The Beast's Board

Thanks Beast. Glad to be back.

1. It%u2019s been twenty-one years since the last Lakers-Celtics finals. What is your favorite memory of this historic rivalry?

I'm only 21, and I only recently became an NBA person, so I'll go with Larry Bird waving his towel around in front of the bench like a 12 year old.

2. Due to having the league%u2019s top record during the regular season, the Celtics have earned home court advantage. How much of a difference does this make?

Home court is going to be huge for the Celtics, as it has been throughout the playoffs. Celtics fans have been basketball-starved for basically the last 20 years, so the Garden is going to be electric, no doubt. And since they've had such a hard time winning on the road, this series is dangerous. Instead of the 2-2-1-1-1 format, it's 2-3-2, so it's 2 in Boston, then three in LA. then 2 in Boston again, if necessary. It's not out of the question for Boston to come back from LA (or get eliminated) down 3-2 and facing elimination, something they haven't done all season.

3. The Celtics Big Three is relatively inexperienced in the playoffs and none of them have ever appeared in the NBA Finals. How much does experience and inexperience factor in this matchup?

Honestly, all the experience they've gained in these playoffs--weathering 2 game 7s, surviving LeBron James, beating Detroit twice on the road--has been huge. They may be tired now, but all the struggles have strengthened them, I think. And these are veteran guys we're talking about. They're not satisfied with an Eastern Conference Championship. They know they are far from finished.

4. At times Rajon Rondo has looked brilliant, attacking the basket and creating shots for his teammates. However, he has also appeared to be lost on the court at times. Which Rondo will show up?

Rajon, Rajon, Rajon...Remember, he's only in his 2nd year in the league. We'll probably see a little bit of both, like we have throughout the playoffs. The one guarantee is that he will make plays for his teammates; even if he can't shoot, he'll still rack up a bunch of assists (he leads the team). As far as his offense is concerned, it's frustrating. He is so quick and shifty, yet when he uses this to get to the hoop, he sometimes passes the layup to get it to KG and Paul Pierce. Can you blame him? I think he will start to gain more confidence in his shot, and will become a more complete point guard next year. But above all, his defense on Derek Fischer is going to be key if the Celtics have a chance. He played Chauncey Billups well in the Detroit series, we'll see what happens against LA. Rajon is one of those guys I've latched onto, for placing his priority on passing and defense, because he realizes he doesn't need to score a ton. It's a sign of maturity and recognition of his game's limitations.

5. How can Boston slow down Kobe Bryant?

They can't. Put seven guys on the floor. That's the only way. Rip Hamilton lit up the Celtics consistently. There's no reason he won't score 35 a game in this series. The only man who can stop Kobe is Kobe himself (if he has a bad shooting night). It'll probably be Ray Allen on him most of the time.

6. During the 4th quarter of Game Six against the Pistons, Ray Allen was sitting on the bench for various periods of time. Is this a typical substation pattern? What%u2019s the deal here?

Doc Rivers has no regular substitution patterns, so I don't really pay attention to that sort of thing.

7. Kendrick Perkins was very effective in terms of rebounding against the Pistons. How much of a problem will he pose for the Lakers big men, Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol?

He is a beast on the boards. I think because of his size and strength, he poses a formidable threat to Odom and Gasol. More importantly than Perkins is Garnett, who could outrebound them all. No matter how hard I try, I can't picture Gasol beating out KG for a rebound. Can you? I wouldn't call him soft, but there is no way KG is letting a skinny Spaniard beat him for a board. Odom was great in Utah, but I don't think he'll have as much success in this series.

8. Boston Sports Guy Bill Simmons wrote this week that the Celtics are no match for the Lakers because LA has a hall of fame player Kobe Bryant and a hall of fame coach in Phil Jackson. Is he on the money or is he falling off his rocker? Who do you have taking home the title?

Sports Guy going with reverse jinx, I like it. If Kobe is on, like 40-a-game on, the Lakers will win. But I think Boston is the better team. They're more balanced, they play better defense, they're tougher, they're more experienced, they've faced better competition in these playoffs, and they have three players who have played their asses off their entire careers, more than 30 years combined, to win a single championship. Boston in 7.

You need two questions, so one for soccer and one for racing is probably a good distribution.

Racing - A list to choose from, "Do you think Danica Patrick has a chance at the Indy 500 this year?", "Will Kimi Raikkonen win a second World Championship this year?", "Indy has died down since the split of IRL and ChampCar, do you think that Indy will rise to its past prominence post-unification?"

