20080618 Manny Stiles' Sportsune Piñata

Manny?

I mean this...

Get some sleep.

Ever wonder...actually yes

about once a season, usually when things are clicking for one of my favorite teams, I think how awesome it would be once they clinched...like how i would react, what I would do and what would I even think of it

would I be baffled? Confused? Stunned? Happy?, etc etc

I wonder what I would do the next day and how I would react? Would I be a conceited prick, gloating all day or reserved and suck it all in...would I become the epitome of what I've grown to love?

I have a standing rule with my boss, should some Philadelphia team win a championship, I'm guaranteed one day off...because I'd be on a flight to Philly the following day for the parade.

He says he's not worried (seems reasonable at this point)

Point is, yeah, I wonder about it a lot...and I'd say its probably better this way...

Don't you mean "bang on your keyboard like a drum?"

Candy is suppose to come out, not cookies...

EXPAND THE ANSWER/QUESTION/QUOTE SECTION!!! Damn, ya here that? Sorry, I'm pushing down on the keys as hard as possible to try and make some noise...

I am happy for KG, Allen, and Pierce. I am upset that this happened with the Celtics. I am officially temporarily done with the NBA. Basketball is great but I can't help but plead conspiracy. I need a break (more than just the off-season)...

One last thought on the association, Ray Allen has the prettiest jumper I've ever seen...

Midwest Bias? Just like East Virginia and Atlantis...

Maybe Willie just lost control of his team and couldn't get them to preform?

I remember many times in which the Patriots lost...

I only have seven alternate User IDs. What am I suppose to do?

I wonder how many people actually read long ass comments not made by Dr. Commento...

If you are still reading this comment, make a reply below and I'll automatically plus it (disclaimer: unless you say something entirely entirely too stupid)...

W T M F Stiles?

Wondering and thinking are too different operations...

sCrubs lost. The first of many they will against the Rays...

Top Ten Guess: Ten people who make more money than I do...

Who would you say is this generation's Rose/Henderson?

Hiatus?!?!?! Bull Spit...

Suggestion: I'd like to shove something into Carmella DeCesare...

I didn't leave the suggestion as an anon because it is about pussy, not being a pussy...

Over/under two people read this whole comment?

I read it too.

About 10, another hint: Look at a street map.

Kobe Bryant/MJ comparison was just put to bed for good last night. He had a woeful series and he will NEVER ever be better than Jordan after this performance.

Now, Kobe Bryant getting 100% of the blame from some people like Sportsline's Gregg Doyel, is absolute ludicrous. I don't care that he was the MVP, look at the entire playoffs from Boston, only LeBron James in game 7 of their series beat up on that Celtics defense, and even so he failed to make the big shots down the stretch to keep his team in it. Give credit to the Celtics defense instead of blaming Kobe, because the entire Lakers team blew up right in front of us.

Just wondering, if Kobe Bryant is 100% to blame for this loss, who was responsible for the Lakers soaring to the Finals without going to a 7th game?

The media has made it so Kobe can't win. If he gets his teammates involved, then he's not being a team leader and he's not being aggressive. If he goes for 45 and shoots 14-29, then he is shooting too much and not trusting his teammates. The stat line for him has to be 40 points, 10 rebounds, 15 assists, 4 blocks, 4 steals, or else he has an off game. Chris Paul, LeBron James, even Michael Jordan himself couldn't possibly get past them.

Now, about those teammates of Kobe's. You don't get the assist if your teammate doesn't make the shot, and that was the case the entire series for the Lakers. Sasha Vujacic, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, they all couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and yet Kobe is getting the blame? What the heck is he supposed to do? If he is not getting past the Celtics defense, then someone else has to step up to the plate and quite frankly NO ONE did for them.

