The Three Point Play 06.10.08: Celtics Take 2-0 Lead, and Lots of Coaching News

Posted by Blake Lovell on 06.10.2008

The Boston Celtics looked scary good at times in Game 2, as they now head to Los Angeles in control of the NBA Finals. The Lakers have some major problems to address, as the green team could finish off the series at the Staples Center. Also, former San Antonio players are popping up everywhere in head coach land. It's all inside this edition of the Three Point Play!



Welcome everyone to another edition of the Three Point Play, right here on 411mania! The Celtics have taken an early lead in the NBA Finals, as the series now shifts to Los Angeles, where the Lakers hope to find some type of answer for pretty much the entire Celtic team. Especially Leon Powe. And there is also some big coaching news coming out of all sorts of places, so let's get right to it!

1. NBA Finals

My NBA Finals prediction can still hold form. I just want you to know that. But, if that is to be the case, the Lakers will have to win the next four games. And the way they've played thus far in the series, saying that would be a stretch would be the understatement of the year. I have no idea what's happened so far, but the Celtics just look a whole lot better than Los Angeles. A lot of people thought the Lakers would be the team that would control things very early in the series, and impose their up-tempo style on Boston. That has totally not been the case at all, as the Celtics have put any questions as to how they could play at a high tempo to rest. I'll be the first to admit it, I did not think the Celtics could hang with the Lakers. My gut told me that the Lakers were the much better team, and that they had the possibility of making this a short series. And we should learn two things from this. Number one, your gut isn't always right. Number two, the Lakers could definitely make this a short series, because they could get swept.

Game 1 was really a game that the Celtics had to have, and they went out and got it. As we've mentioned here throughout the playoffs, the key for the Celtics is getting off to a good start. They don't seem like the kind of team that plays well from behind, as they aren't use to losing a whole lot of games. They had the best record in the regular season, so it's always important for them to get out early, and continue to build their confidence up throughout the game. The Celtics dominated the boards in Game 1 which also played a large role in their victory. And of course the whole deal with Paul Pierce's injury has caused some speculation for several days, but I think it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Ok, so does it really matter how bad the guy was hurt? If he felt as though he needed his teammates to carry him into the locker room to get his injury checked on, fine. There's no problem in that. And if he gets back to the locker room, and finds out the injury isn't as bad as it felt when it happened, fine. He came back out to play the game, so I'm not sure why it's getting all this attention. It's not like he did something illegal. He simply was taken to the back in what seemed to be large amounts of pain, and then he came back out and played. He was a catalyst in the Game 1 victory as well, as he gave the Celtics a huge jumpstart.

As for Game 2, well the Lakers were the ones in large amounts of pain for most of the game, as they were getting run out of the gym for most of the night. I thought that after the loss in Game 1 that L.A. would come out with much more energy and much more enthusiasm. They did that with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter, but that was a little bit too late. There was a stretch in the third quarter where the Celtics looked like the absolute best team in the league, bar none. They were running up and down the floor and scoring with ease on the Lakers defense. There were just so many different problems the Lakers faced in Game 2. Kobe believes that the fouling discrepancy was a little ridiculous, and he's probably got a point there. When the Celtics shoot in the upper thirties at the line, and the Lakers only shoot 10, that can bring about some questions. But it's a part of the game, and it happens sometimes. Things will change now that the series if going to Los Angeles. You can bet on that. Another problem for the Lakers was Vladimir Radmanovic. When the Celtics pushed the lead out to around 22 towards the end of the third, Radmanovic was just going crazy or something. He was taking terrible shots, turning the ball over, all sorts of bad stuff. Needless to say, it was not the best performance of his career. The Lakers almost made a great comeback, but the Celtics held on, and now have a 2-0 advantage in the series.

So all the questions clearly point to the Lakers right now. This is the NBA Finals, and I would expect them to bounce back and make things interesting in Los Angeles. But man have the Celtics played great so far. We've learned that the Celtics are a much better team at home than on the road this postseason, but they seem to be playing at a level right now that we haven't seen them at in the playoffs. The Lakers have to turn the momentum, and they have to do it in Game 3. They cannot afford to dig themselves a hole early on, and try to make a huge comeback like they did in Game 2. They have to take everything the Celtics have gained away from them very, very early. That's the only way the momentum will shift. Kobe has to stop worrying about the officiating, and just play. He is the best player in the league, and he's going to have to figure out how to get around the Celtics' defensive scheme. Quite frankly, I'm not sure the Lakers can win the series now unless they win all three games in L.A. I think it would simply be too tough of a challenge to go back to Boston and try to win two straight games. The Celtics control their destiny right now, and unless the Lakers make some changes quick, they may realize their destiny much sooner than any of us expected.

