Second Unit a Pressing Unit. What do you think?

[Pucaccia]

In the Nets game Tommy made a very interesting observation.
The second unit should be a pressing unit.  I think it would be great. For One, it would keep the Celtics aggressive, it would create a change of pace.  It would keep the Celtics from getting "Bored".
They certainly have the players for it.  Nate, Tony, Baby, Rondo.  But then again, Doc would need to make a game time adjustment and that might be too hard.

[Chris]

They have already done this at times since Robinson has been there.  The problem is, the big men are not very well suited for that.  Sheed and Davis (not to mention Williams and Perk) are not quick enough to be really effective.  If they were going to use a pressing second unit, you would have to get VERY used to seeing Scal out there, and I am sure most of you are not ready for  that.

[sk7326]

Doc can adjust - that's how you come from 20+ down on the road ...

But pressing as a long term solution, especially a predictable one, in the NBA is invariably a bad idea.  Forcing turnovers has not been a problem for the Celtics ... and giving up easy baskets is something we could use less of

[Who]

They have already done this at times since Robinson has been there.  The problem is, the big men are not very well suited for that.  Sheed and Davis (not to mention Williams and Perk) are not quick enough to be really effective.  If they were going to use a pressing second unit, you would have to get VERY used to seeing Scal out there, and I am sure most of you are not ready for  that.

Agreed -- the bigs aren't capable of playing this type of system.

[Pucaccia]

Going to have to disagree with you there.  Nate, Marquis,Tony, Scal and even BBD can bring the press.  This would be a short minute strategy that will keep up the tempo of the games.  As soon as the Celt's started pressing New Jersey, it brought them back into the game.  It doesn't allow the other team to set up their offense.  To me, it's a better alternative to slow ball. Plus, right now, the C's need a kick in the butt.

[cdif911]

I was talking with the gf about this during the Cavs game, saying it was kind of dumb that Nate was pressing full ct by himself... When is the last NBA team to succesfully press consistently?  I can't think of any - the ball handling and passing is just too good at this level, and a full court press generally gives up layups

not to say an occasional catch you by surprise press doesn't work, but if you have a "pressing unit" I don't see it being too effective. 

Didn't Pitino want to do this?

[Redz]

Is Rick Pitino walking through that door?

Tommy mentioned this idea the other night.  It's certainly worth a try.  What's the worst that happens?  We start giving up easy baskets and letting teams go on big runs?  That's already happening. 

[Redz]

I was talking with the gf about this during the Cavs game, saying it was kind of dumb that Nate was pressing full ct by himself... When is the last NBA team to succesfully press consistently?  I can't think of any - the ball handling and passing is just too good at this level, and a full court press generally gives up layups

not to say an occasional catch you by surprise press doesn't work, but if you have a "pressing unit" I don't see it being too effective. 

Didn't Pitino want to do this?

Yes.  But I think he envisioned the entire team doing it for 48 minutes, 82 games a year. 

[Greenbean]

Well it worked versus the Nets...because the Nets stink.

Any other NBA team can break a press with their eyes closed. I like when just the PG and maybe KG put pressure behind the timeline because that may cause some disruption in the flow of the offense but that is as far as i would take it.

As far as keeping the aggression level up, that just has to come from within. In hockey its called the compete level. They have to have a step on your throat mentality for 48 minutes and they just dont have it right now. They will get it by the time the playoffs start though.

[Greenbean]

I was talking with the gf about this during the Cavs game, saying it was kind of dumb that Nate was pressing full ct by himself... When is the last NBA team to succesfully press consistently?  I can't think of any - the ball handling and passing is just too good at this level, and a full court press generally gives up layups

not to say an occasional catch you by surprise press doesn't work, but if you have a "pressing unit" I don't see it being too effective. 

Didn't Pitino want to do this?

Yes.  But I think he envisioned the entire team doing it for 48 minutes, 82 games a year. 

Which is why his players hated him. He ran them into the ground in practice. Doc is on the other end of the spectrum. He is a players coach and I bet he hated practice as a player. I have to say though, conditioning is an issue with alot of our players. Maybe its time to start running these guys a little harder in practice.

