Game 5 - Keys To Victory

It's game day and since the great win on Thursday I've been checking out all of the chatter on NBA TV and comcastsports net.

A lot of opinions and analysis.

I think everyone regardless of which side of the fence you are on will agree that this series has more then lived up to the hype.

Every game has been different. Every game has been contested.

The Celtics should be preparing to go up against LA with Andrew Bynum on the floor. I hope that he is able to play. The Celtics do not need any charity. They do not need an easy way out. They just need to bring a few more things together collectively to take game 5 and head back to LA for 2 closeout opportunities.

The Celtics have to rebound the basketball and win the battle on the glass. The team that rebounds the best wins the game. Gasol was given a path to 8 offensive rebounds in Game 1. Since then he has had 3,2 and 1 offensive rebounds in games 2-4. That's a good sign. Bynum is their other main rebounder but his health is a big question mark. The Celtics need to stay with the fundamentals. Find a man, create some space to go up with two hands to secure the rebound. (KG and perk stop tipping the rebounds ... grab the freakin ball) That's one reason I love baby, He rebounds like an old school player.

The Celtics need to continue to take Kobe away from his right hand and bring the help defense when required. Kobe is an amazing basketball player in terms of some of the shots that he will take and make. But as this series has progressed, Kobe has been turned into a jump shooter. Yes he has made some unbelievable 3 point shots with the defense in his face but he is shooting .409% from the field. If he continues to shoot at this level, the lakers will not win this series.

Take the ball at Bynum. Don't avoid the contact..create. The Celtics ran some very effective pick and rolls in game 4 although they missed some layups that should have went in. The P and R will expose Bynum because he will have to move laterally and that puts more stress on the knee.

Push the ball Rondo. Push the ball. Rajon has been a little passive the last few games and he needs to accelerate the pace and again put more pressure on the LA bigs to get back on defense. Let's see how quick bynum can get up the floor. Perk needs to really get out and run to make this work.

Ray Allen and KG are overdue to have good shooting games. This is important because it will take a lot of pressure off the Celtics offens if they can knock down more shots. The Celtics need to take the offense to were it will be most effective. Find the hot hand...feed the pig. Most important is for Boston to move the ball on offense, set clean screens and get back on defense on the misses. The team with the most assists have won 3 out of the 4 games. Bottom line...Pass The Ball.

Ticky Tack fouls...For both teams we have seen key players ride the bench because they get into early foul trouble. It's agressiveness vs stupidity. The Celtics need to foul but foul wisely. It would also be nice to see the refs make less mistakes out there..Some of the screen fouls against the Celtics are mindless calls.

The benches will be a factor again. The Celtics bench did not win game 4. They simply contributed to winning game 4. After 3 qtrs the starters had played tremendous defense and expended a lot of energy at that end because the offense was just not clicking. The bench came in and matched and then took that energy level up another notch and handed the ball to the starters to finish the game off.

Odom has been a non factor in the series. He is a lefty so shade him to his left. I expect to see Phil use another big off the bench. It could be Powell or mbenga. Mbenga is longer so it will be a situational decision on Phil's part. Even with a healthy Bynum I do not believe LA can win rotating 3 bigs against 4 and now that baby has found his mojo he becomes a factor that cannot be ignored. (Even though phil did not want to talk about it...what a joke)

No telling what the captain will do tonight. He has been up and down like all of the big 3 but we all know what he is capable of doing. I think more drives to the basket would be nice because Ron Artest is is not really that quick.

The Celtics will win game 5

dboss

"The Celtics will win Game 5"

from your mouth to God's ears

Tommy mentioned running Bynum and rebouding the basketball.

dboss