POST GAME LA

Just a ridiculous game....and another game wasted! I bleed Green but man I cannot sit idol and praise a team that just blew an easy game against and aging team that has been depleted of talent and should have lost by 15 - 20 tonight.

Points in the paint: LA 46/ Boston 38
Fast Break Points: LA 6 / Boston 17
Rebounds: LA 55/ Boston 45

KG doing an impression of Ray Allen, give me a break! KG has no business shooting beyond his post up move which he did not do all night. He cannot even dunk with a guy on him any more...really sad. He also stunk on defense and rebounding as well. He had no body position for rebounding against AB and PG. He got his butt kicked on the boards tonight. JON as well looked God awful not boxing out and allowing AB & PG to just walk in for the easy tips. I mean Troy Murohy with 9 defensive rebounds...come on!

Then Rondo runs for the first half and forgets his track shoes the second. He never pushed the Fakers to be on their heels the second half after Doc kept telling them to run.

I wonder if Bradley played if he would have pushed the rest of the team? Who knows? That's left for bar talk!

7:30 PM start against Toronto @ Toronto Tomorrow.

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POST GAME RECAP WEEI 850


FAST BREAK: CELTICS SUFFER OVERTIME LOSS TO LAKERS
By Ben Rohrbach

Paul Pierce‘s fadeaway jumper missed the mark and Ray Allen‘s put-back got blocked as the Celtics suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Lakers, 88-87.

The entire OT was a struggle for both teams, so an Andrew Bynum tip-in with 1:29 to play proved the difference. The Lakers outscored the Celtics 6-5 in the extra period.

With a little more than a minute remaining in regulation and the Celtics trailing by one, Allen converted his second 3-pointer of the night to give the Celtics an 82-80 lead as “Beat L.A.” chants rained down from the Garden rafters. But Pau Gasol tied the game with nine seconds remaining, and the final Celtics play before overtime resulted in a wild, failed 30-footer by Mickael PIetrus.

Gasol (25 points, 14 rebounds) and Andrew Bynum (16 points, 17 rebounds) both registered double-doubles, and Kobe Bryant added 27 points for the Lakers (15-11).

Allen’s 22 points led the Celtics (14-11) in scoring, Kevin Garnett (12 points, 12 rebounds) recorded a double-double, and Pierce and Rajon Rondo combined for 32 points and 14 assists. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the C’s.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Spry Bynum: Jermaine O’Neal and the other veteran Boston bigs had trouble with Lakers 24-year-old center Andrew Bynum‘s youth and athleticism. A healthy Bynum is a dangerous Bynum, as the 7-footer nearly had a double-double by halftime. In fact, Doc Rivers turned to Chris Wilcox for a stretch — his first extended minutes with the Big Four.

Board room: Along similar lines, the Lakers size exploited an issue that’s plagued the Celtics this season — namely, rebounding. Bynum, Gasol and old friend Troy Murphy of all people corralled 40 rebounds as the Lakers out-boarded the Celtics, 55-45. Uncharacteristically, Rondo didn’t record a rebound until there was three minutes to play.

Backing up the point: With Keyon Dooling still sidelined and a suited up Avery Bradley considered doubtful before the game, Rivers could only turn to E’Twaun Moore for backup point guard minutes behind Rondo. Moore played four first-half minutes and registered a minus-8, so the Celtics had no choice but to play Rondo 40-plus minutes.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Mondo Rondo: Given that the Lakers had to throw out Derek Fisher and Steve Blake against Rondo, there’s no wonder Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak would inquire about the should-be three-time All-Star point guard. Rondo owned both Fisher and Blake, getting to the hoop with ease and creating shots all over the floor early. That trend changed late — one reason for the Celtics end-of-game struggles.

Pietrus dishes: Newest Celtic Mickael Pietrus continues to fill his role to perfection: Spread the offense and tighten the defense. He took four first-half field goals — all 3-pointers off the pass — and made a pair of them during a slow offensive stretch. With just over four minutes to play in regulation, he converted another trey off a Pierce crosscourt pass that gave the Celtics a 77-75 lead. And he shouldered some of the defensive minutes against Kobe Bryant, who attempted only six shots before the half as the C’s took a 47-45 advantage.

