Post Game Thoughts

[Gomes3PC]

Been a while since I posted, mostly lurk now.

1. We lost this game at the FT line. Too many misses from PP and KG.

2. Ray Allen has no business defending JJ. Tony Allen and Pierce provide the best matchup, but Paul has to stay out of foul trouble and Doc has inexplicably glued Tony to the bench. More Tony, less House/Cassel.

3. Perk and Marvin will get suspended. KG is 50-50. I thought he pulled himself away more than shoved but Stu Jackson is a harda$$ so who knows. If just the first two go, that's a net plus for us. Powe outplayed Perk and I still think we are deeper, plus Marvin is just better than Perk. If we lose KG we can still win but we'd need to rally and really out work them.

4. Screw that, whether KG is in or not we need to outwork them. Few Tommy points the last two games. No diving, no tough boxouts, lots of tentative play.

5. We got scared by a playoff crowd. Crazy to say given our teams' age but it is a new group together and the Hawks fans rocked us like we rocked them the first two games. Welcome to the playoffs Cs, where teams not rolling over in the 4th at home happens.

6. The crowd and the Cs must be 100% for 48 minutes. This game is essential to build momentum. This team MUST get back to basic swarming D. Its what got us here and we are fully capable of shutting this team down to < 90 points.

6. We let this game slip away and we will be tested for our meddle on Wednesday. Posey has to keep this teams composure, as I think he was the only guy who played within himself down the stretch.

7. Cs win by 9 at the Jungle. Game 6 will be the best of the series and is a toss up to me.

[s1ickd]

I don't have a problem with TA gaurding Johnson, but that would leave PP as the only "shooter" on the court for us. Tony would need to come in for Rondo and have Ray bring the ball up the court... and defend Bibby, which he can.

We need to defend JJ with a variety of different physical defenders. I wouldn't mind starting the game with Rondo on him to avoid foul trouble. Then switch TA, Pierce, and Posey onto him as the game goes on.

I wouldn't mind House in the game, but he's just really off right now. Maybe you could play him in the 2nd quarter a bit to see if his shots going in.

Pierce is playing well, but he needs to get in playoff mode. We all know how dominant he can be if he puts his mind to it.

[Gomes3PC]

I wouldnt mind Ray as de facto PG for the 8-10 minutes Rondo is out. In the 6-8 Ray is out make sure Rondo is in no matter what, as well as PP and Posey in.

Put Tony in for the 8-10 minutes Rondo sits and slide Ray over. When Rondo comes back in give Ray a 3-4 minute breather and swap Tony for Posey. At all times you have either Ray or Rondo in and either Allen or Posey/Pierce guarding Johnson.

[cisco]

I wouldnt mind Ray as de facto PG for the 8-10 minutes Rondo is out. In the 6-8 Ray is out make sure Rondo is in no matter what, as well as PP and Posey in.

Put Tony in for the 8-10 minutes Rondo sits and slide Ray over. When Rondo comes back in give Ray a 3-4 minute breather and swap Tony for Posey. At all times you have either Ray or Rondo in and either Allen or Posey/Pierce guarding Johnson.

I would mind. Ray is a turnover machine when trying to run the offense. No thanks.

[Gomes3PC]

And Eddie House and Sam Cassell are doing a better job? Exactly. Ray can defend Mike Bibby better than both those guys and he has played PG numerous times in the past for the Sonics and even the Bucks sparingly. No, he's no phenom out there but for the 8-10 minutes Rondo sits, using a combo of him and PP to just get the ball up the court should not be that hard.

Also, a TO machine at the point? Allen has 2 total turnovers in the entire playoffs. He might not be a playmaker at PG but he's not hemorraghing the ball; in fact nobody is. The Hawks are getting few turnovers for the most part.

[Gomes3PC]

What it ultimately comes down to is 3 things:

1) Offensive execution. This has not been a problem all year until the last 2 games. Ball movement and open shots are the key. We did that for 2 out of 4 quarters last night and maybe 1 out of 4 in Game 3. If we put together 3 or 4 quarters of great execution we will win. They get out on the run on misses and TOs, and our D cannot sink in. Made baskets slow their O more than anything.

