Small Ball

[Diesel]

Can Small Ball beat the Celts in the first series?Now it's looking like we will have neither of our Centers for the first season, we should try:Josh, Marvin, Joe, Hinrich, and Teague... to start.Although I would want to start Green, I think we need some power off the bench.The question is Josh vs. KG on the boards. Boston is not a great rebounding team. We can prolly get them in that if we have maximum effort especially on the road.

[Jody23]

You know good and well when KG is on the floor, Josh is rendered solely a jump shooter. I don't see the Hawks winning the battle of the boards in this series.

[Diesel]

You know good and well when KG is on the floor, Josh is rendered solely a jump shooter. I don't see the Hawks winning the battle of the boards in this series.

I think this is the time for Josh to Buck up, grab his sack and realize that KG is old and scared.Zaza knows this but it don't sound like he'll be back soon.

[frankthetank966]

We need Zaza, I hope he comes back.

[Jody23]

I think this is the time for Josh to Buck up, grab his sack and realize that KG is old and scared.Zaza knows this but it don't sound like he'll be back soon.

I just don't see that happening D. KG might be old, but he's defenitely not scared of Josh Smith.

[frankthetank966]

I think this is the time for Josh to Buck up, grab his sack and realize that KG is old and scared.Zaza knows this but it don't sound like he'll be back soon.

Its very strange, because as much as Zaza battles he rarely plays when he is hurt. I understand his leg hurts, but this is the playoffs.

[capstone21]

Can Small Ball beat the Celts in the first series?Now it's looking like we will have neither of our Centers for the first season, we should try:Josh, Marvin, Joe, Hinrich, and Teague... to start.Although I would want to start Green, I think we need some power off the bench.The question is Josh vs. KG on the boards. Boston is not a great rebounding team. We can prolly get them in that if we have maximum effort especially on the road.

We are in trouble because the Celtics are a good rebounding team and with Horford and Zaza out we don't have anyone to bang and get Offensive rebounds because Smith parks out on the perimeter.

[Supporter]

Joe needs to get in there and bang too. 6-8 240 he better park his ass in the paint

[dlpin]

As the board's resident celtics fan, I have to correct the record and say that the celtics are a terrible rebounding team.The celtics would love nothing more than to have an opponent play small ball against them. Hawks' playing small ball against the celtics is like a dream come true for Doc. The best thing possible for the celtics, from a match up point of view, is Pierce on JJ, Hinrich on Bradley, Marvin on Bass and Josh on KG.

[Alex]

Small ball is our only option in my mind. Assuming we are without Al and Zaza. We try to go toe to toe with Boston and we get swept. We need to slow the pace down a lot. I am talking Wisconsin pace...as much as I loathe Bo Ryan and his antics. We must value every single possession and not turn the ball over. We need to be very particular with our fast breaks and quick scoring baskets. Any easy basket we can get, we need to take. And I do agree this is Josh Smith's time to shine! I know he played awesome last season in the playoffs, but against Boston we need him to have some career games.

[Jody23]

The only regrettable thing is not that Horf and ZaZa won't play, it's that Gearon and his buddies will use injuries as an excuse to do nothing to improve and change the dynamic of this ballclub once again.

[dlpin]

The celtics would also love if the hawks slowed it down and played a half court offense.I mean, if there are two things that the celtics do really, really well right now is half court defense and playing small ball.Since the all star break, when the celtics started playing small ball with KG at center, the only teams to significantly (10+ points) beat the celtics were:76rs twice (who did it by destroying boston on the boards, with at least a +10 rebound differential in both wins)Kings (beat the celtics on the boards, but more importantly forced the celtics to play at a much faster pace than usual - celtics average a 90.1 pace, this game had a pace of 98)See a pattern?Other notable losses included the bulls without Rose (+8 rebound differential in favor of the bulls), the raptors (+13 rebound differential), and the knicks (+10 rebound differential).If Aaron Gray can get double digit boards against the celtics, there is no reason Jason Collins shouldn't get at least half that.

[benhillboy]

Zaza possibly missing the playoffs is news to me. Without him, it really doesn't matter what type of ball we play. He is the catalyst for our edge agaisnt the Celtics. We could barely contain Avery Bradley last week when he was featured. Pierce should average 40.