Throwing down: Garnett appeared to have some extra pep in his step, converting three dunks in the first half alone — including one on a lob pass from Rondo that brought back memories from the 2007-08 season. Heck, even Jermaine O’Neal dunked on Pau Gasol in the third quarter. You don’t see that every day. Then again, Gasol tossed Bryant an alley-oop that probably rated higher on the difficulty scale, but still …

I know you guys didn't like the result, but that was a really fun game to watch. It's such a great atmosphere when these two teams play, and even if play is spotty at times, the intensity level is so high that they bring out the best in each other. They have such great respect for each other and challenge each other in every way possible. You can almost guarantee that the game will be close with both teams having a chance to win. Great stuff.

Because of the shortened season, teams don't play two games against every team in the opposite conference, but the league was not about to have Celtics-Lakers fall into that category. They play again in LA in about a month (March 11). You can bet both teams have it circled on their calendar.

Both teams went through difficult stretches during the game, and some of it was their own doing, but I also give the defenses a lot of credit. Some of the faces have changed, but a lot of them have been through these wars for going on five years now. They know how to capitalize on their own strengths and exploit each other's weaknesses, but they know each other's strengths so well that even those are hard to capitalize on. All that plus the two teams' history makes their games a special event.

Plusses for the Celtics:

-- Good Rondo. Rondo was a difference-maker, especially in the first half, with his vision for passing lanes, using changes of speed and direction to blow by defenders for layups, and pushing it up the court. When he's aggressive yet under control, he's special. He would've made the all-star team if he hadn't been hurt. The Lakers used the standard tactic of leaving him open to double elsewhere, but if he stays aggressive pushing the ball and the other Celtics hit their shots, it's a downside the C's can more than live with.

-- The bench. Pietrus was excellent defensively, both he and Bass made some shots, and Wilcox contributed some energy. Both teams really shortened up their benches in this game, but we all know Boston has other guys who can contribute. You can't say that for the Lakers.

-- The Big Ol' Three came to play. Ray and Pierce had really good games at both ends, and although KG didn't shoot well, he battled against Gasol and Bynum inside.

-- Toughness and quick hands on defense. The turnovers were low on both sides -- 11 for the Lakers, nine for the Celtics -- and the Celtics lost the rebounding battle due to the Lakers size advantage, but the Celts played the kind of defense that can keep them in any game. Please don't take it for granted just because you've seen them do it so often for so long. Very few teams around the league can play defense this well.

-- Taking care of the ball. There were a couple of sloppy passes, but having only nine turnovers is excellent.

Minuses for the Celtics:

-- Rebounding. It's just the way it is most nights, especially when they concede rebounds most of the time at one end of the court. Given that and the disadvantage they had against the Lakers' size, they actually did a pretty decent job.

-- Bad Rondo. Much of the credit goes to the Lakers' adjusting how they played him in the second half, but Rondo needs to overcome that and force the issue with aggressive play (under control), because good Rondo is one of the Celtics' premium advantages, and they need to exploit that advantage, especially against the Lakers. Rondo lost his aggressive edge in the second half.

-- Free throws. The Celtics shot only five, and that wasn't because of the refs. The Celtics don't have an offensive post threat, Pierce isn't effective anymore at driving and drawing fouls, the Lakers obviously have an advantage inside at both ends with Bynum and Gasol, and the refs generally let the teams play and didn't call ticky-tack fouls (which I was glad to see and made for a better game). Add all that up, and the Lakers had 15 more attempts and 10 more points at the line than the Celtics.

Plusses for the Lakers:

-- Their size advantage. Bynum is still a work in progress and didn't finish several opportunities inside, but he is one big dude, and he was a force at both ends. Gasol had an excellent all-around game. The two of them together are a challenge for any team to handle, and they have a particular advantage against the Celtics. Throw in Troy Murphy (and although he didn't play tonight, Josh McRoberts), and they have formidable size up front.

