Ladies and Gentlemen… the picks are in. Not a lot of green in there, huh?
So there it is… the Celtics are officially the big underdog. The 66 win, #1 in defense, 3-headed offensive threat Celtics are expected to be a mere speedbump to the one-man offenisve show that plays mediocre defense.
A lot of people are going to have to explain why they were so wrong. We’re going to see a lot of “in the end… the matchups just favored the Celtics” being written around the country. We just happen to be saying it now. The matchups favor the Celtics.
My favorite part about that graphic is that its sitting next to an Accuscore graphic showing the Celtics as 53% to 47% favorites in game 1 after running 10,000 simulations.
Thanks to Josh for bringing this up in the comments.
Alot of people are going to be right
Yes Ajay.. a lot of us here on Red’s Army WILL be right
Got a link to the accuscore thing?
LA Fans chant “M-V-P” Celtics fans chant “Sev-en-teen”
Ben-T:
http://accuscore.com/nba/nba-home/nba-home/
Left hand column, mid-page
@dicky
I’m kinda partial to the “no-means-no” chant someone else here suggested. Maybe for games 1-3, and then in the clincher we can chant “17″?
But….
66 wins as a result of a cake-walk conference where teams like the Atlanta Hawks can take you to seven games.
#1 in defense that didn’t so much as prevent a terrible offense from extending a series to the very last moment (See Cleveland).
3-headed offensive threat, that rarely comes to the fight at the same time. Remember, there’s only one basketball.
I love being the underdog… and I enjoy fans, but let’s temper a little of what we say with reality.
The reality is that 38% of our wins came against the West.
The reality is that #1 defense shut down LeBron James for 6 of those 7 games.
The reality is that those three players have all stepped up multiple times in this last series… a series, by the way, that saw the C’s win 2 of 3 road games… including a comeback from 10 point deficit in the 4th quarter of the deciding game.
the fact of the matter, and the great thing about this series, is that NO ONE really knows what is going to happen. it could easily be a sweep either way. I happen to think LA is slightly better (if only because they have kobe and are far more consistent in the playoffs) and they deserve to be slightly favored. I have come around, however, to the argument that they cant play D like the celtics, and if game 6 against detroit was a taste of things to come, the celtics are not going out without putting forth theyre best effort. as a basketball fan, i couldnt be happier.
Ha…I love it. Like I said in the previous post, you could put up the predictions for the Detroit series and see the same thing. Adande is an idiot…the dude thinks Robert Horry should be in the HOF.
I decided to check this site out again to see what there was to say about the Lakers. I’d just like to say it’s a bit childish to just spend time insulting the Lakers and already crowning the Celts the champs. I am not going to say the Lakers have already won or will win, because I think there’s a good chance they’ll lose. However, there is also a good chance they’ll win. All I’m saying is report about you’re team and give facts about the others, don’t spend time insulting the other team and brining up useless information. It makes all the Celtics fans look bad.
I’m not gonna watch the Finals. I have a feeling my Celtics will be blown out by these Fakers. Don’t want to see the agony of defeat.
i think tim legler is the new voice of celtics fan since he is the only espn writer to choose boston in 7 it’s updated
Celtic fans have no class. none at all.
celts in 6…. THAT IS ALL
The Cs pound the glass. The Lakers can’t deal with that. It is their most glaring weakness and Boston is perfectly built to exploit it.
Celtics in 6.
Guys…I’m a diehard Laker fan since birth and I fully support the C’s fans bashing the lakers all they want…if you watched hoops in the 80’s, this kind of hatred is what made the sport great…I know we’re supposed to be “kinder and gentler” and more sensitive to feelings now that is 2008…BULLSHIT. What I look forward to most is hearing the “Beat LA !” chant by the lathered up crowd (where I will hopefully be for Game 1 and 2) and the contrasting silence as Kobe hits a game-winner as time expires…I want beer thrown in my face and Bostonians to threaten the weel-being of my family…then and only then will I truly believe its a Celtic-Lakers Final…Insult us all you want C’s, cuz its on like Donkey Kong!