[macdaddy]

Man we need to have a little more confidence in our guys. We've been without Horford all season and done pretty well. I remember when Zaza was called worthless by many on this board and now we can't win a play game without him? Here's the half full part of the glass:Teague, Hinrich, Joe, Josh are going to step up. Who's going to keep Teague out of the lane? Hinrich and Joe know what they are doing and they are good defenders especially against old guys. Green, Pargo, Tmac are no slouches. Unless we return to iso-joe and jump shooting josh we have an unknown gameplan. Maybe last year was a fluke but LD has already hinted that we will have a different gameplan come playoff time. The celtics are great and doc is great but i don't expect a lot of surprises.I fear Allen and Pierce. Don't let them hit open jumpers and make them pay in the lane (Ivan) and we will be fine.

[Guest]

Small ball is our only option in my mind. Assuming we are without Al and Zaza. We try to go toe to toe with Boston and we get swept. We need to slow the pace down a lot. I am talking Wisconsin pace...as much as I loathe Bo Ryan and his antics. We must value every single possession and not turn the ball over. We need to be very particular with our fast breaks and quick scoring baskets. Any easy basket we can get, we need to take. And I do agree this is Josh Smith's time to shine! I know he played awesome last season in the playoffs, but against Boston we need him to have some career games.

Slow it down? That plays right into the Celtics game plan. They may be old and slow but their half court defense is what makes them go. We dont have a consistence post game which means we need to play at a faster pace to negate their half court defense. WE also have to take better care of the ball, we have too many unforced turnovers especially when attempting long passes.

[hawkrule152]

Can Small Ball beat the Celts in the first series?Now it's looking like we will have neither of our Centers for the first season, we should try:Josh, Marvin, Joe, Hinrich, and Teague... to start.Although I would want to start Green, I think we need some power off the bench.The question is Josh vs. KG on the boards. Boston is not a great rebounding team. We can prolly get them in that if we have maximum effort especially on the road.

Josh could guard KG at the 5 no problem, but I just dont see Marvin guarding Bass all that well and we wouldnt have enough interior rebounding. But why in the would would you want to start Green? When we havent done that ALL season long?!?!?!We all know Zaza cant guard KG at the 5 becauses hes entirely too slow. But I wouldnt mind seeing Ivan get alot of PT against KG then put smoove on Bass. Then Joe at the 3 along with Kirk and Teague. I just dont feel Marvin could guard Bass inside or get any rebound.

[Diesel]

Josh could guard KG at the 5 no problem, but I just dont see Marvin guarding Bass all that well and we wouldnt have enough interior rebounding. But why in the would would you want to start Green? When we havent done that ALL season long?!?!?!We all know Zaza cant guard KG at the 5 becauses hes entirely too slow. But I wouldnt mind seeing Ivan get alot of PT against KG then put smoove on Bass. Then Joe at the 3 along with Kirk and Teague. I just dont feel Marvin could guard Bass inside or get any rebound.

I'm going to say something here that seems wrong.Maybe we should start Collins.Collins is not the best rebounder, but he's a mighty good post defender. All of our guys should work on getting the boards first. We're not a good rebounding team but we're better than them. We should work on team rebounding. I know that will effect our break but we're tough shot makers. I just think we can adversely effect them better than they us.

[hawkrule152]

I'm going to say something here that seems wrong.Maybe we should start Collins.Collins is not the best rebounder, but he's a mighty good post defender. All of our guys should work on getting the boards first. We're not a good rebounding team but we're better than them. We should work on team rebounding. I know that will effect our break but we're tough shot makers. I just think we can adversely effect them better than they us.

Your crazy if you think Collins has anyshot at staying with KG. KG would be way too fast for him. The reason Boston moved Garnett to the 5 is because Centers cant keep up with him and he can take 1 step outside the box and drain a jumper. Zaza couldnt even keep up with him so no chance jason does.Josh at the 5 is our best option. Edited April 24, 2012 by hawkrule152

[High5]

Without Zaza, Josh needs to get over his mental block against KG. If he can't do that then we have no hope.

[Jody23]

Without Zaza, Josh needs to get over his mental block against KG. If he can't do that then we have no hope.

I think it's more than a mental block. Physically, Garnett is a bad matchup for Josh.