Did the Lakers shatter the Celtics swag?

[Jordan23Forever]

NOBODY DEFENDS RONDO THE WAY KOBE DOES AGAINST THE CELTICS!!!!!!!

Did Jeffries play 15 feet off him at all times and roam around the court? Nobody ever said that using a taller, longer player on him was a gimmick. The way Kobe defends him is a gimmick, however. It's because he gets to conserve his energy that way.

[dingclancy]

Lakers, Warriors, Blazers, Knicks - those are young athletic teams. Like Hawks. So it is obvious their old legs are troubling them especially after the high of a 19 game streak,

[dingclancy]

NOBODY DEFENDS RONDO THE WAY KOBE DOES AGAINST THE CELTICS!!!!!!!

Did Jeffries play 15 feet off him at all times and roam around the court? Nobody ever said that using a taller, longer player on him was a gimmick. The way Kobe defends him is a gimmick, however. It's because he gets to conserve his energy that way.

Well why fault him for that? Assuming that he does conserve energy playing that way, then it is Rondo's job to make him work. Funny how Rondo can play bad against a coasting Kobe on D.

That PG position needs to be fixed for the Celtics. Even if he gets past Kobe, you have Rondo against two 7 footers, with Kobe trailing behind. I think the Lakers have figured that out.

[humblebum]

eh, all of these losses have come on the road and mostly against young or great teams (Lakers and Blazers at home) teams who've played well that night. The Celtics are in that "tough" stretch of the season where mental and physical fatigue really starts to set in. Call it the winter blues. They're simply not playing at the same level as they were earlier in the season. The swag has been faltering but that happens to all teams really, the C's have just set such a high standard that people are going to bug out during this stretch. But it's natural and they'll recover just fine.

[TonyMontana]

It's called a slump. Did you seriously think we could keep up our 27-3 pace the whole season? I don't really see what you're getting at here.

No but you and your fans did.
Remember all those thread YOU GUYS WOULD START ABOUT "the current Celtics could've beat the first dream team", "The Celtics wouldve beat the 2001 Lakers" and "the current Cetlics can beat the NBA W/C allstars "
Oh and lets not forget Is the Cs the best team in history...........

[garcia3]

It's called a slump. Did you seriously think we could keep up our 27-3 pace the whole season? I don't really see what you're getting at here.

No but you and your fans did.
Remember all those thread YOU GUYS WOULD START ABOUT "the current Celtics could've beat the first dream team", "The Celtics wouldve beat the 2001 Lakers" and "the current Cetlics can beat the NBA W/C allstars "
Oh and lets not forget Is the Cs the best team in history...........

TonyMontana shut the hell up, what are you laughing at?? what's wrong with you, don't you know this is THE BEST TEAM IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND?? respect

[ropjhk]

The Celtics recent slide is just proof once again of how difficult it is to mentally prepare yourself for an entire 82 game season in order to win 70+ games. They may be the best team in the league, but it takes a special kind of mentality and work ethic to always beat opponents who aren't as good as you.

The Celts will regroup themselves soon enough, and go on another long winning streak. But I doubt they'll be able to sustain their high level of play throughout every game in order to win 70.

[TonyMontana]

It's called a slump. Did you seriously think we could keep up our 27-3 pace the whole season? I don't really see what you're getting at here.

No but you and your fans did.
Remember all those thread YOU GUYS WOULD START ABOUT "the current Celtics could've beat the first dream team", "The Celtics wouldve beat the 2001 Lakers" and "the current Cetlics can beat the NBA W/C allstars "
Oh and lets not forget Is the Cs the best team in history...........

TonyMontana shut the hell up, what are you laughing at?? what's wrong with you, don't you know this is THE BEST TEAM IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND?? respect

MY BADDDDDDDDDD..............
I dont know what happened, I think for a minute there I lost it.

[24K GOLD]

they intentionally lost the game vs the lakers because they needed a wake-up call.

they intentionally lost the game today because they needed a wake-up call.

oh god don't you love to be a celtic fan, full of spin doctors!

[G35]

knicks needed it more

I guess its just coincidence that the Celtic's "slump" occured right after they played the Lakers.

You guys are right, the Lakers didn't shatter the Celtics swagger, they only brought about a slump.

Btw, what happened to the people that argued that the Celtics didn't take games off, that they didn't even take possessions off? That the leadership of Garnett would rather that his teammates cry than to have them out of focus.? Then we have people saying that the game didn't mean as much to the Celtics as it did to the Lakers when Pierce himself said he hates losing to LA. It's funny that the excuses of "it didn't mean as much" or "they're just in a slump" go exactly against some of the notions that have been stated by those very same excuse makers.

Yeah I like both these quotes. I'm really curious about what KG is saying right about now. He must be losing his GD mind!!!!!!

[greenbeans]

Boy, Tony must be getting no love in real life these days. He's been slurping for attention this whole thread.

