The 4th Quarter Dilemma

[OmarSekou]

We struggle in the 4th quarter. Teams are able to play off of Rondo and force him to the line or into an outside jump shot. When that happens he can't QB our team like he does so well for most of the game and our rhythm breaks down.

I think we should test out putting Rondo on a spot when this happens and letting Pierce direct the offense. Rondo's not a good spot shooter, but I'm sure there's somewhere on the court he feels comfortable (we could even put him on a block if we wanted to try something different because he can outrebound most PGs and we're a jump shooting team). Pierce can play pick and roll with KG and Ray can still run around like usual. Rondo would only need to focus on hitting an open shot from his spot and cutting for layups.

Could this work? If not, what would work?

[theswitch]

I wouldn't be opposed to something like this if we can't get out and run. Bradley was really solid at cutting to the hoop off of Pierce handling it, I don't see why Rondo can't wait for the right moment and make a 4th quarter living by getting some easy layups so his guy doesn't beat him. He's most dangerous when he's maneuvering freely near the basket so if his man leaves him, give him the rock on a cut and let him do something fancy with it either finishing or dishing it off for an easy 2.

[KGs Knee]

The C's need to use a little more PnR with Pierce and KG in the high post.  Have Rondo be the guy cutting in from the weak side.  Bradley, when he was starting while Rondo was out, was really starting to find a niche for himself doing this.  I don't understand why they can't do this with Rondo.

It gives Pierce the option of taking it to the hoop himself, hitting KG on the pick-and-pop, or hitting Rondo on the back-door cut. 

Seems simple, but I guess the Pierce ISO is more fun to watch.

[theswitch]

The C's need to use a little more PnR with Pierce and KG in the high post.  Have Rondo be the guy cutting in from the weak side.  Bradley, when he was starting while Rondo was out, was really starting to find a niche for himself doing this.  I don't understand why they can't do this with Rondo.

It gives Pierce the option of taking it to the hoop himself, hitting KG on the pick-and-pop, or hitting Rondo on the back-door cut. 

Seems simple, but I guess the Pierce ISO is more fun to watch.

Great minds think alike

[KGs Knee]

One other play, which I saw today, is to have Pierce and Rondo runa PnR.  

It seemed wierd, but it worked almost too easily.  Boozer and Noah looked completely confused with Pierce looking like he was gonna drive the lane only to dish it to Rondo to drive the other side of the lane.

[KGs Knee]

The C's need to use a little more PnR with Pierce and KG in the high post.  Have Rondo be the guy cutting in from the weak side.  Bradley, when he was starting while Rondo was out, was really starting to find a niche for himself doing this.  I don't understand why they can't do this with Rondo.

It gives Pierce the option of taking it to the hoop himself, hitting KG on the pick-and-pop, or hitting Rondo on the back-door cut. 

Seems simple, but I guess the Pierce ISO is more fun to watch.

Great minds think alike

HaHa!  TP!

Yeah, when I went to post I got one of those warnings "there is another post".  I always ignore them.

[theswitch]

One other play, which I saw today, is to have Pierce and Rondo runa PnR.  

It seemed wierd, but it worked almost too easily.  Boozer and Noah looked completely confused with Pierce looking like he was gonna drive the lane only to dish it to Rondo to drive the other side of the lane.

Yeah, that also works when we have guys like KG, Ray, Bass, JJJ on the floor who can take a jumper with easy from 15+ feet out to spread the floor or if we have a finisher like Wilcox out there.

[chambers]

This is what they did today, which is why I'm assuming you made the topic.
Quickly move the ball at the top to the wings or have Pierce control the offense and draw help defenders to stop his elbow jumpshot.
When they come to help, he dishes to Ray or Rondo who then drives and draws a foul, or dishes to the next player.
Worked well against the number one (other than us) defense in the NBA.

[nickagneta]

As much as Rondo's aggressiveness decreases in the fourth quarter I think the entire team goes into a hero complex form of basketball late in games. Off the ball movement grinds to a halt. The ball sticks in everyone hands, not just Rondo's. Three point shooting, even early in the shot clock before trying to set up a play happens, as does the hero pass, the hero shot, and the hero iso.

The entire 4th quarter offense late in games is pathetic and it's not just because Rondo's man goes down into a zone and plays for him to shoot outside.

The plays that are run take forever to get going. They slow the pace down to a crawl to help the tired older legs of Pierce, KG and Allen. Pierce goes crazy with some ridiculous isos and then ends up losing a lot of turnovers. KG becomes tight outside and doesn't go down low and establish position as much as he should and as I said before, the off the ball movement by EVERY SINGLE PLAYER ON THE TEAM is pitiful.