I am peeved about it myself, but kinda relieved in a way. My reason for this is that these Celtics love being the underdogs. Think about it, they were underdogs before last season began, during the season and throughout the playoffs. The only time we were the favorites was against the Atlanta Hawks. Oh well, pick the Lakers to win the title and we beat them in six.
What tipped these experts off that the Lakers will have a great season and a title next season: The taking-candy-from-a-baby which was Game 4 or the beating-the-red-headed-step-child which was Game 6? (Now that's sarcasm)
Let's go back a bit: When the Lakers picked up Pau Gasol, they were flying high through teams and their pick-and-roll moves were pretty impressive. Let's look at their Playoff run through the West. Denver or as Sir Charles Barkley called them "Enver. There's no D in Enver." Utah gave them the best run, they outrebounded them in the series and played better D, but Utah's offense suffered and didn't dart to the basket enough and Carlos Boozer showed us his Karl Malone side. Finally the Old Tired Spurs who was taken to 7 Games against the New Orleans Hornets. The Spurs were wore the heck out and Sasha Vujacic's "exceptional defense" on Manu Ginobli was praised, but wasn't Manu suffering from an ankle injury. Keep in mind that the Spurs gave the Lakers their worst loss in the playoffs (Pre-Game 6).
So now we have the Celtics: Two 7-Game series with Atlanta and Cleveland, and one 6 Game series with the tough and brutal Detroit Pistons. UNDERDOGS!!! We heard it all. "We beat them twice before they got Pau Gasol." "Kobe is the MVP. He will be unstoppable." "Kobe is the next Jordan." "Doc will get outcoached by Phil Jackson. He has too much championship experience." "The Lakers 'Bench Mob' is better than the Celtics' scrubs." Etc, and etc., and etc...
In the Finals we learned something and I swear, these will point out the flaws in the predictions for next season in the fact that the Lakers haven't changed much.
1. We beat them twice before Pau Gasol: Now we've beaten them four times with Pau Gasol, and not only that, we've beaten them twice with Andrew Bynum.
2. Kobe is the MVP. He will be unstoppable: Kobe's good, but he's not great. He was visibly frustrated because of the defense the Celtics threw at him. Also he was frustrated with his teammates. The way he screamed at his team, the refs, and his cocky attitude in the first quarter of Game 6, I almost wish we beat this team by 50 pts. in the closing game. I have no respect for him. Sorry.
3. Kobe is the next Jordan: This is not even worth mentioning. Oh BTW; he's not Bird or Magic either!
4. Doc will get outcoached by Phil: Just because a guy has 9 Championship rings does not mean he will outcoach a guy who hasn't won one. If this were true, Phil would have surpassed Red Auerbach 4 years ago against Larry Brown, who was ring-less at the time. Utter nonsense!
5. Lakers "Bench Mob" is better than the Celtics' scrubs: Okay, so our boys from the bench couldn't hit the long ball in the abundance that the Bench Mob could. Posey and Eddie could do that, but it was their energy and defense that won us the title. Look at it this way, take away the Bench Mob's 3-point shooting, what do you have? Don't worry I'll wait.
Our team was built to win a championship and more importantly, our team was built on grinding it out and grinding it out together. I told my buddy who is a die-hard Lakers fan, that if the Lakers want to beat this team, they better win the FIRST TWO in Boston. Not one but both of them. When it came to grinding it out, these Celtics were capable. If you don't believe me, look at the Cleveland Cavaliers series with another All-Star and Co. played against our boys.
The Lakers' style of play is the same in every game and it was more than apparent in Game 4 of the Finals. Get the teammates going early, get their numbers, and in the 2nd Half, give the ball to Kobe. That's it! In the 2nd Half, you can notice this when Kobe is jacking up shots and the others just stand around. Oh yeah, BTW, the Lakers play defense as if its an option or occasionally, but our boys played defense as if their children's futures depended on it.
I expect this season to bring on much of the same from the ESPN talking heads. Kobe's revenge. Gasol has Finals experience which will help him. The same for Odom. And they will have Andrew Bynum to take care of their defensive and rebounding problems. If the Celtics have taught the ESPN talking heads anything (and apparently they didn't learn diddly) is that it takes a whole team effort and a cohesive mental and physical toughness to win a championship which will bring a great defense and a balanced offense. You can't just have one guy to do all of that work, especially a young "overpaid" center who will be looking to get his...I'm just speculating.
(Assuming if both make it back to the Finals)
Perkins can handle Bynum like he did in the regular season. If Gasol moves to PF, then he will be paired with KG full-time. Pierce will guard Odom and Ray will guard Kobe and Ray didn't do that bad of a job. Also, we're the best help defense in the league. Kobe's not getting to the paint any easier next season. Oh and I expect our bench to receive no credit, even though we made some changes. Posey is gone but we still have House, Tony Allen (who can play defense) and some good rookies and possibly a good bench big man in O'Bryant. Another thing, no one is allowed to talk-down to Leon Powe. EVER! Leon Powe single-handedly proved how weak and paper soft the Lakers really are. Look at his 21 pts. in 14 minutes! Who off of a bench does that? Leon that's who.
Don't expect the Gasol, Radmanovic, Vujacic, Farmar, or Walton to toughen up. I don't expect much from Odom, who shrinks in the moment of adversity.
Now we have Kobe. Oh the player we love to hate. Now, I hated Magic but I respected Magic. I loved to watch him play but when he played against the Celtics, it was rivalry! The difference between Magic's Lakers and Kobe's Lakers is simple. Magic's Lakers were full of Hall-of-Famers team players who worked together as a team. Sure they were pretentious and flashy, but they were team players. Kobe's Lakers seems to be about Kobe and nothing else. Everything revolves around him. That's the way he wants it. In order to win a championship, you're going to have to make sacrifices, but Kobe's character won't allow it. He worships Jordan too much to allow himself to give up the ball in the last seconds. Kobe wants to win one by himself, but he can't and he never will. He is surrounded by hoards of talent, but if he can't utilize them or try to make them better, he'll be alone.
Now, Andrew Bynum is getting all the hype and all enough reason to believe that the Celtics are really doomed if they face this team in the Finals. However, ask yourself this question: How many PLAYOFF games has Bynum played in? The answer...6 Games. How would he handle the game's greatest stage. We all seen how our boys handle it and we see how the Lakers handle it.
Oh, BTW, expect Perkins and Rajon Rondo to get better. In game 6, Rondo single-handedly caused the Lakers' game to spiral out of control. Six steals!!! Personally, I don't care if he develops a jump shot. You heard me. That will force him to dart into the paint and wreak havoc down in there. We don't need him to be a Derek Fisher. We need him to be Dennis Johnson.
Oh yeah, one last thing, don't expect our Celtics to get complacent like the Miami Heat. You think an intense Kevin Garnett, a greedy Paul Pierce, or a work-ethical Ray Allen would allow that to happen. I doubt it!
We'll be around for a little while longer. So finally I would like to say: Go Celtics: Drive for #18 and Bynum...good luck!!
Topic: The Season Hasn't Even Started And "Experts" Are Dismissing The C's (Read 13139 times)