The Road to Triumph - Boston Franchise (The Third Act)

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Witnessing Celtics' 17th championship is bitter-sweet, whether you are Boston fan or not.

The triumph marks the end to their 22 years of wilderness and setting whole list of new NBA benchmarks, but more significantly, it demonstrates a group of people with good hearts making it through perseverance, commitment and integrity.

Everyone by now knows Paul Pierce as a player. But as a person, he personifies someone who is willing to face and grow from his untidy history, instead of turning away from it and starting over.

Kevin Garnett personifies a gifted individual, who is willing to carry the responsibility that comes with it. It means sticking to it through tough time and surrounded by public criticism.

Ray Allen personifies role model of the team, the franchise and the community, who serves that role with discipline and commitment.

But we are not just talking about the players.

Doc Rivers is someone who possesses consistent work ethics - day after day even when his team is lousy, and with accountability - even if losing his job. He treats all his players with respect and they, including the bench, are willing to play hard.

Danny Ainge resembles a family-oriented guy both privately and professionally. He serves his Celtics' root with persistence and patient. Ainge understands that it takes time to assemble a team with the right attitude for the game. He values individual heart, genuineness and work ethics.

Wyc Grousbeck, the co-owner of Celtics, resembles a businessman with good heart and perspective in life. He interacts with the community, building working relationship and getting advice from other owners of the Red Sox and Patriots. These owners who are visible and accountable, have vowed to spend the requisite amount of money to field winning teams. Team A and Team B are always pulling for Team C, and joining hand in community fund-raising. The revival of these franchises mirros what's happening to Boston as a whole.

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Their triumph is truely a powerful testimony to other player and management in the league, in which team-success is far more gratifying than 'me-first' or financial fulfillment. And community involvement will serve well in the business world.

NBA Finals (Game 6) Highlight

After the game, Kevin Garnett hugged Bill Russell and said, "I got my own now." Garnett is responding to their early conversation, in which Russell predicting a championship ring.

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The Celtics wins their 17th championship, playing their best game to finish the season. For almost eight months, they have demonstrated consistent defence as a unit and alone the way, they overcome numerous adversity.

Watch NBA TV game highlight (highlight1, highlight2) and post-game press (Rivers, Pierce, Allen & Rondo).

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Ray Allen rebounds after he's been poked in eye in first-half, when he was already playing with the weight of a family crisis on his shoulders, hitting seven triples and 26 points in total. Both Garnett and Rondo are determined to rebound from their sub-par performance last game right from the start. Garnett records 26 points and 14 rebounds. Rondo records 21 points, 8 assists and 6 steals.

Pierce looks really tired, but still makes up with 17 points and 10 assists. For a moment I worry that he has nothing left in him, thanks God his teammates have taken the load off him.

NBA Finals (Game 5) Highlight, After-thought

The Lakers adds aggressiveness to their game ... bringing to the basket and scoring down low. In the first-half they come out firing and play with desperation. But in the second, their play are more conservative and scrappy at times. Pau Gasol is in attacking mode throughout. He and Lamar Odom plays mostly under the basket.

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Watch NBA TV game highlight (highlight1, highlight2) and post-game press (Rivers, Pierce, Garnett).

With Kendrick Perkins out and Kevin Garnett in early foul trouble, the Celtics has lost their edge in the paint. Towards the end of fourth quarter, Garnett, PJ Brown and Pierce are playing with 5 fouls. But the C's is still in the game with one minute left, partly help by the scrappy defence by the Lakers.

With Rondo mostly on the bench, Lakers takes advantage of the lack of quickness in the PG position, repeatly attacking before the C's can setup their defence.

Pierce, who has played the whole game, has 38 points and 8 assists.

While it's now obvious that Celtics is the better team in this series, their window of winning it is actually closing gradually with their physical condition. For Perkins, even if he could play the next game, it will be tough for him to be effective with his strain shoulder which is the same one being operated previously. Rondo's bruise ankle has already taken away his aggressiveness since. The biggest fear is Pierce and his bum knee and twisted ankle. He will be irreplacable if he goes down.

NBA Finals (Game 4) Highlight

This game shows that Celtics has stronger will and the Lakers cannot match.

