Stunned

Hi,
I wonder if the usual suspects, Sam, Dboss et al, are stunned too much to offer the Post-game thread? I am.
A few notes, anyway.
1. Game 3, unlike game 1, was mostly given away by Celtics.
2. Somebody put a woo-doo spell on RA.
3. KG woke up and showed that despite all the adversities he's still a force to be afraid of.
4. RR was no show.
5. PP's got it going in the second half but due to foul trouble didn't have time to accelerate to his warp speed.
6. Refs, unlike in game 1 and 2, decided to support mostly the guest team.
7. So far, BBD is the most consistent Celtic in the Finals.
In general, Celtics need some kind of mental jolt that'd sustain them for the next 3-4 games. Hope they'll get it by 9 pm tomorrow.

Thank you very much,
AK

Well, I've been saying all along that all that history, home court and previous game will not effect outcome...each game will be different from the last...I hope that, if true, this translates to the C's winning the next two. Although somewhat unlikely, it would be some kind of wild finish for a whacky season if the Celtics were able to pull off a 1969 and go into a game 7 and win it in LA. And I think that the board should send Sam and that Sam should bet someone that lucky 20 dollars...that the C's will win.
IF they did that, I think that they should drop balloons from the ceiling when they raise banner 18.
Course, the next game is the important one....GO CELTICS

Thinking about game 3, it occurred to me that it was almost the photographic negative of game 2.

1. How the hell can you go from 27 points in one half in one game and then go 0-13 in the next? In the post-game interview, Doc said that Ray's shots were "flat". That's evidence of fatigue, even I know that Doc, and so should have you. Ray was the photographic negative of himself in game 2.

2. KG was back. He played hard, played inside and out. He outscored the LA offensive machine, Gasol. KG was the photographic negative of himself from game 2.

3. Sheed regressed.

4. Rondo was not aggressive offensively. He wouldn't try to penetrate much and when he did he was kicking it out to shooters who were cold. Bad decision making by Rondo. He should have tried to finish more.

5. This was about as good as I have seen Fisher play. Ever. His 4th quarter was something he deserved to get choked up about. It didn't hurt, though, that Rondo's defense stunk. Stunk. He was constantly chasing the older, slower Fisher and hoping for a around-the-back steal instead of staying in front of him and forcing him to his right. Every scouting report on Fisher in the past 13 years has said "very left handed, make him go right" and yet Rondo didn't make him do that. Fisher kept going to his strong left and hand and finished well. BAD positional defense by Rondo in the 4th quarter and Doc should have called him on it. The final backbreaker by Fisher, when he was hammered by 3 Celtics on the layup, his defender Rondo wasn't anywhere in sight. Rondo's 4th quarter defense was the photographic negative of his 4th quarter play in game 2 and so was Fisher's.

6. Kobe was "in the zone" for a while. Mostly, when Ray Allen was guarding him. Not so much when Tony was. That's what happens when you let a shooter go to his spot. Ray did, Tony didn't.

7. If Pierce hadn't wanted to go back to LA, maybe he should have done something about it. He didn't, and that was the same as game 2.

8. The refs were the same as game 2 also. Bad both ways.

9. Doc coached great in game 2, not in game 3. He missed clue after clue (Ray's flat shooting, Rondo's lack of aggressiveness).

We went down by 17. We rallied back to 1, but couldn't complete the trip. One bad drought cost us and then the failure to get stops. I don't know if it's coming across, but I'm actually quite angry as I write this. I'm a big Rondo fan, but I'm laying this one at his feet. He wants it to be his team? Fine, then run it like it is. Feed the hot hand (and that wasn't Ray Allen!), run the ball (and he didn't) and for God's Sakes stay in front of a 35-year uni-directional player!

Yuck.

Well, it's still about two-in-a-row and if we win Thursday and Sunday, we will still have accomplished that.

bob

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Not stunned, Sinus. Too old for that. I don't believe in getting too high after a win (except the championship) or too low after a loss. Congratulations to the Lakers on winning Game 3, and on to the next one.

