There are hordes of write-ups on Ray Ray and Pierce out there today, and deservedly so, but here is one each on the other 3 huge contributors to last night's win:
Eddie House (In the Daily Links - but thought we could maybe get some discussion going in the forum)
Exerpt:
How could this be? Eddie House was not himself. This was the big stage. All the world watching. A team down 18, needing inspired point guard play. Opportunity coarsed through his veins. And all the man needed to do was the thing that he was born to do.
Shoot.
So what did he do at halftime? "I had a masseuse kind of rub my shoulders at halftime, to just kind of loosen me up," he says. "My shoulders were a little tense. Just got a little rubdown, got relaxed, and then when I got the same shots that I had in the first half I knocked them down."
In warmups after halftime, he hit about 17-20 three-pointers. Things were looking up.
In the second half, he was left open for three-pointers twice, and nailed both. He also nailed the all-important 18-foot jumper with 4:07 left that gave Boston their first lead of the game, and big psychological lift.
Most importantly, in the second half, Bryant honored House as a shooter by staying near him, and Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett both capitalized by combining to shoot 8-14 in the second half, and the Celtics mounted their historic comeback.
During Eddie House's time on the floor, the Celtics outscored the Lakers by 20 points -- giving House the best +/- of any player in the game.
"If I was the coach of the Celtics," says ESPN's Dr. Jack Ramsay, "I'd give the game ball to Eddie House."
Big Game JamesExerpt:
Let me tell you a story about Posey. I have intermittently driven Jason Richardson’s very voluble agent, Dan Fegan, absolutely into FULL INSANE SCREECH MODE over the years by consistently arguing to him that I’d take Posey over J-Rich, period, every day of the week.
Kevin GarnettExerpt:
Is there any way Garnett lets Allen swoop all the way in for a layup there? No. None at all. In fact, we'd just seen an example on the Lakers' last basket the play before, when Bryant drove, Garnett came over, and Bryant dropped the ball off to Gasol for a dunk.
The difference between what Gasol was told to do and what he should have done seemed to sink in with the Spanish center after the game.
"I saw the shot clock running down and kind of went to make sure I put a body on Garnett for the rebound, but I probably should have helped [Vujacic] out, react to that penetration," Gasol said.
Garnett, meanwhile, finally produced some plays to answer the critics.
Doc Rivers sat him for the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, and while he was out Leon Powe made a tough shot in the lane. I wondered then why we never see Garnett do that. But maybe Garnett saw the light.
When he returned he backed in for a 7-foot jumper that tied the score. And he also made two free throws and another close-range jumper. No more long jump shots that have had so many fans shaking their heads, wondering why the tallest Celtic on the court won't go inside.
Ray Ray and The Truth are getting most of the praise, but they'd be the first to say the Celtics are a team, first and foremost. And this team does not pull off the greatest finals comeback ever without the contributions of all 5 of these guys last night. Ubuntu!
Topic: Great Articles on House, Posey, and KG (Read 1632 times)