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Yes, the C's play perhaps the best second-half in this series. But entering the second quarter, when nothing is going for them and trailing by 21 points, they focus to compete instead of worrying about the deficit. And after they fight hard to cut the margin to 12 midway, and then later losing the momentum to end the quarter when L's brings the lead back to 18, the C's comes out and still determines to compete.

Watch NBA TV game highlight (highlight1, highlight2) and post-game press (Rivers, Pierce, Garnett).

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In the fourth, the Big Three are taking turn to make play ... Ray Allen's dribble-driving or distributing to open shooter, Pierce's defending Kobe and penetrating on the other end, Garnett's posting and rebounding. Together with Eddie House and James Posey on the floor, they play in unity and trusting each other ... something that is missing from their opponents.

Ray Allen, who plays all 48 minutes, has 19 points and 9 rebounds.

NBA Finals (Game 3) Highlight

When Boston Garden is filled with died-heart fans, the Staples Center has their LA stars.

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As expected, the Lakers play with agressiveness. By getting to the paint, Kobe who scores 36 points is able to either making play or drawing foul. By doing so, they are getting high-pecentage shots. Had not been the poor free-throw shooting, the L's could have pulled away much early.

Watch NBA game highlight (highlight1, highlight2) and post-game press (press1, press2, press3).

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Lakers have made adjustment by switching Kobe and Fisher to defend their counterparts. It creates a few mismatch opportunity early for their transition offence. It also enables Kobe to serve as help defence when he can temporary leave his man.

Kobe has done a better job in penetrating Celtics' defence scheme, by continue dribbing past the C's help defence into the gap and paint area.

Lakers' bench, Sasha Vujacic in particular, outscores Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce combined.

The Celtics, other than Ray Allen, has a poor shooting game. But their defence and Ray Allen's offence has kept it within striking distance. As poor as their shooting, they are still in the game with a minute left.

Pierce doesn't seem to have his quickness throughout the game, most possibly because of his knee still hurting. C's also misses Rajon Rondo down the stretch, bordered by sprain ankle.

NBA Finals (Game 2) Highlight

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With the uncertainty of Pierce's right knee, the Celtics play with more urgency in the first three quarters. This is partly reflected in the disparity of free-throw attempt, 38-10 to their favour. But it is also to do with the somewhat surprising inexperience of the Lakers, unable to counter the momentum when needed and playing soft at time. It results a 22 points lead for the C's into fourth quarter. The C's then becomes complacent, and the L's is able to build on their momentum.

Watch NBA TV game highlight (highlight1, highlight2) and postgame press (press1, press2).

Lakers' 41 points quarter is their largest against the Celtics in the playoff. This will give them psychological edge going back home. They have made a number of adjustment including establishing the post-game using Pau Gasol, and isolating Kobe at times to prevent C's defence help.

Celtics have played an efficient game, registered 31 assists and 52.9% shooting. The way they play is just nice to watch. It seems that the whole team, including the bench, is now peaking.

Pierce has 28 points and 8 assists. Leon Powe comes off the bench for 21 points. Rajon Rondo has 16 assists. Kevin Garnett and PJ Brown, in my opinion, are the unsung heros, defending the pick-n-roll and playing tough in the paint.

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NBA Finals (Game 1) Highlight

Every basketball individual is paying attention to this.

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The scene of NBA Finals on the parquet floor is almost surreal.

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In the third quarter, Doc Rivers pulls his team together during timeout and said, "when adversity comes, we get through it together as a team." This is after Paul Pierce injuries his knee, being carried off the court in extreme pain and taken to the locker room in a wheelchair. It takes the air out of the team and everyone else in the Garden. Lakers have a 4 points lead.

The C's gathers their thought after the timeout. For the next one plus minutes, we all witness Celtics' ubuntu. They steps up their defence and offence, stopping Kobe's shot and scores the next 6 points. This is beautiful basketball.

Watch NBA TV game highlight (highlight1, highlight2) and postgame press (press1, press2).

Pierce's heroic return definitely gives the team a boost, not to mention his consecutive 3 pointers later on.

