(Photo: John Kuntz / The Plain Dealer)

Paul Pierce was not getting into that pic

Magic Johnson on the Boston Celtics: “I think Atlanta exposed (the Celtics) that they don’t have great athletes, number one. Number two, where is their leadership? One of those guys has to step forward and say, ‘We’re not playing well and here’s why we’re not playing well and let’s correct it.’ Whatever it is, one of The Big Three has to step forward and get on the other guys and make them say, ‘we’ve got to come with a better effort and be ready for games.’”

Barkley on the leadership of the Boston Celtics: “At some point, it can’t be The Big Three, there’s got to be one guy that’s the leader and everybody else follows and that has not been decided yet.”

Barkley on Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James: “(LeBron James) plays to me like Scottie Pippen, the way (the Cavaliers) run their offense, except he doesn’t have Michael Jordan. Scottie Pippen played point-forward and he would pass the ball to Horace Grant, Dennis Rodman, Michael Jordan. LeBron is passing the ball to Delonte West and guys like that, so he’s at a disadvantage. He should be a finisher, not a starter. He should be dunking balls instead of trying to get the ball to other guys.”

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Boston Celtics (77) @ Cleveland Cavaliers (88) - The series is tied 2-2.

Announcers Kevin Harlan and Doug Collins with Cheryl Miller reporting

Collins on Cleveland Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas: “(Zydrunas Ilgauskas) has been (the Cavaliers’) most consistent player in the series in the first three games.”

Collins on Cavaliers center Ben Wallace: “One thing about Ben Wallace, we know that he’s offensively challenged, he struggles at the free throw line. The one thing that Ben Wallace can do as an offensive player other than offensively rebound, he’s a very good passer. If you throw the ball in the post he can cut it off, he can find open men.”

Collins on the offensive liability of Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo: “If Rondo handled the ball a lot and he made a lot of plays with the ball in his hand, his shooting woes would not be as documented. What happens is the fact that he doesn’t have the ball a lot, when he goes off the basketball he then becomes a liability offensively. As his game continues to grow, the better he’ll get with the ball. You have to guard him when he has the ball, when he doesn’t have the ball you don’t have to guard him and that’s a big problem for Boston.”

Collins on bench players being more important to the home team and starters being more important on the road: “The bench are guys that live off the energy of the crowd, they are hustle guys, they come in and change the tempo of the game. That’s why it’s important for Boston, being on the road tonight, to get off to a good start. So when you go to your bench they aren’t playing with a huge deficit. It’s important for benches to play with a lead.”

Collins on the injuries of Cavaliers guard Delonte West: “The problem with Delonte West’s career is that he’s had a lot of injuries and a lot of things that have kept him from being healthy enough to be consistent. One of the things about him is that he has talent, but he’s inconsistent due to the fact that he’s suffered through a lot of injuries.”

Collins on the teamwork between Cavaliers forward LeBron James and forward Joe Smith: “You can see that LeBron (James) has such confidence in Joe Smith. He knows when he’s open, he finds him and delivers the ball at the right time.”

Collins on good defense: “When you play defense in this league, there’s one thing that you better be able to do - you better be able to guard screen rolls. To do that, you better have big guys who are aggressive, who can jump out, who can attack the dribbler, get back and then get into the paint. (The Celtics and the Cavaliers), their big men are terrific at being able to get out and defend that pick and roll and be able to get back.”

**** ****

Halftime

Ernie Johnson, Barkley, Smith and Magic Johnson

Barkley on the two-point game at halftime: “You have to feel good if you are the Celtics because the closer the game is down the stretch the better it is for the Celtics because they have weapons…If the game is close, the Celtics are going to (ultimately) win because they have three guys who can make a shot, the Cavaliers have one guy.”

