Doc Rivers discusses home-court advantage
After spending most of the early season preaching the importance of home-court advantage, Doc Rivers has changed his tune. Kind of. (San Antonio Express)
“I guess it’s important,” Rivers said. “I don’t know. We want to win the games, obviously, and I’m sure so does Pop. We would love to get the No. 1 seed or keep the 2 seed. At the end of the day, I want to be healthy and have our rhythm. If that takes up to Day One of the playoffs, I’m good with that.”
Would Doc prefer it this way, with the Celtics likely to earn a second or third seed, meaning they would likely have to play at least two series (if they advance far enough) on the road? Would Doc prefer it this way, with the Celtics (yesterday notwithstanding) stumbling into the playoffs? No. Of course not. The Celtics learned first-hand the importance of home-court advantage. They learned it can be the difference between winning and losing a series, between winning and losing a Game 7. (Hold on a second while I: (A) smash my head against the wall, (B) shout obscenities at my computer, and (C) wonder why, exactly, the Celtics decided to stop trying a few weeks ago. . . . Okay, I’m back.)
As the season progressed, standards lowered. Once, home court was the goal. Now, things have changed; Doc just wants his team playing good basketball by the time the playoffs roll around. If he has to take his chances on the road, so be it, as long as his team’s playing at a high level entering the playoffs. Is that perfect? No. But the home court ship might have already sailed, so it’s not like the Celtics really have much of a choice.
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Celtics Blog | Jay King | April 1, 2011
Am I wrong to think that our losses in Games 6 and 7 of last year’s Finals have more to do with Perk’s injury and Sheed being out of shape, and therefore with the Lakers crushing us on the glass than with home court advantage?
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Yeah, home court really helped the Spurs last night. They rest their studs Monday to play the Celtics on National TV and got smoked. It is overrated. I will take the Celtics A game over home court anytime.
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You and every fan and writer keep wondering “why”, willfully ignoring the screaming fact that Ainge tore the team apart, basically resetting it back to preseason form. Yes, pretty much all the way back to preseason. It’s just been amazing to watch the mass delusion in Celtics land. What lemmings. Ainge and Doc snow you, over and over, and you just lap it up.
Re. home court advantage: it’s crucial. Yes, OF COURSE the Cs can beat anyone with their ‘A game’, but AS YOU KNOW, no team plays their A game all the time. That’s why the little edges you win over the course of the season, like home court advantage, matter in the playoffs. Without them, it’s virtually impossible to win series after series after series against tough teams – and that’s especially true for the Cs who, as we just LOVE to ‘forget’ – ARE AN OLD TEAM. It’s gonna be one grueling series after another, and that automatically favors the younger teams.
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you know what? if they play like last night through playoffs I’m fine with games 4 and (if necessary) 5 in Boston. Maybe it’s too ambitious, but hey I expect the best out of this team.
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It doesn’t have to be game 7. And you know what more? Last year they lost game 3(which they shouldn’t) and game 6 (which has nothing to do with Perk being injured)
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Actually, Perk got hurt in the first half of game 6 and it took a lot out of them emotionally. Who knows? With Perk, they might have made a comeback, though unlikely.
If the Basketball Gods want to help the Celtics, then Chicago and L.A. will get knocked out before the C’s have to face them, giving the C’s homecourt against everyone else, assuming we hang on for the 2 seed.
We play Chicago and Miami still, so the C’s somewhat control their destiny; if they can turn it on for the final 8 or 9 games here, they could still win the one seed.
And yeah, Paul, Ainge f—ed up their chemistry and morale by making the trade, which is why they fell apart instead of coasting to the one seed.
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as of now the lakers and celtics are tied in both of their conference and division records and are also tied 1-1 in regular season games against each other. celtics need to win these last 3 games and hope that the lakers lose at least 1 so that games 6 and 7 are in boston this year. unless the spurs do our dirty work for us and win the western conference finals.
banking on jermaine o’neal was a huge gamble since he can’t even dominate the paint against duncan or bynum. i hope and pray shaq returns healthy and that ray allen gets his offensive muscle back. i believe wholeheartedly that allen only had one good game in the finals last year and it was his fault the celtics didnt get those rings.
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The C’s don’t need homecourt advantage; if they’re the better team, they win at home or on the road. Home court advantage in the NBA playoffs is overstated. The team that has home-court advantage in a series has a better record and is usually a better team. That’s why they win more games and series than the road team.
http://theresastatforthat.blogspot.com/2011/04/game-7-in-nba-playoffs-home-court.html
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