A lot of people like to talk about Doc Rivers as a coach who “lucked into” the big three and his championship. They also like to call him a poor Xs and Os coach, and I totally disagree. Sure he has one of the best shooters in the history of the NBA, in Ray Allen, on his team. Other teams know about Ray Allen too though, and Doc Rivers is still able to come up with creative ways to get him the basketball with space to shoot late in important playoffs games.
That was the case here with Game 4 tied, however Paul Pierce tried to win the game himself. Instead, Pierce ended up losing the basketball, and eventually the game.
After bringing the ball upcourt, Rajon Rondo hands the ball off to Paul Pierce. As soon as Pierce secures the basketball, Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen switch spots on the court.
As Pierce starts his dribble, Ray Allen sets a screen for him. This looks like it is going to be a pick and pop situation (which is something the Celtics love to run), so the Magic switch it to prevent Ray Allen from getting free.
Instead of a normal pick and pop, Ray Allen then comes off of a screen set by Kevin Garnett. Vince Carter, who jumped the passing lane to prevent the pick and pop, is now in poor position to come off the screen set by Garnett. Allen curls towards the corner wide open. However, Paul Pierce isn’t looking for Allen. He is starting his attack dribble to try and get to his “sweet spot.”
As Pierce crosses over, Ray Allen is still wide open…
But Paul Pierce ends up losing the basketball before he can do anything with it. The clock runs out with Jameer Nelson and Kevin Garnett wrestling for the basketball. Here it is in real time:
You have to wonder why Paul Pierce didn’t allow the play that the Celtics ran develop and hit an open Ray Allen. Sure you can say the fact that the Celtics didn’t call a timeout could have resulted in the playcall not getting communicated to Pierce, but the other 4 Celtics had no problem running the play (which was probably called during Orlando’s timeout). This is simply Paul Pierce entering “hero-mode” and just putting his head down to try and win the game for his team. Pierce cost his team Game 4, we will have to wait and see if it cost the Celtics even more.
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- james May 25th, 2010 at 11:39 i think paul is looking to run the play and pass to allen, but when he crosses jj over and loses him for a split second, he considers shooting, and its this indecision which leads him to fumble the ball and ultimately mess the play up.
- james May 25th, 2010 at 11:44 pierce does go into hero mode a bit too much in the fourth quarter for my liking though, but i think its as much doc’s fault as his own. 99% of the time in the last 5 mins of the 4th rondo will just give paul the ball and let him create, whilst this is typically a good thing to do because pierce is amazing at creating his own shot on crunch time, it does sometimes feel that ray is more of an afterthought for crunch time plays with like 20 seconds on the clock, pierce is always option #1 and although this typically works, given his relative coldness in the 4th last night (and ray banging on any look he got) i think it might have been the wrong idea to have him running the play
- John May 25th, 2010 at 11:54 I know Boston didn’t get what they wanted here, but I’m not sure I like that Ray Allen shot either. It’s a tie game, you only really need a two pointer and you can take it as close to buzzer as you like to prevent the Magic from having time to tie or win. Why not take the timeout and draw up a play. Doc usually runs great stuff out of timeouts.
- james May 25th, 2010 at 12:05 think we had used all of our timeouts by then
- Gentleman Jim May 25th, 2010 at 12:20 Boston ran that exact play earlier this season and Pierce hit Allen coming off the Garnett screen for a game winning 3. It would have worked again if Pierce had just looked at Allen. I find it interesting that in a regular season game he makes that pass, but in this big playoff game he wants to take the shot himself. If that’s Rondo instead of Pierce, Allen gets the ball there and the chance to get to the Finals with a make.
- GhostofRed May 25th, 2010 at 15:37 @james – we had timeouts left.
- james May 25th, 2010 at 15:50 yea just saw that. still, i dont think we needed to call one, they all knew the play and it would only give the magic time to get better defensive players on the court
- Chris May 25th, 2010 at 17:31 @gentleman jim There’s no way the Magic leave Ray open if Rondo’s holding the ball. They didn’t want to let Pierce get to his spot, so all their attention was on him coming towards the elbow extended. If Rondo has the ball, they concede the three and make sure they blanket Allen on the wing. That’s why the Celtics have Pierce run the play, because they know the defense will focus on him first and Ray can probably get some space.
- Gene Callahan May 25th, 2010 at 19:14 @james No, all 3 were left
- Skywalker May 25th, 2010 at 19:28 Let’s not run from the truth here folks. Prior to Rhondo coming to Boston Pierce was the main option and the one who had the ball in his hands at crucial last moments. He was not expected to pass, did not pass, and therefore never developed the “senses” of a passer. Timing and peripheral vision. Plus, he normally does not want want to pass. He looks to get his own shot or create contact and get to the foul line. Paul has not learned to pass when the shooter is ready but only when he can’t get his own shot off after dribbling the clock down. He always has had a problem with Rhondo and the passing game because it’s not something that he’s used to. Sure, he’s warming up to Rhondo’s fantastic skills now because the entire world is buzzing about his Magic Johnson/Pistol Pete/Bob Cousy abilities. When the Celtics run into problems is because “Captain” Paulie wants to handle the ball. He’s not happy with Rhondo getting all of the light. (Trust me..I know. What he needs to do is let the kid develop into the great player he is and stop hating. It’s a new day, and he needs to lelarn to adapt. How many times have you heard Doc say in the time out that “we have to doo it together”? “You can’t do it by yourself”. Who do you think he’s referring to without mentioning names? PAUL PIERCE!! Rhondo’s the real deal and Paul needs to get on board and support and trust his decision making ability and floor leadership. Does this make Paul a bad player?? No not at all- it just makes him stubborn and a glory hunter in certain moments. His ego is huge, (claiming to be the “best 3 point shooter in the league..etc) but with that aside, if your nickname is “The Truth”, then handle the truth and let Rhondo handle the ball. Yeah I said what a lot of Celtic fans are afraid to.
