Celtics-Cavs Update: Squared series after 88-77 Cavs win last night.
It is always so easy to blame the coach, but I don't see how Rivers avoids castigation here. He has decided that veterans new to the team are more reliable than the guys who got him 66 wins. Last night PJ Brown had a stellar game flashing out for that sideline pop shot, and he wasn't too shabby on defense either. But having PJ on the floor enabled Mike Brown to keep Joe Smith on Brown and Varejao on KG, meaning, as Levi astutely pointed out in the comments below, he was the go-to guy in the low block at crunchtime. Bad idea.
But the killer for the Celts is this Sam Cassell fixation. It gets a little wearisome listening to folks blaming Rondo for all the shots he has taken (Magic Johnson, with his predictably stupid, star-centered analysis, hammered this point) without noticing that Rondo made half of his 14 attempts in 33:47 and was a minus -5 while the Celts as a team made 38.6% in 48 minutes and were a minus -11. Cassell, by the way, was 0-5 FG and minus -6 in just 14:13, while Boobie Gibson ran circles around him--a mismatch so blatantly obvious I was hollering for it in the stuff I wrote before the game.
Levi is also right that Ray Allen is co-goat in that he is not being aggressive at all in terms of looking for his shot, and with Rivers stupidly leaving Eddie House on the bench in favor of Cassell, the Celts only have a midrange game versus the Cavs.
Last but certainly not least, how good is Lebron James in the postseason? As his encore for dismantling the Pistons last year, he's pretty much single-handedly winning this second-round. He had 21 points last night--nobody else on the floor had more than 15. He had 13 assists--nobody else on the floor had more than 4. And during the 3:43 he sat at the end of the first half, Paul Pierce shot 2-4 FG. Pierce also scored two buckets in the brief time Pavlovic was on him when the Cavs went small, meaning that the vast majority of Pierce's misses in a 6-17 FG night came with LeBron on him. Got that? The leader in points and assists by a huge margin and the shutdown defender on the other team's top scorer. Bravo.
"And we're baaaaaack!" as the Jimmy Fallon character Joey Mack used to say on SNL.
With a game on every night, the dilemma has been to put something up that isn't immediately dated. At the risk of disrupting some really insightful comment threads that occur when I let things languish, my solution is to update my content as we go along (for example, I'll only post about the Eastern Conference on this first go-round then come back and add the West after today's games) and then post every two or three days. So let's get to it.
Detroit-Orlando: An unmagical bore
There is a glaring difference between the caliber of play in the two conferences in this second round, with the intensity and ability of the two Western series utterly compelling, while the East is clearly least, a maddening array of missed opportunities, a pair of skirrmishes of strategic ineptitude and dysfunctional execution. And the Pistons-Magic matchup has thus far been worst of all.
With 7:42 left to play in the third quarter Saturday, the Magic were up by 15, 63-48, to a team obviously missing the injured Chauncey Billups at both ends of the court. The Pistons proceeded to go on a 28-7 run that had them up by 6, 76-70, with 8:40 to go. During that 10:58 of action, Orlando went 2-17 from the field. Clueless Jameer Nelson led the squad in shots during that woeful stint, making one of five and missing two free throws. Nelson's missed free throw with 44 seconds to play also spelled the difference between a loss and overtime in the 90-89 defeat. True, Nelson generally had his way with Rodney Stuckey, but when Detroit subbed in defensive specialist Lindsay Hunter, why did Nelson keep chucking?
Nelson is just one of many goats here. Fresh off his being named to the All-NBA First Team as center, Dwight Howard was horrible, shooting 0-9 from the field in the final 43 minutes of the game, a period that saw him grab 6 offensive rebounds without converting a single one into any points--three missed putbacks and misfired jumpers by Nelson (twice) and Keyon Dooling ensued. Meanwhile, SVG clung to a crunchtime matchup of Dooling on Rip Hamilton, against all evidence that it could succeed. This was manna from heaven for matchup maven Flip Saunders, who posted Rip up on Dooling about a half-dozen plays in a row. Yes, Hamilton missed a couple of j's over Dooling, but Van Gundy's refusal to utilize the double team and to leave Dooling--who is four inches shorter than Rip and had four fouls at that point--out to dry was idiotic, especially after Hamilton fouled Dooling out (the frustrated Drooling picked up a T as he exited) and hit those free throws down the stretch.
Understand that this was a game Orlando had in its hands. All they needed to do was play fundamentally sound defense and move the ball on offense. Instead, they let Detroit beat them in transition off the turnovers (something that simply hasn't happened as often in the Utah-LA and SA-NO series, where transition D is a priority), refused to run any plays into the post for their lone All Star, let Jameer Nelson imagine himself as the catalyst of the offense rather than a fourth option in the half-court, and had Hedo Turkoglu burn all kinds of time off the clock so that when his terrible scoop shot off the drive barely grazed the front iron at the end, Orlando couldn't even desperately foul in time to save the game for another possession.
If I were Detroit, I'd leave Billups on the shelf for the next two games (if it comes to that) against the Magic, give him time to fully heal. Because either the Celts or the Cavs are a significant step up from Orlando, and the Western champion will be at least a step up from there. Put simply, Detroit doesn't need Billups to close this out--in fact Hunter got better as the game went along, a nice little dividend for the Pistons if the gritty vet can find a rhythm with these extra minutes--but if he isn't mostly healthy in the matchups after Orlando, the Piston have little or no shot to advance.
