# GAME 3: 11/1 @ New Orleans



## agoo (Jun 1, 2003)

Coming off of a victory on Mike James' last second shot, the Celtics will be moving further south to take on New Orleans. New Orleans' last game was Thursday at Orlando. The Hornets won on Jamall Maglorie's 27 points and game saving block on Tracy McGrady's layup to win. 

New Orleans starting lineup:
C--Jamaal Maglorie
PF-PJ Brown
SF-George Lynch
SG-David Wesley
PG-Baron Davis

New Orleans' star small forward, Jamall Mashburn, just had arthoscopic surgery on his knee and will not be playing in this game. 

The keys will be how well Paul Pierce does on offense against the much smaller David Wesley and how Mike James and Marcus Banks can hold up against Baron Davis.


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## Premier (Oct 30, 2003)

I predict Pierce will use the height differential to his advantage and post up on David Wesley. I think he breaks out and drops 35 on the Hornets in a close game.


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## theBirdman (Jun 20, 2003)

The key will also be how well PJ can limit Vinny! 

They need to limit Baker to win? ...sounds good!


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## WaltaaMcCarty (Oct 21, 2003)

James wont have as good a game as he did last night, but he will impress by handling baron davis.

Pierce should have a breakout game, because of his height, and his hunger.

Kedrick will have another decent game putting up 8 or 10 points.

Vinny B will continue his comeback player of the year campaign by dropping 18 on the Hornets.

Mark Blount and Tony Battie will once again share PT, as Tony will have the better game with around 9 pts, 6 reb

This will be a big test for the C's on whether or not they can contend with the upper half of the teams in the east. This next week with NO, NJ, and SAC will be the biggest test they may get all year, and if they can win 2 of the games, i think they will definetely prove alot, and definetely prove they can take a 2-5 seed in the playoffs. Its all on them...


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## Big John (Sep 11, 2002)

I expect that George Lynch, not Wesley, will be defending Pierce. They will put Baron Davis on Kedrick Brown. The Hornets also have Stacey Augmon to come off the bench to defend Pierce.

1. This is the second night of a back-to-back. It's fortunate that the C's did not have to go to overtime last night.

2. Will Eric Williams play? The Globe said he was "questionable," which is good news if true, since it means the knee isn't that serious. But it might be wiser to hold him out, to heal in time for the Detroit game on Wednesday. If EWill does not play, I expect Jiri Welsch to get some minutes.

3. The Hornets are a better defensive team without Mashburn.

4. The key to winning will be for the C's big men to run the floor. Magliore and Brown are good players, but after that the Hornets are thin up front, with only Traylor and the rookie West. Let's tire out their starting front line. I want to see Baker, Blount, LaFrentz and Battie sprinting up the floor on every play.

5. This game will be another good test for Marcus Banks, who will have to go up against two quality guards. I thought Marcus played well last night, even though he bricked those free throws. He played excellent defense on Watson (including key stops at the end of the first quarter and first half) and had no trouble beating the Memphis pressure. By God, I think he's learning.


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## theBirdman (Jun 20, 2003)

Nice post BJ. I agree, Lynch or Augman will be defending Pierce. And back-to-back game is another difficulty for us. 
I think the key will be to contain Baron. If James or Banks can limit him that would mean a lot. I dont expect James to score as he did yesterday so we need someone else beside Pierce and Baker in double digits. 
Second key point for me (beside our defence of course) will be rebounding. Our big guys have to do as good job on the glass as Magloire, PJ and Lynch. I am also very interested in how West will play, cause so far he has been impressive!


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## Big John (Sep 11, 2002)

I forgot about Darrell Armstrong. The Hornets have three quality guards, not two.

I also forgot about Sean Rooks up front but if he plays significant minutes that will be good for the Celtics.

Yes, they need to contain Baron Davis but not necessarily stop him. The issue for the Hornets is how to make up for Mashburn's 25 points. Davis can make up some of it but the Hornets also have to get some scoring from their frontcourt.

I was very high on David West on draft day. He was one of those 4 year seniors who sometimes get overlooked in favor of the 18-19 year-old phenoms and Euros. I'm looking forward to seeing him play at the NBA level.


