(h/t Basketbawful reader Dale Cooper)
While it can't be officially announced during the Finals (because the NBA would like to, you know, keep our focus on the actual Finals... *stares in LeBron's general direction*), Tom Thibodeau has reportedly agreed to terms with the Chicago Bulls to be their new head coach. The agreed deal is worth $6.5 million, with two years guaranteed plus a team option. Matt McHale: Technical Writer/Bulls Blogger was understandably excited when I texted him this news yesterday afternoon. While I found it odd I'd know this before he did, he had a legitimate excuse: he was sitting through the Blogs With Balls conference since it was just a few miles down the road from him at Wrigley Field. I saw a couple videos streamed on justin.tv from this conference. They covered such hard-hitting topics as "is it okay to make jokes like 'Ben Rapelisberger' on your blog?"
FYI, as posed by Bawful in the comments: "By the way, Bawful-ites, I'll be taking part in ESPN's Daily Dime Live chat starting at 6 p.m. EST. I'll be around for at least a couple hours, so feel free to swing by and say hey."
Worst of Game 1 in Pictures:
NBA Finals - Game 2:
Celtics at Lakers - ABC, 8:00pm
Lakers lead series 1-0
Immediately after the Game 1 loss, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, and Kevin Garnett went back to their hotel rooms and watched the game over again. (In Garnett's case, he watched it twice in a row) They wanted to see what mistakes buried them in their loss so they could work on them for Game 2. I hope they brought enough notebook paper to take all those notes, 'cause they sure did a lot of things wrong. And hopefully Garnett was able to summon a genie who could grant him three wishes or something, because all the film study in the world isn't going to fix his gimpy knees.
Labels: Bawful After Dark, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers
67 Comments:
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Previous Posts
Celtics-Lakers Game 1 (semi) Live BlogWorst of Game 1 of the 2010 NBA Finals
Bawful After Dark: June 3, 2010
Repost: The Worst of Celtics-Lakers Part 9
Repost: The Worst of Celtics-Lakers Part 8
Repost: The Worst of Celtics-Lakers Part 7
Worst (Human) of the Day: Ted Green
Repost: The Worst of Celtics-Lakers Part 6
Belated Worst of the Night: Game 6s Edition
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That about sums it up. Did get to meet several fellow bloggers and drink a bit too much.
When Boston wins the title, Ray Allen should win the MVP award for this performance alone.
Nonetheless, Ray Allen ties a Finals record for threes in a game and only needs one half to get it, and yet LA is only down 6. If Ray-Ray keeps it up Boston will probably win, but if the law of averages catches up with him and he cools off... Lots of time left and it's only a two possession game. I just hope the refs ease up and stop calling everything in site so the second half has some semblance of game flow to it.
See, Kobe, see how well you play when you have 5 fouls? Yeah, best "closer" my ass. Boston in 5.
Shame about Bynum, played really well. Hope he enjoys his last home game, since when the Lakers lose this series, they are totally going to sign-and-trade him for Bosh.
@Yams - All the refs did was prevent a blowout. Lakers went back to their 2008 shells and gagged when everyone thought they were all of a sudden "tough." They let Nate Robinson score 7 points in six minutes. They let Big Baby pull down 5 offensive boards. Rondo had more rebounds on his own than anyone on the Lakers. Ray Allen shot lights out because every Laker guarding him (Artest, Byrant, Fisher, Farmar, Brown) gave him at least 10 feet of space to shoot 3's, he was that open. Celtics have figured it out. And when Kevin Garnett gets back to Boston and starts hitting shots, I expect 3 20-point blowouts and banner 18.
/bitter Kings Fan
//Game 6 2002 Western Conference Finals
Any bets on how Asshat Jackson will manipulate the refs post-game?
And in LA no less.
And Bynum and Gasol each had 20+ points. WTF (apart from Ray) went wrong Lakers?
