Awesome. Sick. Sweet. Three words that collectively embody the mantra of roomofzen and most accurately describe my feelings surrounding game 5 (which I attended with Ladd) and game 6, which I watched on television. Rather than breaking down these two solid wins for the Celtics I am just going to run through a random assortment of observations. Basically, what I do every time.
First off, attending a playoff game was an even greater experience than I ever could have imagined. Sure the tickets were expensive and I forfeited an entire nights worth of sleep, but I will never forget that game and the experience of being among so many other Boston Celtics fans during a hard fought playoff win. Even though our seats were literally as far away from the court as it was humanly possible to sit (I spent much of the game leaning on the back wall, which is actually a very comfortable position to be in when you are prone to violent outbursts of enthusiastic fistpumps... I admit its my go-to celebration move) I couldn't have felt more involved in what was happening on the court. This goes down as one of my favorite sporting event memories of all time, right along with a California Angels game I attended in the early 90s in which Chili Davis hit 3 homeruns, and a Twins-Royals game I attended in 1996 in the metrodome in which my seat number got called over the PA and I won a roundtrip plane ticket to any where in the northern US. There were approximately 196 people at that game. All in all I would have to say that this is number one.
I predicted that Ray Allen was going to hit a huge shot in this series, and I was wrong. He hit two. In the same game. In game 5 he hit a three pointer to put the Celtics ahead 44-42 at 3:18 in the 2nd quarter. They never trailed after that point. His second huge shot put the Celtics up 3 at 1:22 in the 4th. Every time Allen hit a shot the place went nuts. I don't care what people say about Celtics fans and Boston sports fans in general but everyone was behind Allen despite his struggles at points in the playoffs. I'm sorry, I'm getting emotional now, lets move on to...
Leaving the game Ladd and I had the pleasure of watching two couples break up in front of us while we sat in traffic in the parking garage. Not that I take pleasure in watching other people fight but it just seemed to me that after watching such a great game that there wouldn't be any issues at all except deciding whether or not to make love in front of a DVRd version of the game or while listening to the recorded play-by-play of Cedric Maxwell and Sean Grande. One guy cried out "Have you lost all respect for me?!", the other guy had several neck tatoos, was smoking a butt, and walked as though he had a shin splint...all of which apparently made him the most badass man to ever walk around a parking garage without knowing where he had parked his car. People jockied for spaces and occasionally honked aimlessly. I guess I thought that was interesting for some reason. Sorry.
I guess what I am trying to say was that this was a great week for the people of New England. The weather last weekend was unbelievable, people were out at the lakes of Maine and the Beaches of New Hampshire. I played my first round of golf last night at Evergreen Country Club in Newburyport. Let me just say that this place is absolutely great. First, it cost us $17 dollars to play 18 holes with a cart. Granted, the course is in rough shape, but the atmosphere couldn't be more conducive to having a great time. Secondly, I honestly cannot remember the last time I played golf anywhere else where the scorecard reminded players that "shirts must be worn at all times". I'm pretty sure you could do almost anything short of strangling a prostitute out there and it would be cool.
Moving along, I still hate Jason Kidd. Finally, I feel redemption for our loss to the Nets during our last trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Lastly, keep checking in with the roomofzen store, I can personally guarantee you that there will be plenty of new merchandise coming out prior to the start of the NBA finals. That's right, you can be the first to own a brand new "Kobe Bryant Hotel Rewards Club" TShirt. Get one for the kids.
I´m paying by the minute here so I don´t really have any time to analyze the game. A few quick points:
1) Watching the game with Spanish commentary was much more enjoyable and less frustrating than listening Breen, Jackson, and Van Gundy.
2) It is clear to me that the demographic of NBA fans in Central and South America is growing fast. They had viewers sending in questions in Spanish via the web that they answered after every commercial break. The questions didn´t demonstrate a high level of knowledge about the game (one was WHO IS THE GREATEST COACH OF ALL TIME and another was WHY DOES RIP HAMILTON WEAR THAT MASK. But in Spanish obviously)
3) The offensive foul on Pierce at the three point line was horrible. Just ridiculous. Totally absurd. }
4) Until I see it with my own eyes, I won´t believe that this Lakers team is better than this Celtics team. We crushed them before the Gasol move. Now they are the same team minus Bynum and Brown and plus Gasol. The national media seems to think that the Celtics are underdogs and I don´t see why, but it will be interesting to see how they respond to that new role. But, I expect they´ll be favored in Vegas.
5) Don´t forget to buy your Paul Pierce and KG shirts for the Finals!
Just a random aside for everyone. One of my coworkers told me about this guy Leonard Mlodinow who was on NPR this morning. He was talking about sports and his book on how randomness rules our lives. I googled his name and found this quote from an article he wrote for the NY Post:
"Mathematics tells us that in a best-of-seven series the inferior team will win about four times out of ten. The odds of the better team winning improve if we lengthen the series. Still, in this example, for the weaker team to be crowned champion 5 percent or less of the time (the standard for "statistical insignificance") a championship series would have to be 269 games long."
Basically he's saying that 40% of the time, an inferior team will win a playoff series.
Imagine an NBA finals that went all summer in order to determine the ultimate champion. Imagine the NBA regular season turned into a giant round-robin tournament with all the teams playing each other multiple times in a bracket-like system, with a finals and semi-finals that went for 21 games instead of 7. Imagine if the bracket system started at the beginning of the year, too...the possibilities are endless.
Awesome win by the Lakers last night. The EU must be celebrating like crazy right now. I even bet Gasol's hometown is acting like Spain won the World Cup.
Celebratory music is in order. I hope this song was playing in their locker room after the victory, but somehow I doubt it:
Kidding aside, this was an excellent series for those of you who stayed up to watch the mayhem. Don't ask me why, but late last night I woke up and had the following thought: this series has revolved around a series of pairs or numbers equalling two. For example, the series featured:
Two of the best coaches in the league today.
Two of the best players in the league
Two double digit deficits erased by the Lakers (or two collapses by the Spurs)
Dynamic duos on both teams
2 wins by each team during the regular season (Lakers won two against the Spurs; Spurs won two against the Lakers)
Two fouls that should have been called at the end of a crucial game (No foul on Kobe and no Foul on Barry)
Two years, two separate times the Lakers have played the Celts and Pistons, respectively
Patterns are weird and have absolutely no significance here, so I won't belabor the point. But I think you get the picture: two's have an added meaning as the Finals begin to take form.
Anyway. The Lakers are nasty and will either face the Celtics or the Pistons for the Finals. Either series will be fun to watch, but in all honesty, I'd prefer to see the Celtics. Here is why:
1. For the past two years, the Celtics have had a better record against the Lakes than the Detroit. I actually can't remember the last time the Lakers beat the Celtics with or without KG.
