June 13, 2008 – Dr. J-Water
When the NBA Finals began I stated that the key to this series was whether or not Kobe Bryant could defend Ray Allen. As Game 4 is now in the books and the Celtics are leading the Lakers 3-1, I guess the answer is no. I received multiple emails and messages from readers of The Hoop Doctors who thought I was focusing on the wrong Celtic player, as both Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett had carried the Celtic offense for much of the playoffs leading up to this point. Ray Allen had struggled with his shooting for one of the first times in his long and tenured career, and at the worst time considering for the first time in his career his team was the favourite to win it all.
Ray Allen aka “Jesus Shuttlesworth” has been playing extremely heady, experienced, veteran basketball for this entire series thus far. Not only is he taking good shots and making them by seemingly playing without any nerves of being in the NBA Finals (wish the same could be said for KG), he is becoming widely known lately in many circles as the REAL “Kobe Stopper.” Sorry Ruben Patterson, you have been off the map for a while and you never really could stop Kobe anyways…
Game 4 was no different. Kobe Bryant was more than just ‘contained’ by Ray Allen in the first half. He was totally smothered. Kobe Bryant couldn’t squeeze out even the slightest of daylight for a look at the hoop. Ray Allen held Kobe Bryant to 0 field goals at half time. That’s right, 0 field goals folks. So why were the Lakers up by 18 at half then? Because the Lakers are a better team when Kobe Bryant scores significantly less or not at all! Kobe is a gamer, and will find other ways to affect the game. But when Kobe Bryant is in his scoring groove he wants the ball on every possession, and what ends up happening is his teammates essentially become fans or witnesses to the “Kobe Bryant Show” rather than staying focused and playing the game. When Kobe is either stuggling with his shot or just giving the ball up more for better team play, there is an obvious spike in the focus and determination of his supporting cast. What is most likely happening is a sub-conscious psychological affect where his teammates see their leader struggle and feel like they are needed more to step up to help win the ball game, whereas when Kobe is dominating the rock they just assume he will be their saviour.
So did Doc Rivers recognize this pattern from the first 3.5 games of this series? I’m not quite sure if he recognized it or it was just a fluke change based on his line-up after halftime in game four where he needed to spread the floor offensively, but Doc Rivers made a very important change defensively. Some coaches and analysts out there must have been calling Doc crazy when he started the second half of Game 4 with Paul Pierce on Kobe Bryant and shifted Ray Allen to defend Sasha Vujacic and Derek Fisher. I mean come on man, Allen just held the “Black Mamba” himself to 0 field goals in the first half, how could he take him off Kobe? The Celtics would surely go down by 25-30 points now right? Not quite. I don’t want to belittle the defensive intensity Paul Pierce showed on defending Kobe Bryant in the second half of Game 4; however Allen is clearly the far superior defender. Or….maybe Doc finally became the first coach to realize the twilight zone fact that has been right under our noses for years with countless examples, that is when Kobe Bryant dominates the Lakers scoring they win less ball games. Lakers fans please don’t bother sending me emails with examples of games the Lakers won when Kobe shot a million times. I understand there have been countless games like that. But on a whole I really believe that when Kobe scores a significant amount the Lakers are worse off. The only asterisks I would put on that statement is for the end of close games. Everyone on both sides tenses up a bit at the end of a close, important game. That is the time you do want your superstar scorer such as Bryant to take the majority of shots.
So regardless of his motivation or logic in making the change, Doc Rivers made a brilliant move by shifting Ray Allen to defensively shut down the hot shooting Lakers perimeter players, and having Paul Pierce do a stand up job of just getting a hand in Kobe’s face when shooting and let him get some points on the board for his personal stats. Kobe is like a shark. He saw blood in the water when the Celtics defense shifted to having Paul Piece defend him, and started firing away from all angles on offense. Sure he began to score from the field, but the other Lakers players quickly fell out of rhythm offensively and the Celtics kept up their slow but steady scoring pace to climb back in and eventually steal a win. Greatest comeback in NBA Finals History? Agreed.
When the off-season trades last summer bringing the Celtics Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett I started thinking about how ironic it was that those specific players were going to be teammates. I mean what a twist of fate that this late in their careers we would finally get to see the pairing that so many were anticipating in 1996. Ray Allen was drafted fifth in the 1996 draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves but immediately was traded along with Andrew Lang to the Milwaukee Bucks for their 4th pick Stephon Marbury. Who did the scouting report on that one? I know Marbury was a phenomenal talent at that time, but Ray Allen wasn’t too shabby himself having just won USA Basketball’s Male Athlete of the Year. The NBA Scouting reports have since evolved quite a bit to conduct personality and psychological/social factors tests to ensure a franchise makes a sound investment in both body and mind. Better scouting in the personality testing department may have showed Ray Allen as a better fit to be paired for the future with the young stud Kevin Garnett who the T-Wolves drafted the year prior in 1995. Can you imagine the lethal combination of a young Kevin Garnett in the post, with the young gun slinger Ray Allen waiting for the kick-out? Although they are both aging veterans by today’s standards, as KARMA has it the current pairing of “what might have been” isn’t too shabby either. Ray Allen can still knock down the long ball, and Garnett can still dominate the post and paint area.
I don’t want to be too premature in discussing the factors in the Celtics winning this championship. I certainly don’t want to pull a Mark Cuban/Dallas Mavericks and start planning parade routes before the series is even over (then look foolish after the team collapses). But I don’t think there is any harm in discussing the Celtics NBA Finals MVP Candidates. I know the broad support will be with giving the current and career long “Mr. Celtic” Paul Pierce the NBA Finals MVP award, but I have to say that the most deserving candidate thus far has got to be Ray Allen. If the award truly is based on the NBA Finals and not the entire playoff run, Ray Allen cannot be overlooked. Allen for MVP! Jesus Walks! (Kanye West can we get a video remix, possibly a shout out?)
Game 5 tips off Sunday June 15th @ 9 p.m. EST
