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Boston Celtics

Post Game Grades: The Pacers Are Just Plain Better Than the Celtics

by Tim Donahue on January 15, 2012 at 12:41 pm · 11 comments

Both before and after the Celtics game, Pacer head coach Frank Vogel talked about importance his team’s depth and its need to play faster to exploit that. Last night’s game wasn’t fast (pace of 91.4), but speed is relative. The Celtics entered the game as the second slowest team in the league, and that – along with their  age – showed as the Pacers went at them in waves.

Indiana continued it’s somewhat disturbing habit of starting slowly, trailing for most of the first, before finishing the quarter with a 10-0 spurt to take a 29-24 lead. From there, the Pacers just wore down Boston by getting out and running (23 fastbreak points) and pounding them in the halfcourt (42 points in the paint, .400 ORB%).

The Pacer bench was outscored by Boston’s 25-23, but that’s deceptive. Garbage time fourth quarter minutes produced a 12-5 advantage for the Cs, even at that, the Celtics could climb any closer than the final margin of 14. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett scored 21 points each, but also combined for nine turnovers.

Individually, every core Pacer player either matched, or outplayed their Boston counterpart. Collectively, the Pacers were — and I think will continue to be — just plain better than the Celtics.

Agree? Disagree?

Express your thoughts below in the comments or yell at me on Twitter @8pts9secs or @TimDonahue8p9s.

David West – 21 MIN | 4-8 FG | 8 REB | 2 BLK | 8 PTS
Big factor in the 3rd-quarter stretch when Indy took control. His 8 & 8 line is unimpressive, but West’s contributions last night (and this year) aren’t adequately measured by his individual numbers. His 3 ORBs, 2 asts, 4 pts in the pivotal 3rd all were back-breakers for Boston.
Danny Granger – 37 MIN | 8-19 FG | 4-4 FT | 5 REB | 3 STL | 21 PTS
Strong bounce back from his miscue in Toronto. Danny had 12 points in the 1st half on 5-of-9 shooting and +17 on the night. His shooting left him in the second half, leaving him 1-for-6 from three. He told me after the game that his legs aren’t quite where he likes them to be.
Roy Hibbert – 27 MIN | 5-15 FG | 1-2 FT| 9 REB | 3 BLK | 11 PTS
Just wasn’t a huge factor. He struggled shooting, appearing to rush his hooks against JO, missing 4 of the 5 I recall. Brought back bad memories of a year ago, when his shooting had devolved to simply flinging the ball in the general vicinity of the basket.
Darren Collison - 32 MIN | 6-11 FG | 4 REB | 4 AST | 17 PTS
DC contribution last night was 11 points in a third quarter that saw the Pacers push their eight-point halftime lead out
Paul George - 26 MIN | 6-11 FG | 6-6 FT | 8 REB | 2 STL | 17 PTS
For the first 6 mins, George was the best player in the building. He scored 9 pts. Bett still, he earned 4 FTs. He slowed down after that, but it was more due to this bing a game where he and his ‘mates took turns beating up the Cs.

Jeff Foster - 17 MIN | 1-6 FG | 1-1 FT | 4 REB | 3 STL | 3 PTS
Jeff managed 4 caroms and 3 steals in 17 minutes, but his signature play of the night made a great cut to get an even better feed from Paul George – then missed a 2-foot shot by 3-feet.
Dahntay Jones - 12 MIN | 1-2 FG | 1 REB | 1 BLK | 2 PTS
Non-descript evening for Dahntay.
Louis Amundson - 3 MIN | 0-4 FG | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS
2 rebounds in 2 minutes is good. 4 shots for a guy with Amundson’s offensive repertoire is a bit excessive. Still, he’s active and aggressive. He and Pendergraph could potentially be a poor man’s Foster-Hansbrough combo – at least in terms of agitating the opponent.
A.J. Price - 3 MIN |1 TO | 0 AST | 0 PTS
To be honest, I don’t think I even realized A.J. had checked in last night.
George Hill - 25 MIN | 2-5 FG | 3 REB | 2 AST | 3 STL | 1 BLK | 4 PTS
Most noticeable play came with 6 mins left, when George ran past three Celtics – covering close to 30 feet – to grab an offensive rebound. All this while the Pacers held a comfortable 16-point lead. Would be best player coming off Boston’s bench by a very wide margin.
Tyler Hansbrough - 23 MIN | 1-8 FG | 4-4 FT | 6 REB | 2 BLK | 6 PTS
Shooting night was a train wreck, but his energy and physicality was a big part of that depth that overwhelmed an aging Celtics team. Also probably would be the best player coming off Boston’s bench by a healthy margin.
Jeff Pendergraph - 3 MIN | 1-2 FG | 1 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS
Scored his first bucket as a Pacer, was generally physical and aggressive, which is pretty much all you can ask of a guy in 2-1/2 garbage time minutes. Still feeling his way, but nice step forward from his debut against the Hawks.
Lance Stephenson - 12 MIN | 1-3 FG | 1 REB | 2 AST | 2 PTS
Strong move to the basket early showed a flash of the NBA-level scoring ability that is probably his strongest attribute right now, but otherwise quiet evening.

