Speed it up or slow it down for Game 7

[Big333223]

Watching last night's game, it felt like the C's were doing everything they could to keep the pace of the game slow to keep Milwaukee from getting out in transition. The problem with that is that the Celtics half court offense is terrible and they're much better when they're getting stops and getting out on the break.

I'd rather see them get up and down the floor a little faster and have confidence in their superior defense to stop Milwaukee's break.

[celticsclay]

Watching last night's game, it felt like the C's were doing everything they could to keep the pace of the game slow to keep Milwaukee from getting out in transition. The problem with that is that the Celtics half court offense is terrible and they're much better when they're getting stops and getting out on the break.

I'd rather see them get up and down the floor a little faster and have confidence in their superior defense to stop Milwaukee's break.

That game was so frustrating...

[Ogaju]

The game or the game thread?

[libermaniac]

They key is just ball movement to create open looks and ball security.  If they turn the ball over the Bucks get out and run.  Once their offense gets stagnant, even if they don't turn it over, they put up bad shots with long rebounds and the Bucks are off to the races.

Just fix the offense, ball movement and everything drops into place.

The home crowd should be the right medicine to cure what ails.

C's the moment!!!!

[Celtics4ever]

Watching last night's game, it felt like the C's were doing everything they could to keep the pace of the game slow to keep Milwaukee from getting out in transition. The problem with that is that the Celtics half court offense is terrible and they're much better when they're getting stops and getting out on the break.

We don't have the horses to play hero ball right now, but that is what our guys did last night.  I think with the Garden Crowd and a commitment to D, and team basketball we can win the game.

[vjcsmoke]

I feel like we need to attack more.  Get more easy buckets in transition.  We still need to maintain defensive discipline but not at the course of fouling up our own offensive opportunities.

[Donoghus]

I'm not sure how much pace is the issue.  It's these lapses offensively where the ball movement dies & the offense becomes more iso-centric.  It kills them.  Also, shot selection gets sloppy & it absolutely kills them.  You really saw it on display in the 2nd quarter last night.

It also wouldn't hurt to play much better in the last two minutes of each quarter at both ends.  I don't know where that is coming from but it's gotta stop.

[Green-18]

They key is just ball movement to create open looks and ball security.  If they turn the ball over the Bucks get out and run.  Once their offense gets stagnant, even if they don't turn it over, they put up bad shots with long rebounds and the Bucks are off to the races.

Just fix the offense, ball movement and everything drops into place.

The home crowd should be the right medicine to cure what ails.

C's the moment!!!!

Exactly right.  Tatum and Brown in particular need to be decisive as soon as the ball hits their  hands.  Both of them have had stretches where they hesitate for a moment.  This is when we either turn it over or force someone to take a bad shot.

[hpantazo]

The Bucks have been killing us in transition. I’d love to see us turn the tables on them and play some fast break ball ourselves

[Thruthelookingglass]

Watching last night's game, it felt like the C's were doing everything they could to keep the pace of the game slow to keep Milwaukee from getting out in transition. The problem with that is that the Celtics half court offense is terrible and they're much better when they're getting stops and getting out on the break.

I'd rather see them get up and down the floor a little faster and have confidence in their superior defense to stop Milwaukee's break.

My take was different, but admittedly it's mostly from the early shell shock of the late first and the second quarter.  Early on the C's tried to keep up the pace to unsettle the Bucks and get transition buckets.  Unfortunately, they repeatedly blew transition opportunities and seemed to bungle passes when they moved too quickly.  The Bucks took advantage.  I think the slower, more deliberate pace was a reaction to the failure of the Celtics in transition and in generating first half offense through Tatum and Brown. 

The quicker pace to free up Tatum and Brown in space is fine in theory.  I hope that in game 7 they are able to execute it.  And rebound.  And finally affect Middleton's shot.

[footey]

Most of our fast breaks are created off of steals.  We just don't seem to be getting them much since the beginning of this series.  Maybe we need to get more pressure on the ball, that would help.

