Is it me, or are ESPN trying to help the Heat out? Check this.

[drza44]

One thing I'll say...that's a pretty cool breakdown in the article.  It's right up my alley, going well beyond the obvious box score stats and pointing out the different ways a player can contribute to the point.  In that play, Pierce was the #1 option, didn't touch the ball at all, but still played a big role in all that was going on.  Similarly, as the author points out, KG set about 3 picks in 5 seconds then acted as a relief valve then made a good pass to a driving Rondo.  Even Jermaine was involved, as his dive to the rim forced the defense to react which helped contribute to Ray being open.

Ray hit the 3, Rondo got the assist, but those were team points.

[ManUp]

I see it as more blatantly trying to demoralize the Heat. All the article really showed was that we are really really really hard to guard. The breakdown just shows how amazing our offense is when one play breaks down it just triggers another. The offense really is amazing.

[BudweiserCeltic]

The other day they had on the first page a picture of LeBron standing over a Celtic player, don't know if it was Pierce or Rondo. Doesn't make sense to me in the eve of a great series, particularly given that the Celtics took the season series 3-1.

[Tai]

Including the preseason and playoffs, the Celtics have played 94 games so far.....

If the Heat don't already have a clue on the Celtics' offensive sets, then I'm pretty much with Celticsfan336. Maybe have that broom ready, just in case....

[Army_of_One_Nation]

espn is the least of our worries......the bias from the officials should be the concern

1 TP!

[guava_wrench]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/6788/how-the-celtics-make-lemonade

Call it whatever they will, but this seems like an attempt to help Miami better understand Boston's plays. Yes, I know Miami is already doing these things themselves, but this is a very blatant, and not cleverly masked, attempt to aide Miami in whatever way that they can.

Not saying this will decide games or the series or anything, but it strikes me as a bit shady.

Just you. Columnists do this all the time for different teams.

But if we want to feel like victims, it is easy to article mine.

[Celtics18]

I'm picturing Erik Spoelstra and his staff sitting around, surfing the web for clues on how to beat the Celtics.

"Hey, guys, did you see this, the Boston Celtics run plays with multiple options in case the first one gets defended.  Look, ESPN breaks the whole thing down for us.  Hahaha, we've got them now."

[JT11]

I'm picturing Erik Spoelstra and his staff sitting around, surfing the web for clues on how to beat the Celtics.

"Hey, guys, did you see this, the Boston Celtics run plays with multiple options in case the first one gets defended.  Look, ESPN breaks the whole thing down for us.  Hahaha, we've got them now."

TP
"Someone go get Lebron."

[LooseCannon]

Why do we as Celtic fans always think that the Media is against us, and the League is against us, etc etc?!

I don't feel that way, but it is unshocking.  People love conspiracy theories.  Some people think that ACORN stole the 2008 presidential elections, that Israel caused 9/11 in order to sway the US, that the CIA created HIV.  Celtics fans are just like other people.  In any crowd, there are weak-minded fools who want to believe.

If the media seems to give the Celtics less attention than the team deserves, it's not because of anti-Boston (or pro-Laker, pro-Miami, pro-anything else) sentiment.  The media (and perhaps the league) are biased towards grand-standing individuals.  This isn't just confined to sports.  The People's Budget unveiled by the Congressional Progressive Caucus has gotten less attention than the budget proposal of Republican Paul Ryan.  Entertainment news is skewed towards attention-seeking celebrities and celebrates people who are famous for being famous without ever accomplishing anything significant.

Sports fans all over the country seem to feel their team is under-appreciated by the media.  One example is that Lakers fans apparently detest John Hollinger, based on what I have seen in other forums.  They seem to think that because he spent several years covering sports in Oregon, he is a Blazers fan who hates LA doesn't give Kobe and the gang the respect they deserve.

But this whole shared martyr/victim complex is part of what makes fandom great.

[LancerQ]

If the Heat are looking at ESPN for their gameplan, then we are in good shape.

+1