LBJ's Disappearing Act

Despondent LeBron

It's happened before. LeBron disingegaged from a game during crunch
time. LeBron alone in a corner with all of the action swirling around
him like a tornado and he is somehow not involved. LeBron making
tentative decisions and bad passes that show he's mentally checked out.
LeBron not being LeBron, the world's best basketball player.

It happened during Cleveland's series last year against Boston,
twice. It also happened in Game 4 of the Finals, as the Heat withered
in the face of yet another Dallas comeback. Instead of a sweep,
we now have a very intriguing and exciting series with a very compelling
stretch run still to be had.

After the Game 3 win, after LeBron's beautiful backwards pass to Bosh
that set up the game winning jumper, a reporter asked LeBron what was
going on ? Why hadn't scored much in the 4th Quarter of the Finals Series.
The reporter framed the question in terms of superstars growing in these
moments, why is it that he hadn't done much. What's going on ?

His response showed how well in-tune LeBron is with not only with
the finer points of game of basketball as a whole but with how the
media perceives his talents.

"You're only focusing on one end of the floor." He went on to explain
how he had played very good defense, how he had all of those assists.
He lectured the reporter to study the film and come back and ask him
a better question.

The problem is, after LeBron's Game 4 performance, the same question was
the better question. Why is it that LeBron had totally disappeared
in the last 5 minutes of the Game. Why is it that he seemed not only
not aggressive and hesitant, but at points disengaged on offense,
on defense; why was he, totally disconnected from the game around him.

Eight points is not going to cut it for LeBron. Not from LeBron the
facilitator, not from LeBron the defensive stalwart, not LeBron the
Iron Man of his team. As a superstar, he's supposed to do all of those things and more.
Simply put, he has to score more, he has to drive more,
he has to be more aggressive, on both ends of the floor. He has to go back
to being King James, the most talented player in the world.

Until LeBron does something to get himself back into it, until he exerts
his will in these Finals and enables the Heat to beat out a very strong
Dallas team, we will always wonder why it is that he disappears during the
biggest moments, when the championship is on the line.

It may be unfair, as Scott van Pelt of ESPN stated, that LeBron's legacy
is updated daily as if it were a Facebook status. But this is the age
that LeBron lives in. This age of constant communication, of Facebook and
Twitter, has helped to elevate LeBron's universal status. It's up to
him to make sure that his status doesn't get knocked down and out for
the count, fairly or not.

Size Matters

Miami takes control with 3-1 lead

During my basketball playing days, I used to dominate when I played against guys of similar athletic ability. But there was always one guy who gave me fits. He was a bit taller than me and just as athletic. It was hard for me to dribble past him, to out jump him, to get my shot off. The guy got under my skin because no matter how hard I tried, he always seemed to have my number. This is the way that Derrick Rose must feel today after being shadowed by LeBron James during crunch time of pivotal Game 4.

With the game on the line, it was Rose against LeBron for two crucial possessions at the end of the game. He hesitated to beat James off the dribble, and in the end, settled for jump shots that came up way short. In the overtime, it was the same story. LeBron just shut down Rose. It was obvious to me that Rose couldn't get past LeBron, no matter how hard he tried, and DRose is the fastest player in the league. But LeBron is the NBA's best defender, and defense is what wins. If you can't score you can't win. And that has been a glaring problem down the stretch for the Bulls.

Despite ending the game with poor shooting and costly turnovers, Rose started with a bang. In the first half, he had two typical DRose like drives into the lane that ended up in impact dunk steering the Bulls to an early lead. Those plays came with Mario Chalmers defending. LeBron was impressed:

"He breaks down our defense, splits pick-and-rolls and he gets in there against probably our best shot-blocker in Joel Anthony and dunks the ball for an and-one," said James. "Those plays are spectacular. That's why he is who he is."

