Lack of adjustment is why we lost.

[ScoobyDoo]

I know that today, maybe:
1. We rebounded poorly and didn't move the ball
2. Maybe Pierce "seemed" disinterested or Rondo dominated the ball
3. Maybe Rondo didn't play D...
4. Maybe we didn't come out of the gates with the right passion
7. Maybe Big baby got called for two ridiculous loose ball fouls 
8. Maybe Kirk Heinrich basically did an NFL late hit penalty with his kneed into Rondo's back and over his head with 12 seconds left in the game that caused Rondo to lose the ball when if the foul had been called the game would have been over...
7. On and on and on and on....right?

But there are really on two main reasons we lost today:

1. This team has an amazingly bad collective memory. They apparently have no recollection of the Atlanta Hawks seven game series from last year.
They should have walked onto the court, Kicked the Bulls in the nuts and kneed them in the face as they bent over in pain. Once the Bulls hit the floor they should have kicked them in the face a few times.

It is unconscionable that this team could come out with such abject apathy to start this game. They had absolutely no sack and no passion. NONE, WHATSOEVER.

Apparently they forgot about last year. Even without KG, this shouod be a 4 game series.

2. Lack of adjustments:

A) The starting Unit embarrassed the Celtics tradition with their apathetic, lethargic, "we don't have Kevin...", wah, wah, wah, absolute lack of passion and effort first half of baketball. I would told them Moore, Leon, Walker, Pruitt and House are starting the second half and if any if the sdtarter decide at any time during the second half that they are interested in Playing the game of baketball to let me know and they might get back in the game.
We pay Pierce and Ray Allen to lead. They should have showed more leadership, fire
and defensive effort. It was a completely apathetic effort

B) It was crystal clear that Rose was going to "have a day" and that Rondo "wasn't going to stop him from having his day". Chicago starts Rose and Gordon. Rondo couldn't guard Rose and Ray couldn't stay with Gordon because Gordon has point speed.

Hello,solution!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!       

Put Tony Allen on the guy who is having a career night against you!!! Let Tony use his size strength to rough him up a bit. Tony could back off him a little and still get to his shot and he could muscle the kid. Meanwhile, Put Rondo on Gordan. Rondo has the speed to stay with him.

C) Ray was not having an "off night" he was having a "horrific night"> Save the guy from himself. Put Tony Allen in, at least Tony would drive the **** ball to the hole and draw some fouls. Meanwhile, as mentioned above he could do a Bruce Bowen physical job on Rose.

We lost the game today not for all the reasons we sucked.

We lost it mainly because of lack of adjustments with the key one being donig something, anything to disrupt the guy who annihilated us....Derek Rose.

Finally, I would have put Ta on Rose and roughed him up and if Rose got past him I'd instruct my bigs to lay him out. Nothing dirty, just good and hard.

These are simple things.   

[xmuscularghandix]

Rondo on Gordon and TA on Rose actually makes alot of sense.

[ScoobyDoo]

Yeah, I agree. After Rose scored about 12 points, you could tell he "had it going". At that point I was like put Tony on him! Hell I might have even tried Pruitt and told Pruitt don't worry about anything on the offensive end, just make safe passes and move within the offense. On D, try to deny Rose the ball, once he gets it, just stay in front of him. Pruitt also has very good speed AND length.

Pruitt is obviously a stretch ( though anything other than Rondo's D would've been better ). But putting TA on him was a no brainer to me.

I just couldn't believe you have a guy lighting you up and you just continue to do the same **** thing defensively all 48 minutes and let the guy continue to light you up...it doesn't compute. 

[FLCeltsFan]

Will we ever win an afternoon game? 

[ScoobyDoo]

Putting Tony Allen on Rose today wouldn've, I beleive, guaranteed a win.

We hault Rose's momentum, game over.

[daveh51292]

What are the odds that Ray Allen has another poor performance (1-12), that the bench doesn’t show up, that Pierce misses a game clinching ft. HIGHLY unlikely. Now what are the odds that Rose has another stellar and nearly flawless night. HIGHLY unlikely. Simply Put, game 1 is not a preview of what this series is going to be like, on the contrary, it will ensure that we play our hearts out for the rest of the series and playoffs.

[RockinRyA]

doc is okay at adjustment after a game.. its his in game adjustments( or lack of) that is driving me mad

[ma11l]

The Celtics were the best third quarter team in the playoffs last year.  I'm not blaming this one on Doc.  I'm blaming it on the team being completely flat at times.  This might be because they didn't have KG.  So maybe blame is the wrong word.  They know what we all do, we're not getting 18 until he's healthy and on the floor with the team...

[ScoobyDoo]

I agree it's not what I think we'll see for the rest of this series. I still think we win it in 5 or 6 games. However, I cannot comprehend how you can experience what you did in last year's first round and then not come out in almost an identical situation as least year ( against probably THE hottest young team in the league right now ) and just play with no passion or sense of urgency.

Isn't one time ( last year ) enough for these guys? I mean how hard and how many times to they need to be smacked in the mouth before they come **** prepared to throw down from minute one? 

