Celtic-Hornets 3/22/08 PostGame Thread

[Jammer]

********** Celtics ********** Hornets

Turnovers ** 20 *************** 9

Steals ****** 4 ************** 13 (Bonzi Wells 8 )

Field Goals 41-74 (55.4%) ***** 39-77 (50.6%)

3 Pt. FG's * 7-21 (33%) ******* 10-23 (43.5%)

Rebounds *** 44 ************** 29

Personal Fouls 26 ************** 21

Free Throws 17-22 (77.3%) ***** 25-29 (86.2%)

It would seem that the difference is this game is possessions, 3 point shooting and free throws:

1. The Hornets made 11 less turnovers (9 vs. 20), and committed 5 fewer fouls (21 vs. 26).

That is 11+5= 16 additional possessions for the Hornets, offsetting the Celtics 15 additional rebounds (44 vs. 29).

2. The Hornets shot the lights out from 3 point land (10-23 vs. the Celtics 7-21).

3. Though easily overlooked, the Hornets had a 8 point advantage at the
free throw line (25-29 vs. 17-21).

As for what the Celtics could have done differently to win this game, it comes down to 3 things, I think.

First, commit fewer turnovers (20 vs. 9 is a big possession difference).

Second, someone should have been given the task of playing man to man on David West from the get go. Denying the entry pass is the biggest part of good defense, that and simply positioning. This was completely lacking, and a zone defense doesn't shut this down, great man to man defense does. David West is not someone who should score 35 points against the Celtics. Between Powe, Garnett, Pierce and Posey; one of these guys should have been tasked to get it done. This is something I place on Doc's shoulders. No matter what, one of these four should have been able to take West out of his game. Your mission, if you choose to accept the assignment, is to not let him catch the ball in a scoring position. If the Celtics are the great defensive team that they like to think that they are, their coaching staff should have adjusted for West in the first two minutes of the game.

Third, when someone is hot, like Ray Allen in the first half, to only get him 7 shots in the half (5-7) is a mistake. It's just a mistake. That he went 1-5 in the second half to end up 6-12 obfuscates the fact that when he had his stroke, he should have had more shots. This has been a problem all year, from day one.

[grantlongforpresident]

i was watching the game and i couldn't believe how bad the Refs were in the middle of the 4th quarter.

it was like they engineered the hornets comeback, and you knew it was coming. Celtics got completely shafted.

Then, the Celtics threw the game away with sloppyness.

If this game was played in a neutral court, the celtics wouldn't have had 20 turnovers - many of those were no-call-fouls - and others were post-momentum change turnovers (where the momentum was created by awful reffing). Celtics could have adjusted, but they didn't.

So are the refs 100% of the reason why we lost? Heck no. Were they a big part of the 4th quarter meltdown? You bet.

[Tenbomber]

The Pierce turnovers were destressing....they seemed to come at the most critical time....

Some poor game management didn't help...

I kept thinking "Why dont they find a way to stop this guy? (West).....

Doc did come back with Perk this time in the 4th quarter... but the cat had already been let out of the bag...Poseys night was largely unproductive....yet Doc continues to use him....

Heinson seemed upset with the use of Cassel and Brown last night....too much energy was lost when they came in...he sort of hinted that perhaps Big Baby should have played and Powe and House should have seen more playing time....

I thought that Brown did OK...but he (like KG) is better when Perk is playing....seems like this big man rotation could use some work....as could the PG situation....its needs to be a more situational substitution IMO....I kind of agree with Heinson in this reguard...

Rondo was super last night and Ray was hitting his shot early..... we should have rode their coattails like NO did with West....What a super game West had!

Got to give New Orleans props for their comeback!... they never gave up... and Pargo stepped up to fill the void created by CP3's foul trouble...They were the stars last night!

It was a fun game to watch for sure...win or lose...

[cisco]

Turnovers! Ray's two turnovers in the 4th quarter, back to back, were KILLER. Then he fouled on that breakaway, causing an 8 pt swing. Ray really killed us there. Paul had a turnover right after that, although I thought he was fouled. The whole team was terrible in the 4th quarter.

[Jammer]

While I agree with the comments about the refereeing, especially at the start of the 4th quarter and the quick whistles, there wasn't a whole lot of bench to go to for support.

****** Celtic Starting Lineup ** Celtic Bench

Minutes ***** 179 ************* 61

Points ******* 93 ************* 13

FG's ****** 36-55 (65%) ******* 5-19 (26%) (House & Powe were 4-5)

FT's ****** 16-21 (76%) ******** 1-1

Rebounds **** 32 ************* 12

Assists ****** 18 ************** 3

Steals ******** 2 ************** 2

Turnovers **** 12 ************** 8

Fouls ******** 16 ************* 10


Sam Cassell, James Posey and PJ Brown weren't much use.

Sam got torched by Jannero Pargo, although Pargo was on fire with
15 points, 6 assists in 20 minutes.

With the exception of the defense on David West, the starting lineup played great, despite their 4th quarter turnovers (in part due to no calls by the refs on the agressive New Orleans second half defense).

Chalk this one up to the bench.
Too many fouls (10),
too many turnovers (8 ),
not enough points (13)
for their 61 minutes of court time.

And no defense on Jannero Pargo, David West or Chris Paul (in the last few minutes).

[TheSheriff]

Ray Allen had a terrible stretch there for a couple of minuets (back to back TOs and then the stupid foul), which were killers when the Celtics could not afford to be sloppy. Add that to some other stupid decisions (Rondo taking stupid shots in traffic; the celtics leaving Hornets wide open on multiple occasions) and poor bench play, and you have the loss.

[Datruth345]

i agree i think we could have used baby's energy last night....but hindsight is 20/20 i suppose

3 bench guys, posey, sam, and p.j...ust came in and gave us absolutley nothing

i hate Posey at the 4 so much

[UGA Hayes]

I want to be on record but I really hope we stop playing PJ Brown altogether. WE are hoping his veterness helps on defense but its not at all and you can tell its not going to change. The only way he is going to help us is if we play a really slow big in the playoff.

Also noone talks about this but Davis is arguably our best back to the basket defender on our team at times which is suppose to be Brown's strength. People just can't budge him off the block.

[jjwalker]

Everyone in the crowd hornets / celtics fans were waiting for "hometown" Big Baby. Doc should have played him. He could have muscled West. I think Boston wins the rematch of Friday. New Orleans is a lot like Utah.

[Celtics_85]

I agree Baby should have been put in to guard West instead of Powe. baby is definately a better perimeter defender than Powe with his quick feet and width. west wouldn't drive very well against him. Powe couldn't get in West's face or he would get beat off the dribble, and West was hitting jumpers on us all night.
The other problem I had was the fact that Chandler played on Garnett and we didn't take advantage of West guarding Perkins. Perkins could have posted West all night long and we didn't even look there at all.
With about three minutes to go in the third quarter and the starters still in we started walking the ball up and slowed the game to a grind. If Doc is looking at slowing a game down for the playoffs he needs to not start so early in the second half. We should stay with the way we play until deep in the fourth quarter.
PJ played all right last night, Cassell looked bad. Sam has no idea how our defensive scheme is run, House should have been the first PG off the bench last night as he has played and would have played better defense on Pargo. Cassell will learn the defense and offense, but there are lesser teams to play against to learn the system.
I believe it was a good loss for this team as it will keep them hungry for the final run to the playoffs. We are still the best team in the league, and can anyone really beat us in a seven game series? Our players and coaches say NO!!!!