Posts Tagged ‘Glen Davis’

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Can New Celtics Still Handle LeBron?

December 27, 2011  ·  11:11AM

HANG TIME TEXAS – Seasons change and teams change. It’s part of the circle of life in sports.

An interesting angle to watch tonight when Boston plays at Miami is whether the Celtics have changed too much to contend with the new-look LeBron James.

A year ago, whenever James tried to take the ball inside against the Celtics, he was confronted by the hulking and sometimes snarling likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis.

Now the Boston front line consists of the aging Jermaine O’Neal along with Brandon Bass and Chris Wilcox.

Bass came up big on Christmas Day in New York, hitting the boards hard for 20 points and 11 rebounds, which our good friend Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald says delighted the men in green:

“Kid can play,” coach Doc Rivers said. “He’s tough. He can finish. He can offensive rebound. He can do a lot of things. He’s doing it right now, but he’s second guessing half of the things he’s doing because of the execution part of it.

“He’s late on a lot of stuff because he’s just not sure yet. He’s just going to keep getting better and better as the year goes on.”

Kevin Garnett was equally impressed, though when asked about Bass he preferred to refer to the bench as a whole.

“Brandon is going to give us a more mature, consistent scorer off the bench,” Garnett said. “I actually like our bench — not just on paper, but in practice and in games. Not just Brandon, but Chris Wilcox and Keyon (Dooling), too.”

The question can the Celts’ new threesome derail James’ plan to use the post-up drills he did with Hakeem Olajuwon during the summer to do most of his work closer to the basket this season? While the powerful slam dunks and the pretty tip-pass to Dwayne Wade was nice, maybe the most impressive part of James season-opening effort in Dallas was that he did not attempt a single 3-point shot. Neither did Wade.

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Posted in HT News, Uncategorized / Comments (49) /

Welcome To The NBA’s Nuclear Winter

November 15, 2011  ·  8:26AM

– For labor updates, follow: @daldridgetnt | @AschNBA

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – In a matter of hours Monday, the NBA’s labor impasse went from maddening to certifiably ridiculous thanks to raging emotions on both sides of a nasty fight.

What’s that phrase Kobe Bryant uttered a few weeks ago? It’s the same one NBA Commissioner David Stern used yesterday in the aftermath of the union rejecting the league’s proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement and disbanding (read up on the details here), the first step in an anti-trust lawsuit being filed by the trade association formerly known as the union.

“The union decided in its infinite wisdom that the proposal would not be presented to membership,” Stern said. “Obviously, Mr. [union attorney Jeffrey] Kessler got his way and we are about to go into the nuclear winter of the NBA.”

Raise your hand if you’ve had enough of this already.

We spent 137 days waiting for something that could have come July 1. If this affair was going to end up in the courts with one side suing the other, we only wish it had come right away instead of months later, when it seemed the sides might be working their way to an uneasy alliance for the greater good of the game.

Instead, we’re left with the prospect of that aforementioned nuclear winter.

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Posted in HT News, Labor / Comments (98) /

Labor Talks: Positive Signs

November 10, 2011  ·  8:32AM

– For labor updates, follow: @daldridgetnt | @AschNBA

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS — At least they are still talking, the “they” being both sides of the NBA’s labor dispute.

That 5 p.m. deadline for taking the owners deal passed some four hours into what turned into a 12-hour bargaining session that didn’t produce a deal but spurred the sides to return to the negotiating table today at noon in Manhattan.

How much progress was made last night is also up for debate, as NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner explains in detail with his eyewitness account of the action. More significant progress today would certainly be welcomed by the masses, but we know better than to skip any steps in this process.

The sides are still talking.

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Posted in HT News, Labor / Comments (30) /

Pluses and Minuses Off the Bench

May 11, 2011  ·  9:58AM

MIAMI – O.J. Mayo is supposed to be a member of the Indiana Pacers right now. But a trade-deadline swap of Mayo for Josh McRoberts and a first-round pick was submitted to the league a few minutes late. That meant Mayo remained in Memphis and was back in the Grizzlies’ rotation after the deadline.

