Upstart Could Be Lakers Biggest Challenge

One of the most discussed topic of this NBA preseason is who will present the biggest challenge to the Lakers quest for another three-peat. 

Will it be LeBron, Wade and Bosh in Miami? 

What about Boston and the Big 3 plus Shaq? 

Or will the most dangerous challenge come from within the conference?  If you ask the Lakers, the answer just may be the latter.

No diehard Lakers or Celtics fan will ever forget last year’s epic seven-game series, which ended with the Lakers cutting down the nets for the 16th time in franchise history thanks to an 83-79 win in the deciding game.  Considering how physically and emotionally draining that series seemed to be, one might argue that the Boston series was the Lakers’ most difficult postseason series in 2010. 

Well, one might be wrong.


foxsportswest.com: Upstart Could Be Lakers Biggest Challenge

Celtics Can't Win Without Garnett

For all intents and purposes, the Celtics season just ended today with the news that Kevin Garnett will not be ready for the playoffs. That sprained knee is obviously worse than the team had originally thought.

Head Coach Doc Rivers told WEEI-AM that the Celtics will enter the playoffs with the idea of not having KG for any games in the postseason.

"He's not going to be ready. After watching him practice, there's no way," said Rivers. "The way I saw him move today, I don't know if he'll be ready."

Garnett injured his right knee Feb. 19 and missed the next 13 games before returning for four, but never playing as many as 18 minutes.

The Celtics had planned to do with Garnett what the Lakers did with Andrew Bynum--get him back for a few regular season games at the end of the season. But unlike LA's young center, KG was never able to get back on the court.

After watching Garnett run at the team's practice facility Thursday, Rivers said he had to shut him down after about 20 minutes.

"If he can't get through biking and working out without swelling and his leg locking, I don't know how you can play in the playoffs," Rivers said. "This was an honest run today, you couldn't make your way through it. The guy's a warrior, you see him try to mask his way through it. But after 20 minutes of running, I don't see it. After today, there's no way he can play."

And without Garnett, there's no way the Celtics can win another NBA title. Sure, they might be able to reach as far as the Eastern Conference Finals on the backs of Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, but when you are the defending NBA champions, anything short of a successful title defense is a failure.

Clippers Topple Defending Champs

Wow, what a game last night at Staples Center!

It had a little bit of everything that makes for a great game--superstars, unexpected heroes, and a dramatic finish.

And if there was ever a team that needed such a win, it's the Clippers. They have long been out of the playoff hunt. "Wait 'til next year" has been the motto since New Year's Day.

Even though the GM/coach and the players themselves have been telling anyone who will listen that this team can beat anyone in the league when they are ALL healthy--something that hasn't happened all season--it's only human nature to allow some self-doubt to creep in when you are losing games at the rate the Clippers have been losing them this season.

Confidence only lasts so long when it keeps getting hit upside the head by L's.

As happy as I am for the players, coaches and the organization, I'm even more happy for the fans. Through thick and more thick, Clipper Nation has been there year after year with their hearts and their wallets. They don't expect championships, but they do expect more wins than losses at home and a solid effort every night.

Here's hoping last night's win becomes a trend.. for the fans' sake!

Lakers Complete Best Road Trip Ever

While the final seconds of the Lakers 101-91 win over Lebron James and the Cavaliers ticked down, I realized that Phil Jackson and company had just completed their best road trip ever.

I don't just mean this season or any season in the PJ era. I mean ever, ever.

The trip gets off to a potentially disastrous start when Andrew Bynum went down with a torn MCL in his good knee.

But just when some thought the pursuit of a championship was doomed, Kobe responds with a record-setting 61-point performance against the Knicks, and then the Lakers cap off the trip with back-to-back wins over the Celtics and the Cavaliers, completing season sweeps of both teams in the process.

As I said, best road trip ever!

Paul Pierce: I'm The Best Player In The World

I guess when you are the reigning NBA Finals MVP from the reigning NBA Championship team, you can say pretty much anything you want. Well, that's exactly what Paul Pierce did recently in Spain.

He was in Madrid for a basketball camp when a Spanish reporter asked him if Kobe Bryant was the best basketball player in the world-- a belief widely held throughout basketball circles, except Inglewood evidently.

Not only did Pierce claim that he was the world's top baller, but he went as far to say why Kobe should not be considered the best. And Pierce's reasoning did not have anything to do with Kobe's on-court skills. It was more about Kobe's ego than his game.

Check out the interview posted on Red's Army: http://redsarmy.wordpress.com/2008/07/29/the-spanish-interview/

NBA GIVES FANS A CHANCE TO OWN A PIECE FINALS OF HISTORY

Jerseys Worn by Players Competing in NBA Finals to be Auctioned Off During Games

NEW YORK, June 4, 2008 – NBA fans will have the chance to own the actual jerseys worn by their favorite players competing in The Finals. An auction of the jerseys worn by each player from the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers during Game 1 and Game 3 of The Finals will begin with the tipoff of each game.

For the first time ever, fans can visit NBA.com while Games 1 and 3 are being played to bid on the actual jerseys each player is wearing on court. A jersey for every active player from each team will be available giving fans the choice to own either the player’s home or away jersey. The Game 1 auction will run from June 5 to June 24 and the Game 3 auction will run from June 10 to June 26.

MeiGray, the official game-worn source of the NBA, will oversee the auction on NBA.com, and authenticate the jerseys with a unique security system which includes a special code, tag, and security number placed on the jersey before players wear them on court during The Finals. After the games are played, the jerseys will be securely stored until they are delivered to the winners.

“This is unique way to bring our fans closer to The Finals,” said Lisa Goldberg, NBA Senior Director of Trading Cards and Memorabilia. “Giving fans the chance to bid on jerseys while the games are in progress is a whole new way to get exclusive memorabilia from the NBA’s premier event of the season.”

