NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.

With a minute left in the 4th quarter and the scored tied, Derrick Rose took Rajon Rondo to the hole and drew a suspect foul, but it was not a shooting foul. On the ensuing play, Derrick Rose slipped going to his left and the ball rolled out of bounds. Interesting, the Bulls go to their rookie point guard with the game on the line.

A blurb on the TV showed that there had been 80 lead changes in the 5 game series. 3 of these games have gone to overtime.

Rajon misses after Marbury turns down a shot and Ben Gordon shoots an afterthought jumper at the other end for the lead.

Paul Pierce goes one on one and shoots a turnaround jumper at the foul line to tie it up.

Pierce and Allen try to carry on without Garnett

Chicago goes to Gordon to win the game and he misses a step back jumper. Odd shot selection.

We go to OT. Paul Pierce knocks down a step back jumper from the right side of the top of the key to give the Celtics a three point lead with 36 seconds left.

Will the Bulls go for the 2 for 1? Yes, Ben Gordon forces a 3 on a quick shot and Tony Allen fouls him. Bad foul.

Gordon makes the first, the second, and the third. Tie score. Time out Boston with 27 seconds left.

Will Boston go to Paul Pierce one last time? Read more

NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.

Chicago has it all set up for them to win easily at home tonight, but easily just does not come easily in the NBA playoffs. The Bulls may not find the friendly home confines to be the answer they are hoping for.

Derrick Rose needs to find a way to slow down Rajon Rondo before they change his name to Raging Roundballer. Rajon had a triple double on a sprained ankle in the last game. That is right; he did it on one leg. Pretty impressive.

Rajon rules in spite of nothing up his sleeves

If the Bulls can bring the effort then the odds are that the Celtics will find themselves down 2 - 1 facing another game in Chicago without Kevin Garnett or Leon Powe.

It is that needed effort that has Bull Coach Vinny Del Negro concerned.

”Never think you can use logic in basketball,” Del Negro said. ”Playoff basketball just doesn’t work like that. Every game causes different adjustments, different matchups.

”We have to control [Rondo] in transition; he’s like a one-man fast break. His rebounding and his assists are killing us. We have to do a better job of keeping him off the glass and pay a little bit more attention to him. We have to do a better job keeping him out of the paint. He’s very quick and tough off the dribble.”

source

Photo source Newscom

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Here is a team that won over 60 games playing a team that won only 41, but that 41 is deceptive, because they added Salmons and Miller to that roster and Derrick Rose just kept on improving.

This is not a blog about the Celtics being one and done, but it does play into my prediction from last year.

Funny thing about predictions, you can always bring up the ones that are correct and just forget the ones that are way off. Even timing just gets in the way of the truth. It is kind of like golf, fishing, or stock investing. Hey, did you hear about my fishing trip last summer? There as this fish and it was so big that it barely fit into the boat and, oh, there was this golf hole, number 5, and using a 7 iron, uh then there was that small company in my portfolio and it just zoomed and , wait, wait, wait…We were talking basketball here.

Last year, my prediction/concern was that one of the 3 amigos would get hurt. They didn’t and Boston won. This year Garnett did get hurt (the 3 amigos are getting old and brittle.) and Chicago may steal the series.

In the NBA, there are few office pools because there are few series upsets. The higher seeded home teams should win handily at home and lose by a bucket on the road. That is not happening here. In Boston these two teams look equal. Chicago may get at home and win easily.

Ben Gordon almost out dueled Ray Allen to win this last game, while Read more

NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.

Derrick Rose led the Bulls over the Celtics in a first round road playoff victory.

Chicago 108 Boston 95

Derrick had a great year as the leading rookie in the NBA (my opinion), but he saved his very best for this game. The Celtics are fragile playing without Kevin Garnett and the Bulls are hungry with their star rookie looking the hungriest of all.

Derrick Rose is beating Boston single handedly

Rose followed up his 11 assists with a season high 36 points.

If USA Basketball kingpin Jerry Colangelo has any doubts about the availability of Chris Paul or Deron Williams for 2012 in London, this game should put to rest any anxieties he might have concerning potential point guards.

