RedsArmy.com - The Voice Of Boston Celtics Fans

How we see it goin' down: Celtics - Lakers

Tip: 8:00pm    Court: TD Garden    Watch it: TNT     Hear it: WEEI

                           Referees:  Derrick Stafford, Marat Kogut, Gary Zielinski

 Get your tickets here

The Matchup

Record: 14-10 (2nd Atlantic, 7th East)	Record: 14-11 (2nd Pacific, 7th West)
At home: 10-6	On road: 3-9
Streak: Won 5	Streak: Lost 2
Leaders	Leaders
Buckets: Pierce (18.4 ppg)	Buckets: Kobe Bryant (29.3 ppg)
Boards: Garnett (7.3 rpg)	Boards: Andrew Bynum (12.4 rpg)
Dimes: Rondo (9.8 apg)	Dimes: Bryant (5.4 apg)
For the Stat Geeks:	For the Stat Geeks:
Offensive Rating: 102.3 (19th NBA)	Offensive Rating: 103.9 (14th NBA)
Defensive Rating:  97.5 (2nd NBA)	Defensive Rating: 101.5 (11th NBA)
Pace: 88.7 (27th NBA)	Pace: 89.3 (26th NBA)

Last time

The teams split the series 1-1 last season.  Paul Pierce led the C’s with an average of 23.5 points per game while Ray Allen chipped in with 20.5 per game…Allen broke Reggie Miller’s record for most three-pointers made in a career against the Lakers last season on February 10…Kevin Garnett added a double-double with 14.0 points and 12.0 rebounds per contest…Kobe Bryant averaged 32.0 points per game while shooting 54.3% from the field…Pau Gasol added 16.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

This time

Get it to: Rajon Rondo

The Lakers are thin at point guard, and they're not like the Knicks where they'll have a Jeremy Lin coming off the bench to pull a savior act out of his ass.  The Lakers PG's can be taken advantage of, and Rondo should absolutely do so.  I'm looking at a potentially 30 point night for Rajon as he takes it into the teeth of the defense and wreaks havoc.  

Gotta stop:  Andrew Bynum

Let Kobe shoot all he wants.  The more shots he jacks up, the less rhythm the rest of these guys are in.  So I'm picking between Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum as the guys to stop... and I'm going with Bynum for the following reasons:

1:  When he goes off... he goes OFF.  At his best, he can be a poor man's Dwight Howard.  He can absolutely just wreck you offensively, defensively, on the boards.... everywhere.  So I'd really like to prevent that domination.

2:  When he's bad... he's BAD.  Bynum is susceptible to the double team.  He still doesn't know how to handle it, so unlike Dwight where I get pissed any time another defender comes along, I say you send doubles from all angles on Bynum and watch him flounder as he tries to get out of it.  You'll see turnovers, bad shots and offensive fouls.  

Gasol can burn you if you double him because he's a tremendous passer.  I think Bynum is spot to break the Lakers down. 

The Wild Card:  C's Bigs off the bench

If Chris Wilcox and Brandon Bass can be aggressive and productive, the Celtics will have a distinct advantage that will put the Lakers in a big hole.  If they get caught up in the C's/LA hype, the buzz of the crowd, and the national setting and become ineffective, then we're going to have problems.  Rondo can play 40 minutes (barring injury or foul trouble)... so we don't have to worry TOO much about Avery Bradley or E'Twaun Moore (or a rusty Keyon Dooling, who did go through shootaround today).  But KG and Jermaine O'Neal can't.  Bass and Wilcox NEED to get the job done.

How we see it goin' down

Right, like I'm going to pick against the Celtics against the Lakers?

Rajon Rondo will take advantage of LA's weakness in the back court.  Jermaine and whatever combination of double teams will make Bynum's life hell.  KG and Gasol will probably be a dog-fight and a wash.  I don't care if Kobe scores 30... I just want him to shoot 10-35 in the process, leaving everyone else without enough touches to find their grooves. 

Pierce and Allen will step up in what will be a slug-fest of a game. C's win it 92-85.

Lockout won't cost us a Celtics/Lakers matchup in Boston

If there's one thing every Celtics fan looks forward to, it's the a game against the Lakers.  And even though the NBA season has been shortened to 66 games, it won't cost us a chance to boo Kobe, Pau and the rest of those pricks 

The Lakers will not visit every NBA city because they play only 18 games against Eastern Conference teams this season. They will not play at Chicago, New Jersey, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Atlanta and one other team.

The Lakers travel to Boston, Miami and Orlando but don’t play the Magic at Staples Center.

The actual schedule will be released tomorrow night.  One other note about the Lakers schedule: 

The Lakers won’t wait long for a dreaded back-to-back-to-back situation.

They are scheduled to play three games over the first three days of the season: Dec. 25 at home against Chicago, Dec. 26 at Sacramento and Dec. 27 at home against Utah.

This will be interesting.  On one hand, they get the 3-game stretch out of the way early.  On the other, they're playing 3-straight in Mike Brown's new system which will only have been practiced for a couple of weeks before implementation.  Could make for a rough start in LA. 

Green Tidbits from Jerry West's New Book

One of the true legends of the NBA, Jerry West, recently released a new book entitled: My Charmed, Tormented Life and it's nothing short of fantastic.  There are all sorts of fascinating revelations in it, many of which have been reviewed by several blogs and sites already.  As with other books, I'll provide some of the Celtics-related items from it.  I recommend reading it regardless of that however and I'll also include a few other things that may not have been discussed yet.

