POST GAME BOOTH ON NETS’ LOSS
Mike Fratello and Ian Eagle break down Thursday’s 93-88 loss to the Indiana Pacers.
Gameday Dish: Boston Celtics vs. Chicago Bulls
February 16 by Leave a Comment
The Boston Celtics come to the City of Broad Shoulders tonight to take on the Eastern Conference leading Chicago Bulls. The 15-13 Celtics, losers of 3 of their last 4 and currently sitting in the 7-spot in the East, begin a 5-game road trip against coach Tom Thibodeau’s guys at the United Center, where the Bulls are tied with OKC for the best home record in the league at 10-1.
A bright spot for coach Doc Rivers’ squad in regard to their sub-par performances of late came this past Sunday, when these same two sides met up in Beantown and the C’s prevailed 95-91 behind 6th-year PG Rajon Rondo’s 32 points, 10 boards and 15 assists. The ‘W’ came with a caveat, however, because reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose was out with back problems.
The Bulls last played on Tuesday at home where they bested a scrappy, energetic Sacramento Kings team 121-115 to improve to 24-7 overall. On this Valentine’s Day matchup, Chicago came out on top despite being Rose-less once again. In their floor leader’s absence, 8th-year SF Luol Deng expanded his distribution game and dished out a career-high 11 assists to go along with 23 points and his usual excellent defense. C Joakim Noah had 22 points, 11 boards and 4 blocks in the victory that clinched the Eastern Conference coaching spot for 2nd-year head man Thibodeau.
As for the veteran-laden Celts, they lost last night at home 98-88 to a Detroit Pistons team that came into the contest a meager 2-12 on the road. 17th-year, former league MVP Kevin Garnett missed his first game of the season with a hip-pointer and will be a game-time decision tonight. Rajon Rondo scored a career-high 35 points, but it wasn’t enough as Detroit outscored the Green 25-16 in the fourth quarter. While Rondo was lighting it up, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce both had off nights, combining to shoot only 4 for 16, with zero 3-pointers. 10th-year PF Chris Wilcox stepped into the starting lineup in place of KG and played well, putting up 17 points and 9 boards.
This compacted 66-game regular season (in addition to the very short pre-season) has many basketball people theorizing about what type of team will benefit and what sort of team will struggle with all of the back-to-backs and the compressed scheduling. In this 2011-12 NBA universe will an older, wiser, savvier group benefit from the somewhat unorthodox season setup? Or will a young-legs, bouncy, high-energy roster be capable of hitting the gas night after night and wearing out opponents? No matter the argument or angle of examination on this topic, basketball is a team sport like none other and different players with varied hoops resumes will have to figure out ways to contribute in order for their teams to excel in this game after game after game environment.
Boston Celtics at Chicago Bulls tips off at 8:00 PM ET on TNT.
From the Booth
February 15 by 1 Comment
BOOTH ON NETS’ LOSS TO THE GRIZZLIES
Mike Fratello and Ian Eagle break down the Nets’ 105-100 home loss to Memphis on Wednesday night.
Ask the Czar
February 14 by Leave a Comment
Carl from Aurora wants to revisit the rulebook:
In the last two minutes of the Bulls/Celtics game on Sunday, the ball hit two different Bulls players before hitting Paul Pierce last, who was completely out of bounds, and the ball was awarded to the Bulls. Why not the Celtics? The Celtic player was all the way out and was not in the field of play at all. Why was the ball awarded to the Bulls and not to the Celtics? I´m unclear on this rule, please clear it up for me.
Carl, I understand your confusion. Since the Bulls were the last players to make contact with the basketball inbounds before it crossed the out-of-bounds line, it seems they should have been faulted rather than rewarded with the ball. However, a closer look at the game rules will help make sense of this call. According to Rule No. 8, Section II (c) in the Official Rules of the NBA for the 2011-2012 season: The ball is caused to go out-of-bounds by the last player to touch it before it goes out, provided it is out-of-bounds because of touching something other than a player. If the ball is out-of-bounds because of touching a player who is on or outside a boundary, such player caused it to go out.
If the basketball had ricocheted off the Bulls players and bounced on the floor out-of-bounds before hitting Pierce, then the officials would have awarded possession to the Celtics. Unfortunately Pierce was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Because the ball hit Pierce first and the ground second, it was rightfully called out-of-bounds off of Pierce and turned over to Chicago.
Fratello’s Fantasy Pick: Jeremy Lin
February 13 by Leave a Comment
Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin’s meteoric rise to NBA superstardom has captured the imagination of the global hoops nation, and just about everyone who engages social media. In a week’s time, Lin has gone from a little known bench warmer to a top-trending topic on Twitter whose #17 is the best-selling jersey in the league due to his dramatic debut in New York’s starting lineup.
Lin played four years at Harvard and was named to the All-Ivy League First Team as a junior and senior, guiding Harvard to its first postseason tournament since 1946 and becoming the first player in Ivy League history with 1,450 points, 450 rebounds, 400 assists and 200 steals. Undrafted out of Harvard, Lin signed as a free agent with the Golden State Warriors for the 2010-11 season, but only made 29 appearances.
Waived by both the Warriors and the Rockets prior to the late start of the 2011-12 season, Lin joined the Knicks on December 27th. He was getting limited minutes, but the Knicks’ injury-depleted roster eventually presented an opportunity for the unlikely hero to explode. In his breakout performance against the Nets, Lin sparked New York to a 99-92 win with 25 points, seven assists and five rebounds off the bench.
It soon became apparent that Lin was not just a one-hit wonder, and now the 23-year-old sophomore has people turning crimson for passing on his court savvy, poise, maturity, drive and leadership. Lin helped his team to four more wins in the first four starts of his NBA career, producing a season-best five-game winning streak for the Knicks. Gotham City’s secret weapon put on a spectacular show for the home crowd when he unloaded 38 points against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in Friday’s 92-85 win at MSG.
Mike D’Antoni’s offense happens to be a perfect fit for Lin because his system puts the ball in the hands of the point guard so much and gives Lin multiple screens and pick-and-roll situations so he can make something happen. Lin finds his open teammates and gets them involved when he has to, but he also has the ability to score.
We’ll see if America’s CzarLin’ can handle the hype and keep postseason hopes in sight for the blue and orange when New York takes on Toronto Tuesday night.