Celtics-Cavs: Still Waiting on LeBron
Oh how the national network audience wanted to canonize LeBron James last night, declare him fully back in all his glory after his putrid 8-42 FG flop in the first two games of the Boston-Cleveland series. And one could convincingly argue that LBJ delivered, stuffing the stat sheet for 21 points, 8 assists (half of them dazzling), 3 blocks (all of them dazzling), 4 steals, the snuffing of Paul Pierce on defense (Pierce had more turnovers than field goals) and a game-best plus +29 in 40:15 of play. What more could anyone possibly want or expect out of the 23-year old superstar?
Scoring off dribble penetration, that's what. The Cavs would be up 2-1 instead of the other way around if LeBron had been able to finish at the rim in Game One, and they won't win this series if he can't get to the cup and either convert the layups or the free throws the rest of the way. The only blemish in James's game Saturday night was his 2-11 bricklaying from inside the arc, giving him a horrendous 10-43 FG total on non-3-pointers in the first three games. That's 23.3% shooting on two-pointers for arguably the best penetrator in the NBA.
Fortunately, LeBron has gotten to the FT line 35 times in the three contests thus far, and made 25, or 71.4%. What that number tells you is that the Celts, much like the Wizards in the previous series, are determined to make LeBron "earn it at the line." That's code for "beat the shit out of him."
Yeah, I've heard all the old-timers talk about how the game isn't as tough as it used to be, that the flagrant foul rules have sissified things and that back in the day--when men were men and wore shorts so tight they got hernias when they saw a pretty girl in the stands--players could administer a proper beatdown in the paint without worrying about those nanny refs butting in.
Well, like most occasions in any arena where old-timers are talking about their prime, it's about four parts bullshit (due to exaggeration) and one part truth. I'm old enough to give the old-timers a run for their fading memories, starting watching hoops in 1959 at age 6, and I can tell you that there is more gratituous pounding and takedowns now than there ever was. First of all, the athletes are bigger, quicker, jump higher, and head to the hole more fearlessly, meaning the potential for injury is greater. Second, all the contemporary players have heard and bought in to the bullshit about how the vintage NBA was tougher. It wasn't.
Yeah, maybe you had more burly white guys slugging each other with elbows--call it joustling with a vengeance--down in the low block. But the infamous Kevin McHale takedown of Kurt Rambis back in the 80s is so widely remembered precisely because it was relatively rare and particularly violent. You didn't see guys clotheslined and cross body-blocked nearly as often as you do today--and, to reiterate, when it did happen, they weren't moving nearly as fast, jumping as high, and being finished off nearly as thoroughly. How many of you old-timers remember Dr. J getting clocked the way LeBron has gotten clocked in the past couple of years? Or what about other erstwhile high-flyers like Elgin Baylor, or even Michael Jordan? The Pistons had a deserved reputation as Bad Boys, but watch them try to intimidate the Bulls and compare it to the way the Wizards went after LeBron in the first round this year. They are very very comparable, and yet Washington's Brendan Haywood can actually call LBJ a crybaby, even as his punk-ass gets schooled by Ilgauskas for most of the series. The old timers are spooling out self-aggrandizing nonsense and the young'uns full of testosterone are gobbling it up and turning hoops into something as stupid as hockey.
Unfortunately, that's what it has come to. It turns out that yesterday I was switching channels between baseball, hoops and hockey, and saw the end of the Red Wings-Stars hockey game. The goalie cheap-shoted a Stars skater right at the end of the game, the player retaliated with a swung-stick spear into the goalie's chest, where all the padding is, and the goalie went down like he's been tasered. After seeing the replays it was clearly all an act. So later in the day I'm watching LeBron drive and James Posey--a player I like and respect--cheap shots him with a hand across the neck off the drive. It was properly ruled a flagrant foul, but James, like Detroit goalie Chris Osgood, played it to the hilt, going down and grimacing like crazy, rolling in agony. So what we've got now is alternately more cheap shots--just off the top of my head I can think of Jason Kidd's takedown of a Hornet player, Marvin Williams horse-collaring Rondo, Raja Bell doing his thing on Manu Ginobili, the Stevenson clothesline and the Haywood push on LeBron, and I'm not even counting Boozer knocking out Landry's tooth because that really was accidental--and more ostentatious acting, of the sort made famous by the flopping Spurs. These two things beget each other, and it is time to call bullshit on the whole thing, increase the penalties for flagrants, institute a foul for flopping, and tell the senile braggarts that they really didn't eat nails and the daughters of their opponents for breakfast.
But back to LeBron: I think the punishment has had an effect. I think the Wizards did rough him up and that the Celts are doing the same thing. And when you get called a crybaby anyway, maybe the best course of action is to zip it to the open man and find your long-range jumper rather than put up with all the abuse. In any event, I repeat, the Cavs don't win without LeBron scoring enough off the dribble to collapse the Celtic D for Z's short pops, Szczerbiak's long-range catch-and-shoots (and if Mike Brown doesn't bench him every time Wally puts the ball on the floor with a defender on him, I'll start believing all the terrible things people say about his coaching), and Ben Wallace's wide open layups and putbacks on the weak side followups.
As for the Celts, I'm delighted to report that KG is having a monster series. His aggressiveness toward the hoop sealed the deal in crunchtime of Game One and he alone came out ready to play in Game Three. Meanwhile, what has happened to Ray Allen? Paul Pierce understandably has his hands full, but if Allen can't make the likes of Szczerbiak or Boobie Gibson pay on the offensive end, Doc Rivers might as well go with Eddie House to spread the floor.
Bottom line, this is still anybody's series. I thought the energy that Ben Wallace, Delonte West and Joe Smith brought to the floor in Game Three was as important as LeBron's regal peformance in securing the victory, and think that every time Rivers relies on Sam Cassell to get things rolling he is gambling mightily. Mike Brown needs to make Boobie Gibson a permanent matchup for Cassell, then instruct him to never leave his feet when guarding Cassell and to put down the throttle every time he has the ball with Cassell on him. If the Cavs win Game Four, we're going to get pounded by that home/road split for the Celts until we all turn the sound down. BTW, Boston doesn't have to win one damn road game to capture the trophy, so let's give that a rest, eh.
