Celtics Proving to be NBA Mythbusters

[Erick Blasco]

After dethroning King James, and exposing the Orlando Magic, the Boston Celtics have been the flashlight revealing all the warts of the Eastern Conference’s upper class.

 

Their 94-71 Game 3 destruction of Orlando was particularly illuminating. Here’s what the Boston mythbusters have discovered.

 

 

Myth: Dwight Howard is an elite defensive center.

 

Truth: The Celtics suffered minimal defensive pressure from Howard. As a helper, he was frozen in his tracks on a pair of Rajon Rondo floaters that he was too timid to close out on. He also took a poor angle when showing and recovering on a screen leading to a Kendrick Perkins layup.

 

At times he was asked to defend Glen Davis or Kevin Garnett, where their range pulled Howard away from providing help defense at the rim. He would get stuck in no-man’s land and leave Garnett or Davis open for uncontested 20-foot jumpers. Even when guarding Kendrick Perkins, he was frequently late or non-existent in his rotations.

 

He also isn’t able to properly defend screens at the three-point line. On one particular play, he was so far off a Ray Allen screen that he realized too late that he needed to close out or Allen would sink a jumper. A sloppy closeout later, and Allen had blown by him and dunked.

 

While Howard has become better at defending low or middle screens, and is more timely in his rotations than in the past, he still doesn’t have the ability to play championship-caliber defense against premier offenses.

 

Myth: Vince Carter is the missing piece to Orlando’s puzzle.

 

Truth: Carter always was, and still is, Mr. Softee. His first shot attempt was on Orlando’s second possession of the game—a brainless early-offense three that bricked out. From there it only got worse. Without clear lines to the basket, he’d drive partway to the hoop, pick up his dribble, and make forced bailout passes, killing precious seconds off the shot clock in the process.

 

As usual he was disinclined to take contact, and displayed exactly how non-competitive he is, when early in the fourth quarter, on a beeline to the basket with the Glen Davis and Kevin Garnett converging on him, he eschewed going up strong by attempting a dipsy-doo reverse layup.

 

While Carter’s not a selfish player, his passing leaves much to be desired, and his defense—whether failing to maintain contact with Ray Allen around screens, or being torched in isolations by Paul Pierce, or making poor closeouts when defending Tony Allen driving after setting a screen—was repeatedly abused.

 

Hedo Turkoglu has his flaws, and certainly had a miserable season with Toronto, but his vision and passing are better than Carter’s, his shooting is less affected by small guards closing out, and he plays with much more confidence. In truth, the Carter-Turkoglu deal has been a wash.

 

Myth: Jameer Nelson is a terrific pass-first point guard.

 

Truth: Nelson’s passing is made easier because defenses are often spaced out by Orlando’s shooting and Howard. In trying to thread the ball through tighter quarters, Nelson’s lack of vision and comparatively sub-par passing skills have been attacked by Rajon Rondo. He made poor passes and poor decisions ad nauseum in Game Three.

 

Nelson’s best attributes have never been his passing and decision making, but have always been his moxie and his toughness, but against the Celtics he would rather pick up his dribble 14-feet away and look to pass when Boston wasn’t helping. When Nelson is reluctant to make plays and provide the toughness Orlando needs, the Magic become a very ordinary basketball team, and looked that way in Game Three.

 

Myth: Orlando’s spacing will generate open looks for Rashard Lewis.

 

Truth: Boston’s ability to blow up screens by fighting through picks and showing hard prevents the Celtics from scrambling their defense in rotation. This allows help defenders to stay closer to their original checks. This combined with the range Garnett covers defensively has forced Lewis to try and create his own offense, something he’s not adept at.

 

Myth: Matt Barnes is a tough, hard-nosed player.

 

Truth: His poor play may be excused by a bad back, but there’s no excuse for his cheap shot push on Kevin Garnett. Barnes may think he’s tough, but when he’s missing layups and getting routinely overpowered by Paul Pierce, it says otherwise.

 

Myth: Dwight Howard worked diligently on his offense this offseason.

 

Truth: His limited post arsenal led to all manners of clangs against the steadfast work of Garnett, Davis, Kendrick Perkins, and Rasheed Wallace. He missed his first five shots, and didn’t score until a failed Davis flop job awarded Howard with a dunk.

