The Truth Hurts Mike D'Antoni & The Knicks
by Jeff Clark on Mar 5, 2012 6:13 AM EST
in Boston Celtics News & Links
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Somewhat lost in the Rajon Rondo show was the big boy, step up shot that Paul Pierce made to send the game to overtime. Without that shot (which was contested and off balance) Rondo wouldn't have had overtime to increase his stats and the stats wouldn't have meant nearly as much in a losing effort.
With that said, the dagger shot that we've come to know and love from Pierce didn't exactly feel that great to the guys on the other side.
Truth, if you like it or not - BostonHerald.com
Pierce’s shot, in particular, left the Knicks coach in a slow burn. "I don’t know if that’s execution — that’s having a horseshoe up your rear," D’Antoni said. "That’s what Paul Pierce does, though. He hit a hard shot, that’s what he does. (Carmelo Anthony) hit a hard shot, that’s what he does, and then Paul hit a dagger. You’ve got to give him credit with that, but there’s no execution with that one. That’s just going out and making a shot."
Even Paul himself had to sit back and appreciate the moment.
Celtics’ moment of need brings out the Truth - BostonHerald.com
"The great players, they really like to play in these types of games," said Pierce, who has regained his groove after a brief shooting slump. "They like to step up, as you saw tonight. Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Rondo, myself, ’Melo hit some big shots. That’s what makes the game of basketball and these types of games versus New York so fun because you always see the great players rise to the finish."
I've said it a thousand times and I'll keep saying it. You can never fully count out a team with Paul Pierce on it.
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That is Coach-Speak
from D’Antoni trying to take himself off the hook…
translation = “Doc didnt out-coach me. They got lucky”
Can't ever trade Paul
I’d rather have the celtics be bad next year, but have Paul retire a celtic then to see him in another jersey. Just sayin.
by cboire on Mar 5, 2012 7:43 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
I feel the same about Ray too.
Media - "How does it feel to be that fast?"
CJ - "It feel real good."
Yea haven’t liked him from the Suns days, reading the knicks blogs priceless, they really hate us right now.
by forever_green on Mar 5, 2012 8:30 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
contested??
I watched that shot three times on the youtube link. Shumpert’s heels never leave the floor! In fact it almost looks like he turns to give Pierce a better angle. horrible defense! still.. HUGE shot for the Truth.
Why in the world you make the first today article about PP and not about one of the greatest performances by a Celtic point guard ever. What Rondo did has only been done three times in NBA history Wlit Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson and Rondo. Pierce did a fantastic job no question about that but it is about time all the so called fans here give Rondo his due. Yes I am up set as hell. That shot made by Pierce will not go in the NBA hall of fame but the game Rondo played against the Knicks will be preserved for ever.
Calm down
They’ve already written two articles about Rondo after yesterday’s game. What more is there to say? Sheesh.
Pierce is an important piece
I am glad his shooting % improved. Definitely this shot will give immense confidence to Paul. THat will go a long way in determining the outcome of games. Sure ROndo effort was great, paul too deserved this recognition. Anything above 30 pts a game is awesome, that too from a celtic.
by Celtics Fan From NJ on Mar 5, 2012 9:56 AM EST up reply actions
Because it's nice to talk about the person who was a huge part of the reason Rondo got 20 assists.
So many Rondo articles already. Calm yourself.
speaking of
having a horseshoe up… D’antoni had his head up his… When KG was handing the ball off with about 5 seconds to go, you should foul him (no chance of continuation play). PP then HAS to make the FT, HAS to miss the next and we HAVE to get the rebound, and HAVE to make another putback ti tie. Instead. one "lucky’ shot puts you in OT. Gotta make your own luck there mikey….
I'm hearing that Rondo's assists
werent really assists and that they counted a lot that would not have been in other teams home town. Anyway to verify this?
Also, why didn’t the Knicks foul before the 3 went off? sending us to the line?