Besides, just watching the way these series have unfolded, does anyone seriously think the eventual champ is coming out of the East?
First Road Win Captures the Second Round in the West
As I was saying about ugly takedowns...
Actually, I honestly don't think Ronnie Turiaf was trying to pound Price; at least not as blatantly as has occurred a dozen other plays in this postseason. It was just an unfortunate landing that had Price's arms unable to protect his head from splitting open on the floor. It deserved to be a flagrant, of course, but I think if Price gets his hands down and there isn't blood everywhere, Turiaf stays on the court instead of getting booted. On the other hand, Turiaf obviously hit Price hard enough to spin him; that and bumping against other players going down is why Price could break or brace his fall. And after calling for tougher penalties on flagrants, I can't really rebut Turiaf getting tossed. But all things being relative, the actual hit Turiaf laid on him doesn't even rank in the top ten goon moves for this postseason.
As for the game, well, the issue here is how long do you or should you ride your stud superstar when he clearly isn't the best option for your ballclub? This is what I knew would happen to the Wizards when Arenas came back--Agent Zero has enormous ability and an even bigger ego, and his desire to make an impact screwed up the pecking order that has served Washington well in his absence. And you could see it coming a mile away--I called it in the Cavs-Wiz series preview.
Now Kobe Bryant is a different story. The flare-up of his back obviously rendered him into an ordinary athlete, but what makes Kobe Kobe isn't just athleticism, it is great court vision, his wiley ways when he has the rock, his insatiable competitiveness, and ability to come up big in the clutch. So if I'm Phil Jackson, yeah, I probably call Kobe's number in the huddle during the crunchtime timeouts--but I stipulate to him that if others are open, check those options too. I leave Kobe at his rightful place atop the pecking order, but plant the seed that the way to win when your back is ailing and the brutal Jazz won't let you get a clean look even if you are healthy and quick is to find the open man and let him take the shot. Which is exactly what happened on the drive and kick out to Lamar Odom for that tying trey near the end of regulation, a perfectly called and executed play.
But too often, Kobe tried to do it on his own. Odom bailed him out once with a great follow after Kobe blew the layup, and Derek Fisher was the hero of the dozen-point comeback in the final few minutes of regulation, yet Kobe kept trying to summon all the physical gifts normally at his disposal, long past the time when everyone watching knew he couldn't. Hey, the refs even bailed him out on that Kirilenko "foul" right in front of the Jazz bench.
No, the Jazz deserved to win this game, and if they designated the game's number 1, 2, and 3 stars to come out and take a bow like in hockey, the top guy would be Deron Williams, who has pretty much demonstrated that nobody but Fisher can guard him effectively on the Lakers--LA fans will be throwing things at their TV sets the next time Jordan Farmar is assigned to Williams. In a contest loaded with tremendous crunchtime shots, none was better than Williams moving to his right after nearly losing the ball at half court and then launching over a looming Pau Gasol. You also have to give a curtain call to Mehmet Okur, whose reputation for coming up big when it matters most was burnished a little further today with his step-back treys and that immensely important offensive rebound he pulled down.
But do the Lakers win this game is Kobe is healthy? Yes, I think so. You can't keep Kyle Korver on the floor as often, for example, and AK-47 doesn't get to swoop behind Kobe for that block off penetration--how often does a healthy Kobe lack the quickness to get his shot blocked cleanly from behind? For that matter, how often does Kobe get his shot blocked five times in a single game? But it isn't Kobe's injury that should have Laker fans kicking themselves; it is Kobe's refusal to do what was best for the team. If you are beseiged by back spasms for the last three quarters plus overtime, do you really want to jack up 33 shots, especially when Odom and Gasol combined for 21-34 FG? Odom in particularly looked ready to take over a few times (he would have been the third guy called out to take a bow afterward), and having him get the chance to secure a 3-1 lead heading back to LA would have been a boon for the Lakers regardless of how it turned out today.
Instead, Kobe overreached. Even the fact that he got 10 assists isn't all good news, since it was half of the Lakers total in 53 minutes of action, demonstrating how little anyone else was allowed to create. The ostensible point guards Fisher and Farmar had *zero* assists in a combined 37:08, and only two turnovers combined, meaning their role in igniting the offense was minimal. Now, Fisher got in early foul trouble guarding Williams and Farmar was waaay overmatched--he was minus -19 in a scoreless 18:43--but the Lakers' forte is ball movement. All five of their starters can sling the rock. So why is it that only Kobe, Gasol (4) and Luke Walton (3) had more than 2 assists, while every member of the Jazz starting five posted at least three, led by Williams's game-high 14 dimes? Ball movement leads to high percentage shots and forced fouls by the opposition. Well, the Jazz shot 52.6% from the field and went to the line 45 times. The Lakers shot 47.4% from the field and went to the line 25 times. Kobe and Gasol combined for 49 FGA and 12 FTA.
I still think the Lakers are going to win this series, provided Kobe's back improves enough for him to play without martyrdom in Game Five. But Williams and Okur have both proven to be tough matchups. Odom can't guard both Okur and Boozer, unfortunately, which means Gasol has to step up--his defense remains one of the Lakers' few obvious weaknesses going forward. Of course Turiaf may get suspended for his takedown of Price, further complicating things. In the backcourt, I'd think about Walton playing some point on Williams. In any case, this series is better contested than I envisioned when I called it for LA in 5 or 6 at the onset.
