Did one team win or did the other team lose?

How ‘bout them Magics?

Or more correctly, how ‘bout them Celtics?

As well as Orlando played – and they did have some fight in them that I honestly didn’t expect to see – I think the Celtics kind of took their foot off the pedal in Game 4 and that’s why we saw what happened.

They didn’t have as much of the passion and intensity they did in Games 1-3, I don’t think; the offence bogged down considerably when Rondo was less than great and they probably gave the Magic some hope. A scintilla, but still, some hope.

Is it enough? Historically, no. Realistically, probably not but I would not at all be surprised if we didn’t have a Game 6 back in Boston on Friday night.

The Magic are, in my opinion, pretty big front-runners; that they went into Game 4 with no real chance, survived a late collapse and still won and that has to count for something.

And the fact they won with HWSNBN playing like a pooch and Rashard Lewis still pretty much MIA was kind of interesting in itself. I think Rondo was just average enough that his clear-cut domination of Jameer Nelson was diminished a bit and Ray Allen missed a couple of shots that might have changed the tenor of the game.

Do I think the Magic can win four straight? No.

But I do think they have enough life in ‘em to win Game 5.

(Which means an easy Celtics triumph).

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One thing I was very glad to see?

Doc Rivers not calling a time out on the final possession of the fourth quarter.

Look, everyone in the building, nay, everyone in the world who was watching, knew that Paul Pierce was going to have the ball in his hands.

Letting him go against a defence in transition – even if it didn’t work out – makes far more sense to me than letting everyone catch their breath, figure out what they wanted to do and then doing it.

It wasn’t like they were going to lose the game in that situation – I may have thought differently had the Celtics been down one or two instead of tied – so what Doc did makes a guy who thinks coaches over-coach too often feel pretty good.

-

Digression time.

You know, I like a decades-old maple tree like the best of ‘em. Majestic and towering and maple leaves and Canada and blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda.

But I have to tell you, if I never have to see another of those little helicopter thingies cluttering up the deck I will be one happy man.

Anyway …

-

Steve Nash has a busted nose and a black eye and everyone’s lauding him.

Now all he has to do is play as well as he did in Game 3 or else the Suns are sunk in Game 4 against the Lakers.

I think we can all admit that Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire were quite average in L.A. to open the series and quite above average in Game 3.

If they can do it again, the Suns can turn it into a best-of-three and then we’ve got some excitement to deal with finally in playoffs that have been memorable only because they’ve been unmemorable so far.

What I’m most interested in seeing, though, is what the Lakers do.

When Phoenix played a zone defence for almost three quarters the other night, it completely befuddled the Lakers, turning them into a three-point shooting team that played away from its strengths.

Phi Jackson has always – rightfully – been lauded as one of the best coaches at dealing with the egos and personalities on his roster; I’m not sure he’s ever been put up there with the greatest tacticians in the game, especially when you consider the vaunted triangle offence was not his personal invention.

He’s had a day to drill into his team the right way to attack a zone with the personnel at his disposal. Wonder how effective he’ll be?

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The Chris Bosh Saga has been eerily quiet since Friday afternoon.

I imagine he won’t stand for that. I’m wondering what tweet, list, ‘hey, I’m still here’ thing is going to come out soon. Because something will.

All I can hope for is that the Doofuses Up In Ottawa er, I mean Well-Respected Leaders Of Our Great Land Up In Ottawa, don’t weigh in on the situation like Obama did because I’m pretty sure I couldn’t handle the angst.

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I’m sure you’ve all already breathlessly read today’s tome about the process the Raptors are now under taking to get ready for the draft, which is four weeks away.

(If you didn’t, take a second and do it now)

Now, if you want to break it down even further, and because everyone has a burning desire for every nugget of news imaginable, remember this:

They will “talk” to literally dozens and dozens of players between now and June 24 and probably work out 10 or 15 or even more. It is part of the due diligence that all teams go through. You will, I’m sure, hear about them chatting with guys expected to go in the top five, or top seven and it could all very well mean nothing at all.

The next “news” will be when they come up with a short list of guys they’re considering at No. 13, as they did last year with the three or four guys they were hoping to be there at No. 9. From that group they will simply be reactionary, hoping that things go as expected above them and they guy they most like is still available when they choose.

