Our Defense Is Awful

[scaryjerry]

no one seams to mention Rondo's free roam defense he plays just to get 5 freaking rebounds per game

?? theres typically a thread about it after every game. this defense just doesnt work without an avery bradley allowing rondo to roam and play the passing lanes...lockdown man to man defense has never and will never rondos  strength. kind of pointless to mention...itd be like starting a thread after every game that KG hates consistently scoring in the paint.

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The defensive identity we had in 08 and 09 were clearly the result of Thibs. It's been in decline since.

Doc doesn't seem to be able to coach "intensity" on the defensive end very well.

[thirstyboots18]

This may sound crazy, but don't think either the offense or the defense is the problem.

IMO the team has not gelled, has no sense of rhythm/timing and little trust between players.  I would like to see players actually move their feet!  No more standing around outside waiting for someone else to make a move. Rondo holds the ball so long because no one is moving...defenses have plenty of time to get set and he has to make impossible passes.  I know Ray was a three point shooter, but  he was also, my opinion, one of the best movers "without the basketball."  He was always cutting under the basket, disrupting defenses. 

KISS (keep it simple, sweetie).  Everyone needs to keep moving,  cut to the basket, pass, attack.  You will get baskets, and foul calls.   

It is simply a matter of movement and timing.  As people move, the passing will improve and the turnovers will decrease.

Even though I am not a fan of small ball, this team is too good to be so bad.  I don't know if PP is injured, or just getting old, but to my knowledge no one else is playing injured now.....MOVE...run with Rondo, attack the basket, stop settling for contested jumpers!   

As a  tennis pro friend of mine often says, "If you want to win, you must have Happy Dancing Feet!" 

Instead of letting the other team defend us, make them defend us.  Our defense will improve, and has improved.

[Celtics18]

The defensive identity we had in 08 and 09 were clearly the result of Thibs. It's been in decline since.

Doc doesn't seem to be able to coach "intensity" on the defensive end very well.

Defensive ranking of the Boston Celtics by season according to Basketball Reference:

07-08-1st
08-09-2nd
09-10-5th
10-11-2nd
11-12-1st

That's an odd way to define "decline."

[slamtheking]

I think Avery Bradley is a fine player, but I am starting o believe that way too many people are badly overestimating his impact on this team, how many NBA games total has the guy played? H should improve the defense, but h won't make them a contender.

Its going to get ugly, once he comes back and people realize he isn't the savior. 

I feel bad for the kid, because he can't win in this situation.

I agree. The problem is that the bigs can't give us any sort of consistent defensive effort (bad rotations, poor to non-existent pick-and-roll defense) -- and Bradley is not going to magically change this.

Its not just the bigs.  The rotations by the perimeter guys has been horrible as well, and no one other than Lee, and Rondo for a couple stretches (to start the year, and last night, actually), has shown the ability to keep their men in front of them.  So, in that respect, Bradley could help.  But he won't magically get Pierce, Green, Rondo, and Terry to make the correct rotations.  That needs to happen separarely.

agreed it's the whole team.  Bradley will help on D but he won't save this team.  everyone is missing rotations.  it's frightening how easily weakside players get open to crash the boards.  it's almost automatic they'll grab the O board if a teammate drives the lane on the C's because their man went to protect against the drive and no one on the C's rotated to cover the weakside player.  used to see the C's do this really well in 2008 and 2009.

the thing I find really funny here is that 1 year ago, Bradley was being tossed into almost every trade scenario as a bust and now his return to the line-up is being hailed as a season-saving event.  that actually may be more scary than funny

[Chris]

  it's frightening how easily weakside players get open to crash the boards.  it's almost automatic they'll grab the O board if a teammate drives the lane on the C's because their man went to protect against the drive and no one on the C's rotated to cover the weakside player. 

This is the most frustrating part to me, because this constantly gets blamed on the big men, but that is not their responsibility.  It is the backside rotator who is supposed to block that guy out, and too often, they are off in never never land.

On a sidenote, this is one reason I am loving Scal more and more, as he gets comfortable in his role.  He points this stuff out, and explains it so well.  I am not sure whether the casual fan has any idea what he is talking about, but to me, and I am sure many others who are obsessed with this stuff, it is like crack to hear him break down the rotations, and how they are being missed, without dumbing it down. 

[BballTim]

No KG = No defense.

Even when KG is in there, the defense has been porous.  I think the whole rim protection this has become a major excuse (and even the team might be using it), but the problem is, everyone is missing assignments constantly. 

  When KG's in our defense is a point or so better than the best defense in the league, which still isn't up to snuff. Hopefully Bradley will help, but we need to shore things up when KG's out.

  As far as missing assignments, I think we just have to live with it and hope it gets better. The defense (and possibly the offense) is geared towards everyone playing better once the get more comfortable (ie the playoffs) and I don't think band-aid changes would be productive in the grand scheme of things.