Any thoughts on Lakers/Celtics Christmas Day? It's hard to imagine the Lakers beating the Celtics. The Lakers seem soft; talented but soft. They win, but they don't alway look good in doing so. Sure, it's all about winning, but playing the Celtics is different than playing the Memphis Grizzlies. The Celtics will come in with attitude, and deservedly so. If the Lakers are to have a chance, I think the difference will be Trevor Ariza. He can give an opposing team fits both offensively and defensively and is difficult to match up with. The Lakers need this one if they want to avoid an inferiority complex with the Celtics if and when they play in the Finals.
December 2008 Archives
This is a tough one to call. Poly isn't blowing teams out. They start slow, come on strong. Grant is hard to figure. They're undefeated but who have they beaten? They run and play defense like Poly. That tells me it'll be low-scoring. But something in the back of my head is telling me Poly has been saving its best for last. Got to do this... Poly big ... 30-13, Poly.
Just wondering... Out there in Polywood, is there any kind of let down that you guys are not playing Concord De La Salle?
Frank Burlison in his Burlison's World blog predicts a 17-14 Poly victory in Saturday's Pac-5 title game. I concur that Poly will win, but I disagree with Frank that the final score will be similar to Poly's other playoff games. In Poly's wins over Bishop Amat, Esperanza and Lakewood, Poly fell behind early and had to rally. It seemed Poly tried to establish a passing game early to keep the opposing defenses honest and not stack up against the run. Problem was, the passing game is suspect and Poly fell behind before going to their bread and butter -- run the ball down the opponents' throats. I think coach Raul Lara learned his lesson and will go back to doing what Poly does best. Run the football with Melvin Richardson and Daveon Barner. Dare the defense to stop you. Tesoro is big, but Poly is fast and athletic and that will win out. Final: Poly 27, Tesoro 14.
That's not The Shadow talking, that's what Maxpreps.com says. Poly had been No. 1 in the state, accoring to the penultimate high school sports Web site. But now, the Web site has moved Tesoro ahead of Poly to No. 1. How does a No. 1 team who remains undefeated fall in the rankings? What does Maxpreps.com know that we don't know?
Poly or Tesoro? Tesoro or Poly? What do we got here? Who are these guys from the OC? Undefeated? What are we looking at here? Any guesses? Let's do this...
Lakewood had a 10-0 lead in the first half, but Poly rallied late. It was 10-10 miday through the fourth quarter and Lakewood had the ball around its own 40, but the Poly defense came up with a big interception, and turned it into a field goal. Another pick that Poly turned into a Melvin Richardson touchdown, and that was it. Props to Poly. Again.
As noted by a reader, I mentioned Poly goes into its game Friday against Lakewood "limping" a bit. I meant that literally, not figuratively. In other words, they are not limping because they won their two playoff games by close scores. They are limping because they had a few injuries to key players who were not able to play against Esperanza. Don't know how those players are doing, and we won't know until the game starts, because coach Lara likes to keep that info close to the vest. Doesn't want his opponent to know where there might be a weakness.
I've pumped up Poly all year long, but this week I'm going with the underdog. Poly has looked human the past two weeks, winning close games against Bishop Amat and Esperanza. Last Friday, Lakewood dominated a very good Mission Viejo squad. Lakewood is hot right now and Poly seems to be limping a bit now. Defenses will dominate this game. Final: Lakewood 13, Poly 10.
