NBA Finals: Back In Boston

June 17th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
By Chris

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Paging Mr. Bryant? Mr. Bryant, party of one? Here’s your call Kobe. You wanted it and you’ve got it. You have two games to save your team’s season and if you really want to ascend to the Jordan levels (I still don’t see it), winning these next two games with a single-handed efforts will get you on the way to where you want go, Mr. Next One.

While we’ve determined Michael would never allow a 24-point lead to be overcome, you still have a chance to put your stamp on this series and in the minds of young NBA watchers everywhere. What can we expect tonight?

Can Kevin Garnett overcome his relative ineffectiveness and dominate the paint the way he’s capable? Is he simply too tired to give maximum effort for one, maybe two more basketball games? I realize it’s been a long season for Garnett, but it’s been a long season for Pau Gasol as well. It’s not like he’s going up against a player fresh off the injured reserve list.

Rajon Rondo, the media folks are looking at you to contribute something positive tonight. Care to respond? It should give you some solace that Ray Allen and Kendrick Perkins are expected to play tonight. Perhaps you can use this to your advantage.

As for the Lakers, are they ever going to get contributions from their bench that actually, you know, show up in the stat lines? I mean, hustle plays are fine and good, but sometimes, you simply have to put the ball in the basket more times than your opponent. Does anyone on the Lakers bench care to meet this call? How about pick-and-roll defense? Has Phil “Zen” Jackson given you any pointers on how to actually this particular play down?

It’s not like Jackson hasn’t gone up against a pick-and-roll team in the Finals before. If I remember correctly, there was a team in Utah… one with an awesome point guard and a philandering power forward who helped define the position. Didn’t they run the pick-and-roll as well. In fact, didn’t they run it exclusively? Why is your team having such a hard time with it, Phil? Are they not listening?

Anyway, those are just some of the plot lines to be aware of tonight. Game time is at 9pm eastern.