June 30, 2008

Gone Fishing

Well not really.

Though I did do some stream fishing in April and May.

But I'm taking some 'downtime' and might not post for a week or two.

If I get any earthshaking news or ideas, I'll put it here. Otherwise, I will see you all after I catch a
couple of weeks of R&R.

The Celtics' 17th championship has finally set in. In fact, it is has finally set in that Kevin Garnett is a Celtic.

I'm going green in 2 ways - as a Celtic fan and in saving my words for when they might mean a little more.

Talk to you all in 2 weeks or so. It goes quicker than you think.

Thanks for reading!

T

Posted by Tom on 10:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 25, 2008

Can I say the "I" word now?

No one mentioned it.

I think writers were afraid they would jinx things. Not just players are superstitious.

I'm talking about Injuries with a capital I.

The Celtics won because of every reason that has been mentioned....and one more. They stayed healthy enough to keep the team in tact for the duration. I wanted to say something about that all year long. But I thought that as soon as I do......you know. I didn't want to get blamed. Neither did any Celtic beat writer it seems.

So let me finally say it. The Celtics avoided any major injuries to key players for the year.

There were some swerves, some speed bumps, a few traffic slowdowns, minor detours and a couple of rest stops on the Celtic road to success. But there wasn't a major player 'gone down' for much of the season.

Remember last season? The Celtics amassed 311 games missed due to injury in their version version of the Young and the Defenseless. Led by Wally Szczerbiak's 52 games in Wallyworld's version of As the Ankle Turns, followed by Tony Allen's 48 games out of commission for the show called 'Was That Dunk Really Necessary?', and the piece d'resistance, Paul Pierce's Stress Reactions of the Rich and Famous, Delonte West looked downright healthy with only 12 games missed due to injury.

This season, when it mattered so much more, the Celtics managed only 86 games missed due to injury. 33 of those were attributed to Scot Pollard. That is a very good number for an 82 game season. Now, that's not saying that players weren't playing hurt this season. They most certainly were. There was one very good reason why. Championship aspirations will do that to a player. Doc and Kevin Garnett have both alluded to the fact that not all injuries were made public.

More impressive, even the injuries they did have did not stop the Celtics train. Most amazing was the team's 7-2 record with Kevin Garnett out with an abdominal strain. The sound you hear was another criticism crashing to the floor. They could even win without team anchor Kevin Garnett.

Ray Allen missed exactly 5 games due to ankle injuries, though he had ankle surgery in the off season.

Of note, Paul Pierce did not miss a single game due to injury. He missed one game for 'personal reasons'. That is amazing because we all know that Paul took a pounding this year and more so in the play-offs between injuring his ankle and his knee.

One thought...how would you have liked to have been the Celtics trainer who checked Pierce out in the locker room of the game that Paul was wheeled out of?

You have to make a snap judgement on how hurt he is and how much more he could hurt the knee by playing. The wrong decision could affect a career of one the game's biggest stars. I'm absolutely sure Head Trainer Ed Lacerte knows exactly what he is doing. Still....those must have been anxious moments for Mr. Lacerte and anyone else who was involved in the decision.

If you could get a glimpse of the training, massage, and therapy room before and after each game, you would get just an inkling of how much stress and punishment these players put their bodies through to entertain us for 48 minutes and to earn their money. Some reading this may laugh at that notion. But make no mistake. Something called 'NBA shape' is a real concept. Young players, semi-retired players, off season players will all use that term. It is not to be taken lightly. These players are, for the most part, in fantastic shape.

As the year wore on, there were post games in the locker room that James Posey looked like he had come through a war as he sat there and gathered his thoughts and rested his body before showering. He missed only 6 games all year, 3 due to sprained finger and 2 because of back spasms. The way James throws his body around the court you would expect far worse. James Posey is a gamer.

It took PJ Brown nearly a month to get in NBA shape, and the progress was subtle. Though his timing was off, he looked pretty good from the start. Big Baby had to work up to it. Pollard never quite got back to it.

Doc kept the three stars relatively healthy by getting each of them some rest and watching minutes carefully all year long. Still, any NBA team is one twisted knee or ankle away from finding out how good #2 on the depth chart really is. It is hard to prevent those things from happening.

The biggest off season story influenced by injury is Tony Allen. He himself will admit the psychological aspect of recovery is just as important as the physical. The thought of re-injuring his knee played a part in his ability to recover from it. Tony looked healed and ready to move forward in his brief appearances in the play-offs. Still, we haven't seen the Tony that existed before the dunk that sideswiped down his promising career.

Next year, may we hope that the Celtic team stays as healthy as this years'. It is almost a requirement to win a championship...like defense and team oriented play.

So let this be the article that is 'Banned in Boston' again next season. Page 32, paragraph 3, line 7 says 'off season articles don't count' when it comes to jinx talk.

A healthy Celtic team will be even more dangerous next year with a season under their belt.

Posted by Tom on 10:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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Posted by Bustraan on 8:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 21, 2008

Celtics Central Thanks the CT Post

Please know that I'm not done writing about the Celtics this season. But I wanted to thank Gary Rogo, Sport Editor, and the Connecticut Post for allowing me to bring news of the Boston Celtics to the fans in southwestern Connecticut by way of the Celtics Central blog on the Connpost.com website this season.

What a season it was.

I knew it would be a special ride. I never allowed myself to think it would end the way it did. Just too perfect. I hope you have enjoyed the ride as much as I have. The Boston Celtics gave us plenty of entertainment on their magical march to a national championship. The way it was done would make Red Auerbach and Bill Russell proud. Three tremendous talents, team first, and defense always.

I tried a few different styles of writing here before settling on a combination of exposition, analysis and opinion. Different articles emphasized degrees of each. It's been a blast.

The internet is a growing medium. One day it may supplant print entirely. That day may appear before I move on to the next world. Web content will at least become as important as the printed page in the not too distant future. My generation still reads newspapers. I just turned 55.

Those 20 years younger probably do not read newspapers regularly. Each generation after them will be more like them than they will be like me. They will get their news from TV satirical talk shows and the internet for the most part. It is an electronic generation far more than any one before them.

I feel that I am in some small way, a part of that movement.

I hope you have bookmarked this page and made it one of your regular stops each day. I tried to offer something fresh on most days. I've learned how hard that is to do. I hope I have succeeded more than I have failed.

I don't expect everyone (or anyone) to agree with everything I write. They are my thoughts alone.

I did get much more serious about how I watched a game this season. The tendency of most fans is to follow the ball and pay attention to the offensive side of things. Much of what happens in a game happens away from the ball. Much of the story is what happens on the defensive end. I've made a real effort to see the whole play at each end of the court. I watch games so much differently now.

There were times I was so intent on 'off the ball' play, I had to ask someone else who just scored the basket. That's what happens when you are keying in on a match up or two.

Player rotation and ball movement are just two of many different things you look for. I was much more aware of both.

There is an ongoing argument over whether basketball is complicated or simple. The simple answer is it is both. The complicated answer is, it depends on what you are talking about.

The best answer is that informed experts can be wrong, uninformed fans can be right...and vice a versa. Everyone has an opinion in the sports world. Step up and make your case. That is what it is all about.

I tried to be as informed as I could and I tried to 'get it right' as much as I possibly could. I hope I presented my thoughts in an informative and entertaining way. I hope I did a good enough job for you to want to see what I had to say on a regular basis.

This season is winding down. The 2008 NBA Draft will take the spotlight soon. Off season rumors of moves and actual moves will come to pass. The Celtics will have decisions to make and so will some players. I will keep you abreast of it all as much I can.

So...thanks to Doc Rivers and the Celtics for bringing back the Title. Thanks to the Connecticut Post and Gary Rogo for bringing detailed Celtic analysis to its readers on an almost daily basis.

Let's do it all again next season!

Posted by Tom on 10:20 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

June 20, 2008

Boston Celtics: Lottery Lost = Paradise Found

(this was written right after the clinching 6th game)

Talk about turning around misfortune.

The Boston Celtics just erased any doubts about which team is the very best in the NBA. It wasn’t even close. They inflicted their purposeful vengeance upon the heavily favored and long time rival Los Angeles Lakers in a play-off game clinching record 39 points. The final score: 131 to 92.

