June 2008 Archives

The Lakers have extended qualifying offers to Sasha Vujacic and Ronny Turiaf, who are restricted free agents. Restricted free agents can sign an offer sheet with another team, but the Lakers then have the opportunity to match the offer.

In some alternate reality, Kobe Bryant would've played his college ball at Duke for Mike Krzyzweski --it's where he committed out of Lower Merion High -- but instead he jumped directly to the pros.

Bonus points to anyone who can name (without looking it up) where Bryant was drafted...

Eleven years later, they're finally on the same team. Coach K being the head coach of Bryant's USA Basketbal squad. Here's what Kobe had to say about it as Team USA began its training camp in Las Vegas this weekend.

``It's everything that I thought it would be, and more,'' Bryant said. ``When I was in high school, he was my number one choice, but I had to wait about 11 years or so to play for him. He is a great guy and an incredible coach. I've learned a lot from him already. He has a passion for the game, a respect for his players and above all else, he wants to see his players play well. And he wants to win. He communicates that beautifully to his players. He's very clear on what he wants.''

Here are a few things to know about guard Joe Crawford, the Lakers' lone pick in the draft:
He's from Detroit.
He's got good range on his jump shot, out to the NBA 3-point line.
His favorite movie is "The Shawshank Redemption."
His favorite TV show is "Nip/Tuck."
His dream dinner party would include actress Ashley Judd and Michael Jordan. (Judd is a fellow Kentucky alum and a former Wildcats cheerleader).
He is not related to veteran NBA referee Joey Crawford.

GM Mitch Kupchak said late Thursday night, long after the draft had ended, that he would call the agents for restricted free agents Sasha Vujacic and Ronny Turiaf at 9:01 p.m. Monday, when the negotating period begins.
That wasn't much of a surprise. Kupchak has made it clear he wants Vujacic and Turiaf back for next season and beyond.
But then Kupchak said he would start talking to the agent for China's Sun Yue, the Lakers' second-round pick from 2007. Sun, a 6-foot-9 guard, will play for China at the Beijing Olympics in August.
"We're very optimistic we can get him on the roster next year," Kupchak said. "We feel (signing him after a one-year wait) is a better opportunity for him."

Wow, what a weird turn this Monday afternoon took. Earlier today, the gossip website TMZ.com posted a video of Shaquille O'Neal freestyle rapping at a New York club, and absolutely ripping his former teammate Kobe Bryant. The video
feels kind of like a scene from 8 Mile, and contains explicit lyrics, so if there are sensitive ears in the room, consider yourself warned.

The overriding theme of the freestyle is that Kobe can't win without Shaq, but among the highlights and/or lowlights: "I'm a horse, Kobe ratted me out, that's why I'm getting divorced."

Later on, Shaq did an interview where he backtracked quite a bit, and said it was all in good fun. Basically: ``the rap made me do it'' defense. No word yet on how Kobe is taking the verbal smackdown

Here's the latest from Shaq-fu:

"I was freestyling. That's all. It was all done in fun. Nothing serious whatsoever. That is what MCs do. They freestyle when called upon. I'm totally cool with Kobe. No issue at all. And by the way, don't forget, six albums, two platinum, two gold. Anybody who knows me knows I'm a funny freestyler. Check the NBA DVD when I was rapping about Vlade Divac during my first championship run. Please tell everybody don't make something out of nothing."

I almost didn't post this, because it's been assumed for so long. But the official announcement came down today. Here's a link to the roster:

Here's what Kobe said last week about his role on the Olympic team:

``I don't have as many responsibilities (on the Olympic team). There's still a leadership component, but in terms of basketball execution, my role is to defend and if they need to get points, I can do that too. But I don't have to do as much work because the USA obviously has a deep team.''

In the days that have passed since the Lakers season ended in Boston, more than a few people have drawn comparisons between these Lakers and the 1984 Lakers, who lost to Boston in an eerily similar NBA Finals. Remember that clothesline?

Here's what general manager Mitch Kupchak had to say about it:

`` In 1984, I sat basically in that same building, in that same cubicle when we got beat by the Celtics. So I know how they feel,'' Kupchak said. ``I also know as time goes on they will feel better. There is something to be learned through defeat. You learn a little bit about yourself, you learn about what you have to work on during the offseason. ... I think there's a learning process here that may benefit us in the future.

``It's my job to have some vision and I don't live in the trenches with the players and the coaches. I take the losses hard, but I do have to take a step back and look at the future. Of course, it all came to a screeching halt on Tuesday night, so the last two or three days there have been a lot of down players walking through our offices. They're starting to see some players smile a little bit and work there way through a tough time. I will say I do know how they feel.''

It's one of the oddest, least expected pairings you could think of, but Kobe Bryant is actually pretty tight with young shooting guard Sasha Vujacic. In years past, he's invited him to train with him during the summers, and seems to respect Vujacic's passion for the game. Now that Vujacic is a restricted free agent, here's the advice Bryant said he'd give his young disciple.

``With Shi-shi (Sasha). He should do what's obviously best for himself and his family. Obviously as a big brother, that's the best advice I could give him,'' Bryant said. ``I would love to keep him around for selfish reasons, because of his defense, his passion, and his shooting was obviously something that was invaluable to us this year. So for my own selfish reasons, I would love to keep him here, but as a big brother, he has to do what's best for him and his family.''

Then a reporter asked Bryant: ``If it got down to couple hundred thousand, would you kick in for it?''

Bryant, similar to the look he got used to giving when we'd ask whether he'd be picking up the tab for the Lakers team meals throughout the playoffs again, quipped, ``I'm not the richest one in this building homey, I don't know what you're looking at me for.''

The normally reserved, thoughtful Pau Gasol was downright feisty when asked about the emotions he'll carry with him from the recently concluded NBA Finals against the Celtics.

Gasol said that the pain from the loss will linger for a long time, as will his memory of Boston fans shaking the Lakers team bus as they drove away from TD Banknorth Arena Tuesday night.

``I'm definitely going to keep these feelings, because it wasn't pleasant to see all the Boston fans go crazy on us after the game and hitting the bus and all that crap,'' he said. ``It's just something I'm going to keep in mind all year long until we get there again.''

Ronny Turiaf said Thursday that he would not play for France at the Summer Olympics unless his contract situation has been resolved.

``I'm not going to play unless I've got a contract,'' Turiaf said. ``So I don't know yet. Everything will happen like it's supposed to. I have faith in it.''

Here's the story I just filed on the Lakers mood today, following their exit interviews with Phil Jackson and Mitch Kupchak

By Ramona Shelburne
Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO - The taste in their mouths was still sour, two days not being nearly enough time to wash away their disappointing loss to the Celtics in the NBA Finals. No, that was the kind of loss that sticks with you deep into the summer months, the 39-point drubbing in Game 6 only adding an extra dash of humility to the already oversized bitter pill.

