What’s wrong with a Boston fan thinking that the Lakers are superior to the Celtics? Can’t a fan think his team will lose (even while wanting his team to win)? Drinking the Kool-Aid isn’t fun. Gotta face the facts.

What facts EarthBall? All those times the lakers dominated the celtics during the regular season? Bill Simmons doesnt use facts. G17 very well put, I got a lil chuckle out of it…I read it than thought “Yeah! Up yours Bill!”

Some one needs to ask Mr. Simmons who on the Lakers can guard
Rondo? Or KG? Or Pierce? I know that Kobe is borderline unstoppable but I don’t think Derek Fisher’s old legs can stay with Rondo. KG can jump over Gasol. There aren’t 3 guys in the league that can guard KG. And if Kobe is guarding Pierce, who stays with Ray Allen. As long as Bennett Salvatore isn’t reffing a close out game, the Cs look pretty good to me.
Ray Allen? I know the Lakers are the sexy pick right now but
at the risk of sounding like a homer, who beside Kobe is a good
defensive player on that team?

Personally, I was way angrier over his KG article. Though the latest LA article is harsh, I don’t think that saying LA has been the best team of this playoffs and is the favorite is worthy of annexation from Celtics fandom.

Yeah I’m done reading BSimmons for a while.

Good going , Green 17.I have not read Bill Simmons from shortly before he moved to ESPN. He gradually began to wear on me as the Boston Sportsguy. Simply, he is a very, very imaginative and innovative writer, who is drunk in power. How he loves himself. So much of what he says has for too long been written in stone.The fact is he has often been wrong. and like now in this article, s nauseatingly offbase. I hate him.

l feel bad for Simmons way to go down poor guy no parade ticket for him 8)

The BS Report is right. That’s all that guy writes these days. Thanks for calling him out, Green17. Couldn’t have said it better myself. I wish that jerk would stop trying to speak for Boston fans. He is LA through and through.

Bill Simmons is a cancer and absolute horror of a humanbeing. It has nothing to do with this article, but something like this is typical of his yellow, bush league “journalism.” What he does, in fact, is not even journalism; you can’t even call it editorializing.

He will be cut off from the Celtics organization, no doubt, very soon. The soon that they refuse to honor his press credentials and deny him seating at games or team activities, the better.

The Lakers, may win the series. They’re a tough team. Kobe is the best player in the world. However, they are a flawed team (they cannot defend anyone apart from whomever Kobe is guarding), the have not been tested in the playoffs thus far (as the C’s have), and as our friend above said, very courages of BS (appropriate initials) to wave the white flag before game one is even played.

dude, the only reason he wrote that article proclaiming the Lakers victory was because of the Superbowl. Remember when he wrote about the Pats victory and compared them to the 86 Celts? And then they lost? Of course this time he’s going to write about how they have no chance of winning and the Lakers have got it made. Reverse-jinx? Hello?

Honestly, he can write whatever negative crap he wants now that I think about it. I’m pretty sure the Celts have won all 3 games after his 3 columns killing them in some way.

The Lakers are a great team, but to say the Celts have no chance is ridiculous. Watching KG go down on the block last night, get tough points and take over was the most encouraging thing I’ve seen all year. If he goes down and does the dirty work against the Lakers, I love the Celts chances.

Yes! Thank you for this article. Even if you think the Lakers are going to win, just keep it to yourself. We haven’t been in this position for 21 years and God only knows when we will be back again, so savor every moment. This is the NBA Finals baby! And we have home court advantage, something the Lakers haven’t been up against this postseason. Also, neither team has ever trailed a series. It is going to be one hell of a ride, so let’s all just enjoy it. LET’S GO CEL-TICS!

I wasn’t really stating my view as much as commenting on the difference between a fan’s view and a national writer’s perspective. A fan will rarely admit that his team will lose unless it is clearly overmatched. A national writer needs to be more objective. I truly believe that the national writer’s (including BSG) think that the Lakers will win.

Sure there weren’t a lot of facts in the article, but what can you really say? We haven’t played the revamped Lakers. The Lakers more or less cruised through the western playoffs. We struggled a bit. Yeah, we’ve played 2 very good games in a row, but does that mean we will stop the Lakers? I don’t know…

      “Problem #2 is that his voice carries tremendous weight, and it reflects poorly on the rest of us to
      have him waving the white flag before game 1 even tips off.”

Is that his problem? Just because he is the face of Boston sports in the media does that force him to drink the Kool-Aid. Maybe he got a reality check by leaving the crazy Boston sports scene for a few years.

