a tangent argument with no merit.

See what I have to deal with Cs fans?

Trying to counter with Marvin Williams instead of Josh Smith is a apparently a no brainer.

Actually thats either having "no brain" or self-sabotage.

For the Hawks to win, this is a no-brainer>>>

Teague/Rondo
Smith/Pierce
Johnson/Avery
Ivan/Bass
Zaza/KG

Avery Bradley was just guarding Dwyane Wade. Your counter is Marvin Williams. As if...

A classic azuresou1 derail post

[MaceCase]

We should go Teague/JJ/Marvin/Smoove/Zaza. To me this is a no brainer. We want JJ taking it to the significantly smaller Boston guards, and Teague schooled Bradley hard last year.

This is true, Teague did have his coming out party on one Mr. Bradley. A starting lineup of Teague, Joe, Josh, Ivan and Zaza just plays into one of the greatest strengths of the Boston defense..... their zone. Will be looking at a halftime score of 25 points while Boston will get Rondo and Bradley out running in transition against Joe with all of those clanked jumpers.

Keep the current lineup for floor balance or run the old lineup, no need for gimmicks.

[Ruhiel]

Teague had his coming out party in a game with Josh Smith starting at the small forward.

Last game we had a score of 31-33 With Josh Smith missing everything KG contested.

Stackhouse and Kirk playing the SG. And you're talking about "Gimmicks" and "floor balance".

And when IN THE HELL did Boston's "strength" become the zone defense?

That's their crutch when they can't man to man. I repeat when the Boston Celtics can't man to man , they go to a zone defense.

No personal attacks. HMFFL
http://www.celticstown.com/2012/02/17/t ... e-defense/

[MaceCase]

So you show an article that only makes the claim that Boston's zone isn't "machismo" enough for that fan......while still being very effective.

And please, pray tell, tell me what Josh shot while playing SF in Teague's coming out party?
Was it something to the effect of 0-8 and 1 point?

[HMFFL]

Ruhiel,

azuresou1 can post his lineup that he feels is best. For all you know azuresou1 never read any of the responses in this topic. Also, stop with the personal attacks; referring to others as "clowns" is qualified as a personal attack.

[Ruhiel]

Ruhiel,

azuresou1 can post his lineup that he feels is best. For all you know azuresou1 never read any of the responses in this topic. Also, stop with the personal attacks; referring to others as "clowns" is qualified as a personal attack.

Sorry.

Back to the game thread. Possible that Pierce rests on Hinrich and Bradley is entirely up to the task of guarding Joe Johnson.

Either way it would be nice to have an extra body on the glass there.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR -- Regardless of whether the Celtics played last night, the Hawks are going to come out looking to run. It makes sense when you consider they are the younger team, and getting out in transition has been one of their best traits all season. Atlanta averages 15.8 fast-break points this season (No. 8 in the NBA), a figure that will be challenged by a Celtics defense that's giving up just 12 fast-break points per game which ranks sixth in the NBA.

MATCHUP TO WATCH -- Avery Bradley vs. Joe Johnson: Once again Bradley will find himself matched up with a taller player at the shooting guard position. But what makes Johnson such a tough cover is his ability to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim, or pull up for jumpers. Give Bradley credit. He has managed to make some of the NBA's best (Dwyane Wade, for example) have off nights. He'll look to continue that trend against Johnson, one of the most efficient shooting guards in the NBA.

PLAYER TO WATCH -- Atlanta's Josh Smith is a phenomenal talent . . . except when he plays against Boston. In his lone game against the Celtics this season, he had 10 points on 5-for-20 shooting. He has faced the C's 24 times in his career, averaging 12.3 points per game. Of the teams he has played against 24 or more times, Smith's scoring, rebounding (6.7) and field goal percentage (.403), are worst against Boston than any other team.

http://www.csnne.com/basketball-boston- ... edID=10424

[HMFFL]

It's a back to back for Boston (beat Miami yesterday).

Boston has played two games since we've last played. No excuses tonight, not even the refs, so we better win.

[azuresou1]

Sorry Ruhiel, I usually just gloss right over your posts since so many of them are hot garbage.

[PersianCeltic]

Would be awesome to get a win. We played so awesome last night I just feel like we might go cold. Back to back can be tiring. Hopefully our bench continues to provide scoring punch/defense.

[Ruhiel]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuklWpNBhE0[/youtube]

And lo and behold. Now Cs are saying Avery Bradley (!) can go at Hinrich.

They better have Hinrich come off the bench or Avery's going wipe his ass with his face. Harry Potter doesn't have enough magic to stop Avery tonight.

Celtics are 6-0 on back to backs at home on the second game so i'm not worried. Coming off that huge win I expect big nights from KG, rondo and bradley. I think Bradley will have a big game depending on the lineup situation.

So now we are disadvantaged at the 4 matchup, the 1 matchup AND the 2 matchup???

We Celtic fans aren't the most unbiased observers so I wouldn't take our analysis as gospel.

That said I would like to thank the Hawks for playing Hinrich at the 2 and JJ at the 3. Makes things much more amenable for our smallish backcourt.

Its all right. You never know, maybe Hinrich just comes out and kills it and we win matchups from every position, get out in transition, and we won't need a big frontcourt for a rebounding edge????

Fwiw I would love that to happen but Boston is favored to win and I have a pessimistic streak.

[Ruhiel]

apparently Ray Allen is out.

[ATL Boy]

apparently Ray Allen is out.

Great for us, one less hall of famer to worry about

[HMFFL]

Great start! 15-8

[MaceCase]

It's good that the team is recognizing that Boston played last night and is pushing the pace at every chance but too many jumpers all around.