Obviously there was much to talk about following the Celtics victory last night over the Miami Heat. Between LeBron trying to carry the Heat like the Cavs, Shaq running the floor like a runaway dump truck for a two-hand finish, Chris Bosh having as much impact on the game as the Coach did from the Gramercy Garden and Rajon Rondo playing maestro to the tune of seventeen dimes some things became very clear: TEAM, CHEMISTRY, PREPARATION AND COACHING all matter.
In the post game Lebron was quoted as saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. Interesting first that he thinks of himself as a mighty roman, but even more interesting is the fact that the Heat don’t even look like they had a training camp. I wouldn’t even bring this up but I have to because the majority of basketball “experts” really have no idea how challenging it is to build championship chemistry. Take a quick look at the 2008 NBA Champion Boston Celtics. Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Ed House, James, Posey, Glen Davis and Leon Powe, arrive before training camp to get to work with Pierce, Rondo and Perkins. The team then goes to of all places, Rome, to train and practice before playing exhibition games in Europe.
With one heck of an afternoon French Roast coffee I was doing some homework and the 2007-2008 Celtics started the season 26-3 over the course of November and December. Twenty one of those twenty six victories were by double digits (imagine if I had bet the spread?!?!) which is pretty amazing considering some of the “experts” thought they would take time to gel and the “Big 3” wouldn’t be able to share the ball. When great leadership, meets great talent and everyone has the same end goal then something like that is possible. Better yet, Rome being built in a day, or over the course of a training camp and a preseason is not only possible it happened. Obviously it takes a unique group to do it, but all we have been hearing about is how the Heat put together a team that could win 65-70 games. What were the Heat working in training camp? I know last night was a small sample set, and no doubt the Heat will destroy the weaker teams in the league, but there was not much flow offensively besides Lebron’s hot streak and there was very little defensively that would make a quality opponent nervous when needing to get a great look in a big spot.
Speaking of getting open looks in big spots, is there anything better in terms of both team and clutch basketball then when the Celtics make the extra pass and get Ray Allen free for an open three from the corner? No, there isn’t. Seeing how genuinely excited Ray’s mother gets from her baseline home at the garden really excites some of my inner circle, so much so that they want me to invite her to an NBA Friday at the Gramercy Garden when the Celtics and his wife are on the road. I know, very interesting.
Few things really inspire me as much as great team basketball as it represents just how much people in our society could accomplish if they put their egos aside and worked together. One of those things though is a great film, which is exactly why you need to see The Social Network. I am not going to give anything away here, just know these three things: it is not meant to be a history lesson on the invention of facebook, it contains some tremendous dialogue thanks to a kick ass script thanks to Aaron Sorkin and there are multiple top notch performances thanks to awesome direction by David Fincher.
Tonight Coach is trying out for the NRF, which is the Nike Recess Federation basketball league, which is run for individuals in the “industry”. Not sure what to expect, but as long as I my wind holds up out there I will do my best to channel my inner KG against the competition. As long as I have a better showing than Chris Bosh I should be good.
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