June 9th, 2008 – Dr. J-Water
Pau Gasol, I must apologize to you. I am sorry Pau Gasol for calling you “soft.” I also apologize on behalf of the other writers at The Hoop Doctors who have ever called you soft. There is no way that anyone who throws down a dunk as nasty as we saw tonight in Game 2, right in the grill of “The Big Ticket” Kevin Garnett, can be called “soft” by anyone at any time. Kevin Garnett posterized? Say it ain’t so! Ah well, it could happen to anyone at some point.
I think sometimes European players who come overseas to play in North American professional sports leagues get an undeserved rep as “soft”, “passive”, or “unemotional.” The genesis of this perception probably stems from hockey’s National Hockey League (NHL) where a lot of historic rivalry between USA and Canadian teams with European teams, specifically Russia and Sweden fueled some fairly unkind analysis of the differences in playing style between North American players and European players. As there is clearly a difference in playing style between the NBA and FIBA, I don’t find that the players as a whole are less aggressive or “soft” in either style.
Now that we got that out of the way. How about the rest of the game tonight? When people talk about Boston’s “Big Three” after tonight’s game they won’t be talking about Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. What they will be talking about is Boston’s 3-pt shooting performance, and the Celtics number of 3-pt plays off Laker shooting fouls. How many ‘hoop and the harm’ plays does it take before the Lakers decide to give a significant enough foul to prevent the Celtics from getting a good shot off? As far as the long range shooting tonight from the Celtics goes, I haven’t seen a team this hot from beyond the arc in the NBA Finals for quite some time. The Celtics were 6 for 9 from downtown as a team in just the first half alone.
In keeping with the format of The Hoop Doctors NBA Finals 2008 coverage, here are Dr. J-Water’s keys to Game 2:
• Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Kobe Bryant did a much better job tonight of coming out aggressive to start the game. All three of them attacked the basket and played tight and physical on defense. Unfortunately for Kobe Bryant this translated into 3 first half fouls, two of which came early in the game resulting in Kobe having to sit significantly more on the sideline than the Lakers would have liked. Pau Gasol on the other hand kept the Lakers in the game early going 6 for 8 from the field in the first half of the game.
• As good as Paul Pierce was in tonight’s game, in the first half the players who should be considered the Celtics “Big Three” are Leon Powe (21 points, 6-7 FG, and 9-13 from the stripe), Rajon Rondo (numerous steals, lay-ups, dishes, and even a key block on a Radmanovic 3-pt attempt), James Posey (multiple diving hustle plays, drawn charges, and a clutch 3-pter to help break the game open for the C’s).
• Ray Allen in the first half of tonight’s game once again had Kobe Bryant on lock down. Kobe is having to battle extremely hard for every millisecond of an opening trying to get his shot off. Ray Allen is in such great physical shape, he is probably the only player on the planet that is quick enough to stay with Bryant, but also strong enough to bump and battle with him.
• Kobe Bryant is also having to work very hard defensively guarding Ray Allen. While Ray Allen hasn’t exploded for huge numbers, every few plays Bryant will lose his defensive focus and let Allen get enough space to have a clean look, or try and cheat a screen by sliding over top of it. Ray Allen is not the type of offensive player you can give extra time to for setting his feet. He is one of the best jump shooters of all time.
• Kobe Bryant’s scowl for the majority of the 3rd quarter. No, seriously! This is a huge key, as a player with the basketball IQ of Kobe Bryant should be aware of the effect body language of a team leader can have on his troops.
• Leon Powe, Leon Powe, Leon Powe. I don’t know if he was motivated knowing that there was a TNT half-time show feature tonight on his struggles growing up, or if he just finally got the burn he deserves when Perkins got in foul trouble. Either way the play of Leon Powe was a welcome sight for Celtics supporters. The man was an absolute beast on both ends. There was one stretch at the end of the 3rd quarter during the decisive run of the Celtics blowing open the game by more than 20 points, that Leon Powe had back to back dunks in the grill of the Lakers big men that I would rush out and buy the poster for if they make one.
• The Lakers defense was extremely porous. We knew this series would be decided by the battle between the Lakers great offense vs. the Celtics great defense. But if the Lakers don’t start to play even a mediocre defense by NBA standards that debate will be moot, as the Lakers will lose this series in the worst way, SWEEP.
• The Boston Celtics almost got burned tonight in the 4th quarter. Anyone who has played this game at any level knows that when you are up by 20+ it is very hard to maintain your team’s intensity and take the game seriously. But at the professional level where quite literally anything can happen, you have to stay focused. It is inexcusable that the Boston Celtics let the Lakers come back from a 22 point deficit in less than 7 minutes to close the game to within one possession.
So with the Lakers continuing to fight to the final buzzer, and the Celtics almost blowing it requiring key free throws from Pierce down the stretch to seal it, I would only add that “a win is still a win” and the Celtics take a 2-0 series lead heading into Game 3 in Los Angeles.
Game 3 – June 10th, 9 p.m. EST in Los Angeles
