I'll be honest and admit that last offseason, when the Celtics acquired Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, I wasn't overly thrilled about either of those moves. Boston's style of play is more or less position-less, so I thought that a traditional PG along the lines of Holiday would get lost in the sauce. As for Porzingis, I always knew that he was one of the better players in the league. But he's also regularly injured, besides being reluctant to capitalize on his size by playing more in the middle.
But now, I see that Boston's braintrust knew what they were doing. That's not to say that the Celtics are the best team in the NBA. But they have lucked out in terms of being in the East and then facing a squad like the Mavericks in the Finals.
BEST TEAM IN THE NBA?
The NBA - and perhaps most professional sports' leagues - isn't so much that there's a hands-down best team. It's more like a matter of matchups. In fact, even most NBA dynasties weren't always the best teams per se, at least not in every season that they've won a championship.
For instance, it did seem that the NBA powers-that-be helped the Jordan Bulls here and there, and did so even more blatantly with the Shaq + Kobe Lakers. The only dynasty I've seen that was hands-down better than every other team was the Dubs in their prime, especially with KD.
In other words, the Celtics should consider themselves fortunate that they didn't facing the Timberwolves or Nuggets in the Finals, i.e. a squad with enough size to potentially counteract their speed and athleticism. Dallas has done a good job of respecting height more than they have in recent years, but they're still an undersized team by conventional standards. And as far as undersized teams go, it's obvious that none are better than the Celtics.
A NEW CHAMPIONSHIP STANDARD?
It seemed that, with the Lakers (2020), Bucks (2021) and Nuggets (2023) winning championships in recent years, that the NBA has started trending back towards teams that dominate through size. However, the Celtics just managed to win championship with their starting C, Porzingis, being more or less a non-factor throughout the playoffs. Let me repeat that - the NBA champions' starting, allstar-ish center was more or less a non-factor throughout the playoffs. Kristaps made his presence briefly felt against the Heat, and he also represented big-time in Game 1 of the Finals. But it felt like, by the time all was said and done, Boston didn't really need him against the Mavs.
The Celtics are smallish and shoot well, similar to the Dubs. But the difference is Boston placing a very high premium on defense. They have at least three players - Holiday, Brown and White - who have established themselves as above-average defenders who usually play between the 1 and 3. And it showed in a league where teams have now, sometimes against logic based on their rosters or the defensive weaknesses of their opponents, come to rely on three-pointers.
KYRIE IRVING SHOWS HIS IMMATURITY
If nothing else, those statements Kyrie made about the Celtics' organization being akin to a "cult" were mistimed. If anything, he should've at least waited until the series was over to let that out. Boston had already established themselves as being a better team than Dallas, regardless of what may go on behind the scenes. And for all we know, those statements may have inspired them to play even harder in Game 5.
RACISM IN BOSTON?
I understand that Jayson Tatum is the face of the franchise, but it was blackass Jaylen Brown who won Finals MVP. Yet, the Celtics took Brown out of the game (seconds before) they did Tatum, knowing that the latter would then be due the bigger round of applause.
I also just read on NBC Sports that after Boston's bigwigs got to hold the championship trophy, and "soon (it) was in Jayson Tatum's hands". I don't know if maybe Jaylen, who again was Finals MVP, got to hold it first, like before Tatum. But if nothing else, NBC made sure to point out that Tatum (and Horford) got to hold it.
Jayson Tatum is blantantly black but also very light-skinned. Now the reason I'm bringing all of this up is because recently, I watched an interview with Benzino, a Boston native, who was talking about the time Paul Pierce got stabbed. Throughout that interview, he kept mentioning how racist the city of Boston is. And as an example, he was talking about how the city has incarcerated the black guys who stabbed Pierce, way back in the year 2000, to this day. But contrastingly, they love blackass Paul. And his argument was that, if you're a black athlete playing for the city, they love you. But if you're just like an average black dude, then, you know what I'm saying?
