Free Agency.Day 2

We had a quiet day in the "commitment" front but we got tons of rumors

Paul Pierce is staying green. His new contract ( 4 years/$61 millon) give the C's a little more room to play

Hakim Warrick is now a Sun at $18 million thru 4 years This is the Amare replacement? Over/Under on Nash asking very politely to get traded, half season?

John Salmons is re-signing with the Bucks (5 yrs/ $39 million ). This is the second signing for the Bucks. First Gooden and now Salmons, plus the deals for CDR and Maggette, are shaping this Bucks like a lock for a 5o win team. Great cast, good lead players ( Bogut and Jennings ), good coach. I like this team. Plus, they are playing in a division where it might host only one other decent team ( Cleveland or Chicago)

The Lakers are adding Steve Blake at 4 yrs/$16 million. I don't think this means nothing for Fisher but its a good backup plan in case he gets too greedy ( Reeeeaally don't see that happening)

Now the fun stuff.....

The biggest news is that Wade had a second meeting with the Bulls. Less than one hour into this second meeting, Bosh arrived and they both talk with the management team. They talked for more than 2 hours. They even left together. What does this means? No idea. Wade has been hinting that he's staying in Miami for awhile. Now we are seeing him flirting with Chicago...I really don't know what to make out of it.

Yesterday was reported that the Hawks offered the max to Joe Johnson and naturally we all assume that he was accepting it. Everybody did. Today it was reported that he was "intrigued" by New York and Chicago. My take on that is he seeing the NYK budget wide open after what appear is a strikeout on the three main targets ( Lebron, Wade and Bosh). He could rejoin Amar'e and D'Antoni grabbing a couple of All Star selections here and there, maybe a second round cameo playing for the Knicks. That could be serious dope and a bunch of money coming from New York City advertisement.

T'wolves are pushing Big Al hard! Chicago and Dallas being the possible destinations. They really like David Lee and their meeting for tomorrow still on, even though that they only have around $5 million left to spend. Odds are that Big Al is traded this summer.

Also in the open market, the Bulls are placing Loul Deng. Apparently the rumor is that he is heading to Portland in exchange for Joel Przybilla and Jerryd Bayless. The first is an expiring contract. Maybe the rumor of the Bulls having the best chance for grouping Wade, Bron and Bosh is not that false. Maybe they are just trying.

Free Agency. The facts

We have been waiting for this for more than 2 years. This is when I'm giggling like a school girl because we finally know most of the facts that we need to take an EDUCATED GUESS ( I don't think ESPN are familiar with this concept. They know things like " HITS" and "POPULARITY" things me or the Basketball Gods have no idea )

This is what you need to know:

1. The Cleveland Cavaliers did not win the championship. They didn't even get close to it. My thoughts were if Lebron wins a ring in Cleveland there is no way he's leaving. No way in hell. If the had gotten close, lets say game 6 or 7 of the NBA Finals, he wasn't going to leave neither. But he got pwned in the second round by the Boston Celtics. At that point I said "60-40" on he leaving.

2. The L.A. Lakers won the championship. Proving that you need two big GAME players to make it. Lebron does not have that on Cleveland, neither does Bosh on Toronto. Cleveland try to pull on of those shameless steals ala Pau Gasol and all they got was Shaq and Antawn Jamison.Not bad players to have in your roster but there is no way they are second bananas. Third option in Jamison case. First big from the bench for Shaq.

3. The cap will be $56.1.

4. This are the teams that cap and cards on this game:

1. New York Knicks

2. Chicago Bulls

3. New Jersey Nets.

4. Miami Heat

5. Milwaukee Bucks

6. Boston Celtics

7. Washington Wizards

8. L.A. Clippers

5. All the big names you were expecting to opt-out did. Also crashing the party came: Dirk, Paul Pierce and Richard Jefferson

6. Something you already now , just in case lets put it on paper, one or two free agents are going to get seriously overpaid. This is a huge factor to keep an eye on. Lets say Atlanta offers Joe Johnson 13 millions but the Russian guy goes out an offer the max ( around 16.7 millions). Guess were JJ is going....

Game 5. 2010 NBA Finals

Lakers 86 - Celtics 92

I don't know how much sense i'm going to have after a game like that!

The first half the Celtics play amazing basketball, their D was suffocating. All time highs! Amazing. But in the other end the were committing turnovers left and right, specially Rondo. At the halftime they were up by 6 shooting like 60%. The Lakers were smiling. Believe me!

The third quarter was epic! Epic! Best quarter of basketball I've seen in years. Kobe got off, 19 points. 15 of them he got them in a hardest way possible . Then Pierce got hot too. They started coming back at each other for at least 4 possessions. Pierce was less effective. He scored 11. Still it was something to see, Kobe's show, Tony Allen block on Pau Gasol. KG played solid 12 minutes defensively . Just amazing basketball.

At this point I was really sure i was seeing a future classic, that until the 6 minute point. The Lakers totally went cold. They made 2 baskets in the final 6 minutes but somehow managed to cut a 11 point lead to 5 working they way into the score from the free throw line. Artest and Fissher took bad shots. Kobe had a couple of forced passes the ended up being lost possessions. The Cs decided to make the game interesting and shoot themselves in the foot having 4 straight empty trips and going 0 from 3 from the floor while the Lakers were taking free throws. Neither had that cold blooded clutch perfomance. Both teams missed free throws. Both teams made mental mistakes ( Fisher won a jump ball against KG, Artest went for the uncontested lay up but Piercer fouled him. He made the first one, he missed the second one which got rebounded by Kobe but Pierce snatched the ball right out of his hands). The Celtics just did enough to hold on the lead.

