Celtics offense versus Cavs...key to the series?

[Chris]

As much as I like how Tony Allen has played lately, the C's can't afford to let Cleveland zone up, leaving TA and Rondo to brick jump shots.

That's a good point, Mr October.

I'd like to add that it sure would be nice if Nate Robinson would dust off his game, and realize that he can still fill it up.

Chris correctly points out how the Cav's defense hinges on how they defend Rondo (or don't defend Rondo..)  If Nate can come off the bench and make plays, this will force them to switch gears on the fly and allow us to dicate the flow of the game.

Just having Nate Robinson on the floor should force their defenders to respect his outside shot, and with the ball he still should be able to exploit the likes of Mo, Booby, and (maybe) West with his dribble.   

The matchups seem to at least warrant him getting a shot.  Questionable where his confidence is right now; but he did drop 40 after a month off for NY, so I'm going to hold out hope   

The other way the C's could attack it, if the Cavs are able to cause problems for Rondo by playing off him, is they could try throwing out a lineup of Ray, Pierce, and Finley on the perimeter.  If the C's are having trouble scoring, this could really open things up.  It would allow them to spread the floor a bit, and will make it a lot harder for them to take Ray away, since if they stick with him, they may be leaving another great shooter open. 

If they play that lineup even for a couple minutes, it might be enough to get some rhythm back, and open things up a bit for when Rondo comes back in.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

I agree 100$ with the coverage cleve puts on Ray...maybe TA can sub in for Ray, and tire that D out with his slashing, which really no one on cleve can cover, no one that i can figure....it would slow them down and then put Ray in to take advantage of the guy....Better pics, PP's better shooting and hopefully Finleys shooting can offset that coverage, make them pay for that focused D.......I would like to see Sheldon in there, he would get rebounds that no one else even tries to get on the C's, because he is ALWAYS in position to go after them, AND when he gets them, automatic foul on cleve or 2....! He also proved a dependable 10 footer  lately..!  That gives us a great inside outside BLUE-Collar guy who is...sort of the Celts trade-mark..!

[Mr October]

As much as I like how Tony Allen has played lately, the C's can't afford to let Cleveland zone up, leaving TA and Rondo to brick jump shots.

That's a good point, Mr October.

I'd like to add that it sure would be nice if Nate Robinson would dust off his game, and realize that he can still fill it up.

Chris correctly points out how the Cav's defense hinges on how they defend Rondo (or don't defend Rondo..)  If Nate can come off the bench and make plays, this will force them to switch gears on the fly and allow us to dicate the flow of the game.

Just having Nate Robinson on the floor should force their defenders to respect his outside shot, and with the ball he still should be able to exploit the likes of Mo, Booby, and (maybe) West with his dribble.   

The matchups seem to at least warrant him getting a shot.  Questionable where his confidence is right now; but he did drop 40 after a month off for NY, so I'm going to hold out hope   

You raise a good point about forcing the Cleveland defense to change its defense when Robinson checks in. And I expect this series to be like a complex chess match. Pieces will be moved around. I have to imagine that Nate and Daniels are going to have their moment in this series.

[celticinorlando]

limiting varajo on rebounds and hustle plays that lead to quick easy points...


in addition, boston needs to bang on lebrons elbow as much as possible

[D Dub]

As much as I like how Tony Allen has played lately, the C's can't afford to let Cleveland zone up, leaving TA and Rondo to brick jump shots.

That's a good point, Mr October.

I'd like to add that it sure would be nice if Nate Robinson would dust off his game, and realize that he can still fill it up.

Chris correctly points out how the Cav's defense hinges on how they defend Rondo (or don't defend Rondo..)  If Nate can come off the bench and make plays, this will force them to switch gears on the fly and allow us to dicate the flow of the game.

Just having Nate Robinson on the floor should force their defenders to respect his outside shot, and with the ball he still should be able to exploit the likes of Mo, Booby, and (maybe) West with his dribble.   

The matchups seem to at least warrant him getting a shot.  Questionable where his confidence is right now; but he did drop 40 after a month off for NY, so I'm going to hold out hope   

You raise a good point about forcing the Cleveland defense to change its defense when Robinson checks in. And I expect this series to be like a complex chess match. Pieces will be moved around. I have to imagine that Nate and Daniels are going to have their moment in this series.

I've gotta think so too.  Daniels was such a mis-match creator early in the season, hopefully he has stayed ready and Doc can utilize him to his potential.

One good thing about Nate and Quis being buried for so long - Cleveland sure doesn't have much recent tape to scout them on!  

Go Celts!

[celticinorlando]

if boston can steal game one...it would flip this series in a hurry...

[Chris]

limiting varajo on rebounds and hustle plays that lead to quick easy points...

I think this is an important thing for all of their big men, but especially Andy.  They are going to be working really hard to get stops on Lebron, and they need to make sure they do not have letdowns after the shot goes up.  They need to continue to work, and make sure they box out.  Those second chance points can be so deflating.

[celticinorlando]

how many times has boston played great defense vs the cavs only to see varajo hustle and get the board or get the 50/50 ball? that instantly results in a quick easy bucket for the cavs. he worries  me the most in this series without a doubt

[snively]

Great analysis Chris!

I wonder how the Celtics will attack the Cavs defense myself and I keep coming back to the same glaring mismatch we have against them...Kevin Garnett.

Along with Pierce who needs to continue to be solid, we need KG to go after their PF's aggressively. Jamison cant defend a lightpost and Varejou, while an elite help defender, isnt the best man defender unless you count flopping as post defense.


I look for KG to at least be aggressive and draw double teams. He does not necessarily have to score 25 ppg, but he needs to be engaged on his 2nd favorite end of the floor.

You're thinking like me. Let's give KG the ball often in the low post early in the game and go from there.

Here is my problem with this.  If they give KG the ball in the post, Perk's man is going to double him.  This will force KG to make the (correct) pass to the wide open Perk.  Unfortunately, Perk was finishing plays like that at about a 20% success rate (yes, I made up that number, but I don't think its far off) against the Heat, who have significantly worse interior defense than the Cavs.

This is why I think Perk could really swing this series.  Not with his defense, but whether he gets his head out of his butt on offense.  We all know he is not a great offensive player, but lately he has regressed to the point where he is a MAJOR liability.  He needs to fix that, and become a null offensive player (as in, not helping, but also not hurting), or else he is going to make it way too easy for the Cavs to defend us, which leads to fast breaks, which leads to Cav blowouts.

Great OP, Chris, but I think you are underrating the Heat's interior D.  They ranked ahead of Cleveland by a hair in at-rim FG% defense, boasting two quality shot-blockers in O'Neal and Anthony and a very solid big man in Haslem.  I don't think Perk will have any worse problems with the Cavs than he did with the Heat. 

And I don't think the Cavs are going to double team with Shaq either.  He's way too slow to double and recover at this point in his career.

[snively]

Jamison doesn't defend/show off the ball screens as well as Cleveland's big men have in the past and Anthony Parker is inconsistent and sometimes struggles with his defensive positioning off the ball (particularly on pick and rolls) although Parker has been getting better at this as the season has gone on.

Ray Allen will get better looks against the Cavs than he has in the past when these two are in the game.

Another thing to consider is Parker's historic struggles to keep Ray Allen in check.  Ray's averaged 24ppg on 53% shooting (55% from 3!) in 14 career match-ups with Shelden's brother-in-law.