It hasn't been easy to swallow. Not with pundits questioning their toughness and character, labeling them as ``soft,'' or wondering aloud whether all of the ways the Celtics beat them in the NBA Finals have exposed weaknesses in them that cannot be fixed by a year of seasoning or a different set of X's and O's.

But somewhere in the hours between their season-ending loss in Boston Tuesday night, and their season-ending exit meetings Thursday with Lakers coach Phil Jackson and general manager Mitch Kupchak, the first painful attempts at digestion took place.

``Not to say that the loss doesn't sting, because it does and it will, but I get back up pretty quickly and start thinking about revenge,'' Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said, sounding a about a thousand times more positive Thursday than he did after the Game 6 loss.

``I think what it does for us, is it teaches us how to win. The hunger was there, but Boston's experience wore us down a little bit. We have a team here that's very good. Boston played better, they played more physical than we were, but at the same time, you look around at our roster and they're still kids, they're young kids.

``Being that we got this deep in the playoffs, with such a young club, helps us tremendously because it puts us ahead of the curve.''

But will he?

We just spoke with Ronny after he met with Lakers coach Phil Jackson and general manager Mitch Kupchak for his season-ending exit interview. Ronny was pretty unequivocal in saying his personal preference would be to stay in LA --he's a restricted free agent -- but that he wasn't sure what the future would bring.

``If they want me here, I for sure would be more than happy to keep on going on this journey I started about three years ago with all my teammates,'' he said. ``I built relationships here that are very strong and it would be tough for me to say goodbye to that. But when it comes down to it, this is a business decision for both sides. They have to worry about salary cap issues and I have to find the best situation for me as far as playing time, also as far as the financial situation.

I'm hoping to be here. You can write that in big, capital letters: Ronny Turiaf would like to be a Laker. We shall see what happens, I can't see the future.''

Here's a quick look at the contract status of the current Lakers. The biggest issues, as I mentioned last night, are Odom, Vujacic and Turiaf.

Who should be back:

Derek Fisher: Signed through 2009-10 season

Kobe Bryant: On-board for next year, but can opt out of his contract in June of 2009.

Pau Gasol: Signed through 2010-11 season.

Jordan Farmar: Signed for next year, team option for 2009-10, restricted free agent after that.

Chris Mihm: Player option for next season. Coming off injuries makes him likely to stay.

Vladimir Radmanovic: Under contract for two more seasons, player option for a third. Hefty salary would make him hard to trade.

Luke Walton: Under contract for five more seasons, would be very difficult to move that contract after subpar year.

Andrew Bynum: Signed through next year, restricted free agent after that. Lakers will need to decide whether to offer a long-term extension.

Who might be back:

Lamar Odom: $14.1 million expiring contract makes him very attractive in trades.

Trevor Ariza: Player option for next year. Lakers love him and will likely want him to stay.

Sasha Vujacic: Restricted free agent. Lakers can match whatever another team offers. They probably will if the price is right.

Ronny Turiaf: Restricted free agent. Lakers like him, but he could get a big offer from another club (like Orlando, Toronto, Golden State) that needs and likes athletic post players.

Coby Karl: Lakers like him, but he barely played and might have to fight off competition from this year's second-round draft pick.

Who probably won't be back:

DJ Mbenga: Versatile big man will become a free agent, could end up anywhere.

Ira Newble: Never learned the offense to Phil Jackson's satisfaction, though the Lakers could've used his defensive toughness in the Finals.

Well, at least that loss had some time to sink in, right? But now that this season in the books, where do the Lakers go from here? Was this just a bunch of kids running into a superior, veteran-laden team? Or did the Celtics expose fatal flaws in the makeup of this team.

Phil Jackson seemed to suggest there would be changes in the off-season after the game.

"We have to get some players if we're going to come back and repeat, to have that kind of aggressiveness that we need," he said.

How big those changes will be remain to be seen.

Right now, at 4:22 a.m. (EST), just about four hours after the season's final chapters were written, here are the three areas the Lakers will have to address this offseason:

1. How does Lamar Odom fit into their future plans. Odom and Pau Gasol were outstanding when teamed together the last few months of the year, but with Andrew Bynum coming back, Gasol will slide over to power forward and Odom to small forward. In the Lakers offense, the small forward needs to be a good outside shooter to stretch the defense. Hence, Vladimir Radmanovic's spot in the starting lineup. Odom told me a couple weeks ago that he's looking forward to the move, and that he's going to spend the entire summer shooting 3s. But is this the right fit for his game? That question will need to be answered quickly this summer and next season as Odom heads into the final year of his contract. If he's not a fit, his expiring contract will be attractive on the open market.

2. How much can they get out of Andrew Bynum. Everything, and I repeat everything depends on how quickly Bynum's knee recovers from his knee surgery, and how confident the Lakers are that he'll make a full recovery. If there are any doubts, the Lakers will need to look for a back-up center who can contribute at both ends. Is Ronny Turiaf that guy?

Well, that brings us to No. 3:

Turiaf is a free agent, and while he had a dreadful NBA Finals, he played well enough this season to interest many teams looking for a young, athletic big man with an under rated offensive game.

The other free agent the Lakers will need to decide on is Sasha Vujacic. He's only a restricted free agent, meaning the Lakers can match what another team offers him. The sense is that the Lakers would like to keep both players. They both have great attitudes, basketball IQs and upside. But how much will they be willing to pay to do so?

Celtics center Kendrick Perkins participated in the team's shoot-around this morning and said he will try to play today, according to the Boston Globe's blog.

Guard Ray Allen, who left Staples Center Sunday to deal with a health issue with one of his children, did not attend the shootaround, but is expected to play tonight.

Steve Dilbeck, myself and Elliott Teaford got in to Boston around midnight local time and happened to bump into the Celtics Glen ``Big Baby'' Davis at baggage claim, so we can confirm that the Celtics, who were delayed several hours with mechanical problems on their plane, have indeed arrived in Boston.

Before you ask: Glen Davis was not getting his own bags, but seemed to be meeting a friend who was on our JetBlue flight from Long Beach.

This time the Lakers punched back.

It wasn't the prettiest counterpunch in the world. Bernard Hopkins isn't worried. But when the Celtics came back from yet another huge second-half deficit, the Lakers didn't just cover up and wait for the final bell to ring, as they had in Game 4.

``We just kept playing,'' Lakers guard Derek Fisher said. ``This is for the NBA title, so what the score is in the first quarter or second quarter or third quarter is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the final score.''

