Celtics’ Season Off to Great Start, But Turnovers Could Become a Problem

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Oct 31, 2010

Celtics' Season Off to Great Start, But Turnovers Could Become a Problem Halloween is upon us — and if you’re in the mood for a scare, then get a load of this. Through three games, the Celtics have turned the ball over 57 times.

It’s poor form to nitpick with the Celtics’ impressive opening week. The C’s beat LeBron James and the Heat on opening night, hung tough with the Cavs on the road on a back-to-back, and held off a scary Knicks comeback to improve to 2-1. They’ve had a very good start, and to find fault with it now isn’t fair. The C’s deserve praise for a solid start.

But 57 turnovers? Fifty-seven? Really?

That puts them on pace to finish the season with 1,558 cough-ups, which would venture into “historically bad” territory to say the least. Turnovers have been a problem throughout the era of the new Big Three, but generally the C’s have been able to keep their season total between 1,200 and 1,300. (League-average for a season tends to be about 1,150.)

It’s only been three games, but the team is already acutely aware of the problem. The Celtics know the cause — they’ve been overemphasizing ball movement, passing up shots and forcing bad passes. The Heat, Cavaliers and Knicks have all capitalized.

Most teams have the opposite problem — forcing too many shots. For the Celtics, ubuntu is coming back to bite them where it hurts. They can’t help but make the extra pass.

“Half the turnovers, we were turning the ball over when we had a layup,” coach Doc Rivers said. “We were throwing the ball over to someone else for them to have a layup. And I was thinking, ‘I’d take the first one.’ So it’s funny how even though they’ve been together, at times they don’t want to step on each others’ toes. It’s amazing how long it takes at times. Kevin [Garnett] especially, passing up open shots. But they’re finding their way, and they will find their way. I’m not that concerned by it.”

You’d think that turnovers would be a point guard issue. Rajon Rondo’s the guy handling the ball for the Celtics the vast majority of the time, he’s the guy initiating pick-and-roll plays in the offense, and he’s the guy running the fast break when the C’s get takeaways or defensive rebounds. So it stands to reason that Rondo would be the root of the turnover problems.

But Rondo, all things considered, has been a very efficient floor leader for the Celtics so far.

“We have to do a better job,” Rivers said before Friday night’s contest with the Knicks. “We still want to improve, obviously. It’s a process for us. And it’s not on Rondo. Rondo, he’s had some, but it’s the whole team. It’s not a Rondo issue, the turnovers. Rondo didn’t have 20 — the team did. It’s definitely not a Rondo issue.”

Rondo currently leads the NBA with 50 assists, and he has just 14 turnovers. The Celtics will take that ratio any day.

But there are other guys on the Celtics’ roster putting up big turnover numbers without the assists.

Shaquille and Jermaine O’Neal each have four turnovers, Ray Allen has five, and Paul Pierce has eight.

Garnett, the king of unselfish Celtic basketball, has 13. His greatest strength has become a weakness.

“My personality is a very giving personality,” Garnett said. “I care about the next person. It’s who I am. It’s my ID. And basketball is very similar — I never try to do just one thing, I try to multi-task. But when Doc talked to us [Friday] about our roles, he wanted me to be a lot more aggressive and not be so passive. I’m adjusting — but it’s who I am, you know. I try to make the guys around me better, but at the same time I have to be aggressive. It’s a learning process.”

It’s a fine line that Garnett and the Celtics are walking. Selfless play is what got the Celtics to the top of the basketball world. It’s their identity, and it has been since the moment Garnett walked through that door in 2007. But when selflessness goes too far, it brings the Celtics down.

In the days ahead, the C’s will try to find a balance.

“I think that’s something we’re going to resolve here,” Pierce said. “Hopefully in the next week or so. Because I think we’re too good an offensive team, we shoot too good of a percentage, night in and night out, to turn the ball over. We’re too good defensively. So if we can correct that problem and address it early, we will be unstoppable.”

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