More importantly, Miami coach Eric Spoelstra decided that LeBron would guard Rose in the 4th quarter, causing the Chicago offense to stall. Chicago struggled to score in that final quarter, but somehow still had a chance to win the game at the end after a charging call on James. But that's when LeBron's clamped down on Rose in the final possession. Going into overtime, it was obvious that the Heat had more energy and would win this game.

For his part, James was ebullient about his defensive effort. "I love defense much more than I do [offense]," said James. "Defense is our staple."

The Bulls also committed too many turnovers (19) to win this game, especially two in the OT period that allowed Miami to creep further and further ahead. Noah threw the
ball to no one on an inbounds play, and Rose lost control of the ball while trying to drive into the lane. Miami came back on both occasions to score and go ahead by 8.
Part of the problem tonight was the number of minutes logged by the Bulls starters. Rose, Noah, Boozer, and Deng all logged heavy minutes (avg 46.54 of the 53 minutes)
while only James and Bosh logged more than 40 for the Heat (Wade played a shade over 40 minutes and had a long stretch where he sat out in the second half). The Bulls are a young team, but this victory may have taken as big a physical as an emotional toll.

"It's extremely hard where a 6-8 guy can easily defend you." said Rose. What Rose really meant is that this 6'8" guy really has my number, and I can't figure out how to
beat him. This is the NBA where size not only matters, it's always the determining factor.

A Beast in the East

A Beast in the East
Haslem's toughness inside allows Miami to even up series.

In an early season game pitting the Heat against the Celtics, I watched as Udonis Haslem buried mid-range jumpers from the baseline, dunked with authority, but most importantly, provided muscle and a toughness in the paint that seemed like the answer to the question: "Who'se going to be the inside presence for the Heat ?" Then Haslemwent down for the rest of the season with an injury, and my immediate thought was: Miami will hard pressed to beat teams with tough interior defense. Miami, as it turned out, did fine without Haslem overall but struggled mightily against Boston and Chicago during the regular season, the two teams arguably that posed the biggest obstacles for the Heatto conquer the East.

So it is no surprise that Haslem was the X-factor in Game 2 of the Easter Conference Finals, and that in 23 minutes he tallied 13 points (on 5-of-10 shooting), five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. It was his toughness inside that set the tone for the rest of the game. Every time you looked, there was Haslem making a key play.

"That's what we have missed all year," James said. "His energy, effort, scoring and toughness has been missing since November. He definitely got the game ball tonight."

Chicago blew out Miami in the second-half of Game1, a blow out fueled mostly by superior rebounding and second-chance points. Early in Game 2, the patterns didn't seem
to change as the Bulls, within six minutes held a 7-0 advantage in offensive boards and a 9-3 rebounding lead overall

"My initial thought was, 'Here we go again,' " Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We have to make a change. Otherwise the result won't change."

Haslem's presence neutralized the two Chicago bigs (Noah and Boozer - a combined 17 points and 16 boards). With Haslem in the lineup, the Heat outrebounded the Bulls 45-41 for the first time this year. It was coincidentally, the first time Miami beat Chicago this year as well. It was also the first time that the Big Three played any substantial minutes with Haslem since the beginning of the year.

In a grind it out game, Haslem provided the spark the Heat needed. If Haslem continues to play with this energy an effectiveness he won't let the Heat, who this year have been known to have some mental lapses, get complacent. Haslem's back in the lineup, and Chicago's mano-a-mano advantage over the Heat has vanished.

Miami Scorches Celtics

Boston Bummer
Miami Heat Scorch Celtics

Miami must have studied the tape of last years final game very carefully because they beat the Celtics in the same exact way that the Lakers did to a tee. Just like in last years Finals Game 7, Boston led the game from the beginning until the last couple of minutes. And then Boston completely ran out of gas and allowed Miami to go on a 16-0 run to close out the game. It was the same exact blueprint used by LA last year: just hang around, grind it out, stay just within closing distance. And then, just like as Boston fans have seen in their fabled marathon, a runner who drafts the front-runner for 25 miles, picks his spot, and sprints past in the last
straightaway and wins it going away.

