The offense even worse than I thought

[GreenDreamer]

Before the beginning of the Cavs/Heat matchup on TNT last night, they flashed up a stat which showed the NBA leaders in percentage of team field goals that they were responsible for (fg made + assisted). LeBron was far and away the leader at 48.7%. What completely blew me away, though, was that Rondo was 4th, and ahead of Kobe Bryant who was in 5th. Shocking.

Now, why would this be proof of our offense being bad? The other 4 guys on the list (Wade being one of them), are extremely high usage players if my memory serves me right, whereas Rondo is a fairly low usage player. In other words, Rondo is 4th in the league despite the fact that the ball is pulled out of his hands in the offense repeatedly, and we often go through long stretches where he is basically a ball valet for players who refuse to pass it to him.

He wouldn't be scoring or assisting over 42% of our field goals if the others were doing such a great job out there when they had the ball instead of him. Yet, it seems that many people want to talk about him as if he is some kind of liability on the court. Nothing could be further from the truth. This stat not only points out how effective Rondo has been, but how completely ineffective we are apart from Rondo.

This offense is dysfunctional. It is not being run right. Doc's "plan" is to get the ball, all too often, to guys who aren't getting the job done as playmakers. He asks people to do things they are NOT good at, and will not EVER be good at. He also doesn't discipline players for doing things which cause the offense to break down.

Case in point: Ray Allen. I have been harping on this for a while, and it reared its ugly head yet again in the Heat game. Several times during the games he completely destroyed offensive possessions by not getting Rondo the ball. He also wrecked a 3 on 2 fastbreak by not passing Rondo the ball when he should have. This kind of stuff is not unusual at all. If you actually pay attention, you will see that he does it every game. Ray starts dribbling the ball around and has absoutely NOTHING. No shot, no drive, nobody else to pass it to except Rondo, and instead of doing that, he opts to pound the ball into the ground as if anything he does will be better than anything Rondo would do. If that were true, Rondo wouldn't be 4th in the league in the stat I just mentioned.

KG is the exact opposite. Did you notice that BOTH of Rondo's 3 pointers were assisted by Garnett, and that on one of them it was the result of a cross court pass? Whereas Ray will not pass the guy the ball even when he absolutely should, KG actively seeks him out. Do you notice a difference in the RESULTS on those possessions? Good passing is make the right pass to the right guy, PERIOD. KG knows it. Ray does not.

It isn't just stuff regarding Rondo. There is a lot of stupidity going on out on that court. Guys not moving to get themselves open. People acting as if because they didn't EXPECT a pass that it consititutes an excuse for not catching it. People not running the floor in transition. These things add up into needlessly bad possessions and lost opportunities.

The ONE improvement that I have noticed recently is that there is more emphasis being put on inbounding the ball quickly. Perk, for example, is finally starting to look as if he has a clue about what he is doing now when inbounding the ball. Inbounding the ball quickly opens up the opportunity to counterbreak and get at the defense before it sets up. You might only be able to exploit it once every ten possessions, but that INCREASES your overall chances of scoring. Not inbounding the ball quickly throws away those opportunities for NO REASON. So at least they are improving there.

[ryaningf]

yeah, Dreamer, I thought it was funny how everyone was saying how well they shared the ball after the Miami game when there were at least 6-7 times when Ray turned down opportunities to continue to swing the ball all so he could try to create something 25 feet from the basket. I mean, we did have great ball movement most of the night, and a very high assist total, but when we didn't share the ball it was usually because Ray Allen was doing too much. He's a real ball sticker.

I'd encourage everyone to watch when Ray gets the ball on the wing and count how many times the ball actually gets reversed and passed back to the weak side. It almost never happens. Instead, we play strong side, easy-to-defend basketball with Ray Allen 'trying to create.' Ray might pass the ball in those situations, but never in the name of good ball movement, only in the name of making an assist.

Rondo's % of FGs accounted for is VERY VERY IMPRESSIVE considering the amount of time we spend taking the ball out of his hands every night. This is yet another indication that Doc should be looking at ways to increase Rondo's points per game and shot attempts, and another reason why Ray should be moved to the bench. Paul/KG/Rondo should be the focus of the offense, with Ray supplamenting our bench offense.

[Celts17Pride]

Great, another lets dump on Ray Allen thread.

I've seen many, many times when Rondo is dribbling the ball for ever and then forcing something with about 2 seconds left on the shot clock. When the Celtics team moves the ball they are very good when they don't they are average. Last game the Celtics had 29 assists, I'd say that was pretty good.

The complains you guys have about Ray Allen, I've Pierce do the same thing a couple of million times. It happens.

[Kids Are Alright]

Great, another lets dump on Ray Allen thread.

