Cs play isolation ball the entire 4th quarter…isn’t that a world record?

[coco]

Oh-boy, wasn’t that some of the crappiest ball you’ve ever seen.  We only had one play; give it to PP on top of the key and let him go to work.   

We better get more creative than that, if we want to close this thing in 5!!!

[P2]

I'm fine with that play, but why didn't they call a timeout? 

[nickagneta]

The offense for a good portion of the game was Pierce centric. I just don't understand that. From the very beginning Rondo was turning over the ball to Pierce so Pierce could do his thing. Then when Pierce started going cold Rondo tried to run the offense and ignored Pierce's continued calls for the ball late in the third and early forth. Then, after a timeout early in the fourth, Pierce pretty much always got the ball as they went to the 1-3 high post switch play almost exclusively and the offense just continued to stagnate.

I didn't get the offensive game plan last night. In this playoffs when Rondo runs the offense and he has more than 10 assists the team is like 7-1. Run the offense through Rondo and let him decide who gets the ball. It's this team best chance at great offense.

[Drucci]

I understand the logic of going with Pierce isos with the way he's been playing in this series and basically rolling but he missed all his shots in OT if I'm not mistaken... and the iso at the end of regulation was going nowhere, it was obvious, yet he didn't call a timeout or made a pass. Critical mistake.

[2short]

The offense for a good portion of the game was Pierce centric. I just don't understand that. From the very beginning Rondo was turning over the ball to Pierce so Pierce could do his thing. Then when Pierce started going cold Rondo tried to run the offense and ignored Pierce's continued calls for the ball late in the third and early forth. Then, after a timeout early in the fourth, Pierce pretty much always got the ball as they went to the 1-3 high post switch play almost exclusively and the offense just continued to stagnate.

I didn't get the offensive game plan last night. In this playoffs when Rondo runs the offense and he has more than 10 assists the team is like 7-1. Run the offense through Rondo and let him decide who gets the ball. It's this team best chance at great offense.

rondo was handing off almost immediately, pretty sure his hamstring was worse than they were mentioning
gotta say the isos is not a good way to go, 1 man offense be it pp, kg etc
ball movement, defense and rebounding are what we need
almost seems like doc lost control of team last night? iso's, lack of breather (subs played subpar) for starters who seemed to run out of gas

[Roy Hobbs]

The offense for a good portion of the game was Pierce centric. I just don't understand that. From the very beginning Rondo was turning over the ball to Pierce so Pierce could do his thing. Then when Pierce started going cold Rondo tried to run the offense and ignored Pierce's continued calls for the ball late in the third and early forth. Then, after a timeout early in the fourth, Pierce pretty much always got the ball as they went to the 1-3 high post switch play almost exclusively and the offense just continued to stagnate.

I didn't get the offensive game plan last night. In this playoffs when Rondo runs the offense and he has more than 10 assists the team is like 7-1. Run the offense through Rondo and let him decide who gets the ball. It's this team best chance at great offense.

The reason Doc went away from Rondo was that Rondo completely stunk.  There were several times in the second half that Rondo ran the shot clock down to below ten seconds before passing the ball, just dribbling at the top of the key.  He didn't penetrate, he didn't move the ball.

I can't blame Doc for going to Pierce at all.  The Celts were playing 4-on-5 on the offensive end.

[Evantime34]

It seemed like the Magic were almost playing a zone last night. You don't really want to go one on one against a zone ever. Despite that common knowledge that's exactly what the C's did.

Ball movement and cutting beats a zone, not isos

[Fafnir]

The offense for a good portion of the game was Pierce centric. I just don't understand that. From the very beginning Rondo was turning over the ball to Pierce so Pierce could do his thing. Then when Pierce started going cold Rondo tried to run the offense and ignored Pierce's continued calls for the ball late in the third and early forth. Then, after a timeout early in the fourth, Pierce pretty much always got the ball as they went to the 1-3 high post switch play almost exclusively and the offense just continued to stagnate.

I didn't get the offensive game plan last night. In this playoffs when Rondo runs the offense and he has more than 10 assists the team is like 7-1. Run the offense through Rondo and let him decide who gets the ball. It's this team best chance at great offense.

The reason Doc went away from Rondo was that Rondo completely stunk.  There were several times in the second half that Rondo ran the shot clock down to below ten seconds before passing the ball, just dribbling at the top of the key.  He didn't penetrate, he didn't move the ball.

I can't blame Doc for going to Pierce at all.  The Celts were playing 4-on-5 on the offensive end.

Almost 3 on 5 the way KG wasn't looking for his shot.

[Beat LA]

Can't be a record, especially for this team.  For the season though, I think the Celtics are the sole possessers of such an admirable title  .

The reason Doc went away from Rondo was that Rondo completely stunk.  There were several times in the second half that Rondo ran the shot clock down to below ten seconds before passing the ball, just dribbling at the top of the key.  He didn't penetrate, he didn't move the ball.