Three key aspects of this game that could easily affect game 6:

1. Artest is about to snap. He was on the verge the entire second half. He gave two crazy look in the fourth. One to the Celtics bench that yelled at him when he was about to shoot and another one to Pierce when he walk in front of him between free throws. He could easily go bananas in game 6 given the motivation needed....

2. Kobe is not going to trust no one in game 6 or 7. I have the feeling that if the Lakers get behind in the second half for more than 5 points he is going to start shooting anything in sight. I mean anything. The basketball, towels, Phil's table, Vujacic's head. My point: Bad news to the Lakers.

3. Ray has missed 16 straight three pointers. He is due. This is not a streaky shooter we are talking about. This is Ray Allen. Just saying...

Everything looks like crap for the Lakers. But...

4. KG is not getting shot illegal stuff in his body at L.A.

5.Odom and their bench tend to play much better at home.

Game 2. 2010 NBA Finals

Celtics 103 - Lakers 94

Look at that boxscore.

KG was 2-5. Pierce was 2-11 and Big Baby managed to attempt 13 shots making 4 of them. And the Celtics won.

Gasol was 7 - 10, 11-13 from the free throw line. Bynum played 40 minutes. Kobe had a 20-5-5. And the Lakers lost.

A better game than game 1. A more physical game too courtesy of the Celtics. A better played game specially from the C's. Their defense was way more active and they needed it. Pierce still hasn't figure out how to shake off Artest. Expect better games from the Truth at Boston.

Garnett looked bad. Fuck it, Vujacic played better than him. Something is up with this guy that the C's are not telling us. He is jumping with one knee , he has no elevation, he's trying to rebound one handed. He's shooting bricks.He's getting torched by Gasol. Easily.

That was the bad, the good: Ray Allen. I'm so in love with his jump shot. He played a perfect first half. He didn't waste any opportunity and let it go the second he got the ball. The result was a 27 point, 7-8 from three first half. Pure beauty. Lakers D got to zero on him on the second half as he was running through screen the Lakers got to start switching once the premier defender got behind on one of those screens. That let the door open to what Rondo did , and that was make the Lakers D pay. They let him open and they let him roam around and he totally controlled the fourth quater. Wasn't only his rebounds or the jump shot from the left wing, he controlled the pace of the game doing a great job looking for other options rather than KG and Pierce. Defensively he sealed the game, the block on Fisher and the steal from Kobe that became Kobe's fifth and pretty much caged him for the rest of them game, were probably the plays of the game.

32 points and 8 threes by Allen and he still wasn't the best player in the court. Remember what I told you about Rondo figuring Lakers'D out. It happened sooner than I expected

The Lakers got the best game they are going to get out of Bynum. He played 40 minutes because they needed him. Odom hasn't arrived to the Finals yet and that creates 0 production from their bench ( Their bench is so thin without Lamar's production that Phil's orders for Farmar and Brown is just " attack the basket". They are not event trying to run any freaking triangle. He just need something out of his bench. He played Vujacic again for crying out loud). Bynum was a force at both ends. 7 rejections ( at least three on Rondo) and 21 points. Easily towered over the Celtics D for a lot of easy points. The Lakers cannot ask more of him. Gasol played as aggressive and fearless as I had see him played. He still a little "hesitant" against Sheed but against any other C he is straight up taking to their bodies. 25 points, 8 boards, 6 blocks. He faded somehow at the end of the game. He is not the closer.

That was the good, the bad: Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher and Ron Artest. They were 4-21 with 5 TO's. Nobody can win when your best man of the bench, your starting point guard and small forward play like that. With around 45 seconds to play Artest got the ball in the right wing, started dribbling, moved to the top of the key, twirled his way to the left side just in front of Doc Rivers, pick up the dribbled, pump faked twice and shot a brick. It took him 22 seconds. You just can't win like that.

The Celtics got their bounce back, the energy they showed was nothing like game 1. This was the fighting and scrappy team that won 6 straight games against Cleveland and Orlando - Big Baby got block like 6 times and while getting like 3 offensive rebounds in one sequence. Next play: Big Baby scored against Gasol. This are the Celtics that can win this series. The Lakers in the other hand played the first half in cruise control. One get the feeling they were just waiting for a run in the second half to take control of the game. These are not the Utah Jazz. These are not the Oklahoma City Thunder. They better snap the shit out of that mindset or we might be seeing a 5 game sweep

Game 1. 2010 NBA Finals

Celtics 89, Lakers 102

I wasn't expecting that. At all.

First surprise of the night was the play of Ron Artest. The guy played under control, with the offense, no crazy shots and more importantly play physical defense on Paul Pierce. That not only took Pierce out of the game ( still got 24 points and 9 rebs) but the entire Lakers team fed off of that energy. Kobe doesn't have that effect. Truly a great game by Ron Ron.

