Struggles in Playoffs

[Change]

I never understood our struggles in the playoffs. In 2008 We crushed every team in the regular season. But the lowly Hawks & Cavs stretched the series to 7 games, and Lebron James almost pulled a miracle. And now in 2009, the sorry Bulls made Pierce & company look foolish.

Is the game played differently in the playoffs? Or maybe the weak spots on our roster get exposed come playoffs. And how do we prevent it from happening again?

[johnnyrondo]

I never understood our struggles in the playoffs. In 2008 We crushed every team in the regular season. But the lowly Hawks & Cavs stretched the series to 7 games, and Lebron James almost pulled a miracle. And now in 2009, the sorry Bulls made Pierce & company look foolish.

Is the game played differently in the playoffs? Or maybe the weak spots on our roster get exposed come playoffs. And how do we prevent it from happening again?

Well in 2008, I think the problems were Ray Allen was getting seriously outplayed at that point in the playoffs and the C's had benched House in favor of Cassell at that time.

Last year we lost KG and Powe, which made Baby a starter and Scal our 6th man.

[Redz]

I never understood our struggles in the playoffs. In 2008 We crushed every team in the regular season. But the lowly Hawks & Cavs stretched the series to 7 games, and Lebron James almost pulled a miracle. And now in 2009, the sorry Bulls made Pierce & company look foolish.

Is the game played differently in the playoffs? Or maybe the weak spots on our roster get exposed come playoffs. And how do we prevent it from happening again?

Yes the game is different

The Cavs were not lowly

The Hawks series was just getting their feet wet

and the Bulls series was a young team with hot shooters that took advantage of a tired team without it best player.

[RAcker]

Just FYI...we were the 2008 World Champions. 

[drza44]

I never understood our struggles in the playoffs. In 2008 We crushed every team in the regular season. But the lowly Hawks & Cavs stretched the series to 7 games, and Lebron James almost pulled a miracle. And now in 2009, the sorry Bulls made Pierce & company look foolish.

2008: Allen and Pierce were struggling.  Through the first 13 playoff games they were combining to shoot 40% from the field.  Through the first 6 games of the Cavs series, they combined to shoot 35% from the field.  Looking back, it's crazy that the Cs even made it to game 7 against the Cavs with 2 of their best 3 players shooting blanks.

Once Allen and Pierce started getting their grooves back in the last 2 rounds, much smoother sailing.

2009: Obvious.  With KG out of the line-up the Cs gave up 102.1 ppg in the playoffs.  It was to their credit that they were even able to beat the Bulls and extend the Magic.

[wdleehi]

I never understood our struggles in the playoffs. In 2008 We crushed every team in the regular season. But the lowly Hawks & Cavs stretched the series to 7 games, and Lebron James almost pulled a miracle. And now in 2009, the sorry Bulls made Pierce & company look foolish.

2008: Allen and Pierce were struggling.  Through the first 13 playoff games they were combining to shoot 40% from the field.  Through the first 6 games of the Cavs series, they combined to shoot 35% from the field.  Looking back, it's crazy that the Cs even made it to game 7 against the Cavs with 2 of their best 3 players shooting blanks.

Once Allen and Pierce started getting their grooves back in the last 2 rounds, much smoother sailing.

2009: Obvious.  With KG out of the line-up the Cs gave up 102.1 ppg in the playoffs.  It was to their credit that they were even able to beat the Bulls and extend the Magic.

That Cleveland series was about good defense from both teams. 

[Who]

2008 (Hawks) was just a freak occurrence ... I wouldn't read anything into those results. The Celtics destroyed them in the four home games. By some weird happenstance, the Hawks just managed to squeeze out a couple of lucky wins.

2009 was the loss of Kevin Garnett. The Celtics simply weren't that much better than the Bulls, and I think they punched above their weight against the Magic.

[BballTim]

I never understood our struggles in the playoffs. In 2008 We crushed every team in the regular season. But the lowly Hawks & Cavs stretched the series to 7 games, and Lebron James almost pulled a miracle. And now in 2009, the sorry Bulls made Pierce & company look foolish.

Is the game played differently in the playoffs? Or maybe the weak spots on our roster get exposed come playoffs. And how do we prevent it from happening again?

  Aside from a few minutes vs Indiana a few years earlier (Paul and Perk) none of our top 6 had played a minute of playoff basketball together. And aside from Paul and Perk and probably 20 or so games Rondo and Pierce played together the year before none of them had played together before the season started.

[guava_wrench]

Most teams have a hard time in the playoffs because the teams they are player are good.

We didn't struggle against Detroit though in 2008. Last year we just weren't that good with KG.

[Greenbean]

2008 (Hawks) was just a freak occurrence ... I wouldn't read anything into those results. The Celtics destroyed them in the four home games. By some weird happenstance, the Hawks just managed to squeeze out a couple of lucky wins.

2009 was the loss of Kevin Garnett. The Celtics simply weren't that much better than the Bulls, and I think they punched above their weight against the Magic.

About your point of the Hawks winning at home specifically...isn't it amazing how much a truly raucus crowd can have an effect on the outcome of series? Those fans were AWESOME their last two home games of that series and they willed them to beat the eventual champs and take em to game 7. If only we could reclaim in 2010 what we lost between 08 and 09...the loudest building in the league.