And now, in the playoffs, Mayo has been a critical contributor. Coming off the bench, Mayo ranks seventh in raw postseason plus-minus, helping the Grizz outscore their opponents by 65 points in his 266 minutes on the floor.

In the conference semifinals, Mayo ranks tops among non-Mavs in raw plus-minus at plus-36 in 131 minutes. Though he’s shot just 40 percent  in four games against the Thunder, the Grizzlies have been especially potent  with Mayo on the floor.

On the other side of the spectrum we have the Celtics’ Glen Davis — a major postseason contributor in playoffs past — who has been in a serious funk. Boston is in a 3-1 hole against Miami in part because its bench has been ineffective. The Celtics are actually outscoring the Heat by 13 points when their four All-Stars (Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen) are on the floor.

But Davis is a minus-33 in 77 minutes in this series, the second-worst plus-minus mark among non-Lakers in the conference semifinals. The Celtics have been awful defensively with Davis on the floor.

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Posted in 2011 Playoffs, NBA.com/Stats / Comment (1) /

Heat Expect “Championship Response” From Celtics

May 7, 2011  ·  9:05AM

BOSTON – Down 0-2, the Los Angeles Lakers dug their hole a little deeper with a stunning loss in Dallas on Friday. On Saturday, the other team that was in the Finals a year ago will try to avoid the same fate.

A loss in Game 3 of the conference semifinals against the Miami Heat (8 p.m. ET, ABC) would pretty much signal the end of the Boston Celtics’ four-year run as a title contender, because they’re not coming back from an 0-3 deficit against this Heat team, and they’re only getting older after this.

We’re almost certain the Celtics can’t come back from 0-3, but can they come back from 0-2?

“We are expecting a championship response from the Boston Celtics,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Friday. “That’s a very proud, veteran, poised, experienced team.”

A year ago, the Celtics looked to have just two games left in their season after they got crushed at home by the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of the conference semifinals. But they won their next six games after that and were still playing 41 days later.

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Posted in 2011 Playoffs / Comments (88) /

StatsCube: Playing the Shaq Card

April 9, 2011  ·  11:34AM


The Boston Celtics are once again stumbling into the playoffs, having gone 9-9 since March 9. Before this stretch, the Celtics led the Eastern Conference by three games in the loss column over the Chicago Bulls and by six games in the loss column over the Miami Heat.

Now, they need to win in Miami on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC) to avoid falling into third place and likely having to win three series on the road to earn banner No. 18. (The Celtics and Lakers are currently tied at 55-24, with L.A. holding the tie-breaker.)

Some may blame the Kendrick Perkins trade for the Celtics’ struggles over the last month, but their problems have been more with their offense (scoring just 101.6 points per 100 possessions over the last 18 games) than with their defense (allowing just 97.7). And while the Celtics look like less of a title contender without Perkins, they’ve still had one trump card in their pocket since the trade, and that is how dominant they were with Shaquille O’Neal in their lineup.

Shaq has played 30 minutes or more just three times this season, but the Celtics are 28-9 with him in uniform, and that includes games without Rajon Rondo and/or Kevin Garnett.

O’Neal has played with the other four Celtics starters in just 18 games. But they were 15-3 in those games and 9-1 against playoff teams. With that lineup intact, they beat the Heat twice, and they beat the Knicks, Bulls, Magic and Lakers.

Of lineups that have logged at least 200 minutes together, the Celtics’ lineup of Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Garnett and O’Neal has been the second-most dominant, only trailing another lineup that has been affected by injury…

Top 10 five-man units, minimum of 200 minutes played (68 lineups total)