The KG- Gasol matchup we were all expecting was like watching bizarro Finals 2008. After halftime that is. Gasol still shit his calzones a little bit when he saw Garnett but after intermission ( I'm guessing Ron Ron or Phil pretty much told him "Stop crying and shivering you puto! He's playing in one leg. Fuck it, Bynum is in better shape!!" or something like that). The final two quarters Gasol just took it to KG, no contest. Gasol 2010 vs one legged KG is not a matchup, is like Lebron posting up Larry King in their little P-I-G game. Too bad Sheed can't be kept under control for entire quaters 'case Gasol looked waaaaay more hesitant against Sheed. He just doesn't like contact.

A lot of thing went wrong for the Celtics in the logic of " they didn't get beat, they lost the game".

Ray Allen foul trouble took him completely out of the game. Rondo didn't seem all there, Lakers are too long for him, we just need to give him some time. The main reason they lost , besides the Gasol schooling KG, was that they didn't play with the same intensity. No sense of urgency. No diving for loose balls. The second half -- minus some 6 solid minutes in the fourth quater where they almost seemed to start kicking it in -- all the Celtics were like expecting some sort of energy explosion from Rondo or Piercer that never happened.

Can't believe I'm saying these but the tougher, meaner team last night were the Lakers. If you think about it makes sense. The Lakers have one the more physical wing defenders in Artest ( which is good as long as he is under control) and the C's have their head "jackal" ( as Phil Jackson referred to Scottie Pippen in the 2000 Conference Finals) KG playing in less than half of what he is (was). This is up to Paul Pierce to pick up the slack not only being the vocal leader KG was supposed to be but also taking his aggressiveness against Artest another notch. He can't not allow Artest to treat him like he was Kevin Durant. You are a big boy PP, step up!

NBA Finals Preview

Its 2008 all over again!

We have reached the finals after a rather boring playoffs. I've never been more bored watching NBA since 1999 but that is not the point of this post.

Lets take a look at how the Lakers got here: They cruised-control better part of the second part of the season, never managed to jell Artest into the offense, Bynum look worn out and Kobe insisted to put up 30 shots a game to get his 25 points while Gasol complained that he could get those points in half the tries. Experts didn't gave them a shot at the tittle. Kobe and Co. gave those experts more fuel to add to the fire with their performance in the first 4 games against the Thunder in the first round ( They barely escaped with the win in game 2 and got blown out of the building in game 4) They finished with two straight wins but needed a timely tip in by Gasol to win game 6. Not what would you call championships performance against a 8 seed.

They were lucky enough to run into a small Utah team which they destroy with their length. Sweep.

At this point they had won 6 straight games, they stretched that run to 8 games after easily winning the first two games against their Western Conference Finals rivals the Phoenix Suns. Then the Suns threw a curve ball and started playing zone defense which throw off the Lakers so bad they forgot they to play defense. The result: They gave up 115 and 118 points in two loses at the desert. They won at home thanks to buzzer beater put back by Artest and after blowing a double digit lead in the final quarter they needed the best 2 minutes of Kobe Bryant to eliminate the Suns.

So, they get to the Finals for the third straight year with a shitload of luck and another truck full of the best stretch Kobe has had all year long.

The Celtics get to the Finals against all odds, Phil Collins would be proud. From game 1 in round 1 they started to fight. They dispatched a Heat that had very little, ok they had nothing ,besides DWade. "Experts" weren't that surprise but they already had wrote the C's tombstone by the buzzer of game 5 against the Heat. They were against Lebron James and the 61 win Cleveland Cavaliers. They were dead. That was it. Why bother? It was going to be a sweep , a 5 game sweep if they were lucky. And lucky they were, they managed to get a win in Cleveland but got manhandled in game 3 at home. After that it was all Boston and their defense. Jamison never figured out how to drive past the one legged Garnett that outplayed him all series long in both ends. Shaq was never a factor. Mo Williams played in small controlled spurts and was pretty much abused by Rondo. But the biggest problem was Lebron's elbow. He hurt his elbow at some point in the last month of the season and actually did some drama in the closing minutes of game 5 against the Bulls shooting a left handed free throw. In the final two games of the series Lebron wasn't there. My take is the elbow was really bothering him in game 5. This is the first injury that had produced real limitation in Lebron's game. He didn't actually knew how to play with it. I mean, have you seen this guy? It takes a lot to take down a guy built like that. In game 5 he was hurting and nobody on his team step up. He got all the blame and all the heat from the media. Nobody else. Game 6 , same history. Lebron seemed limited and outside the first half of Mo Williams, the Cavs never knew what to do. Not Shaq. Not Mike Brown. No Antawn Jamison. They just roll over and saw how the Celtics took control of the game ( and the franchise future). That's the biggest break of luck of this playoffs ( I know dealing with injuries is part of the game but if you are a C's fan you ought admit it was pretty cool having Lebron injured for the series)

Then it was the Magic at the Conference Finals. Those first three games, joined with the last three games of the Cleveland series, were a defensive clinic. The Celtics not only defeat those teams, they broke them. They pull out their spirit and their fighting chances right out of their chest. I was amazing. They won that series in 6. Luck was also involve in getting the Celtics back to the Finals but defense and intensity has been the trademark of this team the last 6 weeks. They would love to stretch that for another 3 weeks or so.

