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

All-Time Teams: Coaches

Every great team needs a great coach, so when can leave our teams without a coach. You know it was coming! First of all, all the coache's stats, I took them from here

First Team Coach: Phil Jackson

Regular Season Record: 919 – 939 (.700)
Playoff Record: 179 – 77 (.699)
9 Titles: 1991 – 1993, 1996- 1998, 2000 -2002

Every shot against Phil Jackson is based on the argument that he can’t win unless he's coaching the best players have the best players, well if we give him the 1^st All Time team, what do you think it would happen?

Second Team Coach: Pat Riley

Regular Season Record: 1182 – 618 (.657)
Playoff Record: 171 – 111 (.606)
5 Titles: 1982, 1985,1987,1988,2006

I’m not a fan of Pat Riley, but you have to give credit where credit’s due. This guy can turn a good team into an inmediate contender, he got a way to squeeze the best of a team, not only of every individual, of the entire team as a unit. There’s lot of squeezing to do in the 2^nd team

Third Team Coach: Red Auerbach

Regular Season Record: 938 – 479 (.662)
Playoff Record: 99 – 69 (.589)
9 Titles: (1957, 1959 – 1966)

Red Auerbach coaching a team where no Celtic plays? I didn’t think so either, that’s way I didn’t put him in front of the second team. This guy knew so much about basketball, about his players and the other team players that he resembled more a betting Donaghy type of guy instead of a coach. He won eight straight titles, against teams like the Lakers, Sixers and Knicks of the 60’s, different eras my ass, I want to see somebody achieving that in any era.

And no, I’m not doing assistant coaches, trainers, mop boys and/or video coordinators. It’s over, let it go, It's over.