I've seen many, many times when Rondo is dribbling the ball for ever and then forcing something with about 2 seconds left on the shot clock. When the Celtics team moves the ball they are very good when they don't they are average. Last game the Celtics had 29 assists, I'd say that was pretty good.

The complains you guys have about Ray Allen, I've Pierce do the same thing a couple of million times. It happens.

Are you talking about the 4th quarter Rondo? That's when I see him doing that.

[Celts17Pride]

Great, another lets dump on Ray Allen thread.

I've seen many, many times when Rondo is dribbling the ball for ever and then forcing something with about 2 seconds left on the shot clock. When the Celtics team moves the ball they are very good when they don't they are average. Last game the Celtics had 29 assists, I'd say that was pretty good.

The complains you guys have about Ray Allen, I've Pierce do the same thing a couple of million times. It happens.

Are you talking about the 4th quarter Rondo? That's when I see him doing that.

That is definitely the worse time Pierce does it but he will lapse into doing the same thing throughout the game. He tends to correct himself and get back with the program.

Rondo should always be the playmaker the last 5 minutes of the game. Rondo's strength is when he has the ball in his hands. To have Pierce handle the ball and Rondo setting up for a shot makes no sense.

[GreenDreamer]

yeah, Dreamer, I thought it was funny how everyone was saying how well they shared the ball after the Miami game when there were at least 6-7 times when Ray turned down opportunities to continue to swing the ball all so he could try to create something 25 feet from the basket. I mean, we did have great ball movement most of the night, and a very high assist total, but when we didn't share the ball it was usually because Ray Allen was doing too much. He's a real ball sticker.

I'd encourage everyone to watch when Ray gets the ball on the wing and count how many times the ball actually gets reversed and passed back to the weak side. It almost never happens. Instead, we play strong side, easy-to-defend basketball with Ray Allen 'trying to create.' Ray might pass the ball in those situations, but never in the name of good ball movement, only in the name of making an assist.

Rondo's % of FGs accounted for is VERY VERY IMPRESSIVE considering the amount of time we spend taking the ball out of his hands every night. This is yet another indication that Doc should be looking at ways to increase Rondo's points per game and shot attempts, and another reason why Ray should be moved to the bench. Paul/KG/Rondo should be the focus of the offense, with Ray supplamenting our bench offense.

It is borderline miraculous that he is responsible for so much. Hell, I thought the Nets game was a total fiasco, and one which had Doc's fingerprints all over it. Ray doesn't create for himself or others, so why does he have the ball so much? It's a joke, but one that Doc likes. A person who actually observes what is happening could tell that the offense was actually better with Ray off the court than on it, because at least he wasn't stopping the ball, and ruining possessions in the process. It was like Doc said "Well, Paul's not here, so I'll let Ray handle the ball twice as much". Stupid.

I agree that Rondo/Paul?KG should be the main offensive threesome. So much so, that I think Ray is almost becoming a distraction at this point. "We need to get Ray his shots" yada, yada, yada. He takes the shot off the catch on only half of the times we run the screens for him, and when he puts the ball down on the other half, he tries to "run the offense" like a clown. IMO, either he gets with the program, or we are better off without him, and using his contract ti get the real depth that we need. There are plenty of guys ot ther who can spread the floor, and play better defense without demanding that so much of the offense needs to be run for them.

[hard work]

The only time Rondo is a liability is at the end of the game when the score is close.

[Celtic Esquire]

Fantastic analysis GreenDreamer and I totally agree.

It frustrates me to now end that Ray refuses to pass to Rondo when he has nothing going for him.

[Slartibartfast]

I actually don't want Ray to pass that much: he's not very good at it. I do agree that he should be kept away from the initiator role on offense as much as possible. Rondo, KG and Pierce usually make better decisions with the ball in their hands, although Ray is certainly better than the rest of the team in this regard.

[Jammer]

It's pretty obvious that the Celtics need a true sized SF to back up Pierce,
that can spread the floor to the 3 point line and MAKE SHOTS
and match up with Lamar Odom and LeBron James and Marvin Williams.

They also need a PG that can handle and shoot, in case Rondo is shaken/banged up,
and in case they need some points and everyone else is bricking.

The Celtics schedule is such that they play only 4 top ten teams in their last 25 games. So, there will be a false sense of security leading up to the playoffs.

During the Celtics streak where they basically lost 2 out of every 3 games 6 times over, there were a couple of trends, equally disturbing.

Ray Allen, Eddie House, Rasheed Wallace and Glen Davis just did not produce against the better teams in the league. The Celtics seem to have particular trouble matching up with Atlanta.

The so-called better Celtic players do not perform well, generally, against the better teams. Ray Allen, Pierce, KG all rebound at a much lower rate against the better teams, shoot a worse % and score fewer points.

