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July 4, 2009
Wicked Good Sports

Jack Jemsek

 

 About Jack: Jack Jemsek has been an avid Celtics fan since 1981 when he began his conversion from a hayseed from central Illinois to an adopted son of New England. With the advent of the internet in the late 90’s, Jack stayed connected to his Celtics brethren via message boards where he bonded with the likes of Jeff Clark of Celticsblog, Justin Poulin of Celtics Stuff Live (CSL), and Tom Halzack at Connpost.com. Under the pseudonym of “ManchvegasBob”, Jack was the blogger for mvn.com’s Celtics17 site during the C’s march to No. 17.
Recent Posts by Jack Jemsek:
May 30th, 2009 - Celtics Frontcourt Future is Bright
May 14th, 2009 - The Art of the 2nd Half
May 6th, 2009 - Celtics Make Showing on All-Defensive Teams
 

Saturday, May 30, 2009 at 12:22 pm ET
 

It is with great satisfaction that we can continue to learn about the Celtics even when they are no longer playing this post-season. The hindsight is provided mainly by observing the performance of the Orlando Magic against the vaunted Cleveland Cavaliers. In doing so, we discover just how good the Celtics’ reduced frontcourt lead by Kendrick Perkins ended up being sans the Big Ticket. 

 
The loss of Kevin Garnett most definitely lead to the Celtics premature exit from the playoffs, but in KG’s absence we witnessed the rise of Perkins as the center for years to come. FLCeltsfan at LOY’s Place aptly wrote: 
 
Perk proved as he battled Dwight Howard to a virtual standoff that he is one of the top defensive centers in the league. He has also developed a decent offensive game and will continue to improve in both areas in the years to come. Perk is still just 24 years old and has improved season by season. And I have no doubt that he will come back even better next season.
 
Perkins also got key support from Glen Davis as the starting power forward and back-up center, as well as Brian Scalabrine and even Paul Pierce sliding down to the 4 spot on occasion. 
 
Entering the Magic series, the Celtics were obviously concerned with how they were going to handle Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard. Hack-a-Howard was not an option due to the lack of bench support, and Rashard Lewis seemed like he would be too long and quick for Big Baby to handle. 
 
But this was not the case as it appeared that offensively, Howard and Lewis were handled by the Celtics defensive schemes and excellent defense provided by Perkins and Davis. 
 
Orlando Magic Individual Offensive Ratings
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Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 8:04 am ET
 

What drama the Orlando Magic-Boston Celtics playoff series has created. The ebb and flow never stops, not only game to game but especially in the 2nd half of the games in this conference semi-final series. The Celtics have shown that they only seem to play under pressure, which means the 1st half of these playoffs have been unnerving, and the 2nd half has been edge-of-your-seat material. 

Continue reading...
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 9:53 pm ET
 

What a wonderful day for the Celtics as they land Kevin Garnett on the 1st all-defensive team and Rajon Rondo on the 2nd team.

Garnett preserved his spot from the 2008 1st team despite his abbreviated season.    Despite missing over a quarter of the season, KG’s award was most likely in deference to his previous seven 1st team and 2nd team honors - and yes - that makes 10 times that Garnett has made NBA’s all-defensive teams.  However, Garnett still had the per game metrics to back up his placement on the 1st team with posting top numbers for defensive rating and plus-minus.  

Regarding Rondo’s honor, our CSL blogger Tom Halzack writes at his ConnPost home that Rondo had making the all-defensive team one of his top goals for this season.  And my oh my, he did it,  with only Chris Paul edging him out as the top vote-getting point guard this year.  Last year Paul was the only point guard to make it - now he’s going to have some competition for the next 10 years.  Rondo 2nd personal goal was to make the All-Star team, but someone should tell Rajon that 1 out of 2 ain’t bad.

However, as Tom mentions, the very best news is that Rondo is the first Celtics guard to make the team in 22 years, when Dennis Johnson landed all-defensive honors for the 1986-87 season. 