-- Kobe Bean Bryant. You can say he's a jerk and can be a me-baller who sometimes shoots his team out of the game, but there is no denying his talent, hard-earned skill, ruthless competitiveness, and will to win. He's been playing heavy minutes, but he looks better physically than I've seen him in a couple of years. The plays he made with fakes and footwork and his step-back jumpers against tough defense are as impressive in their skill as the plays LeBron makes with his athleticism. He was terrific, and he is clearly one of the elite players in the game.

-- The bench. Their depth is poor, but they got solid contributions in this game. Matt Barnes was good, Murphy didn't shoot well but got nine rebounds, and Steve Blake's stats weren't impressive, but I thought he did a pretty solid job, especially considering this was his first game back after being out for a month with a rib injury and had to play 32 minutes in relief of a totally ineffective Derek Fisher. The bench held on nicely when the starters were out and basically offset what should've been a Celtic advantage.

Minuses for the Lakers:

-- Their kingdom for a point guard. Steve Blake is much better in a regular offense like this than the triangle, but he should be a backup. Age, weight, the erosion of speed and skill, and the mental toll of being president of the players union during the lockout have turned Derek Fisher into a guy whose role should be spot play and leadership in the locker room. There is absolutely no way he should be a starting point guard in this league. Gee, if only they could've done a deal for a top point guard before the season. But since THAT didn't happen, they have to be desperately working the phones to come up with something by the trading deadline.

-- The atrocious offense of Metta World Ron Artest Peace. He is still effective defensively, but he is absolutely cringe-worthy on offense. He makes Rondo look like a gifted shooter. It's hard to believe he used to be a pretty good scorer.

When two of their starting five are this bad offensively, it's a wonder the Lakers are as good as they are.

-- Bad from distance. They were only 1-15 on threes, and a bunch of them were open looks because the Celts had to double the Lakers' bigs. They've got Jason Kopono on the bench, but Pierce would've eaten him alive. They'd have been doubly tough if they'd made some threes.

Where they're headed -- Lakers. The Lakers balance has shifted this year so that they are much better defensively but not nearly as potent offensively. If they can pick up a point guard, if Bynum can get a little better at finishing against tough D, and if they can get more consistent production from their bench, they could be a viable contender. Kobe, Bynum, and Gasol are three really good players.

Where they're headed -- Celtics. This game basically confirmed my outlook, that they're not the favorites to win the East but have what it takes to be contenders IF they stay healthy. The bench will continue to develop and is a big plus, Rondo excels at what he does, Pierce and Ray look pretty darn good, and KG is doing an effective job despite his diminished physical abilities and the fact he's unfairly being asked to play center too much. Other than an unforeseen injury to a key player, the biggest concern is whether O'Neal can last. If I had to bet, I'd say he won't, and if he doesn't, that puts even more pressure on KG and bench guys to fill in at the 5. If they can keep O'Neal going and avoid the injury bug, they've got a credible shot.

When a game is this close and the difference between a win and a loss was Pierce's shot at the end of OT rattling in instead of out or Gasol not quite getting there to block Ray's putback, Celtic fans should avoid the natural tendency to see negatives more than the positives in this game. The Celtics are playing SO much better than they were 2-3 weeks ago.

It will be interesting to see if one or both teams have a letdown tomorrow since both teams have the second half of a back-to-back. After getting up for a game like this, a letdown wouldn't surprise me at all.

Outside

The rebounding was terrible. No fundamentals. Rebound the ball and we win.

Also would have liked see MP rotated back in the game. The Celtics were spent.

Dboss

Always felt like the Celtics had the game in hand....even with the Lakers leading in OT. But they were unable to put their foot down and do what had to be done

One things above all else bothered me last night. Every time the Celtics got a lead, and the momentum turned - Rondo tried to do something spectacular, which usually resulted in a turnover. Almost like when the team has a 4 or 5 point lead - he feels he is relaxed enough to make some blind, behind the back, between the legs pass. If he had simply executed the offense a few more times, the C's would have been up by 7 or 9 or 11....and the game would have been in hand.

