Celtics are Champs

Congrats to the Boston Celtics for winning the title, and big props go to Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce for getting their rings (and oh yes you too Sam Cassell). But first thing is first, and I must eat some crow.



On a post dated 11/01/2007, I wrote the following...



"Green Kool*Aid
Don't Sip the Kool*Aid on the Boston Celtics this year!Before the Celtics tip off their season, I just want to put it out there that I am not going to sip on that green kool-aid, celtic flavor. I do not think the Celtics will win the NBA Championship, nor do I think they will win the East. Sure, the Celtics will be a tough team to play against, but they draw similar comparisons to the '03-'04 LA Lakers. The Lakers team that included Kobe, Shaq, Karl Malone,and Gary Payton."





Boy, was I wrong.



Not only was this team the complete real deal composed of 3 superstars who each scaled back their egos and games to compliment each other, but their role players were ideal for this team. Savy Vets like Cassell and PJ Brown, lock-down defender like James Posey, 3-point threats like Eddie House and Tony Allen, and young big men like Leon Powe, Big Baby, and Kendrick Perkins and oh yes an ever improving point guard in Rajon Rondo all contributed significantly to the title run.



I did predict the Celtics to win the finals and I did feel that they were not receiving enough credit against the Lakers, and the C's basically exploited every Laker weakness and forced Kobe into countless uncomforatable offensive situations.

These are the finals the NBA wanted and I do not think it is to far-fetched to predict a repeat finals next year. This was one of the most compelling NBA seasons in recent memory with the parity in the West, the return on Celtic basketball, the Hornets, Chris Paul emerging, Lebron continuing to improve, new stars like Kevin Durant and Brandon Roy, and oh yes the NBA still has a guy named Greg Oden waiting to debut.

More thoughts on the Finals to come. But for now, I wanna hear your thoughts on the Finals!

Kobe Bryant <, >, or = Michael Jordan

So apparently, prior to the NBA Finals everybody was ready to put Kobe Bryant and the same dinner table as Michael Jordan in terms of greatest ever in the NBA. People were ready to assume he was going to go into Boston and take the title and let Phil also make claim as the greatest coach of all-time, surpassing Red.

Coming off of his MVP season, and relatively easy playoff run to the finals, who was going to doubt Kobe Bryant? The team had taken a relative 180 since opening night when he was shown the boo's from the home crowd, that was until they ran into Boston.

I will admit I was one of the first to doubt how successful the Celtics would be going into the season and again going into the playoffs having never played with each other before. I also did feel that they were significantly underrated going into this series. The Celtics were not 25-5 against the West by accident or 2-0 against the Lakers.

The main point here is that Kobe Bryant still does not deserve to be in the conversation with Jordan as the best ever. Considering a lot of opinions the list reads something like this...

1. Michael Jordan

2. Wilt Chamberlain

3. Bill Russell

Do not get me wrong, Kobe is the best current player in the NBA today, but I would like to see him with this title before people start giving him it without playing the series. Sure, he has not gotten a lot of help from "Mr . Softee" Pau Gasol or until last night Lamar Odom, but we are talking about the MVP here. His shooting so far has been dismal, in Game 4 he shot 6-19 and Game 1 09 of 26. To his credit Kobe did have 10 assists in Game 4. From what I gathered in last night's game it just seemed like Kobe was not getting involved early on and tried to turn it on to late, something similar to what Jordan would do. But if your team is up by 24 points Kobe, you should be trying to put the nail in the coffin and make sure your team does not lose that game! Was it not only 2 games earlier where the Lakers came back from a 24 point deficit to get within 2 points of leading the game??

Oh yes, and this supposed corner that Kobe has turned, let me point out that he was the one who left the court last night with 3 seconds left in the game and also made comments after the game saying, "A lot of wine, a lot of beer, couple shots...maybe 20 of them, digest it and get back to work".

http://www.truveo.com/Kobe-After-Game-4-I-Need-A-lot-Of-Beer-Tequila/id/124681640

What are your thoughts on Kobe Bryant? Where does he rank in terms of all-time greats?

NBA Finals Preview!

LAKERS VS CELTICS

So, I am going to take a break from my 4-part series for a moment to take a look into the NBA Finals which kicks off tonight! As I am sure everyone knows by now, the Finals wil pit the Boston Celtics and the LA Lakers with Boston having the home-court advantage in a 2-3-2 format.

