Tough Road for the Celtics
Hanging his head…Forget about the 66 wins and the postseason blowouts at the Garden; we’re no longer taking the Celtics seriously as championship contenders until they win at least one playoff road game. Losing three in Atlanta to a sub-.500 squad was bad enough, then last night KG and crew got torn apart in Cleveland despite LeBron again not having his best stuff. With so many playoff-tested vets on the roster (Garnett, Pierce, Allen, Cassell, Posey, P.J. Brown), the C’s really don’t have any excuse for the way they’ve been playing away from Boston … The Cavs attacked early and never looked back, flirting with a 20-piecing throughout the first quarter and eventually winning by 24. LeBron got things started by throwing down a breakaway two-hander (taking off from the dotted) and hitting a three in opening minutes, but overall he continued to struggle with his shot. He finished with 21 points on 5-for-16 shooting, but played a good floor game, adding 8 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks. On one of those rejections ‘Bron got high enough on that he actually cuffed he ball after pinning Rajon Rondo’s shot on the glass … Posey picked up a flagrant foul when he went Raja Bell-on-Kobe on LeBron’s neck, causing a team-wide staredown that earned techs for Posey and Anderson Varejao. Even though LeBron oversold the horse-collar to get the point across — or maybe it was genuine, but he’s the one always talking about “I’m built for this” and reminding us he’s 6-8, 260 — it was still the right call … Delonte West (21 pts, 5 rebs, 7 asts) looked like Tony Parker with a better outside jumper (4 threes), getting into the lane for floaters and running the Cavs’ offense smoothly. Judging by how he’s been throughout this postseason, however, look for Delonte to play horribly his next time out … After some doubt as to whether he’d even play, Ben Wallace started and put up 9 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks. He even made a free throw, so we’ll assume he’s all right in the head. Question: If Wallace wins another ring with Cleveland, does that make him a Hall of Famer? … While the C’s can’t win on the road, the Pistons pulled off the most impressive road win of any team in this year’s playoffs by beating Orlando in Game 4. Playing without Chauncey Billups (hamstring), coming off a Game 3 blowout loss, and having to overcome a double-digit halftime deficit yesterday, Detroit turned the tide with a 15-0 run in the third quarter, then won the game on Tayshaun Prince’s running hook with about 9 seconds left … With the score tied and 44 seconds showing on the clock, Jameer Nelson went to the line and split a pair. Rasheed missed a turnaround J on the other end, but Antonio McDyess came up with a huge offensive rebound and got it to Prince, who took Hedo off the dribble and scored over Dwight Howard (8 pts, 12 rebs). Hedo, who was unstoppable in the fourth quarter and finished with 20 points for the night, got the ball with a chance to win the game 1-on-1 against Prince but missed a layup. Even Hedo admitted afterwards that he held the ball too long (Stan Van Gundy also took the blame for not coming up with a better play), which looked even worse considering Detroit had just taken the lead on a possession where they moved the ball and ended up with two quality looks at a game-winner … Rodney Stuckey (6 pts, 3 asts) and Lindsey Hunter (8 pts, 3 asts) did good enough in Chauncey’s absence, but Rip Hamilton was the one who really stepped up. He scored 32 points, 10 in the fourth quarter, including a pair of free throws that tied it up in the final minute … Didn’t we just say yesterday that we couldn’t think of any Pistons who flop regularly? There was a play in the fourth quarter where Rip drove baseline and swung his elbow at Keyon Dooling’s face, to which Keyon responded with an attempted shove — that missed, but Rip still went flying to the floor. Dooling got called for a tech … So it looks like Mike D’Antoni will be the new coach for the Knicks, a move that’s been universally panned by every analyst we’ve heard so far. It appears that without giving much thought to the makeup of the roster, the Knicks just threw a bunch of money at the most recognizable name on the market. So are we sure Isiah’s not still calling the shots here? Wasn’t Donnie Walsh supposed to avoid things like that? Then again, perhaps Walsh is planning on overhauling the current roster into something that more fits the D’Antoni style, but that’s gonna be hard to pull off with the contracts he’d have to dump on other teams. And seeing as Billy King and Billy Knight aren’t around anymore, it’s going to be even tougher than before … We’re out like Eddy Curry’s preference …
May 11th, 2008 at 3:49 am
snook says:
1st
May 11th, 2008 at 3:51 am
Fuz says:
first…wow!
May 11th, 2008 at 4:04 am
Lee says:
DICKS
May 11th, 2008 at 5:04 am
Jimbo says:
Yo, Lebron. Welcome to Shaq’s life. You get hacked, you a big boy, so they think you might be floppin, but you know you got wrecked…just another day, kid…
May 11th, 2008 at 5:25 am
JHov says:
I will never doubt Dime again! (@ Austin Burton)) Great showing by the “Lebronaires” It’s about time they carry him for once..I know his back hurts from the strain sometimes! Lucky for the C’s they possess homecourt through out..cause they need it!Everybody says the playoffs is the time that you take your game to the next level..well what if KG, RayRay, and The Truth don’t have another level to go to?