Manny, I don't care if Pau Gasol is a world champion in international play, he is overrated, not saying he is bad, just saying he is overrated. I thought Pau was extremely good for the first few series, and then as soon as I saw Tim Duncan cut him apart in the conference finals I knew the Lakers were dead. He is too soft, he cannot defend, and even when he has a height advantage, which in last night's case he had over Paul Pierce, he went for the turnaround fadeaway! Kendrick Perkins and Leon Powe, two relatively inexperienced centers, ripped him up! I know I know, if the Lakers don't have him they don't make it to the Finals. Yes, but the Lakers would've had Kwame Brown starting, I'd prefer to lure Vlade Divac out of retirement than to see Brown playing wouldn't you? The only way I see him being a fit is if they make Gasol a forward and Bynum the starting center.

Lamar Odom is just about the worst Lakers starter on there. He doesn't show up on the road, his drives to the basket draw fouls but most of the time he's reckless and it costs them offensive fouls or some other form of a turnover. Inconsistent describes him the best.

The Lakers have an offense that sees Kobe Bryant as the only really good player on there, the Celtics have the Boston Three Party, it's 3 vs. 1. If Bryant had just one, ONE competent, consistent teammate, the Lakers would probably play the Celtics much better, and who knows, maybe win it all. In the glory days, it was Shaq and Kobe with a SUPPORTING CAST. Rick Fox, Robert Horry, Brian Shaw, Derek Fisher. This year you have Sasha Vujacic shooting as if the world will crash tomorrow. This supporting case is a joke sadly, and they'll have to do a whole lot better to get a veteran bench player like the Celtics did with James Posey and Sam Cassell.

Next up, Phil Jackson needs to take his lumps. Frankly I don't care if he purposefully tried to throw this series for the sake of Kobe losing, he is not, and will NEVER be better than Red Auerbach. Phil is a great coach, one of the best we've ever seen, but sadly when his supposed star is not shining, his teams are dead. Remember when Michael Jordan retired the first time? In those 2 years the Bulls never even made it to the NBA Finals. Even when he had that dream lineup in 2004, The Pistons shut down everyone not named Shaq, they let Shaq have his dunks and lay-ups for good reason, they shut down Fisher and Bryant and Payton.

He doesn't make any big adjustments, and the Celtics figured him out because of his "Rinse, Wash, Repeat" approach to every single game this series. Kobe Bryant was dancing his way into the paint and scoring at will in the playoffs, the Celtics took that away and he was reduced to being a jump shooter or a distributor. When Bryant was on the bench the Lakers bench was much better than the Spurs' bench and the Jazz's bench and the Nuggets' bench, but not the Celtics. He doesn't have a true bruising big man anymore, he doesn't have a spot up shooter like he did in Chicago, he has Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol pretending to play defense while shooting bricks offensively. In Game 4, he thought that the Lakers were going to be alright when they blew that 24 point lead, and look what happened! His lineups were often weird the last 2 games, why was Chris Mihm playing in game 5 at all? Ronny Turiaf is miles better than Mihm yet he gets a nod? He let Gasol face Garnett instead of Perkins. Kobe Bryant was guarding Rajon Rondo, who doesn't shoot all that well, and the defensively challenged Vladimir Radmanovic and Sasha Vujacic were left to "guard" Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Inexcusable, and he had no response to the pick and rolls of Boston either or screens or switches at all. He was the only person in the world who thought his little plan was still working.

Lastly, he got outcoached BADLY, as in schooled, by Doc Rivers. I will give full credit to Doc Rivers for making sure the Celtics never quit and they didn't relax this time around after nearly blowing that 24 point lead in game 2. He made better adjustments, he exploited the Lakers big weakness and that's in the paint. He had the bigger, and better men in the paint. Rivers never made it out of the first round with Orlando nor Boston, and this year he ends up winning every series.

Now for the Celtics, honestly, in the first few rounds I really didn't think they were even going to beat Detroit. They lost game 2 deservedly at home and had to win on the road. Look at the result, they ended up pounding the Pistons in game 3, and rallied past them in game 6 to go to the Finals. They were a different team on the road and I think that win boosted their morale and they effectively clinched the title by game 4.

Their defense would've shut down a team like the Suns or the Hornets or any team with a high octane offense considering they shut down the Lakers completely. How many times did they allow 100 points in the playoffs? Out of 26 games, a total of 7 times, and they won 2 of them anyway.

