Ball or Nuthin' » Rasheed Wallace

With Loss to Magic, Pressure Falls Back on the Celtics

T Lamont — Thu, 27 May 2010 04:10:41 +0000

What a difference a couple of days can make.

After Orlando eeked out an overtime victory in Game 4 to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics, surely the veteran-laden squad was going to come out an take care of business tonight.

But the Magic rode their hot-shooting start to an impressive 113-92 win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. With this win, there are some new developments in the series:

- With two consecutive wins, the Magic have now become the team with the momentum. Most of their players have begun to play with the confidence that they displayed throughout the regular season, and in their first two playoff series.

- The Magic played their game, and they played it well. Orlando was able to get some good three-point looks and they knocked them down – hitting 13-25 (52%) from downtown. They were able to spread the wealth, with Jameer Nelson, Matt Barnes, Mickael Pietrus and J.J. Redick converting multiple treys.

- Dwight Howard controlled the paint on both ends of the floor. With 21 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocked shots, Howard put together his first set of good back-to-back performances in this series.

- Yes, there was a Rashard Lewis sighting. He showed some aggression late in tonight’s game. Lewis started swishing mid range jumpers in the fourth quarter, and ended with 14 points.

- While Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard controlled the game’s tempo, the Magic received big contributions from J.J. Redick (14 points), Matt Barnes (three triples), Rashard Lewis (14 points). Getting their teammates involved was critical, and was what they needed to do to stand a chance at winning the next game in the TD Garden.

Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard have stood tall in the face of possible playoff elimination.

The Celtics lost some key players in the midst of their loss. Glen “Big Baby” Davis got caught by an inadvertent Dwight Howard elbow, and suffered a concussion. Davis staying on the floor for a while – and when he attempted to get up and run up the court, he was stumbling and had to be held by referee Joe Crawford (to prevent him from falling). If Crawford wouldn’t have executed his timely save, Florida would have probably experienced its first earthquake ever.

Reserve guard/forward Marquis Daniels entered the game briefly. On a drive to the basket, he banged into a defender and also suffered a concussion. He exited the game immediately after the play. He plays so infrequently that he got hurt the first time he had the ball in his hands. Just plain sad.

Rasheed Wallace, who played great for Boston with 21 points, looked to tweak his back late in the contest.

But Boston’s biggest loss was that of center Kendrick Perkins. Perkins, the Celtics’ best defender of Dwight Howard, was hit with two questionable technical fouls – which caused him to be ejected from the game. The first technical was called when play continued after a stoppage, and Perkins gave an unintentional elbow to Marcin Gortat. The second, and most talked-about, technical foul was given as Perkins expressed disapproval of a foul called against him – and was walking away from the official. Also, since Perkins has accumulated seven technicals in the postseason, the league has the option of suspending him for a game. The nature of the fouls almost assuredly ensures that they will be reviewed and may be rescinded. If not, his loss will place Boston at a huge disadvantage in Game 6.

So, given the newfound effectiveness of Orlando’s offense, Doc Rivers and his staff have some work to do.

Most importantly, Boston’s trainers will have to earn their paychecks if the Celtics expect to appear in their second NBA Finals in three years.

That, or have everyone in the TD Garden complaining of the neverending smell of Ben Gay.

Orlando Looking Scared of Boston

T Lamont — Sun, 23 May 2010 03:35:24 +0000

The Celtic defense continued to make the Magic look like a college team.

Boston once again showed us what a team committed to playing together can do.

Kevin Garnett scored 10, Paul Pierce 15, Rajon Rondo 11, Ray Allen 14, Glen Davis 17, Rasheed Wallace 10. And, oh yeah, the Celtics won 94-71 to push their seemingly insurmountable lead up to 3-0.

There was evidence early in the contest that the Magic didn’t bring it. On one possession, Ray Allen blew past Dwight Howard, who was covering him on the perimeter. No Orlando players rotated back to help in the paint, and Allen – after starting his penetration from outside the three-point arc – sailed in for an uncontested dunk.

Dwight Howard didn't have much to smile about with only 7 points and 7 rebounds tonight.

But if there was one play that was symbolic of the pulse of this game, it happened with 8:38 remaining in the second quarter. Rondo and Jason Williams were both chasing a loose ball in the Magic backcourt – a chase in which Williams looked to win. But Rondo abruptly dove to the floor, somehow recovered the ball and flipped a running floater off the glass that went in. At the time of ‘the dive’, his Celtics were leading 34-17.