Did anyone really expect the Spurs to roll over and let the Hornets run them off the court in San Antonio? Tonight's thrashing was surprising only in how little resistance New Orleans provided, and demonstrated a few things that are obvious enough to be conventional wisdom by now. One is that Bruce Bowen was always a better matchup on Peja than on Chris Paul. Just because Bowen had some success on Steve Nash in the past doesn't mean he could stay with CP3. Paul is quicker and a better dribbler under seige. Nash excels at dishing in the open court on the fly; take away that space for him to survey the terrain and his effectiveness diminishes much more than it does for Paul under the same circumstances. You pressure Paul when he has the ball and it is far more likely he breaks you down, and then contently chooses between shooting the open jumper or drawing opponents and feeding the bounce pass or alley oop into the paint. Nash is probably a better shooter when he's being contested (he's three inches taller than Paul), but Paul is better at getting uncontested, especially when it is an older, rugged-but-slower guy like Bowen doing the checking. By contrast, Bowen's in-your-jersey approach really bedevils Peja, who was magnificent not only on the catch-and-shoot during the two games in New Orleans, but in running the floor, taking people off the dribble, and crashing the offensive boards. Now that Bowen is putting the clamps on Peja, Paul and Parker are both running wild, and thus essentially cancelling each other out, a situation that very much favors San Antonio.
Which brings us to the power forwards. After a simply stupendous first three games against a Spurs team that plays postseason defense as intelligently as any franchise in 40 years, David West was due for a bad game and perhaps not coincidentally it came on a night when Tim Duncan seemed to shake off the aches and illness that have plagued him the past week. The two don't guard each other much, of course, but each anchors the low post offense for their team, and to the extent they successfully draw the opponents' attention, the wider the lane gets for their teammates on penetration, and the easier the putbacks for the big men on the weak side. West is a deadly midrange shooter and a joy to watch spinning off his baseline shoulder for left-handed shots in the low left block. I'll bet tonight is his lone stinker of the series, particularly if he can keep his temper totally under control, which apparently was no mean feat this evening.
For Duncan, well, what can you say? He looked old and slow in the two tilts over in the Big Easy, but particularly tonight Popovich seemed to bring him out a little further away from the low block and toward the sideline, so that the inevitable double-teams created more ball-swings to the weak side, creating more running for the opponents, and many many more open treys in the corner and at the top of the key for the Bowens, Finleys, Ginobilis and Udokas of the world. The Spurs weren't exactly marksmen on all those wide open looks--they shot 8-26 from beyond the arc--but they both wore the Hornets down with all that chasing, and also generated a helter-skelter chaos that deprived New Orleans of defensive rhythm. Right about the time the Hornets were instinctively flying toward the perimeter, Duncan decided to spin to the hoop (he was an efficient 10-13 FG) or Parker penetrated the open lanes (8-12 FG). New Orleans was working harder and less effectively.
The final indignity was Duncan (twice) and then Ginobili drawing three fouls on defensive stopper Tyson Chandler in the first 3-plus minutes of the third quartrer. Suddenly with 8:39 to play in the third, Chandler had five fouls and the Hornets were down 19. It was right around then that New Orleans mentally threw in the towel, along with everyone but the most Hornets-addled fan watching at home. Byron Scott emptied his bench shortly after the 4th quarter and the older, slower Spurs had their garbage time to relax and ready themselves for Game Five.
It should be a tremendous game. Even after San Antonio won Game Three, the fight staged by the Hornets--they pushed the Spurs to the brink a few times in the third and fourth quarters--had me rethinking my pick of the Spurs in 6 or 7. But San Antonio kept refining and came out in Game Four playing that incredibly well-spaced and unselfish ball movement offense that destroyed the Suns in Game Three of their first round series. Can San Antonio impose their enormous will on the Hornets on the road? Paul and West both seemed a little pissed and twitchy tonight, an ire that could go either way in their motivation for Game Five. When the Spurs are annoying, they are almost always winning. On the other hand, Chris Paul and David West are bona fide NBA stars, right now, despite their youth, and Tyson Chandler should be in the conversation with Dwight Howard (and some would say Yao Ming) for who is the best center in the NBA. Yeah, I know Chandler didn't even attempt a field goal tonight. But he is the chip Byron Scott has to play to avoid the disastrous double-team schemes on Duncan that the Spurs have clearly parsed out. And that matchup, perhaps more than any other, will detemine how this series is decided.
Thanks for the shout-out Britt.
Despite all the action in last night's Game 5, I tried to watch what was happening with Ray Allen. To my surprise, Wally Szczerbiak was far more persistent in sticking with Allen than I have ever seen Wally manage. To the Celtics discredit, though, they didn't seem to be looking for Ray at all. Still, Allen logged over 40 minutes, so Doc Rivers must think something is going according to plan.
I thought KG played a simply awesome game. But even thought the Celts won, I found myself thinking that at the end of the game, they needed someone besides KG to rely on to score tough baskets and to deny the paint to freight trains like LeBron at the close of the game.
I thought KG played close to a perfect game. He started off something like 1-4 from the field, but was taking it hard to the hoop and I remember wondering if he'd stay aggressive or let the early struggles stop him. Well, he stayed aggressive and was way too much for Cleveland. Rondo will get some deserved credit for that win, but if KG doesn't establish himself as a force early in that game (and throughout the 2nd and 3rd Quarters) Rondo doesn't get those wide open 3's or the wide open paint to coast through in the 4th. Now---will Garnett remain aggressive or let Rondo and Pierce carry the load? My guess is that those 2 won't be able to do it unless and until Garnett opens things up by being the aggressive scorer that he was on Wednesday night.
I agreed with the post-game guys regarding LeBron and the Cleveland attack--in this series, they're probably not going to win with LeBron doing his little dance at the top of the key and into the lane for the whole game. I thought the beauty of the first half was the way he was running off screens before his penetration. I also agreed with Kenny Smith that, if LeBron had a mid-range jumper, he'd be too much for Boston.