2. Kobe scores fewer points against the Celtics (see above). Also see the Celtics defense. Watching Kobe overcome the Celtic's defense would be epic and worth the price of admission if he could pull it off and win.
3. A Lakers-Pistons would be boring as hell and would end in 4 games. The Lakers would basically put Detroit through a track meet, take advantage of their youth and energy, and score in transition like crazy. Those factors make Detroit a possible blow-out candidate. No one wants to see that.
4. Conversely, a Celtics-Lakers would be fun to watch because both teams like to score in transition. And as the Detroit-Celtics series has proven, the Celtics can't play very good transition defense. That means the Lakers would have a field day if the Celtic's didn't turn around their defense here. Transition scoring games are also fun to watch because the scoring can high very quickly.
5. A Lakers-Celtics Finals would be an awesome throwback series. Imagine all the clips ABC would show of Magic and Bird. Two of the league's most storied franchises battling it out for the championship of a lifetime...sweet.
6. I'd like to see either KG get a title or Bryant win one without Shaq. Like Kobe or not, that would put him up there with Jordan as one of the best players of all time. I'd also like to see KG step it up in the 4th quarter during one of these games in order to silence his Boston critics. Is anyone else from Boston except Nick angry at Bob Ryan or Simmons for calling this guy out? KG is probably the biggest reason why the Celtics are playing for a Finals birth right now! Assholes.
I know a lot of people hate Kobe Bryant or wish the Spurs were going to the Finals. Too bad. A Celtics-Lakers Finals will blow ratings through the roof and bring back a lot of fans who left the sports in the early 2000's.
They played this clip of Bill Russell and Kevin Garnett on the jumbotron before the start of Game 5 and when it was over I looked at my buddy Ladd and said "I think I'm crying right now", he said, "Me too".
Stay tuned for a Weekend version of The Babcock Report which will include some of our experiences at Game 5 in Boston. If the night was a movie the tag-line would be "That was fucking Sick."
This wasn't pretty but it was a signature Celtics win, regular season style. The Big Three all got theirs, and a role player stepped up. Often times during the regular season, that player might have been Rajon Rondo. Or, it might have been James Posey, Leon Powe, or Glen Davis off the bench. In this case, that player was Kendrick Perkins. Perk has had a great series, but his performances in games 1-4 pale in comparison to what he was able to put together last night. Perk had 18 points, 16 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, and even shot 100 percent from the free throw line! He was only there twice, but a stat is a stat.
Early in the game, a fan was put on the Jumbotron holding a sign that showed Robert Parish on one side and Perk on the other with the captions "The Chief" and "21st Century Chief" written on them. I thought the sign was ridiculous, and verbalized my thoughts pretty clearly. However, Perk silenced my criticism by playing what was hands down the best half of basketball that we have seen from him. The big man had 12 points and 13 boards in the first half and was a defensive force. More importantly, he only had one foul (which shouldn't have even been called), so he was able to log a lot of minutes.
Perk was impressive throughout the second half as well, but his second half game lacked the discipline of his first half game. I think that this statement is accurate, but it could just be a blanket statement that I'm making out of my frustration over the technical foul that he drew. That almost sunk us. Perk is one of those guys who contests every foul that is called on him. I knew the whistle was coming as soon as I saw it. He was a little to emphatic, and he has to know that once they've T-d up an opposing player (Sheed) for arguing a call, they have to do it to you too if you clearly give them a reason. I don't want to take anything away from the big man, because we needed every one of those 18 points and 16 boards. I'm just saying that he needs to work on keeping his emotions in check. This will also most likely prevent him from picking up two fouls in the first four minutes of every game.
I'd be lying if I said that the fourth quarter didn't concern me a little bit. There was a point towards the end of the third when I thought we were going to run away with a 20 point victory. Instead, we almost blew it. Paul Pierce expressed concern after the game, stating that they might not have been able to win that game if it was being played in Detroit. So, guess that in itself is reason for concern. But, again, this is not Atlanta. The Pistons don't ever go away, and it would have been very unlike them to not make a run throughout the entire second half. On top of that, the Celtics didn't play a great game. Rajon Rondo made a lot of mistakes and missed A LOT of layups. The contributions from the bench were minimal. There were a lot of problems with this game.
Doc brushed the point guard problem under the rug last night in the name of taking a must-win game. Cassell was horrible, and Doc clearly has him on a short leash. Eddie House managed to play only nine seconds despite checking into the game more than once. It will be interesting to see what turn this will take tomorrow.
Clearly I couldn't have been more wrong about Tony Allen. I stick to my reasoning. He has been a strong defender for this team all season. Scal dressed last night instead of him. The ultimate slap in the face. If that doesn't cause Tony to get his shit together, nothing will.
I haven't even mentioned Ray Allen, and I really meant to. Obviously he was great, and very clutch. I also haven't mentioned the fact that Sheed shot 9 threes and made 6. He's ridiculous. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Babcock swung by the apartment yesterday. Although we all communicate daily via e-mail or phone about material for the site, we rarely have the chance to collaborate in person because all of us have a lot going on. So, the opportunity for some in-person collaboration, free from the creative impediment that generally accompanies e-mail and phone correspondence, is rare and can often be valuable. This was a case in which things worked out well. I had finished work at two o'clock. He had gotten out of work in Boston early. Both of us were going to game 5, but with different groups and plans. So, time was of the essence. Despite what people tell you, this is truly when you will be the most creative and powerful because if your project is well-executed it will possess an element of spontaneity that would otherwise be lost.
I had been working on a design for a new Boner Salad t-shirt, and I had hit a wall. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Boner Salad, it is the most bad-ass band that has never recorded a song. A dream that we had, along with Gilby and Smokey, Boner Salad was to be the manifestation of everything that we find bad-ass in the world of music. The first album was to be called Teabag, and the lyrics were to be hard-hitting. The album art would be unrivaled by anything previously released. The energy and aggression of each track and each performance in the album tour was to be so great that people would leave each experience changed in their thinking and want to spread the word of Boner Salad to everyone that they could. But, things never really worked out. Gilby plays the bass, and has experience playing it in a punk band. Babcock plays the guitar. Neither Smokey nor I play instruments, and I don't really think any of us are screamers. And, it would be hard to trust any new comers with our dream. The mission statement of Boner Salad is not something that can be put to paper.
Anyways, I had been working on a new design for a Boner Salad t-shirt, and I had hit a wall. I knew that the theme of the shirt was going to be a burning angel, but that was about as far as things had gone. When Babcock arrived, I knew we would have a sick shirt made in no time. Adorned in sick aviators as usual, I knew his energies were exactly what this project needed. The man is proof that the spirit of Gonzo Journalism still lives in 2008, even if it is only in these less mainstreamed forums. We talked Celtics for a bit, and then went to work. When he left to drive over to North Station, I think we both felt pretty pumped about the final product.
