Celts Go On Defensive

Rivers tries to put stop to problems

By Steve Bulpett

CHICAGO — The Celtics [team stats] walked a fine line as they rumbled through a longer than expected practice yesterday at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

“Great practice,” said coach Doc Rivers as he prepared to leave for the airport. “We needed it. We may be dead (tonight against the Detroit Pistons), but we needed it.”

There was much maintenance to be done for a Celtics outfit that has lost four of its last five games due largely to failure in some Basketball 101 stuff. Like don’t let the guy with the ball drive past you.


And the hunger for remedial roundball has only been increased by the squeezed season — a point that was driven home to Rivers when he met up Friday night with New Jersey Nets coach Avery Johnson and assistant P.J. Carlesimo, who were in town to meet the Chicago Bulls yesterday afternoon.

Commiseration was on the menu when the three met for dinner.

“I listened to them talk and I said, ‘(Expletive), is this me talking?’ I mean, it was amazing,” said Rivers. “They were complaining, but they knew there’s nothing you can do about it. Either we have so many injuries or there’s no practice time. When you do have a practice, you don’t have enough guys. I swear, if I had taped it, I could have played it to you and you would have thought I was talking.

“But like I told (the Celtics players yesterday), there’s still no excuse for it. I mean, so what? We have less time. We made a lot of changes. I said, ‘You’ve got to have more focus.’ ”

Rivers yesterday emphasized the defensive issues on the ball, essentially identifying shortcomings in that area as the first brick to fall in the Celtics collapse on any given possession.

When the first link in the defensive chain snaps, the rest of the players need to move into position to help their mates. There are mistakes being made in that aspect, as well, with rotations failing to be properly executed.

But Rivers and his staff were working with their troops yesterday on stopping the problem at its source.

“We worked on a lot of defensive stuff because the dribble penetration is just crushing us,” he said. “We showed film of the last three games, and you don’t have to talk a lot. I mean, it’s pretty obvious. Guys have the ball square and then the guy’s driving. You see the big (the forwards or center) running over to help and either it’s a foul, it’s a layup or it’s an offensive rebound.

“I don’t think that’s that hard to figure out. We just have to do a better job on it. That should never happen, especially on some of the plays when it’s happening. There’s no reason for you to get beat off the dribble.

“And then,” Rivers added, “our bigs have to do a better job of talking, because a lot of times, in the guards’ defense, they’re thinking that there’s a pick and roll coming — there’s nothing, but they don’t know. They’re guarding the ball.”

Verbal direction from the back line defenders is critical in preparing the perimeter defenders for obstacles that may be moving into their way, but beyond Kevin Garnett the big men are not a chatty bunch.

“It’s amazing when Kevin didn’t play (Wednesday against the Pistons at the Garden) how you couldn’t hear anything,” said Rivers. “It was as quiet of a game as we played all year. Chicago (Thursday’s loss) was a little better, but we’ve got to talk.”

Said Rajon Rondo [stats] after the beating by the Bulls: “Dribble penetration was killing us, even in zone (defense). We just need to do a better job. We’ve got to talk more. I think we’ve got to communicate more out there on the floor and not necessarily let our offense dictate our defense.”

Practice was rather loud even without Garnett for most of the session. KG is still dealing with a sore left hip, so he spent most of his time in a weight room with strength and conditioning coach Bryan Doo.

“We’re going to do that a lot with him,” said Rivers. “We’ve just got to keep him fresh and see what we’ve got.”

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Too many things have been getting past Celtics
By Gary Washburn
Globe Staff


CHICAGO - It has been an issue for years with the Celtics on defense. The inability to stop dribble penetration causes all types of havoc, even for the best interior defenses.

That was the focus of a two-hour practice yesterday at the University of Illinois-Chicago as the Celtics attempt to limit those easy baskets caused by missed assignments.

During Thursday’s loss to the Bulls, the Celtics were burned countless times by Carlos Boozer streaking to the basket for layups because his defender was helping out on the penetrating player.

It’s a domino effect.

While the player defending Boozer - sometimes Kevin Garnett or Chris Wilcox - appeared to commit the defensive lapse, the problem actually would begin about 20 feet from the basket, when Rajon Rondo allowed the opposing point guard (or Paul Pierce his counterpart) to dribble into the paint.

The interior defender has to make a choice: remain with his assigned man and allow the dribbler to drive unimpeded to the basket or help out, and risk that the dribbler will make the pass to his teammate near the basket. On most occasions, the Celtics’ big man takes on the penetrating player and on most occasions pays for it.

“That should never happen,’’ coach Doc Rivers said about Boozer’s layups. “It was created because [Luol] Deng beat us off the dribble. Our other big has to help, and now they flash [to the basket].

“If you start by taking care of the dribble penetration, that entire play can’t happen. And that’s where we’re getting killed at right now.’’

With the Celtics desperately needing victories and losing games lately because guys such as Jose Calderon, Rodney Stuckey, and Deng have found it easy to dive into the paint, they practiced an unexpectedly long time yesterday, with a couple of players, including Rondo, walking away dinged.

“We just worked on a lot of defensive stuff because the dribble penetration is just crushing us, so we just showed film of the last three games,’’ said Rivers, whose team faces the Pistons in Auburn Hills, Mich., tonight.

“You don’t have to talk a lot. Guys have the ball square up, and then the guy’s driving. You see the big running over to help and it’s either a foul, it’s a layup, or it’s an offensive rebound.

“I don’t think it’s that hard to figure out. We just have to do a better job on it.’’

The fault lies with the guards and the big men. The guards aren’t stopping the dribble penetration or the big men aren’t talking on defense, such as calling out a pick and roll or whether the screen is even coming. The silence on defense is a primary reason why teams are scoring at ease down the stretches of critical games.

While the Celtics have an impressive streak of 27 games without allowing 100 points, they are allowing points in bunches, such as Thursday when the Bulls responded with a 12-0 run when the game was tied at 69 in the fourth quarter.

“It’s amazing the game Kevin didn’t play,’’ said Rivers. “You couldn’t hear anything. It’s as quiet of a game as we’ve played all year.

“Chicago was a little better, but we’ve got to talk.’’

To preserve his body, Garnett did not participate in full practice, but he did take jumpers toward the end of the workout and will play tonight.

Rivers has the difficult job of trying to instill basics that have been left behind or disregarded because of the lockout and limited contact practices.

Yesterday he focused more on the fundamentals and allowed his players to go full court longer than usual.

The Celtics have an important game tonight, the first of a difficult back-to-back that is followed by a 1,200-mile trip to play the Mavericks in Dallas tomorrow.

“Like I told them, there’s still no excuses,’’ Rivers said.

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