Wednesday
May192010
The Evil Empire in Space
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 02:39PM 
I saw this on the Lo-Hud NY Yankees' blog (Click here) this morning and couldn't resist . . .
Look closely at the sleeve of astronaut Garrett Reisman's space suit. That's not a "rally monkey" on his arm.
Lets go Yankees!
Reader Comments (12)
The Celts always do a great job on Kobe. They have shut down Lebron, and Dwight Howard is currently getting beat up by the buffed up Boston bigs. Youngsters Baby Davis and Kendrick Perkins look like they could play for the Steelers.
A little history of previous matches--Boston has played the Lakers in 13 NBA finals and has beaten them in 11 of them. The Celts hold the all time pro sports record of winning 8 championships in a row. That feat was done mostly against Big man Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor of the Lakers.
The mighty Celts are seeking their 18th championship in a franchise that is barely 60 years old. I'm not bragging, but these are just the facts. It is hard to speak about the Celtics without the greatness of their history shining forth.
My second favorite team--the local Phoenix Suns are starting to build a good young team led by sharp G.M. Steve Kerr.
Which team wins the title? We shall see what has been decreed before the foundations of the world.....as it plays out!
In 08, when the Celtics beat the Lakers, Rondo was a rookie. Rondo is also a first team all NBA defender. No one can stop him. Who are the Lakers going to put on Rondo? Ray Allen looks as good as ever, and KG is now 100%. Pierce is just clutch.
Here is the way I see it.....The Celtics will shut off the Lakers underneath, and force Kobe to just be a perimeter shooter from the outside.
Also, don't overlook Sheed off of the bench. Yes, he does like to shoot three's, but on defense, he is tremendous under the basket. He is a annoyance to whomever he is defending. The Celts didn't have him in 08.
Kendrick Perkins is just a nasty, brutal defender. Dwight Howard says that he defends him better than anyone in the NBA. Perkins has stated that Bynum is "soft". Also, KG is a all NBA defender as well. Defense wins championships. And, the Celts don't just do it with defense, they have some of the best big time shooters in the NBA as well.
Three of the Lakers starters are getting old; Artest, Fisher and Kobe. Pierce is awesome against Kobe. (Remember two years ago when Pierce was the MVP of the finals.) Look how Pierce shut down Lebron.
Again, the biggest question of all remains; what are the Lakers going to do with Rondo? He is flat out the best Celtic, and that is saying a lot. This 23 year old kid is a clutch, big time player. Many think that he is now the best player in the NBA. And, they are saying this because of the way that he plays in the playoffs. Remember, last year Rondo averaged almost a triple double in the playoffs. He is even beter this year.
We might be getting ahead of ourselves here, both teams still have to beat the teams that they are playing.
The Suns have a good young center in 7'0 Robin Lopez (he actually can play defense). But Lopez is rusty, he is coming back from a bulging disc in his back, so he is only now getting back into shape.
Stoudemire is all offense, and no defense. Yes, Gasol is a good player, but the Suns are making him look much better than he is.
Listen to Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Tiimes, (normally a real Laker homer) in looking ahead to a possible showdown of the Celts and Lakers:
"Boston? You really want Boston?" "That only means that the Lakers are two wins from being sucker punched in the mouth."
"The way the Lakers are pounding the flitting Suns is not a way they can pound the physical Celtics. The fast breaks will become back breaks. The give-and-gos will become duck-and runs."
Plaschke goes on to say, "Pau Gasol is not getting 19 shots within, like, 1 foot of the rim. Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum are not going to be spending three hours playing volleyball on the glass. Most of those countless Lakers drives to the basket aren't going to get there."