Kendrick Perkins just being there last night stifled Pau Gasol automatically. Although he didn't have a good offensive series, he fought for the offensive rebounds, he forced Pau Gasol to change his shot or pass into traffic many times.

What about Rajon Rondo? I know I've bashed him for being a reckless player, but he played the game of his life. No one in their right mind should get 6 steals with such ease. He played the role of Derek Fisher for the C's, only better. No one of his size should be getting 8 rebounds over the tall guys like Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol, but then again, those guys are pretty much lazy as long as there are players on the opposing team around them to try and box them out.

James Posey anyone? He was the big reason that the Celtics, in their 2 losses and in their comeback win, kept themselves in the game with his three point shooting and brilliant defense on Kobe Bryant. I really think Posey did a better job defending Bryant than Pierce did.

PJ Brown deserves the 8th man of the playoffs award if Gordon Giricek is the 8th Man of the Regular Season. He was the underrated force in the key for his team. The 38 year old was outhustling the 20 somethings of Gasol and Odom. He was getting the blocked shots on Bryant and causing turnovers when the benches took part in the 2nd quarter.

And of course, the Boston Three Party, The Big Three, The NBA Champions Triple Threat, whatever you want to call them. When one player didn't show up like Pierce last night, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett did. That's the big difference that separates the Lakers from the Celtics. When Kobe is off, the Lakers are dead. If Allen struggle and Garnett struggles, Pierce will have a big game and so on. It's hard to stop one so good luck stopping all of them. Garnett actually didn't have one of his better performances in this series save for game 6, but these guys wouldn't miss. The ball rotation was flawless, Ray Allen was parked for three, Paul Pierce was driving and scoring at will, Garnett's jump shot and inside presence was there, this is a dynasty we're looking at guys, the Celtics will win 2 or 3 more before these guys call it quits.

Congratulations Boston, the NBA Champions of 2007-2008.

"Frankly I don't care if he purposefully tried to throw this series for the sake of Kobe losing," Huh?

"and will NEVER be better than Red Auerbach."

An assistant coach under Auerbach with the Celtics invented the triangle offense, which he used to win a gazillion championships. That assistant coach was Red Holzman, who went on to coach the Knicks to two championships, on which was a dorky forward named Phil Jackson. Phil Jackson, being the intellect he is, memorized the intricacies of the triangle, and re-invented it with the Bulls, taking a superstar and a handful of role players and turning them into a dynasty. He did the same thing with the Lakers, the key piece to the puzzle being Shaq, not Kobe.

Kobe by all accounts is a very intelligent human being. He is, from a basketball standpoint, dumber than a bag of shit. It's not Phil's fault the offense no longer works, it's the fault of one player who is too impatient and to selfish to make it work.

SS, you clearly don't understand how the triangle offense works, and what is required for it to work. The key is patience. Having a point guard who is willing to wait to get the ball into the right person's hands at the right time is paramount to its success. It took Michael a couple years to buy into it, but once he did, when he realized it would make him a legend and have rings up the yazoo, he went for it. Michael early in his career was like Kobe now, he had the mentality of the more I shoot the better we are.

Trust me, its not an easy concept to sell, individual one on one players believing in a team concept, but the proof is there, and has been for 20 years...it works.

What baffles me is why doesn't every team in the league run the triangle?

"Was Kobe Bryant not a part of the triangle offense during the Laker dynasty of 2000-02"

Pay attention, dude. I said that, and that Shaq was the key. Take away the key, and you can't unlock the door (offense), can you?

This is only his 3rd year with Phil and no Shaq, and 4th without Shaq, if the right personnel is there it will work again.

Again, pay attention. The right personnel being Kobe. The Lakers brought in Derek Fisher specifically to run the triangle, and it didn't work, because Kobe always has to have the facking ball in his hand. You don't need to take 35 shots to score 40 points, Kobe for some reason is to thick headed to get the concept of less is more.

Is the 10 all people who have had a Street or City named after them?

I thought I was gonna spend this Cookie saying: Ya? Well how far did the Suns make it? Instead I just chuckled and said to myself: Man 18 and 1 is a funny combination of numbers.