RedsArmy.com - The Voice Of Celtics Fans

Here's an unheralded Rajon Rondo stat

I looked this up just because of the comments in the last post noticing his improved free throw shooting.

Rajon shot 15-18 from the line in the first round of the playoffs.  That equals 83.3%.

It is a very... VERY... small sample size.  I get it.

But it continues the trend.  Remember when we freaked out over him shooting 38% to start the season?  He finished at 62%.

Just sayin'.

Hey Rondo... No pressure

Rondo is going to have more on his back than his tattoo in the Cleveland Series.  According to Doc, he's going to have his team on there too.

"I think Rondo is the key to the series," said Rivers, who, over the past two days, has also pointed to rebounding, defending the 3-point shot, limiting the Cavaliers' bench, and keeping James in check as other 'key' factors.

"His speed has to be a factor. He has to be disruptive defensively with his speed and ball pressure. They are going to help off him and he's got to handle that well. Really how well he handles them dropping off him and not guarding him will be the key to us winning. When he's effective, our whole team is effective."  

No pressure kid.

Everyone knows what's coming with the Cavs.  They're going to sag off Rondo and dare him to take jumpers. 

I'm fine with that.  Sag off him.  (A) He'll still take it to the hole.  And if you work the ball around enough, that idiot who is sagging off Rondo will get so lost we'll essentially be playing 5 on 4.  And (B) Rondo's jumper from 15 feet and in isn't as bad as people would lead you to believe.  He shot 47% from that range (not counting the "at the rim" shots) this season (51 of 108).  People don't realize that.  Once you get past 15 feet, you have some problems. 

But they're not looking to force him to shoot 3's.  They're going to play off him and give him a ton of space to make a decision.  And if he gets in that 15 foot range and they're still off him, fine, he can pull up and that's not a bad shot.  If they decide to play up on him, then they'll be looking at the back of his jersey.

3 Keys to the Cavs series

My boy Rey from The No Look Pass asked me a few questions about the upcoming C's-Cavs series.  In my responses were my 3 keys to the C's winning:

1: Keep them off the boards. If Varejao is flying in and getting second chance buckets, forget it.

2: Make LeBron a jump shooter: This is going to take some great help defense and very crisp rotations. It’s one thing to stop LBJ from getting to the hoop. You can clog the lane all you want… but he’s a really good passer. If they can rotate over and cut off all of his other options, then he’ll just have to settle for jumpers. I don’t care if he drops 35 doing that… it means he’s not getting to the rim and he’s not setting up his teammates.

3: Share the ball. The Celtics are at their best when the ball is being worked around. They’re not a pick-and-roll team… they’re a motion offense. But every once in a while they get a little isolation/pick and roll happy. That’s not their game. If they do that, a bunch of guys are standing around… and that carries over to the defensive end. They’ve got to keep things moving.

That was one of 5 questions I was asked, so head on over to check the whole thing out.  It includes a bit of smack talk in the final answer. 

If you want things from a Cleveland perspective, he's got a similar Q&A with Glenn Moore of the Dugout Sports Show and Scott from Waiting For Next Year. 

3 Ball, Corner Pocket

 

As the Celtics prepare to take on the Cavs in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, there are plenty of aspects to focus on.  LeBron James, bruised ego (oops, I mean elbow) and all will clearly be the focal point of the Celtics' defensive schemes.  The man is not really a man, he's more of a cyborg.  It's a fairly safe bet that LeBron will put up his usual near triple-double numbers that he seems to do every night.  So what are the other possible offensive battle plans can the Celtic defense zone in on?

One of the more recent Celtic killers has been none other than Anderson Varejao.  For starters, it's imperative that the Celtics have a live body guarding him at all times.  If he has the ball man up on him.  If he's roaming around getting ready to fight his way inside for rebounds (offensive OR defensive) establish inside position first.  In fact, don't even play the ball when a shot goes up if he's checked into the game.  Just find him, and keep him away from the glass.  He's absolutely devastated the Celtics the past few seasons.  There is however one smaller, stealthier, almost ninja-esque aspect of the Cavs' offense that has burned the Celtics consistently.

During Doc Rivers' radio interview this morning on WEEI, he discussed how important it was for them to defend the three point line.  Delving into the defensive three-point formula a bit, one can notice that the Cavs are in love with the baseline three pointer.  It wouldn't even be an overstatement to suggest that it is Anthony Parker's sole reason for being on the Cavs.

