Taking a page out of Bill Simmon’s book, I decided to write my own game diary.
With a computer on my lap and the DVR recording, I could simultaneously enjoy games and comment on the action.
Pregame entrance:
Jeff Osborne singing amazed my Dad. Afterwards, a cool pregame entrance for the Lakers.
My favorite anthem singing person? Beyonce’s 2004 Superbowl: Patriots vs. Panthers.
I liked the “singing” 😉
Pregame Commercial
I always like the pre-game show where they show all the history of the NBA finals.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE A HEART OF A CHAMPION.
(Rudy Tomadiayaydavich’s 1995 championship run)
WHAT A SPECTAKULAR MOVE! (MJ’s 2 hand switch)
WELCOME TO THE NBA FINALS. (Fin)
Wow that was cool.
1st quarter
12:00
Tip off and here we go! And we already get a score by rondo…
This can’t be a bad start already…?
11:33
So Artest and Paul Pierce do a weird, butt- to butt wrestle move on a box out. Double technicals?
Yeah, Crawford gives the technicals. At this point, I’d say yes the Artest-Ariza switch was worth it. Ariza could not guard Paul Pierce. But Artest has the body to defend Pierce. He is essentially our Rodman wannabe with his crazy hair and personality. We’ll make do with it.
11:21
Gasol throws it away after being bodied up and pushed by Garnett.
Garnett is very good at up close contact, but can get a little carried away sometimes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYqCMN8dVAU
Not a very good start. Please Artest be smart; and Gasol, please be tougher than that.
Don’t be Garnett’s _________.
10:46
Fisher makes a 2. Then has to body up against Ray Allen.
The other matchup I fear; so many unknowns, gah!
9:58
No way. Fisher picks up 2nd foul and Phil Jackson goes to…. “the Machine”????
This guy who’s a shooter and plays terrible defense? This guy who Ray Allen tore up from 2 years ago and made Sasha lose his job for 2 years? Sigh.
Too many unknowns for me right now. Will Artest be smart? Can Gasol be tough?
And now we have to bring in Vujacic? Mr. “I Cry at Contact”?
Ray Allen drains a jumper over Vujacic. >.< They clearly don’t teach defense in Slovenia.
8:41
Basically, the ugliest fast break ever occured, according to Mark Jackson and I. Artest steals the ball, loses control, ,butgets bailed out by Pau Gasol‘s rebound and Garnett gets called for the foul. However, I like the aggressiveness on defense for the Lakers, especially our deflections have stopped the passes into the interior low post.
8:03
All 5 starters have scored for the Lakers. Balance? That’s good. If this actually keeps up, Lakers win this easily. Meanwhile Rondo makes a jump- shot and a back door cut. Kobe! Stop double teaming!
Rondo‘s is as smart as he is physically strong as a ball player.
6:01
Ray Allen gets 2nd foul. Thank God. To me, Ray Allen is the 2nd most dangerous Celtics to the Lakers. Perhaps more than Rondo even. I’m serious when I say I get chills when Allen gets on a roll. Let’s hope Lakers attack Ray Allen to get him in foul trouble, because you make sure a shooter stays cold.
Lakers 16-10.
2 minutes pass by
Artest has 2 fouls now. Jordan Farmar comes in now. Like I said, the bench needs to step up.
3:05
Mostly, bench players out there now. We’ll see who steps up more.
Apparently, Jeff Van Gundy really loves In- N- Out Burgers.
“Why are you talking about food?”
“It’s dinner time! It’s 6:30”
How can you not love Jeff Van Gundy? Probably my favorite commentator.
2:10
Bryant has a 2006- flash appearance of himself, as he goes 1 on 2 despite having Shannon Brown for the dunk. Odom bails him out with a follow up. Purely attacking the basket, the Lakers are forcing Celtic bigs to challenge, which leads to more offensive rebounding and points in the paint. Good plan, Phil, good plan.
1:00
Bryant picks up the 2nd foul. Man, these refs are playing it tight. That’s 4 starters out because of foul trouble.
45 seconds down
Farmar drive.
Brown drive.
Farmar steal!!!
Awesome sequence that could have been capitalized with an Odom score, but we’ll take it.
Meanwhile, in the life of Howard, it’s 6:45 and he drives to church and misses the 2nd quarter. Thank God for DVR. After an awesome worship practice, I quickly drove home (late too… yikes) and went to the T.V. Forget about my game diary until the 3rd quarter. Besides 2nd quarter was alright: Ray Allen gets 4 fouls, Kobe scores; eh I forgot. Oh the Kobe Shot of course. I love how other opponents are even amazed by his shot. (Paul Pierce drops head). Good teamwork by the Lakers. I love their passing. Wallace is stupid. That was the 2nd quarter.
Halftime:
Kobe is the student of the game.
I’d like to say I learned all my post moves from watching Shaq and C-Booz.
You can see my low post dominance if you ‘d like, just call me up and we’ll schedule a one on one.
