Author Topic: Is it really Doc's fault?  (Read 46104 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Re: Is it really Doc's fault?
« Reply #15 on: May 13, 2008, 06:15:33 PM »

Offline dark_lord

  • Don Nelson
  • ********
  • Posts: 8808
  • Tommy Points: 1126
norman dale was nothing without jimmy chipwood!!!!  ;)

Re: Is it really Doc's fault?
« Reply #16 on: May 13, 2008, 06:46:37 PM »

Offline Who

  • James Naismith
  • *********************************
  • Posts: 47135
  • Tommy Points: 2401
I don't want a long bench rotation. It has no business in the playoffs. I want the best players on the court for as many minutes as they're capable of playing at a high level.

All you need from your bench in the playoffs in one good backup big man, one backup wing, and one backup guard. That's three guys. Anytime you go deeper than that I'll give someone an odd glance and expect a darn good reason for it. For this team I expect a four man rotation off the bench because of Perk's lack of minutes, that's fine I can live with that.

With James Posey playing his minutes on the wing that means I want no minutes for Eddie House or Tony Allen on the wings. Sammy has the backup point, I would have rathered Eddie but it's too late in the process to change now. I wouldn't approve of any change. Powe is the first choice backup big. Then comes PJ or BBD to be the fourth guy off the bench, PJ has played well for us so I'm fine with that. I'm perplexed at the negative remarks made against PJ in the playoffs. PJ has played strong defense, hit the boards and made the odd shot. That's good.

I don't like chopping and changing during games or on a game-by-game basis. I like guys knowing their minutes, knowing who they'll be playing with and having a chemistry with those guys. You can't get that from chopping and changing. I want as consistent a rotation as humanly possible.

I don't want guys getting apprehensive and worrying about whether or not they hit their first two shots because they know that's their minutes won or taken away. I want the best guys on the court and playing their game, playing with a freedom and understanding of what they have to do to win and what the guy next to them has to do and will do in order to win.

As for BBD on Maxiell or Ilgauskas, I think PJ Brown has done an excellent job on Ilgauskas whenever he's been matched up with him so no need for BBD here. PJ schooled Maxiell in the playoffs last season so I don't see any need to force BBD on the court there either.

..... just one other meaningless thing, just to give the man his due because I like him. Vujacic is a very strong defensive player. He's 6-5 with amazing lateral quickness, he's a great pressure defender and handles any ball happy guard extremely well. LA use him a lot to cool down scorers like Allen Iverson and co. Just wanted to give the man the credit he deserves. I like Vujacic, really good bench player. The Lakers also use Vujacic to stop off the ball scorers (think Rip Hamilton types) and he does a solid job but he's not as good defensively on them, his primary defensive skill is pressuring the ballhandler because of his quickness, length and activity.

..... I've said it several times before and over the past months. This is an extremely difficult bench to coach. Too many players of comparable ability with different skill sets, it makes it very hard to get a stable rotation. Because of that there's always going to be a game where one guy could possibly provide more but the uncertainty it creates far outweights any short term goal. Frankly Doc has done a solid job creating stability in the rotation.

Short rotation is my preference

Re: Is it really Doc's fault?
« Reply #17 on: May 13, 2008, 06:49:20 PM »

Offline CeltsGM21

  • Oshae Brissett
  • Posts: 72
  • Tommy Points: 25
ScoobyDoo,

So basically you want everybody to play? You want Sam to play. Eddie to play. TA to play. Glen Davis to play. I'm presuming you don't want Posey or Powe benched. You want everybody to play ......

I agree to an extent.  I did find myself wondering, why is Big Baby in right now in the fourth quarter?  Where was Powe?  Where was Perk?  And, really, where has House been the whole playoffs?  He is the real question mark-- I would really like to see him play more, just as he did in the regular season.  But then again, I can also see why all of these things happened, which is why I sometimes question Doc, but ultimately support him.  Besides, I often come to the conclusion... what right do I have to criticize the coach of my favorite team, just because I am a super passionate fan?  I certainly couldn't do any better, and I have a feeling that no one on this board could, unless there is a former player or experienced NBA coach hiding secretly among us.

