Say "(Play) it again Sam"

[Jim Metz <JBMetzEA@aol.com>]

Title: Say "(Play) it again Sam"

on 12/7/00 11:30 AM, damekmo@teleport.com at damekmo@teleport.com wrote:

> >    ``We're just not communicating on defense still,'' Brown said.
> >``That's one of our main points. The most important thing we have to get
> >the concept of is if we're in transition defense, nobody has a man. If I
> >have to be on Kevin Garnett in transition defense, that's the way it has
> >to be. And we haven't gotten that down yet.<P>
>
> You know, maybe I'm being picky here, but what the hell is so hard about
> the above? After how many years of playing basketball...I mean....isn't
> this kind of basic? And why isn't the "coach" getting this across to the
> players. It seems to me that something is terribly wrong here. And Brown's
> right about this team's inability to get easy baskets. Has this team ever
> gotten easy baskets during the Pitino years? Has Pitino figured out a way
> to use all that athleticism? Something's wrong here. Does Pitino have the
> stupidest players in the NBA or is he putting them in a position where it's
> apparently impossible for them to succeed. I guess what I'm asking...is
> Pitino making this whole thing too difficult for these guys by mis-using
> them somehow?
>
> Am I being clear?
Paul M.
                ************************
  There was another line from the news article you are quoting: ``Coach has been getting us in the mode of just running and pushing the ball up and trying to get easy baskets, but I think everybody's just so much in the concept of `what play are we running' that we get slowed down a lot,'' Brown said. 
   Now just ponder what exactly he means by: "..... but I think everybody's just so much in the concept of `what play are we running'...."
 In the words of the "Old Philosopher"  "Is that what's troubling you buddy?"
   Full text below:
JB
           **************
Homework a must: Brown: Celtics need to study defense
by Steve Bulpett 
Thursday, December 7, 2000
ORLANDO - The Celtics are a together team, we are told. They are great as far as chemistry is concerned, according to coach Rick Pitino.
The club is slipping in a couple of other subjects.
Pitino refers to Randy Brown as another assistant coach, and after two months on the job with the Celts, coach Brown has pinpointed the class problems. Stretches of non-cohesive defense and a dearth of fast break hoops have the C's at 8-10 - still in the playoff hunt but not where the club needs to be.
``Every night we have a different defensive plan, but on a given night we never have five guys who are on the same page of that plan,'' said Brown, the 32-year-old veteran of Chicago's last three championships. ``We do it at times, but we need to come out and do it from the start, especially on the road (where they are 1-6).
``And if you aren't on the same page with your defense, it hurts you on the boards. We break down and give up the offensive glass. It's a big problem.
``We need to give teams just one shot, but teams are getting dead-ass open shots and then they're getting the rebounds and getting second shots.
``We give up open shot after open shot and then, at some point in the game, we all of a sudden decide to talk to each other and try to win the game. But it can be too late by that point. You have to do it all the time.''
While the Celts may never have the type of defense that intimidates opponents, Brown believes they should have the kind of running game that demoralizes them. The easy buckets that so deflate a foe are curiously missing from the Boston arsenal.
``Coach has been getting us in the mode of just running and pushing the ball up and trying to get easy baskets, but I think everybody's just so much in the concept of `what play are we running' that we get slowed down a lot,'' Brown said. ``We encourage Bryant (Stith) and Paul (Pierce) that if they get the rebound, go ahead and run it up the court and see if we can get an easy basket. But I bet out of all our points, almost all of them are tough baskets.
``We're a team that just doesn't get easy baskets, but with the athleticism that we have, I'm kind of surprised that we don't. We've got too much athleticism not to get dunks after dunks. But we've got to defend to get those. We've got to get stops to get easy baskets.''
As with Pitino, it all gets back to defense with coach/point guard Brown. He believes the Celts are improving in that and other areas, but there are certain thresholds the club must cross before it can open the postseason door.
``We're just not communicating on defense still,'' Brown said. ``That's one of our main points. The most important thing we have to get the concept of is if we're in transition defense, nobody has a man. If I have to be on Kevin Garnett in transition defense, that's the way it has to be. And we haven't gotten that down yet.
``I think everybody's still hungry. Everybody still wants to win. We're still trying to find our goal defensively. And with all that, we're right there in the pack with all the teams in the East. We're beating up on each other.''
Looking ahead to a four-game homestand and 9-of-15 December games at the FleetCenter, Brown said: ``I think it's going to be a good month. It has to be. We've got a lot of home games that we have to take advantage of before we go off on the road in January and February. These guys haven't lost confidence, we just have to defend for four quarters.''

  
  
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