I don't care who wins the title, but I'm rooting for Boston in this round.

I don't like Dwight Howard.

you are finally wising up

the C's are doing what your beloved spurs used to do, and that's win by playing suffocating defense and utilizing a bunch of different guys on any given night as opposed to trying to win with one superstar

Boston has suddenly become a pretty entertaining team to watch. I like that style of play and I've always liked Doc Rivers.

That being said, if its an LA vs. Boston final I'll probably find some other stuff to do. Garnet and his antics have permanantly made Boston one of my most hated organizations.

Boston players have toned down the trash talk since the incident in round 1. They are playing championship level team defense and they don't have a dominant top 3 superstar that hogs the attention. In fact the record will show that they have zero all-nba players this year, though Rondo has clearly made the leap to top 3 PG. All the LeBron attention worked heavily in their favor as a unifying factor.

Boston/LA will be awesome.

rooting for boston because orlando can't beat the lakers.

It would be greatness now that the Bruins blew a 3-0 lead if the Celtics did the same. It would be up there with Buckner.

Rondo's a great PG, but let's slow down on the top 3 talk. I watch the Celtics quite a bit and he still completely vanishes in games quite often.

I want Boston to win just to see them bend over the Lakers.

Here's why i pick LA over boston....

1. Artest. Boston won't bully the lakers this year like 2008
2. Bynum is actually playing in the finals. The evidence of Bynum's impact against Boston showed this year.
3. Boston is older. Hopefully they will be somewhat gassed.
4. Revenge from 2008. The lakers will have more motivation vs. boston than any other team.
5. The Lakers have home court advantage. This decade there's only been like 1 or 2 championships won without HCA in the finals.

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1. Artest. Boston won't bully the lakers this year like 2008
2. Bynum is actually playing in the finals. The evidence of Bynum's impact against Boston showed this year.
3. Boston is older. Hopefully they will be somewhat gassed.
4. Revenge from 2008. The lakers will have more motivation vs. boston than any other team.
5. The Lakers have home court advantage. This decade there's only been like 1 or 2 championships won without HCA in the finals.

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1. Boston will just get in Artests head and he'll start jacking up 3s at a higher percentage
2. Bynum won't be effective against Kendrick Perkins.
3. Kobe is older and Derek Fisher plays like the oldest guy in the league. You really think he can stay in front of Rondo?
4. Oooh, the revenge factor. That helped Utah beat LA this year didn't it. Then again, maybe the "Daddy" factor will help the Celtics.
5. Home court advantage didn't seem to really help the Magic. They just got bi***-slapped twice at home by the Celtics. The Celtics are experienced and they take the crowd out of the game by playing a slow, grinding style.

Here are my reasons that Boston will play
1. Nobody in the league is playing hotter. They have 5 straight wins against Cleveland and Orlando, both teams with better records than LA
2. Rondo has been the best player in the playoffs so far and he is going to abuse Derek Fisher severely. If Rondo can do whatever he wants, then Boston is unstoppable because of the Big 3.
3. The Lakers have not played a single backcourt worth a damn defensively yet. Welcome to Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins. They will cry and whine to another series loss. Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom are still pu**ies and will not be able to handle the physicalness of Boston
4. When LA's offense doesn't get off to it's normal efficiency, look for Ron Ron to go into hero mode and start taking off with some fade away three pointers.
5. Kobe Bryant will try to go into Super Star mode when his post players aren't as effective and it's obvious Ron Artest and Derek Fisher aren't contributing. This will help one out of every 3 games -- otherwise he'll be inefficient and unable to get his teammates involved.

your reasons for boston winning are valid. your discrediting my reasons is not vald.

1. Incorrect. Artest has been playing better than anyone who's not a Laker fan anticipated. And his offense is getting more efficient with each game.
2. Riiggght. did you see the games this year? Bynum averaged 18/10 and shot over 50% against boston with a few blocks.