First of all, I certainly don't blame Doc for giving Cassell minutes.  Mostly everyone on this board love the pick up when it happened, and it just so happens that he has majorly helped us win a few games at home.  He is the veteran leader that Rondo needed, and I don't buy into the theory that he is hurting Rondo's play.  Rondo has still played better than expected in the playoffs this year, and as much as Cassell talks, you have to believe that he talks Rondo's head off with positive advice.

As far as Baby playing last night, Brown was playing so well that Doc didn't want to take him out for Perk or Powe, and I'm sure he must have been a little miffed at the play of some of his other bigs, so he probably thought, why not bring in a young guy maybe to spice it up a bit.  The thing is, people blame Doc for not playing players, and blame Doc for playing players if they play badly.  It certainly can't be his fault if they play badly.  Maybe he could do a better job of subbing them out quickly if they are hindering the team, but he has to give them a chance.  My major complaint is House's lack of run, as I would like to see him be the first sub for Ray.

But here is the thing, one positive I always take out of this roster.  At least we have enough depth to wonder why some people aren't playing.  Of course Doc can't play the whole rotation, but at least this team is good enough for us to complain when certain people don't get to play.  All of these players could gain major minutes for every team in the league, we have so much depth.  But playoffs are different, everyone knows that, and he just can't play everyone consistent minutes, besides the big three and major bench guys like Posey, Sam, and PJ, and for the most part, Powe.

Do I think that Doc is a little inconsistent with his rotations, sure.  But all I know is that Doc knows a lot more about matchups, etc. than anyone else on here, so until you spend a whole year in that team huddle and at their practices, I really don't see how you can completely blame everything on Doc.  There are so many factors that go into each game and each series and each matchup.  I just think you have to give him some credit for leading this group to and through the playoffs.

Re: Is it really Doc's fault?
« Reply #18 on: May 13, 2008, 06:51:05 PM »

Offline FreeGreen

  • Joe Mazzulla
  • Posts: 135
  • Tommy Points: 19
Doc is a bad coach.

In the regular season, the real key is just to keep the players happy and motivated to play each game.  For some teams this is a tall order, with an experienced, dedicated team like this year's Celtics they were basically self-motivated and Doc seems to have a good relationship with the players and does a decent job keeping them happy.  For his career, he's a slightly below average NBA regular season coach (he'll cost you about 4 to 6 games w/ poor substitutions / clock management), but he's not the worst.

In the playoffs having a good coach really matters.  There are in game matchups you need to find and exploit, tweaks on sets, substitution patterns, timeout management becomes more critical, you need to work the refs properly, etc.  You are going against the same team multiple times in a row, so those minor adjustments make a world of difference.

Doc's track record at this sort of thing is horrible.  Prior to this season he had NEVER made it out of the first round (while coaching a TMac lead Orlando team in a weak Eastern Conference.)  He only made it out of the first round this year because he was gifted with one of the biggest mismatches in first round history and even then he still almost blew it.  I am not going to list the 4,207 things that Doc did wrong in that series (like playing Ray Allen straight up vs. Joe Johnson w/ a 10 pt 4th quarter lead), but you need only look at his career record, look at the last round, and look at this round (where he is being outcoached by one of the worst coaches in our generation) to see that he is a terrible NBA playoff coach.  Plain and simple.

I look forward to more clueless panic substitutions, the same offensive sets we've run since week 1, and poor timeout usage through the rest of this playoff push.

And next year, I look forward to YR 1 AD.  (That's Year 1, After Doc.)

Re: Is it really Doc's fault?
« Reply #19 on: May 13, 2008, 07:05:55 PM »

Offline CeltsGM21

  • Oshae Brissett
  • Posts: 72
  • Tommy Points: 25
Doc is a bad coach.

