He’s been following the 2008 draft like a hawk since his first Idiot’s Blog Guide back in November last year. With draft day now behind us Robd sat down with the Draft Dude, just like he did last year, to see how he made sense of it all.

RD: We’ve had a few drafts recently where the #2 pick is arguably easier to make than the #1 pick. Durant vs Oden, Howard vs Okafor, Darko vs Lebron (that was a joke). Do you think the Heat might have ended up with the best player in the draft in Beasley at #2?

JB: For me, Beasley v Rose is almost exactly the same as Oden v Durant last year. Basically the best player (Durant/ Beasley) were taken second and the players who are the most likely to help any team win an NBA championship are taken first (Oden/ Rose).

RD: Do you think there’s a trade in the pipeline for the Bulls involving Hinrich/Gordon? What do they need to surround Rose with to make a strong playoff push?

JB: The Bulls have made it known that they will have to make some trades. Whether that involves Hinrich or Gordon - which would get them maximum return, or Duhon or Hughes I don’t know.

In terms of the right players, it all really depends on the system new Coach Vinnie Del Negro puts in place. If its uptempo style, then its more patience of letting the team gel. If anything they may need one or two taller and quicker front court players. However, Noah and Thomas may fit the bill really well with Rose as the main player. The most important thing they need to do is get experience and playing time into those younger guys. Remember, this is a team that many (including me) thought would be the best team in the East last season; they are not your traditional team with the first overall draft pick.

RD: In your last mock draft you thought Minnesota would take Mayo at #3 and trade him to the Heat. Were your surprised to see the Grizzlies trade for him instead? Which team got the better of the Mayo/Love trade?

JB: The Grizzlies really wanted Mayo or Beasley, so I’m not surprised from their persepctive that they traded for him. I’m surprised that the Heat decided not to go for him, but at the end of the day it was the right move by Pat Riley and his staff - the game between Mayo and Beasley is so much in favour of Beasley.

I think the Grizzlies got the best out of the trade though. Not only because they got the better player, but because Mayo’s versatility in being able to handle the basketball takes pressure off Michael Conley Jnr at the point guard position. Couple that with the fact he fits great within their line-up. For the T-Wolves, I like both Love and Miller as prospects, but Love coupled with Al-Jefferson gives the Wolves a very short and unathletic front court. Miller on the other hand will take vital minutes away from guys like Brewer, Gomes and Craig Smith among others, which at this point during their young careers is vital.

RD: Your #1 man-crush from the draft (Westbrook) ended up going higher than everyone thought at #4. Do you think Seattle could have taken someone better at #4? How do you see him fitting in with this young Sonics team? And are you jealous that other people out there seem to have as big a crush on Westbrook as you do?

JB: No jealously whatsover. Just along as people remember he was mine first, and all should be sweet.

Seattle picked a player that is going to help them. They needed a few areas in their game to be improved in this pick, in shooting, creating space through off-ball movement and defence. Westbrook helps on the defensive end, and if his shooting improves, he could really add something on that end of the floor. But Jerryd Bayless is a terrific shooter and off-ball worker, which would allow studs like Durant and Jeff Green to get a lot high quality of shots, and stretch the defence and keep it honest.

But Westbrook fills a need, and three seasons down the road we could be saying that Westbrook was Bayless’, or Brook Lopez’s eqaul with this pick.

RD: Were you surprised when the Knicks chose Danilo Gallinari at #6? You had him a little lower in your mock draft, as did most. Do the Knicks know something we don’t?

JB: I think the Knicks really wanted Russell Westbrook. But obviously he went at pick 4, and the Knicks weren’t so sold on Bayless or anyone else other than Gallinari. Once Westbrook went at 4, I personally thought Gallinari would be the pick, as he was the next main guy associated with the Knicks (and truth be told, I had Gallinari at 6 in my mock draft before I changed it at the last minute for Westbrook). At the end of the day, the Knicks get a guy that has proven himself already in a pro league - which is great for a team that really needs to manage its roster in a smart way.

RD: Were you happy with your Cats picking up Augustin at #9? How is he going to help your team? Last year we joked about the Bobcats possibly making the playoffs (they weren’t even close). With LB on board, could this be the year?

JB: Im sort of half and half on Augustin at 9, he really helps our team, but it would be a great pick if the draft had gone our way and they selected Roy Hibbert at 20. However, prolonging Kyle Weaver (The Bobcats’ second round pick) shows some point guard abilities, it could free up Raymond Felton for trades - which could be good as he isn’t really an LB point guard.

Our picks really only added depth and nothing else. Last season, I felt depth wasn’t really our problem as a team, it was the inability of our front court to score. The Bobcats didn’t add to that and it really puts pressure once again on Okafor to carry the front court offensive load. In saying that, trades, free agency and development in guys like Jamaero Davidson could make it a littler easier for the Cats. So long story short, no I don’t think the Bobcats will make it this year. They’ll have their spurts, but over 82 games I don’t think so.

RD: If you had to grade the teams, who do you think fared best on draft day?

JB: Undoubtedly the Portland Trailblazers. They started with pick 13, landed pick 11 who turned out to be Bayless who was a top 5 talent in the draft. The acquired pick 27 turned it into pick 26 which was Nicholas Batum, who is a top 15 talent in this draft. And to sweeten the deal, they are both perfect players for their team. Add to that they traded Omer Asik (who was rumored to be the main reason Portland wanted the 27th pick) and turned that one second round selection into not another one, not two more, but three future second round picks. The Blazers really are the big team of the future.

Honorable mention goes to the Memphis Grizzlies who gained the third best overall player (OJ Mayo) from pick 5 in a trade, and then gained a top 15 talent in Darrell Arthur. But no one comes close to the Blazers.

RD: Lets fast forward to next May. Two part question: 1) Who’s in the 2008-2009 All NBA Rookie First Team? and 2) Who’s the number 1 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft?

JB: 1) In order of votes: Greg Oden, Michael Beasley, OJ Mayo, Derrick Rose, Rudy Fernandez

2) Ricky Rubio, the 6′4 PG from Spain. The ‘Oden Rule’ will come into play again.

RD: Looking a little more to the future, I’ll ask you the same question I asked you last year. Which guy in this draft not named Rose, Beasley or Mayo could end up an all-time great? I’m talking the Amare at #9 or Kobe Bryant at #14 kind of pick.

JB: Thats a tough one, but I’ll go Joe Alexander at pick 8 for Milwaukee. A guy whose got an insane work ethic, and is playing for a coach who suits his game. Another one who could fit the bill is JaVale McGee at 18 who went to the Wizards.

RD: That wraps it up. Thanks for your time Jobba and for your draft insights over the past year. Look forward to the first installment of the Idiots Blog Guide to the 2009 NBA Draft.

