Back to back season low assist games of 14.

[The Oracle]

  Not only are they season lows but they tie 2 year lows with 1 game last year.  The ball movement has completely disintegrated.  Brad must be using these games trying to improve at attacking the basket as it has become pretty clear many players have been instructed to do so.  Hopefully it produces some positive results because it has resulted in some very ugly games and 35 turnovers over the last 2. 

[mmmmm]

Two factors are contributing to the lower assists numbers.

One seems to be what you are alluding to:  More guys seem to be at least trying to drive and attack the hoop, un-assisted.

The other, which is not a good thing, is that our shooting is atrocious.

For the season, we average 54.2 potential assists per game, and we convert 44% those (hence a typical 24 assists per game).

The last couple of games, our potential assists have dropped (possibly per the 'strategy'(?) mentioned above) down to just 41.5 per game, but the real killer is that we have made shots on only 33.7% of those.

Miserable shooting continues to be a problem for this team.

[The Oracle]

Two factors are contributing to the lower assists numbers.

One seems to be what you are alluding to:  More guys seem to be at least trying to drive and attack the hoop, un-assisted.

The other, which is not a good thing, is that our shooting is atrocious.

For the season, we average 54.2 potential assists per game, and we convert 44% those (hence a typical 24 assists per game).

The last couple of games, our potential assists have dropped (possibly per the 'strategy'(?) mentioned above) down to just 41.5 per game, but the real killer is that we have made shots on only 33.7% of those.

Miserable shooting continues to be a problem for this team.

I had not seen those potential assist numbers, those are very telling.  As you say though the conversion rate has been comical also.  You just don't win many NBA games with low assist totals and high turnovers.  Where did the ball movement around the perimeter go?  It is like they are desperately working to find a crack for someone to attack the rim.

[TheTruth]

The second unit needs Turner back in there.

[hwangjini_1]

geez louise guys. TWO GAMES and we get a thread like this? let's wait a bit more before jumping this boat, shall we?

[The Oracle]

geez louise guys. TWO GAMES and we get a thread like this? let's wait a bit more before jumping this boat, shall we?

Really and I mean REALLY?  Jumping what boat?  I am sorry you don't approve but I thought it would make for an interesting discussion.  I will P.M. you first from now on... 

[Tr1boy]

IMO Thomas is hot dogging it. There is a fine line between you needing to take over vs not involving the team

He should really be coming off the bench.

[mmmmm]

IMO Thomas is hot dogging it. There is a fine line between you needing to take over vs not involving the team

He should really be coming off the bench.

 

Uhm... no.

isaiah is passing the ball nearly as frequently  (1.77 times per minute on the floor) as he has all season (1.83 times per minute on the floor).  And both his touches (80.5 per game) and time of possession (5.2 minutes per game) are actually _down_ over the last couple of games compared to his season averages (85.5 touches and 6.2 minutes).

This, despite the fact that his scoring-per-touch efficiency is higher right now (.323 points per touch compared to .262 for the year).

If anything, Isaiah is deferring too much right now.  Or simply not getting the ball back enough.

This is probably an effect of sharing more of the floor time with Evan right now.

[PhoSita]

Miserable shooting continues to be a problem for this team.

It'll continue to be until the personnel changes significantly.

This is why I think adding capable, proven (not just theoretical) shooters is a higher priority than the common refrain "We need a center!"

[mmmmm]

Miserable shooting continues to be a problem for this team.

It'll continue to be until the personnel changes significantly.

This is why I think adding capable, proven (not just theoretical) shooters is a higher priority than the common refrain "We need a center!"

Yeah, it's hard to look past the numbers.  Boston is nicely in the top 10 in so many important categories, but in FG% we are still ranked way down at 24th.  And we've been near the bottom in every year of the Brad Stevens era.

And if folks want to chime in and say, "FG% doesn't matter!  It's all about eFG and TS!!"' -- sorry, no.

eFG is a better measure of an individual's shooting efficiency.  And TS is a better measure of scoring efficiency.

But raw FG% is still critically important -- especially at the TEAM level -- because it relates to miss rates.  Missed shots are killers.  On average, 76% of missed shots get grabbed by the defense.  So effectively a missed shot is about 76% as bad as a turnover.    If you are missing 4 extra shots per game, that's almost like having three extra TOs per game.  Opposing team's score more efficiently off a rebound than off a side-in.

If you go back over the last 15 years, almost every single one of the finalists was ranked in the top 5 for FG%.  And that continues today as both SAS and GSW are currently tied at the top of the FG% rankings (with OKC the only team that is remotely close).

To be a title contender, you need to look like a contender.  You need to do contender things.  We do many things that look like a contender.  But we don't make shots like a contender.

 

[apc]

We are not looking good this days, the 4 wins were not convincing.
I am not optimistic about the playoffs, specially if we are playing the Hawks.

[mmmmm]

We are not looking good this days, the 4 wins were not convincing.
I am not optimistic about the playoffs, specially if we are playing the Hawks.

Don't panic yet.   A lot depends on how healthy Crowder can get.

Health is key to the playoffs for every team.  But because we have almost no depth at the three (it is literally just Crowder backed up by Evan, who is small for that role), he is uber critical.

If Jae is healthy, that fixes a lot of issues for both the starters and the bench.

As long as Jae and Isaiah are both completely healthy, I think we can at least make a respectable showing in the playoffs.  We have depth in the rest of the roles.

If either IT or Jae is out or playing impaired ... ugh.  That could be ugly.

[Chris22]

We are easily intimidated.
Lebron, DeAndre Jordan, etc...

[Tr1boy]

IMO Thomas is hot dogging it. There is a fine line between you needing to take over vs not involving the team

He should really be coming off the bench.

 

Uhm... no.

isaiah is passing the ball nearly as frequently  (1.77 times per minute on the floor) as he has all season (1.83 times per minute on the floor).  And both his touches (80.5 per game) and time of possession (5.2 minutes per game) are actually _down_ over the last couple of games compared to his season averages (85.5 touches and 6.2 minutes).

This, despite the fact that his scoring-per-touch efficiency is higher right now (.323 points per touch compared to .262 for the year).

If anything, Isaiah is deferring too much right now.  Or simply not getting the ball back enough.

This is probably an effect of sharing more of the floor time with Evan right now.

I disagree. The ball should be passing around like the way the spurs and gsw pass it

it used to be more this way when IT came off the bench

[hwangjini_1]

geez louise guys. TWO GAMES and we get a thread like this? let's wait a bit more before jumping this boat, shall we?

Really and I mean REALLY?  Jumping what boat?  I am sorry you don't approve but I thought it would make for an interesting discussion.  I will P.M. you first from now on...

thanks, and i appreciate your efforts to please me. but it really is not necessary. carry on with your threads.