In the regular season, the real key is just to keep the players happy and motivated to play each game.  For some teams this is a tall order, with an experienced, dedicated team like this year's Celtics they were basically self-motivated and Doc seems to have a good relationship with the players and does a decent job keeping them happy.  For his career, he's a slightly below average NBA regular season coach (he'll cost you about 4 to 6 games w/ poor substitutions / clock management), but he's not the worst.

In the playoffs having a good coach really matters.  There are in game matchups you need to find and exploit, tweaks on sets, substitution patterns, timeout management becomes more critical, you need to work the refs properly, etc.  You are going against the same team multiple times in a row, so those minor adjustments make a world of difference.

Doc's track record at this sort of thing is horrible.  Prior to this season he had NEVER made it out of the first round (while coaching a TMac lead Orlando team in a weak Eastern Conference.)  He only made it out of the first round this year because he was gifted with one of the biggest mismatches in first round history and even then he still almost blew it.  I am not going to list the 4,207 things that Doc did wrong in that series (like playing Ray Allen straight up vs. Joe Johnson w/ a 10 pt 4th quarter lead), but you need only look at his career record, look at the last round, and look at this round (where he is being outcoached by one of the worst coaches in our generation) to see that he is a terrible NBA playoff coach.  Plain and simple.

I look forward to more clueless panic substitutions, the same offensive sets we've run since week 1, and poor timeout usage through the rest of this playoff push.

And next year, I look forward to YR 1 AD.  (That's Year 1, After Doc.)

Look, some fair points here.  And, Doc supporters and Doc bashers are just going to always have to agree to disagree.  But to me, and I'm not trying to personally attack you, but you have to think that the only way that Doc would get fired would either be for the Celtics to lose this series, which I doubt they will and which I doubt Ainge would fire him for that after one year together with this roster, or to do really badly again next year in the playoffs.  And to say that you look forward to year 1 after Doc is almost like you are saying you look forward to the Celtics really screwing up so we can finally get Doc out of here.  That's just what it sounds like to me, so I don't like that kind of thinking.  You know what I can't wait for?  I can't wait for another win so that all the Doc bashers can keep quiet again.

Remember that this team is still gelling, and even though they had all season to gell, the playoffs are different.  This is their first time as a team, and I can't think of a better coach to motivate a team to get through these first playoffs hardships.  After all, Doc did come up with "Ubuntu," something that the players have really responded to.  I think we could all learn something from that kind of mentality.

Re: Is it really Doc's fault?
« Reply #20 on: May 13, 2008, 07:56:37 PM »

Offline Edgar

  • Kevin McHale
  • ************************
  • Posts: 24646
  • Tommy Points: 445
  • No contaban con mi astucia !!!
Do u remember when some
was calling Doc for playing Ray too much
Hope they realize they cant blame Ray for playing tired during playoffs.
And I am NOT deffending Ray
nor blaming Doc ( because Ray can ask for his PT by himself)
Its just a topic for the debate.
Once a CrotorNat always a CROTORNAT  2 times CB draft Champion 2009-2012

Nice to be back!

Re: Is it really Doc's fault?
« Reply #21 on: May 13, 2008, 10:21:51 PM »

Offline Moranis

  • James Naismith
  • *********************************
  • Posts: 33461
  • Tommy Points: 1533
This team will not win the title with Doc as coach.  He is a horrible coach.  An increase in talent will win more regular season games, but it won't win titles if your coach is terrible.

As bad as it is to say I almost wish the C's lose to the Cavs because then there is at least a small chance Doc gets fired and the C's can bring in a coach that can take the team to the next level. 
2023 Historical Draft - Brooklyn Nets - 9th pick

Bigs - Pau, Amar'e, Issel, McGinnis, Roundfield
Wings - Dantley, Bowen, J. Jackson
Guards - Cheeks, Petrovic, Buse, Rip

Re: Is it really Doc's fault?
« Reply #22 on: May 13, 2008, 10:40:06 PM »

Offline cdif911

  • Antoine Walker
  • ****
  • Posts: 4868
  • Tommy Points: 43
Doc is a bad coach.