Yes, I thought Rondo played an outstanding game too. He only shot 2-6 in the 1st quarter, but dished 5 assists. Rajon went 7-9 for the rest of the game and added 9 more assists. Delonte West was nowhere near as effective.
Can anyone name an actual LeBron stopper? We saw Trenton Hassell play a great game against him once a few years back, but there's a good reason for the tag "King James" now.
Don't forget Ndudi Ebi in the McDonald's game :)
http://www.cincinnati.com/preps/2003/03/27/wwwmcboys.html
I'm pretty sure that's the main factor in McHale taking him.
Nice catch, I'd forgotten that epic battle.
The pic with the article says it all:
http://cincinnati.com/preps/2003/03/27/lebron_zoom.jpg
I'm sure it was Ndudi's armband, though, that swayed KG and sealed the deal for McHale. It's the only thing offering resistance to LeBron.
One Man's Opinioin of the Hierarchy of Blame for Boston:
6) Doc - while the man is clearly incompetent and holding his team back, the players still play. Yes, playing Cassell more than 12 minutes a game is Dumb, and the offense has retarded, but the players still gotta play. It ain't like he's playing Big Baby in the 4th or anything...Wait, what?
5) Pierce - Wasn't this guy one of the best at getting to the line? What happened to that guy? Valiant defensive effort, though.
4)Rondo - Yeah, made his shots. But where's the D, where's the steals, where's the assists? He's improved as a scorer this postseason - and that's not a good thing right now.
3) Cassell - Man...you need to start realizing what you Can and Can't do. Draw fouls and get to the line? Can do. Shoot threes or Take Command of the team? Can't do. Put the ego down for a minute, please (I know he can't).
2) Jesus Shuttlesworth - Watching you makes me feel old. I'm 23 man. I remember when you could take it to the hoop. Clearly, those days are gone. But you can still shoot right? Dell Curry shot into his late 30s, ditto Reggie. You still got it...right? Oh, and WALLY FUCKING SIPPIN ON ZZzz-zzz-biak is taking it to you....That....Is...Wrong.
1) KG - I hate myself for loving you /Dylan. For the love of all that is right in this world, realize you're still - that's Fucking Right, I'm gonna say it - you're Still the best player on the court every night, LeBron be damned. Cause this will be the last year that's true. So get your head out of your ass, realize Varajeo/Wallace/Joe Smith can't keep up with you, focus on points, and Drive.
Sounds as if Garnett would put your #6 culprit at #1:
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Coach Doc Rivers said his team needed to play better "under stress" during the final stretch of games. Pierce and Garnett begged to differ.
"I wouldn't say we're lacking poise," Garnett said. "In a situation like ours, we are trying to do everything that Doc wants us to do. He makes all the calls. He gives us direction. For the most part, we pretty much try to do what he wants."
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KG as passive-aggressive coach killer is not unprecedented, of course.
I saw that too. Bostonians don't know about Minnesota Nice.
http://www.canishoopus.com/2008/5/13/509033/kg-displays-his-minnesota
Britt-
I don't think it will take much offense for either team to win this series, but I still agree with Magic's star-centered analysis, in that Boston has nobody who can go for 40 on a given night, and that could cost them the series. Boston needs somebody to step up, and Magic probably thinks that guy should be Allen or Garnett, and not Rondo.
Between KG and Kobe, we saw two guys whose struggles cost their team their games on Sunday and Monday. The difference in my (and probably Magic's) mind between the two is that it will be easier for Kobe to tune down his aggressiveness than it will be for KG to tune his up. Both series are very much in doubt, though.
Andy G--
If Magic was as smart as you give him credit for, why didn't he just call out Allen? Do you know who leads the Celts in minutes-played during this series? Ray Allen. Yet he's 4th on the team in shots attempted and last among the starters in shooting percentage at 33.3%, with fewer assists and more turnovers than KG. What, is he out there for his defense?
I can't think of a time when Magic didn't frame his analysis around what the top one or two guys were doing, but there is no nuance to what he says. It reminds me of his doleful performance as head coach of the Lakers. The guy was a fabulous point guard, uniquely gifted, but I think it begins and ends there.
It is up to Doc Rivers to demand more aggression from Allen, and, failing that, to give KG the power forward rather than center spot in crunchtime and, failing that, to spread the floor with a legit three point threat--if Allen wants to spit the bit, bring in Eddie House.
To be honest, I can't remember exactly how he phrased or structured his remarks, but I thought it was something like "Rajon Rondo should not be taking the 2nd-most shots on that team." and "The Boston Celtics don't have a guy who can go out and just get em 40." and then maybe some stuff about the old Big 3, who had Bird, and all that. To the extent that Rondo shouldn't be 2nd in shots, I agree with him. However, you'd think a Bird-type player would tell the young guy to give him the f**king ball, and just do it--it doesn't look like that's happening with this group. You are right that the blame probably should be directly less at Rondo himself, since he can hardly be expected to tell future HOF players that they need to shoot more.
I didn't catch most of the game, so I probably shouldn't be commenting, but I did watch the last 5 minutes and post-game show, so I thought Magic may have been on to something about their need for somebody to take over a game.
As for Doc Rivers, I'm not sure what to think--to me, PJ Brown over Kendrick Perkins sounds like a "reasonable minds differ" situation, but maybe I just haven't seen enough of Perkins. As for KG sitting the first 5 minutes of the 4th, Phil Jackson sits Kobe for every first 4 of each 4th, so I didn't think of that as controversial. You're right that Rivers should tell Allen to shoot more. I think he got too comfortable in the 3rd option-slot this season and forgot how amazing of a shooter he can be. With Pierce bottled up, he'll need to get going soon, especially if LBJ gets back his shooting touch.
