Why the Celtics will win

We went through a much tougher road to get here,do Thunder,Jazz and Suns play any semblence of defense compared to Cavs or Magic?LA's bigs cannot come near to quickness or physicality of Dwight Howard,Bynum is ponderous and Gasol is skilled,but no beast.How did Gasol and Odom do 2 years ago?They have added a Bynum,but lost Turiaf who a case can be made is a better defender.We have more players that can attack the basket and drive,Rondo,Pierce,Ray,TA and even Baby can all run the floor and finish and Rondo can do more than just finish.Our offense should flourish as I see alot more points in the paint than last series.LA only has Kobe to drive and D Fish doesn't drive,Artest mostly spot up shooter now.Our bigs can defend their bigs better,do they have a defender as good as Perk?no KG? no Sheed? no and KG has been rebounding better since playoffs started.They're bigs looked like bullies against Jazz and Suns,but now they're gonna go at great individual defenders that play even better as a unit together that is battletested.They're hungry,but were as hungry and better deeper defensive unit.

We have more depth,they have one good big off the bench Odom,we have two Sheed and Baby,we have TA and if the light went off in Nate Robinsons head,we now can go 9 deep with a quick or quick as Rondo lightning bolt.In Nates very recent stretch he's shown he could defend and pass,if hes figured out his niche more trouble for LA as we can further wear Lakers out.I know this series will not be easy,if I were Thibs I'd use the same defense that trapped Lebron and turned him into jump shooter,turn Kobe into passer fine,but the rest of cast will not get enough on our smothering bad ass D,this will further in flame Kobe and make him dominate the ball and shot attempts,have we seen this before?

Our offense is better than 08 even with KG's limitations and if we see recent KG of Cavs series with no Dwight Howard coming over to help,does LA have a defender like that?Rondo is gonna do his thing,impose his will,attack at key moments and give our offense whatever we need,open looks and the key is his open 10-12 footer.Its not gonna be easy,we'll steal one in LA of first 2 and win it in 6.

I would prefer to win right here on our court, but I know that LA is much too good to lose at home and then lose three straight here too.

The key to this series I believe is Rondo and KG. LA doesn't have anyone who can run with Rondo play after play. If Kobe decides to defend him, he will suffer at the other end of the court. We need KG to come out and play Gasol like he did in 2008. He really rattled him. Gasol is their ace in the hole the way I look at it. He could kill you if Kobe lets him take over.

The most interesting matchup is going to be Artest on PP. This guy pushes,
shoves and does anything he has to to get the edge. Paul can't let that get to him. They have played against each other for years and for the most part, Paul has come out on the winning side. Does anyone remember the time Artest pulled Paul's pants down while he was driving to the basket? He
is a real nudge, so this could be interesting.

Alot has been made how Pierce will have a rough series with being defended by Artest and having at some point to stop Kobe too.Agreed will be very tough match up for the Captain,will take supreme effort and craftiness to get best of Artest and will be moments of struggle and success.....I would love to see Baby at the 3 going right at Artest defensively when the Truth is on Kobe,lets see Artest deal with ALL that.Artest doesn't drive like he used to either and we have great help defense.Baby has quick feet,we could own the boards for stretches with him at the 3.

I think as tight as this series looks on paper, it will all come down to two intangibles, coaching and the Russell/Garnett interview.

As Celtic fans and most other b-ball fans, we certainly would all agree that while Bill Russell is not God, within the Celtic organization and the world of basketball he is God-like. When he told KG, pre-2008 finals that he would win 2 maybe 3 titles with Boston, KG pretty much took that to the bank. Yes, he would have to deliver and complete the task. KG has not disappointed us or Bill to date. Given the time frame, injuries, etc., Bill didn't say when but it has to be sooner rather than later. Plus you add the Big 3 Interview and Michael Jordan telling (Ray?) them they were lucky winning in 2008. "Win it again and we'll talk." MJ was probably right in that they were always one home loss away from being bounced in 2008 because they couldn't win on the road. They've pretty much corrected that problem in these playoffs. It's a lot of pressure on KG, but he is up to the challenge. I don't think you want to be a HOF Celtic player on the wrong side of Bill Russell. Just ain't gonna happen.

As for Doc v. Phil, this will be Doc's rise to greatness with a title win here. If he comes up short, Phil wins his 11th. Ho-hum. Doc would join the company of Red, Bill Russell and KC as two-time NBA Champions Coach of the Celtics. He deserves that, given all the "Fire Doc-ers" over there on BDC.

dbrown

Great call bringing up Russell and the fact we can play and play great on the road now.Bynum is banged up,they'll have to play alot of Gasol-Odom,I just don't see any first rate defensive presence in the paint for LA.We have 4 strong physical BIGS,they have 2.5,we can expose that with our BIGS and wings taking it right at them.They haven't faced a defense like ours either.....Thunder,Jazz,Suns are you kidding me?they got the best match up everytime,didn't have to play a fresh Spurs or Mavs,they really got the luck of the draw,now were gonna punch them in the mouth.

cow