"ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!!" Everybody remembers that phrase that Kevin Garnett screamed when the Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship back in 2008. Well, Mr. Granett, is it possible to guard Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol?
The biggest knock on the Lake-Show when they lost in 2008 to the Celtics was that they were soft. ESPN's Skip Bayless likes to call Gasol, Gasoft. The Lakers were called a finesse team while the Celtics were the knitty-gritty, down and dirty, old school guys that like to play tough defense and mix it up with intimidation. The Lakers looked like the tough guys in their 102-89 victory last night.
The Lakers have now scored 100 points or more in 11 straight playoff games. Phil Jackson is 47-0 all time when leading a series 1-0. The Celtics were the team that was held below 90. Odom and Artest looked like beasts offensively and defensively. Rondo was guarded by Bryant and was pretty much held in check, although he was close to a double-double. Uh-oh.
All of the experts, including yours truly, have been picking the boys from Beantown to put the beat down on Phil and his boys. Why not? Boston almost swept the seemingly unstoppable Magic. They put LeBron on the road to free agency a little earlier than expected. And the Lakers beat a completely over matched Jazz team and an extremely defensively flawed Suns team. The Celtics looked like they had proven themselves against tougher opponents.
Never underestimate Kobe Bryant. The guy is in a zone and he wants to beat Boston worse than Magic Johnson ever did when he played for L.A. Kobe holds grudges and plays with a chip on his shoulder. That's what sets him a part from LeBron James: killer instinct. If James had a quarter of the intensity that Kobe shows every night then the man would have his ring already. Kobe Bryant's talent and focus is what puts him in the same league as Michael Jordan and he could eclipse Jordan as the greatest ever with a second straight title against his most intense rivals.
Boston needs to dig deep and play nasty. The Lakers played Boston's game better than they do.
Did you just include yourself as "an expert"...
ReplyDeleteI don't think the East and West are anywhere close to comparable. The West is WAY better - the Lakers made the Jazz look 'overmatched' and the Suns look defensively flawed.
That's why teams that are under .500 make the East playoffs and the West teams are 2 games out of first but drop to 6th seed.