Great win:I think we can all agree that tonight's game was a "must-win", and that, had we lost tonight, the prospects of our season continuing would have been extremely nil. Thankfully we came out as focused as we've been all year, and carried out our game-plan to near perfection ... at both ends of the floor.
There were many things that contributed to this win, as is usually the case, but I want to shine light on just two things that stuck out for me and seem to be getting pushed to the shadows a bit. Those two things? Rasheed Wallace and Paul Pierce.
The Downs: I know there are those here who feel that Rasheed somehow gets more negative attention than he's due, and maybe that's true. But I gave this guy the benefit of the doubt when he came here, and hoped against hope that he would come through in a big way. I hate to say it, but he has been a big disappointment, to say the least.
He's had maybe two decent games in the playoffs to this point, and we need
much more from him than that. What I hear mostly is that "he's a different guy in the playoffs" ... that he flips the switch and becomes this monster. Well, we're
still waiting. Tonight was more the norm than the exception, and it was horrible.
Sheed was on the floor for 13 minutes tonight, and in that thirteen minutes he managed to squeeze in
five very quick personal fouls, three rebounds, no points, no assists, no blocks, no steals, and one turnover. (Sunday: 20 minutes, 3 pts, 3 rbs). Sorry, but that's just horrendous ... yeah, everyone is entitled to a bad game here-and-there, but he has them as a regularity, not a rarety.
This is the fourth highest paid player on this team, but he doesn't play even close to that level. Sorry, but I'm just plain tired of this guy and his luke-warm, apathetic efforts. Nuf sed.
The Ups:Paul Pierce finally woke up! LeBron had a horrible night, but a large part of that horrible night was the defense played against him, for the most part by Paul Pierce. Everywhere I looked and listened tonight this was being minimized and written off to the Queen being out-of-sorts, but LBJ's big problem tonight was The Truth, at
both ends of the floor.
Is it a coincidence that Paul scored over 20 points on a night that LeBron struggled? I don't think so ... I think it's because Paul turned it on, and when he turns it
on, he does so with his whole game. His good defense translated into better offense at the other end, and that works on a
team level as well as an
individual level.
Yes, LeBron has bad shooting nights, but there's usually a good reason ... beyond the excuses of elbows and bad calls and being in a "funk" and just not shooting well, and that good reason tonight took the form of
Paul Pierce. People seem very quick to label him and slam him when he's not playing up to par, but very slow to give him credit when it's due ... well, it's due ...
NOW.
Everyone who played contributed to this win, (except Sheed), and that's what's so special about this team ... but the "it" factor tonight was The Truth, and I want to make sure that someone says so. Mission accomplished ... I can sleep well tonight, and start worrying about game six in the morning.
