Author Topic: Situational Awareness Series: Close in the Clutch  (Read 526 times)

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Situational Awareness Series: Close in the Clutch
« on: August 01, 2015, 08:17:12 PM »

Offline coffee425

  • Jayson Tatum
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First and foremost, thank you to everyone for participating. I've tried to keep up with everyone's posts but it's been really good stuff from all posters.

Preface: Since one of the most common topics on this forum is centered around the compilation of the best Celtics lineup given the current constructed roster, I thought it'd be fun to discuss this topic in the context of situations that CBS will have to face during every game. So begins the Situational Awareness Series.. There will be an in-game situation for every post. Please post your best 5 players to put on the floor, and of course, the logic behind it.

Situation 5: 4th Quarter and 5 minutes left, tied game. This was definitely the most difficult situation for CBS during the first half of last season. Thanks to IT4, there was finally a scoring threat on the floor that can create offense. Hopefully, this year there's a "clutch" progression in everyone's game that would only come with experience. Of course, this period of the game always includes offense/defense substitutes so feel free to include that. But for the most part, we need players that can create offense, play shut-down defense and grab every board no matter which end of the floor.. Of course, the most common play in the 4th is PnR, so we need offensive players that are solid with this. As much as everyone values scoring in the 4th, I've always thought that shutdown defense should be the priority. Let's face, this team shouldn't be trading baskets with anyone. Also, sorry rookies, I don't trust you yet in the 4th. Prove me wrong.


My 5 (with offense/defense subs):
Isaiah Thomas (offense) - The best playmaker on the team from last year. Still the go-to player for buckets
Marcus Smart (defense) - Huge fan of Marcus but I still don't trust him on offense until he proves he can create his own shot and find the open swing pass. On defense, he just makes winning plays and hustles his butt off.
Avery Bradley - Good defender on opposing guards and still able to make shots on offense. Also, probably the best cutter on the team.
Evan Turner (offense) - Good ballhandler and was the only offensive creator before IT4 arrived.
Jae Crowder (defense) - Great hustle player, able to switch on everyone position. Still untrusted shooter.
Amir Johnson - Good IQ, good defense, efficient offensive player, sets a hell of a screen/pick.
David Lee - The other fantastic PnR big. As someone else has posted, he's pretty efficient in that play. His defense can't be any worse than Sullinger, Olynyk, and Zeller. I'll keep him on the floor at both ends so I can have bigs (with Amir) that can run on a turnover/fastbreak opportunity.
 

Your thoughts?

Previous threads
SAS 4 - Tall Ball: http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=80191.0
SAS 3 - Small Ball: http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=80180.0
SAS 2 - Shooters: http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=80160.0
SAS 1 - Athleticism: http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=80139.0
Quote
Even at the end of the game, we lined up in different formation that he hadn't seen and he called out our play before I got the ball. I heard him calling it out. -John Wall on Brad Stevens