On Top of the World

I'll admit it. I hate taking pictures. Taking family photos are painful for me. But this is one photo I wouldn't mind being in. What a night! I don't know who's sitting being Tommy Heinson in the front, but he looks annoyed. Welcome to my ESPN Writer blog. I realized when I created my last blog that I have a lot of opinions, but more often than not they have to do with sports.



Let me first say that Garnett played like a champion last night. He wanted it. Pierce wanted it. Allen wanted it. This photo captures Garnett on the floor after Odom hacked him while he made on of the greatest clanger shots I have ever seen. He drove down the lane hung in the air, pump faked, hung some more, and then as his feet were touching the ground, he banked it in. (reminiscent of Larry Bird's shot (fast forward to 7:30)). I never thought it was going in. If anything I thought it was going to break the glass on the backboard. I screamed louder than a fat guy in a bathtub full of bacon when it did. But it had to go in. Because as Marc Jackson and Mike Breen kept drilling in our heads, it was June 17th, the Celtics were going for their 17th Championship, and John Havlicek wore #17 and he was in the stands. Not to mention that Paul Pierce, the Finals MVP finished with 17 points. Luck of the Irish.


The truth is, I fell in love with Paul Pierce in these playoffs. He is a gamer. I cried in Game 1 when he went down grasping his knee. Without him, the series was over. It would be like Kings of Queens trying to win an Emmy without Doug Heffernen. Not happening. End of discussion. The fact a freaking elephant in Kendrick Perkins landed on him didn't exactly give me any hope he would be okay. But when I saw him come out of that tunnel, it was like I had seen my wife for the first time, I just knew. (that they would win) Pierce did what Kobe couldn't. He took over the game when he had to, and was the floor general who hooked up his teammates when they were open. (Although he did miss a wide open Ray Allen with about five minutes left that would have given Ray the record for 3's in a game--oh well, next year, right?)

Is that the sweetest stroke ever? It was last night. There was nothing funnier than watching Sasha Buggersnitz trying to weave his way through screen after screen to try and guard Allen. He was getting knocked around like a pin ball while Allen would catch, look for Vujacic and not see him, square his feet, call home to check on the family, and then drain three after three. It was pure. P-U-R-E, PURE. By the way, can we watch one game without a Ray Allen-Jesus Shuttleworth reference? I've never seen the movie.

After going up by 42, and nailing another 3 pointer, Ray Allen and Eddie House starting floating. That's what winning an NBA Championship feels like. (Either that or Ray Allen is doing his best Will Smith-Hancock impression)

Let me leave you with some final thoughts on Game 6 of the NBA Finals. -I actually felt bad for Kobe a little bit. But only when they were down by 40, he clanged 3-ball after 3-ball, and they put his picture on the jumbo-tron and all the fans mock cheered him--and he looked up and saw his face and was humiliated.
-Second best move of the night: Big Baby Davis going almost the length of the court and dunking with authority. A close third was the alley-oop to Tony Allen.
-Loved it when the fans booed David Stern.
-What was up with Pierce dumping Gatorade on Rivers? Doesn't he know there are thirsty children in Africa?
-Doc Rivers is not that good of a coach. When you hear him "WIRED" and he says the same things I would say to a team, (like, "Do you believe", "Fight, fight, fight", and "We are better than they are") you know he has no idea what he is doing. I think Flip Saunders, Mike D'Antoni, and Isiah Thomas (all who were fired this year) could have won with 3 future HOF's on their team.