LACelt, sorry, but I spent that $20 bill on a very nice date (between marriages) in 1970. It was reserved for betting $20 to nothing on the Russell Celtics...the only team that inspired that level of supreme confidence in the big home games.

I love this team, though, and am zeroing in on hoping for the absolute best in tomorrow's game. Then we can address the next one. Etc.

Go Celtics.

Sam

I only have a couple of thoughts on the whole thing. KG should have handled the ball more, even though he handled it enough to score 25 points. The poor shooting from Ray Allen will not happen again. He will use no excuses, however, during the news I saw that his leg was heavily wrapped from where he was kneed by the wonderful Ron "squeaky clean", we do no slap downs, Artest.

They lost the game, they deserved to lose the game and it is over. I will not dwell on it, onward to the next one, which I feel will be alot different from the Celtics side. Some of those calls at the end of the game were suspect, but that is not why they lost. Come on Paul, it is your turn to shine. KG had his night, Ray his and Rondo will continue on, so now it is the Captain's turn to rise and shine and bring home two victories.

I was upset that they were waiting until Sunday to play the next game after tomorrow's game, but, maybe the Celtics could use a little down time?

Sam wrote:Not stunned, Sinus. Too old for that. I don't believe in getting too high after a win (except the championship) or too low after a loss. Congratulations to the Lakers on winning Game 3, and on to the next one.

LACelt, sorry, but I spent that $20 bill on a very nice date (between marriages) in 1970. It was reserved for betting $20 to nothing on the Russell Celtics...the only team that inspired that level of supreme confidence in the big home games.

I love this team, though, and am zeroing in on hoping for the absolute best in tomorrow's game. Then we can address the next one. Etc.

Go Celtics.

Sam

Sam,

You're 100% correct. Don't get too high on wins or too low on losses.
Considering that the Celtics figuratively came back from the dead this year, they will be ready to play hard in game 4.
It is sometimes harder for us the fans (or so it seems) to keep our emotions in check because we have no control over wins and losses.
I hope we get a higher level of play from more players on each team.
So far the games have been choppy with very little flow.

TJ,

You're right. I always felt that the Celtics and Lakers of the 80s gave the fans their money's worth by giving them what they expected. Two different playing styles clashing. So far in this series, it seems as though the teams are featuring selected elements of their talents in each game—but never all elements in any single game. Perhaps the refereeing has something to do with the limitations, but it seems to be something more than that.

Sam

In a game like that where only 2 players have it going KG and Baby,Rondo has to know hes got to score and take more shots,he passed on a few floaters on key posesions where he just dribbled a bit too long.Your the best player on the floor,attack them.

Cow

heard Bob Ryan on mike and mike a bit this am. He said somthing to the effect that after nearly 2 months of playoff baskeball and even with the time off between games the one thing that Doc needs to do and can't is make RA PP and KG 5 years younger. Also added that although they can still play at a high level they just can't do it consistantly.

That's where your right on RR needing to do more.

Hopefully we can hit on a couple more cylinders tonight.

beat

beat
I was saying to Steve a while ago man if we could have gotten Big 3 together 5 years ago how we wouldn't even need a Rondo that they would carry us and we'd be killing teams all the time.....with this version never know what your gonna get. cow

Cow

Seems the writers have flipped agian and are writing us off AGAIN, at least some of them anyway. Depends which way the wind is blowing.

We are so capable of winning this thing. When playing well I think we are the better team, but we haven't done so yet and are still only down 2-1.

Our defensive effort the other evening was adequate for the most part but when we crawled back in we just couldn't get over the top rope and grab a lead I thnk if we could have the ending would have been different.

New game tonight, we'll see who shows up. (to play that is)

beat

Hi,
It seems I didn't express myself clearly. I'm not stunned by the end result of the game but by why it happened. I put most of the blame on RR and Doc. I hope they learned the lesson and in the next 3 games they'll adapt and win.

AK