Two times in the Lakers 103-98 victory in Game 5 Sunday night, they were able to take the Celtics' best shot and fire back.

And while those punches didn't exactly land cleanly, they did just enough damage to send the Lakers to a Game 6 in Boston Tuesday night, and keep their season alive another few days.

Three nights ago, that would've been hard to imagine. The Lakers had blown the biggest lead in NBA Finals history. They were down 3-1 in the series, with no room for error left. Emotionally, quite understandably, they were a wreck.

Two days of mourning, dissecting the loss, and regrouping could only do so much to heal their fragile confidence.

The prospect of sparing their home court from the spray of Boston's championship champagne was more than enough motivation.

``I know I didn't want to see the Celtics celebrating in my home floor with champagne and all that crap,'' Lakers center Pau Gasol said. ``As painful as it was, I think it definitely helped to build our confidence back up.''

As they had in Game 4, the Lakers came out swinging right away Sunday night, building a 17-point lead by the end of the first quarter to put the Celtics on their heels again.

This time, Boston answered much quicker, going on a 15-0 run over a five-minute span in the second quarter. By halftime, the lead was down to 55-52.

As flashbacks go, there was no subtlety to this one. For the second time in as many games, the Lakers had squandered a double-digit early lead.

At halftime, Lakers coach Phil Jackson made a joke of the situation.

``I just said, `Well, thank God we don't have a lead,''' Jackson joked. ``It's important we don't have something like that because we just don't know what to do with it.''

The levity seemed to help. Instead of freezing up with a case of déjà vu, the Lakers answered, building the lead back to 79-70 by the end of the third quarter behind eight, tough points from Pau Gasol.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Lakers stretched the lead out to 88-74, on a jumper by Luke Walton.

Once again, Boston came roaring back. First Sam Cassell threw Sasha Vujacic to the ground, then he faked Jordan Farmar up into the air, and jumped into him -Brent Barry, are you listening? - banked in a wild shot and drew a foul.

All of a sudden, it was 88-79. Then, another nightmare from Game 4 resurfaced as James Posey hit a 3-pointer from nearly the exact same spot he broke the hearts of Lakers fans across the country on Thursday night to make it 90-86.

After free throws by Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett on the next two possessions, it was 90-90.

``We expected them to go on a run,'' Lakers forward Lamar Odom said. ``We expect a fight from those guys. I mean, they're tough. They're a tough-minded team.''

Four minutes remained, entirely too long to cover up and run out the clock.

And that hadn't exactly worked the last time either. So the Lakers did what any desperate fighter would: They flurried.

Lamar Odom took the ball to the basket and got fouled, then Kobe Bryant poked the ball away from Pierce near midcourt. Odom was in the perfect spot to scoop it up, while Bryant bolted down court.

Odom's pass was perfect, in stride, on target. Bryant had broken loose from the Celtics hold and finally gotten free for an easy fast break dunk.

`` We kept playing tonight, and we kept playing in Game 3,'' Fisher said. ``People will say they were ugly games to get, but so far these are the only two games we've won. And we'll take what we can get.''

We just got a statement from the NBA explaining that Ray Allen was forced to leave Staples Center right at the conclusion of tonight's game due to a health issue with one of his children.''

Wow, what's going on? Chris Mihm is in the game. It's the first time he's played since April 15 . Since December 23, he's played only about 26 minutes.

He's playing in the spot Ronny Turiaf usually occupies.

Mihm just airballed his first shot.

Celtics center Kendrick Perkins is out tonight, and there's doubt about his availability for the rest of the series. Perkins said Saturday that there was a ``strong possibility'' of him playing with his injured shoulder, but something obviously changed overnight

Saturday at practice, Kobe Bryant was asked about his future, whether he now intended to be a ``Laker for life'' or whether he still plans to opt out of his contract after next season. Here's what he said:

Q. Kobe, there's been all this attention on all your gestures and, you know, what they mean for your relationships with your teammates. In that context, can you say, you know, is it still your position that you want to stay with the Lakers, and if they were to offer an extension this summer, would you sign it?

KOBE BRYANT: First of all, you're talking like the season is over. You see what I'm saying? So like for me to even answer that question and speculate what's going to happen this summer, this season ain't over. It's far from over. So for me to talk about that would be acknowledging defeat, and that's something I just don't do.

Q. I only bring it up in the sense that can you explain what the relationship is, with the gestures, if you seem to be angry with them sometimes? What is the relationship?

KOBE BRYANT: It's -- our relationship is great. I mean, I think people pay attention to it a lot more than you do when you lose than you do when you win. When you win it's great leadership. When you lose, it's -- you're a tyrant. You've got to take it and roll with it.

I came across a really interesting read the other day I thought I'd share. It's written by Tim Keown over at ESPN.com and I think it's right on. Basically, he argues that the Celtics foul eight times on every play, knowing the officials can't call all of them.

``First, a tangent: Not that anybody cares, or should, but I've coached a lot of youth-league basketball. I've learned if your team plays with some semblance of structure, and if they're pretty good with fundamentals, it sometimes works against them.

Here's why: If the other team travels every third time it has the ball, or double-dribbles, oftentimes the referees shrug and say they can't call everything or we'll be here all night.

But if the team that plays well fundamentally takes an extra step, it almost always gets called. Why? Because it's obvious and unusual and they clearly know better. It's just human nature.

This is relevant to the Celtics-Lakers, kind of. The Celtics are the Eastern Conference tough-guy team. In the Finals, that's their role. The Lakers are the finesse, flashy, keep-their-hands-to-themselves team from the West. That's their role.

Is it even possible to expect the officials to ignore this, or somehow hold themselves above it? It's a version of the same principle that allowed Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux to use their pinpoint control to convince the umpires to expand the width of the plate.''

To read the whole story, click here:

I went out to both the Lakers and Celtics practice this afternoon and found both teams in a very good mood. Yes, even the Lakers. There were two ways the guys could've been today: light and relaxed or serious and depressed. If you've known this team for any length of time, you're not all that surprised they'd be relaxed just two days after the worst collapse in NBA Finals history. There are a lot of easygoing personalities on the team --Odom, Walton, Fisher, Ariza, Radmanovic, Kurt Rambis, Phil Jackson -- and I just got this sense that the team had spent Friday licking its wounds and mourning the missed opportunity, and came back Saturday refreshed. Refreshed doesn't mean happy of course. No one seemed jolly or anything. But if you think about it, the pressure is kind of off the Lakers now. What's done is done.

Anyway, here's a quick update on the Celtics that I just filed:

Celtics notes

By Ramona Shelburne
Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO - Celtics center Kendrick Perkins did not practice Saturday but said that he expects to play in today's Game 5 of the NBA Finals even though his injured left shoulder is still ``very sore.''

