Is it possible for us to steal both games from the Celtics?

kop5789 · Joined: 20 Apr 2008 Posts: 504

I would say it's possible. Never underestimate the power of accumulative mental advantage. You could say that today's game was decided in the first half when Utah choked on those wide open shots. Now I'm just going to focus on game 2, because it's going to be the much tougher game, due to the crowd and officiating. Obviously, whatever works in game 2, we could just apply that to game 1, because all we're looking for is one game.

From what I've seen, from our side, we need to: be perfect with our shot selections, played with our best intensity, dig a little deep on those "bad" possessions, i.e those possessions where we're forced to run the offense through someone else because Kobe needs a break, and really, just "dig" on whatever contested shots that you can, because the more you do, the more you can afford the opponent to be open, obviously.

Assuming we did the above, and let's assume that the officiating in game 2 against the Celtics will be as bad as in today's game, then I think we'll need the Celtics to miss about a couple of less open shots than the Jazz did in the first half in today's game to win it. In other words, about 3 or 4 wide open shots(of course, it could be less, it could be more, how the hell would I know really, the idea is that we need to use to apply everything we've learned in the past to get those little advantages.)

How can we get them to do this? If we used past experience, a team does not feel quite enough pressure when they're down 0-1 at home(unless you managed to stay close to them late in the game), as when they're down 0-2 and just came back home, for us to rely on them to choke on wide open shots. However, they WILL miss a couple of shots due to overenergy, and that is when you have to remember to REBOUND(most likely, they'll still end up with it though, it's just extremely hard to match that kind of energy, because you're just not used to it.)

What other situations are they likely to miss? As stated, if we can manage to stay close to them late, then I think they'll start to miss. However, the officiating will still be very tough.

Finally, the strategy of leaving the cold guy, the guy struggling defensively, having confidence issues, etc. will work very well here. Boston hasn't been in these situations so they've got a lot to learn. However, once again, we MUST remember to rebound, which of course is easier said than done.

So it seems to me that, not only do we have to "bait" them into those shots(it would be nice if we didn't have to and force them to shoot with a hand in their face most of the times, but let's face it, our physical defense just isn't that good, so you have to rely on those mental tricks), we must also train ourselves to expect those misses and rebound the ball, which I'm not sure if we can do, in such a short timeframe.

IF we can manage to do the above, we should be able to get it into a very tight game down the stretch. The important thing here is not to get too giddy or tight and just execute as usual. It may even take a last second shot to win it, and that's when you have to embrace it, and not be afraid that the Celtics might steal one back, because you played perfect and couldn't pull it off. In other words, don't let what may happen in the future affect you, unless it's positive(for example, like in the 2000 Finals, where Shaq fouled out and Kobe took over, the reason he was "clutch" was because he could fall back on the fact that his team was superior and up 2-1, that really, took away a lot of the pressure. In this case, you can't really fool yourselves, if let's say Boston was playing stifling D, and the only reason it got this close was because of all the tricks that you used to "cause" them to miss that many wide open shots, and you're afraid that they won't miss that many again. You have to ignore this type of thinking. Otherwise, it'd just put pressure on yourself unnecessarily.)

It may look like I'm trying to play prophet here, but it seems to me that these games follow a very distinct pattern. The officiating will be bad, but it's only bad to a certain point. If you can manage to dig deep enough to overcome that, then the numbers will all add up very nicely.

GameTimeLaker · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 1969

Last time I checked, we were playing the Jazz...
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westcoast21 · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 3405 Location: Ariza's Asylum

We made the NBA Finals already? Sweet jam2

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2pacZGreat · Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Posts: 655

Holy crap dude. This is ridiculous. We are playing the Jazz. Man this isn't evn about being PC. It's idiotic to look ahead like this. Just stop.