The Lakers are shell of their former selves. The Celtics are a far better team. Silly to let a game like that slip into the loss column.

That was one of the worst games I've ever seen Rondo play. He seems like he'll always be a trick or treat player, great athleticism, vision, speed, but how many pointguards shoot 58% from the line? His lack of a jumper bogs down the offense as much as his vision and ballhandling can help. Here we are years later and we're still 4 vs 5 on offense, it works cause theres alot of bad teams and we play great defense, but its a fatal flaw too.

Sorry to have to agree with you Cow - Rondo had too many turnovers and too many times had the ball for the final 6-7 secinds of a possession and was unable to score... But he's not the goat of the game. I lay that at Jermaine O'Neil's plodding feet. Often people say, you need to think out of the box. Well JO needs to think about boxing out. At least once or twice a game. C'mon! Basketball fundamentals 101.

Kudos to Ray Allen. He still comes through,

Hi,
It was a good game. Well, sans the final score.
First I have to note the friendliness of the game on both sides. Everybody was buddy-buddy: KB chats with RR and Doc, DF slaps "good try" KG, KG slaps him back, PG offers his arm to RR so he doesn't fall into the croud. Even the nutcase formerly known as Artest was sticking to his new name for the most part. I'm not sure what's going on?
Other than that, this game reminded me the game 7 of the finals: Celtics were in control of the game, in 3rd quarter they started the push to put it away but couldn't get over that hump to finish it allowing Lakers to creep back in and steal it from under their noses. Similarity stretches even to a non-call on LAL in the crucial possession (I'm not blaming refs for the last night game): in game 7 PG's jump with the ball, in this game - double-dribble on KB.
In part I blame Doc. He should've told KG, JON and BB to stick to AB and PG instead of doubling KB. Also, he should've taken a time-out or even 2 when LAL started to creep back. Also, I don't get it - why Doc put MD in, all of a sudden. I thought Sasha would've been much better in the current setup.
Despite the loss I feel good about Celtics. They're progressing.

AK

I thought JON's 1 on 1 defense on Bynum was strong. But as the game wore on, the combo of Gasol, Bynum and even a bit from Artest - wore down the Celtics.

If they took better care of the ball and Pierce was even half on his game, the C's win by 8 or 10.

MD was in for 1 minute. Complete non issue.

Yes the Celts are playing better ball ...and despite the poor rebounding, better defense. In fact, damn good defense.

Cowans, I think you coined it best in your post. Rondo is liability.

YES, RONDO IS A GREAT POINT GUARD DOING CERTAIN THINGS....WHEN HE STOPS DOING THEM HE IS AT BEST A SUB OFF THE BENCH.

Without him running and going to the rim, his stats drop off considerably. In 4th quarters, the defense sags in the middle giving him/ daring him to shoot a jumper. This makes it tough for anyone to work the inside nor pass inside unless you have a fast break and they are on their heels. Perhaps that is why KG is shooting from the outside more often although I think KG's warrior days are over.

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112288 wrote:Cowans, I think you coined it best in your post. Rondo is liability.

YES, RONDO IS A GREAT POINT GUARD DOING CERTAIN THINGS....WHEN HE STOPS DOING THEM HE IS AT BEST A SUB OFF THE BENCH.

Without him running and going to the rim, his stats drop off considerably. In 4th quarters, the defense sags in the middle giving him/ daring him to shoot a jumper. This makes it tough for anyone to work the inside nor pass inside unless you have a fast break and they are on their heels. Perhaps that is why KG is shooting from the outside more often although I think KG's warrior days are over.

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And the problem then lies with the entire team slowing up and NOT pushing the ball up the floor and letting the other team set up in the first place. Too many minutes last night for Rondo but we had no other real option IMHO. He needs breaks just like the AARP guys and perhaps a bit more.