And that list isn’t going to become apparent for at least a couple of weeks.

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We’ll see you tonight for Suns-Lakers, right? It’s post-Mighty Yankees practice so I might be a bit worn out but it’ll still be okay.

Oh, and I know I didn’t get to any mail today – I seem to have found enough stuff to prattle on about – but if you want to send some questions, send ‘em here.

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Comments

[doug]

Ray Allen was 5-7 from 3 point line and was the sole reason the Celts kept coming back....whereas Pierce was 11-25 and was just brutal in the 4th and in the OT session...he was selfish, dominating the ball and not involving his teammates at all..i find it rather interesting since after his game 3 comments Rivers, Allen and Rondo were not impressed by them...then last night he was determined it seemed to win the game all on his own....there was a connection, the way the Celts played had echoes of their January play....be interesting to see if they regroup and put that game behind them and get back to playing team ball

plus much ado about nothing is being made of Carters, Lewis's play, they won and also no one seems to point out that the Celts are a terrible match-up for those 2, against the Cavs, Suns they would be much better, against the Lakers not good either....Bosh always seemed to have bad games against the Celts as well, not only bad just not involved they have a way of doing that to players....

[Zombywoof]

Looked to me like both teams were gassed in the overtime. Celtics will come back rested and ready and finish off Orlando in the next game. VC for Hedo doesn't look like such a hot deal now, does it?

[BB]

How about those Blue Jays!

[Pipit]

It's frustrating to see Vince's play last night. You can call it no passion, no sense of urgency but it this guy looks and plays old. Too slow, unable to defend either quick or strong guys. He's only playing because of image with Stan hoping for him to breakout like the old days. Doug, do you believe that Hedo would play better than Vince in this match-up with the Celtics?

[Darryl]

I think the plural of doofus is actually doofie (doof-eye) :)

[Kate - Toronto]

I agree with doug (the commenter) that Pierce was making terrible decisions in the 4th and overtime - he took several threes that had no chance of going in - he looked like his legs were dead.

And Bosh has indeed sent out a "don't forget about me" tweet last night, saying that he was going on vacation and hoped nobody would ask him where he was going next year...

[John Tarsh]

Doug, the "Doofuses Up In Ottawa"? Very disrespectful and disappointing. What do you suggest we call you when you, a professional writer, makes countless spelling errors in your articles?

Blogger's note: Doofus might work. Or perhaps Doofis?

[Don]

Doug, please tell BC to get either Pat Patterson or Larry Sanders. They are good guys that fit our team.

[doug]

I apparently wasn't teh only one tha thad issues with Pierce and his shot selection salst night...Rondo and Allen were none to pleased...both with Pierce at the end of regualtion time and just overall..

"After the play, it seemed Rajon Rondo was upset with Pierce, as he seemed to take too much on his shoulders late. Ray Allen didn't mince words afterward, either.

"Each guy feels like they can make the shot to win the game for us," Allen said. "Sometimes that's been at our team's detriment. So sometimes pulling back for all of us, like you come off, you have the ball, just swing it. Sometimes I might have a shot, but Kevin might have an easier one. Just plays like that. The unselfishness out there on the floor. When we're great, that's what we do."..last night they weren't and pierce was the main reason why...

[Dallas]

Hi Doug,

Your thoughts on how Bosh has been handling himself lately? Is it leaving a bad taste in your mouth, and if so was it something you wouldn't at have expected? Knowing what you know now, and fully realizing we have the benifet of hindsight, do you think it would have been wiser to trade Bosh last year or the year before?

And do you think there may have been something management did or said, or perhaps the reaction to Bosh's first tweet in late april, that strained the relationship. Seems like BC is not getting the honest chance to sit down with Bosh that he expected to have.

