What do you see as the biggest weakness of the Celtics right now?

[jay_jay54]

Defense is up/down...not as consistent as it was in the regular season.The Hawkes scoring in the 100's told a story in a few games.I think we have had games,where out interior D collapses in periods,espeically in the fourth quarters,when Perkins is on the pine.Also,the offense has its inconsistent moments,unable to score for  long  stages.This could be due to Doc not playing any scorers at times when their are mostly bench players on the court.

[nickagneta]

What I noticed in the Hawks series that is all on the players, is a lack of the consistent, intense, and focused 48 minute effort that we had seen all year. Except for that game 7, every single game had a rollercoaster ride of focus and effort on the part of the Celtics.

And I don't mean just the bench, it was the starters too.

They seemed to come out strong the first 6-7 minutes then their defensive rotations and offensive movement off the ball and with the ball stagnated. Offense became a one or two pass iso thing and the defense became porous.

I want to see this team play all 48 minutes every game. That is our biggest weakness, maintaining focus.

[Barnabas]

One thing I noticed during the Hawks series is that the Hawks could score in more ways than the Celtics.  They could shoot outside, slash to the basket, post up, etc.  Whereas the Celts were basically shooting jumpshots.  In the games that they lost, they would go for a stretch where they were missing a lot of those jumpers, and the guy that could bail them out (Pierce) was guarded by a taller player who was just as quick and negated his ability to take it to the rim.  I realise this is a jumpshooting team.  They do that very well, but that kind of offense does have its downsides.

[irememberbrettszabo]

To me, this team's biggest weakness is scoreboard watching. I think that game 7 was a good indication of what this team is capable of doing when they play hard for the entire game. However, and ray ray admitted this, once they have a double digit lead they seem to relax and give it all away, and fairly quickly. We saw this in the games they lost where they had double digit leads, and even in game 6 I believe they were up by 15 and Atlanta made a run and got it down to 5 or so, before the celtics turned it back on.

In game 7, Doc repeatedly told his guys to "not let up" and we saw an 18 point half time lead balloon into 36 after 3 quarters. In Atlanta I believe that they did let up and that is why the series went 7 games. Against better teams that have the ability to win on the road these sort of breakdowns will be much more harmful.

A team with as good a defense as the Celtics have should never see a double digit lead disappear so easily.

Go Celts!

[green tea]

 

I believe Boston as a team is one without any discernable weakness during the regular season.

The playoffs have been a different story.

1) Lack of focus down the stretch/on the road.  Boston had its heel on Atlanta's throat in all 3 losses.  For a team that has performed so well on the road all season, it was inexcusable to see how Boston collapsed in the 4th quarter in Atlanta on 3 separate occasions.

We have to clamp down, dig deep, and really finish opponents.  Laziness, lack of mental toughness (getting easily rattled by the Hawks' physical play) was the reason we lost 3 games.  I saw an unwillingness in KG to take big shots or go to the rack, loss of composure on the part of Paul, inability to hit the big shots by Ray, and some poor decision making by Rondo.  You can bet that the Cavs are going to do everything they can to get underneath Boston's collective skin.  Those losses were on the shoulders of the players-- not Doc, imo. 

Boston has to shape up...and shape up quickly, or it's going to get dispatched by a Cavs team that has been there and done that. 

2) Bench depth.  To me, this was one of our biggest strengths during the regular season.  But essentially, with the rotations being slimmed down and TA/House/PJ have for the most part being relegated to garbage minutes, a heavier load is being placed on the shoulders of our starting unit and our aging big 3.  I understand shortening up the rotation a bit.  But it places increased physical/mental pressure on the other players.  Which leads me to my next point....

3) Athleticism.  Yeah, I know...we have 3 of the best players in the NBA on our team...but I am concerned about our lack of athleticism.  Because of the extra burden being placed on our big 3 (due to the shortened bench rotation), the wear and tear is going to add up.  I think Atlanta did a great job showing how a fast, scrappy, chaotic team can cause major problems for a Boston team that depends on forcing the opposition to run its set offense.  If we're able to get past Cleveland in an extended series, a team with younger, fresher legs is going to pose a serious threat.  In other words, Orlando could be a bigger problem than Detroit in the conference finals.


For the most part, I think Doc has done a pretty good job running plays right out of timeouts.  Boston has been able to execute those plays pretty well.  My only concern on the coaching front, is figuring out how to keep the big 3 fresh and energized.  If Boston is going to make it to the finals, are the big 3 going to have enough gas in the tanks if takes us 21 games to get there?!?!?

My final concern is an awkward one.  This team is almost unselfish to a fault, at times.  It would give me great comfort to know that at least ONE of our big 3 is going to have the stones to step up in the clutch down the stretch.  Thus far, I think Posey has been our biggest clutch performer.  Usually, I think playoff experience is a bit overrated...but Posey makes me think otherwise.

That is all.