This was a highly tense game for hard-core Celtics fans (just like last years Finals Game 7). because the Celtics, old and banged up as they were, gave their fans a chance to believe that they could somehow pull this game out and force the Heat to play a Game 6 up in the garden. Using an all hands on deck approach (until some of those hands started dropping like flies) the Celtics
were able to lead most of this game. For 43 1/2 minutes, there was a very good reason to believe. With strong games from most of their bench players (especially Delonte West and little used Nenad Kristic), Boston held an 87-81 lead at the 4:29 mark. And then it quickly
desintegrated. Once James Jones hit a key three to close the gap to 2 at 87-85, you just felt like the inevitable was about to happen.

With the score tied 87-87, LeBron James took over by nailing two 3 pointers, and then stealing the ball and going in for an uncontested dunk.

Miami's scorched earth plan worked to perfection. They completely wore out Boston. There were the injured and then there were those sucking fumes, barely hanging on. Boston failed to score in their final 8 possessions, either because of missed shots or turnovers. The Heat's 1-2 punch strategy was to have Wade score early to help the Heat keep pace and also to soften up the Celtics, and then have LeBron finish them off (LeBron and Wade scored 33 and 34 points respectively). Work work work the body, then finish the opponent off with an upercut.

“We have the utmost respect for Boston,’’ said King James. “They push us every game, every second . . . I knew deep down in my heart, I couldn’t do it by myself against that team. I knew that was the team I wanted to go up against. I had to get some guys that could match them.’’

So you get the idea of how much it meant for LeBron and Wade to be able to beat the Celtics. The other blueprint that the Heat copied was Boston's formation of the Big Three four years ago. LeBron himself stated it using the same words: “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.”

So what we have here is history repeating itself. Just as it took Michael Jordan several tries to get over the Detroit hump before he was able to win a boatful of championships, now it is LeBron James finally able to overcome his nemesis Boston. What the road lies ahead for
LeBron and his Heat is yet to be determined. The Chicago Bulls will not be an easy opponent. Their coach Tom Thibodeau used the same defensive tactics during his Boston days to stonewall LeBron. Will LeBron be able to play as well and determined to beat Chicago as he
was playing Boston ? Beating Boston was not like winning the championship, even it felt that way to the King.

Blowback's a Bitch

What comes around goes around.

Remember all of those playoff games LeBron has lost over the years in the Boston Garden ? There was Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals in 2008 where he was out-dueled by Paul Pierce. LeBron lost all of the games that year because the Celtics had home floor and the series went 7. Last year, Boston again eliminated LeBron's Cavs. The Cavs had a 2-1 lead and then suffered a meltdown and LeBron had those two horrible Games (4 and 5) where he was accused of quitting on the team.

I still vividly remember LeBron walking into the tunnel and removing his Cavs jersey, for good. He would never return to Cleveland, and one could argue it was the experience of losing to the Celtics (sandwiching the Orlando Magic humiliation of the Cavs in the 2009 playoffs) that spurred LeBron to move
on to Miami.

Dwayne Wade has also had his spate of misfortunes at the hand of the Celtics.
Last year, although he dominated statistically, his team wasn't good enough to compete with Boston and was swept out of the first round. Wade was brilliant but he alone couldn't beat a team.

Which is why last night's outcome was predictable. The two mega-stars, now finally together, collaborated to put a dagger in the Celtics' season just as they themselves has suffered in the past. By thoroughly dominating the overtime period, the younger, more athletic Heat have virtually assured themselves of passage into the Easter Conference Finals.

LeBron James played the best basketball game of his career, netting big bucket after big bucket, none more important than that step back three in Pierce's face
and in front of Big Baby's exuberant posturing that tied the game at 84 and seemed to draw the air out from the players and fans at the Garden alike. But let's not forget that monster tomahawk dunk after a steal, and then that bucket in the lane against three defenders. All huge plays on the way to a 35 points, 14 rebounds and 3 assists monster game.