Here it is: the newest Boner Salad t-shirt, available both in red and white .
Just remember, you could donate to cancer research by buying that shirt. Sick.
Also, here is the shirt that has been our best-seller so far.
This piece from Rolling Stone, from the Hunter Thompson commemorative issue, has always stuck with me. This is probably mostly because I would love to get my hands on one of those books with the bullet holes in them. I realize that having the book can never replace the experience of actually being there with the man and having him shoot your book. But, nevertheless, I would love to get one of those books. It's like having an autographed copy, but more badass.
I'll be in Mexico until Monday. I am still planning on watching game 6, and if need be game 7. However, I don't anticipate being able to blog about them. See you all next week. Buy some shirts.
If you've been reading ROOMOFZEN from the start then you know that Genghis Tron is not only one of our favorite groups, but also the group we've seen live more than any other over the past year. We've seen them multiple times in both Boston and Philadelphia, and several places in between. Most recently, Babcock and I headed over to Worcester to see them play the Palladium with Baroness in March. Their shows are amazing and kick our ass every time. Needless to say, we were honored that they were willing to grant us this interview. Before you start, here is a video of them playing the title track to their most recent CD, Board Up the House (video from Metal Injection). If you haven't bought the album yet, you must not read this blog enough.
Hamilton Jordan, the guitarist you see above, was kind enough to answer our questions.
ROOMOFZEN: Thanks so much for agreeing to do this interview. If someone would have told me 6 months ago when this site started that we'd have a band of your caliber voluntarily being featured, I would have shat my pants. I'm not really sure what has changed, because I didn't shit my pants, but we're all really pumped.
Hamilton: No problem, man! We're happy to take part.
R: One thing that is really awesome about you guys is that it seems like you are constantly on the road. Every time we see you around Boston, we leave feeling excited because we already know that you're going to be back sometime in the next couple of months. Each time, the show is more dynamic and the lightshow that you added is sick. How much time do you guys actually spend on the road, and what have your experiences been like on the road this year with bands like DEP and Converge?
H: We do spend quite a lot of time on the road -- not as much as some bands out there, but that's because we all have lives and families and friends that matter to us, so we can only keep ourselves healthy and sane by making sure to balance our touring and home lives. In 2008, I think we will spend about 5 months on the road total. Our experiences this year have been amazing -- our best so far. Our 5-week U.S. tour with Converge was a complete blast, and it was followed immediately by two weeks in Europe, which was also amazing. We're about to take a break for a few months, but I'm already looking forward to booking more tours -- and that's something I wouldn't have ever imagined myself saying a year or two ago!
R: Have you managed to swing a bus yet or is it still the GT van? Which was a bigger priority, the lightshow or the bus?
H: Haha, I don't believe we'll ever get a bus. That's Mookie's favorite thing to joke about, and it will never happen.
R: How has it been working with Kurt Ballou on your last two records and how has he influenced the choices that you made in Dead Mountain Mouth and Board Up the House?
H: It was a great experience. It's very important for us to have an opinionated, talented, fourth head involved in the recording process. The three of us work so hard writing the songs and we often drive ourselves and each other to the edges of our sanity. Because our instrumentation and production style makes for limitless options, it's very hard for us to make songwriting and arranging decisions. Thus, it would be far too daunting for us to also spearhead the recording and engineering of our albums. Working with Kurt provides for a great balance, because we're still making the grand decisions as far as how the album is going to sound, but he's the one who is able to comprehend our goals and help us translate them into specific sounds and effects. Furthermore, he's a talented songwriter, so if we're stuck on revising a last-minute addition to the album, he's great at pushing us to make wise choices.
R: We saw you guys at the Middle East on the tour with DEP, and it was a great show. We came for you guys, but we were also really psyched because we had heard tell of how intense Dillinger is on stage. We were expecting to see Stolen Babies opening that show. Instead we got Shat. Now, I'm certainly not going to speak ill of any bands, but I was excited to see Stolen Babies and Shat left me feeling a little bit empty (particularly the occasional visible scrotum that their show entails). Did Stolen Babies ever join you guys on that tour and if so do you know why they weren't in Cambridge?
H: Stolen Babies were never on that tour; it was announced as such, but apparently was never true. We've never met them nor played any shows with them.
R: I have a question about etiquette. Every time we see you guys play, you are also very visible around the audience throughout the rest of the show. Obviously, it would be awesome to talk to you guys, but I never feel comfortable enough to do it. The closest I ever came was the show at Great Scott (album release tour) because we saw you guys outside the place before the show. But, in Worcester, I had you guys and Baroness, two of my favorite bands, standing right in front of me. I want to talk, but I don't want to end up like Wayne and Garth bowing down to Alice Cooper chanting "we're not worthy." Do you guys like to mingle with the fans at your shows, or would you rather just take the show in like everyone else?
H: As long as people aren't super crazy or obnoxious for some reason (which is rare), we love talking to fans at shows. I don't go out of my way to walk around the crowd and shake hands with people, but if someone approaches me and wants to talk, I'm always happy to do so. I did that all the time with bands I admired, and still do. So come say hi next time!
R: Genghis Tron and Baroness are our two favorite bands and the two that we have spent most of our time writing about. We didn't even stay in Worcester to see RC or Converge because we didn't want to change the energy we had from seeing you guys and Baroness play consecutive sets. What do you think of those guys and what other bands are you guys into right now?
H: You should have stayed for Converge! Baroness is a great band consisting of great dudes. We're hoping to do some more touring with them later this year. We're into tons of bands, too many to name -- but right now, as far as newer bands, we've been listening to a lot of Black Mountain, Nachtmystium, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Krallice, and the Chromatics!
R: I know you guys are heading to Europe with Nachmystium. What comes next? Can we expect you in the Boston area any time soon? (NOTE: THEY HAVE RETURNED FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WITH NACHMYSTIUM)
H: We're playing a single show in Brazil next month, then in July we return to Europe for one week to play a large festival in France and some other shows. Starting in September or October, we plan on doing another U.S. tour and probably back to Europe a third time after that!
R: Can you describe to us some of your musical influences, specifically in the punk / hardcore or metalcore realms? We are huge fans of cross-over bands like yours, and the unique combination of styles intrigues us since we fucking love newer bands like you guys and High on Fire and Hatebreed, yet retain our appreciation for older bands such as Megadeth. Also, do you have any thoughts you'd like to share about Neil Young?
H: Our influences are pretty diverse, as we all came from different musical backgrounds. Personally, I wasn't really a part of any "scene" growing up in Atlanta, so most of what I learned about music I found from books, magazines, and later the Internet. Between the three of us, I can confidently say that some of our biggest influences are Nine Inch Nails, Coil, Drive Like Jehu, Skinny Puppy, Slint, Philip Glass, Meshuggah, Autechre, Botch, Boards of Canada, and Tool.