In a single year, make that a year and a single month’s trades, they went from the depths of despair after drawing only the 5th best pick in the NBA draft after finishing with the 2nd worst record in the NBA. Drafting 1st or 2nd meant a potential franchise player in Greg Odom or Kevin Durant. Anything after that meant more development time.

Time was not something Celtic team star Paul Pierce, nor Executive Director of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge had a lot of. Danny was named to his position on May 9, 2003. The team was moving backwards and getting younger every year. People scratched their heads. Vision? How about derision? Danny knew it takes time to turn a ship around, but he was running out of time.

29 year old Paul Pierce’s patience with Danny’s rebuilding and ‘asset accumulation’ was wearing out and he knew his window of opportunity to win an NBA championship was starting to narrow. Danny did as well. Get me help or trade me, was Paul’s message. It was a moment of truth for The Truth and Danny.

Two godawful seasons of 24 wins after 33 wins, was preceded by 19 years of championship drought. Winning a league champion is an enormously difficult task. But we are talking about the Celtics. Think New York Yankees when you think Boston Celtics. It is just not supposed to happen that way to the league’s legendary franchise. This is the league that Bill Russell and Red Auerbach built.

Ainge opted to try to trade for another star or two to support Pierce, instead of trading him away and go for a full blown youth movement. That decision was monumental and course changing for the Celtic franchise. Amazingly, it would lead to the construction of a team that would fashion together this storybook season culminating in the franchise’s 17th NBA title one year later.

Two decisive trades and the franchise’s reversal of fortune was in motion.

1) On draft night June 28th he traded the 5th pick, oft injured sharp shooter Wally Szczerbiak, and fan favorite guard Delonte West to the Seattle Supersonics for Ray Allen, one of the league’s top offensive players and their 2nd round pick, power forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis.

2) On July 31st, he made “the trade” that made the NBA earth stand still. Sending 5 players and 2 number one draft choices to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the largest single player trade in NBA history, he acquired league jewel Kevin Garnett. The Big Ticket was the most athletically gifted player the league has ever seen at 7’ feet tall. They bought the Ticket to ride. Ride him they did. Garnett was the player that would be the cornerstone of a new destiny for the franchise.

Ironically, the ever loyal Garnett had rebuffed a Celtic trade in the previous month. The addition of Ray Allen and the knowledge that Wolves’ owner Glen Taylor wanted to rebuild, moved Kevin Garnett to reconsider. He called Danny to tell him he now wanted to come to the Celtics. He realized this team, with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, would provide the best possibility for him to try to win an NBA title. None of them had won a ring in their careers. That common motivation and singular goal would mean everything.

Call it a Sequence of Fortunate Events. But you could see the plan. The funny thing is that right away Boston became a magnet for other players. Danny’s follow up sequence of moves put the rest of the cast in place.

The choice of role players was critical. They would ultimately play large roles in making it all happen. Outside shooting specialist Eddie House was added on August 9th. Forward, defensive specialist, three point shooter and NBA title veteran James Posey was added on August 27th. Then there were the late acquisitions. Veteran point guard Sam Cassell and semi-retired forward/center PJ Brown were added. Both proved to be pivotal acquisitions.

We witnessed a relentless march through the NBA. We were witness to the single biggest turnaround in NBA history. The team's early commitment to defense was surprising and the singular difference between this team and all others. It was the way to attain an NBA Championship ring. Corny things like 'team first', losing egos, and new words like ubuntu were sprouting. NBA players and coaches talk about those things all of the time. Few ever mean it.

Kevin, Paul and Ray’s embrace of each other, when removed from the final game at the 4:01 mark was the moment they played 108 grueling games this year for. Mission accomplished.

My only question is how anyone could have favored the Lakers at all, let alone heavily?

The Celtics' difficult march through inferior teams in the east was enough to convince the experts that they couldn’t beat the potent Lakers. The Lakers sliced through the west in a conference considered far superior. Golden State, a 50 win team was unable to even crack the play-offs.

Three individual legacies were on the line. Yet, outside of Boston, there were more believers at an athiests' convention than there were in sports circles about the Celtics chances.

It all changed in 3 hours and exactly 48 game minutes later on Tuesday evening. Fittingly, Boston won their 17th World Championship at home after blowing a chance to win on the Lakers’ floor on Sunday night.

Three Celtic players, two of them new this season, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen cemented their Hall of Fame credentials and their legacies forever in a single game. They dispelled a mountain of questions, criticisms, and doubts about how good each of them were.

All three performed magnificently throughout the play-offs, with Paul Pierce’s anchoring performance at both ends of the floor earning him the Finals MVP Award.

He now joins other Celtic greats and can stand shoulder to shoulder with them knowing he helped put another banner up in the rafters.

“These are the guys, the (John) Havliceks, Bill Russells, the (Bob) Cousys,” Pierce said. “These guys started what’s going on today with those banners. They don’t hang up any banners but championship ones, and now I’m a part of it. And just all the years talking to Bill and John and Cousy, finally I just feel like we’ve come out of that shadow and created our own. Now we can stand up and look at them eye-to-eye and say, ‘Hey, we accomplished it, too.’ ”

Well said and well done by the captain of the 2008 NBA World Champion Boston Celtics.

A lost lottery turned into paradise found for the Celtic organization.

I'm glad we could share the journey together, fellow believers. The very fact that it was done at Phil Jackson's and Kobe Bryant's expense made it all that much sweeter.

Soak up the moment.

Posted by Tom on 10:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Can I say the "I" Word now?.......Whew!

No one mentioned it. I think writers were afraid they would jinx things. Not just players are superstitious.

I'm talking about Injuries with a capital I.

The Celtics won because of every reason that has been mentioned....and one more. They stayed healthy enough to keep the team in tact for the duration. I wanted to say something about that all year long. But I thought that as soon as I do......you know. I didn't want to get blamed. Neither did any Celtic beat writer it seems.

So let me finally say it. The Celtics avoided any major injuries to key players for the year.

There were some swerves, some speed bumps, a few traffic slowdowns, minor detours and a couple of rest stops on the Celtic road to success. But there wasn't a major player gone down for much of the season.

Remember last season? The Celtics amassed 311 games missed due to injury in their version version of the Young and the Defenseless. Led by Wally Szczerbiak's 52 games in Wallyworld's version of As the Ankle Turns, followed by Tony Allen's 48 games out of commission for the show called 'Was That Dunk Really Necessary?', and the piece d'resistance, Paul Pierce's Stress Fractures of the Rich and Famous, Delonte West looked downright healthy with only 12 games missed due to injury.

This season, when it mattered so much more, the Celtics managed only 86 games missed due to injury. 33 of those were attributed to Scot Pollard. That is a very good number for an 82 game season. Now, that's not saying that players weren't playing hurt this season. They most certainly were. There was one very good reason why. Championship aspirations will do that to a player. Doc and Garnett have both alluded to the fact that not all injuries were made public.

And more impressive, even the injuries they did have did not stop the Celtics train. Most amazing was the team's 7-2 record with Kevin Garnett out with an abdominal strain. You sound you hear was another criticism crashing to the floor. They could even win without team anchor Kevin Garnett.

Ray Allen missed exactly 5 games due to ankle injuries, though he had ankle surgery in the off season.

Of note, Paul Pierce did not miss a single game due to injury. He missed one game for 'personal reasons'. That is amazing because we all know that Paul took a pounding this year and more so in the play-offs between injuring his ankle and his knee.

One thought...how would you have liked to have been the Celtics trainer who checked Pierce out in the locker room of the game that Paul was wheeled out of? You have to make a snap judgement on how hurt he is and how much more he could hurt the knee by playing. The wrong decision could affect a career of one the game's biggest stars. I'm absolutely sure Head Trainer Ed Lacerte knows exactly what he is doing. Still....those must have been anxious moments for Mr. Lacerte and anyone else who was involved in the decision.

If you could get a glimpse of the training, massage, and therapy room before and after each game, you would get just an inkling of how much stress and punishment these players put their bodies through to entertain us for 48 minutes and to earn their money. Some reading this may laugh at that notion. But make no mistake. Something called 'NBA shape' is a real concept. Young players, semi-retired players, off season players will all use that term. It is not to be taken lightly. These players are, for the most part, in fantastic shape.