Continue reading...
Monday, May 4, 2009 at 6:35 am ET
 

The Boston Celtics bench has been maligned, especially during this Chicago series where the minutes played had been tested like no other playoff series. There were 7 overtime periods, and they put additional demand on the minutes to be played for the starters on both teams. The Celtics bench was under additional scrutiny as it automatically became thin with the absence of Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe to injuries, and perhaps we can throw the complications of Tony Allen in as well.

 
The Bulls bench appeared to school the Celtics as they out- scored the Celtics by 185-106 for the series. The biggest difference was that the Celtics bench players did not fare well compared to the play of Kirk Hinrich and Brad Miller, who were just excellent rotation players for the Bulls, and actually logged equivalent minutes to Chicago’s 5th starter, Tyrus Thomas. The Celtics main bench player, Eddie House, didn’t even play close to half the minutes of any of the Celtics starters.
 
The good news in this series was that the Celtics starters outscored the Bulls version 682-573, giving the Celtics a net scoring advantage of 30 points over the duration of the 4-3 series victory. And yes, 31 of those differential points were earned in the Game 3 and Game 7 victories, 5 more points being earned in the narrowly won Games 2 and 5, with Chicago winning overtime Games 1, 4 and 6 by a total of only 6 points.
 
But it was game 7 that redeemed the Celtics Bench, and below a hat tip is made toward their play. But first, Glen Davis a shout is made toward Glen “Big Baby” Davis, who used to be a bench guy until he was pressed into service by KG’s injury. 
 
Glen Davis – Honorary Bench Guy
 
Glen Davis is now a starter, but the media and fans should not lose sight of the fact that he has been a super substitute for Kevin Garnett. Davis did a little bit of everything for the starting unit, and did not lead in any statistical category, except for the following notable one. He was the Celtics +/- leader in both a total and per minute basis for the series. Go figure that, the make-shift starter who plays major minutes has a better +/- than even superstar-in-the-making Rajon Rondo.
 
Celtics Plus-Minus Summary against Bulls
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Tuesday, April 28, 2009 at 10:04 am ET
 
A little over half-way through the 1st round of these playoffs, the Celtics’ Rajon Rondo is getting all kinds of well-deserved recognition. From the coaches, his team mates, opponents, and especially the media. Here are some of the feature articles that Rondo has been the subject of the last few days:
 
Jackie MacMullan, 4/23/09 ESPN.com article entitled: Rondo Fast Becoming Celts’ Leader: The maturation of the Boston Celtics’ young point guard has been an involved process. Jackie takes down Rondo’s path to maturation as a star point guard, starting with the idiosyncrasies that haunted him from his days under Tubby Smith at UK. 
 
Kevin Pelton’s 4/23/09 Basketbal Prospectus article entitled The Big Four: Rondo Steps Up speaks to Rondo’s increased performance without Garnett in the line-up, and provides all the information you need to understand that Rondo is a star in his own right, and will soon force the team with the “Big Three” to be known as the team with the “Big Four”.
 
Marc Spears has his 4/28/09 Boston Globe Article Sharp At the Point: Playoffs bring out the best in Rondo. Looks at his triple-double performance and his all-around play, and also speaks to the “Big Four” going forward. He also broaches the subject of contract extension come this summer (Rondo’s agent is Bill Duffy). Anyone think that Rondo won’t command something near the max in his extension?
 
Spears also broached the NBA efficiency numbers that put Rondo in rarified air, as if averaging a triple-double wasn’t enough. . . . only LeBron James has better numbers for the playoffs, and not by much. Chauncey Billups and Dwight Howard deserve some honorable mention, but with Rondo being in the conversation with the NBA best, you can see that with his performance in these playoffs, Rondo has gained “star” status in the NBA.
  
