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Tag Archive - Kevin Garnett

SHOT FICTION: Ray Allen’s Last Shot?

July 29, 2011 in by with 8 Comments

We’re a little worried about this lockout. We want basketball. But in case we don’t get basketball, we’re going to give ourselves a season.

The following is a work of fiction and no one was harmed in the writing of this story. These works will be based on how we think the 2011-12 season would play out if the lockout ended and the NBA is able to play all 82 games. Every other week, we will have a fictional work until the lockout is over. This is the first. The heart believes it will be a singular work and the NBA will be back in business soon. The head, sadly, realizes that it may not be the case.

BOSTON, June 1, 2012 — Ray Allen sat at his locker with a thin towel draped over his shoulders and another wrapped tight around his still-slim waist, a waist that hasn’t gained an inch over Allen’s professional career. His feet were in Jordan brand sandals, his toes separated by pieces of foam cut to fit. Allen said he learned the trick early in his career from a vet on his first team, the Milwaukee Bucks. The foam prevented the toes from sliding and smashing into the toecap and helped minimize bruising and torn toenails. Combine that with regular pedicures the he received to prevent ingrown toenails and Allen’s feet — the base from which he made an all-time NBA record of 2,703 three-pointers — looked as if they could carry him for another 16 seasons.

The scoresheet from the Celtics’ epic 99-98 Game 7 overtime loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals lay between Allen’s pristine feet. The rest of him looked spent. He had just played 51 of the game’s 53 minutes. If he saw his line, it read like this:

M: 51; FG: 13; FGA 19; 3P: 7; 3PA: 11 FT: 6; FTA: 6 REB: 3; AST: 3; BLK: 0; STL: 1; TO: 3; PTS: 39

The 39 points were the most he scored all season, regular or post. The 51 minutes were easily the most. Allen, a free agent, had no reason to hang his head in what had been his best game of this unusual season.

Yet there it hung and his shoulders sagged. Allen’s elbows rested on his knees and his fingers dangled like branches from a weeping willow. The Celtics locker room was quiet and reporters, who had just been informed that Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce would be the only Celtics to go to the podium, milled about waiting for that precious eye contact from a player, a signal that he was ready to open up or spout cliches.

Most of the reporters had turned away from Allen. They knew that he never spoke to them just after the locker room opened. In fact, it was rare to see Allen there at that time at all. By the time reporters entered after the cooling off period, Allen was gone to treatment, then the showers. If the local scribes did catch a glimpse of him, it was fleeting, like an apparition. When Allen did emerge from the players’ sanctuary, he strode to his locker in a bespoke suit, put a couple things down, usually the book he was reading and a DVD of the Celtics’ next opponent, and then turned around to face the media.

But in the silence that suffocates a space after a devastating defeat, there was what sounded like a sharp sob coming from the direction of Allen’s locker. Then another. Any murmuring between reporters ceased and their heads turned in Allen’s direction. Allen’s shoulders heaved once, then again. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his right hand and made a small circular motion. There was another sharp sound. The seasoned Boston scribes stood in stunned silence. None of them had ever seen this.

If Allen were upset, it would be understandable. It was the worst season of his 16 year, soon-to-be Hall of Fame career. He missed 41 games after the Pacers’ Danny Granger tripped trailing Allen on a screen and rolled into Allen’s right knee in a game on Jan. 6. Allen feverishly worked his way back from arthroscopic surgery. He was ready to return at the end of February, but suffered a setback as doctors had to go back in for a second surgery.

When Allen finally returned against Utah in late March, he came off the bench for the first time in his career. He couldn’t get his timing and his sturdy legs, which propelled him around picks and provided the springboard for the smoothest jumper in NBA history, were now shaky. So was Allen’s confidence.

“I’m working hard to get my rhythm back,” Allen told the Boston Globe in April. “My knee isn’t responding as I hoped it would. Your legs are so important to your shot.”

Throughout his career, Allen’s work ethic had been well chronicled, almost fetishized by the media. They noted how he arrived at the arena at the same time, ate at the same time and went through his pregame routine at the same time every game day. As a military brat, Allen knew routine as discipline and discipline as order. If there was order in his life, Allen knew success, built on a solid foundation of meticulous work, would follow. It did. He won a Big East tournament title at UConn, won a gold medal with Team USA in the 2000 Sydney games, made 10 All-Star appearances for three different franchises and played Jesus in a Spike Lee movie.

Then there was the crowning achievement in his career, the NBA title he helped the Celtics win in 2008. He had come close to the Finals with the Bucks in 2001 and nowhere near them with the Sonics. An alpha dog in Seattle, Allen subjugated his game to blend in with Pierce and Garnett. The result: the C’s 17th NBA title.

But as Allen struggled in his comeback, Yahoo! reported a Celtics source as saying they weren’t going to re-sign Allen, who wanted a two-year extension with the same player option he had when he re-signed for two seasons in 2010. The source noted Allen would be nearly 39 when the extension ended and that it would be in the C’s best interest to seek a younger option at two guard. Combined with the physical ailments, Allen’s world, which he had so diligently worked to put in order, was now out of whack. For the first time in his career, Allen was coming off the bench, a move Celtics coach Doc Rivers said was necessary to limit the guard’s minutes. Allen averaged 12.6 points per game and shot .332 from three-point range, both career lows for a shooter, who, if his jumper could sing, it would sound like Marvin Gaye.

Allen and that melodious jumper re-emerged in the postseason. He averaged 19.4 points in the first round against the franchise for whom he first played, the Bucks. Against Orlando in the second round, he shot a scintillating .435 from three-point range. In the East finals, Allen averaged 24.3 for the first six games running Dwyane Wade, who missed 26 games this year with shoulder problems, through a series of screens designed to bang Wade around.

Then came Game 7 and that overtime and those 39 points, the final three of which gave the C’s an 98-96 lead with 3.4 seconds left in OT. Allen was back. The Celtics were on the precipice of their third Finals appearance in five seasons before Mario Chalmers, the Heat’s fourth option, found himself open for a short-corner three right in front of the C’s bench. Swish.

And now, Allen sat at his locker after what was more than likely his last game as a Boston Celtic and he was … crying? Allen let go of his nose, stood and reached for something in his locker, his back to the reporters. When he turned to head to the showers, Allen instantly noted the sympathetic looks on the reporters’ faces and frowned.

“Hiccups,” Allen said in his flat baritone, his eyes dry and jaw set. “Pinch your nose, hold your breath, close your eyes tight and count to 20. Works every time.”

Now, some reporters looked incredulous.

“You all thought I was crying?” Allen said, neither his expression nor his tone changing. “You know me better than that.”

They did. They knew he’d be back in about 15 minutes, freshly showered, freshly dressed, prepared to answer questions for however long it took to ask them. The reporters would pepper him about the game (“Hell of a game. I thought we had it, we just got caught looking at LeBron and Wade.”), quiz him about his knee (“It’s a little sore, but I’m 37. Everything is sore.”) and query him about his future (“I’d love to be here. Celtics green is the best green I’ve worn in my career. It’s where I won a title. It’s important.”)

With that, Allen paused and pinched his fingers to his nose again. A reporter tried levity.

“Hiccups?”

Allen smirked.

“You could say that,” Allen said. “This whole season has been one.”

He looked over the reporters as if to say, “anything else.” One reporter stepped forward to say good luck and thanks. Allen and the man exchanged pleasantries. Allen then grabbed his book — “Collapse” by Jared Diamond — and his coat. He started to walk out of the locker room with the confidence some mistook for arrogance.

