All-Cool Euro 2008 Roster

I loved Euro 2008 and many other Americans did too. It was every bit as exciting as the 2006 World Cup, probably more so, and I am sad to see it go. I was so inspired I decided to create my own All-Cool Euro 2008 lineup even though I hardly know anything about soccer. I even decided to put my own naïve twist on soccer formations as I have the intriguing 2-4-1-3 line up. Of course there aren’t that many cool defenders and everyone loves the players that score, so I created a lineup that reflected that. Without further ado, here is my attempt to commentate on soccer.

Goalie (1):
Petr Cech (Czech Republic) - Normally a great keeper, however, Petr during Euro 2008 was quite atrocious. In the game versus Turkey, Petr has seven saves yet let the ball slip out of his hands on a Turkey cross leading to an easy goal. Turkey was the Comback Kids of the tournament with aid definitely from Petr, but we don’t care about that. The reason why Petr is on this team is because of his headgear. He looks ridiculous and ridiculously cool. If you were a goalie and were allowed to wear one ridiculous thing you would choose that. I forget why he is wearing it, but he is notorious for wearing it. It is something like he banged his head in the post, got kicked in the head, or took a shot to the head or something serious like that, but the reason isn’t that important. Casillas was the keeper of the tournament, but he can’t compete with Petr looking so fly in goal.

Defenders (2):
Sergio Ramos (Spain) - Definitely my favorite player of Euro 2008. I love everything about him, from his long hair don't care with the Nike thin headband to the tattoos that him and teammate El Nino rock on their forearms. He is a pretty good defender I guess too, the German offense particularly Podolski did nothing in the final game. Ramos is cool in that he is runs up and down the pitch trying to score goals too. I don't believe he had any in Euro 2008, but nonetheless he was by far the coolest defender and probably is the coolest in the world. He took off his jersey and put on a t-shirt with someone’s face on it for the celebration which was kind of weird, but whatever he has a hot girlfriend and he is pretty good-looking himself, nh.
Philip Lahm (Germany) - I really didn't like Germany that much, but Lahm was a very interesting player to follow. Andy Gray ripped on him during the later stages off the tournament for poor defending and he was undoubtedly responsible for getting beasted by Torres for the championship game's only goal. Germany had a lot of defensive errors in the game it seemed, trying to do offsides traps that once led to a wide open Ramos header that he couldn't finish past the weakest keeper of all time. Lahm sat out the entire second half of the final game even though they needed his offense. In the semi-final against Turkey, a great game except for the fact we didn't get to see two of the five goals, Lahm absolutely broke a Turkey midfielders ankles then dumped it off only to get it back and bury it in the net for the game winning goal. Sick move, terrible defender, but defnse doesn't make you cool, offense ad scoring goals does.

Midfielders (4):
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany) – Bastian Schweinsteiger became a favorite of SportsCenter anchors because of his sick name, but the duo he formed with Podolski providing great goals and his bleached Mohawk put him on this team. BS had two goals and two assists overall, but did the most damage in the big victory over Portugal where he had a goal and two assists. Here is a quote about BS, “He has been accused of allowing his arrogance to boil over at times, a glamour boy who likes to let those around him know about it.” Can’t fault him for that, who wouldn’t be cocky when they have a bleach blond Mohawk? His set pieces in the final game were pretty terrible and always too high, and his poor play hurt the German offense so much yo. The only reason he is on this team is because the goals he scored were tight, but really his hair sucks, he sucks, and he should keep up his late-night partying that German fans are so worried about.
Franck Ribery (France) – France disappointingly went 0-2-1 in Euro 2008, and Franck sprained his ankle in a loss to Italy. Franck established himself as a g in the World Cup and is the best player in all of France, and would have done damage in the tournament if his team wasn’t old and shitty or if less cool teams like Russia and Crotia made it so far. Franck’s scar is where it’s at and I can’t say anything else cool about him because he got hurt.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – Portugal unfortunately also got eliminated early and lost to Germany of all teams. The game was extremely thrilling, yet Cristiano was a little disappointing in the tournament. He provided great highlights in the Champions League Final, but only had one good game in Euro 2008 against the Petr Czech Republic. Cristiano is on this team for obvious reasons, as he is the best player in the world, maybe the most recognizable athlete in the world, and he is really really good at soccer. We love the things he can do on the pitch and all the photos all over the internet that try to make him appear gay. Whatever, Cristiano for sure doesn’t care and why should he when he sets trends with his hair and makes mad paper stacks.
Cesc Fábregas (Spain) – Fábregas of the Euro 2008 championship team Spain provided the assist in the final game and continually got the ball to Torres to allow El Nino to create offense for Spain. Who doesn’t love Spain’s counter attack abilities and they have many great midfielders with Xavi winning player of the tournament. Iniesta was really good to even though he refused to shoot with his left foot and instead would try to bring the ball back to his right and slow up the break, causing me to get very angry with him. Cesc Fábregas has a great name and is a great player as he had a goal and FOUR assists in the tournament. He looks like he could be on The Sopranos and is an excellent passer of the ball.

