Cs play isolation ball the entire 4th quarter…isn’t that a world record?

[Evantime34]

The ball in Pierce's hands at that point is not a problem.



The tunnel vision he was playing with was.  To many other players were open (like Ray) that Pierce should have passed.

Yeah part of the problem with Paul is that he is too good. He knows he can score on anyone so he decides when he gets the ball that he's going to shoot. Once the decision is made he does not deviate from the plan regardless of the defense.

[Roy Hobbs]

The ball in Pierce's hands at that point is not a problem.


 
The tunnel vision he was playing with was.  To many other players were open (like Ray) that Pierce should have passed.

Yeah part of the problem with Paul is that he is too good. He knows he can score on anyone so he decides when he gets the ball that he's going to shoot. Once the decision is made he does not deviate from the plan regardless of the defense.

That's definitely true at times, which is why it's important that Paul plays beside a great PG.  However, when Rondo is off, putting the ball in Paul's hands is the best second option we have.  Also, in fairness to Paul, he did have a couple of assists down the stretch, although I agree, he should have gotten Ray more involved.

[wdleehi]

The ball in Pierce's hands at that point is not a problem.


 
The tunnel vision he was playing with was.  To many other players were open (like Ray) that Pierce should have passed.

Yeah part of the problem with Paul is that he is too good. He knows he can score on anyone so he decides when he gets the ball that he's going to shoot. Once the decision is made he does not deviate from the plan regardless of the defense.

That's definitely true at times, which is why it's important that Paul plays beside a great PG.  However, when Rondo is off, putting the ball in Paul's hands is the best second option we have.  Also, in fairness to Paul, he did have a couple of assists down the stretch, although I agree, he should have gotten Ray more involved.

Agreed. 

But last night, we saw the tunnel vision Pierce which worked fine in the 1st half.  In the 2nd half, it failed.  The effort was there, but not the results.  I think he would have played better if he eyes were "open" to his teammates more in the 2nd half. 

[blackbird]

I'm sure this is an unpopular view, but how about we give some credit to a great defensive team who came up with a game plan to take away our ball movement?

Basically Orlando did to us what we've done to everyone else in the playoffs.

[wdleehi]

I'm sure this is an unpopular view, but how about we give some credit to a great defensive team who came up with a game plan to take away our ball movement?

Basically Orlando did to us what we've done to everyone else in the playoffs.

They did play good defense.



Which is why the iso ball plan with eyes closed an issue.  The best way to beat good defense is good team play.

[Roy Hobbs]

I'm sure this is an unpopular view, but how about we give some credit to a great defensive team who came up with a game plan to take away our ball movement?

Basically Orlando did to us what we've done to everyone else in the playoffs.

If Orlando's defense was what shut us down, I'd be worried.

However, it wasn't.  Last night's breakdown on offense was almost solely caused by Rondo playing timidly.  Orlando wasn't taking away our offense, we just weren't initiating it.  That caused us to go to Plan B, which is tough for us when Pierce, Ray, and BBD are the only ones contributing on offense in the second half.

Game 4 was an anomaly, because Rondo is a much better player than he showed.  I'm not stressed about Game 5 at all, because Orlando still hasn't shown that they can stop us.

[Evantime34]

The ball in Pierce's hands at that point is not a problem.


 
The tunnel vision he was playing with was.  To many other players were open (like Ray) that Pierce should have passed.

Yeah part of the problem with Paul is that he is too good. He knows he can score on anyone so he decides when he gets the ball that he's going to shoot. Once the decision is made he does not deviate from the plan regardless of the defense.

That's definitely true at times, which is why it's important that Paul plays beside a great PG.  However, when Rondo is off, putting the ball in Paul's hands is the best second option we have.  Also, in fairness to Paul, he did have a couple of assists down the stretch, although I agree, he should have gotten Ray more involved.

I would argue that Ray coming off screens is our best second option.

However for some reason Rondo usually stands with the ball while waiting for Ray to get free. I say give KG the ball in the high post then run screens for ray so that he comes out on the same side as KG. If Ray is open he probably hits the 3. If KG's guy tries to help KG can take it to the hole or hit an elbow jumper.

I am never in favor of Iso plays, because it makes it that much easier to play help defense. It's ok to have one player run the offense but why not set some screens to make his life easier instead of just giving it to him and watching?

[twinbree]

The stagnant offense definitely did us in last night. We were shaky on defense but did enough on that end to win if we'd made a couple more baskets. Without the ball movement we weren't getting the kind of good looks we usually get and Rondo not playing well seems to have hurt the bench the most.

Not to take anything away from Rondo but the team really should be able to survive an off-night from him. I honestly don't know how I feel about this. We're a veteran team. I know Rondo is the little engine that makes us run but we can't become too dependent on him. We still need to find ways to get it done when he's resting or not playing well.

[moiso]

Yes, it was ugly and predictable offense.  But the bigger problem in my mind was that Paul was clearly exhausted with no gas left in the tank.  Why did the team and Doc not see that Ray was looking fresh and he was on fire?  If they ran plays for Ray to take 2 or 3 of those shots that Pierce clanged off the front of the rim, the C's easily win that game.

[looseball]

I thought the best part of the offense the previous game was the exquisite ball movement.  Guys were catching and passing in one continuous motion.  They were all in "the zone" together.
You can shut down any one player if you double or triple team him, but there really is no possible defense for 5 guys moving, and moving the ball at the same time.  We do this better than any other team.
We got away from this last night, but if we get back to it next game we will close this series out going away.