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## whiterhino (Jun 15, 2003)

Kedrick has yet to score 8 or 9 points and I'm not so sure he will against a stronger Hornet team. I don't know what's up with him but he needs to start producing more in points & rebounds. Vinny is playing AWESOME! He's the key to taking pressure off Peirce bc teams are gonna realize now that they have more to contend with than just Paul bc Vinny IS BACK!!! I hope Eric Williams is ok to play bc we need his scoring, other than Peirce & Vinny no one else is stepping up other than Williams and Mike James but I don't think James can be counted on to score like that every night. Kedrick has to step it up as does Lafrentz....4 points out of him last night is not going to cut it. Banks is keeping his turnovers down but he's still squandering some valuable opportunities by throwing the ball away like he did last night after stealing it Brown was wide open down court and instead of lobbing it to him he chucked it out of bounds. I know he's learning but those kind of easy to avoid mistakes need to stop. Tony Battie has been playing very solid as has Mark Blount although I'd like to see him get a few points here and there. WHEN IS JUMAINE JONES GONNA PLAY????


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## goNBAjayhawks (May 3, 2003)

The C's might not do it, but maybe have brown on baron and then the PG's on wesley or armstrong. It will definitely be a close game, the C's have some momentum. I think lafrentz is getting involved slowly b/c thats how obrien wants it and so far we havent needed his 30-35 mpg. If vinny keeps going like he is stats wise or even just this week, as in scoring 20+ppg, i think that nuetralizes PJ Brown, so the big thing is too slow down Magloire and dont let him get hott, and have him dissappear, as he is known to do in games. Hopefully ewill plays, hopefully brown starts scoring. We could def win this game, and ill be watching every play over the internet for sure


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## Truth34 (May 28, 2003)

*Kedrick is fine*

They need to find him more on the break; the guards cannot see him running up there. Also, he got 2 critical rebounds last night and locked down Mike Miller. Any questions?


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## Big John (Sep 11, 2002)

*Re: Kedrick is fine*



> Originally posted by <b>Truth34</b>!
> They need to find him more on the break; the guards cannot see him running up there. Also, he got 2 critical rebounds last night and locked down Mike Miller. Any questions?


Yes, I thought Kedrick played very well down the stretch. The Celtics went to the Baker vs Gasol matchup because Vin was hot and Pau couldn't stop him. There will be other nights when Kedrick will get more touches.

I thought LaFrentz looked ok too, even though he didn't score much. He got two tough rebounds in traffic and defended well. He missed some shots, but they were shots he should have taken.


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## agoo (Jun 1, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Big John</b>!
> I expect that George Lynch, not Wesley, will be defending Pierce. They will put Baron Davis on Kedrick Brown. The Hornets also have Stacey Augmon to come off the bench to defend Pierce.


So they're going to have Davis, Wesley and Lynch to defend James, Pierce, and Brown. Just a thought, lets get EWill as many minutes as possible in the post and keep Wesley off the court because he'd become far too large a liability defensively. That leaves their scoring up to Davis and Maglorie, with Augmon, Lynch, and Brown on the court. I like those odds.

Of course, that means that EWill will be playing. Any word on that yet?


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## aquaitious (Jun 11, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>agoo101284</b>!
> 
> 
> So they're going to have Davis, Wesley and Lynch to defend James, Pierce, and Brown. Just a thought, lets get EWill as many minutes as possible in the post and keep Wesley off the court because he'd become far too large a liability defensively. That leaves their scoring up to Davis and Maglorie, with Augmon, Lynch, and Brown on the court. I like those odds.
> ...


I'd rather not risk it. The injury isn't supposed to be serious, all he's gotta do is rest and ice. But I would sit him out this game. Yet knowing OB it doesn't matter if someone is injured or not he's playing if he's in the rotation.

Dr. Aqua out.


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## PatBateman (May 26, 2003)

how old is george lynch, am I right in thinking he has been around a while?


