JoeSixPat

This was a helpful article for me but I have an issue with their assessment at Center.

I'm not so ready to say that Gasol has an edge over Perkins... Perkins is peaking and his confidence is going through the roof right now - just when we need him. His scoring percentage is better than Gasol and Perkins plays best when we need him too.

Gasol might have more experience overall but I give a slight edge to Perk

Garnet over Odom is a given - though I'll always be a big Odom fan

Pierce certainly has the edgoe over Radmanovic. After some off games earlier in the playoffs Pierce turned the corner and is playing the way a team captain should in the playoffs. It's really great to see all his years and patience pay off for him.

Kobe over Ray Allen is a given as well - even if Allen was playing the way he was capable throughout the playoffs and the way he did in the last 2 games.

I'll concede point guard to the Lakers - though I'm glad to see Rondo taking some shots and keeping teams honest, freeing up other players from doubleteams and giving them shots. Rondo can definately surprise you and play big when he's needed.

So overall in the starting lineup I give the Celts the advantage in 3 out of the 5 positions.

I'd call the benches even - maybe there's a slight Laker advantage but this is the NBA championships. How deep does the bench need to be? And I'm pretty happy with how some of our reserves have stepped up when needed as well. The benches aren't competing with each other - just filling in gaps with the starters on both teams.

Coaching goes to the Lakers - I don't think Rivers has been especially great or especially bad but I'm hoping the players dictate this series - not the coaches.


So giving the starting lineups extra weight, I have to give the Celtics the edge, especially given the home advantage (though I think the 2-3-2 schedule nullifies that somewhat), will call the benches even and give coaching to the Lakers.

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BradyManny

Good article, though I STRONGLY disagree re: Rondo v Fisher. I think that may be one of our biggest advantages. Fisher doesn't have the speed to hang with Rondo, if Doc lets Rondo loose - and Doc seems to have confidence in Rondo, now its just up to Rondo to keep his own confidence level up - then Rondo will wreak complete havoc, particularly considering the Lakers big men are a little soft, and once Rondo gets by Fisher, he will be able to score or pass at will. And on the defensive end, I can see Rondo creating some turnovers.

otis p. driftwood

Bill Simmons says there's no way the C's beat the Lakers.

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Pats Fanatic

The Celts has the best defense in the league. That in itself makes up for a lot of deficiencies plus we know what wins championships.

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scout

How the hell did he come up with that one. Kobe is a great ball player. How many games is he going to win on his own? How much better is Kobe then James? Different players - different strengths. The Celtics will come up with a good defense to slow L.A. down. The Lakers can slow down the Celtics, but not consistently. What are their answers for the big three. I also do not see an advantage on Fisher over Rhondo. Rajon just finished trying to cover one of the best in Billups, his play was up and down. What exactly does Derrick Fisher have on offense or defense which gives him the nod?
The Celtics have a very good chance of taking the first two game at home. They then have three road games to win one game. The Lakers are not taking six and seven at Boston. Oh yea, the Lakers are grrrreat! The other day, an article on how Kupchuck (sp) should have been exec. of the year (LMAO), and then today, 'could this be Phil Jackson's best coaching year'. Gee maybe, no Michael, no Shaq and Kobe together, I'm sure there's a guy in the sky smoking a stogie having a good laugh on that one.

otis p. driftwood

It's in his latest article, written just before the C's won last night. One of his premises is that Phil Jackson is a great coach, while Doc is just...there.

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IcyPatriot

Looking at the game on matchups make it appear to be closer than it really is. The Lakers don't play man defense and after facing the best defenses the NBA has to offer Boston will finally be unrestricted on the offensive end.

As long as the Celtics can contain Kobe to say 20's a game they will beat the Lakers handily.

The Lakers have nobody to handle Garnett and/or Ray Allen ...

This is going to look the Red Sox vs Cardinals
This is going to look like the Patriots vs Eagles

CELTICS IN 5 ...

JoeSixPat

Rondo, IMO, simply needs to take enough shots and make enough to keep them honest when it comes to defending him, and easing up the defense on the Pierce and Garnett.

If he can do that - and we know he can - that's all the Celts need from him on offense. With Pierce on the court his deficiencies as a true ball handling point guard aren't as pronounced.

If Allen's found his touch now so be it but I'm not going into the series counting on him.

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Real World

I'd give the edge to the Lakers in this series. They're playing excellent basketball, and really impressed me with their 20 point, game 1 comeback against San Antonio. They didn't fold, and clearly gave them great confidence as a unit. The series itself is tough to break down. There are interesting match ups on both sides of the ball. How do the C's match up with Kobe, Gasol, and a plethora of capable 3 point shooters? that will be interesting. Kobe is a far better shooter than James was, and his supporting cast is much better as well. So that will be interesting to watch. However, the flip side that few people are talking about, is how the Lakers match up with the Celtics. To be quite honest, I don't think they do. Who guards Pierce? Kobe? If so, that will take away from his offensive ability, since Pierce plays a physical game, and is playing well. If not, Radmanovic/Sasha V can't cover him. Odom might try believe it or not, but the C's would just iso his side, and Pierce would murder him off the dribble. Who guard Allen & Garnett? I think they're going to try Odom on Garnett, cuz while Gasol has length, he lacks the strength to go toe to toe with KG. I'm having a hard time figuring out who's match ups are more difficult. Everyone seems to be looking at the Lakers & asking how the C's stop them, but maybe they should be wondering how the Lakers are going to stop the Celtics. I hope it's a great series either way.

BTW, I absolutely hate the 2-3-2 set up. That's just gross, and an embarassment. How's that home court advantage? No team should ever have 3 straight games at home, in a 4 win series.

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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."
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BradyManny

I agree, the Lakers really don't match up well against the C's. The C's dominated the west this season for a reason, and its b/c they can play pretty much any style of play, and their team was troublesome for the softer finesse teams out west. Gasol and Odom are both a little soft, and even Kobe, who'd like to think he has Jordan's mental and physical toughness, can get flustered by physical play. The best guy suited for that is Posey. You want a guy out there that can flat-out annoy Kobe. I think we'll see a fair amount of a Rondo-Allen-Pierce-Posey-KG lineup out there.