Le Basketbawl

The Boston Celtics will face the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday night at the Staples for game six of the 2010 NBA Finals which will be telecast on ABC at 9:00 pm EDT. Of course the game will be broadcast live all over the Planet; a fact that we take for granted. But there was a period of time when the NBA Championship series was broadcast on a taped delayed basis at 11:30 pm and New York Vinnie is not talking about the early days of TV when the technology had yet to be invented.

This was back in early eighties when the series was broadcast on CBS and the Network did not think it was necessary to put the games on live because the ratings were terrible. So the Network put the games on usually about two and a half to four hours after the game had actually started. New York Vinnie remembers that Magic Johnson getting his first NBA Championship was on tape delay as was the same the next season when Larry Bird would win his first NBA Title.

Those two players and their respective teams; the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics were the reason why CBS went back to showing the Finals live. TV ratings started going up as Johnson and Bird basically took the NBA out of the sewer and put them on an evening playing field with the NFL and Major League Baseball. Those two cats pretty much saved the NBA and the Michael Jordan came in and started getting attention and the Association grew healthy and prosperous.

Beginning in 1980 NBA Finals either Los Angeles, Boston or sometimes both were in every edition of the series until the 1989 Finals. And folks across the country picked one or the other team to root for. Celtics fans can not stand a Lakers fan and the same holds true in reverse. Bird and Johnson brought back fans to the NBA who had lost interest years before and more importantly brought new fans to the sport.

Thirty years later the rivalry is no less intense as the Celtics and Lakers have shown in this series. Boston leads 3-2 after game five and that means the Lakers have to win out to grab their second straight Larry O’Brien Trophy. Through the first five games this series has been incredible; even for those of us who do not have a rooting interest in the series. What we have been witnessing is two heavyweight boxers going toe to toe every game. Its like Ali and Frazier except a whole lost less bloody.

This has been a tough year for the NBA in a lot of ways: The Arenas gun incident, Allen Iverson signing a contract with the Memphis Grizzlies and leaving after less than a month just top the list. There was a boatload of Crappolla that floated through the NBA in this soon to be completed season. But after this series most NBA fans will forget about the garbage and instead will remember a great series pitting two Champions against each other. And after every game you could truly believe that the players left everything they had out on the floor.

If you have been following the NBA Playoffs over the last few weeks you may have woken up Wednesday morning with a heavy-duty case of Deja-Vu! After three games of the NBA Finals the Boston Celtics trail the Los Angeles Lakers by a 2-1 margin after losing game three of the series in Boston Tuesday by a final of 91-84. The Celtics had taken away the Lakers home court advantage by upsetting the defending NBA Champions at the Staples Center Sunday when Boston ended up with the victory by a final of 103-94. But with their loss at home on Tuesday they have promptly handed back that advantage to Los Angeles.

The reason this may seem familiar is the Celtics wnt through the exact same scenario in the second round of the Post Season when they played the Cleveland Cavaliers. Boston would surprise the Planet in game two of that series by upsetting the heavily favored Cavaliers team in Cleveland winning game two 104-86. They would return the favor in game three of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals as Cleveland knocked the stuffing out of them in Boston as they routed the Celtics 124-95.

Tuesday night’s game was like a Frickin roller-coaster as Boston started off hot and then Los Angeles took over. The Lakers had a 17 point lead in the second quarter but the game became a battle once again in the fourth when Kevin Garnett knocked down an oustide “J” to cut the Los Angeles lead to 70-69. The Celtics could not get any closer and faded down the stretch giving the Lakers the victory. But at the same time they sent a message to Los Angeles that no lead in this series is going to be safe.

The way New York Vinnie saw things on Tuesday Boston veteran Garnett certainly did not look as if he had lost a step as Lakers forward Pau Gasol said after game one. And it was another “Golden Oldie” Los Angeles point guard Derek Fisher who came up huge for the Lakers in the fourth to clinch the win. Both these teams have a wide array of players who are capable of taking over a game at any time. In New York Vinnie’s opinion that is what is making the 2010 NBA Finals a great series so far; these games will keep you on the edge of your chair until that final buzzer has sounded. That in New York Vinnie’s world is Entertainment!

New York Vinnie does not have a rooting interest in the Finals as “MY BOYS” the New York Knicks have been spending the last few weeks puttering around their houses. But as a fan of “The Greatest Game On Earth” New York Vinnie is being very entertained. This series has the potential to go down as one of the greatest NBA Finals in the history of the game. This series is far from being over; and New York Vinnie believes the best is yet to come!