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## Big John (Sep 11, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>agoo101284</b>!
> 
> 
> So they're going to have Davis, Wesley and Lynch to defend James, Pierce, and Brown.


The Hornets have the same problem the Celtics had last year when Bremer and Delk were in the game at the same time.

Whether Williams plays or not, someone, either Davis or Wesley, is going to have to guard a 6-6 or 6-7 guy who can post him up. They will need to double down, which is going to leave someone else open. That is the price you pay with an undersized two guard. The Celtics need to exploit that matchup. If they can get Davis or Wesley in fould trouble, there goes another big chunk of NO's offense.


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## agoo (Jun 1, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Big John</b>!
> 
> 
> The Hornets have the same problem the Celtics had last year when Bremer and Delk were in the game at the same time.
> ...


Eric Williams has a post up game. That's his thing. Its what he does. I don't think Kedrick has that. I know Walter has nothing on offense. Jumaine isn't ready to play yet. That's why I said Williams. If I'm New Orleans, I'd be willing to take my chances with Wesley guarding Kedrick and McCarty.


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## Big John (Sep 11, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>agoo101284</b>!
> 
> 
> Eric Williams has a post up game. That's his thing. Its what he does. I don't think Kedrick has that. I know Walter has nothing on offense. Jumaine isn't ready to play yet. That's why I said Williams. If I'm New Orleans, I'd be willing to take my chances with Wesley guarding Kedrick and McCarty.


Oh yes, EWill has a great post-up game. He has always been a power forward in a small forward's body. But I think Kedrick should also be able to take Wesley down low. Kedrick can simply elevate and shoot turn-around 12-15 foot jumpers. He doesn't need to upfake.

I just wouldn't want to take chances with Williams' knee. It's a long season.

As an aside, sportsbook.com has the Hornets as a 6 point favorite tonight and the over is 180. I don't bet with bookies (I resent paying the vig) but I think the spread is about right, given that the C's are playing a back-to-back on the road against a competent team. I think the over is low-- but don't blame me if you bet and lose lol.


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## agoo (Jun 1, 2003)

The game is starting. Eric Williams is out with a hyperextended knee and will be having a MRI soon.

My questions: Can the Celtics use their height advantage in the backcourt to outscore Davis and Wesley? Can the Celtics bigs (Baker, Blount, Battie, LaFrentz) match the Hornets bigs (Maglorie, Brown, West)?


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

33-31 Celtics at the end of the first quarter. Man this is a beautiful thing to watch. Both teams making tough shots.

Lafrentz had 13 points in the first quarter.


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## WaltaaMcCarty (Oct 21, 2003)

56-48 at the half

we need to press it harder on offense because when we slow it down their defense is just too tough

top scorers at the half : 
lafrentz 15 pts, 2 reb
pierce 10 pts, 4 reb, 2 ***.
baker 6 pts, 2 reb
welsch 6 pts


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## Premier (Oct 30, 2003)

I like what I see from Lafrentz with big shots on his jumpers and Jiri Welsch has impressed me with 6 points in 10 minutes. Paul Pierce needs to find his stroke and the C's need to run. Just listen to Tommy.


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## Premier (Oct 30, 2003)

Did you just see that Kedrick Brown Mike James basket??!!!! I think Tommy Heihnson had a heart attack. Medic?


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## Big John (Sep 11, 2002)

Another somewhat painful chapter in that famous novel, "The Education of Marcus Banks and Kedrick Brown." Let's hope it has a happy ending.

Everyone should have bet the over, as I recommended lol. It's 80-79 Hornets at the end of the 3rd.

I spoke too soon about the over. The C's have just gove over 4 minutes without scoring a point.


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## Big John (Sep 11, 2002)

Very disappointing. This is a game that could have been won, notwithstanding Baron Davis' career night. Pierce and James both got tired and played badly in the 4th quarter. The big men didn't run the floor. 

Run or die. Tonight, they died.