As the year wore on, there were post games in the locker room that James Posey looked like he had come through a war as he sat there and gathered his thoughts and rested his body before showering. He missed only 6 games all year, 3 due to sprained finger and 2 because of back spasms. The way James throws his body around the court you would expect far worse. James Posey is a gamer.

It took PJ Brown nearly a month to get in NBA shape, though the progress was subtle. Though his timing was off, he looked pretty good from the start. Big Baby had to work up to it. Pollard never quite got back to it.

Doc kept the three stars relatively healthy by getting each of them some rest and watching minutes carefully all year long. Still, any NBA team is one twisted knee or ankle away from finding out how good #2 on the depth chart really is. It is hard to prevent those from happening.

The biggest off season story influenced by injury is Tony Allen. He himself will admit the psychological aspect of recovery is just as important as the physical. The thought of re-injuring his knee played a part in his ability to recover from it. Tony looked healed and ready to move forward in his brief appearances in the play-offs. Still, we haven't seen the Tony that existed before the dunk that brought down his promising career.

Next year, may we hope that the Celtic team stays as healthy as this years'. It is almost a requirement to win a championship...like defense and team oriented play.

So let this be the article that is 'Banned in Boston' again next season. Page 32, paragraph 3, line 7 says 'off season articles don't count' when it comes to jinx talk. A healthy Celtic team will be even more dangerous with a season under their belt.

Posted by Tom on 8:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 19, 2008

Celtics: The Better Team - Our Enemy - Ourselves

The levy held. The floodwaters were averted. The Celtics were 2-0.

I feel compelled to report something that happened that "Night to Remember". By coincidence, there is a book about the Titanic of that title.

I haven't seen what I'm about to relate anywhere in Celtic Nation and it's worth one article anyway.

The Celtics emphatically beat down the Lakers - absolutely no doubt about it. No longer would Ray, Paul, and Kevin be called into question for their heart, their brains, their basketball IQ, their clutchness. The bully was beaten back. Three large monkeys were seen jumping off of their backs and jumping onto three Lakers backs. Those buggers are hard to get rid of.

The national experts including the PHDs of number crunchers like Chad Ford, and John Hollinger all picked LA to win. The two mentioned had the Lakers in 6.

Okay. Okay. I know you have already heard that.

But here is something you haven't heard or seen in print that I know of, anyway.

I can't tell you how many times, before the 6th game, that I heard that the Celtics "had better win tonight because we don't want a game 7 against this team."

Multiple times from multiple people - all east coast people.

And here is something else I don't think is in print anywhere on the east coast anyway. Most people weren't sure the game was locked up until the lead was ridiculous.

Doc Rivers kept the three stars in until the 4 minute mark and everyone was darn glad of it. It wasn't just for 'celebrating with the guys that brought the team there' either, though they will tell you that. It was simple. Neither team proved they could hold a lead in this series.

I even was wondering if the lead was safe in the 3rd quarter. When it hit 30 I relaxed. But that is amazing in and of itself. When the Celtics letdown..or let up, they can lose 24 points in 7 minutes.

It is not that the Lakers were ever considered the better team by those who uttered those thoughts. I don't think anyone who followed this Celtic team regularly thought the Lakers would
win this series. Not one.

But the Celtics game 2 meltdown was not forgotten. A 24 point lead disappeared in 6 minutes. For those whose memories have gotten worse than their grandmothers', that was an astounding feeling, too. Watching the Lakers get within 2 points, a single basket, right near the end, made the following thought embrace my entire being..."My God, they might lose this game."

The Celtic team was one basket away from being the Lakers, instead of beating the Lakers. We all know the good guys finally put a stop to it and pulled out a win in a game that had no business whatsoever being that close. But that game was not forgotten.

Neither was the idea that a game 7 with Kobe Bryant would not be a given win for this Green Juggernaut. No one wanted it.

As Cassius said, "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves."

Or in this case, our stars' selves.

“We’re happy because we won, but we definitely learned a lesson,” Pierce said after game two.

Still one might wonder if they truly did. They've given up other leads this post season. It is not like this was the first time. A careless Rondo or Pierce showboat pass that gets picked off. Defenders not getting out to the guard 3 point shooters as quickly. Hasty Celtic perimeter shots that don't go in. Suddenly, a beaten team gets life.

Here are my thoughts on both situations:

1) If the Celtics lost game 2 after being up by 24 - would they have lost the series? Would their collective confidence have disappeared into the Bermuda (Laker) triangle of that devastating letdown?

My answer is not yes, but isn't a definite no either. It seems that this team is it's own worst enemy at times. Too cocky with a lead. They seemed to get better and better against the odds as the play-offs wore on. But they almost needed to know that every basket counted for them to perform at the top of their abilities.

2) What if they sent it the reserves earlier in game 6? Would the Lakers have made a run and a game out of it?. Probably. That's how it has gone in this series. Paul Pierce said at half time that the Celtics would not let the lead disappear in the 2nd half. They would come out with even more energy than the first half. They did this time. The Green Machine opened up the throttle and ran right over the Lakers. The Kobes wilted quickly. The Celtic starters and bench were not to be denied on this night. But I couldn't help but think how large of a lead would be 'safe' for far too long into the final game.

You see, there was a tipping point in game 2 when the Celtics were a basket away from approaching the rest of the series in a completely different light. They could have been even at 1-1 going into LA.

If you think I'm now going to say that would changed who the winner was - I'm not. I don't even think that the Celtics would have lost this series if that game 2 meltdown occurred. This Celtic team is that good. I think they would have probably won the first game in LA, to be honest. They would have regained their home court advantage. This team is that good when it is focused.

But boy, there were times that they didn't make it easy on us watching those games, did they?

Thanks for the thrills, but thanks for the final convincing win even more. We fans needed that.

And oh yeah...I would have been fine with a game 7, too. The Celtics would never lose that many times to this Laker team. Never. The only thing that could beat this team was Celtic injuries. But there were more than a few others at that game who weren't so sure. Game 6 - Game 7, this Celtic team would be Champs. It was only a matter of which game. Thanks for one less late night.

Thanks for finally playing well for 48 minutes. No other team can compete with you when you do - contrary to what the experts thought. This team was its biggest adversary at times. No other team can stop them when they are right.

If you haven't seen this, Brian Scalabrine has some questions of his own for the experts. Enjoy....

http://mvn.com/nba-celtics/2008/06/18/espn-not-so-expert-after-all/

Posted by Tom on 7:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 18, 2008

Cool Calm P.J. Brown- Undecided about coming back

Louisiana Tech University produces talented NBA big men from time to time. Karl Malone of yore and Paul Millsap of recent years are NBA bigs from the school. Current Celtic P.J. Brown, the Big Cat, is another La. Tech graduate and NBA long timer.

P.J. hopped on the Green Machine bus a little over halfway through the season and helped drive it to an NBA Championship, his first after 15 years in the league....including a half of year out of it, sitting back home, chilling in Slidell, Louisiana eating shrimp, mud puppies, muffalattas, po-boys, and jumbalaya.

Long Road for P.J. to a Title
6' 11" 225 lbs, forward/center P.J. Brown began his NBA career in 1993 as a 2nd round pick of the New Jersey Nets. He played for the Nets for the first three years of his career. He moved on to Miami for 4 years, then the Hornets for 7 years, before retiring from the Bulls after a less than happy season last year.

For a player who has averaged 10.5 points over his career to have earned $70 million dollars over his career, he must be doing something very right.

His bread and butter is defense, rebounding, including hitting the offensive boards (he is 3rd for career in the NBA among active players and 21st all time), and still has a reliable mid range jumper as Celtic fans found out. He hit it with pressure in the play-offs. P.J. Brown was tailor made to play on a team like the 2008 Celtics. There was a job opening for back-up center once Scot Pollard was put on the shelf. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were the human resource department persuading him to apply within.

The 15 year veteran, 3 time All Defensive 2nd Teamer signed with the Celtics for a bargain basement $474, 285 in order to have a chance to play for a championship ring.

Talked out of retirement by Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, for one more chance to play for the elusive NBA ring, P.J. ended up making the right decision and entered into NBA history by earning its highest honor - World Champion. He was more and more instrumental in Celtic victories as the play-offs wore on and Kendrick Perkins began nursing a few injuries. His defense, occasional offense, and calm on-court demeanor proved invaluable, especially in the early rounds for the younger Celtic players.