Forwards (1):
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands) Ruud, what a weird name for a dude! Ruud's sick Netherlands squad didn't make it very far in Euro 2008, but they definitely provided some great goals and dominated the early stages of the tourney. The absolute best goal of the the tournament was when Ruud saved the ball from going out of bounds by doing a spin move crazy shit then laid it off to his homeboy Robben creating a counter attack for an eventual van Piersie goal on a sick cross.

Strikers (3):
Fernando Torres (Spain) – El Nino was so disappointing in the games leading up to the final because he was so fucking cool and did great things just couldn’t score for some reason. The final game of Euro 2008 came and Torres is now a legend. He had a goal in an early game against Sweeden, but had 5 shots and no goals against Russia in the semi-finals. They won anyways luckily for Torres because he dominated Germany, with an unbelievable finish, shoving Lahm out of the way and then flipping it over the worst keeper in the game for the games only goal. Torres out-ran and out-hustled every German defender and created tons of opportunities for his team and it was fascinating to watch. He has great forearm tattoos and looks like something I can’t quite put my finger on, like a cross on some type of dog and a ginger kid or something. He has some long hair don’t care and made sure he fixed in up before receiving his medal. People would congratulate El Nino and he was like yo I got to fix my hair man I am going to be on television. Love Torres and will be a soccer legend in my book forever eva.
Lukas Podolski (Germany) – Lukas had three goals in Euro 2008 and has a cannon of a left foot. I liked him in the World Cup in 2006 and is one of the few likeable players on the German team in Euro 2008. He puts the ball in the net and puts up with Ballacks shit and Schweinsteiger’s hair. He made up for Klose who sucked in Euro 2008 and had a bunch of goals early in the tournament and assists in the later stages. He is normal looking and rocks some baggy soccer shorts, he looks fresh and plays fresh.
Colin Kazim-Richards (Turkey) Had to have at least one Turkey player on the team and Kazim Kazim had a fresh line up with a fresh part and was by far the coolest normal looking Turkey player. “The Lifeguard” Semih Senturk was pretty cool himself as he was the best Turkish player scoring three goals and bringing his team back a couple times. Kazim Kazim has a great name however, didn’t score any goals but rocketed one off the woodwork, barely made the team but played significant minutes and had a good game against Germany. Big up Kazim Kazim.

