Chill Out (also 8 things)

[grantlongforpresident]

Here is my Gant impression.

1) It is 2-2 and we have home court advantage. We haven't lost at home *knocks on wood* yet in these playoffs so don't jump off that bridge.

2) Cassell had another rotten game. Cut him. No D + Chucking = SAM

3) PJ Brown had a solid game... this is encouraging.

4) Pierce played a good game on the defensive end. Lebron had to work for everything .. but Pierce can't be counted on to carry the team on both ends when guarding LeFlop.

5) As I previously argued, the Cav's trade was a sucess. You take Lebron, and surround him with shooters (Wally, Boobie, West) and rebounder and/or hustle guys (Wallace, Varajo, Joe Smith, Z)

6) Another good game by Rondo. Neither West nor Gibson can stay with him.

7) I think Allen is starting to break out of his slump.

8 ) We are going to win next game. Book it.

[TA42]

Here is my Gant impression.

1) It is 2-2 and we have home court advantage. We haven't lost at home *knocks on wood* yet in these playoffs so don't jump off that bridge.

2) Cassell had another rotten game. Cut him. No D + Chucking = SAM

3) PJ Brown had a solid game... this is encouraging.

4) Pierce played a good game on the defensive end. Lebron had to work for everything .. but Pierce can't be counted on to carry the team on both ends when guarding LeFlop.

5) As I previously argued, the Cav's trade was a sucess. You take Lebron, and surround him with shooters (Wally, Boobie, West) and rebounder and/or hustle guys (Wallace, Varajo, Joe Smith, Z)

6) Another good game by Rondo. Neither West nor Gibson can stay with him.

7) I think Allen is starting to break out of his slump.

8 ) We are going to win next game. Book it.

1. Agreed. Look around...home teams are dominating this post season.

2. Sam I Am can be useful. I think he should play more with the starters so he will defer offensively. When he's with the second unit he thinks he has to carry them.

3. Nice game from PJ but he played a little bit too much for my likings.

4. Agreed. Pierce has played incredibly on the defensive end and he just needs to play within the flow of the offense to be effective.

5. The trade does seem to be successful at the moment. That of course can all turn if Delonte and Wally revert back to game 1 and 2 form.

6. Rondo played well after the first few minutes. He started hitting the open jumper which helped his drives. Would like to see him playing more against Gibson than Sam I Am.

7. Agreed. Ray seems to be coming out of it. It's been a struggle for Ray but we all know once he gets going he can be pretty lethal.

8. Again....I agree. Home cooking does the heart good.

9. GREAT JOB IMPERSONATING GANT!

[The Rondo Show]

Here is my Gant impression.

2) Cassell had another rotten game. Cut him. No D + Chucking = SAM.

He's now 3-26 on the road. Unfortunately, I don't think House would be as much help as some think. For starters, he's a playoff choker of sorts. 36% shooter in the playoffs when the D's get tighter and try and force him to beat them off the dribble. His confidence can't be too high right now after he's been made a garbage time man/10 second per game on last shot sets in close games, either.

If guarding LeBron really is what's making Pierce ineffective offensively right now, I think I'd go small a lot more and go with Rondo/Ray/Pierce/Posey/KG. Put Posey on LeBron, Pierce on Ben Wallace and KG on Z. The only problem with this is it hurts the defensive gameplan of having KG just ignore Wallace/Varejao and hang around the rim to help Pierce or Posey on LeBron every time he beats them off the dribble. They'd either have to put Posey on him 1 on 1 or they'd have to let Z take a bunch of open 16 foot jumpers and tell KG that his help D is the #1 priority and let Z take all those open jumpers.

[Ed Pinkney]

You can't compare us with the other teams. Look at the Lakers and Jazz, yes the home teams have won all the games but both teams are playing well. Boston doesn't even look like winning on the road.

All it takes is LeBron going ballistic in one of our home games and then we are in serious trouble.

[MyInsatiableOne]

I agree, if LeBron goes nuts and the refs decide to elevate him to god-status by giving him (even more) calls, then we're cooked.

That or if Violet Palmer or Bennett Salvatore are reffing...

[Celts17Pride]

Cavs in 6.


Look I am a diehard Celtic fan but the Cavs have the Celtics right where they want them. The Cavs will be extremely confident tomorrow night. If I am the Cavs, I'm thinking that we have 2 shots to win a game at Boston and Boston has no shot of winning in Cleveland. I like my chances. The Cavs will be playing with the highest confidence.

It's now or never time for Pierce, KG, Ray Allen. Step up or go home.

[BigHands]

My take:

Players:

Atlanta outworked the Celtics in 3 games and now Cleveland has played better defense in 2 games. If your team gets outworked in the playoffs, you lose. It is that simple.

The Celtics, on the road anyway, are not attacking the hoop. That is a sure ticket out of the playoffs and I am sure it has Heinsohn screaming in his sleep as he has flash backs to the offensive scheme of Jim O

[Celts17Pride]

I also find it amazing that Wally can play so many minutes without the Celtics exploiting his defense and that the team cannot find many good shots for Ray Allen.

Ray Allen's defense on Szczerbiak has made Wally look like LeBron II. Pretty Bad.

[BigHands]

-= original quote snipped =-



Ray Allen's defense on Szczerbiak has made Wally look like LeBron II. Pretty Bad.

I agree, but only a very little.

Wally can flat out shoot - always could.

But he couldn't guard a chair in Minny or Boston and now we can't burn him to the ground when he is playing D?

There is something wrong with that.

[EJay33]

great work as usual, Gant! (That was my typical reply to Gant impression)