What can the Celts do differently on defense when KG is resting?

[vinnie]

I honestly have never seen one guy make such a difference for a team as KG is making right now for the Celtics. His +/- is off the charts. I just am not sure what Doc can do. Does he roll the dice with Hollins for 3-4 minutes? Does he try Stiemsma again? All I know is that when KG is out, Miami can score every time they have the ball. Doc needs to figure something out.

[cman88]

we could go to a more zone defense and less our conventional "man/help defense" with steimsma protecting the hoop..I wouldnt mind putting Sean williams out there for a few minutes

[pearljammer10]

I dont know what we can do but man is it amazing how terrible we play when garnett comes out of the game. its like night and day.

[pork3]

we could go to a more zone defense and less our conventional "man/help defense" with steimsma protecting the hoop..I wouldnt mind putting Sean williams out there for a few minutes

I can't imagine Williams being any worse than Hollins, one of the most useless bigs I've ever seen.

-Jamman

[bfrombleacher]

Maybe taking Paul and Ray off the Divas would help. They don't seem to be hurting that much now and are moving better but Dooling, Marquis and Pietrus (and Sasha) are better defenders right now.

[wahz]

 lets all get it through our heads that there is no good answer but there is a best possible answer.

Imho the best answer is to play a very tight zone, pack it, and defend the perimeter only out toward but not to the line. We have to stop penetration! On the floor have your quickest guys but also have a group that can score to mitigate the damage. They have to get back on d and run to their spots on the floor immediately and not jog back ever. Id go with Rajon, Dooling, Pietrus, Ray and PP. Super small I get it. I get it that they could and would get doiminated in the paint but they are all good help defenders and only Peaches overeaches a lot so he gets out of position.  That is definately who Id use and Id tell them on the plane what we'll do and how we are going to do it. And if Mia starts hitting over them, well unless its 3-4 threes it won't be worse than whats happening now.

My alternate would be Marquis in for Dooling if you can see you need a cutter, or for MP if you don't think you need another floor spreader. Marquis can cut and post up so he is a decent alternative.

[Kane3387]

Rebound

[LarBrd33]

I honestly have never seen one guy make such a difference for a team as KG is making right now for the Celtics. His +/- is off the charts. I just am not sure what Doc can do. Does he roll the dice with Hollins for 3-4 minutes? Does he try Stiemsma again? All I know is that when KG is out, Miami can score every time they have the ball. Doc needs to figure something out.

He's been off-the-charts this playoff series.  He's the key to our defense, but also getting a consistent 20 and 10 basically every game.  When KG plays this well... Boston is a contender.

[Celtics18]

Don't rest him too much, and hope like heck that some combination of that rag tag bench group can keep you above water when he needs a breather.  Like tonight.

[Kane3387]

I'd like to see some of the mods answers bc this is a great question. Faf, ip, Roy... What do you guys think?

[jMo721]

If you're Doc you've tried Hollins and Stiemsma in this series and they've been utterly ineffective. Why not throw Sean Williams out there and see if he can't protect the paint a little bit?

If that doesn't work, pull him out and forget I ever mentioned it.

[Celtics18]

If you're Doc you've tried Hollins and Stiemsma in this series and they've been utterly ineffective. Why not throw Sean Williams out there and see if he can't protect the paint a little bit?

If that doesn't work, pull him out and forget I ever mentioned it.

We would never hold you accountable for a Sean Williams sighting, but if some supernatural series of events occurred which both convinced Doc to try him and it actually worked, you'd definitely be due a few Tommy points.