What does this tell us?

Letting a team that is dominating the series outhustle you means that you have thrown in the towel. Not only were the Magic getting dominated by losing the first two games, but they were also blitzed early in this game. The 23-point loss should be very embarrassing for a team who was down 0-2 entering the contest.

What an enigma the Orlando Magic are. This team played the game its way in the first two rounds. Howard controlled the paint. He commanded double-teams. Open shooters knocked down shots. They played great team defense.

They’re doing none of that now.

The Magic are flat out scared of the Celtics.

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LeBron, Cavs Get Early Summer Vacation

T Lamont — Fri, 14 May 2010 03:16:09 +0000

First Quarter:

The Celtics get out to the quick lead at home. One thing to notice was that the Cavs started Shaquille O’Neal on Kevin Garnett. Garnett has been roasting forward Antawn Jamison in the post, and the switch was an attempt to stop the damage that KG has done inside. Well, the versatile former MVP took his game outside, hitting jumpers and forcing O’Neal to play further out on the floor. KG would end up shooting 5-5 by the end of the first half.

Cleveland stormed back behind 10 first-quarter points from Mo Williams.

LeBron Watch: James contributed 9 points and 2 assists in the period, and looked to be patient but also more aggressive than in Game 5.

Score at end of quarter: Boston 25, Cleveland 22

Second Quarter:

Boston again started out fast in the beginning of the quarter, pulling out to a 6-point advantage. Balanced scoring has been the story for Cleveland, and they’ve done it without Paul Pierce – who played less than 9 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble.

Mo Williams continued to shine and ended the half with 20 points, making us all wonder ‘where was this in the last three games of the series?’

Tony Allen has made a huge difference for the Celtics (with Pierce on the bench). He has provided defense, aggression, and an overall boost in energy. Allen ended the half’s scoring after the other Allen (sharpshooter Ray) penetrated past LeBron James and dished it off for a resounding tomahawk dunk that ignited the crowd. Moments later, Ray Allen wrestled for a loose ball that almost resulted in him knocking down a three that would have brought the house down.

Score at the half: Boston 51, Cleveland 49

Third Quarter:

The Cavs opened with six consecutive points, but the Celtics quickly counter with six of their own – four of them coming out of that Garnett-Jamison mismatch. Cleveland quickly switches Shaq back onto Garnett.

Shaq and Kendrick Perkins begin their Royal Rumble portion of the contest. Perkins gets flattened by Shaq after attempting to box him out on the boards. Then, Perkins fouls O’Neal to prevent a sure dunk from Shaq. Then Shaq lays a hard smackdown on Perkins to keep him from getting a layup.

In the midst of all of this, Jamison is stinking it up offensively. He’s missed a tear drop and a wide-open three ball, and is now 1-7 from the floor.

Then, suddenly the Cavs fall apart. Scrapping for a loose ball, Andersen Varajeo appears to be hit…or maybe he was flopping (which is not uncommon for Southern hemisphere NBA players). He’s calling for travelling instead, and Paul Pierce come down and drains a three. The Cavs seemed poised to call a timeout, but don’t and Williams misses a three amid a lot of confusion on Cleveland’s side. Varajeo is indicating (to the refs) that he’s bleeding, and the Celtics play on. Kevin Garnett drains an uncontested jumper to put Boston up by nine, prompting a definitive timeout call from Mike Brown.

Tony Allen went to work again on defense. The Cavs actually tried to get LeBron in a post-up situation (surprise!), but Allen holds his ground and comes up with the strip on James. This was a big statement play that let LeBron know that he won’t be able to play bully-ball tonight.

Score at end of quarter: Boston 76, Cleveland 67

Dwight Howard believed that the NBA MVP should be determined in the playoffs. If so, James' early postseason exit would probably disqualify him from consideration.

Fourth Quarter:

The first big plays of the quarter give some promise to Cavs fans – LeBron James hits back-to-back triples that cut the Celtic lead down to four with nine and a half minutes left in regulation.

But Boston immediately gets the cushion back up to nine after two Cleveland turnovers lead to five quick points. Once again, it’s Pierce who hits a key trey to end the sequence. Rajon Rondo is controlling this game – a points-assists double-double once again.

The Celtics swarming defense has just produced another 5-0 run that has pushed their lead out to 14. Off of a Pierce penetration, Rasheed Wallace cans a three ball from the corner. ‘Sheed has given the Celtics all they can ask for off the bench, putting up 12 points to this juncture of the game. It has rapidly become gut-check time for LeBron and the Cavs.