On the Bill Russell/Wilt Chamberlain Relationship: Beginning on page 105, West delves into a complicated piece of their relationship, where Russell resented Wilt for not re-entering the final moments of Game 7 from the 1969 NBA Finals.  He wanted Wilt to be in there, but West does say that nobody (not even Red Auerbach) knew it was Russell's final game nor did Russell know that Wilt asked to go back in, but Butch van Breda Koff (then LA's coach) refused to put him back in.  Since then, Russell has admitted it was his mistake.

Kobe gets hypocritical about practice

As Kobe Bryant continues his Nike promotional tour and flirtation with taking his talents to Italy, he also continues to further explain his issues with former teammate Shaquille O'Neal.  According to out friends at sportando.net, they posted a quote from a radio that Kobe did, describing his disdain for Shaq's practice habits (or lack thereof):

During the interview in Radio, Bryant also spoke about his 'enemy' Shaquille O'Neal. "I like players who workout. I use to do that 6/7 hours per day. I cannot stand players who practice for 30 minutes. I need to say something to them".

Funny for Kobe to say this, since just last January it was reported that his knee was in such horrible condition that he couldn't practice with the Lakers at all. 

When you say he doesn't practice, you mean no scrimmaging. What does he do?
"Defensive dead drills, and what we call a walk through [in] the pregame practice. A lot of times, when the team is just doing conditioning drills, which are redundant for him to have to do when he’s on the court, maybe shooting or whatever, doing stuff on the court that’s getting his skills. So it’s not like he’s not there.”

Do the other players have a problem with it?
“We talk about it as a team. I’m sure the adjustment to having Kobe on the floor with them is a major adjustment. I think having him out there at practice makes it better for our team, but once they play with him a few games again then they adjust to the fact that he’s a guy he’s going to break off some of the offense, he’s going to chase the ball once in a while, he’s going to shortchange some of the things we do to get the ball [moving], and that itself breaks the rhythm a little bit. Players adjust to it, and they’re fine."

It seemed to be a problem with his teammates but I don't recall this issue being brought up much when the Dallas Mavericks gloriously jettisoned them from the 2011 playoffs in four game sweep that was nothing short of a masterpiece.  Nice try Kobe, but if you're going to hate on Shaq (and there is plenty of this to go around in several NBA cities) for not practicing, be ready to look at yourself in the mirror.  Look, guys get hurt and I actually think if the knee was that bad then it was smart to only play in games to give your team any semblance of making a deep run in the playoffs.  Maybe Shaq thought the same thing?

Photographic proof of why Lakers fans suck

I think that sums it up quite nicely, actually. Lakers plate frame, LeBron vanity plate. 

Pick a lane, son.

Via Deadspin

"Shaqpedia"

There are quite a few good video-editors on my YouTube feed. Last night, I came across an incredible clip entitled "Shaqpedia". It's a 17-minute piece documenting Shaq's career via video clips. The creator of the video, "NBADUNKMAN" has even made contents so you can fast-forward to Shaq's highlights of each team he played for. We're all doing whatever we can to fill the void left by the NBA right now, and clips like this certainly help. Peep NBADunkman's Shaqpedia blog and his YouTube channel for more cool stuff.

 

"Kobe Bryant's" postgame meltdown

We could all definitely use a laugh right now, and at who's expense better than old friend KB24. Via the folks at Funny or Die: (warning, NSFW language)

 

Still not feeling good? Maybe schadenfreude will work

We've tried being real.  We've tried being optimistic.  We've tried just about everything we can to make you feel better as the C's head into Game 3 tonight. 

If you're still not feeling great about things... then maybe some schadenfreude will work.

Here you go:

DALLAS -- Just when they were about to make things interesting, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers blew it.

Unable to stop Dirk Nowitzki all night, and their big lineup too slow to cover the outside shooting of Peja Stojakovic and Jason Terry down the stretch, the Lakers lost 98-92 to the Dallas Mavericks on Friday to fall in a 3-0 hole in their second-round series.

All 98 teams in NBA history that have trailed by that margin have wound up losing the series. Thus, the Lakers' two-year reign as NBA champions and their three-year grip on the Western Conference crown, plus the unprecedented coaching career of Phil Jackson, are all on the brink of going kaput -- maybe even with the humiliation of a sweep.

I still don't feel like I can count out the Lakers... but it's fun watching them go down in a ball of flames.  

So at least there's that.

Associated Press photo

Discounted tickets for our readers to see "The Auerbach Dynasty"

Ken Dooley, who I introduced readers to last week by way of a fantastic interview, is offering a discount to his play "The Auerbach Dynasty". The play is based-on the 25+ year friendship of Ken and former Celtics coach/owner Arnold "Red" Auerbach. It delves into Red's early years as a teen growing-up in NYC, the story behind how he became the coach of the Celtics and much, much more. You can read alot more about the play via The Warwick Beacon.

Ken is offering our readers a 25% discount on tickets to see the play. Opening Night, which John and I plan to attend, is Friday, April 8th @8pm. The play then runs every weekend until May 1st. If you'd like to learn more about Red, or your a Celtics history buff, this is something you don't want to miss.

To take advantage of the discount, use code "bcseason" when ordering tickets through the theater's website, which is tickets.ricpa.net. The play will be performed at the Park Theater in Cranston, R.I. Directions are available via the theater's website. Ken, John and I would love to see some of you there!

Artest joking around after 20-point spanking

After the Lakers lost  got spanked by Charlotte on Monday night, Ron Artest seemed to not care. As a KCAL reporter approaches him to ask questions postgame, he jokingly sniffs some "Unbreakable" cologne. Or perfume. Or whatever that crap is supposed to be.

If I was a Laker fan, I'd be pretty disgusted by this. Actually, if I was a Laker fan I'd hang myself first, and then I'd be disgusted by this.