Tag Archives: 2008 NBA Playoffs

May 31, 2008 · 5:45 AM

Celtics Are Heading to the NBA Finals

One of my favorite, if not the favorite, movies of all time is the Big Lebowski. There’s just quotes from that movie that can be used in any situation in life.

For example…

When David Stern’s cronie referees were calling bullshit call after bullshit call (Perkins technical after Rasheed didn’t get one, Pierce getting called for an offensive while stopped and shooting, Rajon called for an offensive after passing the ball, Chauncey not getting called for driving with his elbows out like a running back)and the Pistons managed to take a 10 point lead I couldn’t help but think of the scene in the limo with the Big Lebowski. “Nothing is fucked?! The God damn plane has crashed into the mountain!”

It was is Paul Pierce was Lebowski after getting hit in the head with the coffee cup. “Ow! Fucking Fascist!”

But soon after that Rasheed had four fouls and headed to the bench. I thought of Walter, “Nothing is fucked here, Dude. Come on, you’re being very un-Dude.” He’s right, why am I getting worked up about this? Let’s see how the team responds and then flip out if I have to.

As they prepared for the fourth quarter it was like the confrontation with the Nihilists outside the bowling alley with the Celtics, specifically Pierce who I predicted in Friday’s column would have a huge game, playing the role of Walter. The Pistons of course as the Nihilists “We fucks you up. We take ze money.” And Walter looks at them, “Come get it!”

In what was a back and fourth game, the Celtics rallied in the fourth from down ten to win by eight. But really Flip Saunders should have waived the white flag a little sooner so the game could have ended quicker. “OK, but we’re dealing with a bunch of fucking amateurs!”

So now the Celtics get ready to face Kobe and the Lakers, “The man in the black pajamas, Dude. That’s a worthy adversary.”

Sure the Celtics don’t need “an M-16 jacko” but this should be an interesting series to say the least. It should prove to be the toughest opponent so far opposed to the Pistons, “What you have here is a bunch of fig eaters with towels on their head trying to ind reverse is a Soviet tank.”

Time to dig in the closet folks. Blow the dust off and get ready for the Finals!

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May 30, 2008 · 7:27 AM

Big Night On Tap?

The West was won last night by Kobe and the Lakers knocking off last year’s champs, San Antonio. Now the question remains; who will the Lakers face in the NBA Finals?

Which brings us to tonight.

The Celtics are heading back to Detroit for Game Six of the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics are up three games to two. (That was for all our friends that have been living under a rock, or in a cave for the past week and a half.) This game isn’t a “must win” but as a fan wouldn’t you feel happier closing the series out in six opposed to having to come back to Boston on Sunday?

Yeah, me too.

So now we wonder, as fans, which Celtics team is going to come out in game six? Is it the team that dominated the Pistons through three quarters in Wednesday’s game, or is it going to be the team that let a 25 point lead slip to one in the fourth quarter.

The fan in me really wants to see the former but it’s going to take some serious stepping up. Rajon and Perk did just that on Wednesday but can they do it two games straight? Ray Ray was lights out hitting 5 of 6, can he hit those same shots? Will Paul Pierce support like he did Wednesday or try and be a hero?

All the questions will be answered tonight. Well, almost all of them. If the C’s lose, it won’t answer the who plays L.A. question. As great as it would be for the C’s to celebrate winning the East on their own court, I don’t think this team really wants to celebrate the East as much as they want to celebrate an NBA Championship.

So I plea to the C’s:

-Don’t get in foul trouble, this way your starters can stay in the game.

-Pierce, put up a couple threes, if they fall you’re on. If you miss stop trying to force it (hero shots) and start driving the lane.

-Rajon, drive the lane as well and make the Pistons think you’re shooting, but instead of shooting dish to Perk or KG to slam it home.

-Ray Ray, the new arm sleeve is what you were missing, now rain down the threes.

-Bang the boards like you did in Game 5

I see Pierce taking over this game and going for around 35-40 points. For some reason I see him doing what he did in Game 7 against Cleveland and putting the team on his back and getting the job done as the senior man on the C’s and more importantly the Captain.

Then we can all dance like Gino…

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May 29, 2008 · 10:21 AM

Awesome Game 5

“They need to worry about making the playoffs first. This is no knock on those three guys they have but they don’t have a point guard, center or bench. They gave it away in the trade. I’ll be [expletive] if you can build a playoff winning team during the off-season, it can’t be done. It’s going to take some time.”
-Rasheed Wallace (October 2007)

Someone better tell Rasheed that the C’s have a center, point guard, and a bench.

We’ll start with the above requested photo of Kendrick Perkins. Kendrick Perkins from? Clifton J. Ozen High School in Texas. I’ll admit I had to look up the name, I don’t think my readers would accept “some high school in Texas” as an answer.

Perkins had 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting with 16 rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots against the Pistons Wednesday night. Read that again. 18 points and 16 rebounds! This guy had a double double in the second quarter. Just nasty.

As for the point guard, well Rondo didn’t score huge buckets (he only had 7 points) but was a facilitator on the floor. Four steals, six rebounds, and thirteen assists. Thirteen assists and one turnover. That’s the exact stat we love to see. Combine that with the fact that he played 46 minutes and it brings a smile to your face knowing that Alien Head isn’t coming in to disrupt the flow.

