Know Your Enemy

Oh yes, it's officially on! The Lakers and the Celtics are just two days away from tipping off what promises to be a hard fought, close series to decide the NBA championship, and in the spirit of the Finals I thought it might be nice to get to know the Lakers a little bit so we can all appropriately hate them once game one of the Finals tips off on Thursday evening. Before we get too far into dissecting their roster, let's try and remember that this is not 2008, even though many of the faces on the court are the same. Both teams are different than they were two years ago, so I'm going to try and avoid drawing from that series to predict what will happen this time around. With that being said, let's get right to it.

The Los Angeles Lakers have perhaps one of the deepest and most talented teams in all of basketball and along with the Boston Celtics are one of the most balanced, dangerous teams in the NBA. Their roster features plenty of guys who can kill you on any given night, and they play a brand of basketball that maximizes their talents and presents opponents with match-up nightmares all over the floor. While they are still a finesse team that likes to outscore their opponents rather than relying on stifling defense for victories, these Lakers are not the same cream puffs that the Celtics eviscerated in June of 2008, especially when it comes to playing the Celtics.

Like most of Phil Jackson's teams that run the triangle offense, the Lakers do not feature a traditional distributor/dribble penetrator type of point guard. Instead, the Lakers have the time tested Derek Fisher, a left handed guard who has made a career of spotting up on the perimeter and hitting big shots in high pressure situations. Fisher punishes defenses for over committing to Kobe Bryant and always seems to hit one or two momentum changing shots per series. At this point in his career, Fisher is a defensive liability, especially when it comes to defending the pick & roll, which favors Boston immensely due to the emergence of Rajon Rondo as the Celtics' best player. The Celtics' coaching staff would be salivating at that match-up if they were likely to see it much in the Finals, but the truth is that Kobe Bryant (more on him soon) is going to spend the most time guarding Rondo, but fear not because Fisher will still have to try and guard somebody.

Next to Derek Fisher in the backcourt, the Lakers feature some guy named Kobe Bryant who is supposedly one of the greatest players of this era. If you look at the numbers for this postseason, Kobe has been playing out of his freaking mind and has performed well above even his own lofty standards. Kobe has gone for more than 30 points in 10 of his last 11 playoff games with far greater efficiency than normal and has also been stuffing the stat sheet with around 8 rebounds and 8 assists per game as well. Some extra rest before the playoffs seems to have revitalized him, and the challenge of beating a boston team that got the best of him two years ago is more than enough motivation for Bryant to stay extra focused during these NBA Finals. This is trouble for the Celtics, but it may not be as bad as it initially seems.

Yes, Kobe has been on fire from the field and is playing with incredible efficiency, however if you watched the Phoenix series you know that his shot selection is still questionable at best. Kobe unleashed a barrage of contested two point jumpers against Phoenix and just happened to make an astounding number of them. It happens. The shots he took are still, by and large, terrible for his team over the long run. Although Kobe makes more of those shots than anyone else in the league, he is selling himself short by settling for those looks, and if he doesn't hit at such an astonishing rate during the Finals the Lakers could be in deep trouble. In 2008, the Celtics gave Kobe those shots and lived with the results and I fully expect them to follow the same strategy this year. Although James Posey is gone and Kobe has grown as a player since 2008, the 2010 Celtics were able to disrupt LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in these playoffs with their current personnel, so it's not out of the question that they could do the same to Kobe.

In 2008, Paul Pierce and the Celtics feasted on the Lakers' small forward corps. Luke Walton and Vlad Radmanovich had no answer for Pierce defensively and barely made him work on both ends of the floor, and the mismatch was a major reason that the Celtics won the series. Unfortunately for the Celtics, the Lakers now feature Ron Artest at small forward who still remains an elite defender and has a long history with Paul Pierce. Though Artest has lost a step since his peak, he is still more than capable of shutting down more physical wing players thanks to his incredible strength and tenacity. Paul Pierce doesn't have the quickness to exploit Artest and has no hope of winning the physical battle, so despite his success in the Conference Finals against the Orlando Magic I am worried about Pierce's production in these Finals. Also, it is impossible to underrate the effect of having Artest on Pierce instead of Kobe Bryant, who should have much more energy for offense and will be free to defend Rajon Rondo. I'll live with whatever offense Artest can give the Lakers in this series, but I am terrified of the potential effect he could have on the defensive end.

Up front, the Lakers feature one of the biggest and longest tandems in all of basketball with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. Bynum provides all of the rebounding and interior toughness that the Lakers were lacking in 2008 (he missed the Finals with a knee injury) and was a big key to the Lakers' championship run last year. Fortunately for the Celtics, Bynum is once again battling a knee injury, and although he has played and will participate in the FInals, he has been inconsistent and isn't moving at full speed. The Celtics should go right at Bynum and involve him in the pick & roll, which will force him to move on defense and takes him out of his most effective role as a help defender and draw him away from the hoop. The Lakers have always been terrible at defending the pick & roll, and with Bynum hobbled, I expect to see a healthy dose of it in this series.

Pau Gasol is another matter completely. Gasol may be the most skilled big man in the NBA along with Dirk Nowitzki, and his passing, post game and soft touch with either hand are sure to give the Celtics some problems this year. While the lanky Spaniard was soft in 2008 and got ruthlessly picked on by Kevin Garnett in the Finals, he has used that bad memory as motivation and has worked on his toughness, defense and rebounding in the two years since then. Having Bynum to protect him has helped a lot, but Gasol is a different player than he was in 2008, especially when it comes to playing against the Celtics. Gasol's length won't bother the Celtics too much, however he is a dangerous player who may very well be the key to the series.

The Laker bench is not incredibly strong, yet it is also not weak and does have the potential to give the Celtics problems. Lamar Odom is a versatile forward who has unparalleled quickness and a reliable handle, though he lacks a jumper and sometimes disappears in big games. He has played better since getting punked by the Celtics in 2008, and like Gasol has used the lingering embarrassment as motivation to stick it to Boston every time they play. A healthy Garnett should be able to contain Odom to some degree, but his presence will be a major one in this year's Finals.

Flanking Odom on the bench is a shit sandwich composed of Shannon Brown, Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton, Josh Powell and DJ Mbenga. At times, Brown and Farmar have been effective, but overall the Laker bench is weak aside from Odom. While the Celtics' bench isn't exactly the deepest in the NBA, they should be able to handle the Laker reserves. Glen Davis, Nate Robinson, Tony Allen and Rasheed Wallace will all have favorable match-ups at times and will need to play big in order for the Celtics to win the championship this year.

Overall, this match-up is very even across the board. The Celtics have a distinct advantage at point guard and are even just about everywhere else, so I expect this series to be very close and hard fought throughout. In my mind, Kobe is likely to get his no matter what the Celtics try and do to stop him, and in most cases paying too much attention to Kobe just allows the other Lakers (many of whom are more than capable of creating their own offense) to get better shots. I would like to see the Celtics focus on shutting down Odom and Gasol and limiting Fisher in certain situations. As magnificent as Kobe Bryant is, he won't be able to bat the Celtics by himself (I wish he would try), so limiting the other Lakers and taking them out of their comfort zone will be key this series. Hopefully, Kobe will see single coverage and get the tunnel vision that has been a defining characteristic of his career and the Laker offense will sink into the muck against a tough, committed Celtic defense that is unlike anything Los Angeles has had to experience thus far.

Much like 2008, the Lakers have looked awfully impressive up to this point, but haven't had to play another elite defensive team in these playoffs. Without a healthy Bynum, this team slightly resembles the squad from 2008 that relied on simply outscoring its opponents to gain victory. The Lakers have learned since then and will play better defense this series, so I am more worried now than I was two years ago. I think Ron Artest could be a huge difference maker for the Lakers, but at the same time these Celtics are so balanced that they have been able to punish the best of the NBA even without stellar contributions from Paul Pierce. I'll have plenty more material tomorrow and on Thursday, just make sure you tune in and watch the games!

Anticipating Adjustments

Well it certainly wasn't pretty, but I'll take a victory any way it happens in the Eastern Conference Finals against a team as formidable as the Orlando Magic. The Celtics did an absolutely fantastic job of defending Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis yesterday and despite almost collapsing in the fourth quarter came out of game one with a 92-88 victory. There's a lot of stuff to discuss and digest, but more than anything I'm wondering what if anything we can take away from this game and use to divine more information about how the rest of this playoff series will play out.

First the good: Dwight Howard was frustrated from wire to wire yesterday and the Celtics' front court did an outstanding job of making Howard work for every inch of position on the interior and sent him to the line to earn his points whenever possible. The combination ok Kendrick Perkins, Glen Davis and Rasheed Wallace battled Howard to a standstill, forcing him out of the paint and his comfort zone without help from the other Celtics, allowing the rest of Boston's players to stay close to the bevy of perimeter shooters on the Orlando roster. The result of some spectacular interior defense was a solid defensive effort for almost the entire game, excepting the last 7 minutes of the game where Orlando just started knocking down more shots than they had been all game long.

Undoubtedly Orlando will make adjustments and play better in game 2, not only because they'll have a greater sense of urgency to win but also because they should be acclimated to the level of intensity for this series after cakewalking their way through the first two rounds. Also, I suspect that Stan Van Gundy will make adjustments on offense to help his team get more and better open shots than they were able to muster yesterday.

