ESPN when will you learn? Offense is Sexy Defense wins rings

[TheSheriff]

Defense wins in every sport. That is a fact. Offense will get you regular season wins, but to win it all you need a great defense. This should teach them all, but a few months from now they will be picking that sexy offense over the world class offense...

[Dr Aki]

it wasnt totally offense vs defense

boston still had good offensive power and LA still had good defense

i put this down to execution and mental toughness

[BROWN]

Think we heard this many times...
get over it.

[PurpleTestament]

If this were wholly true then the Rockets should have a ring.

[HouMac]

Balance wins championships. Yes, Boston was the best defensive team in the league this season, but they also had the 4th best offensive FG% this season. That is why they dominated the regular seaosn like that and did the postseason too once Ray Allen began SCORING like he can. Boston would not have won the championship if they played this exact same defense but weren't one of the top offensive teams in the league.

BALANCE. BALANCE. BALANCE. That's what wins championships.

[Ballings7]

Defense is what seperates the legit teams from the less and non legitimate teams. Because a lot of teams in the league are solid, good offensively, but there are less of them all that also are above-average in some form defensively.

Ultimately, like has been displayed for ages, and like has been said - balance wins.

[Ballings7]

Think we heard this many times...
get over it

Then the media need to enhance their realization of the importance of defense and rebounding. People need to stop building teams like Phoenix and Nellie-Dallas, thinking they can legitimiately win a title, people labeling them title contenders, and predicting them to win the title.

Those style of teams need above-average luck to overcome the balanced and more versatile teams, because of the numerous flaws present on both ends of the court.

That's why this "defense and rebounding wins" hasn't been gotten over, and probably will continue to be brought up because of the offensive-bias cycle and mind-set that exists in and outside of the NBA.

Entertainment-wise, that's a different situation. I love watching fluid or fast-paced offense. Even though if you appreciate the game enough, you should enjoy and be interested in defense.

it wasnt totally offense vs defense

boston still had good offensive power and LA still had good defense

i put this down to execution and mental toughness

Yeah.

But I also think the strengths of each balanced team was a factor... Boston's strength is defense, Lakers strength is offense. Boston still had plenty of offense, though, while the Lakers defense wasn't good enough.

The Celtics were more balanced than the Lakers were balanced. Lakers should be better balanced next year assuming Bynum gets set in well, and they change up the SF situation (shooter and defender needed).

[Ortho Stice]

I was pretty sure the Celtics would win before the series started, and was puzzled that all but one ESPN expert picked the Lakers. Some even said it could possibly be a sweep. I saw some stat that said Boston had the third best defensive efficiency dating back to the 70s. And yet people picked the Lakers to roll over this dominant defense? Hint: if your team has the third best defensive efficiency ever recorded, with three future Hall of Famers that can step up on offense, and you're playing a team that's significantly worse at defense and rebounding, you're not going to lose. Don't know how people missed that.

[DaRealHibachi]

If this were wholly true then the Rockets should have a ring.

[Frosty]

I was pretty sure the Celtics would win before the series started, and was puzzled that all but one ESPN expert picked the Lakers. Some even said it could possibly be a sweep. I saw some stat that said Boston had the third best defensive efficiency dating back to the 70s. And yet people picked the Lakers to roll over this dominant defense? Hint: if your team has the third best defensive efficiency ever recorded, with three future Hall of Famers that can step up on offense, and you're playing a team that's significantly worse at defense and rebounding, you're not going to lose. Don't know how people missed that.

I would say that too many people overestimated Kobe's ability to overcome the defense.

[Zerostatic]

I think the reason a lot of people were favoring the Lakers was because Boston has struggled in the playoffs, first on the road and secondly against the Atlanta Hawks a team that was several games below .500.

I personally felt that the Celtics were going to win the championship if they went up against the Lakers but would've lost if they went up against the Spurs. Lakers are soft, and soft teams and players are prone to folding in the playoffs. Tough, gritty, defensive oriented teams usually perform the best.

[Subaculta]

I was pretty sure the Celtics would win before the series started, and was puzzled that all but one ESPN expert picked the Lakers. Some even said it could possibly be a sweep. I saw some stat that said Boston had the third best defensive efficiency dating back to the 70s. And yet people picked the Lakers to roll over this dominant defense? Hint: if your team has the third best defensive efficiency ever recorded, with three future Hall of Famers that can step up on offense, and you're playing a team that's significantly worse at defense and rebounding, you're not going to lose. Don't know how people missed that.

that's because the Lakers had rolled their opponents leading up to this series/Celtics had struggled a bit + it's ESPN and I think their analysts all got caught up in the Kobe hype - hats off to Pierce and Posey for shutting him down like they did.

[Silvie Lysandra]

I know I bought into the Kobe hype lol maybe I should stop watching ESPN etc.

I thought the people predicting 4/5/6 games were moronic - I thought it'd be a seven-game series (and I picked the Lakers thinking that "if the game is close in the 4th quarter I'll take Kobe") but what do I know?

[Bank Shot]

After the second round I was beginning to side with the media and their man-love for Kobe and the Lakers but then the Pistons series happened. Did the media completely miss this entire series? Boston won two big games IN Detroit and looked extremely impressive in game 6. That's why I could never understand the Lakers hype going into the finals. I don't know how you could have seen the EC Finals and then concluded "well Boston will just revert to playing like they did against Atlanta and the Lakers will roll". Its like saying a team is playing badly during the regular season because they started a month 0-4 and completely ignoring that they went on a 11-1 roll to end the month.

There were some absolutely absurd comparisons and statements made by the so-called "experts" during the playoffs this year. Kind of funny at times, but pretty sad at others.

[Frosty]

There has been the whole Leastern conference thing all year. Too many people bought into it. The best the west had to offer were pretty much dismantled.

[G I N T]

They clearly didn't worry about the actual matchups. What they saw was a team with no championship experience taken to 7 games by the Hawks and Cavs matched up against a team that had dismantled every single team up to the Finals, including an impressive 4-1 series win over the defending champs. I think they just went off of momentum. The fact that Legler was the only ESPN analyst to pick Boston when the series was so lopsided says a lot.

[Big Lob]

Boston was improving as the playoffs went on. I don't know what was going on with ESPN. Hype always wins out over reasonable predictions. LA, Kobe, Phil. Its all glitz and glamour.

[Celtsfan1980]

A good defense will beat a good offense most of the time. The Celtics join a long list of recent Champions who have one thing in common:they play very good defense. I agree with others. You do need a balance, but it is the defense that will win it in the end. I don't feel the Rockets have a good enough offense and injuries have hurt the team.

[TheSheriff]

If this were wholly true then the Rockets should have a ring.

Not true considering, even T-Mac admitted the Celtics were the best defense he has ever seen.


Yes Balance wins, but a team with a good offense and a great defense will beat a team with a great offense and a good defense.

[Ballings7]

Well said BigLob, Celtsfan1980, and TheSheriff..

hats off to Pierce and Posey for shutting him down like they did.

As well as the Celtics big men. Without those guys or lesser defensive big men, it's a different story.