R: Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us and have a great time in Europe. (NOTE: THEY HAVE RETURNED FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR)
H: No problem, man! Thanks for the interview and I'm quite sorry it took so long to respond.
We are proud to announce that ROOMOFZEN will be donating exactly one half of its t-shirt profits to charity. We are all people that believe strongly in charity already, and we can't think of a better way to do it. Donating this money will help to fulfill us, and help us live up to our name. We also hope that it will make you feel good about your purchase. If you have already ordered a shirt, thank you very much and we will be donating half of the profit from your order.
We are currently browsing over a pretty comprehensive list so that we can agree on the organization to which we will be giving. Factors taken into consideration will be: What causes are most important to us, what causes we believe our readers as a whole would find to be the most meaningful, and what organizations put the largest percent of donations directly to use. We will have our decision made next week, and will make an official announcement. We have an account that keeps track of every order, and the accounts to which our profits go is not used by any of us. Every four months, we will remove half of the profits, and make our donation.
Please head over to our store and check out our stuff. At this point it is probably the most random assortment of shirts that you have ever seen. At the top of the page there is a category button. The merchandise is arranged into 4 different categories to make shopping easier.
Also, this site was passed on to me by Tyler Breault. While we will not be considering this organization as one of our potential recipients, their site is hilarious.
Tough loss for the Celtics last night. They had a chance to end this series with a definitive statement on the road, yet their bench failed them and the "big three" looked like the "big one" with two veterans who can't seem to shoot.
The good news is that the Lakers now have their hands full with the Spurs, and while they may end up winning in 6, they still have a difficult series in front of them. That means neither the Celtics nor the Lakers (assuming they both win) will have a rest advantage going into the finals like the Lakers have against the Spurs. Both teams will be tired and the team with the most energy remaining may have the deciding factor, should these two teams play for the finals.
But here is what really stood out last night: the Celtics played like shit and the Pistons basically gave them 35 points on the foul line. The Pistons got into serious foul trouble and the Celtics kept the game close until the end of the fourth quarter. Like Game Three, Perkins gave them energy and Rondo kept the Celtics going despite Detroit's onslaught.
Despite poor performances from the "big three," the Celtics still could have won this game on the road. There are a ton of what-ifs here: what if Allen had hit those two free-throws at the end of the game. What if Pierce had a 30-40 point explosion like the Cavs series? What if Allen's shooting didn't suck so badly right now? The Celts would be up 3-1 and going home for two games at the Garden. Series over.
Nonetheless, I won't get down on the Celts for this loss. The Pistons played well and despite crapping their pants, the Celtics still could have won. Now they have two home games and the chance to end this series once and for all.
Let's just hope Allen and Pierce show up next time.
Today's Foil in the Oven is going to be very short because I have a job interview to get to.
Obviously this series will be going longer than I predicted. I'm certainly not surprised that it's going longer, but I still stick to my reasoning. This series may go 7 games now, and it just doesn't have to be that difficult. But, I guess that has been the overarching theme of this entire postseason.
The Celtics were completely out of sync all night long. It's hard to be upset today about the loss, because I can't believe they were in the game for so long. They shot 31.8 percent from the field, while allowing Detroit to shoot 51.4 percent. Everyone in the media, both local and national, keeps saying that the 19 point discrepancy was not indicative of how close the game was. This is true in the sense that the Pistons didn't really seal it until Billups' three pointer with 2:55 left. But, in my mind, that 19 point discrepancy is a very accurate indicator of how poorly the Celtics played.
The Celtics were completely pathetic on offense. In fact, their only real offense was shooting free throws. Now, I'm fine with an offense not getting going because of shots not falling, but the passing is what killed me here. There were so many possessions that started with wild, errant passes that looked like they were flying out of bounds until the intended target would leap up and save them. You know that those possessions are doomed from the start because whoever ends up with the ball is completely flustered and taken out of their rhythm.
And, even worse than the bad passing was the over-passing. Nobody was willing to assert themselves offensively last night, and it drove me insane. How many good looks did Rondo and Garnett pass up? How many times did a guy with a good scoring opportunity suddenly appear panic stricken and kick the ball back out with time running down on the shot clock? The one play that sticks out in my mind is Ray Allen driving to the hoop towards the end of the game, and suddenly zipping this pass off the midsection of an unsuspecting KG. Allen had a good scoring opportunity and KG was following to clean up a potential miss. But, for some reason, Allen squandered a good scoring opportunity by making an unnecessary pass. This was the story of the game in my mind. Right after Billups hit that three to put Detroit up 10, KG got the ball at the other end, and hit a perfect jump-hook over McDyss. I was furious "Why haven't you been doing that all night dickhead!" I screamed. Very rarely do I get so frustrated with KG. But, he had been passing those shots up all night. One of those three guys needed to assert themselves last night, and they passed up the opportunity over and over again.
Now, credit Detroit's defense for not allowing any easy scoring chances inside. They contested everything, but they also committed a lot of fouls. The officials were quick with their whistles last night, which was all the more reason to attack the basket. The way Detroit was playing, Sheed and McDyss may have been out of the game by the start of the fourth if the Celtics weren't so resigned to passing out of the paint.
Obviously this was a poor performance from Rondo. I really thought that Doc should have had Pierce starting the offense up top more often. That has proven to be the best way to get the offense back on track. But, there was probably nothing that could have salvaged last night's performance.
Again, 31.8 percent from the field for the Celtics. 51.4 percent for the Pistons. The Celtics had the deer in the headlights look to them on offense for the entire game, and literally the only mildly positive thing I can say about their performance is "they got to the free throw line a lot, but they could have been their more." They had twice as many turnovers as the Pistons (14-7). And yet, the Celtics were still in a position to win the game. Once Chauncey's 3 ended the hopes of a comeback, they Celtics allowed the gap to widen to something that was a little more indicative of how they played. But, they couldn't have played worse, and they could have won that game. They were only down 5 for much of the fourth quarter.
Game 5 has been a strong point for these Celtics so far in the playoffs. They need to come out strong on Wednesday night. If they do, they will win. Even if they don't, they could still win. But, let's hope they do.
I get the Tony Allen thing alright. I was wrong. When you haven't seen Tony play in a while, your mind tends to focus on his athletic abilities and all of his physical attributes that lend themselves so well to basketball. You forget that he has a very low basketball IQ.
Maybe Kobe will score 60 points tonight. I need to watch something like that to clear my head after watching last night's game, which was sort of like watching dead cars being crushed in a scrapyard.
So, I just returned from the Disfear show at Great Scott, and I just figured that I should go ahead and write Monday's Foil in the Oven right now. I just spent a good 4 hours drinking Pabst tall boys while rocking out to Swedish Punk. What better state of mind could I possibly have for writing this post?