It's clear at this point that the Celtics are extremely well equipped to defend Dwight Howard in post up scenarios, so I doubt you'll see a whole lot of that tomorrow and throughout the rest of the series. Kendrick Perkins is especially patient and disciplined on defense and has had tremendous success in the past defending Howard's "post game," so I am fully expecting to see a lot more high screen & roll plays from the Magic as we go forward in this series. Getting Howard, Jameer Nelson and the basketball moving more is Orlando's best shot at creating open looks for themselves, and despite the fact that the Celtics defend this play very well it could be a great way for Orlando to establish a better rhythm on offense. Howard stands to benefit from more pick & roll basketball, but I actually see that play as a great way to get Rashard Lewis going, as defensive rotations to cover the screen & roll will lead to more open looks on the perimeter for Lewis as well as opportunities for him to use his quickness and create off the dribble.

The Magic will undoubtedly come back harder in game 2 and should be favored to even up the series, but the Celtics can take some encouragement from the fact that they beat Orlando despite playing a less than flawless game themselves. Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo both had below average games yesterday and should play better as the series goes on, and you have to expect that the second unit will step up and contribute more than they did yesterday, although they were hardly terrible in game 1.

The KG/Rondo match-ups are considerably less favorable in this series, but thanks to Boston's balance in the starting unit, the Celtics were able to generate buckets thanks to both Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Allen was terrific despite almost blowing the game by dribbling the ball off his own foot (as Tyler Fox said, "way to Tony Allen that one, Ray") and then not boxing out Jameer Nelson on a free-throw attempt in the closing seconds, and I am expecting more and better things from him as the series goes on. Ray has a speed and quickness advantage on every Orlando defender he is likely to see, and although Redick did a great job in the 4th quarter of chasing Ray off the 3-point line and around screens, I'm not sure the Magic can do that for 48 minutes.

The real key to this series, however could very well be Paul Pierce. After getting swallowed by LeBron James and the Cavs in the last round, Pierce put up an impressive and efficient (despite 5 turnovers) stat line yesterday. The Celtics isolated Pierce against Vince Carter, and the Truth's eyes seemed to light up at the opportunity. This is wild speculation, but I expect to see the best out of Pierce this series as long as Vince Carter is checking him. Pierce is as quick and waaaaaaaaaaay more physical than Carter, and from the looks of things he took a lot of joy in dismantling a guy who got drafted 5 slots ahead of him in 1998 and is Paul's only competition for "biggest injury faker in the NBA" (see? I'm not afraid to zing the hometown guys).

Perhaps the biggest key to take away from yesterday's game is that despite the stout Orlando defense, the Celtics are a balanced team that can get a spark from four of its starters and occasionally the bench. This series is going to be close, hotly contested and beautiful to watch if you are a basketball fan, so stay tuned!

Competitive Firee

Well well well, I'm glad that 90% of the time I try to talk to anyone about basketball I get tuned out like so much white noise and subjected to innumerable eye rolls, because before this weekend I was telling anyone who would listen that Paul Pierce would not do well in the 3-point shooting contest this weekend. Boy was I wrong (though I was hardly the only one). Because of Pierce's methodical, slow release, I thought he would struggle mightily to keep the rhythm and tempo necessary to shoot 25 shots so effectively in just one minute. Against other competitors with short, compact strokes (Stephen Curry and Chauncey Billups), it seemed like Pierce was at a disadvantage (and we haven't touched on his foot sprain either). But to the Truth's credit, he raised his game and changed his stroke and took home the trophy despite some stiff competition from his peers.

In the final round, Pierce scored 20 of a possible 30 points (there are five balls per rack, five racks in all and the last ball in each rack is worth 2 points) to edge out young Stephen Curry for the title. While Pierce's shooting was mighty impressive to behold, what really struck me was the fact that he nailed very single one of the money-balls in the final round. If that's not an indication that a player is a fierce competitor and can raise his game when it really matters, I'm not sure what is. Like he's done so many times in the past, Paul Pierce was willing and able to make the necessary adjustments to win, showing us all once again how talented, versatile and intelligent he is as a player. Whatever the situation calls for, he can provide. It's exciting to watch the ball go in the hole a lot, but seeing Pierce change his game to get himself an edge and the win was far more impressive for me.

Hopefully, Pierce and the other Celtics will get their act together soon, they've got a tough slate of games this week, with an LA/Portland back-to-back on Thursday and Friday for good measure. Fox and I will be at the game on Friday (special nod to Tyler's mom for hooking us up with killer seats), so I should be able to provide some good analysis after the contest. Stay tuned, sports fans!

Taking on Water?

Just read that Paul Pierce is out two weeks after having fluid drained from his knee.  Obviously this is not good, and it means that Pierce will miss the upcoming road trip, including Boston's Christmas day showdown in Orlando.  What the Celtics will do without him is beyond me, since they're already thin at the wing positions without Marquis Daniels.  I suppose that Tony Allen and the recently recalled Bill Walker and possibly J.R. Giddens will fill in, though my brain can't fathom a universe where those guys are able to effectively replace the stats Pierce provides on a daily basis, much less the intangibles and leadership he brings to the table.  Actually, the thought of Tony Allen getting more minutes just made me throw up in my mouth a little.

In a weird way, this news could be a bit relieving for the Celtics over the long run.  First and foremost, this injury is minor and the Celtics are focused on preventative care, hence the longer than expected absence.  Doc Rivers, Danny Ainge et al are focused on playing in May and June of 2010, so taking risks with players now and turning minor injuries into season ending ones is not something they're prepared to do (hence KG sitting last night because of a bruise).  This way, Pierce will get some rest now and can hopefully heal fully in plenty of time to reestablish a rhythm before the All-Star break.  

And aside from the Christmas Day match-up with Orlando, the road trip doesn't have too many difficult games for the Celtics.  After Orlando, the Celtics head to the west coast to face the Clippers, Warriors and (gulp) the Pheonix Suns.  The Clippers and Warriors are both very beatable without Pierce, and the Suns could always falter against a defensive team that has plenty of size inside (check for the Celtics) and a quick, tough point guard to challenge Steve Nash (double check).  So in theory all four games are winnable, with a 2-2 finish being a bit pessimistic but likely.

If you ask me, the biggest downside to this injury is the fact that I won't get to watch Pierce play this week while I'm home in Massachusetts.  Ultimately, the Celtics will be just fine.  Even if these injuries cost the Celtics a few games, it won't matter much.  This Celtics squad is so talented that home court throughout the Playoffs won't matter (Cleveland hasn't been the same at home this year and the LA crowd always sucks, so who cares?).  The Celtics just need to be healthy by March so they can establish a rhythm for the Playoffs.  

The bottom line is that you will not hear any griping about injuries out of this writer, especially since I live in Portland, where the "Frail" Blazers are down to eight healthy bodies and NO centers after Joel Przybilla went down for the season last night.  Boston can play through their injuries and will still be atop the East at season's end.  Portland, on the other hand, looked like a possible number two in the West behind the Lakers, are now going to have to focus on simply making it to the end of the year.  

UPDATE:

Pierce may not be out a full two weeks according to recent reports.  He'll still miss the road trip, but this is still great news.  Happy Holidays!

 

Running Commentary

Before we get to the looming game seven tomorrow, I am compelled to point out that although Dwight Howard led the Magic to a victory in game six (he got 16 shots), his post play and touches were not what carried the day for Orlando.  If I had to point to one reason, it would probably be the "10" under offensive rebounds in Howard's stat line from game six.  Put simply, Dwight dominated the boards on both ends and generated the vast majority of his offense from second shot opportunities off of missed shots from his fellow Magicians.  It's what he does best, and when he dedicates himself to it the Magic are very tough to beat.  To the man's credit he admitted a mistake and focused his game in the right areas and gave an inspired effort for more than 40 minutes.  Add 19 Celtic turnovers to the mix and a seriously inspired defensive effort that committed to taking the ball away from Paul Pierce nearly every time he touched it, and you get a game seven tomorrow in Boston.  

This is a post under construction, and I'll try to add some more nuggets of pseudo-wisdom throughout the day at the Boathouse tomorrow.  If you can, watch the game.  Game sevens in the NBA are poetry in motion and the height of the sport.

Aligning the Stars

Admittedly I'm somewhat distracted right now by the breaking news that Manny Ramirez has tested positive for a banned substance and will be suspended for 50 games starting today.  He tested positive for a female fertility drug, which is apparently used as a mechanism to restart the body's natural testosterone production after the user has finished a steroid cycle.  So much for my vote that he's the greatest right-handed hitter to ever play the game (welcome back, Mr. Aaron!).  Even in the steroid era where nobody can be presumed innocent after so many revelations in recent years, this shocked me.  Manny had no need for steroids, for his gifts of brilliant vision, balance, discipline, reflexes and the sweetest swing I've ever seen made him the great hitter he is, yet the implications from this result is practically a smoking gun.  We should have known better by now, but somehow this is still a devastating shock to the system.  So it goes.  

As for basketball news, the Celtics are looking good once again after pounding the Magic into submission last night to even the series and hearing the news today that Magic point guard Rafer "Skip 2 my Lou" Alston has been suspended for game three after slapping Eddie House upside the head during the second half of game two.  Though Alston hasn't had any luck stopping the Celtic guards or providing effective offense against them, his loss means that the already suspect Orlando point-guard corps is now thinner than Mikki Moore.  This loss would be significant against any NBA opponent, however against the Celtics it is huge because of the out-of-this-world play from Rajon Rondo.

