And they said the Celtics had no chance

Posted by Randolph Charlotin June 18, 2008 at 9:44 am

The Lakers vs. The Celtics. The Rivalry renewed. Overwhelmingly experts picked the Lakers to win the championship. And who could blame them? Just compare all the elements and it’s easy to understand why LA won the popular vote.

Just look at what they did in the playoffs. The Lakers cruised through the tougher Western Conference, sweeping Denver, convincingly defeated Utah 4-2, then crushing the defending champions San Antonio 4-1 in the Western Conference Finals. The Celtics needed seven games to dispatch the lowly Atlanta Hawks and seven more to eliminate a one-man team in Cleveland.

Style points mattered as well. LA had the best offense during the playoffs. They averaged well over 100 points because they were the best passing team in the playoffs. Boston’s offense was inconsistent at best. They had to rely on their defense to bail them out in every round. Somehow they advanced two rounds with a slumping Ray Allen. Known for his impeccable jumper as a Milwaukee Buck and Seattle Supersonic, Allen slumped through the playoffs. Two good games at the end of the Detroit series didn’t make up for three bad rounds.

How can anyone not like LA in this series? They have the league MVP leading the team. Kobe Bryant is the best closer in the league. Check that, best player in the world! The guy is so good he gave himself a nickname of Black Mamba, one of the deadliest snakes on the planet. He can take over games and win practically all by himself. There’s only one ball between Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Allen. Sure they shared during the regular season. But they’ve been the man before. Will they compete for the chance to be the hero?

Not that Kobeis alone. The Lakers pulled off the crime of the season when they acquired Pau Gasol from Memphis. Without him, LA probably doesn’t reach the Finals. There’s also the young and energetic bench. The self-titled Bench Mob has been instrumental in the Lakers’ success during the playoffs. All Boston has to offer is a collection of unwanted veterans, a second-year point guard and a offensively challenged foul-prone center.

And the ringmaster of this team is the owner of nine championship rings. He is the one and only Zen Master, Big Chief Triangle, head coach Phil Jackson. He matches his mind against Doc Rivers who never won a playoff series until this year. I repeat: Nine Championships to zero series wins pre-2007.

Well opinions don’t win games. Past accomplishments don’t ensure future success. Three stars are greater than one supernova. Looks aren’t everything as no one can see the toughness learned through experience.

The Lakers were the trendy pick. But trends come and go. The Celtics were based on a less than glamorous foundation of defense and team play, tried and true practices that often lead to success.

A lot of opinions changed when the Celtics came back from a 24-point deficit to win game four and took a commanding 3-1 lead. The players knew that meant nothing. Four wins made all the opinions worthless and made the Boston Celtics champions.

And that’s a fact.

They’re Learning

Posted by Randolph Charlotin May 31, 2008 at 10:11 am

Do you remember Doc Rivers saying it could be a good thing that the Celtics played in two series that were extended to game sevens? His words were, “Going through this thing twice has to be a positive to our team. It Just has to be.”

How many thought it was a load of bull? It sounded like a coach trying to spin a positive out of disappointment.

I did. I saw no good out of the best team in the East being extended to a seventh game by two teams clearly inferior to the Celtics. For goodness sakes, Atlanta barely made it to the playoffs. And Cleveland is a one-man team. And it took the Celts seven games to beat both of them? And Doc is calling it a positive? Come on!

Looks like Rivers was right. This team wasn’t playoff tested over the years. They are basically picking things up along the way when the expectations for this club are sky high. Finishing with the league’s best record and being rated as the top defense can do that, even for a unproven playoff team.

It hasn’t been an efficient playoff run, but the results are as desired. How they did it shows that Boston is learning from their playoff experiences. What they learned so far:

Resiliency: Rivers showed Muhammad Ali fights to the players to get across the message of always moving forward even when absorbing a lot of punishment. They took the best punches from the Hawks, Cavaliers and Pistons, but in the end Boston fought back and put them away.

Road worries: Boston was win-less on the road in the first two rounds of the playoffs, a 0-6 record in Atlanta and Cleveland. Whether it was not having equal intensity or failures to secure wins in crunch time, the Celtics played like a different team away from home and allowed leads to slip through their fingers.

They put an end to that problem against Detroit. When Boston had to win on the road after losing game two at home, they took it to the Pistons and won convincingly. It was a skill they displayed again in game six at the Palace. The 10-point fourth quarter hole meant nothing as they executed offensively and locked down the Pistons. In the Conference Finals Boston reversed their road trend and won two out of three.

Finishing touch: Because the Celts couldn’t win on the road in the first two series, they couldn’t finish off their opponents, even when they were on the ropes. Against Atlanta and Cleveland, Boston was up 3-2 with a chance to take them out of their misery on the road. Both times Boston came up short.

