He's like the mother that finds that one line that pisses you off at every family dinner. You know the one… "if you had just gone to law school like I said, you wouldn't be wasting all that time on the internet". Or something like that.
It cuts through you. You walk in knowing its coming, and you swear you're going to laugh it off, but then when it happens you just want to throw an ottoman through the bay windows.
Yes, Shank is basking in the glory of Boston failure… or at least the hint of it. Check out how he starts today's pile of dung.
The Celtics' playoff quest is just getting started, and it feels like it's already over.
The Celtics don't have Kevin Garnett and they are not going to repeat. They are in for a bloody death and it's just a matter of who plays the executioner.
One game into a 7 game series, a 2 point OT loss in which one team played its absolute best and the other played pretty close to its absolute worst, and there's Shank smirking as he needles people like us into talking about him. But he's not alone. A lot of people are jumping off the bandwagon. To them I say good riddance. We don't want you around. And don't come back when the C's handle the Bulls the rest of this series.
First of all, there's no way Derrick Rose is going to hit shots like this… or this… for an entire series. He's good. Damn good. He showed he's got balls and he's not afraid of the Celtics. But even for a great player, those shots are total BS.
But Rajon Rondo's got to ease back on the gambling when he's defending Rose straight up. Rose is too damn quick for that. His crossover is too good. His first step is too fast. If you go for the steal, you'd better get it. And yesterday, Rondo didn't get it. And because Rose is so fast, going for the steal at the top of the key means by the time your help realized you've been burned, Rose is already in the middle of the lane. They can't take the charge because there's no way to get out of the circle… and there's no one else who's remotely quick enough to steer him away from the hoop.
So the best way for Rondo to defend Rose is to just defend him straight up. Don't reach, just move your feet. If a pick comes, go under it and turn him into a jump shooter. If he's in the lane, he's scoring and passing. I don't care if he scores 30 again. If he gets them all on jump shots and he's not distributing, the Celtics will be in a great position.
The second problem for the C's is Ray Allen. It's not really a huge problem. He had one horrible game. But he's gotten away from his most successful formula this season: Open the game driving and taking mid-range jumpers… and then start bombing away when the defender backs-off. Ray is one of the best pure shooters the game has ever seen, but sometimes he falls in love with the 3.
I think early on, he needs to pass up the 3, take a dribble or two, and take that middle jumper to get going. The defender will be flying past him expecting the shot, so chances are good he'll get some really good looks. That will force some help to step up, and it might lead to some easy baskets under the basket for someone like Perk or Leon. It will force the defense to move, which is something the Bulls defense didn't have to do yesterday.
And that's the third problem the Celtics have. If Rondo didn't take over in spurts, the Celtics would have had no offense at all. There was one play where Rondo was beyond the 3 point line on the right side, and he skipped the ball to Paul Pierce, who was posting his guy up above the left block. It's the first time I've EVER seen that. NORMALLY, the ball would get swung around and Pierce would get a little entry pass. For some reason yesterday, ball movement disappeared. I'm all for Paul Pierce putting the cape on and taking over, but it's always been most successful when the offense is run for most of the game.
The Bulls are young and athletic. They rely on their physical skills to win. If you make them move around, they'll make mistakes, and it will lead to easy baskets. If you take away what they want to do, they'll try to force it, and they'll turn the ball over. They're a .500 team for a reason. Make them play like it.
I'll start the links with this: KG eyes surgery date. It might eliminate any shot of KG coming back. I didn't want to make the whole post about it, because I'm sick of talking about KG. If he's not here, he's not here… let's move on.
Herald: Celtics trampled by running Bulls | Usually clutch Pierce misses FT | No excuse for this effort | Rose a thorn in C's side | Rondo shines all by himself | 1st series puts chill in Ray's shot | Globe: Rose's Garden in game 1 | For Pierce, performance was half bad | This rook has all the moves | Young Bulls gain confidence | Allen aim: improve accuracy | Rivers find inquiries unsuitable | Megliola: for starters, this wasn't the plan | Souza: C's fall short | Camerato: Bulls run C's out of game 1 | Mike Petraglia: Doc-we did it as much as they did | Bulls teach champs a lesson | Rockets beat Blazers | Cavs beat Pistons | Mavs beat Spurs
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