First Round Draft Notes & Thoughts

==> Eric Gordon’s suit was the worst by far as it was just dumb and shiny and his dress shirt was black and white with vertical stripes and a white collar. He does have a great shooting stroke though that probably won’t even come close the helping the Clippers.
==> How does Jeff Van Gundy think that Stephon Marbury is still a very good point guard in the NBA?
==> Why are the Team Draft hats so ugly? Why not just follow the 80’s trend and go back to the Starter hats?
==> Joe Alexander sounded really funny and wants to bring toughness and can’t wait to get to Milwaukee? His pants looked oversized too.
==> The preview for Pineapple Express looked amazing and I am excited for that and Wanted with Angelina Jolie that shit looks dope too, ya dig?
==> Brook Lopez looks funny with his haircut and probably even funnier now that the Bobacats just chose D.J. Augustine when they already have Raymond Felton. It looks like Brook Lopez is crying right now, wow. The Nets did draft him at number 10, and his brother, Robin, is infinitely cooler and funnier. I started laughing out loud when Brook started speaking and just spit all over my computer. I’m not even going to mention the Lopez brother infatuation with Walt Disney and Michael Jackson, oops.
==> Jared Bayless feels he can play any position, really?
==> Jason Thompson just went 17 picks too early, and will form an unstoppable duo with Spencer Hawes (jkjkjkjk). Why not trade down to get him later? Jeff Van Gundy has faith in the Kings draft scouts, who selected Spencer Hawes last year, and Quincy Douby and Francisco Garcia the two years prior to that.
==> Props to Candance Parker as this week she had more dunks in two games, two, than her husband to be, Shelden Williams, has had in his entire NBA career. The amazing thing isn’t that women are dunking now; it is that someone in the world would marry Shelden Williams.
==> The Trailblazers are going to be the Western Conference Champions for the rest of the millennium as they make smart picks like Brandon Rush and have so much amazing young talent.
==> Anthony Randolph looks like he is 12 ½ years old, even though he is 6’10 sub 200 pounds, “painfully thin” according to Jay Bilas. Going to fit well with Patrick O’Bryant and Brandan Wright as the same exact player filling three roster slots.
==> The members of the Lopez family are the stars of the NBA Draft as the Mom just scared everyone watching, and Robin is actually really awesomely cool and hopefully will be better than Varejao and be cool on the Suns. And they just did a “Wired” segment with Brook Lopez, OMG!!
==> First trade during the draft so far between the Blazers and Pacers, Bayless and Brandon Roy in the back court could be dangerous! Western Conference Champions 2009-2999! Oh shit they just lost Josh McRoberts, fuck! Western Conference Champions 2009-2998!
==> Stuart Scott has said 47 times that the Pac-10 is supposedly not a basketball conference, who has said that Stuart this past year, anyone?!?!?
==> The Nets have Devin Harris, Vince Carter, Yi Jianlin, Brook Lopez, Ryan Anderson, and cap room for 2010 so they can get LeBron James!
==> Kosta Koufos is going to the Utah Jazz!!!!! Mehmet Okur is already there though!!!!!
==> At this point no teams have even worked out Darrell Arthur and teams have guaranteed spots to players like the Magic and Courtney Lee, sucks to be him, oh wait he is going to make paper stacks because he is going to the NBA.
==> Damien Wilkins is a key reserve for the ________ Super Sonics and Johan Petro is the starting center, but Russell Westbrook is tight and they just drafted Serge Ibaka!! The future is now in __________.
==> George Hill now of the Spurs is in shape as in shape can get according to Stuart Scott even though he went to IUPUI and no one as ever heard of Hill before this moment except Chad Ford who had him going in the second round.
==> Brandon Roy, Martell Webster, Jared Bayless, Darrell Arthur’s kidney, Lamarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden, Travis Outlaw, Sergio Rodriguez, UH OH!!!!!!!
==> J.R. Giddens needs to improve his “Professionalism,” I don’t think that will be an issue as he will be a Posey prototype with the same build, shooting ability, but much better athleticism.

The Future of Cool

One of the greatest days of the year is undoubtedly NBA Draft Day. It is upon us and it will never fail to disappoint. Some of my favorite things about the draft are the suits of the players and when players absolutely do not answer the question asked to them. I am writing just before the draft and already Derrick Rose was asked if the Chicago Bulls told him he was getting picked as reported and he gave the same answer that he was excited to possibly in Chicago. The NBA Draft is a showcase of future coolness to grace the NBA and set trends for fans across the globe. Instead of providing a mock draft or anything regular like that I will provide my thoughts of the five coolest players in the lottery. They are the future of cool and it starts now with the suits they are rocking, their reactions to getting drafted, and the answers they give in interviews after being selected. I am so excited for this draft, the Chicago Bulls are on the clock, but I will provide my five coolest players ranked from coolest to cool of the lottery players after pick fourteen is announced.

Ovinton J’Anthony Mayo: O.J. was absolutely killin’ at the NBA Draft with by far the best style with everything absolutely on point from his brown and cream colored shoes to his beard and glasses. A perfect suit and vest combo, matched with his sick dress shirt and tie, much love Ovinton. O.J. tops the cool chart with his style and game combo. I loved O.J. at USC where he clearly accepted tons of cash because he always had the freshest kicks and now he has a couple designer suits. He very easily could be the best player in the draft if he improves his shot selection, but whatever it is cool to fire away from long range at anytime I guess. He is athletic and has the potential to be a sick point guard and defender. I hope he stays with the Timberwolves because I think it is funny how cold and miserable he might be, but also I can’t wait to get a Mayo jersey because the T-Wolves jersey is fresh. They have some great young talent with Corey Brewer, Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Rashad McCants, Craig Smith, and Michael Doleac (jkjkjkjk).

