The Green is On

The NBA Championship is upon us. I won’t hype the hooplah surrounding the dreamlike match up between the two most vaunted franchises in the association. You can get that on ESPN in fact in between updates on Big Brown’s cracked hoof and the latest Joba related event it’s just about as suffocating coverage as you can get. Instead I’m going to tell you why all the experts are wrong and how the C’s will win the series.
My opinion as a huge Celtics fan is completely biased, but I am a 70% shooter from the free throw line, and once saw Shaq in the ATL airport, and as we all know he once played in LA, so I’m more than qualified to give an accurate portrayal of the upcoming series….or at least as qualified as Stephen A. Smith at about half the decibels and 100% less annoying.

The Celtics have many strengths going into this series, one glaring advantage is home court. The Garden will provide a raucous atmosphere, and the reverberating chant of “BEAT LA!” should send the Celtics into that sometimes elusive extra gear. Their knock this postseason has been coaching and inconsistency (they go hand in hand), and with the support of the Boston crowd the hunger within the Celtics for that trophy will be unleashed. There won’t be any toleration for excuses. Home court will be defended at all costs.

Chemistry is their next advantage. The Celtics ruled the East with KG, as King Arthur ruled Camelot, complimented by his Knights of the Round Table. Kobe ruled the West with a Fidel Castro like iron fist, demanding from his subordinates rather than complimenting them. Both leaders were able to have successful reigns, but one will go down in infamy, while the other is shrouded in legend. The Celtics feed off each other. Defensively KG has transformed Perkins into a beast, and changed the entire mentality of the team. Offensively Pierce has the ability to be a playmaker or finisher at whim, because he’s surrounded by four other guys that can fill any niche he needs. Rondo has the ability to set the pace of the game, without hesitation or awkwardness he can run the floor or execute a set play. Ubuntu wasn’t just a catch phrase like “Cowboy Up” it was a lifestyle that was embraced throughout the season to create an unstoppable mean green machine.

The Individual match ups have to be in favor of the Celtics as well. The Kobe/Pierce show gives the slight edge to Kobe, but that is easily negated by the fact the Celtics can spell Pierce from his defensive duties on Bryant by utilizing Posey, whereas no one on the Lakers outside of Kobe can contain The Truth. I’m not saying that Posey/Pierce will lock down the Big Me, but they will make him work for every point I guarantee you that. Once you get past that there is nothing the Lakers can do to stop KG. Pau isn’t fast enough or tough enough to keep him from shooting, meanwhile Perkins is the perfect big body to keep Pau from having any sort of interior game. Rondo will dance circles around Derek Fisher, and I’d expect him to log 40+ minutes in this contest with a fantastic assist to turnover ratio. I’ll save the worst for last….Odom. This guy was nothing but a thug in their last meeting. He went as far as to throw a running shoulder into Ray Allen for no reason other than the Lakers were eating crud at home. He’ll be a no show in the finals mark my words.

Talent, the home edge, primal aggression, and team ball are all the reasons why the Celtics should destroy the Lakers, but unfortunately there’s a darker side to this green dream. The aggressiveness (coupled with incompetent officiating) has led to a few games where the C’s find one of their stars in early foul trouble. This has the wonderful cascading effect of forcing Doc to make numerous ridiculous bench substitutions that not even the most stalwart of Boston fans can feel comfortable with. No one would be surprised to see Sam Cassell and Glen Davis leading the charge in the fourth quarter at this point. I’m not saying the bench is a weakness, I’m saying it doesn’t yet have a defined role and here we are in the finals, and they can just about do anything and it wouldn’t surprise us. Eddie House nailing consecutive three’s to take the lead or Sam Cassell traveling and launching haymaker type shots to blow a ten point lead is all possible at this point. Can the bench become a stabilizing force or will fouls and discombobulated rotations be the teams crux?

Basically what this comes down to is the Lakers ability to execute on the offensive end. They can’t consistently stop the Celtics offense, so they need to be able to score and feel confident in doing so. Which brings us to the Big Me.

As Elle Driver so elegantly put it,
"In the bush, an elephant can kill you, a leopard can kill you, and a black mamba can kill you. But only with the mamba, and this has been true in Africa since the dawn of time, is death sure."

Well there it is in writing, so it must be true. Death is sure with the Black Mamba, but the question that remains to be answered is which Kobe will show up? The one capable of paralyzing an entire team with his quick strikes or the one capable of paralyzing his own team with his quick moods? The Celtics will certainly have their hands full with Kobe, because unlike LeBron, Kobe can use his smooth jay to set up his uncanny ability to get to the rim. The C’s being much better at defending the interior didn’t have trouble with King James until he started hitting his jump shots. There is no denying that Kobe is an unstoppable force when he’s having an MJ moment, but he’s just as capable of being put in a bad mood by officiating and bad team play and taking an entire quarter off. The Big Me has the ability to close games, so if the Lakers are up late it’s a big detriment to the Celtics. There will be no 10 point come from behind win in the fourth quarter on the road as long as Kobe’s on the court…this like death from the mamba is certain.

I refuse to end my pro Celtics spiel on such a somber note, so I’ll reinforce some key aspects that make me feel better about the Green. No one on the Lakers has the ability to consistently stop KG. Perkins will be a handful for Pau. Posey will be the key sixth man on defense that will allow Pierce to save energy for the offensive side of the ball. Rajon Rondo will be the guy setting the table, and moving with a quickness Derek Fisher just can’t handle, and just ask Billups how much of a factor his experience mattered against Rondo. I again saved the worst for last…Odom will not be a factor . BEAT LA!

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