Saturday, June 14, 2008

One More

It's all we ask. And it's also good it only has to be one, because the C's are more than just a bit hobbled. Pierce might need surgery after the season, Rondo is iffy, and it seems like there is a good chance Perk won't play at all tomorrow. On the positive front, the Celtics have withstood injuries throughout the entire year, and there seems little reason they can't do it now. The absence of Perk means PJ Brown might start, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But unless he is having a great game hopefully PJ will not play more than 20 or so minutes. KG these days seems the best option at center - with Posey or Powe at the four. When people talk about the C's getting potentially burned by playing the perimeter-oriented Posey at power forward, they forget that Glenn can easily stick Leon on the inside in his place. So missing Perk hopefully won't be that hard of a problem.

As for the Rondo injury - we can obviously see how well Eddie has responded to extended playing time in this series, and optimistically we can expect more of the same. The Lakers will probably try to pressure the ball with House in at PG, and it will be up to the rest of the Celtics on the floor to make sure Eddie doesn't get into trouble. I think the rather constant derision of Rondo in this series (by Van Gundy etc.) is plain ridiculous - dear little Rajon had 16 assists in Game 2 and has acquitted himself quite nicely. Sure he has passed up a few shots he should have taken - but the good ultimately outweighs the bad. If House is faltering next game, Glenn should not hesitate to then play Rondo longer minutes, if his health permits.

Also the criticism of KG shrinking in this series is off-base in my mind. Yes, he hasn't played his best ball, but his defense and rebounding have been consistently outstanding, and truthfully that's the most important thing for him to do. He certainly is fortunate to have Messrs. Pierce and Allen alongside, but let's not overdo this "KG failing to come through" thing. The whole team only needs to come through once more, and that's enough.

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