Can the result of this Finals be read in how the 2008 Finals played out? The Celtics are a very different team more so than the Lakers. Rondo is now the second best player behind PP. Perkins is a better defender. KG is half the player it was back then. The bench is thinner and they have Rasheed Wallace now ( you make the call if that is good or bad ). The Lakers are slightly different too. Kobe is playing better this post season. So is Gasol although he showed some of those "soft qualities" against the Suns. Their bench is terrible. They are slower. They are bigger now. This series is not going to be decided on matchups ( both teams have a good answer for every player of the other team ) or adjustments ( Are we really going to be surprised when Kobe starts defending Rondo? Or when Bynum see the entire final quater from the bench? I hope we get a comment from Phil referring to Gasol's testicular fortitude). This series is going to be about swing points. Bear with me here:

1.How soon does Rondo manage to figure out Lakers' D? I see him having some issues trying to navigate through the length of the Lakers but he'll crack it open eventually. If it happens too soon it might not have such a heavy effect since the Lakers are expecting that and preparing for it, if Rondo struggles to get inside the Lakers might relax ( even great teams do that) and give him opportunities to attack.

2. Artest vs Pierce. I've never considered Paul Pierce in my top 10 players.Never. He does have one quality as an scorer: He manages to get his points on his terms. You know what I mean? He is not Kevin Durant or Lebron James, players that can score in any ways you can imagine, he has a number of ways to score and he does not tries anything else. Ron Artest is not the great defender he once was but he is a physical defender and still quick enough to stay with Pierce. If Artest manages to shut down Pierce or at least force him into turnovers or bad shots, Lakers' chances improve dramatically. In the other hand if Pierce wiggles his way inside Artest head (As we speak Piercer is getting training from Sheed on how to achieve this in less thatn 2 games) that could potentially swing the series. If Artest have to be kept away from Pierce, Kobe has to defend him. That leaves Artest on Allen or Rondo and there is no way Artest can chase any of those guys without committing a minimum of 3 fouls per 12 minutes fighting of screens from the Celtics' bigs

3. Sheed and Odom: Two players whose focus drifts in and out of game like an Magnum condom on a small dick. Sheed has been way more consistent and productive since the Cleveland series and Boston doesn't need his scoring to win game. It needs his edge , his aggressiveness, his mojo. LA needs Odom to play some serious basketball or they don't get anything from their bench. Phil Jackson can't play his starters all 48 minutes. Kobe showed some signs of tiredness games 3, 4 and 5 against the Suns in the fourth quater. Bynum is not even playing 25 minutes. Fisher needs to be rested for the final 6 minutes. If Odom fails to get "lucky" at getting a double double - or something close - L.A. might be in trouble specially as the series goes on.

4. Perkins suspension: He is getting that T sooner or latter. Boston can only hope he gets it sooner but not in game 3. They cannot afford to loose the first game in they home floor, no matter what is the state of the series. Boston is loosing the game Perkins doesn't play. Lakers would love to be game 6 or 7 ( Believe the Basketball Gods, after game 5 the Lakers are really going to go after Perkins "tender demeanor")

Now this next on is the BIG ONE. This is THE swing point . I can't bold this enough.

5. Pau Gasol softness. This is as simple as it gets. If Pau Gasol still poop his calzones when he thinks of KG, this is going to be a very green summer! One of the reasons why the Lakers lost in 2008 was because Gasol was too intimidated by KG - and the other C's - intensity and physical play. After the Lakers won the title last year nobody was talking about Gasol's manhood. He was a champion. Everything was dandy!. During this season and the first two rounds of this playoffs Gasol emerged as perhaps the best big men in the league.

Facing a 0-2 hole in the Western finals while being abused in the inside Suns' coach Gentry made two adjustments. Play zone defense and show some tough love to Gasol. Phil Jackson eventually figured out how to beat the zone defense but once again Gasol softness popped out . We saw a different Pau in the last 4 games. He still got his numbers but his aggressiveness was nowhere to be found. If the Lakers get his soft and tender Gasol in the finals the C's are eating them alive. There is no meaner ( for good or for bad ) team in the league than the Boston Celtics. Even Big Baby is meaner than Gasol. This is the guy the really gives another dimension to the Lakers, a very efficient post presence which is very needed if Kobe is not shooting high percentages. Can the Lakers win with a scared Pau Gasol? No if the Celtics are healthy. Is that simple in my book. Can the Celtics win against an aggressive Gasol? Yes but they would need very strong contributions from the bench and play very very smart basketball.

If you take a look at this teams in paper you would give the advantage to the Lakers and nobody would say " You are crazy!", specially considering how good Kobe has been this past month. But the fact that the Lakers haven't seen a defense - an intensity- like the Celtics play in this playoffs is a major factor to consider forecasting this series. I'm feeling a 7 or 6 game. Lakers title. Kobe a well deserved MVP.

Playoff Preview: Celtics vs Heat

(3) Celtics vs (6) Heat

One more title run? This is it for the Celtics. Whatever happens this is going to be the last time we see this Celtics group winning 50 games, having home court advantage or being "favorites" in a playoff series. I still see one more push, one more explosion in the engine room, one more stretch of good basketball. Its all about defense and Bostons has the tools to be a lock down team, specially against a one man team like the Heat. If somehow they re-encounter themselves with the defense intensity that gave them a ring a couple of years ago they could really become a spoiler for the Cavs-Magics Conference Finals everybody is yapping about.

Could also be the last time we see Miami win more than 30 games in a season. If this is Wade's last season in Miami ( I think he is staying) and if you are a fan, please enjoy this few days. You are going to miss them.

