A Forgettable Game Four

In an attempt to bolster the amount of posts on the blog here are some thoughts on the Celtics game last night:
-Paul Pierce needs to step up his play on the offensive end. Pierce’s defense on Lebron James has been tremendous but when everything else hits the fan offensively a captain must step up and keep his ship afloat. Obviously Pierce and Ray Allen can’t get their shots going against Cleveland but Pierce has the ability to take it to the hoop and at least draw some free throws. If the Celtics are to win this series Pierce must do more to stimulate the C’s offense.

-James Posey is a certified playoff performer. He won’t score twenty or dish off ten assists but Posey has made frequent and crucial contributions each time he’s taken the court. From his clutch 3-pointer in game one to his stingy defense on James throughout the series, Posey is proving his worth and then some; and to add to this he is doing it all in his hometown.
- Kendrick Perkins has miraculously turned himself into Mark Price at the free throw line. If anyone going into the playoffs said Perk would shoot around 90% from the line they would have been hauled off in a padded suit. But although his contributions from the charity stripe have been monumental Perkin’s ability to assert himself in the post hasn’t been as apparent to me as it was in the regular season.
- To me the Celtics consistent rotation or lack there of has been their greatest Achilles' heel in the post season. If I were Doc Rivers I would ensure that all players touch the hardwood in the opening quarter to gage what game they are sporting. Sam Cassell has shown the ability to at times take over games and at other times run, or maybe a better word would be walk, the offense into the ground. A quick insertion of Cassell, Leon Poe, P.J. Brown, and Glen Davis would let Rivers sense what player he can expect in a given game and adapt his rotation accordingly. Because if anything has proven consistent in the C’s post season it has been inconsistency amongst River’s bench support.
- If Ray Allen and Paul Pierce can’t hit a shot and if Sam Cassell has morphed into a John Starks-like hot-and-cold shooter—would it kill the C’s to start a quarter with Eddie House just to see what his outside shot could do to jump-start the C’s at times fledgling offense? Rivers opted to start game four’s final frame with the rebounding duo of Davis and Brown but imagine what an impact a couple of quick shots from House would have made on the team?
- Did anyone read about or see Lebron Jame’s yell at his Mother after Pierce fouled him going into the crowd last night? Apparently Lebron was upset his Mother tried to insert herself into the game by making such a visible display of emotion. I’m no marketing genius but I smell a Campbell’s Soup commercial with Lebron and his over-charged Mother trying to fend off those bullies from hurting her baby.