Speaking of Rondo, he continued his downright nasty (and I mean that in the best possible way) play last night, notching another triple double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 18 (!) assists.  The numbers are impressive (especially the assist total) enough, but they don't even capture the extent to which he shredded the Magic from start to finish.  As usual, Rondo was the catalyst and used his speed and energy to wreak havoc on a normally stout Orlando defense and created more scoring opportunities for the Celtics than his 18 assists indicate.  Simmons is right, he's a smaller, faster and nastier version of Isiah Thomas, and I'm totally loving every second of it.

Game three is tomorrow night in Orlando, and while I'd normally pick the home team to win an intense home game after getting humiliated at your opponents house in the last contest, but for a variety of reasons that I will in due time explain, I like the Celtics to win the next game.  The first reason is the absence of Alston and the stellar play of Rajon Rondo.  Anthony Johnson and Tyronn Lue have little hope of containing Rondo on defense, and neither have proven to be players capable of taking big minutes in big games.  Rondo will slash the Orlando guards to ribbons, and even with Dwight Howard defending the rim Rondo's dribble penetration will help the other Celtics find open shots.  The Magic have no answer for Rondo, and that's the end of the story.

Another factor working for the Celtics going into game three is the poor play of Paul Pierce in game two.  Pierce played only 16 minutes in game two because of foul trouble and finished with just three points for the game.  Because of the foul trouble, Pierce actually got an impromptu rest and should be fresh for the next contest.  Pierce is also the kind of player who is competitive and proud, meaning he isn't likely to have two bad games in a row.  With that in mind, I'm looking for him to exploit his advantages against the Magic and spark the Celtics on the road, much as they did against Chicago in game three of that series.  If he can stay out of foul trouble, Pierce should have plenty of opportunities to remind the Magic why he's called the Truth.

In this same vein, I expect Dwight Howard to play better than he did in game two (he got outplayed by Kendrick Perkins and finished with a pedestrian 12/12), but to me that won't necessarily translate into a win for the Magic.  As I've written about at length before, I believe that Dwight Howard's game is limited and that he can be defended more readily than anyone is willing to admit.  The Celtics have played him well all year long, and Glen Davis has personally gotten the better of him before.  He's incredibly talented to be sure, however his strengths don't really match up that well against a tough and disciplined defense like the Celtics.  

Dwight Howard can simply be pushed away from the rim and double teamed all day long, which if done properly can completely remove him from the game and really stagnate the normally fluid, high octane Orlando offense.  Howard struggles to be an offensive threat when he's more than five feet from the basket, and his poor footwork and passing skills can make him a liability on a night where he isn't allowed to live in the paint.  Because of this, the Celtics have an advantage over Orlando and should win this series, albeit in six or seven games (though who wants to?  As I'm writing this, LeBron and the Cavs are KILLING the Hawks again and James just hit a 40-footer to end the first half with a hand in his face and it wasn't luck.  He measured the shot, rose up for a normal jumper and followed through as the ball went through the net, simply sick.)

Raging Rondo and Blazing Trails

A quick word about Rajon Rondo and Dwight Howard first, but the lion's share of today's post is about my other team, the Portland Trail Blazers.  Dwight Howard is out for game six against Philadelphia for elbowing Sam Dalembert during the first quarter of last night's game, and rightfully so.  Rajon Rondo has not been suspended for hitting Brad Miller in the face during the closing seconds of their game last night, and there has been much more debate about this (non)call.  

My take on the whole thing is that Rondo should have been assessed a flagrant foul for hitting Brad Miller in the head, the rules of the NBA are clear on that, but not suspended for the next game of the series.  Unfortunately, the NBA's officiating is notoriously horrible, and it seems to me that they were prejudiced against Miller because of the huge difference in size between him and Rondo.  If the roles were reversed, Miller would have been ejected, fined, suspended and shanked by KG on his way off of the floor, but alas Brad Miller is seven feet tall and Rondo is only a hair over six feet and wire thin to boot, so whistles were swallowed and the outcome of the game was potentially altered.  

Except it wasn't.  First of all, the Bulls broke down many times down the stretch, including not doubling Paul Pierce in the closing seconds of overtime.  Ray Allen was not on the floor, at that point the Bulls HAVE to make somebody other than Pierce beat them.  They didn't, and Pierce made them pay.  And even if they had called a flagrant (which would have meant free-throws AND the ball back), there's no guarantee that the Bulls would have a) converted the attempts or b) made the final shot once they had the ball again.  The Rondo foul and the way it was handled impacted the game to be sure, but not forcing the ball away from Pierce is inexcusable.  

As for the question of a suspension, I don't think it is merited in Rondo's case.  Although he hit Miller in the head, he was attempting to make some kind of play on the ball in a game deciding moment, so I don't see this play as the same as Howard's elbow or Trevor Ariza's flagrant on Rudy Fernandez earlier this year.  Howard hit Dalembert after the play in what was clearly frustration and retaliation and Ariza's play came during a blowout loss at Portland when the game had already been decided.  He also hit a player who was farther off the ground and moving much faster than Miller was, and again there's that whole size bias.  The whole thing stinks, and I won't be surprised when Miller decks Rondo on Thursday, but I just didn't see the play as suspension-worthy.

All right, enough about fouling, let's talk Blazers for a little bit.  Earlier today, Henry Abbott wrote that any self-respecting blogger should be talking about the Blazers, and I am inclined to agree.  I was at the game last night (thanks to some tickets scored by the greatest girlfriend ever) and I can tell you that I've never been at a sporting event that comes anywhere close to that.  The level of excitement, anticipation, energy and noise were out of control, and the Blazers did an admirable job of fighting off a veteran team with a chance to close out the series early.  The loudest cheer from the crowd came when Yao Ming was actually whistled for a foul, and from start to finish the crowd was into it and trying to affect every single play.  

As I predicted prior to tip-off, LaMarcus Aldridge had a killer game and couldn't be contained by anyone on Houston's roster.  He was posting up, stepping back and taking it to the hole aggressively against a physical Rocket defense with a kind of aggression that I've yet to see from him.  For me it was a realization of his gifts married to the desire and drive to carry his team to victory.  Aldridge has a huge physical advantage over every one of Houston's players (he's too tall for the likes of Scola, Hayes or Landry, and too quick for Yao) and he finally exerted it, posting up the smaller forwards and getting close to the basket and using his quickness to punish Yao (there was one sequence where he isolated on Yao, crossed over a few times to unsettle the defender and then rose up and splashed the jumper right in his face).  And more than simply hitting his jumpers, Aldridge was aggressive going to the basket and forcing the issue against the Rockets.  If only he could do this more often, or on the road, or for two games in a row, but for a game, Aldridge carried the Blazers when he absolutely had to.  

Complimenting Aldridge's stellar performance (he finished tied with Brandon Roy for the game's high scoring mark at 25) was Portland's MVP, Brandon Roy.  Though he didn't play out of his mind, Brandon hit big baskets when his team needed them and always seemed to come in and stem the tide whenever Houston was poised to make a run and put the game away.  If he isn't already considered to be there, Brandon Roy will be a top ten player one day.  This kid is Paul Pierce with a better left hand and more quickness and the same amount of killer instinct and competitive fire.  Once his supporting cast matures and they learn to play a bit more defense, he will be an unstoppable force and a champion, mark my words.

Speaking of defense, I was appalled at the Blazers' spotty defensive effort last night.  I know it's impossible to keep Aaron Brooks out of the lane with the hand-checking rules the way they are, but still, the Blazers were victim to dribble penetration all night long and gave up a ton of easy shots to Houston (many were wide open looks for Luis Scola, which he hit with ruthless efficiency, finishing 10-13 from the floor).  If Portland is to have any chance at winning game six in Houston, they need to tighten up their defense and really clamp down on Houston.

Speaking of winning game six, at this point I say Portland's chances are slim but not out of reach, which is more credit than I would have given them before last night's game.  It occurs to me that Portland isn't a great road team and that the Rockets are experienced and will come out fired up for game six and that my judgement is probably colored from being at the game last night, but my thinking about this series has changed since yesterday.  

Portland has gotten better with each game in this series, and this young team is learning how to play playoff basketball every minute that they're on the floor.  Knowing that and seeing their progression, I am now thinking that the Blazers have a great chance to shock Houston and the NBA by winning game six tomorrow night.  Portland hasn't been blown out on the road yet, and each road game is hard fought and competitive, a good sign for Blazer fans everywhere.  The Blazers have taken Houston's best punches and hung tough throughout, and I feel like they are poised to topple the Rockets and steal this series back from them.  Before this series started, I would have never given Portland a chance to win a game six on the road, but now I think this is their best chance to win on the road.  As this young team learns, they get exponentially more dangerous.  If you aren't watching game six on Thursday, you're cheating yourself, end of story.  

Swept Away in a Tangent

The Celtics are losing ground on the top teams of the NBA.  Injuries are rampant and Boston, as John Hollinger pointed out today, is having to rely too much on Mikki Moore and Stephon Marbury (who looks about as rusty as he should be at this point) as a result.  But I am not worried yet, because there are still 17 games left in the regular season, and the Celtics have a relatively easy week coming up during which they can hopefully get healthy and get Marbury and Moore in tune with the system they're now playing in.  At this point, I'd rather be fully healthy and a lower seed (even third in the East wouldn't be too bad) than carrying nagging injuries into the postseason as a result of trying to keep pace with Cleveland and LA for the best overall record.  

