Celtics had you fooled

(Don't cry LeBron, they still love you in ... New York?)

The Boston Celtics had us fooled. Either that, or we simply didn't believe them.

When the Celtics were going through one of their many dry spells during the season, and fans were getting a little impatient, it was all part of a plan. Doc Rivers insisted he was trying to limit the minutes of his aging stars, making sure his rotation was 100 percent healthy when the playoffs came around.

And still, fans and so-called experts claimed a team simply couldn't "turn it on" when the playoffs started. Well, the joke is on you.

During the postgame press conference after last night's 94-85 win over the Cavaliers, a victory that likely ended LeBron James' time in Cleveland, Celtics forward Paul Pierce said something very telling about this team.

I'm paraphrasing here, but Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe asked Pierce how proud he was of this win, and where it ranks. Pierce said he wasn't very proud of this victory because he and the Celtics didn't come into the seasons wanting to beat Cleveland. They came into the season wanting to win a championship. And today, they still have that chance.

LeBron, whose name we'll hear only about a billion times between now and July 1, so brace yourself, finished with a triple double: 27 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists. But is it safe to say that he didn't play that well? He had nine turnovers, and only during that spurt early in the fourth quarter, when he hit back-to-back pullup 3-pointers, did he look like a superstar.

I'm not sure I've seen a more selfish player in my life. I wrote in this space earlier this season that LeBron shouldn't be talking about where he's going next year when he's wearing a Cavs uniform. It's quite disrespectful.

But let's face facts: LeBron didn't want to win this game. If he did, you would have seen a different player this series. And you would have seen him go all out during that last minute Thursday night. Instead, he just sat there and watched the Celtics run out the clock.

His mind was elsewhere during Game 6, and he made that quite apparent.

Stinking, cheating & punching

With so many things going on in the world of sports, I couldn't focus on just one topic. So here's a look at several issues, and some non-issues ...

- There has been no shortage of criticism of LeBron James after his dud of a performance in Game 5 against the Celtics. There's no denying he played absolutely terribly. But cut the dude some slack. To insinuate that he tanked on purpose or he didn't care is absurd. He just had a bad game. Granted, the timing was poor, but I'd be stunned if he didn't light up the Celtics tonight. For the record, LeBron scores 40 and the Cavs force Game 7. I'm not supremely confident in this proclamation, but there it is.

- Most readers are well aware of my disdain for the New England Patriots, but I have to give them some credit. Lebanon (Conn.) Middle School thought it had won the opportunity to have members of the Patriots attend an assembly at the school. The team initially sent an intern, and not surprisingly, the kids were a little disappointed. So on Wednesday, Bill Belichick and center Dan Koppen, along with the mascot and a cheerleader, came to the school, proving that Belichick is not a robot and, indeed, does have a heart. The thought of Belichick interacting with kids reminds me of the scene in Terminator 2 where John Connor tries to explain to Arnold why people cry.

- The Philadelphia Phillies are under fire today after their bullpen coach was caught using binoculars to, allegedly, steal signs, during a game earlier this week. I'll file this with Ken Griffey Jr. napping under, "Who cares? It's baseball." In other sports, maybe this is a big deal. In baseball, it's not. Baseball teams try to steal signs and they always have. It's like counting cards at the blackjack table: it's frowned upon, but not illegal. Another sport's cheating is baseball's gamesmanship.
Beyond that, what's the advantage of stealing signs from the bullpen? Unless the hitters have earpieces in their helmets with the coach on the other end, how could they possibly tip the batter about the pitch?

- Home ice, apparently, means next to nothing in the NHL. How else do we explain the fact that so many lower-seeded teams are still alive in the playoffs? The defending Stanley Cup champions had a Game 7 at home in the arena's final game against a No. 8 seed, and the Penguins lost. Friday night, the Flyers and Bruins (7 and 6 seeds, respectively) will play for the right to face the No. 8 Canadiens in the Eastern Conference finals. At least things seem to make sense in the West, as No. 1 (San Jose) will play No. 2 (Chicago). But hockey plays a very long season, but that season means nothing as long as you get in the playoffs.

