Before we begin, I want to apologize for this Foil in the Oven coming so late and for its brevity. There were some electrical problems to deal with today.
There have been so many great aspects of this Celtics season, but perhaps none have been more satisfying and exciting than the play of Paul Pierce. Seeing him play with such joy and with the relief of not having the burden of the entire franchise on his shoulders has been uplifting for fans that have seen him give everything he has to the Celtics for his entire career. And, the results on the court speak for themselves. Pierce turned in the most complete season of his career, evidenced most by the fact that he has been receiving national attention for his defense. Furthermore, I couldn't be happier to see the national media finally acknowledging what a great player the Truth is. It was extremely frustrating to see him completely ignored during the 2005-2006 season, in which Pierce averaged a career best 26.8 points per game. The Celtics only played on national tv one time during that season (a memorable game in which Kobe outscored Pierce 40-39, but the Celtics won 112-111). There wasn't much more that Pierce could have done on the floor, and yet the Celtics weren't winning and he was rarely discussed in the media outside of New England. Memories like these make what happened yesterday even more memorable.
The performance that Pierce gave yesterday will always be remembered with the all-time great Celtics playoff performances. I can't remember a happier moment as a Celtics fan. The work is far from complete for this team. The competition is only going to get tougher, and I think we can all agree that it will be a disappointment if we're not watching the Celtics playing in the NBA finals. However, regardless of how things go from here, I don't think anything could happen that could possibly taint the memory of yesterday's game.
Throughout this series, the level of animosity that I felt towards LeBron James has been sky-high. I've screamed horrible things at him (at my tv) and I really believed all series long that I would never be able to appreciate watching him again. However, winning cures everything, and as soon as the game ended I began to appreciate what a great player LeBron is and what a great performance he put on yesterday. He didn't get much help, and yet he managed to keep his team in it against a Celtics team that controlled the momentum from start to finish (with the exception of the opening few minutes of the second half). The guy is only 23, and I am blown away by what he has done. He's been under a microscope since he entered the league. He's endured unthinkable scrutiny from critics and abuse from fans. He's been the entire focus of opposing defenses. And yet, he continues to exceed our expectations at every turn. I am excited to see the heights that his career will reach. I am even more excited that he is back at home today. 
As much as we'd all like to sit in a bathtub of melted butter and eat steamers while we bask in the glory of this victory, business resumes tomorrow. The Celtics have played the Pistons well all year, particularly in the third meeting, but the playoffs are a different beast. It will be interesting to see how the rest will affect the Pistons' performance in game 1, particularly how healthy Chauncey Billups will be. Even if he's not 100 percent, Billups is a very tough matchup for Rajon Rondo. After matching up with LeBron for seven games, Tayshaun Prince might seem like a breath of fresh air to Paul Pierce. But, Prince is a great defender and he has always been a very tough matchup for Pierce. When he's in the right mindset, Rasheed Wallace can be the best player on the floor. The Pistons bench stepped up in the Magic series. This is going to be a hard fought series. But, I'm confident. I'm confident because it's going to be a hard fought series between two teams that play the same style, and I think that the Celtics play that style better. Ray Allen has been most valuable to this team on defense in its games against Detroit because he can run with Rip Hamilton. His shooting woes won't affect his ability to neutralize Hamilton and I expect him to have a big impact on this series, even if it doesn't show up on the stat sheet.
We at Roomofzen have been calling to see Eddie House for a while now, and he clearly gave the team a boost yesterday. The other player that we've been calling for is Tony Allen. I'd like to see Tony utilized on defense in this series. Although he did commit a foul on Chauncey that cost the Celtics the game at the end of the first meeting between these two teams, he is a good defender and he is a great option if Billups starts to heat up.
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We'll have more on the Western Conference tomorrow. But, you can't tell me that you wouldn't be much more excited to watch the Hornets and Lakers than the Spurs and the Lakers.
I can't stand San Antonio anyways, but doesn't it make it worse every time you hear Skip Bayless refer to them as "my Spurs."
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I'm going to talk about the WNBA today, and I don't care what you have to say about it. Candace Parker exceeded all expectations in her LA Sparks debut last night. With 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists, Parker just narrowly missed a triple double. If you never took the time to see Parker play, you really should. She was completely dominant in college, and she is legitimately very exciting to watch. She is most likely going to be one of the WNBA's top players this season. She is a complete player, she can dunk, and she is attractive and charismatic. If the WNBA is ever going to take off, she will be the player that does it. Like Tiger Woods with golf and Sidney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin with the NHL, Parker may be the kind of player that attracts fans who would be otherwise completely uninterested. I know from those commercials (which are horrible, but that's for another day) that the WNBA is on ESPN2 on Tuesday nights and ABC on Saturdays. If the Sparks are playing, and I'm watching tv already, I'll probably flip over from time to time. I might not be the only one, and that's how these things start.
