Unrestricted Free Agents

Guards:  Steve Nash, Chauncey Billups, Jason Terry, Raymond Felton, Jason Kidd, Andre Miller, Leandro Barbosa, Baron Davis, Delonte West, Goran Dragic, Kirk Hinrich, Keyon Dooling, Nate Robinson, TJ Ford, Shannon Brown, Randy Foye, Jonny Flynn, Anthony Carter, Ronnie Price, AJ Price, Willie Green, Carlos Arroyo, Gilbert Arenas, Jannero Pargo, Mike Bibby, Sundaita Gaines, Patty Mills, Sebastian Telfair, Earl Boykins, Patrick Beverley, Armon Johnson, Jeremy Lin, Willie Warren, Roger Mason Jr, John Lucas, Royal Ivey, Gabe Pruitt, DJ Strawberry, Terrico White, Ben Uzoh, Ish Smith, Antonio Daniels, Travis Diener,

Wings/Combo Forward: Andrei Kirilenko, Nick Young, Ray Allen, Mickael Pietrus, JR Smith, Carlos Delfino, Grant Hill, CJ Miles, Tracy McGrady, Daniel Green, Vladamir Radmanovic, Matt Barnes, DeShawn Stevenson, Josh Howard, Rasual Butler, Jamario Moon, Derrick Brown, Bostjan Nachbar, Anthony Parker, Jason Kapono, Brian Cardinal, Antawn Jamison, Brian Scalabrine, Marquis Daniels, Jerry Stackhouse, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Mo Evans, Dominic McGuire, Sasha Pavlovic, Julian Wright, Joey Graham, DeMarre Carroll, Michael Redd, Larry Hughes, Bill Walker, Alonzo Gee, Manny Harris, Damien Wilkins, Bonzi Wells, Steve Novak, Da’Sean Butler,

Big Men: Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Chris Kaman, Carl Landry, Kenyon Martin, Boris Diaw, Kwame Brown, Greg Oden, Marcus Camby, Ronny Turiaf, Jeff Foster, Ersan Ilyasova, Nenad Krstic, Chris Wilcox, DJ White, Troy Murphy, Kris Humphries, Hasheem Thabeet, Jermaine O’Neal, Joey Dorsey, Anthony Tolliver, Ian Mahinmi, Reggie Evans, Lou Amundson, Craig Smith, Aaron Gray, Jared Jeffries, Josh Powell, Memo Okur, Ryan Hollins, Hamed Haddadi, Jamaal Magloire, Jason Collins, Eddy Curry, Juwon Howard, Ben Wallace, Nazr Mohommed, Eric Dampier, Rasheed Wallace, Shelden Williams, David Andersen, Brendan Wright, Yi Jialian, Hilton Armstrong, Brian Cook, Chris Johnson, DJ Mbenga,  Semih Erden, Alexis Ajinca, Kyrylo Fesenko, Leon Powe, Solomon Jones, Eduardo Najera, Darius Songaila, Brian Skinner, Luke Harangody, Malik Allen, Garett Siler, Earl Barron, Ike Diogu, Patrick O’Bryant,

Restricted Free Agents

Guards: Eric Gordon, George Hill, Aaron Brooks, OJ Mayo, DJ Augustin, Jerryd Bayless

Wings: Wilson Chandler, Nicolas Batum, Landry Fields, Sam Young, Brandon Rush, Courtney Lee, Rudy Fernandez, Donte Greene, Devin Ebanks, Marco Belinelli, Jodie Meeks, Jeremy Evans,

Big Men: Kevin Love, Brook Lopez, Roy Hibbert, JaVale McGee, Ryan Anderson, Darell Arthur, Michael Beasley, Robin Lopez, Anthony Randolph, Jason Thompson, JJ Hickson, Kosta Koufos, Mareesse Speights, Derrick Caracter,

Player Options, Early Termination Clauses

Guards: Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Mo Williams, Jameer Nelson, Jamal Crawford, Lou Williams, Jordan Farmar, Ramon Sessions, Beno Udrih, Derek Fisher,

Wings: Gerald Wallace, Matt Carroll, Dahntay Jones,

Big Men: Dwight Howard, Elton Brand, Brandon Bass, DeSagana Diop, Jason Maxiell

Partially Guaranteed + Non-Guaranteed Contracts

Guards: CJ Watson, Shaun Livingston, Lance Stephenson, Daniel Gibson, Isaiah Thomas, Darius Morris, Andrew Goudelock, Shelvin Mack, Travis Leslie, Josh Selby, E’Twaun Moore, Donald Sloan,

Wings: Ronnie Brewer, Rashard Lewis, JJ Redick, Kyle Korver, Chandler Parsons, Chase Budinger, Gary Neal, Martell Webster, Tyler Honeycutt, Terrel Harris, Von Wafer, Malcolm Lee, Sandro Samuels, DaJuan Summers, Corey Higgins, Darrington Hobson, Trey Johnson,

Big Men: Lamar Odom, Samuel Dalembert, DeJuan Blair, Timofey Mozgov, Jon Leur, Hassan Whiteside, Jeremy Tyler, Jeff Pendergraph, Brad Miller, Josh Harrellson, Dexter Pittman, Trey Thompkins, Ivan Johnson, Greg Stiemsma, Justin Harper, Mickell Gladness, Jerome Jordan,

Team Option

Guards: sd

Wings: Andres Nocioni,

Big Men: Andrew Bynum, Sean Williams, Solomon Alabi,

They had a stat during the Raps game last night which said Camby and Robert Parish are the only two players ever to average 10+ rebounds a game at 37 years of age or greater. And Marcus Camby looks like he can go for another 2+ years beyond this season too. That would take him to 40 years old.