May 11th, 2008 at 5:27 am
JHov says:
Oh yeah..if D’Antoni can turn Nate Robinson into the second coming of Steve Nash..he can have my salary too!
May 11th, 2008 at 5:28 am
deeds says:
Glad you called out Hamilton for his flopping. I was thinking the exact same thing on that play, as well as a couple other throughout the game.
May 11th, 2008 at 6:00 am
Stefan says:
Bron is back!
http://www.squidoo.com/LeBronJamesDunk
May 11th, 2008 at 8:22 am
sans says:
Just like in Kareem’s hey-day, teams are starting to gear up to “try and hurt Lebron” thinking that it might slow him down. Sometimes it works, but seriously, he has been hit pretty hard over the course of the playoffs so far, mostly intentionally by role players that play their minutes to keep fouls off the stars. Posey caught Lebron in the throat after he was beat off the dribble like a punk, and Varejao got hit appropriately for reacting, even though he sucks with a fat contract like 38% of the players on NBA rosters. Honestly, if you called every ticky-tack ruleboook foul against Bron, the double bonus would be n effect with three minutes left in each quarter, but normal fouls don’t affect him, nor ever cause him a significant disadvantage. No ref wants to call a foul on the floor when Gift might dunk over the guy that just held him. So teams are now hitting Bron harder.
Jimbo, good luck on “welcome to Shaq’s world”.
Oh, and KG is playing on another level. The other Tea Bags have yet to show up. Thank gawd for posey and sammy.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Amar says:
I don’t know what the Knicks are doing. Mike is a former COY who had some pretty good players to coach. Let’s see how that translated to NYC. I have a vested interest in this because the Jazz own the lotto unprotected #1 dp of the knicks in 2010. I was kind of hoping that they continued to suck until then. When they got rid of Isiah (as a coach) I was initially upset. This coaching move may help or hurt the jazz in the long run.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:27 am
KL says:
To get rid of flopping, the league should have the right to view video footage once the game is over. For serious flopping offenders, suspend them for pulling that cr4p. They do that with flagrants, why not flopping.
I’m trying to remember. Seeing Bron doing his share of flopping, does Kobe or did Jordan ever do their share of flopping? I’m recalling no.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:30 am
I'm Getting Paid says:
I’ll probably be fired before the season is out, but all 24M is guaranteed…..so who gives a crap? It’s not like the Knicks are winning jack shit in the next ten years anyway.
Sincerely,
Mike D’Antoni
May 11th, 2008 at 8:39 am
sans says:
The cure for flopping is a concerted effort by officials and administrators to issue technical fouls for “faking a foul”–a legitimate reason to T up a player.
Reading that back makes me sound like Tim Duncan.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Yoooooooo says:
Ben Wallace Hall of Famer??? Hellllllllllllll No. Yea right.
May 11th, 2008 at 9:07 am
sans says:
Mike D’Antoni might just be Jesus with a bad mustache.
May 11th, 2008 at 9:41 am
ERIC says:
I think this may have been echo’d in a previous Smack but, what the hell is wrong with the Lakers’ training staff?
Andrew Bynum has been all messed up after an initial 6-8 week diagnosis in JAN. He should have been rehabbed better or had surgery right away to fix it. He is getting a 2nd opinion on it.
ALSO, Trevor Ariza is now getting a 3rd opinion on his broken ankle. WTF is wrong with this picture? If this were the Suns training staff, they would have both been back by now.
May 11th, 2008 at 10:56 am
IGP says:
yeah I kind of forgot about Ariza, too. Man the Lakers are gonna be a much better team next year, and they were first in the West this year. That line up will be so nasty.
May 11th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Lady Luck says:
I can’t believe Orlando doesn’t get Howard the ball. He only scored in the first 5 minutes of the game! They don’t even try to pass it into the post. What a waste. Dwight is a beast. Although he has a lot of work to do on the offensive end, he should get at least 15-18 shots per game. Dwight was outscored by Ben Wallace for the day. The Magic live and die by the 3, but they would be much better shots if they attempted to move the ball into the post.
I didn’t really care for the D’Antoni signing to the Knicks. But hey, I guess anything is an improvement. Can Mike handle the NY pressure? Does that mean Avery is going to Chicago? Who’s going to coach the Suns?
May 11th, 2008 at 11:01 am
ben says:
Wally Szczerbiak looks like Derek Zoolander!
