Wow ... I really love objective discourse, no matter how heated it may get .... and early-on I loved the opportunity to trade swords with most of these Lakers fans, but it's now becoming apparent that the term "sore losers" still applies to many of them. There are a couple who are of high enough character to keep things civil, (CuckRoller, for one), but the majority have, (unfortunately), resorted to the empty attempts of trying to rationalize the loss in their own minds by making weak excuses and defending them with impotent information.
Kobe with back spasms now? Where the heck will the excuses end?!? C'mon, LA fans, you got beat fair-and-square, by a team that played really poorly ... your team just played poorly, too. Do you honestly think Kobe wouldn't have shown the effect more visibly, or not have mentioned it after the game if it had truly been an issue? This was one sloppy, tentative, mistake-ridden game, and I hope both teams step it up and make adjustments necessary to play at the higher level they're both capable of. Maybe then, with both teams playing their best, we can get a true assessment of how these teams match-up, and leave the losers with little ammo for "soft" excuses.
Having said that, I do think game 2 will be huge. I don't think it will "decide" the championship concretely, but I do concur that if the Lakers win tonight, it will give them a huge advantage, and the necessary momentum they need to dominate the following three games in LA. They obviously didn't play their best game Thursday by any means, and Kobe is bound to have one of his "shooting overdose" games before this is decided, and tonight would be the best time for such, if I were him. Keep in mind however, the Celtics did not play well Thursday either ... not remotely, and they're apt to tighten things up and improve as this goes along, too. I don't think the Lakers or their fans realize just how badly the C's played, and that they're capable of performing at a much higher level.
One of the most optimistic things for me about our game 1 victory, is that we did play so poorly, and yet pulled out a win. Paul and his determination had much to do with that, and the fact that we did have an advantage at the stripe, (do you believe we can actually say that?!? I don't remember another time this season where that was so apparent, lol!), but the second half of the fourth quarter was one of the only times during this game that we played half-decently, and the rest was so up-and-down ... it made me frustrated as all heck. How we can be in the Finals, (the place where KG and Paul have been struggling their whole careers to get to), and play so inconsistently, is beyond me.
I understand the butterflies, and the often tentative nature of a "Game 1" and all it's pressures and excitement, but this is IT ... the BIG one, the chance of their lifetimes, the Holy Grail of hoops, the pinnacle and apex and ultimate goal, and the Celtics should be playing like they've never played before, with a level of intensity and determination that we've never witnessed from them to this point. But they didn't play that way Thursday, not until the last 8 minutes, and even then it wasn't consistent. Maybe it was all just a case of the jitters, and the fact that they've never been at this level before, but it seems to me that would be even more reason to give it their all.
Anyway ... I have a feeling that both clubs will be playing much better tonight, and that we may have an epic battle in the making. A lot has to do with how Paul is affected by his knee, how Perk is doing with his ankle, and how effective the bench can be, on a consistent basis. Honestly, (even though I get slammed or laughed at whenever I say it), I still feel like this is the best match-up of the playoffs for us yet. If we can play consistently great ball, at the level we've seen in the regular season - when everything's "clicking", and the run game is flowing, and the defense is overwhelming and stifling, and Paul is attacking and creating in the paint, and KG is hitting that 15-to-18-footer, and Ray is in a smooth shooting groove, and Perk is banging and slam-dunking, and Rondo is doing his "fly-bys" and hitting his jumper, and Powe is pimping and taking charges, and Big Baby is hustling to the floor and stealing boards, and Eddie's nailing those sweet threes, and Posey is being Posey and doing everything - then we could really dominate this series, and surprise a lot of people by sweeping.
That's the thing ... this is really up to us, and I'm completely confident that, when this team is playing it's best ball, no one can beat us ... period. The key now is what it has been all year and all through the playoffs: It's ours to win, or ours to lose, depending on how close we get to that best level of play. We've seen it over-and-over this year, how incredibly powerful and smooth this team can be when they run and attack and play defense like monsters, and it's a joy to watch ... it's how basketball should be played, and how they can play when they set their minds to it. I remember talking to a friend earlier in the season, about how when this Celtics team plays it's best ball, that it could be taped and used as an instruction tape on the fundamentals of playing basketball the way it's supposed to be played, on every level, and on both ends of the floor.
If that's the team that shows up the rest of these playoffs, especially tonight, then the Lakers are truly in for a wake-up call. Would I be surprised if that didn't happen? No, unfortunately, I wouldn't ... the C's have been their own worst enemy this year, especially in the playoffs, and their consistency has been questionable, too, and I doubt they'll reach perfection under such circumstances and pressure. But I DO think they're capable of playing much closer to that level than they did Thursday, and that if they truly put their minds to it, and their hearts into it, they can dominate these playoffs and bring the Trophy home to Boston. Like I say, it's up to them, no one else, and if everyone on the team digs down deep like Pierce did in Game 1, we'll have very little to worry about here on out. Go Celtics!
Topic: Game 2 Will Decide the Champion (Read 10982 times)