Other than Kobe, Fisher and Gasol, the rest of Lakers look nervous. On the contrary, the C's are much more composed. Garnett has 24 points and 13 rebounds, Pierce has 22, Ray Allen has 19, and Rondo has 15 points and 7 assists.

Eastern Conf Finals (Game 5) Highlight

This one goes to the wire. Celtics makes a 16-4 run in the second quarter and builds a 13 points lead after three quarters. But the Pistons fights back for the exciting finish.

Watch game highlight (NBA TV) and post-game press (NBA TV).

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The Celtics' starters have played their best game, prompting Doc Rivers to shorten the rotation and play them most of the game.

Kendrick Perkins is a beast on the posts, graping 16 rebounds and scoring 18 points. Ray Allen has his best shooting game, making 5 of 6 3-pointers (scoring 29 points). Few of those are assisted by Rondo. He has 13 assists in total. The screen-n-roll set between Allen and Kevin Garnett have repeatly paid dividends. When the P's fails to close-in Allen, he makes them paid. Later when the P's blanket Allen, he rolls the ball to Garnett and KG makes his mid-range shots. Garnett has 33 points. With the C's game clicking in all cylinders, Paul Pierce compliments with his all-round game on both ends. He has 16 points.

In the final minute, with just 1 point lead and the C's inbounds from P's end, Allen and Garnett runs the screen-n-roll again. Only this time Garnett has set a hard pick, allowing Allen the space to make his shot and brings the lead back to 3. Nice play.

C's responds to P's physical play with physical. In game 4 the Celtics' offense gets thrown-off because they are intimidated by the physical plays. Tonight they are ready. As an indication, take a look at the rebound stats, C's has a 42-25 advantage.

On the negative side, the C's is still learning how to finish the fourth quarter. When the score gets uncomfortably close, they get passive and giving-up the lead. If there is a game 7, the C's must do a better job to finish it off.

Eastern Conf Finals (Game 1) Highlight

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One debate before this series is, whether playing long stretch in previous rounds will play a factor against the Celtics and, conversely, benefit the Pistons.

Watch game highlight (NBA TV) and post-game press (NBA TV).

As Game 1 turns out, the C's is playing in rhythm and with aggression, and their opponent looks a bit rusty. The C's has total of 27 assists and shooting at 52.2 percent.

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Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett combines 48 points. Rajon Rondo has 7 assists and 5 steals.

Celtics-Cavaliers Playoff (Game 7) Highlight

This is a thriller. The shoot-out between Paul Pierce and Lebron James will be remembered as one of the NBA Classics, next to another Game 7 Classics 20 years ago between Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins.

Paul Pierce and Lebron James combine for 86 points.

Watch game highlight (NBA TV), post-game press by Pierce (NBA TV) and Doc Rivers (NBA TV).

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But it isn't just Pierce, the rest of C's make crucial play towards the end: PJ Brown's plays on both end of the court, Eddie House's interception and James Posey forcing jump ball.

One of Pierce's biggest play does not reflect in stats sheet. With one-minute to play and a 3 points lead, he steals the jump-ball intended for LeBron and calling time-out.

Celtics-Cavaliers Playoff (Game 5) Highlight

This is the best game of the series so far. Both teams have performed under pressure. With a strong third quarter and the crowd behind, Celtics are able to protect the margin to the finish.

Watch game highlight (NBA TV, ESPN) and post-game press (NBA TV).

Lebron James has his best offensive game (35 points and 5 assists). But Rajon Rondo has counter Lebron's performance with his own 20 points, 13 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Not known for his shooting touch, Rondo makes consecutive 3 pointers in the second.

Critics have been over Doc Rivers' bench substitution in Game 4, in favouring Sam Cassell and Glen Davis instead of Eddie House and Leon Powe. Doc continues the same rotation in Game 5, but sticking with Rondo more instead of Cassell. Glen Davis' energy has also given the C's a lift.

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Both Kevin Garnett (26 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks) and Paul Pierce (29 points) have big game .

Ray Allen - All About Preparation (and Ritual)

Jackie MacMullan provides this insight.

Ray Allen is second all-time in 3-pointers (behind Reggie Miller).