I know the Celtics had some trouble winning on the road in the first two rounds of last year's postseason, but it's important not to forget that Boston closed out Detroit on the road in the Conference Finals AND set a Finals record with a 24-point second half comeback in Los Angeles to win game four.  Don't remember it?  Fortunately, you can stop by any time and we can watch it together (WARNING: there is no way to turn off the DVD commentary).  If the Celtics can get healthy and use this time to work the new players into the rotation at the expense of a few wins, that's fine.  At the very least, it will allow the Celtics to fly a bit more under the radar and to possibly play the "nobody believes in us!" card (can you even do this as the defending champs?).  And if Rajon Rondo, Marbury, Moore, and Kevin Garnett can come back to full strength in time to heat up for a postseason run, then I firmly believe that the Celtics are talented enough to blow the doors off the Lakers again in the Finals this year.  Maybe I'm drinking too much Marbury Kool-Aid, but I can't help but be excited by his possible contributions to the Celtics' second unit.

For the time being, I'm standing pat on the Celtics and waiting to judge them until they're healthy (not a sure thing by any means, which is why I'm typing this post with my fingers crossed instead of using the normal two-finger-hunt-and-peck, ha ha).  Hopefully by next Wednesday's home game against Miami (can be seen on ESPN, for those of you out of market fans) there will be some signs of improvement from the Celtics.  Until then, I'm taking everything I see with a grain of salt.  That being the case, I think I'll take this opportunity to go off on a tangent about Dirk Nowitzki.

I know Nowitzki plays for Mark Cuban's Dallas Mavericks who don't exactly fit under the normal parameter's you'd expect from a blog entitled "C of Green" (unless the Mavs are wearing their ugly-as-sin green uniforms),  I'm tackling this issue regardless.  Rick Carlisle plays Dirk Nowitzki for too damn long during games.  The last two times I've seen the lanky German play, Carlisle (who rode the bench to an NBA title with the Celtics in 1986) has kept Nowitzki on the floor for the entire first quarter as well as the first half of the second quarter before spelling him on the bench.  I don't want to pretend to know better than an NBA head coach (I'll leave that to Simmons, thank you), but it was evident to me that Nowitzki was fatigued during those stretches and his team struggled as a result.  

Last night in Portland, Dirk played his heart out and carried his Mavericks to victory with an impressive and efficient 29 points and 10 rebounds, but by the end of the first quarter and into the second, Nowitzki was dragging on defense and didn't seem to have the legs to move and rotate when Portland attacked the Dallas defense.  If you ask me, the main reason for this was because Dirk played until the 5:48 mark of the second quarter before getting his first breather on the bench.  Fortunately, Carlisle was able to hid Nowitzki for much of the game inside a zone defense that confounded the Trail Blazers and limited them almost exclusively to perimeter shots without any kind of ball movement.  Still, Nowitzki stuck out like a sore thumb on defense at times, and more often than not he was at least partially responsible for giving up many of Portland's easy baskets out of their half court offense.

As if the lack of energy on defense weren't bad enough, these long stretches f playing time are affecting Nowitzki's offensive game as well.  Granted, I didn't see this last night, in fact Dirk made the three of us watching at home groan repeatedly after unleashing some ridiculous offensive moves and splashing some sweet fade-away jumpers over the Blazer defense, but trust me, it's hurting his game.  I've seen Nowitzki disappear for stretches in Dallas' offense, due partially to his teammates' inability to find him with the basketball, but also because Dirk does a lot of standing around and often doesn't fight to get into better scoring position.  Sounds symptomatic of fatigue, doesn't it?  During one game against New Orleans that the Fox and I watched together, Dallas failed to get the ball to Nowitzki for four solid minutes at the beginning of the second quarter, prompting us to wonder out loud "why is Dirk tiring himself out on the floor if they aren't going to give him the ball?"  I'm not asking Dallas to reinvent the wheel, hell I'm not even asking them to cut his minutes, just to distribute them differently so that Dirk can play with more energy.

Now I suspect that Dirk has to carry so much of the load because Dallas is very thin right now and don't have a ton of reliable size to come off the bench (hell, they start Eric Dampier for cryin' out loud), but still, he needs a rest very badly.  I feel that if Dirk got to rest at the end of the first and the beginning of the second (you know, like most NBA players do), then he'd have more energy to expend on defense or to run the floor.  In order for Dallas to contend for a title again, Dirk has to be able to play a complete game.  Dallas got to the Finals in 2006 because they played serious defense, and having Dirk play both sides of the ball was a huge part of their success as a team.  Right now, he can't do that because he needs to create almost all of Dallas' offense as well as provide most of the team's size in the middle.  The Mavericks need size in the middle worse than the Celtics do, and until they get some help or exorcise Dampier's contract, I fear they cannot improve.

Oh yeah, and if you want to get technical, allow me to successfully demonstrate how Dirk Nowitzki is soooooo related enough to the Celtics to merit some space on the C of Green...  As I mentioned, Rick Carlisle, the coach responsible for beating Nowitzki like a rented mule this year, was drafted by Red Auerbach and played for the Celtics.  And did you know that when Dirk became available for the 1998 NBA Draft Rick Pitino (a.k.a the Killer of All Hope), then GM of the Celtics, raved about Dirk, likening him to Larry Bird, and promised to take him with the tenth overall pick of the draft?  Boston didn't get the chance to draft Nowitzki, who was taken ninth by the Bucks before being shipped to Dallas for Robert "Tractor" Traylor. and settled for a swing man from Kansas named Paul Pierce instead.  And did I mention those ugly green road uniforms?  'Nuff said.

Doc Knows...

A while back Doc Rivers speculated that Rajon Rondo was perhaps the most important Celtic and that losing him for an extended stretch of time would be devastating to the team.  People scoffed, pointing instead to Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and their invaluable contributions to the defending champions.  After today's miserable 86-79 loss in Boston against Orlando, does anyone dare question that statement?  

After spraining his ankle early in Friday night's win against the Cavaliers, Doc Rivers sat Rajon Rondo for today's game against the Orlando Magic, opting to put the newly acquired Stephon Marbury into the starting line up to face the Eastern Conference's third best team.  To say the team suffered in his absence is an understatement.  Although I didn't watch the game (out of market, boo hoo), there are several glaring indicators from the box score that show how much Rondo means to the Celtics.  First of all, the Celtics had only ten assists on their 30 field goals today, while turning the ball over seventeen times (ouch).  Paul Pierce was leader of the pack for the Celtics as usual, though not in his normal good way, coughing up the ball six times to punctuate a horrid all-around performance.  If any of you read yesterday's post, or have watched the Celtics in the past, you know that turnovers are this team's achilles heel and have doomed them on many nights throughout the course of the last two years.  Though Orlando scored only 13 points off of the Celtic miscues, the damage was still done and is simply indicative of how stagnant Boston's offense gets without its speedy little point guard from Kentucky.  

While the assist:turnover ratio is perhaps the most glaring area of the game affected by Rondo's absence, the Celtics' shooting and specifically three-point shooting are also strong indicators of Rondo's value to his team.  Confused as to how a team's shooting suffers because they're missing their starting point guard who can't shoot a lick?  Don't worry, I'm about to explain it for you.  The Boston Celtics are normally one of the league's best shooting teams (currently second in FG% at 48.8 and in a five way tie for first in three-point % at 39), largely because of Rajon Rondo's blazing speed and playmaking ability.  

While all of the Celtics are committed (almost to a fault) of sharing the ball and making the extra pass to find the best possible shot for the team, Rajon Rondo is perhaps the best creator on the squad (it's probably not as close as I think, but the way Kevin Garnett can pass the ball down low, find cutters on the move and help move the ball around is preventing me from crowning Rondo outright).  Rajon Rondo is constantly in the paint, either finding lay-ups for himself or a teammate on the perimeter once the opponent's defense is collapsed onto him.  Since he is too quick for almost any NBA point guard to contain, help defenders are compelled to leave their assignments to prevent Rondo from getting an easy score at the rim, which leaves the likes of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and sometimes Eddie House open behind the three point line, and Kevin Garnett open at either the baseline or the elbow area for a 15-footer (can you say "easy money?").  Even when Rondo's first pass doesn't find a wide open shooter, his dribble penetration forces all but the stingiest of defenses onto their heels and to rotate as the Celtics continue to pass the ball.  

A lot of what Rajon Rondo does reminds me of what Tony Parker does for the San Antonio Spurs.  Parker is ahead of Rondo for now (though if Rajon can solidify the floater like Tony Parker has, look out!), but both speedsters affect their respective teams in similar ways.  In addition to collapsing defenses in order to find teammates on the perimeter and getting high percentage shots in the paint for themselves, both players have a similar way of selectively pushing the tempo for their teams and distributing the ball to a cast of veteran and future hall of fame level teammates.  And despite the greatness of their respective teammates, both players are, to quote the immortal Reggie Jackson, "the straw that stirs the drink."  Though Reggie's self-absorbed epitaph is tainted with a special breed of arrogance and vanity that only the Prince of the Yankees can provide, I think it's actually a great analogy for both of these players (but this is a Celtics site, so wave goodbye to the praise for Mrs. Eva Longoria, it's going to be all Rondo from here on in).  

