Lakers-Celtics Game Three Preview: Threedom Isn't Free
by DexterFishmore on Jun 8, 2010 9:30 AM PDT
in Game Previews
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PrintThe Lakers have seen this party before. Twice during last year's title run, they split the first two games of a series at Staples Center and had to play Game Three on the road. Twice the Lakers won to retake home-court advantage. In the 2009 conference semifinals, they pounded the Houston Rockets in Game Three, at a time when the Rockets were still at full strength. (Yao Ming played 39 minutes.) And in the 2009 Western Conference Finals, the Lakers recovered from a Game Two home loss at the hands of the Denver Nuggets to win at the Pepsi Center and assume a 2-1 series lead. Though it's no guarantee of a similarly happy outcome, the circumstances of tonight's visit to the home of the Boston Celtics aren't anything new.
The stakes are simple. The Lakers have one goal at the moment - to return the series to Los Angeles - and three opportunities to achieve it. A loss tonight leaves them two opportunities. So if Game Three isn't strictly a "must win," it's very much a "would be nice to win." As the cliché goes, it's hard to beat a team three times in a row, which is at the heart of complaints about the NBA's 2-3-2 Finals format. It's not quite as hard, though, if you spot the home team the first of those three victories. Win or lose tonight, there'll be plenty of basketball still to be played, but a loss means the temperature up in here is going to start rising, quickly.
The first order of business is to shake off the confusion that overtook the team at the end of Game Two. In the final minutes, the Lakers fell apart on both ends of the floor. They abandoned their system on offense and suffered uncharacteristic breakdowns on D. They lost their poise, they panicked a little, and as a result their execution fell apart. The Boston home crowd will be raucous and bloodthirsty, and there will continue to be whistles that the Lakers disagree with, making it all the more important that they play with smarts. No more losing track of Ray Allen on D. No more Ron Artest yakety-sax dribbling exhibitions. For the love of God, please no more of those!
Laker fans have KG's missed layups in Game One. Celtic fans have Artest dribbling around like an escaped mental patient. Let's call it even.
I think the world can agree that the Lakers have a not-insignificant advantage in the big-man game. The cat's more or less out of the bag on that one. Pau Gasol has been nearly unstoppable. Andrew Bynum was decent in Game One and a force of nature in Game Two. With Kevin Garnett apparently aging in fast-forward, the Celts are not well suited to stop the Lakers' inside attack. Should the Lakers seek to feed their big men consistently, or would it be better for Artest and Derek Fisher to launch contested jumpshots off the dribble? It's a great mystery, my friends. You'd have to be some kind of basketball sorcerer to find the answer.
One thing that would help the Laker offense is taking better care of the rock. Through the first three rounds of the playoffs, they turned the ball over on a decent 13% of their possessions. So far against Boston, that turnover rate is at 17%. The Celtic ball pressure has at times rattled the Laker guards. Hands are flying in to disrupt dribbles. Offensive fouls are being called. Neither of those two things is likely to change, so the Lakers have to be sounder with their handles and to move the ball with the pass rather than the bounce. Kobe Bryant has committed a third of the Lakers' turnovers in this series.
Two of the great unknowns tonight take the forms of Artest and Lamar Odom. Artest played his usual stellar defense on Sunday but looked utterly disoriented on offense. With the way the Celtics body up and poke at the ball, I don't see Ron getting much success out of post-ups or drives to the basket. His contributions, if they come at all, will be knocking down jumpers that open up when the Celtics double on Kobe or the big men. If Ron isn't making those, he needs to be giving the ball up. The Lakers can't afford to have him burn through possessions like he did in Game Two.
As for Lamar, nothing should shock us. He could score 23 and pull in 16 rebounds. He could score five points and foul out in 15 minutes. There's not really any point in complaining about the touch fouls that knocked him out of Game Two. The officials are pretty clearly going to call things close, so Lamar and the rest of the Lakers need to adjust to that reality. For however long Lamar's on the court, whether it's 35 minutes or 15, he has to be focused and aggressive.
