Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
Man robbed at Tallmadge Avenue eatery
Another winter punch heading toward Ohio
Four teens restrain man, take items from his Akron home
Complaints against officer keep coming
Police: Ohio girl dies after fall into snow bank
Region makes way for latest batch of snow; cancellations rise
Cuyahoga Falls residents come home to find burning couch on balcony
Blogs:
First Bell - On Education:
No City of Akron basketball tonight
Pets:
Pet telethon re-airs
The Heldenfiles:
Chipmunks "Squeakquel" on DVD/BD March 30
Akron Zips:
Late surge gives Zips ugly road win
Tribe Matters:
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth's contract terminated
Balanced Ledger:
QB in Browns future: another mock draft
Kent State Sports:
KSU Notes – February 9
Cleveland Cavaliers:
NBA Power Rankings from Around the Internet
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeyes grab 18 players on signing day
Varsity Letters:
Garfield at Buchtel basketball
All Da King's Men:
Palin At The Tea Party Convention
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Republican Pre-Conditions
Akron Law Café:
Law, Love and Chocolate
Car Chase:
Collector Car Hobby Loses One of the Best—Jim Roll
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Decisions Decisions: Credit Cards or Your Mortgage?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Loucile is looking for a Lake Erie getaway in June for three kids, ages 1, 3, and 5.
Sound Check:
Talk of the Town – Top entertainment picks for the weekend
HRLite House:
OFCCP Report
Akron Gamer:
Makers of 'Castle Crashers' unveil 'BattleBlock Theater'
See Jane Style:
Do IT this week: Layering
Boston's bionic victories against L.A. should bolster spirit of Cavaliers fans
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sports columnist
Published on Tuesday, Jun 10, 2008
There are a couple of things to glean from the two-games-old NBA Finals.
No gleam there, men, but something to glean.
One is the Boston Celtics apparently put a bionic parts room in the new Garden to stitch and repair guys like Paul Pierce who come close to losing a limb in a game and return two minutes later and score 28 points three nights later.
Best keep The Pierceinator away from any Sarah Connors in the Boston area (inside Terminator joke there to the rest of the world who have kids of the age group that finds the Terminator interesting . . . I'll be back.)
Second is that it's taught us some things about the Cavaliers.
Now, before continuing, let's acknowledge that this series is just two games old, and the Los Angeles Lakers could come back and sweep the next four and win the title and that goofy trophy that Michael Jordan found so attractive when he won it with the Chicago Bulls.
So this could change.
But right now, the Lakers are barely a breeze in the Celtics' Bermuda vacation.
The Celtics have been tougher, faster, more aggressive and flat-out better. And they heal faster, whether it's with a bionics wing or with Oral Roberts, as Lakers coach Phil Jackson suggested.
The Celtics also have done this unusual thing that can affect a game, and the Lakers have not. The Celtics have played defense.
So what does this have to do with the Cavs, you ask?
Good question.
Let's start by examining the playoff series the Celtics were in other than the East semifinals against the Cavs.
The Atlanta Hawks took them to seven games, but the Celtics won that final game by a country mile.
The Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons in six games.
The Celtics now have dismantled the Lakers in two games and seem headed toward
a title.
The only team that gave them a series through seven games — the Cavaliers.
Which means that, at this point, the team that competed best with the team that appears to be the best — and most bionic — was the Cavs.
Let's also examine how the Celtics are winning and have won this season.
To understand that, consider a man named Tom Thibodeau — a bit of a short balding guy who jumps around and carries a clipboard on the Celtics bench. All important folks in the NBA carry clipboards, of course, and Thibodeau's is getting more and more prominent.
Thibodeau is the Celtics' defensive guru.
He's the guy who devised those schemes that gave LeBron James some trouble, and that are giving Kobe Bryant trouble.
His stock has risen faster than the oil companies. If the Chicago Bulls had an ounce of thinking, they would keep this charade of a coaching search going and just turn to Thibodeau when the NBA Finals end.
He's a smart coach, and the Celtics' success starts with his approach. And those bionic parts in Room 7562B of Corridor C.
Perhaps it's a coincidence, but one other team in the NBA starts with defense. It lacks the bionic parts room, but its system is a defensive one that might not be sexy but can lead to success.
And that's the Cavs.
Finally, what's all this gibberish about the NBA's Western Conference being so dominant?
Perhaps it's deeper, but two games into a seven-game series the West is hardly best.
The Celtics have exposed some Lakers flaws and have looked like a much, much better team. When Leon Powe is outplaying and outworking Pau Gasol, something's not right in Malibu.
Jackson is correct to complain about the disparity in free throws, and Bryant was right to smirk about it. The numbers were ridiculous. But even with that, the Celtics have been the better team.
And the Cavs played them best — and both these teams have the same approach and philosophy, which means something must be going right in Cleveland.
Now, things are not perfect in Cavs-land.
They do lack that faith healer/spare human parts division. This needs to be investigated.
They could use another scorer, and no doubt would love the idea of adding Michael Redd.
They need to improve their offense.
But things are not as dire as the local outcry from a very vocal group would indicate. The Cavs start with a superstar and have some good parts, albeit not bionic, around him. They play a style that works.
Talk privately to the people with the Cavs, and they will say that they believed they had a team that was good enough to beat the Celtics. They not only believed they could win, they believed they would.
Which was probably why James was so distraught after losing — it was hard to believe.
But the Cavs made the mistake of digging a hole in Game 7, which made their margin of error too thin. Which made those missed shots in the last couple of minutes bigger than big.
But they could have won.
Barring a Lakers shipment of bionic players, when all is said and done, the Cavs will be the only team to really give the Celtics a scare into the final minutes of Game 7 in the playoffs.
Perhaps it's time to give the Cavs a little more ''due'' than they're getting.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/mcmanamon/.
There are a couple of things to glean from the two-games-old NBA Finals.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