3. Yeah kobe looks really old. 40 points in 35 minutes of play on 23 shots last game. I could argue that Kobe is playing like the hottest player in the league right now. (he's averaging like 33 points the past 9 games). Scared. Oh and Fisher? yeah he has no experience guarding the best PGs in the league. He hasn't just guarded, Williams, Westbrook, and Nash. Oh wait...
4. LA is the most high/low team in the league. they're prima donnas. motivation definitely factors (see: they lost 8 straight games against charlotte)
5. The magic are extremely overrated as i've said all year. stats dont lie. and phoenix WAS the hottest team in the league since the all star break (best record since February). so we'll see how the lakers fare. also, the HCA in the Finals almost always determines the winner.

[This message has been edited by Simplebay (edited 5/19/2010 10:00a).]

1. Boston will just get in Artests head and he'll start jacking up 3s at a higher percentage (people have been waiting all year for Artest to lose it; folks I hate to disappoint you but if he hasn't done it by now, he's probably not going to)
2. Bynum won't be effective against Kendrick Perkins. (Both players are banged up and will be nothing but bit players)
3. Kobe is older and Derek Fisher plays like the oldest guy in the league. You really think he can stay in front of Rondo? (I would bet money that Fisher guards Allen not Rondo with Kobe on Rondo and Artest on Pierce)
4. Oooh, the revenge factor. That helped Utah beat LA this year didn't it. Then again, maybe the "Daddy" factor will help the Celtics. (Utah doesn't have Kobe)
5. Home court advantage didn't seem to really help the Magic. They just got bi***-slapped twice at home by the Celtics. The Celtics are experienced and they take the crowd out of the game by playing a slow, grinding style. (I have to agree here)

1. Nobody in the league is playing hotter. They have 5 straight wins against Cleveland and Orlando, both teams with better records than LA (L.A. has won seven straight, three straight on the road, including the pantsing of Phoenix team that swept the Spurs)
2. Rondo has been the best player in the playoffs so far and he is going to abuse Derek Fisher severely. If Rondo can do whatever he wants, then Boston is unstoppable because of the Big 3. (Again, I don't see Fisher guarding Rondo)
3. The Lakers have not played a single backcourt worth a damn defensively yet. Welcome to Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins. They will cry and whine to another series loss. Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom are still pu**ies and will not be able to handle the physicalness of Boston (Again Perkins is not at full speed and Gasol and Odom will take turns on KG whereas there is only one KG).
4. When LA's offense doesn't get off to it's normal efficiency, look for Ron Ron to go into hero mode and start taking off with some fade away three pointers. (Again with the not giving Artest a dime of credit.)
5. Kobe Bryant will try to go into Super Star mode when his post players aren't as effective and it's obvious Ron Artest and Derek Fisher aren't contributing. This will help one out of every 3 games -- otherwise he'll be inefficient and unable to get his teammates involved. (Remains to be seen; you give the Lakers post players zero credit)

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Rondo's a great PG, but let's slow down on the top 3 talk. I watch the Celtics quite a bit and he still completely vanishes in games quite often.

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After CP3 and Deron Williams, I'd have a hard time putting anybody ahead of Rondo at this point.

He facilitates, he can take over a game, he knows when to push it but he doesn't press, his court vision is sickening, great passer, unstoppable penetrator, high basketball IQ, runs the offense with precision, good perimeter defender (NBA steals leader), off-the-charts quickness, good rebounder, hard worker, puts the team first.

I'd say he's definitely top 3.

id still prolly take derrick rose over rondo.

but rondo's amazing.

I'd take Rose and Nash ahead of him still. Again, I've watched Rondo play a lot... he's coming up huge in the playoffs, but he still completely vanishes a little too much for me to annoint him a top 3 player at his position.

Differing opinions I suppose.

I can kind of see an argument for Rose, if you just wanted a scoring PG. But the responsibilities of a PG are much broader then that, and Rondo is better at almost everything else. Not to mention Rondo is proving right now that he can turn it on in primetime, which if you've been following Lebron, is apparently a very significant quality.

