A Frustrated Fan ...sharing his disappointment

Jones almost kept pace with his embarrassing .165 average since coming back from injury on July 4th, but just before the all-star break arrived he dipped down to .164. Yes, that's right, Jones is playing worse than ever after a month-long break.

Here's another interesting stat: Jones has 59 strikeouts to his 27 hits. How many "every day" players in the MLB have a more than 2:1 ratio of strikeouts to hits? The answer to that is Zero, and Jones is in a league all by himself. ESPN actually got one thing right, which is that Jones is quite possibly having the worst season in the history of baseball for any player at any position.

At this point last season Jones was at 16 home runs, but the 2008 version has produced a measly 2. Juan Pierre is one strong day away from equaling that number. Howie Kendrick of the Angels also has two homers, despite missing the majority of the season due to hamstring problems, and he hit both of them in the same day. Since the season is more than half over already, whatever Jones does will be a major disappointment. I bet he doesn't even finish with ten home runs, how sad.

In 53 games of play this season, Jones has a total of three multi-hit games. How hard is it to get more than 1 hit in a game you may wonder? Let's ask Florida's Hanley Ramirez....who's done it 33 times this season so far. Can't be that hard. In fact, Ramirez equaled Jones total hits this season (27) in a span of just 17 games. Now I know what you could be thinking, maybe wondering, "hey, it's not fair to compare Jones to Ramirez, since Ramirez is one of the best players in the game." But my answer to your thinking is this: Jones is getting paid more than Ramirez, so he better be able to at least come close to his output. Both players are supposed to be superstars, yet only one of them is putting up superstar type numbers.

If Andruw Jones were to be paid according to his output this season, I'm pretty sure that his form of currency would consist of Farmer John Dodger Dogs. He looks like he's had a few since coming to Dodgertown, so it would suit him well. I wish that were the case, but he is making $18 million dollars to be the worst player ever.

In his last 3 years of play, Jones has had an above average of 117 RBI per season. This season, however, Jones is on pace for 20 RBI. Even Ichiro equaled that number in the first half of this season, and he bats leadoff for the worst team in the league.

To equal his career mediocre batting average of .260, Andruw Jones will have to bat exactly .356 the rest of the season. Fat chance of that happening, he couldn't even bat that number in a single game.

Although it's somewhat difficult to laugh off Jones' terrible play, I know who has no problem at all when it comes to having a good chuckle: Atlanta Braves fans. I'm sure after his last season, when he batted .222, his fans, owner and manager could not wait to get rid of him. Ned Colletti's nose for big-named terrible talent eventually caught scent of him though, and look where all Dodgers fans are now.

I'm sure that I could come up with even more reasons to blame Andruw Jones for this year's failing version of the Dodgers, but that will have to wait for another article.

At least after writing this article I discovered why the all-star break is actually really great, because for a few days I do not have to risk the fear of being blinded by Andruw Jones' awful and underachieving play.

I am not sure how much longer the Dodgers can depend on their young guys such as Matt Kemp and James Loney, who have been playing great baseball, but hopefully they will get some help before it is too late and the Dodgers once again blow another season.

The thing that is really pathetic is that the Dodgers still have a chance to win their division, since Arizona shows no signs of being able to pull away. If Brandon Webb was not so dominant, the D'Backs would have no shot right now. That reminds me of what the Dodgers really need, a dominant player, because Andruw Jones has not been able to fill that role of "superstar." All the Dodgers currently have are a bunch of good players, but no really great ones. That is why they are average, and can't seem to ever take the lead in the NL West.

I wish the Dodgers could take some money back from Andruw Jones, who has pretty much been a thief this season and is technically stealing money by playing so terribly. I can't imagine him keeping up this play because it seems like Dodgers fans are already at his throat, but at least he can only go up from here. If Jones were to hit a mediocre 1 for 4 every game, that would still raise his average considerably. How pathetic is that?

And with that cheerful update at the halfway mark of this 2008 Dodgers campaign, I leave you to ponder about why the Dodgers are so terrible and continually underachieve in every aspect of baseball. Hopefully they'll be thinking about that during this all-star break, but I'm pretty sure they will not. If you have not noticed already, here is the trend that has been happening the last 20 years: Dodgers suck for most of the year, try hard at the end, then fizzle out and miss the wildcard by a few games. How disappointing, but not very surprising.

