Lakers-Celtics Game 3 Halftime Thoughts

And here comes the Lakers! No wait, here comes the Celtics! What a first half. Lakers, Kobe start out on fire. They were taking advantage of the fouls, something that did not go their way Games 1 and 2. Sasha Vujacic was on fire, playing great basketball. But the Celtics, somehow, stayed in this game, with no production from ‘the big 3′. You have to expect Pierce to come out strong in the 2nd half.  Garnett will heat up. They have too. They’re too good not to. But when will the Lakers contain these bench players? Posey, Cassell, Brown, are all having significant impacts on the game. Now, for the Lakers, I would play Fisher at the point. I like Farmar, but he plays too out of control for me, and I think Fisher is a better defender. Has anyone noticed that the Celtics make a run when Farmar is in? Coincidence? Look, the key to winning any NBA game is rebounding, good D, and making your shots. The Lakers need to rebound better, play better D. But I really think the Celtics will end up winning this game. They closed the half so well, you know Pierce and Garnett will play well. Perkins has been quiet. If the Lakers come out on fire, hitting their shots, getting to the line, then they will win. But if I am in that Laker Locker room, I am very, very worried about Pierce. That should be their focus;containing Paul Pierce. If they do that, they should be fine. If they don’t, well the Lakers will be in desperation mode.

On a separate note, I think the ESPN/ABC coverage has been superb during the NBA playoffs. They are not overdoing it, which ESPN/ABC does all of the time. The announcing crew is great. The studio shows, bringing in the former Lakers-Celtics stars was a great idea. Bill Rusell, Magic, Jerry West. Great job, keep it up. 

Spam

Now with the Tomato outbreak, the world can now move onto spam? So says David Grimes, columnist for the Herald Tribune in Florida. Makes sense, right? Spam will always live on, and without those tomatoes, maybe spam can be the option.

By the way, I’ll be back for my Lakers-Celtics halftime thoughts.

Bill Walton’s Back- Rejoice!

Great news today: Bill Walton will be back on ESPN! Bill is probably my favorite analyst on ESPN, on any sport, and I cannot wait to see him return. Some great Bill Walton quotes can be found here

Tomatoes

I hate this whole tomato salmonella thing.(By the way, the reporter is Kathryn Brown, who, in about 2 months, will be my cousin-in-law, which I guess is the correct terminology.) I love tomatoes. I think most people do. Sometimes there’s nothing better than just fresh sliced tomatoes, maybe a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Even thinking about that gets my mouth watering. I can deal with salmonella in chicken. Because you don’t eat raw chicken. At least I don’t. But I rarely, if ever, eat cooked tomatoes. I just don’t like them cooked. Does this mean ketchup is off limits? Tomato sauce? And the fact that the tomato industry is suffering is a joke. Well, I genuinely feel bad for them. But I had no idea there was an entire industry.

Heat

I hate the heat. Hate it. Absolutely hate it. Can’t function it in. Whenever its 100 degrees, I think the whole country should just get into a pool, or something to cool off. It’s ridiculous. 100 and humid is the worst. My readers in the South know what that’s all about. In New York, it’s only like this a few times a year, which makes it even more unbearable. I just wish this heat would go away. Terrible.