When the Celtics have the ball, the Lakers need to improve how they work through screens. If they can't get around them in timely fashion - and in Game Two, Fish got rubbed out repeatedly, leaving Allen free to bomb away - they'll have to consider switching. On the particular topic of guarding Ray, it seems likely that we'll see more Sasha Vujacic tonight. Given how tightly whistled this series has been, Sasha's tendency to bump and foul 70 feet from the basket worries me, but Phil Jackson doesn't have many good cards to play. Certainly it's hard to imagine Sasha looking worse than Shannon Brown has done so far.
One improvement that would be easy to implement is stopping all the double teams on the Boston post players. Gasol, Bynum and Odom can handle their Celtic counterparts just fine one-on-one. There's no need for Kobe or Shannon or anyone to sag off outside shooters to help in the paint. Kobe especially has to stay home on D. When he strays from Rajon Rondo, it leaves the Boston point guard free to chase down offensive boards. A body has to be kept on him at all times.
I'm expecting a bounce-back game from Pierce tonight. The Ronster has kept him under wraps, but Pierce is too good a player not to break out at some point. In front of his home crowd and shooting at familiar rims, he'll be more of a factor than he was at Staples. I have no such concerns about Garnett. At Basketball Prospectus, Bradford Doolittle even suggests that the Celtics could be better off with KG on the bench and Rasheed Wallace on the floor in his place.
By the way, if you haven't yet submitted your entry in our Sports Enemy/"Why I Hate Boston" tee-shirt giveaway contest, be sure to do so here. I'll be reviewing the submissions this afternoon and selecting three lucky winners. The shirts are really cool. I was wearing one the other day, and your mom said I looked very handsome.
Follow Dex on Twitter here.
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I almost lost my voice and all my hair
when I saw Ron during that play.
Queensbridge.
"Derek Fisher shouldn't be allowed to shoot unless theres fewer than one second on the shot clock" - Kelly Dwyer
Artest & Benny Hil . . .
. . . absolutely hilarious!
But let’s not be too quick to put the blame of our game 2 loss on Artest. Yes, he’s a total train wreck when we see him dribbling like a maniac down the court. You can hear the collective gasps from Staples Center. He’s been a stellar on defense holding down Pierce. Talk about disappearing from the game. If Artest can continue his defensive play on Pierce and take it easy on offense, we’ll win game 3 in Boston.
he just needs to not try and create shots like that
he isnt Kobe, all I ask from him is to make the wide open looks that the various plays creates and play good defense on pierce, which he has done so far.
"Just by the aura of D.J. Mbenga being there, the shot missed."
Great preview, Dex.
IMO here is the key point you mentioned:
On the particular topic of guarding Ray, it seems likely that we’ll see more Sasha Vujacic tonight. Given how tightly whistled this series has been, Sasha’s tendency to bump and foul 70 feet from the basket worries me, but Phil Jackson doesn’t have many good cards to play. Certainly it’s hard to imagine Sasha looking worse than Shannon Brown has done so far.
Like you mentioned, Shannon is doing horrible Allen so far. He sags way too much off of him, and when he closes he doesn’t close nearly hardly enough. I expect Sasha to pick up a lot of fouls, but the fact that he was playing Allen very tight yesterday gives me hope he can semi contain him. Sasha even made a 3-pointer to boot.
that vid is so fucking hilarious
but when I was watching that game live, I wasnt that happy. Did I say by chance that Ron moves around the court like a wounded animal?
and yes someone needs to do some switching when KG or Perkins comes to set a screen. We cant afford to let Ray Allen or Rondo get open for a 3 or trip to the basket again. Shannon Brown should expect to see a cutback in his minutes for his shitty effort in game 2.
"Just by the aura of D.J. Mbenga being there, the shot missed."
and yes someone needs to do some switching when KG or Perkins comes to set a screen. We cant afford to let Ray Allen or Rondo get open for a 3 or trip to the basket again.
I wouldn’t mind experimenting when Pierce is off the floor to put Artest on Allen. That way if Artest gets stuck on a good pick, the big man involved (be it Pau or Drew) can go out and take Allen off the 3-point line, and Ron can possibly hold his own versus whichever big man he swtiches to.
yea, now the vid and the play are hilarious.