If Thursday night was the first time this year that you watched the Boston Celtics in the Post Season then most likely you were scratching your head wondering how they made it all the way to the NBA Finals. Except for the game three loss in their series against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round this was by far the worst defeat the Celtics have suffered in the Playoffs. The Los Angeles Lakers were on a mission Thursday night and nothing the team from the East Coast could do would stop the defending NBA Champions from seeing that mission through to the end.

Lakers All-Star guard Kobe Bryant rose to the occasion per usual leading all players on the floor with 30 points; however that was not the reason that Boston lost game one by a final of 102-89 that was not as close as the final score indicated. The reason that the Celtics had the spit knocked out of them was they allowed the Lakers to dominate in what should have been a position of strength for Boston; the inside game.

Thursday night Los Angeles grabbed 42 rebounds while the Celtics had just 31. The Lakers also dominated in the points in the paint category outscoring Boston in that department by a 48-30 margin. That was how the Lakers won this game by dominating inside, an area that the Celtics on paper have the clear advantage.

Boston has four players in their starting lineup who have shown they are capable of grabbing double digits in rebounds; yet not one of them did Thursday night. As New York Vinnie has written many times; rebounding is all about effort and desire. Game one the Lakers showed more effort and wanted it more so they easily dominated in that department.

As far as points in the paint Boston coach Doc Rivers talked to his team during a timeout in the first half and told them they were settling for low percentage outside shots rather than making the extra pass and increasing their scoring chances. The Celtics may have heard what Rivers was saying but they did not listen as they would continue to play that way all night long.

Boston has shown all through out the Playoffs that they are a team that can make adjustments successfully and they will need to do that in game two Sunday night. The Celtics will need to win at least one game at the Staples Center to win the NBA Finals and New York Vinnie has the feeling that they would like to get it before the series shifts back to Boston. However the only way they will be able to do that is by dominating the inside game; something they fell far short of in game one.

Anybody who knows anything about the history of the National Basketball Association has to give the Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson his propers. After all “Coach Zen” has now won 10 NBA Championships after winning number four with the Lakers last year. However Your Old Pal New York Vinnie has to say that as a human being “Coach Zen” has turned into a Frickin PUD! New York Vinnie is not quite sure when this transformation happened but it has as Jackson in trying to get an edge before a Playoff series starts; says something to try to get the NBA referees on his side.

In the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs Jackson told reporters that Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant was getting “Super-Star Treatment” by NBA officials. In other words “Coach Zen” was insinuating that the third year All-Star was not getting calls on a lot of violations he was committing. Durant who was making his first appearance in the Post Season was upset by the remarks and they may have affected his play during the first round match-up.

The “Los Angeles Times” reported that “Coach Zen” is once again trying to get inside the heads of his opponents before they take on the Boston Celtics Thursday in the NBA Finals. Jackson was trying to point out the differences between the two opponents who will meet at the Staples Center for game one of the best of seven series. The Lakers bench boss told reporters “We don’t have a smack-down mentality. You might have seen that with Garnett on Howard in Game 6 in Boston, where he was smacking Howard’s arm and was finally called for an offensive foul. That’s not our kind of team. We don’t go out there and smack people around.”

If Jackson was hoping to enrage the Celtics  with his comments it did exactly the opposite. Celtics head coach Doc Rivers when told what Jackson had to say laughed and replied “We just thank Phil for the compliment. That’s very nice of him to say. I think he picks the best player on the other team or who he thinks is key. So I think Kevin should put that one right up there with his MVP trophy and everything else. I think Kevin should be excited about that. I think Paul and Ray and Rondo, they’re going to be (ticked off) about this because they were hoping it would be them.”

Garnett responded “I think nothing of it. It’s just Phil playing mind games. I think part of defense is being physical. Definitely being firm. You’re playing physical guys like Shaq, Dwight Howard, Bynum, you’ve got to hold your ground. You’ve got to find some way to absorb it the best way you see fit. Our style is to stay firm, consistent and there’s a lot of communication.”

In New York Vinnie’s opinion “Coach Zen” has not only complimented the Celtics with his remarks but he has denigrated his own team for being too soft. New York Vinnie remembers when Boston forward Kevin McHale threw Lakers forward Kurt Rambis to the ground during the 1984 Finals. That one play turned that whole series around as the “Showtime Lakers’ were then intimidated by the Celtics. Boston would end up winning those Finals and that won display of their toughness was a key factor.

In New York Vinnie’s mind I would rather have my team have a smack-down mentality than to be a bunch of wussies. And New York Vinnie believes most pro-sports fans feel the same way!  You Play Clean, You Play Hard but You Play To Win!