Eight rebounds a game in only 23 minutes a night. Still playing solid defense (still fairly quick on his feet, unlike many other older big men and uses his length well) and his passing is better than ever. Can’t score to save his life (35% FG% after shooting just under 40% last year, 3.4ppg in 23mpg) but contributing enough elsewhere to make himself a very valuable role player.

First Quarter

• Interesting graphic on TNT – Miami lead the league in turnovers at over 17 per game. Spoelstra had a film session recently to go over every single turnover committed so far this season (101 of them) and tells his team that it is the single biggest area they can improve on.
• Shane Batter is defending Kobe as one would expect
• Miami looking good early. Getting nice ball movement. A lot of drive and kick action.
• Lakers big man looking dominant whenever they get touches near the paint but, as usual, they aren’t getting enough touches. Kobe Bryant has missed his first three or four shots here.
• Kobe Bryant actively looking to leak out on made baskets. Trying to catch Miami sleeping.
• Miami lead 12-10 midway through the period. Bynum has just picked up his second foul and heads to the bench. This could be a momentum defining moment. Look for Miami to build a lead here.
• Lovely pass from Pau Gasol from the high post to the cutting Matt Barnes (left wing into paint) but Barnes blows the easy runner. McRoberts is the one who checked in for Bynum.
• LeBron James posts up Kobe on the left block. About 9 feet from the rim. Kobe bodying him up hard. LeBron feels him out and then swiftly spins away from contact, goes baseline, layup, misses it. Rebound Miami. Chalmers nails a three off the kickout. Miami were slow to find the open shooter but LA’s defense was even slower to pick up their men after the offensive rebound. 8-0 run for Miami over the last three minutes (half of that since Bynum went out).
• Kobe misses another shot. This time a contested pull up jumper off the dribble from 20 feet left wing. McRoberts runs the rebound down, Lakers reset, into Pau right block, easy turnaround jumper from 7 feet, front irons it. Great look, bad miss.
• Artest misses a three. He is now 2-28 for the season from the behind the arc. Uncharacteristic of him (in recent years).
• McRoberts gives LeBron a hard hit after the whistle. Tech not flagrant since after the whistle.
• Chalmers looking to attack the rookie Darius Morris. Took him to the rim a minute a go (miss). Then ran him off a screen on the right wing and drew a foul. Morris looked very dodgy the other night against Dallas. Chalmers and Miami could get some joy out of him tonight.
• Battier and Artest exchange three pointers. Miami lead 21-13 with two and a half to play in the quarter.
• Eddy Curry checks in for the first time for the Miami Heat. Has not played since 2009 for the Knicks.
• Curry gets lost immediately on defense and Pau Gasol ends up with a wide open baseline jumper which he nails
• LeBron right wing, dribbling, sizing up the defense, Pau drops off Curry to provide a shot blocker help defender should LeBron drive, Curry cuts from left elbow, LeBron finds him, layup. Nice cut, great pass. Tough to stop Curry once he catches the ball that near the rim. Wide body. Great finisher.
• Kobe iso left elbow, drives left, pull up along the baseline, hits it. First made shot of the night for Bryant (out of six FGAs).
• Kobe Bryant posts up left block, double teamed on the catch, kicks it out to far wing, Miami rotate beautifully out to Ron Artest, dribbles, contested three pointer, miss. Rebound Curry. Great defense. Followed up by an awful outlet pass from Curry which is stolen back by Artest. Lakers hold it for the final shot of the quarter, Kobe iso top of the key, Miami shadowing over, Kobe moves left wing, Miami coming to double, Kobe sees it, drives hard left, goes baseline, draws the foul.

Second Quarter

• Bosh nails a face up jumper from the top of the key.
• Eddy Curry returns to the bench, winded, after less than three minutes. Not unexpected as he returns to action after such a long time off.
• Andrew Bynum out-muscles Bosh in the low post, spins baseline, layup.
• Bosh right wing, jab step left, drives right (baseline), draws the foul. Beat McRoberts easily.
• Lakers 25th in fastbreak points and last on points off turnovers.
• I like the Lakers using Artest and Bynum on opposite blocks offensively while Kobe and Pau rest. Artest could make some wonderful cross screens for Bynum with his size/width/strength.
• Mike Miller and James Jones in there for Miami. Neither one can come close to defending Artest in the post. Got to attack them.
• Darius Morris proceeds to giveaway the next two possessions. A forced runner in transition. Then forces the drive, has nowhere to go, picks up his dribble and travels. Turnover. This is quickly becoming typical of him.
• Miami lead 30-22 after three minutes
• Darius Morris forces a tough contested 20 footer off the dribble along the baseline. Miss. Another wasted possession. Sorry, my mistake, shot clock was down. Bynum put him in a bad situation by making such a passive move and then kicking it out to him in a bad spot (corner) with so little time on the clock. Not D.Morris’ fault.
• Great offensive rebound by Bynum in traffic but he fails to make the lay in. Miller hits a three in transition. Miami up 11. Lakers unhappy there was no foul on Bynum’s putback.
• Both teams exchanging baskets. A long two point jump shot from Norris Cole off a pick and roll against the shot lock. A kickout near three point attempt foot on the line shot from Kapono. A layup in traffic as Haslem dives to the rim off the ball. A Troy Murphy jump shot from the top of the right baseline. Miami leads 37-26 midway through the period.
• Miami putting some full court pressure on the Lakers. Trapping in the backcourt. Lakers handling it badly, trying to pass ahead, almost turn it over.
• A misplaced pass by Kobe robs Troy Murphy of another baseline jumper. Lakers swing it around. Miami’s defense rotating incredibly well, close out on Fisher on the three, air ball.
• Pau Gasol with a lefty hook in the lane off the right block. Lakers down 12.
• Andrew Bynum deep catch, right post, off the sidelines entry pass. Turns, short shot, hits it. Ends a mini-drought by both sides over the past two minutes. Lakers down 9 with under two and a half to play.
• LeBron James responds with a catch and shoot on the right wing, hits it. Next possession, fastbreak, flies through defenders and draws a foul at the rim. Miami back up 13.
• Bynum gets great position inside on Joel Anthony, inside the paint, catch, gathers himself with a dribble, powers up, dunks over Anthony. Miami showed some backcourt pressure again there. Lakers dealt with it effectively and got the ball into Bynum in the post in about 6-8 seconds after the inbounds (off Bron’s FTs).
• Curry back in + Kobe gets some FTs + LeBron hits a three from the top of the key. Lead still at 13 for Miami. Sorry 14. Final minute.
• LeBron feeling it … decides to force the issue, Kobe in his grill, LA become overly-consumed with stopping LeBron’s dribble penetration that they forget Battier who tip toed out to the corner, LeBron finds him after his failed forced move, three pointer on the way, good! Miami lead 52-35.
• Kobe Bryant forces a contested 22 footer off the dribble against Battier. The ball never went below 20 feet on that possession. Miss. Putback Matt Barnes.