“Yep,” Allen said to no one in particular, “a hiccup. Can’t go out like that.”

With that, Ray Allen, turned, smiled and was gone.

No Championship for Old Men

May 12, 2011 in by with 8 Comments

Power — intoxicating and addictive — is never easily ceded. Not by nations and rarely by champions. It has to be taken. In sports, it’s often taken from the aging or the infirm. In the case of the Boston Celtics, it was both.

If you took one look at the Celtics sideline late on Wednesday night, you would have seen Rajon Rondo and Jermaine O’Neal lying on their aching backs, straining their necks to see the action on the floor. You would have seen Kevin Garnett expending the same amount of energy to do half the things he used to do. Shaquille O’Neal, the future Hall of Famer the Celtics signed to combat the Lakers in The Finals, spent what may be his final NBA game as the largest Big & Tall model in history. And as good as Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are younger and have more talent.

The Celtics wanted to play, but their bodies betrayed them. Their time has ended. The Lakers too. Three days prior to LeBron and the Heat ending the Celtics’ successful four-year run in the East, the “new old” Mavs — an oxymoron — swept Phil Jackson and the two-time defending champion Lakers, playing like schoolyard chumps, into next season.

If the Celtics or Lakers had forced their series to seven games, we may be able to believe Doc Rivers’ claim that his Celtics team “isn’t done” or Kobe Bryant’s claim that the Lakers will be back as a legit championship force in 2011-12.

But the Heat and the Mavs channeled their inner Anton Chigurh and used their captive bolt pistols to blow a big hole through any notion that the Celtics and the Lakers can remain at a championship level beyond this season. It’s not necessarily age itself, but the changes that come with it. They are like Tommy Lee Jones’ sheriff, who chases the light in his dreams but eventually wakes up before he can catch up to it. Those days are history. Things are different now.

If the Lakers couldn’t set aside their trust issues during the postseason, what makes anyone think that they’ll grow fonder of each other over an 82-game regular season? If the Lakers couldn’t get Phil his fourth three-peat, who thinks they’ll be able to band together for a new coach? Do you think the Celtics’ core will somehow grow any younger over the summer? As much as I like to believe Rivers, one of my favorite basketball people of all time, will return to Boston because he’s “a Celtic,” there have been rumblings for some time about him wanting to take a break. Changes should be coming to both teams.

But based on the history of those two franchises, you’d be inclined to believe they will bounce back. Between them they have 33 NBA championships and 52 combined Finals appearances. Based on what we saw of the two teams, it’s hard to believe that they will be able to dominate foes as they have the past four seasons. The NBA has too much talent on too many different teams. Not only that, that talent is in or close to reaching its prime.

For only the fifth time when both teams have made the postseason in the same year, neither the Lakers nor the Celtics made their respective conference finals series. By not having these specific Celtics or Lakers teams to cheer or jeer in a conference finals is slams shut the door on the post-Michael Jordan era of the NBA.

This will be the first Finals without Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant or Tim Duncan since 1998. It’s as clear a demarcation point in NBA history as the introduction of the shot clock in 1954 or Bill Russell retiring in 1969 or when Jordan and a hungry Bulls team destroyed an aging Lakers team in 1991.

Consider, too, the men who led them. It will be the first time since 1995 Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich and Pat Riley won’t roam the sidelines during The Finals. Though, that stat deserves an asterisk considering Riley is the brains behind this current iteration of the Heat. He has the hardware to prove it.

Riley built the Heat in the Celtics’ image using the lure of a homegrown star to attract other stars. LeBron said as much before and after Game 5. Beating the Celtics was the reason he burned every bridge in Cleveland. For LBJ, getting past the Celtics was like MJ finally getting past the Pistons in ’91.

For LeBron, who at times has a loathsome lack of self-awareness, sounded contrite and humble after the Heat’s win. Whether his overall attitude has changed for the better remains to be seen. But one thing we know: the NBA will never be the same. It’s up to the new power generation to shape it to their liking.

Too Much Too Soon

May 1, 2011 in by with 2 Comments

Originally, I had planned to break down the Celtics-Heat series, but time, life and people conspired against me. That, and The HP Progenitor did it, then slammed down the mic and strutted away.

Thanks to the mic being broke, anything I would attempt to say in advance of the Heat-Celtics series to would need to be shouted. Not only would that make me look like a lunatic preacher in a subway station, but it would also be redundant, which is worse than being loud.

Instead of position-by-position breakdowns (we know that Rajon Rondo is the key to the series, that Kevin Garnett may break into Chris Bosh’s head and steal whatever confidence Bosh has), let’s just say this series — for the reasons M-Squared mentioned: there is difference between arrogance as a symptom of hubris (the Heat) versus arrogance as a result of accomplishment (the Celtics) — remains the most compelling of all the conference semifinal series.

You have the defending Eastern Conference champs against the prospective heirs to that throne. You have LeBron James trying to live down the demons of last year’s dismal, desultory and deluded performance in Game 5 against the same Celtics in the conference semis last season. You have a team with a superior point guard and one without a halfway decent one. It has a plethora of personalities, plot lines and plenty of potential.

But can it truly be considered great series even if it is a great series?

Granted, I’m projecting. This could be a horrible series where defense reins and offense deigns. We could have a devastating injury or it could just be as dull as a mid-winter’s day. History, however, and the players tell us that it’s go time and that this series is what we and they have all been waiting for.

Yet we didn’t have to wait. This is the conference semifinals, not the ultimate series (The Finals) or even the penultimate series (the conference finals). This is all happening too soon.

That was the knock on the series between the Celtics and Bulls in ’09. Yes, it went to seven games, featured seven total overtimes and had more mind-blowing performances in one series than the last decade of college basketball. But there was always the qualifier: first round.

It may be the greatest first-round series ever, but … so what? It was just the first round.

To be truly great, to be epic — to be revered over time — these games must happen at the end of the journey toward a title, or at least very close to it. The series must have meaning above merely advancing to the next round. Even if it goes seven games and every game goes to double OT, this Celtics-Heat series will be played in historical limbo.

For both teams, there is far more to lose than there is to win.

Because what has it accomplished other than one team moving forward with still two more series left to conquer? What, ultimately, does it settle between them?

The Celtics have been to the conference finals two of the last three seasons and have advanced to The Finals both times. How big of a failure is their season if they can’t make it to the conference finals?

Not as large as Miami’s. After “The Decision” and after “The Party” with Dwyane Wade and Bosh, if the Heat can’t make it out of the NBA’s second round, one would need to consider the wisdom of spending the time, effort and money to build a “super team” but have no supporting cast. The Heat’s grand experiment, at least in the first season, would be a faceplant of epic proportions. Twitter may break in its attempt register all the joy that would be expressed at the expense of Miami’s sadness.

Despite all of the above — maybe because of it — this is the conference series in which you should clear time and space for because it has the greatest potential for incredible drama.

It’s just a damn shame that one of the NBA’s principal postseason protagonists will have to die so early in the film.

NBA Finals Lakers-Celtics Game 7: Hey, Look! It’s ANOTHER Game 7 Primer!

June 17, 2010 in by with 4 Comments

Holy crap!

