Celtics Defense Looks Fine to Me

[Bankshot]

The Celtics can still defend without Perk.  They were still one of the best defensive teams without Perk, and also the best offensive team with Shaq.  Getting Shaq back will fix the offense.  Oh, and Shaq is even more intimidating than Perk, so we'll have that much needed toughness back too.

I know Krstic is not a good defensive player, but he's not the starting center anyway and Davis is a good defensive player and will fill in fine until Shaq returns, which should be soon.

With the exception of the loss to the Clippers, the Celtics have given up
89 point to Philly 
56 to the Bucks
88 to NJ,
93 to Houston,
85 to NO and
86 to NY. 

Not great teams, but NY is a high octane offensive team and NO was playing very well.  The Celtics didn't win all those games, because their offense was in shambles, but the defense was there.

It seems to me that the Big 4 were just tired and can still flip that switch.

I believe they will start dominating again when Shaq returns.

[Fafnir]

The Celtics play at a pretty slow pace, here are the defensive ratings for those recent games you highlight:

Philly  99.1
Bucks   64.6
NJ      103.9
Houston 106.7
NO      106.9
NY      98.5

Our season average is 99.9, these six games average out to 96.61. But that rating is hugely pulled down by the Bucks game where we set several records for defense. Take it out and you have 103.02. Now that's censoring the data, but I think its justified, the lowest scoring total in the shot clock era is an outlier.

If you expand the sample to the post trade set of games you get this:

Denver 95.8
LAC    102.5
Utah   105.5
Suns   109.8
GSW    115.3
Bucks  95.2
LAC    118.5
Philly  99.1
Bucks   64.6
NJ      103.9
Houston 106.7
NO      106.9
NY      98.5

Our average is 101.7 for the entire sample, that's not schedule adjusted but the number does show a noticable decline.

[Tai]

I've been saying the Celtics defense has been fine for a while. They may have not been the best on offense lately, but they've only allowed less than 90 points in 7 outta their last 9 games. It's becoming a trend. A small trend, but a trend nonetheless.

[Roy H.]

The defense has played well in stretches, but Krstic is a major liability in the middle.  He's been terrible -- I mean, legitimately horrendous -- at rotating / switching and cutting off penetration.  He looks lost regarding when to help, etc., and he's too slow to recover or to slide over to pick up opponents driving to the hoop.

If Shaq comes back, that hopefully won't be a huge issue.  Shaq has some of the same issues (but to a lesser extent), but he's a big, imposing figure in the lane who makes opponents pay with hard fouls.  Krstic just plays soft.

However, if Shaq can't come back, here's why Krstic's play is important:  our defense is built around our big men, from the inside out.  The tough play of KG + Perk or Shaq has allowed our perimeter defenders to play tighter defense on the outside, without having to worry as much that their defensive assignment will blow by them.  The team has been successful at sealing off penetration, in other words, which further allows Rondo to gamble more, etc.  If one of our bigs -- i.e., Krstic, but really any of them -- starts playing matador defense, that not only allows the opposing center to go off (like Ronny Turiaf), but also leads to the other team running layup drills against us (like Carmelo did several times).

So, let's get Shaq back in there, and if JO can contribute as well, fantastic.  Without either (or both) of them, I worry that we're in trouble.

[greenpride32]

I agree the recent struggles are related to offense; not defense.  Nobody was complaining about Krstic's defense when we went on that 4-5 game win streak after the trade.

But back to the point, against NYK we scored 37 points in the first half; against NO it was 40; against HOU it was 40; against NJN 38; and 45 against PHI.  You're not going to win many games putting yourself in this type of hole; especially against better teams. 

We've seen Ray Paul and KG all have terrible shooting nights during this stretch. 

[Roy H.]

Nobody was complaining about Krstic's defense when we went on that 4-5 game win streak after the trade.

Au contraire.  Krstic's defense and defensive rebounding have always been mediocre to poor.  If you didn't hear about it, it's not because he was a good defender, it's because people don't complain as much when the team is going well.

I'm sure, however, that if somebody had started a thread lauding Krstic's defense during that streak, there would have been plenty of opposing viewpoints.