- We trash ESPN a lot on this blog, but I love the SportsCenter commercial with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Brian Kenny. For those who haven't seen it, Kenny walks by Mayweather's fictitious office at ESPN, where the boxing champion is working a heavy bag with Kenny's headshot on it. Kenny asks if there's anything Mayweather wants to talk about, and "Money" politely says he's good while hitting the bag, and Kenny's face. Maybe it's funny to me because I'd love to punch Brian Kenny.

Sleepless in Seattle?

A reporter from The (Tacoma) News Tribune last weekend ran a story that claimed, according to two unnamed players, Seattle Mariners veteran outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. was asleep during the eighth inning of Saturday's game, and not available to pinch hit.

The story created quite a stir, and on Tuesday, a disgruntled Griffey met with reporters. He said he wasn't asleep during the eighth inning and was available to pinch hit. When asked if he was asleep at any point during the game, Griffey didn't answer.

Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu backed up his player, saying he wasn't asleep and that he chose not to use him in that situation, but this doesn't bode well for the clubhouse.

"I'm just hoping that whoever said it will be man enough to come to me," Griffey said.

Absolutely. Look, Griffey is batting around the Mendoza line, and he hasn't hit a home run this season. Still, he's being paid handsomely to be a part of this team, and sleeping on the job should not be tolerated.

But he's being treated unfairly here. Firstly, what kind of shoddy reporting is this? As a reporter, I wouldn't write the story if I couldn't unveil the sources. But in this day and age of "gotcha" journalism, where getting out a juicy story first is the name of the game, it's just par for the course. Shame on you.

Josh Krueger told me this morning that he felt bad for the reporter, saying he's now being shunned by the rest of the team. Well, you create a rift like this in a clubhouse, without naming the sources, and you expect other guys to talk to you? You made your bed, my friend.

Secondly, who are these players who would tell this to a reporter, but can't go to their teammate to confront him? Seems like the chicken way out, if you ask me.

LeBrondo

Word on the street is, the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to put LeBron James on Rajon Rondo tonight in Game 5 against the Celtics. While I have no particular rooting interest in this series, or game, I’m interested in this potential matchup.

Rondo has been the Celtics best player during the playoffs (and he probably cracked the top three during the regular season). And after he torched the Cavs for 29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists in Game 4, Cleveland, it seems, saw it fit to defend Rondo with its best player, James.

Being seven inches and 70 pounds bigger, we wouldn’t normally see James guarding another team’s point guard, which is why this is so intriguing. Seeing two completely different players (at least size-wise) go head-to-head is cool. It’s like when you were a kid and asked your dad, “Who would win in a fight between Superman and a T-Rex?”

Only this is like, “Who would win a basketball game between the Incredible Hulk and Wolverine?”

Obviously the superhero comparison isn’t perfect. James isn’t quite as big as the Hulk, but he is astonishingly quick and agile for his size. Rondo isn’t as jacked as Wolverine, but he’s apparently unbreakable.

I’m sure there are some true comic book nerds out there who could come up with more fitting superheroes to represent each player.
(I'm only a fan of the movies, not the comics.)

But regardless, this could be fun to watch.

Rondo's a rising star

Last year, during the NBA playoffs, Josh Krueger and I were having a little debate about Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo. It went something like this:

Me: If Rondo could consistently hit a 17-foot jumper, he'd be a top-5 player in the league.

Josh: Whoa, let's not get crazy.

Josh then named his top five players: Kobe, LeBron, Wade, Chris Paul (remember, this is last year, before he got hurt) and Dwight Howard.

After watching him evolve into a complete player this season, and seeing Sunday's staggering stat line (29 points, 18 rebounds, 13 assists), I'll put Rondo right after Kobe, LeBron and Howard. I'd take him over Wade, and I'd take him over Chris Paul.

He is the league's best point guard, just beating out Deron Williams of the Jazz, a player with a completely different skill set. Keep in mind, he's also a first-team all-NBA defensive player. He's currently carrying this team on his back, because you know Paul Pierce certainly isn't.

Teams that used to give Rondo that open jumper are starting to realize you can't really do that anymore. He's starting to get the confidence to take it, and more often than not, he's knocking it down.

He's an entertaining, hard-working player that's on the verge of superstardom, and he can be on my team any day.