2. Flip Out

Joe Dumars decided three straight Conference Finals appearances was not enough, as the Pistons organization felt it was time to let head coach Flip Saunders go. On one hand, it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me. But then on the other hand, I suppose you could find some reasoning as to why Dumars went this direction. For starters, the Pistons have had the tendency this season to play hard at times, while not playing hard at other times. They did it against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs. That's where people really started to notice this kind of trend. Some also question whether Saunders was the actual leader of the team, or whether or not the players just basically did what they wanted to do. This is a fair point on some level. The coach is the guy that is suppose to be the voice of the team, and has the duty of getting the players ready to play. It seemed like most of the time, the players just choose when and where they wanted to play, and there wasn't much Saunders could do about it. The other knock on him is that he couldn't get this team to the Finals. All the other reasons are behind this one. Dumars felt as though this was a championship team, and that's a fair assessment.

But let's look at some things here. Sure, this team had the talent to win a championship. No doubt about it. However, they weren't the best team in the Eastern Conference this year. That team was the Boston Celtics, and that's why they are in the NBA Finals. Flip gets the pass for this postseason. You can make the argument that the Pistons were clearly the best team in the conference last season, although they couldn't withstand a monumental performance by Lebron James in the Eastern Conference Finals. Flip maybe shouldn't get a pass for that series loss, because the Pistons were clearly a better overall team, although they didn't have the best overall player like Cleveland did. And his first Eastern Conference Final appearance with the team, in 2006 against the Miami Heat, that one can go either way. The Heat did have the combo of Dwayne Wade and Shaq, and this was when Shaq was still a huge factor in the game. On the other hand, the Pistons were still one of the more talented teams in the entire league. So it comes down to this question, do I think Flip Saunders should have been fired in Detroit? No.

After they lost to the Celtics, we all knew changes were going to be made at some point. But I think the first place should have been with personnel. Plain and simple, Rasheed Wallace has got to go. He's a solid player from top to bottom, yes I know that. On the flip side though, you never know when he's going to go off and get a technical, which could cost his team a game at some point or another. It's time for Dumars to get rid of this guy, because he can actually get good value for him. It's not that Rasheed can't play, it's just that he seems to play a large part in messing up some of the chemistry. But past making that move, there aren't any other real huge moves that need to be made. Chauncey Billups is still the leader of the team, and there have been no signs that his play has declined any. Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince are still in their prime, and will even continue to get better. With assistant coach Michael Curry now taking the head coaching position, we'll see if any other interesting moves are made in Detroit.

3. More Coaching News

So now Doug Collins isn't going back to Chicago? Well I can't say I'm completely surprised by this, as we only had speculation that he would actually go back there. I didn't think it was a very good fit for Collins to begin with. He has his nice little broadcasting job with TNT, and it's probably good that he's staying with that. However, there is actual news on the Bulls coaching front now. The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Bulls have offered there head coaching position to none other than Vinny Del Negro. I can honestly say that of all the choices out there, Del Negro is not a person I would have put on my list. He has no previous coaching experience whatsoever in the NBA, so this definitely comes as a surprise. I would have thought the Bulls would have tried to land someone with some type of coaching record in the league, but that is not the case. Basically, it seems like Chicago blew the deal with Mike D'Antoni, and were just left trying to find anyone to take the job. This was not the ideal situation for them, because they do have the talent to win right now. On the bright side, we can't really judge Del Negro at this point, because.....well.....he has no NBA success or failures to go off of as far as coaching goes.

And there has also been a breakthrough on the Suns side of the coaching carousel, as Terry Porter will be taking over in Phoenix. Porter coached the Milwaukee Bucks from 2003-2005, so he at least has some type of experience in the league. Again, I don't really know a whole lot about how Porter is going to mesh with the a veteran team like Phoenix, but we'll just have to wait and see. We can make a comparison to Del Negro though, as they both spent a good bit of time in San Antonio, playing for the Spurs. I think Porter has the chance to have success in Phoenix, mainly because of the roster they have right now. He doesn't have to spend a lot of time teaching the game, as Del Negro will have to do if he wants the Bulls to achieve success, but Porter will basically have to incorporate some type of defensive scheme into the Suns defense. Without question, when D'Antoni was there, their biggest overall weakness was on the defensive side of things. Steve Kerr made this hire because he wanted someone more defense-oriented, so that will be where Porter's abilities are measured. It will also be interesting to see what type of offensive approach he takes, as I wonder if he will pull the complete 180, and try to implement a slower type of system. While his offensive scheme may not be as effective as D'Antoni's, he should still keep more of an up-tempo pace, although maybe not as high of pace. Shaq had some trouble with that style last year, so it would do Porter good to slow it down just a bit so that maybe the guys can have more energy for the defensive end.

THE BONUS

- Where does Flip Saunders go now? The Bulls and Suns jobs seem to be full at this point, so Flip may be sitting out a year and doing a little television work. I'm sure he'll be on ESPN tomorrow. That's where everyone goes when they get fired. If only it were like that for everyone else who works.

- Dwayne Wade seems to be healing nicely, as he is supposedly still on track to play for the United States in the Olympics in Beijing.

- And lastly, give me your opinion. Where does the Finals go from here? Will the Lakers mount a huge comeback, and sweep the games in Los Angeles? Or does Boston perhaps close the series out at the Staples Center?

That's all for this edition of the Three Point Play. Tune in next time for more coverage of the 2008 NBA Finals, and all the big news around the league.