Much like one of the fine Long Island ice teas from Tryon Creek Sports Bar & Grill, the Boston Celtics work best when all of the different parts are mixed together (unlike the Long Islands from Tryon, the Celtics, as far as I know, won't make you crash your car into a ditch in front of Blaine's house literally a block from the bar).  Let's say that Paul Pierce is the Vodka; Kevin Garnett is the Gin; Ray Allen is the Rum; Kendrick Perkins is Triple Sec; and Eddie House, Glen Davis, Leon Powe, Marbury and the rest are the mixers.  Trust me, if you tried to drink one of those without using a straw to sip it or mix it, it wouldn't work.  But if you add a straw to help everything blend together, then the drink becomes something that is infinitely greater than the sum of its parts (as one last aside, both Tryon Long Islands and the Boston Celtics may lead you to believe that "ANYTHING IS POSSSSSSSSSIBlE!!!!!!").  

Rondo does this for the Celtics, and more than any other player, the club plays well when he plays well.  With Rondo in the game, suddenly guys have space to move on the perimeter, defenders are being pulled out of position and forced to scramble in their rotations as the ball moves around from player to player, the Celtics run in transition and they shoot as well as anyone in the Association.  Not everything that Rondo does shows up in a box score when he and the team are playing well, but his contributions to the team become glaringly obvious when he's out.  Let's just hope that his injury is nothing serious, and that Boston can get healthy soon enough to come together for the playoffs.  

In the meantime, this would be a great time for Stephon Marbury to get a crash course in running the Celtics' offense and learning to play with Pierce, Allen and the rest of the crew.  Rivers said he questioned himself today for starting Marbury over house, but I think it's the right thing to do on all accounts.  House is most effective as a spark off the bench and can still get the majority of the minutes, while Marbury can continue to knock off the rust and immerse himself in the system.  It could be a blessing in disguise, but the Celtics cannot afford to drop more games down the stretch if they want to keep pace with Cleveland.  

Had enough?  Lord knows I have.  I have a date with my mistress team tomorrow (Blazers v. Lakers), but I'll be back with some more Celtics related musings a bit later this week.

Not So Fast...

I don't know how many of you read my short post from yesterday (don't be lazy, just scroll down!), but I may have gotten ahead of myself in my attitude towards the game.  In all honesty, I expected Cleveland to win in Boston last night.  Perhaps I underestimated the importance of Ben Wallace to the Cavs, but I thought that Cleveland had a significant advantage over Boston because of the injury to Kevin Garnett.  Add to that the way Cleveland had been playing all season (significantly better than the team that took last year's championship Celtics team to the brink of the seventh game last year) and the Celtics' uncharacteristic inconsistency for stretches of this season, and it looked to me like it was a game that Cleveland needed to win and would.  

In retrospect, I was probably hedging my bets like any true Red Sox/Cubs/Cleveland/Jazz/Mariners/etc. fan would (old habits die hard) so I could avoid the disappointment of the inevitable loss and let down, but that only partially accounts for my bad pick yesterday afternoon.  The truth is that while I knew both teams were very, very close and that the game likely would be as well, I leaned towards Cleveland because it's infinitely more pleasant for me to eat my own words when the Celtics win (I'm totally torpedoing myself here).  I'd also like to excuse myself on account of the fact that the majority of the media out there thought LeBron and the Cavs would win, but then I'd probably have to commit seppuku on the spot.  I'm a bit disappointed in myself for falling into such an easy trap and not realizing that the Celtics would protect their house and rise to the occasion, but I've learned my lesson and will sprint to the bench the next time my sub comes in... or something like that.

But enough apologizing for myself, let's talk about the game!  First of all, the defense against LeBron James and therefore the Cavaliers as a whole was spectacular from start to finish.  The Celtics were physical, aggressive and energetic for the first time in a week, hounding LeBron wherever he went.  Rotations were crisp, help always seemed to be on time, and aside from some extremely hot shooting by Mo Williams (I still have a sinking feeling that this guy will KILL the Celtics at least once in the playoffs), the Celtics did a great job of disrupting Cleveland's offense.  The Cavs did shoot a respectable 45% from the field and 50% from behind the three-point line, but any time you force LeBron freaking James into 5-15 shooting and almost as many turnovers (4) as assists (5) or rebounds (6), then you deserve some recognition.

The defense last night was good, but the offense was what carried the Celtics to victory.  Against a defense that rivals the Celtics in most categories, the Celtics shot 54% from the field and compiled 31 assists on 45 field goals.  Most impressively, the Celtics took great care of the basketball last night, coughing the ball up only eight times for a paltry nine points for the Cavaliers.  While Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo deserve the bulk of the credit for taking care of the ball and running the Celtics' offense (19 assists and only three turnovers combined), Stephon Marbury deserves a nod of approval for his role in shoring up the Celtics' biggest weakness this year.  Although he's still knocking off the rust from his year-long hiatus, Marbury did a great job during his time on the floor, dishing out three assists in 16 minutes while only turning the ball over once.  While those aren't eye popping stats to say the least (especially when you throw in the 1-5 shooting to go with it), Marbury played well within the offensive system and has already improved the ball movement of the Celtics' second unit.  A lot of what I saw Marbury do didn't appear in the box score after the game, however one noticeable area of improvement did show up in the form of a "0" in Eddie House's line under turnovers.  I'm trying not to get excited too soon, but I can't help but feel like Marbury could be (strangely enough) just what the doctor ordered for the Boston Celtics this year.  

Oh yeah, and then there was Leon Powe.  Once again making his case for the put-me-in-coach award this year, Powe came up huge last night off of the bench, exploding for 20 points on 9-11 shooting, 11 rebounds and one huge block on Mo Williams down the stretch.  The undersized power forward from Cal punished the Cavaliers for relentlessly trapping Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and the other perimeter players for the Celtics, finishing strong around the hoop time after time and always appearing in the best spot for his teammates to find him.  In perhaps his best game since last June's NBA Finals where Powe exploded in similar fashion, Leon proved to be invaluable last night and contributed as much as anyone did to Boston's victory.

To say that Leon Powe made the most of his opportunities would be an epic understatement.  After Glen Davis was ejected for a flagrant foul on Anderson Varejao in the second quarter (which, by the way, was a hard foul but not worth an ejection.  At least it shouldn't be if Zydrunas Ilgauskas is allowed to keep playing after he instigated a scuffle after the play by bumping Davis into the crowd of photographers underneath the hoop).  This made the Celtics razor thin at power forward, as Boston was already playing without Kevin Garnett and Brian Scalabrine (I'll let you guys debate who of those two is more important to the team, har har).  But Powe stepped up in a big way, playing his heart out for 26 minutes (his season average is 16 per game, by the way).  Though Leon surely wouldn't have been as productive without his teammates creating opportunities for him, Powe deserves more adulation and respect than he'll get for doing his job flawlessly and helping his team to victory (on a related note, why the hell doesn't he start when KG is out or get more minutes off the bench all the time?).

I said yesterday afternoon that this game would have atmosphere and intensity, but ultimately would be only one of 82, mattering as much as a Tuesday night game against the Grizzlies.  Although I said that before the Celtics won, I'm still sticking to that sentiment despite the rest of the sports media hyping this game as a huge statement win for the Boston Celtics.  I know, I know, everything counts in a playoff race this tight, but getting too high or too low on any one game is a recipe for let-downs and stumbles down the stretch of this season.  Sure, the Celtics have put the onus back on the Cavaliers to play harder down the stretch and to defend their home court when these two teams meet again on a Sunday afternoon five weeks from now, but realistically, Cleveland was already going to do that.  Now they just have that much more motivation to focus and maintain their intensity throughout the rest of their regular season games.  Is this what the Celtics really want?

Don't get me wrong, it was great to see Boston come out with some serious championship swag and put Cleveland in their place on national TV, but winning this game doesn't mean that the Celtics will beat the Cavaliers in May.  There's still a long way to go between now and then, and Boston will have to work just as hard if not harder than Cleveland to emerge victorious once again.  While it was reassuring to see the Celtics contain LeBron without James Posey, anybody who follows the NBA even a little bit knows that he and the Cavaliers will be back bigger and better the next time these two clubs meet.  That's the bad news, but fortunately, the Celtics have more room to improve at this point than Cleveland does.  If (and keep in mind, this is a big IF) Kevin Garnett can come back to full strength and Stephon Marbury continues to improve and play within his role in the Celtics' offense, then Boston could be well on his way to another championship.

Stand Fast

I've been trying for a while now to really dissect yesterday's Suns/Celtics clash and find the most remarkable aspect of the game, but my effort has thus far been in vain.  It's not that without KG and Amare this game lacked intensity or entertainment value (on the contrary, in fact), just nothing that happened was remarkable or enlightening about the Celtics.  They won without Garnett, which we already knew they could do (now 13-2 without the Big Ticket).  Ray Allen hit shots and played an efficient game just as he's done all year.  Paul Pierce was all too familiar, heating up at the right times, exploiting mismatches and getting to his spots (frequently the free-throw line), making scoring look easy, defending and rebounding, turning the ball over five times, all while providing the usual heart and leadership that defines him as a player.  Kendrick Perkins made sour faces at referees after committing obvious fouls (shocking, I know).  