In the regular season, the real key is just to keep the players happy and motivated to play each game.  For some teams this is a tall order, with an experienced, dedicated team like this year's Celtics they were basically self-motivated and Doc seems to have a good relationship with the players and does a decent job keeping them happy.  For his career, he's a slightly below average NBA regular season coach (he'll cost you about 4 to 6 games w/ poor substitutions / clock management), but he's not the worst.

In the playoffs having a good coach really matters.  There are in game matchups you need to find and exploit, tweaks on sets, substitution patterns, timeout management becomes more critical, you need to work the refs properly, etc.  You are going against the same team multiple times in a row, so those minor adjustments make a world of difference.

Doc's track record at this sort of thing is horrible.  Prior to this season he had NEVER made it out of the first round (while coaching a TMac lead Orlando team in a weak Eastern Conference.)  He only made it out of the first round this year because he was gifted with one of the biggest mismatches in first round history and even then he still almost blew it.  I am not going to list the 4,207 things that Doc did wrong in that series (like playing Ray Allen straight up vs. Joe Johnson w/ a 10 pt 4th quarter lead), but you need only look at his career record, look at the last round, and look at this round (where he is being outcoached by one of the worst coaches in our generation) to see that he is a terrible NBA playoff coach.  Plain and simple.

I look forward to more clueless panic substitutions, the same offensive sets we've run since week 1, and poor timeout usage through the rest of this playoff push.

And next year, I look forward to YR 1 AD.  (That's Year 1, After Doc.)

So apparantly with a different coach the celts win 4 to 6 more games in the regular season, yeah 72-8 is about where this team should have been.... and its Doc fault that he loses with Orlando, even though he never had a higher seed (thus no home court advantage) but he gets no credit for beating a young hungry dangerous Atlanta team.  Hmmmm... double standards are fun
When you love life, life loves you right back


Re: Is it really Doc's fault?
« Reply #23 on: May 13, 2008, 10:50:40 PM »

Offline Brickowski

  • Antoine Walker
  • ****
  • Posts: 4207
  • Tommy Points: 423
Well, the point is that you don't stick in a cold BBD at the beginning of the 4th quarter.  I would have been fine using BBD and Powe all along, not PJ Brown.  (Brown had a decent game yesterday, but otherwise he has been a total non-factor.)With young players, you have to give them minutes in the first half if you want them to be successful in the second half.  Having said that, BBD isn't the reason they lost the game.

There are two main reasons why they lost the game:

(1) Cassell stinks at both ends of the floor.  If they had been using Eddie House and Tony Allen, they would be up 3-1 in this series. For every basket Cassell scores, he gives up two.  He can't guard West, he can't guard Gibson.

(2) Rivers has been unable to make the offensive adjustments to free up Ray Allen and KG to score the basketball.

KG had two points in the second half.  For starters, they need to push the ball, which is something they will never do when Cassell is in the game.  The game is being played at Cleveland's tempo.

The coach is never entirely to blame.  But Rivers is a mediocre coach at best, and the proof is in the pudding.

Re: Is it really Doc's fault?
« Reply #24 on: May 14, 2008, 07:34:54 AM »

Offline wdleehi

  • In The Rafters
  • James Naismith
  • *********************************
  • Posts: 34023
  • Tommy Points: 1607
  • Basketball is Newtonian Physics
Doc is a bad coach.

In the regular season, the real key is just to keep the players happy and motivated to play each game.  For some teams this is a tall order, with an experienced, dedicated team like this year's Celtics they were basically self-motivated and Doc seems to have a good relationship with the players and does a decent job keeping them happy.  For his career, he's a slightly below average NBA regular season coach (he'll cost you about 4 to 6 games w/ poor substitutions / clock management), but he's not the worst.

