KG Will Be Ready, I Think, Maybe

I didn’t mean to say that they would have won had it NOT been on a Sunday. What I mean is that often regular season patterns repeat themselves in the playoffs. This is not always the case. Houston won it’s 2nd championship after a horrible regular season. Kobe-Shaq LAL won their 3rd with a horrible regular season. And the great Chicago Bulls did not dominate in the regular season in their 6th championship run (conceded home court to Utah). Such great teams were quite different in the playoffs (increased focus, intensity, performance, etc.).

What I meant was that there have been too many off days this year (especially on Sundays). They lost to Milwauke after turning it over 24 or 25 times. Then they went to Chicago after the Milwauke loss and rather than taking out their anger from that loss, they put up another lazy effort. They lost to the Clippers and Magic in close games that were within their grasp. PP himself said that he was looking back at 5 or 6 games this year when they didn’t get the job done (implying the game was within their grasp had they only put in more effort).

Look at Sunday’s game. Many of the Cavaliers’ rebounds were uncontested. When the outside shot was not falling, the C’s did not pound it in the paint to get fouled or get layups. They played a lazy game. It’s unfortunate because just before playoffs either the players should be resting (like Popovich does when he gives Duncan the night off) or they should be playing hard to fine tune their cohesiveness and mutual trust for playoffs. But to show up and play most of the game half-heartedly is just not championship caliber.

I love the Celtics. Just like when Hakeem the Dream went into the zone to help Houston win it’s back-to-back Championship, I hope KG, Allen, PP, and Rondo all lift their game to the level that they have shown they are capable of in glimpses this season. I genuinely hope the signature Celtic defense returns (have we seen anything this year akin to last year’s smothering defense?). I genuinely hope the luck of the Leprechaun helps them with a friendly bounce here and there. I genuinely hope Allen and House have awesome 3-point performances in the playoffs (e.g., having games where they make 6 3-pointers on less than 10 attempts like they are capable of doing). I hope Rondo has some triple doubles. I hope KG’s defense forces the opponents to second guess their shots. I hope PP takes over the 4th quarter when others can’t find their shot and dominates in the paint with his crazy-this-is-not-beautiful-acrobatic drives where he gets the foul and the shot.

But remember. The reason Hakeem is so memorable, the reason the LAL 3rd Championship with Kobe-Shaq is so memorable, the reason that Miami’s underdog victory over MVP Dirk and his Dallas chokesters, is that those are the exceptions that prove the rule: usually Champions peak in their performance from March onwards.

After starting 27-2, our boys seem to be expecting to show up and beat the opposition without fighting for EVERY loose ball, EVERY rebound, contesting EVERY layup. etc.

This year they have avenged some of their embarassing losses (lost to Denver at home and then clobbered them in Denver). It’s possible this Cavaliers loss will be avenged in the playoffs. But it gave Cleveland a LOT of confidence and momentum going into the playoffs.

Remember last year? The C’s were struggling in the playoffs on the road the first 2 rounds. Then Doc challenged them to play solid defense for 48 minutes. They won that game. That’s what they need to do from now onwards. Show up and play for 48 minutes, or stay home.