Michael Beasley: B-Easy went number two in the draft to the Miami Heat and was looking fresh. His Kansas State purple tie was on point and he had a nice suit and dress shirt. Every fan loves a player that has “character issues” and I loved hearing about all of them that could potentially have caused him to slip past number two. He went to six high schools in five different states, spray painted graffiti on his principal’s car, and was a notorious prankster at Kansas State with his teammates and media. He has YouTube clips of media interviews in which he repeatedly acts fascinated by iPod’s placed on the table to record him. I love B-Easy, would have taken him number one even though he doesn’t really play defense and is kind of small. I am not sold on him as a small forward, but nonetheless he scores the basketball and will do so in the NBA.

Danilo Gallinari: I thought there was no way I would ever have Gallinari on my cool list, but how could I refuse to add someone nicknamed “The Rooster” and has his own Reebok shoes coming out. He answered every question from Steven A. Smith by saying I like to win, even though the fans of his new team were outrageously booing him. He has game similar to someone I know well as he is a lanky man that can shoot, drive the ball to the basket, and doesn’t necessarily love playing defense. I mean look at his hair, he is destined to save the New York Knickerbockers.

Kevin Love: Going to the Griz at number five and Kevin Love is pretty cool. Although his chin strap beard isn’t a favorite of mine, he always has it nicely lined up and his suit was pretty nice tonight too. Kev won me over with a great PTI interview the day before the draft, he answers questions actually and gives good cool answers. He is fat and slow, although he has built up while losing 15 pounds. He will be no Sean May because May I don’t think can dunk anymore. Kev does so many smart things on the court and somehow against more athletic players puts up great numbers. Projected to possibly be a flop, but I don’t think Kevin Love will let that happen.

Jason Thompson: Who? How did he go 15+ picks ahead of where he was supposed to go? He isn’t even there! What are the Kings thinking? Random players are always cool in my book and he is going to be starting next season because he is going to absolutely beast Mikki Moore, Brad Miller, Shelden Williams, Lorenzen Wright, and Spencer Hawes all day every day, and actually bring toughness to the Kings who practically no one cares about or is actually a fan of. On one web site he is projected to be at best the next Mark Blount, that sucks. He went to Rider which no one has ever heard of, because Isiah “J.R.” Rider founded it. I really think he will actually be kind of good, but he is the surprise of the draft so far, by far.

Some Closure as the Lakers got Rondo'd!

The Boston Celtics are the 2008 NBA World Champions due mainly to a Game 6 total team effort, but as Phil Jackson will tell you Rajon Rondo was the star of the game. Jackson's best coaching in the series came in his Kobe roaming off Rondo scheme early in Games 3, 4, 5. This worked extremely well in Los Angeles with the Lakers getting off to great starts in Game 4 and 5 because the Celtics couldn't do anything offensively. The scheme did not work however in Boston, where Rondo feels comfortable attacking the basket and shooting his jumper, and he torched the Lakers throughout Game 6. He started off slow missing some layups and open jumpers, but to his credit and Doc Rivers', Rondo kept at it. When Rondo is playing well the Celtics are literally unstoppable and they proved that as they had one of their best team efforts of the playoffs. Rondo does so much for the Celtics, sky for rebounds, creates offense, pesters the defense coming up with numerous steals, and a lot more. When he wasn't playing well, the Celtics had to heavily rely on House and unfortunately Cassell. House is terrific off the bench playing the role he did last night of knocking down open 3's, but he can't play point guard for an entire second half like he was asked to in Game 5. A super effort from Rondo and give him credit for persevering because the Celtics needed it, as he helped deliver Banner 17. I am all about the stats in Game 6's dominating Celtics performance and here is the first:
Rajon Rondo: 21 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 6 steals, 1 turnover

The reason why the Celtics are huddling around the Larry O’Brien trophy is shown by these stats (all in Celtics favor): Rebounds (48-29), Offensive Rebounds (14-2), Assists (33-16), Steals (18-4), Blocks (4-0), Turnovers (7-19), every Celtics player had a positive +/- and every Laker had a negative +/-

