We really have nothing to complain about

[vinnie]

Sitting here watching the Lakers struggle against a Houston team that has NO CENTERS, I just realized that we have absolutely nothing to complain about when it comes to the Celtics. Once Yao went down the Lakers should have won the next two and been on to the WCF. They have three 7 footers across the front line. But, they did not win the next two -- because they are SOFT and have no heart. The Celtics have heart -- always have and always will. Warriors.

Seriously, the Lakers are losing to a team that looks like they could have played in that league that used to exist that did not allow players over 6 ft. 5 in. The Lakers losing to Houston is absurd. Now there are some fans that have some complaints.

Whoa -- Aaron Brooks is good.

[vinnie]

Gotta respond to myself.  The Lakers are an absolute embarrassment. And of course, at the end of the game, Sasha has to try to get something started with Battier by putting a forearm in his chest. Sasha has got to be the most hated player in the league.

[HYPE.]

Hopefully Houston closes this series out in Los Angeles.

[Atzar]

Gotta respond to myself.  The Lakers are an absolute embarrassment. And of course, at the end of the game, Sasha has to try to get something started with Battier by putting a forearm in his chest. Sasha has got to be the most hated player in the league.

Varejao and Noah would like to remind you of their existence at this time - I don't think they surpass Sasha, but at the very least they're in the conversation.  Incidentally, why do all of the get-under-the-other-team's-skin players seem to have terrible hair?  

[fairweatherfan]

I was thinking the same thing - as painful as our struggles have been, in some ways we've been playing over our heads.  Imagine being a Lakers fan right now?  You're playing a team that hasn't been in the second round in like 10 years, with all their All-Stars injured, and getting blown out.  Embarrassing.

Everyone keeps assuming the Lakers will just take the series in 7 now, but don't sleep on this Rockets team - they're not the favorites, but they absolutely can win this game.

[Atzar]

I actually wonder why there isn't any of the media-panic around the Lakers like there is around the Celtics.  Is it because we were the underdogs at the beginning of this series?  Somehow, it seems like people expect us to lose, so every loss is like one more win towards a field day for the media - or, perhaps, one more win towards the removal of the biggest obstacle for the King.  Meanwhile, the Lakers are in the same predicament.  They, like us, are coming home for a Game 7.  They, like us, have already been beaten at home in this series. 

So why does it seem like their struggles are largely ignored?  Are they really getting as much skeptic-publicity as we are, and I'm just not noticing?  I don't know, it just seems to me that there's this aura of "They're just toying with the Rockets, they'll be in the Finals, don't worry" emanating from the media when in reality they're 48 minutes away from picking up their golf clubs for the next month or two.  Anything can happen in one game - Brooks or Artest could go off, Kobe or Gasol could struggle, etc.  Their date with Denver is far from a sure thing, but it seems like there's either some ignorance or denial going on with them.

[star18]

Its obvious why. The Lakers & Cavs are the only two teams in the league besides Miami that have 1 on 5 basketball players with Kobe, Bron & Wade.  Anything that the media can do to emphasize that 1 on 5 basketball is better than 5 on 5 basketball in their opinion they will do it. Including announcers, ESPN anylysts, commercials, predictions etc.  They want the public to believe that the talents of 1 player is far superior to the talents and heart of a 5 player team. They want people to be selfish and continue to praise 1 person, and keep praising 1 person instead of looking for your teammates.  No difference this year between the Celtics, Magic, Lakers, Cavs, Nuggets and maybe even the Rockets. They all have talent and any of those teams could beat any other team they are evenly matched. The media doesn't want that. They want 1 player to be looked at as far superior to everyone else so they can put more emphasis on being selfish and conceited. Kobe does not average 45 pts, 21 rebounds, and 15 assits per game, and neither does Bron or Wade. They are at best a couple points, or slightly a little better than the rest of the competition. 1 Kobe Bryant is not better than 5 Danny Grangers or even 2 Danny Grangers.  NBA and the media want you to believe that 1 Lebron is better than 5 Brandon Roys.

[TitleMaster]

Let me tell you, since '86, Houston has been my only favorite western conference team.

If anything, I want 'em to beat those LA losers because that's what they are, a bunch of losers. Kobe is not MJ part deux or anything else. He's Paul Pierce minus and even that, he doesn't inspire Gasol or Odom or anyone else to raise their games to a higher level. Put Odom under KG's wing and he'll be an MVP big man but with Kobe, as a teammate, he's run of the mill.

Sorry, but the Lakers suck, I despise them and I always will until Kareem, Magic, or Cooper step thru that door at the Staple's center.

[davemonsterband]

Everything's a bonus and nothing matters, no KG. Fun to watch though.

