Outshoot, and not necessarily shut down, opponents?

[Roy H.]

Last year, the Celtics shooting wasn't very good, and neither was their rebounding.

  They were near the top of the league in eFG% and TS%. Reboundng was, as you stated, below average.

Most of our outside shooting came from two players, Paul and Ray.  Nate was a decent outside threat last year, as well, although his impact was limited.  Everyone else on the roster either didn't have three point range, or had a poor outside shooting year.

What's the problem with having all of your floor-stretching coming from a couple of guys?  It makes the team extremely vulnerable if one of those players is having an off night.  By adding more outside shooting, Danny rectified a deficiency that the team had.

[Jevi]

Paragraphs are your friend.

Wait, is that you Sr. Mary Matthews? Actually, she would've found a way to draw red ink all over this post somehow. Noted Fanir.

So a shift in philosophy is exaggerating right, no one has seen this anywhere, of DA's intentions?

  Which of the moves that (potentially) worsen our defense were initiated by Danny?

 This is just a (knee jerk) reaction to seeing what the Heat and Lakers are doing signing taller wings. All while  Pierce is complaining of the same earlier. I understand the market dictated the last few signings, but I guess I don't see us matching up back court wise with our additions there.

[BballTim]

Last year, the Celtics shooting wasn't very good, and neither was their rebounding.

  They were near the top of the league in eFG% and TS%. Reboundng was, as you stated, below average.

Most of our outside shooting came from two players, Paul and Ray.  Nate was a decent outside threat last year, as well, although his impact was limited.  Everyone else on the roster either didn't have three point range, or had a poor outside shooting year.

What's the problem with having all of your floor-stretching coming from a couple of guys?  It makes the team extremely vulnerable if one of those players is having an off night.  By adding more outside shooting, Danny rectified a deficiency that the team had.

  KG and Sheed took a lot of outside shots as well. But I'd be more inclined to agree with "not enough good outside shooters" than "the Celts shot poorly".

[Tai]

How did the players we get suddenly mean we plan to outshoot opponents as opposed to not attempt to shut them down? Yes, our 2nd unit offense should be better on paper than it was last season, but I don't know how that means we suddenly changed the team philosophy.

Or is it that we won't be able to defend as well since we lost TA and Perkins won't be back till mid-season? Cause outside of those guys not being there, I'm sure everyone that will be on the team will be expected to show some effort on defense, and if the schemes are done right, our defense shouldn't be that much worse off.

I also don't know how DA made "knee-jerk" moves. I feel like he got the best players available with the resources he had. I mean, is getting West, Wafer, JO, and Shaq with just the MLE in hand, on top of re-signing Nate and Marquis really considered just reacting for the sake of it?

[guava_wrench]

It seems to me that the OP is basically working off of only 2 moves: signing Shaq, and not re-signing TA.

Considering we drafted a guy who pretty much only brings defense, JO and Sheed will probably be a wash on defense, the team likes Quis on defense, and Delonte at least puts is major effort on defense, I don't see much of a difference in philosophy.

[Jevi]

How did the players we get suddenly mean we plan to outshoot opponents as opposed to not attempt to shut them down? Yes, our 2nd unit offense should be better on paper than it was last season, but I don't know how that means we suddenly changed the team philosophy.

Or is it that we won't be able to defend as well since we lost TA and Perkins won't be back till mid-season? Cause outside of those guys not being there, I'm sure everyone that will be on the team will be expected to show some effort on defense, and if the schemes are done right, our defense shouldn't be that much worse off.

I also don't know how DA made "knee-jerk" moves. I feel like he got the best players available with the resources he had. I mean, is getting West, Wafer, JO, and Shaq with just the MLE in hand, on top of re-signing Nate and Marquis really considered just reacting for the sake of it?

