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.
More urgently, they gave up 31 points on 13-of-19 shooting to Clippers centers Jordan and Chris Kaman. Though newcomer Nenad Krstic thrived offensively with 20 points and nine rebounds on 7-for-10 shooting, his tutoring at the other end of the floor will require more time.
But Doc Rivers isn’t ready to dial code red with his defense — at least not yet.
“You knew it before the game,” the Celtics coach said of how, without an ample supply of big men, the result was predictable.
“Just one extra big is all we needed,” he said. “But we don’t have it with the injuries. This has nothing to do with the trade or anything. We just didn’t have healthy bigs. Hopefully Baby will be back soon.”
Shaq’s return is more nebulous.
Herald – Big problems for Celtics
Nads defensive shortcomings were on display last night. There's no way he can hang with an athletic big like DeAndre Jordan (7 dunks). At least Krstic was able to make up the difference with his offense.
How useless is Troy Murphy? Even with the team in desperate need of bigs, the 6-11 Murphy played just 5 minutes last night. I'm not sure he's going to find his rhythm this year.
Equally depressing was the performance of Mo Williams. How the hell does Rajon Rondo allow Mo to score 28 points? Yes… I realize he can't be held solely responsible, but where is the "Not on my watch" attitude from this kid?
This was the perfect Clippers storm. Their bigs dominated. They made clutch shots. Something that comes around once in 86 years.
At least Doc has a sense of humor:
“No one cried,’’ said Doc Rivers. “We lost the game. We’re good.’’
Related link: Globe – Not much time to adjust to changes |
On Page 2, Carlos Arroyo impresses.
“I thought Arroyo was phenomenal,’’ Rivers said. “He ran our club. When he came down and called a play that we hadn’t put in for him, but he knew the team ran it, I thought, ‘Man, this guy — he’s pretty good.’ You know, everybody else knew it on the floor and he called it and you know, I was shocked that he knew it. It was great. So there were some good things there.’’
Arroyo said he didn’t remember the play but was focused on staying aggressive. Not only did Arroyo fill in for Rondo, Rivers left both point guards in the game at various points to see how they would operate. Arroyo said the opportunities were beneficial.
“I enjoyed it and it makes my job a lot easier when you have another point guard playing with you,’’ Arroyo said. “[Rondo’s] IQ is so high. It makes your game that much easier. Hopefully we can play more together and understand to play with each other and help the team.’’
Arroyo did a good job filling out the stat sheet: 4 points, 3 reb, 2 assists, 1 steal. Nothing spectacular, just steady play. He might be the anti-Nate Robinson.
Related links: CSNNE – Arroyo ready to heat up 2nd unit | Herald – Arroyo impresses | ESPN Boston – Arroyo immediate leader |
The rest of the links:
MWDN – Garden Clipping | Globe – Visitors got what they deserved (Ryan) | LA upstarts seal off win | Herald – Starting point a minus | ESPN Boston – Rapid Reaction | Slow start, surprise ending | CSNNE – Krstic passes crash course | Cs meet with Obama | WEEI – Paul Pierce says there's no excuse for slow start | Cs get clipped
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