Mikki Moore in cement shoes.  Seriously.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Too much attention is being paid to Krstic and not much to KG. Seriously, KG has been quite bad defensively lately, particularly in the 1st quarter.

Then the 2nd half the team cranks up the effort, and we look great, even with Krstic in there.

So the problem here isn't Krstic, given he's not a good defender, but he's not the element that's causing us to look bad through stretches. It's mainly due to the people just not putting forth the effort and playing it right.

[Roy H.]

Too much attention is being paid to Krstic and not much to KG. Seriously, KG has been quite bad defensively lately, particularly in the 1st quarter.

Then the 2nd half the team cranks up the effort, and we look great, even with Krstic in there.

So the problem here isn't Krstic, given he's not a good defender, but he's not the element that's causing us to look bad through stretches. It's mainly due to the people just not putting forth the effort and playing it right.

KG hasn't been consistently great lately, but his job becomes harder when there's no defensive presence beside / behind him.  When you've got Stay Puft Krstic manning the middle, it hurts everybody on the defense.

[Chris]

Too much attention is being paid to Krstic and not much to KG. Seriously, KG has been quite bad defensively lately, particularly in the 1st quarter.

Then the 2nd half the team cranks up the effort, and we look great, even with Krstic in there.

So the problem here isn't Krstic, given he's not a good defender, but he's not the element that's causing us to look bad through stretches. It's mainly due to the people just not putting forth the effort and playing it right.

I couldn't agree more.  Krstic has been bad defensively.  I won't deny it.  But so has KG, as well as the rest of the starters.  The focus has been completely lacking, and it has exposed them.

The thing about the C's system is that when everyone is focussed, and executing to the best of their abilities, they can do a lot to hide the deficiencies of a guy like Krstic...but when they are sleepwalking, and everyone is a step or two slow, like they have been over the last few weeks, all of the weaknesses are amplified.  

[BudweiserCeltic]

Too much attention is being paid to Krstic and not much to KG. Seriously, KG has been quite bad defensively lately, particularly in the 1st quarter.

Then the 2nd half the team cranks up the effort, and we look great, even with Krstic in there.

So the problem here isn't Krstic, given he's not a good defender, but he's not the element that's causing us to look bad through stretches. It's mainly due to the people just not putting forth the effort and playing it right.

KG hasn't been consistently great lately, but his job becomes harder when there's no defensive presence beside / behind him.  When you've got Stay Puft Krstic manning the middle, it hurts everybody on the defense.

You're just using Krstic as a scapegoat. As mentioned, we look great defensively even with Krstic in there when everyone is doing what they're supposed to do.

I don't mean to argue for or against Krstic's defensive ability, but I think his negative impact is being completely overstated in here. Particularly when more often than not he's the guy playing with the most energy in the opening quarter, when the rest of the team looks a step slow. It's disheartening. So when everyone starts doing their job, and Krstic starts laying eggs, I'll take the time to criticize his defense. Until then I'm more interested in seeing the rest of the team putting forth the effort and focus.

[Roy H.]

Too much attention is being paid to Krstic and not much to KG. Seriously, KG has been quite bad defensively lately, particularly in the 1st quarter.

Then the 2nd half the team cranks up the effort, and we look great, even with Krstic in there.

So the problem here isn't Krstic, given he's not a good defender, but he's not the element that's causing us to look bad through stretches. It's mainly due to the people just not putting forth the effort and playing it right.

KG hasn't been consistently great lately, but his job becomes harder when there's no defensive presence beside / behind him.  When you've got Stay Puft Krstic manning the middle, it hurts everybody on the defense.

You're just using Krstic as a scapegoat. As mentioned, we look great defensively even with Krstic in there when everyone is doing what they're supposed to do.

I don't mean to argue for or against Krstic's defensive ability, but I think his negative impact is being completely overstated in here. Particularly when more often than not he's the guy playing with the most energy in the opening quarter, when the rest of the team looks a step slow. It's disheartening. So when everyone starts doing their job, and Krstic starts laying eggs, I'll take the time to criticize his defense. Until then I'm more interested in seeing the rest of the team putting forth the effort and focus.