But what about Rajon Rondo?

You mean the career high 32 points on a scalding 13-18 shooting, ten assists, six rebounds and three steals on his 23rd birthday?  That was definitely nice, but what'd you expect from him against the matador defense of the Phoenix Suns?  Rondo gets to the cup against some of the league's tightest defenses defenses and best perimeter defenders (ask Chris Paul, Tony Parker or any of the Lakers that played last June), so forgive me if I'm not shocked that he embarrassed Steve Nash on his way to a career night against a terrible defensive team. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that Rajon Rondo played so well, and I think that this game is a huge confidence builder for him and his teammates, but this kind of play from Rondo isn't new to me.  Rondo's development is a favorite topic of mine (read more here and here), and I've always maintained that he is capable of great things.  I mean, he was the catalyst on a championship team that played perhaps the fiercest defense that the NBA has ever seen, and he maintains a delicate balance between his three All-Star teammates while running one of the NBA's best offenses that often requires him to sacrifice his own numbers for the benefit of the team.  He can flat out play, and we all (at least I) already knew that.  

Going into the game against Phoenix, the point guard match-up between Rondo and Nash jumped out at me as the most favorable for the Celtics (though the other backcourt pairing of Allen against Captain Barbosa was a close second).  God bless his Canadian heart, but Steve Nash is a defensive liability for Phoenix* (I'd say at this point in his career, but he's always been one), and he had zero chance of containing Rondo on Sunday afternoon.  And sure enough, Rondo dominated the Suns, getting anywhere he wanted and any shot he wanted against defenders that more often resembled cardboard cutouts than actual live bodies.  The word layup drill comes to mind, but it doesn't fully illustrate the lack of resistance Rondo encountered on his way to the rim time and again on Sunday.  

*As a quick aside about Steve Nash and defense, I'm just wondering if anyone else noticed that Paul Pierce started heating up as soon as the Suns started switching the pick & roll to contain Rondo, leaving Nash on Pierce in an isolation?  Not that many defenders in the NBA can handle Paul Pierce, but still, as soon as Nash was on Pierce he started making shots that were rimming out in the first half.

Aside from the abhorrent defense played against him, Rondo benefited greatly from the increased game tempo and the void left by KG in the offense.  In my last post, I called for the other Celtics to step up and each do a little bit to fill KG's shoes, and on Sunday, Rondo proved that he has big feet, so to speak.  For the season, Rondo is averaging nine field-goal attempts per game (and converting at a rate of 51%) and just over three foul shots per game (converting only 63% of those).  On Sunday, he took 18 shots (of which he made 13, including a three-pointer) and got to the line nine times (only hitting five), while still having time to feed his teammates for ten assists.  With more space to spread his wings and against a defense that would be indifferent were they not so physically overmatched, a performance along the lines of this one seems to me to be more par for the course than an enlightening foreshadowing of this young player's career to come.

Perhaps the only exciting thing to see was Rondo's marksmanship with his jumper, which has always been the one hole in his game.  Yesterday, he hit several mid-range jumpers to punish Phoenix for playing off of him, and a three-pointer that was actually pretty contested by Phoenix standards.  These jumpers, however, came only after Rondo was well into an offensive rhythm established by a multitude of uncontested drives to the hoop.  For that reason, I'm going to try and not get too carried away about those makes, instead filing them appropriately under "heat-check" (see also LBJ v. Bucks) for now.  When any player is feeling it like that, shots just seem to fall.  What I will hope for is that this game gives Rondo and his teammates a confidence boost, and that it drives him to work even harder than he has been on developing a solid jump-shot (Rondo has been steadily improving that aspect of his game throughout his short career).  

The chorus of the media says "Rondo has arrived" after this game; I say, "he's already been here for a year plus."  It's not that I'm unimpressed with the way he played, in fact, I'm elated that a young guy like him relishes the challenge of rising to the occasion to get a win for his injury depleted team.  I feel as though he's been capable of such greatness for a while, and its eventual manifestation against a clearly inferior opponent shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.  To Rondo, I say keep fighting the good fight, and even if you don't ever score 30 again, I'll still appreciate you for what you do on the court for the Boston Celtics.  Doc Rivers said a while ago that Rondo was the most irreplaceable Celtic, and I'm tempted to agree (if only because we're thinner than Kate Moss at the point right now).  But while it's great to see a big game out of Rondo and another win without Garnett, I still maintain that I expect nothing less from the defending champs, especially against a team that they can clearly beat.

In other news, Andy Roddick deserves a pat on the back for withdrawing from the Dubai tennis tournament in protest over their treatment of an Israeli tennis player and using his celebrity status to send a meaningful message to the world.  It's not often that sports and politics or the historical narrative intersect at significant points, so it's always nice to see somebody capitalize on the opportunity to make a statement, even at the risk of losing sponsorships, prizes and the like.  So what if you can't beat Federer or Nadal, this is a much better way to go out, and it will hopefully be remembered for years to come.  Hats off to you, my friend.

Fade-Off

For many years during the dark ages of Rick Pitino, basketball was almost dead to my father.  As my passion for the game and the Boston Celtics was budding (at a fairly unusual time, when you consider how dysfunctional and bad the Celtics were when I was growing up), we had many discussions about professional basketball in general, most of which ended with me standing up for the value of today's NBA and my father claiming that the current incarnation was almost unwatchable and had no real appeal to him.  Pointing to the dilution of the talent pool between too many teams, the seemingly never ending regular season, and the prevalence of me-first players that seemed only to want to show off their own skills for fans who would ooh-and-ahh at their crossover, I could hardly blame him for being turned off from the game.  He made good points, but I never conceded, firmly believing that a good brand of basketball still did exist and that if he were exposed to it it could rekindle at least an appreciation if not a love for the game.

He reluctantly showed a flash of interest in 2004 when the Pistons upended the Lakers in the Finals (there's nothing like watching Kobe, Shaq and the Lakers get served to ignite some passion within a Bostonian), and that interest grew somewhat the next year during a hard-fought Finals that went down to the wire between two legitimate teams, the San Antonio Spurs and the Detroit Pistons.  Though the games were brutal and ugly, I can distinctly remember my Dad in awe of Tim Duncan's sheer willpower, Manu Ginoblili's unbelievable ability to get to the rim, and the way both teams played together rather than just standing around and waiting for the superstars to make plays.  But even so, he was still unimpressed by the state of the game, and while he was aware and possibly excited by the basketball he saw, the NBA was still a hard sell for him.

And then, on March 14th of 2007, it happened.  Phoenix played Dallas and made a huge fourth quarter rally, winning 129-127 in double overtime in what was recognized as an instant classic at the time.  Jason Terry and Steve Nash both made ri-damn-diculous three-pointers to continue the game (Terry hit his three with Steve Nash's hand about half an inch from his face), and Nash in particular showed his whole arsenal, finishing with 32/16/8.  Amare had 41/10, Dirk poured in 30/16, and Jason Terry finished with 27 in a game that was hotly contested from start to finish.  Beyond the fact that this game was a high-scoring barn burner of a game, both teams (emphasis on teams) played with a brand of intensity and passion that even as a young NBA fan I could tell had been missing for quite some time.   Dad could tell, too.

Sure enough, the next day, he called me and we both ranted and raved, recounting the heroics on both sides for the better part of an afternoon (afternoon for me, evening for him, I was here in Portland and he was home in Boston).  He conveyed to me the same sentiment that I just conveyed to all of you: this game was vintage NBA, with scoring, defense, and two teams that wanted to beat the pants off a familiar opponent far more than they wanted to make Sports Center.  His passion for basketball was revived, and I could tell through the phone that he was genuinely excited and was left wanting more after that incredible game.  Sure enough, he paid attention whenever Phoenix and Dallas were playing from then on, and I feel like that one game showed him the possibilities of today's NBA and revived his interest in the game of basketball.

So other than the involvement of the Dallas Mavericks, you're probably asking (who is this talentless hack?) what did that long tangent have to do with last night's 99-92 Celtics win in Dallas?  Fear not, baby birds, Daddy's gonna feed you.  I watched the game last night with some friends at home, none of whom are hardcore NBA junkies like myself (though they all have at least an appreciation for the game).  By the end of the game, everybody was hooting, hollering and letting out a chorus of "oohs-and-ahhs" as the Celtics made their comeback behind 18 fourth quarter points from Paul Pierce.  The quality of the game and the level of competition inspired a group of (forgive me, guys) non-fans to get into a regular season game.  

Everybody, including myself, was in awe of the shot making by Dirk Nowitzki, who reached all the way back to 2006 for a dominant 37 point performance, and Paul Pierce, who seemed determine to not only win the game, but to one up Dirk for the most-ridiculous-fade-away award as he summarily abused Devean George and Jason Kidd down the stretch.  Pierce carried the team after both Kevin Garnett and Doc Rivers lost their heads (don't even get me started on them...), providing the kind of leadership, grit and competitive fire that we've grown accustomed to seeing from The Truth.  Most importantly, the Celtics kept pace with the Lakers for the best record in the NBA, and are headed into the All-Star break on a positive note.

