NBA Finals 2008

So I'm a big Celtics fan and I am excited about their winning the championship. The Game 6 dismantling of the Lakers was one of the best things I've ever seen. I'm still not sure how the Celtics put up 73 points in the second half considering that they often looked a little out of sync Maybe it was the ridiculous amount of offensive rebounds that were the Lakers undoing. Here, in brief, is my analysis of the NBA Finals.

Celtics: Excellent defense all series long. The second half of game 4 was one of the best halves of basketball I've ever seen, right up there with the Suns against the Lakers a couple years ago when they hung 68 points on them in the first half. What the Celtics did to Kobe Bryant was one of the most impressive feats of defense in the history of the NBA.

Lakers: Looked awful for most of the series. They were standing around waiting for something to happen and never really learned to play defense. I'd put this on Odom and Gasol, but really, I don't feel it's their faults. Most of the blame has to be put on Kobe, not because of his numbers, but because he is, undoubtedly, the leader of this team and he needed to find some way to motivate his teammates to play harder and more physically. The leads they took in Games 4 and 5 seemed to make them complacent.

Pierce: Finals MVP and well deserved. Outside of Game 3, was the best player on both ends of the floor. I give him credit over Bryant for holding him down defensively while also getting off offensively.

Garnett: The heart of the Celtics team and what got them to the championship as well as being the rock during the series both offensively and defensively. I was never concerned about him during the series, even when he struggled to score.

Allen: Shooting slump? I don't care about that. Shooters like Allen just need to keep hoisting shots and eventually they'll start to fall. My prayers are with him and his family.

Rondo: I'm proud of him. And I'm proud of Doc Rivers for sticking with him. I'll be honest, I feel most comfortable with him on the floor and not at all comfortable with Sam Cassell who just worries me.

Bryant: Could we stop with the comparisons to Michael Jordan now? Couldn't enforce his will on the game because the Celtics were simply staying in front of him so that he couldn't drive to the basket, making him a jump shooter, then contesting his shots. The Celtics defense was awesome. His defense was good, at times. Did the right thing in roaming off Rondo, but probably should have been more proactive in guarding Pierce during the games when Radmonovic was out.

Odom: Up and down throughout series. Needed to be more aggressive when the Celtics defense swarmed Bryant, like he was in first quarter of Game 4.

Gasol: Not his fault, he played his game. The Lakers just did not get him the ball in good spots when Perkins was in foul trouble and he had smaller or slower defenders on him (not Garnett).

Vujacic: There's not really a fourth person to go here, so I thought I'd attack Vujacic again for his defense on Allen in Game 4. Terrible, mainly because Allen didn't even put a move on him, just dribbled right past him. I could have done better.

First Post

I thought I'd start with something easy and trite: An all-time NBA first and second team. Here goes:

1st Team

PG: Magic Johnson - Best passer in the history of the game.
SG: Michael Jordan - Any questions?
SF: Larry Bird - My personal favorite player in the history of the sport.
PF: Tim Duncan - The most underrated player in the game by the average fan.
C: Wilt Chamberlain - Yes, Russell won more championships, but Wilt was too dominate.

2nd Team

PG: John Stockton - Dirty? Still, you just can't ignore him.
SG: Jerry West - He's the logo for crying out loud.
SF: Lebron James - Too early? He could retire tomorrow and I'd still put him here.
PF: Karl Malone - Either he or Elgin Baylor are the best players to never win a championship.
C: Bill Russell - 11 Championships. Enough said.