When I played ball, this is when our coach would ramp up the intensity. He would ratchet it down right before the playoffs started. We won 3 state titles in my four years at the school. I know its different but these guys should be hitting their stride as far as stamina goes right now and they look like theyre playing preseason games.

[Chris]

Going to have to disagree with you there.  Nate, Marquis,Tony, Scal and even BBD can bring the press.  This would be a short minute strategy that will keep up the tempo of the games.  As soon as the Celt's started pressing New Jersey, it brought them back into the game.  It doesn't allow the other team to set up their offense.  To me, it's a better alternative to slow ball. Plus, right now, the C's need a kick in the butt.

In short bursts, I agree that it can work, but they really need to pick their spots...which they already do.  I don't think they have the horses up front to do it regularly, however, against certain matchups, it could work for short stretches.

They do however, have the horses to be a much more aggressive second unit defensively...and they have shown this at times.  I don't think they need to put on an all-out press, however, trapping more in the halfcourt, and being much more aggressive on the perimeter against other teams second unit could really help them create offense and pace with the second unit.

[pearljammer10]

I would love to see them press more with this unit...However like someone has mentioned, we dont have the bigs for it. We dont have a young athletic big off the bench that can keep up with the full court defense. Baby? No. Sheed? No. Sadly, our only big that might be able to keep up with a press is Scal! Wow, never thought I would say that.

Rondo, Robinson, Tony, Scal, Garnett...That would be our best pressing unit.

[Chris]

I would love to see them press more with this unit...However like someone has mentioned, we dont have the bigs for it. We dont have a young athletic big off the bench that can keep up with the full court defense. Baby? No. Sheed? No. Sadly, our only big that might be able to keep up with a press is Scal! Wow, never thought I would say that.

Rondo, Robinson, Tony, Scal, Garnett...That would be our best pressing unit.

Yup.  Or I think another option against certain teams would be something like Rondo, Robinson, Tony, Daniels, and Scal.  Against 90% of the lineups thrown out there, they would get killed with size, but it could work if they face a team that runs a smaller lineup themselves, and they need a bit of a burst of energy.

Of course the other problem is these pressing units are sorely lacking in shooting.  Pressing is most effective in todays NBA when you can then get up quick, and compliment the drives to the lane with trailers on the perimeter.  I have a feeling they would botch a lot of the extra posessions they have, since they don't really have guys confident in taking the outside shot when the defenders keep retreating.

[More Banners]

I would love to see them press more with this unit...However like someone has mentioned, we dont have the bigs for it. We dont have a young athletic big off the bench that can keep up with the full court defense. Baby? No. Sheed? No. Sadly, our only big that might be able to keep up with a press is Scal! Wow, never thought I would say that.

Rondo, Robinson, Tony, Scal, Garnett...That would be our best pressing unit.

Yup.  Or I think another option against certain teams would be something like Rondo, Robinson, Tony, Daniels, and Scal.  Against 90% of the lineups thrown out there, they would get killed with size, but it could work if they face a team that runs a smaller lineup themselves, and they need a bit of a burst of energy.

Of course the other problem is these pressing units are sorely lacking in shooting.  Pressing is most effective in todays NBA when you can then get up quick, and compliment the drives to the lane with trailers on the perimeter.  I have a feeling they would botch a lot of the extra posessions they have, since they don't really have guys confident in taking the outside shot when the defenders keep retreating.

Right.  I think Sheed would have to be in that lineup in the Raef LaFrenz role of (distant) trailer/3pt chucker that defends the rim on defense.  Shooters = Sheed, Scal, and Nate; drivers = Quisy, TA, and Nate.  Hopefully either PP or Ray play some time w/that lineup, too, especially to limit TA's "improvisation" time, since he'd end up touching the basketball at some point, triggering a plethora of unfortunate possibilities.

[Andy Jick]

Is Rick Pitino walking through that door?

Tommy mentioned this idea the other night.  It's certainly worth a try.  What's the worst that happens?  We start giving up easy baskets and letting teams go on big runs?  That's already happening. 

time to bring back travis knight...my guess is we're still paying for that 30 year contract he signed.