3 Dumb Plays

[BballTim]

One play that really got to me was in the 4th, Rondo falls to the floor, and instead of calling a time out to preserve the possession, he throws the ball away.

  There's 1-2 plays like this every game. Someone (other than Rondo) gets caught in a double team with nowhere to go (frequently after a defensive rebound) and flails around until they lose the ball. We rarely of ever call timeout in that situation. Paul does it, KG does it, Perk and Baby do it.

So what if they do it? They're just as wrong then. And if it's a double team, then some times you can get away from it. But Rondo was on the floor, there was nothing he could do, and he just threw the ball away... tried to get it to Paul who was in the corner, but there was no chance of getting him the ball.

Similar situation Paul at the end, he got trapped in a double team. He had nowhere to go, so either someone comes to help him so that he could get the ball to him (for some reason something we do quite badly) or call a time out... we ended up calling a time out.

When you got the lead in the 4th, possessions are vastly more valuable than a timeout. At worst, he should have held on to the ball and force a jump ball.

  I don't think I saw the play you're talking about as I missed much of the game, so I can't comment on it. But it generally seems to be the case that the team doesn't call timeouts to save possessions. And I agree with you that late in the game possessions are more valuable than timeouts.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Celts have to remember that Howard can get up and block those shots...so, late in the game, don't go for soft stuff....if you are going to drive in the lane, finish with a dunk, or keep an eye on where he is......One old trick is for another Celtic to see our guy driving in for the layup.....Stand in front of Howard, perfectly legal, body on him all the time...!  Never stand still and watch the play..!

[BudweiserCeltic]

Celts have to remember that Howard can get up and block those shots...so, late in the game, don't go for soft stuff....if you are going to drive in the lane, finish with a dunk, or keep an eye on where he is......One old trick is for another Celtic to see our guy driving in for the layup.....Stand in front of Howard, perfectly legal, body on him all the time...!  Never stand still and watch the play..!

Players need to put it against the glass quickly, and freaking Baby shouldn't even think he can just shoot a jumper over him... another dumb play... Perk the same. Rondo also needs to put more arc on his floater.

[looseball]

I think they were tired in the fourth quarter and faded.  The size of the lead going in allowed them to eke out the win.  I'd like to see Rondo's minutes down closer to 40, Pierce and Ray Allen down closer to 36.  At that rate they would have enough in the tank to still make plays at the end, instead of bad decisions and misses.

The eight man rotation is working well, just give Tony and Baby 20-plus minutes.