He has a pregame ritual that does not waver:

a nap from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m., a meal of chicken and white rice at 2:30, an arrival time at the gym at precisely 3:45 to stretch. Allen will shave his head, then walk out to the court at exactly 4:30. He will methodically take shots from both baselines, both elbows, and the top of the key.

When Allen was 8, he had to drop in five lefty layups and five righty layups before he could leave the gym. Sometimes another team needed the floor and he'd run out of time before he could complete his ritual.

"I cried," Allen says. "It messed up my day."

They nicknamed him "Hollywood" when he arrived at the University of Connecticut because he was always color-coordinated, always meticulously groomed. Allen roomed with Travis Knight at UConn. Knight was disorganized, messy. Worst of all, he squeezed the toothpaste tube from the middle. "We said they'd never last together," says UConn coach Jim Calhoun, "and they didn't." Calhoun said, "Ray does things the right way, and expects others to do them, too. People are sloppy - in their preparation, in the way they present themselves."

Allen is outspoken about Kevin Garnett's sweater-and-tie combos, and the omnipresent Adidas logo on everything he wears. He critizes Eddie House for shooting halfcourt shots at intermission at the opposing team's basket.

"I had a borderline case of OCD [obsessive compulsive disorder]," Allen explains. "I was never diagnosed, but it was something I was aware of."

This is how Allen's mind works. If there is a speck of paper on the floor in his house, he cannot walk by without picking it up. He has tried. He has purposely marched up the stairs without correcting the glaring imperfection, but he's unable to eliminate the image from his mind until he goes back down, throws the scrap in the wastebasket, and restores order in his home.

Allen is certain his philosophy works. When he played in Seattle, a veteran leader among a mass of young, floundering talent, he would complete his pregame pattern, then retreat to the locker room where he'd read, often for more than an hour, before anyone else showed up. Allen started a ritual of a halfcourt huddle at the end of games. He didn't just talk to the Sonics about being professional, he showed them how to be professional. Even after a double-digit loss, there was Allen, his head shaved, his shirt tucked in, reading a book, prepared to fight again.

The Celtics have benefited most from Allen, who admits he's made more concessions this season than all the others combined. Doc Rivers said, "Our young guys are lucky to be around him. Too often these kids make it to the NBA and they settle. Ray won't let them." Allen talks to Perkins and Glen Davis about their social life. Allen doesn't drink alcohol. He reminds the young big men, "You have all summer to go out. Do it then. Not now. Not with so much at stake."

There is, however, the free-wheeling Pierce, who never does anything quite the same from game to game. One night Allen gets on the plane and says, "Paul, you're in the wrong seat." Pierce told him, "Man, there's a hundred seats open. Leave me alone."

Pierce says he plans to adopt some of Allen's eating habits and offseason workouts. But that's where he draws the line.

"If I had to stick to the exact same thing every day, I'd kill myself," Pierce says. "What happens if you go for your pregame meal and there's no more salmon in the freezer?" "I love Ray, but I don't get it. I'm not ever going to be at the free throw line saying, 'Damn, I didn't get my parking spot today."

The trio of stars has banged into each other throughout the long NBA season. Sometimes, they've even traded elbows. But, when that happens, Ray Allen has learned to retreat to his corner, regroup, and find a way to adapt.

The space he calls the Boston Celtics can get cluttered. Very cluttered. But, according to Allen's careful calculations, there is still plenty of space inside for a championship trophy.

Celtics-Hawks Playoff (Game 6) Highlight

The Hawks have forced game 7. They are down by 12 in the second and nine in the third, but play a strong fourth quarter.

The Celtics continue to double teaming Joe Johnson every time, but he is able to set up all his teammates for open looks all game long. That lead to a huge run in the fourth that put Celtics on its heals.

The Hawks continue to enjoy the foul-call advantage (47-25 free throws). Pierce fouls out on a disputed call and spends final 4:44 minutes on the bench.

Watch game highlight (NBA TV, ESPN).

Celtics-Hawks Playoff (Game 5) Highlight

Doc Rivers get Paul Pierce into offence right from the start. Despite running a gauntlet of shoves, bumps and elbows on every move to the hole, Pierce regains his aggressiveness, looking for his shot and in the flow.