Kobe had 3 actual fouls and 2 imaginary ones. Changes the game, just like Ray's foul trouble in game 1. Refs having too much influence with their incompetence.
"It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it."
I'm not upset that the refs gave the game to boston. I'm upset that they watched the replay and still decided "meh we can get away with it". There was no way it was off of Gasol.
Still great game, it took Ray Allen a record amount of 3s, rajon rondo a triple double, kobe in foul trouble and help from the refs to eke out a win. .
Would have been impressive for them to blow out the lakers but instead they gave up a large lead and relied on hilarious calls from the refs. Normally I would be nervous but the legendary Celtics defense doesn't seem to be hurting the Lakers as much as I had feared. If it wasn't for Ray Allen's unbelievable shooting they would be down two. I can live with that. That is until the refs decide that geriatrics deserve special calls in addition to great parking spots.
Seriously dude? That's your best trash talk? Admitting the refs made a mistake? Normally I find really snarky/awesome comments from the Boston side but yours....well that just made me pity the Boston side. It was like watching a clown repeatedly stab a hooker to death as Schubert's Ave Maria plays in the background. A little more effort next time please.
Wait, what?
Add in RonRon and RayRay's completely opposite shooting nights, and the Celtics came away with a solid win.
WV: blong. I kept misspelling things when I tried to post to your blong, probably because I took too many hits from my blong.
Did you see the refs swallow their whistles when Kobe fouled Ray Allen on the fast break? I was like WTF? Then it hit me that Kobe has 5 fouls.
Also that Gasol Garnett out of bounds call was not obvious, even the commentators admitted that. Gasol's fingers were interlocked with Garnett's and were at equal distance from the ball.
BTW, Sheed has been saving up the entire season for this just like he said. He's...actually playing well? Grabbing contested boards? Hustling on the break? Blocking out? He's been doing this for a series and a half now. He looked better than KG anyway, who is getting into the David Robinson and Chris Webber shell zone.
This game was pretty bad news for the Celtics. A historic performance from Ray and a triple double for not even a double-digit win?
Although, that Doc Rivers timeout was awesome. I always held the idea that he was an incompetent coach, Mike Brownian and relying on assistants but with better press conferences, even through the 2008 season that saved his job, but that one timeout might have swayed my opinion of him, as I can't even imagine Mike Brown, or hell I can't imagine Mike D'Antoni doing anything like that.
You have to keep in mind though, Pierce and KG combined for 4-16. Sure Rondo and Allen won't keep up that level of play, but neither will Pierce and Garnett, especially in Boston (Right? RIGHT?!?!).
All of this talk about how the Lakers are a different team is totally bogus. They were a lucky tip-in away from having to go 7 with OKC. They were supposed to beat Utah when they were missing their two tallest players. They were another lucky tip-in from practically losing to the Suns. From the first two games, Game 1 was the total fluke. Game 2 has been the way the Celtics have been playing all postseason. Stings that they lost to the Nets in February, but I don't care. The Lakers suck worse than the Nets.
(Originally a comment about the Lakers 11 blocks at the end of the 3rd.)
They can't in good conscience change it to LA ball since that rewards the Gasol foul, so they ignored the foul and kept the possesion with Boston as a consolation prize.
It was bad.
Sure it was bad for both sides, way too many phantom calls on both sides. However, I think the phantom fouls on the Lakers, particularly Kobe, tipped the scales in a big way toward the Celtics. Rape-dunk-giant had to sit big minutes in the second half and could never get back into the zone in terms of shooting. He certainly couldn't afford to play any kind of tough defense when he was out on the court.
P.S. Lamar Odom is a moron. I still can't believe he got three obvious fouls in the FIRST QUARTER. Did he want to sit out most of the game? Could he smell the loss coming?
Don't say it that because there were bad calls both ways, so it makes up for it, because it doesn't. Last night, the refs take out Kobe (3 fouls at the 4 minute mark of the second quarter, 5 fouls at the start of the fourth), killing L.A.'s entire offensive scheme. Sure, KG was in foul trouble, but he was fouling people because he's hoping around on one leg.
