TRADE KO...kidding. I've had time to blow off some steam and workout, so here is what I thought about the game. 1) Kobe tried doing way too much. He came out cold and tried shooting himself out of it, instead of attacking the rim. In the second half, he went away from setting up his teammates and forced a lot of action. I don't expect him to play like that, again. 2) Odom and Pau are soft...especially Pau. He is a 7'1 big man, he can't just flip everything up there when he his bumped. He needs to go up aggressive or he isn't going to get any love from the refs. 3) What was Phil thinking by playing Sasha so much? Why didn't he try Ariza? Sasha was pretty bad today, Ariza couldn't have been worse. 4) We were jittery. A lot of our shots rimmed out, I can't recall a game where we had so many shots go in and out. That isn't going to happen this whole series. Boston played a damn hard game, yet they barely could pull away from us. That has to be the positive that we pull out of this game.
On the plus side, I thought you did a great job defending Garnett. If Pierce is ever off the court for an extended period of time, the C's offense is a bit shaky.
^ Doc has to adjust though, take Pierce and Rondo both out, and bring Posey and House. There's instant offense there with both of them being able to shoot threes. Sam is good at times but you saw he took 2 threes I believe, and didn't make them, now if it was House, he would have had a better chance. As for defending Kobe, I would keep doing the same thing, one on one defense, and only doubling him when he starts going the basket. Back to KG, he should attack more and stop shooting those dumb midrange shots, which he usually makes, but when you have Gasol guarding you, which is known to be soft, attack him, make him go in foul trouble, and the game would change for the better. Good luck again for the second game.
I agree with Mamba on almost everything but point 3. Ariza is just someone Phil doesn't trust much coming off that injury.
My observations: 1. Boston deserves credit for really cranking up the D in the 2nd half. 2. Boston has twin towers, LA doesn't. This made it hard for Pau to operate, especially with KG being such a mobile defender. Inside, Pau had to go through two really tall players, and outside, KG had no problem sticking with him. 3. Kobe didn't look like MVP or even the best player on the court. That's got to change or it's over real quick. 4. It was a Celtics tempo game. Basically a typical Celtics game. They normally win by about 14 on average, and won by 10 over the best team in the West (but at home). 5. It was a closer game, perhaps, than the score indicates. The Lakers were within 5 late in the game. Unfortunately, the game is 48 minutes long, not 45 6. It was IN BOSTON. Boston should be favored. 7. Ray Allen looks like a shadow of his former self (from earlier in the season, even). 8. If Kobe gets his shit together, you have to bank on Pierce doing likewise. Foul trouble, and then missing minutes in the locker room with his apparent injury limited him to just 31 minutes. He still went 7-10 for 22 points; figure what he'd do in 40 if need be. 9. PJ Brown? He's 93 years old. He's not going to dominate the Lakers frontcourt in many games in the series. This may have been his only good game.
I don't understand why Odom doesn't take the ball to the basket. He see's KG under the basket and just passes the ball to someone else when he has the chance to run in and throw it down. The same goes for Kobe, except he's different in the sense that he settles for a jump shot even when he's cold.
I agree the twin towers effect the Celts have going is hurting us. Phil should play DJ Mbenga and Gasol at the same time. Mbenga is strong enough to neutralize guys like Perkins and Brown on the boards. Ronny should only play in this series when the Celtics go with Powe or Big Baby. I was most surprised by the shitty ass officiating last night. It's a total homer thing to complain about, sure, but even objectively speaking I thought the refs called too many ticky-tack fouls on the Lakers and allowed the Celtics to get away with too much. It was their home court so I guess that's to be expected to some degree. I think the Lakers win game 2. Pierce probably won't be as effective and I expect Pau and Kobe to come out strong. Contrary to popular belief I think the Lakers could win if Kobe plays like he did last night assuming Pau gives us 20/10 and Lamar gets his 15/10.