Perkins told reporters that there is ``a strong possibility'' he'll play, and that he expects to be in the starting lineup tonight, as the Celtics have a chance to close out their first NBA Championship in 22 seasons.

"It's the Finals,'' said Perkins, who was injured after slamming into the Lakers Lamar Odom in the third quarter of Game 4. ``You've got to suck it up and go all out. I feel like I can go (Sunday night). The doctor feels the same way.''

Asked if he would play if this were a regular season game, Perkins said, ``This isn't a regular season game.''

It is the same shoulder Perkins had surgery on two years ago, and injured earlier in the year in a game against Minnesota.

The news was even more encouraging from second-year point guard Rajon Rondo, who has been hobbled by a bone bruise on his ankle. Rondo wasn't wearing the hard protective sleeve under his sock that he had been, and showed no signs of a limp.

``The rest has been good for my ankle, and our whole team, because a lot of guys are banged-up right now,'' Rondo said.

!bold!Surgery for Pierce?!off! A report on SI.com Saturday suggested that the Celtics fear that ``Pierce has at least partially torn his meniscus and that he may need surgery when the Finals are over.''

The first assertions of blame were written today, the most dangerous, if you will, came from Bill Plaschke, who put voice to some of the hesitant whispers around L.A. by writing that the fall guy for the Lakers loss might actually be the Zen Master himself.

What do you think?

For either team...

The Celtics decision was easy to explain. First of all, they won last night and lead the series 3-1 so they've obviously been doing a lot right. Second, half the team is hurt.

But here's what Phil Jackson had to say about why he cancelled Lakers practice today:

``You know, just in the checking out how the guys were and how they felt, I just felt it was a good idea. We have to two days to work on things we need to work on. We have guys that are well-conditioned at this time, and we need rest and recuperation in this situation, probably more psychologically than we do physically.

``These young men are really resilient. That's one of the things I think I mentioned last night. I don't think there's any doubt that if we had to play this morning, we probably wouldn't feel that great about playing this morning, but fortunately we're not playing until Sunday, and we'll be back ready to go on Sunday.

``I just told them as a team, they had their heart ripped out. It's tough to recover from that, but they will. This thing is not over, and we want to force the action, want to continue to force the play.''

Also, if you're still looking for answers, or commiseration, head over to Kevin Modesti's blog and sound off in his look back on Game 4

Feel free to sound off:

Here's the story I just wrote on Thursday's Game 4 collapse, and how exactly the Lakers will be trying to regroup and get ready for Sunday's Game 5.

By Ramona Shelburne
Staff Writer

Wow.

Just, Wow.

What exactly happened inside Staples Center Thursday night?

How exactly did the Lakers go from being in it, really in it, tied up with the Celtics 2-2 in this best-of-7 series with a chance to take a 3-2 lead on their home court on Sunday, to ... um...Wow...

An hour had passed before Kobe Bryant offered his public thoughts on the Lakers epic collapse in Game 4 of the NBA Finals and all he could come up with was an invitation to drink ... as if Lakers fans all around the Southland hadn't already gone there.

``A lot of wine, a lot of beer, a couple of shots, maybe like 20 of them,'' Bryant said. ``Digest it, then get back to work tomorrow.''

But how exactly do you do that?

Put the biggest collapse in Finals history -at least as far back as there are records for that sort of thing - behind you, watch the film, get back to practice and give it a go again on Sunday like nothing happened?

This isn't the regular season. This isn't Game 1 or Game 2, or even Game 3. This was Game 4, the game where the home team gets to make it a series or starts making plans for summer vacation. The Lakers had it. It was going to be a series, and then, just...Wow.

``Right now, I think it's normal for everybody to be a little disappointed, a little pissed off,'' Bryant said. ``It's human nature. But tomorrow, you've got to get back to work tomorrow.''

DAVID STERN: Good evening. I'm sorry to interfere with your pregame preparations, but we had received so many media requests for responses from me that I thought it was best to do it here and allow as many questions as possible, given the time constraints.
I just want to say that as part of the investigation by the independent investigator, Larry Pedowitz, that every NBA official has been interviewed and asked the question whether they have made any calls other than on the merits of the calls, and that investigation with respect to all of our officials has been completed, although the report itself is not ready to be issued because it was always contemplated that it would be done after Mr. Donaghy was sentenced and against the hope that the request made several months ago from Mr. Donaghy's lawyer that he meet with Mr. Pedowitz would be responded to in a positive way, and that has been denied.
Second of all, I, in light of that, and the interviews of our officials, and really on behalf of our officials, didn't think it was fair for them to have to respond or anyone to have to respond for them against the allegations by an admitted felon that somehow all or a large swath of NBA officials had engaged in illegal conduct. But I would just say, in light of the media coverage here, we will go back and prospectively ask the questions of officials in effect again with respect of specific acts, even though they've all been interviewed, so that I could sit here in front of you, really on behalf of our officials, who don't engage with you on a regular basis, to say no, no, a thousand times no, and I don't know how else to give them, I think, the protection to which they're entitled.
This is a subject that I've been quite interested in for years. It's the subject of officiating. It's something that we decided five years ago that we would track literally every call in order to help develop our officials and make them better, and they really effectively are the most measured and metricized group of employees in the world.
That said, they get about 90 percent or so of the calls correct. Given the size of the players, the speed of the game, the position they find themselves, and as a result, there are always games, some of which are refereed, quote, better, with a higher percentage of correct calls than others. But that's the extent of it.
I think that's all I have to say, other than that I find it to be less than fair that our officials now have to defend themselves from allegations by one of their fallen brethren. But that seems to be what the media is demanding of me on their behalf, and I think that their attempt to do the best officiating job in the world under the most difficult circumstances, in an arena setting where the cameras are as close as they possibly could be to any action requires no less. I'm happy to answer any of your questions.

Q. Could I ask you a two-part question? First of all, are you saying that most of the attention has been focused on this allegation in Game 6 in the 2002 playoffs between the Lakers and Kings? Are you saying that his allegations in regard to that game, it's impossible for his allegations to be correct? And secondly, looking back, notwithstanding the fact that it's very difficult for referees to do a game, I think we all know that, was that a well-refereed match?
DAVID STERN: My memory recalls that that was not one of the best refereed games, so that's the second part.
What's the first part?

Q. The first part is are you saying it's impossible? I know you talked about him being a felon, and obviously we all know he's a felon. Are you saying that it's impossible that his allegations regarding that game are correct?
DAVID STERN: I'm saying I don't know how -- I don't want to argue with you on possible or impossible. I'm saying to you that the allegations about that are incorrect, are not true. I don't want to even fudge words, okay; they're not true.