Re Doc Rivers not playing Kendrick Perkins in the 4th quarter of game 4: Kendrick may not put up the individual stats, but doggone, the team was +4 during his nineteen minutes on the floor. The rest of the Celts were all negative by at least that much, especially including Posey who basically handed the Cavs a point for every one of the 18+ minutes he was in the game. When you consider that the Celts "lost" the first three quarters by a mere three points, that is huge. Like a point guard, a coach has to "recognize" what is going on. Down 6 points, with 3:13 to play, it's probably the wrong time to go all small ball by replacing your second string center with your -12 small forward.
I understand that things went south with PJ in the game, and there were +/- stats available that suggested that the team was doing better with Perkins in the game--I was just saying that neither player is great, and I don't see any clear reason why the Celts would certainly do better with one average big man in there over another one. If 6'11, 239 lb PJ Brown goes in over 6'10, 264 lb Kendrick Perkins, I also don't understand how that was a decision to go with small-ball. Again, "reasonable minds can differ" and Doc made a choice. It didn't work out, but it probably had little to do with that particular choice and more to do with his best offensive players being stopped by either the opposing defense (Pierce) or their own lack of assertiveness (Garnett and Allen).
I can't tell which 60+ win team this year's Celts most resemble: the Mavs of last year or the 93-94 Sonics (who were bounced by Dikembe). Either way, I think the big problem with the Celts that is being exposed in this series is that a- their defense is a bit of smoke and mirrors, b- Doc Rivers' 1st year of coaching was, is, and always will be his best year of coaching, and c- KG + Pierce + Allen = Kemp + Payton + Schrempf = Dirk + Howard + Jason Terry. Don't get me wrong, I don't buy into Magic's line of thinking here. They don't need a guy to get 40, but what they do need is a guy to take charge of the game down the stretch.
About the "need a guy to get 40" stuff--I don't think it's as important that a Celtic actually has a 40-point game as it is that a Celtic at least poses a realistic threat of going nuts scoring, the way that LeBron, Kobe, Ginobili, Duncan, and to a slightly lesser extent, Boozer, Williams, Parker and Paul do. People can feel a huge game coming out of LeBron, like last year's Game 5 explosion in Detroit. While KG or Pierce could possibly get 30-40 points, it would be big news if they did and Cleveland is certainly losing less sleep about how to stop them than they are focused on getting their offense on track.
Cleveland has enough holes on their team, or at least mediocre players, to allow Boston to win this series, but after the 66-win season and all the hype surrounding how great this team is, the attention given to these early playoff struggles is justified and should cause worry for Celtic fans.
What's really kind of depressing (if you're a KG guy) is that the Celts are a Lebron missed layup in game 1 away from being down 3-1. You have to figure that he'll shoot over 33% for one of the games in Boston.
"BTW, Boston doesn't have to win one damn road game to capture the trophy, so let's give that a rest, eh."
Britt, I agree that we will be pounded with the road/home Boston split if Cleveland manages a win tonight. It is also true that Boston does not have to win a single road game to capture the trophy.
However, an interesting stat I heard over the weekend was that no NBA champion has ever made it through the playoffs to the championship without earning, at least, 3 road wins. Boston may break that trend so far, but its inability to win on the road might be indicative of glaring weakness to large to overcome to win the championship. But, I think, tonight, they will win their first road win and get that monkey off their back. If they don't then the pounding is well deserved in my opinion.
Andy B--
Another way to look at it is that the Celts have never trailed in the playoffs thus far. They have won every game they have needed to win.
Remember, this is a team that won 66 games during the regular season, which automatically makes them one of the best in the league on the road, without me even looking up the numbers.
I've never been a fan of simply taking an obvious pattern, such as the Celts' current home/road split, and repeating it over and over again in lieu of any genuine analysis or breakdown of the games themselves. Because does anybody have a good explanation for it? If I heard one shred of illuminating insight gleaned from this kind of stuff, I'd be more tolerant. But "pounding" home a point of which everyone is well aware, that's sound-byte stuff for the casual fan.
Yes, all true, all true.
I agree the Celtics are a great team and they had a great season. THey also are not the only team that has trouble winning a playoff game on the road. It is a new atmosphere and it seems to effect most players. What I remember from those great Celtics Lakers championship matchups in the 80's was a lot of home wins for each team. But, it seemed that Magic and Bird were never effected by whether they were playing at home or away. The players who were the difference makaers were Mchale and Ainge for the Celtics and Worthy and Scott for the Lakers. But, then when they went on the road, they would suddenly go cold or disappear.
The great players can bring it on both courts. KG is in that category and, I believe, it will be because of him that they win tonight. But, Ray Allen and Pierce are going to have to give a little something too, to make it happen. They cannot keep dissappearing when the Celtics need them. Especially when the play at Detroit or at San Antonio/NO/Jazz/Lakers, because alll of these teams are capable of winning a game at the Garden and it would be foolish to think that Boston will win every home game in a series with any of these teams. For that matter, it is hard to believe that LBJ won't put up an amazing game in Boston, at least once, this series to pull out a win there.
I don't want to hear it over and over in soundbites either, but if Boston is going to win the Championship, they are not going to do it like they did in Atlanta. They are going to have to win a game or two on the road. KG can make it happen, but I have concerns about Pierce and Allen.