Not so much 36 hrs ago
Queensbridge.
"Derek Fisher shouldn't be allowed to shoot unless theres fewer than one second on the shot clock" - Kelly Dwyer
good analysis
As usual. I agree re: unnecessary Laker double-teams.
More Sasha, less Shannon. Because there’s nothing Celtic fans hate more than when Machine contributes.
double agreed, especially on the double-team part
Perkins and Garnett are not going to beat us—drive and dish penetration (and of course other-worldly shooting) will. Stay at home, Laker guards, stay at home. And Lamar, please COME home…we miss you
Triple Agree on doubles
We don’t need to double on anyone. Make them beat us.
One more key thing you mentioned.
There’s no need for Kobe or Shannon or anyone to sag off outside shooters to help in the paint. Kobe especially has to stay home on D. When he strays from Rajon Rondo, it leaves the Boston point guard free to chase down offensive boards. A body has to be kept on him at all times.
Rondo is going to be a force for the Celtics. He was the player of the game for them in game 2, nearly single handedly shutting down the Lakers in the final minutes of the game. Please, whoever is guarding him, BOX HIM OUT!
history of 1-1 series tie in 2-3-2 format...
tells us that tonight is a must-win as the previous 10 winners of game 3 in this situation have gone on to win the whole thing.
i mean even if we lose game 3 which i don’t think will happen, it’s not the end of the world
"i remember one time,we was playing basketball,and we was winning the game,it was so competitive,he broke a piece of lead from a table,and he threw it and it went right through his heart and he died right on the court" - Ron Artest on wonderful childhood memories.
the celtics need to win two games in boston
you can still afford to let one game slip away away
Saying "Hello With Malice" seven times will wake the dead.
Look, everyone . . .
The Lakers need to forget game 2 – which they will – and play Lakers basketball, which is:
1) big man paint points
2) defense
3) transition points
When we do all 3, only good things will happen.
Hopefully we emphasize the big man paint points.
It is becoming very clear that Perkins and Garnett are no match for Bynum and Gasol. (And to think we were worried about Drew and his injury before the series started.) Just keep pounding it down to them and good things will happen.
On Garnett
As a Celtics fan he really worries me since he looks way way out of sync and I doubt the Celtics can win a series against LA without him playing closer to early round form. I’m not fully sure what the issue is. You LA fans fixate on the spurious foul calls but Garnett may well be suffering the worst for this (along with Allen in game 1). It really does throw a player off to pick up quick ones. Garnett has to play physical too so when he picks up quick ones he gets thrown way off his game. He will foul out in that situation and he knows it.
So if Garnett goes a quarter without quick fouls we should see if he is really that “aged” as you guys seem to think. You are wrong on the age thing … I think it is more likely injury. He played very well against Miami, Cleveland, and Orlando (first 3 games) before having trouble. This leads me to think he is hurt. Yes, Gasol is now better but not 4x better than a functioning Garnett. The funny thing is early in the season Garnetts issue was movement and limping due to a non functioning leg. That is still a part true. But something now appears funny with his rebounding (the one hand rebound stabs) and shot (uncharacteristically off …. seriously some of you say he cannot shoot but he is money at the top of the key and that would move out your bigs to give Rondo more room so you should be really glad his shot is off). So my guess is Howard wrenched his shoulder with the many hard fouls. The last 3 games of the Magic series were a disaster for the Celtics since Howard started pounding like it was wrestling and the Celtics front line (outside of Sheldon Willams … big help there) all got seriously banged up. Guys at this level will not make excuses but you can see it in the changed play. You see the same with Bryant. When he is too hurt he cannot perform but still tries. Gotta respect the effort but the results are sometimes not good. I suspect the Celtics has no choice but to try and let him work it out which may mean heal enough between games. So perhaps the Celtics biggest hope is the longer times between games might allow some recovery if whatever the issue is allows some recovery in a week or so.
by Celtics_fan_in_cali on Jun 8, 2010 10:18 AM PDT reply actions
The thing that leads me to believe this isn't a short-term fix
is that the Celtics had a week of inbetween game 6 against Orlando and game 1 against LA and Garnett still looked horrible. Then he had 2 games off with no travel inbetween games 1 and 2 against LA and again he looked horrible. Now he only had 1 day off and travel inbetween game 2 and 3, so I’m just not buying that he’s physically bouncing back at this point.
