Spoelstra: They got us twisted in the mind

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Yeah, I think the Celtics have been in Miami's heads since they won those two late regular season meetings. Especially the second one when Miami went all out and still couldn't find a way to get the win. They looked so demoralized after that game.

It was like they thought they had finally shut the door on Boston after the beatings they'd taken separately before coming together (Wade, Bron and Bosh) and now suddenly they were right back where they were. The little kid getting smacked around by the bigger badder bully on the playground.

I think each time the Celtics deliver a blow to the Heat in this series that Miami seem fall back on the negativity of that loss.

I agree except for not the two reg season wins their two playoff wins, I thought after those they got too cocky and kind of expected this series to be easy. They probably figured well split one of these next 2 games on their home floor and close it on ours, have Bosh rest up until the Finals and figured it to be a cakewalk. Then once we took the next two and especially the third it sank in we aren't going anywhere. They look stunned right now all the way down to their coach.

D wade is living a nightmare right now. he openly admitted he did NOT expect things to go like this. he thought it would be a cakewalk over us. Well, D wade, the nightmare you are having is about to add a pinch of Pinhead and a smidgeon of Freddy Krueger to it pal.

TONIGHT

MIAMI MUST BE DESTROYED!

[JoT]

I wonder with all this talking he's doing if he's trying to motivate the Heat and get them pumped for game 6.
I say this because I don't know any coach that will say some of the stuff he has said. I would be very angry at my coach if during an important game he said, "They got us twisted in the mind" or after the game loss he said some of the stuff he said.

[JoT]

Yeah, I think the Celtics have been in Miami's heads since they won those two late regular season meetings. Especially the second one when Miami went all out and still couldn't find a way to get the win. They looked so demoralized after that game.

It was like they thought they had finally shut the door on Boston after the beatings they'd taken separately before coming together (Wade, Bron and Bosh) and now suddenly they were right back where they were. The little kid getting smacked around by the bigger badder bully on the playground.

I think each time the Celtics deliver a blow to the Heat in this series that Miami seem fall back on the negativity of that loss.

I agree except for not the two reg season wins their two playoff wins, I thought after those they got too cocky and kind of expected this series to be easy. They probably figured well split one of these next 2 games on their home floor and close it on ours, have Bosh rest up until the Finals and figured it to be a cakewalk. Then once we took the next two and especially the third it sank in we aren't going anywhere. They look stunned right now all the way down to their coach.

My hate for the Heat has died down, but I feel not one ounce of sympathy for them. They probably sat there all cocky and arrogant seeing the media kiss their behinds and talk all types of mess about the Celtics thinking it was gonna be a cakewalk. That's what they get for not taking the Celtics seriously.
Not only have they been getting outplayed and outhustled by the team since Game 2, but they've (well DWade has) been acting out like little kids getting tantrums embarrassing themselves.

[Mr October]

Spoelstra in the locker room after game 5:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DErOM2tIfwM

[Celtics18]

I honestly think Spoelstra is speaking for himself and projecting onto his team. You can tell these Celtics and particularly Rondo (am I the only one who thinks he's a closet Rondo fan based on the way he talks about him?) have frustrated him for years. I still remember on of our 2010 playoff game where he just threw up his hands and asked one of the assistants if they had any ideas.

I really would like us to get into their hands and make them fold badly tonight and flood TD Garden with their tears but I dunno. Even if Lebron is that mentally weak, Wade is not. And you can be sure he'll be ready to use every basketball and MMA trick in his arsenal. Also this Miami team is not like the Cavs where he was the alpha dog and a lot of the young guys looked up to him and so it made sense the team wilted when he did. This Miami team is made of sterner stuff I think.

I kind of think he's projecting the thoughts of his best player.  I've suspected that Lebron James has developed a condition that I like to think of as Rondo Envy ever since we beat the Cavs in 2010. 

Lebron James wants above all to be known as a sophisticated, cerebral, high IQ basketball player as opposed to the "Teen Wolf" that he is.  I won't deny that Lebron James does a lot of things well, but his most effective quality is still his brute strength, size and athleticism.  His Rondo Envy at times causes him to not always use those qualities to his best advantage. 

This is how his mind can start to get twisted by the likes of the Boston Celtics and our exceptionally talented and intelligent point guard. 

Keep twisting heads tonight, guys, keep twisting heads!!

[Yogi]

I honestly think Spoelstra is speaking for himself and projecting onto his team. You can tell these Celtics and particularly Rondo (am I the only one who thinks he's a closet Rondo fan based on the way he talks about him?) have frustrated him for years. I still remember on of our 2010 playoff game where he just threw up his hands and asked one of the assistants if they had any ideas.

I really would like us to get into their hands and make them fold badly tonight and flood TD Garden with their tears but I dunno. Even if Lebron is that mentally weak, Wade is not. And you can be sure he'll be ready to use every basketball and MMA trick in his arsenal. Also this Miami team is not like the Cavs where he was the alpha dog and a lot of the young guys looked up to him and so it made sense the team wilted when he did. This Miami team is made of sterner stuff I think.

Actually Spoelstra has to game plan for Rondo and the more you study Rondo's game, the more you appreciate his intangibles.  People around here complain about Rondo gambling on defense but it's a crucial part of keeping teams in check.  If a defense is predictable with its rotation a half decent coach will figure out the holes and how to beat it.  Especially if you have Wade and James.  No where was it more evident than what the Heat did to the Bulls last year.  The Bulls play a similar defense to the Celtics but they don't have Rondo disrupting the equations.  It's not a coincidence that words like "random" and "unpredictable" are used to describe Rondo.  He reads offenses (and defenses) and adapts what he does to disrupt it.  There is no way to plan for what he does and he's one of the few players in the league that's smart enough to do it.  That's why even when people sometimes get open shots from Rondo's gambling, it is impossible to come up with a game plan to beat the Celtics defense.