maybe next game we should try......

Cow, go to 1:38 in this video.



The play is supposed to be pick and roll with Bradley and Sullinger, but the Suns jump both players out on Bradley, knowing that he's not a good ballhandler or playmaker, and Bradley reflexively picks up his dribble. At that point:

1. Rondo just stands there across the court.

2. Jeff Green is buried in the opposite corner. Bradley has no chance to get him the ball.

3. Sullinger rolls about four feet to the three-point line and then stands there, providing a nice visual block to Bledsoe lurking behind.

4. Zeller is under the basket, moving slowly along the baseline, of no use to Bradley, and not in position to do anything.

Green and Zeller are spacing the floor from their positions, and there is indeed a nice hole in the middle of the key, but no one uses it. No cuts, no screens, no player movement to speak of. Once the guy with the ball picks up his dribble, you can't just stand there. With Bradley having given up his dribble and no one moving, a turnover was a virtual certainty. They made it as easy as possible to defend them.

Rondo bothers me the most, because he literally stands there with his hands out -- his feet don't move -- as if he's open for a pass. Once Bradley picked up the ball, Rondo needed to go to Bradley and get the ball, move to a better position to receive the ball, something.

Bradley shouldn't have given up his dribble and shouldn't have thrown the pass, but even more, he shouldn't have been the guy with the ball. That's Rondo's job. Rondo has the point guard skills and Bradley has the shooting guard skills, yet for some reason, their positions were reversed on that play.

Awful all the way around.

Coach should have also considered calling a Timeout from the bench. Doc used to do this all the time when the team was stuck in a bad position in a tight game.

I agree that it appears to be a poorly drawn-up play.  And it's true that Avery shouldn't be expected to be a floor general because he clearly sucks as that.  But, in my mind, he has no ability that was useful on that play at that point in the game.  He shouldn't have been in there.  On offense, especially in the clutch, he's a jump shooter, period.  And the situation called for the ball to go to the hoop.

I detest the blame game, because hind vision is nothing more than a slightly dressed up cheap shot.  But there seems to be absolutely no correlation between the concept of the play (whatever it was—probably a pick-and-roll) and the execution of the play.

The wrong guy had the ball.  He had the ball way too far out.  He has absolutely no passing ability except to throw the ball laterally (and, sure enough.....)  The other four guys were basically standing around.  Rondo, in particular, didn't move to the ball.  There's so much culpability on the play that Avery, Brad and most, if not all, of the other four players must share the responsibility for failure.

Since I view the first month of the season, against some pretty darned good teams, as an extended exhibition season, I look for little glimmers that signify growth as a team is taking place.  This play, at that moment, went far in the other direction because it exposed a complete lack of planning and synergy.

Or maybe it's an indication of what happens when a mentality centered around the three ball has been drilled into the heads of of the players since the beginning of the preseason.  It's the crutch that sucks because it invites lazy play at the worst possible times.  And, yes, I know they haven't been shooting as many threes in the most recent games, but I have no proof that the team is really purged of that disease.

Sam

Outside Bradley shouldn't have given up his dribble, can't expect Rondo to initiate the offense everytime, just a really bad play all the way around.

sam wrote:

Or maybe it's an indication of what happens when a mentality centered around the three ball has been drilled into the heads of of the players since the beginning of the preseason.  It's the crutch that sucks because it invites lazy play at the worst possible times.  And, yes, I know they haven't been shooting as many threes in the most recent games, but I have no proof that the team is really purged of that disease.

Sam

B-I-N-G-O - you just articulated what has been bouncing around my brain, but which I could not quite put words to. Thanks.