One thing though- don’t say we don’t play D…that is a mistake…we play in the West…holding opponents under 95 points is impressive over there and we have NEVER put up 69 points in a a game…and don’t tell me Wally and Co.’s deffense was great…
Gonna eb a good one…fire away C’s fans…fire a away!
Glaring weakness…can you provide some statistical backup please Ban T…Gasol and Odom avg 10 a game and Gasol had 19 boards in the clincher…the rebounds were dead even with the Spurs and Utah ??? Huh…am I missing something or are you just spouting emotional garbage?
Go Lakers
What? Both Denver and Utah out-rebounded the Lakers. They were not complete enough teams to capitalize on that advantage, but Boston is.
LA rebounded SA, but the Spurs played horribly throughout the series and looked ancient.
C’mon bro…Utah “outrebounded” us by 3 a game and the truth is our strong point is defensive rebounds…the Denver series was a fluke…we basically didn’t miss, we swept them…all games were blowouts…they grabbed 8 more boards due to sloppy blow out endings when they were chucking up 3’s and getting meaningless rebby’s…
SA looked ancient because we made them look ancient…we have youth and also championship experience…Perkins is a joke and that little faggot Rondo will have his hands full the whole series…your big three better deliver or those “experts” might just be right…
Your friendly neighborhood Lakerman
Check that…first line should have read “offensive ” rebounds is our strong point…especially for Gasol…most of his boards are on the O end
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/lal/stats;_ylt=Ajv_ito0qBNckO3pDy7N6r2B0bYF
Gasol averaged 2.3 offensive rebounds and 5.6 defensive.
Perkins is a joke? You obviously do not watch basketball, or haven’t watched the playoffs.
And Derek Fisher is too slow to keep up with Rondo over seven games.
Hahaha. That’s a joke. Rondo Average 2.0 Offensive boards in the conference finals. He nearly matched Gasol.
Someone’s going to be yelling “faggot” often on Thursday night.
Read over the Kobe case on The Smoking Gun. Not only is the rape a disgusting event on its own, but Kobe’s attempt to snitch on Shaq is perhaps the biggest b*tch move in recent memory. It truly shows that he is a self-serving douche.
BEAT LA!
There we go…I knew I could insight some fire…
Please tell me who Perkins played against…please. He had one good half in the entire playoffs…
DFish, Farmar and Chich will smother fag-boy…
Pau has had timely O-boards for points when we have needed them…and if he is such a bust…such a “soft-serve” non-factor, turtle-boy…then why does C-Country bring up the trade? He either sucks or he’s a superstar…which is it you confused, championship deprived, bunch of dead-cigar-smoking-bald -head -worshipping idiots…make up your minds!
With all that said…you guys should definitely be the favs in this series…i’m as confused as you as to why all the “experts” are picking us…
As far as the Kobe “rape” is concerned…I’m not sure how that relates to this finals- and if he were a Celtic -that lying whore would be burning at the stake like the ole salem witch trials…your full of it DaveCowens…original by the way…
Next…
A few things
1. You guys brought up Pau, saying that mismatches would favor Gasol over KG. I disagreed, pointing out that KG will drink that Spanish waif’s milkshake.
2. You said nothing about Kobe dry-snitching on Shaq.
3. The experts are picking LA because the experts love hype and bullshit. Have you watched the NBA at all?
4. The Salem Witch trials are famous because they were a sham. The “lying whores” were in fact not lying at all and were not witches. Hence the term “witch hunt.”
5. If she’s lying, then why did Kobe settle out of court with her? He paid her to go away. And it doesn’t change the fact that he’s a cheating scumbag.
6. It’s you’re not “your” you ignorant Californian. Read a friggin book.
“Insight some fire”??
is that some form of abstract poetry? Is it something that Luke Walton said while tripping on shrooms at a Dead concert?
