30-6 and Our weaknesses

rambo_ortega · Post #1 » by **rambo_ortega** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 4:49 am

First things first, we are still 30-6. The best in the NBA and by 4 games above the 2nd best team. We are the only team with single digit losses.

However, our weakness are already being transparent to teams. It is not just a slump because we lost both to the wiz who are w/o arenas and lost to the bobcats who we are having trouble playing with in the 1st place. The athletic teams like the cats and the wiz. They already trap us on the wing and attack the boards on both offense and defense. Those two are killing us. It fatigues our key players and exposes our lack of depth. For me, this is not acceptable because there is a certain weakness that teams would take advantage of. Like for example the Dallas Mavericks, they were the best team but their weakness was the reason for their upset. It's not like we're overreacting because we are still 30-6, but we need to address our team issues. This has to be done immediately and the good thing is, it is exposed this ealy that we wil be in danger if we go up against the cats or the wiz w/ arenas in the playoffs if we didn't make moves. (Unlike the mavs who faced a very different GSW in the playoffs compared to the ones they played in the season.

Now here is what we need to address:

A big man - we need an athletic big who can be active in getting rebounds and deflecting shots. he just needs to continue some of the things that kg does on offense when the 2nd unit comes in so that big baby can still play his game w/o playing with small guys. this will not allow the other team to gain some momentum unlike now when kg sits.

Another thing is a big pg - this is very evident now because of how the other teams trap us. this affects our overall execution that disrupts our offensive flow. let's get someone who is big enough, can bring up the ball and play defense. I would like sasha vujacic.

let us make some moves even if we give up pruitt because he is not helping unlike if we trade him for someone doc would use. we have a TE and we can still sign vets. We have to do this to be able to win it all.

phoolishly_insane · Post #2 » by **phoolishly_insane** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:18 am

1 word:

BENCH

MaxwellSmart · Post #3 » by **MaxwellSmart** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 6:54 am

Sign Chris Andersen and convince Sam Cassell to demand a buyout or trade.

Taget · Post #4 » by **Taget** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:13 am

To add my two cents when talking about weaknesses just remember this. We are overdue for a losing streak. Just about every team including championship teams have them. We had a good start but as the schedule gets a bit tougher we're simply not going to win every game. That doesn't mean the sky is falling.

The most important thing is the team sticks together and doesn't lose it's confidence. That is what separates teams that start strong and sputter from true contenders.

rambo_ortega · Post #5 » by **rambo_ortega** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:43 am

MaxwellSmart wrote:Sign Chris Andersen and convince Sam Cassell to demand a buyout or trade.

let kg talk to sam

rambo_ortega · Post #6 » by **rambo_ortega** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:48 am

Taget wrote:To add my two cents when talking about weaknesses just remember this. We are overdue for a losing streak. Just about every team including championship teams have them. We had a good start but as the schedule gets a bit tougher we're simply not going to win every game. That doesn't mean the sky is falling.

The most important thing is the team sticks together and doesn't lose it's confidence. That is what separates teams that start strong and sputter from true contenders.

^ true but we need to let go of players we don't use like pruitt,scal,powe and use our TE plus our remaining MLE.

i know that every team goes to a slump but the fact that we lost to the same team w/o their best player while doing the same thing for 2 games is a big deal. not to mention the bobcats team that seem to have our numbers.

the dangerous thing is t=if we meet this guys in the playoffs and be like the mavs.

Liqourish · Post #7 » by **Liqourish** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:37 pm

Actually, Celtics are THREE games above the second best team. :wink:

Post #8 » by **darrendaye** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:47 pm

I'm generally very open to discussing roster tweaking strategies. However, my response to this thread at this time is simply to say that I'm more focused on correcting the weaknesses of the players who are the strengths of the roster, before I decide who to find to cover the shortcoming of the roster dynamic. I think the focus recently has been a little skewed to believing that a Cassell or a Webber or whomever, could be brought in and all of the recent sputtering will magically subside. These players conceivably could help, but the adjustments and changes need first to be made with players who are currently on the roster.

cisco · Post #9 » by **cisco** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 1:22 pm

3 Weaknesses that I see:

1. Point guard
2. Center
3' Coach

GWVan · Post #10 » by **GWVan** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 1:50 pm

cisco wrote:3 Weaknesses that I see:

1. Point guard
2. Center
3' Coach

That's been true for about 5 years now

Post #11 » by **ParticleMan** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 4:28 pm

darrendaye wrote:I'm generally very open to discussing roster tweaking strategies. However, my response to this thread at this time is simply to say that I'm more focused on correcting the weaknesses of the players who are the strengths of the roster, before I decide who to find to cover the shortcoming of the roster dynamic. I think the focus recently has been a little skewed to believing that a Cassell or a Webber or whomever, could be brought in and all of the recent sputtering will magically subside. These players conceivably could help, but the adjustments and changes need first to be made with players who are currently on the roster.