Q. In light of the revelation by a former referee that Dick Bavetta that has been raised by federal investigators in their inquiries, do you have any concerns about Mr. Bavetta or anyone else?
DAVID STERN: I think I should explain that although the FBI and the U.S. Attorney never shared with us what Mr. Donaghy said to them, you know, the letter, the specifics were laid out in that letter. We had some idea about what was happening because we made available and they went out and sought interviews with many officials, present and former, who informed us of those interviews. So we knew that something had been said by Mr. Donaghy and that the FBI was investigating a variety of claims. That's what happens. Someone comes in, they make a variety of allegations as they seek to demonstrate their cooperativeness with respect to reducing a sentence, and then you identify people.
But guilt by association is not something that we engage in, and so we just allowed all those interviews to be done, and in fact, helped facilitate many interviews with both present officials for sure, but we knew about former officials, as well.

Just got this graphic from the NBA. Bench_Mod.pdf

Morning poll time:

Just wanted to call attention to the story Jill Painter wrote for today's paper. It's on A1, so if you jumped straight to the sports section and missed it, here's the link:

Outside of Curt Schilling, the personal blogs of pro athletes aren't usually all that compelling , but I gotta say, Rajon Rondo's got a pretty good one going over at Yardbarker. He updates regularly and gives a lot of inside info like:

If you were watching the game you know that I injured my ankle in the third quarter. It happened on a fast break and I rolled it. I think I may have stepped on someone's foot, but I still haven't seen the play. It's a different feeling than I've ever had. I've injured my ankle before but this one is unlike the others. The pain is on the inside of my foot. All the other ankle sprains have been on the outside. I will be getting a lot of treatment tonight, tomorrow, Thursday to try to get it ready to go for game 4. I did try to go again in the fourth quarter, but I really couldn't make any hard cuts. No one is 100% at this point, but I was probably 50%. Coach made the right decision taking me out because I didn't have my quickness. E House did a great job filling in. When his name was called he was ready to play and that's big for us.

There's no question this one is disappointing. We feel like we had a chance to really put them away and go up 3-0. Paul never had a chance to get in a rhythm because of foul trouble and we just struggled on offense. Even though we played very bad we still had a chance in the end. We just didn't get the stops down the stretch when we needed it. They were very aggressive tonight similar to the way we were in game 2. But in the end we still had a chance but let it get away.

Heading back to the hotel and will keep working on my ankle. Lots of ice and I'll keep it elevated. I'll have more later. Until then I'll holla.

I caught up with NBA commissioner David Stern this afternoon at a great event at the Boys and Girls Club in Santa Monica. He was on hand, along with a lot of other NBA dignitaries, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Derek Fisher, Vlad Radmanovic, Bill Sharman and Bill Lanier to present a new reading and learning center to the Boys and Girls club over on Lincoln and Wilshire.

These are some of the best things the NBA does, and you could tell the kids there were already making great use of their new digs. If you're in the area, it's worth a look.

But controversy waits for no good deed. And Stern has had to field questions every where he goes these days about the salacious allegations of game-fixing leveled by ex-referee Tim Donaghy yesterday.

Here's the latest:

``Obviously our guys have a very hard job. There are always fans who are upset on any particular call, and feel that it's incorrect. And online polls (about whether the public believes Donaghy) are fascinating, but the people who are participating are the ones who have the largest beefs, so it's not a great indication (about fans skepticism). But we have to do a better job of letting our fans know of how much our officials do, how it's metricizded and judged, how viewed and rated they really are.

``We just need to get it out there what a good job is done to make sure our officials are the best in the world. There's an observer at every game and he watches every play, then he goes hom and he reviews the video and then there are supervisors who view that, the referees themselves view the games, and then at the end of the season the coaches and general managers and the league officiating staff rates and ranks the referees. They're clearly the most rated and ranked group of employees in terms of their performance in all of sports. But each time an allegation is made, the media forgets what they learned last time and we have to start the education program again.

All of that said, we've added instant replay to help them out at games' end or when the period ends, maybe we consider other extensions of that. But most of the time, 90-91 percent of the time, our referees get it right. That's a fact.''

Bill Walton said, on his first national conference call since a severe back injury, that his MVP vote enthusiastically went to Boston's Kevin Garnett.

``He's one of the greatest players ever to play the game,'' Walton said.

Who knows if it means anything, but Ira Newble is active for tonight's game, while DJ Mbenga is in street clothes.

Newble is known as a defensive stopper. He hasn't played much since signing in the middle of the season, but if the tenor of tonight's game calls for it, he's available.

I got a lot of good feedback from you guys on this the last time I posted a link to Kevin Modesti's blog, so I thought I'd throw it out there again.

Basically, if you were the sports writer, in Boston, covering the game, what did you think was the most important thing that happened in Sunday's Game 2?

Click here to vote and sound-off

Los Angeles Lakers' Guard Jordan Farmar is holding an online charity raffle for two premium tickets for Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Proceeds
will benefit the newly established Jordan Farmar Foundation at The
Giving Back Fund. The online raffle will take place at
www.netraffle.org with raffle ticket prices starting at just $2.00
each and decreasing in price for orders of more than five tickets
(minimum purchase of 5 tickets).

In addition to the lower level Center Court tickets to Game 4 of the
NBA Finals, the winner will experience the LA Lakers pre-game warm
up, meet with Jordan Farmar in the Staples Center's Chairman's
Lounge following the game, and have dinner with Jordan Farmar at
the conclusion of the season.

The Jordan Farmar Foundation's initial focus is on building
playgrounds in Southern California and providing once-in-a-lifetime
experiences for children in collaboration with Mattel Children's
Hospital UCLA. Proceeds from the raffle will also benefit
the Special Olympics, the Metropolitan YMCA, and other charities
serving children.

Tickets can only be purchased online at www.netraffle.org.

A league spokesperson said today that ``no action'' will be taken against Lakers coach Phil Jackson for the critical comments he made about the refereeing in Sunday's Game 2

Just caught this on the Associated Press wire and thought you all might get a kick out of it:

LAS VEGAS - Lakers owner Jerry Buss entered a $10,000 7-card stud tournament in Las Vegas on Saturday, the day before his team played the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the NBA finals.

The three-day tournament was part of the World Series of Poker being played at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. Buss was eliminated on the first day.

Buss, known to be an avid poker player who enters tournaments and plays high stakes cash games, won about $33,000 to finish third in a 7-card stud tournament at the 1991 World Series of Poker.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson was, understandably quite upset about the 38-10 free throw disparity in this game.

``I think my players got fouled,'' Jackson said. ``I have no question about the fact my players got fouled, but didn't get to the line. I don't want to get into dispute with those situations. It's the illusion that's created. The referees referee and illusion. Our guys look like maybe the ball was partially stripped when they were getting raked.''