 

Howard’s offensive numbers were terrible considering what‘s asked of him—3-10 FG, 1-4 FT, 7 PTS.

 

Myth: The Magic are a great rebounding team.

 

Truth: Orlando’s rebounding numbers are inflated by Howard. With him sufficiently banged around inside—7 REB—the Magic only grabbed three offensive rebounds compared to Boston grabbing 39 defensive rebounds.

 

Myth: Marcin Gortat is a top-notch backup.

 

Truth: Gortat turned his head too often and is soft defensively.

 

Myth: Mickael Pietrus is an All-NBA caliber defender.

 

Truth: Boston posted him with Pierce to neutralize his athleticism. On the other side, because Boston’s closeouts have been textbook, Pietrus has only gone off from downtown in garbage time—2-5 3FG.

 

Myth: Jason Williams is a championship-hardened veteran.

 

Truth: Williams rode the coattails of Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O’Neal, Udonis Haslem, and James Posey to his NBA ring. He repeatedly made bad decisions with the ball and was absent on defense with Miami, and exhibited all his old bad habits in Game Three.

 

Myth: The Celtics are too old, too slow, and too far past their prime to contend for a title.

 

Truth: The competition of the playoffs has kindled the old fire. After falling behind to Miami by double figures in the opening game of the playoffs, the Celtics have rekindled their vaunted defense. Rotations are alert and on time, hedges are hard, screens are always recovered to, and shortcuts are never taken. Offensively, the extra pass has always been the rule, and their versatility overwhelms opposing defensive shortcomings.

 

And whenever their play stagnates, Rondo is always able to make a sensation play.

 

The full extent of Boston’s desire was displayed when Jason Williams casually attempted to pick up a loose ball, while Rondo sprinted, dove, reached under Williams with one arm, grabbed the ball, got up, and scored a layup while Williams failed to contest the shot.

 

The Celtics are playing at a level only seen during the 2008 NBA Finals. With Orlando’s best players unprepared for championship-level basketball, only the Lakers stand in the way of a second title in three years. Fortunately, there won’t be a long wait until that dream series comes to fruition.

[Multi-Billionaire]

I'm gonna be honest, I didn't read the whole article yet (gtg to work), but I believe when you play THESE Celtics... you don't blame yourselves when they beat you and you look clueless.

 

The first blame should go to Celtics' defense. That's pretty much what takes everything away.

 

Then you can start blaming players like VC as soft, or Rashard missing the entire series... but much of the "blame" should not be on the Magic. There is actually noone/ nothing to blame, but the Celtics' defense.

 

 

They play help defense like nothing ever seen at basketball game before... they play it like help defense is what they'd been doing all regular season long and nothing else (that's why maybe they forgot to play in the regular season)... they almost damn near "perfected" it... if there's such thing as perfect defense.

 

To put it into perspective, I don't know if 5 offensive players put together on one team (e.g. Deron Williams, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Amare Stoudemire) can slow down this Celtics' defense. They play angles, rotation, and help defense perfectly... they can play it perfectly for a stretch of quarters and then maybe a lull on 1-2 plays, then they get going again. How can you stop it from stopping you? Besides Shaq in his prime, I haven't seen any more thing being "dominant" in basketball game in this manner.

 

 

Magic Johnson said Magic need to shake up their team in the summer... but no matter how you shake it up, it's not going to beat the Celtics again... The only shake up that would truly matter is if someone can convince Tom Thibodeau to leave, and we might probably see Celtics' defense getting slightly worse... but it's probably been ingrained in them so much they remember it inside out and they could do it even without Tom around. Like Rockets maintaining Jeff Van Gundy defense after Adelman took over.

Edited May 23, 2010 by Snake

[AtTheDriveIn]

I'm not sure how you define 'myth.' Regardless of how this series finishes, I think Howard will still be an elite defensive center, I think that Gortat is as good a back-up center as you will find, and I think Orlando is still a great rebounding team. Like when everyone overreacts to a great performance by a player in one game, one series does not define what a team will do for next season or the season after. As has been shown by the Mavericks and their team being based around beating the Spurs, the Magic can't build around trying to beat the Celtics or the Cavaliers because there are still twenty eight other teams to beat. If they're considered third best in the East, then so be it, but being third best doesn't mean that all Howard is no longer a great defensive center, or that Orlando can't rebound or that Gortat isn't a great back-up, because Howard is a great defender, Orlando are solid rebounding team and Gortat certainly is a great back-up.

