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[PhoSita]

Tiago Splitter in 2 games against the Celtics this season:

19.5 points
5.5 reb
1 blk
1 stl
2.5 ast
71% FG (15-21)
4.5-5.5 FTM-FTA
27 minutes

Tiago Splitter's averages for the season:

9.4 pts, 4.8 reb, .7 blk, .6 stl, .606 fg / .711 ft, 19.3 min


In short, Tiago has OWNED the Celtics in both meetings between the teams this season.  Now, Tiago is a nice player.  But the Celtics make him look like an All-Star.  Other names you could mention are guys like Larry Sanders, Thaddeus Young, Brook Lopez, Greg Smith, and the list goes on.

I would argue that Tiago is a symbol of the Celtics' mediocrity.  Why?  He is tall, he is long, he is agile, he is skilled -- he can rebound, he has soft hands, he can finish inside, he's a solid defender, he can block some shots, and he's a solid passer.

He is both precisely the kind of player that the Celtics desperately need to add to play next to KG, and ALSO exactly the kind of player that they, as currently constructed, cannot deal with.

To put it a different way, another symbol of the Celtics' issues might be the following picture:



Soft on the outside, with nothing in the middle. 

On offense, they rely disproportionately on long mid-range jumpers, and don't have anybody who can consistently get to the line or score in the post.  The long two is the least efficient shot in the game, which is the main reason the Celtics don't have an elite offense despite the fact that they have the most prolific passer in the game running the point.

If you're going to take that many jumpshots, the least you can do is take (and make) a lot of threes.  That's what the '08 and '10 teams did, by the way, much more so than this year's squad.  It's also how the Knicks keep winning.  Though they also have Tyson Chandler to make Ray Felton look like an All-Star and J-Kidd look like he's 35 again.

On defense, KG holds the team defense together, and is still very good at shutting down plays, but he can only do so much.  He's also no longer much of a threat as a shot blocker, and struggles mightily to defend the rim against guards once they get past the matador perimeter defenders (Rondo), and slice into the paint.

Are the Celtics doomed?  By no means.  But it's hard to envision a drastic turnaround until this team finds some kind of answer inside.

[The Rondo Show]

Well said

[chambers]

Spurs aren't a good match up for us with our lack of size at the moment.
To get to the Spurs we have to beat a much smaller Heat team and a similarly sized New York team.
They use Splitter to create a match up problem for us and it works well.
I do agree our dribble penetration was poor.

Our 3 point defense was atrocious too. they shot 55% from three I think. Garbage!

[Meadowlark_Scal]

It repeated two times in a row...more probably, and average player always let in the paint, always open, Smith from houston the night before....Players have to be RE-TAUGHT....that the paint is OUR PAINT....you don't just get a FREE pass to stand there.....and the refs will not bail you out with the three second rule...they only call that when they feel like "getting" you.....Duncan was a 6 second camper last night....the refs "like" him...! WHAT sort of defense does doc run....no one needed to be double teamed in either game...it always looks like 4 celts on 5 of the other team.....go zone if you cannnot man-to-man..zone actually does still work....sometimes....and it is apparent how popovich developed splitter, as pop would develop fab melo.....doc will not do this....so again we waste another draft pic under docs rule..doc cares very little for big men, isn't it apparent by now.....? He never wants them in, goes small often, hates rebounders, NEVER runs plays for them, so he keeps them out of the flow.....doc is a good guy, and a good #3 coach...but not #1...thank GOD we have KG to whip the guys inot order.....but it isn't enough.

[ManUp]

TP, Great post PhoSita. I feel the same way about this team and long twos, we are way to happy settling for them. I think it's also a big reason why we struggling on the offensive boards. Our bigs are almost never under the basket. With Rondo on the floor shooting more threes is not the solution what we need is to make cutting a bigger part of our offense.

[IndeedProceed]

Tiago Splitter isn't a good example because of the way the Spurs use him. He has games like this, because Pop only plays him big minutes if he A) has to because of injuries or B) sees a good matchup that DaJaun Blair or another guy wouldn't be able to exploit.

Splitter is a great finisher at the hoop, we don't have adequate rim defense or guys who are strong enough/skilled enough to fill both frontcourt spots with players who can keep the opposition out of the paint.

But Splitter isn't necessarily a great example of that.

[Celtics4ever]

Pop did use the matchups, we are a small team so why not go big against us.   It has a record of success in the past.   Our PF is like 6'8".

[Who]

I was very impressed with that Tiago Splitter and Tim Duncan combination.

They caused the Celtics a lot of problems and played well alongside one another. In the past, the Spurs offense has usually dropped off considerably when they play together but they looked very good as a unit with them out there together yesterday.

The Spurs were +9 with Splitter and Duncan out there together. That was the game right there. That's pretty much the lead (11 points) San Antonio held late in the game.

[Who]

I feel the same way about this team and long twos, we are way to happy settling for them.

Any team with bigs like Bass and Garnett is going to take a lot of long twos. They take 9 attempts a game between the two of them.

Rondo too. He takes a lot of long twos (3.3 per game) instead of threes (1.4). Courtney Lee is also guilty of this to a lesser extent (50-50 split throughout his career).