I would have liked to blog about game 6 of the Finals a little closer to the day it was played, but there were a few reasons I didn’t get round to that. 1) I only watched the first and last quarter of that game and didn’t watch the full game till a week later. 2) I was busy writing some stuff for Hoopcity magazine, and 3) I thought I’d let the dust settle a bit so I can reflect on the Finals as a whole and where the Celtics seventeenth championship fits in the scheme of things.

Game 6 was a rout. There’s no other way to describe it. It was the most emphatic end to a Finals series I can recall, and it fundamentally shifted the perception of the entire series. Think about it. Watching the Celtics toy with the Lakers in the last quarter, seeing guys like Eddie House, Tony Allen, Powe and Davis running the floor like the Harlem Globetrotters was downright embarrassing for the Lakers. It made you forget how closely contested most of this series was. It made you forget how close the Lakers were to going up 3-2. It made you forget how hard the Celtics busted their asses through each and every game. If Game 6 went down to the wire this Finals series would be hailed as an evenly-matched classic, and even Celtics fans would have recognised that the Lakers were just a few points away from potentially winning it all. Instead Game 6 is a blow out, people start calling it the “six-game sweep” (I’ve heard of five-game sweep, see Detroit in ‘04, but never six before), and most NBA fans are still wondering how the Lakers ever convinced us they could win.

More than anything, that is what pisses me off most about the Celtics winning the championship: not the fact that I tipped the Lakers to win it, but the fact I had the Celtics as my title-favorites through 95% of the regular season (probably more like 99.9%) and then changed my mind at the very last hurdle. This really gets to me. Since I saw the Celtics first game of the season all those months ago I’ve had a gut feel they would win the championship. You probably got that impression when I was writing all those Celtics blogs (here, here and here). When the buzzer sounded at the end of Game 6 there were two thoughts that immediately went through my mind: 1) “Man I’m so happy for KG and Pierce right now” (Ray too, but less so), and 2) “I saw this coming”. I then had to stop myself. “Wait, I thought the Lakers would win… hmmm”. I feel like the guy in high-school bragging about his hot date, telling his mates “man I so knew I was going to score with that chick, didn’t I tell you that? I told you man. I knew it ages ago. She wants me bad!”, except the night of the date you’re shitting yourself because you know she’s not gonna fall for a loser like you, that she’s way above your league, and that your latest haircut makes you look like McLovin (this analogy is by no shape or form resemblant of my adolescent youth). While the high-school kid can put his last-minute doubts down to nervousness and a stupid haircut, the educated NBA fan like myself is left a little more perturbed. Why exactly did I lose faith in the Celtics? Why did I think the Lakers were such overwhelming favorites I almost predicted a sweep?

It’s pretty obvious isn’t it? One week into the playoffs the Lakers were steamrolling the Denver Nuggets with Kobe playing out of his mind, while the Celtics were struggling to beat the Atlanta Hawks. Two weeks later the Lakers were pounding the Jazz (whom I regarded as the 4th best team behind LA, Celtics, and Spurs) while the Celtics were struggling against the Cavs. And while Boston regained some credibility by handling the Pistons in 6 games (and finally winning on the road), the Lakers dismantled the Spurs in only 5 games and Kobe stepped up his game even further. You didn’t have to be Einstein to see that the Lakers were peaking at the perfect time of the season, losing only three games through the first three rounds while the Celtics had lost eight (even after winning the title, the Celtics lost ten games this post season compared to the Lakers seven - how often does the Championship team lose more playoff games than anyone?). But along the way we lost sight of a couple of things.

Firstly, everyone was reading way too much into Boston’s inability to win on the road (me included). The fact is, at home the Celtics were pretty much invincible and playing as well as they had all season long. On the road they sucked, yes, but because they played more games at home than they did on the road their confidence never dropped to dangerous levels. They pulled out big wins at home when they needed to (notably those two game 7s), but everyone was blinded to this because they kept losing on the road. By the time they got to Detroit and stole game 3 in Auburn Hills the Lakers were already looking too irresistible to ignore. The Lakers gave no reasons for us to doubt they were title-worthy, whereas the Celtics were giving us plenty of reasons. Apart from their suckiness on the road there was Ray Allen’s horrific shooting slump, there was KG’s unwillingness to dominate against a rookie (Horford) and two old men (Big Ben, Ilgauskas), and their inability to defend perimeter players like Joe Johnson and Lebron did not bode well for a Kobe encounter. This is why I lost faith in the Celtics. It wasn’t based on one game, or one round. It was three rounds of unconvincing basketball and mounting evidence versus three rounds of flawless basketball from the Lakers.

I asked Shooba early in the 07-08 season about Boston’s championship window, following the promising acquisitions of KG and Ray. His response: “I honestly say our window is three years. This year, if we somehow manage to win it all, it would be because of the implosion of other teams who are more championship ready ie SAS, PHO… This season is about setting a foundation for what I think will be our major run at the title next season.”

I think most people agreed with that sentiment. The expectation was that it would take a year or so before the Boston team fully gelled, before three superstars could adjust their game and egos accordingly, and before Boston’s young role players would mature. Winning the title this year was an absolute bonus for this Boston team, because they will be no worse next season. The decline of KG, Pierce and Allen will be made up for by the growing experience and confidence of guys like Rondo, Powe, House and Davis. These guys, notably Powe, won entire Finals games off their own bat. Do you have any idea what that does for your confidence?

I’ve heard a lot of people say that the hunger from guys like KG and Ray Allen will fade next season, because they’ve already achieved what they strived to achieve their whole career. I disagree with those sentiments. Take KG, the emotional leader of this team. He spent most of this season huffing and puffing and basically hyperventilating for 48 minutes for every game, from the season opener right up to game 6. You think he can’t keep that up? I beg to differ. That’s KG’s nature, you don’t change that. Plus, now you’re dealing with a guy who just tore a monkey off his back the size of bigfoot. For once in KG’s career he’ll be able to just play basketball without worrying about proving the doubters, without worrying about shrinking in big games, without questioning his will to win. For the first time in KG’s career, he’ll be able to play with the arrogance of a champion, and that could be a scary prospect for the rest of the league.

You look around the East. Do you see any real threats to Boston? Barring a miracle trade by Detroit (and from following rumors in the Pistons camp, you can bet your ass there will be a big trade), the Celtics will be #1 East favorite for next season, by a long way. The Cavs will improve marginally, and the Magic, Heat and Bulls will all make big strides. But none of them can touch the Celtics. The threat will be out west. The threat will probably be the Los Angeles Lakers. But right now, who cares? If you’re a Boston fan spend the next few months just lapping it up. When they release the 2008 Championship DVD with that awesome NBA voice-over guy (you’re not the champions until you’re in a DVD with that guy) go and watch it every weekend. Go put up that Boston wallpaper I made and just stare at your computer screen (I thought my house mate would be impressed, but the first thing he said was “there’s not much Ray Allen in it”). Go up to Lakers fans and tease the hell out them. Hell, even I’ll be doing that.