The only way that I see Garnett playing better is if the refs seriously impede Gasol and Bynum. Without the refs help, Garnett is gonna get creamed (again).
agree with you about moving KG to the high post, but...
…complaining about physical post play? Seriously? That’s pretty un-Celt-like of you…
Nah ... difference is
Howard. I don’t have any problem with what I am seeing from Gasol and Bynum. That is just good hard basketball like the Celtics play. I wish there was a little more whistle symmetry inside though since the Celtics are also going in and the 14 blocks were not so clean. But that is not Gasol or Bynums fault. One should do what the refs allow within reason of not trying to maim someone.
But that is the point to me. If you watched the Magic – Celtics series Howard was really going crazy with the take downs and elbows. I thought he was going to kill someone. I don’t think what he did to Baby was on purpose though. But he did take down Garnett and Pierce and Rondo with what looked to me like ill intent. I am not a fan of that kind of basketball. I thought Rondo and/or Pierce would be the one messed up but it appears Garnett may be the one in trouble.
Ah well. A team has to stay healthy enough to win. That may be the biggest problem with 30+ age players at this level of basketball.
by Celtics_fan_in_cali on Jun 8, 2010 11:24 AM PDT up reply actions
Wait... whistle symmetry?
I agree: the zebras have been awful… but in a balanced way. I’d suggest that even with the awful calls being balanced, it favoured Boston in that Kobe was forced to give up driving to the basket.
The half-crazed ramblings of a Lakers fanatic living in Japan...
You are right about the fouls
KG, Lamar haven’t been able to play much due to all the fouls. We also saw that with Allen and Kobe for one game.
Let the Players Play!
exactly. The calls have been too tight, against both clubs.
…I’m not glued to the screen mesmerized by Joey Crawford, Bennett Salvatore, et. al., and I don’t think thiery minutes of Tony Allen and Sasha Vujacic is must-see TV, either. Nobody wants basket-brawl, but, let ’em play….
if you guys believe in dark humor
someone sent this vid to me as a “game 3 preview”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUtf6-avo2c
"Just by the aura of D.J. Mbenga being there, the shot missed."
Guys allow me to quote a great mind: He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp posts - for support rather than for illumination.
-Andrew Lang
First day of Mathematical Anomalies
Think about this while we’re putting so much onus on game 3, game 4, Kobe, Ray Allen, etc.
by rickfox on Jun 8, 2010 10:38 AM PDT reply actions
Good preview
but I have to disagree with the Lakers goal of just bringing the series back to LA. Really, their goal right now should be winning game 3, which in a sense is the same thing. However, WHEN we take game 3, our job in Boston is not finished by any means. Our end game should be to clinch in 5, and nothing less. Clinching at home would be great, yes, but we have to believe we are going to take more than 1 game at the Garden.
"He has to want it because talent only takes you so far. How much you want it is the difference between good and great." - Rick Neuheisel
This series is going 6 or [most likely 7 games] whether you like it or not
by rickfox on Jun 8, 2010 10:47 AM PDT up reply actions
lakers in 7
no way in hell kobe is going to see a repeat in 2008 again.
by lakerlover2by4 on Jun 8, 2010 11:00 AM PDT up reply actions
i think we need 2 of 3 in Beantown.
a sweep is just being fan-greedy, but coming back to Staples down 3-2 is too dicey for my frail constitution to contemplate
got a question
if you get call for 1 technical, thats 1 ft for the the other team, but if you get call for a second one, besides being expelled, will the other shoot another ft?
