Game three thoughts before i go to bed

[crownsy]

A couple things bother me from this game -- one mainly-- Doc Rivers.

Where were the in-game adjustments Doc? Cassell playing as long as he did? Perk seemed to be comfortable offensively, but no one ever got him the ball. How is Rondo on the bench the entire 4th quarter. You're telling me you'll risk a franchise player to injury but not a 22 yr old guard bouncing around like he's healthy? How is Ray Allen not the primary scoring option on the last couple of posessions? He's our only player even remotely in touch with his offensive game (granted KG got it going a bit for a while), and for some reason we try to postup KG when there is really no mismatch against Gasol? And finally the clincher, Ray Allen 1 on 1 with Kobe? You've gotta be kidding, not with the way Ray was being beat off the dribble all night. Just the double off of Odom, foul him, I mean please what was that?

Of course, it wasn't only Doc. Pierce was obviously off, (Did he look a little slow to anyone?),and KG was miserable. It seemed like Ray's night, but what do I know? Our defense also seemed to lack the kind of spirit it has at home and they seemed to miss a few key rotations (Sasha Vujachic anyone?)

With that said, this may sound like a rant, and it probably is, but c'mon Doc, youve done a great job all series, why let up now when we have them right where we want them? A win tonight would have been a killer for the Lake show, especially considering the putrid offense play of Gasol and Odom.

I hope tonight was just an off night for all parties not named Ray Allen, and based on the Lakers lack of offensive comfort at home I believe that the green have a lot to build upon for Thursday. (If we don't get killed by adjustments..)

agree on all but rondo, he was terrible when he was in during the fourth, very tentative and non-aggresive. eddie was playing good ball, he should have rode him to the finish. lakers actually wne ton thier final run when rondo came back in and eddie went out.

[wdleehi]

Where were the in-game adjustments Doc?

you didn't see PJ playing over Perk down the stretch?  That's an adjustment baby! 

Bad adjustment

PJ, -13

Perk, +6

[vinnie]

You gotta give it a rest on Doc.  I am one of the Doc dislikers on this board and I am not blaming this loss on him.  I am blaming it on two guys -- PP and KG.  I will say, however, that Phil Jackson did outcoach Doc in this game and putting Kobe on Rajon made a huge difference, but I think most of us expected Phil to outcoach Doc.

[PerkinsERA43]

we played very poorly and got no calls, and still almost won. KG and PP shot 8 of 35 combined. We lost by 6. The difference between the Celtics and Lakers? when we play poorly, we're ahead by 2-4 points half the game. When the Lakers play poorly, they're down by 24 at the end of the third. I'm not worried in the least..... Celtics in 6 with 5 being a distinct possibility.

[YouGotRondo d]

Still, the thing with Rondo is that he seems to make this offense go. How about the 4 on 2 where Eddie pulled up? Wouldn't Rondo ignite the team with a fast break bucket? It seems like all he needs is a few chances, regardless of his play. He certainly wasn't hurt and I feel that he should be trusted based on the fact that he has gotten us here.

That being said, Kobe definately shut him down from driving and dishing for most of the game and Eddie was playing well. I just feel like the 4th quarter is almost a different game, we need a PG to be assertive, and I don't mean pull up 3's and 17 footers. House wasn't even getting people involved, he was like a rich man's Sam Cassell.

[crownsy]

he was trusted for 3 minutes, and he blew it.

i love the kid to, but, either from the injury or the lime lights, he was a deer in the headlights for this game in general and his fourth quarter stint in particular.

[YouGotRondo d]

All right, all right, I'll accept it. 

He can be pretty [dang] frustrating at times in such a tight game. I think this frustration is mostly due to the fact that I know we're the better team, and it just seemed like we were so [dang] close tonight! I definately expect a rebound performance from all starters Thurs.

[Barnabas]

The bottom line is that Pierce and KG were both MIA on offense.  Ray could not make up for it on his own.  Our role players couldn't compensate.  And it was a good move by Phil to put Kobe on Rondo.  The Cs should have doubled on Kobe in the 4th also, however, with the Lakers shooting 3 pointers the way they did (actually, the way Vujacic was shooting), that made it harder to double up on Kobe.  The Lakers were able to spread the defense and move the ball around.

Gasol and Odom were pretty much MIAs on offense.  Kobe was his normal, excellent self (minus the FT).  And Vujacic really stepped up and played a great game.  Kobe made some shots that were just awesome.

Rondo's inability to hit the long distance jump shot really does hurt the team, I think.

The Celtic offense will go away from time to time.  If the Lakers win this series, it will be because of the Celtic offense.  

[cmoney]

Where were the in-game adjustments Doc?

you didn't see PJ playing over Perk down the stretch?  That's an adjustment baby! 

Bad adjustment

PJ, -13

Perk, +6

lol I know I was being facetious.  Doc's neverending love for "experience" really hurts this team.  I mean, I loved what we got from PJ in games 1 and 2 (after an AWFUL Detroit series), but you gotta realize he was playing way over his head.  Perk is a rock out there.  And he truly eats Gasol's soul.  He beats him up, makes him catch it too far from the hoop, and even had some awesome 1v1 moments where he'd move his feet on Gasol's baseline spins and completely block it off. 

PJ on the other hand is nowhere near the rebounder Perk is, is slow on rotations, and constantly has to foul to prevent the layup his slowness allowed.  When he's got it going OK.. but otherwise he should play for only short 4min stretches to give Perk a rest and only ride him if we're in foul trouble.

[Casperian]

Agree on all points. One of the two of KG or PP and we win that game.

I think we need to post Perk up a LOT more when Odom is guarding him. #1 he is pretty effective against him, and #2 it gets him in foul trouble. I think he should get quite a few more touches if KG refuses to go down there. It is actually a mismatch where Pau is long enough to bother KG's post game.

Agreed 100%
Perk seemed to be in the groove early on, and if that´s the case, he can toy with LA´s "big" men.

[kw10]

I don't think anyone's mentioned this, so I'll just give my thoughts:

The last offensive foul when KG was called for illegal screening-I don't think it should have been called. Maybe that was really an illegal screen, I'm not sure, even if it was, the refs have not been calling all night long. As people's said before, refs call the game more at the start and allow more and let them play at the end. Same should've been done here, they should've called the illegal screens earlier to send a message across rather than call it once when it was in clutch time-that is totally inconsistant. Of course the game was not won/lost there. But nonetheless something they should look into.

Another thing, the players didn't foul at the end, I just didn't like that they kind of 'gave up'...

[makaveli]

Paul Pierce look like he was on cruise control...
Generally I think everybody looked tiered and slow except Kobe and Ray...
Hope our guys get some rest and take game 4 and/or 5...

[reggie35]

Another thing, the players didn't foul at the end, I just didn't like that they kind of 'gave up'...

Yeah, that was messed up. It was still a two possession game at that point with plenty of time. Why no fouls?

Also, can anyone please explain why RA only took 3 shots in the 4th quarter?

[TruthSerum]

I thought a sweep would be awfully flashy and appropriate, but what the hell, they're the Lakers at home down 2 -- they had to give it their all. If that's the best they can throw at the Celtics it isn't a daunting outcome. I appreciated the way the Celtics didn't lose their cool toward the end when they were behind -- that chuck to House for 3 was pretty. Pierce's performance was flat as a prairie, but that just means he's laying low! Pierce is solid, but he's also human, and in his hometown. I'm sure he's finding his center.