What it means for LA

Lakers fans, don’t be too upset. Over the next five years I don’t think any team in the league will win more games than the Lakers. For months now I’ve been telling my friends semi-seriously that the Lakers could win 75 games next season. If Bynum is healthy and Kobe’s post-Olympics surgery has no complications, then next season LA will be ridiculously good. A couple of weeks back I wrote that every champion team needs to suffer the sting of playoff defeat, the humility of an early playoff exit. The 2008 playoffs is exactly that sting for the Lakers. After the game 6 loss I guarantee you Phil Jackson told his players “remember this feeling”. They will be the hungriest team in the league next season.

There’s been a lot of Kobe bashing since the Lakers defeat. Like a lot of people I was waiting for him to take over the series, but it never happened. What I’ve been hearing more than anything else are those annoying MJ comparisons. Yes MJ never lost a Finals, but people have selective memory if they think MJ didn’t go through what Kobe is experiencing right now. The Bulls lost to the Pistons in the 1990 Conference Finals in 7 games. Yeah it wasn’t the Finals, but the Pistons were undoubtedly the league’s best team that season, so the Eastern Finals were effectively The Finals. MJ lost a game 7, and you know what? Everyone jumped on his back. After falling to the Pistons for the third straight year everyone started to believe that the game’s greatest talent couldn’t lead his team to glory. I’m not writing all this to make excuses for Kobe, I don’t need to, it’s not like he had a terrible Finals series. All I’ll say is that true champions of the game know how to respond to adversity and how to use it as fuel. Those beatings by Detroit in the late 80s made MJ’s legacy. What happened these Finals may have a similar effect for the Mamba. We won’t know for another year. What we do know, is that I will not be making Kobe-MJ comparisons until he wins another title. That is the rule.

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The 2007-2008 season is over. What started as the quest for the Spurs first back-to-back title ended with the NBA’s two most storied franchises battling it out like old times. One year ago I told myself I would savour the upcoming season for all it’s worth and that I didn’t want to let it slip me by. If you followed me along the eight-month journey that is the NBA season, you probably got the idea I was savoring every second. I hope you were too.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I now have some Alanis Morissette to go listen to.

Welcome to my last blog edition for the ‘Idiots Guide to the 2008 NBA Draft’ for 2008. I’ve been following NBA draft’s for going on four years now, and this is by far the most complex I’ve ever come across. Literally, every single first round pick in this draft has been mentioned in some trade or another. However, the mock draft is done on the very illogical premise that no team will trade their picks, and that every team has a sane administration making those picks. Either way, this is a special edition, for instead of just the lottery projections, it’s the top 30… in right order! (PS - no Robd has not gone on holiday, he will be back with his Finals wrap up very soon)

1. CHI – Derrick Rose - PG - 6’3 - Memphis - Fresh.
It seems almost certain that Rose will be the number 1 overall pick on draft day. He makes so much sense for the Bulls, it makes Hinrich expendable, but more so his ability to beat his man off the dribble and get up and down the floor can make the game one of quickness and athleticism allowing Tyrus Thomas, Ben Gordon and Joakhim Noah to play taller than they really are.

2. MIA – Michael Beasley – SF/PF – 6’8 – Kansas State – Fresh.
Basically, Beasley will be pick two. There has been some speculation that the Heat will draft Mayo here, but inevitably, the three teams below them are all in want of Beasley, making it possible for a swap of picks and players that could propel the Heat further ahead in their rebuilding process.

3. MIN – OJ Mayo – PG/SG – 6’4 – USC – Fresh.
I highly doubt Mayo will be a Wolf. It seems most plausible that he’ll be traded to the Heat. But, even if a deal falls through, Mayo is a guy who fits what the T-Wolves are looking for – a sidekick to Randy Foye in the backcourt. The success of Monta Ellis and Baron Davis are allowing for many teams to highly consider a duel combo guard back court.

4. SEA – Jerryd Bayless – PG/SG – 6’3 – Arizona – Fresh.
There has been some speculation of Brook Lopez here, but at the end of the day, putting all their eggs in the Durant-Green wing combo to rebuild around, a dominant pass-first point guard is not what they need. A jump shooting, good off-ball working point guard/ shooting guard like Bayless would keep the defence honest, whilst stretching the offence a lot more than what Ridnour or Watson could do. Plus, he’s the fourth best prospect on the board.

5. MEM – Kevin Love – PF – 6’9 – UCLA – Fresh.
The Grizzlies are probably praying that some force of nature delivers them Mayo, so they can trade and grab Beasley. But this is unlikely. With their last two first round draft picks filling their point guard and wing positions (Conley and Gay Jnr’s) a player to fill their back court stocks is desired. Having Milicic and bringing over Marc Gasol (gained in the Pau Gasol trade) will probably force them to take a power forward, and Love is the best in the draft.

6. NYK – Russell Westbrook – PG/SG – 6’4 – UCLA – Soph.
This pick could really be anyone. The beauty of Mike D’Antoni’s seven-second-offence is that anyone who has athleticism and quickness can play in it, which pretty much is everyone in the draft bar Brook Lopez and Roy Hibbert. There has been a lot of noise around Westbrook lately supposedly working out quite well in numerous workouts. The Knicks could also use some defensive presence, and future point guard. Westbrook could fill both.

7. LAC – Eric Gordon – SG – 6’3 – Indiana – Fresh.
The Clippers are probably holding out for Westbrook. But assuming the draft goes the way I think it will, he will be off the board and Eric Gordon will be staring them in the face. With Corey Maggette likely being in another uniform and Cuttino Mobley getting on in age, a future two-guard could be what the doctor ordered in Clip town – and it could make the Clippers one of the most physically toughest teams in the NBA.

8. MIL – Joe Alexander – SF – 6’8 – West Virginia – Jnr.
The perfect guy for the Bucks would be Gallinari. But the swirling rumors surrounding his European club throwing big bucks at him, as well as the sour taste that’s still in their mouth over the Yi debacle will probably force them away. They supposedly also like Anthony Randolph, but the guy they seem biggest on is Alexander. Alexander would help them at the three, and give them added depth which is needed. A safe pick really if the Bucks were to go down this road.

9. CHA – Brook Lopez – C – 7’0 – Stanford – Soph.
If there is one guy in the draft (outside of Beasley and Rose) that the Bobcats need its Brook Lopez. His lack of quickness and the fact that few teams before pick 9 need him means he falls all the way down in a nice gift wrapped package to the Bobcats.

10. NJN – Danilo Gallinari – SF - 6’9 – Italy
The Nets are supposedly looking to deal one or both of Vince Carter or Richard Jefferson in the off-season, with RJ being the bigger possibility. Gallinari is the best small forward prospect in the draft, and is a gift to the Nets at pick ten. They probably would like a front court player over Gallinari, but with a later pick in the draft, they could use that to grab the player they need.

