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• NBA Finals Conclusion

  Thursday, Jun 19, 2008 3:01AM / Standard Entry / Members only
  

  Well the Lakers couldn't give a fight in their final game which is a shame. Kobe will be denied his 4th ring, Phil Jackson will be denied his tiebreaker with Red Auerbach. Last night's game had to be the worst game of the finals. What seperated the Lakers from the Celtics was their passiveness. Kobe was literally surrounded by 5 celtics everytime he got anywhere near 15 feet from the rim. A lot of times he would dish it out to an open teammate. What would that teammate then do? Instead of taking the wide open shot that should have been taken, they either pump fake in a useless fashion since their man is still recovering from swarming on Kobe, pass the ball to another teammate therefore killing off whatever purpose Kobe's dribble penetration had, or they pass the ball back to Kobe knowing that there's still 5 Cetlics surrounding him. All I can say is that is what seperated the two teams. Everytime Paul Pierce drove it in, he got double teamed (not quadruple teamed but double teamed), and yet the Celtics still made the Lakers pay for that. Why? Because Pierce's teammates weren't scared to shoot the damn ball. Eddie House shot and made his. KG was hitting his all day off of Pierce. Even Rondo was attempting shots. Sure he can't shoot but he was at least shooting the wide open shots. That is more than what the Lakers did as all they did was settle for contested jump shots.

  Ah but the Lakers choked big time and there's nothing they can do about it now. All they can hope for is that they will see the Celtics again this time around next year hoping they can even this out.

  Now onto the winners: The Boston Celtics. When you have 3 All Star players in Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen, you better be near the top since you have 3 of the best players on one team. Who cares about chemistry and all that crap. Anyone who plays ball or any team sport for that matter, know that when you are with good players, you're going to do well. Now this win is another example of how all the Boston sports teams are doing great this year. The only team who disappointed was the New England Patriots. If they would have won, that would have done many things. If anything, the one thing I find EXTREMELY amusing is how 3 major players in their sports franchises who had a lot to do with their respective teams' success all came from a Minnesota team. In case you guys don't know, Minnesota has had a bad history of sports recently and a lot of key players from these franchises leave under bad terms or leave because their franchises don't realize the value they hold. Well the 3 players I'm talking about are David Ortiz, Randy Moss, and Kevin Garnett. David Ortiz in Minnesota was always a decent hitter and showed promise but Minnesota decided to give up on him and released him. Next thing you know, David Ortiz goes on to win a couple of pendants for the Boston Red Sox. Randy Moss, loved and hated by Minnesota. They didn't know how to build a team when he was here, and they still don't know how to build a proper team. He goes to the Super Bowl with the New England Patriots and people here ask "Hey why didn't he play like that for us?" Well he did play like that for the Vikings, it's just not his fault that the wide recevier role doesn't dictate the entire team. Kevin Garnett wins his first ring but before winning this ring, he got called out by Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor for not showing heart his last couple of years in Minnesota. Now we all know Glen Taylor is full of shit when KG has put up considerable effort throughout his entire career and while KG may have had an effect as to why the team couldn't get any better (largely due to his huge ass contract preventing any considerable free agent signings), to question his heart and dedication to the game especially after trading him is just a low blow. Gee I wonder why KG didn't even thank anyone from Minnesota. Its probably because he knew that Glen Taylor was talking shit about him after he got shipped off.

  So yeah, to see these guys do what they've been doing their whole careers and piss off a lot of blind MN sports fans in the process is all too great for me haha. Now on to Mr. Finals MVP 2008 himself: Paul Pierce. All I can say is IT'S ABOUT TIME. Forever was he the most underrated "Star" in the NBA. Funny thing about the Boston Celtics bandwagon fans is that they claim to love the Celtics and all but we all know that 90% of them did not give a shit about Paul Pierce or the Celtics a year ago. Hell even this year, Paul Pierce was still not getting his due credit outside the team. KG was obviously the one getting all the attention. Even with KG admitting that the team is still Pierce's team, Pierce still got less credit for the team's success than KG. Anyone who really knows basketball was not surprised to see that Paul Pierce was the Celtics best player all year round. Sure KG anchored their defense physically and mentally, but Pierce was the guy making the big plays especially in the playoffs. If it weren't for Pierce stepping up his game (of the big three he is their most clutch player), the Celtics wouldn't have even gotten past the Cavs. I knew that Paul Pierce was going to get his due credit sometime this year and I know for a fact that if KG would have been named Finals MVP, then Paul Pierce would forever fail to receive his due credit. So when he was named Finals MVP, I was like "That's the only guy who played like a Finals MVP". You could argue that Ray Allen was a candidate but he didn't have anywhere near the overall effect that Pierce had on the series. Pierce's injury in Game 1 is what drove the Celtics past the Lakers as whenever you see your team's leader go down and come back, you're gonna be hyped up on a high. Paul Pierce's defense on Kobe Bryant was leagues ahead of Ray Allen on Kobe. Paul Pierce is the Finals MVP because he not only did great in this series on an individual standpoint, but he was the Celtics' main playmaker getting everyone involved. He proved to everyone who doubted him in past years what he could do if he simply had teammates who would help him out on the double/triple teams. In past years he would have gotten turnovers or missed baskets off those triple teams, but now with better teammates, he's obviously going to play more natural and effective.

  It's funny though. I just read an article that suddenly proclaimed Paul Pierce as the best player from the '98 draft class ahead of Dirk Nowitski. Talk about a reverse in fortunes and talk. Maybe I can finally stop calling Paul Pierce underrated since there seems to be a lot of people opening their eyes for the first time now....