It’s Game Seven. GAME FREAKING SEVEN! This is what it’s all about. Instead of trying to find some clever way to tell you how big this game is even though you already know and you’ve already read about 20 Game Seven previews that try to wax poetically about the final game of the year, I’m just going to do what I do best – babble on until I run out of things to say:

Apparently, Perkins Can’t Play On Crutches
So Kendrick Perkins is out. The bum decided two torn ligaments in his knee were too much. Just kidding. This is a bummer for me and hopefully for everybody. I’ve been a huge fan of Perk over the last three years. He’s so good defensively and I don’t think a ton of people realize it. Pretty much every blogger knows it and a lot of the people that read those blogs know it too. But the casual fan has no clue how good Kendrick is defensively. All they see is the angry scowl and the fact that he doesn’t have an upper lip and they just assume he’s an overgrown toddler. One more game probably wasn’t going to change public opinion or public awareness of the impact Kendrick Perkins has but I still wanted to see him and both teams at full strength heading into the final game of the 2009-2010 campaign.

I know Bynum is hurt but he’s able to play hurt. Perk is hugely injured. There’s a huge difference. I just hope that the Celtics don’t use that as an excuse if they lose to the Lakers tonight. They most likely won’t but at the same time, the absence of Bynum is banged on about when talking about the 2008 NBA Finals. These teams are good enough to win without their center.

The Celtics Are Going To Be Fine Without Him
Even though KP is out for probably the next year, the Celtics aren’t toast or even an English muffin. Yes, it sucks that he’s out but the Celtics can easily survive this fact. The key is going to be the first quarter of this game. KG and Rasheed will have to play their butts off and stay out of foul trouble in the first 12 minutes of the ball game. Once the Lakers send Andrew Bynum to the bench, the Celtics have evened up the advantage that the Lakers size gives for the rest of the game. When Bynum goes to the bench, his knee will swell up like the Fourth of July (just go with it). When that happens, the Lakers will have inserted Lamar Odom into the lineup and that’s when Big Baby can check into the game and play a human version of Plinko as he slams into every peg on the floor.

I’m not saying this is easy by any means. Andrew Bynum will be able to dominate in the first quarter if the Lakers look for him. This Celtics team with Perkins can handle Bynum. This Celtics team without Perk cannot. But once he sits for the first time in this game, the knee expands and the pain decides to pull up a chair and there’s nothing anybody can do about it. So if you’re the Celtics, just endure through Bynum’s first stint.

Hitting The Boards Wins The Game
So far in this series, if you want to win any given game then you have to win the rebounding battle. The winning team in each game has won the rebounding edge. Without the healthiness of Andrew Bynum or the existence of Kendrick Perkins, that leaves the majority of the rebounding to Glen Davis and Lamar Odom. I think that whoever has this assignment is going to have to put a body on these guys constantly. Kendrick Perkins said that Big Baby needed “11 rebounds” in this game. I’d say the same for Lamar. For some reason, they have a really easy time of getting to the basket for rebounds. They just have to choose to be aggressive in doing so. Win the rebounding, save the cheerleader, win the championship.

Regardless Of What Happens, You Can’t Blame Ron Artest
There is going to be a certain backlash at the Ron Artest signing if the Lakers lose the NBA Finals. People are going to pretend that Trevor Ariza would have made a huge difference in this series or any other series. It’s all crap. You can’t blame a loss on one player in this series. Is Ron Artest a good shooter? No. Trevor Ariza is probably a better overall shooter in terms of sheer ability. Although, I think the difference is damn near negligible.

However, Trevor Ariza wasn’t a great shooter during his time in Los Angeles. He had a good stretch of shooting when the games were most important but for the most part, he was just an okay shooter. He’s also a different type of defender than what Ron Artest brings to the table. Paul Pierce would have had to get a little more lift on his jumper but he could have created the necessary space to shoot jumpers much easier against Ariza. Artest may have struggled guarding Pierce over the past couple of games but most defenders do (even the elite ones). Ron came in and did his job this year. He hasn’t really been THAT bad on offense during the season or post-season. Sure he’s had his moments but it’s not like he’s been atrocious every time out.

I Thought This Would Be A Good Time To Drop This In (via SB Trey)

Pau Gasol Isn’t Soft
Stop saying Pau Gasol is soft. He’s not. Was he soft two years ago against the Celtics? Maybe. I don’t know for sure because I’m not quite sure what it truly means to be soft. Does him being European make him soft or does it just make him European? Was he soft in the 2009 Finals when he was shutting down Dwight Howard? Didn’t seem like it to me. Just because he’s having a hit-or-miss Finals against the Celtics doesn’t mean he’s not tough enough to be good. He’s proven he can come through in big games. It’s just hard to score against Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace. It doesn’t mean he’s soft; it means he’s human.

EVERYBODY Flops
Lakers fans and Celtcs fans need to come to some sort of resolution on the idea of complaining about flopping. Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher flop an inordinate amount on the court. Paul Pierce flops more than a school of fish that have decided to hoof it on dry land in the Gulf Coast because the water makes them feel like they’re in some sort of Fear Factor challenge. In fact, MOST PLAYERS IN THE NBA FLOP! You guys have go to stop complaining and pretending like the other side is the only side that flops.

Let’s Not Be Stupid And Blame The Refs
Conspiracy theories are just stupid. I get that they’re fun to volley back and forth with the casual fan. But for the most part, they’re just stupid. With that said, I think the officiating has been pretty good. I’ll happily admit that the refs were all over the place in the first three games. Game One was weird. Game Two was called way too tightly and in Game Three was a lot looser than anybody was prepared for. But Game Four and Game 5 (outside of the questionable fourth quarter) were actually officiated quite well. Game Six was good too even if the in-game competition wasn’t exactly legendary.

You can’t say that there was a conspiracy to get this series to a Game Seven because Game Six couldn’t really have been less competitive. You can’t say that the league put these two teams in the Finals because it would get the ratings because 1) Cavs-Lakers would have been much bigger ratings (easier to pull in the casual fan) and 2) how big could the conspiracy be if the result is a series that couldn’t even get better ratings than the USA-England World Cup match? These two teams are in the Finals because they’re the two best teams. And they’re going to a seventh game because they’re the two best teams and a fairly even matchup across the board. Embrace and enjoy.

Kobe’s Legacy Will Be Unaffected
Kobe Bryant is one of the best players to ever play the game of basketball. He’s not THE best player of all time. Jordan was better. But he’s still one of the best. Could probably make the argument that he’s the second best player of all-time. But this game is not going to dramatically raise or drop his place in the lore of the history of the NBA. It’s just not. Let’s say he scores 50 points and points 48, 49 and 50 are on a tough fadeaway three-pointer as time expires to win the game and the NBA title. Does that make him better than he already was/is? What if he misses that shot and just has to live with 47 points, an NBA Finals loss and a missed chance to make a historical moment? What if the Celtics decide to completely take him out of the game and force him to pass nearly every time down the floor? How does this change the legacy of a guy who has won MVP awards and four NBA titles?

I just find it hard to believe that the 48 minutes played tonight has a huge impact on a guy that has already logged over 40,000 minutes in the NBA and been as accomplished as Kobe is. The Jordan argument is moot but the Magic Johnson argument is very alive. I get that. But couldn’t you make a really strong case that Kobe is already the greatest Laker of all-time? If he wins tonight with a spectacular showing, couldn’t you still make a really convincing argument that Magic Johnson is still the greatest Laker of all-time? I just think at this point Kobe’s legacy is cemented and we’re just trying to iron out the final details over the next couple years.

