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.
Three of those points were scored on free throws after Thomas intentionally fouled him with 2:54 left. This is where the confusion begins. Celtics coach Brad Stevens claimed he wanted to foul 36.8 percent free throw shooter Andre Drummond after the Celtics committed another non-shooting foul. So Stevens instructed Thomas to foul Jackson far away from the basket.
Stevens’s plan was for the Pistons to take the ball out of bounds again, and then have Jae Crowder wrap up Drummond so he would attempt two free throws since there were more than two minutes left.
That backfired badly.
Thomas fouled Jackson 35 feet from the basket, and Jackson used his right hand to make an off-balance shot attempt. Instead of a non-shooting foul, another Celtics team foul and a side out for Detroit, the officials awarded Jackson three free throws. He sank all three for a 7-point lead.
“The one that is driving me crazy is the one where we fouled Jackson,” Stevens said. “It was in continuation. Any time before two minutes [left] you can wrap [up] somebody before the ball is inbounded and it’s two shots. We were going to do that with Drummond, and then Jackson went into his motion, that’s a tough one.”
Said Thomas: “Coach told me to foul [Jackson]. I did. They called a three-shot foul. It was odd. He was righthanded, he faced the other direction. He had to go over his shoulder [to attempt a shot]. The refs usually say that’s not a shot. That’s not a realistic shot. They made the call.”
We’ve witnessed Brad Stevens use the “hack-a-____” strategy many times before. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t (How’s that for insight?).
I understand Stevens’ logic. His team was in the process of giving up 119 points. The defense was clearly inadequate.
But I think he tried to shoehorn the strategy into a tough spot. The Pistons knew what was coming. Reggie Jackson played it smart, tossed up the shot and the officials bought it.
As for Brad’s other mistake:
After Tyler Zeller tied the game at 85 just 14 seconds into the quarter, the Pistons scored nine straight. Where was Thomas?
On the bench having already played close to 30 minutes which is close to his season average. Celtics head coach Brad Stevens was mindful that Wednesday’s game was a back-to-back, and wanted to keep Thomas as fresh as he could for the end-of-game stretch.
“You gotta give him a blow sometime,” Stevens said.
But in hindsight, he might have made a different decision if he could do it again.
“The second night of a back-to-back, in retrospect I wouldn’t have (taken him out).”
Thomas had ended the third quarter with a flurry, tallying 14 points to cut Detroit’s lead to just two points (85-83) at the end of three quarters.
“It was very tough. Coach made that decision. It’s his decision,” Thomas said. “I’m just here to do what’s best for the team. We got back in it. But that 12-0 run hurt us. It was too much of a lead that we … couldn’t get over the hump.”
I don’t have a problem with Stevens resting IT at the start of the 4th quarter, especially considering he’d already played 30 minutes. Coaches have been resting stars around quarters for 50 years. It’s a logical move. I’d much rather have Thomas fresh for the end of the game.
On Page 2, is it time for more Zeller and less Lee?
With Lee in the lineup, the Celtics offense tumbles by 7.1 points per 100 possessions, and their defense dips by 2.7 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com. Essentially, that disparity means Boston plays like the Sacramento Kings with Lee on the court, and the Cleveland Cavaliers when he’s on the bench.
Some of that is skewed because Lee plays in the second unit, and has spent about half his minutes away from Isaiah Thomas. The big man has played much better with the star point guard on the court. But if he’s not going to play more next to Thomas, he should be able to help Boston survive without Thomas. The Celtics are scoring an abominable 86.4 points per 100 possessions when Lee’s on the court without his most creative teammate — about eight points per 100 possessions worse than the (still horrible) team average with Thomas on the bench.
According to NBA.com, Lee is the only regular on the Celtics with a negative net rating (-3.9).
Zeller has barely played this season, but sent a reminder against Detroit: I’m a capable young player, guys. Just a couple of months ago, people were talking about the $10-million per season contract I might command.
With Zeller and Jerebko splitting the minutes, Lee didn’t play in the second half against Detroit. It could be just an irregular benching brought on partially by a desire to hack Andre Drummond, but maybe should be a new trend.
I might be the only Celtics fan who wants to see David Lee on the court. Yes, he’s been wildly inconsistent and his advanced analytics are awful.
Maybe I focus too much on his good games. Maybe I like his old-school game and his ability to score in the post.
If the statistical argument is so strong, why is Stevens sticking with Lee? We are more than a quarter into the season. That’s a damn good sample size.
Did Danny Ainge request that Lee get some playing time in order to enhance his trade value? I’ll go ahead and refute my own theory.
I’m guessing Stevens likes Lee’s skillset and is hoping his play turns around.
The rest of the links
ESPN Boston – Stellar Zeller not enough to boost tired Cs | Herald – Careless Celtics fall to Pistons | CSNNE – Pistons hold off Cs | Young knows improved D is key to getting minutes
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