So yeah, I think there is some colorism involved here on the part of the Celtics, if not the NBA at large. Brown was actually drafted (a year before) Tatum, and he also played better than Jayson throughout 2023-24. And you know, I'm not trying to start no beef or anything but just a reminder that, you know what I'm saying?
THE LUCK OF THE IRISH
In Round 1, the Celtics faced a Heat team without Jimmy Butler, arguably their best player, as well as Terry Rozier, who I'm sure wanted the opportunity to face his old team. Meanwhile, Bam Adebayo neglected to exploit the middle, i.e. Boston's weak spot defensively.
In Round 2, they faced the Cavs without Jarrett Allen, who plays exclusively in the middle, which again is Boston's weak spot. Also during the last couple of games, Cleveland's best player, Donovan Mitchell, was hurt.
In the Conference Finals, there was at least one game when the Pacers' allstar-ish center, Myles Turner, appeared as if he decided to be a non-factor. He also seemed to reject the idea of attacking the middle. And before the series was over Indiana's franchise player, Tyrese Haliburton, was too injured too play the final two games.
Then, Boston lucked out once again by not having to face one of the bigger teams from the West, such as Minnesota. All of that considered, I don't know if this classifies as an asterisk championship.
As I've said a million times on this blog, NBA players of today are weaker than their forefathers. So I don't think you can't fault the Celtics if their opponents are falling left and right. After all, it's not like they didn't have their own major injury to contend with.
WAS GAME 4 OF THE FINALS RIGGED?
The Playoffs, and let's say the final eight teams especially, are supposed to represent the cream of the crop of the NBA. Yet, every other day there were teams losing by like 20+ points in the postseason. That standard is even more eye-popping when it occurs during the Finals, like when the Mavs beat the Celtics by 38 points. You would think with with that type of dominant performance, Dallas would've at least won more than one game in the series.
I believe either one of two things happened. Either the NBA told Boston to throw that game, to prolong the series a bit and perhaps save face, since Dallas sorta looked like they didn't even belong out there with the Celtics. And/or, the Celtics themselves decided to lose so that they could rather win the championship in their hometown.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? (DALLAS MAVERICKS)
Off the top of my head, I want to say 'hey Dallas, y'all need a dominant big'. But it ain't like there's a bunch of those floating around these days. Also, it ain't like the ones they already had are really that bad.
Daniel Gafford has always been an overachiever, though more of an complementary player. Derrick Lively at times looked out he was more or less taking up space during the Finals, but he is a rookie. And as for PJ Washington, to me he's a prime example of the downside of a big developing a viable outside shot. When that happens, they tend to forget how to play in the middle, which again is where Boston is weakest at defensively, you know, if you actually post them up. That said, the Mavs' big performed damn well in the West.
The same goes for Kyrie. He was absolutely dazzling against the West but, upon facing a team more familiar with his style and designed to defend guards, he sorta fizzled. You could tell he was expending a lot more energy scoring on the Celtics than he was against, say, the Timberwolves.
Luka faced a lot of criticism, but I don't really think it's his fault. He's the main reason Dallas got this far to begin with. Also, they should've expected, given his history, that he would weaken sooner or later, especially against a team like Boston. The contingency plan, when Doncic isn't effective, is supposed to be Irving. But they were exposed playing against a team that's built to defend guards and wings.
Boston also did a damn good job taking away the alleyoop game that the Mavs have come to depend on (and were embarrassing teams in the West with). It's been a long time since we've seen an NBA team, you know, actually like win a championship with defense.
It's difficult to predict how to fix the Mavericks. Kyrie is getting older, with his age showing in the Finals. Also, whereas Luka may become more skilled, he isn't likely to get any stronger or more athletic. But the good thing is that, at least now they're Western Conference Champions, i.e. a more-attractive squad for a star player to join. Also, Dallas has a lot of trade chips, if they decide to go there.
No comments:
Post a Comment