Beat LA

Similar to the Celtics' 21 year hiatus from the NBA finals, I'm also back to blogging. I've got lots of stuff to catch up on but I thought I'd come back with a Celtics - Lakers NBA Championship preview. Please keep in mind that I've watched a total of about 30 minutes of NBA basketball over the last five years so you know you're getting an educated and informed opinion.

First things first. I pretty much hate the Lakers and it has nothing to do with living in Boston. In fact, I'm not really sure why I hate them. Maybe it's just part of the New England DNA. I just find it hard to like Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson and some guy who refuses to put an 'l' on the end of his first name (Pau Gasol). I mean, couldn't he take the 'l' from the end of his last name and stick it on the end of his first name? Is that asking too much? Apparently so.

Anyway, since the Celtics closed out the Deeetroit Pistons on Friday night, I've been trying to talk myself into picking the Celtics to win the NBA Championship. And it ain't working. I do have to admit that it would be wicked awesome for Boston sports teams to be holding the MLB World Series trophy, the NFL Super Bowl trophy and the NBA Trophy all in the same year. And to think that we were one win away from the New England Revolution winning the MLS trophy.

Yeah, I know that the Celtics had the best record in the NBA during the regular season, going 66-16 for an .805 winning percentage. But they've looked totally and completly lost during the playoffs. They needed seven games to beat the Atlanta Hawks (an under .500 team), seven games to beat LeBron James and 11 other people I've never heard of and six games to beat an aging and banged up Deeetroit Pistons team. At least it looks like the Celtics remembered how to win on the road in the Deeetroit series.

On the other side, the Lakers finished the year with the third best record in the NBA at 57-25 for a .695 winning percentage and then steamrolled the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz and the defending champion San Antonio Spurs- those are just slightly better teams than the ones the Celtics squeaked by.

In my attempt to talk myself into picking the Celtics, I did a quick run down of the starting five for each team and I don't like what I see. I think that Derek Fisher is going to dominate Rajon Rondo at the point guard position. And I certainly don't like Paul Gaso on Kendrick Perkins, even though Perkins has seemed to be playing more physical lately (or at least the three minutes I saw of the game last week). I also have to admit that I don't really like the idea of Lamar Odom on Paul Pierce either. Ever since David Stern fined Pierce for making gang symbols, Pierce hasn't been the same, with the exception of game seven verse LeBron where Pierce single handedly carried the C's to victory. The one matchup that I do like is Kevin Garnett against Vladimr Radmanovic and that's just because I never root for people with the last name of Radmanovic. But even Garnett at times looks like he's shying away from taking big shots and controlling the game.

All this brings me to Kobe Bryant against Ray Allen. Bryant was the league MVP in a bit of a controversial call because Garnett had helped to lead the Celtics to the NBA's biggest turnaround ever, played unselfish offense, made everyone else on this team much better and was the defensive player of the year. But I have to believe that if there was a revote for MVP held today, I don't think Garnett would get a single vote. That's how much he has disappeared in the playoffs. But Bryant has continued to elevate his game and I don't see anyone on the Celtics stopping him, especially an old Ray Allen who can't seem to find the hoop on a consistent basis (not a good sign if you're only on the team for your outside shooting ability). As ugly as Sam Cassell is, that's how bad Allen has played in this year's playoffs. And speaking of Cassell, why is he on this team? He can't hit a shot unless he's the only one in the key, is so slow that Shaq can outrun him and makes a ton of turnovers (not a good sign for a back up point guard). Did I mention that I think he's really ugly? Seriously, he's so ugly that I didn't even want to post a photo of him. (You know how you know you're ugly? When people don't want to post photos of you because you're so ugly).

I was originally prepared to unleash a total bashing on Doc Rivers in this column but in my extensive research (like five minutes), I think I've convinced myself that he's done a better job than I thought. Danny Ainge did a great job in the offseason of assembling this team but then Doc had to be the one to manage all of the egos, who got the shots, how much time to play his starters when they wrapped up home court advantage on New Year's Day and still keep everyone happy. And you know what? He did it. He took a squad that no one knew how they would play together and helped them to the best record in the regular season and now he's four wins away from a huge contract extension.

On a semi-side note to the NBA Championship, who the heck is going to watch this? The games aren't going to start until 9:20 pm. Yeah, I know for all of those crazy LA folks, that's like starting at 6:20 pm. But out here on the better side of the country, these games aren't going to end until after midnight. Good way to get a younger audience involved in your sport. I can understand starting the week day games at night, but why not an hour earlier? And is it necessary to have two Sunday night games start at 9:20? What's the rationale for that? Actually, I know that the rationale is all about advertising dollars and the 24-54 male viewing audience between 9-11 pm but some day there's going to be a whole segment of 24-54 old males who don't care about this game.

So now my pick. On the surface, it looks like the C's are in a ton of trouble. I don't like the starting five matchups and even though Doc Rivers has done an admirable coaching job this year, I would never pick Doc over Phil Jackson, who has won so many NBA titles that I didn't even bother to look it up. In the end, I feel like picking the C's over the Lakers would be like picking the New York Giants to beat an 18-0 Patriots team in last year's Super Bowl. Did you really think that Tom Coughlin would outcoach Bill Belichick in a Super Bowl? I mean, who in their right mind would think that an undermanned NFL team going to their first Super Bowl would beat the MVP, coach of the year and the perennial contender? Something like that happening could only be pulled off if an unknown receiver came out of no where to make an amazing catch that would ultimately lead to the winning touchdown with less than a minute left. Huh? That happened? The Patriots lost the Super Bowl? Seriously? If the Celtics win we're only going to have two champions in this city, not three?

Screw it. If Tom Coughlin can do it, so can Doc. Celtics in six!

Beat LA! Beat LA! Beat LA! Beat LA!