By Ramona Shelburne
Staff Writer

BOSTON - Of all names, all the chants, all the songs that could've echoed from the rafters of this new Boston Garden during the NBA Finals -- ``Beat L.A.,'' ``Sweet Caroline,'' maybe even a stray ``MVP'' chant for Kevin Garnett or Paul Pierce - there are only a few more unlikely than the one that took hold of the sellout, deliriously happy crowd here midway through the fourth quarter.

L-E-O-N, P-O-W-E, L-E-O-N, P-O-W-E.

That's right, Leon Powe. Better known in most parts of the country as that guy who played at Cal a few years ago.

Since he's come to the NBA, Powe's spent the majority of his time as a third or fourth big man off the bench, getting his name into the scorebook every night, but rarely for more than just a passing mention.

But on Sunday night in Game 2 of these NBA Finals, there was Powe, at the free throw line, soaking it all in as 18,624 fans stood on their feet, chanting his name in surprised glee.

``That was unbelievable,'' said his guardian, Bernard Ward, who was sitting about 25 rows up from the court Sunday night. ``I never, in a million years would've thought that would happen. But that's what all the hard work he's put in did. He always stayed ready, always prepared, so he could do it if they needed him.''

Powe had the game of his young NBA career Sunday, scoring 21 points in just over 14 minutes of action. He made six of the seven shots he took, and nine of the 13 free throws he shot.

He was aggressive, he was effective, he was ...

``Terrific,'' Boston coach Doc River said. ``We had to go to Leon to establish a post game. And we made a concerted effort to get him the ball in the post ... and he responded.''

Powe, who stands just 6-foot-8, had averaged just 4.6 points a game in 12.6 minutes a game in the playoffs this season. In Game 1 here Thursday night, he played just nine minutes and scored four points.

Sunday was an entirely different story. ABC aired a moving, emotional feature on his hard-luck upbringing on the streets of Oakland during halftime. Powe was homeless for several years after his families' house burned down, then taken from his mother and placed into foster care in middle school. Ward became his guardian in the sixth grade and the two have remained close ever since.

The story was filmed two months ago, but Ward said ABC told him it was so good, they wanted to save it for the Finals. That they picked halftime of Game 2 to show it is either incredibly fortuitous, or an incredible twist of fate.

Sunday, Ward sat next to DeVon Hardin, Powe's former teammate at Cal who was in town for his own workout with the Celtics this weekend. Neither could believe their eyes.

``With Leon, it's not about size, it's about heart,'' Hardin said. ``He's the toughest player out there on the court. He's shown glimpses of what he could do before, just glimpses. But tonight, wow, he was unbelievable.''

Doc Rivers said just moments ago that he ``was not concerned about Paul (PIerce)'' but that he didn't know what he was going to get from Kendrick Perkins (ankle), who has had trouble sliding and changing directions.

For the first time during the playoffs, the Lakers are trailing in a series. They've had two days to make adjustments, two days to let that reality sink in, and more importantly, deal with it.

``I think there's a sense of urgency,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. ``Less time to allow a player to adjust''

As for the adjustments the Lakers will make, look for changes in the way the Lakers rebound and attack Boston's defense.

``We just tell your player that you have to adjust to the fact that they're going ot come and meet you in the lane,'' Jackson said. `` They're going to be a hard jam and you have to brace yourself for that. We were pretty good against Utah, and obviously Utah came very hard.

It's a team taht does go over the backs and rebounds. We got a lot of foul calls in that series, also, on Boozer and other guys coming over the backs. But this doesn't look like theyr'e going to get the calls to we're going to have to brace and do a little better job.''

A record 280 international media members from 35 countries and territories are on-site covering the 2008 NBA Finals in Los Angeles and Boston.

The Finals will be televised to 205 countries and territories in 46 languages. In 1987, the last time the Lakers and Celtics met in The Finals, the games were televised to only 28 countries and territories.

A record 27 media members from Spain will be on hand to watch Los Angeles Lakers star Pau Gasol (Spain) play in his first Finals.

This always makes for some fun questions at the podium. On Wednesday, a Brazilian reporter was asking every player who his favorite soccer player was. Kevin Garnett, who is actually a very big soccer fan and a regular at Galaxy games during the offseason, said that he follows Chelsea very closely. Later, the same reporter asked Paul Pierce about soccer.

``I got into soccer because of Kevin,'' Pierce said. ``Before I wasn't too much into soccer. ...We had a chance to meet some of the players when we went over to London.''

Then the reporter got a little more in depth.

``A Brazilian player, is there one you appreciate?'' he asked.

Pierce smiled and said, ``I really don't know. Names, I'm still learning. Come on, this is the Finals man.''

A couple minutes later, an Italian reporter at a lot more luck with Kobe Bryant. He asked him a question in Italian, which Bryant, having grown up on Italy completely understood, and then gave him what I assumed was a rather interesting answer.

I have no idea what he said. In my three trips to Italy, I've been able to pick up the basics, like how to order food and ask for directions, but Bryant was fluent, and speaking rather quickly, so our Italian readers will have to translate :) Anyone?

I wrote a story today about Boston's Kevin Garnett, who is one of the most intense, passionate players you'll ever see.

Boston coach Doc Rivers said that ``it's hard to get in there,'' others called KG's focus almost scary. His former high school teammate, Ronnie Fields, said whatever KG says during the game to get himself going is nothing compared to what KG used to say during his sleep.

``We stayed together when we were back in Chicago,'' Fields said. ``And he was always talking, always talking. That's why he and Sam Cassell get along so well. He even talks in his sleep.''

There have been some pretty high-profile people who have questioned the severity of Paul Pierce's knee injury in the third quarter of Game 1 last night.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson seemed a bit blase about it again today, saying:

``Well, if I'm not mistaken, I think Willis Reed missed a whole half and three quarters almost of a game and literally had to have a shot, a horse shot, three or four of them in his thigh to come back out and play. Paul got carried off and was back on his feet in a minute. I don't know if the angels visited him at halftime or in that time-out period that he had or not, but he didn't even limp when he came back out on the floor. I don't know what was going on there. Was Oral Roberts back there in their locker room?
But he certainly carried some energy back on the floor for them. ''

So what do you think?

Boston coach Doc Rivers just addressed the status of guard Paul Pierce, who suffered a sprained right knee in last night's game.

``Well, he didn't have to tell me a lot. I talked to him, though, and just watching him walk, you can see he's -- it's tender, it's still, it's swollen a little bit. You know, no structural damage, which is good news,'' Rivers said.