Paul Pierce’s Legacy Will Be Affected
Now this may sound a little hypocritical but Paul Pierce’s legacy IS affected by the outcome of tonight’s game. Yes, Pierce has already accomplished a lot in the NBA and is probably a Hall of Fame player. He’s probably going to get his jersey retired by the Celtics someday too. But winning a second title and being a multiple NBA championship winner makes a huge difference in how you’re remembered. Once you’ve won more than one title, it’s sort of just piling up the wins and accomplishments. But making that leap is huge for how you’re remembered and Pierce knows that.

He wants to be remembered as one of the best Celtics of all-time and rightfully so. He’s had a great career in Beantown. He probably hears the way the older fans talk about Hondo, Cousy, Cowens Russell, Bird, etc. and wants to be mentioned in that group. A second title goes a long way into putting him in that end of the memory bank. Pierce has been sensational over his career. People don’t realize just how good he is. For a five-year stretch, he wasn’t just an incredible offensive talent that made a ton of clutch shots but he was also a pretty savvy defender that held his own with guarding the elite scorers in the NBA. Pierce needs this second title more than Kobe needs his fifth.

THIS IS GAME FLIPPING SEVEN!
Now that you’ve perused nearly 2,000 words up until this point, I’d like you to forget everything you just read. Because ultimately, it shouldn’t impact how you think about this game or watch this game tonight. This is Game Seven of the NBA Finals between the Lakers and the Celtics. This has only happened four times in NBA history up until this moment. Hell, a Game Seven in the NBA Finals has only happened 16 times in NBA history before tonight. This is the type of closure that your ex-girlfriend could only dream of.

So you know what you should do? Just sit back and enjoy the spectacle. Don’t get caught up in complaining about the officiating unless it’s truly horrible. Don’t let your disdain for certain players make you scream at the top of your lungs, wishing a plague upon him and his family. Don’t take this game personally. Just sit back and enjoy it. I’m going to be watching this game with a gigantic smile on my face. This is what we hoped for all season long – a Game Seven of the NBA Finals that causes every player on the floor to give every last ounce of effort they have in their bodies. Think about the game we’re going to see from Kobe Bryant. Think about the game we’re going to see from Rondo, Ray, Pierce and KG. Doesn’t that make you giddy to anticipate the show we’re going to see tonight? Your adrenaline should be pumping all day.

A Game Seven in the NBA Finals hasn’t happened since 2005 and before that it hadn’t happened since 1994. This is a rare thing. This is a treat for good behavior. This is the basketball gods smiling upon us and rewarding us for loving a sport so pure and perfect in its design. This is what we’ve all pretended would happen for us in the driveway while we let our imagination take us to the biggest stage. These guys have done the same thing too. Yes, they’re professional athletes with more money than God. Yes, they live a blessed and ridiculous lifestyle that we could never imagine. But they were once in that driveway or bedroom with the Nerf hoop or park with their friends pretending to play out a moment that will actually come for them tonight. Their dreams coincide with our dreams and come true tonight.

Sit back, relax and enjoy history. I know I will.

NBA Finals Lakers Celtics Game 7: A Legacy Equinox

June 17, 2010 in by with 3 Comments

There’s no more basketball after tonight. Not for five months, anyway. So you’d better enjoy this.

These are the two best teams, according to the metric we use to determine that value (most wins from mid-April through June). So you’d better enjoy this.

This is a Game 7, so you’d better enjoy it.

I’m not simply being a promoter for my favorite sport when I say that NBA Game 7′s are entirely different from the other sports that entertain series. In baseball, there are specific moments that live forever, and certainly memorable pitching performances. A key hit. Things of that nature. And in hockey, there’s certainly the propensity given the scoring nature of the game for moments of unequaled tension and intensity. But basketball more than any other sport holds the potential for individual players to exert their will on a game. It’s where greatness often meets greatness, especially for these two franchises. It’s everything we love about sports. That’s cliche, but then again, so is this series.

Take a look at the list of best Finals performances in a loss from Basketball Reference.  That list is crushing to me, because of so many players that never won a ring, and to have those performances on the biggest stage. One really stuck out to me. Stockton with 16 points on 6 of 10 shooting, 12 assists, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals. In a loss. That set the tone for the rest of the series. I just can’t imagine having gotten to the top, put in that kind of performance, and coming up short. Anyway, take that list and sort it. 5 of the top 25 point totals in a loss in the Finals on that list are from LA-Boston ’08 and LA-Boston ’10.  20% of the top 25 Finals performances that ended up not mattering came between these two teams. Individual greatness isn’t good enough. The whole damn roster has to chip in, AND you have to have quality star performances.

Wishing for a truly great game seems like a risk to me. These playoffs have been dreadful, outside of a handful of moments, and in general have been leading us down a path of fulfillment wrapped in bitterness. We got Lakers Celtics, at the price of a full blown LeBron meltdown and the Suns’ effort and heart being for naught. But there’s always that hope. That last, fleeting hope that this will be one of those games. The kind you remember for the rest of your life. It has to be to make a mark. You see, either way, this championship doesn’t mean much independently. I’m not trying to be a buzzkill, but if you were ask Bill Simmons of his most memorable Celtics championship games, would this one crack the top five? Even more modern-focused Celtic fans would probably list that Game 6 in 2008 as the defining one for them. It’s a product of what happens when you have 32 championships between you. But a special game could overcome all that. If it features both of these teams, at their best, which we really haven’t seen yet, it could become one of those things that’s talked about for years. Where you remember where you were, who you were with, how it felt.

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This isn’t to say that the game has no meaning to its players. Instead, it’s crucial. While #5 for Bryant isn’t as important as #6, #4, or #1 (or really #3), he obviously can’t get to six without it. It’s a separation from Shaq, and stabbing Boston in the throat hold special value as well. The second one puts Gasol in rarefied air, and if he’s going to wind up in the Hall, he’ll need this one and one more. For Odom, it’s going to cement his place in the Laker’s sub-pantheon. One contributing headcase is a footnote, but doing it on multiple championship teams gives him a place in the team’s history. He’ll never be top billing, but he’ll have a place. Phil Jackson blah, blah, blah. Derek Fisher’s an especially relevant component. Five championships, and he may not return next season, depending on how much Phil buys into his ability to stave off the ghosts of time for another year. He’s going to have a very rough next year and a half of his life, with the CBA deal approaching, and this is a moment he should take to cherish, when basketball was all that mattered and he was the starting point guard for a championship team. Crazy Pills? Gets to flip his detractors a middle finger with a ring on it, and redeems himself of all the strikes against him, in his mind. Adam Morrison gets something else he can sell when he’s destitute and living in a refrigerator box in ten years.

For Pierce? He’ll never be in with the 80′s crew. But this puts him in his own level below it. The favorite son, and past the concerns of just being a flash in the pan. Garnett and Allen join the ranks of the multiple winners. A single title gets you in the door and gets you a place among your own time’s peers. A second win puts you into a tier with the all-time great champions. I’m not sure why, I’m just told it does. If the first one is for you, to validate your career to yourself, the second is to validate it to all the greats who flash multiple rings. For Glen Davis? The opportunity of a lifetime. To cement a legacy within the first few years of your career, collect rings, and then ride off into money-soaked sunset, always able to say “I know what it takes to win a championship.” Rondo puts himself on pace for a more-talented Sam Cassell trajectory, with two championships early in his career and nothing but upside. A chance to give back to the guys that helped mentor him into a position to be elite at this level.