But it is hard to run when your not consistantly clearing the Def boards.

beat

Yes Beat you are right but it sometimes takes your point guard to kick start the fast break. A number of times as the TV cameras panned the side lines you can see Doc motioning Rondo to move the ball up quickly and Rondo is just taking a walk in the park. Doc even said to Seiger in his side line chats with coaches "We have to run & move the ball" This was late 3rd early 4th quarter. Never so the run game materialize.

As Tommy Heinsohn said in his game recap, Rondo did not take charge of the game. Kobe cannot run with Rondo and it showed in the first period. After that no running by Rondo gave the Lakers a gift.

As I said in my opening post, what would the game have looked like with Bradley playing some minutes and his tendency to always push the ball up court?

112288

This was a good game if drama and competitiveness are the measures. If execution is...

Congratulations to the Lakers for getting small leads and holding them like a mother protecting her only child. They played hard.

This game, in my opinion, should not have been close, should not have gone into OT. We should have lost by a healthy margin in regulation. Our offense sucked, as in "truly truly sucking", the second half.

1. The game started with Ray Allen posting Fisher or Blake. They can't handle him. Then, we stopped doing that before they proved they could stop it. We tried it once or twice in the second half, but Ray was getting the ball further off the blocks. That's a key execution point in a post-up game and we did it less well in the second half, for the few times we tried. Just one of many failures to execute well.

2. Rondo ran in the first and tortured Blake, Kobe and everybody else they put on him. Then inexplicably, in the second half, he stopped running. As usual, when he's not running, he's strolling. He'd walk the ball up and then stand, about 25-30 feet from the basket with 12-15 seconds left on the clock, until people made their cuts. This isn't the first time he has taken half the game off.

3. Everybody stopped moving in the second half. So Rondo's out there, far from the hoop, with the shot clock run down further than it needed to be because he strolled up court and nobody is executing. Everybody just stood around and watched. I knew we were in trouble less than halfway through the 4th when I noticed that we went completely stagnant. The last couple of minutes of the game turned into Pierce isos.

4. We degenerated into one-on-one hero ball. Well, I guess why not? God knows we weren't executing good team offense.

5. Their big 3 did great, but we knew we were going to have problems with them. I think Barnes was the difference maker though. A player who is averaging only 6.9ppg this year scored 11 points and most of those were off the 3 offensive boards he got (out of a total 4 rebounds). His man, Pierce, kept forgetting having to box him out and it cost us. Pierce isn't the only one to forget to do this and I'm sorry, but that is NOT good defense.

6. I hate giving up offensive rebounds, everybody knows that about me, but sometimes it happens. Defensive schemes are about gambling and taking chances and hoping the offense doesn't take advantage of the opportunities you present to them in exchange for taking away other opportunities from them. But how many times did we see Gasol and Bynum get offensive rebounds and have the cameras showing replays of KG, JON and Wilcox standing there, looking at the ball and not looking for a body to box out. Poor weak-side rebounding positioning. How can we play such good interior defense on Bynum when he has the ball but play such poor interior defense on him when he doesn't? I'm sorry, but that is NOT good defense.

7. Kobe is an assassin. I don't like the way he plays ME-ball, but he hits shots that nobody has a right to hit. We played as good a perimeter defense on him as any team can and he still hit some shots that were mind-boggling.

8. Gasol/Bynum/Kobe shot 49%, taking 65% of all the Lakers' fga. Everybody else shot 22% combined. When Bynum had to put a move on someone, we defended him well, but he owned the offensive glass with 7 boards. Their height advantage became hilariously obvious when Gasol took, and hit, a standing bank shot over a much shorter Chris Wilcox. I think Wilcox might have gotten a finger or two on the ball, but because Gasol didn't even have to jump, that didn't bother his shot. It was like playing H-O-R-S-E.

