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.

A few videos worthy of posting...

TERRELL OWENS CRYING!!

For everyone out there, especially Eagles, 49ers, and Ravens fans (basically teams T.O. has burned in the past) and basically fans of the NFL, here is an epic video of proportions for you to enjoy. After the Giants did everyone a favor and showed how much of fraud Wade Phillips is.

My favorite quote is, "I've always had a great relationship with my quarterback..." PLEASE ask Jeff Garcia and Donovan McNabb about that comment....PLEASE! Hell even ask Drew Bledsoe, who TO was ready to throw under the bus quickly when he wanted Tony out there at Q.

Oh yeah, if Hillary Clinton appeared stronger and more passionate because of her crying performance after winning the projections in New Hampshire, perhaps T.O. will look more passionate as an athlete after this display.

Moving on to my second NEW favorite video...

VOTE FOR CHRIS W. BOSH!

This video is pure genius and it definitely earned a vote from me for Chris Bosh into the All-star game. It will be almost impossible to surpass Lebron and KG to become a starter, but averaging 21.7 ppg and 9.3 rpg, I think he is worthy of an all star nod.

A few other issues of note...

* The Baltimore Ravens hired Eagles secondary and former special teams coach John Harbaugh as the successor to Brian Billick. Interesting hire here to say the least. I have personally seen what Harbaugh can do as he has been with the Eagles organization for a bit of time and I have been impressed with his talents there, however I am not quite sure how this will translate into a head coaching position. It's definitely a gamble for Baltimore and it may pay off going with a youthful coach, IF they are committed to rebuilding in key positions with youth at QB and WR among others.

* Even though the Celtics has slipped up a bit lately, I am beginning to retrack my thoughts on the Celtics not making it to the Finals (and yes since this is my blog, I can change my mind!). KG is one of the most unselfish players in NBA, and it can be said that Pierce and Allen are unselfish as well. They are getting what they need from Rajon Rondo at point and James Posey and Eddie House are the type of role players this team should be content with. My only question about the Celts is if they need a veteran point guard to backup Rondo and step up if he ever becomes hurt. Free Agent PG Gary Payton anyone?

*There are only two remaining coaching vacancies left in the NFL, the Washington Redskins and Atlanta Falcons. Obviously, the Falcons job is not very attractive and with Jason Garrett, Tony Sparano (no no not Tony Soprano) and Pete Carroll essentially out of the picture, I'm not really sure where the Falcons should look next. They better look away from any old timers such as Marty Schottenheimer and avoid knuckleheads like Mike Tice. They need a whole new attitude in there, but perhaps a GM should be hired first. Now for the Redskins, a prediction would be for them to go out there and hire some flashy name like Steve Spurrier or someone from history like Joe Gibbs, but when it comes down to it they were a playoff team, so they should go with someone who could build on the current team and not change the whole team philosophy. The solution: Gregg Williams. P.S. Norm Chow is available and I think a good offensive mind (Dolphins? Ravens? Falcons?)

* Sunday's Conference Championship games should be a lot of fun, not only for the team matchups but for the potential of the weather conditions in both games. I will check back in with predictions before kickoffs.

....til next time

-E