Doc Rivers may have the most to gain from this game. If he decides to walk away for his family, this game puts him as the only multiple ring Boston championship coach from outside of Red’s tree. He can walk away as one of the few coaches with multiple rings, having gone from one of the worst-regarded coaches in the league (2007) to one of the best.

Legacies have a steeper climb since the 80′s. That’s the mark you’re set at. Kobe’s got it worse, having to climb not only the 80′s Showtime crew, but Mount Jordan as well. It’s started to strike me as absurd, how often we use “He’s no Jordan!” as some kind of detractor. The man’s on the verge of winning his fifth championship ring within a decade, with Ron Artest and Derek Fisher as two of his starters.

If legacies have become liquid, never cementing until they reach their hottest temperature, then nothing solidifies tonight. But it’s a vital part of the story for all careers involved, and with no tomorrow, literally, in the 2009-2010 NBA Season, you have to believe anything can happen.
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LA is winning this game. I got out of my car this morning and realized it. I tend to have either no sense whatsoever about an important game, or a very strong one. Which isn’t to say these feelings are at all accurate. I’m usually more accurate when I have a strong emotional reaction to the game. I woke up in January of 2004 and knew, absolutely, in my heart of hearts, that the Chiefs, despite their best season in over a decade, were going to lose to the Colts. It was arguably the most important game of my life after the age of 12 and I knew, 100%, we would lose. It wasn’t brought on by masochism or negativity, I was just sure of it. I knew the Suns were going to lose Game 6 versus San Antonio in 2007. That said, I don’t really care about this game. A self-aggrandizing, self-entitled, pampered franchise will win tonight, and a self-aggrandizing, self-entitled, pampered franchise will lose tonight. As I said, it’s another in a long line of titles. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great theater, and I’ve really enjoyed these Finals. While we haven’t seen both teams at their best in a game so far, we have seen some entertaining basketball.  It’s best for the sport, best for the league, best for the fans when these two franchises meet and it goes seven. I’m merely saying that while I feel very strongly LA will win, I don’t have any emotional attachment to that prediction.

But LA is winning. Perkins’ injury is one of those things that pierces the chest plate and gets to the ventricles. Davis is a terrific bench player but probably not adept at stopping the starting line. Pierce has been terrific, but if the Lakers’ help defense has its head out of its ass, you can cut off the places Pierce wants to go and he’ll force it. Ron Artest will probably hit a few big shots and disappoint in terms of being the wacky true self he’s been for three games in this series.

I told a colleague the other day that basketball, for all its complexity and motion, all its strategy and reactions, is still largely vulnerable to the simple physical attributes of its players. The Lakers are tall. And that’s why they’ll win. I can give you talk about their transition defense, or their inside-out work, about how the overload defense won’t allow for cross-court passes to Allen or Sheed, about Kobe’s drive-and-post work, or Odom’s righty move against Davis forcing him left. But at the end of it? The Lakers are tall. And tall guys win at basketball.

Analysis.

Enjoy Game 7, everyone.

NBA Finals Lakers Celtics Game 5: “THE LAKERS DEFENSIVE IMPLOSION SHOW! STARRING LAMAR ODOM!”

June 15, 2010 in by with 4 Comments

When you give up a 109 defensive efficiency mark, several things have gone wrong in your team’s life. You presumably made the Finals by being good at defense, and certainly, that’s how the Lakers did it. In fact, despite how brilliant their offense can be when it’s moving and clicking and working and not just watching Kobe pull up and launch from 25 feet, the Lakers’ defense has been responsible for their top seed in the West and their romp through the Western Conference Finals.  And yet in Game 5, they suffered lapse after lapse. Some of it was little things, like the spacing you give Paul Pierce to avoid him getting baseline. Others were medium size things like positioning in transition and running off shooters. And then there were the massive, catastrophic failures that occurred as the game went on, like the one we’re going to look at today.

With 7:47 left in the fourth and the Celtics leading by 8, they set up in the halfcourt.  Fisher is already in “leghump” mode. Bynum is shadowing KG as the Celtics prepare to run the pick and roll.

Not two seconds later, things start to go badly.

All season the Lakers have done a great job of always maintaining presence down low. They have the length and athleticism to extend all the way out to the perimeter, but they are very rarely caught with their pants down. But by this point in the game, the Celtics have been peeling off mid-range jumper after mid-range jumper.  This problem is exacerbated by how far out KG sets the pick, all the way out at about 30 feet.  But as Pierce makes his move, Andrew Bynum, again playing on a bum leg, stays with him. The problem is that Lamar Odom is now the sole defender of the basket, and he’s a half-step from the free throw lane by that point, and Sheed’s doing nothing to settle him back, instead drifting further and further out. The reason is not to set up for an ill timed three, but to free up Allen and take advantage of the Lakers’ biggest defensive personnel weakness: Derek Fisher.

Pierce heads for just inside the top of the key, and is going to have his pick of options. He can drive, pull-up (which is obviously what he wants), or kick it back out.  Odom smartly comes to help out Bynum so that Pierce can’t get around him to the right side of the basket, cutting off his penetration angle and forcing him to hesitate which allows Bynum to close on him. Meanwhile, Sheed screens the living daylights out of Fisher, and Allen peels off. There is no one within a zipcode of the right underside of the basket, with Kobe locked up top  guarding Robinson and Artest recovering from KG’s screen at the perimeter. As all this is happening Odom now has three responsibilities. He’s got to help Fisher who is basically like Mario in the sandpits of Super Mario World 64. He has to keep an eye on Sheed for the kick out spot-up three, and he’s got to deter Pierce from driving. Any time you create a situation where Lamar Odom has to manage three mental operations at once, you may have set yourself up for disaster.

Pierce decides to test his chances and opts to pull-up for a jumper just inside the halo. Bynum uses the go-go gadget arms to contest, which is going to force Pierce to kick it back out when he realizes he is no longer 25 and his vertical now puts him squarely in the shadow of Bynum’s arm. Meanwhile, Allen has peeled off of Fisher, who is still struggling to get around Sheed as Sheed has him locked up completely. Lamar Odom? I have no idea what he’s doing. None. No clue.  I like to think he’s guarding Space Ghost, who is taunting him.

As Pierce kicks it back out, Ray’s eyes go wide as he sees what’s happening, and moves to swoop underneath.

Robinson peels off from the corner using KG as a mild screen and gets Pierce’s bailout. Bynum is all the way above the free throw line after contesting, Kobe’s trying to cover with Ron on KG to prevent the pick and pop. Fisher has FINALLY cleared the screen and now sees what’s about to happen. Here’s where the real disaster comes into play. Either Odom should know that Allen coming low is his responsibility, or Fisher is failing to alert Odom to that fact. Either way, a “heads up, Ray’s coming” from Fisher probably would have been useful. As it is, Odom never turns his head in either direction to even acknowledge the presence of Allen. Rasheed Wallace is done for this play. Because Kobe’s having to help Artest with KG, and Odom is apparently caught between trying to decide whether he should stay low or go chase Wallace to prevent the three, a passing lane opens up right from Robinson down to the left side of the basket.

