Running thoughts on Game 1 of the Finals. Such a creative intro I know.
-That podium with the championship trophy for the starting lineups is stupid. Dumb. Mentally ill. There is no need for it. First off it messes up the regular introductions and the flow of them. I want to see a player sitting down, get up and go through a tunnel. I don’t want to see a producer with a headset telling players to stand awkwardly and then do what they do. This isn’t the All-Star game people. You have LA/Boston do you really need to overproduce ESPN? Also it makes the intro super awkward for the road team I mean who wants to stand there and soak up extra boos.
-As cute and as well-produced as that Finals intro was….I don’t like it. A) It is just entirely too long and B) it has nothing to do with the current series. I love the nostalgia but at most people a year under me are only loving the MJ and D-Wade parts. It would be a hell of a commercial though. A lot better than the dumb ones with old highlights and then D-Wade popping up out of nowhere and saying a random word.
-And while I’m complaining the oversized championship logo at halfcourt is so unnecessary. It takes up all the court, its ugly…just no need. All you need is the Finals written in cursive. Come on Stern.
-Early on, I’m very interested to see if Kobe forces the issue or if he lets the game come to him. By forcing I mean taking those crazy fadeaways that he can make or just letting it come to him naturally.
-The Lakers don’t box out as we all thought. Bad news bears for LA fans.
-Pau is not hedging on that pick and roll early which could mean death because they have no shot blocker. By the way if they had Bynum it would be over. He’s guarding it like Shaq did.
-Rondo is being aggressive early taking open jumpers. The past two series he passed up on those to either dribble or pass. Not quite sure if this is a good thing to have Rondo taking jumpers but hey he hit one.
-Perkins has to stay active on the boards because Odom cannot box him out.
-Pau Gasol cannot guard Kevin Garnett. I repeat. Pau Gasol cannot guard Kevin Garnett. At all. If he stays aggressive and does not settle it will be big problems for the Lake Show. Duncan dominated with post ups…KG can do a lot more, a lot more athletic which means a lot more trouble.
-Boston has forced Kobe into three tough jumpers and he is missed them all….dear lord ‘Running Down A Dream’ by Tom Petty going into the first timeout? Come on now..mind numbingly dumb. Can they just buy the music from John Tesh? And please Mark Jackson leave the ‘My goodness’ at home. Even Stuart Scott was on his best behavior. Speaking of the pregame show…how did Magic swing a deal to do the ABC pregame show? And then how did he swing a deal to only say a few words? I mean he works for TNT and the Lakers. Also, more proof that ESPN is retarded: they hire the worst piece of Inside the NBA. Kudos to you Magic…I swear you strike the ‘Magic Show’ from his resume and he could be Jesus.
-Ray Allen destroyed Sasha Vujacic. 5 straight points as if telling everyone ‘I’m still Ray Allen bitches!’ Seriously I can’t believe we thought he could lock Ray Allen up…I mean it’s still Ray Allen and he’s improved but he’s still Sasha freakin Vujacic.
-Good move to bring in Powe. So far Boston’s bench is doing a great job. Doc Rivers is doing a good job *gasp* I said it.
-Sam Cassell…has officially been in cruise control waiting for the Finals. I’m convinced. He’s also on fire. Does he shoot because he doesn’t know the plays? Who knows. He brings an offensive spark and someone that the Lakers have to guard. Cassell can handle Derek Fisher which is going to be big. Unsung hero? Yay me for tying in the earlier post!
-Doc needs to take Sam out right now. He’s not scoring on Kobe. You don’t want him shooting over Kobe. You don’t want him in attack mode on Kobe. Yank him. Put Eddie House’s son in right now.
-It’s clear that Paul Pierce is the piece that Phil Jackson wants to take away. It’s also clear that KG owns Pau’s soul.
-#1 villain in Spain = Kevin Garnett.
-I love that anyone under the age of 19 was probably totally lost during that Celtics/Lakers mini-montage of the history of the rivalry.
-Lakers are on a 10-2 run…this is where the Celtics have got to keep scoring because they cannot hold the Lakers down for 48 minutes. It’s impossible too many weapons.
-NBA Finals meet Paul Pierce, Paul Pierce meet the NBA Finals. That’s a nice adjustment. Also Phil tries to put Lamar on KG…no chance. KG could be unstoppable if he wants to be this series. Seriously.
-Kobe is playing like a ninja/silent assassin right now. Seriously he is just raising his game slowly…sweet mother.
-Paul Pierce just went down…this cannot be good. Boston fans nationwide are not breathing right now.
-Pierce getting carried off is horrible. The crowd knows it you can just feel it in their soul. They feel like a boyfriend whose getting the beginning of the ‘We need to talk..’