The night began in a promising fashion, after a 9 hour shift at work, Riley picked me up and we headed straight for Great Scott. After soaking in the atmosphere and throwing down some beers, we noticed that Tomas Lindberg (the lead singer of Disfear) was stationed at the t-shirt table. I'm not sure how many people noticed, because the table was not crowded, but seeing this immediately made me decide that I needed to check out the merchandise. I walked over, and offered up a fist pump to Tomas. He seemed a little confused, but returned my offering. "You're a badass motherfucker man" I said. "Thanks" he said, with a smirk on his face. He was completely unphased by this compliment, which affirmed in my mind what I had said. There was only one shirt left in XL, and I procured it. Sick.
.............This is where I went to sleep. Perhaps writing it all last night was a bit ambitious. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game 3 seems like it was so long ago now, which is the problem we sometimes run into on weekends, but let's hit on a few things anyways:
Overall, it was a great win, and you certainly wouldn't be inaccurate in saying that the Celtics dominated. In fact, this youtube clip (which was featured by Jim on Green Bandwagon ) really shows what an awesome performance it was:
Now, that being said, the fourth quarter was dicey. The Celtics have had problems with Detroit's pressure defense, and that trap really took them out of their element. I started to panic a little bit when Detroit had the lead down to nine. Up until that point, the whole "can't win on the road" thing hadn't entered my mind. But it did at that moment, and I said to myself "holy shit, if we blow this game, there's NO WAY we're winning this series." But, then Sheed fouled out, the Pistons couldn't score on a few possessions, KG and Ray both made some huge buckets, and the next thing I knew it was right back to 14.
Had that game been played in Boston, I don't think I would have been as tense. Up nine with three minutes left is a pretty good spot to be in. So, for everything that I said, I guess I was worried about going on the road. It's certainly a relief to get that win.
I can't say enough about the way the bench played. One stretch of the game that can't be overlooked was the huge run (13-0) that Detroit went on at the end of the first quarter. James Posey, PJ Brown, Sam Cassell, and Glen Davis all helped to get Boston back on track after they had weathered the storm. And, while we're on the topic of role players, Perk was nasty. He's having a really good series overall.
I don't want to hear anything from Pistons fans about Billups being hurt. Clearly, he's not 100 percent. Clearly his minutes are down. But Stuckey is killing us! We have no answer for him. This is not just a backup point guard who is managing to run the offense in the starter's absence. He's shredding up the best defensive team in the NBA.
Rip Hamilton is one of my favorite UCONN players of all time. My three all-time favorites are Taliek Brown, Kevin Freeman, and Ricky Moore. I was convinced that Ricky Moore was going to be a great NBA player. I'm not exactly sure why it didn't happen, but I'd like to think I'd be able to assess him a little more objectively now. Where did we go wrong Ricky?
Anyways, Rip is probably my favorite of the guys who made it big in the NBA. His game winner against Washington in the Sweet Sixteen in 1998 is one of my favorite college basketball memories. His play in 1999 tournament, particularly in the upset of Duke in the national championship, still live on in UCONN husky lore.
(As a side note, that was also the first year of Gonzaga. Everyone loved Gonzaga that year. I even had people in Connecticut telling me they wouldn't mind seeing Gonzaga win because they were a great story. Whores. I've never been able to stomach Gonzaga since. I hate them. Do we really just like a team because they have a cool name? Really?)
As with all UCONN players, I have followed Rip's NBA career closely. I was slightly concerned about his future in the NBA (certainly not as confident as I was about Ricky Moore) because of his size. He's 6'7 but he's very thin. It's been great to see the type of player that he has developed into. He is a master of moving without without the ball. He's a mid-range assassin. I have a lot of respect for him for the same reasons that I have always respected this Pistons team. Like his team, Rip is not flashy. He wears his opponent down methodically over the course of the game. He runs him ragged, he's frustrates him, and he knocks down everything. This Pistons team, like Rip, has this grizzled, hardened quality to them that I find to be very alluring.
Because of all these things, this series has been very strange for me. Suddenly, Rip has become the masked villain in my world. All the qualities that made him so great to root for are driving me insane in this series. He gets away with murder with the officials, and he is one of the best in the game at drawing whistles. Every time I felt like the Celtics had the Pistons put away in games 1 and 3, Rip would be there to keep Detroit in the game. Every time the Celtics were within striking distance in Game 2, Rip was there to make sure that they never got close enough. Never fatigued, always steady, he is the kind of guy that can drive you crazy. He is that guy that you love when he's on your team, but you can't stand when you're playing against him.
Up until this series, I've always considered Rip as someone on my team because of his status as a former UCONN husky. Sure, I've had to root against him before in the NBA, but never with the stakes this high. I've always wanted the Celtics to beat him, but I'd be happy if he played well in the process. I haven't felt that way at all during this series, and it's been strange. Hopefully, once this series is over, I can root for Rip again as usual. I have a feeling that will depend on how this series plays out.
I'll have more to say about this win in Monday's Foil in the Oven. Most of my energy this weekend has gone towards our new ROOMOFZEN store. Check out the shirts. The athlete ones all have quotes on the back. And, we'll have new stuff available this week. I have a feeling Babcock could do some serious damage with this thing.
Look, we all knew this team could win on the road. I knew it would happen eventually. That being said, it feels good. In particular, it was nice to see a great overall team effort. The bench was outstanding, weathering the storm during a big Pistons run in the second half of the first quarter. Also, quick spotlight on Perk for his contributions tonight. I've said all along that I think it's pretty clear who the better team is in this series. If the Celtics can play defense like this on Monday night, expect them to go back to Boston up 3-1.
I didn't hear Rory Gallagher until I was riding in a Boston Cab about two years ago...one of those strange cab rides. You know what I mean. I just bought his "Irish Tour" album and it is outstanding.
With the advent of DVR and TIVO I rarely find myself watching commercials unless I forget to record my favorite shows or sporting events. Sometimes I catch myself watching commercials after I've DVRed something, but I quickly hit the fast forward button to spare myself the agony. And when I dont have time to watch TV, which is frequently, I usually end up watching clips on Youtube thanks to Google. Clips on Youtube don't have commercials so my TV experience these days is commercial free (and therefore positive).
The way I watch TV makes me think about the television industry and where it's going in the future. If TV channels can't find a way to present commercials, how are they going to pay for the new and existing TV shows which we enjoy? Presumably they have to buy the content from outside production houses unless they grow their shows in-house. Syndicating content that's not homegrown costs money, and aside from charging Comcast or DirecTV fees for showing their content, how are they going to recoup their costs and make a profit without people watching commercials? Commercials, to the best of my knowledge, are the only way channels make money.