Total domination in a terrifically played four quarters by the Boston Celtics, as the Big 3 all showed up with Rondo, Perk, and the real "Bench Mob". Starting with Ray who rediscovered his stroke this series and made the Lakers and specifically Sasha Vag-e-itch pay, who played absolutely no defense. Game 3 Sasha let Ray blow by him and then sulked and in Game 6 let him hit 3 after 3, letting Ray rack up 7 three pointers. Unbelievable. Kevin Garnett showed us that "Anything is Possible" as he actually had a good game in the playoffs, dominating the first half offensively and anchoring a stifling four quarters of defense. KG set the tone of the game shoving Pau out of the way and laying the ball up on an early first quarter fast break. KG also delivered an amazing post game interview with Michelle Tafoya as he pulled off a brim low all I can see is the flo and closed it out by, for the second time these playoffs, saying, “you look good girl.” He screamed and cried and thanked every city ever in the world and his moms and it was amazing. He made up for getting snubbed by Stuart Scott who interviewed Paul and Ray during the celebration, but not Kevin. Speaking of Paul, Celtics fans could not be happier for any athlete ever. He struggled putting the ball in the basket early, but was creating offense, finishing with 17 points and 10 assists. He provided moment after moment in this series and in Game 6 drenched the coach he despised last year in orange Gatorade, something never done before in the NBA, it was cool. Paul has suffered through so many terrible Celtics teams and for him to win it at home, as the clear Finals and playoff MVP, was amazing to witness first hand. He was giddy on the sidelines during the last four minutes and was yelling at the top of his lungs when he received those two trophies. I first off didn’t think the Perk injury would hurt the Celtics that much, but his presence in Game 6 was huge. He picked up both defensive and offensive rebounds, beat up on Gasol and defended, blocked the shit out of Lamar Odom then got a lay up on the other end. Although he provided some amazing entertainment in street clothes sitting next to the coaches in his crazy outfit and insane fucking watch during Game 5 (I had a picture but it didn’t give a great shot of the watch).

Probably one of my all time favorite photos, I liked Kobe coming in to the series, but liked even more the fans chants of “You’re not Jordan!” which he clearly is not. Started of hot with 3’s then relied on them too much later on, and went on another huge field goal drought. It was an inexcusable performance by the regular season MVP and leader of the Lakers. He let them get blown out, along with awful coaching from the Zen master throughout the series. Kobe had 22 points, 11 in the first quarter, but HAD AS MANY ASSISTS AS HE HAD FOULS, AND HE ONLY HAD 1 FOUL! He disappointed me clearly with his post-game outfits although they were fine by the end of the series and put on his most dramatic “I’m a good guy” performances to the media as well. "Kobe ain't jack without Shaq!" The Lakers and their fans are excited for next year as they could be, but Andrew Bynum is not going to solve their numerous problems and he isn’t going to stop Chris Paul either. The Lakers play no defense and have some huge issues at small forward as Vlad Radmanovic or Luke Walton are clearly not the answer. The Lakers are solid with Fisher, Farmar, Vujacic, Kobe, Gasol, Bynum, and maybe Turiaf, but beyond that they have serious issues. Lamar was a huge disappointment and their bigs are still soft, and they can't defend the pick and roll at all. One player I do like on the Lakers a lot, Trevor Ariza. He has a huge neck tattoo and wears his NBA socks really well. He also had the new Nike Huarache's which he rocked at home, and has super hops can play a little D and will occasionally knock down an open jumper.
I said the previous photo was one of my favorites, only to be outdone by this one; here is my present to you my 10 readers…
I did attend Game 6 and had the time of my life. The streets and bars before the game were filled with people in green and they weren't even going to the game. Inside the TD Banknorth Garden was rocking, much more so than Staples I imagine. All of us Celtics fans in attendance got to witness our NBA team win the championship at home, which was pretty fucking cool. With that said, the amazing 2008 NBA Playoffs coming to a close, the All-Cool Team must go in a new direction, but never fear as there are plenty of topics to cover. Look forward to thoughts on the NBA Draft, the inevitable trade of Carmelo Anthony and potentially other super stars, maybe a little Red Sox and the amazing J.D. Drew!, as well as some cool mother fuckers like Baron Davis and Lil Wayne. The Boston Celtics are NBA WORLD CHAMPIONS!!! Peace!!!