Offensively, they have to solve a number of issues AGAINST TOP TEN TEAMS, and my comments only pertain to top ten teams. So, please do not offer any evidence from games against the bottom 20 teams in the league.

The Celtics have to consistently figure out ways for their starters to score, and this means Pierce, KG, Ray, Rondo and Perkins performing against the most athletic, quickest and biggest opponent lineups.

They also have to have 3 or 4 bench players that can be counted on AGAINST TOP TEN teams. They don't have that. If Danny leaves this team as it is, there will be a lot of disappointed fans, because the starters just don't do what they used to. I thought that I would take a look at an old Celtic team from long ago, to compare a similarly older team to this years.

I thought about the '69 Celtics because BIll Russell was 35 and Sam Jones 36. Their playoff rotation was basically 8 players, although they had won 11 Championships in 13 seasons, '69 being the end of the run.

But that team had more left in the tank. Comparison of '69 Celtics team to current Celtics

29 year old SF/SG/PG John Havlicek, would score 45 points in game 1 of Finals,
average 20 ppg for the overall playoffs,
2 years later, would average 28.9 ppg, 9 rpg, 7.5 apg.
2 MORE years later had 53 point playoff game. Pierce is past this level.

36 Year Old SG Sam Jones. Celtics Mr. Last Shot for past 10 seasons, and about to win his 10th Championship. Averaged 17 ppg during regular season, 19 ppg in playoffs.
Ray has not aged as well.
As Sam had done his whole career, SAM won two playoff games with last second shots,
but in 1969 Sam was 36 years old and still doing it.

C Bill Russell - his last two regular seasons Russell dropped to 12 ppg, 18 rpg and 4 apg and
9 ppg, 16 rpg and 4 apg. However, during Russell's last two playoff runs, at age 34 and age 35,
both years Russell averaged 15 ppg, 22 rpg and 4 apg,
coincidentally his career average, in the playoffs.
What are the chances that KG averages his career average of 20 and 10 in the playoffs?

The '68 and 69 Champion Celtics had a 4th great player,
sort of like Rasheed Wallace,
except 6 time All-Star and 1 time ALL-NBA PF Bailey Howell (1959 #2 pick)
averaged 21 ppg @50% FGs and 9 rpg playing alongside Russell, Havlicek and Sam Jones.
The 2010 Celtic 4th great player is Rajon Rondo.

The '69 Celtics 5th starter was 1961 #3 pick Larry Siegried, their starting PG.
Famous for averaging 38 ppg his senior year of high school,
winning an NCAA Championship at Ohio State,
stiffing the Lakers (who drafted Him)
to play for twice his Laker contract in a rival league for the Cleveland team
owned by George Steinbrenner, and win that rival League's championship,
twice leading the NBA in free throw percentage;
6'3" Siegfried's style resembled Jason Kidd,
except Siegfried did not have to score on the Celtics, although he averaged 10 ppg.


Late in playoff games Havlicek replaced Siefgried at point guard,
and the Celtics closed games out with Scottie Pippen like SF Tom Sanders (if they were up)
or if they were down, PF/SF Don Nelson, who had a sweet jump shot out to 19 feet.

I bring up a past team because it's obvious that the current Celtic starters are aging,
and Pierce, Garnett and Ray don't lite it up like they used to.

So, the logical thing to do is to get someone
other than Eddie House who can shoot on the bench,
and someone who can back up Pierce other than Ray Allen,
since Ray will be overmatched against the 3 inch taller LeBron James or
5 inch taller Lamer Odom.

Danny, your bench is weak. Do something about it. Keep Ray, but add money and picks
to strengthen the bench for this season and next, when Championships will be within reach.

You won't get a second chance.

[Jammer]

If Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen; who are all starting to show their age,
can not put up at least 54 ppg in the playoffs, then this team doesn't have a chance.

The Celtics need to not play Pierce, Ray or KG over 36 mpg,
since they are not productive beyond that any more.

The big RED FLAG is their rebounding numbers. There was a time when
those 3 would haul in 19-20 rpg.
Now the Celtics are lucky if they get 13 from the 3 of them (AGAINST A TOP TEN TEAM).

[GreenDreamer]

I think that people are starting to see what I've been harping on for a while now. This team is in serious trouble. The problem isn't the defense, it is the offense. Even in the Orlando game it was horrific offense which led to the point explosion for the Magic. It is pretty easy to put up 35 points when your opponent is turning the ball over 8 times in a quarter, and is putting up a ton of bad shots.

Doc is evidently still in his fantasy land mode. He is trying to "get through" to his team. Get through with what? That his offense is a good one, and that they just need to execute it right? Give me a break.