I’m at the Palace for FanHouse. Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Archive for the 'Celtics' Category
Rasheed Wallace wasn’t impressed by the officiating last night:
“All that bull(bleep)-ass calls they had out there. With Mike [Callahan] and Kenny [Mauer] — you’ve all seen that (bleep),” Wallace said. “You saw them calls. The cats are flopping all over the floor and they’re calling that (bleep). That (bleep) ain’t basketball out there. It’s all (bleeping) entertainment. You all should know that (bleep). It’s all (bleeping) entertainment.”
If I had to guess, I’d say the David Stern will be giving him a (bleeping) fine. It’s too bad, because Sheed is (bleeping) right.
Update: Need4Sheed found video of Sheed’s comments.
Update 2: Nice (bleeping) moving pick, KG.
Wow. That game was … wow.
As Henry Abbott pointed out on TrueHoop, Pistons fans are no strangers to suffering through heartbreaking Game 5 losses. But you know what? I’ll take this. This feels different.
Believe me, there’s plenty of frustration and a tinge a regret for the missed opportunity, but really, nothing has changed: the Pistons are still alive, and they still need to win twice.
Yeah, they have a smaller margin of error, but that’s overrated; had they won last night and instead lost Game 6 at the Palace, Boston would have all the momentum, fans would be jumping off tall buildings and everyone would be ripping the Pistons for backing into a Game 7. Instead, playing in a Game 7 will be a feel-good story … and after watching the Celtics fall apart in the fourth quarter for two straight games, you know there will be a Game 7.
Boston has been wilting under pressure, and you have to believe they’ll crack in front of a frenzied Palace crowd. What, do you expect Doc Rivers to rescue them? Not a chance — he’s as big of a reason as any why the Celtics have already played 20 games in the playoffs.
I loathe the idea of relying on past performance to carry a team into the future, but as Chauncey Billups points out, this is where experience actually matters:
“Our experience of being in so many of these situations will help us and being in front of our fans will help us,” Billups said. “Those are the things you’ve got to lean on when you are facing elimination. We’re going to scratch and claw and do the things we’ve been known to do and try and get back here (to Boston) for Game 7.”
A lot of things went wrong last night — getting killed on the boards 42 to 25 being my biggest gripe — but a lot of things went right. Rasheed Wallace and Chauncey Billups have officially busted their slumps; Rodney Stuckey continues to improve in leaps and bounds; Lindsey Hunter is playing like he wants to earn his entire salary in one series. Those things bode well for Game 6.
And while there are still some serious questions — will Rip Hamilton play? why is Tayshaun Prince passing up open shots? — I’m feeling surprisingly confident. Maybe I just don’t want the season to end, or maybe the window just seems to be open wider than a year ago thanks to the young bench, but I think there’s more to it.
After watching this team battle and claw their way back in the fourth, I can’t even fathom losing on Friday — not one bit.
First, in case you missed it: yes, Boston’s locker room was sweltering on Monday. Were the Pistons playing tricks on the visitors? Probably not … but I’m curious to see if the ghost of Red Auerbach turns off the Pistons’ hot water after the game.
With a win tonight the Pistons will put the Celtics in an elimination game at the Palace in Game 6. That’s too good to pass up — expect maximum effort from the opening tip to the final buzzer.
I’ll be at FanHouse live-blogging this game. Feel free to stop by and say hello, and of course, leave all your thoughts on the game right here in the comments.
There’s no love lost between Celtics fans and Pistons fans, and it’s been that way for decades. That said, I’d buy the guys at CelticsBlog a beer any day. I made a cameo answering a few questions over there earlier today, and CelticBlog’s Steve Weinman returned the favor below.
Matt Watson: The Celtics steamrolled just about everybody in the regular season before being taken to the limit the first two rounds. What do you attribute the difference to? Have you seen signs of fatigue?