I've been through it all. I thought my composure would be big for this team. I just go out there and be P.J. you know what I mean? I come out with my game and just try and do the best that I can.

P.J. has now played in 107 play-off games in his career. Fully 26 of them, almost a quarter of his entire career's totals, were from this post season with the Celtics. Coming in with 81 games experience in the post season would count for a lot, as we would find out.

Thoughts on this final game?

It started out rough at first. But then it seemed like our defensive intensity got higher and higher. We made everything tough on them. Every shot they took, we made it hard. Everything Kobe took, wasn't easy.

At one point, Kobe came down and made an aggressive spin move on you. You made a great recovery with that block. Tell us about that.

He was determined to put that shot in my face. I guess Kobe was saying you're old and you can't jump no more. But I still have length. I've got long arms, so I just tried to stay in front of him, use my defensive principles and stay between him and the basket. When he went up, it was good timing, and it was a good play for us.

P.J. is 3rd among active players in fouls and that also was part of his job this post season as well. Many were the time, when the Celtics needed to lay a hard one on someone. It was Brown doing the deed.

After being congratulated on winning his first Championship PJ was asked if, a year ago, he ever expected to be standing here now as part of a world champion team...

Not in a million years. I would say my career was about as close to being over as it could possibly be. And (if) it wasn't for the chance meeting with Paul and Ray in New Orleans, I wouldn't be standing in front of you.

When I made the decision to come, there were no guarantees. Nobody said the Boston Celtics would end up being world champions. There were a whole bunch of other great teams out there. Going along this path, it's been a roller coaster this whole post season. It's been awesome man. I just feel grateful, man, and I'm just blessed to be here tonight.

I have no idea. If it comes to that, and I decide to came back, this is option A. I would look no other place but here first. I prefer to leave it at that for right now.

So, PJ is just going to enjoy the moment and the milestone he has finally reached as a 38 year old player.

Obviously, if P.J. decides to send feelers out to the Celtics, he would want to earn a bit more than the bargain basement money he signed for this year. How and where Wyc and Danny decide to spend their money for next season's team will involve some tough decisions and maybe a little more out of pocket money. The returns generated from this year's luxury tax penalty team couldn't have been better. Or maybe they will be.

The TV ratings were up about 50% percent over last year and the final game earned a 10.7 share, the highest since 2000. A portion of any and all monies earned are distributed back to teams in the revenue sharing agreement.

The Celtics say they will sell about about 1,000 more season tickets next year than they made available this year. Kevin Garnett's jersey is the NBA's number one selling item. Celtics gear sales generally, will only increase. It's a good time economically for the league and the Celtics in particular.

Perhaps there are a few sheckles more for a player like P.J. Brown

Posted by Tom on 9:38 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Boston Garden area locked down by 1400 police after game

When I left the TDBanknorth Garden at about 1:30am on Tuesday night (Wednesday am really) I was surprised to be surrounded by group after group of armed, helmutted police officers, each of them carrying long night sticks.

They were in groups of 4 generally. Some groups were larger and they were.... everywhere...no more than 30 yards apart from another group. Instead of celebration, the streets were utterly quiet. The bars were all closed and padlocked. There were metal barriers blocking off Causeway, and each of the adjoining streets, including Friend and Canal. Car travel in the immediate area was verboten.

I was stunned. Expect for some cars honking their horns down the road, the streets were almost empty. A few wanderers were seen here and there. If there was a party, it was over.

When I walked down Canal Street I saw why. Revelers, if that is what you want to call them, had smashed a number of huge picture windows in businesses on the street. There were garbage cans and carts dumped over everywhere. One huge set of completely smashed windows had two 'One Way - Do Not Enter' street pole signs laying half way in them. Nice going 'fans'.

On Friend Street there were a few more broken windows and more dumped over garbage cans.

I fail to see the fun or celebration in causing wanton destruction of property. It is more like idiots need an excuse to be idiots. Some apparently thought they had one.

There is a ongoing debate over who has the worst fans - Boston or New York. I think that argument has been answered. From the anecdotes I've heard, and sometimes the stories are told proudly, Boston fans step over the line more than New York fans do. Bravo. Great going. You've proven you are bigger jerks than New York fans.

I stopped and talked to a few of the officers. What was the problem?

"Just some vandalism."

Oh. Was it out of control?

"Not once we got there."

As I was talking to the officer, I saw a large contingent of police, must have been at least 50 officers, walking military style, two by two, down the street in front of the Government Center Parking Garage. I'm not kidding.

Were you called in after things started or were this many officers already nearby?

"We were already here. If you want more information, you will have to talk to one of the sargents."

Where's a sargent?

"He is one, right over there." (nodding his head)

I walked a few feet to the sargent.

Excuse me, were there any injuries or harm to people?

"No. Not that I know of. It was all property damage."

Can you tell me about how many officers are present in total?

"Yes, there are 1400."

Shortly after, I heard another officer being called to "The Commons". The crowd had moved there and there was a fight in progress.

I got the thought of sharing a beer with some Celtic fans at Sullivan's Bar or any other of the well known local establishments quickly out of my head. I headed to my car and saw a SWAT Team vehicle parked along with all of the other police vehicles as I walked.

Call it an imperfect end to an otherwise perfect evening.

Posted by Tom on 7:07 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Boston Triangle (plus two) Annihilates Laker Triangle

The poor Lakers didn't stand a chance.

Boston's marathon is now over. 108 games after they started, the Boston Celtics are the 2008 NBA Champions. 82 wins against 26 losses. It is banner number seventeen for the storied franchise.

Boston's triangle of stars, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce, and the Celtic team defense were too much for the Lakers' triangle offense. They outscored the Lakers in every quarter, ran up a 43 point lead, outshot the Lakers by 23 attempts, had 33 assists to 16, out rebounded the Lakers by 48-29, had 14 offensive rebounds to LA's 2, set an NBA Finals record with 18 steals, had 7 turnovers to LA's 19, and 4 blocked shots, while LA had none. As the losing fighter with the black eye says, "It wasn't even close, ma."

Boston's recent penchant for digging ditches served them well as they turned to digging the Lakers' grave last night. They dug it so deep that I believe the 39 point win is a Finals record for the clinching game.

Call it the Boston Massacre. Call it Bryant's Last Stand. Call the police with the name of the green truck that ran over the Lakers.

How could the Lakers win against these prophetic numbers? Numerologists will have a field day. The Celtics won championship # 17 in game 6 on 6/17. In a personal sign from the heavens addressed to me, Bill Russell and John Havlicek got off the elevator together in front of me before the game. Reminded by numbers oracle Justin Poulin, that is # 6 and # 17 for those who don't remember. No team can go up against karma like that.

Poetic irony? The Celtic team stopped Phil Jackson from passing Red Auerbach in number of titles won. Phil was 9-1 in Finals appearances. He lost to Finals rookie, coach Doc Rivers. The Green made the purple and gold blue.... for Red.

Coach Rivers was at the helm of the worst game 7 home loss in Boston history (97-70) against the Indiana Pacers in 2005. Last night he directed the 2nd largest Celtic play-off win ever, at a 39 point margin. With a drastic change in players, obviously, so does Doc's success.

But has Doc himself gotten better as a coach over the years?

Oh, I think you evolve every year. Not only as a coach..as a player, as a person. I never stopped believing what I could do and....that probably got me through this. With all the injuries and destruction we had in this Finals. I just thought guys listened. We had a goal. We didn't say how the goal was going to be reached. We just said we were going to reach it. They kept believing so...again... you can instill that in them, but they still have to go out and get it.

Injuries and destruction indeed. The Celtics Kendrick Perkins had a sprained ankle, then a strained shoulder. Rajon Rondo had a twisted ankle. Paul Pierce has a messed up knee. Ray Allen was poked in the eye. The destruction? That was done to the Lakers.

How did you improve?

Patience. I think as years went (on) I believed in what I was doing and decided I wouldn't change it.

That was patience, not patients, I think Doc meant. He has had plenty of both over the years. While it might not equate with the patience of Job, it required a firm resolve to stay the course in light of the obstacle course Doc has run as the head coach of the Boston Celtics for the previous three years. Last year they were 24-58, with a franchise record 18 game losing streak, Paul Pierce injured and very, very young. The year before it was 33 wins and a difficult mix of youth and experience. The year before that was a frowning, obstinate, less mature Paul Pierce with little help.