May 11th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Lady Luck says:
My Lakers are in a position to keep this team together for awhile. I think they should keep the players and continue to develop our young’ns and team chemistry. Ariza and Bynum are going to be in the rotation along with the current active roster, we are going to be unstoppable. Think about the Suns run is likely over, Denver might break that team up, the Spurs are still old, Dallas …who knows?
May 11th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Dennis Castro says:
Has there been an athlete recently that’s gotten PAID then not gave a ish once they got that contract worse than Ben Wallace?
Watching him play, he looks like he doesn’t have that desire to go out and grab 18 boards and 4 blocks a night. Actually he looks lethargic and gets beat to rebounds that he would have owned back in the day.
I know he’s a bit older, but doesn’t he pride himself on his on/off season workouts?
I still think Joe Smith should be starting, that way you have to honor his midrange shot even when they double Lebron. Right now, KG can float way off of Wallace knowing he can’t shoot and even worse that he’s not going to shoot the ball unless it’s a dunk.
May 11th, 2008 at 11:13 am
K Dizzle says:
How many times did Rondo get sent or packed by Lebron?
May 11th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Tim says:
Chauncey should be back Tuesday…meaning that Orlando’s season is pretty much over…once again…noone thinks the Pistons can win without him and they do it…Did everyone in America forget how valuable Lindsey Hunter is…It is too bad we had to dust him off before the Celtics, I just wanted to see Rondo’s eyes when Lindsay has like 5 consecutive steals against him.
May 11th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Mister Sun says:
if i remember correctly, the refs called technicals in last years Eurobasket because of flopping by the home team Spain, which were very gutsy calls
imagine T’s on Lebron or manu for exaggerating after a foul, impossible in the nba right now
May 11th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
jz_smoove says:
rondo is very gutsy driving the ball, but very stupid gutsy moves he should just keep to himself. he is probably the most posterized dude on the blocks (no pun intended), yet he keeps doing his thing. is he trying to impress his coach, or vet cassell, or overfantasizing about himself? he is the DJ Mbenga of getting blocked (as opposed to getting dunked on). rondo i like you as a ballplayer, i even have you on my fantasy pool but come on you gotta wake up!
May 11th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Ferdiberdi says:
For Boston, I’d still be concerned coz I haven’t won at road. Detroit, SA, and LA are sure tough on the road. A team like Boston, you’d expect a talented team like that to be the same.
Ya can’t win when pierce just shoots 8 shots. And when Jesus has another off-night.
Cleveland, lebron’s shot is still the same shaky one we have seen ever since. Too much movement, fading away. At best someone beside Z stepped up – - they had to make that trade decent. It wasn’t the best trade for sure, but i’d trade hughes anytime I had the chance just to unload his contract and upgrade our shooting.
May 11th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Amar says:
poundingtherock (a blog) had some constructive points about flopping (embellishing an actuall foul all the way to faking stuff when there was no actual contact, you know, manu/CP stuff), and how they should be assessed like fouls are (personal foul, offensive foul, team foul/non-team foul, tech 1, tech 2, flag 1, flag 2, etc), or just add a new category — a flop 1 and a flop 2. the flop 1 should be a turn over of the ball, the flop 2 should be tracked like technical fouls (15 and you miss a game).
May 11th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Celts Fan says:
You’re right jz-smooth. Rondo’s still working on finishing, but he tries a bit too much stuff. I think he’ll figure out how and when to do those things, but he’s still feeling his way through it now.
Don’t know what the hell’s going on w/ the Celtics. I fully expected to take an L last night (LeBron wasn’t going to let them go down 0-3) but I figured it’d be one of those 40 pt. triple doubles where you just realize what could be w/ Bron when he actually hits his prime (SCARY! He’s the only guy since Big O where you could say you think he’ll AVERAGE a triple double over a season and not be talking out your ass) Definitely didn’t expect LeBron having another average game and them to still 20 piece us. Game 3 is one that the home team typically takes, but the way they took it is scary. If the Celtics don’t win game 4, I truly give up on us having a chance at a ring.
I don’t know what they’re doing other than that these so-called, “Playoff-tested vets” have never even been to the Finals (big 3,) our most accomplished post-season player (Cassell) doesn’t want to think he’s 38 and guns like crazy (despite making some huge shots in the Atl series, it’s obvious he’s looking to shoot first, second, and third,) our only other guy with a ring (Posey) doesn’t start and Doc’s lack of playing him over Ray Allen in crunch time against Atl almost cost us the season. I’m hoping I’m wrong, but I’m seeing some major weaknesses and flaws that need to be taken care of if we’re going to keep KG from snapping…
May 11th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Steve M says:
“I fully expected to take an L last night (LeBron wasn’t going to let them go down 0-3) but I figured it’d be one of those 40 pt. triple doubles where you just realize what could be w/ Bron when he actually hits his prime (SCARY! He’s the only guy since Big O where you could say you think he’ll AVERAGE a triple double over a season and not be talking out your ass)”
Ok. What current players have the potential/talent to average a triple-double?