Thanks For The Appearance Chris Mihm!

Despite being miserably disappointed in firstly Kevin Garnett and secondly the Celtics being unable to close out the NBA Finals in Los Angeles, there was one bright side to Game 5, Chris Mihm. Phil Jackson put out the most random line up of all time at the start of the second quarter with “L.O.” as the only starter along side the Bench Mob and Chris Mihm. Mihm has been looking so nice on the bench with his beard, some kid in high school once asked me if anyone had ever told me I looked like Chris Mihm, it was unbelievable to see him on the floor. Doc Rivers countered Jackson’s rando line up with one that included Tony Allen, who basically hasn’t played since December against the Lakers in the regular season. Mihm was phenomenal in his three or so minutes, fouling Pierce a couple times, providing nothing offensively, and handing the ball to Tony Allen on an inbounds pass. Honestly, what could L.O. and Mihm be pounding about in this picture?!?
Quick thoughts on the Celtics: Rondo very unfortunately has no confidence this series as Kobe taunts him to shoot wide open jumpers. This has led to two horribly slow starts by the Celtics. Hopefully in Boston he attacks the basket and makes floaters and actually shoots wide open lay ups. If not expect House and Cassell to play a lot of minutes again. Garnett was putrid and some of the foul calls were too, but on some of them why is he even reaching in there with no Perkins available? Hit a big jumper in the fourth but went 1-4 from the line at the end of the game and missed two routine tip backs. He played like a pussy. Inexcusable. Pierce is a man and I hope he didn’t get too worn out from playing essentially the whole game. I hope the Ray Allen off court issues don’t affect his play. The Celtics look like the better team right now, they need a bench player to step up, but who knows what Kobe can pull off in Boston.
Oh shit I can't believe I almost forgot. Kobe undoubtedly reads this blog as his post-game suit was up to par. No Windsor Knot yet, but one step at a time. No black dress shirt and the suit didn't look like graph paper. Also he brought his two daughters to the press conference, oh he is so sweet and caring and a nice guy. Oh wait he is the biggest asshole teammate like ever. NEWAYZ, Paul Pierce's suit did not look very good after the game as his collar was really bad and his tie and suit just weren't that nice. Too bad he dropped 38 points on the Lakers and single handedly kept the Celtics in the game and got fouled by Kobe on the game changing steal to dunk play, whatevs.

I Am Happier Than You

Before we get into a Celtics love fest, no homo, let's talk about the best player in the NBA (no not Eddie House), Kobe Bryant. We can talk about his ZERO field goals or his tremendous leadership abilities Curt Shilling highlighted, but let's take a different path. Firstly, how gr8 was it to see Paul D him up the entire second half and block his turn-around J, Kobe haters must have loved it. I am not one, I loved watching him take over games throughout the regular season and playoffs (except Game 3 of course) and believe him to be a brilliant passer and finisher. I do however hate his looks after he gets called for a foul and his arm flailing when he tries to get bailed out going to the basket. I hate the perception that he is a good guy from his press conferences, even though everyone reads his lips during games and can only imagine what he says all the other times. HOWEVER (Steven A. voice), I hate his post-game press conference attire more than anything. ZOMFG DOES IT ANGER ME!! He wore another black dress shirt, this time with no god-awful tie, but instead wearing the ugliest shittiest coat I have ever seen in my life. He would have looked better if he got a math geek to create a coat out of graph paper for him. It was absolutely atrocious, more so than the things he was saying in the press conference. He answered the first question posed to him regarding how he and the Lakers would come back from this, by saying drinking WINE, BEER AND 20 SHOTS!!! YOU ARE THE CRAZIEST MAN IN THE ENTIRE WORLD WHAT THE F DOES THAT MEAN?!?!? He proceeded to give insane answers like "We wet the bed, one that you couldn't prevent with a bath towel" or something to that nature. He made no sense kept moving his mouth and eyes around weirdly. HE IS PSYCHOTIC! He gave the weirdest press conference in the ugliest attire of all time I have ever seen and did it after a colossal 24 point collapse .

