The Mighty Celtics

[Hammer]

How bout those C's that everyone wrote off as being too old. It looks like it's gonna be Celtics Lakers in the finals. Should be interesting.

[SACCAT]

My wife told me never to use the c-word.

[John K]

I'm a lifelong Lakers fan, but I have to give "big ups" to Boston for their post-season play. In fact, it has sorta pissed me off that everyone was talking about the Cavs and Le Bron blowing that series, when really the Celtics were simply the better team and deserved to win. People forget, with all their injuries the past two seasons, that when healthy this is essentially the same team that won the title just two years ago. Only better, because Rondo is much, much better than he was back in 2008.

Now, all that being said, I don't believe they will beat the Lakers. When they are at the top of their game, LA is a great team. Gasol has been playing as well as anyone during the post-season. And Stoudemire should probably be named MVP of the Western Finals, since his comments will probably keep a fire lit under Odom for the balance of the series. Kobe is back to "being Kobe", and the bench is starting to play much better again too. I just don't see anyone beating them if they keep playing the way they have during the Jazz and Suns series.

[AlphaGriz1]

If the Lakers get there the Celtics will win in 6.

They are a better team play better defense and dont have the ball hog #24.


The Celts are peaking when it matters most and if Wallace plays the way he has been they win it in 5.

[Billings_Griz]

If the Lakers get there the Celtics will win in 6.

They are a better team play better defense and dont have the ball hog #24.


The Celts are peaking when it matters most and if Wallace plays the way he has been they win it in 5.

drunk post

[John K]

If the Lakers get there the Celtics will win in 6.

They are a better team play better defense and dont have the ball hog #24.


The Celts are peaking when it matters most and if Wallace plays the way he has been they win it in 5.

drunk post

Either that, or it's simply "Alpha being Alpha". Just because the Lakers are allowing more points to their opponents than are the Celtics, that doesn't mean they aren't playing great defense. The teams in the West, particularly Phoenix, play a faster pace than the teams from the East, so naturally they will score more points. But the Lakers have held the Suns well below their season averages in both overall FG % and 3-point %, and have very effectively contained their two stars, Nash and Stoudemire, so I would submit that means their defense has been pretty effective.

And as for Kobe, Alpha apparently didn't hear about the "ball hog" having 13 assists in game 2. I would agree that for much of Kobe's career, that description may have been apt. But as the Lakers talent has improved, Kobe has been very willing to share the ball. I don't necessarily believe that the Lakers will win the Finals easily, but I do feel that they have addressed the deficiencies that led to their 2008 loss to the Celtics, and that they will win this time around, although it will likely go 6 or 7 games.

[tetoncat]

Celtics have best chance to match up to the size of the lakers. How many times can they drain Kobe's knee before it catches up to him. Physical series with Celtics will hurt him I think. It still will come down to the supporting casts and the Lakers one has done a pretty good job so far.

[AlphaGriz1]

If the Lakers get there the Celtics will win in 6.

They are a better team play better defense and dont have the ball hog #24.


The Celts are peaking when it matters most and if Wallace plays the way he has been they win it in 5.

drunk post

Accurate post.


Also the Suns need to start leaving some broken noses and gashed heads on the Lakers, this one sided NBA doing anything to get the Lakers in the Finals sh*t has to be dealt with.

They need to put Bryant and Gasshole on their ass hard right from the beginning of game 4, then take Fisher out and give that hack a reason to flop.

[CARDIAC_CATS]

If the Lakers get there the Celtics will win in 6.

They are a better team play better defense and dont have the ball hog #24.


The Celts are peaking when it matters most and if Wallace plays the way he has been they win it in 5.

drunk post

Accurate post.


Also the Suns need to start leaving some broken noses and gashed heads on the Lakers, this one sided NBA doing anything to get the Lakers in the Finals sh*t has to be dealt with.

They need to put Bryant and Gasshole on their ass hard right from the beginning of game 4, then take Fisher out and give that hack a reason to flop.

Totally Agree. Suns need to take it hard back at the Lakers.

[[cat_bracket]]

Well I didn't see that coming. Lakers just beat the Cs at their own game. A punch in the mouth. Gasol looked tougher than KG, Artest looked tougher than Pierce (that's not Vladimar Radmonivic, Paul), Perkins had the problem big guys have in all walks of life, someone as big as he is in Bynum.