Way to go Andruw, you impress me more and more every single day you are in a Dodgers uniform.

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It looks like he will be making a return to the NFL though, and ESPN thinks that his ideal destination would be Tampa Bay. But, although Tampa Bay has a nice little ballclub, they will not be elevated to Superbowl status if Favre were to join. Maybe a 5th or 6th playoff seed, but Superbowl? No way. Who's Favre going to throw to? The aging Joey Galooway or inconsistent and disruptive receiver Michael Clayton? That's a long way away from Donald Driver and the rest of the Green Bay wide receiver corps.

I simply do not care if Favre comes back or not, because if he makes a return as Tamp Bay's QB he can go for 11 straight losses in Texas Stadium this season. I'm glad the Cowboys perhaps may have another shot at beating up on Favre, since ESPN loves to talk about his toughness and all. Who remembers Nate Jones blitzing Favre and knocking him out of last season's game? I sure do, since the NFL network and ESPN only replayed it 10 million times. I really want Favre to continue his streak of "never getting a win in Texas stadium," why not add on to another one of his greatest records?

Well Brett, I wish you luck and hope you have a great 2008 NFL season, and I also look forward to your appearance in this year's Madden 2009. You are on the cover and all, so why not play? I'll be glad to blitz DeMarcus Ware and knock you down just like old times. Who's Tampa Bay's left tackle again? I have no idea, but he's no Flozell Adams and you're no spring chicken anymore, so you're in trouble.

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When going to any sporting event it is always expected that parking will be somewhat overpriced and difficult, but this time it was ridiculous. Carson City decided that it would build the Home Depot Center, which looks pretty decent, by a Cal State college with only enough parking to accommodate half of the games' attendees. The other half would literally have to park in the great lots of Cal State-Dominguez Hills, nearly half a mile away. Guess what half of the attendees we were???

The walk was a bitch. After waiting in the most ridiculous two-lane parking line ever, we finally parked in some student lot and began our journey to the Galaxy Game, which was already in progress because of course it started right on time. Someone should tell Galaxy officials to start games at 7:45, Lakers style. We actually left nearly an hour early for the game, even though we live close by in Pasadena, but that was not close to good enough.

By 7:45 we finally reached the game, and luckily the score was still 0-0. Our seats were in the General Admission area, located right behind the Galaxy goal, and to our surprise the Galaxy front office decided to oversell the section by at least 1500 seats. Every bench was filled and there were no seats for two in sight. Above the GA section was a concrete walkway, where the rest of the 1500 Galaxy pissed off fans stood hoping for a seat at half time when people get up to get snacks.

While watching the Galaxy game my brother and I noticed a few things. First of all, there was no player on the Galaxy wearing bright and terrible looking cleats, so we concluded that little Landon Donovan decided to be a sissy and sit out the first half on the bench. How typical, but what can you expect from a guy only representing the US National Team? How patriotic also, Landon, since Galaxy fans only sold out the stadium to get a glimpse of your presence, which isn't 1/2 the size of David Beckham's shadow.

As I'm wondering if the Galaxy have a chance to compete with the New England Revolution (how fitting for an opponent on this day), the Revolution make Galaxy keeper Steve Cronin look like a first year AYSO player when they score. Oh great, I thought to myself, as the Galaxy have already started to fail miserably.

4 minutes later Cronin got duped by a header off a corner kick and completely missed any shot at saving it, and the same guy who scored the first goal on him got another one. Great, this one is over, now bring the fireworks on already.

With the Galaxy down 2-0 and the fact that we've been standing for 45 minutes not sitting well, my brother and I decide to grab a beer at the Budweiser Keg Station and then travel over to the friendly Galaxy concession stand. We bought a total of 1 hot dog and 1 nachos while standing in separate lines. Why separate lines you may ask? Because one line was 13 people and I moved to the line with 8, so we felt that whoever stood in the faster line could just order when he got to the front and save everyone some time. Boy were we dead wrong about that. Our lines moved at exactly the same pace, and 25 minutes later we were finally served. Yes, 25 minutes to get two items, and did I mention that the 2nd half had already begun?? Yes indeed, and you know seats are going to be slim pickings...

