Let's go!
What time is it? if you looked at the great flavor flav's necklace clock, big ben, jacque costeau's finest deep sea diving watch, not to mention any one of salvador dali's melting timepieces they would all say the same thing......LAKERS CELTICS FINALS TIME!!!!!
Though it has been ordained by the the most formidable and mystical universal powers that the lakers would be purple and golden gods of the finest basketball ever seen on the planet and the celtics would be evil green despicable thuggish devils, let us all hope for an intense, passionate, cleanly played series, many hours of the best hoops known to man by two great basketball teams.................as we stand on the precipice of this battle royale, i for one am doing a giant inhale breath hold that will not exhale until tip off when i begin to blood curdilingly scream my guts out for approximately 2 and a half hours every other night.
If i make an attempt to be objective and remotely mature about this (which of course would take all the fun out of it) i would say this.......
Both teams are better than they were in '08. both are older and wiser and both know what it takes to win a championship...youngsters dont win championships
Both have better personnel, the celtics with the much improved play of rondo and moderately improved play of big baby (hard to be objective here for me, my vehement hatred for all things celtic comes bubbling up when i picture them) and the lakers this time will have the classic back to the basket center andrew bynum and force of nature ron artest.......
the lakers have the edge there. the lakers also have the edge in the absence of 08 players, being that they are minus the spaceman vladimir the snowboarder radmanovich and the celtics are minus the dirty play of james posey. the lakers have home court advantage. the celtics have a ferocious team defense that is difficult for any team to score against. the speed, intensity, and execution of rondo is gonna be a tough matchup for d fish, he's gonna need help, the lakers have to clog the
lane and not let that little maniac anywhere near the basket.
the celtics are going to be facing a laker team that is much better than the 08 version....smarter, tougher, crazier, more resilient, and more unified.
that said, it is going to be a tough test, the celtics are not in the finals by accident, they are peaking at the right time and they will play every possession like it is their last.
however.....the lakers have something the celtics could only dream of KOBE BRYANT.
Bean is the greatest basketball player on the planet..........there could be an argument made that lebron is a stronger athlete than kobe, but kobe is a winner, lebron has never won a thing since he got out of high school.
i often hear the argument "kobe has a better team around him thats why he wins...kobe had shaq etc" and to that argument i say EXACTLY!
kobe has been around winners and learned how to win.........that why kobe is a defending champion and in the finals again and lebron fell apart like a cheap suit in the playoffs........kobe learned how to play the game properly at a young age from his super cool dad......................when it comes to the depth and weight of playoff basketball you gotta have the heart to plumb the depths and carry the load without being phased...and not only does kobe have that heart, courage and knowhow, but so does his backcourt mate derrick fisher.
the matchups are tough for both teams i dont really feel like getting into it artests gonna put the handcuffs on paul pierce pau and kg are two of the best big forwards in basketball.....blah blah blah we all know about it
one thing, i'll tell ya, has anyone noticed how kg has morphed from a really nice smart good humored guy into just another mean celtic? he used to be a loveable dude, those weird karate chops he was doing on dwight howard that should have been technicals? his general demeanor? he was always intense and a ferocious competitor but i fear he has fallen victim to being just another grumpy green weird celtic
Just to make one thing clear I HATE THE CELTICS I HATE THEIR GUTS
there are two celtics that i have ever liked.........bill russell for his greatness, and larry bird...............i hated larry bird in the eighties, but, darn it, as time passes, i miss having someone to hate that was as amazing and honest as he was. i cant even believe i wrote that last line, but i must be getting soft in my old age.
So anyways, the matchups will be talked about ad nauseum on sports radio and television, but here are the flea matchups, matching up my likes and dislikes of the two teams
Some of the things i love about the lakers
1. lamar odom: he is the nicest, humblest, coolest athlete on the planet, despite being on reality t.v. ( i have no use for reality tv), that is no insult to his wife, i am all for their hearts being fulfilled with awesome love i am just against reality t.v.......and is a beautiful player, his combination of skills is the most unique in the nba..........he's just a loveable man, and my favorite laker
2. derrick fisher: he is the the most under rated player in all of basketball. his returning to the lakers was as profoundly important to the teams success as phil jackson's was. derrick fisher is the man i aspire to be, strong, fierce, intelligent, kind, wise...the kind of guy ya want to follow into battle
3. the cosmic and otherworldy kobe bryant.....it is not just his incredible skill, work ethic, and competitive nature, the guy is tapping the source, he knows how to be a vehicle for magical powers, and he is getting better with age like a fine wine........he makes history everytime he steps on the court and i never take it for granted......
4. the entire laker organization: a family owned and ran team, even the greatest coach of all time phil jackson is practically part of the buss family......the lakers are a class act from top to bottom, respected and loved by players and fans alike, that is why they have great teams so consistently ............and i have loved them with my heart since i moved to l.a. in 1972.............they represent los angeles, my home, they bring us all together, every ethnicity, every economic background.........they are us
5. a zillion other great things, including that my 4 year old already says " go lakers! beat the celtics! the celtics are bad right papa?"
Some things i hate about the celtics
Everything, from red auerbach's cigar to paul pierce's weird wheelchair......it all stinks...............paul pierce you grew up by the forum! get your head right!
Anyways......a basketball fans ramblings......there you have em
i just saw tim legler and bruce bowen both pick the celtics to win in 6 on tv
Not if my blood curdiling screams can help it
