Why The Celtics Have So Many Turnovers

As if lack of ball and player movement were and poor rebounding were not enough, the Celtics rank near the bottom of NBA in turnovers. There are very clear reasons why, and why this won't change until Celtic roster changes:

1) Rondo is passing to players who are limited in getting to ball (Perkins = poor hands; Pierce = injuries; Garnett = injury; Wallace = no lateral movement; Davis = no height/short arms);

2) Pierce = not a good decision-maker, only average passer and ballhandler);

3) Perkins = poor hands, brings hands down to low;

4) Ray Allen = poor passer and only average ballhandler

5) Tony Allen = poor ballhandler and decision-maker;

6) House = poor ballhandler;

7) Davis = gets too many shots blocked.

I doubt there is another NBA team that has so many players that are poor ballhandlers and passers. The only thing that wcould overcome this is to run more (which the roster evidently refuses or can't do) or make more intelligent decisaions and manage the floor better. Slowing the game allows defenses to get into passing lanes and use lateral quickness to more easily defend Celtics.

In the game against NO, the Celtics forced 24 turnovers, but still had only 75 shots. The Celts had 23 turnovers!!

The Celtic shortcomings will not change until roster greatly TURNS OVER.

Go Celtics!!

SD,

One additional problem that I've noted lately is the lack of readiness of players to receive passes. Too often, Rondo or Pierce fakes out not only the opposition but also his teammates, who turn to face the basket just when he completes a fake and passes the ball to them. It brings me back to the early Cousy days, when Rapid Robert was passing off people's heads. But, in this case, it's somewhat of a regression rather than an initial unfamiliarity with the ball distributor.

Fortunately, I believe this is a correctable problem. It's a matter of reminding them to be more alert and to keep their eyes on the ball rather than where they think the ball's going to go.

Sam