In what has so far been a tremendously entertaining series (at least when the games have been in Atlanta) The 37-45, no-business-whatsoever-being-in-the-playoffs Atlanta Hawks have forced the 66 win regular season juggernaut Boston Celtics to a seventh game (thanks to some swarming team defense, a few dubious calls, and Ray Allen's seemingly instant regression from sharpshooter to shoe shiner.
Of course, Boston will almost certainly beat this upstart Hawks team in game 7, but the question arises: Has this series irreparably chinked the Celtic armor? Boston has looked overwhelmed and intimidated on the road, and completely unable to slow the opposing team's best player (Joe Johnson) in crunch time without sending ridiculous double teams 28 feet from the basket. Surprisingly, they've also had real trouble finding ways to score down the stretch. James Posey has been their most consistent late game threat outside of Pierce. Ray Allen's been throwing up bricks, Sam Cassell's been throwing up everything, and KG looks so nervous, so unwilling to control the ball, that he might as well just be throwing up.
Should Boston win as expected, all of these problems will be compounded by a Cleveland team that will always have the best player on the court and can bring out a team of shooters far superior to any Atlanta could offer. A lineup down the stretch of Boobie Gibson, Delonte West, Wally Sczczcduofdsfsvcerbiak and Joe Smith (who can hit from 17' in) coupled with LeBron James, would give the Celtic defense fits.
What say you, loyal readers (and by that I mean PSB staff)? Am I overreacting, or is my sense of Boston's inadequacy More Than A Feeling? Does Cleveland Rock? Can King James put an end to the Boston Three-Party?
Cavs in 6 (if it gets there)
Friday, May 2, 2008
Go Hawks!
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4 comments:
No question this series brings up major questions about just how good these Celtics are, but I think it has more to do with the coaching (or lack thereof) of Doc Rivers than the Celtics' talent. Rivers has made simply terrible decisions throughout the series. He didn't double-team Joe Johnson in Game 4 until the last minutes, even though the Hawks offense was: Dribble up the court, pass to Johnson, wait until the shot clock is at 6-8, then have Johnson create a shot against Ray Allen. It shouldn't take the entire fourth quarter to figure out that's all the Hawks were doing.
I didn't see enough of Game 6 to catch all of his gaffes, but someone please tell me why Rondo was on the floor for the final possession, let alone the player receiving the inbound and bringing it up the floor. Even with Pierce fouled out, why not use Cassell, House, Allen, Posey, and Garnett for the final possession. The Celtics were out of timeouts, but they could have subbed in players on the foul, if Rivers was paying attention.
I'm not as confident about the Cavs chances simply because I've never thought Mike Brown was a good game coach. He's better than Rivers, so maybe that, plus the Cavs superior talent compared to Atlanta, will be enough, but I suspect the Celtics sneak past Cleveland.
But watch out for Orlando. They match up well and Stan Van Gundy is the best coach left in the East playoffs.
Oh, and lest I forget...
Go Hawks!
I like Stan Van Gundy as much as the next guy, but he hasn't proven himself to be any better than any other coach in the East. Mike Brown's the only one who's made the NBA finals. Flip's underachieved but still made it to the conference finals three times, including the last two years. Stan Van Gundy has led two teams to better than expected years, but I believe he's won a grand total of two playoff series (someone double check me on that). Let's just not go crazy on Stan Van Gundy.
You're right that Van Gundy isn't the most proven, but he's done well in the few chances he's gotten. I like his odds, but of course they have to get past the Pistons who handled them last year and routed them tonight in Game 1, so we'll see.
To Brown's credit, he's done a great job of getting the Cavs to play good defense (or at least he did last year, with an unlikely group). I just never liked his in-game coaching. I mean how can he sit back and let Varejao do so many terrible things with the ball on offense? That's just one example, but suffice it to say I found him thoroughly unimpressive in the playoffs last year.
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