Why the Celtics Lost Orlando Series

[realfung]

don't cry, the Magics played better.

[theman]

Starters:
PG Rondo 6' 1" vs 6' 2"
SG Allen 6' 5" vs Redick 6' 4"
SF Pierce 6' 7" vs Turkoglu 6' 10"
PF Davis 6' 8" vs Lewis 6' 10"
C Perkins 6' 10" vs Howard 6' 11"

Key subs:
House 6' 1" vs Pietrus 6' 6"
Scalabrine 6' 9" vs Gortat 7' 0"

It is not the sole reason but is why I feared Orlando. With the exception of SG (which is iffy since Pietrus played more minutes than Redick) Orlando is taller at every position.

[celticfan42487]

I think Pietrus will be the SF next year, and Lee will definitely be the starting SG.

How bout that rookie Lee, he was ORL's best wing man by far [assuming we're not counting Shard].

[I love heinsohn]

I thought more than anything, Perkins' lack of a jump shot hurt in this series. PJ brown's big mid range jumpers in game 7 vs the cavs just kept flashing by my head, instead of those, we had dwight howard rejecting hook shots.

I'm a KG fan first and foremost, so I guess it probably sounds wierd to say that not having KG wasn't the reason the celtics lost today. That would definitely have helped, especially if you put KG at center and went small.

But Perkins being able to consistently hit a 15 foot jumper would have iced the series. Think Robert Parish. Because he can't hit that shot, the Magic were just absolutely doubling any screen action with ZERO fear. Today Ray played his best game because he got the extra day to watch tape. But I still feel that perkins hitting a few mid range shots would have made that difference.

Here's hoping next year perkins turns into a better jump shooter. It's NOT a bad thing.

Perk doesn't have to add a 15 footer if KG is back healthy. His 8-10 footer is already looking better and he can now hit the 6 foot fadeaway as well.

Spacing was a problem all playoffs long. While Big Baby impressed the hell out of me, the bottom line is that he is no KG. He can't set up at 20 feet in single man coverage and get that turnaround that KG has. That hurt the spacing which in turn led to really poor ball movement. Against Chicago, they countered this with Rondo/Pierce drives to the hoop but against a shot blocker like Howard (who also got ALL the calls in the paint) this turned into a very inefficient offense. Defense would have cost them against CLE, but they could have gotten past ORL with a bit better O.

[MyInsatiableOne]

Celtics lost because KG did not play. End of story.

This...

rondo didn't stop anyone in the post season

and this. While he was a maniac with his triple-doubles, his D suffered for it...

[GuyClinch]

People expect too much out of Rondo's D - and demand too little out of his offense IMHO. He needs to hit Js't to keep guys honest and he needs to attack more on the offensive end. He has to make guys pay for playing off him consistently.

As for his D - I can't think of ANY PG stoppers. Who is the second best defender at the PG spot? Chris Paul? he can't shut down anyone either. Tony Parker? Same thing.. Steals and boards are what he should bring defensively to the table.. The fact that guys can smoke him is nothing new. I remember when Speedy Claxton smoked him in one game..

The problem with Rondo is the fan base's strange love of pass first PGs. Rondo gets "credit" for his offensive woes sometimes. Truth is we would be much better off with Tiny Archibald instead of a "pass first" PG.

Pass first is just NBA code word for "can't shoot."

Pete

[wigglestrue]

It really showed in this series, specifically this game: Rondo is the offense at this point. Rondo wasn't controlling the game on offense like he did throughout the Chicago series and earlier this series. We can't just bring it up and iso Paul anymore. You can get away with that when we have KG on defense, but we need to be a more efficient offensive team when we don't have that and when Rondo disappeared so did the team.

Rondo only disappears when we just bring it up and iso Paul, which is way too often.
Not a coincidence. Also not Rondo's fault.

Unbe-****ing-lievable that any fingers are pointed at Rondo and Perk.
They were by far our best players in the postseason.