 

I have more to add, but I've unfortunately forgotten what I wanted to say. Maybe next time.

[Check my Stats]

I don't think anyone thought that Nelson is a great pass first PG.

[KurbyFX]

I don't think anyone thought that Nelson is a great pass first PG.

 

Yeah... who the hell thought Jameer was pass-first? He's ALWAYS and always will be a shoot first PG who only gets assists cause his perimeter guys are going to hit shots.

 

Celtics completely embarrassed the Magic with their passing last night. Their ball movement was so fluid that it made basketball fun to watch again, even if it was a 20 point blow out at that point. Execution is key in basketball and it was a perfect game by the Cs.

 

 

The problem with the Magic is the fact that they do NOT have a post game. If they had a legit PF of some sort that was capable of passing but also bang in the low post with LEGIT moves, then they'd be a force to reckon with. At this point, I'd say Bynum has 10x the offensive post moves than Dwight. Not sure what the [expletive] their staff is working on cause it sure as hell ain't working.

 

Also, is Bass hurt or some [expletive]? Why don't they put him on? [expletive]ing Ryan Anderson is the EXACT same player as Rashard.. and Rashard was clearly ineffective so why the hell did they slot Anderson in? I love Anderson, I love what he brings to the Magic, but things were clearly not working, they should have looked at something different.

[Erick Blasco]

I'm gonna be honest, I didn't read the whole article yet (gtg to work), but I believe when you play THESE Celtics... you don't blame yourselves when they beat you and you look clueless.

 

The first blame should go to Celtics' defense. That's pretty much what takes everything away.

 

Then you can start blaming players like VC as soft, or Rashard missing the entire series... but much of the "blame" should not be on the Magic. There is actually noone/ nothing to blame, but the Celtics' defense.

 

 

They play help defense like nothing ever seen at basketball game before... they play it like help defense is what they'd been doing all regular season long and nothing else (that's why maybe they forgot to play in the regular season)... they almost damn near "perfected" it... if there's such thing as perfect defense.

 

To put it into perspective, I don't know if 5 offensive players put together on one team (e.g. Deron Williams, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Amare Stoudemire) can slow down this Celtics' defense. They play angles, rotation, and help defense perfectly... they can play it perfectly for a stretch of quarters and then maybe a lull on 1-2 plays, then they get going again. How can you stop it from stopping you? Besides Shaq in his prime, I haven't seen any more thing being "dominant" in basketball game in this manner.

 

 

Magic Johnson said Magic need to shake up their team in the summer... but no matter how you shake it up, it's not going to beat the Celtics again... The only shake up that would truly matter is if someone can convince Tom Thibodeau to leave, and we might probably see Celtics' defense getting slightly worse... but it's probably been ingrained in them so much they remember it inside out and they could do it even without Tom around. Like Rockets maintaining Jeff Van Gundy defense after Adelman took over.

 

The Pistons used to play defense this way and the Spurs beat them in 2005. Of course Boston is playing terrific basketball, but all-time greats can still produce against great defenses. I'd be shocked if the Lakers went into Boston and had their entire offense disintegrate the way Orlando's has.

 

Forget help defense for a second, that takes away the shooters, Dwight Howard is operating one-on-one. This is supposed to be the best center in the game. He should dominate one-on-one coverage, or at least be respectable. He's had two games where he's been essentially useless. And for being the defensive player of the year, his own help defense has been picked apart all series.

 

This Boston team lost once to the Heat and could've lost a second game. Plus they were down 13 in Game One to the heat. They lost twice to the Cavs before Cleveland quit. This Boston team isn't the Chicago Bulls, and to strictly genuflect on their own greatness assumes that the Magic are getting great performances that simply aren't good enough.

 

The truth is that Howard's post moves still aren't at an elite level, Carter isn't a competitor, and Orlando's spacing doesn't work against a team that can show and recover. Only one of those three things are Celtics-related.

 

Plus, Orlando's defense and effort failed them in Game 3, and they're supposed to be a great defensive team too.

