The Boston Celtics won their 17th World Championship last night, crushing the Lakers in the process. The final score was 131 to 92, but the game wasn’t that close. During the series’ first 5 games Boston figured out how to stop Kobe Bryant and exploit the porous Lakers defense, resulting in last night’s blowout.
The Celtics are clearly basketball’s best team. In a sport dominated by offensive-minded players and coaches, Boston Coach Doc Rivers convinced his talented crew that a good defense is the key to victory. “Stops” on the defensive end, coupled withstrong rebounding, convert into fast-break opportunities. When opponents manage to get back on defense, Boston’s half-court offense centers on old-fashioned pick and rolls and crisp passing, rapid ball movement intended to find the open man. The combination of team defense and unselfish offense allows the Celtics to overwhelm teams with talent equal to their own. No current Celtics player will make anyone’s all-time team. Pierce and Garnett and Allen are very good, but not great. Playing the game correctly led to the Celtics championship.
The Lakers’ loss has brought out the worst in many Los Angeles basketball fans, fair weather friends unaware of just how good this Lakers team was. Reading today’s sports pages gives the impression the Lakers had a terrible season. In truth they exceeded most expectations, cruising through the Western Division’s most potent teams. Pau Gasol was a brilliant acquisition, proving to be the missing piece in the Lakers’ jigsaw puzzle. Even in the Celtics match up, time and again Gasol pulled down rebounds in a crowd, and his half-court offense is unsurpassed in the NBA. Together with Bryant, Odom, and Fisher, Gasol needed one more big talent to take the Lakers all the way. Anyone remember Andrew Bynum? Watch the above video for a glimpse at what might have been.
Despite extraordinary skill, Kobe is and forever will be a big notch below players like Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and the incomparable Michael Jordan. The failure to rally his team against the Celtics proves what I’ve believed all along: the MVP of those great Lakers teams of 2000 through 2002 was Shaquille O’Neal, not Kobe Bryant. Against the Celtics, Kobe’s one-dimensional offensive approach — the 3-point jumper – was found wanting. Contrasting Kobe’s “from the parking lot” cast offs with Paul Pierce’s slashing drives to the basket explains the Lakers’ demise in a nutshell. Nevertheless, if Bynum is healthy next year, and if the Lakers’ G.M. can ink a quality guard, next year’s final could feature another Lakers/Celtics struggle, likely ending in a Los Angeles celebration. After all, this year’s Lakers have a lot more to build on than last year’s Celtics.
With the basketball season finally over, I have just two suggestions to make the sport better. Early in last night’s game the play-by-play announcer casually mentioned that the officials were “letting the guys play,” basketball-speak meaning the referees were allowing more contact early in the game than would be tolerated later on. This is an unthinkable approach to officiating, unique to basketball. Imagine an umpire expanding or shrinking the strike zone as a game progressed, or football officials letting defensive backs hammer receivers in the first quarter, but flagging the same behavior as pass interference in the fourth. Neither sport would allow that, and it remains baffling why the NBA permits — encourages? — officials to subjectively alter rule application. Games in pre-season and the regular season should be officiated exactly like playoff games. Uniform application of the rules will make the game better.
Second, the league should ban female commentators. The abecedarian in the network’s employ asking inane, feminine questions marred an otherwise great post-game show. By repeatedly asking newly crowned world champion Kevin Garnett, “Kevin, how does it feel…,” she nearly provoked me to bouts of regurgitation. “Kevin, how does it feel…” Who gives a rip? If she can’t ask a substantive question, send her back to the kitchen where she belongs. I believe she was the same bimbo who asked Paul Pierce if the Celtics had the energy — “after all you’ve been through!” – to hold off a Lakers comeback in last night’s second half. Pierce gave her a “what planet are you from” glance and replied, “It’s the world championship, man!” The NBA should end the PC nonsense of utilizing uninformed females with no competitive background to interact with the planet’s best athletes. That goes for football and baseball too.
Address all correspondence to Gloria Allred. Good day!
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Posted by Jerry Pomeroy in Sports, Video