Cheers,

[The J]

It's funny, I had argued back to you after the Cavs series when you had said that neither Kobe or MJ would have ever let their team get blown out by 20 or more twice in a series. But I will do you one better and say that neither Kobe, MJ, Wade, LeBron, Clyde Drexler, Dominique Wilkins, AI, T-Mac (and on and o), would have scored only 3 lousy points in what could have been a game that knocked their team out of the playoffs. He's lucky he will get a second chance. But I would say to SVG don't expect anything, because a watched pot never boils. As a once HWSNBN fan, I am more disappointed than excited. Though I normally I do cheer for his failure, I am more disapointed by his lack of passion.

[doug]

sorry about my spelling in my last post...shameful i need to proof read, no matter how busy I am....

[Aditya]

way to rip into phil jackson....huh? common Doug, Phil Jackson has 10 rings, 10 more than me and you have (or 9 more since ur married)

[LeeZ]

Interesting piece today: Celtics coach Doc Rivers was asked on Monday night whether he thinks the NBA could see a player-coach in the near future. "I know where you're going," Rivers said in his pregame press conference, as the question clearly referred to LeBron James, who has held significant weight in Cleveland's front office. While Rivers does think it's a possibility, he believes that the player would have to be a savvy veteran and not someone in the prime of their career. "I don't know, it would have to be a veteran player, you know, not a prominent guy," he said.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see it again."

To me, Kevin Garnett would fill that role perfectly. He's already a de-facto assistant coach. If Rivers does leave after this season and Thibodeau as well, it wouldn't shock me to see someone in the mould of Bill Russel (and to my mind, Garnett is indeed in that mould -- not to say he's anywhere near the player Russ was, but at least in the same ballpark) carrying on that Celtics tradition of assistant coaches (Russ, Cowens, was K.C. Jones a player-coach as well? Can't remember.)

Read more: http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/66809/20100525/rivers_can_envision_player_coach/#ixzz0oyaBcQU7

[LeeZ]

Whoops, that should read "player coaches" not "assistant coaches". Doug, I take back every mean, nasty and spiteful thought I ever had about you making typos or the like!

:)

[Juan]

I think it has been interesting to see how many questions are being asked in Orlando about whether they should have (essentially) traded Hedo for Carter. Lots of talk about how great a ballhandler he is and how tough a matchup he can be. I really hope the Raps use him differently in a more significant playmaking role next year.

[K Price]

Chris and his gf are in Mexico on holidays.

[Adrian]

Still haven't heard anything about what Colangelo might or might not be doing to improve this team in advance of free agency and/or communicate his plans to Chris. Definitely feels like more lip service, and if there's one thing I think we've had enough of, it's just that.

Giving up on Chris right now, whether you want him here or not, whether you think he's a bona fide # 1 or not, should not even be an option. That's #1. But even if it's Colangelo's first option for some reason foreign to everyone but Tanenbaum's checkbook, the self-serving PR to save himself from lost fans is unacceptable. Nothing is happening right now, granted, but I really don't appreciate what I'm not hearing. The silence just sounds like more of the same.

By the way, mocking Chris Bosh for what he does or says online is hardly relevant this summer. If this team is going to get rid of him for possessing that personality trait, they might as well close up shop in the NBA because, whether they like it or not, most basketball superstars are no different- and in fact, are almost always much worse. For that matter, Bosh is probably the best-case scenario for this team when it comes to his public behavior, background, community service and leadership. To use that against him now is laughable.

Over the past few weeks, Raptor fans have seen criticism of Chris Bosh that has at times bordered on the insane. If it's now MLSE's strategy to vilify him (through the media) in order to not support their words with actions (again), I just want to make it known that I won't accept it. I'm not saying it is, it's too early to say, I'm just putting it out there as a warning. If you're not willing to face the fire as GM, don't tell me that you are- don't be a coward.

Blogger's note: You know what? You're not going to hear a thing.

[sam]

Nice Rant Adrian -
It's pretty much the same as last weeks, and the week before.
Here's the thing....The Raptors Brain Trust made it clear at seasons end they wanted Bosh back...Because you haven't heard anything doesn't mean they are sitting on thier hands. I'm certain plans are being made for life with or with out Bosh. This is not a personal thing - it's a business deal.

If it was personal Bosh would have come out and told the great unwashed whether he was staying or going. Bosh and BC are keeping thier cards close to their collective chests.

I suggest you save yourself some grief - and let the process fall together or apart, whatever the case maybe.