To put Rose’s game in perspective, his season best was 27 points. He had never made more than eight free throws in any game. He matched his season high for field goals (12, in 21 attempts). No one in NBA history has scored more points in his playoff debut and only one, Lew Alcindor, scored as many.
source

In fairness to the Celtics, Rajon Rondo also had a great game with 29 points.
Photo source Newscom

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NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.

Pay attention, this is not a blog by yours truly. Today we bring you a special treat. This is a blog by Graham Brunell and he is a talented writer for Celtic 17.

Here are some outtakes.
Why Rajon Rondo wasn’t an All Star, and Why he WILL be in the future.

Rajon Rondo, one of the best point guards in the NBA today, was not selected to be an all-star. Why, you ask? We’ll just have to find out.

The Eastern conference: The East was just too good this year. Too good for the coaches to even argue whether his numbers (11.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 8.1 assists) show the true player he really is. Think about it: Ray Allen, Mo Williams, Mike Bibby, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, David Lee, NOR Andre Iguodala made it.
…
His offensive skills will make him a triple-double machine: Wait are we talking about Jason Kidd or Rajon Rondo here? That’s right folks, Rajon Rondo has rebounding skills whether you like it or not. His passing skills are sneaky, yet accurate, and he can get to the basket almost any time he wants to. If he can develop a 15-foot jump shot, or possibly a three-point shot, which would be a miracle, he could be right up there with point guards like Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and Devin Harris.

His speed leaves most defenders in the dust: There is no denying it, Rajon Rondo can run. His speed lets him get ahead in the fast break, run the baseline freely, and blow by defenders to get an open lane to the basket.
…
His basketball IQ and his leadership are at a high level: Being a point guard on the ego-filled Boston Celtics isn’t easy. One night during an interview Doc said that the reason he loves Rondo is because he has the confidence to say “no” to superstars each and every single night.
…
So sorry Rondo, but this year you won’t be in Phoenix (at least not on the floor). Don’t worry, you’ll get plenty of chances. PLENTY.

(To see the whole blog read Celtic 17 in the MVN blog network.

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NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.

As a follow up to the Part I of Rodney Stuckey is candy and a Rose blooms - Part I, your intrepid author would like to show you some interesting comments by Coach Michael Curry of the Detroit Pistons.

Keep in mind, Joe Dumars hired Curry in part because he is such a great student of the game and the players of the game.

This comment came after the Pistons beat the Bulls.

After the game, Pistons coach Michael Curry described Phoenix’s Steve Nash, San Antonio’s Tony Parker and Denver’s Chauncey Billups — who started the season with Detroit but was traded, in part, because of Stuckey’s development — as the gold standard of NBA point guards.

Next, Curry identified New Orleans’ Chris Paul, Utah’s Deron Williams and New Jersey’s Devin Harris as a trio who have “separated themselves … as a young group of guards pushing Nash and Parker and Billups.”

Then he mentioned his own guy.

“I think Stuckey is in a group with Derrick Rose and (Boston’s Rajon) Rondo as the up-and-coming next group of guards,” Curry said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how they all continue to mature and grow as players. All three have different skill sets, but all three have the kind of demeanor that it takes to be very successful in this league.”
source

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NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.

Maybe Michael Beasley should have been standing in front of Derrick Rose?

Image details: 2008 NBA Draft served by picapp.com

Can you use math to predict how good a college player will become in the NBA?

Chris Doughty, a 2008 industrial and operations engineering graduate of the University of Michigan, pointed me to a cool regression analysis of the great John Hollinger. Using data from current NBA players, Hollinger sees how well the players’ college stats explain their subsequent performance in the NBA.
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According to John, Rudy Gay, Marcus Williams, and Rajon Rondo would be the best 3 players from the 2006 draft.

So, who does John pick in the latest draft?

Michael Beasley, Kevin Love, Darrell Arthur, Marreese Speights, D. J. Augustin, and then Rose.

It’s particularly interesting to see what happens to players like Darrell Arthur who had very different Hollinger and actual draft ratings. Hollinger ranked Arthur 3rd in projected PER (player efficiency rating) but Arthur was taken 27th. (Donte Greene, Kosta Koufus, Roy Hibbert, and Marreese Speights were also undervalued by the regression’s lights).

