"Game 7 Goes To JoshFarc!"

Lakers WIN Game 7 over the Boston Celtics in the 2010 NBA Finals.

I've wanted to say this........... well..... ALL MY LIFE! Plus that picture is priceless. The true transformation of "Pau 'mushy' Gasol" into "Pau 'The Rock' Gasol".  That's like going from a Zach Randolph 20/10 to a KG in his prime 20/10.  Woooohoooo! And back to the game.  This is sort of like our blog(2 brains); this is half-blog/article and half rant.  Enjoy....

My God, what a HORRIBLE game of offensive basketball we were blessed with.  Was that Game 1 of the Pistons Finals from 1989?  These refs are so ridiculous from game to game it makes me crazy... and happy.  I love when refs let the damn players decide the outcome of the game and battle it out.  Sure, it was an ugly game, but we got to see blood before fouls, and of course saw Pau Gasol finally adapt to KG's taunting and make a clutch post-up hook, followed by Pau running back with that KG look and evil stare full of not just competition, but "I OWN YOU" eyes.  

There's not a whole lot to say that I'm sure you haven't read. The objective articles will discuss how Sheed starting and Perkins out was an offensive blessing in disguise, and it actually could of been... though we did spot Scalabrine. I'm sure Perkins would of helped on the rebounding aspect of things, but Sheed also had a good offensive night in his spot. Now I am still not sure who's the "better team" but when you have the Black Mamba and Pau in the last 2 minutes of the game, well, it can make you the better team.  End result:  theory holds strong still.  Pau and Kobe for a three-peat next year, but against the Bron.  You'll see.  That Orlando team last season wasn't a bad team, just not a contender.  This Boston team was as good as the Lakers, and that's what makes an NBA Finals.

Thank you to the Los Angeles Lakers for making my viewing season a blast, and for every game at Staples I attended being a hard fought battle (*Minus Game 2 of Finals).  I love the NBA and will watch it no matter what, so having my favorite team (Lakers.. till the Sonics are resurrected) take the ship in 7 against the Celtics, a team I don't dislike, but a team that represents many things that I dislike, including it's go-to guy.  You guys know who I am talking about.  The one that game back in a wheelchair after spraining his ankle a bit.  :D  Leading to my last rant:

RONRON!  I also thank your doctors and psychiatrist.  You were clutch in game 7 with those 20 points, but even more importantly you held Pierce to 18.0 ppg, 3.0 apg, and 5.3 rpg on 43% shooting in 40mpg for Pierce.  Easily Pierce's worse series in years......  and to think, I was wondering if having Ariza instead of Ronny would of been better.  Shame on me.

By the way, that guy on the Lakers who won his second NBA Finals MVP trophy, your nearly 30ppg this series were hard to get, though truly show that you are one of the top dawgs.  Now people are already saying this makes him a top Laker, or people can now compare him to Jordan, but I still don't know.  Nobody does.  It's all subjective thinking.  While I'd still take Magic as my Laker, i think the Kobe/Jordan comparisons have been there for a year now.  As long as people remember that Scottie Pippen was a 21ppg, 7apg, 8rpg, 2spg, 2bpg guy that lead the Bulls to the finals that first year Jordan 1st retired.  Scottie Pippen was basically a Lebron James... but version one.  Lebron is version 2, so he scores a little bit more efficiently and has a bit more strength.... or a lot more strength.  MJ always had nice pieces around him too.  Horace Grant never became an All-Star or anything......  Bill Cartwright was never  a solid center or anything...... and so it goes.

LA Lakers:  You guys are amazing.  I no longer want to trade Sasha this off-season, haha, but you never know.  Our Starting 5 has been amazing, along with 6th man Lamar Odom and then Farmar, and sometimes Brown off the bench.  Had a damn blast this season.  I'm expecting another!

AND ONCE AND FOR ALL I CAN SIT, CONTENT, KNOWING THE LAKERS ARE THE BEST NBA TEAM.  

Now.... if only Phil can grow one more finger... on each side... then he can retire happily.

pS:  Happy Fathers Day.  I had fun watching the games with you old man! That DVD will be a part of your collection soon.

Game 6 Recap

Slovenians like to watch

All series the problem for the Lakers was that no one besides Kobe Bryant was stepping up. Lamar Odom still hasn't scored above 12 points this series. Andrew Bynum looked alright in games 1 and 2, but since then he hasn't done anything Darko Milicic couldn't have done (it might be the injury, hard to say, but 6 points and 1 rebound in 32 minutes on Game 5... ugh... why is he on the court?). Ron Artest looked like he was point shaving out there, the guy is below 50% from the free throw line this series. Finally, tonight, the whole Laker team stepped up and delivered a beating to the Celtics.

The Celtics came out, it appeared, to try to run the Lakers. It worked alright for Oklahoma City... when they were in Oklahoma City (hence the 4-2 Laker win). I don't know why the Celtics thought they could do it. Not in Los Angeles. Not Game 6 of the Finals. Boston is not a running team. I know I heard Mark Jackson saying this at some point this series "you are what you are at this point in the year, it's not time to try anything new." And dammit Mark Jackson, you were right. The plan backfired on the Celtics as the Lakers took a 28-18 lead by the end of the 1st quarter.