But more than the ridiculous shots or the boneheadedness of KG and Doc, I was amazed at the reaction of the friends around me who were watching the game.  I've always believed that a good enough game can turn even the most indifferent observer into a rabid sports fan, if only for a fleeting moment or two.  Whether they knew the names of the players or not was irrelevant, the game turned everyone in the room into an NBA fan, and had everybody on the edge of their seats and hanging on every dribble, fake and shot taken down the stretch.  It wasn't as pretty as the instant classic from March of 2007 between Phoenix and Dallas, but last night's game provoked the same kind of reaction and was an impressive contest on both sides in its own special way.

Monday Moaning

Memo to the rest of the NBA: when the game is winding down and that guy who wears number 8 for the Spurs, I think his name is Roger Mason, has the ball, you may want to put a hand in his face.  Otherwise, he may do something like this.  Or maybe something along the lines of this, or this.  You've been warned.  Also, we'll be putting new cover sheets on out TPS reports from now on.  

Um, yeah.............

Did ya get that memo, Celtics?

I guess not.  First off, that was a great shot, and every time I watch San Antonio this year, all I can think about is how good Roger Mason would look in Celtic green.  He stretches the defense, can handle the ball, is efficient on the floor, understands his role and clearly, he can hit big shots.  And while it may not look as flashy as some shots you'll see in the NBA, pulling up for a jumper off the dribble after navigating your way around a screen and between two defenders is incredibly difficult to do, so kudos to Mason for coming through again and giving the Spurs a big road win.

But that shot didn't win the game for the Spurs, nor did the Celtics lose the game because their defense was not tight enough (the play was covered reasonably well and the other Celtics had to stay home on their men, seeing as the Spurs are one of the best passing teams in the league).  I'm not of the opinion that any one possession lost the game, although Ray Allen's cosmic brain fart on the ensuing inbounds play is making me challenge that statement even as I write it.  That was an awful exchange, to be sure, and the clear path foul, free-throws, possession and more free-throws that resulted from Allen's epic fail did solidify a seven point swing towards the Spurs in just under two seconds.  But even so, the Celtics could have easily won that game.

So what went wrong?  Aside from not playing defense in the first half and failing miserably to exploit some of the mismatches that the Celtics had (Matt Bonner guarding KG?!?  Really?), I can't help but feel like the game was lost at the start of the fourth quarter, when the Celtics bench was on the floor.  With a second unit of Leon Powe, Glen Davis, Eddie House, Tony Allen and Paul Pierce on the floor, all of Boston's momentum that was accrued in a stellar third quarter that saw Boston outscore San Antonio 24-14 evaporated into thin air.

After working so hard to regain the lead after three quarters, the Celtics reserves struggled to find offense and keep the Spurs from scoring on defense, surrendering a 76-74 lead and falling into a five point hole.  The bench play was so bad that Doc Rivers was compelled to go back to his starters early in the quarter just to stop the bleeding.  Not that the first unit looked excessively tired at the end of the game, but the fact that the bench players can't be trusted to do their fair share is Troubling (notice the capital "T").  

Although the Celtics' bench isn't short on hustle, effort or enthusiasm, they've struggled all year long to create offense and match up with some of the better second units in the NBA (think Portland and the Lakers).  Eddie House is instant offense, sure, but he's really the only one who needs to be paid attention to, and he suffers for it much of the time.  Yesterday's Spurs game was a great example, during which Eddie only attempted two shots (never mind that he made both)!!!!!!!!  For a guy whose sole purpose on the team is to shoot and score, this is baffling, like worse than trying to figure out the plot of Eye of the Tiger.  Why did this happen?

House was never open because San Antonio simply didn't have to worry about anyone else on the floor from the Celtics' second unit beating them.  Sure, Paul Pierce was out there too, but he was swarmed and pestered by defenders as well (even so he did actually keep the game relatively close).  With Tony Allen, Big Baby and Leon Powe on the floor, there simply aren't enough offensive threats to make a halfway decent NBA defense sweat over the Boston Celtics.  

All three of those guys (TA, Baby and Powe) are energy/hustle players, meaning they generally impact the game on offense by hitting the offensive glass, setting screens, getting easy baskets in transition and occasionally scoring as a fourth or fifth option for the team.  Plays don't get run for them, and they don't threaten a defense outside of the ways I just outlined.  None of these guys are shooters or scorers, none of them can really handle the ball very well, nor are they great play-makers, so while they aren't liabilities on offense per se, they are by no means hard to defend or game-plan against.  

Don't get me wrong, each one of these guys, and effort/hustle role players in general, are vital cogs in any elite basketball team, and without them the stars couldn't shine as brightly as they do.  Often times these players are making the biggest sacrifices for the betterment of their team with the smallest reward, and it does seem somewhat wrong to be overly critical of the guys who don't get the same opportunity and have to make the most of what they have, but the simple truth is that there's only space for one or maybe two of these guys in a successful rotation.  Having too many limited offensive threats can and will make your offense stagnate and fall apart like so many celebrity marriages.  Just as the stars need the role players to do the little things, the role players can only flourish when there are stars around to attract attention and make the game easier for them (think Anderson Varejao).

Right now, the Celtics are suffering because of this.  Last year, with James Posey in the mix along with House and usually Ray Allen or Paul Pierce, the Celtics' second unit was much more threatening.  Not only did Posey bring defensive intensity and versatility to the Celtics, but his ability to hit outside shots stabilized the Celtics' second unit and forced defenses to stretch out and open up lanes for the other players on the court.  With three scorers out there, it becomes harder to camp out in the paint and box out the likes of Davis and Powe or keep track of them on dribble penetration, which was possible because of the optimal floor spacing provided by Posey.  This year, with three guys who can't shoot out there, everything has become that much harder and more taxing for the Celtics, who have been showing signs of fatigue this year much more so than last year (that 2-7 slide in December just happened to coincide with a lot of games in a short amount of time taking place on both coasts).  If I were a robot with silly clamps for hands, I'd be flailing my arms around and screaming "Danger, Will Robinson!!!  Danger!"

What are the Celtics to do?  Let me first say that the Celtics wouldn't be in this pickle had Antonio McDyess read that letter I wrote him earlier this season, but we can't change the past so I won't go there (but I bet you wish you'd listened, don't you think so?  How's life on the crappy Pistons treating you, Tony?).  The Celtics either need a point guard to take the load off of Eddie House and create for others on the second unit (the more Wild Turkey I drink, the more I like the idea of Stephon Marbury, I'm just sayin'), or find a long big man to help defend the lanky dudes like Pau Gasol and occasionally hit a big shot every now and then (please, PJ, come back!  I beg you!).  The tricky part for Boston is their lack of trade chips either in the form of young talent or expiring contracts, which limits the team's options to free agency pick ups.  The bad news, is that there isn't really anyone out there that is terribly enticing as of yet.  A move is needed, but unfortunately, I have no idea what the move is.  All I know is that if the Celtics keep losing close, winnable games, their future will be as bleak as the job market is.  Yikes.

Sunday Session: First Half Analysis

Heading into the half of today's contest between the San Antonio Spurs and the Boston Celtics, it's been a mixed bag thus far.  On the one hand, Boston's activity on the offensive glass has been phenomenal, and their energy has offset some bad shooting and even more physical defense from San Antonio.  Boston is shooting over 50% from the field, but very little has come easy for them and it doesn't seem to me like they're getting the best looks possible out of their possessions.  

For instance, Matt Bonner spent most of the first half guarding Kevin Garnett, which is a glaringly obvious mismatch that, in my humble opinion, the Celtics should have tried to exploit every time down the floor.  With a huge height, quickness and vertical leap advantage over the New Hampshire native (he has 16 points on 7-10 shooting, by the way), I'd like to see Garnett take Bonner in the post and get some more high percentage shots and be a bit more aggressive on offense.  As it is, Garnett has shot mostly long jumpers (albeit wide open) and has only made 3 of 7 shots for a pedestrian 7 points.  Hopefully Doc Rivers will make an adjustment and maybe get Garnett the ball in a better position to either score in close or make a play for someone else.

The biggest problem, however, hasn't been the Celtics offense, but their defensive schemes against the Spurs.  Going into the half, San Antonio has 60 points on 58% shooting overall and 45% from behind the three-point line.  Numbers like these are quite uncharacteristic for the Celtics' defense, and it seems to me that the Spurs have found (and knocked down) so many open shots because the Celtics' have been a step slow on all of their defensive rotations.  The Celtics have been aggressively trapping on defense a lot, especially against Tony Parker, who's been somewhat limited in the first two quarters of play.  

Normally, trapping is a fine strategy as long as your defense can rotate in time to pick up the open man and close out on the perimeter shooters.  Today, however, the Celtics have been committing far too much attention to Tony Parker and haven't been able to rotate in time.  Against the Spurs, who have only won four championships in nine years by collapsing defenses and kicking the ball out to the perimeter for wide open shots, slow rotation on defense is a recipe for disaster.  Don't get me wrong, I understand the need to double Parker and keep him out of the paint, but the Celtics took it a little too far and have gotten burned for doing so.  

Going into half number two, I'd like to see at least some defensive intensity and better effort to stopping the ball in transition, as well as some better quality touches for Garnett and Paul Pierce to help fire up the Celtics' offense.  Hopefully, if the defense can tighten up, the Celtics may be able to get out in transition themselves and score a few easy baskets.  Boston's done a decent job of taking care of the ball, hopefully that can continue in the second half.  And please, for the love of God, keep finding Ray Allen!