Defensively everyone turn up the intensity, doubling Joe Johnson on every possession and holding the Hawks to just four fast-break points.

Watch game highlight (NBA TV) and Pierce's highlight (NBA TV).

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Celtics-Hawks Playoff (Game 4) Highlight

Celtics have a 10 points lead to begin the fourth quarter, but these young Hawks refuse to go away. Joe Johnson is un-stoppable, scoring 20 of his 35 in the fourth. He combined with Josh Smith scores all of Hawks points in the quarter. Smith also has 7 blocks.

Watch game highlight (NBA TV) and post-game press (NBA TV).

One stats which stands out is the foul-call disparity (33 to 18 favouring the Hawks). And the Celtics making only 10 of 18 doesn't help either.

Paul Pierce seems still bordering by sore back, unable to score inside the paint. He still gets 18 points, but misses 4 of 8 FTs.

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Celtics-Hawks Playoff (Game 2) Highlight

The Hawks play a more physical game, looking to match Celtics' intensity. Paul Pierce hurts his low-back, having collided and hit the deck hard, and then Hawks' Josh Smith landed on top of his sternum and rolling over his head.

Watch game highlight (TNT), Pierce's collision (TNT) and post-game press (NBA TV).

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Paul Pierce - Now and Then

Jackie MacMullan provides the breakdown of No.34.

Paul Pierce remains one of the most dangerous scorers - if not the most dangerous - on his team, even with Garnett and Allen aboard. His stats for the season (20 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists) doesn't give the whole picture. In fact his scoring is 3 points below his career average, but his field goal percentage (0.46) and assists are higher.

First and foremost, his commitment in defence has been there from the start. On the very first possession of this season against the Washington Wizards, Pierce, overplaying Caron Butler, deflected a pass, then clapped with excitment when the ball grazed off Butler's fingers and out of bounds. The new era of Celtics basketball was officially in motion. This season has been all about defense, because that's all he ever wanted - winning championships.

Pierce has been consistent, unselfish, reliable, and positively buoyant this season. He has more trust in his teammates. He sat for nearly 10 1/2 minutes in a tight game against Detroit March 5 without a complaint, then came in and nailed arguably the biggest shot of the night - a 3-pointer that pushed Boston ahead, 81-77. The Celtics won, 90-78.

Another change to his game is his free-throw shooting. Pierce is a career 79.5% FT shooter. This year: 84.6%. Red's Army dotcom knows the reason why.

The past few years, Paul had gotten into a habit of shooting his free throw by putting his weight over his heels, and fading away from the line. This year he’s got that left foot way back and bending more. By putting his weight forward, he changes his center of gravity and maintains his balance throughout the shot… preventing himself from fading away (see pic).

It has been a tumultuous ride for the Celtics' captain, particularly when you consider the unforgettable playoff debacle against the Pacers was only three seasons ago. That was the seven-game series when the favored Celtics imploded, and Pierce was ejected in Game 6 after picking up two technicals, then ripping off his jersey and waving it at the fans. Celtics eventually lose that series. Pierce was vilified for his sophomoric actions. His leadership and his value to the franchise were questioned. With the wrath of the city and the fan over him, Pierce looked for an opportunity to change thing.

"Paul's not perfect," said Celtics boss Danny Ainge, "but the one thing I've always appreciated about him was he loves to play the game of basketball. He comes to play every night. Now, some nights he might have gotten frustrated, and he didn't always do the right thing, but I think people forget he had a great deal of responsibility and expectations placed on him, and sometimes that wasn't fair."

Drafted in 1998 (10th picks) and after playing two seasons, Pierce was stabbed 11 times in a Boston dance club. He has to undergo lung surgery to repair the damage. He is able to recover from the stabbing and play the full season that year. The stabbing wounds are still visible in his face and back.

This year, he has rededicated himself to conditioning, something he only did in spurts when he was younger. The influence of Ray Allen, a fitness nut, is apparent. Ainge reports, on the offdays after back-to-back games, he can see Pierce from his office window doing sprints on the treadmill. Pierce said that he was so impressed with Allen's conditioning program he was going to implement it for himself this summer.