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Pacers Defeat Celtics 97-83: Frank Vogel Post-Game Press Conference

by Tim Donahue on January 14, 2012 at 10:41 pm · 4 comments

For the second time in a little over a week, the Pacers handled the Boston Celtics in relatively easy fashion. As I tweeted during the game, it’s been a long time since I thought the Pacers were just plain better than the Celtics, but I think I believe it now.

The Pacers stand at 9-3, and undefeated at home. If they continue winning – by hook or by crook – then it might be time to start talking about this team in terms of not just grabbing, but expecting home court advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

But enough of what I think, give a listen to Frank talking about the game, the tempo, and the upcoming West Coast trip.

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Pacers vs. Celtics – Coach Frank Vogel Pre-game Comments

by Tim Donahue on January 14, 2012 at 6:39 pm · 0 comments

With apologies for the occasionally skaky camera work (and my early apparent fascination with Vogel’s slacks), we offer you Frank Vogel’s pre-game comments for tonight’s contest at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse. He touches on his bench, Roy Hibbert’s new-found physicality, and matter-of-factly discusses Danny Granger’s lapse in judgment last night.

Also particularly interesting is the discussion on balance and late game strategy. Vogel seems to have mastered his media skills, though it looks like he still needs to get up to speed on which “George” is “George.”

Pacers face the Celtics tonight at 7:00 PM, looking to move to 9-3…their best start since their 61-win season in 2004 (10-2).

 

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Doc Rivers Sees His Celtics When He Watches the Pacers Play

by Jared Wade on January 7, 2012 at 5:42 pm · 4 comments

According to Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, the current Pacers may be starting to look a lot more like the 1998 2008 Celtics team that won the title than the 2012 Celtics do. They are obviously much younger and even more obviously not that talented, but Rivers is referring to the style of play.

Peter May reports for ESPN Boston:

Doc Rivers said it before the game. He repeated it after the game. The Celtics’ coach looks at the Indiana Pacers and sees a younger version of the team he took to the NBA’s promised land.

“They’ve done a great job of adding pieces and adding them quickly,” Rivers said. “It’s amazing to me. It’s like watching a young version of us. I know. I hate to say it. But they’re young. They’re scary. And they’re good.”

That was before the Pacers went out and overwhelmed the Celtics 87-74, crushing them on the glass and pulling away down the stretch. You know, sort of what the Celtics have done every now and then to other teams over the past few years.

“They were us,” Rivers repeated afterward. “They knocked us off the block. They were the instigator the whole night, and all we did was whine and not retaliate.”

This following quote is a wonderful description of how that Boston title team dominated.

“They were in our air space,” Rivers said, using a favorite term to describe inside advantage. “We always talk about owning the air space. That’s who we are. And they were us — for the entire game. I just thought they did it better than us.”

Ask Pacers Coach Frank Vogel, and this isn’t by accident.

After being told of Rivers’ comments, [Vogel] cracked a smile and said, “Well, we’re trying to be them.”

He wasn’t just blowing smoke. Before every practice and film session, Vogel said, he writes the word “togetherness” on the board. It’s his version of ubuntu. And it’s all because of Rivers.

“One-hundred percent because of Doc,” he said. “I don’t know him very well, but the year they won the championship, I heard him use the word ‘togetherness’ about a million times. And what he did with that team was an inspiration to me, and I am trying my best to recreate that here [in Indiana].”

I don’t think anyone is actually going to mistake the two teams. There isn’t one player on this Pacers roster as good as Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen or, probably, Rajon Rondo. But the style of play, at least in Doc’s eyes, is enough to make a comparison.

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