FanNation - The Republic of Sport

1.         How good was Paul Pierce yesterday afternoon?  P-square just put the Boston franchise on his back and had a game for the ages in a wonderfully played Game 7 against Cleveland.  This was the best Celtics clutch performance since Larry Legend roamed the parquet floor.  I suppose this puts to rest the debate on whom the man is in crunch time for the Celtics.  With that said, I would still like to see Kevin Garnett assert himself more in key spots.                                                                                                                          

 

2.         With that said, am I the only person who saw Ray Allen seemingly age 10 years in this series?  The sweet-stroking Celtics shooting guard was abysmal in this series and his inability to knock down open shots almost got his team beat.  Maybe he can get it back in the Detroit series, but Detroit is a great defensive team and Allen will have to find his stroke for Boston to advance.

3.         LeBron James may be the most talented (not best....two different things) player to ever play in the NBA, but you get the feeling that Danny Ferry and Cavaliers management are going to waste his prime years by saddling LBJ with inferior running mates.  Cleveland did try to shake things up at the trade deadline, but their supporting cast still was not good enough.  The issue now is that these moves made your team much older, and Joe Smith, Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas will all be a year older.  

4.         Switching to hockey, are the Pittsburgh Penguins a machine or what.  And with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Marc-Andre Fleury all barely shaving.....this franchise could be set up for a run similar to the run that Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and Grant Fuhr had in the 1980's in Edmonton.  And I am so pleased that a smaller-market American team is having this type of success. Hopefully, the snobby Canadian hockey purists are taking note of this.

5.         Are the NFL owners serious about inflicting the potential of labor strife by opting out of the collective bargaining agreement?  This is an example of greed by rich old men trying to squeeze out a few more dollars.  Why you would want to upset harmony and equity is beyond me.  And if your favorite team is a small-market franchise like mine, the idea of an uncapped 2010 and no NFL draft should scare the heck out of you.

Looking on to tonight's Spurs-Hornets Game 7.  The basketball gods can't let another Robert "Cheapshot" Horry incident negatively affect the outcome of another series, can they?  Let's face it, I try to be impartial on this blog, but everybody (including myself) outside of South Texas wants New Orleans to win for a myriad of reasons.  Horry's borderline play that injured David West could, however, be extremely detrimental to the Hornets chances in this game. New Orleans is going to need big games from Chris Paul and Peja Stojakovic to pull this one out.  But you have to admit, as much as most loathe this San Antonio team, you get the feeling that Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili will do something to pull it out.......San Antonio 97 New Orleans 93......and I hope I am wrong.