1: the refs are part of the offensive system, duh.
That block on Rondo is one that I would have expected to go the other way in Boston. Data counterpoint!
Data counterpoint! Subjective anecdata!
3: let me be the first to say that the issue is not the Celtics getting breaks at home, it's LeBron not getting fouls called him. And, you know, the chthonic stench of Atlanta, or whatever.
I also wish this game were less close.
So, e.g. poking people in the eye is actually encouraged in Cleveland.
Ugly, ugly. I can hardly bear to watch this thing. The Cavs can barely manage any team play on offense, and the Celtics have not been very impressive this post-season once other teams turned up the intensity. There's so much talent on that team, with good ball movement they should score every time down. Instead, this is like one of those old Heat-Knicks series.
6: A kindness, given the state of the place.
it's LeBron not getting fouls called him
An admirably non-partisan way to put it, for someone who is usually such a homer.
And let me celebrate my Multi-City Rootless Cosmopolitanism™ by noting that:
THE PENGUINS FUCKING RAWK!!!
Is Ilgauskas still playing? It seems to me that there's got to be an advertising campaign in that guy somewhere. He makes Shaq look suave and lovely.
Comments like 13 would be more funny if that "sent from my iPhone" were appended to all of them.
8: Yeah, I think LeBron is outta there after his extension is up. Don't think Cleveland will be able to do a build around him like the Bulls did with Jordan. I'm not sure what ails the Celtics.
14: I'm not actually using my iPhone.
sent from my iPhone
I'm not sure what ails the Celtics.
Age.
This has felt like the Celtics game all day. Even when it gets close, it doesn't really feel like they're in danger.
Damon Jones has hardly played all playoffs, and Pavlovic has sucked all year. We are missing Gibson.
18: This is headed for an ugly, 8-point Celtic win. Where are the Philadelphians so I can woof at someone.
Not posted from Tweety's iPhone.
13: No, fuck YOU
Now I really feel like I'm live in Boston.
Yeah, I'm not trying to be funny.
I don't love the way the game is being called, but LeBron creates Shaw-esque problems for the refs. He's just so big.
It would be great if ABC hired producers and cameramen that actually liked basketball.
Whole lots o' grabbin' goin' on in this game.
And whatever happened to the concept of a single pivot foot?
Imagine if Lebron had a jump shot.
I'm not sure what ails the Celtics.
The Curse of Antoine Walker Bill Simmons.
I'm a Philadelphian, JP. Woof away, motherfucker, though I have no idea what you're talking about. There's some sport where the Philadelphia team lost? Alert the media.
Whenever Lebron hits a couple of 3-pointers in a row, you know a couple of ill-advised 28 foot bricks are going to follow. So it's sort of a hidden gift to the other team.
Are you actually at the game, Sifu?
How weird is it that LeBron is a little bigger than Ben Wallace?
26: though I have no idea what you're talking about
Never mind, no fun then. Just a little dust-up between some girly boys on skates (Penguins 6 Flyers 0 for the series win).
Nobody in NBA history of anything close to Lebron's size has ever had his mobility and perimter-type game. He outweighs Magic by 30 pounds, also about 30 pounds heavier than Garnett. It's ridiculous he doesn't have that much of a post-up game.
Garnett has been amazing in this series on the mid-range jumpers. Just so accurate. The Celts are better feeding him than relying on Pierce.
If Jesus Shuttlesworth had had a better series, I think the Celts would have won in 6. Pretty interesting from here on out.
I can't believe the Celts are going to lose in the Garden (or whatever it's called now). If he had any decency, KG would retire immediately and exile himself from every city that has an NBA team.
Penguins wax Flyers 6-0. On to the Stanley Cup finals.
Pierce stole the ball! Pierce stole the ball! Well, not really.
Well, there you go.
The Cavs didn't really deserve this series anyway (although not sure how much the Celtics did either). That Game 6 win was so ugly.
Don't think Cleveland will be able to do a build around him like the Bulls did with Jordan
I don't know -- West is looking like he might be a serviceable PG, Sczerbiak's big expiring contract will be tradeable, along with about $10 million more in expiring contracts. Cavs might be able to make it interesting.
Well that was stressful. Pierce should learn to shoot free throws, that might come in handy.
The most important things in life is w-lfs-n.