11. IND – DJ Augustin – PG – 5’11 – Texas – Soph.
Jamaal Tinsley seems out of the Pacer town. The Clippers have high hopes on Westbrook falling to them here, but as it is highly doubtful that is (the latest he should be selected is pick . Augustin is simply the next best point guard on the board.

12. SAC – Darrell Arthur – PF – 6’9 – Kansas - Soph.
The Kings really don’t need anything outside of a point guard and a power forward. With the prime point guard prospects of the board at this pick, the Kings will take the guy they seem to be most high on in Arthur. His all around skill and athleticism make him almost a perfect fit in Coach Theus’ system.

13. POR – Anthony Randolph – SF/PF – 6’10 – LSU – Fresh.
It seems that the only player the Blazers would consider drafting and keeping is either Westbrook or Joe Alexander. If both those players are off the board, they seem intend on trading it away. Assuming that, the team who gets this pick could use it to select Randolph as a developing player.

14. GSW – DeAndre Jordan – C – 7’0 – Fresh.
The Warriors really don’t need this pick, but they have it. With Ellis, Belinelli and Brandon Wright seemingly filling out their future in the 1-4 positions, they could look for a developing young centre with arguably the third best ‘ceiling’ in the draft. Plus, his quickness and athleticism play into Don Nelson’s system, allowing him to develop better.

15. PHO – Brandon Rush – SG/SF – 6’6 – Kansas – Jnr.
The Suns are really looking to add two main pieces this off-season to contend for a championship again. A shooter and some good defenders. Rush is that, and a good player to add for the future when one considers the age of injury prone Grant Hill.

16. PHI – Maureese Speights – PF – 6’10 – Florida – Soph.
The Sixers want to trade up in the draft – probably with their eyes set on a guy like Darrell Arthur. But assuming they keep this pick, they’ll probably pick the best power forward on the board at this time. Speights is it.

17. TOR – Robin Lopez – PF/C – 7’0 – Stanford – Soph.
The Raptors are in a hunt for a big man. Players like Koufos, Green and McGee are available here, but they all are either to raw (McGee) or are similar players to Bosh and Bargnani (Green and Koufos). Robin Lopez is the next best big available. His rebounding and blocking ability give him exactly what the Raptors need in the short term, and his potential gives them something to work with in the long term. [Editor’s note: this written before the JO trade]

18. WAS – Donte Green – SF/ PF – 6’10 – Syracuse – Fresh.
The Wizards could take a gamble on a guy like JaVale McGee, or even Kosta Koufos. But Green fits Eddie Jordan’s Princeton-esque offence extremely well. Tall, quick athletic with great range – a guy who could – in the foreseeable future – take over from Antawn Jamison at some point.

19. CLE – Kosta Koufos – PF/C – 7’0 – Ohio State – Fresh.
The Cavs are in the hunt for a Bynum selection. By that I mean a guy they can develop over one or two seasons as a dynamite low-post side kick to LeBron James – much like what Andrew Bynum made himself out to be before he went down this season. Koufos is that guy, and is perfect for stretching the defence of the opposition for the isolation offence for LeBron James.

20. DEN – Mario Chalmers – PG – 6’2 – Kansas – Jnr.
The Nuggets were extremely high on Ty Lawson before he pulled out of the draft. Mario Chalmers is really the only point guard left on the board unless DJ Augustin or Westbrook dramatically fall – which won’t happen. The Nuggets could swap this pick with Memphis and gain Kyle Lowry in the deal instead, but if they keep it, Chalmers is their best option.

21. NJN – JaVale McGee – C – 7’0 – Nevada – Soph.
McGee falls big, and with the falling of Anthony Randolph and DeAndre Jordan could be a future blueprint for all under-developed big’s who enter the draft to early. With the Nets selecting presumably a guy like Gallinari or Eric Gordon, they could take a punt with a developing centre for their future.

22. ORL – Courtney Lee – SG – 6’5 – Western Kentucky – Snr.
The Magic need a 2-guard who can shoot with a quick release. Nicholas Batum and Chris Douglas-Roberts are still on the board, but both aren’t as shooting talented as Courtney Lee. Almost everyone has Lee and Orlando meeting at this pick.

23. UTA – Roy Hibbert – C – 7’2 – Georgetown – Snr.
Really, outside of maybe Detroit, Boston and San Antonio, Hibbert has very few teams who could work with him – he’s simply a little to slow and methodical. However, the Jazz are one of those teams, and a back-ups to Okur and Boozer is on their wish-list, and they are supposedly high on Hibbert.

24. SEA – Serge Ibaka – PF – 6’10 – Congo
Sam Presti, the Sonics’ GM comes from the R.C. Buford background in San Antonio. Thus, it could be possible that the Sonics select an International player, and keep them over there for a few seasons. Which is smart considering that Johan Petro, Robert Swift and Saer Sene could all possibly be on their last legs as prospects. You don’t want to make the same mistake three times right?

25. HOU – Ryan Anderson – PF – 6’10 – California – Soph.
Anderson is a perfect fit for the Rockets because of his shooting touch. Peg him next to Yao Ming, and stretch the defence, isolating Yao and T-Mac becomes that much easier. A better prospect who can do other things outside of shooting as well.

26. SAS – Nicholas Batum – SG/ SF – 6’8 - France
The Spurs have a want to get younger. They are supposedly in the hunt for another first rounder, but with this they’ll probably select the best player available. Batum falls along way, and is a type of player Coach Popovich could work with.

27. POR – Ante Tomic - PF/C - 7′1 - Croatia
The Blazers are supposedly going to trade for this pick, targetting Ante Tomic. The reasoning behind this I assume is basing Tomic in grooming him over in Europe for a season or two, then bringing him in the back-up to Aldridge and Oden.

28. MEM – Jason Thompson – PF – 6’10 – Rider – Snr.
With picks this low, for teams who have had another first round pick earlier, the consensus seems to be pick the player who falls. Thompson is that guy. However, it is likely that this pick is involved in some sort of draft day deal.

29. DET – Alexis Ajinca – PF/C - 7’0 - France
The Pistons will be in the hunt for some young front-court power, depending on obviously how strong the trade rumors are surrounding every Detroit Piston outside of Rodney Stucky. Ajinca is a guy that with some muscle, could evolve into the next Rasheed Wallace, without the attitude. Well he may have an attitude, but it would be in French, so that doesn’t count.

30. BOS – Nicola Pekovic – PF/C – 6’11 – Serbia.
The Celtics’ roster management won them a Championship, but it also put them way over the cap limit. Pekovic is the perfect guy for them, but will probably play a few more season in Europe before he is brought over.

Like I said, the hardest draft to call for a long time. All we can hope for is a New York Knick stuff up, a Charlotte Bobcat steal and a Detroit Piston trade so that Robd doesn’t bug me about the potential and future of the newest Piston. Thanks for all those who read the blog, and I hope I can do the same thing for 2009. Cheery-bye!