Soccer - Again a list, "The Champions' League Final is coming up, Manchester United v Chelsea, who do you think will win it?", "Who do you think will win Euro 2008?", "Will soccer ever become Number 5 in the top 5 sports in America?", "Has David Beckham made a successful impact on the sport in America?"

Those any good? Let me know if not, and I could think of some others. Should be enough to get you thinking, I hope!

i'm just trying to check my grammer and wiki problems

San Diego needs a representative in the Armchair GM Mock Draft. Care to help? Go to the Mock Draft page to sign up!

Thanks for the Foe add!!

You better live up to it!

Ok, Tough Guy.

Beast,

When do you need your answers? I'd like to take a couple of days if you don't mind.

Cheeze

Sent.

What's your email adress? I feel like I've written a little too much to just put in a message. I'll send it to you on Word.

yeah thats no problem. just send them to me and ill work on getting them answered. thanks for the interest

sorry but ive been away from a computer for the last week plus because of our bowl game. so what is it that you want to do? let me know i free for the next two weeks on break.

Thanks for the gift bro. Real disapointing loss tonight no doubt.

When is it Kenrick's turn?

I'm dying to learn more about his book.

Hey man,

Embarrassingly, we don't have a 2007 NFL Draft page. Can you take the lead in making it happen? You can use the 2006 NFL Draft page as a guide.

Thanks!

I'd like to interview you for the Meet the Users series so here are your questions.

1. How did you learn about ArmchairGM?

Well it would be easy to say DNL aka Dan Lewis e-mailed me and the rest is history, but first you have to know how Dan came to find me. I had written 2 sports articles my entire life before June of this year, a 2006 NFL Mock Draft and a World Cup 2006 USA Recap. But throughout the spring my buddy Jeff, who contributes around here sometimes usually Lakers stuff, told me he'd had enough of Bill Plascke and his hollier-then-thou preachings. We got to talking and decided that not only could we do better, we could each bring humor and knowledgeable, yet fan driven perspective to the sports writing scene in LA. So I built a poorly put together site at lasportsblog.bravehost.com. After realizing it could be done better on Blogger we moved to LAFanblog.blogspot.com where you found me first Beast. I think you wanted to combine blogs but we weren't really prepared to be responsible to another writer to keep up what ever arrangement we made so we stayed separate. The next day Dan e-mailed and asked us to come aboard, I posted [I Think I Belong In Brooklyn]. I've come with a cynical and and keen eye on the L.A. sports scene, focusing my articles on the area I love and know. However, as many of you have come to learn I'm not always agreeable, usually controversial and I have little care if my comments insult you. But I don't bring debate without reason and I rarely strive to insult, but I'm not concerned if my thoughts, opinions, ideological views or ideas insult you, because your being insulted by my thoughts is your problem.

2. When the Dodgers hired Joe Torre last month, it indicated that they were in the "win now" mode. However, Ned Colletti said this week that the Dodgers were satisfied with their young players. Are you bothered by this? Should they trade some of their young prospects?

You know, I am amused by how this question is set up, knowing that Beast is my favourite Anaheim Angels fan! You know what, they Dodgers have a real promising line up for next season and Loney, Kemp, Either, Martin, Billingsly, Broxton and Delwyn 'Pee Wee' Young need to stay in the system. But we also have more players in AAA like Andy LaRoche who have just as much potential as the aforementioned bunch, so I wouldn't be opposed to moving 3 or 4 of those guys to get a Santana like pitcher... well specifically him. The power bat at 3rd base needs to be addressed but I don't want to jinx the deal I want to happen by talking about it. I think to further answer your question, we CAN win now with the youth we have, the pitching staff needs another reliever; I'm fine going to battle with Derek Lowe, Brad Penny, Chad Billingsly, Jason Schmidt and Esteban Loiaza. I also would like to see Jeff Kent traded, somehow, for something other then a bag of shite and cash considerations.

3. Lane Kiffin was not too popular while at USC. Is he the right guy to restore the Silver and Black?

Oh man, your the USC fan of this LA pair, I feel like I should ask you this question! But seriously I was aware of Lane's body of work at USC and the man is a hard worker with a special mind for the game of football. He has a great understanding of game management and already this season I've seen his ability to be a flexible coach, adjusting his gameplan to the in-game situation. He is going to have some bumps this year, but I see promise in him, his staff and this ball club. He is going to work from the top of each day to the bottom of each night to stand up to his promise to restore the "commitment to excellence." I am confident that he will fulfill that promise.

4. Historically, the Lakers have been one of the most success teams in the entire NBA. What will it take for them to get back to elite status?