I think some of the home success is due to the increased parity in the playoffs this year. I mistakenly thought LA would cruise past Utah, but even that isn't the case. With the matchups so tight, a home crowd (and usually a bit more help from the officials) can be the tipping point in almost every game. In the LA game yesterday, Britt correctly points out a bad blocking call on AK47 in OT, but Utah got a lot of calls that probably don't go their way in LA. Williams charged Kobe late in regulation on a play that helped them push the game in OT. No way does a ref in LA call that a block. Also, a game-deciding dunk by AK47 where Odom left him alone and they found a foul that wasn't there to up the lead to 5 (I think that was the spread at that point). The hometown reffing is huge sometimes. In Boston's case, though, it was really odd that Atlanta gave them so much trouble. There were at least 12 solid teams in the playoffs, but the Hawks were not one of them and they should've been beaten at home just as easily as at Boston. As for the Pierce/Allen thing, I'd chalk Pierce's struggles up to LBJ guarding him more than I would a home/away problem--if Boston somehow faces San Antonio, you'll probably see more Pierce and less KG, and it won't have anything to do with the gym they play in, but just the matchups.
Looks like the trend continues with Boston. I only caught the last five minutes (and the single best highlight of the post-season by LBJ) but from the post-game crew, it sounds like Boston's O stunk up the second half. Whichever team discovers an offensive flow in the next three games wins the series--if neither does, Boston will probably win at home like last series.
I'm trying to figure out just how much of Boston's difficulties vs Cleveland is due to coaching, to matchups, and to individual performances.
You gotta ask yourself why Doc Rivers held Kevin Garnett out for about 4 minutes in the 4thQ of Game 4 -- and why he left him in for all of the 3rdQ. And late in the game, any of us who've watched KG closely for over a decade know that you probably won't win a tough game playing small ball with KG alone in the post in crunch time. Maybe you can do so with Tim Duncan, but not KG. So wherefore art thou, Kendrick Perkins, in the 4th quarter?
And where are you, Ray Allen? Quietly nursing injury? Are we to believe that Wally Szczerbiak's defense is keeping you down in this series? Gag me. With Paul Pierce accepting the load of defending LeBron's James, you can't expect him to score 40 points. Right now, you're my goat of the series.
Boston has a lot of issues in general to be considered championship material. They're not mentally tough enough as a unit to win it all. In Game 5, they almost let Cleveland steal that game late in the 4th quarter with a string of 5 horrible offensive possessions where they either gave the ball up on a turnover or couldn't score to save themselves. Even though Cleveland cut the lead to 4, the Cavs missed way too many free throws and that cost them the game.
Look, I fully expect Cleveland to win Game 6 at home because of Boston's road isues. It's hard to figure out why the Celtics suck on the road in the post season but in many of the games, at crunch time, KG resorts to his old habits of deferring to much to his teammates on offense (his two costly turnovers against Atlanta in Game 6 of the first round), and not being aggressive enough on defense (letting James dunk on him in Game 4). That just doesn't happen in Boston where he is a completely different player. And what to say about Allen, who has played horribly. He has played the most minutes of any Celtic and is 4th in scoring. I see that he has changed his approach by driving to the hoop more instead of relying on his jumper, but he's just not scoring enough. With Pierce totally bogged down defensively against James, Allen is the one player, if he can get hot, that can put up the proverbial '40 that Magic alludes to. But I just don't see it happenning.
I'm not sure if Boston can win Game 7 at home. Cleveland to me is closer to winning on the road than Boston is.
Relax - it's TD BankNorth Garden now.
I can't seem to help calling FleetCenter the Garden.
Why the hell is Doc Rivers not playing Eddie House? Cassell might have some veteran savvy, and he is a great mid-range shooter, but he's such a high-maintenance guard who needs to dribble for seconds at a time to create a shot for himself, thus killing any offensive flow for Boston. Eddie House is instant offense and a better 3-point shooter than Cassell who can catch and shoot as quickly and deadly as anyone. If Ray Allen continues to be invisible, and Eddie House isn't used, then there goes the Celts two best outside shooters.
And if Doc insists on going with Cassell, how about getting KG some more touches in the post.
These playoffs have been something else -- as soon as it looks like one team has put the clamps on another, the other team matches it and evens the series. Should make a barrage of thrilling Game 5s, 6s, and 7s. Woo-hoo! I just hope we get a real champ and not a repeat of 2006.
Yesterday was the first time all season that I became convinced that Utah could win the championship. I still think LA will win this series, but Deron Williams--when he plays like he did yesterday (especially in the 1st Quarter)--is as good as anybody in the league, and he's surrounded by enough talent to beat any team. It's amazing that Minnesota was able to beat Utah 2x this year.
LA needs to get the Kobe-Gasol balance closer to 50/50, but Odom should remain a distant third. His numbers and efficiency were great yesterday, but he is absolutely not a primary option. He gets flustered quickly when he gets too much offensive responsibility. I could not believe it when he sank that 3--a huge shot, but gave him the undeserved confidence to try another that could've cost them the game, had Gasol not rebounded the miss. Odom is best crashing the boards and making plays like the tip-in to force OT.
Much more than Kobe's woes (33/10/8 is a good off-day) cost LA this game were Fisher's foul trouble (and Williams' resulting huge first quarter) that set the tone from the start. Couple that start with LA's poor foul shooting (some of which was Kobe's) and that's too much to win at Utah, the toughest arena in the league.
Somehow, I just don't get the feeling that LeBron is consciously wussing away from contact inside.
Gipson on Cassell...perfect call, perfect coaching.
As far as the champ being from the East or the West, I can't say. The obvious is that the East contenders were Boston and Detroit, but unless Billups recovers, I don't think Detroit will be able to win through.
Same goes for LA and Kobe Bryant's back issue.
In the San Antonio / New Orleans series, Popovich finally put Bruce Bowen on Stojakovic, leaving Chris Paul to Tony Parker. Nothing like a 20 point win to validate that strategy. Sir Charles says he's betting on the youth of NO, but I still say it's SA's size and experience that will win the series.
