Did the 4th quarter of that game spell trouble for the C's?

[cdif911]

Shush, Nick, before I have to retract my words.   I'm riding a wave of optimism.  No complaints about Doc, Ray, the mini-breakdown in the fourth, Rondo's carelessness with the ball, or anything of the like.  I'm all sunshine and lollipops tonight.

That's about as backhanded a compliment as I've seen...

As for the trap, if I'm the Pistons, I know this is a chess game and I know the Celts will be ready to break our trap - for that reason, you work on a different trap that looks similar in set up, but is executed differently (perhaps somethign that jams the ballhandler at midcourt, with the middle guy rotating for the steal off the pass instead of the double - I dunno...) but anyways, have a few other looks, because you know the c's are gonna break this thing so you have to have another option... then when they figure out the new trap, you throw the old trap back at them, and that gets you a steal or two... It'll be interesting to see what Flip comes up with

[dj23]

The Celtics only had a problem with this defense because they had a big lead in the 4th quarter and they were trying to use up the clock. You can't stand around mid-court passing the ball aimlessly against this type of defense. The way to beat this defense is to be aggressive and go to the hoop. They eventually did this and won the game.

I suspect that if Detroit goes to this trapping defense earlier in the game then the Celtics will be prepared and Pierce and Rondo will take advantage by driving to the hoop.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Even though the defense in the 4th bothered the Celtic's quite a bit, the problem was more of an effort, lazyness, and sloppyness thing.  How many times did we give the ball to Garnett and he didn't get a clean handle on the ball and juggled the ball before it was stolen? How many times did Rondo and Pierce pass the ball with no force behind it? How many times did Pierce lose tha ball driving to the hoop and in single coverage?

You clean all that crap up, and everything is fine... among other little tweaks certainly.

[connerhenry43]

Nah, I'm not worried cause the ref weren't blowing the whistle on a lot of their hacking when they were trapping..... that would change if it was done the entire game and besides, once we go over it tomorrow, we'll be scoring easy buckets on them.........

All they have to do is pass out of the trap and cut to the basket..... tonight they were just passing out of the trap and standing there...... all you got to do is cut after the pass and the trap fails due to an easy bucket..... just get 2 easy buckets in a row and Detroit won't be trapping anymore..... Problem solved

i refuse to believe the detroit pisons would get away with hacking. that is baseless! 

i equate last night's 4th quarter to the prevent defense in the NFL. one team is up 28, the other team does an onside kick, hits a few long passes, and the lead gets down to 14, but the game is never in doubt. also, the losing team could not prosper for a long period playing that style.

[billysan]

Even though the defense in the 4th bothered the Celtic's quite a bit, the problem was more of an effort, lazyness, and sloppyness thing.  How many times did we give the ball to Garnett and he didn't get a clean handle on the ball and juggled the ball before it was stolen? How many times did Rondo and Pierce pass the ball with no force behind it? How many times did Pierce lose tha ball driving to the hoop and in single coverage?

You clean all that crap up, and everything is fine... among other little tweaks certainly.

I had a different take on the source of the sloppiness. I felt like I was seeing a bunch of guys who were drained emotionally and physically. Rondo unfocused, KG and Pierce barely moving their feet. KG and Paul normally stepping toward the pass and taking it instead of letting it come to them, Rondo firing the ball instead of lobbing it. Only Ray and Perk (IMO) still had any legs and intensity left of the 5 starters.

That was also why Doc brought Posey back in and sat Perk. The Pistons went to a smaller lineup and Doc was trying to inject life and legs back into the Celtic lineup. I kept seeing him screaming to push the ball up and not let the Pistons get set in that 1-2-2 trap.

Stuckey was a difference maker for the Pistons in this game and he almost turned the game around for them in the second half IMO. Can he do that again? We shall see on Monday I guess. I look for the Celtics to come out and win again in Detroit, as Pierce said post game " confidence was helped a lot with this road win". We are the best road team in the league, I think we are back on track after a loss of confidence combined with learning how to deal with playoff intensity.

[liam]

trap= desperation in the NBA. I don't think that an old Pitons team can keep that up and there was a let down from the Celtics who were clearly winning this one. The Celtics will come out like hungry dogs in the next game too.

[libermaniac]

i equate last night's 4th quarter to the prevent defense in the NFL. one team is up 28, the other team does an onside kick, hits a few long passes, and the lead gets down to 14, but the game is never in doubt. also, the losing team could not prosper for a long period playing that style.

Exactly!  They were playing NOT TO LOSE.  That stuff sometimes happens with a big lead.

[ram]

THe 4th quarter score was only 25-21 Pistons. THe press and some of you posters are making it seem like the Celts survived a 36-8 run.

So I say bring it on. After the game Pierce said they work on breaking that press every day in practice and would just have to relax a little. KG said the Pistons were getting away with a lot of fouling.

So considering all that, esp the fouling and the score only being a 4 point difference, not only do I think the Pistons won't pressure them but, if they do, the Celts will handle it well and Detroit will end up in foul trouble early.

If they try it, it will be against the 2nd unit to open the 2nd quarter.

[QuinielaBox]

I got an idea. Let's trap them the next game and see what happens.

[Who]

I got an idea. Let's trap them the next game and see what happens.

Phily went with a lot of full court press and traps. Detroit broke that by the end of the series. They're prepared for it now.

Any odd possession where we've done it or Orlando did they handled it easily. I don't see it doing any good.

[TerreHaute]

Once they put Garnett in the middle, the trap itself wasn't that effective. If they try it again, and Garnett is playing aggressively/looking to score (going to the hoop or reversing the ball quickly) the Celtics will score at will.

[CLeht11]

There is no way that trap will be remotely successful in Game 4.  Last night we brought the ball to half, waiting for the trap and just sat there throwing sloppy passes around.  If we want to really destroy that trap we won't just sit and wait for a trap, we'll get some off-ball movement and get guys going to the rim.  I really don't see that defense working at all.

I don't see the Pistons actually using it much either.  They know that a well prepared Celtics team will crush that trap.  Rondo alone could break that and the C's just have way too many threats to leave KG, Paul, or Ray, or even PERK open!

[wdleehi]

The Celtics stopped pushing the ball and allowed Pistons to set up their defense. 


If the Celtics kept the pace up, the trap wouldn't been nearly as effective.

[BigAlTheFuture]

I don't think the 4th quarter of game 3 is anything to worry about. We stopped pushing the ball. I doubt the press would be that effective the rest of the series.

[goz421]

Don't worry.  The C's were in the NBA version of prevent D.  They were milking the clock. In any other stage of the game they would attack that pressure aggresively.  It's all just part of the strategy.  I'm not a fan of playing not to loose in that situation though.  With a few platymakers they can pull if off though.