[phoenixnash]

Originally Posted by Venge™

Most sportswriters picked the Lakers to win in 6 or less. In fact, every analyst on ESPN chose the Lakers to win, with the exception of one who said that Celts would win in 7.

Like I said, the reason why most people chose the Lakers because of the playoff performance. I picked the Lakers to win, because the Celtics were not performing like they had the best record in the reg. season. Lakers had an easier time against a tougher division...which makes me wonder sometimes is the western conference really that tough? 3 of the last 4 champions came from the East.

To my point...when the C's struggled its described as a "choke" and when the Lakers struggled, they are "overmatched". Because the C's were "expected" to win. Im just saying that Im not buying into some notion that KG finally carried his team to the championship. The offensive load was equally distributed among the 3...and that wasnt enough that the bench had to be great.

That's why I agreed on what Allen said...they are not the big 3 but they are the big 15 or maybe he meant big 12. They have the most balanced championship team since the Spurs won it in 02-03 season. Where they still have Stephen Jackson and a bench that has Rose, Kerr, Manu, Steve Smith, Kevin Willis, Devin Brown, and Danny Ferry.

This is not like when Shaq and Hakeem finally won their rings. Shaq had a young Kobe and Hakeem got a bunch of unknown players. Pierce won the MVP, okay...the only memorable and special thing that I can remember him doing is that overdramatic comeback ala Willis Reed, which he was embarassed about. Allen and Posey were the ones hitting the big shots when they win. That's why I think Allen should be MVP because he hit the last 2 layups against the heart of the Lakers defense on that miracle comeback. And when you remember this finals...that's the game that you will remember and the shot when Allen blew past Sasha for a left handed layup that's the stuff for commercials like "WHERE MIRACLE HAPPENS"

In short...the entire Celtics including the coaching staff should be the story of the series...not KG or Allen or Pierce and say that they proven the critics wrong. They haven't carried their team by themselves deep into the playoff before this...and combining all 3 of them together would not change my perception. Kobe and Lebron had their share of bad supports but that didn stop them from making the playoff.

Enough said. Its off season discussion time...looking forward for the draft pick next Thursday. Hopefully there would be some surprise trades like last year.

[BM84]

Originally Posted by KiNgoFKiNgS23

Utah? LA? New Orleans? Houston with Yao?

I wouldn't count on Utah or New Orleans. To me, they're still young and proved this season that they simply weren't ready for the big stage--yet, at least.

Houston with Yao could do it, and depending on what kind of Bynum shows up next year, and if Gasol can grow a heart, they could see they're way back into the finals.

[Rock Bottom]

3 of the last 4 champions came from the East.

You mean two, Celts and Heat.

'05 Spurs and '07 Spurs.

[phoenixnash]

Originally Posted by BM84

I wouldn't count on Utah or New Orleans. To me, they're still young and proved this season that they simply weren't ready for the big stage--yet, at least.

Houston with Yao could do it, and depending on what kind of Bynum shows up next year, and if Gasol can grow a heart, they could see they're way back into the finals.

That is why the offseason is more important now than the previous years because of the Celtics. Now, Celtics is not only the team to gauge but the Celtics proved that you dont have to wait for that great draft pick to be an instant contender moreso a champion...

Imagine if the Celtics would have gotten the 1st pick last year and got Oden...it would have been another disastrous season for Boston. So for seasoned teams like the Suns, Rockets, Pistons, Spurs, and Mavs...the window is getting tighter and tighter..they need to make moves to stay in the hunt...because the younger generation of good teams like Blazers, Jazz, Hornets and maybe even the Bulls are starting to peak. So let the trade rumors begin... is anyone starting a thread for the offseason?

On another note... Amare Stoudamire will not be playing with team USA this summer...big loss...I think they should look at David West more than Boozer...I like West defense better plus he has Chandler and Paul playing with him.