The same thing applies to Comcast / DirecTV if they have to pay channels for their content or the right to show their stuff. But here is the kicker: these cable companies have virtual monopolies, depending on where you are, and they can always get away with charging the consumer more money for their cable service. Think about it: if you want cable and HDef channels, you have very few options in the Mid-Atlantic area. In DC, for example, Comcast and DirecTV are the only carriers which give you the full line up of Fox channels AND the full line-up of CBS-affiliated channels. On other cable services, you cannot always get both sets of channels. Add on the fact that you can get cable, internet, and phone from places like Comcast, what's to stop them from charging even more if they can't afford to sydicate content from channels that can no longer show commercials (and therefore make money on their shows)?
DVR and Youtube are basically screwing us while we're sleeping. We love their content, we love the fact that it's free, and we love the fact that there are no commercials. But what is it going to do the channels that sponsored this stuff to begin with? It's going to force them to make money elsewhere and that may mean higher rates for cable TV service since the carriers could get squeezed in the long-run.
Putting aside the option that we'll pay more for cable and HD channels because of Comcast, the cable channels could always show fewer ads but charge more for them. CBS and the Masters do this: Exxon basically pays CBS a lot of money to just show their ads during the tournament and in exchange, their ads are the only ones which run. Fewer ads which cost more, but get presented in a way that doesn't force the audience to TIVO the content.
Conversely, cable channels could run more ads and have more channels which either target specific audiences or focus on a particular subject, instead of just running fewer ads. Raise revenue by decreasing price but increasing volume. I think this is why we have cable packages which give us channels like AZN-TV or History Channel 2, or basically just channels which most people don't watch, but do in fact appeal to a specific, niche audience.
The kicker here is that if cable channels adopt this strategy (and I think they have), it may force Comcast or DirecTV to charge the consumer more for packages of channels we'll never watch. In other words, instead of giving viewers the ability to choose what channels they want to pay for (and watch), it gives us a bunch of crappy channels which come with the channels we actually want. The downside is less viewer choice and higher costs per month assuming the multiple channel offering costs more for Comcast to deliver (more bandwith over the telephone lines, for example). I could be wrong, though.
Bringing this full circle, the advent of TIVO and Youtube is certainly good for us in the short-tun, but in the long-run, what is it going to do the content we love? How will those channels react to their decling revenue? Example: I love watching the NBA on TNT, but what if TNT decides to charge Comcast a huge premium to feature their content? And what if Comcast passes that charge onto the viewer? Considering how bad Comcast's customer service is, I would be really pissed if I had to pay them more per month just to see basketball.
Higher costs from Comcast could mean fewer people watching TV, too. What will Comcast do then? The questions could go on and on, but I'm just throwing that out there since we all talk about sports and sports come on TV a lot....
I decided on the title of today's Foil in the Oven last night in the throes of post-game frustration. I'm feeling more stable this morning, and I'm able to examine the events of Game 2 in a less cataclysmic light. Nevertheless, I have to air my grievances with the officiating. I have dashed off the next section. If you are a Celtics fan, and want to commiserate, please read. If you are not a Celtics fan, and don't feel like hearing the homer thing, go ahead and skip it. Now, I think it's fair criticism. But, the officiating has been awful throughout the entire post-season, so I understand if you don't want to read more about it.
All of this PDA at an NBA playoff game? Come on Tom, you're better than that.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The officiating, particularly in the first half, was incredibly poor and one-sided. Ray Allen should have gone to the locker room at halftime with one foul instead of three. The first foul on Allen was a particularly weak call, as Rip Hamilton literally jabbed the ball into him to get the whistle. Even Jeff Van Gundy thought it was a bad call and I'm convinced that he hates the Celtics.
I kept replaying this call over and over again in my mind every time Kevin Garnett had the ball in his hands. I kept saying out loud "well, if we're going by the way they've called things on the other end, I find it really hard to believe that Kevin Garnett wasn't fouled on that sequence." If you watched the game, you know that KG was working harder than he's had to work all postseason on the offensive end. There was a lot of contact, and yet he only shot two free throws in the game. I'm all for letting them play, and this was more indicative of how I'd like to see games called, but the problem last night was that the action wasn't being called evenly.
Ray Allen's third foul, which was apparently the result of him moving his arms inward to try and secure the ball after Lindsey Hunter swiped it, was nearly as bad as the first. In my mind, there can only be a foul called there if Ray fouls Hunter in an attempt to stop him from having a transition opportunity. The whistle was too quick. This contrasted sharply with a similar sequence a few possessions later, when the referees waited for Hunter to foul Pierce about 5 times (even one of the announcers said 'wow, he fouled him 3 or 4 times there) and didn't blow the whistle until Hunter and Pierce were literally on the ground.
The goaltending call on KG was close and should have been a no-call, like the charge they didn't call on Rip a couple of possessions later. I have no problem with letting those calls go at the end if they are not blatant, BUT you have to let them go on both sides. In my mind, these two plays down the stretch really embodied the overall officiating trends of the game.
At halftime, I was blaming the officiating for the Celtics being down. However, by the end of the game I could not pin the loss squarely on the referees. The Celtics were outplayed. But, the effects of the poor officiating cannot be discounted. The poor first half officiating directly affected the Celtics in two ways as the game progressed:
1) The Celtics were clearly frustrated with the way the game had been going, and this led to them committing an inordinate amount of second and quarter fouls. Now, that's on them. They're professionals. But, I think a great deal of their frustration stemmed from those calls.
and, more importantly:
2) Ray Allen finally found his shooting touch, but had to sit for an unnecessary portion of the second half because of his foul trouble.
Now, all that said, give all the credit in the world to the Pistons. They turned in a signature performance in a hostile environment. They made every big shot that they took. They forced the Celtics into bad shots when they had to. And, it wasn't just the usual suspects. Certainly, Rip Chauncey Tayshaun and Sheed all contributed in big ways, but they could not have won without huge contributions from Antonio McDyss and Rodney Stuckey and very efficient minutes from Lindsey Hunter. This team is so steady and fluid, and that's why they have a winning record on the road during these playoffs.
Am I still confident? Absolutely. Here's why:
Although the Celtics defense looked strong at times (mainly at the start of each half), it was bad overall. They allowed the Pistons to shoot over 49 percent from the field. They allowed far too many easy transition baskets, and they put Rip and Chauncey at the line too many times. This, combined with the fact that Detroit seemed like they couldn't miss down the stretch, was the worst case defensive scenario for the Celtics. And yet, they were right there. They were in this game until the final second ticked away.
Perhaps the best part of last night, and the part that got me out of bed with such a positive energy this morning, was the re-emergence of Ray Allen. Allen looked unstoppable towards the end of the game, and I have to wonder how things might have turned out if he didn't have to be sat down with foul trouble. He was hitting outside shots, he was driving and changing up his pace, he even drove baseline and threw down a dunk. Ray is back, and that means trouble for the Pistons. They are certainly a great defensive team, but how do you defend this Celtics team when its three superstars are all on their game?