Team Lineup GP Min. Pace Off. Eff. Def. Eff. Diff.
DAL Kidd, Stevenson, Butler, Nowitzki, Chandler 20 257 93.3 119.0 94.4 +24.6
BOS Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett, O’Neal 18 266 95.3 115.1 96.1 +19.1
BOS Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett, Davis 54 504 93.0 111.4 94.4 +17.0
IND Collison, Dunleavy, Granger, McRoberts, Hibbert 37 441 99.8 110.7 97.2 +13.5
LAL Fisher, Bryant, Artest, Odom, Gasol 72 905 94.2 113.6 100.1 +13.5
SAS Parker, Ginobili, Jefferson, Duncan, McDyess 40 226 95.2 115.0 101.6 +13.4
POR Miller, Matthews, Batum, Wallace, Aldridge 22 300 88.0 121.2 108.1 +13.1
MIA Chalmers, Wade, James, Bosh, Dampier 28 269 94.1 104.5 92.1 +12.4
LAL Blake, Brown, Barnes, Odom, Gasol 44 208 91.3 105.6 93.8 +11.8
SAS Parker, Ginobili, Jefferson, Duncan, Blair 63 677 97.1 109.1 97.5 +11.6

Pace = Possessions per 48 minutes
Off. Eff. = Points scored per 100 possessions
Def. Eff. = Points allowed per 100 possessions

You’ll note that if you replace Shaq with Glen Davis, you have a lineup that’s played a lot more minutes together and has been nearly as good — slightly better defensively and slightly worse offensively.

And on the offensive end of the floor, where the Celtics have been struggling most over the last month, is where Shaq can help the Celtics most. The lineup of Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett and O’Neal has shot a ridiculous 58 percent from the field (easily the highest among five-man units that have played 200 minutes together). And with O’Neal on the floor, Allen (38-for-69) and Pierce (30-for-59) have combined to shoot an incredible 53 percent from 3-point range.

As long as the Celtics have their four All-Stars on the floor, they’re pretty good. But with both O’Neal and Davis healthy, Doc Rivers has the option of going to either an offensive or defensive lineup. Though it’s certainly not all his fault, the Celtics have had lesser results with Jermaine O’Neal thus far…

Efficiency on floor with Rondo, Allen, Pierce & Garnett

Player GP Min. Pace Off. Eff. Def. Eff. Diff.
Shaquille O’Neal 18 266 95.3 115.1 96.1 +19.1
Glen Davis 54 504 93.0 111.4 94.4 +17.0
Kendrick Perkins 12 170 92.4 110.4 97.8 +12.6
Nenad Krstic 18 285 94.0 106.9 96.0 +10.9
Semih Erden 12 79 95.1 112.8 102.1 +10.7
Jeff Green 13 46 89.6 111.8 102.3 +9.5
Jermaine O’Neal 8 115 91.1 101.6 95.4 +6.2

StatsCube can’t quantify it (perhaps in the next version), but having Shaq in their lineup can also help get the Celtics’ swagger back. They lost some of that swagger when Perkins was traded, but they were looking pretty confident earlier in the season, when he was rehabbing and they had replaced him with a four-time champion, a 15-time All-Star, and the fifth leading scorer in NBA history.

But of course, less than six minutes after Shaq returned to action from a 27-game absence last Sunday, he was heading back to the locker room with a strained calf. It doesn’t look like he’ll play Sunday in Miami and his status is unknown for the Celtics’ final two regular season games (Monday at Washington and Wednesday vs. New York).

The Celtics are still a great team without Shaq. And finally having Jermaine O’Neal certainly helps. But the numbers speak for themselves, and with Shaq, the Celtics are on another level. He’s their trump card, and if they can get him (and keep him) on the floor in the postseason, they’re back to being the favorites in the Eastern Conference.

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John Schuhmann is a staff writer for NBA.com. Send him an e-mail or follow him on twitter.

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Posted in NBA.com/Stats / Comments (51) /

StatsCube: Celtics’ Offense in a Funk

March 26, 2011  ·  8:51AM


For the second straight season, the Boston Celtics are slumping down the stretch. They’ve lost six of their last 10 games, completely losing their grip on the top seed in the Eastern Conference in the process. Now, they’re just a game in the loss column ahead of the Miami Heat for second in the East, facing the prospect of starting a conference semifinals matchup in Miami, instead of at home.

When the Celtics traded Kendrick Perkins, the fear was that their defense would suffer. Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic are good players and should make Boston’s offense more potent, but neither is known for their prowess on the defensive end of the floor.