1. LeBron (seriously, he just needs another all-star on the team and I think he does it)
2. Kobe (would never pass up enough shots to do it though)
3. Chris Paul (Tyson chandler would have to be out the whole year)
4. KG (would have to dominate the ball more but he’s too unselfish)
5. T-Mac (suffers from “kobeitis” as well. “Kobeitis”= wouldn’t pass up enough shots)
Anyone else??
May 11th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Mister Sun says:
cmon, lebron averaged 7 and 7, do you know how MUCH more it will take to get to 10 and 10? he will never average a triple double.
chris paul? laughable
kobe? the problem aren’t the shots and therefore the assists, more the rebounds.
this whole discussion is a farce
May 11th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Austin Burton says:
Kobe, CP and T-Mac would have a very tough time averaging 10 rebounds. Of course Paul would have no problem averaging 10 assists, and I could actually see Kobe and T-Mac getting close (throw D-Wade in there too) to averaging 10 dimes. KG would have a tough time averaging 10 assists. He’s a good passer, but the only way that would happen is if the C’s ran a college-type Princeton offense where he became the primary playmaker. (Jeff Green regularly led Georgetown in assists when he was the primary big man at the center of the Princeton offense, but it was still only like 3-4 assists per game ’cause it’s a slow-down system.)
May 11th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Will says:
I think LeBron is most likely the player to avaerage a triple double because he has to do a little of everything for his team. Kobe scores and passes (at least this year) and isn’t expected to rebound. Chris Paul has the heart but I think is too small to grab 10 a game for a whole season. KG is versitlile enough to but if he hasn’t already I don’t see it happening. He’s got the talent around him to average 10 assists but he’d have to be the focal point of the offense which he won’t be on the Celt’s. T-Mac has all the tools but can’t stay healthy enough.
May 11th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Austin Burton says:
Staying healthy has nothing to do with T-Mac (or anyone) not averaging a triple-double. In the games he misses every year he’s not being docked stats. Out of the Kobe/Wade/T-Mac group, I think T-Mac’s the most likely to average 10 assists, but I don’t see him ever averaging 10 rebounds.
May 11th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Austin Burton says:
And again, I have to point out that Kobe doesn’t miss too many fewer games than T-Mac due to injury. Four times in Kobe’s career he’s played less than 70 games in a season. T-Mac also has 4 such seasons on his ledger.
May 11th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
BxBaller says:
As a Knicks fan, I’m feeling really sick today becaused we passed on Avery Johnson. Defense=wins. But I’m still being optimistic that we’ll be a lot better next season. Maybe Walsh has something up his sleeve.
May 11th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Will says:
What I meant by “T-Mac can’t stay healthy” is that a player would have to be close to 100% all season to perform at a high enough level to average a triple-double. I know nobody stays completely health for an entire season but I think you’d have to stay close to average a triple-double.
May 11th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Will says:
What I meant by “T-Mac can’t stay healthy” is that a player would have to be close to 100% all season to perform at a high enough level to average a triple-double. I know nobody stays completely healthy for an entire season but I think you’d have to stay close to average a triple-double.
May 11th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
K Dizzle says:
Celts
Celtics can lose every game on the road and still cop a chip cuz they got home court throughout the playoffs. Of course goin 7 games every series might wear em out, but if they keep blowin teams out at home, it won’t matter.
May 11th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
ERIC says:
Regarding the triple-double debate – a big part of this discussion is the PACE that is being played in today’s NBA. Back when the BIG O avg a triple-double, all 15 teams (or however many) averaged over 110ppg and was run-n-gun. A lot more opportunities for assists and rebounds off misses. The way the game is played today, its not gonna happen.
However, if LeBron came to the Knicks in 2010 (wishful thinking) and played under Mike “Seven Seconds or Less” D’Antoni, he definitely has a chance to avg a triple-double.
May 11th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Ian says:
ben wallace
hof
lol pleaseeeee
May 11th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
tealish says:
Ben Wallace should be glad he attended an All-Star game or two. HOF? The effing Hall of Fame? You guys (Dime) are crazy.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
DaPro says:
Problem I see with the Celts is this-
Why not make Cleveland match-up with your best line-up
PG-Rondo
SG-Jesus
SF-TRUTH
PF-Posey-
C-KG
The problem is it allows KG to matchup against Big Z and he can’t cover Bron in the double but you force Cleveland to make adjustments to a smaller line-up. The Cavs will leave Rondo open to make the jumper so he has to take it. It will be there all day, he’s has to have confidence.
May 11th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
rangerjohn says:
damn dime, can you do something about assholes like kaly?