Aside from that, we need to get into our set offense faster.  I know Stevens hates it when we walk the ball up the court.  It limits the amount of ball movement options we can invoke before shot clock expiration. Too many times we are shooting desperation shots with the clock ending.

[Fred Roberts]

I thought we hung tough last night. Tough team in that environment. Game 7 is going to be tight!!! Meaning closely contested.

[Big333223]

They key is just ball movement to create open looks and ball security.  If they turn the ball over the Bucks get out and run.  Once their offense gets stagnant, even if they don't turn it over, they put up bad shots with long rebounds and the Bucks are off to the races.

Just fix the offense, ball movement and everything drops into place.

The home crowd should be the right medicine to cure what ails.

C's the moment!!!!

Exactly right.  Tatum and Brown in particular need to be decisive as soon as the ball hits their  hands.  Both of them have had stretches where they hesitate for a moment.  This is when we either turn it over or force someone to take a bad shot.

This is something I was yelling at the TV about, too. It felt like everyone was catching the ball and then wasting 3 seconds of shot clock jabbing and faking before doing anything. Meanwhile, the defense has caught up to whatever action the C's just ran. More decisive decision from Tatum, Brown, Morris, Rozier, and Horford can help.

I also worry, though, about how often the ball swings around the perimeter and nothing happens. The best the team played yesterday was when Tatum and Brown were getting to the rim and if they couldn't finish there, they were kicking out and making something from the scrambled defense. So that falls into more decisive action as well.

[Erik]

My thoughts from another thread:

Two keys for Game 7:
1) Protect the ball. Lots of silly dribbling turnovers during the hero ball sessions. I'm sure Brad Stevens is going to reiterate to play team ball and find the open shooters and some low post opportunities to slow the game down and allow us to get into half court sets. Each strip = 2 points the other way because Giannis is already running the moment it happens. Part of the solution is just playing at home. The Bucks go on those large runs due to fast breaks after turnovers. Then the young players get rattled and try to force plays and give up even more turnovers. At home, they'll be a bit more relaxed.

2) Need to rotate better on defense. Brown looked terrible on the rotations in Game 6. He gave up on several key plays which led to wide open 3 pointers. I liked the idea of putting Smart on Giannis in the low post similar to how we played Millsap years ago. I wouldn't even double team him after entry. Make him have to push Smart to the ground or make him make that turnaround jumper. I know that he's been knocking them down, but it's not going to continue forever. I'd much rather see an entire game of 20 foot turnaround jumpers by a below average shooter than watch an entire game of wide open 3s by Khris Middleton because the rotations are just not there in time.

[SHAQATTACK]

NEITHER

Its about MAKING SHOTs.....some how some way , doesn't matter if its foul shot or two or three , its GOT to go in the hole .   

IF the Celtics MAKE buckets " how ever". ...then that destroys the easy transistion Freak buckets they simply killed us with.

Celtics bricked WAY too many shots ....the bricks flew of the rim and then led to Freak layups .

By scoring , we make them come down the floor and play a conventional half court game , that takes away the EASY scores for them.....and they fall behind .   Freak is not a great half court shooter.  He wants to dunk every time down court

The fast break allows the Freak one on one open court to go to the rim.  I got sick of watching this same repeat and turned the gameoff.

If Celtics score ....then they have time to get back and set up a defense to stop the Freak

Missing a bricked THREE is the worst shot possible.....its a Freak fast break nearly every miss. Missed threes plays right into Lebron and Freaks game .  Grab the long rebound and head down court for the dunk .   

Some how Al.  Morris ,  Moose , Tatum have to score inside ....to stop the fast breaks .  Make Bucks take the ball out of bounds after a score OR battle for shots under the bucket ,  the dang threes just play right into the Freaks game .....it spreads the floor for him.

We miss the shot ,  and then give them a layup.  thats four point swing ......we will never win

Somehow , the Celtics need to just get the ball in the bucket .....to stop the transistion