And yes, the Boston defense did give up 30 fourth-quarter points to the Charlotte Bobcats (the fifth worst offensive team in the league) on Friday, turning a 13-point lead into a two-point loss. But in general, it’s been the Celtics’ offense that has really struggled of late.

Celtics efficiency, 2010-11

Timeframe Rec. Pace Off. Eff. Def. Eff. Diff.
Pre-trade 41-14 93.0 105.2 97.4 +7.8
Post-trade 9-7 91.9 100.3 97.0 +3.3
Last 10 4-6 89.8 98.0 95.2 +2.9

Pace = Possessions per 48 minutes
Off. Eff. = Points scored per 100 possessions
Def. Eff. = Points allowed per 100 possessions

So, since the trade, the Celtics’ defense has basically been performing at the same level as it was before the deal. The numbers are a little skewed by a game in which they held the Bucks to 56 points, but they have held nine of their 16 opponents under a point per possession, and their only bad defensive game since the trade was a 108-103 loss to the Clippers on March 9.

Side note: In contrast, it was the Celtics’ defense that suffered more at the end of last season, allowing 104.3 points per 100 possessions after the All-Star break and 111.8 over their last nine games.

The Celtics are grabbing fewer offensive rebounds since the trade, but they’re also getting to the line more often and turning the ball over a little less. So they’re actually getting more shots per possession than they were before the trade. And they’re even shooting their free throws better.

Essentially, the Celtics’ offensive drop-off is completely a result of poor shooting from the field.

Celtics’ shooting

Timeframe 2P% 3P% EFG%
Pre-trade 0.522 0.374 0.530
Post-trade 0.479 0.330 0.482
Last 10 0.467 0.301 0.464

EFG% = (FGM + (.5*3PM)) / FGA

Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo are all shooting worse from the field since the trade, and the Celtics’ offense has suffered as a result. With the Big Four on the floor together, they’re scoring 105.8 points per 100 possessions since the trade (despite a hot start), as opposed to 111.8 before it.

But when the big four aren’t all on the floor is when the Celtics’ offense really struggles, scoring just 94.1 points per 100 possessions since the trade, which is downright dreadful.

Celtics’ efficiency since trade with player on floor

Player GP MIN Off. Eff.
Rajon Rondo 16 581 102.7
Ray Allen 16 575 103.1
Paul Pierce 16 535 102.9
Kevin Garnett 16 512 105.0
Nenad Krstic 15 384 106.4
Jeff Green 15 344 97.0
Glen Davis 12 340 95.2
Delonte West 8 150 92.1
Troy Murphy 11 114 82.1
Carlos Arroyo 8 102 96.2

Off. Eff. = Points scored per 100 possessions

You can see why Doc Rivers has gone to an eight-man rotation in a couple of those games.

For a veteran team that was able to flip the switch when the playoffs began last year, it’s easy to theorize that the Celtics’ problems stem from boredom, complacency or a broken ubuntu. And perhaps it’s just a matter of time for the new guys in the rotation to get going.

No matter what the underlying issue is, the shots aren’t falling.

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John Schuhmann is a staff writer for NBA.com. Send him an e-mail or follow him on twitter.

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KG Injury Changes The Game

December 30, 2010  ·  10:08AM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS — Kevin Garnett limping off the floor is the one sight Celtics fans never want to see.

They remember two years ago, when a chance to chase a second straight NBA title vanished when Garnett injured a knee and was forced to miss the playoffs (opening the door for the Orlando Magic to take the Celtics’ place in the 2009 NBA Finals).

On the bright side, the X-rays were negative. We won’t know anymore until the results of the MRI on his right knee are completed sometime today.

Officially, Garnett left the game in the first quarter with a muscle injury to the outside of part of his right calf. But the look on Garnett’s face as he was being attended to by the Celtics’ medical staff and the reaction of his teammates after he went down and later left the floor, they did lose to the Pistons, spoke volumes.

[Update: Sources tell TNT's David Aldridge that Garnett's injury is muscular in nature -- a strained calf muscle -- and that the team has no immediate timetable for his return. Another source tells D.A. that the injury does not involve any ligaments in KG's leg.]