All things considered I'd take a player like Rondo first.

All great players. Rondo does have a huge advantage of playing with Pierce, Allen, KG, etc... The space he has must seem like an island compared to Rose. Driving the lane and having the option to score or pass to one of those 3 must be a nice luxury.

No doubt. It certainly is nice to defer to 3 all-stars when you need reliable scoring. Then again there's the theory of it being easier to put up good numbers on a bad team, compared to being great on a good team.

If you have to choose between Rondo and Rose, there's no wrong choice. I just think Rondo is the more complete PG.

I will root for a meteor to crash down and hit the court. Tough to root for either team. On one hand, you've got the Lakers and all of their moronic, in your face bandwagon fans (great example here on this board). On the other hand you have my least favorite player in the league in Kevin Garnett who doesn't have one ounce of humility in his body. I really don't want to see that jabbering moron win another title, so I think I will pick the Lakers to root for. I have no problem with any other Celtic other than maybe Perkins (can't stand that look he always has on his face like he is pissed off at the world), but my hate for Garnett makes me never root for them.

I hate both Boston and LA although it would be a fun series to watch. At this point I'm leaning towards rooting for the Celts since they are the underdog (they have had the talent all along but are just now playing like it) and because I like watching Rondo play. I really can't think of anything about the Lakers that I like one bit.

I'd rather Orlando or Phoenix beat either of them, even though it ain't gonna happen.

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my least favorite player in the league in Kevin Garnett who doesn't have one ounce of humility in his body

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Is the same Garnett that played a decade for the Timberwolves when they weren't going to win a title and remained publically loyal to them?

Humility and loyalty are not synonymous.

I hate the lakers but too be honest I think they'll win... And whoever said homecourt doesn't matter is an idiot... Yeah celtics butt ****ed Orlando away, but lakers are beyond better than Orlando and won't bend over to take it up the ass in LA

I hate everyone on the Celtics save maybe Michael Finley, Nate Robinson, and Rondo... those effers win 1 title a couple of years ago and you'd have thought they were a dynasty. KG, Paul Pierce, that POS Big Baby, and that big white ginger make them unlikeable. Also their Basketball Other representative is Herbie V. who is basically a cross between Nuke LaDooosh and Simpleton.

Therefore I hope Kobe drops 40 a game and rips Boston's hear out just like Magic did after the Celts beat him the first go around.

I'd rather ANYBODY win other than the Lakers. Cause then we'll be subjected to "Phil Jackson is the greatest coach EVER. He can walk on water!" talk if they win.

It just hit me. If the Celtics manage to drop this series, it would be just about the most epicly failed sports year ever for Boston, seeing as the Bruins lost a 3-0 series lead just a few weeks ago.

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Also their Basketball Other representative is Herbie V. who is basically a cross between Nuke LaDooosh and Simpleton.

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seriously Frank what's the point of this crap

and i am NOWHERE near as bad as simplef@g

Strangely I found it a lot easier to root for the Celtics and that piece of trash Garnett on Saturday. I think it had something to do with the fact that I had a lot of money on them to cover the 3.5 points.

hey whatever works for ya

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2. Bynum is actually playing in the finals. The evidence of Bynum's impact against Boston showed this year.

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Looks like you spoke a bit too soon. Bynum might sit out the next game with a hurt knee. After that, who knows with him?

EDIT: Wait, now Phil's saying Bynum will play tomorrow. However, the lakers have been down this road and this has to make yall somewhat nervous. Heck I'd even be a tad worried about the Phoenix series. Amare is a baller and I don't think Gasol and a hobbled bynum can handle him. Better hope the bench shows up to play the next few games.

[This message has been edited by atfarmer (edited 5/24/2010 4:41p).]

I would take Rondo every time. He kind of looks lke Juwanna Mann, but he is one of the better all-around players in the league.

That said, he gets a lot more space to operate on offense than Rose does.

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I don't like Dwight Howard.

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Why???