2) Garnett must play like the DPOY. Josh Smith has beaten him the last two games on the Hawks side of the ball. Garnett has to stop Smith, bar none. Whether that means getting him in foul trouble on the other end or just shutting him down 1v1, I don't care. If you are the DPOY, you stop a guy like Smith.

3) Doubling Joe Johnson at all moments in a close game. FORCE him to get it to someone else. Make Bibby/Williams/Childress beat us, with KG fronting Smith to prevent him from getting the pass from Johnson. Either that, or Posey/Pierce/Tony Allen have to shut him down 1v1, because no way can Ray Allen stop him.

Just being at home will help with the offensive execution. I also think after last night's game, Thibodeau will figure out ways to stifle Johnson. But if Garnett is suspended, then Powe/Perk/Baby/PJ will have to play out of their minds to stop Josh Smith.

I am not panicked. We let a game slip away, but we still have home court and the better overall team. Let's see what happens when they get some foul trouble, rather than the other way around like the last 2 games. Put the pressure on their weak bench to perform; get one of Bibby/JJ/Smith in foul trouble and force Acie Law and the gang to play real minutes. That's the key. That, and hitting our FTs. If we had done that nobody here would've been worried. We'd be saying "The Hawks gave us their best 1-2 and we are up 3-1, this is a wrap." We will win at home if we play like we normally do, and Game 6 will be the same as Game 4; so we will either have a chance to redeem ourselves and beat them at their best or we will have to play a pivotal 7th game.

[BigHands]

Too much motor mouth and not enough motor legs.

[cisco]

And Eddie House and Sam Cassell are doing a better job? Exactly. Ray can defend Mike Bibby better than both those guys and he has played PG numerous times in the past for the Sonics and even the Bucks sparingly. No, he's no phenom out there but for the 8-10 minutes Rondo sits, using a combo of him and PP to just get the ball up the court should not be that hard.

Also, a TO machine at the point? Allen has 2 total turnovers in the entire playoffs. He might not be a playmaker at PG but he's not hemorraghing the ball; in fact nobody is. The Hawks are getting few turnovers for the most part.

I don't know about Cassell, but Eddie definitely runs the offense better than Ray.

[The Rondo Show]

-= original quote snipped =-



I don't know about Cassell, but Eddie definitely runs the offense better than Ray.

Not really. House hasn't run the offense remotely well since the start of the year, and he looked horrible running the offense last night. His biggest impact on our offense is his shooting, which he sucks at in the playoffs.

When the D's get tighter like they do in the playoffs (or regular season games vs. very good teams like DET), House can't shoot and he's useless when he can't shoot. The guy is a career 36% shooter in the playoffs and our offense scored 4 points in over 6 minutes and blew a 10 point lead with him running the offense.

Ray isn't at his best running the offense, but I'd say he's right there with House in terms of running an offense and the defensive impact of Ray on Bibby and T.A. on JJ far outweighs the small "advantage" of House running the offense over Ray Allen.

Cassell sucks right now and House just disappears completely in the playoffs...might as well go with Tony's defensive skills and have Ray run the offense since neither Cassell or House is doing a decent job defensively or offensively.

[cinnamon]

Whether KG is in or not we need to outwork them. Few Tommy points the last two games. No diving, no tough boxouts, lots of tentative play.

Yes, I noticed that, too. Absolutely agree. One of the elements that brought about the 66 wins was that tough determination to do every hustle thing necessary every time.
Another element I thought was missing the last two games was that tight team approach as opposed to being a group of individuals. I believe that also adds a lot of toughness to be up against.
It's terrible to have the officials seeming to be working against you, much less the league management appearing to be trying to undermine you for whatever bizarre reasons of their own motivate them, which I often suspect to be related to power-tripping. This combination brought the Suns down last year. I think the Celtics can rise above it this year, though, or transcend it, or whatever is needed to continue on towards the goal. I sure hope so.
Stern and his "a menacing gesture is whatever Stu Jackson says it is," gives me stomach acid. He might as well say: "we have absolute power and it is totally arbitrary and depends on our whim of the day."