NBA '08 Playoff Thread

Pierce must have gotten too much of that home cooking from momma Doc was talking about the other day. He played dreadfully tonight. I would have sat his butt down until he's ready to play.

And slap KG up the side of his head and tell him we know you don't want to be thought of as a 7 foot post player, but man you're not a 6-7 wing man. Get your skinny ass down on the low block and go to work or you're sitting down next to Mr. Pierce.

 

I think it was Doc out-thinking himself. They changed everything they did because the Lakers put Kobe on Rondo. I know Rondo rolled his ankle, but he looked fine when he came back. I'm hoping that Doc remembers the way Rondo played in the first two games and doesn't get crazy in G4 with the lineup.

 

Rivers with a serious dig on Jackson in his postgame presser. Asked a question about Jackson saying Garnett was gassed in the fourth quarter, Rivers prefaced his answer with: "I'm just surprised he wasn't whining about fouls tonight." One thing I don't think anyone can say -- and us in the biz should appreciate -- is that Rivers' demeanor doesn't change any after a win or loss. He doesn't get snippy, he gives full answers and he doesn't avoid complimenting the opponent.

 

I know others have pointed it out, but man are Wilbon and Kornheiser lost without each other. I love Wilbon on PTI, but he brings NOTHING to do this analyst gig. He doesn't pull punches on PTI but turns into a bland, jock-sniffer on these postgame shows.

 

I've never thought about that, but it's absolutely right.

He's horrid on these post-game shows as an analyst. I hope people don't think he's representative of all writers as analysts, because there are good ones out there. He's way out of his element.

 

Should that be any surprise? That's pretty much what he is as a columnist.

 

Rivers has done a lot of that this postseason -- outthinking himself when it comes to the PG situation late in games.
Bottom line though, Rondo needs to spend the entire summer learning how to hit a jump shot. If he could get semi decent at making a wide open 15-footer, then you'd have no question at all.
I think at that point in the game, you go with Rondo -- the guy who's been there all year -- and you let him run the offense like it's been done the entire damn game. This team panics like nobody's business late, and that reflects directly on Rivers on the bench.

 

I actually think Rondo gets a bad rap. He knocks down the 18-footer on the baseline pretty regularly -- he somehow ends up with that show a lot in this offense. Obviously he has some work to do, but he came into the league as a guy whose shot was considered broken. He shot 49% during the season, although that was more a result of him taking high percentage shots than knocking down a bunch of jumpers, but either way that's a pretty good shooting percentage for a PG.

But overall I agree -- play him the way you have all year. He brings so much more defensively, rebounding and in transition than either of the other guys.

 

You know what though, it has to be tough to establish chemistry with Stu Scott and Jon Barry. Put him (and I know this goes for just about everyone) with that TNT crew and I bet he'd be 100x better.

 

I guess my point there was that it's no where near consistent enough to be honored continually. Whenever help comes, it almost exclusively comes off of Rondo -- because teams will take that chance. You've seen a few times this playoff where he's stepped up and hit those shots and the opposition's reaction was basically to tip their hat and say we'll keep doing it because we don't think he can do that consistently.

And I guess I can understand some of Rivers' second guessing, because as good as Rondo is at times running the offense, there are others where he is going 110 mph out of control, and you can't have that late. But at the same time, Cassell isn't anywhere near the guy he once was and Eddie House doesn't know how to do anything but jack up 30-footers. So I stick with Rondo and take the good with the bad I suppose. Because more often than not in the playoffs this year, he's been good.

 

Bottom line, we agree: play Rondo. If they're going to help off of him Rivers needs to find a way to exploit it. Rondo can finish unusually well for a PG -- have him cutting to the rim instead of hanging out by the 3-point line where's he's a non-factor. I don't know what the answer is. I know what the answer isn't: House or Cassell. Though I would absolutely play House over Cassell as the back-up.

 

Exactly -- dance with you brought you.