Individual Player Ranking for 2009 Playoffs
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Friday, April 24, 2009 at 8:41 am ET
 
“No I’m not KG. Not at all, but I’m Big Baby Glen Davis from LSU, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I’m not the Big Ticket. I’m the Ticket Stub. Don’t count the Ticket Stub out. You might need the ticket to get in the game but you leave with the ticket stub because you’ll never forget this game.”
 
Glen “Big Baby” Davis as quoted in April 17, 2009  www.projo.com/celtics
 
I can’t get Big Baby out of my mind. He’s being ridiculous in these 2009 playoffs my Celtics friends. 
 
On a night where I saw Chicago going after Boston’s thin front line without KG, I thought the Bulls would have Kendrick Perkins and Big Baby Davis sitting on the bench in no time due to foul trouble, as 30 seconds into Game 3 Perkins picked up his 1st foul.
 
It would not have been a bad strategy for the Bulls after all – to attack Davis and Perkins and force the Celtics to play small or burn through Mikki Moore and Co on the Celtics bench. After all, they can force the issue with the 2009 ROY Derrick Rose who seems to be able to get by anybody, and slashers in John Salmons and Tyrus Thomas, and even Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich can get to the rim if they have a lane.
 
But fortunately, the Bulls did not follow through on that plan – and the story of a pair of 23 year old and 24 year old wide-bodies finding success in the playoffs wrote another chapter.
 
Big Baby Steals the Show
 
While Paul Pierce was quietly sniping the Bulls in the 1st quarter of play, Glen Davis was the whirling dervish collecting 3 steals and drew an offensive foul on his old LSU team mate Tyrus Thomas. 
 
Then the unthinkable happens – Big Baby steals the ball and goes coast to coast for a slam in front of the polite Ben Gordon. On second thought . . . the nimble large man has been known for such plays in the past; check out his wrap around steal against the Heat. 
 
Big Baby Has a Blockbuster Night
 
Hold on one dog-gone moment. Big Baby has short arms, can’t jump and his mortal enemy is gravity. These are the reasons that Davis only had 19 blocks all season, for an average of 0.27 blocks per game. No worries – that’s more blocks than glass cleaners like David Lee of the Knicks and Louis Scola of the Rockets had. 
 
But the collection of 3 blocks last night, well that is only the 2nd time in Glen’s young career that he’s swatted 3 or more shots, and they both happen to be against Chicago (the 1st coming in a December 2007 game against the Bulls). What was more satisfying is that two of the blocks came against Joakim Noah - how sweet it is!
 
The fact is, there is an emergency airlift that has been deployed by Davis in behalf of Garnett’s absence. He’s collected 6 blocks total in the series, for an average of 2.0 blocks per game. That is nearly a 10-fold increase compared to his career average, forcing rumors that “Big” in “Big Baby” may be changed to “Bouncing”. 
 
Riddle Me This . . .
 
The thought has occurred to me that if James Posey was resigned by the Celtics for a fat contract, then Big Baby’s light would not be shining quite as bright right now. Posey would likely be getting the minutes at Power Forward in Garnett’s absence, not Davis.
 
So I ask you, considering what we are seeing from Davis, including his monster line of 14 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 6 steals and 3 blocks last night, would you rather have Davis or Posey signed for the next 3 years at the Mid-Level Exception?
 

I choose Davis because I feel the best is to come from this 280-pound self-proclaimed “Ticket Stub”. Considering how active Davis is for a large player, his nice touch from 15 to 20 feet, his improving defense, and his youth, Davis is a more compelling X factor than Posey would be for  this team right now.   

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 7:17 am ET
 
With Leon Powe and Kevin Garnett out for these playoffs, how important is it that Scalabrine may put his post-concussion syndrome behind him, and be cleared to play for the Celtics in Game 3 against the Bulls this Thursday?
 
Said Perkins [to the Globe], "He can come in and play some good minutes for us. I know it’s kind of hard for him just to take chances [healthwise]. I just feel he has to come in and give us a lift."
 
