THIBODEAU STILL SEES STRENGTH IN CELTS DEFENSE
Doc Rivers, especially, refuses to equate last season’s return from the grave to the problems dogging his current team.
Though a lot of new pieces have been added since Tom Thibodeau left for Chicago two-and-a-half years ago, the Bulls coach begs to differ.
His view from the outside hasn’t changed.
“At the end of the day, they’re still a great defensive team,” Thibodeau said. “You can see it in what they did last year. As the season goes along they get better and better, and they’re experienced.
“It’s the fact that so many of their core guys have been in big games and tight situations. They’re not going to beat themselves. If they lose it’s because they missed a shot, and that’s it.
“But the Celtics are a great team. They have a lot of new players, and you can see that they’re getting a lot more comfortable. Once they get some games together, this team is going to be very, very dangerous.”
That’s also been part of the problem lately.
Heading into Thursday’s game against the Knicks, Paul Pierce was in one of his worst shooting slumps in memory.
The Celtics captain averaged 13.2 points on 24-for-74 shooting (.324) over the previous five games, and Thibodeau doesn’t care about that kind of trend.
“Paul’s a great player, and he’s been a great player for a long time,” he said. “Every time he shoots the ball I think it’s going in. He plays at a great speed. He’s always under control and he has great strength. People don’t realize what a great athlete he is. Both (Kevin) Garnett and Pierce — (Rajon) Rondo is a superstar in his own right — just work the game. The first half nothing is really going, but they impact the game in so many ways. So does Rondo.”
Regardless of Pierce’s recent struggles, Thibodeau guarantees this much — teams won’t change coverage.
“A guy like Pierce is such a great scorer, and he scores in so many different ways, that you have to guard him with your team,” Thibodeau said. “He’s missed some shots he normally makes. But you have to make him play in a crowd and miss some shots. He still has the ability to make those shots, even if you defend it well.”