that is a great post.

all this concern over who is our 8th man or 10th man really means very little. cwebb and gp and birdman and boykins are not going to be the guys who ultimately make much difference.

see, we have these guys, you may have heard of them, Pierce, KG, and Ray. the reason we've been losing is that these guys have not being playing up to par. it isn't because eddie house can't dribble. last night KG missed 5 of 6 shots in the 4th, paul got burned repeatedly by Caron freaking Butler (who i like but kobe he's not), and Ray (who really has been our best crunchtime player) was once again ignored by the entire team.

our main goal should be to fix our offense so we start to get better shots again from our Big 3, and then play with a little more focus and cohesion on D. if we get 5% more production out of our Big 3, it will be far better than bringing in any new players that are available now.

Leesdoinit · Post #12 » by **Leesdoinit** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:22 pm

Hi everyone, here is a few things i noticed.
1. We are not swinging the ball with the swagger we had earlier, we rotate the ball then take a three after a few passes because the defense seems to be in position.
2. once we beat Detroit i think the team started to feel like they could just string together one good great 3rd quarter and we would somehow win
3. I think we are tired from the west coast swing and have hit a wall

Datruth345 · Post #13 » by **Datruth345** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 6:04 pm

the reason we have lost 3 out of the last 4 is pretty simple to me

it has to do with rondo being hurt, there has been no "floor general" or anyone to handle the ball and more importantly set up the offense in the 4th

he didn't play a minute in the 4th quarter last night
he didn't play a minute in the 4th quarter of the first lost to the wizards
he played about 8 1/2 minutes against the bobcats...which is normal...so that loss i give to the bobcats

with Eddie House Ray Allen and Tony Allen all splitting the responsibility, it takes them away from there strengths, causing the offense to become stagnant like it did last night. I love Eddie house as a celtic, i love him as the spark plug microwave player, but not as my 4th quarter point guard. the offense becomes frenetic, disorganized, and extremely inefficient. we are being forced to take long jumpers at the end of the shot clock

if i have noticed this i'm sure danny has and he is working on a fix/tweak...it's good we learn these lessons now, so hopefully we are not forced to use house as out 4th quarter point guard in the playoffs...while it does suck we lost 3 out of 4 and the last 2 i am not generally concerned for the long run

ddb · Post #14 » by **ddb** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 6:37 pm

Our # 1 priority should be bringing in a veteran PG who can come off the bench and also be the guy that's finishing games. Sam Cassell would be the ideal candidate here, but as long as he's in LA it's just wishful thinking.

2nd priority would be to bring in a big man to add depth to our frontcourt off the bench. I don't know why are making a big deal about Chris Anderson and Jake Voskhul. Those guys aren't good players.
They would be to us what Sean Marks is to Phoenix....a waste of space.

Post #15 » by **UGA Hayes** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:23 pm

I don't agree with your changes, but I actually do think you have made some good assessment of our weakness. As good of an offensive team as we are when healthy, we are definitely a very poor ball handling team, obviously no secret there. Aa a result we do seem vulnerable to really athletic teams or perhaps athletic guards..

We are an elite defensive rebounding team but I do wonder why teams don't attack us on the o board more often. We are only so-so at blocking shots and can be a little tentative about making teams pay by getting on the break.

rambo_ortega · Post #16 » by **rambo_ortega** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 2:06 am

ParticleMan wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

that is a great post.

all this concern over who is our 8th man or 10th man really means very little. cwebb and gp and birdman and boykins are not going to be the guys who ultimately make much difference.

see, we have these guys, you may have heard of them, Pierce, KG, and Ray. the reason we've been losing is that these guys have not being playing up to par. it isn't because eddie house can't dribble. last night KG missed 5 of 6 shots in the 4th, paul got burned repeatedly by Caron freaking Butler (who i like but kobe he's not), and Ray (who really has been our best crunchtime player) was once again ignored by the entire team.

our main goal should be to fix our offense so we start to get better shots again from our Big 3, and then play with a little more focus and cohesion on D. if we get 5% more production out of our Big 3, it will be far better than bringing in any new players that are available now.

^ i get your point, however the reason why we couldn't execute was because of how the offense was run. and that's a pg's job right. if we could fix our offense then it would be good. But it is so evident against the same teams so that would mean danger come playoff time. unless doc changes his offensive sheme that would not allow the other teams to trap us then i think we would be much better again.