Congrats to the Celtics! I enjoyed watching the emotion of KG after the game. That is a true champion and he deserves that ring more than anybody… As does Paul Pierce, who has been through it all in Boston. He was there from day one and never complained… Ray Allen came and sacrificed a lot of his game for this championship. He was a premier NBA star who took the backseat, in a way, to win it all, and you gotta love him for that…I have nothing but respect for these guys as well as the whole Celtics team. They did it the right way, by working hard, playing defense, and believing. They truly MADE history !!!!

LA got in the win column last night with a Game 3 victory….. Kobe was great, i mean you know what he is going to bring to the table night in, night out… He carried the Lakers last night all by himself (with a little help from Sasha Vujacic)….. But in games 1 and 2, Kobe scored his points even though he didn’t shoot particularly well, and they lost…. If KG and Paul Pierce play just a little bit better than they did last night, because they struggled big time combining for just 19 pts, then Boston wins easily…. And the reason why is because the rest of LA’s team has been non existent. Sure Vujacic has played hard and did well last night, Farmar has been a bright spot at times, and Radmonovic has knocked down a few shots, but where is the consistency that a championship caliber team needs? Where is that deep bench that has been such a help all season? And more than anything, where is Lamar Odom. This guy has all the tools a basketball player needs to be great. He has the ability to shoot it, pass it, handle it, post up, and he is athletic standing at almost seven feet. There is no way that he should be playing so poorly… Now me being an athlete, i understand that sometimes you may slump, but this is for the NBA Championship, there is no such with so much on the line. You find a way to get it done…. He has not been effective the entire series. He looks like he lost confidence somewhere between last series and this one. With his help, LA wins the championship, hands down… Also, Pau Gasol has got to be more active, defensively and offensively. We know KG is without a doubt better than him, but where is the toughness, the intensity. Kobe got the Lakers one win, the rest of the Lakers better wake up, or Boston will be celebrating on the Staples Center floor!!!!

Lets not talk about the actual statistics from this one. Lets talk everything else. Sure the Celtics won the game and took a 1-0 series lead. But, starting with the atmosphere…. I watched this game on television, just like millions of other viewers, but in my 23 years of living, i have not witnessed a NBA Finals game more electrifying. I mean imagine what it felt like in the building… The game was a good way to start the series and the intensity just leaked through the television set. It seemed deafening to the players, who seemed to not even be able to hear the whistle at times….. Ok maybe it has to do with all the hype surrounding the renewal of the Lakers, Celtics rivalry….Or all the media hype surrounding Kobe winning a championship and becoming more and more, “Like Mike.” But beyond all of that, Paul Pierce added to the drama when he went down with an apparent knee injury, and i do stress the word apparent. Pierce was carried off the floor and wheeled to the back in a wheel chair. But he returned to the floor shortly after wearing a knee sleeve, showing no limp, and playing like, well, Paul Pierce. I mean come on, P squared is a tremendous ball player and one of the best, but this one seemed to be a little like, this is my Willis Reed moment, or a, “lights, camera, action,” moment. Don’t get me wrong, it made the headlines even more interesting, but after you thought about it, it was kinda corny…..But nevertheless, the stage is set and the excitement is definitely in the air. P.S. wait til they get to LA, the mamba will heat up, Kobe, that is!!!!!!!

This sounds like the 80’s. The Boston Celtics will face the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, and yes this is 2008…. Two teams so rich in tradition….. The Celtics haven’t been to the finals since 1987, and it just seems so fitting that when they have finally returned, that they will face a long time rival, the Lakers….. LA on the other hand, enjoyed a little more success since the 80’s. This is their first trip to the finals since 2004, but prior to that, they enjoyed a 3-peat from 2000-2003….. It used to be Magic vs Bird, Kareem vs McHale and Parrish, Bean Town vs Hollywood….. Now it’s Kobe vs the Big Three. Boston has three Hall of famers in their starting line up, while LA boasts only one certain in Kobe Bryant…. But these are two phenomenal teams, LA is the one seed out of the west while Boston is the one seed out of the east, and the Celtics were the best team in the NBA all year. But who would have thought that it would have taken this long for these two storied franchises to finally meet again…. Although the times have changed dramatically since they last met for the gold ball, one thing still remains….. THIS WILL BE ONE FOR THE AGES, DON’T MISS IT!!!!!!!!

Well it is that time of the year again. The NBA draft is coming up next month and I thought I would discuss the top spot. The Chicago Bulls have the luxury of taking first dibs, and we know, as usual, who that pick may be…. It could only be between two diaper dandy’s, as college basketball analyst Dick Vitale would say…. Derrick Rose and Michael Beasely. Rose, an extremely athletic pure point out of the University of Memphis, would be a great fit for any team, but i think the Bulls have a lesser of a need for him. Beasely, on the other hand, could be just what the doctor ordered for the young rebuilding Bulls. The do it all forward out of Kansas State, can give Chicago an inside presence, to go along with the outside threat of Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich. I mean you can’t go wrong with either one, but if I’m Chicago, i go with the walking double-double, Mr. Beasely.