Some nice couple decided to squeeze in to make some room for us about 4 rows away from the field, and that was pretty much the one thing all night that I was happy about. Finally some compassion, and would you look at that.....Landon Donovan has made his appearance with his bright yellow cleats.

David Beckham later scored a goal, which made the crowd go absolutely nuts because he is David Beckham, but 2-1 is the closest the Galaxy ever got that night. The Revolution pretty much controlled the whole game and embarrassed Steve Cronin, which was very disappointing on the night where a sold out crowd was hoping for a win. We also had four idiot teenagers sitting behind us who tried to taunt a Revolution player by his unpronounceable name, and overall it was pretty pathetic and not very clever.

And now with the end of the game, you guessed it...Fireworks time!! Yess, finally some fireworks, but of course not until 20 minutes after the game is over. The show was also brought to us by the rapper Akon, and I have no idea how the Galaxy worked this one out. It's always great to celebrate the 4th with a violent rapper who throws his fans offstage, but hey, let's see those fireworks!

As I mentioned earlier in the article, the brilliant minds who planned the firework show put it behind the side of the Galaxy's stadium, where 75% of the crowd couldn't see it. We tried moving to the top of the General Admission section to get a better view, which was a scrambling nightmare for everyone, but we still couldn't see most of it. I still have no idea why they didn't have the show positioned at the open ended side of the Galaxy's stadium, but I guess that would be too smart.

Also, the soundtrack for the show was incredibly lame. We heard great patriotic songs to start it off, such as "I'm Proud to be an American," and "God Bless America," but then it all went wrong. Suddenly we were listening to Justin Timberlake's, "Rock Your Body" or whatever the heck it's called, and it was cutting out every 10 seconds. Then the next song cut out every 5 seconds, and I actually heard booing...at a 4th of July fireworks show.

After that disaster was over we walked all the way back to our crappy parking space at the college, and of course they blocked every exit except for the one we came into. So, every car in the lot was trying to get out of a space big enough for 2 cars to pass through. All of the genius Galaxy fans in their cars decided to make 6 lines to get to this area, and the negotiation for who would get to pass through was a wonderful sight.

So with that long and hopefully entertaining explanation, I have now presented the worst experience I've ever had at a sporting event. Thank you LA Galaxy.

David Beckham, wondering why the hell he came over here to play.

Welcome back Andruw, you were sorely missed.

Just to remind you all once again, I would like to point out that Jones is batting .155 this season and is getting paid $18 million for it. What a wonderful investment by Ned Colletti, but we all know his job security is strongly intact. Maybe Colletti can somehow pull a "Mitch Kupchak" and make himself appear as if he were a good General Manager by stealing a great player from another team, but we all know that will never happen. This is the Dodgers, and if LA fans haven't learned yet...it is painful as a fan to wish anything good to come out of this organization. And if good does occur, it is underpaid, traded or both.

Just for Mr. Jones, here are a few pics to lighten the mood:

K #1 for Andruw

K #2, Money Well Spent

This one looks like it's worth $18 million, K #3

How about no more of these?? HAHAHA yeah right, K #4.

Wow, what a wonderful and entertaining season. I'm sure any fan would say that if they knew the Lakers were going to make a finals appearance in the preseason they would take it, but seriously, Game 6 made me want to puke.

What a terrible effort by the Lakers in the NBA Finals. How does the #1 offensive team in the NBA just get shut down like it's nothing? I guess the best offense is a good defense, which is what Paul Pierce and the Celtics had, so hats off to those guys. I still think the Lakers are the better team, but in the midst of a nervous and mental breakdown in the Finals I guess they couldn't be. It really is too bad, but I guess now it is time to move on to baseball and be disappointed by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unlike the Lakers, the Dodgers have no hope for a huge letdown so I should not feel too bad by the end of the season. What the Dodgers are good at is a slow and steady diet of disappointment, and boy do I have a big appetite for it...

