How The Celtics Will Play 'Melo

[Giantmetfan07]

I read this last night and thought it was a really good Analysis of how the Celtics have played against Melo defensively in their 4 meetings this season. 

http://hoopchalk.com/2013/04/19/playoff-capsule-new-york-knicks/
 
The New York Knicks went 3-1 against the Boston Celtics this season, handling them with ease in the final two matchups and splitting two other close games. But in their first round playoff series, we can safely expect the Celtics to tighten up their defense and raise their level of play by a few notches: they were the No. 5 seed last season and pushed Miami to the brink, after all. But what will most likely remain the same is the how the Celtics defense schematically handles New York’s offense. In particular, Carmelo Anthony.

Boston’s philosophy is a rather simple one: when Melo is in isolation, jam the paint from the weak side and have a second defender periodically bait him to move the ball.
 

 
Except due to the overload, most skip pass angles are completely cut off. His only kick out option, then, is to the top of the key to Iman Shumpert. Most times, the help defender (Jeff Green) is able to easily recover. Or he can go one-on-one, but there are no driving angles; the mere presence of multiple paint defenders discourages anything towards the paint. And that means he’s left with a contested pull-up jumper.
 
Now, this isn’t the worst shot in the world for Melo. It’s one of his go-to moves, actually. But the difference here is that he’s left with no other choice. Knowing that he has signifcant help beside and behind him, Bass can crowd Melo and make that shot even more difficult than it already is. And if Melo pulled up for a jumper on every possession, Boston would consider that a win anyway.

But should he choose to attack the bucket – and successfully get there – he’s often swallowed up by the collapse. (Remember that it’s aided by the defenders close proximity to the hoop in the first place.) Melo is therefore forced to take a difficult shot at the rim instead of kicking it out to three-point shooters because his court vision has been shrunk by a sea of green defenders. There’s essentially nowhere for him to go with the ball except forward.
 
Read More: Here

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Rotating correctly is the biggest thing.  I think Boston can have success making Melo work for his points, but the key is making the right rotations when they cheat off a defender, bring a double, crowd the lane, etc.  You can put a lot of attention on Melo all you want, but if he's find teammates and the Celtics are making the wrong rotations it will be a long series with the Knicks 3pt shooting.
 
What I'll be interested to see is their philosophy on entry passes.  Do they deny ball?  Or do they allow him to catch the pass clean then bring the double?  Also when do they bring the double?  On the catch?  On the dribble?  Before the catch?  That will dictate how they play him as well.

 

[buzzy]

Carmelo is gonna get his, I think the C's are gonna live with him averaging like 30-35 per, the key in my opinion is not letting any of the other Knicks get hot from the outside.

 

[buzzy]

I think I wrote down Knicks in 5, but I'm gonna go ahead anyway and say the Celtics are gonna steal game 1.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

You just never know when the Knicks can unravel.
 
When they start missing from deep, when JR Smith starts chucking, when Melo becomes a black hole.
 
That would all swing the series to Boston.

 

[bosoxlover12]

Carmelo is gonna get his, I think the C's are gonna live with him averaging like 30-35 per, the key in my opinion is not letting any of the other Knicks get hot from the outside.

eh, I'd say closer to 24-30ppg. But they key is holding Melo to that, and having Bradley retain JR as best as he can.

The last time we played them in Boston, we lost by 15. Melo had 29, and JR had 32. Nobody else on the Knicks had double figures.
Granted KG and Lee were DNP's, and by resting some of their guys like JET and Pierce, we had Jordan Crawford out there guarding JR, playing 41 minutes. He shouldn't see more than 10 in this series, barring injuries


I think we are fine.

 

[Pugz]

this is a 6 game knicks series.

i really think knicks only lose if knicks beat the knicks.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

When they let Kidd run the offense the way it should be, their ball movement is exceptional and they get great looks. When they seem to overstep him and just ISO, it can go either way. 
 
The good thing with the Knicks this year is their 3 pt shooting doesn't center on Novak like it did last year. 
 
It seems like Melo is most effective from the elbow, so I hope they emphasize that spot in the series. 

 

[bosoxlover12]

this is a 6 game knicks series.
i really think knicks only lose if knicks beat the knicks.

I wouldn't word it like that, but I understand what you mean.


I think Boston's defense can stop the Knicks. Knicks lose if Boston's D steps up

But if the Knicks play like they normally do, I doubt they lose

 

[Giantmetfan07]

I'm actually a bit nervous about this series. You guys tend to step it up no matter what seed you are. 

 

[bosoxlover12]

Doc always takes the last two months off to rest our guys. While teams like the Knicks and Pacers might be burnt out for playing Melo, JR, and Paulie, we've rested KG well, and took a lot of pressure off Paul by him playing PG kinda. Paul is 6th in the NBA in APG (excluding PGs), behind Lebron, Kobe (lol), Harden, Iggy, and Batum

 

[buzzy]

Yeah I think I'm definitely underestimating the Celtics. These guys live for the playoffs.

 

[BwareDWare94]

'Melo bitches once and they call two weakass fouls on Bass and Garnett. I hate NBA officiating with a fiery passion.