This is the moment where there is still hope. It is fleeting, and it is cruel. The clock’s winding down, Kobe has recovered on Nate, Bynum is still covering Pierce, and Artest has KG handled. The bad news? Look where Odom and Fisher are. Fisher, instead of sprinting to recover on Ray, has held up, apparently trying to prevent Sheed’s three. Which is exactly what Odom’s doing as well. Odom actually moves laterally left, away from the basket and where Ray is headed, and now the two are close enough to fist bump one another. Which means that all alone, under the basket, in a pivotal Game 5 of the NBA Finals, the 9 time NBA All-Star, NBA champion shooting guard is just hanging out. Robinson dukes the pass over Kobe’s head, and Allen gets an easy two.

And the aftermath is really the best part.

Kobe just watches in total disgust. Odom actually tries to get back in time, and nearly fouls Allen. Ron Artest looks like my dog after a dog barks on the television, alert, but confused. Fisher is about to have the “Which one of us screwed up, oh, wait, I’m the crafty veteran, it’s your fault” conversation. And my personal favorite? Andrew Bynum literally does the Jake Delhomme Horsefeathers reaction.

And that’s how a defense implodes. It was a series of unfortunate events, but it does highlight several of the things that went wrong for the Lakers’ defense in Game 5.

NBA Finals: Kevin Garnett Redemption, Part 2

June 14, 2010 in by with 5 Comments

The jokes all are out there.

Whenever Kevin Garnett jumps up to grab a rebound or dunks a basketball or soars as only a 45,000-minute, 34-year old power forward can, you’re bound to hear jokes about the knee. And it’s somewhat understandable. He missed the most important stretches of last season, including all of the playoffs, and then slowly worked his way back from the injury. It would be more understandable or accepted if we actually knew what the injury was too.

At the time, it seemed to be more of a mystery than the continuum transfunctioner, in that its mystery was only exceeded by the impact it had on the team. People were making up ligaments that nobody has ever heard of and said they were torn. People seemed to think that he had a break in his kneecap or a family of birds nesting inside it and their feedings were causing the discomfort. Whatever the problem was, it stopped them from being able to defend their title.

Now, as the playoffs have begun and we’ve narrowed it down to the final two games (one if necessary) left on the NBA’s schedule, we see that Kevin Garnett’s impact is far greater than we ever assumed. When he was ripped from the hands of T’Wolves fans and shown the greener grass on the other side, everyone kind of assumed this was a championship team. Ray Allen had just been added, Paul Pierce was still a very good player and they were adding the Eddie House-James Posey veteran combo to round out the bench.

But KG was the driving force behind it all. Tom Thibodeau dispersed his defensive schemes for Kevin Garnett to orchestrate. Garnett played the defensive end of the court as good as any middle linebacker or safety had ever done in the NFL. He called out screens, adjustments, and helped on just about everything. The result was one of the best team defensive efforts we’ve seen in a long time and an NBA championship that had eluded so many players on the roster.

Fast forward two years later and the Celtics are still relying on him to be the leader in more ways than people assume he’s capable of doing. Yes, Rajon Rondo has been the best player on the Celtics this season. Yes, Ray Allen’s shooting is probably the biggest threat to opposing defenses at any given time and Paul Pierce still tends to be the most reliable scorer Boston has. However, Kevin Garnett is still the straw that stirs the championship drink.

This is a time of redemption for Kevin Garnett. For years he had the unfair label of being a guy that didn’t want the ball in big moments, which wasn’t all that true. He passed out of double and triple teams in big moments and unfortunately let his fate rest in the hands of Wally Szczerbiak, Troy Hudson and Stephon Marbury’s atrocious series against the Sonics in 1998. He took plenty of shots that went in and plenty of shots that missed horribly. He tried to drag a horrendous franchise with a subpar roster through playoff series against much better teams and failed. It wasn’t until his peak as an NBA player in the 2003-2004 season (when he finally had some veteran help with Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell) that he broke through.

But each time he seemed to get to the next level, success escaped him. Whenever he seemed to be ready for greatness, something was holding him back. It seems short-sided to call a guy a failure when he put up career playoff numbers in Minnesota that read 22.3 points, 13.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.3 steals per game with 45.8% shooting from the field. His biggest problem was that he was never quite Tim Duncan (but who is?) and he had a horrible supporting cast.

Now with Boston, he’s been saddled with the image of being an a-hole that starts skirmishes he has no intention of finishing. He’s a trash-talker out of control. He’s a washed-up, broken-down old guy that can’t hang with the better big men in today’s game. Maybe a lot of those criticisms hold some water but the last one is still completely false.

Kevin Garnett is still a force to be reckoned with. He’s not the walking historical benchmark of 20-10-5 that he used to be but he still matters. The knee for the most part is fine. It took him quite a while to recover over the past year and a half but he still has more than enough agility to get an alley-oop or two per game and to challenge shots inside. Most importantly though, Kevin Garnett has his lateral movement back and that’s why he’s been so effective in these playoffs.

First, let’s take a look at the numbers from the 2008, 2009 and 2010 playoffs for the Boston Celtics and their opponents:

Playoffs Pace Points Reb (Off) TO% FG% 3P% DRtg
BOS ‘08 85.9 94.0 40.0 (11.1) 12.9% 44.7% 35.9% 103.3
OPP ‘08 – 88.8 36.3 (9.8) 14.4% 42.6% 32.9% 109.4
BOS ‘09 91.4 102.1 43.2 (10.9) 12.5% 44.5% 36.0% 106.3
OPP ‘09 – 102.1 41.6 (9.2) 13.3% 44.6% 36.0% 106.3
BOS ‘10 89.6 95.8 39.1 (8.8) 13.7% 46.1% 37.2% 101.8
OPP ‘10 – 91.6 38.5 (9.6) 15.5% 43.8% 32.1% 106.4

With the presence of Garnett, the Celtics are simply a better defensive team. I realize I didn’t just re-slice bread for the first time with that statement. However, you can see just how big of a difference KG makes by being in the lineup and playing defensive quarterback.

The biggest way in which KG makes the Celtics a better defensive team is that he can still defend the pick-and-roll better than just about anybody. It’s not just the fact that he hedges the picks well. It’s not the fact that he’s proving the health of his knee by recovering well to the player rolling to the basket or popping to the elbow. He also plays incredible help defense away from pick-and-rolls. With the way he’s covering ground right now, the Celtics are able to recover quickly on shooters and challenge a lot of jumpers.

KG learned a long time ago how to play illegal defense without getting caught when he was in the barely legal defensive schemes of Flip Saunders. It’s something he wasn’t very good at earlier in the season when he was still trying to get back into game shape. With the knee injury, his lateral movement was stagnant and his mobility made him look like he needed a Hover Round on defensive rotations. Now, he’s back to covering ground.

Maybe he’s not able to fly through the air anymore and he has to conserve his explosions from the hardwood to the sky. But if he’s still able to cut off players going to the basket, bark out orders at his teammates and make the occasional key basket (all of Game Three, key free throws in Game Four, fourth quarter jumper in Game Five that ignited 6-0 run to push lead back to double digits) then he’s once again bucked the criticism of his career.

Kevin Garnett is never going to be the best power forward of all-time. But he’s got this redemption thing down pat. He wasn’t a winner and he’s now on the verge of winning his second title in three years as a big-time contributor and leader. He wasn’t going to be healthy enough to contribute to a team that had no chance at a title and now he’s 48 minutes away from leading this team defensively once again.

Once again, the joke is on the critics – not KG.

NBA Finals Lakers Celtics Game 5: You Have Run Out Of Extra Lives, Laker Cat

June 14, 2010 in by with 2 Comments

The most bizarre thing about Game 5? In a game filled with more Ron Artest aimless dribbling, with every conceivable sequence alive, including this one?