Steve Weinman: Like most issues in basketball, the Celtics’ obstacles have been caused by a confluence of factors, and I’m not entirely sure how to sort them all out. There is an enormous difference between playing teams three or four times over a course of six months and spending two weeks locked in a best-of-seven for survival with the same opponent. Whereas this is a Celtics team that was going to win a lot of regular season games simply by coming out and playing harder than the opposition every night, opponents have had more time in the playoffs to break down film and make adjustments to the Celtics — and, sad as it is to say, a lot of teams around the league were just starting to match the Celts season-long level of intensity when the playoffs were starting. Continue reading ‘Talking to CelticsBlog’s Steve Weinman’
The Pistons never use the phrase “must-win game” unless they’re literally at risk of being eliminated. A lot of fans don’t agree with it, but now I see why they do it. From the MetroWest Daily News (via CelticsBlog):
While no one was particularly happy with the Game 4 effort last night, the attitude seemed to be that the Celtics did their job - get one back in Michigan - this weekend. That job becomes more urgent in tomorrow night’s Game 5.
“Definitely, it’s a must-win,” Pierce said following an hour of mostly film work and some shooting. “Right now, Detroit has the momentum. The team that gets the win is the team that gets the momentum. We’ve got to find someway, somehow to get a win at home and bring that momentum back to Detroit.”
He’s backing himself into a corner with a statement like that. If the Celtics lose tonight, he’s essentially already admitted they can’t comeback to win the series. I know he’s trying to motivate his team to take advantage of their home court, but there’s a fine line between creating a sense of urgency and panic.
I know, I know; I’m being a homer fan reading too much into a boilerplate quote from the other team, but give me supreme cockiness over a star player fretting about “someway, somehow” winning at home any day of the week.
(Update: Should have figured — you can pre-order a Detroit shirt, as well.)
Also, here’s a portion of Dan Shaughnessy’s column from Monday’s Boston Globe:
Can’t help it. The Celtics are ahead of the Pistons, and the Lakers are ahead of the Spurs, and by this time next week we could be knee deep in Magic/Larry throwback jerseys and “Beat LA” chants. It’ll be time to dust off that video of Kevin McHale taking down Kurt Rambis on the breakaway at the Forum in 1984.
If things go according to plan, Game 1 of Celtics vs. Lakers starts next Thursday night at the Garden (Tuesday if by some miracle the Celtics and Lakers both win in five).
[…] The story lines will be spectacular. We can go way back to the 1960s when the Lakers never could beat the Celtics in the Finals. There was Frank Selvy’s shot and six Lakers teams sent home by the Green. There was the night Jack Kent Cooke filled the Forum ceiling with balloons, infuriating Red Auerbach and inspiring Bill Russell in his last professional game. The ‘69 Celtics beat a Lakers team that had Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor. It was the last roundup for Russell and Sam Jones.
Blah blah blah — he goes on to mention every notable Boston-LA Finals in the 70’s and 80’s, but I’ll spare you. No one’s winning this series in five games, we know that much after Detroit’s dominating win in Game 4. The Lakers just took a 3-1 lead over the Spurs, so “if things go according to plan” in my book, the NBA Finals will be about re-visiting the 1988, 1989 and 2004 NBA Finals.
From my FanHouse post about Game 4: “Give them credit because I just thought they were much more physical than us the entire game, in every way,” said Doc Rivers. “They bumped us up the floor, they bumped us, every cut we made there was body. Every time we had a chance to get to the basket, they threw us down. They had a no lay-up rule, clearly tonight, that’s why we laid on the line a lot. Even though we got to the line, they were the more physical team by a long-shot.”
… because if he were, there’s not a person alive who could say they’re cocky, arrogant, complacent, or any other negative adjective commonly affixed to this team. Witness his post-game press conference:
For more on Miggidy (and video of Maxiell annihilating KG), head to FanHouse.
Pistons 94, Celtics 75 box score / NBA.com
Optimism seems to be in short supply right about now, which in hindsight is a bit odd considering this isn’t even the first time this postseason that the Pistons have been down 1-2. With one win tonight, the Pistons get a clean slate. Maybe Chauncey Billups is toast, or maybe he’ll only be able to produce in even-numbered games — we really won’t know for sure until the ball tips, so don’t let it ruin your Memorial Day BBQ just yet.
The game starts at 8:30pm on ESPN — I’ll be there for FanHouse, but you guys do your thing in the comments.
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