It has been nearly one year since the Trevor Ariza contract saga played out with the Lakers opting to sign former Defensive Player of the Year, Ron Artest instead.
While the Lakers’ decision to let go of the player who had played such a pivotal role during the franchise’s 15th title run was initially met with mixed feelings, the approving contingent looked 11 months into the future to potential matchups with either the Cavaliers or the upcoming Finals opponent, the Boston Celtics to legitimize the move.
To all the skeptics of Ron Artest, it is this exact scenario that the Lakers anticipated in pulling the trigger on the acquisition. Would you rather have Ariza on Paul Pierce? I for one must bluntly say, absolutely not.
In this year’s postseason, Pierce is averaging 19.1 ppg on 43% shooting from the field. His numbers may be a few paces behind his usual averages, but we all know what his presence on the floor entails at all times. He has few deficiencies in his offensive game, having the ability to shoot from deep, go mid-range and even drive it to the cup. We may all despise Paul Pierce as Laker fans, but it’s hard to ignore the offensive threat he poses – not to mention his tendency to hit big shots in crunch time. Don’t forget as well that he had a massive hand in holding the Mamba down during the ’08 Finals.
What’s just as undeniable however, is Ron’s defensive impact on Pierce. In the Lakers’ first meeting with the Celtics this season, Artest held Pierce to 15 points on 4 of 11 shooting and forced four turnovers, one of which if you recall, was a crucial offensive foul call in the waning moments of a tightly contested game. The most important thing? We won, albeit by an incredible game winner from Kobe with seven ticks to play.
When the Celtics traveled to Staples Center less than two weeks later, Ron Ron once again hampered Pierce’s offense by holding the Boston captain to a mere 11 points on 4 of 9 from the field. While the Lakers lost by one, our captain, Kobe Bryant, was receiving treatment for a sore ankle and did not participate – quite the disadvantage, wouldn’t you say?
There’s not a single reason to believe that Ron can’t build on his efforts from the regular season during the NBA Finals. Winning this championship against the C’s means just as much to Artest, granted for reasons far different than the ones that the remaining Lakers from 2008 are holding in their hearts.
While I’m not going to say that it’s guaranteed for Ron to completely shut down Pierce, at the very least, Kobe will not have to expend a ton of energy guarding the Celtics’ leading scorer. He can now remain considerably fresher at the end of games and this series will surely be hotly contested throughout.
NEXT: Lock in on D
If there’s one lesson that I hope the Lakers learned from the loss to the C’s in 2008, it’s that we can’t expect to beat this team with our offense. The focus, more than ever, must be on the defensive end. Losing focus for a quarter or two every other game will not be an acceptable occurrence in this series. Like Artest, the rest of the squad must play defense with his same passion, heart and attitude. We may be eager to redeem ourselves, but Boston is hungry for another championship as their window to win is dwindling down to a close.
Aside from executing the proper rotations and protecting the paint, the key to defeating our hated rival will be on the glass. None of us have forgotten how badly our bigs, Pau and Lamar, were punked on the boards by Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, P.J. Brown and even Leon Powe. If you give up offensive rebounds to the Celtics, you may as well put the ball in the basket for them.
Despite the fact that Andrew Bynum is playing at rougly 80% or even lower, with his injured right knee that recently had over two ounces of fluid drained from it, he now has a chance to validate his value and silence his critics. It’s vital for him to realize that we do not necessarily need him to dominate the game with scoring, but rather, use his length to inhale rebounds and block shots. If Drew is able to embrace the role we truly need him to play, I don’t see how we can be beaten in four out of seven games.
The importance of Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom playing with vehement vigor goes without saying. Phil Jackson will more than likely go with the Gasol, Odom, Artest, Bryant, Fisher lineup to close out the games and as the only bigs on the floor, they can’t allow the Celtics big men to muscle them around. We can only hope that Pau and LO can harness the sting from being bullied two years ago to their advantage rather than getting too caught up in trying to prove their toughness, and failing to execute on both ends of the floor.
One of the greatest differences between Boston’s championship team of 2008 and this year’s squad is clearly the play of Rajon Rondo. Kobe’s defensive assignment has sky rocketed to superstardom and is widely considered now as one of the top three point guards in the NBA. Rondo is the Celtics’ Ferrari engine, overflowing with flair, speed, poise and championship experience. It will be very interesting to see how far his game has really expanded against the Mamba’s on-ball defense, but you can be certain that his jumpshot will be tested early and often.
The wild card matchup in my opinion, will be Derek Fisher against Ray Allen. Allen could have easily garnered Finals MVP honors instead of Paul Pierce as he averaged 20.3 ppg in the previous Finals against us. Jesus Shuttlesworth is connecting on a blistering 42% of his three-point attempts in this postseason unlike 2008 when he was stranded in the pit of a massive shooting slump. He’s actually been the most consistent player for the C’s during the playoffs and has an inclination for drilling dagger threes.
I honestly even like Sasha Vujacic against Allen because of his feisty attitude and relentless effort in chasing through multiple screens. At 6’7, Sasha also poses more length than Derek who is 6’1. When it comes down to it though, whomever is guarding Ray Ray better be prepared to fight hard through pick after pick, some of which will certainly be a tad on the illegal side – all he needs is an inch to kill you.
NEXT: Play with PRIDE
In basketball’s richest and most acrimonious rivalry, the key to victory is a distant departure from anything you could draw up on the chalk board.
This is about pride – the pride of the franchise, the coaches, the players and the cities. For the next two weeks or however long this series will go, coast to coast friendships will be put on hold and opposing team colors will be prohibited in public by L.A. and Boston. You can check the Lakers Nation list as well for additional banned items.
The 2010 NBA Finals gives both the Lakers and the Celtics an opportunity to pursue another legacy as an NBA dynasty, an honor that neither team is a stranger to earning. We can talk about X’s and O’s all we want, but bottom line, whichever team imposes their will, spirit and energy the most will etch their names into the new generation of Lakers-Celtics playoff lore. The C’s already had their turn – this is our time now.
2008 hurt us all and the bitter resentment of being humiliated by our arch nemesis left the smoggy confines of Los Angeles. Last year’s title against the Orlando Magic was undoubtedly sweet and special, being that it was Kobe’s fourth and first without Shaq, but the series was anti-climactic and hardly patched the wounds of two years past.
Well, this is it Laker fans. While the debates and discussions regarding this year’s matchup with the C’s will be flooding the entire sports media network for the next few days, once Game 1 tips off, it’s up to the Lakers to seize their championship destiny.
Make no bones about it though, we’re out for blood.