While Kobe Bryant did everything in his power to send Los Angeles back to the west coast with a victory in hand, he received as much help from his teammates as New Orleans got from FEMA in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Thus far, the 2010 Finals has been ripe with ancillary storylines – the rugged toughness, exemplified by Ron Artest, exhibited by L.A. in Game 1, Rondo’s triple-double masterpiece coupled with Sugar Ray Allen’s sweet stroke in Game 2, Derek Fisher’s late-game heroics in Game 3 and and the Celtics Killer B’s (Big Baby and the bench) making all the difference in Game 4.
But last night, it was all about the Return of the Macks, as Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Rondo re-established their top billing in Boston’s 92-86 Game 5 victory.
Pierce finally seemed to solve the excruciating puzzle that is Ron Artest’s defense en route to his magnificent 27 points. He made one big shot after another while Garnett re-incarnated himself as “Da Kid”. KG’s 18 points and 10 boards, along with Rondo’s 18 points, eight assists and five boards, assisted Boston in becoming the first team to win consecutive games in this hard fought series.
Yet, despite the brilliant performances of their marquee players, they needed every ounce of their collective efforts to overcome a determined Kobe Bryant. Kobe exploded for 23 straight points during the second and third quarters en route to his game high 38, singlehandedly keeping the Lakers in contention. But Pierce seemed to have an answer at every crucial juncture, when it seemed that Kobe’s sheer will, determination and offensive genuis alone could salvage the Lakers’ hopes.
P-Double’s teammates had his back while he led the charge. Rasheed Wallace made some big buckets and grabbed some tough boards, Nate Robinson kept the defense honest with his passing, blow-by capabilities and scoring in limited minutes, Tony Allen pinned Pau Gasol’s shot attempt to the board with a Floyd Mayweather-esque two hand combination while Big Baby threw his weight around for some tough rebounds.
Ray Allen made sure that every one of Kobe’s buckets was contested, making him earn every one, while Rondo and KG played All-Star ball. Rondo’s improvisational forays to the bucket, converting some illmatic lay-ins with the ridiculous playground english off the board, made many observers involuntarily spring out of their seats. And Pierce found himself within the comforting confines of an offensive rhythm that even Artest, a defensive savant, had no answers for.
Kobe, on the other hand, showed up ready to rumble, only to find his supporting cast armed with plastic spoons. We’ve been taught, throughout this drama of the 2010 Finals, that he needs some other folks to step up. When he needed someone to grab some crucial boards, secure some key defensive stops or hit some momentum changing buckets, Kobe looked like a common panhandler, begging, pleading for some assistance.
After the game, he issued an A.P.B. for Pau, Lamar Odom, Ron Artest, Derek Fisher and the remainder of his supporting cast. Because back in L.A., if he’s forced to perform a one-man play again, no matter how transcendent his performance may be, Paul Pierce and the rest of Boston’s Macks will be popping champagne at his expense.
Kobe can’t do it alone. The question that’s left to be answered is, if he’s going to get it done, if he’s going to equal Magic with five rings, if he’s going to add to his legendary resume, if he’s going to ascend to another rung in NBA lore, who is going to step up and help him?
If no one does, he’ll have to ask Nate Robinson for permission to cry through the words of this Donkey classic –
“I’m all alone. There’s no one here beside me…”
June 14th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
ali says:
pau picked a bad time to play soft. bynum, though willing, showed that the injuries will prevent him from being a factor. so now it’s time for odom and gasol to exorcise those ‘08 demons, when they got pushed around like supermarket shopping carts.
and it’s time for artest to make good on that promise of providing the toughness to help kobe beat this celtic team. ron-ron took the individual matchups with pierce in every game of this series, with the exception of last night when pierce beat him like he stole something. ron-ron’s gotta score, along with that QB defense that stifled pierce for more than half this series. and he had a chance to alter the outcome, but missed those critical late-game free throws.
June 14th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
ali says:
pierce and kobe put on a helluva show, which got me to thinking about some other fantastic individual finals game 5’s. mj pumping in 38 while sick with the flu against utah, magic’s 42, 15, 7 and 3 steals, d-wade’s 43 to demorilize dallas, who had been up 2 games to none.
June 14th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
illest says:
ali…..magics game you mentioned was in game 6 not 5.
bryant cant do it on his own but you know he will try again in game 6. kg outplayed gasol for the first time this series.
June 14th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
ali says:
my bad warden, you are correct, i got a bit ahead of myself. kareem got hurt in that game 5, heroically scoring 14 down the stretch, fighting through the injury to seal the deal. but when he couldn’t go in the next game, that’s when magic put on his show.
June 14th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Blk Caesar says:
What up fellas… Kobe needed someone else to step up and they didn’t. Last night was the first night that all of Boston’s core four played reasonably well. Although Rondo was turnover happy. LA has a major gut check tomorrow night
June 14th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
ali says:
boston shot an incredible shooting percentage caese, like you said, the first time they really clicked like that, minus rondo’s turnovers.
i have a feeling that the game is gonna look much different back in LA for game 6, with Game 7 up for grabs down to the wire. at least that’s what i’m hoping for.
June 14th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Blk Caesar says:
Man I am hoping for a double OT game 7 with Gus Johnson filling in for Mark Jackson and crew!!!