Miami is going to need 2006 Wade ( and 2006 refs. They are still there. Don't worry) . Wade have been playing at that level this year. Is a given that Wade is going to have a big series. If Boston's defensive schemes ( Tom Thibodeau time!) make him a jump shooter and/or a passer, the Celtics are going to the next round. Is that simple. If he manages to attack the basket drive after drive, the Heat are going to the next round. Boston doesn't have the big basket protectors other teams have. Perkins is the only capable enforcer down there and he is not a shot blocker. Garnett can't jump. Wallace won't even try. Its going to be up to the Allens ( yeap the other one too) Rondo and Pierce to try to maintain Wade in check.

That and a few lucky bounces and Wade's crappy supporting cast is all Boston needs to be in the next round.

Basketball Gods prediction: Celtics in 7

Win Scale (From 1: "The refs gave them that game. Are they really this bad?" to 10: " This is the best team ever! Make me yours" ) 4.5

Drafts 1996-2000

1996

Well, well, look who is not selected by the Lakers. Kobe gets drafted by his hometown Sixers. Do the Sixers accept Vlade Divac for Kobe? Probably not, they were in full rebuilding mode at the time, unlike the Hornets. The Answer gets shipped to Canada and Steve Nash doesn’t have to be the play behind Kevin Johnson, Jason Kidd and Sam Cassell as he becomes the starting point guard for the powerful Vancouver Grizzlies. So, the Lakers don’t get Kobe nor Fisher but the immediate impact of this draft would be Peja’s selection by the Pacers. This is a 52 win Pacers team that already had Reggie Miller and Ricky Pierce as their shooters. A team that attempted almost 17 threes per game was obviously a 3 point shooting team; you couldn’t find a better scenario for rookie Peja

Championship Builders: Sixers, Twolves ( Pairing Jermaine O'neal with KG could had been interesting)

Biggest Jump: Four players jumped 12 spots (Kobe, Nash, JO and Fisher)

Pick Order. Picking Team --Player Selected ( Original position drafted)

1. Sixers -- Kobe Bryant (13)
2. Raptors -- Allen Iverson ( 1)
3. Grizzlies -- Steve Nash ( 15)
4. Bucks -- Ray Allen ( 5)
5. Twolves -- Jermaine O’neal ( 17)
6. Celtics -- Marcus Camby ( 2)
7. Clippers -- Stephon Marbury ( 4)
8. Nets -- Shareef Abdur-Rahim ( 3)
9. Mavs -- Antoine Walker ( 6)
10. Pacers -- Peja Stojakovic ( 14)
11. Warriors -- Zydrunas Illgauskas ( 20)
12. Cavs -- Derek Fisher ( 24)

1997

This is a pretty crappy draft class; a 3 player class headed by Tim Duncan. Now picture this: 18 year old TMac playing with 19 year old Kobe. I love this post

Championship Builders: Spurs, Sixers

Biggest Jump: Stephen Jackson from 42nd to 4th

Pick Order. Picking Team --Player Selected ( Original position drafted)

1. Spurs -- Tim Duncan (1)
2. Sixers -- Tracy McGrady (9)
3. Celtics -- Chauncey Billups (3)
4. Grizzlies -- Stephen Jackson (42)
5. Nuggets -- Tim Thomas (7)

1998

With the number one pick in the 1998 NBA Draft, the LA Clippers select: Dirk Nowitzki. Sorry Dirk.

Championship Builders: Clippers

Biggest Jump: Rashard Lewis from 32nd to 5th

Pick Order. Picking Team --Player Selected ( Original position drafted)

1. Clippers -- Dirk Nowitzki (9)
2. Grizzlies -- Vince Carter (5)
3. Nuggets -- Paul Pierce (10)
4. Raptors -- Mike Bibby (2)
5. Warriors -- Rashard Lewis (32)
6. Mavs -- Antawn Jamison (4)
7. Kings -- Al Harrington (25)
8. Sixers -- Matt Harpring (15)
9. Bucks -- Larry Hughes (8)
10. Celtics -- Jason Williams (7)

1999

These are the rookies of the lock out shortened season. If you sit down and analyze this players careers so far ( how good they are, injuries, character issues, impact, success) you are going to find a “but” in most of these guys. Everybody has issues, right?. Look at BDiddy ( injuries, clashes with coaches, not always “there”) Manu (injuries) Brand (injuries and a record breaking skills diminishing pace), Artest ( Being Artest), Kirilenko (Cry baby). This is actually a deep class fill with quality players, great players to have as your second or third option...but with issues.

Championship Builders: None

Biggest Jump: Manu Ginobili from 57th to 2nd

Pick Order. Picking Team --Player Selected ( Original position drafted)

1. Bulls -- Baron Davis (3)
2. Grizzlies -- Manu Ginobili (57)
3. Hornets -- Elton Brand (1)
4. Clippers -- Lamar Odom (4)
5. Raptors -- Ron Artest (16)
6. Twolves -- Shawn Marion (9)
7. Wizards -- Richard Hamilton (7)
8. Cavs -- Andre Miller (8)
9. Suns -- Jason Terry (10)
10. Hawks -- Andrei Kirilenko (24)
11. Cavs -- Corey Maggette (13)



2000

Worst class since 1991. Amazing, 11 years in the league, 58 players, 2 All Star selections ( Kmart and Redd in 2004).
Fun Fact: Michael Redd is the lowest selection to be “re-selected” as number one ( so far)