Halftime

• Miami’s defense has been terrific in the first half. The only place LA has gotten any joy against that defense is in the post with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. Miami have shut down the rest of their offense.
• Miami are in full control of this contest and should win the game comfortably in the second half.
• Lakers need to go to Bynum and Pau more often (as usual).

Third Quarter

• Miami up 52-37
• Kobe misses his first attempt of the half, a face up J, heavily contested, from 17 feet right elbow extended. Battier has played him beautifully so far tonight.
• LeBron James with one his trademark chase down blocked shots against Barnes’ layup in transition.
• Kobe top of the key, one dribble, right elbow, pull up J, hits it.
• LeBron James right baseline, faces up then switches to a back to the basket move, backs down Barnes, spins middle, jump hook, hits it. Lovely move.
• Pau Gasol left block, quickly turns and takes a running hook, nails it.  The game needed that, three turnovers in a row (a LeBron misplaced pass stolen by Barnes, a Barnes layup in transition blocked by J.Anthony and a LeBron fumble on the alley-oop) + a missed turnaround short five foot banked by Bynum out of the post prior to the turnovers.
• Miami lead 56-45 with under 9 to play
• LeBron James makes another three pointer. Appearently, that is his 9th in the last three games. Lead back up to 16 as we approach the midway point in the third period.
• Nice ball movement by LA. Double team Pau, kickout to Fisher, dribble penetration, pass to the cutting Bynum, layup. Simple basketball plays.
• LeBron James is on fire … nails a pull up J off the dribble
• Kobe responds with a driving layup
• Nice movement off the ball by Pau Gasol. Miami’s defense swarms to the strong side of the court to dissuade the entry pass to the post to Bynum, Pau cuts to inside the FT line, pass, short jumper, good. Lovely.
• Bosh nails back to back jump shots to give him 15 for the game and puts Miami up 17 (69-52) with three minutes to play
• Gasol gets trapped in the post, forces a turnaround, hits it
• Miami competing well with LeBron resting. Their lineup is Chalmers, Miller, Battier, Bosh and Anthony.
• Surprised LA hasn’t attacked Miller when defending Artest. Great matchup for them.
• Haslem and J.Anthony score layups off of dives to the rim. Miami up 21, final minute and a half. Haslem and Jones checked in for Bosh and Battier after Kobe headed to the bench. It’s amazing how little Miami is worried about Artest’s post game against J.Jones or M.Miller. Lakers still not attacking that matchup.
• Bynum easily seals Haslem who is fronting the post, LA reverse the ball, simple pass over the top, dunk.
• Lakers have got nothing out of their bench tonight. Very little out of Fisher either. Barnes has been up and down. Not enough contributions out of their supporting cast to compete with Miami.

Fourth Quarter

• Miami lead 79-59

Okay, I am going to call it here. I can’t see LA coming back.

Notes

LeBron James was absolutely magnificent tonight as he has been throughout the early stages off the season.

Himself and Dwight Howard have been playing at another level to every other superstar in the league to date.

Performances To Date

Well, let’s start by taking a look at what level of performances they are getting out of their players.

Note: Only judging the players on their performances on the season to date (15 Jan).

Starters

• PG – Rajon Rondo – playing at a very high level, top five PG in the league
• SG – Ray Allen – also playing at a very high level, top ten SG
• SF – Paul Pierce – missed the first few games with injury, when he returned Pierce played well at first but quickly fell apart and has been a large liability in most of the games since. When Pierce has been unavailable, Pavlovic and Marquis Daniels have filled those minutes. Overall, the Celtics have received very little contribution out of their starting SF this season. The equivalent of a low level starter (bottom five). 
• PF – Kevin Garnett – has been a bit inconsistent to start the season and has clearly declined physically. Still an average starting PF.
• C – Jermaine O’Neal – has been lousy on regular basis with only the odd flash of solid play. Also a low level (bottom five) starter at his position.