9. The Lakers have 3 great players and everybody else pretty much sucks on that team. Metta World Peace (excuse me while I throw up in my mouth) no longer has game. Mike Brown had Steve Blake in there for crunch time. What does that say about Fisher? It says he's so done that Brown doesn't trust him in there at crunch time. 0-7 for D-Fish. 2-7 for Blake. The worst point guard tandem in the league by far. Fortunately for them, we were down to Rondo and Moore, who is not a point guard. Then again, Jason Kapono didn't play either.

10. If Troy Murphy had hit his open shots, he was 1-5 and 0-3 from 3, they would have won this in regulation. If Derek Fisher hadn't laid a goose egg, and he's a pretty reliable jump shooter even though he's past his stamped expiration date, they would have won this in regulation. That's one reason why I said, on top, this game shouldn't have been close. We missed shots because our offense was stagnant and their defense played up. They missed open shots they wouldn't normally miss.

11. Kevin Garnett, 6-23. Yes, I know what I just said about the Lakers hitting their shots, but KG had a LOT of open shots. He also played tentatively around the hoop, like he was intimidated by their height. We shot poorly, but we didn't get a lot of wide-open shots like their bench did, and our shots were coming out of a stagnant, easier-to-defend offense. We took a lot of shots with time running down on the clock that weren't the shots we wanted.

12. The Celtics took 5 fta all game. That ties a record for the fewest fta in a game in the post-shot clock era. Quite simply, we didn't earn any more. We didn't play aggressive offense, especially in the second half. You have to at least give the shitty NBA refs an excuse to blow the whistle and put you on the line, and we didn't give them any, so they didn't. I remember Laker fans, in the 2008 Championship, complaining about how they only got 10 ftas in what is now known as The Great Choke Game. My response to them then was "you didn't earn any more ftas. You played passively, took jump shots, and hit or missed them. You don't get calls just to keep the number of fta close". Well...

As I re-read this before posting it, my anger is really coming through. Just as we saw against Indiana the first time, we forgot the fundamentals of boxing players out on the offensive boards. There's nothing we, or anybody else, can do when Kobe's in his zone, but we gave up way too many offensive boards because we forgot about putting bodies on people. Our offense scored 35 points in the second half and only 5 in OT. We shot 10-32 in the 4th quarter and OT. How can you win shooting that kind of fg% over a 29 minute period? You can't. How can you improve that? By moving on offense.

I realize Rondo played a lot of minutes, 45, but he's young. Kobe played 44. Gasol and Bynum both played over 40 too. Rondo's job is to run. He stopped running and I don't understand why. Kobe guarded him for much of the night. That might make it harder for Rondo in the half court but Kobe can't run with Rondo and God knows Fisher and Blake can't. We stopped setting picks for Rondo, to break him free of Kobe. Rondo stopped running down their throats. We stopped executing. We're a veteran, championship team that stopped executing in clutch time in a big game. That's the part of this game that is eating away at me the most.

bob

.

Just listen to Tommy. He gets it right all the time! Rondo did not take charge.

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http://www.csnne.com/amica_game_recap

Perfectly said by Tommy. So frustrating.

Celtics had match up problems with LA. C's have no one that can neutralize Bynum, and Gasol's length is bothersome, as well. When Rondo stopped pushing the ball up court, it degenerated into a half court game and that's too tough for the C's to pull out against LA. If you don't get penetration, it's tough to win on jump shots purely. C's have the quickness & speed, but abandoned it inexplicably. Shooting only 5 foul shots for 48 minutes will not get it done. You need some type of post up game, and must try to take it to the rim, even if you find unwanted company at the rim. Well, at least Doc's son won one! I thought the crowd could have given the C's greater support.

MD!

Everyone is talking about the length with Bynum and Pau. I say rubbish! JON is 7' Garnett is 7' and please don't say is 6'!!", he is not. It is just a thing with big men that they want to sound smaller for psyc reasons with other big men.

We have matching height with our starting big men against LA's big men. There are only 2 differences:

1) KG and JON cannot jump any more to get rebounds. If you look closely, KG and JON hop to get to rebounds or they hop to try to tip the ball up in the air or to another Celtic. Just watch the next game tonight.

