LOL...typical response from you Sat. The Lakers are currently the best team in the league, and are likely going to end up in the finals, but good thing KoME is a notorious choke artist in the finals. He'll always keep the other team in the game. KoME would roll over in his grave if Gasol got finals MVP over him, so expect some serious chucking/choking from him once again.
Bryant, Is that really you talking about my Lakers AND Kobe with such disdain? Man oh man oh man! Looks like I'll have to increase my tetris score from 800,000 to 1,000,000! :smt103
Oh yeah Newpower, it sure is! I hate KoME and the Fakers. By the way, it took you over 3 months to finally beat my Tetris score, so i should be allowed 3 months to up your score as well my friend.
Yep Ajax, and SoCal, my predictions were dead on last year, so we shall definitely see if i can make it two years in a row.
So it looks like the Celtics are struggling w/o Mr. Garnett. Will they be able to make it to the Finals? Bryant, your thoughts???
They sure are SoCal. Laker fans make a big deal out of Bynum being out, but without Garnett, the Celtics go from being a title contender, to being a middle of the pack team in the Eastern Conference. They're 6-6 without Garnett. The Lakers may drop a game or two here and there without Bynum, but they're still a title contending team without him. Gasol is a far superior player to Bynum. I would even go as far as saying, although he's not the best player on the team (KoME is) he probably is the most important. If Gasol went down instead of Bynum, i would like their chances a lot less. He's a matchup nightmare for opposing forwards, even forwards who are excellent defensively like Garnett. And it's not just Garnett. Tony Allen is out, Scalabrine is out, and Glenn Davis is also out. When all those guys come back, i expect them to do great things. Cleveland will be tough, but i like the C's chances of winning a game in Cleveland, more than i like Cleveland's chances of winning a game in Boston. If they get healthy, they'll make it to the finals. If they don't, they won't.
I agree. A healthy C's team is a tough crowd but with the players they'll be using--for God knows how long--they're going to contiue to struggle. And what does "KoME" mean? I know you're referring to Kobe Bryant but how did you come up w/ that? Saying that he's selfish?
Yep, KoME is a reference to his huge ego and selfishness. Make no mistake, he's a fabulous player, and one of the top players in the game today (i think it's a 3-way tie between him, James, and Wade) but his selfishness has always been his achilles heal. Two finals in a row now, where he absolutely choked. He shot them out of the Detroit series, and he shot them out of the Boston series. He always wants to be the hero, instead of letting a guy like Gasol(who continues to rip opposing forwards a new one) take over the game and get an easy win. Great player he is, but great leader he is not.
I thought it was abundantly clear that without KG, the Celts are like Jackson 5 without Michael. Whilst the Celts clearly can win without KG, they cannot win jack unless he's on the court. He brings the defensive intensity that took them to June 2008 and made them victorious over their West Coast opponents. The Celts play good team defense but with KG, he's more than just a lockdown defender; he's a brick wall. Because he brings so much than just man-to-man, it enables others on the court to contribute and stuff opponents. For proof, see Games 4 and 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals. There is no doubt Beantown will see the postseason but it remains to be seen how much KG's absence will impact their ability to hold on to their gold. I seriously doubt it, but i've been wrong many times before and very well may be now. But i get the feeling that Team James, and not Boston, will be the Eastern representative this year. Orlando are too much of a jump-shooting team, and D How cannot carry the team on his back (yet). That is pretty much all of the competition in the East. In the West, things get a little more complicated. Everyone expects LAL to streamroll their way into the Finals, but i'm getting the feeling that the path to June may not be so smooth. They barely get any mention, but Utah are definitely not to be written off. After their 11 game winning streak in which Deron Williams played some of the best ball i've ever seen from a young point guard since probably Magic Johnson, i honestly feel that they can be the obstacle in the way of the Lakeshow. I hope that is not the case obviously, but with Utah heating up as of late, and San Antonio making their quest to be the perennial champions they usually are, i think things may get a little interesting in the postseason. I am not ready to make any predictions yet, but i think barring a complete meltdown by the left coast champions, Kobe will repeat as MVP. The media establishment badly want Prince James to hoist the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, but eventually, their performance would hopefully outweight press play.
Cosign on much of this post with just a couple of exceptions. I agree that much of Boston's return to the finals has to do with getting past the Lebron Jameses and the Magic. But if I were a fan of any team in the East going to the playoffs, I'd be scared to see Wade in any round! One man can't do it alone, but watch Wade scare the hell out of every team he faces in the playoffs. LC, in another thread, you mentioned that Lebron doesn't appear to have a killer instant. Do you agree that that's a trait Wade possesses? And I disagree that Kobe will repeat as MVP. It's a media appointed award and it's plain as day that they still doesn't like Kobe. It's Lebron's award to lose.
Lebron looked pathetic against Kobe twice this season, but he'll get the MVP because that's where the prevailing winds of media attention are blowing.