The Bench

• PG – Keyon Dooling – has played reasonably well by his standards but is still a highly erratic offensive PG. A poor decision who does a poor job of running an offense, has too many turnovers and is a streaky shooter. His defense has been good to very good at both guard position. A below average contributor.
• SG – Avery Bradley / Sasha Pavlovic – the Celtics have gotten very little out of this spot. Bradley has given some terrific defense in bursts but has been an abomination on offense. Pavlovic has given them serviceable defense and been invisible offensively. One of the weakest backup SG rotations in the league.
• SF – Marquis Daniels to Mickael Pietrus – Marquis Daniels is clearly struggling following his frightening injury last season. He hasn’t gotten his legs or his timing back yet and that is eviscerating his impact on the court. Daniels has been one of the weakest backup SFs in the league to begin the season. Pietrus has recently taken over the slot now that he is healthy enough to play and has shown positive play in his first 2-3 appearances. He should become a high level backup wing for the Celtics as the season progresses but for the season to date, the C’s have had one of the least helpful backup SFs in the league.
• PF – Brandon Bass – Bass has played very well and been the C’s sixth man. He has given them major scoring punch off the bench and been a serviceable defender/rebounder. He is a top ten borderline top five backup PF.
• C – Chris Wilcox / Greg Stiemsma – aside from the odd encouraging display from Stiemsma, the Celtics have gotten absolutely nothing out of their backup five spot. Again, one of the weakest backup slots in the league (so far).

Overall

• The Celtics have one starter playing at an extremely high level (PG), one at a high level (SG) and another at an average level (SF). The two other starters (SF,C) are amongst the weakest in the league.
• The Celtics bench has one high level bench player (PF) and one below average but serviceable bench player (PG) while the three other spots (SG, SF, C) are giving them very weak production relative to their position/role.

Given those levels of contribution – with so many positions underperforming relative to their spot/role – one would expect the Celtics to be a slightly below average team somewhere in the 16th to 21st range.

Going Forward

The good news is that the C’s can expect a lot more out of a few players in the future

• Paul Pierce should regain his place as a top five or at least a top ten (age, decline?) small forward once he gets fully healthy and in proper condition.
• Mickael Pietrus will give them a high level backup wing
• Marquis Daniels, if (and it’s a major if) he can get back to full health this season, will give the a major upgrade at one of the backup guards spots. He would be an above average backup SG.

Note: The Celtics also have the option of using Marquis as their main backup guard in a combo guard role similar to the one he had two years ago here in Boston. His ability to create matchup problems offensively would give the C’s offense a small boost and his added size and nose for the ball would help improve their rebounding too. This would also allow Keyon Dooling to move down into a third string role (defensive orientated combo guard) which is his best role and a role where he is an elite player.

• Chris Wilcox has had some bad luck with injuries and is poorly conditioned + Doc has used him in some bad lineups which has limited his effectiveness. Wilcox is capable of giving the C’s a good bit more in the future especially in terms of complementary scoring (more playing time alongside Big Four please!).
• Greg Stiemsma is still a bit of an unknown and could give the C’s a small increase in production at the backup five spot going forward.
• So the combination of Stiemsma and Wilcox should give the C’s a below average but serviceable backup five slot.

Note: The Celtics could move Jermaine O’Neal into this backup center slot where he would likely be an average player and move either Wilcox or Stiemsma into the starting lineup. Stiemsma would give them more rim protection while Wilcox would give their offense a boost with KG sliding over to the five spot.

Okay, so without a change along the lines of the suggested notes, and figuring Pierce for some decline down to a top ten SF instead of top five, I would expect that Celtics lineup to be the equivalent of a slightly above average basketball team.

Something in the 10th to 14th best team in the league. A non-contender but a solid playoff caliber team.

LaMarcus Aldridge
Carmelo Anthony
Chauncey Billups
Chris Bosh
Kobe Bryant
Tyson Chandler
Kevin Durant
Eric Gordon
Blake Griffin
Dwight Howard
Andre Iguodala
LeBron James
Kevin Love
Lamar Odom
Chris Paul
Derrick Rose
Dwyane Wade
Russell Westbrook
Deron Williams

My Roster Choices

Okay, so my roster would be:

PG — Chris Paul, Deron Williams
SG — Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Eric Gordon
SF — LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony
PF — Kevin Durant, Kevin Love
C   — Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, LaMarcus Aldridge

I would expect them to use a nine man rotation. The starting five plus a backup PG (Deron) and backup big man (Bosh) plus Wade as a SG/SF and Melo as a SF/PF.

Team USA would then keep Kevin Love (PF) and LaMarcus Aldridge (C/PF) as situation subs to use against bigger teams and Eric Gordon (SG/PG) as valuable depth in backcourt.

My Cuts

• Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose — overly ball-dominant PGs, not ideal for a roster this talented.
• Tyson Chandler simply because there were more talented players ahead of him in Dwight, Bosh and Aldridge. Plus, his specific skill-set is more than adequately covered by those three.
• Chauncey Billups — too old, lost a step. Still a good player but no longer a dominant one. He was my third choice PG ahead of Rose and Westbrook for this roster though due to his shooting ability and willingness to play on and off the ball allowing talented wings like Kobe, Wade, LeBron and Durant to shine.
• Lamar Odom — big fan of his versatility but I prefer Bosh as an undersized quick five and prefer Griffin + Love as backup fours who provide something (big powerful physical play in the paint) very different from Durant as an undersized quick four (more perimeter orientated).
• Blake Griffin — this one was the only close call — Ultimately, I choose Kevin Love because of his shooting ability and rebounding. If Griffin can make major improvements to his jump-shooting and/or defense, I would take him instead.

