Tonight, the NBA championship series starts. Yes, the President is picking the Lakers:
(more below the fold)
Now Obama expects the Lakers to beat the Boston Celtics, assuming they meet in the upcoming NBA Finals.
"Boston surprised me," Obama said in a TNT interview with Marv Albert. "They gelled in the playoffs in a way that they hadn’t all through the season. (Rajon) Rondo’s become one of the best point guards in the league in no time. I mean, when he gets a real jump shot, he’s going to be unstoppable.
"But I’ve got to go with the Lakers again. I think (Pau) Gasol may be the best big man in the league right now. He’s different from Dwight Howard, but he’s (got) unbelievable footwork, speed, savvy. He’s playing magnificently. Kobe (Bryant) is the fiercest competitor in the league, and they’ve got what I continue to believe is the best coach in the NBA right now in Phil Jackson, so they’re going to be formidable, and I think it’ll be a tough series.
"Boston’s a veteran club, but the Lakers are looking pretty good."
I like you Mr. President, but evidently you have been doing your job so well that you haven't thought this one over.
Sure, the Celtics only won 50 games in the regular season, but there is a reason for that:
With a month left in the regular season, Doc Rivers gathered Paul Pierce(notes), Kevin Garnett(notes) and Ray Allen(notes) in his office to tell them how they would be champions again. They were so far away, so uncertain the possibility remained plausible. The longer the season had gone with worn legs, beat-up bodies and bad losses, the clearer the truth had become for Rivers. They would stop angling for playoff seeding and home court, stop treating the regular season with urgency.
Doc Rivers has guided the Celtics to the NBA Finals in two of the past three seasons.
"Listen, we’re going to practice harder, you’re going to play less and there’s going to be a minute restriction," Rivers told them. Garnett’s and Pierce’s faces grew long, and Rivers punctuated his declaration with the obvious: "And I know you’re not going to like this, but the only way you’re going to win is healthy."
[...]
"I thought it was the right plan, but it didn’t look right because we were losing," Rivers said. "But guys were resting and conditioning, and I thought that was the only chance we had."
So, Rivers would watch Garnett seethe on the bench and wonder whether they would ever get through this and into the clear. "Kevin doesn’t have a shut-down button," Rivers said. They took him out of games, lost leads and Garnett would deliver that icy glare that demanded Rivers return him to the floor. It felt like the season was slipping away in March and April, but it turned out that it was just getting started.
As Garnett and Pierce glared into space, Rivers would hear his assistant Tom Thibodeau and trainer Ed Lacerte bark out the minutes they had played, and Rivers refused to let his thirtysomething stars exhaust their prescribed limits. As a former player with a winning pedigree, Rivers combines the best of X’s-and-O’s acumen with a true understanding of the player’s plight. He’s publicly supportive and privately harsh. He never gets personal with his criticism and never embarrasses them. He treats them with respect, but never reverence.
So, the Celtics going 4-1, 4-2 (against Cleveland, no less!) and 4-2 in the playoffs isn't as large as a surprise as it might appear.
On offense, Rajon Rondo is hard to stop
And the Celtics have great balance on offense. Check out this data from the Cleveland series:
player | game 1 | game 2 | game 3 | game 4 | game 5 | game 6 |
Garnett | 18 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 22 |
Pierce | 13 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 21 | 13 |
Rondo | 27 | 13 | 18 | 29 | 16 | 21 |
R. Allen | 14 | 22 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 8 |
Perkins | 9 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 6 |
Key Sub | | Wallace 17 | T. Allen 10 | T. Allen 15 | Davis 15 | Wallace 13 |
Key Sub | | | Robinson 11 | | | T. Allen 10 |
Garnett was extremely consistent (and Rondo's complete game was consistent) but it seems as every night, someone different stepped up on offense.
And, of course, the Celtics play smothering defense:
But above all....the Celtics have Paul "The Truth" Pierce:
(Yes, the shot went in...notice the time left in the game)
Leave it to the best known Laker fan (Jack Nicholson) to tell it like it is (key dialogue: 15 to 19 seconds into the video)
I'm ready! Bring it on!
Ok....It is easy for me to say!