Yesterday was the first game all year that pierce, rondo, ray and kg worked well together. Fast paced, quick shots, movement with out the ball, good quality passing, every one tried to help rebound. It’s fun to watch when its all for one. Not when its I’m the leader I’ll do it.
With that said they needed a lucky 3 point shot to tie it, and melo to miss a game winner.
Can’t take to much out of the game other than let’s hope they continue to play together
don't agree
a win is a win is a win
they played pretty well against a tough team (i don’t look at records to gauge this) and pulled it out, you gotta take positives out of that, plus the previous 3 wins post ASG. past performance is not a predictor of the future, but it does provide information.
that information tells me they are playing well, sharing the ball more, scoring more, hitting the glass harder (on both ends), and still playing good D.
when those things happen and you still get a W its a positive. the difference between winning and losing in the NBA can sometimes be quite small.
and luck does play into it, always does (goes back to that small difference again).
this one game doesn’t make them title contenders, just like the previous losing streaks doesn’t make them favorites to win the draft lottery.
when the Cs worry about how they are playing, and focus on making that better, as opposed to who they are playing and where and when, they improve.
i gotta say, post ASG, i’ve seen good things…let’s hope they can build on those positives.
- JoeB
Not sure what you said that was different from what i said, you can’t take much from it, other than you won. Play together = good win. Let’s see if it happens more
perhaps
but i viewed your post as taking away a negative (they got lucky) as opposed to a positive takeaway (it continues a recent trend of playing well and doing good things)…maybe we agreed but just stated it differently
- JoeB
i agree
It’s a win. Wins are good, the power struggle of “this is how we should play” is on the back burner, I think Doc stepped up and said, play D. Rebound, get it to rondo, RUN.
KG may like the 4. But has to play the 5 for this team to win. Ray needs to be in front of rondo on the break. Pierce the trailer.
What I’m saying is its been vs the nets, bucks.. let’s wait until next Monday to say they have a chance to win 2 or 3 playoff series.
BTW
I’m not saying that wins vs Houston or sac makes them instant contenders…
I’m saying 5 games in 7 days for this group will be tough. The must win is LA. So if they go 4 – 1 including the W vs LA…than you can feel better about this team in the play offs.
Dagger?
The shot tied the game? A dagger would have put it away.
Oh and as near as I can tell, ’Melo missed his last-second shot to win the game in regulation…
Clutch vs. non-clutch.
I can't ever remember Bird referring to himself as a great player
Pierce made a big shot but on the 2 prior possessions he turned it over and took a bad shot so IMO he got lucky. Pierce is certainly a great player and has hit some game winners but he also turns the ball over a lot down the stretch so he should take this one and be humble about it.
YOU my friend are crazy
First off Bird was one of the cockiest players ever. What is Pierce supposed to say he sucks!! By the way Paul Pierce is 100 times the man Larry is off the court. PP is a class act. By the PP is a great player probably top 3 celtics of all time!! Better then Bird
The knicks are just so soft!
If I were a knick fan, what would have irked my nerves was with 18 or 19 seconds left in the game, how could the knicks let rondo roll the ball up the court to start the clock in the front court!!! No full court pressure! Horrible!
Let’s go Celtics! 4 in a row!
Celtics fan from Brooklyn, NY
I hate the Pierce iso
He got a 2nd chance and this time it wasn’t the iso. He came around the KG pick and squared up. But the Knicks had us because Pierce cannot shake loose on the “give the ball to Paul” BS play call of Doc. Maybe there is truly no better option but it is definitely a worse option than it used to be. Forget about making the shot half the time. He doesn’t get a shot off half the time.
I love Pierce. He’s a warrior. But, c’mon Doc, everyone knew your play call coming out of the TO. Lucky for us, the Knicks after making the 2 FTs were dumb enough to let Pierce get a shot off.
agreed... but still, you have to prefer Pierce iso to Rondo iso
at the end of quarters 1, 2, 3, if Rondo has the ball he almost always shoots it. I can only remember him hitting one of those buzzer beaters ONCE in all the time I’ve watched him take those. That was his rookie season, in a game against Toronto, from 3. Apparently Doc has given RR the green light to take these shots, but it’s a ridiculously low-percentage strategy. Irksome.