And the Lakers never looked back.

Jumping ahead, what does Boston have to do to win Game 7? For one, keep the game at their pace. Clearly they were playing the speed the Lakers wanted to play. Controlling the tempo is huge. Second, they need to hit some 3's. Ray Allen had that amazing game of 7 3's in the 1st half, 8 3's total. Then he missed 18 straight. He hit 2/5 tonight, but no one else did any damage from there. The Celtics were 5/23, that's 21.7% from deep. Rasheed's 0/6 didn't help. When you shoot that poorly from 3 it allows the Lakers to clog the lane and make shots at the rim much more difficult. That's why the Celtics shot 33.3% from the floor. You won't win a lot of games attacking the hoop on every play. And finally, bench Rasheed if he's having a bad game. Rasheed is completely washed up and in love with 3's. 0/7 shooting. As a fan from Portland, Rasheed, I know you have a good back to the basket game. I haven't seen you use it since about 2005. What is up with that? You're not a good 3 point shooter, you never were. You shot 28% this year! The Lakers LIKE it when you shoot 3's.

My prediction: Lakers take Game 7. I definitely see it as a closer game. Probably within 10 points the whole way. In the end the home court will win it for the Lakers. Bryant gets MVP. I know a lot of you think Artest deserves it, but no, I'm going to take the gutsy choice here.

"Brand Spanking New - Lakers/Celtics Gm.5"

That's right!  The day has finally come where I have decided to upgrade my amateurish blog to something a little more polished, and a little more substantial.  Not only will you be hearing my crazy thoughts of the conspiracy theory going on with the referees right now (yea, that's right, I said it!), but my pal Zander (who refs, plays ball, watches it and analyzes it as frenetically and accurately/objective as myself) will be lending part of his brain to us here.  Thanks Zander.  Now remember guys... he's from Portland.  Just because I happen to love Brandon Roy doesn't mean the next article on him will be done by me!

I'm putting money on it that he's got more voice, humor, and wit in his writing, and this should result in a nice flowing blog all about the NBA.  He's the only one I respect enough to have write on my blog (and yes, he likes to make stupid/funny posts like me as well), but trust me when I say "Zander knows his ****".

Speaking of the devil, I had bet him smaller amounts of money on many of the series.  I thought I was on a roll, calling Boston over Cleveland when it was a 2-1 series... Cleveland winning, only to have Boston win 3 straight and take it; then add the next round and I won again with my Lakers vs Boston prediction.  Problem is, I became stupid.  "Double or nothing Zan".  That's all it takes.  Well that and Kobe playing in a game in which he looks like the only Laker.  I guess I should of just stayed betting on the Celtics, but as a Laker citizen I had to take objective analysis away and use my completely irrational mind saying "Kobe will kill them all".  Thanks irrational mind.  Can I have my $20 back??

Game 5 was just atrocious.  From start to finish.  Take away Kobe and you seriously have a soft, jumpshooting, under 40%FG team.  That's not gonna get it done.  Pau had a bad game finally, while Odom played great while he was in... all 25 minutes.  The guy was feeling it and you have your starting PF and C both with shaky games.  PLAY LAMAR 36+ MINUTES WHEN HE'S FEELING IT PHIL!  TRUST ME!

The referees in this league all belong in jail!  I swear on my grandfathers fresh grave, that either the refs, Kobe, Artest, Phil-Jax, or could it possibly be the NBA higher ups that lead to Stern.  Nothing can hurt a company in debt(NBA) more than a 7 game, epic series between the biggest sports rivalry known to man: Lakers vs. Celtics.  It doesn't get much better than that.  Too bad the refs are the most inconsistent refs we've ever seen.  At one point you think they are calling it really loose as guys bang inside and get knocked around with no fouls called.  A second later you get a touch foul call off the ball for "sort of...almost touching your opponent".  Hah.

I'm not sitting here saying the refs lost the game, because the Lakers lost this game badly all by themselves.  I'm saying the reffing has been trash BOTH ways, for both teams, and it can be really hard to play the game, especially defensively, when the refs are literally bi-polar.

Game 6:  Please, Oh Please, Wherever You Are, RonRon Is Coming To Save The Day In LA!

"Lakers VS Celtics: Quick Briefing"

Game one says everything.  The Lakers are going to be that 2010 NBA finals champions...  I really want to stay six games, but I have this inkling that it could take seven.  But let's remember, the sixth and seventh games are in Los Angeles.  Kobe and Gasol proved to be a lethal duo in game one of this NBA finals series.  Before the game, I swear I could hear all the color commentators and the other basketball analyst'S, and many of them chose Boston to win this series, dismissing the entire Lakers roster. Shame on you if you were that oblivious to think the Celtics were the dominant team that would come into Staples and sweep the first 2 games in LA.


Lakers in six, maybe seven........   Look for me at game2 on TV.

PS: I was sick of putting pictures relevant to the topic. I'm sure you don't mind....