Oh Yeah? We'll See about That!

Throughout Game One of the Finals, I kept having this gnawing feeling of deja vu. There was something all too familiar with what I was watching. At first, I figured it must have been some previous playoff. But I couldn't pinpoint anything.

Finally, this morning, the light dawned. In my mind, Game 1 was a microcosm of this past regular season (after Christmas). The causes were someone different, but the effect was eerily similar.

After Christmas, player after player went down, came back, went down, came back so that the team had no continuity. The team (as this morning's globe indicated) relies on precision and could not overcome the discontinuity for a prolonged period. Not only player departures through injury, but also the returns of injured players, required constant adaptation and rag tag lineups. The result was that, only once they had been back together for a of games did the glimmers begin to become brighter. Even so, they went into the playoffs something like 3-7 in the last 10 games of the season, as Doc insisted on not over-taxing key players. The final diagnosis from Doctor Sam was that they had experienced extended problems in attempting to recapture their rhythm and would still be working on that goal deep into the playoffs.

Throughout the last two-thirds of the season, people had complained that they lacked energy, but I believe (and always will) that the players became dispirited at their executional futility, accounting for the apparent lack of sustained energy. Conversely, throughout the first three playoff rounds, it seemed that the Celtics continued to improve almost with every game.

By the time they did make the finals, health issues had arisen again. By the end of the Magic series, ambulances had been lining up outside the arena door like three-year-olds at Churchill Downs in May. I still can't believe Paul Pierce can shoot after what Howard appeared to do to his shoulder. Well into the five-day layoff, we heard Doc registering surprise that Sheed could walk. Rondo's leg cramps seemed to have affected his play (at some points dramatically) during the last three games of the Magic series. Despite Glen Davis' heroics in Game 6, he was playing two days after having suffered an apparently serious concussion. And Marquis is still out. And the true condition of KG always seems to be up in the air. (He looked very stiff-legged to me in the first Finals game.)

And now, after Game 1, I have a feeling of deja vu. The circumstances are different...partly because the timing is so compressed and partly because all team members except Marquis are still dressing. Instead of discontinuity owing of a revolving door of players, the Celtics have suffered discontinuity through the lack of the kinds of spirited practices that could sustain the chemistry and the competitive edge through competition. We've all heard coaches say that, under the best of circumstances, practice can never substitute for game action. I suspect that, during that five-day-layoff, their "practices" couldn't even substitute for a legitimate practice. How many of those injury situations warrented all-out practices during the five-day layoff? None of them, that's how many.

I'm sure they did loads of film work, and probably some walk-throughs. Sort of like shadow-boxing. But I strongly suspect that the first opportunity the walking wounded had to subject their bodies to a realistic test was Game 1 itself. And the net result of the testing was that some (perhaps all) of them were on the tentative side. "Tentative" doesn't reestablish chemistry and rhythm on a precision team, and "tentative" certainly doesn't win playoff games against a great, aggressive team. The Celtics lacked their own aggression. They were a second late for everything. They too often seemed surprised or dazed by what the Lakers did. In short, the Celtics on Thursday were the antithesis of the playoff team that has been so anticipatory, had swarmed on defense like piranha, and mixed up their offensive "looks" against the Magic.

At least now, for better or worse, each of them has a more realistic idea of what they can expect of their bodies in game action...what they can do and what they may need help with. Doc has a more realistic notion of which combinations can best play through certain problems and which may be less effective. Moreover, nother two days of recuperation doesn't hurt. And, perhaps most important of all, they're now able to switch their focus from (1) being question marks in their own minds to (2) riveting their concentration on seething or being aggressive or specific assignments or whatever it is that will get each of them "up" for Game 2.

None of this is intended to minimize the great job the Lakers did in Game 1. They deserved to win. But one little corner of my deja vu takes me back to a phrase that I always thought characterized the spirit of Celtics teams gone by in times of adversity: "Oh yeah? We'll see about that."

Go Celtics! You're our team, whatever happens!

As usual, well said Sam.
I will be surprised if this team just mails in the rest of the games in this series....It just isn't in the nature of the Celtics to do that...The Lakers are a very tough opponent and as I've said here before, probably should be favored to win...but not by much...
On the other hand, this team won't fold and will push back hard on the Lakers, I'm thinking...and when they are pushing back hard, as KG said...anything's possible.

Sam,
I think you're over-analyzing. They need just to suck it up and play the next 4 or 5 games as if there's no tomorrow and do it it, as Sam likes to say, one game at a time, one possession at a time.

AK

Well, possibly I am over-analyzing. But I look for things to make sense. It just doesn't make sense that they could underperform simply by not sucking it up after reaching the Finals. People said they didn't suck it up in midseason. When they executed better, their ability to "suck it up"magically improved as well. Funny how that happens.

People are very quick to attribute sudden mediocre play to not sucking it up. There's usually something wrong with their execution that's really at the root of the problem.

Most people said I was over-analyzing the team in mid-season too. If I had then gone to Vegas and put my money where my head was in January-February, I could have made a bundle. So I'll stick with my analysis because it's the only thing that makes sense to me. They were clearly out of synch the other night. It wasn't just a lack of effort..

Sam

you know what guys beyond that they missed a messa bunnies and way too many free throws. If they made them the game would have been very tight. I'm talking about real good looks.

Were not gonna go 1-10 from 3 again and we can't get killed on offensive boards like that again,if we do we deserve to lose this series.

jeb65 wrote:you know what guys beyond that they missed a messa bunnies and way too many free throws. If they made them the game would have been very tight. I'm talking about real good looks.

jeb,

You say the Celtics missed "way too many free throws" in game 1. Not hardly. They shot 30 of 36 for 83.3% which is outstanding in terms of the number made and the few amount missed in a game. 83.3% is much higher than the 74.6% they shot in the regular season when they averaged 19 makes and 6.5 misses. Free throw shooting was one of the STRONG parts of game one. Probably the ONLY one in fact.

Their FIELD GOAL shooting in that game, however was another matter we've discussed ad nauseum, as several key guys shot poorly. But free throws weren't a problem.

I like what I hear from KG. Not talking any crap about Gasol. Just watching tape and identifying where each mistake cost us a basket or gave them one. It all comes down to a series of mistakes that got made. Clean up those mistakes one possession at a time and we beat the Lakers.

I like that the team has been hearing about how old and soft they are. About how many games 4 to 6 it is going to take the Lakers to "finish" this. We have a very tough, proud team. I expect no quarter to be given the lakers in game two.

Sam,

I had your same thought after Sunday's game you did but in a slightly different way. All this shouldn't surprise us. This series is resembling the post 23-5 regular season team.

Instead of injuries, its fouls that are taking our guys off the court and screwing with the rotations.

I know we are all trying to forget the regular season, but this could be the very reason why we win this thing. We've seen this script before. But fouls aren't as dibilitating as injuries. We've got fouls to give. And we've seen these rotations before.

LAL is now entering unchartered territory at a very inopportune time. LAL hasn't lost a home game all playoffs. All they had to do is keep that record unblemished in this series and the O'Brien trophy was theirs. DOH!! (ala Homer)

Dbrown,

There are definite similarities between the regular season and the way the playoffs have started. But the important thing is that time is compressed in the playoffs. The layoff after the Magic series was spent nursing injuries, and they entered Game 1 very tentatively. But although they lost that game, it served to recapture their confidence in what they were capable of. Add some intense resolve, and they pulled off a very difficult turnaround in L.A.

Now that they've surmounted that hurdle and are back to their regular routine, I'm hoping they'll resume the improvement they've been enjoying throughout the playoffs.

Sam

I second the motion.....