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## WaltaaMcCarty (Oct 21, 2003)

Wow, im disappointed. Marcus Banks and Kedrick Brown were disappointing, and vin couldnt find any rythm tonight. Maybe next time.... Guess we gotta wait til wednesday against a tough pistons squad


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## aquaitious (Jun 11, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>WaltaaMcCarty</b>!
> Wow, im disappointed. Marcus Banks and Kedrick Brown were disappointing, and vin couldnt find any rythm tonight. Maybe next time.... Guess we gotta wait til wednesday against a tough pistons squad


Bull****

Banks didn't even play 10 minutes, he's supposed to be our "PG of the future" not "PG of the future bench".

Brown, while he has looked horrible, you just know there are ABSOLUTLEY NO PLAYS for him. OB just puts him in there and hopes for the best. All he does is stay at the damn 3 point line, which is NOT his game.

Baker, man what game were you watching? Vinny would have played awesome if he had gotten the touches, I cannot believe no on is looking for him IN THE LOW POST. Thats terrible, he could have easily scored another 10 points if he had not only shot the ball, but had the ball in his hands....two on one, Vinny and Blount, Vinny gets the defenders attention, gives it up to Blount, and he puts it off the class....just off the class, not off the class and in, or even close to in...HORRIBLE.


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## WaltaaMcCarty (Oct 21, 2003)

[strike]SHUT THE **** UP. im sick and tired of hearing you guys take opinions so seriously. Seriously, shut up.[/strike] Thats my opinion. I can be dissapointed in Brown and Banks if i want, thats my right. Vin, who i know is a good player, will have a better night next time. Too little shots...

Calm yourself before you post. If you don't want people to reply to your opinions, don't post them here. That's how the board works. ---agoo


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## luciano (Aug 16, 2002)

Guys you underestimate DWesley's ability to handle SG's with a post game, he is very strong for his size and can hold his own in a post-up situation!


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## Big John (Sep 11, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>luciano</b>!
> Guys you underestimate DWesley's ability to handle SG's with a post game, he is very strong for his size and can hold his own in a post-up situation!


We don't underestimate his ability at all. He used to play for us, remember? Rick Pitino, that great judge of basketball talent, refused to resign him. Last night, the didn't have to handle any post up situations, since Kedrick Brown never posted him up-- not even once.

From my point of view, Banks and Brown were terrible, Baker never got the ball, Battie missed 3-4 open baseline jumpers that he usually hits, Mike James made a number of uncharacteristic mistakes (he got tired), LaFrentz had one hot quarter and then disappeared, Pierce did not play particularly well, and Williams did not play at all. They did not run, in part because the Hornets did a good job of contesting the outlet pass, and in part because it was the second night of a back-to-back on the road. The only positive for the Celtics is that Jiri Welsch, in his brief appearance, finally looked like a player.

Meanwhile, Baron Davis had a career night-- and even so, the Hornets only won by seven.

Banks really has to learn some humility. He's got to realize that quality guards like Baron Davis have seen better crossover moves than his, and he simply isn't going to get away with some of the stuff that worked in college. I thought he took a couple of steps forward in his first two games, but last night he took two steps back.


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## aquaitious (Jun 11, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>WaltaaMcCarty</b>!
> [strike]SHUT THE **** UP. im sick and tired of hearing you guys take opinions so seriously. Seriously, shut up.[/strike] Thats my opinion. I can be dissapointed in Brown and Banks if i want, thats my right. Vin, who i know is a good player, will have a better night next time. Too little shots...


[strike]Is that in reply to my post? Because if it is then there is something seriously wrong with you.[/strike]

We reply to posts and not posters here. You know that. Don't do it again. ---agoo


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## whiterhino (Jun 15, 2003)