Cleveland has 23 turnovers…to 13 for Boston. The Cavs are pressing big time. They are rushing shots, and missing open looks. With 3:50 remaining in regulation, Cleveland’s hope is dwindling as they trail by 12.

Now with 3:30 left, the crowd at the TD Garden is chanting “New York Knicks…New York Knicks…New York Knicks…”

Cleveland looked to give up with under a minute left. This team looks like one that is crushed – and James or no James – the impact from not living up to their impressive regular season will follow them for some time.

Final score: Boston 94, Cleveland 85

Summary:

Tonight proved to be the same old story for Cleveland. As a team, they were not equipped enough to battle a team with the weapons that Boston has. LeBron had pretty stats – 27 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assist – but he wasn’t dominant by any means. James also fueled Boston’s offense by committing nine turnovers. The only way they would have emerged victorious would have been for James to have huge games every night – which he did not.

Even if the Cavs would have somehow made it past this series, their chances against the Orlando would have been nonexistent. This is the second consecutive year that the Cavs have proven that the regular season and the playoffs are different beasts. The best regular season records over the past two seasons, no appearances in the Finals.

Indeed, it was a sad ending for a city that has suffered so much.

For Boston – what can you say? When these veterans play as a team, the sky is the limit. Last year, we all wondered how the Celtics would have fared in their series with the Magic with a healthy Kevin Garnett.

Now, we’ll get our chance to to see how that would have turned out.

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Celtics Display MVP Defense in Game 2 Rout of Cleveland

T Lamont — Tue, 04 May 2010 03:39:53 +0000

For the Boston Celtics, Game 2 was exactly what the doc ordered.

Head coach Doc Rivers had his veteran team motivated, and they came away the victors with a 104-86 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Quicken Loans Arena. The win tied the Celtics and Cavs at one game apiece.

The two rivals played a relatively close first half, with the road team ahead at intermission, 52-48. But Boston used a 31-12 third quarter to decisively shift the game into their favor, giving them a 23-point advantage at the end of three. Early in the fourth quarter, Boston extended the lead by 2 points to provide Cleveland with the biggest deficit that it has faced at home all season (91-66, 25 points).

As they did in the final regular season meeting between the two teams, the Cavaliers put together a furious run in the final quarter. Cleveland countered with a 16-0 run that brought them within 10 points with about four minutes left in regulation. For the Cavs, it proved to be a case of too little, too late as the Celtics hit enough buckets down the stretch to keep them at bay.

After such a tense Game 1, this game was lopsided in just about every possible aspect. But what went wrong for Cleveland?

1. Something Bothering LeBron James – It was pretty obvious that the newly-crowned 2009-10 NBA MVP didn’t have his track shoes on tonight. To be quite honest, he almost looked disinterested for the majority of the game, and very much like a – gasp – regular player. Don’t get me wrong – the Celtics played good defense on LeBron. There were a couple of occasions that James was putting a move on his defender, and after two dribbles a defender would come to help. This timing by the Boston defense was impeccable, because it proved to be enough time to keep LeBron from exhibiting his usual strong burst to the basket, but not enough time for him to find his other open Cavalier teammates. The main defenders responsible for James – whether it was one of the Allen’s (Ray or Tony), Paul Pierce or even Kevin Garnett – did a nice job of keeping him at arm’s length and away from the front of the rim. However, James has seen many gimmicks to try and control him. He turned it on a bit late in the fourth, but make no mistake about it – James did not look like his normal self at all.

K.G. got several easy buckets in the paint on Monday night.

2. Antawn Jamison Guarding Kevin Garnett? – Since I’m local to the Washington D.C. metro area, there’s one thing that a know without a shadow of a doubt – - Antawn Jamison, toughness and defense are three words that cannot be used in the same sentence. Perhaps I should have sent (Cleveland head coach) Mike Brown some footage from Comcast Sports Net. I don’t know whose idea it was to put Jamison on former MVP Kevin Garnett – but whoever it was should get the game ball from the Celtics. On four different occasions in the lopsided third quarter, Boston cleared out the weak side and point guard Rajon Rondo threw lob passes to K.G. Four lobs led to 4 made field goals for Garnett, and Jamison couldn’t even manage to commit a foul on any of them.