Ray Allen has been the most consistent player for the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. Ray Allen?!? Yes, Ray Allen! Wow, was he amazing in Game 4. He is the best shooter on the Celtics team obviously and weirdly enough the best fast break player and maybe finisher. On the amazing up and under layup over Garnett it was Ray who came up with the offensive board to allow it to happen. He played all 48 minutes and had 9 boards, two monster offensive ones that I recall. Ray was also the best ball handler late in the game, as Eddie House clearly doesn't have a left hand, his son is probably a better dribbler, but Ray attacked and did his damage in Game 4 by creating and making lay ups. What a performance from Ray this series, one could make the argument he is the Finals MVP over Paul Pierce so far. Not to mention his impeccable suit in the post-game interview with Steven A. Smith, as well as one of few NBA players to rock some fresh J's each game. Ray clinched Game 4 with his refusal of Garnett's screen up top and blowing by Vujacic (Game 3's hero) for a uncontested lefty layup. This led to the best moment of the Finals for Celtics fans as Pierce was jumping around the court with the fat on his arm jiggling and Sasha "The Machine" Vujacic slapping the chair next to him on the bench and starting to essentially cry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDSmPDJiHm8

James Posey allowed the Celtics to go small and shut down "L.O" "Dey Know, Dey Know" in the fourth after Lamar had dominated the first quarter. He didn't guard Kobe interestingly as he let Paul shut him down, and delivered most importantly offensive firepower. Po-z, as his tattoo reads, hit three humongous three pointers to cut the lead and extend the lead. He had ice in his veins for sure bra. James was probably the player of the game, knocking down big shots allowing the Celtics to spread the floor (like the Lakers did in Game 2's failed comeback), giving room for Paul and Kev to operate. JAMES WAS UNBELIEVABLE AT SHOOTING 3'S!!!!!!!!

Eddie House started off slow as did the entire Celtics team, offensively and defensively. The offense changed though throughout the course of the game because of Edward James Theodore Constantanople House. In the first half Kobe continually left House to double other Celtics members and House couldn't make him pay, missing two wide open three pointers shooting 1 for 4 from the field in the first half. At half time he had the Celtics masseuse loosen up his shoulders, for real, and then during halftime warm-ups he hit 20 three pointers. I really didn't make that up. House made both three point attempts in the second, made a floater, and gave the Celtics their first lead, one they would not relinquish. The long distance two he hit was practically the same shot he missed in Game 3 that on the next possession led to the Vujacic back-breaking 3. Eddie didn't miss this one and after he hit it he said something like, "Yeah I hit that mother fuckers," to who knows. He taunted the fans at the end of the game screaming at them and showing them the team name on his jersey. Love the intensity and spacing he provides, as well as a well trimmed beard.

Paul Pierce had a sick "And 1" finish in the third to cut the deficit to single digits, putting miraculous spin on the ball after being bodied by Pau Gasol. Pierce had 20 points, when he scores at least 20 this series the Celtics are 3-0. The amazing part was that he did it at both ends, and was defending the best player in the NBA. Doc said that Pierce was gassed from doing this and that is why Ray took over on the Game 4 clinching possession. Kobe undoubtedly had to be affected offensively by going up against the bigger Pierce each time too. Or maybe it was because Kobe took some pretty poor shots in the fourth. Kobe did have a sick in-n-out burger dribble that destroyed Posey and Bryant capped it off with a two-handed finish. Kobe did get dunked on by P.J. Brown though!! Get 'em P.J.!! Back to Paul, his defense set the tone as he had no fouls going into the second half he knew he could guard Kobe and be physical. He had an amazing aforementioned block that was huge and captured the tenacity of the Celtics defense in the second half. Kudos to Paul for stepping up to the challenge in guarding Kobe, and also delivering on the offensive end too. Not to mention he called Michelle Tafoya "baby" twice in the immediate post-game interview.