More on my Roster

Speed over Power

• I went with a roster which prioritized speed over power.
• I think that Team USA has more to gain by going down that route — in international basketball — then going with a grind it out physical style of play.
• Hence, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony at power forward instead of say someone like LaMarcus Aldridge where Team USA would play a power game in the paint through their front court’s dominant post games (wings too).
• I wanted to get more quickness, shooting ability and ball-handlers to keep the offense open. And I wanted quickness defensively to help create turnovers and beat opponents to loose balls. To create transition opportunities.

Kevin Durant

• I love Kevin Durant as a PF in International Basketball.
• His physical attributes of speed and quickness combined with his size and length + his exceptional shooting ability, ball-handling and cold-blooded scorer’s mentality makes him the single most dangerous matchup in International Basketball.
• Kevin Durant is the best player in the world in this competition.

Other notes

• I choose to keep Wade on the bench because I loved his energy as a sixth man when he had the role last time around.
• I also like Kobe’s veteran savvy in that starting lineup especially with Jason Kidd not here this time round.
• It’s a pity Jason Kidd isn’t available for selection. If he was, he would still be my first choice starter. The ultimate facilitating floor general for this team (with so many talented, ball-happy, scorers).
• Bosh was chosen over Aldridge largely because of his rebounding ability as an undersized five.
• I have been impressed with Aldridge’s improved team defense (especially in pick and rolls) over the past year (and change) and consider them fairly equal in that aspect of their games. Offensively, Aldridge can offer more of a post game (go-to scorer) while Bosh will operate as a facilitator.
• I like Bosh in this facilitator role given the immense scoring talent two through four (Durant, Wade, LeBron, Kobe, Melo).
• That said, even as a third string center, I believe Aldridge has a good role to play here. His post game offers a valuable weapon which the coaching staff can call upon to change the style of play and give the opposition something very different to think about. Even if not a regular rotation player, I would expect Aldridge to get minutes (and produce) when things get sticky and need to be changed up.
• Having an interior defender of Dwight Howard’s caliber + tremendous quickness and active team defenders one through three (PG, SG and SF) will help protect Durant and Melo whenever they face a top notch big man at power forward (say Pau Gasol). It’ll also be up to them, mainly Durant, to make those slower footed PFs pay on the other end of the court.
• I would be inclined to use Kevin Love as the backup PF against Spain instead of using Melo as a combo forward. Keep Melo strictly as a backup three. With Wade’s and Kobe’s minutes overlapping into SF playing time, Melo’s minutes may be limited further.

Bill (Phoenix)

Nash — traded by the deadline?

Chad Ford  (1:10 PM)

Suns have balked in the past because 1. They really love Nash and 2. The offers for Nash haven’t blown them away. Of course, it’s crunch time now for the Suns. If they don’t trade him soon, most likely they lose him for nothing next summer. The key will be — is Nash willing to agree to an extension as part of a trade? Teams won’t give up much if they’re renting him for 60 games.

To me, the best destination for Nash might be Indiana in a swap for Darren Collison. Suns get a young, talented point guard, Pacers get a player who could get them to the Eastern Conference Finals. If Nash would agree to an extension in Indy, I think the Pacers would have to seriously consider it.

Pre-Game Thoughts

• Nightmare Matchup — LeBron James vs Sasha Pavlovic … yikes!
• That bad matchup will very likely decide the contest. Extremely difficult to see Boston winning this game without Paul Pierce (especially without his physical defense on LeBron)
• The Celtics are short on bodies out on the wing tonight with Paul Pierce and Mickael Pietrus out injured. Marquis Daniels is their only fit backup wing and play the majority of minutes against LeBron but Pavlovic will start and get 15-20 of them himself.
• Unfortunately, this also means that Boston needs to get 35-40 minutes out of Ray Allen because they will need to keep him on the court whenever Dwyane Wade is out there otherwise they’ll be forced to defend Wade with an undersized two / point guard such as Keyon Dooling, Avery Bradley or gosh forbid E’Twaun Moore (no way should the rookie be matched against Wade). Dooling is the best option of the three.

First Quarter

• Miami start out of the gate strong, build a 26-15 lead. LeBron and Wade attacking the rim.
• Chris Bosh had a nice drive when Jermaine O’Neal switched onto him.
• The Celtics had a late flurry in the first quarter keyed by four consecutive Miami turnovers on one end + a pair of layups and a three pointer on the other end. The Celtics have closed the gap to 26-25.
• Boston has to go to their bench and is using a small backcourt of Dooling and Bradley. Miami has only one guard on the floor (N.Cole) and two big wings (LeBron, Battier) along with two small-ish bigs (Haslem, J.Anthony).
• Unfortunately, this has left Bradley stuck on Battier. Miami immediately attacks the mis-match in the post and Battier draws the foul. Miami should continue to look to exploit this matchup.
• On the other end, Miami is in a zone. Perhaps to avoid Battier getting burned off the bounce by Bradley, perhaps not. Hmm, next possession, they aren’t in a zone. It was nothing.
• Next possession, Miami look for J.Howard who has just entered the game to set a cross screen for Battier on the opposite block, some confusion, both Boston players go to Battier who pulls back, leaves Howard unguarded at the rim. Pass, easy layup. Nice.
• Good steal from Norris Cole. Feisty. Keyon Dooling drives hard baseline, spins, Cole rips it from him. Ripped it right out of his hands. Nice physical defense from the rookie.