-Huge three ball by Ray Ray…seriously this is the definition of adversity and the Celtics have to find a way to survive. That 3 will go a long way.
-Allen makes a three, Odom clanks two free throws, Paul Pierce comes bouncing out of the locker room tunnel, I have never seen a momentum change like that in years. Straight out of the movies.
(sidenote: Number of ‘series over’ texts I got when Pierce got carried off = 7)
-During the commercial I’m realizing that this Pierce knee injury could still end the series. If he is hindered or somewhat ineffective the C’s are in big trouble. That being said this is still a great moment.
-Doc Rivers says ‘that’s why we play 12 guys’. Un….real.
-Ray Allen had a good drive, made two guard him, kicked it to the open man for a three…only problem that open man was Rajon Rondo. He misses. Leads to a Kobe alley-oop. LA regains the lead.
-Pierce with back to back three’s….unbelievable. Him and Kobe have woken the hell up in this quarter you have to love it.
-Mark Jackson just compared Pierce coming back out to Willis Reed coming back out. Hell. No. Never. Please a producer needs to cuss him out in his headset for doing that. It was a moment but enough with the hyperbole.
-What….a….quarter. This has to be Chapter 1 or 2 on Paul Pierce’s career DVD. Rollercoaster ride for sure. Pierce comes out hot, then he gets hurt and everything hits the fan, then Ray Allen hits a three and Pierce bounces back out and hits two threes back-to-back. Crazy ride. Now Boston is up 77-73. Kobe is still in Silent Assassin mode, he could turn into Mamba at any second. 20 points, 12 in the third and no one is going to remember that. The Lakers need more from Odom, but hell at the end of the day all they need to do is keep it close and then watch that killer snake do what he does. What a luxury.
-Can the Celtics bench carry the early portion of this quarter? This unit can’t score very well and the Lakers are putting Kobe on Cassell to shut him up. Ray Ray is going to have to pretend he’s Jesus Shuttleworth for a couple minutes.
-Seriously….I don’t think Sam passes unless he has too. He doesn’t know the plays.
-Quick who is the most annoying Finals kid: Jason Kidd’s son (w/moustache) or Eddie House’s kid. I still vote for Kidd’s son because his head was humongous.
-Underrated play of the game was KG saving that ball from going over and back.
-Remember what I wrote earlier today…you never know how someone is going to react. Jordan Farmar is f’n up right now. For one he let KG save that ball when he could have ran after. Secondly his turnover led to the Posey three. Now the Celtics are up 8 with 8 minutes left. Far from an insurmountable lead but considering the fact that KG has yet to shoot….it’s a g
ood sign.
-Seriously….WHAT IS SAM CASSELL DOING?!?!?! For all of the good he does he just does some super dumb things. No Kobe Bryant for the Lakers right now. This is interesting. Celtics are not taking advantage.
-No…seriously….WHAT IS SAM CASSELL DOING?!?!?!? The one time he’s supposed to shoot he doesn’t shoot. The shot clock is done….SHOOT IT!
-Lakers minus Kobe are up 4-0. Classic Phil Jackson, I’m having flashbacks to when he sat Jordan in 92. They are running the offense mighty smooth right now. Boston really should have put it away but they love letting teams back into games. It’s kind of their thing.
-KG back to being Mr. Indecisive as he jump-passes to Rajon Rondo. Come on KG. You were doing so good for a while…also please realize they can’t guard you.
-KG is shooting…but he’s settling. He’s taking the jumper. He has to get in the low block or he has to go by him. He can do both but he refuses to.
-Interesting fact about Kobe…not sure he can go into Mamba mode. The C’s are giving him the jumper but when he tries to bully his way to the bucket there are two are three defenders. That was an And-1 on Duncan last series and it’s an airball layup in this series. They protect the rim very will…want to see how Kobe responds.
-KG goes by Gasol…and then decides to stepback and shot a fadeaway bank. Is he allergic to the paint? Does he not like layups? I’m not understanding this. Huge call that just went against Boston by the way I thought for sure that was a charge on Odom instead it could be an And-1. If he can make the free throw…he’s 1/4 so far, somewhere Simmons is beaming.
-Two things that I’m not sure anyone picked up. Kobe’s almost turnover (pick and roll he tried to dump it to Pau) he screamed at Pau. Then when he got the ball back and kicked it to Sasha (who missed the baseline jumper) instead of sprinting back on defense, he looked back at Sasha almost shaking his head. Seriously. I know he shot him a disgusted look. I wish y’all had seen it or I could show it. Keep an eye on this, he slowly is losing trust in his teammates. If he keeps getting frustrated watch out.
-Lakers are terrible on the boards. They all stood and looked up at the ball and let KG walk in their unconstested. You can’t do that on any level of basketball.