What the Cavs really need is someone who can institute a good offensive system that makes better us of Lebron's unique combination of talents. Brown is a great defensive, terrible offensive coach. And also for Lebron to buy into it, stop trying to be Michael Jordan out there. Drives me crazy to see those possessions where he spends half the shot clock dribbling around outside the 3-point line, waving everyone else over to set picks.
I'm thinking the Pistons will make Sifu suffer just as much as the Hawks and Cavs have.
44: What the Cavs really need is someone who can institute a good offensive system
Sucking up to ogged will get you nowhere.
The most important things in life is w-lfs-n.
w-lfs-n would have been better in the post than KG.
And also for Lebron to buy into it, stop trying to be Michael Jordan out there.
To be fair, he finds himself in Jordan's situation: he quite reasonably doesn't trust anyone else to be able to score. I'm a bit surprised by the Cavs' offensive ineffectualness; I thought that they'd done a pretty good job building around LeBron a couple of seasons ago. But that was back when I thought D. Marshall could still hit a shot (and when Marshall was still on the team).
If you're going to make the comparison with the Jordan Bulls, you have to remember that Pippen was one of the best players ever. He's still way, way underrated.
I'm thinking the Pistons will make Sifu suffer just as much as the Hawks and Cavs have.
So you mean, the Celtics will win at home and lose on the road? Sweet, that's fine. Not very stressful, really, if a little drawn out.
Actually today's game is the first one I've found genuinely stressful; it would have been great if they'd won in Atlanta or Cleveland, ever, but today was the only game where I felt particularly worried they wouldn't advance.
And that was only for about 10 minutes of the fourth. So really, all is mellow. Keep it up, Celtics, and then at some point, you know, feel like you should turn it up!
you have to remember that Pippen was one of the best players ever.
He became one of the best players ever. Initially, he was a guy who couldn't reliably hit an outside shot.
To continue that thought, it's also good to remember that during their first run, they had Horace Grant at PF, and he was actually very good. Long, athletic, with a pretty decent mid-range shot. And they had some of the best pure shooters in the league: Hodges, Paxson. They replaced those guys with Rodman, who had lost a step, but was still a great rebounder and defender, and BJ Armstrong, who wasn't quite automatic, but still a very good shooter. Organizations win championships.
50: Yes, if that West 3-pointer had fallen, they would have been in the position where any kind of weird bounce might have swung it. (Oh, and no griping about 80+% free throw shooters allowed.)
50: The Pistons are going to eat Boston for lunch in the low post. PJ Brown?!?! (And I say that as someone who had them going through to the Finals.)
52: Shorter ogged: You win with meetings.
Organizations win championships.
I actually agree with that, Crumbs. Especially after watching the last few Lakers' seasons.
It's ok that you didn't get the joke, Stormcrow.
57 Thanks, dad. Maybe when I get through all of the archives I'll be able to keep up.
(And I defended you on the Timing thread, dude. I called you meta-right. Now I'm thinking I was meta-wrong.)
There's no loyalty here, man. Unfogged: where we kick you when you're down.
56: All the Lakers prove is that getting Memphis to gift you an all-star for nothing wins championships.
All the Celtics prove is that getting Minnesota to gift you an all-time great for Al Jefferson wins home playoff games.
From the above, one gleans the ingredients of NBA success:
1. Personnel.
2. Coaching.
3. Negotiation with people stupider than you.
McHale isn't stupid He just hates Minnesota.
Well, it's a game of two halves.
No, wait.
I actually didn't think the Jefferson/Garnett trade was so crazy. Garnett wanted out, he was getting old, and Minnesota wasn't winning with him anyway. Jefferson will obviously never be Garnett, but he's a very, very good player -- 23 years old, a consistent 20/10 guy already, etc.
The Gasol "trade" was truly nuts, one wonders if there was bribery involved.
If a Lakers/Celts series happens, it will be interesting to see Gasol and Garnett go at it. Gasol's extremely quick and really makes the Lakers go.
The Gasol "trade" was truly nuts, one wonders if there was bribery involved.
Please. Memphis had been offering Gasol around for two years at that point. Chicago could have had him a year ago if they'd been willing to step up with a real offer. They could have had him this year if they'd been willing to carry the luxury tax penalty for a year.
