Damn, I should've posted my prediction of this game - Lebron gets around 20 pts and really shows off his playmaking ability tonight. Hopefully he takes that dunk and the late run and it carries over to the next game where he starts scoring like he's accustomed to. At this rate, I'd give the edge to Cleveland as the team most likely to win on the road. Of course, the Celtics don't have to so I'm counting on the upset Wednesday. ...and yes, Mike Brown sucks at offense. This iso outside the 3 point line/pnr all day is ridiculous.
Game 2 the Celtics were lucky. They smoked Ben Wallace out. Varejao ended up playing big minutes and played like crap in Game 2.
None of the big 3 are the type of players who can take over a game single-handedly. And it looks like they are all looking to each other to lead the way. The Celts' weak play on the road so far is a sign of being mentally soft imho.
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don't blame sam for this one. KG and Pierce are just jump shooters, Boston has zero post up game. I have confidence Sam will be back with a vengence.. like War of the Worlds!!
but paul pierce has done that during the reg. season for them. he was their 4th quarter player. he's the only one who can step up and just score 30 but he's just not that good. but it isn't like lebron is scoring either. i think guarding one another is taking its toll on both pierce and james. celts will win this series based on HC though.
That part in bold should be read over and over again. When you're a former MVP, reigning Defensive Player of the Year, 1st Team All-NBA and your team is down by 7 with a few minutes left, why on earth are you going to let Anderson Varejao disrupt your game? You tried posting him up and it apparently didn't work for some ******* reason...fine, I can live with that. You decide that posting up wasn't a good idea so you're gonna shoot a jump shot...wait...nevermind, you're gonna defer it out to the same teammates that are hoping you, Mr. KG, would bail them out? Ludicrous. Cassell has more post up game than Garnett ever will.
Rondo has taken more shots than Pierce and Ray Allen. I'm not saying Sam is playing well, but Rondo's job is to setup the other guys. Sam's job is to make jumpers off the bench.
he better has one. his teammates have bailed him out tremendously. if they lost these games, he would go down as having one of the worst offensive series for a superstar of his magnitude of ALL TIME.
Varejao got destroyed by Tim Duncan last year. KG needs to figure out his post up game fast. Again, I know Sam is not hitting his shots, but Rondo needs to setup Allen and Pierce in rhythm or when they are wide open. Pierce and Allen are playing one-on-one out there. Good grief, Big Z, Big Ben, and Varejao? Dream would kill these guys on the post if they played him one-on-one or triple team him. KG=zero points in 4th. its his fault
tim duncan SUCKED offensively v. the cavs last yr. tony parker won them that series, hence his finals MVP.
I admittedly did not watch many (any) Celts games this year. I agree LBJ and PP are canceling each other out so far. That's my guess. I figured Lebron would gradually improve this series instead of having one big break out game after seeing how badly he played in game one. Wednesday should be a return to form.
Did you not see what happened when he went out with foul trouble in the 2nd quarter? Celtics went on a 10-0 run and the Cavs lead evaporated within minutes. He may be shooting horribly, but he makes everything happen for his teammates.
obviously your role players cannot play well ALL game, but they've done well for stretches when he sat down in the first 3 games (games 1 and 3 for instance). the thing about lebron is his passing is his greatest strength so he can still pass. but the role players have to knock those shots down and they are. if you can tie a series 2-2 with your best player shooting 25% for the series, scoring just 18ppg, it's the role players stepping up.
True, but last time I checked passing was a part of offense and LeBron is too good a playmaker to have the "worst series ever" for a star player.
but he makes those same passes and gets his teammates those same types of shots when he scores. he's putting A LOT of pressure on his defense and role players right now by missing his share of shots. boston will eventually figure it out on the road. they're due for ONE win on the road sometime or another. a star player of his caliber should not be shooting 25%. you saw how we couldn't pull out the first 2 games v. the jazz b/c tmac shot below 40%. cavs are fortunate the celts are simply either sucking or choking right now.
hmm, kg has no post-up game and doesn't take over? how surprising... did i see him cursing and pounding his chest?
I just re-wound and watched the last 4 minutes of the game. It was 76-73 and the Cavs closed the game on a 12-4 run. Observations: 1 PP is using an incredible amount of energy guarding LeBron. He's doing a very good job but the Celts need his energy and creativity on offense. I know the Celts are scared of LeBron blowing up and taking over a game, but it may be time to go small and give Posey a lot of floor time on LeBron. Without PP clicking on offense, the Celts don't play well against the Cavs' defense. 2 The Cavs defense is amazing and the Celts offense isn't good enough to overcome it. This is what happens in playoff basketball when teams size each other up after a couple of games. Those of us who saw the Celts a lot during the season know that defense is what carried them. The problem is the Cavs defense (when they play hard) is just as good, or better. Like the Cavs, the Celts don't have crisp 1/2 court sets to fall back on in crunch time against tough defenses. This is on Doc Rivers. 3 Based on point #2, I can guarantee you if the Cavs play hard on defense in game 5, it will be close. I can't say who will win but the Celts definitely won't win going away. There is no reason to think the Cavs won't bring their "A" defense on Wednesday so I give them a good chance. 4 The world can clearly see now that Ray Allen is OVERRATED! Case closed. There is no big 3; it's the big two (KG & PP). During the season, there were times that Rondo appeared to be their 3rd most important player, not Allen. 5 I don't see the Celts solving their problems on offense any time soon. They have been exposed. If the Celts somehow make the Finals against the Spurs or Lakers, they will find a well-prepared opponent ready to exploit their weaknesses to the nth degree. 6 The Cavs would get crushed in the Finals against the Lakers or Spurs. I give each team a 50/50 chance to win 2 out of the last 3. It's starting to remind me of the ECFs last year when it took the Cavs a couple of games to size up the Pistons and then chop them down.