Doc has a special ability to talk to his three franchise players straight up and directly to them as few coaches would even try to attempt. Doc's sincere, fatherly, but disciplined approach has been well received by three star players previously used to doing things their own way and making many more times Doc's salary. In a league where that requires the resume or the respect to be able to that, Doc clearly made it happen with personal respect.

We had a good respect going into it. But I told them day one, that I was going to be harder on them than any of the other players, because I thought it was important for the other players...and I was lucky that I had three guys that could take it.

Was there any time that you worried that it might not work out that way?

Before I met them. (laughs) Because I didn't know but...honestly the first day that we were together I knew that they would take it.

Doc may be evolving as a coach, but he has had a gift for communication all along. Even when his Celtic teams were achieving records for futility, the young players never quit on him, and Doc always had an ability to say and do the correct thing at the correct time.

This very difficult and special achievement of winning the NBA title goes mostly to the players, and it should. But if the Coach of the Year Award was voted on now, I wonder if Doc might not be the winner.

His sometimes unusual moves in the play-offs have mostly paid off. He has adjusted his bench rotation much like an intuitive baseball manager might go against accepted corollaries, and he played players, against set rotations, in what proved to be wise moves.

Finding the right point guard and the right back up power forward each night has been a challenge. Playing well when you get the minutes generally get you more time. But not always.

But what ever Doc did, he did it his way, and the players accepted that.

So it is three players and a coach that have solidified their personal legacies with a 4-2 series win against current coaching giant Phil Jackson, league MVP Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. They did it in convincing fashion...and for all time.

Three of a kind beats one ace. One 'triangle' beats the other.

It is a storybook ending to a storybook season.

And they lived happily ever after.

Posted by Tom on 4:44 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

June 16, 2008

Lakers Steal Game 5 103-98

The Boston Celtics would make the ditch diggers union proud. Coming from the city known for the Big Dig, I guess it is symbolic.

They are a blue collar team, but this is ridiculous.

For the 2nd straight game, at the Lakers' Staples Center at that, the Beantown Ballers dug a huge 39-22 first quarter hole to get out of. It reached 19 points before Boston's bench 'dug in' defensively and used Paul Pierce as the power shovel to dig out. They got to work and closed to within 3 by half time, 55-52 with crew chief Pierce putting his hard hat on and repeatedly attacking the basket. Like a jack hammer, he dug big holes in the Lakers' interior defense resulting in 21 points. Foreman Doc Rivers asked him to fore go coffee breaks as Paul played the entire half.

Handicaps almost overcome
Even while short handed with Kendrick Perkins out due to a shoulder sprain from last game, point guard Rajon Rondo playing poorly, and Kevin Garnett being severely limited by a fine defensive performance by Pau Gasol, the Celtics would erase the entire deficit by the 3rd quarter to take a short lived lead on a Rondo's only make of the night, a jump shot, at 62-60. They would fight back again to tie it at 90 on a Pierce drive and kick out for a Garnett open jumper. Close out time? Not quite. The Comeback Kids would come up just short on this night.

Kobe Bryant made the key defensive play, a knock away steal from Pierce when the Celtics were within 97-95 and had the ball after a missed Fisher three pointer with 40 seconds left. Odom got it and passed the ball back to a streaking Kobe for a breakaway dunk. Some thought it was a foul. Paul Pierce said no, it wasn't.

The Celtics had their chances to win and end the series right here. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen missed lay-ups in the last 2 minutes while Kevin Garnett missed 2 foul shots and two point blank put backs of each of those missed lay-ups.

Starting center 6' 10" 280 lbs. Kendrick Perkins did not play.
It showed in the Celtics' interior defense and the final score. The Lakers jump out to a 39 point first quarter, due to a 'free range' Kobe. He was once again assigned Rajon Rondo and Rajon failed to make the Lakers pay for treating him as the invisible man on offense. Substitute starter, 6' 8" Leon Powe meant Kevin Garnett had to guard Pau Gasol, resulting in early foul trouble for KG. With 5 minutes gone, the Celtics were already down 10 when Doc switched to the taller PJ Brown. Things didn't get better until the 2nd quarter.

With Garnett on the bench, Paul Pierce, PJ Brown, James Posey, and surprise substitution, Tony Allen dug in defensively in the 2 quarter, holding LA to 16 points while scoring 30 themselves.

Paul Pierce had a Kobe Bryant-like game. Similar to Kobe, when he often does that, his team lost. Paul played all but 2 seconds of the game and finished with 38 points, including 19 free throw attempts, making 16, with 10-22 shooting, 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 5 TOs.

Doc Rivers...

I thought, as a whole though, especially down the stretch, I didn't think we trusted our offense as much as we should have. I thought we tried to force plays. The floor was wide open. I mean, it really was...and we just didn't make extra passes as a group.

We had great shots. Missed some lay-ups. Missed some free throws.

James Posey had another good game, taking charges and making hustle plays that don't show up in the boxscore. But James had 18 big points last game and should be looked for more at the offensive end with defenses collapsing on the the big three.

Another sign of a missing Perkins? The Celtics were out rebounded slightly on the evening, and were out muscled for much of the night. Pau Gasol benefited the most as he had a particularly good night at both ends of the floor. Pau and Odom feasted on the boards for 24 rebounds combined and 39 total points. Though the smaller Celtic line up helped them get back in the game, there are times when Perkins height, aggressiveness and defensive skills are sorely needed.

Space Invaders

Rivers...

I thought they started out the game more physical. I thought we had our stretches...but overall I thought they were the more physical team. From Gasol on, they posted when they wanted to post, they caught the ball in the spots that they wanted to catch the ball on. They forced us off of spots.... offensively..... we told them before the game....Who could invade the other person's space?....and I thought they invaded our space.

All three of the Celtics stars played with foul trouble. Ray Allen ended up fouling out, while Paul and Kevin each got their 5th fouls consecutively at critical points late in the game.

Will Rondo lose his starting spot in the next game?

When asked about the recent slow starts, Doc said this...

They were more aggressive and we have to solve the Kobe problem...you know...being a roamer to start games. When we go with more shooters....he can't roam. We tend to score more.

The implication is that Eddie House or Sam Cassell, either of the Celtics 2 reserve 'shooting' point guards, might get to start the next game. Clearly Kobe guarding (meaning - not guarding) Rajon Rondo has caused problems for the Celtics offense. Rajon scored three points on 1 of 7 shooting in 14.5 minutes of action.

Both House and Cassell require defensive attention at all times. The Celtics outplayed the Lakers by a gaudy 23 points when Sam was in the game tonight. At one point Sam had 7 straight Celtic points. House hit a big three right near the end of the game. That opens up things for Garnett particularly, but for Ray and Paul as well.

These last two play-off rounds are proving to be tough times for Boston's young point guard. Keep in mind that Rondo is playing hurt as well. That limits his quickness which is his forte.

Garnett finished with another double double with 14 rebounds (7 offensive) but only 13 points. Ray Allen contributed 16 points with 3 three pointers on 4-13 shooting. The Celtics bench added 28 points on 50% shooting combined.

Pau Gasol had a stellar game with solid defense on Garnett and 19 points, leading the Lakers with 13 rebounds and 6 assists while adding 2 blocks and a steal. Kobe finished with 25 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assist, 5 steals and 6 turnovers.

This has been a series where no hole has been too deep, nor any lead too big to assure a win for either team. This is the result of both teams have shown a penchant for playing poorly with big leads. With that being said, the Celtics are in command with a 3 to 2 lead and heading home for the duration.

The Celtics have 2 more chances to close the series out as they return to Boston on Tuesday.

Posted by Tom on 12:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 14, 2008

Celtics: One Win Away

Magical. Surprising. Entertaining.

You can think of a few more adjectives to describe this Boston Celtic season of 2007-8. They would all fit, I'm sure.

Three supposed ball hogs, two of which were not known for their defense, were not expected by anyone, Celtic fans included, to do what they have done so far.

They are one win from being the NBA Champions in their very first season together and that game will played at 9pm on Father's Day in game 5 in Los Angeles.

There is the possibility that LA will delay Boston celebrating a title win on their own floor for the first time in 39 years, but the eventual outcome is hardly in doubt. Boston has shown the penchant for easing up when they get a lead. They have a 3-1 lead. That is, they have done that until recently.

