semi-sentient wrote:While I love the toughness that Artest brings and how he psyched the Celtics, that only works against teams with fake toughness.
It won't work against the Cavs because LeBron doesn't get rattled and neither does Shaq. This kind of toughness will come in extremely handy if we face the Celtics or Magic in the Finals, but the chances of that happening are incredibly slim. We need to figure out how to get tougher against the Cavs and that starts with our bigs. I don't think they have it in them, personally. They see Shaq and they instantly start peeing on themselves.
I essentially agree with this...
LeBron isn't going to repect this kind of toughness until someone knocks him on his ass on the way to the basket... Even as big as he is, I'm shocked this hasn't happened in any of the important games I've watched him in... Picking up a flag-1 would be worth it to establish you're hold on the paint... I bet if Gasol did it, they might not even call the foul. Ron would most likely get tossed though... Kobe would get the flag for sure.
And Shaq doesn't respond to brute strength... Or more acurately, he rises to the challenge. He gets flustered when you out-perform him... That's when he starts picking up stupid fouls and has to sit. Gasol should man-up and try to work him down low... If he got some easy baskets on him, he'd be on the bench anyway.
But in the last couple games against them, I actually thought Bynum stepped up held his own and didn't seem to back down... He's just not strong enough to handle Shaq on his own. And Gasol and Odom showed no spine at all against the Cavs this season.
So, in order to make Ron's intinsity stick against teams like the Cavs and the Nuggets to a certain extent... It's going to take a team effort. Gasol and Odom are going to have to play up to their size and match Ron Ron's intensity.
I agree though, nothing they've shown so far makes me think they can do it.
Never have rice at Hanzo's house...
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