The problem on defense is dribble penetration

[OmarSekou]

kind of
its more to do with the rotation of players

bradley is a rare bird that he can really stay in front of just about anyone
every other guard and wing on the team angles an opponent towards our bigs, 1st big picks up driver, weak side guy has not been covering that bigs man
too many guys to point out have been missing this BUT its early and our defense is set up for team defense so it'll take awhile

I agree. Rondo hasn't tried to stay in front of his man (except when it matters most) for 3-4 years now. Bradley was a revelation last year, but Ray's guys could generally get into the paint if they needed. There's always been dribble penetration.

The difference this year has been our rotations. KG has the awareness/quickness to rotate to the right spots and the length/athleticism to disturb shots/ball movement. When he's out it's a feeding frenzy. Either guys aren't getting where they need to be quick enough leading to easy buckets, or guys are getting to where they need to be and beat in 1-on-1 matchups.

I think that's why Hollins got more minutes last year than Stiemsma in the playoffs. Steamer was clearly the better defender, but he couldn't rotate like Hollins could (and was foul prone).

Last thing, Bass is more exposed this year. Last year we had JO at the start of the season, and Bradley (who covers up a lot of problems by causing havoc) for the end of it. This year we have Bass carrying more of the load, and a bunch of guys who are still figuring things out (Lee, Terry, Barbosa, Sully, Green).

[Celtics4ever]

Our D used to be feared and a strength, right now it is our Achilles Heel.  Last night, we corrected some of the problems, Westbrook is going to get in there even on a good night and ditto for Durant.  But we did better with the guys were supposed to stop.  I hope it is the start of a trend.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Rondos defense is terrible...he is the couse of most penetraition, as he is supposed to cover the guard..i used to defend him...but cannnot anymore..he needs to stop hotdogging, always trying to steal the ball and just stay in front of his man...!!!

[bfrombleacher]

kind of
its more to do with the rotation of players

bradley is a rare bird that he can really stay in front of just about anyone
every other guard and wing on the team angles an opponent towards our bigs, 1st big picks up driver, weak side guy has not been covering that bigs man
too many guys to point out have been missing this BUT its early and our defense is set up for team defense so it'll take awhile

I agree. Rondo hasn't tried to stay in front of his man (except when it matters most) for 3-4 years now. Bradley was a revelation last year, but Ray's guys could generally get into the paint if they needed. There's always been dribble penetration.

The difference this year has been our rotations. KG has the awareness/quickness to rotate to the right spots and the length/athleticism to disturb shots/ball movement. When he's out it's a feeding frenzy. Either guys aren't getting where they need to be quick enough leading to easy buckets, or guys are getting to where they need to be and beat in 1-on-1 matchups.

I think that's why Hollins got more minutes last year than Stiemsma in the playoffs. Steamer was clearly the better defender, but he couldn't rotate like Hollins could (and was foul prone).

Last thing, Bass is more exposed this year. Last year we had JO at the start of the season, and Bradley (who covers up a lot of problems by causing havoc) for the end of it. This year we have Bass carrying more of the load, and a bunch of guys who are still figuring things out (Lee, Terry, Barbosa, Sully, Green).

We had only Bass, Pierce, Garnett and Rondo in the cHEATed series...but then again Garnett was playing 44 mins a game. I don't necessarily

I agree with the Rondo cheating and the new players figuring out stuff parts though.

But Rondo's been like that forever and the guys around him have to adapt (are you seriously expecting Rondo to change? Plus it helps conserve energy when he's playing 40+ games). My untrained eye tells me that when you work with Rondo's cheating, it usually results in the guy getting trapped in the paint so it's not all bad.

Playing with a lot more energy helps too. And Doc's rotations being settled helps the energy, confidence and other intangibles as well.

Like I've said, Westbrook is Westbrook. The defense was great last night. We even stopped Westbrook towards the end of the game.