[wdleehi]

2008 (Hawks) was just a freak occurrence ... I wouldn't read anything into those results. The Celtics destroyed them in the four home games. By some weird happenstance, the Hawks just managed to squeeze out a couple of lucky wins.

2009 was the loss of Kevin Garnett. The Celtics simply weren't that much better than the Bulls, and I think they punched above their weight against the Magic.

About your point of the Hawks winning at home specifically...isn't it amazing how much a truly raucus crowd can have an effect on the outcome of series? Those fans were AWESOME their last two home games of that series and they willed them to beat the eventual champs and take em to game 7. If only we could reclaim in 2010 what we lost between 08 and 09...the loudest building in the league.

Not really.


The Celtics struggled on the road early in the playoffs because they didn't put the same effort into defense. 


By the time Detroit rolled around, that was fixed.

[Greenbean]

2008 (Hawks) was just a freak occurrence ... I wouldn't read anything into those results. The Celtics destroyed them in the four home games. By some weird happenstance, the Hawks just managed to squeeze out a couple of lucky wins.

2009 was the loss of Kevin Garnett. The Celtics simply weren't that much better than the Bulls, and I think they punched above their weight against the Magic.

About your point of the Hawks winning at home specifically...isn't it amazing how much a truly raucus crowd can have an effect on the outcome of series? Those fans were AWESOME their last two home games of that series and they willed them to beat the eventual champs and take em to game 7. If only we could reclaim in 2010 what we lost between 08 and 09...the loudest building in the league.

Not really.


The Celtics struggled on the road early in the playoffs because they didn't put the same effort into defense. 


By the time Detroit rolled around, that was fixed.

The Hawks were unconscious shooting at home. Josh Smith looked like Ray Allen. The crowd had nothing to do with that?

[johncul]

I never understood our struggles in the playoffs. In 2008 We crushed every team in the regular season. But the lowly Hawks & Cavs stretched the series to 7 games, and Lebron James almost pulled a miracle. And now in 2009, the sorry Bulls made Pierce & company look foolish.

Is the game played differently in the playoffs? Or maybe the weak spots on our roster get exposed come playoffs. And how do we prevent it from happening again?

You are only selectively looking at the first two rounds where the Celtics admittedly had trouble putting teams away.  They were not composed on the road, but showed their true colors in their home dominance. 

However, it is safe to say the Celtics embarrassed the Lakers in the finals with their historical come from behind win and 39 point drubbing in the decisive game.  Additionally, the Celtics beat the preseason favorite Detroit Pistons quite handily, winning twice on their court.  When in rhythm, the Celtics were going through the course of the playoffs as expected.

[wdleehi]

2008 (Hawks) was just a freak occurrence ... I wouldn't read anything into those results. The Celtics destroyed them in the four home games. By some weird happenstance, the Hawks just managed to squeeze out a couple of lucky wins.

2009 was the loss of Kevin Garnett. The Celtics simply weren't that much better than the Bulls, and I think they punched above their weight against the Magic.

About your point of the Hawks winning at home specifically...isn't it amazing how much a truly raucus crowd can have an effect on the outcome of series? Those fans were AWESOME their last two home games of that series and they willed them to beat the eventual champs and take em to game 7. If only we could reclaim in 2010 what we lost between 08 and 09...the loudest building in the league.

Not really.


The Celtics struggled on the road early in the playoffs because they didn't put the same effort into defense. 


By the time Detroit rolled around, that was fixed.

The Hawks were unconscious shooting at home. Josh Smith looked like Ray Allen. The crowd had nothing to do with that?

The Hawks shooting better has every thing to do with the Celtics not playing the same level of defense.  They were able to find more room to shoot.

[Greenbean]

2008 (Hawks) was just a freak occurrence ... I wouldn't read anything into those results. The Celtics destroyed them in the four home games. By some weird happenstance, the Hawks just managed to squeeze out a couple of lucky wins.

2009 was the loss of Kevin Garnett. The Celtics simply weren't that much better than the Bulls, and I think they punched above their weight against the Magic.

About your point of the Hawks winning at home specifically...isn't it amazing how much a truly raucus crowd can have an effect on the outcome of series? Those fans were AWESOME their last two home games of that series and they willed them to beat the eventual champs and take em to game 7. If only we could reclaim in 2010 what we lost between 08 and 09...the loudest building in the league.

Not really.


The Celtics struggled on the road early in the playoffs because they didn't put the same effort into defense. 


By the time Detroit rolled around, that was fixed.

The Hawks were unconscious shooting at home. Josh Smith looked like Ray Allen. The crowd had nothing to do with that?

The Hawks shooting better has every thing to do with the Celtics not playing the same level of defense.  They were able to find more room to shoot.

So the young athletic but inconsistent Hawks team were not affected at all by a rediculously loud building? I understand the Celts were not playing the same defense on the road...but maybe the crowd played a part in that aspect as well. Why cant you even entertain that a crowd can have an effect on the outcome of a basketball game? Do you watch the playoffs?