shaq: kobe couldn’t do it without me.
June 27, 2008
NBA Glory Back In Beantown
June 18, 2008
The Boston Celtics are once again the NBA World Champions. After going through an intense playoff battles all the way back from the first round, the Celtics finally captured their gold. Truth to be told, I’m not really a fan of Celtics and I was rooting for the L.A. Lakers to win it all. I’m not a Lakers fan at heart, but I wanted them to win because I didn’t believe in the Celtics. I didn’t want to buy the idea that they are a championship caliber team because of their Big 3. Through the playoffs, Lakers looked poised to win it all while the Celtics struggled to win away from home. But after the grueling 26 playoff games, the Green Machine eventually emerged as the champs.
After watching game 6, I thought the Celts deserved to win. They showed heart, courage and determination. They were in the zone while the Lakers looked dazed and confused. The Green Machine was well oiled and every cog was running smoothly. Everybody in the team wanted to win the gold and everyone contributed something. Lakers, on the other hand, lacked the intensity and aggressiveness which eventually cost them the Larry O’Brien trophy.
After the game, I checked the stats of the game and it showed why the Celtics finished on top. Here are the stats for game 6:
Rebounds
Lakers 29 (2 offensive)
Celtics 48 (14 offensive)
Assists
Lakers 16
Celtics 33
Steals
Lakers 4
Celtics 18
Blocks
Lakers 0
Celtics 4
Turnovers
Lakers 19
Celtics 7
With those numbers posted on the box score, it wasn’t really surprising to see the Celtics finish on top. The Lakers were totally dominated by the Celtics in the game considering the fact that they are supposed to be more experienced, especially Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher and Phil Jackson. The Celtics just showed more hunger and determination than the Lakers to win the gold and they eventually got their prize. Props to the both teams for reaching the NBA finals and much respect for the Boston Celtics. Cheers!
-fouledout
FITP’s Postseason Roundtable Discussion
June 17, 2008
Recently, I participated in a small round table discussion hosted by Karlo from Feet in the Paint. We talked about a couple of stuff regarding the basketball scene today. Props to Feet in the Paint for hosting the event and to the following bloggers who contributed in the small event. Kudos!
A short excerpt from the discussion:
There are those labeled as saviors to the league (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, etc.) but none landed in a “big market” city. Is this a hindrance to the NBA’s marketability?
No I don’t think so. It actually helps the marketability of the league. Because if a potential big star lands on a city that has a small market, he can shake up the city and bring it’s crowd to their feet. Take the Hawks for example. The market in Atlanta is relatively small compared to other teams, but since they made it to the playoffs this year, the fans started going to their games. I believe that there’s no such thing as “small market” city. It’s just that the people are not hooked up with their teams because they are not winning. The Hornets had a hard time filling up their stadiums early in the season but when they started winning, people from New Orleans started going to the games. Players labeled as “saviors” are really saviors in a sense that they have the potential capacity to shake things up and bring its home-crowd to their feet..
Stylistic changes in the professional game have begun a new debate: would you draft a great point guard or a great center? What are your reasons?
I think the usual answer would be “depends on what my team needs”, but ideally I would prefer to draft a great center. I just think that big men (centers and power forwards) take longer time to develop their game. They may be great in college, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll be great in pro-league. Particularly in the NBA, the guard position is kinda saturated. Teams can choose from a wide pool of guard players in the league compared to the pool of big men. I think guards are easier to train and they adapt to the game quicker than centers, and for that reason, I would pick a great center over a great point guard.
Click the link to read the whole piece. Cheers!
FITP Postseason Roundtable Discussion
-fouledout