GO BOSTONNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

[reggie35]

1) Lack of focus down the stretch/on the road. 

I agree with this weakness but would call it poise or fearlessness. The Celtics got really tight when the game was tight. Maybe the fear was of losing to the lowly hawks. If that's the case, maybe they'll play looser against a better team. They better since I don't expect any blowouts.

T

[green tea]

1) Lack of focus down the stretch/on the road. 

I agree with this weakness but would call it poise or fearlessness. The Celtics got really tight when the game was tight. Maybe the fear was of losing to the lowly hawks. If that's the case, maybe they'll play looser against a better team. They better since I don't expect any blowouts.

T

Hey Reggie,

You're right....poise would have been a better choice of words. 

I think the Cav's believe they can win this series.  They saw Atlanta push Boston to the brink...so they will be confident that they can do the same!

[TrueGreen]

Not running their stuff on both ends at times. Also, getting a big lead seems to make them lose focus. If they play defense like they did Sunday no team can beat them over 7 games.

[cdif911]

The head coach.


He showed the lack of ability to get his team together on the road.

He showed the lack of ability to use his bench. 


He showed the lack of ability to make adjustments. 

surprising....shocking.... he did show the ability to fire up his squad at home.  He did show the ability to stick with guys who were not the popular choice like Sam, who pulled out big shot after big shot... he did play his starters more consistently, barring foul trouble... and guess what, he got the team out of the 1st round, something many of you were just ready to pounce on.  I can't wait for the 1st road game for the celts to pull ahead and silence the cav's crowd - its a new season again, and the coach will not be the reason for failure, this time or anytime

[crownsy]

a big one is, how bad is paul's back?

because you can't tell me that he went aggressively driving the lane all year, then took that cheap foul and hard shot to the back, and suddenly he was a jump shooter only until game 5, 6 and 7.

not only that, as tommy mentioned several times, he pulls back early on free throws now, which to me makes it seem like it hurts him to bend over as he does in his free throw shooting stance. mabey hurts is the wrong word... but he certainly looked very uncomfortable at the line, and was straighting up early.

if we don't have Paul slashing to the basket, we become a different team. there's no devastating cutter for KG to pass to, and no need to sag on him, leaving ray wide open looks off kick outs, ect.

I hope his back is on the mend, and he looked markedly better in game 7. I just hope that he doesn't have a strain he's playing through or something.

[kenmaine]

Biggest weakness IMO- the coach.
The team really has no major weaknesses, and it's not that I think Doc is horrible. But even though they won yesterday, I still want to see less Ray Allen and less Cassell. More House, more Big Baby, and at least a little of Tony Allen here and there.
Probably just because I like the way those guys play, more fun to watch, at least for me. That's why I'm a fan and not a coach!
Anyway, fantastic game yesterday, except for the disgusting cheap foul on Rondo. Nice job by KG picking off ZaZa later in the game- actually looked like a clean pick to me. The "no layup" crap is out of control. Someone will be seriously injured pretty soon.

[tanner]

Poise and offensive execution down the stretch when it counts.  Can we win close games?  Can we do it on the road?  That's what we have to do as we face tougher and tougher teams ahead.  Are we at our best only when we get to blow out the opponent early? 

[dark_lord]

one word answer to this question....

THEMSELVES

if they play the way they are capable of, defend, and stay composed....no one can stop us.

[NicaraguanFan]

In the first round I have to say our lack of leadership.  When things got ugly nobody stepped up.


NF.

[nickagneta]

Biggest weakness IMO- the coach.
The team really has no major weaknesses, and it's not that I think Doc is horrible. But even though they won yesterday, I still want to see less Ray Allen and less Cassell. More House, more Big Baby, and at least a little of Tony Allen here and there.
Probably just because I like the way those guys play, more fun to watch, at least for me. That's why I'm a fan and not a coach!
Anyway, fantastic game yesterday, except for the disgusting cheap foul on Rondo. Nice job by KG picking off ZaZa later in the game- actually looked like a clean pick to me. The "no layup" crap is out of control. Someone will be seriously injured pretty soon.

So Doc is the weak link, yet, it seems that you are advocating him using an 12 player rotation, the starters and House, Baby, Powe, Tony Allen, Posey, Brown and Cassell. Wouldn't that actually just make things worse? Or are you also saying that Cassell and Brown's minutes should be completely eliminated? Still if Doc is horrible for, among other things, a poor rotation and jerking bench players around, wouldn't suddenly jerking Cassell and Brown out of the lineup and going to a 10 or 11 player rotation be exactly why so many people thinks he's horrible?

I'm not saying you are wrong, Doc could very well be the weakest link in this chain, but I was just wondering why suddenly switching rotations would make things better. He has made his choice for better or worse with basically a nine player rotation. At this point I think it might be wiser to stick with those 9 and get a more rigid and more logical rotation going with those nine.

Just a thought.