[Walmart]

I love Celtics/Lakers fans going at it, it's nice to see the rivalry is truly back based on all the petty insults.

[celtsmon3y]

they intentionally lost the game vs the lakers because they needed a wake-up call.

they intentionally lost the game today because they needed a wake-up call.

oh god don't you love to be a celtic fan, full of spin doctors!

29-6. 131-92. No spin there.

LOL don't forget who your daddy is Fakers fans.

[NetsForce]

they intentionally lost the game vs the lakers because they needed a wake-up call.

they intentionally lost the game today because they needed a wake-up call.

oh god don't you love to be a celtic fan, full of spin doctors!

29-6. 131-92. No spin there.

LOL don't forget who your grandpa is Fakers fans.

Fixed to reflect the Celtics proper age.

[Bgil]

NOBODY DEFENDS RONDO THE WAY KOBE DOES AGAINST THE CELTICS!!!!!!!

Did Jeffries play 15 feet off him at all times and roam around the court? Nobody ever said that using a taller, longer player on him was a gimmick. The way Kobe defends him is a gimmick, however. It's because he gets to conserve his energy that way.

What's so gimmicky about it. The Lakers have done it to numerous teams in the past six years. Also, Kobe's not doing it to rest. If he wanted to rest he'd just guard Rondo and not roam. The Roaming is to disrupt KG and PP on their iso's.

http://reneponce.com/Lakers053104/29_steal.jpg
That's a pic of Kobe on Derrick Martin in the 2004 Western Conference Finals. He did the same thing. Go to the Spurs board and they have some memories of Kobe roaming on them too (some good , some bad). If you have a perimeter player that can't hit shots it's SOP for the Lakers to put Kobe on him and run around the court causing havoc.

I didn't think Phil would use it last season but I said, before the series started, that it was a game changing adjustment. The biggest problem with it is that the second Kobe was put on Rondo it allowed Allen to go nuts on Fisher and Sasha. Ariza gives us another athletic defender to put on PP or Allen and it makes a huge difference. Also, the strong side zone coupled with Bynum's prescence shuts down PP's drives to the hoop. PP hit a lot of jumpers on Xmas day but those are considerably lower percentage shots compared to what he was getting for himself and KG in the Finals.

I'd still like to see us pick up another athletic wing w/triangle experience so we can totally lock the C's down but overall I'm confident we'll destroy them in the playoffs. If either team makes an acquisition (Starbury) then I'll have to re-evalute but they can't hang with us as it stands now. FYI, before the series last season I picked Boston to beat LA so this isn't just homerism.

----
Athletic wings I'd like to see the Lakers pick up:
Hinrich, Nocioni, Javaris Crittendon, Mo Evans, Sefolasha... all have triangle experience. Pargo and Starbury would be nice pickups for PG's but Marbs is headed for Miami so that's neither here nor there.

I'd give my left nut for an Odom for Harrington swap or a Odom for Gerald Wallace swap.

[Bgil]

Oh yeah, might as well throw this out there:

The Celtics aren't making it back to the Finals.

[Jordan23Forever]

What's so gimmicky about it. The Lakers have done it to numerous teams in the past six years. Also, Kobe's not doing it to rest. If he wanted to rest he'd just guard Rondo and not roam. The Roaming is to disrupt KG and PP on their iso's.

Yeah, the roaming helps him disrupt plays, but it also helps him conserve energy. He's not exactly some super energetic help/team defender even when he's on (or should I say "off") Rondo. Fact is, it's easier to play 15 feet off and loaf around the court covering an area than it is to apply ball pressure, cut off passing angles and alter desired plays, and deny penetration.

It's also a gimmick because no other team, and more importantly no other Laker, plays Rondo the same way. And it's not because Kobe is some super elite team/help defender, though I'm sure you'll say that's the reason. Fisher is the best team defender on LA, actually.

http://reneponce.com/Lakers053104/29_steal.jpg
That's a pic of Kobe on Derrick Martin in the 2004 Western Conference Finals. He did the same thing.

Oh wow -- a whole pic? Thanks.

If either team makes an acquisition (Starbury) then I'll have to re-evalute but they can't hang with us as it stands now.

Don't ever change, Bilge. Not that LA can't beat Boston, but your hyperbole is, as always, amusing and unabashedy pro-Laker.

[NetsForce]

The Celtics have gone 2-5 since playing the Lakers (including the Lakers game)... I hate to bump this thread but I know there were still some people out there who wouldn't admit that the Celtics swag has been shattered and now splattered. I was just wondering, is there anyone left that is going to deny the death of the Celtics Swag?

[garcia3]

The Celtics have gone 2-5 since playing the Lakers (including the Lakers game)... I hate to bump this thread but I know there were still some people out there who wouldn't admit that the Celtics swag has been shattered and now splattered. I was just wondering, is there anyone left that is going to deny the death of the Celtics Swag?

indeed

[KobeFarmarEra]

*But the Bobcats needed this game more