For better or worse, Pierce brings his honesty and unadulterated persona to lead his team. His path to championship is closer than ever.

Celtics-Timberwolves Game Highlight

Call this one the new Celtics vs the ex-Celtics, a.k.a. the team with the best record vs the one with the worst record.

But it is the new Celtics trailing (86-81) with 2:01 left on the clock, and Kevin Garnett out being examined for abdominal pain.

A strange sequence of incidence then follows: Paul Pierce makes two FTs, blocks Al Jefferson shot and then converts on a fifth-chance follow-up; the Celtics causes a crucial five-second inbounds violation; Ray Allen blows a layup (but Kendrick Perkins has the putback) with 16.6 seconds left; and finally, Kevin Garnett, having reentered the game with 1:51 left, knocks the ball away from Sebastian Telfair a few feet from midcourt and then beating the Wolves guard to the ball to put the game away (NBA TV highlight).

Garnett said after the game, "I knew it was Sebastian, so I wanted to scoot up on him and try to make him drive the ball ... I was able to count his dribbles. It went one, two, and I know he likes to crossover [dribble]. I stabbed at it and got it and I just dived. I knew time was running down and I just wanted to be aggressive on the ball."

Defence tactics against the Big-Threes

Recall the two games lost to the Wizards recently, their zone defence has been pretty successful (held Celtics to below 42% FG and 31% 3P). Why does this defence model work against the Big-Threes.

Scott Souza of Daily News gives his analysis. The model does work when Celtics are not moving the ball and instead taking jump-shoot. That's what the zone wants them to do - take quick shots, keep it on one side of the floor and not making the defence to move.

"The zone is just the latest way teams have tried to get a handle on the Celtics offense. Early in the season, foes looked clueless as Boston rang up one blowout after another. Then the focus became stopping Kevin Garnett with more physical play and double teams in the post. Recently, there has been another shift with opponents following the Detroit model of jumping out on the pick-and-roll and slowing the Celtics at the point of attack 25 or 30 feet from the basket, leaving them little time to run their offense ..... Another development has been that teams have chosen to target Ray Allen aggressively considering he has been the least proficient of the Big Trio for most of this season. The goal seems to be to lure Pierce into driving into traffic and taking their chances with House and James Posey."

The latest tactics is to pressure whoever (other than Rajon Rondo) is dribbing the ball up court and force turnover. It works for a while, but eventually the Celtics pushes the ball up the court via the pass rather than the dribble to greater success.

Another possible tactics is taunting selective Celtics in attempt to upset the player and his composure. In the Celtics-Knicks game (NBA TV highlight), Pierce has been ejected after his defender was overzealously physical in defending him, drawing four personal fouls -- and causing the refs to call two double-technicals to both.

Celtics-Pistons Game Highlight and After-thought

If you do not have ESPN TV, like me, here is the highlight (ESPN), and more.

As expected, the game is competitive and intense as both teams treat it as a self-measuring stick for the best team in the East.

As Chris Sheridan summarises, "experience, savvy and depth" to be the deciding factors for the outcome. Early in the fourth quarter with a 4 points lead, when Doc Rivers gives Rajon Rondo (who has an impressive first-half) a rest and hands over the ballhandling to Eddie House, he could barely get the ball over the halfcourt line against the suffocating defense of Lindsey Hunter. A 9-2 run put the Pistons ahead 70-67 before Rondo returns, and Detroit never trails again.

Next crucial moment, on their final possession, it looks like the play is drawn for Paul Pierce even though he already has a tentative shooting night (instead of going to the hot-hands). I can understand this from Doc Rivers perspective and i know he is willing to live with the decision. Pierce nevertheless has missed his 15-foot fadeaway attempt from the corner, but more importantly, he shoots it too early, leaving too much time on the clock for Pistons.

Coming out from the last time-out for the final shot, when Pistons' Tayshaun Prince notices that Tony Allen has checked back in as defender, he has told Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton (knowing one of them would get the inbound) to give Tony Allen a pump fake because Tony was just coming in off the bench cold. So Doc Rivers sub pattern and defence strategy has been exposed by the experience of Pistons.

The next meeting between the two will be Jan. 6, at Detroit.