I of course liked the results and can see where the team can be better. That was not the C's best game and they still won. KG fell apart offensively for most of the 2nd half, bricking a lot of short mid-range jumpers. He did have the follow up slam and hit 2 FT's late in the game so I doubt he'll come out shakey in game 2 TO's, C's had 13 TO's to the Lakers 8, can definitely improve in that area. FT's, Ray Allen missed a FT?!?! inconceivable.. don't count on that happening again and the rest of the team can improve too after missing 7 of 35 FT's Defend the pick and pop or pick and roll better. Kobe made some good passes to the cutter on the pick and rolls and the C's have to stop the Lakers from getting such easy baskets. See lots of little things could go better for the Celtics, I can see them playing much better in Game 2.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (yodawgsup)</div><div class='quotemain'>I was most surprised by the shitty ass officiating last night.</div> I figured a post like this would be inevitable, but I actually was content with the officiating. It seems like we've all been conditioned to be on the lookout for crappy officiating. But compared to the rest of the playoffs, there was relatively little to complain about in this game.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Celtic Fan @ Jun 6 2008, 11:20 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>That was not the C's best game and they still won.</div> Exactly Celtic Fan. That had to rank as one of the worst games played during these playoffs by the C's. And then add in having Pierce and Perk out for a few minutes, and like you said KG missing 9 straight shots until the dunk that he had. I except a much better game by the Celtics on Sunday. <span style="color:green">DRIVE417</span>
I almost fell of my couch when Paul went down.. I was like "ohno ohno ohno no no no no no!" If we had made it that far and then Lose Paul in the first game.. ugh.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Celtic Fan @ Jun 6 2008, 12:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I almost fell of my couch when Paul went down.. I was like "ohno ohno ohno no no no no no!" If we had made it that far and then Lose Paul in the first game.. ugh.</div> Yeah, I know, I got pissed off when I saw there was an injury. I wanted this to be a real match-up. And then I laughed quietly to myself when I realized that it would screw everyone's hopes of a great series between 2 historic franchises.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chutney @ Jun 6 2008, 11:30 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (yodawgsup)</div><div class='quotemain'>I was most surprised by the shitty ass officiating last night.</div> I figured a post like this would be inevitable, but I actually was content with the officiating. It seems like we've all been conditioned to be on the lookout for crappy officiating. But compared to the rest of the playoffs, there was relatively little to complain about in this game. </div> There was plenty of crappy officiating going on, but it was no different than any other playoff game. So, like you said, there was little to complain about.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pegs @ Jun 6 2008, 11:54 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Celtic Fan @ Jun 6 2008, 12:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I almost fell of my couch when Paul went down.. I was like "ohno ohno ohno no no no no no!" If we had made it that far and then Lose Paul in the first game.. ugh.</div> Yeah, I know, I got pissed off when I saw there was an injury. I wanted this to be a real match-up. And then I laughed quietly to myself when I realized that it would screw everyone's hopes of a great series between 2 historic franchises. </div> are you a fan of the sport or just your team? Whenever two very good or great teams meet, I want to see a great series, whether they're my team or not. I may pick a side, but I'm still rooting for a good series.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Celtic Fan @ Jun 6 2008, 01:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pegs @ Jun 6 2008, 11:54 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Celtic Fan @ Jun 6 2008, 12:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I almost fell of my couch when Paul went down.. I was like "ohno ohno ohno no no no no no!" If we had made it that far and then Lose Paul in the first game.. ugh.</div> Yeah, I know, I got pissed off when I saw there was an injury. I wanted this to be a real match-up. And then I laughed quietly to myself when I realized that it would screw everyone's hopes of a great series between 2 historic franchises. </div> are you a fan of the sport or just your team? Whenever two very good or great teams meet, I want to see a great series, whether they're my team or not. I may pick a side, but I'm still rooting for a good series. </div> I'm a fan of the sport, of course, but also a fan of irony
Kobe needed to drive in more instead of taking so many shots. About 5 of them rimmed in and out. Phil need to play Mbenga more, We got killed on the boards once again. I don;t like to complain about refs, but they did call a lot of touch fouls at the end on the Lakers.
I am only interested in seeing a complete massacre of the enemy, I do not want to see a great series if my team is involved.
I'm not saying the refs were perfect or anything, but when you're summarizing that game, you're only going to talk about the players and coaches. That's all you really can ask for, given how terrible NBA officiating is.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chutney @ Jun 6 2008, 03:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm not saying the refs were perfect or anything, but when you're summarizing that game, you're only going to talk about the players and coaches. That's all you really can ask for, given how terrible NBA officiating is.</div> Agreed. For me, from what I saw...all it came down to was that the Celtics hit shots and made plays when needed, and the Lakers didn't. They either missed open shots (including FTs) or made stupid turnovers. Although that over-and-back call was complete bullshit, and it was a pretty noticeable turning point. Nothing that the Lakers couldn't have bounced backed from, normally, though.
