I agree with everything you say. My only point was, bizarre as Boston’s inability to win on the road in the playoffs so far has been, it’s still only mid-way through the second round, and Boston still has the homecourt vs. the Cavs (and would have it against anybody else). So what we now have is a Celtics squad that looks pretty human, might be having some physical issues (is Allen getting worn down?), and/or some psychological issues (about playing on the road, not living up to their hype, none of their “big three” being or wanting to be “The Guy,” etc.). But they are still a tough squad.

And so are the Cavs. And so is every team still playing in the West. So I’m not handing us any trophies, especially without knowing more about Chauncey’s injury. And as great as that game 4 win against Orland was, I’m still worried about the “flip the switch Pistons” showing up again.

Of course, if Detroit wins game 5, the only thing Detroit would need to show up for in the next several days is watching the other teams knock the crap out of each other. Which is what I’m rooting for.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Asi7ZindYNnrFZ4AXr6PTYm8vLYF?slug=ys-saunderspistons051208&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Laughton may be right that I’m premature in handing us the NBA Title (though I truly believe the path of least resistance and a bolstered bench will do it for us this year), but Boston doesn’t have it. They have Doc Rivers, not “it”.

Re: Joe Smith, people forget that this guy has averaged 12 and 7 over the course of his thirteen year career. And if Smith hadn’t had to deal with so many interruptions, especially early in his career (mid-season trade to Philly and never fitting in there, as well as missing half of his next season) when he was dropping 19 and 9, he might have put up those type of numbers for a couple more seasons and had a more impressive looking resumé in terms of stats. If he’s the #2 pick instead of the #1 pick, and if he’s not in a draft so loaded as 1995 with lots of more successful players selected after him (KG, Sheed, Dice, Stackhouse, Damon Stoudamire, Michael Finley). Joe Smith probably takes more criticism than Bryant Reeves (picked #6, before Stoudamire, Kurt Thomas, Brent Barry, Michael Finley, Theo and Corliss), when the dude has actually had a long, productive (albeit serviceable) career. On an aside, weird to think each the Pistons and Spurs have 3 of the top 21 picks from that draft on their respective squads 13 years later when only 11 players from that class are still in the league.

So while I’m happy that the Celtics don’t look like the Unbeatable Machine they often appeared to be in the regular season, I’m hardly counting them out. Their inability to win at all on the road is weird, but of course they don’t have to win on the road to win the championship. Monster Dunk from LeBron aside, they still play pretty tough defense, and I find it hard to believe Ray Allen is going to continue to play so poorly throughout the playoffs. It would be a huge flameout if they lost in this round (although the team with the best record in the NBA hasn’t won the title in 7 years, IIRC). But they are only 2-2, and they still have the homecourt advantage.

On the other hand, I’m not sure who would be a tougher matchup for Detroit. Until last night, I was thinking Boston would be tougher and that facing them was inevitable. My realistic hope was that the Cavs could take 2-3 games and wear on Boston. Now I honestly don’t know who will win the Boston-Cavs series or who would give the Pistons more problems. I see Chauncey and Rip going right at and over Rondo and Sam-I-Am. Meanwhile, now that everyone is healthy, the Cavs have a good set of bigs: Z, Ben, Anderson V., and Joe Smith.

“All of the C’s struggled down the stretch, but Garnett (15 pts, 10 rebs) and Ray Allen (15 pts) both went scoreless in the fourth quarter. Going by most people’s T-Mac Meter, that means they either aren’t clutch or they have no heart, or both.”

Zing!

Another thing about the Celts-Cavs game — the refs allowed the Celtics to push off on the boards all night long. It was really ridiculous. And still the Cavs outrebounded them.

If the Celts try that pushing off shit at the Palace, the fans need to give the refs an earful. The Q was concentrating more on chanting MVP for LeBron or “Celtics/Boston suck” to bash the refs for allowing Boston to play rugby under the rim.

Finally, yes Flip has done well. But I wish to wait just a little longer before I can confidently join you on that bus down Six Championship Drive.

Holy … what … was … that?

That was in reference (approximately real time) to LeBron’s dunk. That thing was vicious. KG getting posterized, so beautiful.

I know it’s crazy … BUT … what if all along KG’s reluctance to be the go-to guy in the playoffs was Flip Saunders’ Achilles heel, and it wasn’t simply Flip’s own incompetence? Nahhhhh … but seriously though, Flip has been extremely impressive this entire season. I think Flip graduates this year, and at the end of the season The Palace sits on Six Championship Drive.

speaking of hilarious, we’ve all seen the nba playoff ads where opposing players’ faces are split screen while they say the same thing. have you guys seen the one that’s a split between tony parker and peja? it’s comedy gold. you can’t understand a single word.

back to the lebron dunk, how was that not at least an and-1 on garnett? he shoved lebron right in the midsection, arms extended, no attempt on the ball. embarrassing.

I know Joe Smith is supposed to be a bust and all, but he’s so damn solid. I feel like I haven’t seen him miss a shot in two years.