Simmons keeps up the stupidity

[billc15]

"while a standing Doc Rivers flatlined on the sidelines for about two minutes. This has been a Doc staple over the past four years -- a Celtics player submitting an absolutely catastrophic stretch of play as Rivers leaves him in for about 90 seconds too long, then suddenly realizes, "Wait, I'm the coach, I have the power to remove this guy from the game!" Simmons column.

Giving Rondo a rest was a gbig deal. Cassell played OK, but Simmons manages to go into his hate Doc screed anyway. Great coaching job by Doc last night. I was glad to see Powe get minutes, he deserves them. The Celtics outrebounded the Lakers, 46-33, and limited the visitors to 33.3 percent shooting from the field and 1 of 9 on threes in the second half. Bryant missed 17 of 26 shots...In the fourth quarter, Kobe was held to 4 points on 1-of-6 shooting and two free throws, and had zero rebounds.Celtics are going to win in 5.

[dorschrm]

Have you ever heard of Boston sarcasm?

[Veal Scalabrine]

The same way you go into your hate Simmons screed with every post? Give it up, bro. His column was 85% postive and playing Cassell that long was a joke. There's a reason the Rondo chant was in full effect at that point.

Try and enjoy being up 1-0 for a little.

[footey]

Cassell played better than Simmons predicted, and he sometimes has trouble acknowledging he was wrong. The truth is, Cassell is going to help us this series if managed correctly. Doc has figured that out. Simmons (along with some of us, including me sometimes) was wrong to say that Cassell experiment was a mistake, stick with Eddie House only.  NOt a knock on Eddie, but could we have realisticaly expected more production from him last night given the same amount of minutes? If Sam has a stinker, it will be time to try Eddie for a game, until he proves a stinker. It is that simple, really.

[NicaraguanFan]

Cassell played better than Simmons predicted, and he sometimes has trouble acknowledging he was wrong. The truth is, Cassell is going to help us this series if managed correctly. Doc has figured that out. Simmons (along with some of us, including me sometimes) was wrong to say that Cassell experiment was a mistake, stick with Eddie House only.  NOt a knock on Eddie, but could we have realisticaly expected more production from him last night given the same amount of minutes? If Sam has a stinker, it will be time to try Eddie for a game, until he proves a stinker. It is that simple, really.

Cassell was fine, but let's face it, he took some dumb shots and in some way kill our momentum.

[CelticsPrideKG]

I guess I'm the only one that didn't think Cassell played THAT horribly last night.

I thought he and Garnett kept us in the game during the first half and then he made some defensive plays for once.  The 2nd half was a slightly different story but other than the 24 second violation I didn't think it was "p--- poor" play as some of you seem to think.

If he can hit as many shots as he did in Game 1 for a few more games this series I think we are in good shape.

[tuka]

As my neighbor's can attest I was screaming for Rondo at that point too.  I think Simmons gets a pass on this one.

[bbc3341]

Cassell was a huge part of the win, especially his 1st half stint where he made some tough shots that kept the game close and also drew an offensive foul on Kobe. But his 3s looked way short and he took 2 horrible shots when the Cs had a chance to blow it open with Kobe on the bench - at that point I was screaming at Doc through the TV to put Rondo back in. Rondo needs rest? the guy could play 2 games 48 mins. back to back on the same night, he's in geat shape from all his roller skating... OK, that last part was a joke, a few minutes of rest was good and I think Rivers displays a certain calm and tell me this: who made the better coaching moves last night?

That said, loved Simmons piece. Just wish he'd live blog from the games from his blackberry!

[RonJohn]

Cassel played well in the first half. Killed the momentum with poor shot selection, defense and turnovers in the second half. Eddie House would have been much better in that spot.

[celticmaestro]

this simmons hate is really boring now.

he's a journalist, a good one at that and he's garnering a lot of publicity through these articles.

moreover, he's a celtics fan who, generally, is objective enough not to be called a complete homer. give him a break.

[DannyZ]

I thought it was a great article.  He described what is was like to be at the game to a T.

As far as the Rondo chant, when have you ever heard the crowd chant for a specific substitution (besides the mock Scalabine chant)?  It was definitely worth mentioning.

Doc definitely left Cassell out there a little too long.  Sam was great in the first half, but when the Lakers started pressing, Sam was hurting us a little.

[tenn_smoothie]

the thing about Sam Cassell is - he is supposed to be the playoff-smart veteran who makes good decisions and keeps his team on the right track.

he plays very stupid sometimes because he is an egomaniac.

i would still like to see Eddie get some minutes. he provides energy on defense and a scoring punch and he runs the offense, which is more than Cassell does.

[kuberski]

would you rather read an adande or simmons article?

[BballTim]

  Cassell should have come out sooner in the 1st half. When you put him in the game it's like putting a little sand in your motor oil. Things run ok for a little while but then start to get discombobulated. Doc's solution is to put KG back in the game. We get a momentary lift but we're still out of sync. The Lakers start to get momentum. Rondo gets put back in, but he's been sitting on the bench for about 20 minutes so it takes him a little while to get back into the flow. It basically kills the 2nd quarter. The most glaring example of this was (I think) game 1 vs Cleveland.

  Rondo comes out of the game on a pretty regular schedule, around the end of the 1st and 3rd quarter. Why can't he do the same thing with Cassell? Give him 4 or so minutes and yank him. It's like he gets bonus frequent flyer miles the more he plays Cassell.

[RichT24]

this simmons hate is really boring now.

he's a journalist, a good one at that and he's garnering a lot of publicity through these articles.

moreover, he's a celtics fan who, generally, is objective enough not to be called a complete homer. give him a break.

A million TP's to you if I could. Well said.

Simmons bashing is lame.

If you enjoy it, read it. If not don't read it. Just like I how I never read Jamelle Hill anymore because I don't really enjoy reading about how everything in this world is so racist, all the time, everywhere, in space and at the bottom of the ocean.