Simple basketball - the way to win.

[nickagneta]

What drove me nuts in the second half of the last game was what the Celtics refused to do, play simple basic basketball. Too often when this team gets ahead they get flashy and look for the spectacular pass or they get lazy and look for the spectacular three pointer or the get fancy and decide hero ball is the way to play. Sometimes all three things happen and the team gets away from the basics of intelligent basketball and they lose leads.

First off, never relent on the defensive end of the game. Too often the Celtics get a lead and they relax the defense, especially on the perimeter and in transition. What they seem to miss is these are the two areas where the defensive intensity must be maintained in order to keep a team down. Leaving teams wide open threes and the ability to score on a transition dunk gets them riled up and believing they can come back. That has to be shut down always, even when up by large margins.

Second, on the offensive end, the easiest way to beat a team that's down is to play simple basketball and go to the hole. Stop with the high screen pick and pops for 20 footers. Change it around to a high screen pick and rolls and go to the basket. Stop with the double low screens to get Allen open for a three and instead go with the feed into the post with the pass coming from KG to the cutter either from the side or from the top. In transition don't pass it out for a three, take it for the lay in. Go to the basket. Make contact. Get to the line.

The other night the Celtics played stupid basketball in the third and fourth quarter. Both quarters they had the Sixers in the penalty and eschewed simple basketball for the fancy, lazy, hero ball stuff they get into. High screens turned into offensive fouls and turnovers. Hero ball on Ray and Paul's part lead to double teamed turnovers. Pick and pops and kick outs on transition buckets lead to too many outside shots that were missed and no contact. They never went to the basket even though the refs were in a whistle happy mood and doing so could have gotten them free points at the line.

Sometimes its just a matter of playing smart. The Celtics left Iguodala wide open way too many times from three. They didn't get back in transition, they played passive offense relying on three pointers and 20 footers and didn't take advantage of the Sixers foul problems. They almost never posted up or went to the basket.

Putting the lower bench in isn't going to help. Sasha, Daniels, Moore and Stiemsma aren't going to solve what ails this team at times. They just have to go back to the basics and remember what got them there in the first place. Good ball movement, constant defensive pressure, smart plays, passes and shots and taking it inside.

That's the formula for success.

[CoachBo]

Co-sign, although I'd say that signs of the malaise were evident in the second quarter, which is where I called the threat in the Friday night game thread.

I wish I could say I was surprised by what happened Friday night, but I'm not.

The surprising thing is how mightily this team struggles with doing the simple things necessary to win, especially since it's obvious that's how we dominated people. As I said Friday night, I've had HS teams that didn't have this much trouble sticking to the winning recipe.

Attack with the basketball, move it, get to the line and d people up, and we'll be fine. A good shot ALWAYS finds the basketball if you're attacking and moving it.

We MUST attack every second of the shot clock. Watch how often the ball gets walked up the floor; that will tell you exactly how much trouble we are in offensively.

We keep running that stagnant halfcourt set and the season ends next week. I am not encouraged by some of the public lamenting of the "fast pace" after Friday night; indicates to me that we don't recognize the difference between playing out of control and attacking.

[lightspeed5]

Agreed. simple pick and roll plays would have been more effective than whatever we were doing.