Yo Redz, "Scoobs" is fine. I have so many nicknames, I am never worried about adding another one. I welcome them. I also agree with what you said. They struggled earlyw ith the expectations and the first go aroudn thing. But by the end of the Detroit series I think this team solved that puzzle and answered the bell on that issue. Decisively.
I also agree with you Perkinsera44, I do not feel the Lakers have seen any significant defense.
Lakersin6: Are Laker fans allowed to post here? Can we not maintain some sense of purity...

Seriously, I can understand why you feel very confident about the Lakers. I wouls feel the same way had the Celts rolled through the playoffs as you did. Kobe is playing out of his mind as well. He is the most dominat player in the league right now. Not an MVP, but the best player. There is a difference between those two things, in my book anyway.
The Celtics have had a target on their back all season, that can wear on you. However, the 3 teams playing the best defense in the league in the playoffs were Cleveland, Detroit and Boston. Boston being #1. The defense is still there.
Bynum will be lucky to come back, ever, the way he was with that kind of injury. If he does, and Oden is Healthy, you guys are in trouble out there.
Paul Pierce has had his bouts with immaturity, but he has gotten pat that now. He "gets it".
Garnett is one of the leading scorers in the playoffs, he'll do just fine, thanks very much
Ray Allen: I wouldn't call 25 and 29 point games non factor. Expect to see more of it.
Rondo is very underrated. Fisher will have his hands full with this kid.
Vujajic and Farmar as game changers? Not with a hand in their face. They will largely disappear.
Kobe can be crowded and jammed. You'll never stop a guy like Kobe but you can make him very inefficient. That will do.
But Lakerslosingin6, here is the main thing that I think all the pundits are missing in their laker love fest.
Round one:
you guys played a team in complete disarray and one that played Zero defense. We played the youngest, most athletic teams in the league with three up and coming, legitimate potential all stars and a good heady point guard on it that came out with energy like you guys haven't seen out West. The only other team I've seen bring that kind of intense energy so far was the Pistons.
Round two:
You guys played a team that has not one guy with a sack on him and who has an interior defense like swiss cheese. We played what I would call arguably the 3rd best team in these playoffs behind the Celts and Detroit. They had Zadrunas, Varejo, Joe Smith and Ben Wallace...4 big men who know how to play dirty and bang and hit you all night. You've got good perimeter shooters and LeBron James. I honestly believe you guys would have been lucky to win 2 games in that series. They would have annihilated you on the boards.
Round three:
You guys played an obvioulsy exhausted and aging San antonio team with one of it's three major stars injured in Ginobli. I'm also sorry to inform you that Duncan, Oberto and Horry are not as good or deep of a front line as PJ Brown, Garnett, Perkins, Powe and Pierce. Not even closed, defensively or offensively. Their defense is past it's prime.
We played a team that's been there 6 straight times and handed it to them in game six on their court. Chauncey Billups also said he was 100% the last two games and don't beleive that crap that Rip was injured, that's crap. You could tell he was just fine.
Anyway, the commom thread that everyone is missing is that you guys simply have not faced any significant defense this year. Great defenses have a tendency to make good offenses look very average when they collide.
I agree Donoughus, I think the tone will change. I'm not sure the Lakers have really met the physical challenge yet that they will face around the rim.
I don't think Kobe can be stopped for the most part. That's a given. But I think the bigger issue is that both pau and Odom are going to find their going very difficult against Perkins and Garnett. Perkins has the ability if his head is in it, to actually dominate Pau defensively. He can body up because Pau isn't fast enought o go around him. odom isn't a great enough shooter to pull KG that far away from the basket and he's a complete mismatch aroudn the rim. I could be a war but I really just expect a few barks from the lakers before it's starts unravelling and the MVP starts screaming at everyone like he was in a southern california strip mall parking lot earlier this year when things weren't going well for him.
By the way, is that a pre-requisite for being an MVP these days...throwing your teammates and the organisation under the bus when it isn't going well for you?
Godd analysis cuckroller. Different teams with vastly different seasons. I think the Celtics have met every challenge, culminating with the maturity they showed in Detroit. These guys became basketball men this playoff season, all five starters and the bench.
They will win the championship.