As scary as it sounds, the banged up Celtics are getting better and better. They have entered a new zone for composure and composing victories. And just maybe this isn't even their most difficult series. Maybe the games against Cleveland and Detroit were harder fought. The east is about defense, the west is about offense. Guess what wins championships?

The recent Celtic win was LA's first home loss in the 2008 play-offs. This, against a Celtic team that could not buy a win in Atlanta or Cleveland in their first 2 rounds.

Finally, against Detroit, Boston won 2 games on Detroit's home court at the legendary Palace at Auburn Hills. They figured out how to get over that hump.

It took that long for this team to re-learn how to play well enough against home town calls, fired up crowds and newly energized opponents to come out with a W.

But what has surprised many, if not most fans and observers, is that they did it as a team and did it with defense, the likes of which the NBA has not seen in a very long while. Yes. Defense. Yes, this roster.

My gosh, even Ray Allen, the last to join the D Party, is the prime defender on the prime offensive nightmare in the league, Mr. MVP Kobe Bryant. He has done very, very well against him. Who would have thought that a possibility a year ago?

The biggest bit of fun to watch play defense is Eddie House. Yes. Eddie House. Never in my wildest dreams, did I think that Eddie would D-up like he has this season. He hasn't always gotten lock down results, but he is always trying. He is always trying. My gosh, I'm talking about shooting specialist Eddie House. What is going on here? Call the cult deprogrammers. We need an intervention.

It started in the Church of the Right Reverend Glen Rivers and his associate pastor, assistant coach Tom Thibodeau. The sargent-at-arms is choir director and Defensive Player of the Year, Kevin Garnett. He is so crazy, he won't even let you shoot at the basket when time is called. Watch what happens when someone tries to.

Paul Pierce is entering special territory and lofty heights as the guy who would do anything for the team. Beside playing great defense, rebounding when needed, and passing often, Paul has emerged as the go-to guy on a team with 3 of the league's top go-to guys.

When the other team's defense has clamped down, it is Paul they ask to open things back up with one of his patented moves that drills into the tightest defensive walls for a foul and often a basket. He has done it playing hurt since the early rounds of the play-offs. We are watching just a magnificent performance by Paul Pierce.

Pierce, Perkins and Rondo are known to be playing hurt. Perkins is only recently said to have a chance to play in game 5 tonight.

The Lakers are reeling since that game 4 collapse. Can they get a heart transplant in time for game 5? Phil Jackson says yes but what else would he say? He can't concede before game time. And the Celtics have not always shown a sense of urgency. Have they finally gotten that out of their system?

Posted by Tom on 9:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 13, 2008

Eyewitness to History: Celtics Win 97-91

I just watched the Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers with my very own eyes and I'm not sure I saw what I saw.

Call it Manifest Destiny, call it the sporting event of the year, call it 'role call' for legacy makers. Call it the story that wrote itself.

Winning an NBA title is as much about who will step up and make the pressure baskets that get and keep the lead, as much as it is about getting stops at the other end.

The Celtics Big Three have been saying all year that it will take other players stepping up at different times for them to win a championship. Never has that been more important than in this Finals series. With Rajon Rondo's and Kendrick Perkins' offensively deficiencies displayed front and center, it has put a tremendous burden on the three stars to be offensively productive all of the time. Then both Rondo and Perkins added injuries to their woes. Where would the support come from?

Leon Powe made just one basket all night. It was a turning point basket that lesser men would not attempt. It tied the game at 73 for the first time since 28 seconds in. James Posey came alive offensively for the first time in a long, long time and hit for 18 points including 4 of 8 from three point land. It was the 2nd highest point total of the year for James, and by far the highest of the play-offs for him. After shaking off some nervousness, Eddie House had 10 big points and solid defense in only his 2nd Finals game ever.

Once it appeared that the Celtics would indeed make a real run at the Lakers' lead after being down as much as 24 in the first half, I was prepared to write about whatever happened next. The great thing about sports is the winners and losers are pretty easy to determine. Winners make shots and plays. Losers don't.

Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen anchored an impossible comeback with tremendous defense, holding the Lakers to just 33 second half points. They did it with bench players playing solid defense along side them. Even Phil Jackson took note of that. They cut off passing lanes and 1st options with regularity. Former Laker hero, Sasha Vujacic, was a goat this night, with a woeful 1-9 shooting.

But the Celtics also had to make shots and they did that as well. In addition to House, Powe, and Posey, Ray Allen made 2 reverse lay-ups in the last 3 minutes or so, including the basket that gave the Celtics a 5 point lead with 16 seconds left to ice the win. Ray finished with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals.

As the Lakers' Kobe Bryant tried to stop the Celtics from taking the lead with shot making of his own, the Cs tied the score again at 75 and 77 on baskets by Pierce, then Garnett, to answer Kobe baskets. Getting over that psychological and very real hump would not be easy.

An Eddie House jump shot with 4:07 left gave the Celtics the lead for good at 84-83. Posey made 2 big threes and Paul Pierce hit 3 of 4 pressure foul shots to ice the game. Garnett made huge free throws down the stretch as well.

Kevin finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Paul had 20 points and 7 assists to lead the Celtics in both categories. Both players played excellent defense the entire game with Pierce defending Kobe Bryant extremely well in the 2nd half. Ray had the first half assignment and also did well. Both players got help immediately on any moves to the hoop. Kobe said there were 3-4 Celtics there everytime he made a move.

Climbing back into a Finals game on the enemy's court after being down so many points required multiple thrusts forward while hoping that you don't fall back too far. Finding out who would be the players who would get something positive accomplished took a while. Doc Rivers experimented with line-up combos before finding one that worked. After trying Rondo, House and Cassell without any positive results for much of the game, Eddie House finally settled down and played well at both ends of the floor.

The winning combo turned to be a small ball unit that would look familiar to those who watched much of the earlier part of the season. It was comprised of Garnett, Posey, Pierce, Allen and House. The success of that unti eventually caused Phil Jackson to match it with a small unit of his own. It was too late.

A tremendous comeback win by the Celtics puts the Celtics in a commanding 3-1 lead going into the Father's Day game on Sunday. No one has ever come back from that deficit to win an NBA Finals.

In the 1960s, Ralph Nadar first came to national notoriety when he wrote a seminal book about the lack of safety of automobiles called "Unsafe at any Speed".

In the 2008 Celtic Summer of Love, Mr. Nadar is still alive and kicking. Maybe there's another book he could do. If the 2008 NBA Finals prove anything, it is that an NBA game is "unsafe at any lead." After seeing their own 24 point lead wiped out in about 6 minutes in game 2, the Celtics set two records in game 4.

They were down 21 points in the first quarter, a league record for the Finals. They came back and won the game after an 18 point half time deficit, another league record from the 24 second clock era forward. They were behind as many as 24 points in this game.

Those who saw it, witnessed a tremendous game with a number of heroes and goats. There were a far larger cast of characters with big roles in this game than in the Celtics' recent game 7 classic Pierce/James shoot out with the Cavaliers.

It was possibly the worst first quarter of basketball the Celtics played all year. They were losing 26-7 at one point, and finished at 35-14. Ouch. The second quarter didn't go much better until the Cs finally found some defense and some offense. They ran off 12 straight points to close a 24 point Laker lead to 12 at 45-33 in a game that looked like they could do nothing right.

Shortly after, the Lakers pushed the lead back to 18 with a running three pointer by Jordan Farmer as time expired in the half. The Celtics pushed hard in the 3rd quarter to close within 2 before they made it all the way back in the 4th.

For me, this was the most satisfying win of the year for the Green Machine. If sports can represent courage, hope, calmness under fire, and a never-say-die attitude, then this game, more than any other, embodiment of those qualities.

Paul said that James Posey told them afterwards that, if they thought winning this game wasn't hard enough, wait until they try to close out the series. The close out game is even harder.

After a 2 day rest, they go at it again in friendly LA.

Posted by Tom on 1:13 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

June 11, 2008

Lakers win 87-81; Garnett/Pierce have off games

The Lakers returned home and played their best game of the series, led by their star, MVP, Kobe Bryant with 36 points.

Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce could not get untracked offensively all night, while Kobe Bryant and Sasha Vujacic led the Lakers with 56 points combined to win game 3, cutting the Celtics Finals series lead to 2-1 to stay in the hunt. A loss would have them down 3-0, and pretty much out of contention.

In a tightly contested, yet somewhat strange game, neither team played excellent basketball.

In an unusual move to start the game, with an eye to keeping Kobe fresh for the offensive end of the floor, Kobe Bryant guarded weak shooting Celtic point guard Rajon Rondo. Strangely, Rondo 'manned up' with Kobe as well. It was just what Kobe needed to get off to a good start with 11 first quarter points.

Rondo later twisted his ankle and played only 21 minutes total. After Sam Cassell gunned his way to the bench in 7 first half minutes, Eddie House entered the 2008 NBA Finals for the first time in the second half and played fairly well.

Kobe Bryant used that strong start as a stepping stone to his 36 point effort, tying his career play-off Finals high. That included hitting some big shots in the decisive 4th quarter to help win the game for the Lakers. He aggressively attacked the middle in this game, getting to the line 18 times, but making only 11 on the evening. There was one spectacular spin move in the middle and a number of other difficult shots that stayed down for the league's MVP in this game.

Only 4 players total got into double figures for the evening. The Celtics shot 35%. The Lakers shot 43%.

Phil Jackson...

I thought our first half defense was exceptional.

If Kobe and Phil could not find their way to compliment the Celtics defense after game one, then the same could said here.

The Lakers defense was good, but 'exceptional' would be somewhat misleading. The Celtics, meaning Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, missed shots all night that they normally make. Ray Allen led the Cs with 25 long distance points, sporting a deadly 5-7 from the arc to keep the Celtics in the game most of the night.

Pierce never got in sync and managed just 6 points on 2 of 14 shooting, as he started in foul trouble and remained so for most of the evening. Garnett's shooting was equally futile, with 6 of 21 shooting for 13 points, for a combined 8 of 35 (23%) for the duo, though Kevin did manage 12 rebounds to tie Pau Gasol for game honors. Kevin has shot poorly 2 straight games now.

The game was won in the 4th quarter as the Lakers played better down the stretch with Bryant and Sasha Vujacic each making big shots to ice the game. Pau Gasol more than doubled his game totals with 5 points, including a put back and a lay-up in the paint to help keep the Celtics at bay when the Lakers needed him most.

Boston, as bad as they played, somehow actually led 68-66 until 6:55 of the 4th quarter. From there, Kobe Bryant hit the most wide open three pointer of his career, at the top of the key and miles of real estate around him. It was clearly a missed rotation, but you could see that Boston was tiring after playing an extremely tenacious game without their best players playing well. The Celtics would not lead again.

One thing this series has shown is the ability of either team to stay within striking distance, even when they are playing poorly. That is the sign of a championship caliber team. Neither team gets rattled when things aren't going right. Tonight, it was the Celtics' turn to hang around.

To borrow a Phil Jackson term, a 'ridiculous' first quarter foul shooting disparity of 14 to 2, as expected, was in the Lakers' favor. But even with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett shooting blanks at 0-9, the Celtics came back from a early deficit to tie the game at 20 by the end of the quarter.

Another role player, with an even more difficult name to pronounce, stepped up and made a difference in the game again. Laker sharp shooter Sasha Vujacic (Voo-ya-chich) aggressively stepped into a number of big shots, some open, some with a hand in his face. He hit a huge three with 2 minutes left to make the score 81-76. He finished with 20 points on 7 of 10 shooting in 27.5 minutes.

Celtic coach Doc Rivers might ask.....How does somebody named Sasha Vujacic end up with more foul shots than Paul Pierce?

But he didn't. Maybe it was because he knew he couldn't pronounce his name, though that didn't stop Laker coach Phil Jackson, after Leon Powe went off for 21 points, and more foul shots than his whole team in the previous game.

Coach Phil Jackson politicked hard about the foul shooting advantage the Celtics had the game before (18-2 at one point). Everyone in America knew it was coming.

Doc Rivers did not use the perfect opportunity to tweak Phil and the refs. Instead, he said that the Lakers earned their 20-4 (late in the 2nd period) foul shooting advantage by being the aggressor all night. The Lakers 34-22 foul shot advantage did play a big part in the game regardless of what Doc Rivers says. At least Doc manned up about it, unlike his counterpart a game earlier.

Though Doc did get this in when told of Phil's remark that Garnett looked tired in the 4th quarter...

“Well, I’m just surprised he didn’t whine about fouls tonight.”

It wasn't that the Lakers got foul shots they didn't deserve, rather, the Celtics did not get some calls they should have gotten. If they did, things might have been different, but the Cs clearly were outplayed anyway.

PJ Brown- mini-slump?
Though PJ Brown has been a nice substitute for Kendrick Perkins, it seems as if he doesn't play the type of 'Iron Curtain' defense in the middle that Kendrick does.

The Lakers had 30 points in the paint last night and 40 in the previous game, where PJ has played more due to Perkins turned ankle. I'll have to look at the tapes, but it is possible that more of that comes with PJ in the game. Perkins was 'plus 6' in game 3, while PJ was 'minus 13' in his 17 minutes.

This may surprise as well, but Perkins contributes more on offense as well of late. Kendrick was 4 of 5 in game 3 for 8 points, with 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocked shots. When PJ's shot is on, he draws the defender out. When it's off, they drop off him like they do Perkins. PJ's shot has been off more of late. The less than stellar interior defense might be because of Perkins ankle injury, but I doubt it. Those numbers will significantly impact a game.

The Lakers' bench outscored Boston's 29-21. You could say that was the difference in the game, but the cold shooting of Paul and Kevin made this a difficult game for the Cs to take control of, though they tried to all night.

Ultimately, the Lakers wanted this game more and played like it. It is up to Boston to come back strong on Thursday night.

Posted by Tom on 12:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 9, 2008

Rethinking East vs. West

With Celtics handling the Lakers so well at home, a few thoughts and questions come to mind.

Is the Western Conference over rated?

Many thought it a travesty that the Golden State Warriors would not be a play-off team and would be a lottery team. The draft balls weren't especially lucky for them (drafting at #14). They couldn't have done worse (0-4), and more than likely would have done better against the Lakers, than Denver. But I don't see any special place beyond a 1st round exit for them if they made the cut.

Many thought the Atlanta Hawks were an embarrassment to the league's prestige when they made the play-offs.But it turns out Denver's 50 win 'team', and I use the word lightly, was the embarrassment. Until Carmelo re-thinks who he is as a basketball player, they will have difficulty moving forward. They have the individual talent to compete with almost anyone. They don't have the team chemistry to do more than what they already have. It starts with the team leaders - Carmelo and Allen Iverson. Is it too late for Allen to change his game?

With what has transpired, the question can be asked - Is Atlanta that much worse than Denver? Could they possibly even be better? The short answer is that they certainly are not more experienced or even talented overall than the Nuggets, but they are on a much better learning curve and their performance against the Celtics was gritty, eye opening and a just a little bit brave. Joe Johnson coupled with Mike Bibby, Josh Smith, Josh Childress,and Al Horford, a rookie who played beyond his age and experience, are a nice core of players going forward.

Parity between the two conferences is somewhat misleading. The style of play that Boston faced to get to the Finals was in many ways written in heaven, or at least, a fortuitous draw of the cards. Atlanta challenged them athletically. Cleveland really challenged them defensively. The Cavs also gave them a chance to test their defensive schemes against the next best thing to Kobe Bryant - Lebron James.

From there, the defensive-minded, play-off hardened Pistons were ready to test Boston's composure and will. Things started to come together for the Celtics team, by going through each series in order.

None of those three teams play western style basketball. While the east isn't as deep from top to bottom, the specific teams that Boston faced helped prepare them and harden their game for whoever came out of the west. The west simply doesn't play like the teams mentioned.

Utah is a great team and can play a more physical style than most in the west. But it isn't equivalent to what Boston, Detroit, and even Cleveland can conjure up defensively over a 7 game series. They have been a different team on the road all year, as well.

San Antonio, and Phoenix could have been as good of representatives from the west as LA. San Antonio's defense is quite good. The Suns have difficult match up problems for the Celtics.