EDIT: TC, I am not calling you an idiot btw. Just this looking ahead is idiotic. I already posted a few times about looking ahead like this. Getting into "ifs" is VERY tricky proposition with no rights or wrongs and just leads to opinion wars over NOTHING.

kop5789 · Joined: 20 Apr 2008 Posts: 504

blakeruns · Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 9:08 pm Post subject:

*ring ring*

The horse just called

He said you put the cart in front of him

Lakerjones · Joined: 30 Jun 2007 Posts: 1069

Nice that you're thinking finals already but, not to be realistic or anything, we've got to get through the entirety of the playoffs and so do the Celts. Come on now. It's just way too early for this thread.

kobe35ppg · Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 9:24 pm Post subject:

Is it possible for us to talk about the opponents that we are currently playing? just a question.
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Senor Mortgage · Joined: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 436

kevinwiz · Joined: 05 Mar 2007 Posts: 1172 Location: Irvine, CA

repost this in a month

bananas · Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 21

Stay humble now

methodnredd · Joined: 28 Oct 2005 Posts: 1084 Location: san diego

I'm just stressing about Game 5 of the 2012 NBA Western Finals, I don't know if Pau will be able to match up with Oden/Aldridge after his recent ankle sprain. Kobe is starting to looked aged so Bynum will have to improve on his 30/15 playoff average for the Lakers to go up 3-2 in this series.

trbo823 · Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 743 Location: Los Angeles

LOL@ people trying to get ahead of them selves all the time.
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OX1947 · Joined: 14 Jun 2005 Posts: 154

RetroNikes · Joined: 19 Oct 2005 Posts: 316

From what I remember, both teams are still in the second round.

John3:16 · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 1:59 am Post subject:

borri · Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 2915

LOL. I woke up from a nap. Looked at this thread.......Had to slap myself a couple times.....thought I was rip van winkle who had slept for almost a month.

LakerzDQ · Joined: 26 Mar 2008 Posts: 394

mapabu1 · Joined: 02 Jul 2007 Posts: 2275

You are about a month early. There is no guarantee that either team will be in the finals

mest5621 · Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 356

eh man...stop getting ahead of ourselves here...we are still playing the jazz and theres no guarantee the celtics will make it as well. We need to concentrate on the jazz and when the time comes if we do make it to the finals we will cross that road as for now its premature to even think about this right now

Juronimo · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 6:25 am Post subject:

There is no guarantee that either us or the evil empire will make the finals. Let's worry about that when we get there.

for now we have the Jazz to worry about.
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DNP · Joined: 27 Jan 2004 Posts: 818 Location: In Da Club

these threads keep popping up. talk about the present match up please!
lock!!!!!

.

Armo Flava · Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 3194 Location: waltham,ma

DUDE ARE YOU SERIOUS ?!?!?!!

the way the Celtics played against the Hawks I have a hard time believing they're gonna make the finals. We still have to beat Utah and NOH / SAS !?!?!?!

the only logical explanation for this thread is......is that you

own a time machine ? man3

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Armo Flava · Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 3194 Location: waltham,ma

Aonex · Joined: 13 Jun 2003 Posts: 4225 Location: NYC

Sure we can... if the Celtics make it that far.
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Radner · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 7:28 am Post subject:

1. Lakers are playing the Jazz.

2. It's not a given that the Celtics will make the Finals now.
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kobejon · Joined: 11 Oct 2006 Posts: 971

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nameant · Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 16033

Damn stfu...please. Just b/c we're THE Lakers doesn't mean we're guaranteed a spot in the Finals. Seriously...stop. disagree

knm131 · Joined: 07 Jul 2007 Posts: 4252

I was sitting down yesterday figuring out how we're going to stop the Las Vegas Felts.

Who?

What do you mean who?

The Las Vegas Felts are the 2078 NBA Champs.

Ed Guru · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 2:10 pm Post subject:

So the only way to get this many responses to a blog is to come off with something outlandish that makes people up in arms.

Damn it! I was coming in from the wrong angle.. other Bloggers look at the hits for this thread and weep!

Now I've got some creative thinking to do for the next EG Blog..
..everybody loves controversy..

(oh, and by the way, on the thread topic, if Boston learns from the Atlanta series and makes it to the finals, they will be VERY difficult to beat once at home, I think any team would be happy to get a split out of the first two games).
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