When Krstic neglects to cover Ronny Turiaf and leaves him wide open under the basket, how is that KG's fault?

When Krstic stupidly helps on the perimeter when it's not necessary, and is slow in recovering, how is the resulting layup KG's fault?

When Krstic offers absolutely no resistance at the rim, how is that KG's fault?

Krstic isn't the sole reason our defense has been poor for long stretches, but he is certainly a very big contributor.  The guy is slow, soft, and looks completely lost.  As just about every person has acknowledged in this thread, he's looked very bad.

It might not seem fair to lay a large part of the blame on his shoulders, but when the Celtics defense is soft in the middle, it negatively affects everyone on the perimeter.  That has been the case for four seasons now; the Rivers / Thibodeau defense operates from the inside out.

[wdleehi]

The Knicks offense also helped out last night in the 4th.


They went to not attacking the inside anymore.  The stayed outside.  



Some of the holes down low that get created by guys being out of position were gaping.  Good teams will take advantage of this.



This team needs some major defensive practice time with everyone so the new guys get the rotation down.  The return of Shaq and JO (especially JO) will also help close those windows.



Now the Celtics are  not a terrible defensive team right now.  They are still pretty good.  There are just some holes out there that need to be re-closed.  

[celts55]

Too much attention is being paid to Krstic and not much to KG. Seriously, KG has been quite bad defensively lately, particularly in the 1st quarter.

Then the 2nd half the team cranks up the effort, and we look great, even with Krstic in there.

So the problem here isn't Krstic, given he's not a good defender, but he's not the element that's causing us to look bad through stretches. It's mainly due to the people just not putting forth the effort and playing it right.

KG hasn't been consistently great lately, but his job becomes harder when there's no defensive presence beside / behind him.  When you've got Stay Puft Krstic manning the middle, it hurts everybody on the defense.

You're just using Krstic as a scapegoat. As mentioned, we look great defensively even with Krstic in there when everyone is doing what they're supposed to do.

I don't mean to argue for or against Krstic's defensive ability, but I think his negative impact is being completely overstated in here. Particularly when more often than not he's the guy playing with the most energy in the opening quarter, when the rest of the team looks a step slow. It's disheartening. So when everyone starts doing their job, and Krstic starts laying eggs, I'll take the time to criticize his defense. Until then I'm more interested in seeing the rest of the team putting forth the effort and focus.

I don't think anyone doubts his effort, he's just not very quick and plays kind of Europen soft. I also believe that the Celtics have a rather complicated defense and it's taking him a while to figure out the switchs and where to be. I pretty much see Doc and the other players pointing out to him where he was supposed to be.
As for the other players I think it's difficut when there is one weak link. It's a team defense and one player, especially the center, isn't picking up guys going to the hoop it makes the rest of the team look bad. Kind of when you throw a pass to a guy whos cutting and he stops. Everyone assumes you through a bad pass.
I think when and if he picks up the Celtics defense he'll be servicable on that end of the court.
For now at least he's scoring and hitting the offensive glass pretty well.

[KCattheStripe]

The Knicks offense also helped out last night in the 4th.


They went to not attacking the inside anymore.  The stayed outside.  



Some of the holes down low that get created by guys being out of position were gaping.  Good teams will take advantage of this.



This team needs some major defensive practice time with everyone so the new guys get the rotation down.  The return of Shaq and JO (especially JO) will also help close those windows.



Now the Celtics are  not a terrible defensive team right now.  They are still pretty good.  There are just some holes out there that need to be re-closed.  

I agree with everything here. Now I have to rub pur-el all over myself.

[greenpride32]

Too many comments based on stereotypes and reputation.  Before Curly, we had another "euro-softie" in the middle (Semih) and we were still the number defensive team.

KG got owned in HOU and NO (and by Stat in the past).  But because he's "KG" he won't get slack from anyone. Did you see how many times he went out to the perimter to gamble on the ball handler and they'd just slip a pass to West cutting to the basket; easy 2; 3 point chance, or at a minimum a shooting foul.