See you next season fellow Lakers fans, and of course I'll be keeping up with the Lakers' off-season and all the stuff that will go on and have zero effect on the upcoming season. Stay tuned, or just don't.

I hope the laid back, glitzy and star struck Staples crowd enjoyed this game and the wonderful surprise of a loss at the end, because it did not appear as if they had any signs of life after the Lakers took their gigantic lead. I am pretty sure the crowd was ready to say "game, set, match and lets leave early" after the Lakers took control of the game, which is what they did, until they realized the Lakers were in trouble by the 4th quarter. By then it was too late my friends, and the Lakers completed their disastrous meltdown of a game by blowing their season with a devastating loss.

The Lakers are now down 3-1 in this series, a deficit which no team in the history of the NBA has ever come back from in the Finals, so that means this series is realistically over. Why would the Lakers want to bother winning three in a row to take the championship? They could not even finish out the second half of Game 4, so why would they bother getting out of bed for Game 5? If the Lakers manage to somehow win Game 5 anyway though, you know the Boston Garden will sick the refs on them for a sure win in Game 6.

What a frustrating NBA Finals experience overall, that much is evident. The Lakers played a semi-decent game by coming back to win Game 2, and just when us loyal fans thought that our team was back in it, they rip our hearts out with a pathetic second half in Game 4. Boston will be laughing this one all the way to the bank, which now has another space cleared out for yet another NBA title.

So Kobe, how does it feel to lose your second consecutive NBA Championships series? Must feel pretty terrible, and although I know you will accept the blame for it....the real blame falls no further than Gasol, Odom, Radmanovich, and every other Laker who only shows up for portions of the game. If all of these guys would put as much heart into basketball as Kobe did, then the Lakers would surely have a another championship. But no, they're all headcases who psych themselves out most of the time.

Hopefully Andrew Bynum will help Kobe win a championship in '09, because this group clearly does not have the ability to get it done.

Here's what Schilling had to say on Kobe's behavior during Game 2 of the NBA Finals vs. the Celtics:

5) Kobe. This one stunned me a little bit. Who doesn't know Kobe Bryant right? I only know what I have heard, starting awhile back with the entire Shaq debacle. I don't really have an opinion one way or the other on or about him other than to know that people feel he might be one of the 4-5 greatest players to ever lace it up. What I do know is what I got to see up close and hear, was unexpected. From the first tip until about 4 minutes left in the game I saw and heard this guy bitch at his teammates. Every TO he came to the bench pissed, and a few of them he went to other guys and yelled about something they weren't doing, or something they did wrong. No dialog about "hey let's go, let's get after it" or whatever. He spent the better part of 3.5 quarters pissed off and ranting at the non-execution or lack of, of his team. Then when they made what almost was a historic run in the 4th, during a TO, he got down on the floor and basically said "Let's fucking go, right now, right here" or something to that affect. I am not making this observation in a good or bad way, I have no idea how the guys in the NBA play or do things like this, but I thought it was a fascinating bit of insight for me to watch someone in another sport who is in the position of a team leader and how he interacted with his team and teammates. Watching the other 11 guys, every time out it was high fives and "Hey nice work, let's get after it," or something to that affect. He walked off the floor, obligatory skin contact on the high five, and sat on the bench stone faced or pissed off, the whole game. Just weird to see another sport and how it all works. I would assume that's his style and how he plays and what works for him because when I saw the leader board for scoring in the post season his name sat up top at 31+ a game, can't argue with that. But as a fan I was watching the whole thing, Kobe, his teammates and then the after effects of conversations. He'd yell at someone, make a point, or send a message, turn and walk away, and more than once the person on the other end would roll eyes or give a "whatever dude" look.

I basically sum up that characterization of Kobe as this: "Hi, My name is Curt Schilling and I know nothing about basketball. I am though an over the hill baseball player who is nursing an injury for half of this baseball season, basically because I can't last a whole year anymore, but since I have all this free time on my hands I'll write something stupid about Kobe Bryant. I'm going to make dumb inferences on a guy who I've never seen play before, and then make him look like a loser who is hated by his teammates. Basically, I'm going to write about ESPN's take on Kobe and put my own little hazy spin on it. That's original. I'm also not sure about anything that doesn't regard baseball, but I'll look at some dumb stat about Kobe and then decide he's a good player. Yes, my name is Curt Schilling, I know nothing about basketball, but I do have a stupid blog that all my Boston stalker fans love. So, in short, although my paragraph is stupidly long, I'm going to repeat my main point over and over until you believe it because I'm Curt Schilling and I know all."