3. Rondo Gone Wild - Anyone paying a modicum of attention to the Celtics this season wouldn’t be startled by the following statement. Rajon Rondo is the best player on the Boston Celtics. The first time All-Star has been the best player (on both teams) in the series so far. He played a stellar Game 1 (27 points, 12 assists), and then came back with a masterful performance tonight (13 points, 19 assists). Rondo’s ability to get others involved led to a total of six Celtics scoring in double figures. Someone – I’m looking at you Mo Williams – is going to have to keep him from getting into the paint at will.

4. Rasheed Banging the Three’s – In addition to all of the Celtic starters hitting double figures in points, Rasheed Wallace had a great night. ’Sheed was 7-8 from the field including three from downtown, totaling 17 points in only 18 minutes. Getting that type of production from anyone on their bench early in the game (almost all of Wallace’s damage was done in the first half) is a big complement to your starters. It enables the team to rest its heavy-minute players, which is extremely important to a veteran team like Boston.

5. Boston Won the Three-Point Contest – The Celtics got multiple three-point makes from Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Rasheed Wallace, contributing to a 9-19 effort from beyond the arc. Conversely, the Cavs were only 4-21 from deep. Much of Cleveland’s shooting struggles can be attributed to James’ rough night – he finished with a 2010 postseason low four assists.

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Big Men Will Determine The East’s Best

T Lamont — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:22:30 +0000

As the opening tip of the 2009-10 NBA season approaches, this year’s league will be complete with its new issues and questions…

- Will Kobe and Ron Artest get along enough to bring L.A. another title?

- Will a healthy Gilbert Arenas make the Wizards significant once again?

- Will number one draft pick Blake Griffin be the latest blue chipper to go down in flames with the Chippers organization?

But the more things change, the more they stay the same. And while there was much wheeling and dealing in the off-season, the Eastern Conference’s elite will remain untouched. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics will continue to be the front-runners in the East. These teams have the a strong returning core of players (the Magic have some notable roster changes) that have developed chemistry and know how to play winning basketball. They are well coached, and will probably be the leaders in their respective divisions.

But most importantly, each of these squads has a big man with the potential to make them a winner. Let’s take a look at each of them:

The Celtics will be happy to welcome a healthy KG back to their lineup.

Boston Celtics – Kevin Garnett:

The 2007-08 season was a dream for Kevin Garnett. After toiling in mediocrity with a Minnesota franchise headed nowhere, Garnett was traded to a Celtics team who had just acquired Ray Allen, and who already has an unmotivated Paul Pierce on its roster. They instantly became known as “The Big Three.” While the expectations that come along with having three All-Stars on the same roster was great, they lived up to them and won the NBA championship.

Last year, Garnett was injured late in the season and, predictably, the C’s were not able to get to the conference finals. This year, Garnett is back. And he definitely has to knock the rust off due to the bone spur that was discovered in his knee. But he has more help in the form of Rasheed Wallace – who hasn’t tasted postseason success since a 2005 Finals appearance against the Spurs (which he and the Pistons lost). If Boston is at the top of the standings come playoff time, it’s because Wallace and Garnett have been efficient – both offensively and defensively.

Cleveland Cavaliers – Shaquille O’Neal:

LeBron James looks like the best player in the NBA for the next 10 years. But LeBron has proven that he cannot get the job done by himself. OK – just bring in Shaq and get him a title.

Wait…not so fast – Shaq is old, slow and quite frankly, a shadow of his former self. In reality, however, 50% of Shaq might just be all that James needs to take that next step.

Shaq will come out motivated this year. There’s absolutely no way that’s he’s going to come out flat playing alongside last year’s NBA MVP. So, if the Cavs aren’t clicking this season it won’t be from a lack of effort. It will be because we’ll finally be witnessing the demise of Superman.

Orlando Magic – Dwight Howard:

The media darling has taken the NBA by storm. Howard has improved every season, and he has continued his ascension into an iconic NBA figure. Analysts say that he needs to develop a “true” post-up game and, perhaps, a face up jump shot.

I disagree. Howard should stick with his game and remain the most dominant presence in the paint. Changing his game might encourage him to abandon his physical nature, and that’s the last thing that you want from a 7-footer. Howard’s combination of quickness, strength and explosion are extremely rare (and reminiscent of another former Orlando Magic center).

With Orlando’s loss of playmaker Hedo Turgoklu, Howard will have to be more naturally aggressive and pursue scoring opportunities. And on the defensive end, he will remain a nightmare for opponents penetrating the lane.

Don’t be surprised to see these teams as the top three in the East once again this season. And if so, we’ll be in store for a treat down the home stretch and during the playoffs.

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