Game 7 Notes

I know it may be sacrilegious but I think that KG was kind of coasting. I mean, look at his rebounding numbers early in the series and look what he’s doing today. He’s everywhere on both ends of the court, attacking with agressiveness and not “letting the game” and the ball, come to him. Hopefully, that focus will carry over and be infectious to others such as KP. It’s working today. :) Go C’s!!

The Hawks missed 19 shots in the paint. They hit only 4. They’ve taken 60% of their shots within 5 feet.

The Hawks have played terrible and they’ve still gotten that many looks.

So, did Doc get smart again?

Really though, I still have concerns after this series, as we all should. It’s just not with the coach. I have serious concerns about a team that can put on this display in front of their own crowd and can’t muster the same execution and defensive energy on the road.

Still, this was a needed win for the fans. I think we all would still be having heart attacks if they won by less than 20.

Great win. They say the playoffs doesn’t start until someone wins on the road so maybe ours haven’t started yet. Celtics looked sharp today. Come on Cleveland!

Lebron is twice the player Joe Johnson is. I have no faith in this Celtics team at this point. They have to prove they can win on the road. Lebron has the will to steal one in Boston. These old guys don’t have the strength to go 7 each series. Cleveland in 6. Prove me wrong. Please. Sorry.

tommyfan, you couldn’t be more wrong. Doc has done a fine job this year. Substituitons, game strategy had nothing to do with it. Their game starts off defense and the players didn’t step up on D in Atlanta. Other than wishing to see Big Baby more – he did provide ENERGY in two key wins this year (San Antonio and Detroit)and might have offset the Hawks youthful energy, Doc has not over-coached or under coached. Perk was huge today.

Lebron may be twice the player that Joe Johnson is, but Lebron is no more effective at his best than that game dropping 20 in the fourth quarter. He can’t do more than that. Does this insinuate that the Celtics don’t have the will to win one in Cleveland?! The Cavs had to go 6 games as well to beat a similiarly athletic long team in Washington. It wasn’t like they swept them!

Most of the questions from game 6 were answered. Great defensive intensity. Perkins was fabulous in the first half. Rondo’s game was much better.

Now, we HAVE to have all of those every night out from this point forward. The kids have no time for an off night. The vets have to be up and thinking every night out.

johnnymost said:

I have no faith in this Celtics team at this point. They have to prove they can win on the road. Lebron has the will to steal one in Boston. These old guys don’t have the strength to go 7 each series. Cleveland in 6

Classic example of the fairweather fan Mike Bibiy was talking about. How can any serious fan of the Celtics ever make such an offbase assessment? With fans like this who needs haters?

Great result

Classic example of the fairweather fan Mike Bibiy was talking about. How can any serious fan of the Celtics ever make such an offbase assessment? With fans like this who needs haters?

Classic example of a blind supporter. With fans like this, who needs a PR-manager?

You seem to have the power to look through the internet, deep to a person`s soul, and figure his motivations out. I tell you why he made that statement: Because that´s how he feels and thinks about the Celtics. He cares.

Who are you to tell me what to feel, think or do about my team?
I have the same feelings as johnnymost. After this first-round series, I am by far not so sure about this team anymore.

johnnymost just stated his opinion, so did I.
You are the wone who hates.

couple thoughts – first, yes, the hawks missed a lot of inside shots, but they were basically all challenged. that has a lot to do with them shooting so poorly inside. second, yeah, huge disparity between home and road in this series, but again, i’ll point to the style of play that the refs caused in atlanta. they allowed the hawks to play the bad boy pistons defense (lots of contact allowed) but called touch fouls on us. that by itself forced us to play a completely different style in atlanta, namely not ours. no aggressive D (since everything was a foul on us) and no aggressive offense (since everytime we took it to the hole, we got hacked and got no calls). we still played bad, but i can’t recall a recent playoff series that the refs completely took the road team out of their game as badly as happened to us in atlanta. can’t see that kind of disparity happening again. we’re a damn good road team – as long as the refs call games relatively fairly, we’ll be fine.