The gauntlet has finally been thrown down. It was only a matter of time. If these Celtics are indeed a championship caliber team, they eventually need to show us that they have the moxie to win a game outside of the protective confines of the TD Banknorth Garden. Perhaps this is just what they needed. For the first time during these playoffs, the Celtics will take to the road with a sense of urgency. With their backs to the walls, in a hostile environment, this team will have a chance to silence all of their doubters.
Baseball has lost some of its magic for me over the past few years, and this is something that I find disheartening. Somehow, the combination of seeing Major League Baseball throw these players under the bus for infractions on which they knowingly turned a blind eye for profit and the mutation of some of my childhood heroes into these iniquitous caricatures of their former selves (see the Babcock Report below) has weighed heavily on me and made it more difficult for me to invest myself fully into the game that I once enjoyed so freely. Along with this, I have always been discouraged by the fact that the players and owners can't seem to find any common ground on an issue (a potential salary cap) that would be so good for the sport. While the other professional leagues are thriving in new markets, Major League Baseball continues to be bogged down by inequity. Every year there is a surprise team or two, but they are aberrations. Perhaps it is a more accurate representation of our society, but it makes for poor entertainment. I find the arms race that takes place every off season between the super powers equally as disturbing as the situation mentioned above. But, as a life long Red Sox fan that has already been to Fenway Park three times this season, I guess I'm not part of the solution.
Anyways, apologies for that. What I wanted to say is that there is a handful of players that I will always hold in the highest regard as a symbol of everything that's right about baseball. I have my own reasons for loving these players, and maybe some of them are the result of nothing more than fan bias. But, two of them were in the news yesterday, and I want to touch on them quickly.
1) Pedro Martinez announced yesterday that reports of his retirement after 2008 were inaccurate. I love Pedro's attitude on the mound, I love his approach to the game, and I still consider his 1999 and 2000 seasons among the highest level of performance that I have ever seen as an athlete. He has done a great job of adjusting his repertoire to counteract the aging process, and I look forward to continuing to watch him pitch whenever the Mets are on national TV.
2) Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 598th home run last night. It's hard to not feel completely unfulfilled when looking back on Griffey's career. Between his charismatic personality and his perfect swing, this guy is one of my all-time favorites. Had he stayed healthy, he most certainly would be the home run king. Who in today's game would be more deserving of such a title. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is a hilarious video of Charles Barkley. You have to watch the whole thing, it's great.
1) Hilarious text message came last night from Ferrante at crunch time when the Pistons were pulling away "Maybe Doc is telling them to punch back instead of actually coaching them."
2) On Sportscenter, Marcellus Wiley just said that Pacman Jones at wideout is a good idea for Dallas because he'll have to spend more time reading the playbook and less time at "those naked ballets". Awesome.
I will attempt to string this stream-of-conciousness-Babcock- Report together as coherently as possible but I can make no promises. There is so much going on right now that I do not even have anytime to sit down and complete a rough draft, which many great writers will agree is necessary to a “readable” final product, so bear with me.
First off, it has been a few days since any more waitresses or 15 year olds have come forward with any accusations of having been hit-on, knocked up, or struck out by Roger Clemens. However, Mindy McCready, the original Rocketeer, is about to release a bio-pic that will allegedly include all of the details of her affair with Clemens. This article, also includes a Youtube video of McCready herself thanking fans for standing by her and promoting her new single “I’m Still Here”, which she wrote in jail. I haven’t listened to the song yet but I am positive that its title alludes to the fact that Clemens’ attempts to kill McCready off by getting her high on meth and cocaine and firing high and tight two-seamers at her have failed thus far. The title of the movie is Fallen Angel, but I respectfully submit Ace In the Hole as a far superior alternative. Maybe I called that a new album was in the works for McCready…and maybe I did. Check it out at OriginalMindyMcCready.com, or find one of 5.9 billion other better things to do.
The real question is, who gets to play Roger Clemens in the “film”? I’m thinking Bruce Willis or Steven Segal (sans-ponytail) although I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on that.
One note on the NBA Draft Lottery…I find it interesting that all of the teams involved send such a random collection of people to these things. You might think that you would just send your GM, but instead we get to see Dwayne Wade standing next to this guy:
I move that teams no longer send anyone actually associated with the team but instead choose a B-List celebrity to attend the Draft Lottery on their behalf…Just imagine Bobby Brown, Danny Bonnaduce, LC from the Hills, and Kevin Federline sitting around watching the ping pong balls swirling. That is drama. There is really no limit to how awesome that would be...or to how random the representatives might get. Seriously, David Stern, since you obviously don’t care about the horrible officiating in the NBA right now you might as well spend your time whoring out the league to bottom feeding celebrities to make a few extra dollars.
Tayshaun Prince: Leads the NBA in Super Delegates
. I was very happy with the Celtics win Tuesday night. I’m not going to get into too many details but I want to say three things:
1) I love the Rasheed Wallace Kevin Garnett matchup. Garnett had the last word in game 1 but you never know when Rasheed is going to go off on a tear. Garnett compared matching up against Wallace to looking in the mirror. Of course that would mean that Garnett had hair and bad teeth, but I think what he is trying to say is that their size, abilities, and intensity are comparable. I give the edge to Garnett as a defender, but Rasheed can be impossible to defend when his offensive game is going. You can count on a great battle in the post every game out of these guys. This is what makes the playoffs so badass.
2) Ray Allen is going to hit a HUGE shot this series. As soon as game 7 against the Cavs ended this just came to me. I cannot explain it. I do not know when it is going to happen, but it will. Be ready.
3) It is obvious the Chauncy Billups is less than 100%. Rondo may not be able to defend him in the post but the Celtics can easily counteract this by running Billups to death when he is on defense. Rondo can fly by him in the open court. When Detroit answers by sending Hamilton to cover Rondo, the Cs should use the same tactic and let Rajon run their best shooter into the ground. The more scrambling he does on defense the less mid-range jumpers he will knock down. (I love Rip Hamilton’s midrange game). It has to hurt the Pistons to have a guy nicknamed Mr. Big Shot playing hurt, or watching from the bench.
I will once again post this video…I heard it being played prior to tip off at the Garden. What makes this song so awesome is that it is only cool when you are at, or thinking about, a sporting event. There is really no other time in a persons day to day life when it would be necessary to listen to this. Unless of course you have a mullet and are driving in a Camaro on your way to an interplanetary space flight. Destination: Venus.
Before I move on to my predictions, I want to touch on this Bill Simmons piece about KG, and some of the conversations that I have had with people since it came out. As much as I love Simmons, I can't get behind this piece. Ted e-mailed it to me immediately after it came out with the question of "why is this coming out now?" Neither of us could think of an answer.