3rd quarter
10:16
Rondo hasn’t been making his usual game layups. Not as aggressive to me than before.
Meanwhile, Bynum sneaks in a few more points. He’s been making a great contribution with his presence and size on both ends of the floor.
Meanwhile, Rondo responds with a left-hand sky hook; thanks for making me look stupid Rondo.
9:15
Ray Allen gets another foul. Jeff Van Gundy puts it best: There are no shooters on the floor with Rondo, Perkins and Tony Allen. Basically the offense is put on KG and Pierce’s shoulders and neither have gotten it going.
8:36
Rondo has big hands? That’s why he can’t shoot free throws? That’s the biggest excuse ever. C’mon it’s called practice, Rondo.
2 things are preventing him from being the best point guard: his shot and his free throws. As aggressive as he is, he shoots like a center and now you can’t trust him in crunch time if the game is close.
Hack-a- Rondo?
6:28
Fisher shoots with the highest arc ever. It results in very pretty shots or really bad misses.
Today, its the primer.
6:10
Interesting sequence:
On a Kobe fast break, I had seen the great defense by Artest, but I’m notice at the lack of hustle from the Celtics. What’s different from 2008 is age and intensity.
When you saw Kobe ran a similar fast break in Game 5 in 2008, you would see Celtics would run him down and even though Kobe still made the dunk, they (James Posey) would still mess with him by hitting his legs on the way up. This time? Garnett can’t even cross the 3 point line because 1) his legs and 2) the security wall provided by Artest and Fisher.
Things are different in 2010.
5:20 –
It really perplexes me that Rondo has such limited range; I mean you’re 12 feet away from the basket! I know you’re not a good shooter but can’t you throw a floater. Instead, passes to Kendrick Perkins for the 2. Hmmm, fine that works too, but you could be dominant if you had a shot, Rondo!
4:48
Gasol Flops. And that’s a foul? What? I mean cmon! No, I do not agree with the comentators, flopping is not a foul. You just look stupid and you’re costing your team. Stupid. 2 pts for garnett 58-67 Lakers
4:30
I just witnessed Pau Gasol own the Celtics on the boards single-handedly; you can’t doubt his toughness anymore or you say the Celtics are not as physical. Either way, it’s not 2008.
3:03
Paul Pierce called for a loose ball foul. Man, this game is being called so tight. Well, it’s helping the Lakers mostly since it’s keeping Allen on the bench. Yay?
2:11
The exclamation mark. The javelin perhaps? I see sloppy basketball from the Celtics and stellar athleticism by Kobe Bryant as he swats away Tony Allen’s shot and runs for an alley-oop. Kevin Garnett takes a bad shot, Artest makes a good decision in pushing the ball: everything is going the Laker’s way so far. But to be a devil’s advocate, there only up 13. o.O
2:00
Rondo… you drive so much yet you refuse to go against the bigs. You need to score, but you’re being passive. MARK JACKSON AGREES WITH ME. YOU GOTTA SCORE! You can’t be scared of length!
1:39
Wow…. Ray Allen picks up his 5th foul. That wasn’t a foul and it wasn’t even on Allen. Well, the refs are really helping out the Lakers by taking out Allen. Wallace checks Fisher. Never liked Wallace, did I ever mention that? He looks like Scooby Doo.
1:00 and down
Wow. Celtics cannot shoot. The Lakers are crisp in passing, attacking the basket, and making plays. You can argue the refs hurt the Celtics, but the Lakers are just being more aggressive than the Celtics. Plain and simple. Kobe checks out for Shannon Brown. Wallace gets a technical and that’s his 5th technical.
Rondo charges straight into Gasol, instead of dishing it to Allen. Here’s the perfect explanation from Jeff Van Gundy:
“And Rondo takes the drive instead, because of the limited range of Tony Allen, which leads to the charge”
Sigh… such a good commentator. One of my favorites alongside (in no ranking or order) Hubie Brown, Doug Collins (will miss him), Mark Jackson (MAMA there goes that man!), and Charles Barkley (haha I’m kidding).
End of 3rd quarter
Artest with another 3??? Is this Christmas or what?
4th quarter:
I’m sad. No more Phil Jackson and Craig Saiger interviews. Damn you ABC!!! Hire Craig Saiger for the NBA finals and lets make more fun of his suits! You’ll get more viewers, I swear!!!
11:20
Hahaha, Wallace unnecessarily hops over some fans, which is basically 2-3 feet, so congrats Wallace? Haha, if you get the chance look at the Laker fans giving him a “That was completely stupid” look. I laughed when Mike Breen said, “Good hustle from Wallace.”
Hustle and Wallace should never occur in the same sentence.
And, now another check at Gasol from Wallace. Jeez, I hate how he stole the 2004 ring from the Lakers. THIS GUY? SERIOUSLY? THIS GUY TOOK OUR CHAMPIONSHIP? THIS FATTY TOOK OUR TITLE.
10:54
You know who Nate Robinson reminds me of? Stephon Marbury. Just an idea. You’ll see.
