The keys for the NBA championship

[vgulab]

We are proud about our team defense and with no doubt playing good and phisical defense is the most important thing.

1.Rebounding

Why rebounding is nuber 1? Because of two things. Lakers are big and can hurt us with a lot of offensive rebounds so we can't alow a lot of those. And second the more defensive rebounds we get the more Rondo will be in transition against fisher and we could end up with a lot of transition points. Having Rondo full court full speed will set the pace of the game.

2.KG is going to be the most important piece on our team in the finals

Why?Kobe can't beat us alone so he need Gasol but after Orlando series which was bad for KG because Howard was helping Lewis KG is going to be a factor on both ends.Gasol will be shut down but also KG will abuse Gasol with the midrange jumper but especially in the paint.My prediction KG MVP in the finals.

3.Who will guard Rondo?

Fisher is to slow for Rondo so if Fisher is on Rondo i expect Rondo to have 15 assist every night and we finish with at least 50 points in the paint. But if Kobe try to guard Rondo then our adventige is Ray. If Kobe is on Rondo Ray will run screens easily and end up will lot of open shoots.Doc Rivers have been the best part od the team so far so i don't doubt in his game plan and i know he knows where are our weaknesess and turn them in our adventiges.

Number 18 is on his way

[wiley]

Another key is TA's ankle. 

What's the state of Tony's ankle?  Anyone know?  For me, that's a key to the series.....remember Tony in the Cleveland series.....we really need explosive Tony for the finals...

C'mon ankle......get back to normal!!!!

[Slugger]

All valid points there.

I think one of the huge factors in this series will be KG's ability to keep out of foul trouble.

If KG strikes to much foul trouble, Gasol will run riot over Davis, and especially Wallace.  BBD simply does not have the height to contend with Gasol, whilst Sheed stands no chance against the smooth post moves of Gasol.

All of the individual battles will be intriguing, but i think the longer KG is able to go heads up with Pau, the better off we'll be.

[Bankshot]

Another key is TA's ankle. 

What's the state of Tony's ankle?  Anyone know?  For me, that's a key to the series.....remember Tony in the Cleveland series.....we really need explosive Tony for the finals...

C'mon ankle......get back to normal!!!!

I agree.  I also think Nate can be a factor.  I remember the Lakers wanted to get Nate, so it would be cool for Nate to stick it to them.

[jolly_roger]

Since I'm new here I first greet all fellow Celtics fans with a friendly BEAT LA!

Now on to my take on the keys.
1) Luckily Boston is the only team in the league which has 3 guys on the wing who can single-handily decide a game. So whoever is guarded by Fisher has to rape the Lakers defense.
2) Limit Odom as much as possible. His ball handling skills are good enough to create plays at the end of games and I don't want that to happen. Maybe KG or BBD can slam him into the audience as soon as he has the opportunity (like Howard who "accidentally" elbows everyone near him).
3) Our bench has to fulfill their roles. Nate (if he sees minutes) -> energy and scoring; Sheed -> annoy the opponent on defense and hit his shots; BBD -> hustle all night long and throw his body into every Laker he sees; TA -> defense and get on the break with Rondo
4) On defense Rondo has to find the right balance between creating havoc in the passing lanes and staying close enough on Fisher so he doesn't sink wide open 3s all the time.
5) Don't let them get too much offensive rebounds so that they have to run their system to score (since Artest still doesn't get it that's a huge advantage for the Celtics).
6) Probably the most important: Do what Doc tells you to do!

So, and now I have a question for those who watch NBA longer than me: How do Artest and Pierce match-up against each other? Does one dominate the other or is it even?

[wiley]

Ah yes, how could I forget.....Odom and Artest, two major provokaholics!

Those 2 will be rough and a bit dirty/annoying......Perk and KG, don't let the antics of those 2 players get under your skin....we need you on the floor......hold it inside and let a player less valuable than you get back at them if they get out of line.....

[wdleehi]

Attacking the Lakers two starting big men.  Get one into foul trouble early.



Then Odom has to play more minutes against KG.  And we all remember the last time he was defended for major minutes by KG in a final. 