Second Quarter

• Early in the period, Miami has a 14-3 advantage in free throws attempted
• A pair of impressive plays – Kevin Garnett at the top of the key, uses his length and vision to hold the ball above his head and out of Haslem’s reach, spots the cutting Marquis Daniels, finds him perfectly for the easy layup, great recovery and athletic play from Wade as he flies across and swats the layup out from the sky. Miami running the other way, Norris Cole gets a layup for Miami. Great pass by Garnett, better block by Wade.  Another aggressive drive in the open court from the rookie. I like Cole’s game.
• Wade with one of those beautiful spinning drives finishing with the layup. Miami have re-opened the lead at 36-29.
• Wade chases down Rondo on a fastbreak opportunity, Rondo tries to brace himself for some contact and puts his body in-between the rim and Wade, then notices Bass from behind, Wade jumps with Rondo, Rondo caught in two minds whether to shoot (and risk the block) or pass the lob to pass. In the end, he does neither, throws it up meaninglessly in the air, Bass has no chance at it, turnover. All because Wade put in the effort to put Rondo under pressure and force him to make a decision. And this time, it was a bad decision and turnover.
• Norris Cole with another impressive display – this time in the post versus Rajon Rondo, great ball denial, almost 3/4ering Rondo, stops the pass from even happening, forces Rondo to run back out behind the three point line and Boston to waste the majority of the shot clock. Then knocks the ball away from Rondo which forces Rondo to work hard against the shot clock (which became a three second violation and turnover). Really impressed by both the post defense + continuing to play the full 24 second shot clock defensively.
• Pavlovic (6-8) tries to take a fadeaway over Wade (6-5) from 8 feet, Wade blocks it.
• Miami’s defense is really cranking up the pressure here (with Bosh at center). Approaching the midway point in the second.
• Wade with another block right at the rim against Ray Allen (driving layup).
• Great deflection and recovery from Norris Cole after Rondo poked the ball away from behind Cole. Stopped a fastbreak layup. Recovered the possession for Miami. Multiple-efforts from this guy. Leads to a James Jones three ball.
• Ray Allen trapped dribbling along the sideline, turnover. 14th Boston turnover.
• Nice shot fake to get the defender to commit, then swings the ball to the open James Jones for the three. Norris Cole again, great composure and decision making. Simple basketball plays. Miami up 57-40.
• Great job by Rajon Rondo. Forced to defend LeBron as Boston go small in the backcourt again. Unbelievable job denying that entry pass fronting the post. Great quickness as Miami swing the ball from the side to the top of the key and back again. Couldn’t get the ball in.
• On the other end, Ray Allen hits his second three point in quick succession (and third within a few minutes) to give him 17 points for the game and to cut the lead to 59-49. Timeout Miami.
• Now Ray is on LeBron. He did a very good job on James in the playoffs two years ago. LeBron posts him up in the high post at the top of the key, turnaround fallaway jumper, looks like he was a bit off balance, nails it.
• A pair of beautiful fastbreak layups for Miami. A lob pass from James from the left wing (three point line) to Wade for the layup, miss, LeBron races in and tips home the miss. Then Rondo pushes it back, creates a nice short jumper (7 feet) for Garnett, misses, Miami races the other way, long pass ahead to Wade at the foul line, passes it to the right to a streaking LeBron James for another layup. 13 now for LeBron. Miami creating a lot of easy baskets tonight.
• Lovely pass over the top from Rondo to Garnett as Haslem fronted the post. Layup.

Third Quarter

• Miami lead 69-54
• Miami have a 23-11 advantage in points of turnovers. Also have a 30-14 advantage in points in the paint (fastbreak points probably account for a fair bit of that).
• First 3 possessions for Miami = 3 Chalmers turnovers – missed the first one, second was a lob pass on the break that was too high, third one he picked up his dribble on the right wing, nowhere to go, tried to pass back up top but couldn’t see the passing lane clearly and Garnett was right there to intercept it. Bad start to the second half for Chalmers. Oh boy, a fourth turnover from Chalmers, this time losing the ball on a dribble drive. Crowd getting angsty. Now Joel Anthony turns it over. Five turnovers within the first 2 minutes.
• Jermaine O’Neal is shockingly slow. Even slower than last year. His body continues to breakdown at a rapid rate.
• Wade and LeBron continue to assault the rim. Miami lead 83-65 midway through the third.
• Boston down 14 with about 4 minutes to play in the third. Where down 17 just a short minute or two ago. Announcers talking about perhaps giving up on this game and concentrating on the next one (due to packed schedule). Although, Steve Kerr does note that there is still plenty of time for a comeback with this score-line. More uncertainty about what Boston should do here than advice.
• Brandon Bass starting to show some aggressiveness offensively. Looking good attacking Haslem.
• Boston have switched to a zone to disrupt Miami. Looks like a 2-3 with KG an Bass on either side of the lane and three perimeter guys (one up top, one on either wing).
• A 2-3 or a 2-1-2 zone. Garnett is roaming around the paint depending on what Miami does (how they shift their big to attack zone). Sometimes Garnett is at the free throw line, sometimes down on the block. When he goes up to the FT line, one of the wings drops deeper to cover the baseline / corner.
• Keyon Dooling is such a streaky shooter. Bags another triple. Looks like he has it tonight. 8 point game, final minute. Boston on a 10-1 run over the last four minutes.
• Miami has missed 8 straight shots over the past few minutes. Zone.