"You are asking me if LeBron is going to New York?, I’m trying to tell you in a polite way, I don’t give a shit"
Lakers bench
Did they make the flight to Boston? We’ll find out in 6 hours…
"This is not a game for boys. This is a game for men." - Phil Jackson
we're going to need like...a 100 of those
if odom doesn’t start playing well, he might as well stay home. this isn’t just one game. this is the nba finals. we have to win this series!
by lakerlover2by4 on Jun 8, 2010 11:43 AM PDT up reply actions
Well
This is the most nervous/scared I’ve been all postseason.
What is the nature of your thoughts, gentlemen, when you say "fuddle duddle" or something like that?
by RudeMood19 on Jun 8, 2010 11:21 AM PDT reply actions 2 recs
Not since the last time
Phoenix Game 6, OKC game 5 …
Some numbers to make you more nervous:
whowins.com
In the history of best-of-7 NBA Finals series from 1947 through 2009, teams (such as Los Angeles) tied 1-game-all with Games 1-2 at home had a 20-10 (.667) series record – the last team to be tied 1-game-all at home in the NBA Finals and lose the Finals was the 2004 Los Angeles Lakers, falling to the Detroit Pistons (which provide a favorable prototype for the Boston Celtics six years later).
"This is not a game for boys. This is a game for men." - Phil Jackson
That's Ok Rude
I have more than enough confidence/calmness to handle all my fellow Laker Fans worries..
We got this!
You are a witness to the Black Mamba 2010 revenge tour..Seattle, check, Utah,check, Phoenix,check.. Boston-FUCK Boston! This aint 08.Lakers repeat!
Absolutely. The sky is not falling.
The half-crazed ramblings of a Lakers fanatic living in Japan...
Dex, great write up!
It seems very obvious that the Lakers should be pounding the ball inside to Gasol or Bynum on basically every possession, yet they don’t feed those guys enough. But even with guys taking jumpers, having Gasol and Bynum under the hoop is a tremendous advantage on the offensive glass so guys are probably comfortable knowing that even if they misfire they have a great shot at retaining possession.
Very exciting series now that it’s tied up and shifting gears to Boston … excited to see how this one plays out.
-Rooting for a close game!
Denver Stiffs.com: Defending the sovereignty of Nuggets Nation.
Read your response last night Wave, you'll do great man, no doubts ;]
by rickfox on Jun 8, 2010 12:01 PM PDT up reply actions
Formally, a teacher, I was a TA for 2 yrs UNC, and then a Prof at McGill
I work for the government now
by rickfox on Jun 8, 2010 12:08 PM PDT up reply actions
I'm no secret agent Wave, I would fold under questioning. LOL!!!
I work for the Treasury Board of Canada
by rickfox on Jun 8, 2010 12:14 PM PDT up reply actions
rotfl at this comment on the vid
LMAO! This must be in the Lakers playbook. Ron misses on purpose, Pau taps it out (ala Vlade) and leaves Kobe open for a 28 footer (ala Robert Horry). Worked to perfection.
"Just by the aura of D.J. Mbenga being there, the shot missed."
It certainly looked the same. I had the same thought when I saw it.
Horry’s shot still gets fires me up when I see it. It was the second most exciting play I’ve seen in sports!
Did he say KG was aging in FAST FORWARD??? LMAO… that was a great one..
by Brandon 'B G' Garner on Jun 8, 2010 11:50 AM PDT reply actions
Tired of hearing about refs? Too bad!
from Kding’s twitter
KevinDing: Phil Jackson on 4/4 about Salvatore: "With Bennett, you don’t know what you’re going to get." Phil was fined $35,000 by NBA. J
"This is not a game for boys. This is a game for men." - Phil Jackson
worst five syllables in Basketball: Bennett Salvatore
by rickfox on Jun 8, 2010 12:00 PM PDT up reply actions
the two worst syllables in basketball:
Celtics
"Just by the aura of D.J. Mbenga being there, the shot missed."
the six best syllables in basketball
your
clevelaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand
cavalieeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrssssssssssss
sigh…
Saying "Hello With Malice" seven times will wake the dead.
on the bright side, things are looking up for the Browns
by rickfox on Jun 8, 2010 12:07 PM PDT up reply actions
Except for Mike and Chris.