In the playoffs having a good coach really matters.  There are in game matchups you need to find and exploit, tweaks on sets, substitution patterns, timeout management becomes more critical, you need to work the refs properly, etc.  You are going against the same team multiple times in a row, so those minor adjustments make a world of difference.

Doc's track record at this sort of thing is horrible.  Prior to this season he had NEVER made it out of the first round (while coaching a TMac lead Orlando team in a weak Eastern Conference.)  He only made it out of the first round this year because he was gifted with one of the biggest mismatches in first round history and even then he still almost blew it.  I am not going to list the 4,207 things that Doc did wrong in that series (like playing Ray Allen straight up vs. Joe Johnson w/ a 10 pt 4th quarter lead), but you need only look at his career record, look at the last round, and look at this round (where he is being outcoached by one of the worst coaches in our generation) to see that he is a terrible NBA playoff coach.  Plain and simple.

I look forward to more clueless panic substitutions, the same offensive sets we've run since week 1, and poor timeout usage through the rest of this playoff push.

And next year, I look forward to YR 1 AD.  (That's Year 1, After Doc.)

So apparantly with a different coach the celts win 4 to 6 more games in the regular season, yeah 72-8 is about where this team should have been.... and its Doc fault that he loses with Orlando, even though he never had a higher seed (thus no home court advantage) but he gets no credit for beating a young hungry dangerous Atlanta team.  Hmmmm... double standards are fun


A better coach would probably lose 4 to 6 more games in the regular season, but will have the team ready to play it's best ball in the playoffs, not mid season. 


How much credit do we give to the coach with the most talented team in the East that takes 7 games to beat a sub-500 team that didn't belong in the playoffs?


How much credit do we give to the only coach left in the playoffs not to push the right buttons on the road? 


The regular season is over. 

Now is the time that separates the best teams. 

Re: Is it really Doc's fault?
« Reply #25 on: May 14, 2008, 07:43:54 AM »

Offline CoachBo

  • NCE
  • Paul Silas
  • ******
  • Posts: 6069
  • Tommy Points: 336
Well, the point is that you don't stick in a cold BBD at the beginning of the 4th quarter.  I would have been fine using BBD and Powe all along, not PJ Brown.  (Brown had a decent game yesterday, but otherwise he has been a total non-factor.)With young players, you have to give them minutes in the first half if you want them to be successful in the second half.  Having said that, BBD isn't the reason they lost the game.

There are two main reasons why they lost the game:

(1) Cassell stinks at both ends of the floor.  If they had been using Eddie House and Tony Allen, they would be up 3-1 in this series. For every basket Cassell scores, he gives up two.  He can't guard West, he can't guard Gibson.

(2) Rivers has been unable to make the offensive adjustments to free up Ray Allen and KG to score the basketball.

KG had two points in the second half.  For starters, they need to push the ball, which is something they will never do when Cassell is in the game.  The game is being played at Cleveland's tempo.

The coach is never entirely to blame.  But Rivers is a mediocre coach at best, and the proof is in the pudding.


I don't know about that. Rivers has been captured on tape hammering home the necessity to take the basketball to the rim, yet the players on the floor seem to ignore that novel concept.

He's made mistakes. The fourth quarter lineup was atrocious and it was left on the floor WAY too long.

But at some point you have to focus blame on a point guard who's suddenly abandoned his game and thinks he's Stephon Marbury. You have to focus blame on a big man who can't remember his defensie assignments - consistently - can't stop fouling and suddenly thinks he should be looking for his offense. You have to focus blame on your captain, who's gotten lazy and satisfied launching bombs from behind the arc.

It's pretty simple. We've got to get the Ticket at least 25 touches on the block. Rondo's got to stop shooting the ball and start moving it. Perkins? Ugh. If I could trade him right now I would. Pierce has to get to the rim and the foul line.

