Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Quick Rambling Pre-Game Thought

So it was clear in the Bulls series that Boston had to slow it down to win. Chicago was by far the more athletic team, and the Celtics best chance lay in defending in the half court, not in the transition. Now the boy's in green find themselves matched up against one of the best interior players in the game surround by a slew of 3-point shooters, and their strategy is going to have to change if they want to advance.

Dwight Howard affected the Celtics desire to take it to the hole far too much in the first half of game 1, and that is reflected by their complete lack free throws before the break. Picking up the tempo of the game will give the Celtics looks at the basket before Howard can set up and start changing shots. We saw that Rondo can be contained in the half court if Rafer Alston gives him some ground and forces the jump shot. On the break however, Orlando has no hope of stopping Rondo without putting him at the line.

Of course this all hinges on the Celtics ability to get a few stops. If Boston can run off of some steals and defensive rebounds early in the game, the Magic might be tempted to match their pace which will effectively eliminate Howard from the contest.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Surgery

Leon went under the knife today at New England Baptist Hospital and the procedure was deemed "successful" by the team. He had his torn ACL and meniscus repaired in his left knee. Even though he's only 25, this is the third surgery he has had on that knee. He's worked hard before to rehabilitate but there is only so much reconstruction that the body can withstand. I continue to be bummed out by this and can only hope a team takes a chance on him this summer.

And in other sports news, there is stuff going on.

UPDATE: Apparently he also had microfracture surgery. Can't make this stuff up. That combined with the ligament repairs could mean that Leon might not be able to play until well into next season assuming everything heals correctly. Microfracture surgery isn't as serious as it once was (see Stoudamire, Amare) but I'm sure the rehab isn't a walk in the park. I've been reading some other sites saying that we shouldn't feel too bad since he's made roughly $2 million in three years. To that, I quote the great Mark Wahlberg. "Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe fuck yourself."