Doc Handed LA The Game!

[guava_wrench]

It's so easy to blame the coach when the shots don't drop. If Ray shot a horrible 30% from the field tonight and a bad 25% from three by making 2 three pointers and 2 non three pointers and went 2 for 8 from three and 4 for 13 from the field, Doc is a genius and the Celtics win.

Just four baskets. Just four baskets by a guy who if he takes 13 shots usually makes 6.

That's the difference between Doc being an idiot and Doc being a genius.

Amazing how that happens!!

Exactly. Anyone who thought Doc blew the game last night either wasn't paying attention or doesn't know basketball.

Amen.

How many times have players of Ray's caliber gone something like 0-10 and then hit a few key baskets down the stretch. I remember Pierce doing that and then saying in an interview after a game that if you are a scorer, you can miss 20 in a row, hit one and think you are hot.

So long as the player is not making weird adjustments due to lost confidence, go ahead and let them shoot.

[Chief]

While I was frustrated last night as well, the fact is, what has gotten Doc where is today has a lot to do with never losing confidence in his stars.  It has worked many times before that no matter how bad they were earlier in the game, they come up big in the biggest moments.  Last night it didn't happen, and it is easy to second guess, however, given the amount of success he has had by playing it the same way he did last night, I am giving Doc a Mulligan. 

I'm good with leaving Ray in as a decoy. But when you continue to call his # when he's that cold, that's bad coaching. Hopefully Doc will learn from his mistakes, make some adjustments, and the Celtics will win the title.

[LB3533]

It's so easy to blame the coach when the shots don't drop. If Ray shot a horrible 30% from the field tonight and a bad 25% from three by making 2 three pointers and 2 non three pointers and went 2 for 8 from three and 4 for 13 from the field, Doc is a genius and the Celtics win.

Just four baskets. Just four baskets by a guy who if he takes 13 shots usually makes 6.

That's the difference between Doc being an idiot and Doc being a genius.

Amazing how that happens!!

Exactly. Anyone who thought Doc blew the game last night either wasn't paying attention or doesn't know basketball.

Amen.

How many times have players of Ray's caliber gone something like 0-10 and then hit a few key baskets down the stretch. I remember Pierce doing that and then saying in an interview after a game that if you are a scorer, you can miss 20 in a row, hit one and think you are hot.

So long as the player is not making weird adjustments due to lost confidence, go ahead and let them shoot.

I agree with this, but Doc stated he could see Ray "pressing" so I guess that is a hint maybe it wasn't going to be Ray's night so the directive should have been to ride KG out.

[guava_wrench]

Doc's actual biggest mistake? Might have been calling that 20 second timeout that led them to review the bad out of bounds call that was in our favor. I'm not upset about that since they were able to get the correct call and I can't complain about correcting a call. But if Doc didn't call timeout, it isn't clear that they would have reviewed the call.

[jluce]

It's so easy to blame the coach when the shots don't drop. If Ray shot a horrible 30% from the field tonight and a bad 25% from three by making 2 three pointers and 2 non three pointers and went 2 for 8 from three and 4 for 13 from the field, Doc is a genius and the Celtics win.

Just four baskets. Just four baskets by a guy who if he takes 13 shots usually makes 6.

That's the difference between Doc being an idiot and Doc being a genius.

Amazing how that happens!!

Exactly. Anyone who thought Doc blew the game last night either wasn't paying attention or doesn't know basketball.

I know basketball, I was paying attention, and yet I disagree with you.  I personally think Doc blew it.

While it could be said that coaching doesn't determine if Ray's shots go in or not, good coaching makes adjustments based upon who is hot/cold and where the offense is. 

Let me ask you guys this:  If at a key junction in game 2 they went away from Ray and forced the ball to a struggling Pierce, would you think that's a good gameplan?  No.  And yet it was clear that Ray, 0 for 12 at that point and 0 for 7 from three-pointer, was dead cold.  Pierce on the other hand was clutch, and 3 for 4 from downtown.  Yet they ran a play for Ray out of the timeout.  That's bad coaching.

There were many other mysterious moves that really cost the Celtics, and Doc is to blame for them.  A few of those bad coaching moves:

-Removing KG early in the 1st quarter when he was clearly playing better than anyone on the court.

-Allowing a lineup to consist of 4 bench players early in the game, which led to LA's run.

-Pulling KG early in the 3rd quarter when he was once again the best player on the court. 

-Not going to KG down the stretch.

-Playing Glen Davis WAY too long in the 4th quarter.  He became a defensive liability, and for every finish around the hoop he'd either give up a basket on the other end, or get a turnover.  Perkins would have been a slight upgrade over (and fresher), and Rasheed would have been a much bigger upgrade overall. 

Bad coaching.

The point is Ray can hit even after consecutive bad shots. He's that type of shooter. Ray hits a shot or two and people say..."Look at how great Doc is, he sticks with his guys and it pays off."

Hindsight is funny.

