by: Cole Riley
Starters
Lakers - PG Fisher, SG Bryant, SF Artest, PF Gasol, C Bynum. Celtics - PG Rondo, SG Allen, SF Pierce, PF Garnett, C Perkins. Right off the bat, you have to go with the Celtics in this category. Rondo, as I showed in my previous post, has the makings to be one of the best players in the league one day, and going up against Fisher is almost a slap in the face - Celtics with the clear upperhand. Over to shooting guard where Kobe and his scoring prowess dominate almost every opponent - advantage, Lakers. Small Forward is interesting in that Pierce and Artest nearly cancel each other out. They both are skilled defensemen, and great scorers, but Pierce gets the notch for this one. He's a Finals MVP who has shown stability, leadership, and the capability to take over any game; yet Artest has still shown stability in one facet of the game - going crazy and bringing down an entire season for a team. Anyways, Pierce wins. Pau Gasol versus Kevin Garnett has already been featured back in the 2008 NBA Finals where Garnett clearly won the battle. He was more dominant, more physical, and terrorized Gasol whenever he had the rock. I still see that continuing this season, and eventually in this year's Finals. Lastly, the center position where Kendrick Perkins and Andrew Bynum have both not been consistent enough for a real examination. Here I believe both the Celtics and Lakers will be bringing in their backups, Rasheed Wallace and Lamar Odom, respectively,to fill this spot early. Anyways, Lakers have the inside track at center.
Benches:
Lakers - PG (Shannon) Brown, SG Vujacic, SF Walton, PF Odom, C Mbenga. Celtics - PG House, SG (Marquis) Daniels, SF Davis, PF (Shelden) Williams, C Wallace. Hands down the Celtics dominate with their deep, experienced bench. Last year, this was a different story as the Lakers had all the depth, compared to the Celtics who, at one point in the season, had Brian Scalabrine as their 6th option. It made me want to puke. Fast forward to 2009, when the Celtics acquire All-Star Rasheed Wallace and the ball-handeling slasher, Marquis Daniels; the Lakers on the other hand did nothing. Don't debate it, it's the Celtics for sure.
Coaches:
Lakers - Phil Jackson. Celtics - Doc Rivers. Do I even need to break this category down? Come on, the man has 10 rings for crying out loud. Point, Lakers.
Intangibles
This category is so arbitrary that I can't even wrap my mind around it. For me, as far as I know, the intangibles include experience, home-court advantage, and intensity. Well, experience seems to be balanced between the two teams - both winning championships in the last two years and going deep into the playoffs. For home-court advantage, I believe the TD Banknorth Garden is far and away a more difficult environment for an opponent to play in. At Staples Center, the closest the fans come to applauding is when they all let out a collective sigh when they feel the urge to leave the game early and beat traffic. It's disgusting. Lastly, intensity. This is dominated by the Celtics' Garnett, and the Lakers' Bryant, who both like to A) grind their teeth together while they pump their chests, B) nearly tear their jerseys off, or C) scream at a teammate when they miss an assignment. This is a tie in my opinion.
Recap
The Celtics won 3-2 in the Starters discussion. The nod also went to the Celts with the benches. Phil Jackson and his fistfuls of rings won the Coaches debate, if there even was one, which there wasn't. And lastly, with the Intangibles, the Celtics won 3-2 (there were two ties). Well, to wrap this whole thing up, the Celtics won 7-5 in this comparison. If you ask me if this result will translate to the results on the court, I am, with all the confidence in the world, replying yes, it will.
this is comical
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