Fourth Quarter

• Miami push the ball hard, force Boston out of the zone on first possession. Miss their shot though.
• Oh wait, Boston play man-to-man again. This time there is some pick and roll action, nice ball movement, ball swings to the corner and Shane Battier drills a three to put Miami up 96-83 one minute into the fourth.
• Steve Kerr question’s Boston decision to go away from the zone – ditto. And I gotta say, I love having Steve Kerr as a commentator. One of the best commentators out there at the minute. Very knowledgeable with his experience both as a pro player and as a GM. Communicates well (a surprisingly difficult thing for some ex-player turn commentators to do well).
• Oh, lovely crossover and drive from Norris Cole for the layup. Miami in a groove again after that zone disappeared.
• Boston move backup into their zone defense.
• The Celtics post up Rondo for the third time against Norris Cole. The first time, Cole defended so well he stopped the entry pass from even happening. The second time, Miami got called for a three second violation as they attempted to double down to help the rookie. The third time, Rondo patiently attacks, moves towards middle, help comes, spins quickly the other way and takes a spinning hook shot which spins around the rim and rolls out. Miss.
• Bass double teamed, panics, tries to dribble but bounces the ball off his leg and out of bounds.
• Norris Cole with a floater in the lane. Then side-irons a three. Cole has 12 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists so far.
• Lovely cut by Dooling and pass by Garnett for the wide open layup … oh, and Wade out of nowhere, recovers and swats the ball violently. Boston retain possession. Garnett takes a contested one dribble pull up J at the elbow over Haslem, hits it.
• Beautiful pass by Rondo. Left open as his man went to help, was just above elbow, caught the pass, dribble penetration, forced the D to help instead of taking the shot, then passes to the open Bass for the dunk and foul. Heady play by Rondo. How to attack a defense when they leave you open without accepting that long jump-shot.
• Ray Allen bags a three pointer in transition. 9 point game, 6 minutes left to play, timeout Miami. The Heat had looked in control but a quick Boston run has put this game back in the balance.
• Rondo and Bosh exchange interior baskets.
• Next possession, Cole drives baseline, Garnett challenges at the rim, forces the miss. Looked like Cole pushed off with his right arm, not called. Miami ball, baseline, up top to Cole, drives hard down the middle playing against the shot clock, takes the runner over Garnett, misses, rebound Boston.
• Miami not running enough in the fourth. Letting the tempo get away from them. This is Boston’s preferred tempo right now.
• Boston run Ray off a Bass screen on the right wing, Rondo passes to Ray, Ray to Bass, open from 18 feet, hesitates, Haslem closes, then takes the tougher more contested jumper, misses. Bad hesitation from Bass.
• Bosh trails the play, gets the pass, thinks about the three, passes it up as defender closes, LeBron has an angle for the drive, goes hard to the rim, layup. Miami lead 106-97 with under four to play.
• Bass with a nice offensive rebound and draws the rebound (off a Ray miss catch and shoot on opposite wing). Eight point game, three and a half to play.
• Wade forces two drives. First time, deflected out of bounds, Miami keep possession. Second time, forces himself into the corner for a fadeaway jumper off the dribble heavily contested by the bigger Brandon Bass, way off, Boston rebound. Fastbreak the other way, Rondo to Bass, Norris Cole draws the charge (bad call, was in the air, blocking foul).
• Too much halfcourt basketball for Miami. Norris Cole hits a 22 footer from the left wing to beat the zone.
• Dooling draws the foul, makes two FTs. Eight point game, over two and a half to play.
• Haslem misses a baseline jumper. Fastbreak the other way, Rondo forces a bounce pass through traffic to a streaking Bass, a little behind Bass, can’t hold it but Miami foul while trying to win the loose ball. More FTs for Dooling who got to the loose ball first. Good hustle.
• Then Dooling bags a three pointer (his third of the game?) from the left corner in transition following a Norris Cole missed jumper from the opposite corner / end of the court. Three point game.
• Seven straight points from Dooling in about 40 seconds to close the gap.
• Miami lead 108-105 with 2 minutes to play.
• Wade dribbles left, drives, off balance fadeaway, goes glass, misses, rebound Boston. Rondo runs the other way, long pass, full court pass to Dooling who leaked out, great recovery by Wade to intercept the pass. Excellent hustle by Wade. Risky pass by Rondo which failed to come off. Bad gamble. Miami come down the other end and Norris Cole hits a 21 footer from the right wing to punish Boston.
• Five point game, one and a half to play.
• Bass takes and makes a one dribble pull up J over Bosh. Nice pass by Rondo to find Bass in some space. Back down to 3.
• Miami patiently run their offense, move the ball, Norris Cole takes a 20 footer from the top of the key and hits it to finish out the possession. Lead back to five.
• One minute left, Ray uses a high screen and roll, dealt with easily, trap Ray, he picks up his dribble, in trouble, Boston moving hectically to bail Ray out, Bass catches it at the three point line, drives, off bounces, 11 seconds on the shot clock but throws up an ugly running shot, brick. Miami ball.
• Miami hold the ball, waste the clock, Wade dribbles in and takes the twenty footer, misses, LeBron keeps it alive, Bosh picks it up, Miami retain possession. Dribble out the clock. Boston foul, free throws. Game over.

A good comeback from Boston late in the third and throughout the fourth but Miami thoroughly outplayed Boston for large parts of this game as you would expect them to do without Paul Pierce in the lineup.

Miami looks the much superior team and I would expect them to beat Boston again in the postseason this year should they meet.

Other Notes

Kevin Garnett

Garnett looks noticeably slower this season.

Especially when trying to recover to his man after defending the pick and roll or playing any type of help defense (those multiple effort type plays).

Appears to me that KG is attempting to switch a lot more frequently (with JO) to work around the decline in quickness. Relying on his smarts to get by.

Boston’s Defense

With Garnett slowing down some more and Jermaine O’Neal looking older and older, it’s hard to see Boston maintaining their elite defense from last season.

They still have enough talent and intelligence to be a top ten defense but I don’t think they’ll be a top three defense anymore.