[BballTim]

Im not a coach but i can see that Paul Pierce whos your best player comes in and hits a big 3 pointer and the game is close what happens next? you keep calling plays for Ray Allen who played crappy defense and was terrible offensively all game long? he didnt even make a free throw? Phil Jackson was going with Odom it was easy for Pierce to just dribble to the basket and get fouled every possession!

Call me crazy if you want but Doc layed an egg! Tony was killing Bryant defensively and took him out of the game Ray couldn't defend Fisher or Bryant all game long and he keeps him in the game but the bigger question is when the game is on the freaking line you call plays for your hall of famer and best player in green not a jump shooter and live with jump shots!

  Paul had a pretty bad night offensively as well. It's not like he was 10-13 and Ray was 0-13.

[LB3533]

Im not a coach but i can see that Paul Pierce whos your best player comes in and hits a big 3 pointer and the game is close what happens next? you keep calling plays for Ray Allen who played crappy defense and was terrible offensively all game long? he didnt even make a free throw? Phil Jackson was going with Odom it was easy for Pierce to just dribble to the basket and get fouled every possession!

Call me crazy if you want but Doc layed an egg! Tony was killing Bryant defensively and took him out of the game Ray couldn't defend Fisher or Bryant all game long and he keeps him in the game but the bigger question is when the game is on the freaking line you call plays for your hall of famer and best player in green not a jump shooter and live with jump shots!

  Paul had a pretty bad night offensively as well. It's not like he was 10-13 and Ray was 0-13.

Bad?

It was mediocre at best, but I wouldn't say bad.

Paul took open shots just like Ray.

Paul was 0-5 in the 1st quarter (missed 4 make-able jump shots & got one shot blocked).

He picked up 2 PF and sat at the 2:10 mark of the 1st with score 20-16 LA leading.

Pierce came back in at the 11:17 of the 2nd Quarter (12 point deficit at this point) and didn't take a shot (missed layup) until 4:45 of the 2nd Quarter.

So in Pierce's 2nd stint after going 0-5 in the 1st Quarter, Paul went 1-3 and got to the line twice for 5 points.

Pierce's 3rd stint in the 3rd Quarter he makes a 3 pointer to cut a 12 point half time deficit to 9. He then picks up his 4th foul 67 seconds later and has to sit again. (2-4 since starting 0-5)

Pierce's 4th stint he opens the 4th quarter, picks up his 5th foul 39 seconds into the 4th. It's a 6 point game at this point, largely due to the production of our bench and our elite 2nd half defense.

Pierce comes back in for his 5th stint at the 8:15 mark of the 4th and doesn't see the ball until 4:09 with a made 3 pointer. Then Paul never sees the ball again until 0:40 seconds left in the game. (made layup for potential 3 point play)

1QT: 0-5 (all good shots)
2QT: 1-3 (all good shots)

2nd Half: 4-4 when he got a chance to play

The way our offense is designed and the foul trouble both really hurt Paul's game last night.

[BballTim]

Im not a coach but i can see that Paul Pierce whos your best player comes in and hits a big 3 pointer and the game is close what happens next? you keep calling plays for Ray Allen who played crappy defense and was terrible offensively all game long? he didnt even make a free throw? Phil Jackson was going with Odom it was easy for Pierce to just dribble to the basket and get fouled every possession!

Call me crazy if you want but Doc layed an egg! Tony was killing Bryant defensively and took him out of the game Ray couldn't defend Fisher or Bryant all game long and he keeps him in the game but the bigger question is when the game is on the freaking line you call plays for your hall of famer and best player in green not a jump shooter and live with jump shots!

  Paul had a pretty bad night offensively as well. It's not like he was 10-13 and Ray was 0-13.

Bad?

It was mediocre at best, but I wouldn't say bad.

Paul took open shots just like Ray.

Paul was 0-5 in the 1st quarter (missed 4 make-able jump shots & got one shot blocked).

He picked up 2 PF and sat at the 2:10 mark of the 1st with score 20-16 LA leading.

Pierce came back in at the 11:17 of the 2nd Quarter (12 point deficit at this point) and didn't take a shot (missed layup) until 4:45 of the 2nd Quarter.

So in Pierce's 2nd stint after going 0-5 in the 1st Quarter, Paul went 1-3 and got to the line twice for 5 points.

Pierce's 3rd stint in the 3rd Quarter he makes a 3 pointer to cut a 12 point half time deficit to 9. He then picks up his 4th foul 67 seconds later and has to sit again. (2-4 since starting 0-5)

Pierce's 4th stint he opens the 4th quarter, picks up his 5th foul 39 seconds into the 4th. It's a 6 point game at this point, largely due to the production of our bench and our elite 2nd half defense.

Pierce comes back in for his 5th stint at the 8:15 mark of the 4th and doesn't see the ball until 4:09 with a made 3 pointer. Then Paul never sees the ball again until 0:40 seconds left in the game. (made layup for potential 3 point play)

1QT: 0-5 (all good shots)
2QT: 1-3 (all good shots)

2nd Half: 4-4 when he got a chance to play

The way our offense is designed and the foul trouble both really hurt Paul's game last night.

  I'm not going to argue pretty bad vs mediocre at best. My point was it's not like Paul was on fire and Ray was ice cold.