It was a steal, but it was a steal because everyone else outsmarted themselves. Sometimes the trick is to let the other guy beat himself. See the Spurs.
And, while Gasol makes the Lakers' offense flow, they'd have been nearly as good with a healthy Bynum, who is thicker and possibly quicker.
Sorry to miss this thread. Anyone have an idea what happened to Ray Allen? He torched Cleveland in the regular season...
If you're going to make the comparison with the Jordan Bulls, you have to remember that Pippen was one of the best players ever.
Exactly. Teams win championships. A great player is huge, but not everything.
BTW, anyone who thought the Lakers should have traded Kobe instead of Shaq can now line up to receive their kick to the groin.
bsest game ever! best win ever! best team in celtics history! (Much better than 86.)
He's right, though, gswift: breasts!
"So he died last year, you're saying."
PJ Brown is still among the living. Big men can play 'til they're 60. Antonio McDyess will win a title in 2017.
However, we all just witnessed the death of Ray Allen's career. Ray-Ray's career is Roadrunner heading right on off the cliff, legs still pumping.
-----
Paul Pierce is tits.
Sasha Pavlovic is a punk. Bron-Bron got him an open '3' with two minutes left, and Sasha decided the better option would be to pass the ball to Ben Wallace.
And what the fuck was up with Mike Brown? He decides to go with Ben Wallace down the stretch despite Big Ben being deadweight on the offensive end and unable to stop KG on the defensive end. Huh. If he'd gone with Sideshow Bob like a sane person, Cleveland wins that game.
Brown left Andy riding the stationary bike.
I commend your light-hearted and thought-provoking take on basketball, "Petey"; I'm surprised, with the clarity of your writing and the apparent strength and thoughtfulness of your opinions, that you've never found any other topics to discuss in the comment threads of any blogs.
PGD is now my sole heir.
PGD, you can look forward to inheriting a fully depreciated Honda Accord, a lot of expensive flat-front trousers that you will never be able to fit into, and a half-used box of hair-waxing sheets.
The thing about the Jordan Bulls is that Michael was almost always going to win two playoff games by himself, so he just needed enough support cast to win 2 out of 5, and Pippen/Rodman/Grant et. al. were eventually enough.
Stunningly, it looks like Lebron can be good enough that he'll be able to win three playoff games by himself, but he's not consistent enough right now to do so.
and what's with the #1 seeds losing all these first round playoff games these days? The Bulls were undefeated in the first round in their 6 championship seasons.
"I commend your light-hearted and thought-provoking take on basketball, "Petey"; I'm surprised, with the clarity of your writing and the apparent strength and thoughtfulness of your opinions, that you've never found any other topics to discuss in the comment threads of any blogs."
I apologize for being smarter than you, "Beefo Meaty".
He decides to go with Ben Wallace down the stretch despite Big Ben being deadweight on the offensive end and unable to stop KG on the defensive end.
Actual KG line from the night: 5-13, 3-4 FT, 13 pts, four of which were in the last quarter. But other than that, you make a good point.
77: oh, you're back. Well, that's good.
If I were you, SCMT, I'd be rooting for New Orleans tonight. The Spurs have multiple competent defenders to throw at Kobe. They have the matchups to give LA a competitive series, even if LA would still justifiably be favored.
For future reference:
75 is good-natured ribbing among friends
74 is acid wit
77 is asininity
Imagine me saying this in the voice of a beefy, bearded tavern-owner at a roadside beer joint in Eastern Kentucky, and I'm standing behind the bar with one hand out of sight under the cash register, and the music on the jukebox has stopped, and the guys at the pool table have put down their cues and turned to look, and you're wearing a lavender shirt and have just asked for a glass of pinot grigio, :
"Your kind ain't welcome here."
I apologize for being less of a redneck than you, Knecht Ruprecht.
Why do you hate lavender shirts and pinot grigio? Both are nice things.
For the record, 74 was funny.
I took it as good natured, but that may just be because I'm used to the frequent comments at MY's about how surprising it is that the quality of comments in the basketball threads is so high.
I meant it as good-natured. Silly me!
Luckily Petey'll be up against the wall with the rest of the traitors come January.
No contradiction between "acid wit" and "funny". To the contrary! Especially when it is directed a deserving target.
No contradiction between "acid wit" and "funny".
Absolutely, I was agreeing with you.