 

With the way the Lakers defense is playing, do you think a Lakers-Celtics game will have a final score of 65-60? No, great players will step up. Orlando's great players aren't all that great though.

[Erick Blasco]

I'm not sure how you define 'myth.' Regardless of how this series finishes, I think Howard will still be an elite defensive center, I think that Gortat is as good a back-up center as you will find, and I think Orlando is still a great rebounding team. Like when everyone overreacts to a great performance by a player in one game, one series does not define what a team will do for next season or the season after. As has been shown by the Mavericks and their team being based around beating the Spurs, the Magic can't build around trying to beat the Celtics or the Cavaliers because there are still twenty eight other teams to beat. If they're considered third best in the East, then so be it, but being third best doesn't mean that all Howard is no longer a great defensive center, or that Orlando can't rebound or that Gortat isn't a great back-up, because Howard is a great defender, Orlando are solid rebounding team and Gortat certainly is a great back-up.

 

I have more to add, but I've unfortunately forgotten what I wanted to say. Maybe next time.

 

Elite defensive centers make elite defensive plays. That includes handling dribble penetration, hedging on screens, and being alert from the weakside. The myth is that Howard is an elite defensive center, yet Boston is picking his defense apart. Contrast this with Pau Gasol, whose baseline rotations and ability to hedge deep on screens have neutralized some very good ball-screen offenses in Utah and Phoenix.

 

Hello Drive In, Orlando's season goal is to win a championship. How they perform in these playoff series' against the best teams in the league DOES define them. They didn't add Vince Carter to have a nice regular season. This team exists to compete for championships. They made the Finals last year.

 

Saying they can't build a team to beat one team or another is absurd. You build a team to beat EVERY other team. The Celtics, with how they are playing, can beat every other team. The Lakers can beat every other team. If there are mismatches, you coach and gameplan away those mismatches, and you have players with championship heart so they work hard and eliminating mismatches. Go watch Derek Fisher push around Steve Nash and neutralize Deron Williams and say things like the Lakers can't worry about Phoenix or Utah because they have to worry about 28 other teams.

 

If you want to be considered great, be great. Does Orlando have my respect as a very good team? Yes. But this series and next series are their seasons and they've been systematically dismantled against Boston.

 

If Howard wants to be great, hedge properly on a screen, make your rotations on time, and play championship-level basketball. Isn't that what greatness is? Playing at a championship level? Playing at a very good level can dominate the Hawks. The Celtics aren't the Hawks. The Celtics require championship level basketball to beat. They require greatness to beat. Dwight Howard hasn't played great at all. Same with Gortat. You want to be a great backup, stop turning your head and stop playing soft. Even production guys in ABC's production truck see it.

[Erick Blasco]

I don't think anyone thought that Nelson is a great pass first PG.

 

It's mostly a counter to the praise he receives for his decision making around screens. That decision making hasn't been as sharp against the Celtics.

[Erick Blasco]

Yeah... who the hell thought Jameer was pass-first? He's ALWAYS and always will be a shoot first PG who only gets assists cause his perimeter guys are going to hit shots.

 

Celtics completely embarrassed the Magic with their passing last night. Their ball movement was so fluid that it made basketball fun to watch again, even if it was a 20 point blow out at that point. Execution is key in basketball and it was a perfect game by the Cs.

 

 

The problem with the Magic is the fact that they do NOT have a post game. If they had a legit PF of some sort that was capable of passing but also bang in the low post with LEGIT moves, then they'd be a force to reckon with. At this point, I'd say Bynum has 10x the offensive post moves than Dwight. Not sure what the [expletive] their staff is working on cause it sure as hell ain't working.

 

Also, is Bass hurt or some [expletive]? Why don't they put him on? [expletive]ing Ryan Anderson is the EXACT same player as Rashard.. and Rashard was clearly ineffective so why the hell did they slot Anderson in? I love Anderson, I love what he brings to the Magic, but things were clearly not working, they should have looked at something different.

 

I think Bass makes defensive mistakes but I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments on Anderson. The Magic needed to do something different and Anderson isn't something different. Bass plays with a lot of energy and could've woken the team up. Jeff Van Gundy said last night that the Magic---and I'm paraphrasing---aren't winning a championship until they get an angry four man with a ferocious competitive nature. In that respect, I agree with you. Maybe Bass can be that guy.