Archive for May, 2011

In the lead up to perhaps the end of Boston’s reign as the East’s top team, James and Wade stepped back to take a moment to pay credit to their rivals and confess that it was Boston’s star trio that first gave them the idea of joining forces. “They set the blueprint for us when they decided to make the trade for KG and for Ray,” James said. “Seeing guys make sacrifices to come together and play as one. They set the blueprint and went out there and did it. They won a championship. They competed every year.” Boston’s blockbuster trades [...]

If you follow this site regularly or managed to catch my last post on the Heat-Celtics series you will know how deeply disappointed I was in their performance in game 3 and I called them out for game 4. I expected the Heat to somewhat respond, but I had no idea how strong their resurgence would be. I am a big believer in fate and I am a big believer in the power of moments. I believe it is now fate for Miami to become a true champion team and I believe what Miami showed us late in the fourth quarter and [...]

It was perhaps the most incredible playoff sweep we have ever seen. 11 time champion Phil Jackson led his two time NBA champion Lakers into the second round against the no time NBA champion Mavericks and their history of post season failure. Jackson had never suffered a 3-0 series deficit, let alone a four game sweep. Every time he has won an NBA championship, he won three consecutively. In 20 seasons he had been to 13 Finals and won 11 of them. Despite all of that, he had never seen anything like this. None of us have.

Rajon Rondo’s unbelievably brave performance last night personifies everything the Boston Celtics stand for. Chris Bosh’s performance personifies everything that is currently relevant for the Miami Heat. Last night Rajon Rondo dislocated his elbow and was taken from the court in what most of us would have expected to be the end of his season. To our utter dismay Rondo emerged shortly after being taken off and returned to help the Celtics finish off the Heat in game 3 in Boston. It is in instances like that from Rondo that we see how truly great this team is. They are [...]

The Celtics came out with the mentality that if they lost they were out. Given no team has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit they were probably right. But you can never count a champion out as Boston ran away with a game that may have seemed somewhat close on the scoreboard, but was nothing of the sort. There isn’t much else to say other than Boston completely outplayed Miami in every single area of the game. Miami’s bench performance may be the only area it succeeded in, with highly surprising productivity from Mario Chalmers and Joel Anthony. [...]

In just under 11 hours the Heat will enter one of the most hostile and storied buildings in professional sports as it attempts to take a commanding 3-0 lead over the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semi Finals. The previous two meetings have been dominated by Miami and their superior athleticism and speed. Watching PTI last night, Kornheiser made the point that Miami had turned the series into a “race” which played directly into the hands of the much younger and more agile Heat team. Boston has not had an answer for Dwyane Wade or LeBron James so far [...]

All the left over energy and tension from game one still lingered heavily in the American Airlines Arena in game 2 as both teams came out as physical as they had left. James and Wade got Miami going early with a routine of scintillating moves, many ending with hoop+harms. Rajon Rondo found a way to have an impact in game two, but was unable to really elevate the game of his teammates, despite having 12 assists, as the Celtics Big 3 shot just 15/48 between them. Miami’s defense needs to be commended for the way it has performed in the [...]

I was only 9 years old at the time, but I remember the pictures so very clearly. Living in Australia, it wasn’t until the morning of September 12 that I became aware of what had happened, of how the world had forever changed. I was pretty intelligent and aware as a kid as my mother would talk to me like I was an adult because I was the only companionship she had throughout the day. I still remember at only around 5 years of age that I would run inside every time I heard a plane because I thought it [...]

It led up to everything it promised. The usually fashionably late Miami crowd packed in early, ready to bare witness to an era defining playoff series. We saw everything in game 1 you would normally get from an entire playoff series. Dunks, chase-down blocks, ally oops, scuffles, ejections, buzzer beaters, clutch Ray Allen 3 pointers, so on so forth. Miami were definitely the stronger of the two, particularly on defense as the Heat put together one of their stingiest team performances we have seen this season. Pierce, Rondo and Garnett all struggled shooting the ball due to the athleticism Miami [...]

If you know anyone that has always wanted to get into and truly experience what the NBA is all about, make sure you point them in the direction of this series. I have a feeling that it is in this series that a generation of basketball could be defined. At the very least, it will forever change the NBA as we know it. On one side of the ball you have the rich history of the Boston Celtics, led by their version of the Big 3 that has been there and done it all before. They are entering a new [...]