PISS-POOR EFFORT IN FINAL SEVEN MINUTES MARS WHAT WAS AN ENJOYABLE CURBSTOMPING FOR THE CELTICS
The last seven minutes of that game were absolutely ridiculous. Terrible effort on defense, moronic offensive sets, asinine lobbed chest passes across the entire defense... what the hell was that?
Here's what- the Celtics were winning by 20 with seven minutes left and they stopped giving a crap. At that precise moment, the Lakers hit several threes in a row. The Lakers were down four WITH THE BALL in the final minute!! It happens, but hopefully not again. It was strange, because the Celtics were getting lousy effort from their usual high-energy people. Garnett was jogging down the floor as VladRod was taking 9 steps en route to an uncontested layin. Rondo wasn't closing out on threes. Posey was just standing in the corner on offense. Once the lead was down to four, you could see the Celtics on the sideline trying to figure out how to try hard again- thankfully they did as Pierce blocked a three and Posey nabbed a rebound like a defensive lineman on a deflected ball. Very weird.
Anyway, I liked the following things about this game:
1) Much like we predicted, the Lakers have no answer for the energy and tenacity of Leon Powe. He was abusing anyone who marked him. Kudos to Doc for giving Powe minutes as long as he was playing great. Powe started throwing up running hookshots and he got the hook. Nice work by Doc, AWESOME job by Powe. In this series, he presents all kinds of problems for the Lakers that neither Perk or PJ do. Powe was drawing fouls left and right, which is devastating for the Lakers, who have no depth in the frontcourt.
2) The defensive job on Kobe was outstanding all game. It's funny how Wally World could make Ray Allen look like Oliver Miller on the perimeter but Kobe can't shake him.
3) The Celtics were the beneficiaries of several dubious at best calls, but they were taking the ball to the basket so aggressively they earned most of their trips to the line. KG's sweet up-and-under move set that tone early.
4) Rondo destroyed all of the goodwill he developed during the game (16 assists!?) with that horrible 12-footer he bricked down the stretch. He was also 2-6 from the line. We know he can shoot better than that, but I worry that the Lakers are going to neutralize him by just doubling off of him all the time like DWest did in the Cleveland series. However, Rondo's decisions with where to put the ball were great all night- my theory being that Farmar and Fisher can't deny any pass that he makes because they are both normal-sized point guards. Rondo could make passes into the paint from the top of the key all night long.
5) Other than the abysmal effort in the fourth- which was all about effort and very little to do with actual strategy- the Celtics played a good defensive game. I worry about the Lakers' ability to run the pick-and-roll from the block, which resulted in most of the alley oops the Lakers converted. I also worry about the Lakers gaining proficiency in getting favorable matchups via switches on picks. However, even when Powe was all alone with Kobe on the perimeter he still got a hand up in Kobe's face. The Celtics are a pretty versatile defensive team, but Pierce on Gasol was horrifying. I wonder what Tommy Boy will do to address these two potential problems for Game 3.
6) While the number of assists was great news (31 assists on 36 field goals), I was discouraged by the negligible rebounding advantage (Celtics by 1) and the number of turnovers (15). It was alarming how the Celtics got sloppier and sloppier in the fourth quarter rebounding the ball and protecting the ball, and I hope I can just say they didn't think the Lakers were ever going to come back and were just chilling out. Still, the Celtics should be destroying the Lakers on the boards every night of the week and they didn't do that tonight. Definite and area for improvement that would help out a ton on the road.
Alright, that's it, thanks to David Stern I am going to be dragging ass at work tomorrow but I am going to bed happy with the 2-0 lead and will probably have a quasi-sexual Leon Powe dream tonight...Source URL: https://ledger-heath.blogspot.com/2008/06/leon-powe-and-powettes-hold-on-to-win.html
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