It took me a while to recover from the ridiculous Game 4 of this series, the most amazing Finals comeback I’ve seen, and probably of all time. Then we almost saw it happen again in Game 5 - the two biggest comebacks in Finals history could have happened back-to-back. Despite a lot of people saying this series has not lived up to the hype, and has not yet delivered a blockbuster game where both teams have played well, there is one thing it has had plenty of… Drama.

(eerily enough the first guy in this clip is Paul Pierce and the last guy is Kobe Bryant… and this was made over five years ago)

In game 1 Paul Pierce gave us more drama than I thought was humanly possible in a basketball game. Game 2 saw the Lakers almost pull off the fastest and most furious comeback in Finals history. Game 3 came down to the last minute and was finished off by another heroic performance from Kobe Bryant. Game 4 was probably the best game in Boston’s long and proud history. And Game 5, despite it being ugly, again came down to the final minute. We have not yet seen a well contested game that makes me think “these are the best two teams in the league slogging it out”. But man, have we had drama.

My thoughts over the last few days have been all over the place, so rather than try and tie them together in some well-crafted prose, I thought I’d just thrown them down here for your perusal.

The Lakers seem incapable of putting together four good quarters in a row. When they’re at their best, they’re awesome, and they remind me why I tipped them to win this series in five games. The first half of game 4, the first quarter of game 5 - they played on a level no other team can play on, not even the Celtics. Odom has started causing the match up problems we all thought he could. Gasol is looking meaner (although Perkins going down has a lot to do with that… by default Perkins is the meanest looking guy on any basketball court, and probably the world). J-Farm and Sasha start sinking shots, Kobe balances his scoring/passing act, D-Fish doesn’t make mistakes, Luke Walton looks coordinated… it all adds up to a wonderfully orchestrated ballet that Phil Jackson choreographs from the sidelines, leaving most NBA fans in awe. They’ll erase a 20 point lead in five minutes. They’ll explode for 39 points in a quarter against the league’s best defensive team, in a Finals game. When the Lakers put together one perfect quarter it’s a thing of beauty. They’re so good that one quarter is almost enough for them to win a game. Almost.

Unfortunately for them this Boston team is incredibly stubborn and has a truckload of self-belief. Unfortunately for them Paul Pierce thinks he can carry his team to a championship even if he had both his legs broken (the more this series goes on the more Paul Pierce looks like he is channeling Bruce Willis in a Die Hard movie… Pierce will end up with his head bandaged, shoulder strapped, knee braced, and random patches of blood and car grease smeared on his jersey before he loses this one). Somehow the winningiest team in the league and the sexy “Big 3″ became the hard-nosed, tough son of a bitches that wanna beat you no matter how ugly it is, now matter what big guns their opposition is firing at them. It reeks of another Finals match up in recent years… one involving the Lakers, but more on that later…

The Boston Celtics look like a championship team. It’s hard to explain, it’s just a feeling I get when watching them. They play great defense. They hustle. They never lose belief in themselves. They have star players who are unguardable. They have role players who know their role and don’t try and play beyond it. They have a superstar who is clutch. They have role players that are clutch. They are playing like a championship team, a team who has been to war with each other.

It’s a realization I had while watching the end of game 4, when Posey and House were making big plays down the stretch. It’s the same realization I had during ‘06 while watching D-Wade and Posey do the same thing against my Pistons. That year the Miami Heat stuttered and stumbled in the first round against the Bulls (just like Boston did), a series some people even tipped the Bulls to win. The Heat escaped in an unconvincing six games, and looked a lot better against New Jersey in the second round. It was halfway through that series when everything started to click for them. Their role players (Walker, Posey, Payton) were huge, Wade went completely mental on an MJ-scale, Shaq’s defense came to the fore, guys were making clutch plays when they needed to… everything went right. It was no fluke. That Miami team had suffered a tragic loss on their home floor in a game 7 the year before - they were five minutes away from playing in the Finals. To realise what it took to win a championship they had to taste that pain together. But that’s where the analogy to this Boston team breaks down, doesn’t it?

In an ironic twist, the Celtics unexpectedly long and grueling post season (they’ve played an equal-record 25 games so far) has subjected them to the equivalent adversity and experience of two or three post season runs. Most championship teams have to learn the hard lesson, losing in the playoffs, perhaps even the Finals, before tasting glory. MJ and the Bulls were schooled by the Pistons in successive post seasons before they could bond together to form the greatest team of the modern era. Shaq and Kobe dealt with several painful post season exits before three-peating, and the Spurs too failed time and time again (mostly at the hands of the Lakers) before winning their second, third and fourth championships. It’s just the way it is. You have to pay your dues.

This Celtics team? They go from a lottery mess to including two All-Stars and making a run at the Finals - and most likely from here, winning it. Where was their adversity? When did they learn the hard lesson? They learned it in round 1 when they embarrassingly had to take care of the Atlanta Hawks in a series that saw Boston go from title-favourites to playoff pretenders. They learned it in round 2 when Lebron almost sent them on early holiday in that famous game 7. They learned in the Conference Finals when they finally lost at home prompting the entire basketball world to signal their downfall, only to come back the very next game and shove it in everyone’s face. They’ve had three series facing extreme pressure and adversity, the type of series some playoff teams are never involved in, let alone survive. The Celtics did more than survive them - they became stronger. They gained the maturity and resolve that normally takes a couple of playoffs at least. And 26 games later, they’ll tell you they earned it.

I was speaking to a friend of mine at work the other day about Kobe Bryant. It was after the game 4 loss, which prompted a wave of Kobe-bashing across the media, unsurprisingly so. The common theme I was hearing was “say goodbye to the Kobe-MJ comparisons”. I’ve heard these things before - Bill Simmons especially should know better, he said this after game 4:

The Kobe-MJ thing … done. Over. Jordan never would have let that happen in the Finals. Ever. Under any circumstances. Nobody is ever allowed to bring this up again.”

But he said pretty much the same thing two years ago before game 7 of the Lakers v Suns series:

Which reminds me, if Kobe doesn’t completely eviscerate Bell in Game 7, everyone on the planet is banned from making any more Kobe-MJ comparisons.”

Ok he was partly right for saying that, but he’s been riding the Kobe-MJ bandwagon all throughout this season, which just goes to prove one thing: unlike Anfernee Hardaway, Grant Hill, Harold Minor and Vince Carter, when Kobe-MJ comparisons get killed off, they inevitably come back to life.

Anyway, I was telling my work friend that the Celtics defense was so effective against Kobe, forcing him to take bad shots, forcing him into bad situations - situations that MJ wouldn’t have found himself in. He stopped me there. “Kobe and MJ were totally different players, you know”. I paused for a few seconds. The truth hit me. Kobe and MJ are very different players, a fact completely lost due to all the Kobe-MJ comparisons we’ve been swamped with the past few months. Yes it’s true that Kobe’s legacy is approaching MJ levels, especially if the Lakers win this Finals. But they don’t play basketball the same way.