Despite James' best, the Celtics were right there even after a modest albeit valiant contribution from Rondo and an absolutely awful offensive display by KG and the continuing disappearing act from Big Baby. Despite the offensive struggles of some of the guys in green, the Celtics still had a chance to win this hard fought game with their last possession. But botched execution on a pick-and-roll play at the end left Pierce isolated 1-1 against James and he missed the shot badly. The inability to run the play, which the Celtics have executed so well over the years, doomed them to that OT period, in which their old and tired legs just couldn't keep up with the young guns. That's the mark of this team. Despite the fact that they didn't win, they were very close at the end.

That's the way it is in basketball. What goes around comes around. Blowback's a bitch, and this time it is blowing in the Celtics faces. The Celtics are hurt, hurt real bad. They just barely beat the count, but until Miami closes this out, they still have a punchers chance.

True Grit

"Shorty's a real tough dude," Kevin Garnett said afterward. "He's showing us a lot of heart, a lot of grit."

In the movie "True Grit", Jeff Bridges plays Rooster Cogburn, a grizzled and tough old cowboy, one who'se seen it all and nothing, not even death, fazes him. Rajon Rondo did his best Cogburn impersonation Saturday night by coming back from a dislocated elbow injury and played an inspirational brand of basketball one-handed, his left dangling at his hip, refusing to quit when his team needed him the most. Leaving at the 8 minute mark of the 3rd quarter, when his left elbow hyperextended in the gross manner comparable to sports fan to Joe Theismann gruesome injury, he made a remarkable comeback in the fourth. Although Boston was still ahead in the game, Rondo's inspirational play helped push the 11 point lead up the 18.

The Celtics beat the Heat soundly by double digits to pull back within a game of this most crucial and challenging series of these Celtics era. If you don't believe that, then just ask the Los Angeles Lakers, who after falling behind 3-0, not only lost Game 4 but self-imploded in the process. There's a reason no team has come back from a 3-0 deficit (the Lakers are now the 100th in history). It's too damn difficult. The Celtics would of have been history as well had they lost this game.

Kevin Garnett himself showed some mojo in this game and was by far the best player on the floor with a 28-18-1 line. He played liked his old Timberwolf self, taking control on both ends of the floor, but especially on the offensive end, where he didn't look to pass first (evidenced by only one assist) and instead showed that he still has all of the arrays of moves that Kevin McHale taught him way back then. Scoring off of jumpers and nifty whirly moves around the basket, KG completely outplayed Chris Bosh and was an unstopabble force.

Also contributing to mightly to the effort was Cap'n Paul Pierce, who led the Celtics to a fast start off the gate with 10 of Boston's first 14 points before ending up with 27 for the night.

The one key barometer in the series, the Big Three's performance, was easily won by Boston (70-26-10 vs. 44-18-12).

To beat the Heat, all of the above is gotta happen again in Game 4.

On The Ropes

The Celts on the Ropes

There's bad news and good news. The bad news: Boston is on the ropes after losing the first two games in Miami against the Heat. The good news: the Lakers are in a worse predicament, after having lost the first two games against Dallas on their home court !

We make no pretension on this blog. All we really care about is two things:

* That the Celtics win championships.

* That the Celtics beat LA (in any game, but it is especially satisfyingly

sweet when they do so in the NBA Finals).

Now the road to either of these destinations is blocked by very two seemingly unsurmountable obstacles.