Here's some data to ponder over before we watch the rematch from 2008 take place (BL3PTM = Baseline 3-Pointers Made | BL3PTA = Baseline 3-Pointers Attempted | O3PTM = Other 3-Pointers Made | O3PTA = Other 3-Pointers Attempted):

These are all 4 Celtics/Cavs matchups this season

Date of Game	BL3PTM	BL3PTA	BL3P%	O3PTM	O3PTA	O3PT%
10/27/2009	3	5	60	3	12	25
2/24/2010	6	7	85.7	4	11	36.4
3/14/2010	5	12	41.7	2	7	28.6
4/4/2010	4	6	66.7	2	10	20
Totals	18	30	60	11	40	27.5

Cavs breakdown of Game 1:

Fear The Dear

This is too funny NOT to share.

What makes it funny is that the Bucks are doing to the Hawks what their mascot is doing to the people in this video. 

Seriously, Hawks?    

Thanks Sports Babe for the video

The 2 Man Game got borderline existential last night

The show started innocently enough.  I got a few friends together to do a little roundtable chat in Chuck's absence this week... we talked a little Miami Heat... we got into a little Cleveland Cavaliers...

... and then we went down some wild roads.  We started talking about hard fouls... and then we went down a road of why you can't foul like you used to... and then we we started talking about how basketball in the 90's ruined the "hard foul" days (thanks Jeff Van Gundy and Pat Riley) because the basketball was so brutal it led to some emasculating rules.

... and then we got deep.  We started talking about how sneaker companies are part of the problem ruining basketball at is developmental levels.  It's 90 minutes of fun, informative, and serious discussion.  And it might have been the fastest 90 minutes of my life.  Here's the show... hope you enjoy.

Game 1: 8pm Saturday

Thanks Chris Forsberg for the info.  And thanks NBA for taking your sweet-ass time coming up with a start time.

Your Morning Dump... Where the reward is the trophy

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

“It’s the playoffs, man,” KG said, still not raising his voice. “Whatever’s not important goes out the window. I think everybody starts to focus in a little more. It’s all about winning. Through the course of the year, different things emerge to the top of the team and things sweep in, and there’s trades and chemistry and there’s different dimensions that can crack a team or damage a team. “

When it comes down to playoffs, all of that is settled and it’s almost like it’s fresh and new.”

Garnett was asked if the playoffs are the reward for getting through the arduous regular season.

“The reward is the trophy,” he said. “Let’s not kid ourselves.”

Herald: KG plays it cool, serves it hot

Why is this kicking off the Dump?  Because I love that quote. 

"The reward is the trophy... Let's not kid ourselves"

It gets me pumped.

So do things like Charles Barkley on national TV saying "If I had any guts at all, I'd say Cleveland will sweep 'em."  Join the club, ChuckWagon.  But I'm telling you, it's not going to be that easy.  Don't believe the media hype.

On Page 2, Doc compares LeBron to Magic.

Doc scoffs at the Cavs

Every once in a while, Doc drops a hidden gem in his generally innocuous media sessions.  Today, he farted in Cleveland's general direction:

“I don’t know if we feel like that,” Doc Rivers said. “I think everyone feels like we are. We’ve been there before. Going into the championship series [against the Lakers], no one picked us outside of Boston. I don’t think we care one way or the other. We have to go out there and earn it. Orlando is the defending champions of the East. I don’t know how Cleveland’s been anointed that already. They have to earn it and we want to earn it. We feel good.”

Suck on that one, Cavaliers.

Don't know about you... but that sounded to me like Doc dropping the gauntlet.

The 2 Man Game: Celtics Roundtable at 9pm

We're a man down on The 2 Man game tonight, so we're bringing in a cast of characters to help out.  With Chuck out of action (read: serving community service), we'll be joined by North Station Sports' Nick Gelso, Celtics Superfan KWAPT, and Red's Army's own Jay "MrTrpleDouble10".

We're turning this in to a big Celtics roundtable discussion as we put a nice little bow on our 5 game dismissal of the Heat and look ahead to our eventual sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Want to join in and have some fun with us?  Visit our show page to listen and call in.