Game 7 - Lakers Repeat

Yankees-Red Soxs, Ohio State-Michigan, Duke-North Carolina rivalry's have nothing on the Celtics-Lakers rivalry. Winners of the last two NBA titles squared off in an epic game 7 inside the Staples Center which resulted in Phil Jackson ending up with ring #11. In game 5, Phil Jackson mentioned the Boston Celtics are one of the worst 4th quarter team in the League and are terrible at closing games. That came to life as the Celtics were up by 14 with 6:42 left in the third but could not close out and nab title #18.

With Kobe Bryant not having his best performance, his teammates stepped up then Bryant closed out the game. Derrick Fisher and Ron Artest made clutch 3's along with Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom out playing the Celtics big men.

Black Mamba notched his second NBA Finals MVP and celebrated Jordan style by standing on the table with his world champion hat on counting to 5 toward the rest of the Laker fans. When Michael Jordan won his 5th title, he did the exact same thing at the United Center. Will the Lakers 3-peat? Probably so because I do believe they'll re-sign Phil Jackson and Derrick Fisher. The rest of the team is locked up for years.

Thank You Ron Artest for one of the funniest post-game interviews of all-time:

• Part 1
• Part 2

NBA Finals - Celtics & Lakers

The NBA Finals finally begin tomorrow at the Staple Center between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics which is a rematch from the 2008 NBA Finals. This is the third straight Finals appearance for the Lake Show and the second out of three years for Boston. This also marks the finals between the last two NBA Champions.

Phil Jackson's squad knows that in order to compete, Kobe Bryant needs another teammate to also score otherwise this series will be similar to the 2008 one. Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom are capable of scoring 20 or more and occasionally Ron Artest but he's primarily here for defense. Doc Rivers's crew know that Rondo is now the engine of the Big 3 and everything starts and ends with him. Once again Laker point guards have their hands full with another speedy point guard.

Who should make an impact to this series:

• Rondo - Garnett, Pierce, Allen can have an average game but if Rondo doesn't step up, the Celtics become runner-ups.
• Pau Gasol - He must prove that he's not scared of Boston's bigs...primarily Kevin Garnett
• Ron Artest - Any extra scoring is helpful
• Andrew Bynum - Minimum 10 points 10 rebounds is expected
• Shannon Brown - The only other Laker guard that is not afraid to attack the basket

My prediction: Lakers in seven

Weekend Recap

Let me start off by saying I'm not a fan of hockey but I did watch the USA/Canada Gold Medal game and I'm disappointed and proud of the young USA Hockey team. Now back to the show............

I'm know I'm wrong for typing this but I'm rooting against the Nets. I want them to set the all-time record for most losses in a season. The Celtics must have went out the night before and came in a the crack of dawn because they forgot to bring their "C" game against New Jersey. The bench of the Boston Celtics alone can destroy the New Jersey Nets starting five. My Chicago Bulls keep showing mix signals by defeating the Portland Trailblazers on Friday night then last night losing to the Lottery bound Indiana Pacers. Playing to the level of your competition will not work in the L.

Speaking of playing to the level of the competition, Fighting ILLINI pretty much punch it's ticket to the NIT after a bad loss at home to Minnesota 62-60. I've said this before but for the ILLNI this season, it's whatever but next season pencil in Illinois as a top ten team with Lenord Myles, Mike Davis, Jereme Richmond, Brandon Paul, and Demetri McCamey with Crandle Head and DJ Richardson coming off the bench.

The nation's top two teams suffered losses this weekend as well as Kansas fell to Oklahoma State and Kentucky lost to Tennessee. Bottom line, Kentucky and Kansas will still be seeded #1 two weeks from today. Side note: Good for Sherron Collins calling John Wall a little boy. I hope these two teams meet in the finals.

There is plenty of basketball to watch this week (especially college ball) so I will see you guy later.

TOMORROW IS A GOOD DAY TO HOOP!!!!!!