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- I think the finals are designed in such a way as to minimize the impact of home-court in the NBA. With three straight games coming up in Los Angeles, and the way the Celtics have played on the road, the Lakers still worry me. I think for the Celtics to win this thing they absolutely, positively need to take one in LA, and I think it needs to be one of the first two games they play against the Lakers, because I'm not convinced that they will be able to take the third if they drop two in a row.
- I think the Celtics lack the ability to stick the dagger in a team when they have it dead to rights. I think that was obvious when they nearly coughed up a 24-point lead, and over 40 points in fourth quarter to the Lakers in game two.
- I think that the Celtics tend to go away from what gave them their lead when they get one.
- I think with a 3-0 record and a 2.59 ERA (only one start in which he gave up more than one run) in four major league starts, the Red Sox are going to have a hard time justifying sending Justin Masterson back to AAA when Clay Buchholz gets healthy.
- I think it's amazing that people were positive that a horse with a cracked hoof had a shot at the triple crown. And that they were surprised when Big Brown didn't run well.
- I think Cedric Benson's an idiot. After being picked up for drunk driving this past weekend, he has lost the benefit of the doubt in relation to the incident last month on the boat. wherein police claim Benson was boating drunk.
- I think the Red Sox need to learn how to be the same team on the road as they are at home...or even half that team. Currently when they're on the road they're...well, they're the Baltimore Orioles.
- I think the more we see of him, the more everyone will realize that Jeremy Shockey is one of those supremely talented me-first guys who causes a team more harm then good with his selfishness. I still firmly believe that the Giants don't even make the Super Bowl, let alone win it, with a healthy Shockey.
- And one final note - I think the three most important people in the Celtics' win were Paul Pierce who has been the best player on the court in the first two games, Rajon Rondo who has been finding the open man seemingly every time he has touched the ball, and Leon Powe who played less than 15 minutes and scored 21 points.
Stumble It!
8 comments:
The Celtics have the better team. Despite so many "experts" predicting their demise in a short series, the best basketball man ON THE PLANET (Bob Ryan) predicted them to win. I take heart in that.
I sort of expect a letdown in game three, but then a return to form (and a win, please God...) in game four. Then, five is up for grabs. We'll see.
My big worry (given that they looked like their road selves through the fourth quarter) is that they play through the next three like they played that fourth quarter.
I agree, they're a better, deeper team than LA. But they need to play better than they have been on the road throughout the playoffs.
My biggest surprise has been Rondo completely outplaying Fisher at PG. He had, what, 16 assists last night? Fisher had 3.
I'm sure someone said this somewhere, but I can't seem to find it. Did Powe substitute in for Perkins? and did that hurt their defense some?
Perkins sprained ankle concerns me... he is such a big guy I don't know how he can play with a bad ankle.
(Suldog is drawing me into this.. blame him for my questions.)
(Well, that and its still a few months until the NFL.)
Actually, Powe had one more defensive rebound than Perkins, and he was actually on the court when the C's opened their big lead.
Honestly, I think that Powe and Perkins have created match-up issues for the Lakers who just aren't very aggressive underneath the basket. Powe was supposed to be the poor match-up with the Lakers' shooters, but so far it seems to have worked the other way around.
As for playing on the ankle - All I know is that some people have a higher tolerance for pain than others. I played half a footy season on a dislocated foot (I wasn't very effective, but I still played), but I've known others who had to sit with less damage. Now, I was only putting 180 pound on the foot, not 280. Of course, I also didn't have doctors working on it for four or five hours a day and then have it shot up with pain killers before the game - which I'm sure he's doing.
"I think that the Celtics tend to go away from what gave them their lead when they get one."
I also think they have a tendency to mirror their opponent-when they play the Atlantic hawks, they play LIKE the Atlanta Hawks; when the Lakers spend three quarters playing poorly, the Celtics just start mimicking that and it almost cost them that game.
We know they can beat the lakers in the Forum because they already have. They just need to develop-and quickly-the ability to go for the kill. They should have won that last game by 30 points instead of two.
It's frustrating to watch. They really should have just put the Lakers away. And I think you're right - they seem to have a tendency to play to the level of their opponent.
I think - someone correct me if I'm wrong - Perkins was substituted for by P. J. Brown. Leon came in to give Garnett a blow, but then Doc subbed Garnett for Brown later, keeping Powe and Garnett on the floor at the same time.
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