[LarBrd33]

We have nothing to complain about, because Kevin Garnett somehow became extremely underrated this year.  I don't know how it happened, but mysteriously some how everyone is undervaluing our best player, only clear future hall-of-famer and defensive player of the year.  It's weird to me.  I always see longtime homers try to argue that Paul Pierce is better than KG, but it's just silly.  KG is the heart and soul of this team.  He is the core of our defense.  Without him running around, rotating, using his length, savvy, quickness, intelligence and length to cause havoc, other teams have been able to score on us with ease.  We went from having easily the best defense in the league (arguably one of the best defenses of all time) to having a pretty mediocre defense simply by removing KG.  Additionally, on offense KG used his height, quickness and athleticism to become a constant offensive threat that needed constant attention.  Nobody was going to back off KG.  He made the job easier for every other player offensively.  Glen Davis might get 20 points a game, but it's coming because he's being left wide open (making things more difficult for everyone else).  Additionally our bench is pathetically weak at this point.  We are relying on heavy minutes from Brian Scalabrine (not even on our playoff roster last year) and two backup undersized shooting guards.  There is no Posey, no Powe, no PJ Brown...   Also, I think Rondo has been playing on busted ankles, Perk has been playing with busted shoulders, Ray has been playing with busted mojo and Pierce is either worn down or playing with some unspecified injury.  The bottom line is... this team is a SHADOW of the championship team last year.  I really don't get why people undervalue Kevin Garnett.  Do you think that the Spurs could remove Tim Duncan from the equation and still be considered a contender?  Would the Spurs even be the "Spurs" if Duncan sat out the entire playoffs?  Not a chance.  Then why is it that people seem to think that this is the real Boston Celtics we are looking at?  It's like like watching post David Lee Roth Van Halen... only if instead of replacing him with Sammy Hager they just found some mediocre obese karaoke singer.

My overall point is that we have nothing to complain about, because despite what we have been trying to convince ourselves (and what the media seems to want to spin)... this team has already massively overachieved by beating the Bulls and taking the Magic to 7 games.  There isn't much more you can ask of this squad.  It's the 24 win Celtics minus Al, Delonte, Wally and + Ray, Baby and Eddie (with a massive injection of heart and experience)

[star18]

There is no such thing as no Kevin Garnett. After becoming part of the franchise KG has completely revitalized the Celtics. Because of that they can contend for a title every year. We are winning games by playing team basketball, and if you look around the NBA it is not that common. Nobody's team is that amazing because the talent is too spread out over the NBA and it is more about who gets the most shots for the higher salaries to get the best contracts than about teams winning games.  Durant & Westbrook on OKC, OJ Mayo on MEM, Danny Granger on IND, Vince Carter on NJ, Gerald Wallce on CHA, Chris Bosh on TOR, Stephen Jackson Monta Ellis GSW, and so on are talented players. With the teams left in the playoffs 4 through 12 there isn't much of a difference in personnel. So its more about who does what in their time on the court. If certain players don't play, they cannot contribute. Many of the better players around the league, with some mentioned above would be the 3rd or 4th best guy on any team this year.  Yet they are not playing and the 4-12 guys are. An NBA Finals should look like this Pierce, Lebron, KG, Rashard Lewis, Chris Paul vs. Kobe, Shaq, Amare, Chauncey & T-Mac, but it doesn't happen because no team is that stacked. Therefore by being solid and playing team basketball you can win an NBA title. With KG we were 1 player better than every other team, now with KG wearing a nice suit and tie and not a #5, it is even so we have a chance to do it all over again. Starbury Style #18.

[vagrantwade]

I have something to complain about. The Celtics having 19 turnovers all from the 5 starters.

[Jon]

I largely agree that we have nothing to complain about.  If anything, the Magic fans will have a lot more to complain about if the C's win on Sunday.  It's pretty pathetic if the Magic can't beat a KG-less, size impaired Celtics team.  Still, it does hurt knowing that if they hadn't played a horrible game, they would already have won this series. 

[housecall]

Sitting here watching the Lakers struggle against a Houston team that has NO CENTERS, I just realized that we have absolutely nothing to complain about when it comes to the Celtics. Once Yao went down the Lakers should have won the next two and been on to the WCF. They have three 7 footers across the front line. But, they did not win the next two -- because they are SOFT and have no heart. The Celtics have heart -- always have and always will. Warriors.

Seriously, the Lakers are losing to a team that looks like they could have played in that league that used to exist that did not allow players over 6 ft. 5 in. The Lakers losing to Houston is absurd. Now there are some fans that have some complaints.

Whoa -- Aaron Brooks is good.

A.Brooks is good... his growth from last season(rookie)to this season is tremendous for a pg.tp