If this stuff doesn't happen, we're going to lose the series. Period.
Coined the CelticsBlog term, "Euromistake."

Re: Is it really Doc's fault?
« Reply #26 on: May 14, 2008, 07:52:57 AM »

Offline wdleehi

  • In The Rafters
  • James Naismith
  • *********************************
  • Posts: 34023
  • Tommy Points: 1607
  • Basketball is Newtonian Physics
Quote from: CoachBo link=topic=17728.msg281560#msg281560 [color=red
date=1210765434]
Well, the point is that you don't stick in a cold BBD at the beginning of the 4th quarter.  I would have been fine using BBD and Powe all along, not PJ Brown.  (Brown had a decent game yesterday, but otherwise he has been a total non-factor.)With young players, you have to give them minutes in the first half if you want them to be successful in the second half.  Having said that, BBD isn't the reason they lost the game.

There are two main reasons why they lost the game:

(1) Cassell stinks at both ends of the floor.  If they had been using Eddie House and Tony Allen, they would be up 3-1 in this series. For every basket Cassell scores, he gives up two.  He can't guard West, he can't guard Gibson.

(2) Rivers has been unable to make the offensive adjustments to free up Ray Allen and KG to score the basketball.

KG had two points in the second half.  For starters, they need to push the ball, which is something they will never do when Cassell is in the game.  The game is being played at Cleveland's tempo.

The coach is never entirely to blame.  But Rivers is a mediocre coach at best, and the proof is in the pudding.


I don't know about that. Rivers has been captured on tape hammering home the necessity to take the basketball to the rim, yet the players on the floor seem to ignore that novel concept.

He's made mistakes. The fourth quarter lineup was atrocious and it was left on the floor WAY too long.

But at some point you have to focus blame on a point guard who's suddenly abandoned his game and thinks he's Stephon Marbury. You have to focus blame on a big man who can't remember his defensie assignments - consistently - can't stop fouling and suddenly thinks he should be looking for his offense. You have to focus blame on your captain, who's gotten lazy and satisfied launching bombs from behind the arc.

It's pretty simple. We've got to get the Ticket at least 25 touches on the block. Rondo's got to stop shooting the ball and start moving it. Perkins? Ugh. If I could trade him right now I would. Pierce has to get to the rim and the foul line. [/color]

If this stuff doesn't happen, we're going to lose the series. Period.

So why hasn't Doc adjusted the offense to allow these things to happen?


Rondo is taking shots because Clevelands defense knows what Boston wants to do and is forcing them to go away from there.  Rondo is being forced to shoot. 

As for the settling for jumpers, that is an allowable part of this offense.  The offense likes to settle for jumpshots.  It has all year. 

As for the post up, I thought of something I asked last year, why don't the Celtics know how to feed the post?  They get the ball there to late.  They create bad angles to try and feed it. 



Anyways, Doc is suppose to be this offensive coach.  Why can't he make an adjustment that gets the offense going? 

Re: Is it really Doc's fault?
« Reply #27 on: May 14, 2008, 08:38:31 AM »

Offline CoachBo

  • NCE
  • Paul Silas
  • ******
  • Posts: 6069
  • Tommy Points: 336
If you follow the WIRED segments on the broadcast, it appears clear that Doc has attempted to make those adjustments. He certainly was begging the club to take the ball to the rim Monday night.

He's not on the floor. He can't make Rondo quit shooting - and he should. The ONLY way he helps us now is drive and create, which he's doing about as rarely as Pierce. He also can't make Perkins an intelligent player overnight. After five years, it might not be possible. He can't shove Pierce to the rack and away from the arc. And he can't force the ball to Garnett.

Some of this reminds me of a bunch of petulant high schoolers intent on getting their points, team be [dang]ed.