The most bizarre thing is that it took this long for this result to occur. It took us until Game 5 to have the Celtics Big 3 vs. the Kobe show.  And the result is something we should have seen coming, because if Bryant’s going that route, with this team, it means something’s gone wrong. This team should not have to rely on Bryant scoring 35+. They should rely on Bryant scoring 25+, adding 7+ assists, getting rebounds, and working in the flow of the offense. Hell, go ahead and take 25+ attempts, but do it in the flow of the offense with everyone running and working, not with you getting the ball at the key, making a move and then pulling up.  The offense needs rhythm.

As Dwyer said in an especially good Behind the Boxscore:

After a Gasol fumble started the third quarter off on the wrong foot, Bryant more or less started going one-on-one, and the result was an astonishing 19-point display in the quarter. Nailing tough jumper after tough jumper, Bryant clearly had the touch going, but at what price?

Because the Lakers, before long, had absolutely no rhythm. The team’s entire offense had dwindled down to watching one man toss in impossible 19-footers, and little else. No Celtic was bothering to trap the screen and roll too hard, because Bryant wasn’t even looking for his screener for a pass. And when Bryant eventually tailed off (he shot 2-6 in the fourth quarter), the Lakers’ offense was dead in the water, because he and his team had built no rhythm.

Bear in mind that the Laker offense, more than any offense in the NBA, relies on rhythm and quick decision and fluid ball movement to survive. And when one player goes away from that movement, it’s usually in the fourth quarter, and not the third. And if Bryant is going to make this all about himself on the second possession of the third quarter? He better be ready to drop 55, because that’s going to be what it takes to win, because he’ll have to answer every Celtic bucket with one of his own.

And the Celtics got buckets. Boy did they get buckets. A 109 efficiency clip. They had it from everywhere. So much so that I’d actually warn a bit of temperance for how much this win means. Bear in mind that Boston simply isn’t going to shoot like that again. Yes, the Lakers’ horrific defense played a significant part (we’ll get to that in a bit in a later post), but that Laker defense melted down the stretch because of those little demons that rest on their shoulders. What got the Celtics to the pushing point was their ability to nail mid-range jump shots, the invincibility star of NBA basketball. When those shots are falling, the defense gets frustrated, confused, and generally out of whack. After all, what do you do when you force your opponent to do exactly what you want him to do and he keeps hitting them like it’s freaking SkeeBall? That mid-range jumper game is nothing but pixie dust when it’s going. And ask Paul Pierce how it’s going, courtesy of the NBA Playbook:

Mmmm. That’s good midrange.

At the same time, those are the shots a defense wants you to take for a reason. And they’re much less likely to fall in Staples than they were to fall in the garden. This thing isn’t over, not by a long shot. The Celtics have gotten two wins from 1. a huge outburst from Glen Davis and Nate Robinson and 2. an insanely hot shooting night where the entire Laker offens collapsed in on itself like a flan in a cupboard with Kobe the only toothpick holding it up.

Of course, this wouldn’t have been possible without Ron Artest. You know, Crazy Pills, Snake Eggs, redeemed, reborn Ron Artest (though perhaps Rob’s discussion of him as “necessary” is even more apt now). People are confused by my Twitter pleadings with Ron to keep shooting, thinking I just want the Laker offense to fail. Not so. I am simply overjoyed with watching Artest and joining everyone in the world who is watching the game wondering “What the hell is he thinking?!” and not just in an outraged way, but a true sense of bewilderment. There’s simply no accounting for what Artest will do in a possession, and it’s downright gleeful from a pure mirth approach. After months of a responsible, dedicated Artest, it’s so nice to see him back to his true self. He doesn’t deserve to be locked up within the confines of reason. FREE YOURSELF, RON! YOU ARE CRAZY PILLS! BE PROUD OF THAT!

Garnett deserves some run, here.

EL TIGRE MONSTRUOSO HAS RETURNED TO EAT YOUR CHILDREN!

No player accurately describes the turnaround in momentum for the Celtics than Garnett. After such a horrific start to the series, being owned outright by Gasol, he’s improved every game. First it was just the defense, then it was a few mid-range jumpers, and then last night, a detonation. 18 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks SWEET BEJESUS WHAT A LINE.

You want an excellent example of how KG’s improving mobility has helped in this series? Check out where he leaped from the in the 1st quarter for an up an under between two players on the pick and roll last night:

That’s quite a bit further away from the bunny hops he was clearing in Games 1 and 2.  After that at the 5:41 mark, Garnett takes Gasol to the middle, drifts a step back to create space and nails a jump hook, with Bynum coming over to try and swat it. KG gets it just up over, but doesn’t float it, sinking it straight down after the intial release, which is high. The rest of the game was a flurry of jumpers after a third quarter layup once the Lakers started playing Super Smash Brothers in their head.

Garnett was fierce, and wasn’t running his mouth to a degree where it was distracting (I’m sure he was still running his mouth). He executed, consistently and without hesitation. He was slapping the ball every time he received it in the post, and then immediately making his move. He decided not to be afraid of Gasol’s length and then used it against him. The one-handed falling thing with 5:06 in the 3rd was something beyond belief, a little bit of luck, but also a lot of what made Garnett so good throughout his career.

There’s so much that has to go right for the Celtics to win this series, but they’re making them happen. Bit by bit. The Lakers’ series seems to be eroding. Then again, isn’t this the perfect scenario to get comfy at home and push to a seventh game?

Briefly: Lakers Celtics Game 5 coverage at PBT

June 14, 2010 in by with 1 Comment

Just in case you’re not subscribing (which you should be):

The post in which I try and argue that you shouldn’t blame Kobe for being Kobe, but that being Kobe was still a bad thing. This one’s gotten the most attention, naturally, since if you say anything bad about Kobe Bryant you’re besieged by his fans as if you had offended their God, and also because the idea of criticizing the play of Bryant when he drops 38 seems ludicrous. It’s important to note that A. I’m not blaming Bryant, I’m blaming Jackson and B. I’m not saying that this was the biggest reason the Lakers lost. Their horrible, horrible, horrible defense was the biggest reason. But glossing over the impact of one dude taking over 50% of the shots in a quarter, and 100% for a six minute span is just not something I can do. Again, Bryant did the right thing. Thought he could score, had license to score, should have tried to score. It’s Jackson’s responsibility to shepherd the entire offense.

Blogbook, in which I try and touch on what the Celtics did well, instead of just what the Lakers did done wrong. That’s been a running theme, because honestly, if you watch the games, you come away thinking that if LA can do what they do, they’ll still win because of their advantages in size and talent. But then, Boston’s continually preventing them from being able to do that. I think that’s called “defense.”

We’ll have more on KG, Allen, and Crazy Pills (HOW ABOUT THAT FOR REDEMPTION, MAHONEY?!) and more tomorrow. My Lakers in Six prediction is dead, but I’m not abandoning ship yet. Lakers in 7, but I’m not feeling good about it.

NBA Finals: Celtics Need To Attack The Lakers Bigs With Rabies

June 13, 2010 in by with 0 Comments

“You should attack their big man like you’re trying to give him rabies.”