I hate to say it Beast, but it's gonna take either Dr. Buss getting interested in running his basketball team again, or a sale of the franchise. This organization will not succeed under his son jimmy buss(no caps on the name for a reason.) This man has to decided that the Lakers are once again more important to him then 20 year old girls and poker games at Commerce Casino. His son's only basketball experience in his entire life is being the vice president of the LA Sparks where he sat in his box and watched a pre-built winner hang banners. Now he is suppose to be qualified to run the Lakers?!?!?! Give me a facking break Dr. Buss. If Dr. Buss is no longer interested in controlling the Lakers then he should sell the team to AEG.

5. You are familiar with Los Angeles sports as a resident and writer for the LA Sports Blog. How would you rank it as a sports city.

First off I would say that Los Angeles gets a horrible rap as a sports city for 2 reasons, the media and the NFL. It is crucial to understand that a couple of things, first this town has two obsessions, the Dodgers and the Lakers. Everywhere you go in LA the dark blue Dodger Fitted is on Korean shopkeepers and high powered producers. There is a reason the Dodgers average over 44,000 people a game each season, because it's where you go after work in LA. I've been on construction sites, high school teacher lounges, SONY Records Offices, Universal Studios literally all different areas and businesses in LA in the afternoon and the same question is answered the same way: "What are you doing tonight? - Going to the Dodger Game". Now this is where the media comes in, during broadcast the cameras pan outside the stadium and talking the commentators talk about the fans arriving late, and that's how LA people are. Well we'd love to get there on time if traffic wasn't so bad that it took you literally 2 hours to get 15 miles from work to the stadium. Los Angeles traffic is beyond a nightmare between 4-8 pm and to get to the stadium you have to take freeways and streets that were built in the 40s and aren't wide enough to handle rush hour traffic and 50,000 fans trying to get to their destinations. The city is always a buzz with Laker and Dodger talk all day everyday but we look really bad when the nation is watching. So with that explained I'll give you my top 10 sports cities.

10. Oakland - Warriors and Raiders fans are passionate, the people live silver and black.

9.Madison, Wisc. - Unless you've been there during Wisconsin sporting events you have no idea, they show up for EVERYTHING, hockey, basketball, football, women's soccer, whatever.

8. Cleveland - They may be losers, but they show up and support their teams anyway.

7. Seattle - Does it get much louder in the NFL then Quest Field? How about Husky Stadium in the Pac-10?

6.Philadelphia - What's a sports city list without Philly? Doesn't matter if you like them or not, those fans love their teams with undying passion.

5.Green Bay - The most unique sports market in America.

4.San Antonio - They host the final 4 every few years and it's always an A+ event, also they only have one major pro sports team. You know how the Spurs thank the fans for support?

3.Boston - A tradition of Celtics success that is still makes them the banner franchise in the Association. The decade has been one of the Pats and Red Sox and another Celtics championship would make Boston the city of the decade. But this isn't my top sports cities from 2000-2009, it is my top cities of all time. So moving on,

2.Los Angeles - A tradition of winning and major sporting events that transcends sports into pop culture. LA has hosted the Olympics twice, is host to the Rose Bowl, several Super Bowls, the annual summer X Games, and 2 World Cup Finals. The Lakers are 12 time NBA Champions, UCLA has an unmatched basketball history and USC is one of the storied College Football programs. The city host 5 teams that are in the top 3 or leading their sport in attendance (Lakers, Dodgers, Galaxy, Sparks, UCLA Basketball.) UCLA now has over 100 National Championships in Division one, they are the only school to accomplish the feat. (I only wrote so much on LA because I wanted to save time defending how high i placed them.

1. New York - The Birthplace of the Yankees, Dodgers, Giants and Mets who combine for I believe 35 World Series Championships, that's a third of the total possible Series. Not to mention that the Knicks we're winners about 4 decades ago, but still strongly supported. From what I hear it has strong support for it's hockey teams. Oh, and unlike LA, not only have they kept both their football teams, but the Giants and Jets have Lombardi Trophies in the case. New York is also the #1 Sports Media market.

I hope these answers suffice!

-NG

I am honored! I will go over the questions and write out some thoughtful answers and hit you back!

Aw man, I was hoping you were going to post it again. That would have been hilarious. Sorry, but it was clogging progress!

I sent them back to you over 2 weeks ago.

I said I like them better, not that they were a favorite team.

And I like the Dodgers better...

It just comes so naturally ;-)

You might have the good Tori, but the Dodgers fans I know can spell jealous. :-)

How ya been?

Hey man, I added West Coast Bias to my blogroll. It's a really great blog, keep up the good work!