lor@ucla-cs.UUCP (05/24/85)
Well, you Boston fans have been saying a lot of things, "the Dancing Barry's team", "Magic chokes", "get as many scoring and assist records as you can before Boston", "sweet 16", ... I am an avid Laker fan. But on paper, I know we canNOT beat the green monstor. Consider this: -- Parish, Bird and McHale will kill the Lakers at the boards, especially the offensive boards. -- Boston, with their physical inside game, can get a lot of free throws. -- Boston can convert most of their free throws, while the Lakers cannot. -- People always say the Lakers can run you to hell. Don't forget, the Celtics can run too. I think the Celtics have a very good running game and a very good half-court offense, while the Lakers have an excellent running game but only an above-average half-court offense. -- The Laker half-court game can easily be shut down by an excellent defense, like the Sixers and the Celtics. -- So what if the Celtics don't shoot well? With that kind of offensive rebounding, Boston does NOT have to shoot well to win. Look at last year's finals and this year's series against the 76ers. They had lower shooting percentage (usually < 50%) but still won in most of the games. -- D.J. is the only player in the League who can check Moncrief, Toney, Thomas, and Johnson. Yes, our E.M. Johnson. -- When they need a basket to win or tie the game in the waning seconds, Pat Riley will go to Kareem every time. Kareem will certainly be triple-teamed and turn the ball over. -- With a 5-point lead in the last minute, the Lakers will let you tie the game. They will give you a basket plus a three-point play. -- With a 2-point lead in the last minute, the Celtics won't even let you make a shot. They will steal the ball. -- Boston is surely the luckiest team in the world. In the last minute with the game on the line, the key players of the other team usually become idiots. They will throw the ball away, forget to call a time out, dribble out the clock, bump into each other, or simply get confused. Remember the face of Toney at the end of game 5. Looks like he didn't know he was playing basketball. The "cigar sucker" must have done some witching. -- Boston will get the favor from the referees when the game is on the line. The zebras won't even acknowledge your timeout requests. -- It has long been said: "you have to do the dirty work to win championships". If the "cigar sucker" can turn off the heat of the visitor's locker room and intimidate referees, there is nothing he won't do to get another banner. But hasn't he had enough? -- And finally, the Celtics jinx on the Lakers. No matter what, the Lakers will find a way to lose to the Celtics. Remember '69? The only hope the Lakers have is to run the Monstor to death. Unless they have an exceptional series, with everybody playing 250%, they won't win. I am close to the point of hating the Lakers because of their fate against the Celtics. But who knows, everything has the first time. -- Eddy Lor ...!(ihnp4,ucbvax)!ucla-cs!lor lor@ucla-locus.arpa