Can't Understand It

It seems whenever the Celtics play an inferior team (especially an inferior frontcourt), they jumpshoot all night. Only 15 free throws against the Clippers. Not nearly aggressive enough. I don't understand it! Why wouldn't you go to the paint all night long? We have had a number of these this year and have been lucky enough to win most. Against many inferior opponents this season I just question where the basketball IQ went.

stings

Rondo is payin attention I bet he kicks his free throw work in overdrive. How the hell you let someone get off a game winner in 1 second I will never know. That kind a night.

Oh well back to work. Aint the enda the world.

Well Said!

112288

Also, can anyone tell me how many assists the Celtics had in the 4th quarter? Rondo may have had 1 assist the entire 4th quarter. Against the Clippers. I still don't understand. I did not see the game, just comcast play-by-play. Maybe someone can explain to me where the bb IQ went.

sdcelt

they shat the bed. it happens. We choked tonight.

I am not blaming Rondo for this loss at all. it was definately a team defeat. At least Rondo got to the free throw line and didn't settle for a jumpshot. 15 free throws against the Clippers. Never thought I would see that statistic involving them.

somethin to watch out for. we are phoning it in at times agin lesser teams

sdceltfan - Boston's assists per quarter: 5-4-9-3. And only 3 FT attempts in the fourth quarter.

BTW, Rondo had 0 assists in the fourth. He had his 6 through three.

Rasheed's got to pick it up. He's a lousy .392 for the season and a piss-poor 28.5% on threes. Plus a boat-load of T's this early in the season. I thought he would be making more of a contribution. Not only was his shooting abysmal tonight but he only grabbed 3 rebounds in 23 1/2 minutes.

Steve
As bad as Sheed played tonite,he was that good teaming up with Perk last game to totally shutdown Howard.Sheed is still a huge asset.

cow

I concur. He thinks every shot is goin in. His d will take us to the barn. Complicated guy.

That 4th quarter we played a big stretch with Eddie at point,we all know hes not a point,by the time Rondo came back in in 4th we lost all our movement and spacing,bad game to lose and Lebron is developing a postgame.

What is it with playing the Clips in LA? I remember an especially brutal loss there last year by an almost identical score (93-91) with Zach Randolph hitting a big shot late. KG was out for that game and Pierce dislocated his thumb but it was the same result as tonight. A game we should've won but pissed away at the end.

Yes Lebron is developing a post game! If we play the CAVS the way we played the Clippers last night, it's a 30 point blow out! Look what the CAVS did to the Lakers!

My thinking is Doc was trying to save Rondo for tonite didn't want to extend his minutes too much,but House at the point for too long of stretches cost us last night.

cowens/oldschool wrote:My thinking is Doc was trying to save Rondo for tonite didn't want to extend his minutes too much,but House at the point for too long of stretches cost us last night.

cow,

Rondo didn't get back into the game until there was 4:01 to go. That is just not right. It takes a couple of minutes to get into the flow and that was too late. He should have come back in at 8:01.

gyso

Lots of little things last night, but basically it shows that if you let a team hang around – they can come back and win in the end. I blame Doc for this loss, as he allowed the team to lose focus.

Celtics starters came out at the beginning of the 3rd and took control of the game…Perk was banging with Kamen, controlling the glass – KG was hitting jumpers – Rondo was driving, they looked solid.

Then I think Doc went to sleep to be honest. He let the team fall into bad habits, and didn’t bring the starters back in until too late in the 4th.

In the big picture, it isnt a big deal – but a loss is a loss….and it effectively negates a great win in Orlando. It shows me that down the stretch in a close game, Paul Pierce is the only legitimate closer on this team – and they desperately miss him in the line up.

I feel Ray Allen is the most consistent closer this team has, given he can get the shot off. Standings wise this does negate a hard-fought Orlando victory, and that is what is really frustrating.

I have questioned the BB IQ of the Celtics more than once this season when they did not take advantage of matchups recognizable even to me. For that I blame Rivers, but also Celtic players. Our leadership let us down last night. It is only a regular season game, but I just don't understand this team at times.

One positive note that the Celtics should take from this game and other poor 4th quarter performances this season - poor ball and player movement, few assists, and lack of offensive aggressiveness have been a constant. Too many junpshots, not enough "going to the basket". Should be relatively easy to fix.

Then again, I just don't understand this team at times.

Go Celtics!!

Again, I say "I just don't understand this team at times". Where is the leadership? Where is the aggressive going to the basket? Again, how many free throws were shot the last 3 quarters? Against another weak frontline the Celtics shoot jumpshot after jumpshot. Where is the leadership?

Hard to understand.

My biggest problem with this game was Rondo shooting 3 pointers. He held and held the ball until it was too late to pass to anyone so he kept taking three's. This is what one of the problems was with his game last year. I like that he is gaining confidence in his shot, but he is far from becoming the leading three point shooter on this team. He just didn't move the ball well at all in the second half. I hate to blame him, I felt that KG was a little non existent at times also. Doc takes him out, he dries out, and loses that touch he had in shooting his 15 - 18 footers. I wonder if he had six points in the second half?

Rosalie - KG had 6 points in the first half, 10 points in the second half (but only 2 in the fourth quarter). Ray missed all four of his fourth-quarter three-pointers BTW and Rondo only attempted three in the game, making one. But one could argue he should almost never attempt a three (unless the clock is running out and he's got to shoot) since he's a career 25% shooter on those...

Any team that can't hang on to the ball.... the way the C's played tonight really shouldn't win. Sloppy...

25 turnovers will kill ya every time.

41 second half points against a team that's allowing over 112 a game and is last in the league in defense.

Shocking.

Rosalie, I posted weeks ago about 5 - 6 concerns I had about the Celtics. One of my concerns was the lack of ball and player movement in 4th quarters. This is still a problem as evidenced by the the Celtics' play since. Assists and free throws are down, which reduces field goal %-ages and number of free throws. It also results in opposing defenses having to work less hard and getting into foul trouble.

This is also a major factor in me wanting to get younger, faster. My previous post "What Are The Celtics ....." was in fact impacted by the failure of the Celtics to play stronger 4th quarters. I've been criticized for my negativity, but if the last 2 games don't raise a red flag, nothing will.

Go Celtics!!