Celtics 1 away from 2010 Title

Last night in Boston the Celtics now lead the series 3-2 heading back to the Staples Center for game 6 Tuesday. Kobe had a monster 3rd quarter as well as a monster game with 38 points but he's the only Laker that's scoring. Andrew Bynum has been useless this entire series due to his bad knee. The Celtics bench of Allen, Wallace, Robinson, and Davis has been the key to this series. Unless the Lakers can get another scorer other than Bryant, expect a repeat of the 2008 Finals. Overall I still predict the this series will go seven games which will end up Phil Jackson landing ring #11.

Congratulation to Avery Johnson (Nets), Larry Drew (Hawks), and Monty Williams (Hornets) on becoming the new head coaches for those organizations. Coach Johnson has NBA Finals experience and was the 2006 Coach of the Year. Coach Drew & Williams have been assistants for the Hawks & Trailblazers for years and this is their first year coaching. Someone should still give Mark Jackson a head coaching gig as I know he would make and outstanding coach someday.

NBA Finals Tied 1-1...Coaching Moves

The Boston Celtics get their wish which was a split in the Staples Center. Ray Allen set an NBA Finals record  with 8 3-point buckets made and Rondo is turning into a regular Jason Kidd by getting triple doubles every other night. The Laker front-court of Gasol & Bynum have played great thus far but without another scorer to backup Kobe (meaning step up Larmar Odom) this series might not return to Los Angeles. At this point, Rondo is the MVP of the Finals so far.

Congrats to Monty Williams on landing the New Orleans Hornets coaching gig. I remember watching Monty Williams at Notre Dame plus he was also a solid pro. For the past 5 season, Coach Williams was the assistant coach for the Portland Trailblazers...good luck in the Big Easy.

My Chicago Bulls finally land a new head coach which is defensive minded guru Tom Thibodeau. He's been the mand behind the Celtics defense but I hope he can coach offense as well and is not a Jeff Van Gundy clone.

Reports are Tom Izzo will be the next coach of the Cavs but his is all speculation and if I were Izzo, I'm not leaving Michigan State whose teams is good enough to compete for the 2011 Final 4 with Kalin Lucas returning. Unless LeBron stays in Clevaland, Coach Izzo should stay in East Lansing.

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

Celtics - Lakers in Trouble?

Don't prepare for the Lakers-Celtics finals just yet. Monday night in Boston, the Black Irish could not send Superman and the Orlando Magic fishin' just yet as Rajon Rondo was finally outplayed at the point guard position by his counterpart Jameer Nelson. The Big 3 for the Celtics along with Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, and Rashard Lewis are the Magic's version of the "Big 3" but the key to this series starts and end with the Nelson vs. Rondo battle. Paul Pierce missed two 3 point shot under a minute to play but the biggest question is why didn't Ray Allen take that final shot. If the Magic win a pivotal game 5 tomorrow, expect this series to got the distance.

The Lakers took the Suns lightly and now find themselves tied 2-2 against Phoenix. The Stoudamire & Nash combination was ok but the bench for Los Suns were the deciding factor tonight. Kobe Bryant is probably giving his teammates a good lashing as he was the only offensive force for the defending champs. Phil Jackson's crew is only .500 on the road but great when playing at the Staples Center.

I'm still predicting a Celtics-Lakers finals but it's just taking a little bit longer.

The Black Irish

Tonight in Boston, the Black Irish aka Boston defeated the Orlando Magic in epic porpotion 94-71 to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best of seven. I'm truly dissapointed in Vince Carter in this series as he was acquired by the Magic during the draft of big series like this one. As a result we've come to realize that he is not playing like the Tar Heel or Toronto Raptor version and that's Vince is just a shell of his former self. At this point is his career, he should know when to turn it on and when to rely on Lewis, Howard, or Nelson. The Magic should have won game 2 but Vince Carter had a Nick Anderson moment missing clutch free throws down the strech. Another double-double for Rajon Rondo with 11 points and 12 assist including a nasty crossover on White Chocolate Jason Williams in the first half.  It's safe to say the natives in Boston will be chanting......BEAT LA....BEAT LA......BEAT LA.....BEAT LA....starting Tuesday.

Tomorrow the Los Angeles Lakers hope to comand a 3-0 lead against the offensive minded Phoenix Suns. Unless Steve Nash and Amare Stoudamire commit to defense (yeah right) this series is just about over and David Stern gets his Lakers-Celtics finals ratings bonanza.

Well, my time in Clevaland was......ok but I'm ready to get back to Chicago.

NBA Conference Finals

I'm off to Cleveland, OH for the weekend hopefully I get a chance to visit Progressive Field and watch the Indians play the Reds. The NBA Conference finals resume this weekend in Phoenix and Boston and when I return to Chicago on Monday both the Celtics & Lakers should have a 3 - 0 lead.

A Laker-Celtics finals would be a ratings bonanza for ABC but this current Lakers have revenge on their minds as they were defeated by these same Celtics for the crown back in 2008. This time around I don't see anybody stopping Kobe Bryant as he and Derrick Fisher capture championship ring number 5.

Wizards Win Lottery - Conference Finals Recap

Congratulations to the Washington Wizards for winning the 2011 NBA Draft Lottery tonight in New Jersey. This team's 2009-2010 season was not a good one by dealing with the death of longtime owner Abe Polen, trading the core of their team (Antwan Jamison, Caron Butler, Brendon Hayword, and Deshawn Stevenson), followed by the season long suspensions of Javaris Crittenton for gun play. The upside for this franchise is that this team is young and now have the opportunity to draft John Wall or Evan Turner. The main question is with this young team do they draft Wall then trade Agent Zero who has a monster contract that no owner wants to touch. My theory is that the Wizards buy him out then let Arenas pursue other interest with another ball club then start fresh with John Wall as their point guard for the future. Wizard's assistant coach Sam Cassell will make sure John Wall learn the lead guard position from an NBA champion guard.

Game 1 of the NBA conference finals are complete as the Lakers and Celtics were both victorious. The Phoenix Sun could not find an answer for Kobe Bryant who dropped 40 who also made Grant Hill fall off this crossover. I'm not upset that he missed the floater but he still should have converted. The almost highlight of the game was Shannon Brown almost dunking over Michigan State alum Jason Richardson but took off too early. I was also very impressed with Derick Fisher's defense on Steve Nash after getting abused by Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams in the previous series. Game two is tomorrow at the Staples Center.

Boston Celtics took a 2 game to zero lead over the Orlando Magic tonight down in South Florida. At one point the Magic had a one-point lead but KG hit a key fade away shot over Dwight Howard (good defense...better offense). After a smart foul on Vince Carter by Paul Pierce which was his sixth, Vince had the opportunity to but his club up one with less than a minuet but the former Tar Heel had a Nick Anderson moment and missed both free throws. At the end, Orlando had to go the length of the court but Jameer Nelson missed a half-court 3 to send the game to overtime.

Both series are over and I'm already prepared for a Celtics-Lakers Finals.