Lakers vs. Celtics Game 5: Hey Lakers! Championships Are For Closers!
After watching game 5 of the NBA finals, I was left with a sick feeling of disgust in the pit of my stomach. I suppose this is no different than what any Laker supporter must have felt after watching what was an abomination when it came to effort.
No, this wasn’t one of those seesaw back and forth games where you were on the edge of your seat waiting to see which team would squeeze out a victory. This was a game where one team clearly didn’t bring the intensity needed to win a championship. This, in essence, is what haunts the Lakes. They have the talent but seem to lack the resilience needed to win against another tough team.
Clearly, Andrew Bynum is feeling the repercussions of his injury but even with a limited Bynum, the Lakers should be able to beat a Celtic team that is running on fumes. With their two seven-footers, the Lakers can dominate where it matters the most in basketball: The paint! Dominate the paint and you win.
This is not to diminish what the Boston Celtics have accomplished. They are beating a more physically talented team through toughness and teamwork. Rondo is their most prolific player at this point and his jump shot is about as effective as mine in an NBA game. Garnett’s physical abilities have severely diminished to the point where it’s obvious on each rebound attempt he bobbles.
That leaves Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Ray Allen had a phenomenal game 2 with his NBA record eight 3-pointers, but has been since silent. Paul Pierce was nowhere to be found until his breakout game 5. Essentially, before game 5, “The Big 3” were collectively absent.
So then, why do the Lakers find themselves down 3 games to 2? How can this be? Let’s examine each game thus far.
- The Last 5 Games:
Game 1: Lakers jump on the Celtics, build a 20-point lead and cruise to victory.
Game 2: This is the key game in the series that the Los Angeles Lakers gift-wrapped and gave to the Celtics. After withstanding Ray Allen’s onslaught of eight three pointers, they found themselves in a tie game entering the 4th . While dominating the paint on both ends, the Lakers found a way to lose game where their two big mean, Bynum & Gasol, managed to combine for 46 points in the Paint, and 13 blocked shot. Nope, that wasn’t a typo. 13 blocked shots by the big men (not to mention 8 offensive rebounds), and the Lakers gave away the game because of lack of intensity and focus down the stretch. Should they lose this series, they will look back at game 2 as the one that cost them dearly.
Game 3: Lakers control the game for 3 quarters. In the 4th quarter, it all starts falling apart until Derek Fisher decides to uncharacteristically attack the basket and show intestinal fortitude to single handedly win the game. If not for Fisher’s heroics, Lakers lose this game due to lack of intensity and guts.
Lakers up 2 to 1.
Game 4: Repeat of the last game for the first 3 quarters. Having controlled the game in the first three quarters, Lakers fall apart in the fourth and we are left with the images of a slobbering Big Baby Davis scarring children across our the nation. While I have been heavily critical of Kobe Bryant in the past, I can’t blame him on this one. The entire Celtic defense is designed to slow him down. No one else seems to want to drive the ball down the Celtics’ throats.
Game 5: The abomination. Kobe does what he can, scoring 19 points in the 3rd quarter. Unlike Kobe of the past, he is not doing it to receive glory and adulation. He is forced to do it. No one else seems to want to take a shot. Lakers players, repeatedly pass up on open shots, only to throw the ball back to Kobe with shot clock winding down. Laker floor spacing is atrocious, and the lakers can’t seem to figure out how to move the ball around double teams.
The most curious thing about this game is why the Lakers can’t penetrate into the paint and make timely passes create opportunities through these playoffs. While you may say the Celtic defense is stifling, you have to recall the Lakers experiencing the same dilemma against the Phoenix Sun zone defense. This is not a new problem for the Lakers.
Lakers suddenly down 3 games to 2.
The ball movement consists of perimeter players around the three-point line passing the ball to each other as though they’re up by 20 looking to run out the shot clock. No one except for Kobe is looking to drive into the painted area. No one besides Kobe appears to WANT to take a shot. Lakers’ game plan seems easily thwarted. Throw the ball to Gasol, and when he is double teamed, he throws back out. Then the game of hot potato passing begins. There is no insistence to go right back inside a second, or third time, to allow him to work the post. No one is willing to drive and find a cutter.
The Phoenix Suns couldn’t take advantage of this. The Celtics can, and they are.
Timid behavior takes over. While the Celtics look like a team, the Lakers look like a disjointed combo of 5 individuals taking terrible shots. Celtics defense is tough, but Lakers resilience is not. The same apprehensiveness they showed against the Phoenix Sun Zone defense has now come back to cost them.
Game 6 is tomorrow. What matchups are key? What adjustments are needed? None of that matters much at this late stage of the Finals. The only question now is: Will the players donning the Los Angeles Lakers uniform show heart and intensity? Will they show courage?
The night before game 5, I watched one of my favorite MMA fighters, Chuck "The Ice Man" Liddell get knocked out cold for the fourth time in recent memory. Chuck may have lost his "Chin" but it'd be difficult to find anyone who has lost an ounce of respect for Chuck.
We can respect our favorite fighters getting knocked out after a valiant effort. We can't respect someone for refusing to leave the stool to answer the bell. The Lakers are at those crossroads.
The Laker players do not need X’s and O’s. They don’t need battle strategy from Phil Jackson or his lame boring motivational talks. What they need is Alec Baldwin’s character from Glengarry Glenross to give them his famous speech.
Much like in that movie, Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher (and perhaps Bynum) should be conveniently absent from the meeting, much like the way Pacino’s Character was in that scene.
Here is how it’d all transpire: While filming a promo for NBA to show during its lengthy commercials, various Laker players are holding the Larry O’ Brian trophy.
We hear Alec Baldwin’s booming voice shout:
Put that Trophy Down!!
Championships are for Closers only!
Alec Baldwin character continues the famous motivational yet degrading speech:
Get mad you sons of b***hes, get mad….
You know what it takes to win Championships?
It takes Brass Balls.
Yes, at this point, throw out everything else. Throw out discussions about double teams, proper rotation on defense and weakside help. It takes Brass Balls …. That’s what the Laker players on the current roster need to develop to win this series. They have exactly one day to do just that.
CM