Detroit vs Indiana

Pistons Frontcourt

Greg Monroe gets into foul trouble early in the game so Lawrence Frank goes to his bench and brings in Jason Maxiell. So at this point, the Pistons are going with Jason Maxiell (center vs R.Hibbert) and Jonas Jerebko (big forward vs D.West) … man, the Pistons are going to get killed in the paint, again, this season.

Jerebko clearly looks over-matched physically in the post against David West early on. Not convinced about those reports of added weight / muscle / power. Jerebko does look more fluid offensively and comfortable/confident in his ball-handling though. 

Pistons Starting Backcourt

Rodney Stuckey makes a couple of nice moves early in the game before heading to the bench in foul trouble. Clearly too big and too physical for Darren Collison to cover effectively.

Shame that Stuckey is being forced to defend P.George on the other end of the floor though. Detroit should really consider bringing in a defensive two as a part time starter to allow Ben Gordon to come off the bench. Similar to DeShawn Stevenson’s role with Jason Terry (6th man) in Dallas last year.

The Pistons are just hurting themselves with this starting backcourt.

Pistons Backup Backcourt

Ah crap, Will Bynum just checked into the game. You have got to be kidding me!

Detroit is going to play Rodney Stuckey, Ben Gordon (starting SG), Brandon Knight and Will Bynum … as their rotation in the backcourt? My gosh, they are going to get killed defensively in the backcourt.

Just checked the box score. Bynum got 13 minutes, Knight 11 minutes, Stuckey and B.Gordon got 33-34 minutes. They are using those four guys as their backcourt.

Another year, another mess in Detroit.

New Orleans vs Phoenix

Marco Belinelli

I continue to like what I see out of Belinelli when he is at the point.

Trevor Ariza

I expect Trevor Ariza to shoot the ball much better from the floor this season without Chris Paul around. Ariza no longer has to stand in the corner while his PG routinely dribbles off 12-15 seconds off the shot clock at the top of the key.

Eric Gordon will be good for Ariza. As will PGs who don’t dominate the ball.

Robin Lopez

Robin Lopez has knocked down a few sweet looking long jumpers.

Only 5 of his 12 shots came in the paint. Of the other seven, five came from 15-20 feet. A couple of makes from the baseline (either side) and a pair from the top of the key. I don’t know whether it was fluky shooting or what but R.Lopez was even looking good on shots he missed. Might have added a jumper to his repertoire for this season.

Perhaps, no longer just a garbage man on offense?

Markieff Morris

I really like the look of Markieff Morris. He should be a Udonis Haslem type PF (or better) in the NBA. He should be a very nice glue guy in the NBA.

I hope he can work his way into that starting lineup ahead of Channing Frye. I think he’d give the Suns some much needed possession creation + improve their physical toughness and overall defensive ability. The unit would see a decrease offensively (minus Frye’s floor spacing) but I think that is a necessary loss.

Time for Phoenix to adjust their style of play from run and gun to more of a grind it out team. It’ll still be a PG-centric offense that relies on Nash to create everything but a less glamorous version of what we have to come to know from the Suns.

San Antonio vs Memphis

I only watched a small part of this game (third quarter) mainly to see the following:

Splitter and Duncan

Nice to see Popovich use Tiago Splitter alongside Timmy Duncan in the third quarter last night.

Pop was so reluctant to do so last season. I thought that really hurt the Spurs. I always wanted Pop to be more willing to experiment with and develop that big man combination. They needed to get Timmy more help around the basket and that was their best in-house option + Splitter is clearly talented enough to offer a lot more than he has so far.

Makes a real difference (to have Timmy + Splitter out there together) to San An’s length around the basket. On both ends. A lot more activity.

2 blocks, 2 steals and 8 rebounds in 33 minutes. Nice work from Splitter.

Splitter still looked apprehensive when on the ball offensively though.

Poor Performance from Memphis

The Grizzlies had something like 17 turnovers midway through the third. Looked deflated from all their miscues. Their bigs weren’t working hard enough on team defense either. Thee team as a whole just didn’t seem to have the same energy (hustle) as late last year.

Marc Gasol wasn’t as aggressive as in the playoffs either. He was back to regular season Marc Gasol (13/7 regular Gasol vs 15/11 playoff Gasol). Hopefully, that is just a one game thing and not a sign of things to come from him.

High Pick and Rolls

The Spurs had a couple of nice pick and rolls where their bigs set their picks about 5-7 feet beyond the three point line.

This gave Parker/Manu a huge amount of space to build up a head of steam and charge right at Z-Bo/M.Gasol off the dribble. Abused them each time they went to it. Too slow (Memphis).

Jermey Pargo

Jeremy Pargo looked solid. Physical. Long arms, active defender. Aggressive. He should fit right in in that Lionel Hollins defensive system.

The Boston Celtics have signed free agent forward Mickael Pietrus to a veteran minimum deal for the rest of this season, NBA.com reported Saturday.

The signing was expected, but the Celtics had to wait for Pietrus to clear waivers Saturday before he could sign.

Excellent signing for Boston.

Mickael Pietrus has one of the best backup wings in the league for the last few years. A very good to excellent defensive wing who is a good rebounding two guard and a streaky (and somewhat unintelligent) but potent offensive player.

Pietrus is an excellent replacement for the loss of Jeff Green and gives the Celtics a much needed boost on the wings.

As an aside, I’d love to see the Celtics use this an opportunity to move Keyon Dooling out of the rotation. Play Marquis Daniels as their backup point guard and Mickael Pietrus as their backup wing. Give them both about 20 minutes a night backing up Rondo, Ray and Pierce (34mpg each). I think that is Boston’s best rotation.