10 Things, Finals Preview

[Gant]

1) LA's Run

Chances are you've heard of the Lakers 12-3 record in the playoffs. No doubt you've also heard that the Celtics went 12-8. Trouble for Boston? Nope.

Atlanta was not the worst team in the playoffs. Denver was, and by far. Whereas the Hawks play furiously on both ends, the Nuggets are the most obscenely indifferent defensive team the NBA has seen since Paul Westhead's one-way-only Nuggets of 90-91. Yes the current Nugs had that fine regular season record, but faced with intense playoff basketball they were pure lottery.

Utah was great this year but any Jazz fan will tell you the Lakers were the one match up they simply could not handle. The Jazz needed to be in the opposite bracket from LA. They could have taken anyone else in the West. Not Los Angeles. The first two rounds were gifts for the SoCal team.

The five game victory over the defending champs was more impressive. Yes the Lakers caught a late game break from the refs. Still, they came back from some huge deficits to arrive at the Finals. It was a very strong showing for them.


2) West

Everyone knows as a whole the West is better than the East. In some corners people are taking the depth of the Western Conference as proof the Lakers just ran off some sort of historical feat. Not true. Do not confuse overall depth with the strength of the top teams. There were seven good teams in the Western playoffs; not one is a top two team on this side of the big river.

For the purposes of degree-of-difficulty, reaching the finals from the East is a greater accomplishment. Why? Because the two best teams in basketball just played and Boston beat Detroit 4-2. The Pistons are better than San Antonio.


3) Level Of Play

Look, the Celtics ran away with the conference. They coasted in, giving lots of play to their bench. By the time the playoffs arrived they had lost a bit of their edge. They beat the Hawks despite playing poorly. They beat the Cavs despite playing only decently. They got their groove back a few games into the Detroit series, and that was that.


4) New Guys

There's another thing: It took some time for PJ Brown to reclaim his legs and game again. PJ seems to be fine now.

On the downside, Sam Cassell still hasn't made the adjustment. We'll see if that costs Boston.


5) Bench

I keep hearing about how great the LA bench is. Really? When did Luke become his Dad and Turiaf become Rodman? I mean they're good but not nearly great. The bench vs bench battle is up for grabs.


6) What Will Win It

Chances are this series comes down to one factor: Can the Lakers shred the best defense in the league the way they did the best defenses in the West? If they can, hats off, they win. But if the Celtics do to Los Angeles what they did to Detroit in the fourth quarter of game 6, what they did to LeBron for much of the Cleveland series, and frankly what they've done to everybody since Estaban Batista was yelling out "ubuntu" in Rome -which is SHUT PEOPLE DOWN- then Boston raises the banner.


7) Heard It Before

Since that game in Rome, through the preseason, before the first game against Washington, and through the whole season, all we've heard is how the Celtics can't win the next one.

They won't be able to play together.
They can't play defense (sheesh).
They haven't won on the road, against this team or that team, faced pressure; advanced in the past, with this coach, with these players; and on and on and on. It's a numbing buzz of nonsense that has not once let up.

Well let me tell you world, and let me tell you LA: THE CELTICS ARE HERE. They're here because they keep winning. They've overcome every obstacle. They've beaten every team. They have the best defense in the game. The Celtics are alive. They're dangerous. They're ready.


8) Frontcourt

Wherever you look, there's an interesting match up in this series. Perkins is playing fantastic ball recently. He's a wildcard.

I imagine defensive assignments will change but if Gasol and KG cover one another, that means Perkins and Odom face off. That prospect is very intriguing. Power vs. finesse. It's a mini contest between two players who've been prone to mistakes in the past. Who imposes their will in this one?


9) Points

In looking at the point guards you only get more questions. Experience against havoc. If Rondo pushes the jets all series long, this will be trouble for Los Angeles.


10) Stars

No need for me to comment much on the marquis guys. There's some great players for both sides in this series. No doubt you've already thought and read more than enough about them.

It's time. Good luck to one side. May the Celtics win.

[Tricky Ricky]

IT SPELLS CELTICS WIN!!! Great as always!

[GWVan]

Spot on as always Gant

I for one am amazed at the talking heads for missing the fact that the two best teams were in the east this year.

