I just have to throw in some comments here:
1) The Rockets had won 22 games in a row, but had only sold out 8 straight games. You know a fanbase sucks when the team is in the middle of an exciting playoff run when they could be the 1 seed or out of the playoffs and the team can't even sell out. What the hell.
2) T-Mac's comment that the Celtics play the best defense he's ever seen was a great compliment. First of all, T-Mac himself is a very, very good defender. Second, he has been a one-man show practically his whole career and is used to seeing tight defense every night. Third, remember what he did to Bruce Bowen back in the day?
If you can play good defense, you can play with anybody. So, thanks Kevin Garnett for being such a maniac. You may throw the ball away in the closing seconds against the Spurs because you're such a spazz, but the Celtics are the best team in the league because of your defensive intensity.
3) I am going to say it loud and say it proud, the Western Conference is nowhere nearly as good as everyone says. Granted, the 8th seed in the West will have a 60% winning percentage whereas the 8th seed in the East will be under .500.... but the Rockets start Dikembe Mutumbo (who has been collecting social security for 3 years) and Skip 2 My Lou and they're battling for the top seed in the West. While the Celtics caught the Rockets on an off night, good teams don't get blown out at home.
The rest of the West is good, but all but two have a major flaw. The Suns can't guard ANYBODY and their offense looks terrible. The Spurs are old, have lost their swagger completely, and Tim Duncan is finally getting exposed for being the least clutch superstar since Karl Malone. The Mavs have taken a big step backwards with the Kidd trade. The Hornets have been spotty since the All-Star break... was it the Bonzi Wells trade that did it, or is it the fact that Byron Scott is an ignoramus that could be outcoached by Nic and Chap's dad any day of the damn week. The Golden State Warriors are dangerous when they're on, but they have some puzzling losses and are injury prone. (Plus, they are not nearly as funny as when they had Jason Richardson filling people's cars with popcorn.) Then, you have the Nuggets, who are barely in the conversation because they have exactly zero perimeter defense and they have passed the Nets for having the greatest percentage of douchebags on one team. (Hovering around 90%.)
I think the Jazz are a well-constituted team without glaring weaknesses (having addressed the weird lack of a three-point shooter but trading for chubby chaser Kyle Korver). Still, there are several teams that match up very favorably against them. The Lakers are obviously very good, but I'm not convinced that Andrew Bynum is going to be back full strength this year. Even if he is, there's always a rough patch when a starter comes back.
The fact of the matter is this- there is no team that the Celtics should fear. They match up well against everybody in the league, as proven by their stellar record against Western Conference opponents this year.
4) Paul Pierce is capable of picking up for Ray Allen when Jesus gets hurt. Since Jesus gets hurt all the time, this is very, very good for Paul's massive-ass ego. Plus, the coaching staff has done a much better job at managing minutes in the second half of the season, and even (gasp!) lets starters take their time to heal. Remember when Wally was playing 40 minutes a night for a horrible team with ankles held together with sticky tack? That's SO last year.
5) The Celtics bench is the best in the league. I don't care what anybody says. Every player that gets minutes, with the exception of PJ Brown, can catch fire on any given night. Last night, the Celtics got 21 points from Powe and 10 rebounds from Posey. On another night, those numbers will come from completely different players. Case in point, Cassell went bananas against the Spurs while didn't do anything but turn the ball over last night, whereas Powe didn't even play against the Spurs and went apesh!t against the Rockets. If there's another team like that in the league right now, I don't know who it is. Additionally...
6) Doc appears to have FINALLY learned to play the guys that are getting the job done instead of consulting the magic 8 ball, astrologists, and Ouija boards the night before the game. I never thought I would say this, and it may come back to haunt me... but Doc has learned how to manage a game! The fact that he hasn't screwed things up makes him deserving of Coach of the Year, and I am saying that with very little sarcasm.
UP NEXT: Dallas Mavericks and our old nemesis, Jason Kidd. The team has hired Morgan Spurlock to convince Big Baby and Scalabrine to stay the hell away from McDonald's french fries just for two days in case Jason Kidd is around. However, the smart money is on one of the two tubby Celtics to show up with a black eye.Source URL: https://ledger-heath.blogspot.com/2008/03/notes-on-rockets-game.html
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