Earlier in our season (did you forget I coach JV high school basketball?), we faced a team that built their offense and defense around one of the lankiest 15-year olds you could ever see. He wasn’t abnormally tall by any means. He was about 6’3”, which is sort of incredibly tall for a 15-year old, but it’s not like he was Manute Bol out there. For the sake of the story and keeping anonymity, we’ll call this player Seal.

We’re going to call him Seal for a couple of reasons. First, he sort of looked like Seal without all of that facial scarring. Second, it gives me a tangential opening to mention that I was in Chicago last weekend and in Chicago I got to sing Kiss From A Rose with Trey Kerby while driving around. It was pretty great.

Anyway, Seal was a very sound, fundamental defender against our team. His arm length was almost cartoonish and he used it to perfectly defend a lot of shots coming into the painted area. He rarely went for the pump fakes, he kept his arms high in the air to intimidate our players and he timed every passive aggressive shot taken around him perfectly. He blocked at least nine shots in the first half of the game, as our guys were scared to challenge him.

And he wasn’t just protecting the rim well either. He kept the ball high on offense and put it up only when the shot was there. He also controlled the boards against our guys. It sounds simple but he just jumped as high as he could and secured the ball. He didn’t tap it all over the place before grabbing it. He just grabbed it.

At halftime, we ripped into our guys for being afraid of Seal. Our big men were better than him and we all knew it. They were just playing scared. And by being scared of his length and shot-blocking ability, they allowed him to dictate everything inside. I told our team the same quote that sits atop this post. Attack Seal like you’re trying to give him rabies. Be the more aggressive dog in the fight. It actually took the smallest player on our team to turn things around.

He gave up more than a foot in height to Seal but he had no fear. He went right at Seal on the first couple possessions of the second half and perfectly used his floater to protect shots. He jumped into him to create contact and knock him back a little. He gave Seal a different look than what he had seen all game long – aggressiveness. This aggressiveness not only showed the team that getting your shot blocked was nothing to be afraid of, it also got Seal out of position inside. All of a sudden we were grabbing rebounds and getting putbacks inside. Seal had to reach over our players to protect his rim and he was getting into foul trouble the other team couldn’t afford to have him in.

By the end of the game, Seal was on the bench with about 16 blocked shots and five fouls. He fouled out because we attacked him with purpose. We ended up dominating the boards in the second half because we didn’t allow him to control everything. It was an easy win with a good lesson to our guys that they shouldn’t let the other team’s big man control the interior.

When I look at this Celtics-Lakers Finals so far, the overall message rings true throughout. Now there are a couple of differences. I don’t think the Celtics are afraid of the length inside. The Celtics are a big team on their own. KG, Perk, Sheed and Big Baby provide a formidable frontline. The problem is the size of the Lakers frontcourt with Gasol and Bynum can completely neutralize that. Also, there is no Dikembe Mutombo or Mark Eaton (what up, Devine?) protecting the basket. But the Lakers have still done a pretty incredible job of protecting the basket. They’ve blocked 31 shots in the first four games of this series with 28 of them coming in the first three games.

The Lakers length presents a problem that the Celtics can fix in three ways and it’s all about Boston being aggressive in the way they do things.

1) Don’t Be Afraid to Attack the Basket
I don’t know that I’d say the Celtics were afraid to attack the basket in the first three games. They were blocked 28 times and actually won the points in the paint battle 116-112. But whenever Gasol and Bynum are in there together, there seems to be a bit of trepidation. Part of that could be the good team defense the Lakers are playing. With the way they’re helping, it’s easy to think twice about attacking and if you’re hesitating then it’s going to kill a lot of advantages.

This biggest way to fix this is to find ways to get Rajon Rondo to the basket without a lot of long limbs challenging his layups. Big Baby was great in Game Four in the way he smothered the interior. But that can be defended pretty easily with better effort and positioning by the Lakers bigs. Also, Lamar Odom pretending he cares would also be a great way to combat Davis. The more important thing is getting Rondo into the paint with good opportunities to score. Assuming the Lakers can’t block his shot so easily (six times in the first three games), even if Rondo misses the Celtics should be in a great position to grab the offensive boards and get good putback opportunities.

2) Grab the freaking ball!
Kevin Garnett used to be THE standard for NBA rebounding. During his days in Minnesota (chest pains for me right now), he had to do it all and a lot of the Wolves rebounding advantages were because of KG’s insistence on owning the boards. Since he’s been in Boston, the Celtics have been a good enough team to not need so much effort out of him. He’s able to concentrate on defense first, defense second and everything else third. Perhaps that lack of need for his boarding has turned him into a slightly above average rebounder instead of the all-world specimen he used to be. I’m sure the ravaging his knee took over the course of a couple of years hasn’t helped either.

KG used to be so great at tipping the boards to himself because he’s always been longer and more athletic than his opponents. He was able to tip the ball until it was safe to just grab it so he could fire a good outlet pass to his guards. With the declining athleticism and the great length of the holy Bynum-Gasol-Odom triumvirate, Garnett and the rest of the Celtics no longer have that luxury. When KG taps the ball to himself, Gasol and Odom have the length and the athleticism to match him or overwhelm him on the boards. They’re able to steal a lot of 50/50 balls because it’s still up for grabs. When Big Baby was dominating the offensive glass in Game Four, he just went after the ball and snatched it out of the air. He didn’t play badminton with it.

Kevin Garnett’s rebounding is really important to the Celtics success. They need to win two out of the next three games for banner number 18. That’s a 66.7 win percentage needed. Well, it’s no coincidence that since Garnett has joined the Celtics in 2007, they’re winning 69.8% of their games (including playoffs) when KG grabs nine rebounds or more in a game. He has to simply go grab the basketball.

Tipping the ball to yourself probably works against Boris Diaw, Kenny Thomas and Amare Stoudemire. But against the length of the Lakers and thieves like Kobe Bryant, it widens the margin for error on closing out defensive stops for Boston.

3) Be quick but don’t hurry… actually, Kendrick, you need to hurry
One of the most frustrating things for me to watch in the NBA is Kendrick Perkins in possessions of the ball around the basket. He’s the epitome of what you don’t want to teach young big men do around the rim. Especially against a frontline like the Lakers employ, you have to be quick to the basket. Kendrick Perkins moves around like the Tin Man when he hasn’t seen an oil can in months (insert BP joke I wasn’t clever enough to think of here).

Perkins could get a lot of easy buckets in this game and put a lot of pressure on the Lakers by racking up these easy points. Instead, he gets the ball and then allows someone to hit the slow motion button on him as he tries to get the ball up to the basket. Perk isn’t taller than most big men he faces and he isn’t all that athletic so it’s easy to see why he’d be careful around the basket. But he has to find ways go up quickly with the ball. He’s like one of those chattering teeth you wind up. Except, whenever you want to show someone how they move you always forget to wind it up enough for a full show. It ends up stopping abruptly and anti-climactically. So you have to wind it up a second time and by then the mystique of a spring loaded toy has been washed away in disappointment.

Well, Perk seems to always need that second wind up around the rim. Except when he finally gets it, there is a Laker around to block or challenge his shot. Kendrick has only taken 18 shots in this series but he’s been blocked five times. That’s an absurd percentage that would make Carlos Boozer blush.

Overall, the Celtics aren’t exactly getting killed in this series. It’s 2-2 and they have a chance to protect their homecourt and head back to Los Angeles tonight with a 3-2 lead. The easiest way for them to do this is to attack the paint much like Glen Davis did and find ways to get the Lakers size and length out of position.

In other words, go out and give them rabies.

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