Championship Builders: None

Biggest Jump: Michael Redd from 43rd to 1th

Pick Order. Picking Team --Player Selected ( Original position drafted)


1. Nets -- Michael Redd (43)
2. Grizzlies -- Kenyon Martin (1)
3. Clippers -- Jamal Crawford (8)
4. Bulls -- Hedo Turkoglu (16)
5. Magic -- Quentin Richardson (18)
6. Hawks -- Mike Miller (5)
7. Bulls -- Eddie House (37)

NBA Finals Game 3

It wasn't a pretty game , so if u missed it don't worry I'm sure your had better thing to do with your time. Good call. Anyway, the game was pretty boring, until the final 40 seconds any team had a chance. The key of that game was Vujacic as he scored 20 very efficient points and played great defense against Ray Allen - the only Celtic finding the bottom of the net - in the fourth quater.

The Celtics lost by 6 despite having no production from Garnett or Pierce. They lost by 6 despite Phil Jackson making the first adjustement that could swing the series to LA's side: Putting Kobe on Rondo the entire first half giving him the shot. Kobe roam defensevely and double team on KG or anybody on the post. Rondo never figured things out and then he twisted his ankle and his night pretty much was over.

The Lakers won despite no production from Odom or Pasol until the final minutes where Gasol had a couple of putbacks that were created by Odom drives against Garnett. LA won despite Kobe missing 7 free throws. LA still won without any production off the bench, outside Vujacic.

Neither team can feel happy after that game (Well, maybe LA 'cause they are not 0-3 ) neither team could get in a groove at any moment of the game. That little sequence when the Celtics were down 2 inside a minute to play and House missed a short jumper and Vujacic hit a three in the other end was the dager of the game. Kobe had those one on one against Ray Allen but one got the feeling Mr 81 was going to score even if a young Scottie Pippen was defending him.

Game 4 is going to have the same relevance that game 3 had. There is little diference between being down 0-3 and down 1-3. Now the ball is on Doc Rivers' side . Everybody said before the series began that Doc Rivers was going to get his butt seriously overcoached but through 3 games he has made all the right moves and if it wasn't for a bad night of KG/Pierce he might have the Celtics one win away from a swept.

NBA Finals Game 1

Pretty good game 1 for my perspective - as me not being an ultra fan of neither team - just because it wasn't a blowout and the teams fought pretty hard.

You can better insight from at Forum Blue and Gold or at Celtics' 17. This is my insight:

• Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol looked so different compare on how the performed againt Utah and San Antonio. That extra step and seemingly endless lenght wasn't there.
  
• Andrew Bynum is being sorely missed right now
• KG missed what it looked for Celtics' fans like 20 straight shots. Why KG game is based on 15 - 15 fadeway and turnaround contested jumpers? It was the same question I asked myself every time I see -or saw - Derrick Coleman, Rasheed Wallace and Chris Webber play. They have the post moves and the body to live in the paint but they choose not to just because at some point the develop and mid range shot (Wich is not bad if the used as a way to confuse the defense or just some mix it up kinda of thing. Not as a first - and most times only - resource) This is why I love Duncan's game so much. He's 7'0 feet tall and he plays with his back to the basket controlling the game and creating offense with his post moves
• Cassell had a nice couple of post ups agains Fisher but outside that he looked like he was working for Donaghy.
• Kobe wasn't as agressive as everybody imagined it. Something happened there maybe he's just pacing himself.
• Ray Allen looked quick. I've never seen this guy dribble the ball that quick and being that active and aggresive since 2002. Maybe for the first time in his career he didn't rely on this jump shot to get him going. Nice!
• Paul Pierce injury and consequent return was a thing of beauty. I just hope the injury is not that bad so it becames an issue in this series for the C's.
• Doc Rivers need to learn fast. Very very fast. He showed some hope in the last couple of games against the Pistons but this is Phil Jackson looking for this 10th ring.

NBA Finals: Celtics vs Lakers

1. Celtics (66-16) vs 1. Lakers (57-25)
Regular Season Series: BOS 2-0
Point Differencial: BOS +16.0


Rusty was right all along. Somehow. The dream match up for NBA' PR people is here. The Lakers take their 14 championships to the new garden where The Celtics are waiting along with their 16 championships.

Besides the obvious rivalry and the stuff there are a lot of side histories right here. Kobe look for his first championship withot Shaq meanwhile KG looks to take his picture while crying and holding the ol' O'brien trophy. There's the Allen vs Kobe feud (that nobody where it comes from and as Bill Simmons said "its 100% possible that it is about a woman). There's Paul Pierce scratching the surface to be considered one of the C's all time greats. There's Phil Jackson looking to tie Red Auerbach' all time titles record ( Just a side note here: The biggest advantage the Celtics have is Red Auerbach. If you think Red's ghost is going to allow Phil to break his record AGAINST the Celtics then you don't know nothing)

Now to the series itself. I've been saying all alone that playoff series are win more by matchups than adjustments (adjustments create missmatchups and so on) and the Lakers have the better matchups sans two positions (Garnett vs Odom and Rondo vs Fisher) and they have Kobe who have been anything less than Jordanesque. Pierce can also dominate his matchup agains Radmanovic and Vujacic but he's not the cold blooded killer Kobe is and this is the finals. Where cold blooded killer happens. Now there's the passion and the fire factor. Who wants it more? KG? Kobe? The Truth? Gasol? My money is on KG. We all know he wants it more I don't think he's going to get it just because Kobe, wanting it like 2 grams less, is going to take from his hands at some point maybe as soon as Game 1.