Not one single mention about the fact that Detroit vs Boston was #1 vs #2

[canman1971]

Well done Gant. I will sticky this for all to see until game time.

[MyInsatiableOne]

As always, excellent, Gant. And spot on.

[EvadedHavoc]

Good read.

Cant wait till tommorow!

[Gant]

I wanted to do a Finals preview without mentioning Pierce, Kobe, Garnett, Gasol, or Ray Allen. Almost. I don't know why, but the thought of that tickled me.

[Athanacropolis]

Gant you just got me MORE PUMPED THAN I ALREADY AM!!! Great job!

GO CELTICS!

[sprash9802]

Despite being a notoriously pessimistic poster around here, man, your posts are absolute gems. Simply, top of the shelf stuff.. Kudos bro. I picked the Cs in 6, and after reading that, tempted to pick a sweep..lol! Awesome awesome stuff....


BEAT LA! BEAT LA!! BEAT LA!!

[SLCceltic]

agree w/ all 10
besides KG, Paul, and Ray can smell each's own 1st title----LA will have to play dam near flawless basketball to win

[Athanacropolis]

Despite being a notoriously pessimistic poster around here, man, your posts are absolute gems. Simply, top of the shelf stuff.. Kudos bro. I picked the Cs in 6, and after reading that, tempted to pick a sweep..lol! Awesome awesome stuff....


BEAT LA! BEAT LA!! BEAT LA!!

And such is the power of Gant

[pfm]

Love these posts every time Gant puts them up and this one is no disappointment...great stuff Grant. LETS GO CELTS!!!

[John from Hemet]

All the posts here are starting to say the same things in different verbage.......


Just like the Laker trolls on the Celtics board. As others have said, if you don't like it don't read it and don't ruin our threads with your garbage. This will be your only warning. Thank you. canman

[Truthiracy]

Top 3 post on RealGM in 2008, good stuff Gant

[MyInsatiableOne]

All the posts here are starting to say the same things in different verbage.......

- Why the celtics will win despite the fact they have not played well in the playoffs.........

Yeah I guess winning all three series and taking 2 tough road games in Detroit and making the Finals with the same number of victories necessary as the Lakers is not playing well.

- Why the lakers will lose despite the fact they are running over everybody in the playoffs........

Yeah I mean they beat a team that plays no D and doesn't listen to their coach (Denver), a team that is too reliant on the J and whose best player was in a slump (Utah) and also, and an aging, banged-up, slow, plodding defending champ team who was robbed of a game by the refs on their home floor. Lakers look like worldbeaters to me!

Celtics in 6. Count on it, and **** you.

[Truthiracy]

All the posts here are starting to say the same things in different verbage.......

- Why the celtics will win despite the fact they have not played well in the playoffs.........

- Why the lakers will lose despite the fact they are running over everybody in the playoffs........

One thing we can all agree on....Tomorrow cannot come soon enough

Dude if you do not like it, DON'T read it and DON'T post about it. THIS IS THE CELTICS BOARD. Go back to the Faker board and stay there, troll.

[Gant]

All the posts here are starting to say the same things in different verbage.......

- Why the celtics will win despite the fact they have not played well in the playoffs.........

- Why the lakers will lose despite the fact they are running over everybody in the playoffs........

One thing we can all agree on....Tomorrow cannot come soon enough

Thank you for your comments John. You are cordially invited to come over to the light side and join us in green bliss.

The point here is, the Celtics have already BEGUN to play well in the playoffs...


...and that when they do play well, no one can beat them.


(And Thanks!! to everyone else.)

[Bad-Thoma]

Great post as always Gant, I wish more people around here had objective optimism instead of the pessimists that crawl out from the woodwork every time we lose to say "I told you so" and quietly disappear when we win, along with the we'll crush them because (insert over the top reason here) crowd. Always makes for a great read.

[SLCceltic]

-= original quote snipped =-



Thank you for your comments John. You are cordially invited to come over to the light side and join us in green bliss.

The point here is, the Celtics have already BEGUN to play well in the playoffs...


...and that when they do play well, no one can beat them.


(And Thanks!! to everyone else.)

my thoughts exactly-----thanks to atl and cleve and DET we are officially battle tested and getting better

[GreenMachine]

Great one Gant!

But... how do you back-up Det. being better then SA?