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[Who]

It's very tough for this team to win games when Pierce is playing as badly as he has been recently.

It's not just a normal bad game for a star talent. Pierce has been fluctuating wildly  from All-Star caliber or near All-Star caliber play to playing like a lousy backup SF.

That is a huge decrease in overall contribution. It's very hard for any team to lose that type of production from one of it's star players and still play at a high level. Boston, clearly cannot do so.


The Celtics offense is too reliant on Pierce to survive his loss. Heck, the three main guys -- Pierce + Rondo + Garnett -- whenever any of those guys are out of it, it is very tough for Boston's offense to survive.

And, I think that is partly down to Doc Rivers for failing to open up the offense more this year and get more out of an offensively talented supporting cast.

Rondo is the guy who creates good to high percentage shots for everyone. When he isn't around, the Celtics offense devolves into a series of ineffective one-on-one plays.

 When Pierce is missing in action, Boston loses their best shot-creator and nobody steps up into his place. Jeff Green isn't talented enough. Rondo isn't willing enough (to take that added scoring burden).

When Garnett isn't there, then Boston gets almost no offense from their big men corps. They need his high post play (jump-shooting and passing) to facilitate the team's offense and occasional low post play to give some variation to it's sets.

[j804]

It's very tough for this team to win games when Pierce is playing as badly as he has been recently.

It's not just a bad game. It's going from All-Star caliber or near All-Star caliber play to playing like a below average backup SF. It's a huge decrease in contribution. 


The Celtics offense is too reliant on Pierce to survive his loss. The three main guys, Pierce + Rondo + Garnett, whenever any of those guys are out of it, it is very tough for Boston's offense to survive. And,

I think that is partly down to Doc Rivers for failing to open up the offense more this year and get more out of an offensively talented supporting cast.

how though Terry looks cooked, Green looks scared, Lee hustles but cant make a shot, Rondo does not score and isn't aggressive unless were getting our butts handed to us

[Who]

And, I think that is partly down to Doc Rivers for failing to open up the offense more this year and get more out of an offensively talented supporting cast.

how though Terry looks cooked, Green looks scared, Lee hustles but cant make a shot, Rondo does not score and isn't aggressive unless were getting our butts handed to us

I disagree that Jason Terry is cooked. I think he is still capable of doing what he has done in recent years. I also believe that Courtney Lee and Jeff Green in addition to Jason Terry and Avery Bradley + star players in Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce give the Celtics multiple ball-handlers on the perimeter. Ball-handling, ball movers and some shot making. Guys who can make plays.

If the offense was less Rondo-centric, I think the team could get more out of those players individually and as a whole.

And if Doc could get Rondo to understand that the team would be better if Rondo could score a little more instead of passing (like J-Kidd did when he went to New Jersey), that would be great.

Similar to how Popovich opened up the Spurs offense when San Antonio went away from it's two bigs defensive orientated system to more skilled offensive players surrounding Duncan/Parker (Garnett/Rondo). Power forwards with jump-shooting ability. Drive and kick game based around quick penetrating PG. Multiple perimeter players who can make some plays at a moderate level.

[clover]

It's very tough for this team to win games when Pierce is playing as badly as he has been recently.

It's not just a bad game. It's going from All-Star caliber or near All-Star caliber play to playing like a below average backup SF. It's a huge decrease in contribution. 


The Celtics offense is too reliant on Pierce to survive his loss. The three main guys, Pierce + Rondo + Garnett, whenever any of those guys are out of it, it is very tough for Boston's offense to survive. And,

I think that is partly down to Doc Rivers for failing to open up the offense more this year and get more out of an offensively talented supporting cast.

how though Terry looks cooked, Green looks scared, Lee hustles but cant make a shot, Rondo does not score and isn't aggressive unless were getting our butts handed to us

Lee is shooting .475 on the season.  Yeah, he had difficulty shooting threes in November, but he's shot .385 and .381 from there for December and January.  His shooting is not a problem.

[Celtics4ever]

Similar to how Popovich opened up the Spurs offense when San Antonio went away from it's two bigs defensive orientated system to more skilled offensive players surrounding Duncan/Parker (Garnett/Rondo). Power forwards with jump-shooting ability. Drive and kick game based around quick penetrating PG. Multiple perimeter players who can make some plays at a moderate level.

We have been perimeter oriented since Doc got here.   I think our lack of post game hurts us more than this because no one is a valid threat down low save KG.  PP can post up but he rarely does it.  All teams have to do is have a big to rebound and guard the perimeter and you have the secret to stopping us.   KG plays a lot on the perimeter, we spread the floor and they spread their D.  The league has caught up to us.