UngsungBlog: A (Fantasy) Sports Blog

Quick-hitters:

- I just noticed that my blog lists blog categories under “Tags:” at the end of each blog entry, rather than the tags themselves.

I’ve since fixed this, but knowing me, I probably screwed up somewhere.  If anyone sees a problem with the “Tags:” entry in the future, please let me know!

- Current rebate-o-meter:  $1,550 (not counting the two orders I placed in the last hour or so and, obviously, have yet to even consider filing :P).

No changes to my toothpaste-o-meter, but I did pick up six additional bottles of mouthwash.

- Lamar Odom just earned his entire year’s salary tonight.  Too bad it was all for naught.  The Lakers’ bigs finally started running hard in that first quarter.  Where was this during the first three games of the series?  And did someone inject something into Trevor Ariza?

(Random thought:  That crossover that Luke Walton pulled off early in the second quarter might have been the whitest crossover ever :P)

Naturally, Boston was going to make their run in the second quarter, but that three-point play by Fisher was absolutely huge.  And did I read that wrong, or did Kobe really not have a FG in the first half?

Then the third quarter happened, and with that, the series is now over.

(David Stern probably is not a happy camper.  Certainly he wanted this series to go seven.  Well, perhaps he could still do something about it… :P)

There’s just something about the third quarter that just absolutely energizes the Celtics.  21-3 to end the quarter?  +16 for the entire quarter?  That might have been even more impressive than the Lakers winning the first quarter by a record-setting 21 points!  Most importantly, Pierce got rolling, and that’s when I knew the Lakers were in huge trouble.

Championship teams play through adversity.  Boston clutched up.  The Lakers wilted.  Ray Allen gets to the basket untouched?  And why the hell did the Lakers inbound the ball???  And those are the reasons why Boston is going to win the NBA Championship in five or six games.

Worst of all, now I’m going to have to hear how the Lakers choked away a 24-point lead for years to come, especially from the Boston myopians.

(Thanks, Jeff Van Gundy, for the hex, when you declared the series tied 2-2 early in the game :P)

Congrats, Celtics!  You deserved it!

One parting thought:  this series reminds me a bunch of the 2004 Finals, minus the team bickering.  I argued that Detroit actually won that series 5-0, and one could argue that Boston is up 4-0 in this series right now.

Let’s hope the aftermath of the Finals does not include another Kobe Bryant meltdown.

Tags: Blog, boston celtics, categories, lamar odom, los angeles lakers, tags, trevor ariza, wordpress by Peter
No Comments »

Quick thoughts regarding Spurs-Lakers Game Two:

- There isn’t much I could say about tonight’s game.  With the game tied at 37, Doug Collins made the point that the Spurs, despite their shooting woes, were “close.”  That’s when the Lakers rattled off a 9-0 run that was the start of the Spurs’ second-half collapse.

(I’m watching the replay of the game on TNT right now, and I’m still in shock by that rejection by Farmar.  No, it was not Tayshaun Prince-esque, but it was pretty sweet nonetheless.)

Fisher rebounded nicely.  Odom was very good, though he did commit two bad offensive fouls.  Gasol still worries me, especially with the way Duncan has dominated him in the first two games (I thought Gasol’s two early fouls were going to crush the Lakers’ chances).  Most importantly, the Lakers backcourt reserves—Farmer and Vujacic—played excellent ball.  And was that a Trevor Ariza sighting?

(Tangent:  Please, TNT announcers…enough with the jokes about The Bill Engvall Show and House of Payne.  Very funny.)

If I’m a Spurs fan, I’m worried sick about Manu Ginobili.  I’m starting to think that the ankle is MUCH worse than he’s letting on.  Without a 100% Manu, I don’t see any way the Spurs beat the Lakers four times in five games.

Laker fans, on the other hand, should worry about the following:

1) Duncan’s continued dominance of Gasol.  I expect Duncan to carry his team to victory in at least one of the next two games in San Antonio.

2) The Spurs’ outside shooting.  Finley, Bowen, Barry, and Horry are going to drain outside shots sooner or later, no?

3) Tony Parker’s gonna play a complete game sooner or later, right?  And if Manu Ginobili suddenly gets healthy…

I’m probably going to skip blogging about the NBA for the next couple of days (quick-hitters only, if anything), just to get some non-sports thoughts out of the way.

Tags: doug collins, los angeles lakers, manu ginobili, san antonio spurs, trevor ariza, wii fit, wnba by Peter
No Comments »