It looked like it would be the same story against Detroit, but the Celtics re-wrote the ending. A second half lead became a fourth quarter deficit. But instead of folding up the tent, the Celtics rallied a final time and put away the Pistons in six games.

Boston gets high grades for showing rapid application of the hard lessons learned from the playoffs. It’s easy to think they are prepared for the Los Angeles Lakers because the Celts already beat L.A. both times during the regular season.

Not quite. This isn’t the same Lakers team. They raised their level of play during the playoffs. The Lakers hadn’t traded for Pau Gasol yet. He’s not the same player as Andrew Bynum.

Boston will have to do their research for the Lakers, but will learn the most about their opponent by playing them. Based on the first three rounds, the Celtics are ready for the Finals exam.

Stand Tall, Stand Strong

Posted by Randolph Charlotin May 4, 2008 at 5:22 pm

The most important play of the game might had been a foul called on Kevin Garnett. I’m refering to his pick of Zaza Pachulia that dropped Atlanta’s big man better than a UFC knockout punch.

It’s not about retaliation, even though from that perspective, it was gratifying to watch. It’s more about what it says about Garnett and the example he set for his teammates.

That pick showed toughness from Garnett I’m not familiar with him showing. It’s one thing about being resilient, but it’s another thing to fight back.

The Celtics did the right thing following Marvin Williams’ flagrant foul of Rajon Rondo. They didn’t get into a confrontation with Williams and his teammates. What the C’s did was file that play away in the back of their minds and remembered it. The best way to get back at the Hawks was to make a bad beating even worse. The first statement was Ray Allen, who was cold all day, hitting a three following Rondo’s free throws.

But Garnett’s pick was the exclamation point. That was showing he won’t back down to a team that gets rough. If opponents can dish it, Garnett will dole it out as well.

A lot of noise was made when New Orleans forward David West tapped Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki on the face during the playoffs with Dirk did nothing in return. Nothing. Dirk didn’t even stand up for himself at that moment. As the leader, it set a bad example. His teammates saw that and felt Nowitzki wouldn’t have their backs if they got into a confrontation.

But Garnett got payback for Rondo by putting a little extra into his body check of Pachulia. It’s like in baseball when the pitcher hits a batter after a teammate was plunked. It says, “I’m there for you.” With KG setting the standard, the rest of the Celts understand their responsibility to stand up for each other when they have the opportunity.

This is playoff basketball. There will be hard fouls, cheap shots, and non-calls. It’s expected. This is not the time to turn the other cheek. The Celtics have to be willing and able to return the favor to let opponents know that they won’t back down.

Remember what happened after Kevin McHale clotheslined Kurt Rambis during the 1984 Finals against the Lakers? LA dominated the Celts in game three. After McHale’s hard foul, the game and series turned around. The Celtics won the game in overtime and tied the series. In game five, the Celts blew out the Lakers and ultimately won the series and championship in seven games. Hopefully Garnett’s pick has a similar effect on the team.

Cleveland won’t give up the lane when they come to Boston. The Celtics must make the Cavs earn it as well. Round two will be like a street fight. The Celtics won’t beat the Cavs unless they throw punches of their own.

Celtics Fans: No Need to Worry

Posted by Craig Kolodny April 30, 2008 at 1:05 pm

There’s definitely a lot of angst in Boston tonight as the Celtics head into Game 5 against the upstart Hawks. There was never supposed to even be a Game 5. And then after Atlanta won Game 3, tonight’s game was viewed as a chance to win the series on home soil. Oh how things have changed.  After tonight, Celtics fans probably don’t want to see the Celts on the parquet until Game 1 of the next round. Win Game 5, take Game 6 on the road, and we’ll pretend this series never happened.

And I’m here to tell you that is exactly what’s going to happen. Yes, I’ve seen Games 3 and 4. There’s no way Joe Johnson could do that again. But I also saw Games 1 and 2 in Boston. The Hawks had no chance in the Garden. The green team only lost 6 times at home all season. Kevin Garnett and company have come too far to go and mess it all up in round 1. We’ve already had enough 1 vs 8 drama in the postseason around these parts (I’m talking about the Bruins in case you forgot).

I’ve heard from enough people that now is the time to panic, and all I can do is laugh. Yes, the series shouldn’t have gone this far, but unlike the Super Bowl, this is a 7 game series and most of the time, the better team will prevail. The Celtics were 29 games better than the Hawks this year, and it will show over the next few games. Boston makes a statement tonight in another double digit win at the Garden, and everyone around here will be singing a different tune, anticipating a (probable) showdown with LeBron and the Cavs.    