Asked what Pierce would be able to do today, Rivers said: ``We're not going to do anything anyway. We're going to watch film today and shoot free throws. I don't think he could play today, to be honest. But you know, he'll be ready by Sunday.''

Our sports editor, Kevin Modesti, runs an interesting blog on another part of our site, which looks at the world of sports from an editor's perspective. Last night, he asked readers how they would've covered last night's game if they were the sportswriter?

Was Kobe Bryant going 9 for 26 from the field the most important angle? Or was it Paul Pierce's Willis Reed imitation? Or, was it the fact the Lakers are now trailing for the first time this postseason?

If you have a chance, click over and vote, share your thoughts, rant...

With every flail of his legs, Kobe Bryant learned why the Boston Celtics have been the best defensive team of the playoffs.
Bryant attempted to assert himself throughout Thursday night's Game 1 of the NBA Finals, but at almost every turn, he encountered resistance from the in-your-face defending of the Celtics and frequently had to take low-percentage, off-balance shots.
As much of the Eastern Conference found out this season, that usually doesn't work out very well.
In a strong effort in front of a raucous home crowd, the Celtics hung tough for three quarters before their tough defense made the difference in the final period. The Celtics defeated the Lakers 98-88 at TD Banknorth Garden in Boston.
Bryant scored 24 points to lead the Lakers but made only nine of 26 shots from the field. Bryant also had six assists and the Lakers fared better when he served as a faciliator. Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol each added 15 points.
Garnett scored a game-high 24 points and added 13 rebounds and Paul Pierce scored 22 points despite a sprained right knee.
The Celtics led by four after three quarters and took control of the game for good three minutes into the fourth quarter. Sam Cassell hit a jumper and James Posey followed with a 3-pointer to give the Celtics their biggest lead of the game at 86-78.
The Lakers stayed close, and trailed by six in the final two minutes. But a potential defensive rebound went off the hands of Vladimir Radmanovic and out of bounds. Kevin Garnett slammed home a putback to give the Celtics a 94-86 lead and Boston held on.
After a 21-year hiatus, the Lakers and Celtics resumed their high-profile rivalry on the NBA's biggest stage. A well-played game, on both ends, came down to the Celtics' ability to play energetic defense and outrebound the Lakers.
Through three quarters, the Lakers fared surprisingly well against Boston's stifling defense, but they scored only 15 points in the fourth quarter. Boston outscored the Lakers 52-36 in the second half and outrebounded them 46-33 for the game.
Things looked gloomy for the Celtics with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter, when Pierce and Kendrick Perkins collided and Pierce went down clutching his right knee, seemingly in significant pain.
Pierce had to be helped off the court by teammates and put in a wheelchair in the hallway. The Lakers led 62-58 at that point, and less than a minute later, Perkins left the game after apparently injuring his left ankle.
But the Lakers couldn't take advantage. They settled for a couple off-balance jumpers from Bryant and the crowd erupted when Pierce bounced back onto the court, only about five minutes after he had to be helped off.
Television reports indicated Pierce had a sprained right knee, but he returned to the game with a sleeve on the knee.
From the time of Pierce's injury, the Celtics went on a 10-2 run and took a 68-64 lead.
The Lakers scored the next five points to take a 69-68 lead, but consecutive 3-pointers from Pierce helped the Celtics to a 75-71 lead. An exchange of free throws led to a 77-73 lead for the Celtics going into the final period.
The Lakers held a 51-46 lead at the end of a close first half in which neither team led by more than seven points.
Fisher led all Lakers scorers at halftime with 13 points and Gasol had 12 points.
Garnett, who finished third to Bryant in MVP voting, led all first-half scorers with 16 points. The Lakers shot 50 percent from the field against Boston, which had been the top defensive team in the playoffs.
The Celtics held a 40-35 lead halfway through the second quarter, but that's when things started to unravel for them. Pierce picked up his third foul and was forced to the bench as the Lakers went on a 14-4 run.
Good ball movement fueled the Lakers' run, as they had 14 assists on 19 first-half field goals. The Lakers took a 41-40 lead on two Fisher free throws with 4:17 remaining and led by as many as five points in the second quarter.
Fisher's jumper with 47 seconds remaining gave the Lakers a 51-46 halftime lead.

In the first quarter, the game was tied 14-14 with four minutes remaining when the Celtics went on a seven-point run, highlighted by a Ray Allen 3-pointer.
The Lakers answered quickly. Jordan Farmar hit a runner and Sasha Vujacic hit a 3-pointer and then Bryant made his second basket (in eight attempts) to tie the game 21-21.
A hook shot by P.J. Brown in the final 30 seconds put the Celtics up 23-21 after one quarter.

If someone would've told you Kobe Bryant would be 3-for-10 from the field in the first half, you'd have been worried right? Well he is, and the Lakers are still leading thanks in large part to a solid first half from Derek Fisher (13 points).

At the end of one, Boston has a small lead but the teams have pretty much been warming up in this first quarter. KG started off hot, hitting 4 of his first 6 shots, but just blew an alley oop. Kobe Bryant started poorly too, shooting just 2 for 8 in the quarter as the Celtics tried to force him into taking midrange and fall-away jumpers.

Boston swingman Tony Allen is active for tonight's game, but it doesn't look like he's going to play much, unless Kobe Bryant starts going off.

``If we need him, you'll know because that means Kobe is playing extremely well,'' Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

I've been re-reading Magic Johnson's autobiography, My Life, written with Wiliam Novak, this week, particularly in regard to the Celtics. Here's another great section about the 1984 Finals:

`` Game 5 was back in Boston. When we came in, the city was in the in the middle of a terrible heat wave. That shouldn't have been a problem, except that the Garden was built back in 1928, before air-conditioning. I'm pretty sure at game time, the temperature outside was 97 degrees. Inside it was hotter. Their crowd showed up in t-shirts and shorts.

The Celtics have always been known for harassing their opponents off the court. And sometimes their fans help them out. They'd come into our hotel at night, knocking on doors, setting off fire alarms, making it difficult to get any sleep.

But this was the first time in history that the Celtics had been able to monkey around with the weather. Everybody knew that Red Auerbach had ordered up this heat wave. But to this day, nobody has ever figured out who we did it.

The heat was particularly hard on Kareem, who had to use an oxygen mask on the benh. When a reporter asked him to describe how it felt, Kareem put it beautifully, `I suggest that you go to a local steam bath, do a hundred push-ups with all your clothes on, then try to run back and forth for forty-eight minutes.' ''

Kobe Bryant was asked yesterday whether a player needed to win a championship in order to be considered great. It's a question that has come up, and will come up, a lot this week regarding Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.