What the Celtics are doing very effectively (except for patches in game 3) against Kobe Bryant is trapping him at the top of the key, outside the three point line, forcing him to pass it. If he doesn’t pass it he usually finds himself wheeling around a high KG screen, only to find another double team running at him again, which Kobe usually responds to with a pull up jumper before the double team can get there. He isn’t beating the initial trap (because Pierce/Allen + KG are playing excellent 1-on-1 defense) and he isn’t getting to the hoop because the help defenders are swarming him so quickly. It’s a total team effort. Speaking about this to my work friend I asked him “What would MJ do?”. And that’s where the difference between Kobe and Jordan becomes obvious: Jordan rarely had the ball in those situations.

There are two main differences, in my opinion, to the way Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan play at the offensive end of the floor. Kobe is a better ball handler (MJ fans, feel free to interpret that as “Kobe likes to handle the ball more”), and Kobe is a better three point shooter (feel free to interpret that as “Kobe likes to shoot more threes”). Michael Jordan was rarely given the ball 10 feet beyond the three point line and asked to break down the defense (I’m talking more nineties-Jordan here… championship-Jordan). It just wasn’t a smart option for the Bulls, with Scottie being a great ball-handler and perfect operator of the triangle, and Paxson/ Kerr/ Armstrong/ Hodges all being superior three-point shooters to MJ. So instead Jordan found himself with the ball at the elbows a lot of the time, or even posting up (watch this clip and look how many times Jordan is taking 12-15 footers as opposed to the 17-20 footers that Kobe takes, also note where he is catching the ball). His strength and turnaround jump shot is superior to Kobe’s - he was a much better player with his back to the basket. When the double team came Jordan either kicked it out to a three point shooter, or shot over the defenders. And even when the double team was effective, you had Jordan passing out of the post, or around the 15-20 foot region.

You contrast that to what is happening to Kobe right now. Because he handles the ball more and shoots more threes, he has the ball in his hands 35 feet from the basket. When the trap comes Kobe is passing the ball 30 feet from the hoop, and all his team mates are in front of him. When MJ saw a double team coming he usually had players in front of him (closer to the basket) and behind him (three point land) - it kept the opposition a lot more honest, because MJ was right in the thick of things. MJ played from ground zero. Kobe is being forced to do damage from the edges.

The answer to this? It’s two-fold. Firstly, Kobe has to use his supposed advantages to make the Celtics pay, that being, his outside shooting ability. You saw it in the first quarter of game 5. Kobe was draining threes before the Celtics defense could get set, before the trap came, before the wave of help defenders. In a matter of minutes he had 15 points - it looked so damn easy, the easiest 15 points he’d had all series. I know coaches will tell you three point shots are low percentage, and getting the ball inside is most efficient way of scoring. But for the Lakers to win they need Kobe scoring, and for Kobe to score he needs to be making his threes. This Celtics team is too good otherwise.

Secondly (and I’m aware this sounds contradictory, but stay with me), the Lakers need to try getting the ball to Kobe in the post or at least closer to the basket. They often inverted their offense during the season to allow Kobe and Lamar to catch it more in the post, I’m not sure why they’ve gone away from that - probably because Gasol came along with a better post game than both of them, and also probably because of KG’s presence. But if I’m Phil Jackson I’m going to start letting D-Fish and Odom handle the ball a lot more on the perimeter, and look for Kobe on the inside. Go away from the Triangle if you have to. Just find a way to get Kobe easier looks. Right now there is too much emphasis on Kobe being a “distributor” - it’s like every assist he makes proves he can be a team player. Screw that. Did you see MJ dishing out 8-10 assists in Finals games? Hell no (MJ fans, I know what happened against the Lakers in ‘91, but MJ averaged a bit less than 6 assists per game throughout his Finals career which is what Kobe is averaging right now). He scored. He was a scorer. Kobe is a scorer. Get him some shots Phil.

I can’t see the Celtics losing game 6. Like I said, this Finals reminds me of one a few years back - the Detroit v Lakers Finals in ‘04. Everyone tipped the Lakers to win that series. Detroit shocked them in game 1, almost stole game 2 as well, before going home to take care of business. But even when the Pistons were up 3-1, with game 5 to play at home, I was utterly amazed at what little respect people were giving them. “If the Lakers win game 5 they’ll go on to win the series” was the leading sentiment. As a nervous Pistons fan, part of me agreed, but standing back and looking at that series objectively, that was a ridiculous statement to be making. There was no way the Lakers were winning that series. They were completely outmatched against the Pistons, and their main weapons were nullified - Shaq was covered by Big Ben who remains the only person I’ve seen effectively defend Shaq 1-on-1 before he became old and fat, and Kobe was hounded by Prince (and helped by the Wallaces as well). The Pistons played relentless defense much like this Celtics team, and even in the game they lost you could say they threw it away - much like the Celtics in game 5 (I’m looking at you KG).

The popular belief going around now is that the Lakers could make history, that they’re poised to be the first team to come back from 3-1. That if Kobe Bryant can get going they will be unstoppable. That Pierce might be slowing down under the weight of his injury. That the entire Boston team might be fatiguing after such a long post season. Much like the school of thought going into game 5 of the Pistons v Lakers game in ‘04, all of that will be shown to be garbage at the end of tomorrow. The Lakers will not make history and come back from 3-1. Kobe Bryant won’t get going because he’s been effectively muted all series (just like he was in ‘04, but still, people were waiting for Kobe to explode). Pierce’s injury will disappear once he steps on that Boston court and hears the roar of his fans. Boston are not fatiguing - more the opposite, they’re gearing up for the biggest game of their season.

Nothing that happens in the Finals is a fluke. It’s no fluke Boston are up 3-2. It’s no fluke Kobe Bryant is struggling. The best team always wins a 7-game series. Right now, the Boston Celtics are the best team. It’s basketball logic.

Not that I’d ever let logic get in the way of good drama.

I always take special note of my immediate “gut feel” right after the end of an NBA game. It’s the time when you’re adrenaline is still flowing (especially if it’s a close game), when the emotion of the game is still pulsing through your veins, before you’ve had time to sit back and think about the game objectively and logically (and if you think I only get emotional about Detroit games, you’d be wrong… when its Finals time I’m just as pumped as any Lakers/Celtics fan). Right after the end of game 3 (literally minutes ago), that gut feeling was this: “The Lakers are in trouble”.

I don’t care that Kobe Bryant finally broke out of the Boston shackles and poured in 36 points (I’d be more concerned about his 1 assist). I don’t care that the Lakers aggressiveness was rewarded with several trips to the free throw line (34 to Boston’s 22). And I don’t care that ‘The Machine’ has awoken by nailing 7-10 shots in this one. I don’t care because overall, I’d say the Lakers have a lot more worrying signs than the Boston Celtics do, and with it imperative they win all three games in LA to have any chance, I’m starting to doubt they can win it all.