Yeah, I’m just another fair weather fan that can tell you the starters from back in the 60’s through now. I’m calling it the way I see it. I’m not sure who is going to show up – Jekyll or Hyde. I am baffled. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a bipolar team.

Casparian said:

Who are you to tell me what to feel, think or do about my team? I have the same feelings as johnnymost. After this first-round series, I am by far not so sure about this team anymore.

Stop acting like a damn victim. I haven’t told you how to feel, nor would I try to. I offered my opinion on your opinion, that’s still legal in the USA, right? So deal with it.

Now what kind of a fan wishes their team to lose? It’s one this to express your misgivings about your team, but to wish the team to lose? That is a fairweather fan indeed. When we were winning you lost all sense of balance and thought this team was going for #17. Now with a few losses, you have again lost all sense of balance to think they will lose in 6 to Cleveland?

johnnymost said:

Yeah, I’m just another fair weather fan that can tell you the starters from back in the 60’s through now.[/quote]

So you can tell me all the starters from back in the 60s through now… and your point would be????

calling it the way I see it.

Bingo! So why are you whining when I call it the way I see it is as well?

Casperian, don’t root for the Celtics then the rest of the way. Being a fan who supports the team and wants them to do well is not blindly thinking they can do no wrong. To say you are “not sure” about this team in the wake of the most dominating Game 7 the league has seen in years, is just being purposely negative. Do you have a right to your opinion? Of course, but you sound silly harping on how the team played against Atlanta in terms of how they will play the rest of the way.

Every round presents its own unique matchups, how any team played against a team they faced in the first round rarely has any bearing on how they will play against a different team in the next series. The Celts had not played a meaningful in game in over a month before this series, in many ways, this is exactly what they needed to get them prepared for the rigors ahead. Every fan knows, or should know, that each series is like a new season unto itself. The fact we played 3/4 of a game more than Cleveland, means absolutely nothing as to how we will play against them. Now if you broke down the matchups in the next series and felt like Cleveland just matches up well against us as to why you are “concerned” that would be legit, but to conclude how we played against Atlanta has a connection to how we will play against Cleveland is just plain naive to how the NBA playoffs work. Many a team has been taken to 6 or 7, only to sweep the next team they face. When we are up 2-0 against Cleveland, will you and the media keep harping, “yeah, but Atlanta took us to 7 games” Who cares? The Celts advanced, bring on the LeBrons!!

I for one, am glad this game did not come down to Doc “coaching” in the 4th quarter. ;D Someone stated in this forum after game 3 or 4, that the Celtics played at such a high intensity all year, every game that it is (was) nearly impossible to raise their level of play. I totally agree with that. Hawks had alot of room for improvement over their regular season play, and at home at least, played well above their regular season performance. Maybe Woodson should be fired for the mediocre play during the regular season. Celtics in 6 over the Cavs.

Stop acting like a d**n victim. I haven’t told you how to feel, nor would I try to. I offered my opinion on your opinion, that’s still legal in the USA, right? So deal with it.

Now what kind of a fan wishes their team to lose? It’s one this to express your misgivings about your team, but to wish the team to lose? That is a fairweather fan indeed. When we were winning you lost all sense of balance and thought this team was going for #17. Now with a few losses, you have again lost all sense of balance to think they will lose in 6 to Cleveland?

When did I say I wish them bad? When did I say I think they will lose against Cleveland? Don´t put words in my mouth.
I think this is the single most pathetic thing in sports I´ve ever witnessed, to call other fans of the same team not a “real” fan because they don`t share your opinion.

I`m a Celtic fan for nearly 20 years, and where I´m from (Germany), you only have Lakers and Bulls fans, because of their success in recent years. I´ve never met one Celtic fan in real life, and whenever I talked about Basketball, the people laughed at me for being a fan of a pathetic team (Hello Pitino). Stop talking down to me because I am worried about #17, you don`t know anything about me.

You are on the Bibby bandwagon, not me.

