Legendary Los Angelas Laker head coach Phil Jackson will attempt to win his NBA record 10th NBA title for the 3rd time in 5 years. He has been to the Finals more times than Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady has been on the IR. He has had one of the top 2 players in ALL the game on his team each time he has gone to the FINALS and has ABSOLUTELY had the best player in the FINALS series on his team each time as well. Now does that take ANYTHING away from his coaching abilities ... to me NO. To some YES. He is 0-2 in his last 2 Finals trips although his teams have been the favorites. He has been badly out coached by Larry Brown and Doc Rivers his last two trips to the Finals and his once untouchable legacy could be altered forever with a LOSS in this years Finals to the upstart Orlando Magic. I am going to breakdown several key aspects to the Finals and ULTIMATELY pick who I think will be the 2009 NBA CHAMPIONS.
Backcourt: Fisher and Bryant vs. Skip and Lee.
Advantage LAKERS. Fisher will have a problem with Skip though. He is simply showing his age and if this is a long series he may ultimately become useless. All that being said, Kobe is by far and away the best player in this series and should have little trouble imposing his will on any Magic defender. Look for him to instill confidence in his teammates early and DESTROY the competition later.
Frontcourt: Ariza, Pau and Bynum vs. Hedu, Lewis and Howard.
Advantage MAGIC. Pau Gasol has developed into LA's most consistent performer in these playoffs ringing off 9 straight double doubles at one point. He should be able to have his way with Shad Lewis in the post and also on the offensive glass. The key to this series will be how effective Turkoglu can be with the defensive minded Ariza sure to be all over him. The former Magic, Ariza, will undoubtedly be more than sky high to face his former team. D. Howard should keep Bynum in foul trouble throughout the series and render him useless. If Howard continues to make free throws and forces L.A. to double him the Magic will have an excellent shot at beating the favorites.
Bench: Odom, Brown, Sasha and Farmar vs. Pietrus, Nelson, Gortat and Johnson.
Advantage LAKERS. With Nelson not having played a game since GM was profitable L.O. becomes the best BENCH player in the series. Pietrus should provide some god D on Kobe at times and if he is on make some long distance bombs. Shannon Brown has really come on as a player and should prove to be a difference maker in this series.
Coaching: Phil Jackson vs. Stan Van Gundy.
Advantage LAKERS. I like Stan Van but just a few weeks ago he would have been CANNED had the Magic lost game 7 in Boston. I am SURE of it. His team has had success in spite of him and this is where the dream comes to an end. Phil is no John Wooden either but he has been here a bunch of times before and this could be his swan song on the bench and I am certain he is aware of the stakes with this win.
Pressure:
Advantage MAGIC. The Lakers HAVE to win this series which puts ALL the pressure on them. Phil for reasons stated before and Kobe because of his recent Finals failures as his teams best player NEED to win. The Magic are just happy to be here and will play accordingly. Loosey goosey with NOTHING to lose.
Outcome:
The L.A. Lakers will be the 2008-09 NBA Champions and Kobe Bryant will win his first NBA Finals MVP in 6 games.
| Name | Comment |
| Stu Parker | wow. after reading this blog....You are spot on. I do not deny Kevin Garnett's ability as a player but HATE the BS stuff he does...All negative crap. |
| | This is a very unfair article. Garnett is an Olympic Gold Medalist, an MVP, an ALL STAR MVP, an ALL NBA member and an NBA Champion... you know how many current players can say that? 2 others (Shaq & Kobe) and they are all considered among the best players at their respected positions in the HISTORY of basketball. The same should be said for K.G. |
| | This is a very unfair article. Garnett is an Olympic Gold Medalist, an MVP, an ALL STAR MVP, an ALL NBA member and an NBA Champion... you know how many current players can say that? 2 others (Shaq & Kobe) and they are all considered among the best players at their respected positions in the HISTORY of basketball. The same should be said for K.G. |
| Ra | This is blasphemy. I hope a Celtics fan did not write this article. |
| KWAPT | How old is that clip of KG? C'mon..of course that was a punk move, but what was that, 10 years ago? It's simple: KG is a fierce competitor who uses intimiadation and mental toughness to strike fear in the heart of his opponents. If he is on your team, you LOVE him. If he is not, you may loathe him. But either way, he is a great player. You cannot deny that. |
| Alex | Wow, now we are going to call an Olympic Gold Medalist, an MVP, an ALL STAR MVP, an ALL NBA member, an NBA Champion, a player that has more 20-10-5 seasons than Larry Bird, Defender of the Year (2008 and most likely, this year) overrated? Hmm, right now I'm kind of smelling a bit of jealousy mixed with stupidity in this article. |
| Tweedster | This blog is poorly written, scattered and incoherent. Thankfully, someone else already tackled the inconsistencies and leaps of logic. Check it out hear:
http://celticshub.com/2009/10/22/did-you-hear-kg-is-overrated/ |
| Tweedster | Some actual statistics, and not just conjecture and strange conclusions based on the number of 'chips KG has.
http://www.celticstown.com/is-kevin-garnett-clutch.html |
| SP | ron campbell must love the Lakers. Or the Cav's. Or the Magic. but he doesn't know @$@@ about basketball! |
| Ed The Sports Fan | I'm sorry, there's no way in life Allen Iverson isn't in the starting 5, especially ahead of Nash. Give a damn about MVP's, Iverson's done more with much much MUCH less and totally revolutionized the game. Other than that, I think your decade team is cool.
-Ed. |