I do agree he was too negative, but he’s always been a drama queen so why stop now?

And for the record, right now, I think the Lakers will win in 6. I like their energy and coaching more. Sue me. Once they play game 1 and see how they matchup, I have every right to change my mind. Just because I want the Celtics to win doesn’t mean I will put my desires over my opinions.

You may be right about who wins Earthball, but to say “gotta face the facts” meaning, it is written in stone that the Lakers will win, is just as much drinking purple Koolaid as it would be green Koolaid to say it is a fact that the Celtics will win. There are no “facts” that clearly indicate either team will win, both stances are a matter of opinion, Simmons picking the Lakers doesn’t show he is “facing the facts”, at best, he thinks the Lakers are more talented, more likely, he just enjoys tweaking Celtics fans and creating attention to his column.

as a laker fan, I don’t trust Bill Simmons. I think it’s the ole reverse psychology trick. I’m not falling for it.

Reverse Jinx might work if it was one article, but Bill has taking the proverbial dump on this team for a minimum of 18 months and this was article #3 in 2 weeks taking shots at the team. In the words of Doc Holliday in Tombstone, “It appears my hypocrisy knows no bounds.” That’s Bill Simmons – the guy who called out guys like Peter May in one breath while spewing his own brand of negative uninformed drivel in the other. It’s too bad he won’t enjoy this ride, because it’s been a blast.

Simmons was a lot more interesting when he really WAS writing as a fan (in which case his articles should be delerious right now). Now, he’s trying to be just like every other analyst. Bill – your job ain’t to be an analyst, it’s to be a freakin’ fan!

er… “delirious”

I love how he says LA is in the drivers seat. Did i miss the first cuple of games? How can a team be in the drivers seat when they havn’t even played a single game yet?

I also find his “humor” not funny. It’s seems to me like he’s trying to be Rome clone. And as much as I hate Rome, he does have facts to back up some of his points.

I also didn’t know that the fans are on the court playing the game. The way he made it sound is we all get to play. I guess I’ll buy my ticket now and fly to boston. I wonder what my number will be. He must be a hindu and believe the ’energy" of the crowd will make the baskets fall. Thats the only way I can explain it.

In college they always told us to back up our facts when writing with. All I saw was “La is going to win becasue blah blah blah” What a clown >:(

On the front page on ESPN.com they have added links to three old columns where he took pride in the team and players. This had to have been added after seeing the response to his pro-Lakers column. I am disappointed in Simmons. You can’t have it both ways. It is obvious which side he has chosen. LaLaLand has gone to his head.

That might have been his worst article of all time. So let me get this straight – basically the Lakers are a lock to win because their fans didn’t bother to get loud when the Lakers were down 17 because they knew they would come back anyway. Am I reading that right? That is what he is basing his prediction on?

The best thing we can all do is to ignore him from now on, and have any of you looked at the ESPN experts picks for this Finals? Unanimously for the Lakers and only 1 (Chris Broussard) who says it will go 7 games.

Frauds.

I never really liked Simmons. He has been off-base about basketball since I can remember. He bashed Kenny Anderson only to watch him be a big part of our ECF run. That’s some old school sports fan screw up for you..

People always come back with – why can’t you be a fan and believe your team is going to lose? You can do that – like say last season. But when your team has the best regular season record and your team has the highest point differential and your team beat the Lakers in both game…its pretty amazing that any “fan” would dead certain they would lose.

No. That’s the work of a columnist not a fan. A fan is short for FANATIC. You have to have some belief in your team even against long odds. But the odds aren’t even LONG in this case..A fan doesn’t write negative article after article in our most joyous season in 21 years.

Truth is like most columnists his EGO overwhelmed his fanhood. He was more concerned about being right about Doc, PP, KG and the rest of the guys he bashed. He can’t ENJOY being a Celtic fan anymore IMHO. This is why I am SO GLAD I am not a professional writer. I get to enjoy being a fan and admitting I don’t know a ton about basketball.

I was wrong about ALOT of things but I still really enjoy this team. It’s just a great story.

I’m dissapointed that Celticsblog chose to ran this “article.” I’ve been as disturbed as anyone by Simmons’ recent Laker love, but for anyone to presume that they have the authority to instruct a writer to “just stop” writing about anything is just foolish. You people are all obsessively trying to get in this guy’s head and figure out why he’s writing the way he is – “he’s sold out” “he’s trying to endear himself to his hollywood peers” “his ego has overwhelmed his fanhood”
ENOUGH! He’s a professional blogger. He gets to say anything he wants about anything he feels like. Obviously you all have the right to whine about anything he says in this or any other forum, but you should know that it really makes you appear petty and small if you do it incessantly. If the things he write bother you so much, don’t read his freakin’ column.