Casperian, don’t root for the Celtics then the rest of the way. Being a fan who supports the team and wants them to do well is not blindly thinking they can do no wrong. To say you are “not sure” about this team in the wake of the most dominating Game 7 the league has seen in years, is just being purposely negative. Do you have a right to your opinion? Of course, but you sound silly harping on how the team played against Atlanta in terms of how they will play the rest of the way[/quote]

Fair enough, but I was just using the same flawed logic Village idiot used. I am not worried about LeBron, I am worried about whoever comes out of the West. There is nothing “purposely” negative about my post. I was on record that after Game 6, I lost a lot of confidence in this team, and I was not the only one who said that. If I would change my mind by 180 degree after one single win, wouldn`t that make me exactly what your accusing me to be?

[quote]The fact we played 3/4 of a game more than Cleveland, means absolutely nothing as to how we will play against them. Now if you broke down the matchups in the next series and felt like Cleveland just matches up well against us as to why you are “concerned” that would be legit, but to conclude how we played against Atlanta has a connection to how we will play against Cleveland is just plain naive to how the NBA playoffs work. Many a team has been taken to 6 or 7, only to sweep the next team they face. When we are up 2-0 against Cleveland, will you and the media keep harping, “yeah, but Atlanta took us to 7 games” Who cares? The Celts advanced, bring on the LeBrons!!

Maybe you should read my first comment again, or search through my forum posts. I´ve never said I am worried about LeBron. I am just sick of this bandwagon talk.

Note: I said, I have the same feelings as johnnymost, not necessarily the same opinion. Feelings are vague, opinions are concrete.

The Cavs are a better match up for the Celtics. The Cavs are not as quick or athletic as the Hawks. The Celts have a hard time beating a team with a super 2 guard AND a power forward who doesn’t rely on a post game to score. That’s why the Wizards with Butler and Jamison were so tough this season for the Celtics.

Regarding Cleveland: It’ll be tough, but I predict we will win in 6 tough games (that’s right, we clinch on the road).

Good solid, “We’re ready for the next round” win.

Mike Brown is not exactly a wiz on offense, and the Cavs D isn’t great. If the Celts come out with energy every game, rebound and are argressive on offense, they’ll have a good chance to take the series.

I’m one who thinks good comes out of bad. For all we fans went thru we were privileged to watch what is possibly one of the great defensive games of the year, probably the greatest. (I was going to say in NBA history, but that would probably be too much). What we saw today was the Team playing the way it did most of the season. Great defense, ball movement, player movement, opportunistic breaks. I don’t remember when it was, but we had a 30 lead, a loose ball in the backcourt and three Celtics diving on the floor to save it. The announcers remarked that’s about $90 million dollars worth of players on the floor.
Another play that showed what these guys are about was, again, with a huge lead and the game over, Posey outracing Pachulia for a loose ball, getting it and going in for the layup. I don’t know why this series went as is, but we won and I think in the long-term the lessons learned will help us. One more thing, close to the end I saw PP, KG and RA having a serious animated discussion on the bench. When the game ended the Celtics made a great gesture in going to the Atlanta players and hugging and shaking hands. There was no celebration, just a great sign of sportsmanship by both teams. Afterwards I wondered if that was what the three were discussing. Finally again, one further lesson that Doc has been preaching all year, was well executed. It occurred when Williams took out Rajon. The players controlled themselves and Rajon did what you’re supposed to do on such a play. He made the free throws. They played ball and ignored the other crap. And finally, for the last time, unnoticed great performances by Perk and Posey.

Casparian said:

When did I say I wish them bad? When did I say I think they will lose against Cleveland? Don´t put words in my mouth. [/quote]

You said you have the same feelings as johnnymost, and his feeling is that the Celtics will lose in 6 to Cleveland. You chose to own his feelings as yours. Dont; try to back away from it now.

: I said, I have the same feelings as johnnymost, not necessarily the same opinion. Feelings are vague, opinions are concrete.[/quote]

You must really think we’re back in 8th grade semantics class? You unequvocally said.. “I have the same feelings as johnnymost.”

