Before I get into this Foil in the Oven, I need to break this news. Last week, while the Lakers were staying at the Four Seasons in Boston, a Lakers rep called down to the desk saying that they needed someone brought in to give Kobe Bryant a pedicure. I'm not naming any names here, but this is a very reliable tip. You heard it here first.
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The Celtics almost stole one last night. They didn't play well enough to win in any phase of the game. As dynamic as this offense can look when they are in sync and playing an aggressive style, they have at times throughout this post-season looked completely disjointed and confused. Now, give the Lakers credit for doing a much better job of holding down the interior on defense, but it was so frustrating to watch this Boston offense. The passes were rushed and sloppy. The over-passing reared its ugly head again. The team seemed content to shoot jumpers for the entire first half. It all reminded me of Game Four against Detroit. At one point, when the Celtics were running around, heaving arcing passes to one another and passing over their heads backwards to the man behind them, I screamed in a fit of rage "what is this? The Traveling Circus?!" I don't really know what this meant, but I'm sticking with it.
Defensively, the Celtics didn't bring the level of energy that they did in the first two games, which is the level at which they need to play against this offense. In fact, the fourth quarter was the first time I really felt like they played defense with any urgency. Now, certainly they knew that they were going to be at a disadvantage with the officials, and that may have affected their play, but by not being physical they were abandoning the biggest edge that they have in this series. Maybe they were feeling fatigued from the first two games and the flight. I don't know. But, they weren't sharp. It made me sick to see Gasol beat us on the offensive glass twice in one minute (once with the tip in with about 5 left, and then the offensive rebound and layup), and then run back pounding his chest like some kind of rowdy bearded woman that has had too much to drink. Gasol and Odom are soft, and they should never get those kind of second chances. Perk should have had Gasol smothered on those two boards. It shouldn't have even been an issue. That was lack of intensity, nothing more.
This was a low point for me, even though I was laughingI don't want to second guess Doc here, because we do enough of that already on this site. But, I'd really like to know what happened on the possession at the end that ended with a Vujacic three. I understand trapping Bryant, but not double teaming him in the middle of the floor at half court. And, even if you are going to do it out there, I don't think you do it with Garnett. And, even if you are going to do it out there and you are going to do it with Garnett, I don't think that you leave the Lakers best three point shooter wide open. I'm assuming there was a miscommunication somewhere. How about the Kobe three pointer from the top of the arc? He stood there like it was a foul shot before letting it go. Not a single Celtic came out to contest it. This was such a frustrating goddamn game.
Don't even get me started on Pierce and Garnett, who were a combined 8-35 from the field. This was the worst passing game I can remember Pierce having in a long time. Both of these guys were far too content to shoot outside jumpers at the start of the game. I don't have a problem with them shooting like that if they are falling, but they shot horribly in the first quarter (neither had a field goal), and at some point they needed to start attacking. When this team settles for jumpers, they are not good. We've talked about this so many times.
Even dunks were low percentage shots for KG last night.
SOME MORE THOUGHTS FROM THE GAME:
- I can see why the Lakers took Kobe off of Ray Allen early in the game, and Ray made them pay. He's the only reason that the Celtics stayed in the game. Granted, Kobe was free to expend much more energy on the offensive end. But, I don't think anybody else on the Lakers matches up well with Ray.
- Did anybody else feel a little weird when they clearly had that feel-good moment with Kobe talking about his family at halftime? We've seen 8,000 specials on him as an intense on-court guy and teammate. That whole thing was obviously designed so that he could talk about his family and they could push the good guy Kobe agenda. I couldn't help but feel like the overall message was "don't worry, me and my wife are fine. She hasn't been ashamed about showing her face in public for a while now." I don't really think that Kobe's a bad guy. But, still, I thought it was weird how they stuck that in there.
- Leon Powe only played 6 minutes last night. He wasn't great, but I would have liked to see more of him. He always brings energy and intensity onto the floor, and it seems like he really gives Lamar Odom problems.
- Eddie House played great. I don't want to see Sam Cassell again. It was nice to remember how well our second unit used to play in the regular season with Eddie at the helm. 1) He doesn't look to shoot first, which means that the Celtics get better scoring chances 2) He works harder on the defensive end 3) They can't lose track of him on defense because he will make you pay from the outside. His inconsistent minutes have affected his shooting touch, so he will only get better if Doc sticks with him.
- Mark Jackson said that Jordan Farmar is a starting point guard in this league.
- I'm sure this was more exaggerated pronounced yesterday because of everything that happened with Donaghy, but why won't they show us replays of questionable fouls? The offensive foul on Ray Allen? The traveling call on KG? I want to see these replays.
- Speaking of Donaghy, I think this guy is just trying to get his sentence reduced. There's no way for us to ever know if those two series were fixed, but I absolutely don't believe that the NBA office has ever fixed a series. Furthermore, Donghy said that referees were told to try not to eject stars in the playoffs. Doesn't that go without saying. Don't you expect the league to say that? In a way, that's the league MAKING SURE that the referees don't decide games. Look, NBA officiating is very subjective. It always will be. And, there will always be certain players that have issues with certain referees. That doesn't mean the game is fixed. I'm more concerned with bad officiating than I am with crooked officiating.
Look, I'll say the same thing I've said time and time again throughout these playoffs. The Celtics played pitifully. They only shot 34.9% from the field. They shot less than 70% from the line. They weren't aggressive on either end of the floor. They gave up 36 points and 7 boards to Kobe Bryant. Paul Pierce was in heavy foul trouble for the whole night. They weren't physical at any point in the game. They only out rebounded the Lakers, a horrible rebounding team, by one (45-44). That they were only down three with two when Vujacic hit that three (with 1:53 left) is a miracle, and speaks to the fact that the Lakers also did not play well. But, Kobe did play well. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett did not. Am I still confident? Absolutely. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Charles tries to accomplish what David Blaine could not:
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Hilarious piece from the Blowtorch on Lamar Odom's ineptitude.