"Prejudice not founded on reason cannot be removed by argument." - Samuel Johnson
when we lost game 1 in 2001, did you guys feel worse than now?
"You are asking me if LeBron is going to New York?, I’m trying to tell you in a polite way, I don’t give a shit"
neither. AI just went crazy in game 1, Ray Allen went crazy in game 2, shit happens, adapt
channel your inner Darwin
by rickfox on Jun 8, 2010 12:06 PM PDT up reply actions
Glen “Big Baby” Davis: “We’re Going To The White House”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfpJIcWBtCo&feature=player_embedded
"Just by the aura of D.J. Mbenga being there, the shot missed."
David Geffen new Clippers owner, LEBRON JAMES A CLIPPER!!!! It could happen
by rickfox on Jun 8, 2010 12:18 PM PDT reply actions
what about blake griffin?
and who in the hell would want to sign wth the clippers? we’re just going to own their asses again.
by lakerlover2by4 on Jun 8, 2010 4:21 PM PDT up reply actions
ITS NOT GONNA HAPPEN
and this is why:
"Just by the aura of D.J. Mbenga being there, the shot missed."
a great friend of mine had non-basketball business dealings
…with Donald Sterling. Said he had never dealt with someone who went of far out of their way to make you feel small…
People keep talking about Ray
and he did torch us, but him torching us takes away from everyone else getting into a rhythm, plus the odds of him playing the entire game are low especially at that high of a level as we saw in the second half. I’m not worried about trying to stop him in the sets. Its more about limiting the 3s in transition and transition baskets in general. They were up when he was hot and everyone was contributing. We don’t need to constantly switch because when we do that they take advantage because we give up size and our advantages on the defensive matchups disappear, in reference to our starters. We also don’t need to double anyone at all. I wish we would stop doing it. Kobe, Pau, Drew, Fish, Artest, Shanwow, Vujachick, Farmer, everyone is doing it, except LO because he just fouls when he can’t do something. The defense would be better if we just hedged Allen and made his routes around screens longer to give our players more time to catch up. We don’t need to switch or double on anyone on their team, unless they’re so weak offensively that they aren’t effective making the pass out of it.
agreed. I don't think switching is the answer, either
…too many screens to be switched without rotational chaos. Show hard, go through hard and fast (hit the gap off tackle, Fish) and live with the results. Don’t think Ray Ray will go 8-11 again, but he is who he be….still better than putting Fish on Rondo, which isn’t really an option at all.
Plus
eventually, they have to start calling some of these illegal screens if they’re going to call them on Bynum then their gonna have to call them on KG, Perkins, and Big Baby more than just once throughout an entire game.
Comment
One of the strengths of the Celtics is they have a collection of very good players who will defer to the hot hand. If Pierce and Rondo see Allen hitting they will run play after play for him till it no longer works and then they will try to take advantage of the compensation.
My limited impression of the Lakers is that Bryant, as great as his is, is much more unlikely to defer to a hot hand. I assure you if Gasol were put on the Celtics they would be finding a way for him to shoot 2x as much with his efficiency.
The Lakers may have better player as the fans on this board seem so proud of, but that does not necessarily translate to wins if matchups are not exploited. I am really surprised that Jackson cannot make them all do the right thing to a larger degree. I don’t blame Jackson for Artest though. Does that guy have a brain at all? He could easily foul out in 1/2 a game with the grabbing and even if they fall those shots are very ill advised.
by Celtics_fan_in_cali on Jun 8, 2010 4:07 PM PDT up reply actions
Where were all of Ray's looks in the second half?
Also, it is much easier to dish the ball to a player coming off of screens for a quick 3 pointer than getting it a low post player.
I think when people are being funny, they are actually being serious and when people are being serious, it's actually really funny.
by Rich Langford on Jun 8, 2010 4:13 PM PDT up reply actions
Kobe has got to quit roaming.....