Remember when the “Mouth That Roared” Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah said before his team played the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs that they would beat the Cavaliers and “Shock The World“? Well Noah was wrong about his team instead it is the Boston Celtics who are on the verge of doing that after beating the Orlando Magic Friday by a final of 96-84 to win the Eastern Conference Finals 4-2. Your Old Pal New York Vinnie had picked the Celtics before the season started to win it all but I jumped off their bandwagon in about late March.

As New York Vinnie wrote to My Main Man Robbo “New York Vinnie went against my own advice on Boston; never doubt your First Frickin Instinct! If New York Vinnie had kept the faith I would look like Frickin Nostradamus about now. But you know even Frickin Ainge had given up on them saying in March that Garnett was not the same player. Never change horses in mid-stream My Main Man! HOO-HAA!!”

So New York Vinnie does not have the pleasure of saying I told you so as the faith wavered. But the Celtics have been able to overcome every obstacle that has gotten in their way so far. And this time New York Vinnie is going to come out and say the Boston Celtics will win the NBA Finals whether they play the Lakers or the Suns.

The Celtics have only gotten stronger as the NBA Playoffs have progressed and have already defeated two of the toughest teams in the NBA in the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic. They match up well against either Los Angeles or Phoenix and they now have momentum on their side. New York Vinnie should have known better but gave up on the Celtics earlier this year. New York Vinnie is not going to repeat that mistake as the Boston Celtics will win the 2010 NBA Finals.

Your Old Pal New York Vinnie believes that one of the reasons that Le Basketbawl has become so popular with you our readers is we bring you a different perspective than all the other guys. They say that some people see the glass as half empty; while others see it as half full. New York Vinnie on the other hand is more concerned with what is in the Frickin glass and is it safe to drink. We all go through life together; what it comes down to is how you react to it.

Now over the past day or so the NBA has been going Frickin nuts about the fact that the Cleveland Cavaliers lost game five of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals to the Boston Celtics Tuesday night by a final of 120-88.  Boston now leads the series 3-2 with game six to be played in Boston on Thursday night. From all corners of this great Nation of ours people are in shock over this turn of events. Whether it is the “TV Pretty Boys” or some 15 year old from Idaho who blogs in his parents basement every body has been weighing in on this subject.

There is all sorts of conjecture of what could be causing this outcome in the series so far; all concerning the Cleveland Cavaliers. Some say that Cavaliers All-Star forward LeBron James is hurt worse than he or the team is admitting. Others say that the team is choking under the expectations and the pressures that they are under. Still more are questioning the heart of James and is he made of the right stuff.

New York Vinnie realized on Wednesday that not one of these “Frickin So-Called Experts” have brought up the fact that the Boston Celtics have been playing some pretty good ball since the Playoffs began. You truly can not compare in any way shape or form the way the Celtics have improved from the team that limped into the NBA Playoffs and the team that is walloping the Cleveland Cavaliers this series.

Here is the bottom Frickin line; the Boston Celtics have been playing better basketball than the  Cleveland Cavaliers in four games of this series. The Cavaliers pulled out a victory in game one that easily could have gone the other way. The only time that Cleveland dominated in this series was in Boston last Friday night in game three of the series.

Isn’t it about time somebody gave some credit to the Boston Celtics for what they are doing rather than what Cleveland is not doing? Has everybody forgotten that this team won the NBA Finals in 2008; and was looked at as a leading contender to win it this season? The Cavaliers are not playing the Frickin New Jersey Nets; the Celtics are one of the elite teams in the NBA.

So instead of blaming Cleveland; how about giving the Celtics credit for rising to the occasion? Because as a wise man once said; “That is why they play the games.”

Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett spoke to the media after watching the tape of Sunday’s loss to the Miami Heat by a final of 101-92 and said he and his teammates feel much better about the loss. He told reporters that without even watching the tape each player on the Celtics were pressing too hard on Sunday.

The “Boston Globe” reported that Garnett told media members that after the team watched the tape of the loss on Sunday; they saw what they had been doing wrong and they believe it is easily correctable. As they sat and watched the game on Monday they figured out how they got away from their gmae plan.

The All-Star forward told the media “When you’re watching film and it’s pointing out some of the same themes of what you’re doing wrong on both ends of the floor, you don’t mind watching it. As a team right now I think we’re so keyed in we’re trying to figure out what we’re trying to do to get better. The position we’re in, getting better position, making the extra pass on offense, seeing what they’re doing against us, it’s the best piece of education we own. We walk out of the film session feeling so relieved. We understand why certain things happened. We get to that problem and keep certain things from happening again.”

The Celtics will attempt to close out the first round NBA Eastern Conference Playoff series on Tuesday as the series resumes in Boston with the Celtics ahead 3-1.