Plus two calls killed any Lakers comeback. The first, up by 3, KG taps the ball out of bounds, but the refs call Laker ball. The replay clearly shows (from every angle) KG tapping the ball out; and the refs got to review the call and still missed it. The second, Artests fouls out with him and Rondo both going after the ball (Celts up 5). Review shows that Artest didn't even touch Rondo.
I'm a Lakers fan, but for the record, I still think Boston would have won this game (even though it should have been waaaaay closer, with the Lakers at least having a chance at the end). I know the NBA wants nothing more than a Game 7, but having the officials decide games is embarassing.
No, he's just doing his impression of the weird Escher dudes:
http://www.mcescher.com/Gallery/back-bmp/LW331.jpg
Thought on the bad Garnett out of bounds call: Gasol's hand was slapping behind Garnett's, forcing the ball to be knocked out of bounds. So, better to call it Celtics ball than to call a foul?
The foul on Artest with the Rondo 50/50 ball was horrible.
Oh, and when Artest dribbled around in circles for a while then hoisted up the bad jump shot at the end of the shot clock? Anybody else reminded of Z-bo's "Worst possession ever" for the Knicks? I was hoping for a shot of Phil's face after that one, to see whether it looked like Isaiah's after Z-bo's landmark achievement.
The only thing more satisfying than raising the banner in Boston would be to raise it in an empty Staples Center.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVbCFQNSAwA
Finals-
Game 1: 56 total fouls (26 LA/28 BOS)
Game 2: 58 fouls (29 each)
Reg. Season (two meetings)-
Jan. 31(LA win): 40 fouls (21 LA/19 Bos)
Feb. 18 (Bos win): 38 fouls (18 LA/20 Bos)
Comparing two games, we've seen a 70% increase in foul calling in the Finals compared to the regular season.
Few thoughts:
Karc: Good lord man, settle down. I'm going to bring up all your "Celtics in 5!!!!" posts when the Lakers steal game 3 or 4 in a close, KBA type play in the waning seconds.
Second, although the Lakers got majorly jobbed near the end (that terrible out of bounds call where Garnett clearly hit it out. How can you miss that call when you are WATCHING THE INSTANT REPLAY!? And the second of Artest's "fouls" on Pierce on the same play [the first was legit]), they were still in the game and just didn't execute down the stretch.
Thirdly, if Ray Allen is able to do this every game, then they are stupid for not doing this all year long and all playoffs long. Clearly, he isn't, so we'll see where his "middle" reverts to. If it's really good, then the Celts have a chance. If it's more like game 1, no chance.
Rondo had a great game, but remember, Kobe was on RayRay after Ray started going off, so you can't blame him for not boxing Rondo out.
Pierce and Garnett look old and lost.
Odom has vanished from sight.
A good series, we shall have!
"The Lakers suck worse than the Nets."
Ah, okay, so we're supposed to ignore you. Thanks for letting us know!
I don't think the Laker's plan is for Bryant to "Stop Rondo". I think the plan is more along the lines of Rondo will stop himself if given enough rope to think he should be scoring.
Lucky for him, Rondo seems to be a smarter player than that.
"Know your Role!"
~The Rock
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/06/hundreds-reported-feeling-santa-monica-bay-earthquake-3-aftershocks.html
Remember, this happened in early April after a home loss to the Spurs by 20 points. This city is softer than a pillow. Anyone with a physical defense can come to LA and literally bring the city to its knees.
BTW, I have a completely selfish reason for wanting the series to go five. One, the Lakers suck. Two, I am going to E3 this year. Last thing I want is a riot in downtown LA after the Lakers lose in Game 6 (which I expect) or Game 7 (which would be glorious) that would shut down this part of the city.