[Michael Anthony]

I know that today, maybe:
1. We rebounded poorly and didn't move the ball
2. Maybe Pierce "seemed" disinterested or Rondo dominated the ball
3. Maybe Rondo didn't play D...
4. Maybe we didn't come out of the gates with the right passion
7. Maybe Big baby got called for two ridiculous loose ball fouls 
8. Maybe Kirk Heinrich basically did an NFL late hit penalty with his kneed into Rondo's back and over his head with 12 seconds left in the game that caused Rondo to lose the ball when if the foul had been called the game would have been over...
7. On and on and on and on....right?

But there are really on two main reasons we lost today:

1. This team has an amazingly bad collective memory. They apparently have no recollection of the Atlanta Hawks seven game series from last year.
They should have walked onto the court, Kicked the Bulls in the nuts and kneed them in the face as they bent over in pain. Once the Bulls hit the floor they should have kicked them in the face a few times.

It is unconscionable that this team could come out with such abject apathy to start this game. They had absolutely no sack and no passion. NONE, WHATSOEVER.

Apparently they forgot about last year. Even without KG, this shouod be a 4 game series.

2. Lack of adjustments:

A) The starting Unit embarrassed the Celtics tradition with their apathetic, lethargic, "we don't have Kevin...", wah, wah, wah, absolute lack of passion and effort first half of baketball. I would told them Moore, Leon, Walker, Pruitt and House are starting the second half and if any if the sdtarter decide at any time during the second half that they are interested in Playing the game of baketball to let me know and they might get back in the game.
We pay Pierce and Ray Allen to lead. They should have showed more leadership, fire
and defensive effort. It was a completely apathetic effort

B) It was crystal clear that Rose was going to "have a day" and that Rondo "wasn't going to stop him from having his day". Chicago starts Rose and Gordon. Rondo couldn't guard Rose and Ray couldn't stay with Gordon because Gordon has point speed.

Hello,solution!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!       

Put Tony Allen on the guy who is having a career night against you!!! Let Tony use his size strength to rough him up a bit. Tony could back off him a little and still get to his shot and he could muscle the kid. Meanwhile, Put Rondo on Gordan. Rondo has the speed to stay with him.

C) Ray was not having an "off night" he was having a "horrific night"> Save the guy from himself. Put Tony Allen in, at least Tony would drive the **** ball to the hole and draw some fouls. Meanwhile, as mentioned above he could do a Bruce Bowen physical job on Rose.

We lost the game today not for all the reasons we sucked.

We lost it mainly because of lack of adjustments with the key one being donig something, anything to disrupt the guy who annihilated us....Derek Rose.

Finally, I would have put Ta on Rose and roughed him up and if Rose got past him I'd instruct my bigs to lay him out. Nothing dirty, just good and hard.

These are simple things.   

Great post, but only half way there. You do not sub Tony for Ray, you sub Tony for Davis - Ray slides to the three and Pierce to the four.

Thomas cannot play offense, he has a 15 footer and gets put backs, so defense is not a concern. Now, imagine him trying to cover Pierce?

[nickagneta]

I think the main reasons for the loss, in no particular order were:

- Lack of defensive intensity. This has been an ongoing problem since KG went down. I don't know if it is just because of his presence and quarterbacking from the low post or just that he is such a fantastic defender that makes everyone else look better defensively, but, this team is not the same team defensively without him. Considering defense wins championships....well, you can take it from there.

- Lack of body and ball movement on offense. This has been an ongoing problem all year, even when KG was playing. Too many players dominating the ball. Too few players moving without the ball. Too many players being used. Too few passes. Too many individual moves. No, it doesn't happen every game but it has happened way too often as compared to last year and has been happening even when KG played. The selfishness and stagnation in the offense yesterday killed this team and has been through most of their losses and through a bunch of their wins.

- Free throw shooting. Another year long problem. Take away Ray Allen and the rest of this team is shooting a collective 73.4% from the charity stripe which, as a team would put them 29th in the league. Pierce doesn't get a free pass in my book for his missing the game winning free throw. That was just awful and a man who claims to be the best in the world shouldn't miss bunnies to win games....ever!!!

Yeah, I can go on about individual players and individual plays and the refs but what good would it do when, really, if the Celtics just fixed the above problems I mentioned then it makes all the other stuff moot. Player adjustments aren't necessary. Fault doesn't rest solely in one place. It was a team loss from management to the coaching staff to the players. Management was responsible for not getting the team better players than they did last off season and during the season. The coaching staff used too many players and didn't have this team prepared to play playoff intensity basketball and couldn't rally them during the game, especially late. The players brought their "C" game when it is obvious that only their "A" game will win them playoff basketball games.

One last reason we lost yesterday.....yeah, the Bulls played great. Hats off to them!!

[winsomme]

We lost it mainly because of lack of adjustments with the key one being donig something, anything to disrupt the guy who annihilated us....Derek Rose.

