Spring Break
Celtics better than the rest
Josh Weaver
Issue date: 5/12/08 Section: Sports
After witnessing the agonizing demise of the Golden State Warriors' playoff run last month, life has continued and it's time to shift focus and begin to contemplate which team to endorse during the postseason.
Since the first round is merely just for show and rarely includes an upset (except if the Warriors are involved), it would've been ill-advised to settle for one team without proper research.
So, as the first round of the playoffs filtered out the wannabe teams that didn't have any place there, the remaining eight teams are now battling in the second round. Advancing is the short-term goal. A championship is the ultimate prize.
Pledging allegiance to a team in the same conference as the Warriors is difficult and almost blasphemous.
With an ever-present bias and a disdain for a certain team located in Southern California, I have flip-flopped and I am now a registered supporter of the Eastern Conference, and thus wave a "Boston Celtics in '08" banner, hitching a ride on their bandwagon all the way to victory.
Although the list of candidates in the West is impressive, and each has its selling points - the New Orleans Hornets and their improbable resurgence - there is no way in hell I would cast my vote for any team in the West, especially the Los Angeles Lakers.
With a regular season record of 57-25, the statistics can't be ignored. The Lakers are good.
But I don't see them getting past New Orleans if the two teams meet in the conference finals.
The Hornets are too proud and too motivated to let a superficial team ruin their march to greatness.
But, if for some reason the Lakers happen to wander into the finals, their opponent will be the Celtics - a clash of old rivals, inviting nostalgia and a taste of the good old days.
But there is no Magic vs. Bird.
No Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or
Robert Parrish. Instead there is Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce against Kobe Bryant and, umm, Luke Walton? Nice tattoo by the way.
When Shaquille O'Neal left the Lakers in 2004, select NBA analysts around the country had the same thoughts I hold now: Kobe can't carry a team to the finals on his own.
He made headlines this past off-season by whining about wanting a trade out of L.A. MVP? Big deal.
There is a reason it took 12 years in the league for him to achieve the recognition: He didn't earn it.
Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash, the two previous recipients of the award, led their teams to nowhere and fizzled in the playoffs.
The individual award means nothing when it comes to the
postseason.
Since the first round is merely just for show and rarely includes an upset (except if the Warriors are involved), it would've been ill-advised to settle for one team without proper research.
So, as the first round of the playoffs filtered out the wannabe teams that didn't have any place there, the remaining eight teams are now battling in the second round. Advancing is the short-term goal. A championship is the ultimate prize.
Pledging allegiance to a team in the same conference as the Warriors is difficult and almost blasphemous.
With an ever-present bias and a disdain for a certain team located in Southern California, I have flip-flopped and I am now a registered supporter of the Eastern Conference, and thus wave a "Boston Celtics in '08" banner, hitching a ride on their bandwagon all the way to victory.
Although the list of candidates in the West is impressive, and each has its selling points - the New Orleans Hornets and their improbable resurgence - there is no way in hell I would cast my vote for any team in the West, especially the Los Angeles Lakers.
With a regular season record of 57-25, the statistics can't be ignored. The Lakers are good.
But I don't see them getting past New Orleans if the two teams meet in the conference finals.
The Hornets are too proud and too motivated to let a superficial team ruin their march to greatness.
But, if for some reason the Lakers happen to wander into the finals, their opponent will be the Celtics - a clash of old rivals, inviting nostalgia and a taste of the good old days.
But there is no Magic vs. Bird.
No Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or
Robert Parrish. Instead there is Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce against Kobe Bryant and, umm, Luke Walton? Nice tattoo by the way.
When Shaquille O'Neal left the Lakers in 2004, select NBA analysts around the country had the same thoughts I hold now: Kobe can't carry a team to the finals on his own.
He made headlines this past off-season by whining about wanting a trade out of L.A. MVP? Big deal.
There is a reason it took 12 years in the league for him to achieve the recognition: He didn't earn it.
Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash, the two previous recipients of the award, led their teams to nowhere and fizzled in the playoffs.
The individual award means nothing when it comes to the
postseason.
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