Kobe is a sensational ballplayer but I can’t believe the national media has drank the Laker kool-aid, and are now saying Kobe is better than Jordan.
The fact is: the Eastern Conference is a much more physical brand of basketball. And that’s the kind of hoop the C’s will be playing against LA. Don’t these so called “experts” understand that a great defense always beats a great offense?
The most recent example of this was when Detroit (the Larry Brown coached team) beat the Lakers in the finals a few years back. L-A was heavily favored, and the Wallace brothers just took it to ‘em…and that’s when Shaq was around.
I expect Garnett and Perkins to enjoy as much success against the Lakers as they did against the Pistons.
Gasol is a great player (Before the big three, I was hoping the Celts could get him), but he’s not a real physical presence underneath the basket.
As for the benches, Boston’s should be better. Posey, Brown, Sam (or Eddie) and hopefully more minutes for Leon Powe. While L-A make have depth…I see the C’s as having more QUALITY depth.
Everyone is saying it was the toughest Western Conference playoffs EVER. Please. Just because most of the teams were within a few games of one another, doesn’t mean they were all great. Look at Houston–didn’t they have a 20 something game winning streak at one point? Houston??!!!!! Are you kidding me? Once the Celtics came to town, we saw how long that streak lasted.
My point is…the eastern conference is more of test. Sure, there are bad teams. But the fact that the C’s withstood every test bodes well for the immediate future.
Go Boston!
DaveCowens…please lay off the grammar/typing proficiency critique…this site is really not going that direction…some people on here have barely mastered 3rd grade english…
Witch trials? Are you serious giving me history lessons?! It was a geographical allusion asshole…and yes they weren’t witches…many of them were prostitutes and the trials were a way to cleanse the area of -you guessed it-whores!! And if your great-great grandma was burned or drowned by an angry mob…I do apologize for the all too vivid reminder of your family tree…
So all i took from your outline was:
1. You don’t like Spanish people.
2. Ok Kobe threw Shaq under the bus-hmm-know why- cuz Shaq couldn’t get his lazy, fat ass into off-season work-outs to get into shape and it cost Kobe another ring…he was pissed
3. Yes i watch the NBA brainiac…unanimously picking the Lakers doesn’t add any “hype” value that I can see…does a laker-Celtic final need hype?!
4.Been there, done that…Salem witches covered..
5.Kobe settled out of court becuase in case you haven’t noticed long, drawn-out, ugly court cases-innocent or guilty- while married and already losing millions in endorsements don’t help to heal either situation- this was the quickest way back to normalcy and all she looking for -a quick payday…
6. i’m from RI shit-stain and I’ve read about 40 books…this year…and not the kind with bubble captions or naked women…although there were afew of those too…
Have a nice night…hope I see you in a bar…I’ll by you a hooker..you sound tense…Maybe her name will be Rondo.
Skip the hooker, as long as you’re buying lets go get some unsuspecting hotel maids and get our freak on Kobe style! you pay the settlements. And before you ask, no I won’t accept Farmar as a substitute, pistol grip ears or not.
hmm….Lakers of the 80’s considered the up-tempo, more explosive team led by the games best (Magic). Lost to a closeknit squad of rebounders and defenders led by one of the greatest competitors the game has known.
What’s changed, exactly?
(true) Laker fan sees that and worries. (true) Celtic fan sees that and hopes Garnett doesn’t sprain both ankles like Chief did. That would end things quickly.
Give me lunchpail squad any day.
i’m from RI shit-stain and I’ve read about 40 books…this year…and not the kind with bubble captions or naked women…although there were afew of those too
Oh yeah, well I’ve read about 80. Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah.
RI? Ouch
You need to be 21 in Mass to drink legally. So I guess I’ll have to wait about seven years for you to get in a bar. However, I know some good ones in Quincy that will let underage kids drink. How’s your fake ID? How tall are you?
How does one “by” a hooker? I think your 41st book for this year should be a dictionary or a style guide. I know some good ones.