I wish I hadn’t read your post.

My sons directed me to a Simmons article last year, I read his next one and haven’t bothered with him since. What’s wrong with the rest of you? He has the gravitas of the internet, ie not much. Who cares what he says.

I love this team. I thought their chance of winning the game after the 3rd Qtr was about zero. But a certified run was had and someone put Posey on Chauncey and the Pistons finally started to miss wide open looks as end-of-game pressure mounted.

Bring on LA. We are not going to be denied. (But Doc, you see, Leon does have game under pressure. So does Eddie. Get him back in there and deep six Sam)

I am so sick of his anti-celtic bull, after reading him for years and years say how much he loves the C’s. I am so glad someone finally said something about it. I don’t want to hear 1 thing from him about it when they win, he totally sucks. Also, how does everyone nationally get on Kobe’s jockstrap for taking over 4th quarter game 5 (AT HOME!) and no one makes a big deal about Pierce willing his team to victory to close out the eastern finals (ON THE ROAD!) in the 4th quarter when everything seemed to be going against them. I would have packed my bags after that 3-pointer offensive foul call. I love this team.. amazing stuff. My only wish is that the finals are called fairly. Get ready for the Gasol face, I hate him already.

Hey – Simmons is a fan and he lets it all bleed out on the page. How many of us have cursed at the TV or shaken our heads with our buddies at some of Doc’s moves? On the other hand, we’ve also all been exuberant and over confident at times, like Simmons was with the Pats. For some of us from Boston, the Celtics, not the Sox or the Pats, are THE team. We’ve suffered for over 20 years and it is surreal to be in the spot. If I saw a Lakers game live and witnessed Kobe’s dominance juxtaposed with the C’s almost melt down in the 4th of game 5, I might be worried as well. The C’s showed us all something Friday night and I’d bet that will be reflected in Simmons’ next piece. He is still THE most entertaining sports writer and we should be grateful that THE guy writes so much about our team!

I have to admit, I’m surprised by all the Anti-Sports Guy sentiment that has sprung up. I don’t think he should be villified for writing that he thinks the Lakers will beat the Celtics. It doesn’t mean he’ll be rooting for the Lakers. I’m a hard core Celtics fan, and if pressed to make a choice, I’d say that I think the Celtics will win. But for me, that comes down to us having home court advantage and a bit of the luck of the Irish, and at best, I think we’ll win in a very close series. We are, lest we forget, a team that barely put away Atlanta and Cleveland. We looked better against Detroit, and I’m glad for that. We are, also, a team that had the best record in the regular season. I think it’s fair to say that we’re a good team that has choked on occasion – I don’t think that can really be argued with. I think it’s more than reasonable for anyone, even a Celtics fan, to look at the team that was taken to seven games by Atlanta and admit that they think they will lose in a playoff series to a Lakers team that’s playing very well right now. I think it’s poor form to jump on Simmons for having what is, to be honest, a very reasonable opinion. It absolutely does NOT make him less of a Celtics fan. I think we, collectively as Celtics fans, are “better than that,” to quote Van Gundy and Jackson. I hope we win. Simmons does too. So why excorciate him and call him a traitor? It doesn’t make sense to me.

Well I can’t speak for everyone. But I’m not mad at him he just wrote a really bad article. He basically says the Lakers will win because their fans aren’t all that excited and the Celtics fans pull too hard for Ray Allen? Huh? Seems to me if it were a struggling Red Sox player getting tons of support when he came to the plate, that would be the type of thing Simmons would brag about, saying how much they cared, how knowledgeable they are, etc.

Seems a little out of character for him. And all I can think of is that he has made his opinion known as far as his views on Doc, Danny, Paul and KG, and he is going to go down with the ship (his stated views) rather than do an ”I was wrong” column. Not a big deal, that’s what most people would do.

I disagree with Simmons, personally I think whoever can control the pace wins this series. In a half court game LA’s front court will have a miserable time trying to score on offense. If they can run, Perk’s gonna have a hard time, I’d actually love to see a small lineup against them with Posey at the 4, although we haven’t really seen that very often, so I don’t expect it.