Levi--
Maybe it is more subconscious than conscious; I just can't come up with another really good reason why LeBron isn't penetrating more frequently. If he got Posey, Pierce, or one of the bigs (KG or Perkins) in foul trouble, that's a huge blow to the Celts. It also opens up shots for Szczerbiak and Gibson, both of whom seem much better shooting open looks than ones that are contested, plus are both streaky, confidence-oriented gunners who need a couple to go in early to have a good game.
I think people take the physicality for granted. These are the best athletes in the world, in my opinion, and they are going to war on each other without any real padding. If you can get three instead of two just standing there and chucking it up, well, how tempting is that?
BTW, calling it wussiness feeds into that "soft" and "crybaby" mindset. I think LeBron has proven his "courage." But there is also something to be said for common sense via physical preservation. Dwyane Wade has a ring; he also, in his mid-twenties, has already left the best years of his career out on the hardwood.
Lebron may not be driving because their offense gets him the ball when he's standing about 3 feet above the three point line. Its a long way to go and gives all 5 defenders time to crash him. Why not hit him coming through the screens on the baseline and key, or curling off a high screen, or in the high post. He'd be that much closer.
I, for one, will never call LeBron a wuss. Could LeBron's relative lack of penetration be coaching? I dunno. But you may be right at the end of the day.
There is no doubt that the modern game is extremely physical. Television, or a seat just 20 rows up, minimizes this aspect of the game. Viewing a game from floor level, especially under the baskets, reveals just how much contact, and hard contact at that, actually occurs. I wonder what James Naismith would think.
It will be a sad thing if it turns out to be true that Dwayne Wade has had his game beaten out of him so soon by the NBA's 82-game pounding. It does, however, highlight the magnificence of the Michael Jordans, Kobe Bryants, even Dr. J, and the like being able to absorb the punishment and play on.
I believe Boston has the best shot in the NBA, based on their regular season play and their gaudy point differential from regular season play. But Doc Rivers seems to be intent on wrecking everything that worked in the regular season with his personnel changes (end the Bill Simmons section). I think part of the problems for the Celtics are unique to the series they've played; they're not going to have to face someone like LeBron and shouldn't have to deal with flukes like the Joe Johnson game in Atlanta (unless Rivers screws up the matchups again, which is entirely possible). And like you said, they don't need to win a single road game to be the 2007-2008 NBA Champions.
Are you amused that your piece on cheap hitse was posted the same day that the Ronnies Turiaf and Price ended up in WWE style play?
Maybe it's just my faulty memory but I remember the first few Bulls/Pistons series as absolute slug fests against Jordan. From 88-91 MJ was at the peak of his offensive powers and I remember Laimbeer, Edwards, et al beating the crap out of him each and every time he went in the lane. It wasn't necessarily the sort of random goonishness that is going on right now but rather a bunch of sharp elbows, knees to the back, etc. The Malone-led Jazz are another team that jumps to mind that was much more physical overall than what goes on today. I remember the play where Malone took Isiah out for showing up John Stockton after he Thomas was left off the Dream Team. Beyond that, it was brutal, brutal basketball.
I agree that the ceiling of goonish play is much higher today than it ever has been (I don't remember ever seeing something like Deshawn Stevenson taking a full swing at the back of Lebron's head in the past) but the floor is much lower than it was in the age of the Bad Boy Pistons, the McHale-elbowed Celts, and, let's not forget, the 91-94 Pat Riley-led Knicks, which was the greatest defensive team in the history of the NBA due largely to the fact that they routinely got away with murder in the lane.
An interesting question to ask about all of this is that, for the most part, the brutal, tit-for-tat style of play that everyone seems to remember may have come about as the result of having to play against the greatest player in the history of the league. The Pistons and Knicks' tactics were in direct response to having to go up against Jordan. The Heat and Pistons are the only Eastern Conference teams since 90 to win a championship. I think a fair case could be made that this is partly the result of Eastern Conference teams having to take a defensive-minded and physical approach to playing against Jordan so often. When it came down to a 7 game series against Western Conference teams, most Eastern Conference teams simply didn't have enough offense to compete, as from 90-98 they were built against dealing with a team run by a single dominant offensive player.
Maybe this is what is happening against Lebron. He's a damn good player who got his team to the finals last year with...well, a bunch of nobodies. He's also not as good of a shooter as was Jordan so maybe teams have just said to themselves, "let's foul the hell out of the guy every time he comes into the lane and hope that he'll stick with passing or 3's".
Just a thought.
S+P--
The only difference between Matt Harpring and Rick Mahorn is their size. James Posey is slightly less shove-and-grab, but still would slide right in alongside the Bad Boy Pistons or the Rough Rileys (just made that up). I think we pretty much agree: The typical pounding hasn't changed for better or worse over the years, but the goonish behavior of hitting someone in mid air, coupled with the enhanced athleticism of the players, makes today's game more thuggish and dangerous. True?
Agreed. I think the most stunning thing about the play where Lebron got raked across the neck was how quickly a 6'8" 235lbs man could accellerate into the lane.
PS: I'm going to pretend that I didn't read the words "Rough Rileys" :)
It will be interesting to see if and how the rules committee looks at this in the off season. I think the flopping issue will definitely be addressed with a system similar to what they use with flagrant fouls: stop the game and let the refs view the play in question. However, I definitely think there needs to be more of a penalty for the ridiculous fouls. Jason Kidd should have been kicked out of the playoffs for what he pulled on Pargo with a few games added on at the beginning of next season. There's no place for stuff like that.
Whoops, typo: it should read the Heat and Pistons are the only non-MJ-led Eastern Conference teams since 90 to win a championship.