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Lakers vs. Celtics: Who Ya Got?

Covering a major sporting event is like being in Kentucky during Derby Week. Wherever you go, everyone wants to know who you think will win. It’s something I’ve grown accustomed to, even if I’m not truly comfortable with it.

As I head to Boston to cover this year’s NBA Finals between the Celtics and the Lakers, I’m faced with that familiar situation yet again.

Yo, Eaves. Who you got in the Finals? Lakers or Celtics?

I’ve never been one who likes to make predictions, whether it’s the outcome of sporting events or the length of someone’s marriage. I’ve always been a huge fan of fate. Whatever happens, happens. I figure everyone has a 50/50 shot, right?

Plus, what the hell do I know? Yeah, when it comes to sporting events, I’m more tuned in than the average fan. I get to talk to the coaches and the players from both sides. I have the ability to hit up the research department to uncover stats and/or trends that might give some clue as to the outcome.

But in all seriousness, I don’t know anymore than you do. Simply because no one knows, not even Vegas. It’s a cliché, but in sports, it may be the most après pox: It’s why they play the game(s).

Although it’s not common for me to make public predictions on sporting events, I usually have a feeling one way or the other how a game or a series might go. And just between me and you, I’ve nailed some pretty good ones in the past.

• Louisville against Duke in the 1986 NCAA National Title Game: partially conceived in state pride, but there was just something about that freshman, Pervis Ellison.
  


• The Patriots over the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI: New England just didn’t seem scared of the Greatest Show On Turf.
  


• Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson: called the exact round.
  


• Bernard Hopkins beating Oscar De la Hoya: the Executioner seemed to take the fight personally.
  


• Stedman never marrying Oprah: money only goes so far, and it’s a short run when you have enough money of your own.

But as we edged closer and closer to the opening tip of Game One between the Lakers and the Celtics, I was having a hard time finding my trusty feeling. I had looked everywhere for it. Television. Radio. Internet. The back of the refrigerator. No luck. My trusty feeling was ghost.

Luckily, like coming across an old t-shirt or hoop earrings you misplaced three months ago, my trusty feeling found me. Nothing triggered it. It just appeared. Right there in my gut like all good--and bad--feelings.

There was one problem. My head wasn’t quite feeling my gut just yet. You see my head is a bit on the analytical side. It won’t go on blind faith or strong assumptions alone. It likes proof. In fact, it needs proof. Probably just so it will have something to blame in case it’s wrong.

So to make my head and my gut see eye-to-eye, I did what any intelligent, unsure person would do. I asked someone smarter than me.

In an impromptu, unscientific poll, I asked several current and former players, coaches, front-office personnel, and media members who they thought would win the 2008 NBA Finals. Lakers or Celtics?

Again, this move was strictly for my head. My gut has no problems whatsoever standing alone in the face of uncertainty. Call it confidence, ego or cockiness, but my gut believes in itself and nothing else.

The results were overwhelmingly one-sided. The Lakers won in a landslide. In fact, finding Celtics supporters was becoming an issue.

Of the 22 experts who felt comfortable giving a prediction, only five of them thought Boston would claim the title. Three of them were former players who played most, if not all, of their careers in the Eastern Conference. Another was a journalist from New England.

My gut was like, “See, I told you. Lakers all the way, baby!” But my head, being its stubborn self, wasn’t ready to just fall behind these experts. After all, how many times have the experts been wrong?

Plus, my head thought back to one of those rare times it prevailed over my gut when the two did not share the same belief-- the 2004 NBA Finals.

If you remember that year, the Lakers featured not only Shaq and Kobe, but also future Hall-of-Famers Karl Malone and Gary Payton. Both of whom had already played in the NBA Finals, only to lose to a Michael Jordan-led Chicago squad.

And the team LA was facing in 2004 should have simply just been satisfied with being there. Detroit emerged from a weak Eastern Conference thanks mostly in part to the mid-season acquisition of Rasheed Wallace, and it’s core players--Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace, and Tayshaun Prince--were too young to hang with a veteran-laden squad oozing playoff and championship experience.

The Pistons didn’t have a chance. That series was over before it started.

Boy was it ever. Detroit came into Staples Center with not only a no-fear attitude but a strong feeling of disrespect. Youth and playoff inexperience their ass. They had something for the Lakers, and it was a 5-game sweep.

It wasn’t a sweep in the traditional sense because the Lakers actually won Game Two at Staples Center, but it was readily apparent to me at the time that the Pistons were the better team, and they proved it over the next three games.

So it’s that recent historical reference that has my mind tip-toeing the fence between the Lakers and the Celtics. After all, the reason we study the past is to help us make better decisions in the future. At least that’s what all my history teachers said.

Well, regardless, that future is now. And it’s demanding a say. One way or the other. Lakers or Celtics? Boston or LA? Kobe and Co. or the Big Three?

The Celtics swept the Lakers in the regular season, but Pau Gasol didn’t play in any of those two games.

The Lakers have played the best basketball during the playoffs breezing through the more difficult Western Conference, while the Celtics struggled against the likes of Atlanta and Cleveland.

The Lakers have more experience, but the Celtics have more to prove.

On and on it goes. My gut leading the cheer for the Lakers. My head trying to make a strong case for the Celtics.

So with my gut and my head looking more and more like Barack Obama and John McCain on most issues--no common ground in sight--the choice is up to the lone voter in this balloting: Me.

And while I’ve always listened to my head, mostly because I realize the work it puts into coming up with the logical decision in every situation, I tend to trust my gut more. Makes sense, I think, since it’s so close to my heart.

Lakers in 6!