I would say "why write this piece at all?" But, in fairness to Simmons, he has been expressing these worries about KG throughout for the past couple of months. So then, the ultimate question is about the timing. The Celtics are still in the thick of things, and this piece is going to have no validity if the Celtics win a championship. Ted thought that Simmons might have some type of ulterior motive with the piece. Perhaps it was intended to bring out more in KG, or perhaps it was written as some type of reverse-jinx. Simmons does this stuff a lot, and frankly as a reader I could do without it. If this article was written for these purposes, then he just wrote a magazine article wasting every one's time.
Regardless of when and why it was written, I can't help but be totally opposed to the sentiments expressed in it. I expressed these feelings in a posting exchange with Jim over at Green Bandwagon . Jim wrote a great piece about the way that we have a tendency to view a performance from a guy like Tim Duncan differently than we might view a performance from KG because our our pre-conceived notions. I thought this posting was particularly relevant in the wake of the Simmons piece.
Here is an excerpt of my response: "Jim, this is a great post. I particularly enjoy it after reading Simmons article about KG on ESPN.com. I love Simmons, but I really hate that article. The guy was brought aboard the team with the second worst record in the NBA. Within months, he completely changed the culture of the team, led the charge in the biggest turnaround in history, and re-ignited a once proud fan base. What could be more clutch than that? I’ve always said (even when he was on the T-Wolves) that I didn’t see why everyone was so convinced that Duncan was better than him. Certainly, Duncan has the rings, but KG’s career isn’t over and he would have won those same rings in the same position. He may not guard big men quite as well, but I think he’s equal as an overall team defender and I certainly think that he runs the floor better."
Jim's response was: "About three months back the whole Bird vs. KG thing flared up and I came down strongly on Bird’s side in part because I’d want the ball in his hands at the end of a game. And someone pointed out that Bill Russell wasn’t a scorer down the stretch either. I liked that comparison in a way. Why does everyone compare KG to Kobe Bryant? No one does it the other way around. Garnett brings way more to the table than he takes away from it."
I found this exchange particularly satisfying and reassuring. I love Jim's comparison with Russell, and I stick to my guns that Duncan hasn't done anything in San Antonio that KG couldn't have done.
Look, as I said, KG totally changed the culture of this team in a matter of months. If that's not clutch, I don't know what is. He has led the charge for one of the greatest defenses in NBA history. He affects the game in so many ways that don't show up on the stat sheet. He gives everything he has to the Celtics every night. We're down to the final four now and anything could happen. Are we really going to put it on his shoulders if this team doesn't win a championship?
Tim Armstrong with Lars and the Bastards:
Viking is a good disc. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREDICTION #1: The Celtics Will Out the Pistons in Five Games
For the record, this is not something new that I am predicting after watching Game 1. In my playoff predictions post back in April, I wrote for my Eastern Conference Finals prediction "Celtics over Pistons in 5-- Easier than you think." Now, some of my predictions were shaky (Phoenix over San Antonio, Washington over Cleveland, Tornoto over Orlando) but some were right on (from the first round: "Detroit in 6-- Philly will make it tough") and three of my final four are still in the picture so I feel pretty good.
So, I believed in April that the Celtics would beat Detroit in five games. I stated on Monday, before this series got going, that "I'm confident because this will be a hard fought series between two teams that play the same style, and the Celtics play that style better." Game 1 affirmed this. I think the Celtics will capture their first playoff road wins in this series. And, as is typical with this Detroit team, I expect the Celtics to win the series easily even though it always feels close.
Will I be surprised if it goes 6 or 7? No. How could you be after the last two series. But, I'm sticking with 5. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREDICTION #2: Michael Strahan will be Back on the Field Next Year Come on, we've done this before. And not just with Michael Strahan. If he was really going to retire, he would have already announced it. Strahan wants something. Last year, he didn't want to go to training camp. He probably feels the same way this year, which is fine with me (has Orlando Pace ever been to one?). There have also been a lot of reports out there that Strahan wants more money than he is due this season (4 million dollars). But, Strahan's reps have said that money has not been an issue, and the Giants have said that they are willing to fork over more money for Strahan's return. So, if money is an issue, it shouldn't be for long.
I have said many times that Strahan is the key to the Giants making a serious run at at successfully defending their championship, so perhaps this is just wishful thinking on my part. But, keeping the team in limbo to avoid training camp is a tactic that he, and others, have used in the past. Furthermore, it seems like a player that considers retirement for this long winds up on the field more often than not.
PREDICTION #3: When We Look Back on this PostSeason, Kobe Bryant Will be What We Remember
Look, I hope I'm wrong on this one. I want more than anything to remember this post-season as the year of the Celtics winning banner #17. But, don't you get the feeling that Kobe is in the middle of putting together one of the all-time great playoff runs in history? As I said on Tuesday, I don't see the Spurs winning this series. So, I felt very strange last night going to sleep at around 11 with the Spurs up by 16 points. Ordinarily, I don't turn off Kobe Bryant, but I was exhausted and it just didn't seem like the Lakers had any chance of coming back.
When I woke up this morning, less tired and thinking more clearly, I ran for my computer. I wasn't the least bit surprised to see the headline. In fact, I would have been more surprised to see that San Antonio had closed out the double digit win. That right there tells you something about how great Kobe has been.
Here's the thing. Kobe didn't check out for the first 2 and a half quarters. He was trying to get his teammates involved. This is the player that he's become and that's one of the reasons that he put together an MVP season. He started off playing a team game, and feeling out the way things were going to go for that night. Then, when it became necessary for him to take over, he did. I went to bed right around the end of the "team basketball" portion of the game, but I've seen the Kobe takeover enough times to know what it looks like. Game 2 against Denver is a classic example. But, this was him doing it against the Spurs!
Kobe will continue to involve his teammates in these games, but it must be nice to know that he can win these games on his own if need be. I expect Gasol to match up better against Duncan than he did last night, and I expect the Lakers as a whole to play much better than they showed us in Game 1. Look, the Spurs are the Spurs and they will probably take 2 games. But, I don't even see this going 7.
It hasn't always been nice to be Kobe's teammate, but this year's squad certainly seems to be enjoying it. Kobe is helping them look good on and off the court. Found this article on Ball Don't Lie.
PREDICTION #4: When The Celtics Have Their Second Unit in Tonight, Jeff Van Gundy Will Say "I Just Don't Think There's Enough Offense on the Floor Right Now for Boston."
Can't he think of something new? Did we have to hear that eight times in two games? I'll add in another prediction, which is that every time Paul Pierce makes a nice play Van Gundy will belittle him by talking about how much he's "improved" and "learned" as if he is some young player who is just now starting to play well. I will then get extremely frustrated and yell at the TV.