Pau Gasol was so shaky today I think I’m starting to dislike him as a basketball player. His 3-9 shooting is almost a compliment because one of those baskets was a tip-in amongst a scuffle for the ball, and I’m not even sure Gasol was the last one who touched it. Another one of his buckets came from an offensive rebound after Odom curiously tried to dunk it on KG’s head - of course with KG out of the contest, Gasol had the easy put back. While Marc Jackson called it “great offensive rebounding”, I prefer to call it “being extremely lucky”. The one play to me, that signified Gasol’s complete incompetence in this game came at the 5:30 mark of the third quarter. Gasol received the pass at the high post with his back to the basket. He had room on his defender and the Lakers clearly were trying to force some inside offense. Gasol caught the ball and immediately looked for the pass (more specifically, he looked around for Kobe), he looked like he didn’t want to be there, like he was the retarded kid the others passed to just to make him feel good. But he didn’t pass the ball. Instead, he tried some strange dribble/bucket-pass move straight out of a Brian Scalabrine textbook, fumbled the ball and turned it over, and the Celtics ran down the other end to score. Kobe Bryant gave him a puzzled look as if to say “Man.. are you really an NBA All-Star?”. Out of the 12 quarters of action we’ve seen so far these Finals, Pau Gasol has turned up for two of them. Let’s keep a tally, shall we? Leon Powe: 4, Pau Gasol: 2.

Radmanovic is completely useless against these Celtics. While racking up approximately one foul every minute he plays, Radman has made it clear to me he is only effective when shooting really wide open threes. That is fine, except he’s playing on guys like Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins, and they’re just throwing him around inside the paint. It was five minutes into the first quarter, when Radman picked up his third foul, that it dawned on me: he should not be there, that is Andrew Bynum’s position. I said the same thing aloud to my Celtics house mate, and he replied “that’s why we need to win it this year”. Obviously the Celtics have enough motivation to win the championship this year already, but with Bynum coming into that Laker’s team next year, I wouldn’t blame them for feeling a little more urgency. No one is going to beat the Lakers next year.

Kobe Bryant is being a whining little bitch. We all give shit to Tim Duncan for his post-foul looks of disbelief, his constant mouthing to the refs, and the Duncan Face. But at least we can all have a laugh at Timmy, because such displays of emotion are so against his stoic character. Right now though, Kobe Bryant is reacting to every foul call like a spoiled little brat and it’s starting to annoy me. I conceded that Kobe was on the stiff end of a few non-calls throughout game 2, and no doubt he has been completely frustrated at his inability to get to the line so far. But in game 3, when the calls were mostly going his way, when the refs were clearly swallowing their whistle at Boston’s end, Kobe still found a way to argue every single call. I don’t know why he’s doing it, because it’s not working in his favor at all. The refs have tech fouled him three times already these Finals, and the more Kobe bitches to them, the more likely they lose patience with him - not only for tech fouls, but for normal fouls. I don’t remember Michael Jordan getting so fired up so often at the refs. You might see one or two outbursts from Mike directed at the refs, but he would go silent after that. And you know what? It was effective. It’s the whole “boy cried wolf” thing. Michael chose his ref-abusing spots very carefully. Kobe is hounding the refs on every play and if he’s not careful they’ll go numb to it, and lose the ability to distinguish when Kobe has a legitimate beef, and when he’s just being his usual, whining self. Kobe’s taken a leaf out of Michael’s book in every other aspect of his game. Maybe he should do the same when it comes to complaining to the refs.

There is too much Kobe-watching going on. The Lakers have always been guilty of this, to some extent. When you play with the league’s most complete scoring weapon, there is a tendency to think the best option every time, is the #24 option. That has been less obvious throughout the first three rounds, where Gasol, Odom, and Vujacic all stepped up offensively for several games. But it was really obvious today. No one wanted to shoot the ball today, and it’s the reason why the Lakers had so many possessions where they were jacking up rubbish shots with 1 or 2 seconds left on the shot clock. Vujacic was their saving grace, and would quite happily jack up shots with 23 seconds left on the shot clock. But the only guys other than Kobe and Sasha to take more than four shots were Odom, Gasol and Fisher - and collectively they went 6-24. Those three need to be taking 30-40 shots for the Lakers to have a chance in this series. Right now the Lakers are living and dying on Kobe’s jump shot, and while that was falling today, as we’ve seen against this Boston team, more often than not it will fail. Now, you could just as well say that Pierce and KG also stunk it up today so why am I picking on Odom and Gasol so much? The difference is Pierce and KG have already played two very good games this series, while Gasol and Odom have played zero good games so far. I have no doubt Pierce and KG will pick things up, they just had a bad day. Gasol and Odom had more than a “bad day” - they are in the middle of a slump.

Other game 3 observations:

• Mike Breen must have read my game 1 blog, he’s finally shaved that horrible goatee.
• Kobe started the game on Rajon Rondo. An interesting move by Phil Jackson, except it didn’t work. Ray Allen got hot early and almost lead the Celtics to victory. Although watching Kobe defend Rondo late in the game was amusing - I have not seen a player pay so little respect to an opposition point guard’s shooting ability. Kobe was giving Rondo the kind of space you give Zach Randolph from three-point range (i.e. a lot).
• The wonderful ESPN commercial breaks continued in this game. The first ad break of the game? None other than the Venetian Hotel in Macau. This was promptly followed by another World’s Strongest Man minute, Sunday Night Baseball, and Friday Night Fights. Wow, I haven’t seen those ads for like.. seven minutes.
• After three minutes of play the Lakers had taken more free throws than they did in all of game 2. I predicted, as I’m sure many others did, that the Lakers would benefit from some friendly refereeing in game 3. I didn’t think it would be obvious so quickly
• Leon Powe played spurts in this game and continued to look dangerous. I would have preferred to see him play later in the game, as opposed to PJ Brown who I think totally lost the plot when he started trash talking Jordan Farmar after a scuffle in the second quarter. Note to PJ Brown: when you have to start acting tough in the face of Jordan Farmar, your career is officially over.
• The Machine’s 3rd video blog is now YouTubable. Shoot, camp, shoot, camp…
• KG seemed to be suffering from more Sheeditis in this game, demonstrating a couple of ridiculous long range fade away baseline Js while being guarded by, wait for it… Ronny Turiaf. The only plausible explanation for KG taking a shot like that is if Ronny whispered under his breath “you better shoot this one fading away Kev, or I’m going to eat your left arm”. Hey, if Turiaf said that to me I would do the same thing.
• Let’s give a little love, just a little, to Kobe for those two back-to-back daggers in the final minute. I know we’ve seen him do it a million times before, but having done it before is completely different to going out and doing it again. Just like in game 5 against the Spurs, the whole thing seemed inevitable. The 22-footer over Ray… splash. Eddie House stepped up with a trey at the other end (and props to Doc for playing him more in this one, I love Eddie House). Kobe had it again, 50 seconds on the clock. My Boston house mate was sitting on the edge of his seat while Kobe was dribbling, isolated with Ray on the perimeter. My house mate let out a little sigh, “he’s going to do it again, isn’t he?”. He sounded more resigned than anything else. “Yeah, probably” I said, not wanting to make him feel too bad. Splash.