X Factor: At the end I'm debating myself between Kobe and Red's ghost. Which factor is going to weight heavier in this series? Red is right now waiting for the start of the game at the Basketball Olympus and he seems happy to see his team back in the last dance. He's happy they are there but I don't think they are going to allow him to burn Kobe's left eye with his cigar. Too bad it would be something to see.

Basketball Gods' Prediction: LAL 4-2

Overview: Celtics vs Pistons

I give up. I don't know what to think about the Celtics. I don't know, I truly don't. Rusty saids one thing I think another and then Bill Simmons saids another completely different thing.

During two games in this series (Game 3 and 6) the Celtics looked like they were supposed to look. Defensively dominant. Good ball handlers - as long as they don't get pressured full court or somebody dares to trap them - and specially they didn't collapse in the fourth quater, au contraire, they actually played their best basketball of the season during those two fourth quaters.

Another conference finals appearence, another playoff run ended. That has been the life for Detroit Pistons and Pistons fans since 2004. Billups wasn't at 100% and most games Prince and Sheed' didn't quite looked there. Maybe the latest was the doom for this guys because Stuckey played great. There weren't matchups problems, there weren't bad officiating or questionable calls. This was a very close series and the final "X factor" was Pierce. He showed the ability - first of controlling himself - and then to take over a game. (Here we need to factor the Pistons as a group lowering their quality of defense over Pierce. He didn't mutated into Kobe Bryant). At least we can say the best Celtic team showed, hence, the best team won

Whose fault is it? It could be 'Sheed. Besides possibly game 2 he never matched up with KG and Garnett didn't played that great

Eastern Finals: Celtics vs Pistons

1. Celtics (66-16) vs 2. Pistons (59-23)
Regular Season Series: DET 2-1
Point Differencial: BOS +5.7

Here we are. The matchup everybody was expecting. I can't say everybody was waiting for this one unless you enjoy defensive basketball. We are going to see games under 80 points per team. Easily. If you are a fan of fast, athletic, run and gun basketball you might wanna look away I get back around november when the Warriors are playing again. Let's get back to the subject here.

The Celtics comes from two hard series that they weren't supposed to be that hard. Boston has shown holes offensevely and defensevely. Those are all fixable whith their due work but their lack of focus and possible desire through out streches of games ( specially on the road) is what might doom them at the end of this series. Which is ironic given that KG plays of them and they are allegably the hungriest team of the league.

Are this guys overrated? Ray Allen is a joke (12.7 ppg). Garnett haven't dominated anything when given the chance and their bench, not including Posey, is looking thinner by the minute. Cassell looks like 50 and Doc Rivers is about to get seriously outcoached. The talent ain't that strong if you take a good look at this team. Everybody outside Pierce ow us something


Is funny in this series performs the biggest dissapointment and the biggest surprise for me in this playoffs. I have come to enjoy Deeetroiiit Baaasketball. This guys are focus and determined to get back to the Finals .This is about their legacy as they need to prove that they were not a one hit wonder. Everybody is on the same page, their bench is doing a lot of harm and their big guys just shut down Howard.

Questions for you here. It would be harder to stop KG? How long it would take Pistons' D to read right throught Boston's offensive sets? Are we going to heard the laughing and clapping of Sheed when they take a 3 - 2 in Boston?

Basketball Gods' Prediction: DET 4-2. Just for the sake of watching KG in the Finals I'm hoping I'm wrong.

First Round: Celtics vs Hawks

1. Celtics (66-16) vs 8. Hawks (37-45)
Regular Season Series: BOS 3-0
Point Differencial: BOS +14.3


Why should I bother? Well, I already did the artwork so...

I haven't really seen the Hawks play this season but what can I read from the numbers they ain't a good defensive team. They are a little thin in their frontcourt rotation where their best player is a rookie. They have nobody, I mean nobody, who can protect the rim. We all know what the Celtics have to offer: the best defensive team in the league an by far the hungriest.

Expect the Hawks to collapse on KG and also expect a big series from Paul Pierce. The Celtics are better equiped to defend Atlanta's best players that the other way around. The Hawks are going to hope that Mike Bibby can find that old "Bibby against the Lakers" self for this series andbe the guy that carries and poise them in the big moments as well as a great shooting series from Joe Johnson.

X Factor: (You can't have a series preview without a X Factor) Besides Bibby, how big can Josh Smith play? Can he be the guy that matches KG's intensity? Would he be a consistent scoring option? Maybe his numbers against KG would give us an idea: 15.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg a 3.0 bpg

Basketball Gods' prediction: BOS 4-0

Looking forward: East All Stars

Before the season started and I didn't had anything to write about I thought on writting something about the possible All Stars but I couldn't come out with something cool. Anyway, I was voting today and realized things are a bit different of how I thought they will be. This were the lineups in my mind, you know before the season:

East

C Howard

F KG

F Lebron

G Arenas

G Wade

West

C Yao

F Duncan

F Brand / Boozer

G Kobe

G Nash

Arenas and Brand are injured. Duncan is not putting All Star numbers and Wade is playing in the worst team in th East. The lastest two will probably made the team, though.

Let's pretend the All Star teams are not a popularity contest and take a look to the players that are really deserving a spot in the mid season classsic. Let's start with the East.