So… if we HAVE to do an iso, there’s nobody I’d rather have taking the shot (on this team) than #34.
by milt palacio's shot on Mar 5, 2012 6:12 PM EST up reply actions
'Hard to argue with results, though.
Offensively, Pierce is by far our most likely generator of points with the ball in his hands and I’m pretty sure that increases as the shot clock goes down. Add in the need for 3PTs and the play becomes easy – either Pierce or Ray has to take that last shot.
Throw in the fact that Pierce is a better generator of fouls on the shot, and the preference tilts heavily towards Pierce.
The key mistake was, indeed by the Knicks for letting the ball get into Pierce’s hands. Because as you say, they HAD to know that would be our preferred option.
But our decision to get it into his hands was a smart one. Because from that, once he had the ball and was set behind the arc, they can’t risk fouling him in a shooting action because he’d get 3 FTs anyway. So they ‘contested’ weakly – which oddly was the right defense.
Pierce is shooting FTs at 83% so his odds of hitting all three is 57%. He’s shooting 3PT shots at ‘only’ a 37.8% rate.
Even on the exchange, though – think about it. The best thing the Knicks could do was to foul KG before the exchange and before KG could feint a shooting action. As a non-shooting foul we’d be screwed because it would only be two-FTs. But KG was standing outside the arc – if he saw the foul attempt coming he could feint the shot and possibly draw the shooting foul call – and KG is shooting FTs at 86%. So his odds of making 3 in a row were even better!
So the Knicks were in a tough spot the moment KG got the ball. Their best bet was to let KG or Pierce take the 3PT shot and ‘contest’ it just enough to hope they missed without risking a foul.
NBA Officiating - Corrupt? Incompetent? Which is worse? Does it matter? It sucks.
Love the stats!
But I love the outcome even more!
by green18, 19, 20... on Mar 5, 2012 6:22 PM EST up reply actions
Here is also some food for thought
Here is an analysis of ‘Game Winning’ shot-makers in the NBA from a couple of years back:
http://82games.com/gamewinningshots.htm
It’s a bit dated – from ’04-09.
But If you look at Paul Pierce in that – he’s clearly one of the best not only in that he has made his share of game-winners, but his FT/FTA totals are high and most important – he was the game-winning assist leader of that study.
Someone else on CelticsBlog posted more updated numbers a year or two ago – I believe that PP’s assist numbers for this situation have gone up a bit – the above 5-year period only includes 2 seasons with Ray & KG as his teammates. Over recent years he’s obviously had two guys to dish to who are also on the above list.
In other words, yes, the play starts as a PP “iso” but it often doesn’t end with Paul taking the shot.
NBA Officiating - Corrupt? Incompetent? Which is worse? Does it matter? It sucks.
so then my question is this:
how can Doc justify letting Rondo take buzzer beaters throughout the first 3 quarters? We have one great buzzer-beater asset in Paul Pierce – backed up by the numbers – and another great one in Ray Allen – I don’t have the numbers on him but experience tells me this – and then something of a buzzer-beater black hole/glory hog in Rondo…
If this is baseball, Doc is pinch-hitting 2-3 times a game with one of the worst late-game hitters on the team. Rondo’s not really a clutch scorer… it’s ok.
by milt palacio's shot on Mar 5, 2012 8:06 PM EST up reply actions
Just how obvious was the RiggedBA Yesterday?
If the refs called that game anywhere close to fair the C’s win by 20 easy.
Hello NBA and ESPN there is no NY vs Boston rivalry in the sport of basketball.. NONE, NADA, ZIPPO, ZILCH, ZERO….
Let’s review.. the only Knicks win over the C’s in the last 2 years was by 1 point on tech foul call that was later rescinded… the tech foul… not the points…
Ug….
Celtic Chat Handle: Bird
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