Skywalker May 25th, 2010 at 19:36
Skywalker :Let’s not run from the truth here folks. Prior to Rhondo coming to Boston Pierce was the main option and the one who had the ball in his hands at crucial last moments. He was not expected to pass, did
not pass, and therefore never developed the “senses” of a passer.Timing and peripheral vision. Plus, he normally does not want to pass. He looks to get his own shot or create contact and get to the foul line. Paul has not learned to pass when the shooter is ready but only when he can’t get his own shot off after dribbling the clock down. He always has had a problem with Rhondo and the passing game because it’s not something that he’s used to. Sure, he’s warming up to Rhondo’s fantastic skills now because the entire world is buzzing about his Magic Johnson/Pistol Pete/Bob Cousy abilities. When the Celtics run into problems is because “Captain” Paulie wants to handle the ball. He’s not happy with Rhondo getting all of the light. (Trust me..I know)What he needs to do is let the kid develop into the great player he is and stop hating. It’s a new day, and he needs to learn to adapt. How many times have you heard Doc say in the time out that “we have to do it together”? “You can’t do it by yourself”. Who do you think he’s
eferring to without mentioning names? PAUL PIERCE!!Rhondo’s the real deal and Paul needs to get on board and support and trust his decision making ability and floor leadership. Does this make Paul a bad player?? No not at all-it just makes him stubborn and a glory hunter in certain moments. His ego is huge, (claiming to be the “best 3 point shooter in the league..etc) but with that aside, if your nickname is “The Truth”, then handle the truth and let Rhondo handle the ball.Yeah I said what a lot of Celtic fans are afraid to.
Skywalker :Let’s not run from the truth here folks. Prior to Rhondo coming to Boston Pierce was the main option and the one who had the ball in his hands at crucial last moments. He was not expected to pass, did not pass, and therefore never developed the “senses” of a passer.Timing and peripheral vision. Plus, he normally does not want want to pass. He looks to get his own shot or create contact and get to the foul line. Paul has not learned to pass when the shooter is ready but only when he can’t get his own shot off after dribbling the clock down. He always has had a problem with Rhondo and the passing game because it’s not something that he’s used to. Sure, he’s warming up to Rhondo’s fantastic skills now because the entire world is buzzing about his Magic Johnson/Pistol Pete/Bob Cousy abilities. When the Celtics run into problems is because “Captain” Paulie wants to handle the ball. He’s not happy with Rhondo getting all of the light. (Trust me..I know)What he needs to do is let the kid develop into the great player he is and stop hating. It’s a new day, and he needs to lelarn to adapt. How many times have you heard Doc say in the time out that “we have to doo it together”? “You can’t do it by yourself”. Who do you think he’s referring to without mentioning names? PAUL PIERCE!!Rhondo’s the real deal and Paul needs to get on board and support and trust his decision making ability and floor leadership. Does this make Paul a bad player?? No not at all-it just makes him stubborn and a glory hunter in certain moments. His ego is huge, (claiming to be the “best 3 point shooter in the league..etc) but with that aside, if your nickname is “The Truth”, then handle the truth and let Rhondo handle the ball.Yeah I said what a lot of Celtic fans are afraid to.
- james May 25th, 2010 at 20:30 i dont agree with that. this year in particular all of the big three have let rondo take the reins, chris was right earlier, if rondo had the ball they just give him the shot and double ray or paul because they know he either wont shoot or wont make it. paul having the ball is the right play, he just fluffed it here.
- Dutch May 25th, 2010 at 22:34 I knew the game was a rap at tip off… They been diggin into the Magic’s ass for 3 games straight…startin at tip off. But last nite!! They(Celtics) were movin slow and missin shots, freethrows and all. So by the end of the game when Paul pulled tha BULLS*** wit the lazy cross over and Allen was on the wing on FIRE!!!!… They might have needed to lose this one to stay on piont…
- Dutch May 25th, 2010 at 22:48 Dude shut up if there was no” Paulie” there would be no Rondo … Yea Rondo gettin his now but let the big boys play too now… Rondo ain’t got a shot that can fuck wit Pauls so untill lil man (Rondo) get an all around game wit the passin and takin the ball to the basket I don’t wanna hear it.. WHAT??!?! it was a lazy cross get over it!!!! @skywalker
- Nate May 25th, 2010 at 23:55 Why did the clock stop at 8.5?
- Nate May 25th, 2010 at 23:57 @Skywalker, you spelled Rondo’s name wrong…
- Gentleman Jim May 26th, 2010 at 12:02 @Chris I don’t think that’s necessarily the case with them “blanketing” Allen. If you make the adjustment with Rondo taking the ball, then you make the natural adjustment of putting Pierce in the Garnett spot and having him screen Allen. That way they have two really good options in the off-ball pick and roll for Rondo to choose from. The last adjustment I’d make would be moving KG to where Rondo started the play. Instead of just standing there, if neither Allen nor Pierce are a good option, have Garnett set a pick for Rondo and roll to the free throw line for a possible jump shot or Rondo can attack the basket. What do you think about that?