It could be argued that the Lakers defense has been the easiest the Celtics have faced in the play-offs so far. That alone gives Boston some easier looks than they have had in a while. Gasol and Odom are not any scarier on the defensive end than Wallace and McDyess. And there is no Maxiell to come in off the bench on the Lakers. Nor is there is a Verejeo.

So the Lakers trump card is their offense. But we knew this coming in. Why so many would be influenced by western play to automatically make them the odds on favorite to win the series and win it easily, is a bit mind boggling.

Though the Suns tried dearly for a few years, maxims never change. Pitching wins baseball championships. Defense wins NBA titles.

Until the Lakers learn to "D-up" much smarter than they have, they don't have a chance, even with the volcanic offense they have composed. For once, they are playing from an inferior position. They held home court until this series. Many of the Laker players do not have the requisite play-off experience to calmly weather the storms that the Celtics will create for you on both ends of the court. Gasol, Bryant and Fisher do, but Fisher has been surprisingly erratic in this year's play-offs. Gasol still hasn't proven he is 'tuff enuff', and Bryant hasn't proven he can lead a team to a title.

What has happened so far is that the Lakers haven't proven they can play the kind of defense to make this a series again. I'm not sure you can learn to play that kind of defense on the fly. To be sure, at this point, things are in large part an issue of will. There are three long time NBA stars on the Celtics who have practiced playing true team defense, and sharing the ball on offense, for one reason and one reason only.

The Celtics are also figuring out how to close out tough games, the last quarter of the last game notwithstanding. Any of three stars can get a big sequence going offensively, but the ball will most likely end up in Paul Pierce's capable hands. His growth throughout the play-offs has been inspirational to non-believers, but not quite so surprising to the long time faithful followers of double P.

The Lakers have neither the personnel, nor the mindset, nor the defensive technique and schemes to play defense like the Celtics do. That will be the difference in this series. That and a big time shot maker. Surprise. ...His name is Pierce.

I expect the Lakers to get most every call in the book in game 3. Will they automatically win? Let's just say they will have home court advantage, similarly to what the Celtics just had. Can the Celtics play above that handicap? They have developed the focus and determination to weather just about anything including their own success. We will see.

Posted by Tom on 10:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Why This Game Typified Both Teams

It is not the script anyone would have written. Well, wait. Maybe it is.

The Celtics did their thing for 3.5 quarters, building a 24 point lead, and the Lakers almost erased it in 6 minutes. The Celtics let up, and the Lakers let loose. It was stunning, but not surprising to see.

Excellent Celtic defense, poor Laker defense, a getting-to-be classic Celtic 4th quarter letdown, the usual suspects - Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and a few unsung Celtics, including a man named Leon Powe were the main players in this play.

PJ Brown continues to pay dividends far beyond his salary.

Paul Pierce said the bench hasn't gotten it's due all year....

The bench is obviously going to be a key. Our bench has been pretty much overlooked all year. Nobody really talks about our bench.

I guarantee they will be now. Powe, Posey, and Brown all played crucial roles in last night's win.

James Posey hit two big threes and finished the night's scoring with two big free throws while getting Kobe Bryant as an assignment on the other end.

PJ Brown played almost 23 minutes of solid defense and just enough offense to make the team not miss Kendrick Perkins and his bad ankle. Well, maybe Kendrick is missed. The Lakers had 40 points in the paint. That wouldn't happen with Perkins in there. But 'Big' Brown was big and didn't fade in the stretch (unlike the horse of the same name).

Leon Powe cemented his name in Celtic lore for all time. 21 points in 14 minutes. Phil Jackson mispronounced his name, then corrected himself, but only to wonder how a man named Leon Powe could get more foul shots in 14 minutes than the entire Laker team did all game.

Answer: Attack the rim like Leon did, Phil. But wait, he had an open door at times. Thank you, Phil. He was just another one of Boston's unknown bench players.

The Celtics weren't quite so obliging, though LA scored inside often themselves. The Lakers actually outscored the Celtics in the paint with an un-Celtic-like 40, to the Celtics 34. The numbers are a little deceiving only because the Lakers fouled so much, sending the Cs to the line far more.

But I have to get Doc Rivers and his players on the same page for interviews.

Doc discussed the bench asserting itself....

Well, they heard how bad they were, and so they have pride, too.

Yet, when PJ Brown and Leon were asked a similar question PJ said...

I didn't really think about it. I mean, you heard it across the news and the media say that they had a better bench and they had more athleticism. You just (have to) go out there and play the game. People (are) going to make predictions and stuff. I didn't hear Leon say much about it. I didn't talk much about it. We are just going to go out there and do what we know we can do.

And sometimes much more.

So the Celtics do what they need to do. The Lakers see a little bit of what they can do.

And Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen are two wins away from their achieving their dream of an NBA title. Expect a far better game from the Lakers in LA. I expect they will get a few extra foul calls to go their way after Phil's politicking as well.

Posted by Tom on 11:35 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Celtics 2-0: Lakers get Powe-verized, But Almost Win.

If the Celtics run to 66 wins and the home court advantage was ever in question as unnecessary, or overdone, - let the questions be answered once and for all, last night.

There's no place like home for 4 consecutive series and, at least, for three quarters of game 2 of the Finals, that is.

The Celtic gave 61 points to the Lakers through three quarters and led by 22. They gave up 41 points and almost lost the game in the 4th quarter.

For familiarity with the court and rims, for deafening crowd support, for sleeping in your own bed, for eating home cooked meals, for practicing at your own facility, and ..oh yeah, some good old fashion home leaning foul calls, there is no place like home.

At half time, the Celtics had nineteen foul shots to the Lakers' two. They finished with a 38 to 10 foul shot advantage. They led at the half by 54-42, and 83-61 after 3 quarters, yet barely won the game when the Lakers closed strong in the 4th (sound familiar?) to make most of the 22 point Celtic lead evaporate. They were a mere basket away at 104-102 with 38 seconds left.

Why such a disparate amount of foul shots? The Celtics were the definite aggressors once again and played as solid of interior defense as you can play without fouling...though that might not be enough proof for Phil Jackson....

After making a statement that he had no statement to make, he pounced on the first question to.... make a statement..... while glancing at a piece of paper. His answer had nothing to do with the question of the difference between his team's 4th quarter and the first three...

I'm more struck at the fact that Leon Powe gets more foul shots than our whole team does in 14 minutes of play. That's ridiculous. You can't play from a deficit like that, that we had in that half, 19-2....I've never seen a game like that in all these years I've coached in the Finals. Unbelievable.

Statement made.

The Lakers had 17 personal fouls in the first half, including three on Kobe Bryant, while the Celtics had 10, though obviously, the Celtics' fouls were not of the shooting variety.

The Celtics played a great floor game for three quarters. They shot well, assisted on most every shot, rebounded, and got to the foul line. They also played masterful defense again.

Leon Powe played the game of his life. He had 21 points on 6 of 7 shooting, including at least 3 dunks, with 9 of 13 foul shots in a mere 14.5 minutes. He dribbled and drove the lane from half court for one dunk while Pau Gasol and another Laker watched him split them for the throw down. When the Lakers weren't fouling, they were playing pretty poor defense.

Discounting any injury repercussions, Paul Pierce came out aggressively from the start and attacked the hoop the first few times he got the ball. It set the tone for the evening. When Paul wasn't getting to the rim, he was getting open three point shots, going a perfect 4 for 4 from the arc, all with time to eat a meal, play a quick game of checkers, or paint your garage before shooting. He finished with a game high 28 points, 8 assists and 4 boards.

Ray Allen contributed in a big way at both ends of the court. Kobe was his defensive assignment and he did a good job on him, in the first half particularly. Ray also hit 3 big three pointers, while adding 17 points on the night. Kevin Garnett did not shoot particularly well, but played great defense and pulled in 14 rebounds to go with 17 points. Rajon Rondo directed the offense well with 16 assists, 6 boards, and 2 steals, with 4 points. The Celtics assisted on 31 of 36 baskets, an enormous number.

PJ Brown came for a 75% healthy Perkins and played yet another excellent game.

I'm skeptical about the supernatural but...

The Boston Celtics gave life to a corpse last night. I witnessed it with my own eyes.

The Los Angeles Lakers were all but dead, thanks to a flat out pummeling for 3 quarters by the unstoppable Celtics. It would also have weighed heavily on their minds to get closed out strong for 2 straight games.

But as we know, the C