Recap: The boys are back… in preseason form

We might not have a ton to look forward to this season, but I think it’s always fun to see basketball back on my TV.  It took Tommy Heinsohn 70 seconds to call a ref’s call bogus.  Mike Gorman is still the best play-by-play guy in the business (and his burn on Michael Carter Williams for that white sport coat was a classic)

That is, until I watch teams like this year’s Boston Celtics and this year’s Philadelphia 76’ers play preseason basketball for an extended period of time.

No, this wasn’t a work of art, but it was basketball (and the Celtics overcame a slow start to eventually win by 20), and we’re all supposed to learn something from it.  And, quite honestly, it’s fun to be writing recaps again.  So here we go:

The Green:

Marcus Smart’s defense is as advertised, folks.  He’s strong enough to fight through screens and he’s quick enough to stay in front of guys.  The Celtics whipped off a 14-2 run in the second quarter built largely on the back of Smart’s defense.  He also passed the ball pretty well.

Evan Turner’s Celtics debut was impressive.  I don’t want to go too crazy after one preseason game against a bad Sixers team… his former team no less… but it was impressive.  He was, dare I say, efficient.  He didn’t force a lot of shots, he played in control, he made good passes, he rebounded… he was…  good.  I’ll just leave it at that, partly because I don’t want to overreact.  There’s plenty of time for us to overreact tomorrow.

James Young has a very quick, very pretty looking shot.  He’s got a ton of confidence and definitely a scorer’s mentality.  Aside from bricking his first two free throws, which may have been some jitters, the kid shows some promise as a scorer.

The early slogan of this preseason is the Brad Stevens declaration of the need for “pace and space.”  The pace was definitely up-tempo.  The Celtics were REALLY jacking up shots early.  They slowed down a little in the second half, but they were still pushing the pace.  It wasn’t always pretty, but that’s what the preseason (and, frankly, most of the regular season) is for.

The sort of Green:

I invented this new category tonight as sort of a “green honorable mention”

Rebounding:  Both teams shot less than 40%, which means there were a lot of rebounds to be had.  But the Celtics did a good job on the boards tonight, which has historically been a weakness.

Marcus Thornton was described thusly (and quite perfectly) by the Herald’s Mark Murphy:

Marcus Thornton – Jordan Crawford in Sherman Douglas’ body.

— Mark Murphy (@Murf56) October 7, 2014

This dude can get hot fast.  He can also get cold almost as quickly.  Buckle up for this one, kids.

Kelly Olynyk looked decent out there.  Nothing really stood out about his game, but he hit 2 of 3 from deep and he rebounded.

I should really name this the “Brandon Bass commemorative category,” because it’s made for a guy like him.  You forget he’s on the floor sometimes, and yet he finishes the game with 15 points and 9 rebounds on 3-5 fg and 9-10 from the line.

Phil Pressey didn’t play a lot as the Celtics tried to get a look at how Smart and Turner could handle the point (they know what Pressey can do). But for all the grief I give him, the kid comes in and make a positive impact most of the time.

The Gross:

Avery Bradley couldn’t hit a shot.  He got mostly good looks so it’s not a big deal (yet), but he missed a lot of shots (3-10 fg)

Marcus Smart was 0-8 from the field, including 0-5 from 3.  His defense was by far the story of his game, but you can’t overlook a big oh-fer on the other end.

Tyler Zeller has a lot of work to do out there.  I mean, a LOT.  He didn’t seem to be aware of the ball at ALL.  He was ahead of the pack on a break and never looked for the ball at all.  He tried to “outlet” the ball once and meekly turned it over.  I’m willing to overlook tonight’s performance, but any more performances like this and he’s going to be a cheerleader this season.

The Grid: 

• Evan Turner:  15 pts (5-11 fg, 1-1 3pt, 4-4 ft), 10 reb, 6 ast.
• Jared Sullinger:  10 pts (4-15 fg, 0-3 3pt, 2-4 ft), 13 reb.
• Kelly Olynyk:  14 pts (4-12 fg, 2-3 3pt, 4-6 ft), 9 reb.
• Marcus Thornton:  14 points (5-13 fg, 4-8 3pt).
• James Young:  10 points (3-8 fg, 1-5 3pt, 3-5 ft).

Celtics play again Wednesday night.  Welcome back, NBA.

Box Score