What We Learned from Game 7

Thank goodness that game is over. Now it's time to face the Pistons. There is no time in between games, but thankfully the Celtics won't have to travel. This is probably a good thing because the Celtics won't have time to make huge adjustments. Here's what we learned:

1) Eddie House is a huge improvement over Sam Cassell. That hustle play where he outsprinted Wally to slap the ball to James Posey was the most exciting play of the game. I have been trying to explain why Cassell is such a terrible addition to this team but I finally figured out why after Game 7. He's exactly like Rondo, except he's slower, lazier, whiner, shoots worse, is less aggressive, and has a far worse shot selection. Teams don't have to make any kind of adjustment. On the other hand, PJ Brown's big shot at the end was a direct result of the entire Cavs team trying desperately to close out on Eddie House's potential three from the corner. His release is so quick that he must be respected, he hustles his ass off, and his defense is good. And the weird thing is that House only shot 1-5 and didn't even hit a three but he changed the way the Cavs defended the Celtics whenever he was out there. He was +13 for the game. Of course, we here have been extolling the virtues of House for the entire playoffs and Doc finally figured this out. Irritating.

2) PJ Brown is the new go-to steadying hand in the post. As my boy Marty told me two seconds ago, he only takes shots that he knows he can make. He did have some horrific fouls throughout the game, but he put himself in position to help out down the stretch in ways that our other bigs (other than Garnett) haven't been able to do consistently. I love Powe and Big Baby, but they are the "burst of energy" types. They should get minutes down the stretch when they are being effective, of course, because I believe in the "play the hot hand" approach completely, but when the Celtics are in a horrifically officiated game in the playoffs and it's close down the stretch, PJ is the man at the "5" spot the Celtics need. Great pickup by Ainge, gotta give him props.

3) Kendrick Perkins... um... kinda sucks. I know that isn't going to make me popular amongst Celtic diehards, but come on... he had 1 rebound yesterday in 20 minutes. What the hell.

4) Zadrunas Illgalskus is pure evil. He kicked Rondo in the balls when Rondo was on the ground, and for that reason I will never, ever learn to spell Zrgurnauasses' name correctly. Asshole.

5) The announcers for ABC are the worst ever. EVER. I would rather listen to Bill Walton talk for three hours about his dual with Kevin McHale in practice. I am not one to complain about announcers because usually what I do is turn the sound down for the national games and listen to the WEEI broadcast, but I didn't this time and it was a horrible mistake. The fake banter between Mark Jackson and Van Gundy is embarrassing to listen to. They act like they were best friends when it's painfully obvious even to those that are incapable of identifying social cues that they have nothing in common. They act as if the stressed-out tiny white guy and the cool customer black dude are a natural and hilarious match. Well, guess what, this kind of relationship was already explored in the blockbuster smash "The Man" starring Eugene Levy and Samuel L. Jackson and all 9 people that saw it said it sucked. This topic has no need for further exploration.

The other thing that pissed me off was the "Will Pierce have his number retired?" argument that was rehashed word-for-word from earlier in the season. THESE ANNOUNCERS ARE RECYCLING MATERIAL! Mind-boggling.

But, worst of all, the worst thing maybe I have EVER heard was Mike Breen saying that Doc's tactic of coaching by "feel", i.e. jerking the lineup around like a lunatic, was a BRILLIANT TACTIC that should not be criticized. Similarly, Mike Breen has a love advice column, and here is an excerpt:

"When you have found a person you love and want to forge a lasting, meaningful, and successful relationship, I always advise my readers to follow the lead of former NBA Coach of the Year Doc Rivers and send mixed messages whenever possible. One day, tell her you love her madly. Then, the next day, randomly flip out and attack them for things that are outside of their control. Withhold all affection. Then, it's best to call up her best friend or her mother and talk about how your mate is a horrible person and nothing in the 'fight' was your fault, and that your mate knows exactly what she did wrong. Then, when your mate tries to work out with you what went wrong, just shake your head and be uncommunicative. The longer you can do this, the better. If you can completely avoid talking to her, and only talk through her best friend/mother, GREAT. Then, one day, whenever you feel like it (I always advocate to FEEL things instead of thinking logically or compassionately), send her flowers, a nice note, and take them out to a nice dinner. Afterwards, call the best friend back and say, laughing, that you're glad that your mate finally got her sh!t together, and it's about time. This is the best way to do things. After all, it was using this logic that Doc Rivers took the most talented team in the NBA to the Eastern Conference finals by losing every road game and squeaking out Game 7 wins against far inferior teams!"

6) I'm not too worried about Ray Allen. He was making the right passes out of the double teams (which they were sending at him every time he touched the ball) and he's just shooting poorly. Whatever, it happens. Would you rather he force up a bunch of terrible shots? He had 6 good looks all game and he only made one of them. That being said, Doc was right to cut his minutes last night because he wasn't making anything. Play the hot hand, I always say!

7) The Celtics should never, EVER count on the refs to make the right calls in the playoffs, because they don't and won't. Lebron was furious every time he went to the basket and a foul wasn't called. The Celtics weren't fouling him every time, obviously, but the mentality among the Lebrons and DWade's of the league is that they should be rewarded just for trying to make a move to the basket. On the other hand, Lebron could hold Pierce by his jersey and slap the ball away and also send Rondo flying 15 feet with his lowered shoulder in the lane and those won't be called for the Celtics.

THOSE ARE THE FACTS. So, the Celtics should be careful not to let the refs decide their gameplan, like they did especially in the Hawks series. I know this sounds counterintuitive, but the more the Celtics bitch and shoot jumpers the less calls they are going to get on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. When Pierce, especially, feels like he isn't getting the calls, he has the tendency to play wilder and initiate contact more to convince the refs that he's getting hacked, and this argument simply doesn't work. (He didn't do that in Game 7 and, shocking, he played better than he has all season.) They need to continue to attack the basket, go after offensive rebounds, keep their mouths shut, and play tough defense. The Celtics are definitely deep enough to survive foul trouble from pretty much any player. I was impressed with the Celtics' composure in this game because they were getting SCREWED by the refs and any impartial observer would say the same thing. Keep it up.

8) Paul Pierce has always been up to the challenge down the stretch, and he's the go-to guy. However! I was impressed that KG took a jumper with no hesitation (in and out), Rondo was taking it to the rack, and PJ was cleaning up the garbage. I don't know, I think there are several Celtics that are ready to take over when the game is on the line... the trouble may be in finding who it will be each night. But all the talk about the Celtics not having that go-to guy is for stupid people that get into stupid arguments. Everyone on the floor down the stretch pitched in well, in different ways. Also, it bears mentioning that clutch rebounding is vastly underrated and the Celtics are great in that department.

9) While the Pistons are a better team than the Cavs, I like this matchup for the Celtics because they won't get outcoached and their bench is superior. It's just a matter of time until Ray gets his groove back and the other two amigos are ready to roll. I like this series for the Celtics, they'll know they have to pick their game up. I believe they are capable... some teams only play a little tiny bit better than their opponent no matter how good or bad they are. I am thinking of another New England-based sports franchise that won a couple Super Bowls back when. Let's hope the Celtics can follow that example.Source URL: http://ledger-heath.blogspot.com/2008/05/what-we-learned-from-game-7.html
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