My Bad Tai, I should of wrote "this just my knee jerk reaction", not DA's. Again, I have no problem with the bigs at all. This is strictly concerning the wings, where I guess I'm not sold on Marquis and Delonte playing 82 games combined. DA did a remarkable job, but I'm not sold on our wings at all. A. Sherrod Blakely wrote about the philosophy shift, not I. Nit picking, absolutely, but just my concern.

http://www.csnne.com/09/02/10/Danny-Ainge-has-a-new-vision-for-Celtics/v1_landing_celtics.html?blockID=303082&feedID=3945

[Jevi]

“The biggest weakness at this point seems to be at the small forward position behind Paul Pierce.”- Celtics Life

“And of course our biggest fear should be at the small forward spot.  Paul Pierce has been durable… but durability only lasts so long.  And when your backup, sadly, is made of paper mache’, there’s a little big of a concern that we’ll have some patchwork filling-in to do at the 3.  Considering the number of really good 3’s out there… that’s not an appetizing proposition.” – Red’s Army


The Celtics have three clear shooting guards, two clear small forwards, and one guy who will not make the team. According to 82games, Delonte West has never played the small forward position and Von Wafer has been used their sparingly.

[Drucci]

I have no problem with that philosophy. We saw last year that even when defense was great (and it was numerous times) we were still in big trouble, especially at the end of games, because our offense had gone south and we couldn't score anymore.

Of course, shutting down the opponents will still be the most important part of our game, although I think it's more like "slowing down the opponents" than shutting them down. But if you think about it, Danny only added offensive "firepower" to the bench. The starting 5 remains intouched (assuming that Perk comes back in time of course, otherwise Jermaine or Shaq is an improvement offensively but a big dropoff defensively - with Shaq at least -).

So, I like the idea of bringing a lot of offensive versatility and shooting to the bench because that's what we want from the bench players/the second unit. Of course they have to hold their own opponent defensively but it's way better to have guys who are OK defensively but can explode offensively or have a number of ways to score than to have multiple Tony Allen on the court.

When you think about it, now Doc can put Von Wafer, Nate or Delonte on the court when he needs some shooting because Ray has an off night and/or Paul. When we can't score and get free throws (a big problem last year too) he can put Shaq in to get the other team in the penalty. I think it will really give another dimension to our offensive game, and it was much needed.

It's not so much that every guy on the bench has a great offensive game and can go for 20 points on any given night (except for Nate and maybe Shaq) but that all these talents mix well together and form a cohesive offensive unit, even (and especially) mixed with the starters.

[gar]

This team was always built on balance. Ray Allen was brought in to add a scorer next to Paul (who happens to be a pretty good defender). KG is a great defender; but he can certainly score.

Bradley was picked because of his defense (there were better scorers on the board when he was taken). Luke not so much (best player available - lets hope). Gaffney and Oliver are both good defenders. Gaffney is a defensive and clean up specialist that can rebound and block shots. So if you look at what happened at the end of the season and into early summer defense was still a priority.

For the rest of the summer Doc and Danny were in get the best player available mode (their default mode). The focus was on getting bigs to replace Perk and improve rebounding. The other stated goal was to improve shooting. Which they clearly did.

So all in all a successful summer (I would say B+ rather than B-) and pretty consistent. I would have liked to see more of a youth movement; but out of Nate, Bradley, Wafer, West, BBD, Luke there should at least be a few keepers to put around Rondo and Perk. Contracts are short, so no worries all in all.

[Assassin70]

I think the outshoot philosophy  is a recipe for disaster.

But to be honest with you I dont care what style or team identity we have this year as long as we win the title.

[pearljammer10]

Yeah, our defense will still be out strong point. We still have a great team defense and we have enough guys on the roster to fill that defensive role.

[billysan]

While I am firmly in the "we need to add a tough, athletic, defensive minded wing with some size" camp, I am also a believer in our team defense as stated by others here.

The numbers dont lie for the past three seasons and we have essentially the same starting unit (except Perk is hurt). I do believe Shaq and JO will more than compensate for our previous lack of length and interior post play.

A lot of our perimeter defensive success will hinge on the health and effectiveness of Marquis Daniels. My hope is that Delonte and the 'Rookie' will contribute in this area.

I dont have much confidence in Von Wafer being a contributor in this area at all. I think if Delonte plays well in camp, Wafer could or should be gone. Gaffney shouldnt be counted on as a viable back up plan either.

Several options, if none pan out, Ainge will attempt to make a move IMO.