Curious Stat

[gar]

According to ESPN:
Thibbs Bulls allowed Celtics to shoot 51.2% and 36.4% from 3
Doc's C's let the Bulls shoot 49.4% and 40% from 3

Clearly it is too early in the season to expect playoff level D; but for two defense minded coaches is curious. Several people have commented on the number of layups, etc. Perhaps Rondo and Rose really are unstoppable! Thoughts?

[greenpride32]

Taj, Noah, Ray, and Marquis were hitting all their shots. Other than Marquis most of their scoring was on jumpers.  I think it was just a matter of lots of players having good shooting nights. 

BTW CHI, though expections are high, has not been having a good year thus far and are giving up a ton of points.

[gar]

True, both teams seemed to be on. But there was not the usual smothering defense one would expect either.

Thibs is working with a young group so may take time to get buy in.

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

Taj, Noah, Ray, and Marquis were hitting all their shots. Other than Marquis most of their scoring was on jumpers.  I think it was just a matter of lots of players having good shooting nights. 

BTW CHI, though expections are high, has not been having a good year thus far and are giving up a ton of points.

Agreed.

Is it Just me or did/does Deng not seem into the game?

[gar]

He is having to carry a lot of the scoring load which he is not used to and he is also second to Boozer in salary with a nice fat contract. Just not sure he is up to it. He is scoring 20pts a game but the rest of his game is suffering.

[LB3533]

Maybe each team knew each others' defenses so well, they knew how to offensively exploit them?

[GreenEnvy]

Taj, Noah, Ray, and Marquis were hitting all their shots. Other than Marquis most of their scoring was on jumpers.  I think it was just a matter of lots of players having good shooting nights. 

BTW CHI, though expections are high, has not been having a good year thus far and are giving up a ton of points.

Agreed.

Is it Just me or did/does Deng not seem into the game?

I don't know, he hit some big shots down the stretch after starting slow.

And this was a couple games after scoring a career-high 40 points.


I think the high scoring was partly subpar D and partly great shooting.

[Bahku]

Had this discussion today with a co-worker ... there were extended periods when both teams played horrible defense ... we concluded that maybe both teams/coaches were making the same adjustments, trying to second-guess their similar knowledge/game plans, and ended up sabotaging themselves, to a certain extent. Interesting stats and topic, Gar, (TP).

[Tgro]

One thing that has me concerned is we aren't putting teams away when we should and letting them get back into it and nearly letting them beat us. I don't know about you guys, but I sat through that whole 4th quarter wondering if we were going to blow it. I don't think we are always going to eek out wins every time we let teams back into it. Especially on the road. I thought the Celtics were clearly the better team against Chicago with a huge lead and plenty of momentum, but the fact we couldn't put them away was disturbing. It almost seemed at the end we had to be down to finally wake up. 

[Bahku]

One thing that has me concerned is we aren't putting teams away when we should and letting them get back into it and nearly letting them beat us. I don't know about you guys, but I sat through that whole 4th quarter wondering if we were going to blow it. I don't think we are always going to eek out wins every time we let teams back into it. Especially on the road. I thought the Celtics were clearly the better team against Chicago with a huge lead and plenty of momentum, but the fact we couldn't put them away was disturbing. It almost seemed at the end we had to be down to finally wake up.  

I know exactly what you're saying, (TP) ... and I think it's still just working the kinks out of the change in chemistry caused by the addition of the new players. I know that seems like making excuses, but I really feel like it's nothing very troublesome. Last year, we would have (most likely) lost last night's game, so I think this is certainly a better team, just one that hasn't had a lot of time to get into a fluid execution of their game. It's coming.

[Celtics4ever]

Sometimes coaches bring different things to the table.  When one leaves the table its lacking that to some degree.

We have had trouble finishing the last few years.  I think it relates to our age in the fourth quarter sometimes.  The mind wants to cut their throat and finish them but the legs cannot.

[housecall]

It was only the 6th game of the season...i don't think there are any teams playing at the top of their game defensively.