Celtics Tighten Up On Defensive End

by **bobheckler** Tue Dec 11, 2012 11:19 am

There is still just a trickle of information, but the Celtics [team stats] appear to be moving back into familiar territory as a team with defensive credibility.

During the five games since that infamous Nov. 28 night, when coach Doc Rivers
branded his players a bunch of softies, the Celtics have allowed an
average of 87.4 points per game. They didn’t allow more than 95 points
during that stretch, and that total was the result of last Friday’s
overtime loss in Philadelphia.

That’s progress for a team that in the 14 games prior to their Nov.
28 caning by the Nets allowed opponents to score more than 100 points
seven times. The modest improvement has the Celtics ranked 13th in the
NBA in scoring defense (96.7 ppg) and 15th in field goal defense (44.4
percent).

But again, this is just a trickle. In previous seasons, they annually inhabited the top three in the league in those categories.

Kevin Garnett, who had trouble mouthing the word “soft” in the same
way Fonzie once had trouble saying he was wrong, wants more evidence
before he feels better.

“I don’t want to say that,” Garnett said when asked if the
Celtics had turned the corner defensively. “I want to see how we are
after another four or five games, so we can put together a nice
defensive stand. Then I can come back with a little more of an answer.

“But for right now, we’re just going one day at a time, one practice
at a time and one game at a time. Hopefully, then we’ll be more
consistent with what we’re doing.”

It could be, for instance, that all of the new additions to this
lineup are starting to master their defensive rotations — a task whose
difficulty may be exaggerated.

Jason Terry has said, minus the terminology, it’s the same system he
played in Dallas, which makes its annual visit to the Garden tomorrow
night, albeit without Dirk Nowitzki.

Jared Sullinger, a rookie, shrugged about the learning curve when he said, “They manage to dumb it down for you.”

But with Saturday night’s 92-79 win over Philadelphia on the board as
one of the Celtics’ best defensive efforts of the early season, there’s
a sense something has changed.

“It’s been great, it really has been,” said Rivers. “You know, we
can’t string a streak of wins together yet, but you can feel us playing
better. So you feel like it’s coming, just nothing’s happened. We’re
treading water, but I like our trend. I like where we’re going.

“The pick-and-roll defense has improved dramatically. Our rotation
still is not there, but they’re much better. Without Avery (Bradley), we
just kind of backed off of pressuring the ball. So I know that’s an
area we’re going to get way better. Because when he does it everyone
does it and it helps your team. Right now, it’s just hard to do.”

Bradley, though, hasn’t even been cleared for contact and practice
yet, let alone games. So in the short term, the Celtics have to improve
without help from their best wing defender.

“We’re confident, we see we’re getting better day in and day out on
tape, but when we see it when we lose we kind of look back at it like,
‘Are these things working for us?’ ” said Courtney Lee. “But like I
said, you can see us coming together. Our rotations and everything is
getting better, so we just have to stick with it. I think we’re pretty
close, man, we can start with (Sunday’s win). . . . A lot of it is doing
your work early, being there on pick-and-rolls, rotating, talking to
each other and being in the right spots.”

On a team attempting to regain its identity, that’s only the start.

“We know when we commit to that end of the floor and we’re all on the same page, that’s what we are,” said Paul Pierce [stats].
“We saw glimpses (Friday in Philadelphia) for most of the game and I
told the guys after the game if we continue to play like that then we’re
going to win a lot more games than we have.

“So we have to stick to our principles and stay consistent with that and continue to improve.”

bob

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