So, um, take that Rasheed. So much for not having a center or point guard huh? The “no bench” argument I guess could be used (Doc really only used 7 guys Wednesday) but with no back to backs what are you saving your guys for?

Ray Allen from… Connecticut (but we won’t hold that against him) came to life as was predicted by Da Guy at 8:52PM. Ray Ray dropped 29 on Detroit with an awesome 5-6 from behind the arc.

Garnett dropped in 33 to be the high man, but his five turnovers were a team high. Pierce added in 16 points but more importantly didn’t try to be the hero attempting only three shots from the land of three (sinking one).

It’s amazing how good the Celtics play when they don’t get into stupid foul trouble and can leave their starters in the game. Hopefully the team rides the momentum that they had most of the game before Detroit surged late in the fourth (remember they had it to a one point game with 1:23 left after going up 15).

I called the series in five, well that’s out the window. Can they pull it off in six? Who knows. The series has gone every other game so far. Let’s see if Perk and Rajon can perform like they did Wednesday on the road Friday. If they do, it’s o-v-e-r.

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May 26, 2008 · 11:44 PM

Well That Sucked

After coming out and making a statement in Game 3 that they could win on the road the Celtics came out and made a statement in Game 4.

Their statement; We suck!

Starting the game off going down ten points, the Celtics were able to go down twelve. At the end of the first they were down just five which was an absolute shock given the fact that they played like a diaper filled with Indian food.

Going into the half the Celtics had cut the lead to just four. But the Celtics had never led in the game and you could sense from the word go that there was no way the Celtics were going to win the game. How on Earth can you win a game when you’re putting up prayer 18 footers instead of feeding Garnett in the post?

Stupid, stupid, stupid basketball.

The final was indicative of the Celtics collapse and eventual surrender in the fourth quarter. I called it at 11:18PM when Chauncey nailed a wide open three pointer, giving the Pistons an 11 point lead, game over.

94-75?!? Next time Doc just put a white flag on a stick and start waving. Absolutely embarrassing that the team would just roll over like that.

Sorry, I know I used it before but after a shit show like last night I had to use it again.

“Jack you watch the game? I mean, didn’t it suck? It sucked!”

Exactly, the game sucked.

Why the hell are guys forcing up three pointers, outnumbered on the break? Paul Pierce was alone on the Piston’s side with four Pistons and he forced up a three. Hey stupid, chances are you’re probably going to miss the shot since you haven’t hit shit tonight. The shot clock has 20 seconds left on it, why the hell are you shooting?

Stupid!

The optimist in me says that a series tied at two coming back to Boston is a good thing considering the team lost game two at home. If they swap wins every other game at this pace the C’s are heading to the NBA Finals.

Now the realist/pessimist in me sees a 32% shooting percentage and too many turnovers by this Celtics team for them to even make it to a game seven.

Hopefully the optimist is right and the Celtics right the ship.

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May 23, 2008 · 5:01 AM

Panic!

In your travels through your day if you happen to see the Celtics bench players, if you could direct them to Detroit for Game Three that would be a good thing. On a night when the Big Three went off for 75 points, 25 from the previously invisible Ray Allen, the bench managed a whopping eight points. Yeah, you’re not going to win too many games, let alone home games, with that kind of bench production (or complete lack there of).

Maybe I don’t know enough about hoops, but the C’s won game one using a rotation of nine guys (I don’t count the 10 seconds Tony Allen was on the floor) and then play 11 guys in game 2? Funny thing, Detroit played their starters a majority of the minutes and they won. Funny how that works huh?

Ray Allen and Paul Pierce were almost the same from the field (Pierce had one more free throw) but Allen put his points up in 17 less playing minutes.

The teams really were pretty evenly matched, even down the stretch when the C’s were able to cut it to four but when they needed the big shots, Detroit wasn’t lacking in that department. The biggest disparity between the two teams (besides the C’s getting to the foul line 7 less times) was threes. The Celtics shot a dismal 5-19 from beyond the arc, while Detroit was killing it on 5-10. Some one get Paul Pierce on the phone and tell him he doesn’t have to force “hero” three pointers all game and that he can actually drive the lane. His 2-6 from three and James Posey’s 1-5 won’t get it done. If they shot nine less threes (for argument sake say they matched Detroit 5-10) and drove the lane, you’d half to imagine the outcome would be different. Just saying.

Another thing was turnovers, or should I say points off turnovers. If the Celtics can not turn the ball over so much (and possibly score when they force the turnover), they may stand a chance in Detroit. They turned it over a dozen times (Pierce the high man with four) and Detroit managed 16 points on those turnovers. Opposed to the whopping seven points on nine turnovers by the C’s.

Rotation, turnovers, threes, coaching, Paul Pierce insisting on being the hero (which he was in game seven against Cleveland), really just a combined effort of all of those things contributed to the Celtics loss. But, the bottom line is that they have yet to win a road game in this post season and if they can’t in this series, this game was the nail in their coffin. Time to become Road Warriors (HA!!!!).

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