Kevin Garnett shows you what an NBA player with millions of dollars is supposed to look like after an NBA Finals game. Look at that sweater vest and at that Windsor Knot. Well done KG, you game however, so-so. The worst first quarter ever for you, like ever, as you allowed them to score a billion points and again contributed nothing offensively at the start. Kev you had some big baskets in the fourth and two huge free throws so I credit you for that. It looked like you may have traveled on the short right handed jumper over Turiaf, Phil and Rambis certainly thought so, but you did hit some crucial turn around jumpers from the post. We still would like you to take over games though, but apparently so far we don't need it. What is weird about this series is that neither team has played their best basketball for four quarters. The Lakers looked pretty good in the first with Lamar playing the way he did, but he has only played well for two of sixteen quarters, that is unbelievable. Neither teams Big 3 have been playing well at the same time and have relied heavily on role players carrying them to victory. Offensively Pierce strictly controlled Game 1, but in Game 2 Leon Powe emerged, Game 3 Sasha Vujajic got hot, and Game 4 was all about Posey and House. Game 5 should be unbelievable and I expect great basketball from both teams, as the Lakers face elimination for the first time all playoffs and the Celtics have seemingly found the right rotation.

NBA Finals Thoughts With A Little Celtics Bias

Paul Pierce, you grew up in Inglewood and now are playing in Los Angeles for the NBA Championship and you decide to play like that in Game 3?!?!? After Game 1 & 2 it looked like, in the words of Brother Ali, "The Truth is here," but that obviously wasn't apparent in Game 3 in L.A. Vlad Radmonivic getting in foul trouble actually helped the Lakers as Pierce has been playing well against him with a clear bulk and quickness advantage. Kobe played a lot more on The Truth and Pierce as a result really never got it going. However, with Pierce playing as poorly as he did, the positive is that the Celtics stayed in the game throughout. More about Paul real quick. I like his shoes, no one else in the league has them and you can't find them anywhere really. Also him and KG refuse to show the NBA logo on their socks by folding them down much like many of the Pistons players have done for quite some time. Lastly, I wish Paul had a better beard. I would feel more comfortable if he had a Baron Davis-esque beard instead of one that doesn't even connect the goatee to the sideburns. A fresh line up wouldn't hurt either.
Hi my name is Kevin Garnett and I am 6'11 and I should square up Pau Gasol everytime I get it in the post take two dribbles and dunk on him. He is a boy, I am a man, and a very intimidating one. Sure he knocks down jumpers pretty often, but he can get by Gasol everytime or at least draw a double and kick it to open shooters. He bizarrely missed two seemingly routine dunks, one of which would have been an "And 1" after Gasol hacked him in the third. He caught fire a little bit at the end of the quarter, and I didn't mind him shooting jumpers then because they were obviously falling. But when he gets it on the block or extended post, nothing angers me more than him turning around and taking fade-aways, OMG!! Square him up and dunk on Gasol or Odom or go to the line you jerk face. Couple style things about Kevin. The number 5 finger sleeve he rocks on his right hand looks like it is about to fall off and just looks stupid in general, get rid of that Kev. Also his limited NBA Championship Trophy sneakers that they make 8 pair of every game and go for $1,000 each, are not that fresh, who's buying those? Kevin though does often look quite fresh in his dress code apparel be it a sweater vest or suit ensemble, he always is on point. Props to you on that KG.
Bennett Salvatore and Joey Crawford are two of the leagues worst officials, who both think they need to everyone to recogonize they are there and everyone does because they are awful. No one realized who the other guy was, I forget his name already and that is a good thing, no? To put them both on the court for an NBA Finals Game was a travesty, an embarrassment. They quickly made up for the free throw discrepancy in Game 2 by flipping it in the Lakers favor understandably. However, in Game 2 the Lakers were getting foul calls, the Celtics were in the penalty pretty quick in the second quarter, the Lakers just didn't take it to the basket. Kobe made sure to do that in Game 3 and got his calls, yet missed a lot of free throws. The Celtics in the first half weren't getting any calls in their favor, weird travel calls and offensive fouls, and were attacking the basket, unlike the Lakers in Game 2, but not going to the line. Leon Powe did nothing as a result of this. Again very understandable because everyone made so much of the numbers in Game 2 however misleading they really were. The second half was evenly officiated for the most part, which was good and they let them play at the end, no problem with that.
Kobe you have an amazing Nike shoe and clothing line, but you can't wear this awful suit to a NBA Finals press conference. This is the second straight game you decided to wear a black dress shirt, WHY?!? Game 2's suit was even worse with a black suit on top of a black dress shirt. Your ties are horrible (Game 2's was red), and how are you not putting it in a Windsor Knot? Embarrassing.