Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Over the last eight games, the Celtics own a 112.6 defensive rating, which would rank last in the NBA over the entire season, according to NBA.com. They have still racked up wins in six of those games because, again, the offense has been a rocket ship. But for a team that used to win ruggedly, the defensive slippage stands out. For the season, Boston has the 18th-best defensive efficiency.
“We haven’t been very good,” head coach Brad Stevens told reporters after practice Monday. “There’s a lot of things that go with that. We’ve been good at times in games but not as good as we need to be ultimately. The New Orleans game was a good microcosm of who we’ve been: Thirty points plus first quarter, great second and third quarter, and then a 30 point plus fourth quarter. Not necessarily in that order but we’re guarding at a high level about half the time. And we’re going to have to be a lot better than that if we want to be a good team.”
According to big man Amir Johnson, Stevens told the Celtics they top the league in defending middle pick-and-rolls, but rank 27th against side pick-and-rolls.
Raise your hand if you thought the Celtics could regularly win games with a high-octane, 3-point offense instead of a suffocating defense?
Put your hand down, you’re lying.
There are more ugly defensive numbers: Opponents are shooting 49% over the last 8 games (per Gary Washburn). Last year the team held opponents to 44%. The Celtics have given up an average of 110 ppg over the last ten (per Steve Bulpett). Last year that number was 102.5.
Defense isn’t always about effort. As Jay King points out in his article, there are plenty of times where the Celtics simply aren’t on the same page. Nearly half-way through the season and a team – which retained about 80% of its roster from last season – isn’t sure what to do in certain situations? How is that possible?
I know what you’re thinking – don’t sweat the defense Chuck because our offense is awesome! Well, I’m not ready to consider this offense the new norm. Isaiah Thomas will probably continue to play out of his mind. And resulting double-teams lead to open looks for a lot of guys. But as we all know, the game changes in the playoffs.
With this roster, I’m more comfortable with this team winning games with defense over offense.
I’m bracing for a heavy dose of reality tonight in Toronto. The Celtics are 4-9 against the Raptors in the Stevens era (another stat courtesy of Gary Washburn) and regularly get torched by DeMar Derozan and/oror Kyle Lowry. And if you haven’t heard, Avery Bradley is out tonight.
Related – Globe: Celtics have score to settle with Raptors | Herald – Stevens, Cs take Raptors tilt in stride
On Page 2, do we care if Brad Stevens gets to coach the All-Star team?
“[Stevens] probably really doesn’t care about things like that, but that would be big,” said Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas, the catalyst for Boston’s recent surge, who just happened to return from a groin injury at the start of this stretch. “Not just for him, but for this organization and the direction we’re going in. Hopefully we can make that happen for him.”
Thomas, the most likely of Boston’s players to earn a trip to New Orleans, admitted there’s an obvious benefit to having his coach along for the trip.
“I’d play more in that All-Star game, for sure,” Thomas said with a smile. “That would be big. That would be huge.”
I agree with IT. Having Brad lead the All-Star team would be cool. Although I’m sure certain sports talk radio hosts would respond with “Whoop-de-doo… has the guy won a playoff series yet green-teamers?”
FYI – The Cavs Ty Lue cannot coach the Eastern squad again this year per league rules.
And finally, Derrick Rose didn’t show up for work last night.
Derrick Rose was not at the Knicks game Monday night and indications were Rose was in Chicago, dealing with a family matter, but the communication between Rose and the team went about as well as his passing to teammates.
It didn’t happen.
The Knicks didn’t really show up, either.
Phil Jackson, the orchestrator of this mess, sat in his usual perch at mid-court and once again did not talk to the media as his team burned to the ground and somehow lost its point guard.
This Knicks season is one huge embarrassment, and Jackson has to be held accountable for his players’ disgraceful play. If Jackson is not able to turn this around, he should go home.
If you enjoy watching the Knicks implode like I do, I highly recommend you read the rest of that article.
The rest of the links
ESPN Insider – Celtics 3rd best darkhorse candidate to win title
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