Re: Philly game

[Dan Forant <dforant1@nycap.rr.com>]

Sure, 6 days of practice evidently didn't get any messages through. Well,
Philly tried to give the game away with offensive miscues but their defense
shut us down repeatedly. How much older are they, or does Mr. Brown have
anything to do with it? 

At 02:36 PM 12/5/99 EST, you wrote:
>There seems to be a common misconception that Pitino has some sort of
>coaching insanity or lack of preparation that makes him tell the
>Celtics to front the post and trap inside in the halfcourt defense.
>Basically, every team in the league fronts the post against a decent
>inside player - including Antoine - unless they have phenomenal
>straight-up inside defenders. This even includes tough halfcourt
>"man-to-man" teams like Miami, New York, and Philly. Similarly, when
>the offensive man gets the ball with good inside position, despite the
>front, every team in the league that I've seen traps. Do you notice
>that Antoine gets double-teamed when he gets the ball close to the
>basket, even though those of us watching at home typically consider
>him an offensive liability? 
>
>If the offensive team executes and rotates the ball effectively, the
>result will be an open jumper. The Celtics do this effectively on
>occasion, and when they do they are an excellent offensive team.
>Basically, giving up and getting open shots, or good inside shots, is
>a function of good offensive and defensive execution. It's not some
>sort of "game preparation" where Pitino forgets to say in the locker
>room, "don't give up open shots." It's something that's developed over
>years. Remember that 80% of our first unit is 25 years old or younger.
>I would bet that just about every team with as many important players
>so young has occasionaly problems with execution, especially on the
>defensive end.
>
>Alex
>
>
>Dan F writes:
>
>> It is obvious to me other teams are better prepared then us. Each game I
>> see the opposition getting jumpers so open there's a pause before the shot.
>> I mean trip after trip up and down the floor. We have capabilities of
>> stopping some inside traffic, but it seems the opposition scores around 10
>> points under the basket uncontested per game because of a defensive
>> breakdown. Pierce is overplaying offensively because we need scoring
>> desperately down the stretch when everyone else tightens up. After 16 games
>> it looks like we'll have a difficult time getting above 500 if that. Maybe
>> Forston can help. I have to believe we'd be 9-7 with him to this point.
>> 
>
>