Celtics Win NBA Finals

You are correct, sir.

Anyone who's followed the Celtics post-season knows that the one game needed may not be won either quickly or efficiently.

But when he pours in 40 with one assist, they win. I'll never understand NBA basketball...

This truly was a bad example of how teamwork should help you win. </sarcasm> I was simply correct SSR when he said that Kobe was "one assist shy from a double-double," BTW.

If I jump the gun, the Lakers win 3 in a row, I'll be hated by Boston fans for all eternity! Maybe this ain't so bad.:)

Agreed. Kobe played well in the fourth but got little help. On another note, Pau Gasol may be the softest player I have ever seen. He had 3 possessions in the final minutes were his mental/physical collaspe on D was amazingly dredful.

I think the West was still vastly superior to the East overall, it's just that the East's best team was also easily the NBA's best team.

top to bottom the west is better...I think that the East's top 4 teams (which are their best...the rest don't compare) would only win 1 or 2 series if they played any of the west's playoff teams does that make sense?

Pip, you can't be serious.

The 2 teams with the best records were in the Eastern conference...

The West was so tough that the 48-34 Warriors didn't make the playoffs by 3 games.

No points but 6 ast in the first QT translates to Lamar Odom going 7/7 from the floor. Youre right KD. Kobe played a great game, what became aparent last night was that Lakers team is still really bad. Odom and Gasol disapear in clutch situations and they are very weak up front

Kobe needs to play a balanced game, and he is still learning how to do that. I have been impressed with him this series, both the way he can almost score at will and the way he gets his teammates involved. He needs to be able to do either, and that's not easy for anyone. That's what made Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson great, they could do both. The Celtics have shown what being too unselfish is not always good. Sometimes you need to take the ball yourself and put into the hole.

Again, I dont fault Kobe for the Lakers loses this series. He has played very well and his game has improved with each each game in the series. I still believe that this Lakers team is just not that good. Odom is extremly dissapointing as is Gasol. The other guys on the Lakers roster are just too young to be able to play at this level, with a veteran team like the Celtics.

Wilt would have but only to a Bill Russell led Celtics team.  ;)

Shaq does not change the outcome of this series. With the money he commands and what Shaq gives, the Lakers made the right move. Now they have something to work with and build on for the next 5 years, with Shaq they had maybe the next year but nothing else.

I ain't the best basketball mind We know.

it doesn't take a genius to know that 6 of 20 shooting, no 3 pt shots made, and over half of his missed shots came in the second half is not a good game, KD

You already admitted to not being a good basketball mind, FP. Let's not get into a pointless debate on a subject you don't know much about, K?

There's far more to basketball than just shooting. And, if you read my comments, I actually mentioned that fact.

BigP agreed with me, yet you're not arguing with him. Why is that?

You can't be serious FP....

ANDREW BYNUM is the key to the Lakers success. He'll bump with Perkins and Garnett, Gasol is a full wussy and the only reason he had success in the first 2 rounds was because the Jazz and Nuggets don't have true down low centers to stop him.

It has nothing to do with Shaq, he is washed up and you know it, he would be fouled out of the game by now.

It's the intimidation factor KD. I keep it real, and fp and I have gone at it plenty

We have as well, P. Which is why I'm surprised he's trying again. Slow learner, I guess.

When shaq got traded, the rationale was Kobe would be the gamebreaker, the key to success for the lakers. Kobe's trade demands have been based on the idea that he's truly and MVP type player. The type of guy who will show up in the 4th quarter and make their opponents entire team focus on them and still can't be stopped (ala Lebron last year and D-Wade the year before). The type of guy that will get fouled over and over again, and still will make most of his shots.

If he's not going to shoot, he needs to be like Nash and be able to take the shots when he can, but will be able to set up plays and to dish the ball out for his teammates to score. Even then, he has to make the shots he takes.

That's not Kobe, or at least, not the Kobe that has shown up in the finals. He tries to make the shots, and sometimes it works. A lot of the time, he doesn't make it, and tries to be more like Nash, but he won't make the fewer shots he's taking. He has to make shots inside and out. He has to handle the double and triple team.

Shaq still had a couple years left in him when he was traded. Bynum can fill in down the road, but he won't demand the respect they need him to. Kobe is not what he thinks he is, and it's why the lakers will lose

I have the fucking right to speak my mind KD. No punk ass guy from Arizona is going to tell me otherwise. How about you show me some respect every once in a while, K? I've had my battles with Pup. We've gone back and forth a bunch of times, and we listen to each other, unlike you, KD

I agree with BigP sorta...but I think the window was more than 1 year...possibly 2 or 3...who knows...

Respect is earned, FP. Earn it, and you will get it. Talk like some smartmouth, know it all teenage jerkoff punk and you won't. Clear enough for you?

I want you to pay attention here, this was the "team" Kobe had around him 2 years ago:

Kwame Brown, Smush Parker, Shammond Williams, a young Andrew Bynum was on the bench, Mo Evans, and Vladimir Radmanovic.

