This time last week, many people (self included) thought that we would be preparing for another Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals. The Celtics had handled the Magic in Orlando twice with relative ease and the Lakers had held serve at home against the Suns in such a convincing way that both series seemed to be over. Well, the Celtics have lost two in a row, but still lead the series 3-2 heading into game six Friday evening and the Suns have zoned themselves into a 2-2 series tie heading back to Los Angeles Thursday evening. What the hell happened??
The Orlando Magic have begun to hit some shots and Dwight Howard is finally playing like a dominant center is capable of playing. Also, the defensive intensity the Celtics displayed in the first two games has been lackadaisical, at best, the last two games. The Celtics now have to begin to feel some pressure on themselves. 93 teams have gotten 3-0 leads in a series and 93 teams have gone onto win those series, so the Celtics are in a good position relative to this statistic. The Magic are in the dubious position that of the 93 teams that have fallen into a 0-3 hole, only three have even forced a Game 7. The series is now at a point where the Celtics also have to be a bit uncomfortable in not only that the series is still going, but the series is now on an every other day schedule. The OLD Celtics may need a little extra time between games and would have preferred to have some extra rest before the next series, something that many assumed was a foregone conclusion seven days ago. Many of the talking heads on television pointed this out last week and now this is a reality. Also, with the injury to Big Baby Davis in game five (concussion), there will be extra stress on the frontline of the Celtics to slow down Superman, Dwight Howard. I still think the Celtics close out the series in Boston Friday night, but should it go back to Orlando for game seven Sunday night, all bets are off.
The Suns owe David Stern and the NBA some thanks for clawing back even with the Lakers. Playing a defense that was not allowed several seasons ago in the NBA, the zone defense has slowed down the Lakers and allowed the Suns to play the entertaining style of 2004 Suns basketball and get this thing into a best of three series now. Alvin Gentry’s decision to play zone against the bigger Lakers has paid huge dividends this week. There is a swagger back in the step of the Suns entire team and their bench play has been so much better than that of the Lakers. Gentry’s bench was playing so well in Game 4 that he left starters on the bench in a close game for nearly 9 minutes against the Lakers starters. The Suns now have an attitude that is one hundred and eight degrees different than the one on display after a Game 2 defeat in Los Angeles last weekend. The Suns think they can steal a game Thursday night in Los Angeles and have a shot to end the series back in Phoenix on Saturday. This requires the Suns to do something they have not, and something I am not sure they can do, which is defeat the Lakers on their home court. Now should the Lakers come out and treat Game 5 as another 3 pt shootout, the Suns have a chance, but I think Kobe will have his guys ready to go Thursday night.
OTHER THOUGHTS FROM THE NOGGIN
So Danica Patrick decided to rip her team for not setting up her car properly. The fans at Indy did not appreciate her blaming others, although senior VP of Andretti Motorsports agreed with her, and booed Danica for her actions in the interview. This season has not gone the way Danica thought it would. She has had minimal success on both the Indy and Nationwide circuits so far. Interesting thought…who has a higher average finishing position the remainder of the season, Danica in Indy, Danica in nationwide or her Nationwide owner Dale Jr. in Sprint Cup action?? Junior gets my slight lean.
Corey Pavin made the following comments regarding Tiger Woods and the 2010 Ryder Cup team: "I'm not going to treat Tiger any different than any other player," Pavin said. "He's certainly not going to be an automatic pick. He's just going to be treated like everyone else. I'd love to have him on the team but I want him to be playing well," he added. Does anyone think Pavin has the testicular fortitude or want to commit career suicide by leaving the current #1 player in the world off the team for this fall? Very short answer for this one……NO. Not only no, but HELL NO!
Kurt Busch wins the All-Star Race Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway and all everyone wants to talk about is the Denny Hamlin- Kyle Busch incident on the track. It was a Million Dollar winner take all race and I would have done the same thing to someone in that race. There are no teammates with no points on the line and that much money. Hell, I would think about putting the wife into a wall for a cool million and would hope she would do the same if in that situation.