Well, Curt, if you know anything about Kobe Bryant, it is that he is a competitive player who wants to win. Sure he may yell at his teammates, but he is only trying to make them better, and they respect him for it. Kobe has proved this entire year that his goal was to make his team around him better, and throughout this season his teammates have responded. The MVP award, stated by Kobe, was a sign of a total team effort. So, Curt, I'm glad that you tried to bash Kobe's name based on how he acted with his teammates during one of the worst officiated games in NBA Finals history, and now your view of Kobe has been ingrained in all of your fellow Boston diehards. If there's one last thing you should know about Kobe though, Curt, it is that he really doesn't care at all about anything you have to say, because all he cares about right now is having his team play their best basketball in order to bring LA another title.

If this were a football game, I guess the equivalency would be a Celtics linebacker blitzing in for a QB sack on 2nd down, once again laughing himself into a frenzy while standing over the woozy Laker just trying to get back up. Well my friends, there is a reason why boxers get 8-counts, just like there is a reason why in football there is a 3rd down to look forward to, and that reason is that nothing is over until it is over. When the game clock strikes 0.00 and the Celtics lock up their 4th win of the series, then it will be over, but as for now-- it is not over yet. The Celtics have shown that they are a strong home team in the playoffs, but one thing they have failed to show is an ability to win on the road.

So far in the NBA playoffs the Celtics are a dismal 2-6 record on away games, with both wins not coming until Detroit lost in games 3 and 6 of their series. The Celtics were 0-3 against both the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers in the first and second rounds of the playoffs, so that shows that there is still hope for the Lakers. The Lakers are currently undefeated at home, and that streak will have to continue for Kobe and company to have any chances of a stunning comeback for the title.

Because the home and away game system is changed in the NBA Finals, meaning that the system is now a 2-3-2 instead of 2-2-1-1-1 for home vs. away games, the Celtics will have the difficult task of facing the Lakers three consecutive games in Staples Center. The last time the Celtics visited they owned the Lakers, but that was when the Lakers had no Bynum and no Gasol, but they did have a terrible Kwame Brown. Also, that was the odd game in which the Lakers were forced to wear those retro "show time" uniforms, tops and (very high) bottoms, so who knows how that game would have turned out if the Lakers were actually comfortable. The Lakers actually changed back into normal shorts at halftime of that game and made a run in the second half to get close to the Celtics, but Paul Pierce's clutch shooting was too much for the Lakers to overcome in that game.

I'm not going to give any keys to victory or tell the Lakers what to do in order to win against Boston, because at this point it would not really help. The Lakers know what they have to do, and hopefully they will accomplish their goal of winning out at Staples Center. Then maybe, if the Lakers can somehow take a 3-2 series lead over the Celtics, they can somehow steal game 6 or 7 in Boston.

We will all know by late Tuesday night if this Lakers team is willing to fight and get back into this series, but it is up to the Lakers to regain their defensive intensity and put Boston in its place in Game 3. The Lakers need to play a complete game, and if they can do that then they should be in good shape.

That's about as much wishful thinking as I can put up with tonight, so hopefully these words made some Lakers fans feel better. If not, then just think about it this way: At least we're not Clippers fans, and at least our football team isn't a bunch of gutless cheaters.