Ok it's only one game so please don't think I'm downing the team bc I love them but I'm gonna get critical for a moment. THEY PLAYED HORRIBLE LAST NIGHT!!! I was so disgusted I couldn't stand watching at some points.
Paul Peirce who I usually say cannot do wrong played lousy. He was taking terrible shots and rushing the offense and not looking for the open man half the time down the court (hello Vinny is open!!!)....it was not typical for Paul and I know he doesn't play this way normally but put that with his 8 turnovers against the Griz and it makes me think he doesn't have enough help!
Vin Baker WAS OPEN HALF THE NIGHT!!! I actually don't think Vinny played poorly I just think his teamates thought he was the invisible man and never saw him. At a few points he actually came up to the top of the key to tell them he was there!!!! They need to utilize him much better!
Eric Williams we missed him sorely which makes me think he shouldn't be traded and should be starting.
Kedrick Brown I'm still waiting to see exactly why he's starting over EWILL. I'm sorry but he was terrible last night and he is NOT putting up points and more importantly NOT getting too many boards....3 or 4 a game as a starter is NOT going to cut it. I love his speed but if there is nothing to go with it it's not gonna be too impresive.
Raef Lafrentz well I loved his first quarter but he was missing after that. He played pretty well but needs to give us some consistency. He can do a little of everything well though and I love his shot.
Mark Blount I actually thought played pretty well, not exceptional but I don't think it was a bad game for him.
Tony Battie had a bad night. He was missing easy shots and just seemed out of sync. We could have used some help from him but he was just not there.
Marcus Banks, I'm fine with him only getting 10 minutes last night bc his 10 minutes were terrible. This kid needs to stop being cocky. Baron Davis is a VERY good point guard....don't play games with him, you're a ROOKIE. I know he's gonna need time to develop but against Baron Davis 10 minutes is enough.
Jiri Welsch well he played decent in his 10 minutes but bc he played decent I don't really get why he didn't get anymore minutes after that  
Mike James was overwhelmed. I think we are gonna have problems with teams that have really strong guards. Mike James has played better than I expected so far but against the Baron's and Jason Kidds I think we may have serious issues. Lucky for us a lot of other East teams are in a mess for the PG postition too (ie. Orlando, Indiana, NY, Miami).
Walter McCarty where is your offense?
Also I REALLY want someone to tell me why the heck both Brandon Hunter & Kedrick Perkins were both put on IL when Jumaine Jones is still NOT ready to play 3 games into the season. At the very least one of those rooks could have gotten some garbage time until Jumaine is ready to play.


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## aquaitious (Jun 11, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>aquaitious</b>!
> 
> 
> [strike]Is that in reply to my post? Because if it is then there is something seriously wrong with you.[/strike]
> ...



:topic: How did I come out as the bad guy in all of this. All I said is that we didn't utilize Vinny, Banks, or Brown the right way, and I'm told to shut up.



> Originally posted by <b>whiterhino</b>!
> Vin Baker WAS OPEN HALF THE NIGHT!!! I actually don't think Vinny played poorly I just think his teamates thought he was the invisible man and never saw him. At a few points he actually came up to the top of the key to tell them he was there!!!! They need to utilize him much better!


I'm glad somone else watched the same game as I did last night. Thank you. I agree with the whole quote right there.


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## Big John (Sep 11, 2002)

I think what everyone finds so frustrating is that in the 4th quarter last night the team played-- and O'Brien coached-- like it was last year's team without Antoine. Bring the ball up slowly, give it to Pierce on the blocks and hope he can win the game for you. That will work once in awhile, but not very often, since a predictable offense is easy to stop. Pierce played 46 minutes last night, and James played nearly 40. That should NEVER happen.

Heinsohn is right. If you are going to run, you have to run in every quarter, for four quarters. You run if you are 20 points up or if you are 20 points down. You don't run until you get a lead and then stop running. If you turn the ball over 10 times on fast breaks, you run the 11th time. You keep pushing the ball no matter what. You advance the ball by passing, not by dribbling, and there should always be TWO guys sprinting ahead of the ball. An occasional breakaway by Kedrick Brown does not make a running team, and Marcus Banks going one-on-two, with no one filling the lanes ahead of him, does not make a running team. ALL FIVE GUYS have to run, including the guy who got the rebound, because every good fast break needs a trailer. 

You run until the other team gets demoralized, and then you keep running. The running game is most effective in the 4th quarter, when the other team is tired, not in the first quarter.

This team is being built to be a running team. It is no longer built to "grind it out," as Antoine Walker said a few weeks ago. If this team-- and this coach-- don't figure that out, it is going to be a long and painful year.


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