The Stretch Run Dossier

I put this together before the game yesterday.

Marcus Smart

Reduce field goal attempts and focus on facilitating the offense and playing great defense.

Jayson Tatum

Reduce the number of step back 3's,  move in space to open up more catch and shoot opportunities.  Stay  engaged defensively.

Jaylen Brown

Stay disciplined on your shooting mechanics, stop trying to pass when you are jumping in the air on drives.  Stay engaged defensively.

Kemba Walker

Shoot less and pass more.  Push the pace and move the ball quicker.  Do the best that you can on defense.  

Robert Williams

Continue to work on your defensive positioning to take away driving angles.  Keep working on your free throws.  Get to the rim if a lane opens up.  

Evan Fournier

Make those open looks because you will see a lot of them.  Stay engaged defensively.

Tristian Thompson

Adjust to being a rotation guy.  You get to play more minutes against backup centers.  You should see more opportunities to score.

Peyton Pritchard

Dribble less.  Pass and shoot and stay with your defensive assignments.  stay aggressive  

Grant Williams

Don't be a foul machine.  Just play positional defense.  Continue to take advantage of your limited scoring opportunities by knocking down those catch and shoot 3 pointers.

Semi Ojeleye

Get healthy and just continue to be ready when your number is called.  It will be called.  Keep hitting those 3's.

Aaron Nesmith

Play hard with a lot of energy.  Find more confidence in your shot.  Just slow down.

Romeo Langford

Make it to the active 13 man roster.  You have not played a game for over 6 months.  

Kornet

Not evaluated, small sample size

Moritz Wagner

Not evaluated, small sample size

Tacko Fall

keep some stickum under your seat

Carsen Edwards and Tremont Waters

Cheer the team on from the bench and just hope for a blowout.  Be ready if or when your number is called.

Part 2 - is all about the team and coaching in general.

I am not going to throw the towel into the middle of the ring.  The last second in the last game of the year has yet to be played.

Here are a few basic things that the Celtics can do to win more games.  

Move the ball on offense.  That  means less ISO plays and more passes that lead to catch and shoot opportunities.  Boston is 24th in assists per game.

We are probably not going to make a living at the line so we have to find other ways to score easy baskets.  Boston is 18th in fast break points.  Last year we were 7th.  Get the ball to your PG and fill the lanes.  Everybody on this team is not a rebound and dribble up the court guy.

Boston is tied for 8th in PPG in the East.  We have to find a way to close the gap.  How about playing better defense?  Boston could play some 1/2 half and 3/4 court presses.  All they really need to due is take a few seconds off of the shock clock.  Tommy used to talk about this strategy.  I am not talking about a hard man to man press with traps although an occasional one can be used.  I would task the second unit with this.  

The thing that is most frustrating about this team to me is the turnovers.  We are 15th in turnovers and we simply do not have the wiggle room to make that many mistakes and win games.

For coach Stevens, you need to find a way to make sure that both Jaylen and Jayson are playing 10 minutes in the 4th QTR especially in close games.  It is mind numbing how Brad uses his 4th QTR rotations.  Perhaps with EF in the mix, Boston can have our 3 wings playing extended 4th qtr minutes.  Jaylen Brown does not need an 8 minute blow on the bench and neither does Tatum.

Last night Thibs called a timeout when Boston went up by 5 points.  Brad has a tendency to wait and see while relying on some mythical imagination that self correction is right around the corner.  Brad should be more timely in calling timeouts.  Nip it in the bud.

Many of the things that we are seeing show a lack of fundamentals on the part of players.  Basketball 101 needs to be pounded into their heads and my guess is that an emphasis will not be pursued until next season.

This seems like a good place to deposit updates on individual players and then compare them to DBoss', and others, observations.


Chris Grenham @chrisgrenham
about 8 minutes ago
Romeo Langford on his shooting: "I've just been working on it since day one with the Celtics. I put in so much time, effort, hours, and now I just shoot. It comes naturally. I feel like I'm getting back to my old self -- back in HS when I was shooting really good."


John Karalis @RedsArmy_John
about 8 minutes ago
Romeo Langford, asked what mistakes he feels like he's making right now: "...some of the decision making when I do catch it on the run. Like last game, fell on my face and threw the ball away a couple times..."


Bob


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Powe Don't Know...either.





Bob


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