Boston is the best team in basketball, on paper, and they went out and proved it this season by posting the best record in the NBA…. But don’t be surprised if this one is over in 5, in favor of Detroit. Why?, you may ask….. First off, I love both of these organizations and i love what the players on each team embody. KG, Paul, and Ray are definite hall of famers in my book… But, eliminating the Pistons?, I don’t see it happening. The Pistons are a proven champion. This is there sixth consecutive trip to the eastern conference finals. They are a collective group of stars who mesh so well together….. On the other hand, Boston has not won a game on the road in this year’s playoffs and to be a champion you have got to be able to win away from home. Detroit has won on the road and will take one in Boston, mark my word!… Also, Ray Allen has been struggling shooting the basketball and as a starter he is the biggest deep ball threat the Celtics have. I mean Pierce can get hot and James Posey can get it going off the bench, as well as Eddie House, but how many attempts will those last two mentioned even sniff. And with the Pistons being so tough defensively, how will Boston spread them out? They can’t. To me, the Pistons seem just too seasoned, too poised. The Celtics could prove me wrong, but until then, DETROIT in 5. Stay tuned!

34 pts, 6 ast, and 8 reb. For those of you who missed the Lakers close out the Jazz in game 6, lets just say you cheated yourself. Kobe Bryant was outstanding, and i only used that adjective because there is no word to truly describe this guy’s game….. He is without a doubt, THE BEST PLAYER IN THE NBA! And this is coming from a guy who was a Kobe hater at the start of his career. Why was I a Kobe hater? Well I grew up a Bulls fan, therefore MJ was, is, and always will be the greatest basketball player to ever lace up a pair of sneakers…IN MY EYES AT LEAST…… Kobe seemed to carry himself just like Mike. He walked like him, talked like, and even chewed gum like him. I felt like he was trying to be Michael Jordan….. I think i was just immature…. I was afraid that this guy, some skinny straight out of high school kid, could take my childhood hero’s throne and i didn’t want that…. But then it hit me, if you possess the natural skills and ability to be “Like Mike”, then why not try and be like the greatest or even better… Don’t get me wrong, I still feel like Mike is the greatest, but the more and more you watch Kobe, you gotta start thinking how relevant, the who’s better argument that can become. Especially if Kobe can lead theses Lakers to a championship…. I mean watching Kobe Bryant makes me spend more and more time working on my game. He is a true warrior on the basketball court. He eats, sleeps, and lives the game in every way. The swagger he carries along with the skill set he has obtained makes his game a gift to watch, just like MJ. His mental capacity seems to be at the highest point at all time, like MJ. I mean i could go on and on with comparisons, but to see it is truly amazing. He does things in a way that nobody else in the game could do, or if they can do it, it’s not gonna look as great as when Kobe does it….. I mean call me a fan, but I’m really just being honest. This guy is, “THAT DUDE.”

Boston had the best record in the NBA and is the number one seed in the east…. Lebron and the Cavs reached the finals last year and on paper, are supposedly even better now (still to be determined if they actually are) But I still feel like Detroit is the favorite. This is their sixth consecutive eastern conference finals trip…..Not even MJ and the Bulls pulled that off…… Don’t get me wrong, Boston is definitely a great ball club, but they have to be able to win on the road and they have not done that at all in these playoffs. On the other hand they do have home court advantage throughout the playoffs, so i guess if they just take care of home, then they will be fine…… And the Cavs are still alive so you have gotta respect the fact that they are still the reigning conference champs at this point in time, plus they have one of the most electrifying playmakers in the history of the game, you all know who I’m talking about… Lebron James leaves his fingerprints on every part of the game, he fills the box score night in, night out…….. But what Detroit has is experience… Yes the young Cavs knocked them off last year, but you just can’t go against them until they are actually eliminated. They carry themselves with a certain swag, approaching the game with a calm yet intense focus… It’s like they are all so in tune with one another and the task at hand… Nothing against Boston or Cleveland because they too are very much capable of winning the east, and they might go on to do so, but Detroit is who i would bet on, if i was a betting man (I’m not)…….. I truly love and respect KG and everything about his game and i would love more than anybody for him to reach the finals and play for the “Gold Ball”, and as for King James, lets just say that, I am a witness!….. But winning is an attitude that the Pistons seem quite familiar with….. You just gotta love it!!!!!!

Although the Hornets have not quite finished off the Spurs, and the Lakers are still battling with Utah, as a basketball player and fan, one can’t help but look ahead to what could be. I think a New Orleans, LA western conference final would be the most exciting matchup of the playoffs. Kobe Bryant, this year’s league MVP, against Chris Paul, this year’s runner up. Kobe could possibly take on the task of guarding Paul…….that would be very interesting…….. And on the other side, the athletic Hornets would have to take on the daunting task of trying to slow down one of the league’s most dominating players ever, because come on now, stopping him is not gonna happen………..then look to the sidelines. I briefly played for Byron Scott and he is a tremendous coach and we all know Phil Jackson’s greatness, think of how much of a chess match this could be in a seven game series……..Two of the premier teams in the league, two of the best coaches in the business, and two of the livest cities in America……You gotta love NBA playoff basketball!!!!