@Ash - The Lakers are lucky that it was only ball out of bounds on the deflection by Garnett. That should have been a loose ball foul on Gasol for slapping KG's hand, which would have given Boston free throws. Refs tried to ball out the Lakers, but the Lakers over-hyped defense failed again.
Nice compilation. Shows how awful the officiating was last night. I would normally say "great," but there is nothing great about watching fouls.
@Ash
I agree with you on free throws. I'd say there was a disparity towards the Lakers, but L.A. should be shooting more FTs if they are aggressive. Let me explain, other than Perkins, Boston has no one to really block shots. L.A.'s lenght doesn't just get them more blocks on defense, but should get them more body contact fouls when guys like Perk or Big Baby go up for blocks. Celtics have a below-the-rim line-up of: Rondo (short), Allen (can't jump), Pierce (no lift), Perkins (some life, can block), and KG (no knees).
Best example of this theory. In the fourth, Odom threw in alley-oop to Bynum with Pierce and Perkins both trying to deflect it. Bynum's hands were about one foot above the others, and he came down with the ball and laid it in.
While it probably shouldn't be the disparity that we saw in Game 2, L.A. should be getting more FTs with Bynum, Odom and Gasol, because those three can play "above" the interior D of Boston.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc34Uj8wlmE
BUMMER. thanks for the update, just getting a little impatient over here. coffee only keeps me focused at my desk for so long....
There has always been floppers but man.... between (alphabetical order as to not offend any Celtics fans.....) Allen, Gasol, and Pierce I feel like I have been taking Flop 101 the last two games.
And my favorite is after we see that no one touched them or that it was absolutely nothing that a grown man with any sense of pride would act all pussy about, half the time they still sit there on the ground grabbing their face or what have you as if we can expect a mutant bruise to come popping out any minute.
Yes yes, I know more players from each team is guilty, but those three really, really stick out in my mind.
You may have your opinions about the Lakers wins over the playoffs. Though I disagree with you that they seem to have won "through luck", my opinion on luck is, is that the only way to have luck is to have the skills capable to pull it off. But that's just opinion. But when you start to sputter statements like the "Lakers suck worse than the Nets" then no one can take you seriously and you've become less a rational commenter and more a hater. AND you can't casually throw in the fact that Boston lost to the Nets and hope no one will chuckle.
Anyways, the way the Lakers played the first half, opinions on officiating aside, the Celtics seemed like they were playing harder and smarter for the win. As a Laker fan though, despite their poor first half performance, were still gunning for a comeback and the officiating really ruined that flow. Not saying it would've guaranteed a win, but I hate to see bad reffing occur in a such a situation. I'd rather be able to blame a team's performance than an official's whistle. And as someone said here, bad calls in one game doesn't balance out another. Just as it sucked for Allen in Game 1, it sucked a lot for Kobe in Game 2. I just take comfort in the fact that Ray Ray went berserk but the Lakers were still within shooting distance.
No one ever takes me seriously, and really, that's fine with me. Kind of like the Celtics. All the talk after Game 1 was the Lakers avenging 2008, having the home court, having Bynum back and Artest to bug Pierce. That talk is over now. Makes me happy.
Here are some numbers.
Boston:
Field Goal Selection
Layups: 12-33
Jumpers: 22-48
Dunks: 2-2
Scoring Breakdown
FGs: 36-84
3FG: 11-17
FT: 20-26
L.A.
Field Goal Selection
Layups: 6-11
Jumpers: 19-53
Dunks: 4-4
Scoring Breakdown
FGs: 29-70
3FG: 4-21
FT: 31-41
That's right: Lakers took more threes and more jumpers overall...despite all the foul shots. And Boston took it to the rack enough to finish with two dunks and 33 layup attempts...the latter of which they hit only 12.
If you watched the game, you should know Boston was aggressive going to the rim, but a combination of great interior defense and uncalled contact kept them off the line.
With that kind of frontcourt foul trouble Gasol, Bynum, and Odom should have been dominating the boards, but they didn't.