This next game is pivotal. Boston is saying they'll come out and play tougher, but if that isn't good enough they are in big trouble. LA just looks like the bigger, stronger, more physical team and if Boston doesn't have that, what do they have?

[John K]

Well I didn't see that coming. Lakers just beat the Cs at their own game. A punch in the mouth. Gasol looked tougher than KG, Artest looked tougher than Pierce (that's not Vladimar Radmonivic, Paul), Perkins had the problem big guys have in all walks of life, someone as big as he is in Bynum.

This next game is pivotal. Boston is saying they'll come out and play tougher, but if that isn't good enough they are in big trouble. LA just looks like the bigger, stronger, more physical team and if Boston doesn't have that, what do they have?

I believe that LA is clearly the better team, which I believed even before Game 1. I also had to believe that they would have learned their lesson from 2008 about having to play more physical against Boston this time around, and it appears that they have learned it well. And Kobe really is playing the best all-around ball of his career, even though Alpha stil thinks he's a "ball hog". I'm not ready to start planning the parade just yet, but I'm feeling pretty good about the Laker's chances.

[wbtfg]

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[[cat_bracket]]

This next game could be a classic. I expect it to be a knockdown, drag out brawl.

[John K]

It kills me to say this, but it appears that Alpha may have been right....Boston has been playing amazing defense, particulary in the past two games. I don't see the Lakers winning two in LA, although if Boston doesn't close them out in game 6, then I believe the edge will swing back to LA for game 7.

[wbtfg]

[youtube][/youtube]

[gtcat]

Mighty impressive 22 point beatdown they took tonight!

[John K]

Mighty impressive 22 point beatdown they took tonight!

Yeah, that was a great performance by LA. If they are even close to that good again on Thursday, they will take game 7. It would really suck to lose at home to the Celtics in game 7. It has been a strange series, with each game sort of having it's own unique personality. The Lakers played about as poorly as they could possibly play in game 5, and then came back with probably their best performance of the season tonight. The Celtics missed a lot of layups, although LA deserves some of the credit for aggressively contesting every shot.

Artest finally hit some shots tonight, but I still think he is a huge liability on offense, more often than not, and I truly believe they would be a better team if they had kept Ariza. AT least he didn't dribble into a pack of three Celtics and turn the ball over tonight, like he has done several times earlier in the series. It is hard to believe that he once was a 20 points per game player, because he just looks like he doesn't have a frickin' clue on offense most of the time. I'm not sure if he signed for more than one year or not, but I sure hope he isn't back next season.

[whitetrashgriz]

artest can sometimes be a liability on offense but there is no way they'd be a better team with ariza. artest is one of the top three defenders in the league, and his ability to cover all five positions may just make him the best defender. he's a streaky player which is why his offense looks so questionable at times with the lakers. he's obviously not option 1, 2, 3, 4, or even five most of the time. but when he has to score like he did last year for the rockets he can really get it goin'. the fact of the matter for the lakers all he has to do is take the open shots because he's gonna get them, and work his ass off on defense. this doesn't even touch on the boards and steals he gets every game. i know he can be an idiot sometimes, but there is a reason that the lakers went after him, because with him they are a way better team.

[John K]

artest can sometimes be a liability on offense but there is no way they'd be a better team with ariza. artest is one of the top three defenders in the league, and his ability to cover all five positions may just make him the best defender. he's a streaky player which is why his offense looks so questionable at times with the lakers. he's obviously not option 1, 2, 3, 4, or even five most of the time. but when he has to score like he did last year for the rockets he can really get it goin'. the fact of the matter for the lakers all he has to do is take the open shots because he's gonna get them, and work his ass off on defense. this doesn't even touch on the boards and steals he gets every game. i know he can be an idiot sometimes, but there is a reason that the lakers went after him, because with him they are a way better team.

I will gladly admit that I may have been wrong about Artest, but do you think Alpha will be man enough to admit he was wrong about the outcome of this series? It seems that LA can play pretty good defense too!! This will be good practice for him for this fall, when he may have to admit that he's been wrong about Hauck all these years too. Alpha....are you there?? We're waiting....

[wbtfg]

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