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NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.

Kevin Garnett - anything is possible

Image details: NBA Finals Game 6: Los Angeles Lakers v Boston Celtics served by picapp.com

It seems like yesterday that my Piston won the world title, the Larry something trophy, in the NBA.

My friends were on a high that lasted a week.

Boston fans feel like that right now. You could sell little kid sippy cups with Boston Celtic logos on them and the fans would scoop them up by the hundreds.

They sound just like we did. Our team is great. We will win next year and maybe the year after that! Forgetting, of course, that they barely got past the Atlanta Hawks. Yeah, the Atlanta Hawks.

Maybe it was better expressed by Kevin Garnett. He was on such a high that he could hardly speak, screaming “anything is possible, anything is posssssiiiibbblllee!” Man, you have to love Garnett, for it was a long wait. Nobody wants to be the next Charles Barkley and go out with no title.

Paul Pierce had a great playoffs and towards the end there was no stopping him. It was fun to watch. The Celtics Danny Ainge brought back the old stars and solid defense and taught us all what Joe Dumars has been telling us. These old guys know how to win and how to play D. Hats off to Ainge and crew.

Doc Rivers, truly a nice guy, proved us all wrong. He really is a great coach, not just because he won, but because he made a lot of subtle adjustments throughout the playoffs and they all seemed to work.

When the Boston Celtics built a new practice facility, they surrounded the court with their 16 NBA championship banners and left a blank space for No. 17.

The message was a bit too subtle for Doc Rivers.

The Celtics coach turned a spotlight on the empty spot on the wall at the beginning of this season so there would be no doubt about the team’s goal.

“They can turn that thing off now,” guard Ray Allen said early Wednesday morning, his left eye still red from the first-half face-raking and the postgame champagne spraying that accompanied Boston’s title-clinching, 131-92 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

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With the core group of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, and Rajon Rondo, anything is possible and you have to think that next year could be another Lakers with Kobe Bryant and Boston Celtics with the Boston three party back at the NBA title game.

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NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.

Boston Celtics rule the world or at least the NBA World.

Paul Pierce is MVP and played fantastic.

Kevin Garnett reminds us that anything is possible.

Defense rules and the Lakers better get one.

Redlasso gives us this video from after the final seconds.

source RedLasso

Kevin Garnett was so emotional that he was crying one moment and shouting out the next moment. Boston absolutely dominated the last game of the series.

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NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.

Paul Pierce cannot be stopped. Not by Kobe. Not by anyone.

Image details: NBA Finals Game 6: Los Angeles Lakers v Boston Celtics served by picapp.com

Sam Posey or SAM missile. He just keeps burying 3’s.

Paul Pierce, not Kevin Garnett. It is the Paul Pierce series. Hey, Kevin is averaging a double double, but it does not matter. Paul Pierce is dominating.

Pierce had waited for his chance to be one of those generational Boston sports icons, and the Celtics had stopped surrounding him with a fighting chance. It was getting late in his prime, late in his patience. He watched Tom Brady win his Super Bowls and David Ortiz his World Series, and he could take it no more. This town is the best in the world for winners, and just the worst for everyone else.

These forever New England stars are remembered for the most clutch championship performances. Pierce was the forgotten, dismissed talent, a victim of unfair circumstance when the city never had less tolerance for losing causes.

Suddenly now, Pierce returns for Game 6 in these NBA Finals on Tuesday within a victory of a championship, within a whisper of his wildest dreams. Maybe the regular season belonged to Kevin Garnett for the Celtics, but the playoffs belong to Pierce. History is closing fast.

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Phil Jackson has a pink top of his head. What is that?

Pau Gasol racks up the stats, but plays soft most of the time. Lakers need Andrew Bynum.

Kobe Bryant can’t score on 5 Celtics at once. They are playing great defense. Kobe will get his, but it will take a lot of shots.

Boston by 23. Is this a series of big leads by both teams or what?

Ray Allen had his eye poked in the first quarter and has done nothing since.

Halftime.

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