After doing some research, it appears a lot of the so-called experts are predicting the Lakers to win in either 5 or 6 games. Did I miss something? Did the Celtics not have the best record in all of basketball this past season? Sure, they have played 5 more playoff games than the Lakers and absolutely did the Atlanta Hawks make the Celtics look pretty damn vulnerable. But if you want to compare previous playoff matchups, I would have the say the Lakers had a bit of an easier task than did the Celtics. The Nuggets play absolutely ZERO defense, and seemingly backed their way into the playoffs. Let's be serious, the Jazz were never a legitimate contender in the West and failed to offer any real offensive threat. The Lakers did make the Spurs look like anything but a defending champion to their credit.

Let's take a brief look, position by position at the matchups going into Game 1...

POINT GUARD:
Derek Fisher v. Rajon Rondo
Fisher definitely provides the experience and the clutch shooting, while Rondo provides explosiveness and has impressed a lot of people by how much he has improved his game through out the season. However, I think Fisher with the Finals experience will be the better player in the series. Advantage: Fisher

SHOOTING GUARD:
Kobe Bryant v. Ray Allen
Well Kobe Bryant is the best player in the league right now, basically enough said. Ray Allen is a classic sniper and when his shot is on, he's one of the best shooters of all time from beyond the arc. The problem is IF Allen is on, and even then Kobe is not the league MVP for nothing.
Advantage: Bryant

SMALL FORWARD:
Vladimir Radmonavic v. Paul Pierce
Radmonavic is an outside shooter, who should not be more than a 3-point specialist off the bench role player, does not offer much for the Lakers. Pierce aka "The Truth", has undoubtably been the emotional leaders of the Boston Three Party and the Celtics. Pierce provides great defense and seems to be the go to guy when the game is on the line for the Celtics.
Advantage: Pierce

POWER FORWARD:
Lamar Odom v. Kevin Garnett
I do believe that Odom is one of the most underrated players in the NBA, and could basically be labeled as the X Factor for the Lakers. Odom can provide 20 points, 10 boards, and 5 assists on any given night with some sound defense. Garnett is much the same in that he provides everything for the Celtics and that also includes top flight defense and a presence that scares many from coming through the paint.
Advantage: Garnett

CENTER:
Pau Gasol v. Kendrick Perkins
Gasol was arguably the biggest steal of the season and has been the perfect compliment to MVP Kobe Bryant. Kendrick Perkins has improved by leaps and bounds this year and has given the Celtics exactly what they needed from a young player like him. Gasol will prove to be one of the key players in the series.
Advantage: Gasol


After breaking down the series position by position, it would appear the Lakers have the edge, not to mention when you factor coaching and Phil Jackson versus Doc Rivers. I think it terms of a bench, the group of Turiaf, Farmar, Vujacic, and Walton compare similarily to Posey, Brown, Big Baby and Cassell. I will have to also note that the Celtics bench does have some Finals experience to help compensate for the lack of experience from the big three.


FINALS PREDICTION: CELTICS IN 7.

Why 7 games? Well I think this has been one of the most entertaining and best NBA seasons in a while and I figure why not end the season on a classic historical 7 game matchup, with the Celts prevailing (And yes I was not sipping the green kool-aid early on).


Who do ya got in the Finals? Comment Below.

Top 10: NBA Players I would Pay to see...

As part of a 4 part series, in which I will rank NBA, NFL, and MLB players in terms of who I think would be worth the price of admission to go see play live...I have assembled my list for the NBA version.

This list is purely opinion and for the sake of argument, the price of admission is defined as paying for front row seats to see these visiting players come to play your home team on a given night.

TOP 10 NBA PLAYERS I WOULD PAY THE PRICE OF ADMISSION FOR...

10. Chris Bosh F/C Toronto Raptors (Just a favorite player of mine)

09. Greg Oden C Portland Trail Blazers (even though he has not played a professional game, I can't wait to watch his game)

08. Chris Paul G New Orleans Hornets

07. Shaq O'Neal C Phoenix Suns (yes...still worth the price)

06. Dwayne Wade G Miami Heat (Flash)

05. Tracy McGrady G/F Houston Rockets

04. Kevin Garnett F Boston Celtics

03. Allen Iverson G Denver Nuggets (another personal favorite of mine)

02. Kobe Bryant G L.A. Lakers (yes, I am warming up to Kobe)

01. LeBron James G/F Cleveland Cavaliers



There you have my list. Feedback would be appreciated and I would love to hear your list in the comment section.