I often wonder what opposing teams, their beat reporters and bloggers are saying about the Celtics after playing the Celtics. Here's a dose of 'enemy chatter' from Los Angeles.
The Celtics defense in the third just clamped down on the inexperienced LA team. Nothing came easy – not even entry passes. On most possessions, the Clippers struggled just to get any look at the rim, let alone a good look. Eric Bledsoe, the de facto starter at the point with Baron gone, Williams in street clothes and Foye playing the shooting guard in place of Gordon, simply wilted under the pressure. On more than one occasion, so desperate to run the play that was called, Bledsoe picked up his dribble too early and tried to force the entry pass, only to have one of the aggressive and long-armed Celtics defenders pick it off.
I love reading other bloggers praise the Celtics defense. I feel like some Celtics fans take this team's defensive prowess for granted and don't appreciate it enough.
– Rajon Rondo. If a more unique point guard plays in this league, I don’t know who it is. He’s an elite defender at the point, has impeccable feel and court vision, can rebound and is an impressively bad shooter. According to HoopData.com, once outside of close range, where he shoots 66.7 percent, Rondo’s shooting percentage drops precipitously. He shoots 34.1 percent inside 10 feet, 27.8 percent from 10-15 feet, 41 percent from 16-23 (more on this) and 32.3 percent from three (in only 31 attempts on the year). With his inability to shoot, teams lay off him, daring him to do that. For an elite perimeter player, the amount of wide open 18 footers he has is astounding (and the reason for that decent 41 percent from 16-23 feet). But what that space also allows him to do is take his time, get his players the ball when and where they want it. It’s a huge reason why the Celtics have the game’s highest eFG and FG percentage. They just get the best looks. With his speed and ability to finish around the rim, guards can’t play him close or he’ll blow right by them (sometimes with the help of a KG screen). The best is to hope that the Rondo’s defender can create havoc jumping in passing lanes and double teaming.
That's some intelligent analysis of Rondo's game. We usually don't see this stuff… especially from Los Angelinos. It's more like – "Rondo sucks at shooting… blah blah blah."
On Page 2, Chris Kaman takes a shot at Glen Davis… I think.
Kaman, talking in the locker room, had a big nasty scratch on his back.
From?
"Big Little Baby," Kaman said, speaking of the Celtics' Glen Davis.
Is that a shot at BBD? Sure seems like it. Kaman is such a goof, I'm having a hard time getting pissed off.
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