Quick Hits From Scott Souza

by Jeff Clark on Jun 11, 2008 5:21 AM EDT in Boston Celtics News & Links

Scott Souza had some nice quick thoughts about the game:

The Celtics shot poorly, got minimal contributions from Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, saw their point guard go down with injury and watched Kobe Bryant parade to the line all night. And they still almost won. Give credit to the Lakers for making the plays late at home, but the Best Player vs. Best Team theory clearly still applies.
For now, at least.
Other things of note:

Looks like the Eddie House Era is back. Somehow, we can’t hear anyone complaining. When the announcers were going on about how House spreads the floor for Garnett in the post, how many were thinking: "We just spent the last seven months knowing that." …

You knew Leon Powe wasn’t going to have two games like that in a row. Get the feeling he has another one in him, though, huh? …

Kendrick Perkins’ strong effort tonight is going to be overlooked in the loss. …

This is the Ray Allen we have been waiting most of the season for. …

Still not sure this makes it back to Boston.

Tweet Comment 10 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

It was almost (ALMOST) a given that the C’s were going to lose last night.

I, for one, predicted a loss around the office yesterday.

And I am quite pleased that it was so close…

Thursday’s game will be a better barometer to gauge where these two teams are at competitively.

The Celtics are the better team.
The Celtics are the better team.
The Celtics are the better team.
The Celtics are the better team.
The Celtics are the better team.
The Celtics are the better team.
The Celtics are the better team.
The Celtics are the better team.

by mcpu40 on Jun 11, 2008 7:22 AM EDT reply actions

Lakers fan here, very nice site.

I think both teams can reasonably say that they played poorly enough to get blown out, though most of the commentary will invariably focus on how bad Garnett and Pierce played, and yet how the game was still close. But I would venture to say that the Lakers played just as poorly, it was only the officials deciding to call ticky tack fouls against the Celtics, and allowing the Lakers to play aggressive defense (the exact opposite as last game) that allowed the Lakers to win.

Also the fact that a hot Kobe beats a hot Ray Allen every time. But every single Lakers opponent loves to stress Best Player vs. Best Team…but the Lakers no longer consists of Kobe and Kobe alone, and I was shocked they won yesterday given that Kobe was the only starter to even contribute (not just play well, but Gasol, Odom, Fish, and Radman didn’t contribute ANYTHING—no scoring, no defense, no rebounding). Luckily, Sasha was there, but again, the Lakers won playing another awful game. I’m sure teh Celtics D has a lot to do with it, but the Lakers can and will gameplan to get Gasol, Fisher, and Odom involved at least somewhat.

by appo on Jun 11, 2008 8:07 AM EDT reply actions

I feel that we as Cs fans are too happy with that loss. If we lose another game in LA we’ll have lost the series lead and we’ll have lost momentum. Instead of agreeably saying “We almost won with Garnett and Pierce having bad games” we should be asking: Why did Garnett and Pierce have such bad games? Garnett has struggled much of this series. I feel that last night we had Rondo dump the ball off to Garnett upon getting into the offense too soon, he (Rondo) needs to drive and kick it.

Ray Allen had another great game in a loss. I think this is because when Pierce and Garnett are playing well, Allen doesn’t get the ball enough to have a “great game” and with Allen as our only offense, it isn’t enough to get the win.

by GreenBalls on Jun 11, 2008 8:19 AM EDT reply actions

garnett may well be worn out as he plays at such a high intensity level from game 1 of the regular season on. this is as far as he’s ever gone in any season and i wonder if he’s fatigued. pierce should step up for game 4

by celty86 on Jun 11, 2008 8:31 AM EDT reply actions

I just heard on WEEI that Doc let Pierce, Garnett and Cassell stay at home rather than in the players hotel. Can anyone confirm?

by deejaymc on Jun 11, 2008 8:55 AM EDT reply actions

Greenlove,

So we are supposed to sweep the finals now?

by Last Train on Jun 11, 2008 9:06 AM EDT reply actions

Kendrick Perkinsâ€™ strong effort tonight is going to be overlooked in the loss. â€¦

well.. maybe because he sat the final five minutes so we could watch PJ Brown who was just having an awful, awful night. I really can’t get over this.

by cmoney on Jun 11, 2008 10:33 AM EDT reply actions

kg still plays hard d, but we need him to get collected and get his offensive mojo back— as great as pp has played, kg is the celtics most important player, both sides of the ball and we need him desperately/

by nazzbo on Jun 11, 2008 12:34 PM EDT reply actions

Perkins is key because he showed last night that he can completely outmuscle anyone the Lakers can try and post up. Gasol looked completely lost all game. Perk staying out of foul trouble will be huge because with him on Pau there’s no need to double.

by ReadyFor17 on Jun 11, 2008 1:04 PM EDT reply actions