Celtics-Lakers: Game 4 Thoughts

One thought is probably haunting the Lakers and their fans this morning: The Lakers were ultimately beat by the lineup of Rasheed-Big Baby-Tony Allen-Ray Allen-Little Nate. Read that again. That lineup played most of the 4th quarter. Rasheed and Nate even got T'd up. Didn't matter. By the time the rest of the starters returned, they were acting like a closer in baseball, not like a basketball assassin. A few thoughts about this lineup:

• I love the effort of Glen Davis. Even in the games where he gets blocked 837 times, he never gives up. Last night the effort was there, and so was the offense (18 points).
• Tony Allen is an awful offensive basketball player. He is once of the worst layup shooters in NBA history (though he can dunk), and he could not beat me in a shooting drill. But man can he play defense. He made Kobe work in the 4th quarter, and single-handedly disrupted the Lakers offense.
• I love Nate Robinson. The energy he brought to the court was amazing, and he delivered the offense. When the Celtics traded for him, this is what they wanted.
• I can't stand Rasheed Wallace. A tremendously skilled basketball player for sure, but his mental game is a disaster. Keep a lid on it dude.

Now, finally, some things the announcers aren't talking about, but should be:

• Last night Jeff Van Gundy criticized Rondo for gambling too much. Usually I think Van Gundy is spot on, but I think he's off on this one. If Rondo is 100%, Derek Fisher beats him off the dribble 1 out of 100 times. Right now he's doing it 4 out of 10 times. Rondo is gambling because his body is betraying him. They keep talking about how Bynum is playing through the pain (and he should be lauded for it, he's been a warrior), but I believe strongly Rondo is less than 80% physically.
• Many commentators, including the esteemed Bill Simmons, are hammering the officiating, which, much like Van Gundy and Mike Breen, I think is unfair to a certain extent. I think the rules stink, and are hard to call. Van Gundy talks about that a little with post play, but the list includes charges and a myriad of other things. Oh, and the officiating stinks.
• How come Nate Robinson gets T'd up for taunting Lamar Odom (which I thought was a little too quick of a whistle, but a fair call), but Artest makes a 'and-1' and starts walking toward Robinson shouting at him, but that's nothing. Is it proximity? That's stupid. They had set the precedent. Be consistent.
• They have talked about his offense a little, but Artest just seems off as well. I'm waiting for a monster 20-7-5 game from him. Not sure if we'll see it.
• Phil Jackson is a great coach (which they are talking about), but overrated (which they wouldn't dare talk about). But I am coming around. He won his first 9 NBA championships with two top tier Hall of Famers leading the pack, Jordan-Pippen in Chicago and Shaq-Kobe in LA. Last year's title was his first with one super-duper star, and some other very good players like Gasol. That elevated him in my eyes. If every player from the last 30 years were available and we were picking 10 teams, and then I had first choice of coaches, I would still pick Poppovich or Jerry Sloan. But for the first time ever I would think about Jackson. (And yes, I realize many of you, especially Lakers and Bulls fans, think this last paragraph was the dumbest thing I've ever written.)