Round 2
Aaron Gettings
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I just wanted to take a few paragraphs of your time an share some of my thoughts for the Celtics round 2 matchup with the Cavs. Oh, and to apologize for my lack of Game 7 blogging -- due to a family engagement, a car accident (not involving me) which severed some fiber optic cables, there was to be no blogging yesterday... nor cable, nor internet. But we're back in the 21st Century now, so all's good.
Anyway, the obvious storyline for Round 2 is Lebron versus the Big 3. Unstoppable force versus United Team, etc, etc. Of course King James terrifies the bajeezus out of me. He truly can't be stopped -- he's just too strong and too good. Much like Larry Bird, at the end of the game, Lebron is going to be getting the ball, and he's going to get his shot. Most of the time it falls... but that's not the point. Our glaring weakness during that way-too-long Hawks series is that we don't have that guy. At the end of the game, no Celtic stepped up and traded shots with Joe Johnson, or anybody else. We need that. I can't say who it should be, but in Paul I trust.
The rest of the Cavs really don't scare me. Of course, they didn't scare anybody last season and they made it to the Finals, so let's not take ANOTHER team for granted. The 'X' factors for the Cavs are, oddly enough, ex-Celtics Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak. They've been fairly inconsistent (which isn't all that surprising to us), but each have a game or two in these playoffs where they've stepped up and brought Cleveland a victory. Luckily, neither of these guys is Joe Johnson, and I sure hope Ray Allen is able to stick Wally and I know Rondo can handle West. The only way these guys are going to kill us is if we let Lebron draw our defense in and we leave these guys open outside. Hopefully KG and Perk can protect the rim and it'll be a non-issue.
The only other guy who worries me a little is Ilgauskas. He's just too damn tall -- Perk does his best on Big Z, but it's a frustrating cover for him. At 7'3" Ilgauskas is able to virtually get his shots off at will, and we have no one with the length and size to cause him much trouble. As long as we can keep a body on him and prevent him from hanging around the rim, he shouldn't cause us too much trouble. The rest of the Cavs can't be ignored, but shouldn't cause sleepless nights either. Boobie Gibson is named Boobie, Ben Wallace just doesn't have it anymore, and Joe Smith is solid, but nothing more.
For the Celtics, we just need to keep that game 7 intensity and execution level. That's really all it comes down to. We're a solid team, made up of mostly veterans. They either play their game, or they don't. When they do, it's amazing to watch. When they don't, they make guys like Zaza Pachulia look like future hall of famers. As long as we can lock down on defense, prevent transition bucks, and prevent offensive rebounds, our offense takes care of itself. Ray needs to find his shooting touch. We need to keep putting the ball in Pierce's hands, and KG needs to hang a little more near the rim and a little less near halfcourt. Rondo seems to have regained his confidence, and Perk was an absolute Beast in game 7 -- so if we can keep that train rolling, we'll be alright.
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