Inevitable.

What a huge weekend it was in sports. Sunday evening I watched the Blues pull off one of the greatest comebacks I can remember - after scoring only 3 goals through the first three quarters, we piled on 7 more in the final term (and held Port goalless). Late Sunday night I settled in to watch Federer and Nadal, and while we didn’t get the classic encounter we all hoped for, we did get to see Nadal re-stake his claim as the best clay player in the world, and arguably, of all time. Most people will argue that title belongs to Bjorn Borg (6 French Opens to Nadal’s 4), but here’s my logic: many people regard Roger Federer as the greatest tennis player of all time (or at least concede he will be when he retires), yet he hasn’t even come close to beating Nadal at the French Open. While Roger has proved over the past few years that there is a big gap between himself and the rest of the men’s competition, Nadal emphatically demonstrated on Sunday night that the gulf between himself and Roger, on clay, is even greater. That’s gotta count for something, doesn’t it? And in an interesting bit of Tennis-related NBA reading, check out this article from ESPN: There’s no quit in Kobe, but there is in Federer.

Following the tennis the next morning was obviously game 2, and going into the game I had three big questions: 1) Is Pierce too injured to contribute? 2) Will the Lakers show a bit more aggression today, namely Odom and Gasol? and 3) Will Kobe break out and torch the Celtics like we all know he can? In short, the answers to those questions were 1) No, 2) Yes and 3) Kind of. The long answers:

1) Pierce hit a three on his first possession of the game, and remarkably, has not missed a three point shot (6/6) since he went down with his knee injury in game 1. Which leads me to speculate that Pierce may have undergone breakthrough three-point transplant surgery during that halftime break, whereby they removed the injured ligaments in Pierce’s knee and replaced them with Jeff Hornacek’s. Pierce showed no signs of injury throughout the game, and quite simply, he was brilliant. With the injury behind him, you’d think Pierce will only get better as this Finals progresses which is worrying for the Lakers because right now, they have no answers for him. Before the series I speculated that Odom would be a great cover for Pierce, but Lamar has done a complete disappearing act so far. This has forced Phil Jackson to put Kobe on Pierce for stretches, but on too many occasions have I seen Kobe arriving 2-3 seconds late on a Paul Pierce three that splashes in, and ignites the Boston crowd.

2) The Lakers did come out really aggressive. Within the first few minutes we saw an Odom dunk and a Gasol dunk, and I don’t remember any Lakers dunks in game 1. The Lakers ball movement was almost frenzied. Everyone looked extremely switched on, and it’s why the Lakers enjoyed an early 7 point lead. That aggression wore off on everyone except Gasol - I thought he looked strong and dangerous, and I think it’s an absolute atrocity he only took 12 shots in this game. When the Celtics started to run away with it I was screaming for Gasol to get more shots. The problem? Instead of me screaming, it should have been Pau himself.
3) Kobe played much better than he did in game 1. He found his teammates earlier and more often, and he got a couple of his jump shots to stick. In that fourth quarter he almost rallied his team to the greatest comeback in Finals history (as much as I love Vujacic, it was a crime for him to take that last three instead of Kobe). Kobe heated up late in that game, and I expect him to keep it going for the next three in LA. I expect lots of points, lots more free throws, a much better shooting percentage, and at least one classic fourth-quarter take over. That’s not me hoping for some entertaining games - that’s what the Lakers need to send this thing back to Boston.

Other observations from game 2:

- Ray Allen’s first possession was a turnover, resulting in a loud groan from my house mate. Ray Allen’s second possession was also a turnover, resulting in a disgruntled cry of “F–ken Ray!!”. Ray eventually found his stroke in this one, but from those first few minutes it looked like he was on path to stink it up on historic levels. And that’s saying something, because Ray Allen has already done his fair share of stinking these playoffs.

- I’ve tamed my criticism of ESPN lately because they redeemed themselves by showing both conference Finals. But my patience is really drawing thin with the ad breaks we see over and over again throughout the Finals games, which I suspect are only shown to the Pacific Rim viewers. I’m starting to have nightmares about that Venetian Hotel ad (the one that looks like its in Venice, except its not) - as an ESPN rule, that ad is shown once every commercial break. Then there’s the “On This Day” segments that highlight the most useless sporting facts and past events that no NBA fan would care about, like horse riding or seventies soccer in Mexico. There’s that cricinfo.com ad where everyone is just catching cricket balls (next time you watch that ad, pay close attention to the Indian women who makes a catch next to a railway track while a freight train is speeding past just meters behind her… that is one harmless bit of filming that could have gone so horribly wrong). Then there’s the World’s Strongest Minute, which I must say, is the most entertaining segment of them all. My two favorite World’s Strongest Man Minute’s are the event when everyone is trying to bend steel poles across their heads (this is hilarious), and the event where two guys are racing each other while trying to carry what looks like a metal staircase. If you’ve seen it you’ll know the one I’m talking about. Two meters into the race, one of the guys’ legs completely snaps - he’s left crouched over, leg dangling in two pieces, with half a ton of stairs on him. But the priceless reaction comes afterwards, when this dude is interviewed and told the doctor’s have diagnosed him with a broken leg. In a think European accent he says: “They say it’s broken, but I know it’s not broken… I am a chiropractor myself”. Ahh dude, I don’t know what kind of chiropractor you are, but when a guys leg snaps in two pieces while he’s trying to carry half a house I’m pretty sure it’s broken. Either way, I’m campaigning for the World’s Strongest Man Minute to be reformatted into the “World’s Strongest Man Three Minutes” so we don’t have to be subjected to all the other horrible ad breaks.

- KG deserves a HTFU for this game. Most of his shots came from the perimeter, a big man symptom more commonly known as Sheeditis. Boston fans, I can sympathize with you for yelling at KG to take more shots in the post. I’ve been yelling that at Sheed for five years. At least be thankful KG settles for 20 footers and not 27 footers.

- The Lakers comeback. When the game ended one of my house mates said something very true: “That comeback gives the Lakers a huge psychological edge… they will never feel like they’re out of a game, for the rest of this series”. I couldn’t agree more. Yes Boston fans will be happy with the win, but they should be very concerned. It took the Celtics 40 minutes to build a 24-point lead, and it took the Lakers 8 minutes to dismantle it. It just echoes what so many people had been saying prior to the start of this Finals: the Lakers have a lot of firepower, and when everyone is firing, no one can stop them. Boston have done a good job at holding down the floodgates in the first two games. But something tells me they’re just about to open in Lakerland.