The Celtics didn’t just beat up on the Bobcats in the C's home opener Wednesday night. They demoralized them.
This was Bobcats coach Larry Brown after the 92-59 loss:
“I did a hell of a job coaching. That’s my first thought. Our team wasn’t prepared, wasn’t ready to play. That’s nobody’s fault but the coach. We got a lot of guys scared to death and that’s tough.”
Tyson Chandler called the Celtics “the best team in our conference,” and it’s hard to argue with him after they followed up their win at Cleveland with this dominating performance. The Celtics have begun their long-season mantra, saying that the season, “is a process” and that they are by no means a finished product.
That’s true, as Doc Rivers lamented the lack of ball movement in the first half and the Celtics continue their quest to put together a perfect game, but for having played just two games this season there’s an awful lot to like.
Here are three things we learned:
RASHEED WALLACE HAS FOUND A NEW HOME
The Celtics biggest acquisition was repping his hometown with a Mitchell + Ness Phillies jacket after the game as he talked with the press. With one eye on his beloved Fightin’ Phils in the World Series on the TV, Wallace talked about his new home on the basketball court.
“No one here is cocky,” Wallace said. “No one here is Hollywood.”
That makes it a good fit for Wallace, who, despite his outsized personality, is more of a blue-collar worker than he is a leading man. The fans welcomed him with a thunderous ovation when he was introduced before the game and cheered like mad when he stepped on the court and drained his first Garden 3-pointer as a Celtic.
“I felt like I was welcomed with open arms by the fans,” he said. “The guys were talking about it on the plane. They said it was going to be hype.”
Asked the same question from another angle, Wallace offered, “It’s all part of the circus.”
Wallace always has had an exceptionally good BS-detector when it comes to the NBA circus, which has made him as engaging a personality as much as it has made him a misfit at times. It’s all about how you think about it. But with the Celtics, Wallace has found a collection of kindred spirits.
“He’s had such an impact,” Paul Pierce said. “On the defensive end, that’s where his value is coming the most. The way he defends, the way he rebounds and also the way he spreads the floor with his presence. When he’s on the court with Kevin especially, you see the lane open. You have driving lanes because teams can’t help off him because of the way he’s shooting the ball. He’s the total package. I mean on both ends of the court.”
There is one more thing for Wallace to learn before he can truly feel a part of the Celtics. Last night was his first sighting of Gino, and he wasn’t all that impressed.
“Everybody said Gino was the man,” Wallace said. “There were a couple of other guys popping and locking. The big dude was throwing in the chicken wing.”
But then, he never has had much appreciation for the circus.
IN PRAISE OF TOM THIBODEAU
In the first quarter, the Bobcats turned the ball over nine times and had only one assist. Not surprisingly they also scored just 13 points. They scored just 10 points in the third quarter and didn’t break the 60-point barrier, marking it as the worst offensive performance in their history. And they’ve had some bad ones in their short existence.
As awful as Charlotte was offensively, it was no surprise that it came against what many feel will be the best defensive team in the league, and it was no surprise to the Celtics. They don’t just preach defense-first, they live it. Every day in practice.
“We work so hard in practice,” Kevin Garnett said. “Man, y’all have no idea what our drills are like. You know, the majority of our practices are schemes, how we’re going to defend, consistencies, schemes night-in night-out for different people on different types of teams. But we work on it every single day. Paul’s had different coaches. I’ve had different coaches. You tend to leave something out. Every day, it’s the same thing, same repetitive stuff. You know, when you shut a team down, that’s hard work and effort.”
That repetition speaks to the continued presence of one man — Tom Thibodeau. For the third straight offseason Thibodeau’s name came up regarding potential head coaching jobs, and for the third straight season Thibodeau returned to Boston to run the defense.
Thibodeau’s bad fortune has become the Celtics' good fortune, and they’re certainly not complaining about it.
THE 3-POINTER IS A WEAPON
The 3-point shot has been around the NBA for 30 years, but only recently has it begun to be accepted for what it is: an integral part of a successful formula for winning. Once maligned as a gimmick or a desperation move at the end of games, the 3-pointer is as much a part of the natural rhythm of the modern game as a well-executed fast break.
The Celtics took 29 3-pointers against the Bobcats and made 11 of them. While that sounds like a poor percentage, they would have had to shoot 57 percent on the same number of shots from inside the arc to match that kind of production.
“We’re taking good 3’s,” Doc Rivers said. “I’m a fan of the 3 if the ball starts from the inside and works its way out. And I thought that’s what we did, especially in the second half. In the first half we went in that stretch where we were searching for the 3-point line instead of (going inside). We did that in the second half.”
There’s wisdom to watch Rivers is preaching. A bad 3-pointer is the same as a bad shot from anywhere. Usually contested, usually not in rhythm. But because it’s from long range it tends to feel like a worse shot then say, a missed jumper from the top of the key with a hand in the face.
NBA teams around the league have caught on that a successful 3-pointer is worth more than a 2. It’s simple math, obviously, but more than that, teams that incorporate the 3-pointer into their arsenal tend to be more successful.
No team shot more of its attempts from beyond the arc last season then the Magic, who rode that strategy all the way to the NBA Finals. Following Rivers’ dictum to work inside-out, the Magic relied heavily on double teams on Dwight Howard in the post to generate space behind the 3-point line.
The Celtics don’t have a post-up option like Howard. Few teams do, but where the Celtics are successful is when Rajon Rondo drives to the basket and draws attention and then they begin to move the ball quickly. They had assists on all 11 of their makes from beyond the arc.
The Celtics may not match the 3-point happy teams of Jim O’Brien this season, but with Wallace, Eddie House, Ray Allen and Pierce around, count on it being a significant part of their offensive approach, and that’s a good thing.
RSS Center