Forwards

• Kevin Garnett: He's not putting his typical KG numbers, but you can't really left out the best player of a 19-2 team.


• Lebron James: He's Lebron James. Just checkout his numbers.


• Chris Bosh: The heart and soul of a disappointing and injured Raptors team. Definitely one the best forwards in the East


• Caron Butler: This guy've really step up his game in the absense of Gilbert Arenas. He's averaging near 23 ppg, 7 rpg and more than 2 steals per game.


• Pau Pierce: More than 21 ppg. More than 5 rpg and more than 5 apg. Enough said.


• Antawn Jamison: Another Wizard stepping up for the lost of Gilbert but I don't think there's enough room for him

Guards:

• Jason Kidd: The Nets sucks right now but this guy is playing and amazing brand of basketball. Somebody have to rescue this guy from the swamps. Note: His avering 8.7 rpg which makes him 24th in the league. Check out all the big guys he's outrebounding.


• Chauncey Billups: Pistons fans are going to hate this but the Pistons have lost a step or two. Nevertheless they are one of the best teams in the East and they go as far as Chauncey take them.


• Joe Johnson: Can I dare to name a Hawk in an All Star discussion? The Hawks are 11-12 and Joe Johnson, even though he doesn't put up huge numbers, he's a huge catalyst for the Hawks. His case is not very strong but at least he has one. Note: His name is actually Joe Marcus Johnson. I don't know about you, but I were Joe Johnson I'll go by the name Marcus Johnson but that's just me.


• Michael Redd: Year after year the Bucks are called to be the "surprise team". I'm tired of waiting for the surprise. I wouldn't be surprise if Redd doesn't make the All Star team this year neither even though he's 10th in the league in scoring.


• Dwayne Wade: He's not a 100% following two offseason surgeries and the Heat is the worst team in the East. I'm just putting here because I know he's going to be there in February.

Centers:

• Dwight Howard: And to think once there was a discussion about who could be the better player, him or Emeka Okafor?


• Zydrunas Illgauskas: He's having his best rebounding season of his career and he's learn to do the small things to help his team win. He and the rest of the Cavs just need more Lebron James minutes.


• Shaquille O'neal: The Big Everything is having a Big Crappy Season. He's averaging 14 and 7 far from All Star numbers but he's still Shaquille O'neal. One thing I'm sure is that it can't be two players in the All Star team from the worst team. Please, don't let this happen.

So, this is my prediction

Starters

C Dwight Howard

F Kevin Garnett

F Lebron James

G Dwayne Wade

G Jason Kidd

Bench

Chris Bosh

Caron Butler

Chauncey Billups

Joe Johnson

Zydrunas Illgauskas

Michael Redd

Paul Pierce

Going... Going...

I was waiting for this one. You gotta love being a Celtics fan right now

Well, apparently the Garnett to Boston it’s a done deal, I promised you something smart, and you won’t get it. Life is fill with disappointments, get used to it.

The question here is, how much damaged can the new Celtics do in the Eastern Conference. First of all, we need to be in the same page, the Eastern Conference for this year is not looking better than last year incarnation. Transactions like Rashard Lewis to Orlando, Joe Smith to the Bulls, Jamal Magliore to the Nets and Smush Parker to the Heat, are not contender making moves. The East sucks. For the last couple of years, the top of the crop have been Detroit, which has 5 straight Eastern Conference Finals, 2 NBA Finals and one championship since 2004, Miami with 2 Eastern Conference Finals appearances and the 2006 NBA Championship and the Cavs with 2 Conference Finals and one NBA Finals cameo. Nice resume for them, really, specially Detroit's.

This are the obstacles that Boston needs to overcome:

Detroit: Past their prime, they come from having and “we against the world” attitude to a “we are so cocky, we cant loose a series even if we try” attitude

Miami: They are not only old, they just don’t care anymore. Besides, I don’t know how successful Wade approach can be in the long run. Just look at Iverson

Cleveland: Lebron is too damn good. The crappy part here is that he doesn’t always “compete” as hard as we know he can and his team is too damn bad.

The second tier of “power teams” includes Chicago, Washington, New Jersey and maybe Orlando. All this teams have a big hole, or two, in some key facet of the game.

There you have it, that’s the scenario Kevin Garnet is facing, it doesn’t appear that bad and with a roster that includes a shooter/scorer and a scorer/slasher,things get a lot easier. They still don’t have a bench or a real center to pair with KG inside and that’s where the issues might arise; my real source of concern is that Danny Ainge is so bad at his job that he and only he (and maybe Kevin McHale) can screw this up. Next thing we know, there will be a press conference with a proud Danny Ainge presenting Michael Olowokandi and Jason Williams (the motorcycle riding ex Bull) as their reinforces. That’s just depressing.

Until that happens, Boston fans have reasons to joy, reasons to glow and to look up to the next season. Boston has a team with a lot of leadership, defense, passing and shooting, but all of this its coming from 3 guys. Big things are going to be expected from the likes of Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins; no matter what happens with this kids , Boston will win the Atlantic Division and their playoff run will depend of Allen's and Pierce's injuries, if they can stay healthy and we don’t witness another “DWade Free Throw Parade”, they will probably reach the NBA Finals, and with the talent and the heart this team has, I think only San Antonio or a VERY, VERY hungry Phoenix team could beat them in a 7 game series.