The Rondo effect

[Green-18]

I will lead by saying that is absolutely sucks to be on the receiving end of playoff Rondo.  Now I know what it felt like for opposing teams during our great playoffs runs in past years.  It is very difficult to quantify the impact that his IQ is having on the Bulls.  The quote about him calling out our offensive sets is very concerning.  Our team has virtually no margin for error and the Bulls are going to take away any ability for us to execute consistently in the half court.  You can tell that Chicago is becoming increasingly confident and our team is beginning to lose its composure.  Watching the Bulls reminds me of a poor man's version of our teams that were routinely counted out before the playoffs began.  They barely scraped their way through the regular season but they are full of proven vets who can elevate their play in big games. 

Now the question is how do we begin to disrupt the Bulls and give ourselves a chance?  The only solution I can think of is finding a defensive lineup that can suffocate Chicago and force mistakes.  I'm not sure that we have the right players to make it happen but I don't see how we beat Chicago unless we can create transition points.

 

[LilRip]

Shots need to fall and turnovers need to go down. I've given up hope on containing them on the boards but if we can cause havoc and get out and run, that'll discourage them from crashing the o rebs and encourage them to get back on D instead.

[Green-18]

Shots need to fall and turnovers need to go down. I've given up hope on containing them on the boards but if we can cause havoc and get out and run, that'll discourage them from crashing the o rebs and encourage them to get back on D instead.

I agree.  I feel like everything starts with our ability to disrupt their offense with our perimeter defense.  It's an unfortunate fact that we wont be able to execute consistently in the halfcourt.  The shots wont begin to fall until this team has something to feel confident about and hang their hat on.  Right now the Celtics are unable to positively impact any aspect of the game.  If I am Brad Stevens I am telling them to execute their offense with purpose and take the same shots regardless of the outcome.  I would also like to run more through Horford early in the game.  We all know it's a make/miss league and there's no point in changing the offense.  It's time to turn up the defensive intensity to 110%.  We have zero change unless we begin to make the Bulls feel like the mediocre regular season team that couldn't put the ball in the hoop with any consistency.