First for the Celtics. Against the Heat, three things stand out

* They have looked old

We knew that Miami is the most athletic team in the league and in the first two games Wade and LeBron have made Boston's star players look slow and old. Witness Wade's moves in Game 2. On one drive, he Euro-stepped faked KG so badly that he was able to go in for an uncontested layup. And then he broke Ray Allen's ankles with a mean crossover that caused Allen to trip over his own feet. KG and Ray are both amongst the best conditioned athletes in the league, but it's hard to do anything against quality offensive moves like that. For his part, LeBron was content to play second fiddle to Wade in Game1 before exploding in Game 2 for 30 plus points scored with long-rate shots, dunks, and the power move that flattened Rondo in the open court. He also stuffed KG on a play where KG tried to bring the ball back before shooting it. Besides Rondo, all of the Celtics stars are on the wrong side of 30 while all of the Heat

are younger than 30. The Heat have been superior athletically in all facets of the game and especially in the two areas that are their forte: scoring on the fast break and playing good defense, and hustle plays. They are simply quicker to loose balls which is fueling their fast break.

* Our big three is not playing as good as the their big three

When TNT showed a graphic comparing the Big Three stats in Game 2, the Heat

stars had outscored the Celtics star 72-32. While the Celtics bench was much better than the Heat bench, it is the stars that win series and ultimately championships. A good bench provides a good supporting role bu no more. If

the Heat Big 3 are going to consistently outscore the Celtics Big Three, this

series will wrap up in 5 games. The Celtics will win one game simply out of

honor, pride, and will, but they will not be able to beat the Heat at home.

In Game 1, Wade scored 38 and was truly the best player on the floor. But LeBron chipped in with a 22 and Bosh had 7 (. The Heat's trio outscored Boston's trio 67 to 50. In Game 2, the margin was much worse (80-36).

It is quite simple. For the Celtics to get back into this series, their Big Three have to perform better. Scoring less than 50% of the Heat's Big Three

is just not going to cut it.

The bench play has largely been equal (due to James Jones insane Game 1

record high of 25)

* The late season trade is a big factor in this series.

The Celtics really miss Kendrick Perkins' presence in the paint. Without him

(or any other big man such as Shaq), James and Wade are fearless going inside.

In the games where the Celtics beat the Heat early in the season, Shaq helped to clog the lane and prevent easy shots and put backs. No one expects Shaq to play more than about 10-15 minutes, but even in that short time, he would

help the interior defense tremendously. Wade, LeBron, and Bosh would think twice about driving the lane. And everyone knows that when LeBron starts to think instead of just playing within the flow of the game, the game doesn't come to him as easily.

The current Celtic big men Jermaine O'Neal has been okay offensively but has failed to guard the paint as needed. Meanwhile, the other big, Nenad Kristic has been a total non-factor.

In both games, the Heat outrebounded the Celtics by just 6 total rebounds but the difference was the Heat's fearless approach driving to the hoop that set the tone for both games.

Also missing in action has been Big Baby Davis. I wonder how much the Perkins trade has also affected him, not only physically, but also mentally. The NBA's leader in collecting offensive charging calls has been notoriously quiet in this series. Davis needs to impose his will on both sides of the court on Saturday in order for Boston to have a chance.

The Celtics somehow how to re-establish dominance in the paint area and find a way to shut down the Heat's formidable transition game if they're to have a chance.

As Kenny "The Jet" Smith put it: "Some guys game don't travel well." it will be interesting to see not only how well the Heat's bench players perform up in Boston but also the James and Wade. They have not had much success winning games in the Garden over the past couple of years, and James has specifically struggle mightily.

Simply put, the Celtics have got to the off the ropes, and punch the Heat back early in Game 3. Playing rope-a-dope may cut it in boxing, but it just doesn't work in basketball.

As for the Lakers, misery loves company. As of this writing, the Lakers completely self-destructed in the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter. Leading by 8 with that much time to go, the Lakers completely forgot that Dirk Nowitzky is the best shooting 7' footer of all time and promptly left him open for numerous shots. When they guarded the Big German, other Mavericks such as Terry or Peja hit key shots. The Lakers completely faded after that and the Mavericks closed out Game 3.

As Kobe walked off the court in obvious disgust, it was clear to me that the Lakers are simply exhausted after playing so much basketball for 3 consecutive seasons. They are not a young team either, and it's apparent, that like the Celtics, that their era of dominance is now over.