Knee-Jerk

I'll probably feel differently about this game tomorrow, but as it stands I can't help but feel like the Celtics got hosed just a little bit tonight against the Lakers.  I'm probably just frustrated about the way the Celtics played the game (terribly), but seriously, I have no idea how or why Kevin Garnett fouls out down the stretch in a game that was that physical.  Oh yeah, and the "foul" was an obvious flop by Derek Fisher (or was it just "selling the call?") and Gasol practically hacked bone to get the ball loose in the first place, but you know, no big deal.

This is what I don't get about the NBA: the game is physical and whistles are getting swallowed left and right because the players are playing the game.  And then, out of nowhere, Garnett gets called for a touch foul when he's fighting for a loose ball in a tight game?  It puzzles me, truly.  Incidental contact had been ignored for the entire game, Garnett played within that standard, and yet even after getting fouled to create the loose ball, he's called for his sixth foul in competition for the loose ball just because Fisher acts like he's been mugged and spills all over the ground (conversely, Lamar Odom had five fouls for most of the fourth quarter and got away with far more than KG did).  The vacillation of the refs tonight was just flat out mind boggling.

All I want is some freaking consistency from the officials.  Oh sure, it's hard to make judgements so quickly and observe and judge such a fluid game and all, but pretty please, just suck slightly less at your job once in a while.  I know that the Super Bowl just happened and you NBA referees are all antsy-in-your-pantsy to one-up the NFL Zebras, but that's no excuse to ruin a perfectly good game between two very equal opponents.

Whatever, to be honest, the Celtics didn't deserve that game anyhow.  They were careless with the ball on offense (16 turnovers) and essentially gift wrapped the Lakers twenty-freaking-four points as a result.  And even though the Lakers threw up enough bricks from the free-throw line to build house (17-29!!!!!!!!!!!), the Celtics still couldn't get it done without Garnett down the stretch.  As soon as he was gone from the game, the Celtics lost all of their spacing, ball movement and much of their defensive tenacity.  Had KG been available for overtime, I feel strongly that the game would have had a different result.  But KG wasn't in there, and the Celtics played poorly throughout, so give the Lakers some credit for playing a good game (I just threw up in my mouth a little bit, ugh).

This loss is especially disappointing because it wasted some great efforts and it felt like the Celtics missed a lot of open shots that could have just as easily gone in as rimmed out.  In particular, Leon Powe and Eddie House came up huge for Boston and made the most of their floor time (I was actually wondering why we didn't see more of those two down the stretch), combining for 26 points on 11-17 shooting and 11 rebounds to boot.  Their energy was key for the Celtics, and both made big buckets when their number was called (House went 4-5 from downtown).  

Paul Pierce deserves a great deal of credit for his defense on Kobe, forcing Mamba into many a contested jumpshot in crunch time, often working one-on-one. Unfortunately, Pierce also deserves his fair share of the blame for the loss, as he missed several late free-throws that would have given the Celtics a late lead and would have put more pressure on the Lakers.  He also went 5-13 from the floor and turned the ball over five times.  Sad trombone...

The implications of this game?  LA is very deep and appear to still be sore from their humiliating exit from last year's Finals.  They're much worse without Bynum controlling the middle of the floor, but unfortunately, the Celtics still seem behind without James Posey and PJ Brown.  The Celtics need help, desperately.  I'd like to see them add another long body to come off the bench and make life harder for the likes of Pau Gasol, who had a field day against the much shorter Glen Davis tonight, as well as somebody to handle the ball for the second unit and let Eddie House roam free on offense.  I hate to say Stephon Marbury at this point, but there isn't a lot of promising talent out there at this point.  Signing Marbury to a small contract and keeping him on a short leash would be a low risk option that given Marbury's talent could be very rewarding for the Celtics.  I feel dirty just writing that, but Boston needs to get better if they want a shot at defending their title against the Lakers in June.

Injury Implications

Sorry for my extended absence over the weekend, but I had to go make some money to pay the bills (believe it or not sharing your infinite basketball wisdom with the masses isn't quite as lucrative as you might think).  Fortunately, the Celtics kept right on rolling through the weekend after yet another convincing victory over Detroit (the Iverson for Billups swap is quickly gaining ground on Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe for Heathcliff Slocumb as one of the worst trades of all time) and wins against Minnesota on Sunday and Philadelphia last night.  

Boston's' winning streak is now at 12 (in case any of you were counting), though it will be put to the test against the Lakers this Thursday in Boston.  While the circumstances for this Thursday's contest against LA are quite similar to the two teams last meeting on Christmas (nationally televised, Celtics riding double digit win streak, another brutal road trip looming), this match-up will have a dramatically different feel because of the personnel involved.  

Kevin Garnett has sat out the last two Celtic games with the flu, and while it isn't a certainty that he'll play on Thursday, I imagine he'll do whatever he can to be back in the line-up against the Lakers.  Even if KG suits up, I'm not sure how effective he'll be with the flu affecting his energy and intensity on the court (though it apparently wasn't a problem for Ray Allen last night, who is suffering through the same sickness).  Garnett is key for the Celtics, who need his length, quickness and physicality to match up with Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom.  If KG isn't there or isn't able to contain those guys, the Celtics defense will have to double team, leaving them constantly out of position and susceptible to ball movement and dribble penetration.  On the other side of the ball, Garnett is a tough cover for the Lakers, who can't match his length and quickness with just one defender, forcing them to commit more focus on KG and leave the other Celtics free to operate in single coverage.

The Lakers, on the other hand, have much bigger injury issues (literally and figuratively) after Andrew Bynum tore his MCL on Saturday against Memphis.  The initial prognosis was 8-12 weeks of missed action for Bynum, which should keep him out for the remainder of the regular season and possibly into the playoffs (12 weeks would be almost through the Lakers first round playoff series at the end of April).  Additionally, 8-12 weeks is an exceedingly optimistic time frame for such a big player to be able to recover fully from such a serious injury, not to mention the amount of time it will take Bynum to work himself back into playing shape.  And when you consider his injury last year and the way his return kept getting delayed, I seriously doubt that we'll be seeing Andrew Bynum again this year. 

This loss is unfortunate and must be very disheartening for Bynum and the Lakers, and not just because Kobe was the one who hit Bynum's knee after apparently trying to sell a call on a drive to the hoop and flopping on the ground.  No, this injury is unfortunate because Bynum was playing his best basketball of the season (much like last year when he hurt his other knee) was finally on the floor to provide the length, defense and toughness that LA was so sorely lacking in last year's Finals against Boston.  Although Bynum's injury is beneficial to the Celtics as well as every other team in the West, even somebody as morally corrupt and twisted as myself wouldn't wish this on anyone (except maybe A-Rod, a Manning or possibly Kobe).  

Though the task was daunting, I was actually interested to see how the Celtics would try and react to this incarnation of the Lakers, who not only had enough offensive weapons in their arsenal to blow the doors off just about anyone, but could lock you down on defense as well with Bynum patrolling the paint.  After watching the game on Christmas and seeing some of the other signs throughout the year that exposed Boston as behind where they were last year and showed the Lakers as noticeably better, I wasn't sure that the Celtics could handle LA in a seven game series.  But now that the Lakers are essentially back to the rotation (although they have a healthy Trevor Ariza for now) that went belly up last June against the defense of the Celtics, I'm back to only being scared shitless of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are now 23-0 at home this year (yikes!).

To make matters worse, there isn't another Pau Gasol out there for Mitch Kupchack to hijack this year, so the Lakers will have to make do with what they have (not that this will be a problem for them).  Although the Lakers still have plenty of depth on their roster, they are starting to look a little bit thin up front, especially without Ronny Turiaf to bring energy and size off the bench.  For most of the year, LA was playing either Gasol or Bynum at all times to give them a constant post presence with both units, however without Bynum some minutes will have to go to the likes of Chris Mihm or DJ Mbenga, who have played 75 minutes combined this year and have contributed only 27 points (all of them scored by Mihm).  And when you consider the PTSD flashbacks Mihm must have every time he has to play against the Celtics, the outlook for LA is especially grim.  

But hey, if you look on the bright side for LA, they should be well acclimated to playing without Bynum already and now there are just that many more shots for Kobe to take.  And Kobe does seem to want to atone for his unfortunate part in Bynum's injury, judging by his 61-point outburst against the Knicks (and Mike D'Antoni's New York Knicks aren't just anyone, you know...).  Mamba seems determined to carry the Lakers during this difficult period with his scoring or go out shooting.  As a matter of fact, this is just what the Lakers needed: for Kobe to go back into the mode where he shoots 30+ times per game and carry the totality of the load himself.  It's not like his sacrifice and focus on playing team basketball was what enabled the Lakers to become such a deadly team in the first place, right?  

I mean, so what if there's no shot-blocking, intimidation, rebounding or interior toughness on the Lakers anymore?  It's not like that was what was missing during the Finals last year.  As somebody who owns the Collector's Edition DVD set, I can honestly say that the Lakers didn't suffer from Bynum's absence (trying to keep typing with a straight face).  I hope that everyone in LA recorded the Christmas game on TiVo, because I imagine that's the last time you'll se the Lakers physically dominate the Celtics this year (sad trombone).  

Next time: Jameer Nelson's shoulder!