Barkley on the Spurs/Hornets series: “I’m looking forward to (the Spurs/Hornets) game tomorrow…Orlando is going to get a mercy kill (against Detroit) tomorrow and I’m looking forward to what is going to happen in New Orleans. Peja Stojakovic has to play better, David West has to play better and Tyson Chandler has to play better…This is a toss-up series. I picked New Orleans, but the Spurs aren’t going anywhere.”

**** ****

Collins on Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas: “The big man (Zydrunas Ilgauskas) can shoot the ball, he can pass it…Just to see him doing what he’s doing for Cleveland is a great story.”

Collins on the strength of the Celtics’ and Cavaliers’ front lines: “When you look at both (the Celtics and Cavaliers) you have some high energy, front line players. (Kevin) Garnett, PJ Brown, (Kendrick) Perkins, (Zydrunas) Ilgauskas, (Anderson) Varejao, Ben Wallace - you better bring your lunch pail when you play against these guys.”

TNT’s Cheryl Miller interviewed LeBron James after the game.

James on his play down the stretch: “I just wanted to try to continue to be aggressive. The shots I’ve been taking have been feeling great. They’ve been on line, they’ve been feeling great. One thing I keep telling myself, and the coaching staff keeps telling (me), is that I gotta shoot my way out of it. I tell myself, ‘Let’s make just one and we’ll open this thing up’ and then I went and hit a big three.”

James on the NBA Playoffs: “This is a great game, the NBA in the postseason is where champions are made and where players are made.”

**** ****

Inside the NBA

Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Magic Johnson

Barkley on the Celtics’ modern age Big Three: “I hate when they call those guys ‘The Big Three.’ (Larry) Bird, (Robert) Parrish and (Kevin) McHale were The Big Three, these guys are good players in their generation.”

Magic Johnson on the Celtics’ defense: “Everybody says that (the Celtics are) this great defensive team, but why didn’t they stop Atlanta three times when they had a chance to? Why didn’t they stop Cleveland tonight? In a 68-65 game, that’s when you’re mentally tough…To me, they are a great team defense, but individually they are not great defensive players.”

Barkley on the Celtics/Cavaliers series: “It’s frustrating watching (the Celtics and the Cavaliers) play. If the Celtics would play at a much faster pace, it would help Paul Pierce get better shots…It’s so frustrating watching them, every game has the potential to be a nail biter. They are always going to be ugly games because these guys very seldom get dunks. LeBron James had the one great dunk tonight, but LeBron should get three or four dunks a game on the fast break that he never gets.”

Magic on the Celtics not living up to being the best team in basketball: “It’s blowing my mind. I’m watching the Atlanta series and I’m watching this series and this is supposed to be the best team in basketball with the best record and they haven’t figured out why they’re losing on the road. Detroit will beat this team if they advance because Detroit is smart and because Detroit can play on the road. So (the Celtics) better figure this out really quick because they may not make it out of this series if they keep playing like this.”

Smith on the Celtics: “(The Celtics aren’t) a team that you would say is the best team in basketball, they haven’t played the best in the playoffs so you don’t think that they are the best team in basketball. Their record in the regular season doesn’t indicate what they’ve done. I really don’t believe that they have a guy who can take over a game offensively. They can take it over defensively at times, they can make great passes, but I don’t think that they have one guy (who can take over). Paul Pierce is the closest thing to it, but I don’t think that he can do that anymore…Sometimes it doesn’t come down to execution, it doesn’t come down to coaching strategy, it doesn’t come down to effort. It comes down to this guy is better than that guy, period. And right now, there is no one on that team offensively that can say that.”

Smith on Magic Johnson’s former late night show, ‘The Magic Hour:’ “I was one of the 10 people who watched (The Magic Hour).”

Sphere: Related Content

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 3:43 pm and is filed under Ben Wallace, Boston Celtics, Charles Barkley, Cheryl Miller, Cleveland Cavaliers, Delonte West, Doug Collins, Ernie Johnson, Joe Smith, Kenny Smith, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, New Orleans Hornets, San Antonio Spurs, The Big Three, The Magic Hour, Zydrunas Illgauskas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.