I was ready to blame PP over this 6 game skid (not just him a lot of the nights but a big part to do with him)... until I realized it is MOSTLY on DOC! He's steady calling out the players... when he FORCES THEM even when the bench guys were performing MUCH better?
1st half, every time the bench gained the lead he quickly snatched them to put in a mighty struggling PP and RR who stopped the ball movement!! RR wasn't bad tonight but when PP was in with him, he deferred too much to PP and our offense bogged down. Green, Lee, and Jet were clicking together tonight and every time they did excellent, they were quickly pulled (both halves)! The bench was putting in work end of first/early second Q... then to end the first half Doc sat them (they were building the lead), to put RR and PP back in... we were lucky that AB hit a 3 for us to go back up to 19pts to end the half (after the bench had us up big and the starters crumbled).
Then the 3rd Q of doom happened and the starters got outscored 19-2 in like the first 6 mins... enter Jet and the other bench guys, Jet hits some huge 3s and get us the lead back after we went to down 3, then the bench gets us a 7pt lead (in a few mins of pt), quickly Doc puts back in the starters and we go down again shortly after. We are down, enter Clee and boom, we catch up and stretch the lead to 10 (on the back of Clee on both ends)... then Doc takes Clee out and the epic collapse ensues again (on the back of Korver who was wide open because of PP, then AB shuts Korver down and Smith gashes PP up), Hawks even it up to end regulation.
Then in OT, AB on Korver and still shuts him down... but AB having to guard Korver put PP on Smith, Smith scored 5 of the Hawks 9pts in that OT when PP was on him (may not seem like a lot but they were crucial and it was OT) to PP's ZERO points!
Then we have OT#2, where Smith started the Q off with an and 1 to go up by 3. From that play the Hawks scored 7 more points mostly by Horford (5), who had easy buckets b/c so many people (his man KG/Sully) had to help PP contain Smith, which just broke us down. The
Celtics didn't score ONE point until it was 1:19 left in the second OT! By that time we were down by 10. Garnett fouled out at the 3:40 mark of that 2nd OT... what went down in the 1:20secs b4 that... RR threw the ball away and got 1 rebound, KG missed one shot... we had the ball all of 2 possession in that 1:20 secs. Enter Sullinger, Horford goes on a mini tear from there. During that 3:40 of OT #2 after KG fouls out our team does this...
RR- 1 turn, 2 missed shots, 1 made shot(33.2 left of OT#2), and a personal foul.
PP-1 made shot (2pts at 1:19 mark), 1 turnover (1:53 mark), and a missed shot.
Sully- 2 fouls and fouls out (2:05 mark, enter Bass).
No one else on our team besides PP,KG, RR, and Sully even show up on the stats in the ENTIRE second OT except to be subbed LOL.
Yes PP is the glaring weakness ONE AGAIN, but Doc not playing others and using his starters through thick and thin (horrible playing), is the MAIN problem... it has been the main problem for a while now. He doesn't trust the other guys... it's all RR, PP, and KG (Ray in the past) over everyone else, team/game be [dang]ed! It's mind boggling really, seeing as you should count on and use your bench more in the regular season to save your stars/starters for major time in the playoffs. I could understand it if you snatch the bench out when they stink but there have been many occasions when the bench/some of the players are playing excellent (terry is the only old guy), yet he doesn't stick with the hot hand(s)... he would rather sub them for a struggling starting unit/player!
What makes even less sense to me is Doc forcing RR to play so many minutes... how do we win WITHOUT RR playing entire games but some reason Doc assumes that unless RR is on the court a bazillion minutes of every game, we can't survive when he's on the bench resting? Seriously, we win w/o him but can't afford to let him rest at all during the games he plays. HOW DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE?
It doesn't, just another way you know Doc doesn't trust others! I believe that's why the other guys perform differently when they come here, they know that Doc won't play them even if they are playing good unless he has to! I'd hold a bit of a grudge knowing I'm knocking down my shots and defending very well but I get the same minutes I get when I play sub-par, all for another player who may be struggling like Leonardo to get on that headboard with Rose after the Titanic sunk! Green was out playing PP tonight 17/6 (4-8, 8-8ft) and 1 turnover, while PP had 12/6/4 (4-13, 4-4ft)
5 turnovers in 10 more minutes with
WORSE defense! Tonight is just one example of that favoritism but if I wasn't lazy or cared to, I could give many more examples.
Doc is a great coach (how great is debatable) but he needs to get far more blame than he receives... we as fans, seem to overlook Doc's unwillingness to adapt (unless forced), which has cost us dearly. I may see a thread on Doc once in a blue moon but see threads on the players daily (new ones at that)!