Deja vu

remember when everyone said it would be interesting to see how the lakers matched up against the celtics with andrew bynum?

guess we’ll have to wait a little longer to find out.

and yes, i remember the game on christmas day. but everyone and their mother knows how much more that mattered to LA. i think even boston fans fully expected the lakers to win that. (direct quote, shammy?)

i’m really mad at kobe right now.

AHHHHHHH

Made Me Laugh

Check out this shirt for Lakers fans. BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Hat Tip: Redsarmy

Aight, back to work everybody…

Lets not get carried away here

I don’t know about this. The Celtics are great.  The Lakers are great. But that Bulls team could beat a lot of all star teams.  They were REALLY good.  I love every year in any sport if a team starts like 3-0 they go, “can they go 73-9?” “Can they go 117-45?” etc.

No.  The answer will pretty much always be no.

I hit my first shot in a game the other day.  I WAS ON PACE TO NOT MISS A SHOT THE ENTIRE GAME!!!  But then I did miss a lot cause Im terrible.

Altho I did lead the a team in NBA live to an 82-0 record in the regular season one year.  So there’s that.

I guess we’ll see.

Last Night

After Kobe made his first three in the first few minutes he turned to a fan and said, “Not tonight.” Not to try to make myself sound smart (I would never do that!!111!!), but I was happy when those first few shots went in. I told one of my friends that this guaranteed we’d see a Kobe that would jack up a bunch of fadeaways and crappy threes thinking, “but wait, I’ve made these before!” It was kinda like what Bill Belichick said about Freddy Mitchell: “He’s terrible. We were happy when he was in the game.” Kobe’s not terrible, but we are happy when he’s in the game if he’s jacking up crap like he did last night.

Yes Kobe.

Yes Tonight.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

HRMPHPHFFFFF

Just wanna say, I really have NO confidence in the Celtics to win this thing.  I’m scared as hell.  What’s a new way they could kick me in the stomach?  Get a 3-1 Series lead and then blow it.  Thanks pessimistic brain.

May I Have Your Attention Please?

If this is the guy is gonna score 20 points a game then the Celtics don’t deserve to win the Finals. Seriously. I mean this guy? And maybe I’m actin’ like I never seen a white person before, Jaws all on the floor like Pam, like Tommy just burst in the door, but this guy should never score more than like 8 points in a game. I don’t think I’m saying it just cause he’s white. He’s also bad at basketball. I think. Whatever. And yeah, this post is just an excuse to add to the ever growing “eminem references” label.

Very quick thoughts on game 2

Real quick…

Everyone was complaining about the freethrow discrepancy. Ok, there were a few calls that went against the Lakers in the first half. The Celtics were being favored. Sure. But by the end of the game, the foul discrepancy was only 28-21. This is not a statistically significant number- that is- just by looking at the numbers we cannot be sure the officials really blew the game. Anecdotally, sure, the Lakers shoulda gotten a few calls, maybe Kobe’s second foul was a little cheap etc. Thing is, people are pointing to the free throw discrepancy. You gotta look at the foul discrepancy, and it was only 7. Also, Radmonovich traveled, and Fisher, what’s the word, molested Paul Pierce to get a steal at the end. Doesn’t completely make up for the calls earlier, but I don’t think the Lakers would have won had the game been called 100% correctly.

Lastly, Kobe indicated in his press conference that the Lakers “learned a few things” (or something) from the fourth quarter that they can use “at Staples.” Right. So wait for the Celtics to not care about the game anymore and then make your wide open shots. Go 7-9 or whatever from three point line. Except spread that over the whole game, that’s like 28-36!! The Lakers are gonna win game three by like 60 points!! Seriously Kobe, in order to get all those shots again you will have to fall behind by 24 again. I’ll take that scenario.

I actually didn’t think I’d be able to stick with my original prediction this long. Celts in 4 is holding up.

Did you ever get the feeling…

…that the world was a tuxedo and you were a pair of brown shoes?

It seems EVERYONE is picking the Lakers. Is this series really that lopsided? I thought it was close, expect some sort of preview/prediction thing later. It’s gotta be close. Maybe the Lakers should be a little favored; I’m just surprised by how much they are favored. I guess we will see.

This HAS to be good

Usually I proof read the Plaschke columns I choose to write about to make sure they are ridiculous enough. I didn’t do that this time. I get the feeling Bill is gonna write nostalgic-ly about Lakers vs. Celtics and the good ol’ days.

LakersCeltics.

I feel good about my decision already. Or, as Plaschke would say “ifeelgoodaboutmydecisionalready”

A series big enough to be described in one word.

For nearly three decades, the most important word in basketball.

Except that it isn’t really a word. And the Lakers didn’t meet the Celtics in the Finals in the 70’s, and only met three times in the 80’s. Good series, sure, but not three decades worth.

It has been silent lately, buried since the mid-1980s underneath the far more rudimentary concepts of Badboys and MichaelsBulls and KobeShaq.

And timduncanandotherspurslikerobinsonforayearandthenginobiliandparkerandstuff. Also, hakeemthedreamandkennythejetyaknowthatguyonTNTwithbarkley- hewasonthatteamtooandsowasclydetheglideandsamcassell

LakersCeltics.

Thirteen letters long, but miles deep.

Lakers-Celtics, mad breadth.

The hair is shorter and the shorts are longer, but the story lines remain as spicy as salsa, as thick as chowder, and as enduring as the hundreds of bad regional analogies that will surely follow.

I was totally about to jump on him for these bad analogies, but then he admitted they were bad. I don’t get it though, is salsa an LA thing? I thought it was like a Mexican thing. Ya know, those guys south of LA. They aren’t white so I don’t expect you to know them.