Side note:
Bad Romance was just aired in Staples Center. Whoever thought of this idea was stupid.
9:35
And look who proves me wrong. Nate makes a good pass and rallies the troops. 5’9 warrior!
8:45
Uh oh, this isn’t looking very good. Momentum has shifted; lead is down to 13, and we’re making stupid plays. >.< (God, please not let this be Game 4 2008.)
Chris Rock’s interview:
Weirdest interview as Chris Rock is more focused on the game than the interview.
Meanwhile, Farmar saves the Lakers with a momentum stopping layup. And Ray Allen is back in. I expected that, since the momentum was shifting to the Celtics, but now Gasol adds 2 more points with his pretty Abdul-Jabbar hook. Lakers up 15. It’s all good for now.
7:17
My DVR stopped recording the game segment. Luckliy, I’m smart to record the next segment after the game. I hate that, I mean seriously can’t the DVR be smart enough to like extend the recording?
I was robbed earlier this year when I watched the NFC championship from 1st quarter to 4th quarter. That game went to OT and I’m rooting for Favre as they drive down the field, and then that annoying message pops up:
YOUR RECORDING IS OVER.
It might as well just have said:
YOUR ENTIRE DAY GOT SCREWED OVER. THANKS FOR WATCHING.
I had to watch the highlights just to see what happened. And the Vikings lost.
Bad day in general.
Oh shoot. Back to the action:
Gasol has an awesome left hand dunk off the Ron Artest wrestle steal from Glen Davis, and Ron Artest screams the Kevin Garnett-like scream: ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
Artest has played so well; I just hope he keeps it up for 6 more games.
6:00
Doc River finally puts in the right person: Glen Davis. Kendrick Perkins is basically a boot for this Celtic’s Car; hahaha like the analogy? Seriously, Perkins is such a liability on offense, the Celtics are playing 4 on 5, as Bynum or Gasol can play off Perkins and help on Rondo Drives or Ray Allen shots.
Yeah he’s your defensive stopper, but Davis has shown he can do that as well.
Woah two defining plays happened: Kevin Garnett’s airball put back and the Gasol to Lamar alleyoop
Basically, Garnett’s failed attempt at a dunk could mean 1) his aging and 2) summarizes the entire Celtic night. I mean Kevin Garnett 2 years ago would have easily downed that ball. Now? Barely got above the rim. A night full of lackluster intensity and no flow.
At the same time, the Lakers showed they are unstoppable when all the starters are in rhythm. You can’t stop two 7 footers and Kobe and Artest. The surprise was Artest shooting, but the Celtics can live with that. They can’t live with 8 offensive boards for Pau Gasol. If this low post domination continues, don’t even think about Game 6 or 7 at Staples. Lakers could easily end this in Boston.
4:30
Kobe grabs another offensive rebound. That’s just desire. Like Pat Riley said, No rebounds no Championships. Another example of Kevin Garnett’s gradual decline as a player. 2008: would he have let Kobe take that board from him? Heck no. 2010: My knees are too old!
Side note:
Wow. Did they just play “Baseball Tonight’s theme music” for a Spelling Bee competition?
(Did I just recognize the theme music for an analyst segment of a sport I don’t even like that much? Wow, I watch too much t.v.)
3:50
Nice Dish. Kobe’s on fire.
3:02
Kevin Garnett’s passive. Rondo’s passive. He’s way too intimidated by the length of the Lakers and settling for jump shots.
2:29
Turnover for Celtics. 82-95 Lakers.
2:07
Phil Jackson is 47-0 when he wins Game 1.
LAKERS NBA CHAMPIONS in 2010!
I hope it’s not 47-1.
1:49
Artest another 3. This is just too much. It’s like my birthday combined with Easter.
48 seconds
Haha, Kobe wanted the 30 points when he went for the 3 pointer.
45 seconds later….
Kobe gets his 30 points with a 3 pointer.
Kobe gets what he wants. That is the world today.
Things are looking good
102-89 Lakers.
Overall summary:
Lakers played great despite some turnovers and the referee calls.
Big story: Ray Allen’s non-existence because of the foul calls.
Not too sure if the Lakers will get that same officiating in the future.
Lakers have game one in the books, now it’s time for Game 2. This is crucial for the Lakers to secure home-court. Boston will be fresher and more intense in Game 2, so the Lakers will have to respond.
The 2 days rest will be good for both teams, but I look for Ray Allen, Rondo, and Pierce to pick it up for the Celtics. But I’m glad that the Lakers showed how tough they were.
Side notes I also learned:
- I kinda want to watch Get Him to the Greek after all these commercials
- Grown Ups looks really funny.
- And my taste in movies has gone down a little.
Also glad I got my first game diary out of the way.
Whew. I must say Bill Simmons does a good job. But then again this is his only job.
Anyways, enjoy the NBA finals as the Lakers wrap up Game 1.
Obsessedsportsnut's Blog 
Go study!
Comment by Stephanie — June 4, 2010 @ 4:23 pm