[Green Hell]

I really think it all comes down to working the offense through Rondo. Our defense has always been there: The rebounding, the hustle, the heart. But when we we've gotten in trouble, it's usually because our offense has stagnated, usually in the 4th, as a result of getting away from team ball and resorting to 4th quarter iso hero ball (ala the Los Angeles Kobes) to gets us out of jams late in games. 

So how do we put ourselves in the best position to play winning team basketball? The answer is simple: I want The Truth. Contrary to what most of the board thinks, that the way to win is by going to the Ray/Fisher match-up, for me the key to securing banner 18 is by going to the Captain early and often.

Pierce vs. Artest
Record 9W - 10L

In green, Pierce's career averages. In red, his averages when up against Artest.
PTS 22.9 -- FG% .443 -- 3P% .366 -- FTA 7.8 -- REB 6.3 -- AST 3.9 -- TOV 3.1
PTS 21.3 -- FG% .436 -- 3P% .393 -- FTA 7.1 -- REB 5.8 -- AST 3.9 -- TOV 3.4

As you can see, Pierce does not seem bothered by Artest's D. Still, over the course of a 7 game series, I can see Artest's D begin to wear on Pierce to the point where he looks like he did at the end of game 4 against the Magic - offensively exhausted and useless down the stretch. The key to this matchup I think is going to be if Pierce is able to use his fakes, craftniness and high Bball IQ to get Artest into early foul trouble. Sending Artest to the bench early will force Kobe to have to leave Rondo and instead D up the much more physical Paul Pierce - and we all saw how that turned out in 08.

This is where our team ball really should begin I think because if Artest goes to the bench early on, Kobe will be forced to guard Pierce, meaning Fish will have to turn his attention to guarding Rondo. If the Celtics can force this match-up, Rondo should have no problems running the offense and getting everyone else on the team their looks. This free up Pierce to focus his energy on defense, wearing Kobe down the way Artest will try to do to him. If Rondo is able to get the team going while Pierce is busy roughing up their closer for 48 minutes, I foresee a lot of last second Kobe buzzer beater air balls in our near future (just please PLEASE remember to box out until the game clock has reached 0 - no game winning put backs for the Lakers PLEASE).

Knowing the grudge Phil already holds against Artest ("Don't give him the ball. Don't even pass him the ball~"), I don't see him leaving Artest in for long if he is already having trouble guarding Pierce while continuing to struggle on the offensive end. The sooner we break down Artest, the quicker I think we get our team in position to play winning Celtic basketball. If our Captain can get going early, the rest of the team will follow.

[zerophase]

If Pierce has seen Lebron's defense, I'm sure he can handle Artest's. Unless of course Artest decides to pants him again.

[xmuscularghandix]

If KG strikes to much foul trouble, Gasol will run riot over Davis, and especially Wallace.

Sheed stands no chance against the smooth post moves of Gasol.

I don’t agree with this at all, Rasheed is a very good post defender.

[divo0oneh]

The only thing thats against the C's is the fact that we'll be playing our first 2 games in LA then we have to play 3 in Boston and thats a tough stretch

[fanofgreen]

BLOCK OUT!!!!!!!!!!!

[jv2764]

Rebounds Rebounds Rebounds

[Change]

Not worried about the offense. Too many weapons for the C's.

The key will be stopping Kobe. Celtics must Challenge Kobe on both ends. Phoenix tried to challenge him late, but it was too little too late. He found a groove early, and it was game over after that. Get into his space, get physical, and make him uncomfortable. The more physical team wins this.

[LB3533]

My keys for the C's are:


1. Defense: We can't afford to give up 60 point halves like the Suns did. Our offense is incapable of scoring 100 let alone 110 or 120 per game.

2. Turnovers: We need to take care of the ball and force a ton of turnovers. We must own a positive turnover margin which will trigger our transition game and we will run the Laker bigs into the ground.

3. 3 point shooting: We need to have just as sound of a perimeter game as we can to open up lanes for Rondo, Pierce, Ray and TA to get to the cup. The transition game will also help facilitate good open 3 point opportunities.

4. KG in the post: We have to find some way to make Pau consume as much energy as possible. We can not afford to let Pau ride it out easily and save all his energy for offense. Hopefully this area will be productive and cause open lanes for cutters or kick outs for open 3's.