Is that peer pressure coming from the Celtics’ starting center – or perhaps better termed the ultimate call to duty within the Celtics’ band of brothers.
 
Make no mistake - we all should be concerned that Scalabrine would be taking on a serious health risk by playing. Typically when you have 3 concussions like Scalabrine, your season is over. The risks of multiple concussion is summarized in Concussions in Sports: Minimizing the Risks for Complications. 
 
So why do it? Especially when his wife Kristin just gave birth to his second child (Adria Raine) this past Sunday? I mean just how important can playing a basketball game be?
 
Perhaps Brian Scalabrine wants to officially begin his playoff legacy with the Celtics. Scalabrine wasn’t on the playoff roster last year and in 4 seasons with the Celtics, has yet to log any playoff minutes. If you recall from the post-Finals interview, he maintains a sense of humor about it, and a great deal of pride of being on the Celtics even as a bench player. See video of Scalabrine Talking Smack in Post-NBA Finals Interview.
 
Just What the Doctor Ordered
 
The Celtics need Scalabrine as much as Scalabrine wants to be a part of these playoffs. At present, they will have to stretch the minutes along the front court between Kendrick Perkins, Glen Davis and Mikki Moore, which means you’ll be seeing Paul Pierce playing the 4 spot in order for the Celtics to get by. 
 
Scalabrine even acknowledges that he’ll be rusty. Today’s Globe says:
"As far as my wind? All my numbers are better as far as conditioning drills . . . I’m in better shape.  But I know that the basketball is different.  I know the timing I got to get back. . . . Mentally, am I 100 percent? Will I know until we go out there and play? Probably not.  If I get popped and I don’t get a concussion, then we are probably in a better position. That’s the only way you can do it. . . . I’m having no symptoms. I’m not having any headaches, motion dizziness, or anything like that. I’ve been pushing myself like crazy to go to that next level." 
The series has been physical, and you have to be concerned that Scalabrine will have to endure a “pop” or two to stay out on the court. 
 
Mikki Moore Leaves the Door Wide Open for Scal
 
The Celtics need Scal now more than ever as Mikki Moore is just not getting it done in this Bulls series, and his lack of playing time despite the Celtics front court shortage is direct evidence of the vote of no confidence by Doc toward Moore. 
 
Moore just seems to be a defensive liability and has but his statistical mark on the playoffs with some huge plus-minus numbers, defined as the point differential between the two teams when the player is on the floor. 
 
In the Game 1 loss against the Bulls, Moore essentially only played 5 minutes in the 1st half, but managed the most negative net48 plus-minus on the team. In Game 2, Moore suffered through a -17 plus-minus; this is despite the fact that none of the starters had a +/- less than +5. Even with the loss of Powe in Game 2, Moore failed to earn any playing time in the 2nd half as Doc chose to play Davis and Perkins long minutes in the 2nd half (rather than risk another debacle on defense by Moore). 
 
Perhaps you caught Ray Allen instructing Mikki Moore on how to play help defense when he failed to pick-up a Bulls player driving in the lane in the 2nd quarter. . . .   So Mikki Moore is shaping up to be the anti-Kevin Garnett with regard to his impact on the team and his ability to cover for any mistakes in the back court defense. 
 
Will Brian Scalabrine Be Able to Do Better? 
 
Yes – he knows the defensive scheme better than Moore, and may be slow but at least knows where he should be. He’s not 7-footer and he’s an equally mediocre rebounder as Moore, but he’s simply not the defensive liability Moore is. Moreover, he can help lock into the 3-point shooting mode that the Celtics apparently must embrace without Kevin Garnett on hand.
 

The Celtics need Brian Scalabrine to survive the Bulls. If they get by the Bulls, then perhaps we’ll see further maturation by the upstart Celtics front line (Perkins is only 24 and Davis is only 23), or perhaps at least buy some time so that Mikki Moore can have an epiphany on how to play defense for the Celtics, or even better, that Kevin Garnett is able to open the 2009 playoff door. 

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