This team succeeds offensively when the ball moves. Rondo's not getting that done, and Lord knows Sam isn't. It also succeeds when the offense runs through the Ticket on the block and that's not happening, either.

As a coach, the only alternative I see for Doc is to demand that kind of execution, or begin stripping away minutes. I don't entirely disagree that it's time to give House a good long look at the point. He certainly moves the basketball better than either Rondo or Sam at this point, and any shooting would be an enormous bonus.

As for Perkins, I flatly wouldn't start him. Sit him down, start Powe at the 4 and give Brown a bunch of minutes.

Pierce can either attack the rim or sit for Posey.
Coined the CelticsBlog term, "Euromistake."

Re: Is it really Doc's fault?
« Reply #28 on: May 14, 2008, 08:49:39 AM »

Offline wdleehi

  • In The Rafters
  • James Naismith
  • *********************************
  • Posts: 34023
  • Tommy Points: 1607
  • Basketball is Newtonian Physics
If you follow the WIRED segments on the broadcast, it appears clear that Doc has attempted to make those adjustments. He certainly was begging the club to take the ball to the rim Monday night.

He's not on the floor. He can't make Rondo quit shooting - and he should. The ONLY way he helps us now is drive and create, which he's doing about as rarely as Pierce. He also can't make Perkins an intelligent player overnight. After five years, it might not be possible. He can't shove Pierce to the rack and away from the arc. And he can't force the ball to Garnett.

Some of this reminds me of a bunch of petulant high schoolers intent on getting their points, team be [dang]ed.

This team succeeds offensively when the ball moves. Rondo's not getting that done, and Lord knows Sam isn't. It also succeeds when the offense runs through the Ticket on the block and that's not happening, either.

As a coach, the only alternative I see for Doc is to demand that kind of execution, or begin stripping away minutes. I don't entirely disagree that it's time to give House a good long look at the point. He certainly moves the basketball better than either Rondo or Sam at this point, and any shooting would be an enormous bonus.

As for Perkins, I flatly wouldn't start him. Sit him down, start Powe at the 4 and give Brown a bunch of minutes.

Pierce can either attack the rim or sit for Posey.


He gives it lip service.  He tells them to attack, but does he adjust the offense to do that?  His players are still standing around.  Still working to create jumpshots.  That's the offense. 

Rondo is taking the shots he has to take.  The ball is being rotated to him and he is open.  They are forcing him to take the shots.  Of course they could alleviate a lot of this if they let him create more early and kept him in motion off the ball near the basket. 


As for benching Perkins, bad idea.  He is still the second best big man defender out there. 



But in general, Doc is telling his guys to do one thing, but continues to have them run sets that creates different opportunities. 

Re: Is it really Doc's fault?
« Reply #29 on: May 14, 2008, 10:36:07 AM »

Offline nickagneta

  • James Naismith
  • *********************************
  • Posts: 48120
  • Tommy Points: 8794
  • President of Jaylen Brown Fan Club
Why is everyone talking about the offense when clearly the problem on the road has been the defense. This team is averaging giving up 75.5 points per game at home and 100 points per game on the road.

Wednesday was the only game this postseason that the Celtics held an opponent under 97 points in a game on the road. And even then if the could have just come up with some stops in the third and fourth quarters, the game was in reach.

Yes, the offense has looked bad on the road, but this team's offense has always flowed better when the defense is making stops. I couldn't find what the Celtics seasonal per game stat was for fast break points but they've only had 43 fast break points in 5 games on the road.

They are averaging 2.29 less steals per game on the road in the playoffs than they did during the season. They are averaging 1.02 less blocks on the road this postseason than they did during the regular season. They are averaging 8 less defensive rebounds per game on the road in the postseason than they did during the season.

On the road, I find these stats to be more disturbing than anything that is happening with the offense.

So, why isn't anyone calling out coach Thibodeau for this teams's lack of defense on the road this postseason?

Why?

Anyone?