Remember four years ago, after the trade of Shaquille O’Neal, when only one NBA player had the nerve to publicly rip Kobe Bryant for his alleged role in it?

That player was Ray Allen, and guess who will be guarding Bryant this week?

Said Allen in 2004: “He’s going to be very selfish. And he feels like he needs to show the league and the people of this country that he is better without Shaq.”

Responded Bryant: “Don’t put me and him in the same sentence.”

How’s this Kobe? “Ray Allen is a much better three point shooter than Kobe Bryant. Ray Allen is a much better free throw shooter than Kobe Bryant. Ray Allen is a better actor than Kobe Bryant.”

During the fourth quarter of every home game, the Laker fans will give a standing ovation to Jack Nicholson.

What’s the over under on “you can’t handle the truth” references during this series? Probably every time Pierce scores a bucket in LA. So LOTS (hi-yooooo)

The Laker Girls

vs. the Celtic Dancers

Sluts vs. ho’s. I guess I’ll go with the Celtic dancers, because I like my ho’s to root for my team.

While the Lakers were the first team to extensively use in-game dancers, the Celtics were the last.

Boston= less slutty town? Aight, maybe its just there are more good looking women in LA. But boston women go to college and stuff.

Phil vs. Red

Coach who got 9 championships telling Jordan/Shaq/Kobe to go score, vs. coach who basically came up with every strategy used in a game over a twenty year period.

Staples Tradition

vs. Garden Tradition

None vs. none. They didn’t knock down the forum right? Any chance we could play a game there? I’m giving the edge here to the Celtics again, because TD Banknorth is a more interesting company than Staples.

Chant vs. Chant

In the early days of this championship rivalry, the Celtics fans invented the “Beat L.A.” chant.

The Lakers will respond this week with a simple, “M-V-P, M-V-P.”

The Boston chant is wish.

The Lakers chant is a reality.

Ohhhh, he just schooled/owned/pwnd us Celtic fans. The “Beat LA” chant came from the sheer brilliance/good sportsmanship/wittiness of the Boston crowd. The “MVP” chant came from every crowd everywhere at every sporting event ever played. But Kobe did win this year. Good effort buddy.

Clothesline vs. Lifeline

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Celtics were real tough guys during Kevin McHale’s legendary clothesline foul of Kurt Rambis in the 1984 Finals.

But check out the video. Just so you know. Look who helped Rambis off the floor and seemed to be apologizing for the foul.

Yeah, Larry Bird.

I like to think his point here is that the Celtics are wusses because Bird tried to help up Rambis in a effort of good sportsmanship. Remember that time Rae Carruth killed his girlfriend? We need more of that kind of anger in sports.

Mitch vs. Danny

It was the Celtics’ Danny Ainge who pocketed — literally — this year’s tiny executive-of-the-year trophy.

But it was the Lakers’ Mitch Kupchak who deserved it.

Right, Kupchak fleeced the idiot grizzlies. It was a great move. On the other hand, Ainge only orchestrated the GREATEST TURNAROUND RECORD-WISE IN THE HISTORY OF THE NBA WITH TWO AMAZING TRADES THAT WERE AWESOME AND DONE BY HIM, THE GM, HENCE DESERVING OF THE BEST GM AWARD. Also, Kupchak drafted Jordan Farmar, so I think he is barred for life from ever receiving the award.

After the Celtics lose in five games, a simple goodbye wave will do.

Hey he made a prediction! But isn’t this the same guy that said Pau Gasol was scared of the away crowd at Utah games? That blamed Kobe for disappearing when it mattered most? I now know that the Celtics will not lose in 5 games. Maybe, they lose in 4, 6, or 7, but they will definitely not lose in 5. (or maybe they will, whatever. They also said that the giants had no chance. It’s kinda cool to be underdogs again.)

Wow, this was longwinded and unentertaining. I guess I should proofread the Plaschke articles before I write about them. Oh well, it’s 3 AM and it only took me 10 minutes. Just remember,

plaschkeisdumbandshouldn’tbeaprofessionalwriter- heusesstupidwritinggimmicsthatathirdgraderwouldn’tuse

Learn Something

It’s time to throw down some knowledge.

Basically, the phrase “Beat LA!” has been floating around early and often in the circles I roll with (yeah that’s right, I totally “roll” with “circles”). Anyway… I thought you all would like to know where that phrase actually comes from, and I think you will be surprised.

Firstly let me say, I really like the “Beat LA” chant. It’s simple, to the point, and with everyone yelling it, you can get chills down your spine. It’s kinda like the UC-LA chant that way (I like that chant even though I don’t like UCLA, except I like when they produce bad players on teams that I don’t want to win).

That said, the “Beat LA” chant was not started during the Finals when the Celtics were playing the Lakers. No, it was started when the Celtics were playing the 76ers. The Celtics were getting beat by the 76ers in the garden in game 7 in 1982 (7-8 minutes in you can hear the chant). Remember, at this point in 1982, the Celtics hadn’t played the Lakers in the Finals since 1969. When it became clear that the sixers were going to win, the Celtic fans knew that the sixers were going to play the Lakers in the finals, and they also knew who they supported in that matchup. They chanted “Beat LA” at the sixers, demanding that they beat the hated Lakers for them. They didn’t succeed however, the Lakers won in six. The next year the sixers would sweep the Lakers, in case you were wondering.

So yeah, the chant has slowly been adopted so it can be used when the Celtics play the Lakers, but it didn’t originate that way. I originated due to the sarcastic/witty/honest boston garden crowd.

Lastly, a sidenote, during that series the fans also started their famous “See you Sunday” chant. Sunday was the day of game 7. They chanted this during game 5 while down 3-1 in the series. This chant would’ve been more legendary had the Celtics won game 7.