Tick ... tick ... tick ...
Tom Petty is right, waiting is the hardest part ...
|
Leaders set the tone and Kobe put us at ease.
|
Game 7 is hours away yet seems so out of reach ... Friends and family were at my house Tuesday night, savoring the win yet the festivities were tempered.
There really wasn’t anything to celebrate.
Thursday night is where it's at.
Game 7.
As a basketball fan, can you ask for anything more?
For a player, it's where dreams are made ... and shattered.
I've never played in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. The mental preparation, focus will have to be at its highest peak.
Can you believe this will be Phil's first Game 7 ever coaching in the NBA Finals? Someone told me Thursday will be his 73rd Finals game.
Man.
How am I going to sleep? Tossing, turning. I can't get too amped. I have to conserve energy. I need to rest. Friends and family are not welcome at my home Wednesday evening or Thursday.
Keep out -- I mean it.
I need to listen to Kings of Leon, Elton John's Greatest hits. I'll hit shuffle on my iPod and just relax.
I'm on call, to be there.
One and all, to be there.
I'd come a running.
To be there.
I'm on call, to be there.
I will envision what will happen on the court. Dream up different scenarios.
We're home at Staples. We earned the right to play Game 7 at home. A season of hard work and dedication paid off. We fed off the crowd's energy on Tuesday night. It fueled us, it lifted us.
I get goose bumps thinking about the energy level on Thursday night. Is this the biggest game in the 10-year history of the arena? Will the decibel level of the fans literally raise the roof?
No way do we want the Celtics celebrating on our home court, in front of Laker Nation.
No way.
Embracing the Pressure
After Game 5, the media, even my friends were like, 'Kobe must be mad at you guys. What did he say? Did he yell? Did he even talk to you?'
Kobe was the complete opposite. On the plane ride to L.A., he told us, "Fellas, we have two home games left. Let's win them and we win the title. Simple as that. Focus on Tuesday, then Thursday."
Then later he was joking around with us.
When the best player in the world is confident and relaxed, then you follow suit. Leaders set the tone and Kobe put us at ease.
A lot of people handle pressure differently. I like to embrace it and make it work for me. Channel it. I know Ron is feeling pressure -- the pressure of being in his first Finals, especially on a team that won it all the previous year.
Nothing needs to be said about Game 7. It speaks for itself -- the magnitude of the game, the storied rivalry.
Doc Rivers said that Kendrick Perkins is out for Thursday. Our approach, mindset will be the same as if he were to play.
We're leaving it out on the floor.
Who wants it?
Game 7 -- It will simply be the best 48 minutes of basketball you'll watch all season long.
We made a promise we swore we'd always remember.
No retreat, no surrender
Like soldiers in the winter's night with a vow to defend.
No retreat, no surrender