``It depends on which club you're talking about,'' Bryant said. ``Are you talking about the Jordan-Magic clube? If you want to get in that club, then you have to win. The other club you don't have to win. The other club you don't have to win. Depends on what club you want to get into, the 2 and over or the 18 and under.''

Earlier we looked at how the starting 5s matched-up with each other. But in this series, I actually think other things -bench play, intangibles and coaching-- could determine the outcome.

BENCH
This is really the area where the Lakers could win the series. Their bench is young, athletic and has the potential to explode at any time. In two of the comeback games against San Antonio, it was actually the Lakers bench that helped spark the rally. The Celtics bench is old. Experienced, but old. James Posey can be productive, especially defensively, and Glen Davis can score on the low block. But Sam Cassell and P.J. Brown are well past their prime. If Boston puts its second unit out there for an extended period, the Lakers will turn their young guns loose.

Advantage: Lakers

COACH

Doc Rivers is well-liked, intense and respected around the league. He's done a fantastic job molding the Big Three of Garnett, Allen and Pierce into a championship caliber team. But forget about that debacle against the Pistons in 2004, Phil Jackson still owns the Finals. No one understands this time of year better than the Zenmaster. And yes, he's competitive and would like nothing better than to pass Red Auerbach's all-time championships record against the Celtics.

Advantage: Lakers

INTANGIBLES
The Celtics dominated the league early on and earned the home court advantage for this series. That could prove pivotal in this 2-3-2 format, especially if the Lakers can't win one of the first two in Boston. But after opening the season 26-3 (.896), Boston slowed down a bit, going 40-13 (.755) down the stretch. Flip that script for the Lakers, who were 30-16 (.652) when Pau Gasol joined the team on February 3, and 23-5 (.821) in the 28 of the final 36 games that Gasol was in the Lakers lineup for. In the playoffs, the Celtics have taken seven, seven and six games to dispatch of their opponents, while the Lakers have gone four, six and five games to beat their three opponents.

Advantage: Even

I've gone through and done a bunch of the analysis on the potential match-ups in this series and who seems to have the edge at each position.

Here's a look at the starting 5:

POINT GUARD
Derek Fisher vs. Rajon Rondo
Rondo is really growing into his role and seems to have a bright future ahead of him. In the playoffs, he's averaged 10.5 points and 6.6 assists. But he's struggled with his shot at times, particularly from behind the 3-point arc, where he's made just 29 percent of his shots. In the final three games of the conference finals, he made just 10 of 35 shots from the field. Look for Fisher, the cagey veteran who has done enough against the elite point guard in the Western Conference to keep the Lakers in it, to focus on stopping Rondo's penetration and force him to shoot from the outside.

Advantage: Lakers

SHOOTING GUARD
Kobe Bryant vs. Ray Allen

This should be one of the most entertaining head-to-head match-ups of the series. Flat out, these guys don't like each other. Allen is the kind of shooter who can get hot quickly and affect a game. But he doesn't penetrate much, so Bryant will be able to play up close to him. Allen is known more for his shooting, than his defense, but is by no means a poor defender. Look for him to check Bryant as long as he can and try to funnel him inside, where Kevin Garnett can slide over and help. That's a good plan, but Bryant has been shredding just about every team's best-laid plans this season, and especially so during the playoffs.

Advantage: Lakers

Just wanted to give a little plug to a fabulous little article in today's paper you might miss amid all the Lakers coverage.

I've been having fun this trip re-reading Magic Johnson's autobiography, specifically the parts about the Lakers battles with the Celtics in the 1980s. I'll share a few excerpts over the next few blog posts:

``The first time I ever saw the Boston Garden, I was shocked at how old and dirty it was. And the visitors' locker room was so small that you could barely get the whole team in there, let along our equipment. There were only two working showers. I was a rookie, and I remember thinking that every single arena where Michigan State had played was better facilities than this dump.

``But when we got out on the floor that night, it was clear that Boston Garden was a great arena for basketball. The lighting was perfect, and the backdrop behind the basket nice and dark. It was a shooters' court, and I could see why Larry was lighting up the place.

``The fans were terrific. Boston and New York crowds were the most knowledgeable in the league. The really appreciated good plays --even from the visiting team. We had to earn their respect, but when we did, they were incredibly generous.''

After a lovely Tuesday here in Boston, the skies have opened up, greeting the Lakers with a dreary, rainy day. Inside this new Garden though, everyone seemed to be a good mood still.

Phil Jackson has been asked numerous times already how much the first two games with Boston (both double-digit losses) matter in respect to the NBA Finals, but he saved his best answer, by far, for today's media session:

``I think we had Thanksgiving Thursday here and played on Friday. We were full of turkey. It showed in our game. We weren't very competitive that night.''

As for the second game, on Dec. 30, Jackson said, ``That was much more reflective of the team. However we wore those short shorts that night and lost our attitude early in the game... I think the guys got a little tight.''

...But wow, Paul Pierce didn't sugarcoat his previous dislike for Danny Ainge. Pierce grew up in Inglewood, in the shadow of the Great Western Forum, so he was a huge Lakers fan:

``You always wanted to stop Bird, it was like, `Man, don't let him even catch it. But everybody hated Danny. He was that one guy everyone hated. You can ask anybody, Danny was that one guy you couldn't stand. You could live with Bird, you could live with Parrish, but everybody hated Danny.

``I wouldn't put Vujacic on Danny's level. He was this feisty guy, always wanted to pick a fight or something, diving at your legs, always coming up with a cheap shot.''

You like him now though, right?

``Yeah, that was 20 years ago. It's just memories.''

Those are just memories, but that's what you think of.

WALTHAM, Mass -- Celtics guard Tony Allen was able to practice Tuesday, just one day after Boston coach Doc Rivers said he was doubtful for the NBA Finals due to a strained Achilles.

Allen, who has been effective defensively against Kobe Bryant in the past, wouldn't say whether he'd play in the series, but seemed to indicate that decision will be made by Rivers, not himself.

``I felt pretty good practicing today. The MRI came back and there aint nothing wrong with it, just a strain. I got the treatment I needed and I practiced today,'' Allen said. `` I had a couple good moves today in practice, hopefully that'll win 'em over, but we'll see how it goes.''

Asked whether he thought he could play at all, during the series, Allen said, `` It's all up to coach, I got no control over that.''

Just arrived here in Boston late tonight and thought I'd turn on the local news to see just how high the Celtics are ranking on the news ladder here. On a normal night, I'm guessing they'd be leading the show, but with Senator Kennedy's brain surgery, and David Ortiz' wrist injury (he'll miss a month), the boys in green were relegated to third fiddle status. Still, the local Fox affiliate was promoting its online Celtics hub, which has a really extensive history primer on the rivalry.

It's worth checking out as it has box scores from every game the teams have ever played.