Good point Roy - but the entire team was doing the same thing, not just Rondo.  Nate Robinson and Marquis Daniels should have seen more time.  I hate coaches that put in a player (Robinson) that seemingly hasn't played for months, and then yanks him ten seconds later after he misses a shot - so frustrating.  I mean, wasn't the point of acquiring Nate so that he could offensively spell RR?  Plus, with Tony returning to his usual boneheaded form early in the fourth (in addition to the rest of his playing time) with that critical shot clock violation, Daniels should have at least replaced him.  Marquis has the ability to shut Redick down, and should also use his height mismatch in the post on offense to either score with his little jumper or make an offensive play for someone else.

[nickagneta]

The offense for a good portion of the game was Pierce centric. I just don't understand that. From the very beginning Rondo was turning over the ball to Pierce so Pierce could do his thing. Then when Pierce started going cold Rondo tried to run the offense and ignored Pierce's continued calls for the ball late in the third and early forth. Then, after a timeout early in the fourth, Pierce pretty much always got the ball as they went to the 1-3 high post switch play almost exclusively and the offense just continued to stagnate.

I didn't get the offensive game plan last night. In this playoffs when Rondo runs the offense and he has more than 10 assists the team is like 7-1. Run the offense through Rondo and let him decide who gets the ball. It's this team best chance at great offense.

The reason Doc went away from Rondo was that Rondo completely stunk.  There were several times in the second half that Rondo ran the shot clock down to below ten seconds before passing the ball, just dribbling at the top of the key.  He didn't penetrate, he didn't move the ball.

I can't blame Doc for going to Pierce at all.  The Celts were playing 4-on-5 on the offensive end.

Roy, he was going away from Rondo all game though I agree Rondo's third quarter was not good.

Some are mentioning Rondo was hurt. I didn't know that. First I have heard of it.

[blake]

It seems like we started the game off going away from Rondo.  I feel like Ray was setting up the offense for the first 5 possessions or so.

[LB3533]

Pierce still had some good looks down the stretch, he just couldn't put them in the basket.

[Roy Hobbs]

The offense for a good portion of the game was Pierce centric. I just don't understand that. From the very beginning Rondo was turning over the ball to Pierce so Pierce could do his thing. Then when Pierce started going cold Rondo tried to run the offense and ignored Pierce's continued calls for the ball late in the third and early forth. Then, after a timeout early in the fourth, Pierce pretty much always got the ball as they went to the 1-3 high post switch play almost exclusively and the offense just continued to stagnate.

I didn't get the offensive game plan last night. In this playoffs when Rondo runs the offense and he has more than 10 assists the team is like 7-1. Run the offense through Rondo and let him decide who gets the ball. It's this team best chance at great offense.

The reason Doc went away from Rondo was that Rondo completely stunk.  There were several times in the second half that Rondo ran the shot clock down to below ten seconds before passing the ball, just dribbling at the top of the key.  He didn't penetrate, he didn't move the ball.

I can't blame Doc for going to Pierce at all.  The Celts were playing 4-on-5 on the offensive end.

Roy, he was going away from Rondo all game though I agree Rondo's third quarter was not good.

Some are mentioning Rondo was hurt. I didn't know that. First I have heard of it.

Rondo had muscle spasms, which is why he left for halftime early.

I disagree that Rondo didn't get chances to initiate the offense.  Doc started the game with Ray initiating for the first few plays, much like he did in Game 1.  However, after that, Rondo had the ball in his hands on almost every play in the first half.  He played very timid and tentatively.  He seemed afraid to shoot or pass, and he wasn't making crisp passes around the perimeter.

At the beginning of the second, Rondo again was asked to initiate, and again he had problems.  It looked like he and Paul were having some communication problems, but that could be armchair psychologist; if Rondo had muscle spasms and was having problems moving, it could explain a lot.  However, he was making terrible decisions with the ball.

Late in the game, Doc largely took Rondo out of the offense, which really didn't help anybody, because Paul was gassed at that point, and Orlando only had to defend, really, two offensive threats:  Ray and Paul (with BBD chipping in a bit).

Frankly, it's amazing that we forced OT at all.  Rondo is the straw that stirs the drink, and he was completely off all night.  His stat-line wasn't terrible, but this was about 25% of the Rondo we're accustomed to seeing.

[wdleehi]

The ball in Pierce's hands at that point is not a problem.



The tunnel vision he was playing with was.  To many other players were open (like Ray) that Pierce should have passed.

[acieEarl]

Agreed. It was some ugly basketball with no ball movement. Rondo wasn't in the game at all. Sheed was awful and Garnett looked tentative. Nelson killed us on the pick and rolls.

It's amazing that they played this bad and still had a chance to win the game.

It seemed like the Magic were almost playing a zone last night. You don't really want to go one on one against a zone ever. Despite that common knowledge that's exactly what the C's did.

Ball movement and cutting beats a zone, not isos