Well, johnnymost expressed his feeling that the celtics will lose in 6 to Cleveland. And since you have the same feelings as him… well, you are the one putting words into your own mouth.

a Celtic fan for nearly 20 years, and where I´m from (Germany), you only have Lakers and Bulls fans, because of their success in recent years. I´ve never met one Celtic fan in real life, and whenever I talked about Basketball, the people laughed at me for being a fan of a pathetic team (Hello Pitino). Stop talking down to me because I am worried about #17, you don`t know anything about me.

Stop talking down to yourself, and stop making a victim out of yourself. Hey, there you could be a 20 year fairweather fan for all I know. I have mno proof either way, except your word. Don’t pick an unnecessary fight just to prove a point. But if you do, then let’s duke it out without all the “poor me, I’m being piecked on” drama.

As far as i’m concerned anyone who wishes their team would lose because the team had a little adversity is a fairweather fan. That’s my opinion, and I stand by it whether right or wrong.

For all we fans went thru we were privileged to watch what is possibly one of the great defensive games of the year, probably the greatest.

Tom Thibodeau’s defensive strategy is about forcing the opposition to take long two pointers. Keep them out of the paint, run them off the three point line and make them take that 18-21 foot shot and contest it. Lowest percentage shot in the game.

The Celtics didn’t execute that plan (constant plan that they’ve had all season) well today. The Hawks had 60% of their shots within 6 feet of the rim in the first half. Sure the players contested them. But a contested 6 foot shot is a heck of a lot easier than a contested 20 footer. The Hawks missed a lot, they missed 19 of their 23 attempts in the paint. That’s a shooting percentage of about 18. Teams don’t ordinarily shoot 18 6 feet from the rim, I don’t care how well you contest those shots, it just doesn’t happen with any regularity.

The Celtics defense tonight was more like a George Karl led team. Trapping and forcing turnovers looking for fast breaks and giving up close shots as a consequence. That’s what the players did today.

The Hawks were terrible. They were execution was awful. Yet they still got 60% of their shots right at the rim. That’s not great defense.

a tale of 2 cities-boston-atlanta as good as boston was in boston was atlanta really bad. as good as atlanta was in atlanta, we were not as bad as atlanta in boston, but we left a lot to be desired. hey anyone out there, was anyone as annoyed as i was at donny marshal for critiquing every single play in game 6? well the refs were cetainly making big differences in this past series and kg’s hard foul on pachulia was as much a statement to the refs than against the hawks.

You said you have the same feelings as johnnymost, and his feeling is that the Celtics will lose in 6 to Cleveland. You chose to own his feelings as yours. Dont; try to back away from it now. [/quote]

I´m not backing away. Once again you seem to know me.
What I share with johnnymost is that this team has to prove it can win on the road, and that I´m concerned about their ability to do so. He said “Prove me wrong,please”. So do I feel. His opinion was Cleveland in 6, his feelings were different. This is not semantics, this is the plain truth. The thing is, you seem to be upset about his 6 games statement, whereas I completely overlooked the (now obvious) explosiveness his statement has. This is nitpicking. What I really read in his comment was that he is still concerned about the C´s road performance, nothing more, and ultimately with their ability to win it all. So am I.

[quote]Stop talking down to yourself, and stop making a victim out of yourself. Hey, there you could be a 20 year fairweather fan for all I know. I have mno proof either way, except your word. Don’t pick an unnecessary fight just to prove a point. But if you do, then let’s duke it out without all the “poor me, I’m being piecked on” drama.

Noone picked me. I´m ashamed. In fact, if you`re a prime example of a Celtic Fan, I´m glad that I´m just a 18 years fairweather fan. You could be a fairweather fan, too, what proof do you have? What are you talking about? I see this is pretty important for you, maybe you`re just a bit insecure?

But since I´m not interested in a contest of “who is more fan”, I will stop arguing here, just to avoid dropping down to your level.

Have a nice day!

GO CELTICS

[post removed – cut it out]

quarrels or no, it’s nice to finally see people posting on the front page again. Where the heck was everybody for the last three month???