June 14th, 2010 at 6:03 pm
ali says:
now that would be the perfect ending to a great year, trot out gus for game seven.
June 15th, 2010 at 8:57 am
illest says:
on the say queensbridge post i said celtics in 6. well see tonight.
June 15th, 2010 at 10:50 am
ali says:
indeed you did illest. i got ‘em in 7. regardless of the series outcome, this masterful coaching job speaks volumes about doc rivers.
i remember hearing about an altercation between doc and pat riley when he was playing for the knicks. the team was waiting to head to the airport for a road trip while doc and riley were going at it behind closed doors at the practice facility.
doc was just coming off surgery and wanted to play more or be traded to a team where he could. riley wanted to hold him for insurance purposes. they supposedly were screaming at one another until they were out of breath. sensing that he couldn’t bully doc, riley told him that they shared similar traits and he thought doc would make an excellent coach in the league some day.
the stashing of the cash under a ceiling tile in the staples center was brilliant, promising his team they could get their money when they came back there to play, knowing that it was their only regular season game out there and if they returned, it could only be in the finals.
think about this, if the celts win, garnett, pierce, sugar ray and garnett have been wildly inconsistent on the offensive end. yet, they play D as if they’re in the D-league trying to impress some scouts for that one chance at the big time. they win with defense, grit and with the varied contributions of the bench.
he’s cajoled all of these disparate talents, with the big 3 all past their prime, and convinced them to come together to make this run. i laugh at people that don’t factor in a coach’s contribution. doc has been just as valuable, with his motivation and decisions, as any of his players.
June 15th, 2010 at 11:05 am
ali says:
looking at the ramifications of colorado and nebraska bolting the big 12, i think it actually makes the conference stronger, hoops wise.
with the texas and oklahoma schools staying put, the conference will be even stronger in basketball, as colorado and nebraska weren’t making any noise on that front.
they’ve got 10 teams and with the exception of iowa state, all of them have a shot at getting to the tourney. missouri, baylor, kansas and k-state all have top 10 potential. and now, every team gets to play a balanced schedule with a home and away against each team, which is better.
June 15th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Blk Caesar says:
I didn’t know about the stash the cash in the ceiling tile thing… I wonder how much cash he put up there.. Doc has done a very good job of managing thes guys minutes during teh regular season, keeping his bench guys motivated, and making adjustments when needed.. Is Marquis Daniels hurt? or just not trusted by Doc?
June 15th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
ali says:
i think daniels just fell out of the rotation due to tony allen getting those few minutes available.
i heard doc scooped $100 from each of the 26 members of their travelling party and hid $2,600.00 in the ceiling tile of the staples center locker room in february, when they were looking real mediocre as a team, with no one giving any thought to them making it to the finals, everyone supposing it would come down to the cavs and the magic.
i guess nate robinson gets eddie house’s cut.
June 15th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
illest says:
daniels is irrelevant to the game. he hasnt done anything all year anyway.
rivers is a good coach but i dont know how much convincing he had to do. those players know their window is closing. rivers best coaching move was game 4 leaving the subs in for most of the 4th.
June 15th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
ali says:
warden,
the transition from who they were two years ago to who they are now called for some deft coaching and managing. he had to do some hella convincing, prodding, motivating, pushing and teaching to get this team, as it is currently constituted, to the precipice.
this an an entirely different construct to this 2010 edition, when you consider sheed, big baby, nate, tony allen’s contributions, as opposed to ‘08 bench with sam i am, leon powe, pj brown, posey and eddie house. you also have to factor in the shifting dynamic, with rondo stepping up front and center and the big 3 playing off of him, whereas that scenario was reversed in ‘08.
don’t tell me you think that richie kotite or ray handley could’ve gotten the same results.
June 15th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
illest says:
kotite and handley were bad but you cant blame them for all of the downfalls. those giants and jets teams werent any good anyway. its always easy to give examples of situations when they dont work. there are more when its the other way around.
its rivers job to do what he did right? two years ago then won a title and last year they would of been there if kg wasnt hurt. so what if its a different team. this bench is just as good as the 08 bench was. and rondo getting better helps the team and makes it easier for rivers, james groupie.
June 15th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
ali says:
i thought we’ve established that i’m not a james groupie, more of an educated observer who doesn’t shy away from pointing out that he’s a better player than kobe bryant. call me bundini brown if you must, but no groupie.
gosh, if lebron was throwing up those bricks in the fourth quarter like kobe in this finals, you would have had a smorgasbord of negative vitriol to throw his way. kobe erupted for his signature moment of this championship in the last game, and they still lost.
in the fourth quarter of Game 5, he shot 33%. In the last five minutes of the game, when the Lakers were down by as many as eight points, he had zero (nada! nuttin’!) field goals.
in the final periods of the first four finals games, that’s 48 minutes warden, kobe had 57 touches in his team’s 82 possessions. he utilized those touches to go 7 for 26, or 27% from the floor. where’s all that hollering about “clutch” and/or his lack of being clutch when it counts most?
and it’s every coach’s job to do what rivers and phil do. but how many of them are adept enough to push the buttons, pull the strings and orchestrate the outcome in the way that doc has. kotite and handley were not simply bad, they were terrible head coaches.
rondo gets better, but your big three is in decline and you have to work in a new supporting cast. and to do it as well as he has, that’s great coaching.