Hawks Take Flight

Posted by Mike Giardi April 27, 2008 at 11:55 am

First, let me admit that I have a problem, one that may not be fixable by any means of modern medicine. I am a Banana Chocolate Chip muffin addict. I got my fix this AM, pounding 3 of those bad boys with a couple of cups of joe. Not the mammer jammer muffins that are like a thousand calories per, but the little cupcake ones that are simply tremendous. And hey, its got fruit in it, so its gotta be good for you, right? Yeah, I’ll keep telling myself that as I balloon to 250. Only 90 pounds to go!

On a more serious note, what a dreadful outing for the Celtics last night. A team that has prided itself on defense played absolutely zero in the A-T-L. Josh Smith and the rest of the gang seemed to be dunking every time down the floor. How about knocking one of those clowns down? How about impeding progress to the goal? It just didn’t happen with any kind of frequency, and now the Hawks have some life. That’s a dangerous thing. The kids get confident, and who knows what happens? Now Monday becomes must-see TV.

The second notable thing from last night’s loss: Mike Bibby finally played like a seasoned pro. In fact, he outplayed Rajon Rondo. I didn’t expect Bibby to go down without a fight, but I didn’t expect Rondo to do what the rest of his team did - stop playing “D”. He may be most responsible for what happened in Game 3. Control the point guard, control the opposition. Didn’t happen. Rondo will need to be considerably better in Game 4, because defensively, slow Sam Cassell is not the answer.

May Days Over at Globe

Posted by Bruce April 23, 2008 at 9:19 am

Just a few quick links this morning…

David Scott reports on Peter May being the latest Boston Globe writer headed out the door at Morrissey Boulevard, and examines the state of things over there. Scott will also be live-blogging Derek Kellogg’s introductory press conference from Amherst in the afternoon.

Dan Snapp on Patriots Daily looks at the Patriots’ quest to land ‘value’ with the number 7 pick in the draft. Check the rest of the Patriots draft stories and news on the signing of TE Marcus Pollard on PatriotsLinks.com.

The Red Sox had yet another comeback last night, erasing a 5-1 deficit at the hands of the Angels to post a 6-5 victory. view the coverage at RedSoxLinks.com.

The Celtics are getting ready for game two of their first round series with the Atlanta Hawks tonight at the Garden. Get the scoop on Mike Bibby mouthing off at Boston fans,and KG being named defensive player of the year on CelticsLinks.com.

Check out Chad Finn’s new home on Boston.com. Congrats, Chad!

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Dear Mr. Bibby: The numbers don’t lie

Posted by Ted McEnroe April 22, 2008 at 5:57 pm

So, Mike Bibby called the Celtics fans “fair weather” today. Now I’m not saying that TD Banknorth Garden was a rocking place last season when the Celtics were 24-58, and had some games that, to put it frankly, stunk up the joint.

But y’all down in Atlanta can now get a little math lesson. Let’s look at the NBA attendance.

This year, the Celtics averaged 18,624 fans a game - 100% of capacity. You know that the hard way if you tried to get tickets late in the year.

The Hawks averaged 16,843. That’s 86 % of their capacity.

But hey, the Green are kings this year. What about last year when the weather at the Garden was decidedly “wicked bad?”

The Green were 24-58. Worst in the Eastern Conference. But they averaged 16,843 per game, about 86 percent of capacity.

The Hawks? 6 games better at 30-52. But more than a thousand fans worse, at 15,594 - 78 percent of capacity.

No doubt Bibby will hear what 18,624 sounds like tomorrow night.

It’s Time For Garnett to Shine

Posted by Craig Kolodny April 17, 2008 at 12:37 pm

A little over a week ago, I wrote on how Kevin Garnett should be the NBA’s MVP this year. No, I haven’t changed my mind in that time frame, but we’re now approaching the time of the year where KG has typically faltered. Most say the intensity with which Garnett plays with every day eventually catches up with him come postseason play. KG has been in the playoffs 8 times previously and only advanced past the first round ONCE. Is this a cause for concern?

I know, I know, he never quite had the talent surrounding him like he does as the Celtics enter Game 1 Sunday vs Atlanta. I don’t think there’s anyway the green team loses the series to the Hawks. In fact, Atlanta probably doesn’t even win a game. But I’m looking down the road. After leading the greatest turnaround in league history, there’s a lot of pressure on KG now. Expectations have skyrocketed for a franchise that hasn’t seen a legitimate title contender in 20 years or so. If Celtics fans expect to see banner number 17 come June, Garnett must assert himself (read: be selfishly aggressive down low) as the go-to guy against the rest of the league’s elite. If he doesn’t, not only will the Celtics not reach their ultimate goal, but there will always be people out there capable of saying he was just a great regular season player. Garnett may have the most pressure of anyone in the playoffs, but I expect him to shoulder that until the NBA finals at a minimum.