I guess that would be the one positive note in such disappointment, the fact that the Lakers played terribly yet still had the game within reach going into the 4th quarter. Although Boston's team and fans are composed of individuals who have always fed heavily off of emotion, I must commend them for the statement which was made in Game 1. When Paul Pierce came out of that tunnel after suffering what looked to be a bad injury, Pierce's fans erupted with a loud statement which told the Lakers that they would not be going away quietly in this series. Pierce came back out of the tunnel to fight for a title which has eluded him the past ten years of his career, a title that Kobe Bryant has attained three times, and my guess now is that the Lakers hear Boston's message loud and clear. Boston may have taken Game 1, but look for the Lakers to respond with a message of their own-- a very physical, "fight, scratch, and claw" your way to a victory Game 2. Why do I believe Game 2 is an imperative "must win" game you may ask? Because this entire season Boston has not been beaten 4 out of 5 games at any point, and the Lakers would have to find a way to do just that if they lose Game 2. I have a feeling Kobe Bryant will deliver a great performance in this pivotol game, because no player responds better when his back is up against the wall. Kobe cannot do this by himself though, so his fellow Lakers must deliver.

Reviewing Boston's season a little further, they had two separate instances in which they had losing skids of three games. The first occurence was when they lost three out of four games in the month of January against Charlotte and Washington twice, and the second occurence was when they lost three games in a row to Denver, Golden State, and Phoenix in late February. Unsurpisingly, both of these losing skids had one thing in common: the majority of the losses happened while on the road. Only in the first losing skid did the Celtics lose one of those games at home, and the other five losses came on the road. Now I'm sure the feeble minded Boston Celtics fan will try to say that KG did not play in those games, because we all know he missed a lot of time this season, but I anticipated that rebuttle and confirmed that KG did participate in both losing skids. Infact, he was the leading scorer in 4 out of 6 losing efforts.

So, with that bit of information, what do the Lakers have to accomplish? The easy answer to that question is obviously winning Game 2 at Boston, but lets dig deeper here. What the Lakers have to do is allow KG to have his stats (but not dominate!) because he is a great player, yet limit Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. If the Lakers can effectively contain Allen and Pierce, and keep the rest of the Celtics around their averages, then Kobe and company should have no problem winning Game 2. The Celtics are the most dominant they can be when all three of their superstars feed off of each other in the stats column, but when one or more of the KG, Allen, and Pierce combo struggle, then it is very difficult for them to get a victory. Look at the Celtics and their struggles against the lowly Atlanta Hawks in the first round, which showed because Allen was a nonfactor the whole series. In the next round against Cleveland, KG did not play as well because he was hounded by big men Ben Wallace and Zydruans Ilguaskas, yet the Celtics managed to win that series basically because LeBron had very little offensive help. Against Detroit the Celtics blew a home game, Game 1, and that showed that it was possible to beat this team when they are not at there best-- when Allen was struggling. From Game 2 and forward against Detroit Allen played a lot better in that series, and with the help of Detroit's mentally weak team, the Celtics advanced to the finals.

The Celtics got their confidence as a team back when they eliminated Detroit in Game 6 in the Eastern Conference Finals because they finally figured out that when they work together as a team they can be very difficult to beat. That is why the Lakers lost Game 1 in the Finals, because they did not play team defense. The Lakers tried to stop the Celtics individually way too much on defense instead of helping each other on rotations, and the Celtics always seemed to find the open man.

On the offensive side of the ball, it was easy to notice that the Lakers were getting good shots, but they just did not convert them. The Celtics play tough interior defense, but the Lakers have to be tougher and drive the ball to the hoop more. Kobe definitely needs to take the ball to the hoop, and if he's not getting fouled for free throws then he should be kicking the ball out to a teammate for an open shot. The player that I am really calling out for Game 2 is Pau Gasol though, because his lack of physicality has made the Lakers look like a weak team. Gasol needs to be more aggressive on offense, and he needs to slam the ball home when he can instead of laying it up and not going strong. Lamar Odom also needs to utilize his athletic ability more, and he needs to get more rebounds. His blocking out, along with Gasol, was flat out terrible. PJ Brown and Kendrick Perkins should never outrebound Gasol and Odom, ever.

