Post by DERRENMATTS on Oct 18, 2006 2:12:03 GMT -5
It comes to no surprise that we lose yet another game in which we score well over 100 pts. This marks the 2nd time in 3 games this preseason where we score over the century mark, yet fail to capitalize on the feat. Yes, its fun to watch the team run up and down the court and put up points at a dizzying pace. But at the end of the game, we are left with nothing but fool's gold and an empty feeling of wasted effort.
What Celtics fans would give for a better defensive unit. I'd be more than happy to sacrifice some offense in exchange for better defense and rebounding. Its like the rich boy who spent all his time alone with his vast toy collection when all he really wants are friends to play with. All offense and little defense means nothing. The name of the game is to win games. Ainge's plan is to build an entertaining offensive team, and I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the losing. It gets tiring real quick watching my beloved Celtics lose game after game. All the offense in the world can't cheer me up if we can't win games.
If mere basketball fans who have no professional experience running a basketball team can see that we need to improve our defense and rebounding, it must be a no brainer for Doc and the players to see that too. But yet, it behooves Celtics fans to see teams humiliate us on the glass and score at will in the paint. Why then, are we not making adjustments? Why don't we see a change in our style of play? Whatever defensive scheme we are using now and in year's past is not working. We need an overhaul on our entire defense; personnel and mentality wise.
An effort was made this offseason to shore up our deficiencies, but so far the improvements remain unrevealed. Clifford Ray, the big man mentor extraordinaire, was brought in to teach our bigs how to play better, but all the mentoring in the world won't do us good if our bigs aren't allowed onto the court. Doc continues to keep our rebounders on the bench while he tries to force the small lineup to work. Yes, it does work, but what is really happening is we are just trading baskets back and forth. What we need are guys who can keep opponents from getting offensive boards and rebounders who can constantly snatch down loose balls and initiate the fastbreaks. But putting undersized lineups out there prevents us from doing this.
Its time we focused more energy on the defensive end and stop teams from getting easy points. We allow teams to get into their rhythm too often. We allow them to dictate the tempo on offense. Good defensive teams can disrupt their opponent's offensive rhythm and force them to play out of sync.
Playing good defense is not some magical gift only certain destined teams are allowed to have. Good defense is about players being in the right spots and holding down their own fort. One or two strong defensive players is not enough to carry an entire team. It requires an entire team effort to do their part to be at the right spots in the rotations and get there before the offense does. Its about having pride in stopping your man from scoring.
What it really comes down to is the mentally that you are going to beat your opponent with your defense, and humiliate them with your offense. That's how the players need to be thinking. And that's the way we are going to usher in the next Celtics Dynasty.
We need more size and bulk inside. Perk is strong and tough, but we need more. We need more guys who can carve space in the paint and secure positioning inside the circle. We need guys who are willing to knock down opponents who dare to come into their house. We need size guys who strike fear in the eyes of our opponents. Jefferson, Ratliff and Kandi aren't the type who scare teams from coming inside. Sure they can block and alter some shots, but guys are not afraid to challenge them. We need guys who get this crazy wild look in their eyes anytime someone ventures too close to the paint. We need guys with great white shark mentalities, who are always smelling out blood and on the hunt for fresh meat. Alonzo Mourning was this type of player and boy do I wish we had a young Zo on our team right now. What a difference he could make for us.
For now, we have to settle with what we have, but we can still do a lot more on the glass and on defense than what we've shown thus far. Our success this season hinges on what we do defensively. We are going to score points, even on our bad days. That's a lock. But if we want to win games, we need to up the ante on defense and come down with more rebounds than the other team.
If not, all we will have in our hands at the end of the season is vanishing fool's gold.
What Celtics fans would give for a better defensive unit. I'd be more than happy to sacrifice some offense in exchange for better defense and rebounding. Its like the rich boy who spent all his time alone with his vast toy collection when all he really wants are friends to play with. All offense and little defense means nothing. The name of the game is to win games. Ainge's plan is to build an entertaining offensive team, and I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the losing. It gets tiring real quick watching my beloved Celtics lose game after game. All the offense in the world can't cheer me up if we can't win games.
If mere basketball fans who have no professional experience running a basketball team can see that we need to improve our defense and rebounding, it must be a no brainer for Doc and the players to see that too. But yet, it behooves Celtics fans to see teams humiliate us on the glass and score at will in the paint. Why then, are we not making adjustments? Why don't we see a change in our style of play? Whatever defensive scheme we are using now and in year's past is not working. We need an overhaul on our entire defense; personnel and mentality wise.
An effort was made this offseason to shore up our deficiencies, but so far the improvements remain unrevealed. Clifford Ray, the big man mentor extraordinaire, was brought in to teach our bigs how to play better, but all the mentoring in the world won't do us good if our bigs aren't allowed onto the court. Doc continues to keep our rebounders on the bench while he tries to force the small lineup to work. Yes, it does work, but what is really happening is we are just trading baskets back and forth. What we need are guys who can keep opponents from getting offensive boards and rebounders who can constantly snatch down loose balls and initiate the fastbreaks. But putting undersized lineups out there prevents us from doing this.
Its time we focused more energy on the defensive end and stop teams from getting easy points. We allow teams to get into their rhythm too often. We allow them to dictate the tempo on offense. Good defensive teams can disrupt their opponent's offensive rhythm and force them to play out of sync.
Playing good defense is not some magical gift only certain destined teams are allowed to have. Good defense is about players being in the right spots and holding down their own fort. One or two strong defensive players is not enough to carry an entire team. It requires an entire team effort to do their part to be at the right spots in the rotations and get there before the offense does. Its about having pride in stopping your man from scoring.
What it really comes down to is the mentally that you are going to beat your opponent with your defense, and humiliate them with your offense. That's how the players need to be thinking. And that's the way we are going to usher in the next Celtics Dynasty.
We need more size and bulk inside. Perk is strong and tough, but we need more. We need more guys who can carve space in the paint and secure positioning inside the circle. We need guys who are willing to knock down opponents who dare to come into their house. We need size guys who strike fear in the eyes of our opponents. Jefferson, Ratliff and Kandi aren't the type who scare teams from coming inside. Sure they can block and alter some shots, but guys are not afraid to challenge them. We need guys who get this crazy wild look in their eyes anytime someone ventures too close to the paint. We need guys with great white shark mentalities, who are always smelling out blood and on the hunt for fresh meat. Alonzo Mourning was this type of player and boy do I wish we had a young Zo on our team right now. What a difference he could make for us.
For now, we have to settle with what we have, but we can still do a lot more on the glass and on defense than what we've shown thus far. Our success this season hinges on what we do defensively. We are going to score points, even on our bad days. That's a lock. But if we want to win games, we need to up the ante on defense and come down with more rebounds than the other team.
If not, all we will have in our hands at the end of the season is vanishing fool's gold.