Finally, I would have put Ta on Rose and roughed him up and if Rose got past him I'd instruct my bigs to lay him out. Nothing dirty, just good and hard.

These are simple things.   

The problem with Rose was not a Rondo problem, it was a "team defense" problem.

The way our defense works is to funnel players like Rose into trap situations. They simply are too quick to guard one-on-one (TA, Rondo, Ray, what-have-you).....

So the solution in the past (and what makes KG indispensable) was to trap on penetration with a guy that is difficult to pass over (to the guy that is freed up by the trap).

Perk is long enough but not quick enough and Baby and Powe are quick enough but not long enough...

The solution that i see is to trap earlier in the sets to try and get the ball out of Rose's hands earlier in the possession. He still will get the ball back, but hopefully with less time to operate.

[TatteredOnMySleeve]

Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, and Tyrus Thomas played the absolute best basketball of their NBA careers? Ben Gordon outplayed ray regular season allen? Pierce bricked a free throw when it really mattered.

[EJPLAYA]

We lost it mainly because of lack of adjustments with the key one being donig something, anything to disrupt the guy who annihilated us....Derek Rose.

Finally, I would have put Ta on Rose and roughed him up and if Rose got past him I'd instruct my bigs to lay him out. Nothing dirty, just good and hard.

These are simple things.   

The problem with Rose was not a Rondo problem, it was a "team defense" problem.

The way our defense works is to funnel players like Rose into trap situations. They simply are too quick to guard one-on-one (TA, Rondo, Ray, what-have-you).....

So the solution in the past (and what makes KG indispensable) was to trap on penetration with a guy that is difficult to pass over (to the guy that is freed up by the trap).

Perk is long enough but not quick enough and Baby and Powe are quick enough but not long enough...

The solution that i see is to trap earlier in the sets to try and get the ball out of Rose's hands earlier in the possession. He still will get the ball back, but hopefully with less time to operate.

If Rose is too quick to guard one on one, can you tell me why Rose can't stay with Rondo on he defensive end? Rondo is faster than Rose is. Rose makes the same crossover move every time. Do you seriously want us to believe that a guy out there who is obviously just trying to poke the ball away from behind on almost every play is making a true attempt at shutting his man down? It just isn't true. Rondo was more concerned with matching him bucket for bucket and has this bad habit of depending on the guys behind him to do his work for him.

As far as adjustments being the reason, the reason we played so many guys was because Doc was trying to figure out someone who was actually interested in playing. It wasn't his fault no one decided that full effort was necessary.

[CoachBo]

I think the main reasons for the loss, in no particular order were:

- Lack of defensive intensity. This has been an ongoing problem since KG went down. I don't know if it is just because of his presence and quarterbacking from the low post or just that he is such a fantastic defender that makes everyone else look better defensively, but, this team is not the same team defensively without him. Considering defense wins championships....well, you can take it from there.

- Lack of body and ball movement on offense. This has been an ongoing problem all year, even when KG was playing. Too many players dominating the ball. Too few players moving without the ball. Too many players being used. Too few passes. Too many individual moves. No, it doesn't happen every game but it has happened way too often as compared to last year and has been happening even when KG played. The selfishness and stagnation in the offense yesterday killed this team and has been through most of their losses and through a bunch of their wins.

- Free throw shooting. Another year long problem. Take away Ray Allen and the rest of this team is shooting a collective 73.4% from the charity stripe which, as a team would put them 29th in the league. Pierce doesn't get a free pass in my book for his missing the game winning free throw. That was just awful and a man who claims to be the best in the world shouldn't miss bunnies to win games....ever!!!

Yeah, I can go on about individual players and individual plays and the refs but what good would it do when, really, if the Celtics just fixed the above problems I mentioned then it makes all the other stuff moot. Player adjustments aren't necessary. Fault doesn't rest solely in one place. It was a team loss from management to the coaching staff to the players. Management was responsible for not getting the team better players than they did last off season and during the season. The coaching staff used too many players and didn't have this team prepared to play playoff intensity basketball and couldn't rally them during the game, especially late. The players brought their "C" game when it is obvious that only their "A" game will win them playoff basketball games.

One last reason we lost yesterday.....yeah, the Bulls played great. Hats off to them!!

Good post. The effort wasn't there - and it hasn't been there for quite awhile. When you have poor defensive effort, it can spill over to little details like movement without the ball offensively, ball movement, rebounding, etc.

Defensively is where this club's problem lies. When your point guard's focus is outscoring his opponent and gtting the ball back as soon as he can, you've got a defensive problem that breaks down your team defense concept before it starts. If Doc made a mistake, after watching this debacle twice, it was failing to sit Rondo down and straighten his lost focus out in no uncertain terms.

As for replacement defenders, I'd agree that Tony Allen strung some good defensive posssessions together against Ben Gordon. With that said, you have to match him up correctly. I disagree that the cat-quick Rose is a good matchup for him.

And let's be clear about this: Tony's past - not his legend - as a defender is as someone who struggles to string good defensive possessions together. He's not the "stop anyone anytime" guy some of you make him out to be.