So with all of that, here are the main keys to beating the Celtics in Game 2:

1) Kobe must guard Ray Allen, and shut him down. This will be a tough task because the Lakers demand so much of Kobe on the offensive end, but Kobe will have to find a way to buckle down and give everything he has to stop Allen on the defensive side. If Kobe can limite Allen to around 15 points, the Lakers will be in good shape.
2) Make Paul Pierce work for his points, and guard the 3-point line! Pierce had a 4-point play which killed the Lakers' lead early in the 3rd quarter, and his back-to-back threes also hurt the Lakers badly. I think Lamar Odom should guard Pierce, and that should force him to try to utilize his quickness advantage and drive to the hoop more. When Pierce tries to dump the ball off to KG when Gasol meets him in the lane, it will also be very important for the Lakers to rotate on the backside and stop this from happening.
3) Keep Sam Cassell on the bench! This guy has been a nonfactor all year, yet Fisher let Cassell make three straight baskets over him in the second quarter. This was a huge boost because KG and Pierce were resting at the time, and it just killed the Lakers because it made each team trade baskets.
4) Get Ariza more involved. This guy is a great defender, and I know he can do a better job on Pierce if the Lakers feel that Odom should be used to guard Perkins. Radmanovich only lasted 17 min against Pierce, was in foul trouble the whole time, and just looked awful. Ariza is a lot quicker than Radmanovich, and could put up a better fight against Pierce defensively if given the chance.
5) Box out! Although several of the Celtics offensive rebounds should have been called for an "over the back foul," the Lakers need to do a better job rebounding on the defensive end. PJ Brown should never be allowed to get 2nd chance points, along with Perkins. Gasol also needs to be more physical with Garnett and limit his opportunities on the offensive boards. That dunk which Garnett had all over Gasol was embarassing, and Gasol should be ashamed of himself for not boxing out on that big 4th quarter play.
6) Gasol and Odom need to be physical beasts. I've hinted at this all article, but I'm going to restate my point: When Odom and Gasol dominate, the Lakers are flat out unstoppable. Kobe will always be productive, but it just makes it so much difficult when Odom and Gasol decided to disappear. I especially want to see Gasol be the dominating all-star presence he is.
7) Cut down on the fouling. Boston received 35 free throws, and that is way too many.


If the Lakers follow all of those keys then they will win Game 2, but it will not be easy and it will take a lot of teamwork. I know the Lakers can improve on their effort from Game 1, but I'm not sure if Boston can. Boston played one of their best all around games, and although they beat the Lakers, we all know that the Lakers played terribly. Kobe will be ready to go, and I'm sure Phil Jackson has made some changes. Now all we have to do is wait and see if the Lakers have it in them to steal Game 2, and shake the Celtics up before heading back to LA for three straight games.

Everyone will be watching this series, not only Boston and L.A. fans, but also numerous people who are quasi interested in basketball. I will predict right now that this will be the most watched series since Michael Jordan won his last championship over the Utah Jazz in 1998. Now, I will personally share with you my Top 10 reasons why I wanted the Lakers and the Celtics to match up in the finals:

#10) I can't stand Richard Hamilton, and there's no way I would have enjoyed watching him and his stupid mask.

#9) Tim Duncan in another NBA Finals is about as exciting as sitting in traffic on the 405 Freeway at 5:30 in the afternoon in LA.

#8) Lakers vs. Celtics sounds a lot better than Spurs vs. Pistons, just to be honest.

#7) Phil Jackson sitting in his orthopedic chair and blocking high paying Celtics fans from viewing the court will be hilarious.

#6) Boston fans love to complain about everything, and it sure would be funny to watch the team with the best record in the NBA pull a "New England Patriots."

#5)Kobe will resurrect that silent grudge he's been holding against Ray Allen, who he despises, and Ray will be reminded of just how old he is.

#4) If the Spurs made the finals then all I would get to see is Eva Longoria on the sideline, but the Lakers will bring out every hot actress, model, or simply gold digging trophy wife imaginable. There's not much I can say for Detroit or Boston though, too bad.

#3) Lakers fans will be chanting Kobe's name at Dodger Stadium again, and we all know that's not the first time it's happened...I wonder what Paul Lo Duca will think about that...oh wait, he's in New York, I mean Washington, whatever.

#2) Phil Jackson will school Doc Rivers in every facet of the game, and Boston fans will never let Rivers forget about it.

#1) More kids in need will receive clothing in Nicaragua, with the shirts reading this time around, "Boston Celtics: 2008 NBA Champions!"


There you have it, and goooo Lakers!