(I wrote this last Friday, and the events of the weekend and last night didn't change things a bit.)
Analysis:
Youth was not served, it was very definitely given a taste of what experience means. Not so much in the Kobe vs. Big 3 matchup, although just from that sentence you kind of get an idea of the bigger problem. No it was the Lakers support players and role players, their youth and inexperience that really made the difference. Pau Gasol is very talented, but this is the first year he ever actually won so much as a playoff game. And he needs to learn what it takes and what he has to do to win when the stage gets this big. Lamar Odom also shrunk in the face of the big lights. And the cocky role players are also learning their lesson: Sasha, Vlade, Jordan, young Luke, Rony. Yes the Celtics players may not have that championship experience, but they have been in the league, and have playoff experience, and the guys who really stepped it up last night: Posey, House, Allen, they have been there, and Posey has the ring to prove it.
I was a little surprised at some of the moves Phil made, but I think he is starting to realize that when his players start to play like rookies, losing their heads, making big mistakes or letting the pressure get to them, he can't make them learn on their own. A lot has been made about how last night's game proved Kobe is no Jordan, and that is true. But people forget that Jordan and the Bulls had to endure their share of playoff losses before they learned to step up. I think Kobe really wants to win, but he also wants the team to win. And the Celtics have learned from the Pistons in '04, the Spurs, and the Suns how to defend Kobe and take him out of his game. And the rest of the team is not emotionally strong enough to take up the slack.
I think that next year, when Bynum returns healthy, and he and Gasol start playing together, and Odom slides to small forward they will be a much better and more dangerous team come playoff time. And I think the role players will learn from this year, when and how to play, and how to step up their intensity on defense. And their record should be better without the initial bad part of the season they had to endure.
My sports watching evolution
So I watched game 1. Then I watched the 1st quarter of game 2. Then I consciously decided that I couldn't watch anymore. It just wasn't fun, I couldn't watch without a bad feeling in my stomach, my neck tightening up and frustration boiling up. It's just one of those things, it doesn't help that since Kim really doesn't like basketball I get stuck watching the games alone. Maybe I could do better in a big group, but the bottom line is no more basketball watching this season. I think that basketball is just harder to watch because it is so fast that any moment can be a "come one ref, can't you see that foul?" or "why did you take that stupid 3 point shot when Gasol was all alone in the paint?" moment. Whereas football can be a lot easier due to the slower nature and a wholly different sense of momentum. Of course I think the biggest key is to stop making the sports watching into a solitary event, where I just hole up and watch it alone. I think that more than anything is what leads to the tension and anger, because there is no one else around for stress relief.
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