This is demonstrated by KG's inability to go up and dunk the ball, instead settling for off the glass bank shots or toss ups at the rim which quite often are missed because he does not have soft hands around the glass. He cannot do what Wiilcox does which is flush the ball guaranteeing we get 2 points.

2) Both Garnett and JON do not want to do this because they are either lazy, tired, or don't know how, or maybe all of the above, but they have no clue to rebounding and boxing their man out in the middle. I have heard Tommy keep stating this over and over each game of how to rebound! It's well spelled out in his book "Give Them the Hook"!


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you can say what you want about their inability to do X or Y - but please dont say KG or JON are "lazy"

That is just pure BS.

Mrkleen,

You took it the wrong way. I threw all those choices in knowing some of them including being lazy are obviously out of the realm of possibilities for shock or illustration purposes only, and not in KG's or JON human fabric!

112288

Thank you.

No problem Mrkleen, we are all Celtic Nation!

112288

I know we are unhappy with some of what happened last night, but we have to understand - these guys are getting up in age. Playing against a very physical 24 year old isn't easy for guys in the mid 30s.

I am not equating myself to a good athlete in any way, shape, or form - but when I play in my 40+ league - I know that I should box out, I know that I need to stop the ball, or cut off the baseline. But knowing it and being able to make your body do it - are different things.

Sometimes I think JON wants to do it, and tries to do it, but his body is just not able to respond. Just saying.

mrkleen09 wrote:I know we are unhappy with some of what happened last night, but we have to understand - these guys are getting up in age. Playing against a very physical 24 year old isn't easy for guys in the mid 30s.

I am not equating myself to a good athlete in any way, shape, or form - but when I play in my 40+ league - I know that I should box out, I know that I need to stop the ball, or cut off the baseline. But knowing it and being able to make your body do it - are different things.

Sometimes I think JON wants to do it, and tries to do it, but his body is just not able to respond. Just saying.

Oh how true. In a rec mens slow pitch softball league I played in well after the age of 40 and many years after I had played at all, I remember standing out in left field. Here comes a sort of shallow fly. I start running in yelling I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT.... then yelling NO I DON'T NO I DON'T NO I DON'T. Mind works fine but the body didn't get there. Happens.

beat

Sorry guys, but I'm not buying this. I'm not saying that athleticism can't trump a lot of things in sports, but not this particular stuff.

On the last play of the game, 36 year old Ray Allen out-hustled Blake to get the offensive rebound. Unfortunately, due to the quick defensive rotation by the 30+ year old Gasol, that shot was blocked. Was greater athleticism by Ray the reason why he was able to get position? Yes, he's a guard and not a center.

Gasol and Bynum were routinely open under our basket. They weren't open because we rotated away from them but because we forgot about them. That's not an age-related problem, not unless you're talking about Alzheimer's. Remembering you have a responsibility to put a body on your man doesn't necessarily require you to be athletic, especially at the center position, it requires you to be alert. Bynum and Gasol didn't "out-quick" their men to the ball. The ball came off the rim and they were right there with nobody between them and the ball and the rim. Perk wasn't particularly athletic, but he always knew where his man was and where he needed to be to keep his man off the boards and away from the ball.

What we saw last night were poor rebounding fundamentals. Our brains let us down, not our bodies.

bob

.

The Celtics D is predicated on switching to cover the open man. When you rotate off of your man as JON - you are going to cover a 3 or 4. That leaves the responsibility of boxing out your man to the PF or even SF on your team. If you ask Bass or even Pierce to box out Haslem or Jokim Noah - they would be capable of doing it from time to time. If you ask Pierce or Bass to box out Bynum or Tyson Chandler....it probably isnt going to happen.

Not passing the buck here....and not saying that JON and KG didnt take their eye off the ball. Just saying the Lakers length causes a match up problem for most teams - that is one of the few ways they can still win games.