[Update II: League sources tell Aldridge that Garnett will miss about two weeks with a strained calf.]

Seeing the backbone of your team go down the way Garnett did is enough to spook any team. The fact that the Celtics have been here before makes it an even tougher pill to swallow for Doc Rivers and his team, already playing without the injured Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins.

If Garnett’s injury causes him to miss a significant amount of time, that changes the games for all of the contenders in the Eastern Conference. Miami started its chase shortly after Thanksgiving, so the Heat were going to have something to say about the Eastern Conference representative in the NBA Finals anyway. But a vulnerable Celtics team raises the stakes dramatically for our friends in Orlando, Chicago and even Atlanta (depending on the playoff matchups).

That said, the Celtics proved last season that they could deal with injuries to Garnett and others and still grind their way through the field and make the Finals (they were the No. 4 seed in the East and knocked off top seeds Cleveland and Orlando on their way to that epic 7-game series against the Lakers).

They have survived this before.

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About Last Night: Leaders Of The Pack

December 6, 2010  ·  8:25AM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – All this chatter about the new world order and the youth movement that was going to take over the league has been squelched by the NBA’s elder statesmen.

Miami and Oklahoma City are still working out the details while seasoned crews in other places seize the opportunity to set the pace for the rest of the league.

In the Eastern Conference, it’s the Boston Celtics ruling the roost so far, their mix of veteran savvy and leadership paired beautifully with the a virtuoso start to the season by Rajon Rondo.

In the Western Conference, the supposedly over-the-hill San Antonio Spurs continue to defy father time, refusing to age gracefully (or at all it seems) despite a Big 3 of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker that has seen its best days come and go.

With plenty of thirty-somethings littering both rosters, some people have a hard time seeing these two teams keeping up this pace over the course of an 82-game regular season.  Since most of us here at the hideout are “Thirty-somethings” as well, we’re rooting for the old folks to show these young whippersnappers how it’s done.

In addition to superior talent, coaching and staying on the right side of the injury bug karma, most elite teams need at least a couple of guys on the roster that understand the nuances of a winning operation. Both the Celtics and Spurs (not to mention the Dallas Mavericks, winners of nine straight games themselves) have handfuls of guys like that to call on when they need them.

It’s one of the beauties of how they’ve been constructed and managed, courtesy of Celtics GM Danny Ainge and coach Doc Rivers and Spurs GM R.C. Buford and coach Gregg Popovich, respectively.

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Game 7 thoughts

June 17, 2010  ·  2:20PM

Post by Shaun Powell

There will come a time, in about eight hours or so, to share thoughts about the game. But what about before the game?

Here’s what and whom I’m wondering about:

Kendrick Perkins. You wonder about the mental damage as much as the physical damage. It’s a nightmare for any player to be physically unable to play in the biggest game of the year, if not his life. Everyone in the Staples Center with courtside seats will be thrilled to have them. Except one.

Phil Jackson. Is this his last game? With the Lakers? Period? It wouldn’t surprise me if Jackson, citing health concerns, decides to call it quits. Yes, walking away from Kobe and all those millions. His place in the Hall is secured, and I can’t imagine he needs the money. When does coaching get old?

Kobe. He seems unusually sour these days, which I assume comes with the territory of being involved in a tense series. But this isn’t the Kobe of 10 years ago, when he had hair and a much sunnier disposition. Lighten up, dude. You live in SoCal, have healthy kids, make millions and play a game for a living.

Doc Rivers. If you knew Doc, you’d love him. He doesn’t have a phony bone in his body. He’s easy to root for and is perhaps the best communicator of any coach working. Most amazing about Doc? He doesn’t seem to mind all the kudos going to Tom Thibodeau. That’s a sure sign that Doc is secure within himself. Don’t be surprised if he takes a few years off to watch his son play college ball, while being linked to every coaching opening the next few summers.

Ray Allen. If there’s any player other than Kobe who’s capable of winning with one shot tonight, it’s Allen. Yes, even though he went 0-for-20 for a stretch on 3s.

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