How can you win with that combination?

This was the year everything clicked, except the Bynum injury. If it wasn't for that the Lakers would be dead because Kwame Brown would be playing....

SSR, then you don't demand to have the next best player on your team traded. If you whine and bitch about Shaq being there, you step up and win a title without him. KD, how about you stop acting like an elitist bitch once in a while that thinks that just because you have a job in sports automatically makes you better than everyone else?

Again very true. Shaq is anything but a gamebreaker. He wasnt a game breaker in those last years in LA. Remember what happened when he met Detroits big line? That Lakers team is not very good. Kobe is the glue that holds it together. However, much like in 2004 when they met a better team in Detroit when theLakers were a team of All Stars. Now they met a better Celtics team when the Lakers are a learnign team

I don't see what the problem is FP. Shaq was traded to a contender team like the Miami Heat.

Kobe was left with this mediocre bunch and they missed the playoffs. It took him 2 seasons to get back in the playoffs with lousy center play, and 4 years to win a conference title, and basically with only 1 year worth of playing with a good big man, how is he to blame?

I dunno BigP...I'd be interest to see how a lakers team with shaq would have matched up against a championship spurs team in 2005

That would have been one helluva series. However, that Lakers team as a whole would have been stripped. It would be Kobe, Shaq, Smush, Walton, and not sure who the other 2 would be, but they would not be the Lakers youre used to.

I said nothing, here, FP. You jumped down my throat and started just because you saw my user name. BigP and I said basically the same thing yet you choose to argue and try and belittle me.

Let me fill you in on a little secret, FP. You may be the least respected user on this site. Next to Tyrone and Jamel, you are viewed with the greatest distain.

You claim to not know much about sports in general, yet come on here and argue, and cry like Milton Bradley when someone disagrees with you. You take everything someone says to you personally, like some Paris Hilton spoiled little kid.

The problem isn't me, or Manny, or SS, the problem is in your mirror.

Now fuck off.

How dare you attack Milton Bradley like that. He is just trying to play ball and make a living just like you and me. You know how it is to cut out all those lil houses and hotels to go into a monopoly set? It is very frustrating. Thats why he gets so annoyed. Just let the man be.

and JuT, yes, it was 1-3 years in all likelihood. But A) I still say you keep shaq for that period, and B) if you trade him, you bring in someone to help them out, and you don't just let Kobe be the team

I don't mention BigP because he's simply agreeing with you and is not the one that is brining up what I dissagree with.

Fuck off you elitist prick. I have every fucking right to contribute, to comment, and to write here, and just because you're to fucking elitist to get it through your thick skull that you don't know everything doesn't mean I don't. Basketball might not be my expertise, but I still know how to tell whether or not someone's having a good game or not.

I take what you say personally KD because you do this to everyone you don't agree with. The problem here isn't Manny. Manny and I have our feuds, but we both respect the other because we know things the other doesn't. Nor is it SSR. He actually takes the time to RESPOND to what I say with insight and detail and not a rude, snide remark that just screams "Look at me, I'm an asshole!" The problem is you, KD, and solely you.

FP, I know Kobe had a lousy shooting night, but Lamar Odom was 7-7 in the first half, why aren't you attacking him because he was scared to shoot in the 2nd half?

Sasha Vujacic I think hit 1 basket the entire game and he got badly beaten by Ray Allen on that drive to the hoop. Why aren't you attacking that?

Pau Gasol doesn't think defense is a priority, why aren't you attacking that?

It seems to me that YOU are the only person in this whole community that could possibly blame Kobe Bryant for this loss.

A star has his role players, and his role players didn't show up in the 2nd half, and neither did his shooting.

KD, that was not his best game at all. Game 3 was his best game because when it mattered, he, not Lamar Odom, took over down the stretch. He couldn't get his teammates involved because they were garbage. He and Vujacic pretty much prevented a sweep.

Game 4 he let his teammates do the work, they were up by 20. He continued that in the 2nd half but shot more, they lost the game. Crunch time, no matter how badly Kobe plays, is Kobe time. Basically he was given the finger and Vujacic apparently thinks he can win the game by himself, he is worse than the young Kobe sometimes.

There has to be a balance KD, Kobe has to have something like a 10-19 performance while dishing out 7 or 8 assists. You can't go 6-20 from the field and say he had a great game because he passed the ball.

Sure, FP. Whatever you say.

Just don't forget what I said. No one here likes or respects you. And that's no one's fault but your own.

And watch your mouth, punk. You're an admin on this site. Start acting like one.

Now go tell your mommy you need a change...

FP, do I have to explain this to you again? He grew up in the East Coast. He's lived in New York, my dad lived right near the friggin Belmont.

While you may not like what Kels says, and my dad always tell me this, East Coast people will say what's on their mind and not try to hide it like they do here.

Although KD may be a little bit harsh (BTW both of you gotta watch the language, the CoC remember?), and I think you are definitely more respected than what KD thinks, that's the mentality of those in that region.