Rondo is killing us on the offensive glass and we need to stop being lazy after missing a shot or even sometimes making a basket. Rondo is trying to push as much as possible to get a mismatch or find an open shooter in transition.
Less Shannon Brown….I am sick and tired of his poor decisions on offense and lack of defensive focus.
It seems like a week ago that shaqfor3 wrote that piece “Defensive adjustments for game 3”, but in reality it’s just been two days. Sometimes the waiting is the hardest part.
Saying "Hello With Malice" seven times will wake the dead.
are you gonna here or at the celtics blog?
"You are asking me if LeBron is going to New York?, I’m trying to tell you in a polite way, I don’t give a shit"
I don't know
Like I said before, there’s hardly any activity in the game threads on CelticsBlog because everyone goes to a forum that you need a separate account for. So it won’t be as fun.
Saying "Hello With Malice" seven times will wake the dead.
Why are we not jumping the passing lanes?
After watching both games a second time, it’s easy to predict Ray’s spots on the wing. Generally the ball comes to him from Rondo opening up a long, direct passing lane that any one of three lakers can jump. A steal there is generally a two at the other end. We should be getting two or three of those a game.
True
but the Celtics, especially Rondo, are great passers. Jumping lanes is too much risk without qual reward because while it may work 2-3 times and deter a couple other times, the vast majority of misses gives way to open shots and scrambled defense.
Ah ... now you are seeing the problem with Rondo
He passes VERY well. There was much talk on the Laker board how Rondo could not score or rebound on your team like the earlier series. But the other coaches are not dumb. Teams try to sag off him and dare him to shoot and this gives him good passing angles. He would much rather pass that shoot too. So when that does not work they guard him closer. Rondo’s outside shot is also not as bad as you guys claim. He also has enough speed where I don’t think Bryant can get up in his grill or he may foul out or detract from his offence. Yes, Bryant is great but he is not super human and it does take it’s toll to be under than kind of exertion on both ends.
by Celtics_fan_in_cali on Jun 8, 2010 4:01 PM PDT up reply actions
wha? Bryant not superhuman? coulda fooled me
..but I agree with your points on Rondo; he is an excellent passer, either hand, off the dribble at full speed, etc. But like i said before game 1—magic number (for us, that is) is 8—hold Ron-dough to 8 assists or less, and I like our chances….it’s not his scoring that hurts. Oh yeah, and PLEASE keep his shifty ass off of the boards!
Where the hell is shaqfor 3 with my damn countdown?
I havent seen it all day. WTF?
"I work my ass off every day in practice. How many other guys can say the same thing? Not many. I'm fighting against becoming soft. That's the worse thing you can say to a basketball player." - Dennis Rodman
2 hours, 27 minutes, and 13 seconds till tipoff
"Just by the aura of D.J. Mbenga being there, the shot missed."
lol, thanks man.
ur quick.
"I work my ass off every day in practice. How many other guys can say the same thing? Not many. I'm fighting against becoming soft. That's the worse thing you can say to a basketball player." - Dennis Rodman
I am confident and nervous at the same time.
I am feeling the Lakers have a %70 chance of winning tonight. I am, however, only about %10 confident in this.
I think when people are being funny, they are actually being serious and when people are being serious, it's actually really funny.
by Rich Langford on Jun 8, 2010 4:15 PM PDT up reply actions
lol nice URL...
For me its the consistent inconsistency that concerns me - PAGFL
It's always AMMO Time, in spirit- DexterFishmore
my favorite quote:
“We’re going to have to make him a liar,” Jackson said, smiling.
by lakerlover2by4 on Jun 8, 2010 4:24 PM PDT up reply actions
Now...
I think the world can agree that the Lakers have a not-insignificant advantage in the big-man game. The cat’s more or less out of the bag on that one. Pau Gasol has been nearly unstoppable. Andrew Bynum was decent in Game One and a force of nature in Game Two. With Kevin Garnett apparently aging in fast-forward, the Celts are not well suited to stop the Lakers’ inside attack.
If the Lakers can play for 4 quarters like they understand this…
The half-crazed ramblings of a Lakers fanatic living in Japan...
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