4 comments:
First off, I'm going to assume that the word "brevity" would not be in Nick's vocabulary if The Big Lebowski was never made. I don't want to live in a world without the Lebowski, so let's move on...
Game 7 was huge, but I can't get over one trend that I have worried about all year: The Refs. That was another awful performance by stripes and I really wish I was being a homer with my analysis, but Paul Pierces "charge" at the end of game 6 and his "turnover" at the end of game 7 are a microcosm of how the Celts have been called all year. Another thing that had me yelling at the top of my lungs is how the Cavs played our high screens. Their big men would basically jump out and hip check the ball handler, completely re-routing them and leaving them unable to drive. The Cavs should have been called for this foul on about 30 occasions and the only one I can recall was on Joe Smith in game 5. Two things have consistently stood out to me all season. 1. Paul Pierce gets no respect when he goes to the hoop. When someone sneezes on guys like LeBron they get a whistle. I don't get why Pierce doesn't get calls, but he hasn't all year. 2. Nobody in the NBA gets called more unfairly than Kendrick Perkins. Does he set his fair share of illegal screens? Yes? But what percentage of screeens in the NBA are technically legal? 10%? Poor Kendrick is about to go postal on the refs and with good reason.
The way we are called has worried me all year and if we are eliminated because of the refs(ALA the Mavs 2 years ago), I am done with the NBA. This series will be a big test, because Rip and Billups get 75% of their offense from pretending to be fouled.
As for the matchups with the Pistons, a couple of things stood out in the regular season: 1. Rondo and House are ENORMOUS defensive liabilities against Billups and Stuckey. As Nick mentioned, we need more Tony Allen in this series. I'm interested to see if Cassell matches up ok, because neither of their PG's are that quick. 2. Big Baby killed the Pistons. He was a monster on the offensive glass and singlehandedly beat them the second time we played. He even D'd Sheed up pretty well at times. He needs to be the first big off the bench. 3. We have to put Garnett on McDeyess. McDyess gets all of his offense on 15 foot jumpers these days, and Perk does not want to play out there. At the same time, Perkins can defend Sheed very well, and if Sheed is outside jacking 3's, he's doing us a favor anyway.
This is going to be intense. It feels like 2004 all over again.
Casten, I don't have time to read the whole comment (but I will later) because I am on a ten minute break from work and sitting in a copycop center on Boylston Street. But, I couldn't agree more about the refs. The home court advantage officiating wise was non-existant for the Celtics in any of the games. LeBron's double dribble yesterday towards the end was absurd. And, the fact that Z pushed Posey down on that jump that Pierce got ended up being a moot point, but should have been called. Game 5 was completely horrible. And, Pierce has been getting screwed. That charge in game 6 was terrible.
Agreed on Big Baby, that second game we played against Detroit in the Palace was his best game of teh year.
Sorry if you already said any of that, I only had time to skim, but I'll read it all later.
I agree, Casten. The refs were fucking terrible for the Celts and I really think that charge in Game 6 could have gotten them back in it.
Sadly, the double standard exists in the NBA.
Lebron, Kobe, and a few others ALWAYS get the foul calls, no matter what. They drive, the make a loud noise or grunt while they're jumping or shooting, and the refs always call it. it's like pavlov's fucking dog. Make a loud shout while you're driving - bam - you get a foul call.
My theory is this: the league wants to protect these select few since their owners invested so much in them. Another issue is popularity -- if these guys get fouled hard and get injured, fewer people will want to watch.
(just speculating, of course...I have no proof to back this up)
Casten- I have now fully read your comment. Thank you for it, we always appreciate them. I think this is hands down the best reader comment we've received yet. It has humor, and many good points. Something all readers should strive for.
1) Totally agreed on the refs. I too have thought about that Mavs series a couple years ago several times. I don't care what anyone says, that series was fixed. But, I keep telling myself two things to stay calm: a) if the fix is in somewhere, it's wherever San Antonio is. and b) David Stern's two best finals scenarios are Celtics/Lakers or Celtics/Hornets. He doesn't want to mess those up.
2) I cringe at the thought of cassell returning, but I think you're right. We've seen Chauncey abuse Rondo down low to get his shot. Sam plays that same game (albeit not as well as Chauncey) and his size will be an asset.
Thanks for reading man.
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