BTW, if your car breaks down in the middle of the night (my father's words, it's happened to him), and you need someone to pick you up, someone from Brooklyn will cuss you out but he'll pick you up, so think about that.

1 KD, game, set, and match. Another snide and rude remark from you. 2. SSR - I don't attack Odom because he's not a superstar, nor is he even a star. He's a decent to good player and if he gets hot, that's great, but it shouldn't be counted on

Explain the other ones that I mentioned then.....

it goes back to the idea that he's supposed to take over in one way or the other. Shooting is good, but only if he's making shots (i.e. not taking more than half his missed shots in the 2nd half). He's got to be able to run his team, and Kobe's not doing this

shaq did not belong on the suns. He was a game breaker a couple years ago. This year the suns were an awful pick. They're fast and athletic, whereas he's "the diesel". It was a dumb choice. The lakers could have won another ring or two if they didn't ditch shaq. Kobe's a whiner who wants the team to be built around him, but when they do it, he can't and won't deliver

He's a friggin star player FP, he is SUPPOSED to have the team built around him. That's why he is the MOST VALUABLE PLAYER.

then why isn't he carrying his team? If you demand to have the team built around you, you show up in the Finals and make sure you don't give up a 20 point lead.

Why did the Celtics with the big 3 almost blow the same 24 point lead in an even SHORTER amount of time?

they didn't, though. And none of the big 3 in Boston have ever been that type of gamebraker. Hence Allen and KG being brought into boston, because they needed each other to be a success.

They didn't win because Sasha Vujacic thinks he is the Serbian Superman for some reason or the other....an MVP, Derek Fisher, or even Radmanovic.

NOT SASHA VUJACIC! He is that inconsistent.

Kobe's job as the leader of the team is to be there to keep his teammates in line. If someone is being too egotisitical, they either have to put them in line, or figure out how to use it. Kobe's not who he thinks he is. He's a good player, no doubt, but he's not a gamebreaker. Much like KG, he could demand the double and triple team, but when it came time to battling through it and not having to rely on someone else, he couldn't do it. Same with Kobe

Not a gamebreaker? WHAT?!

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1 against the Mavs, in the regular season. 1 in the finals when Shaq had one of his best seasons

He has out coached Phil Jackson, but not badly. It's surprising he's done it at all. PJ is not done yet as a head coach, he took this team to the finals. He may pass Red yet.

The going small move was unexpected and the Lakers had no answer for it. But at the same time Phil Jackson taking Kobe off Allen defensively was a winning maneuver in game 3.

The coaching difference goes to Doc Rivers but it's close.

the positive to Doc Rivers' coaching is that Bill Simmons now has to eat crow...ha!

This is an NBA Finals rookie I'm talking about, against the greatest coach in this era of basketball (the other goes to you know who).

I don't know why you guys refuse to give him credit. This was the same team that almost lost to the Atlanta Hawks, and now he is one win away from being an NBA champion. He made sure the Celtics didn't fall through the cracks and that's what I like about him.

Notice he has fixed the road woes as well...didn't win the first 6 playoff games, and now they have won 3 out of 5 away from the Whatevertheycallitnow Garden.

I'm giving him credit. He is learning and teaching his players to learn from their earlier mistakes. Mistakes in this series and earlier ones. He deserves credit, but man he is not pulling off a miracle winning this series. He has the better team, he should win.

Isiah?

It is time to give Doc Rivers credit here. I have been critical of his moves in the first couple of rounds. But he has turned from a good coach to a great coach in these Finals. He turned to Eddie House in the second half in order to provide an offensive punch. And he would not let his team quit in Game 1 with Paul Pierce's injury as well as Game 4's incredible comeback {without Perkins and largely Rondo by the way} He sparked this team in two critical moments during the series and I would dare say even in the comeback in Game 6 against Detroit. The defensive intensity that they have brought into this series is a credit to his coaching ability. He HAS grown as a coach in these playoffs alone. Most coaches can talk to their team forever about the adjustments their players have to make, but never choose to make their own. Doc has. He has outcoached Phil Jackson.

Did you just shout something randomly or did you want to reply to something KD?

You over stated Doc Rivers coaching ability. He's good, but not great.

I replied to your asinine comment, SS.

Doc is wining with this team for the same reasons that Phil won with those early Bull and Laker teams, Great talent, that can turn into great coaching, but in Docs case, that has not happened just yet. It's not hard to motivate one of the hungriest players in the league in KG

KG has only been playing on one half of the court though...it's his bench players stepping up and the way the whole team is handling its own self-created adversity that Doc deserves credit for.

KD and FP are pretty close........they've got to stop but you make a good point Cheezer.

KD and fp are okay. In addition this is the place for one of those dust ups. Those 2 are smart enough to keep it in here and keep it in one place. Blow off some steam and they will be okay.

Could not agree more Dre. Bynum also puts another big body in the paint and forces Garnet to work harder to get an inside shot. He also helps the Lakers on the boards

Please promise not to be your usual Boston Sports Fan self when the Celtics win....and I said when.