C's Have Plan To Get IT, Offense Back on Track

http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar/prac-010816-cs-have-plan-to-get-thomas-offense-back-on-track






C's Have Plan To Get IT, Offense Back on Track


Posted: Jan 09, 2016




By Marc D'Amico |  @Marc_DAmico
Celtics.com


January 9, 2016




MEMPHIS – Isaiah Thomas has been tabbed as the engine that makes the Celtics go. That engine has been running on fumes of late, but Boston has a restoration plan place.

It’s no secret that Thomas is shooting the ball with far less efficiency than he and the C’s would like. He has made just 41.1 percent of his field goals this season, and that number has dipped to 36.2 percent over his last nine games.

Thomas is coming off of a 5-for-17 performance Thursday night in Chicago, after which he proclaimed may have been the worst night of his NBA career. He also went as far as to say, “I put that (101-92 loss to the Bulls) on me.”

Thomas may be struggling, and he may be coming off of one of his worst games as a pro, but those facts will not shy him away from being the leader of Boston’s offense.

“The last couple of games shot just haven’t fallen,” he said after Saturday’s practice at the University of Memphis’ Larry O. Finch Center. “I’ve just got to keep at it, keep shooting the right shots, and take what the defense gives me.”

‘Shooting the right shots’ appears to be the key portion of his statement. Brad Stevens and every Celtics player who addressed the media Saturday afternoon commented that the team, including Thomas, has failed to take the right shots of late. That’s a big reason why Boston has shot just 39.8 percent from the field and gone 1-4 over its last five games.

The C’s believe that they are taking shots too early in the clock rather than running their offense the way it is built to be run. As Thomas said, “We need to move the ball from side to side. I think when we move the ball from side to side and get different people touching the ball, it makes us harder to guard.”

Moving the ball is the name of the game for this team. When the C’s move it, they win; they average 25.7 assists per game over 19 wins, compared to just 21.3 assists over 17 losses.

No one benefits more from ball movement than Thomas. As Stevens said on Saturday, “When he gets [the ball] back with a live dribble, he’s even more of a threat.”

That scenario is exactly what Boston wants to create more often than it has of late. Stevens has a plan in place to accomplish that goal.

Believe it or not, his plan revolved around taking the ball out of Thomas’ hands.

“One of the things I’ve tried to do recently with him is play him off the ball when we can,” Stevens said, “and that’s actually been fairly good.”

Thomas concurs. He sees the floor open up when he’s able to play off the ball.

“The defense can’t load up on me,” Thomas said of such scenarios. “I can either catch and go, or just attack on the weak side.”

He went on to explain how playing true point guard and playing off the ball differ in terms of how the defense treats him.

“I think just for a point guard in general, it’s hard to just come up and attack, because the defense is set. They’ve got all five guys looking at you,” he said from the sideline, gazing off toward the practice court as if he was watching such plays unfold right in front of his eyes. “But if you get off the ball, or even if I have the ball, get off of it, and get on the weak side, I can attack and make a play.”

There’s the recipe to success: get Thomas off the ball, and move the ball from side to side. It may be as simple as that.

Doing so might just get Boston’s engine humming yet again, all while getting the C’s back on track.



bob
MY NOTE: Hitting open shots, not just him, would make a big difference. One or two fewer live TOs would go a long way too. If he's going to play off the ball that highlights our need for another point guard who can run the offense while he makes his cuts. Turner could do that too. So, we'd have the all-offense back court of Thomas and Turner and the all-defense back court of Bradley and Smart. Weird.


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I am not a basketball expert by any means and never was the best coach in any league that I ever coached in either, but I will say that I am surprised that the Celtics are just now seeing this offensive issue as a problem.

It has been clear all year that when the Cs get assists on over 60% of their baskets that they score much more and much more easily especially late in games. When they achieve assists on 50% or less of their made baskets their offense stumbles every time, and especially late in games.

Ainge is (and,has been) looking for a go-to scorer, but this is more likely because he sees too many of his role type players trying to turn into the team's "go-to" guys too often. He well knows that "role" players are not stars and rarely will perform like stars in any one game and certainly not for a continued run of games.

I am not sure that a go-to scorer is 100% necessary if the current guys stay bought into the idea of sharing the ball like they have in many games this season for each and every game for the full 48 minutes. Of course, getting a more talented wing or center player should not be ignored as the rebuild continues.

The current roster of the Celtics is much stronger than any one of its parts, and the players need to understand this every night.