Back to Simmons though, remember he’s in LA, has seen the Lakers a lot more than we have, so lets give a little nod to his assessment. Also he’s in a dispute with ESPN right now, so who knows his motivation for writing what he does right now.

Let’s also recognize though, that as a fan you HAVE to question your team, maybe even more than an outsider, to get a clear view. Lets not get to the point a lost of Pats fans have got to where you can’t say anything to criticize the team. What’s always made Boston fans great (historically with the Sox especially) is the fact that we’re always on top of our team, and call out our flaws long before the national media. Lets understand that the Lakers are the favorites, and they deserve to be, its not an insult. There are ways we can win, and given the fact its easier to slow a game down (advantage Celtics) than it is to speed one up (advantage LA) personally I think we will. Lets not get defensive anytime someone criticizes the team we love though.

I mean, did you see the column he wrote a month and a half ago about becoming a Bruins fan again? http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/080421

What ever happened to “not until Jacobs sells the team?” What’s all this finding a silver lining to the Thornton trade? And now he’s throwing the Celtics under the bus before the Conference Finals were over? I was at Game 5 in Boston too, and that crowd was electric in the best way. Don’t let the cocky Hollywood fans sway you, Bill – if they don’t hang on their teams every possession, that’s because scripted movies are their business first and foremost. Boston’s business is sports, Bill. Always has been and always will be. Come back to the light.

THANK YOU! Bill Simmons sucks.

And for the record, right now, I think the Lakers will win in 6. I like their energy and coaching more. Sue me. Once they play game 1 and see how they matchup, I have every right to change my mind.

Once they play game 1, you have every right to change your mind???? thats called fairweather buddy. and yes you have every RIGHT to be a fairweather fan. keep patting yourself on the back for that.

There are clearly different levels of fans here. Those that claim to be diehard, or hardcore, and those that really are. Those that really are hardcore celtics fans would never say that they dont think their team can get it down.

Its called believing in your team, and supporting your team. Its supposed to be everyone else that doesnt think your team can get it done. I dont know why anyone is still talking about the Hawks series. That has absolutely NOTHING to do with the next series. Someone said the celtics have choked in some situations? Well I tend to disagree with that because they ALWAYS come through when they have to.

But hey why dont you just wait till the series is over to make up your mind… then you will win either way if that will make you feel good about yourself. you’d be a guarenteed winner that way. yay!

Some one needs to ask Mr. Simmons who on the Lakers can guard Rondo? Or KG? Or Pierce? I know that Kobe is borderline unstoppable but I don’t think Derek Fisher’s old legs can stay with Rondo. KG can jump over Gasol. There aren’t 3 guys in the league that can guard KG. And if Kobe is guarding Pierce, who stays with Ray Allen. As long as Bennett Salvatore isn’t reffing a close out game, the Cs look pretty good to me. Ray Allen? I know the Lakers are the sexy pick right now but at the risk of sounding like a homer, who beside Kobe is a good defensive player on that team?

Because Bynum is out and Ariza hasn’t really played since he returned from his foot injury, the Lakers are missing two of their best three defensive players. However, they do have a bunch of players who do play decent defense, and overall they have shown they can play fairly good team defense when they apply themselves, they are just not very consistent about it (unlike the Celtics for whom it is truly a way of life).

That being said, Odom will probably mainly take KG on defense, and might be able to do a decent job since he’s as mobile as KG and is bulkier so he might be able to keep him off the block, which KG doesn’t spend an inordinate amount of time on anyway. Gasol will have Perkins, but he’ll probably roam off him a bit to just protect the paint in general and try to get shot blocks here and there, so it will be up to Perkins to burn him when he does so. As for who can guard Pierce, Allen and Rondo, in the last series the Lakers frequently used a lineup of Kobe, Vujacic and Farmar at the same time, and those players would do a decent job of matching up against the Celtic players. Keep in mind the Lakers have already faced two point guards in the playoffs who are far superior to Rondo in Deron Williams and Tony Parker, and they faced a more potent 2-3 combination in Denver than the Celtics have when they went against Carmello Anthony and Allen Iverson.

I don’t think this series will come down to individual matchups like that though, just like the Celtics’ title hopes won’t rest on whether Ray Allen can shut down Kobe (if that happens it will be a team effort). It’s going to come down to whether Phil Jackson can get his team to figure out ways to score on the stellar Celtics D, and whether Doc Rivers can counter whatever Jackson is going to come up with to try to stop what the Celtics do on offense. Both teams have a lot of good pieces, it’s just going to be a question of which coach better employs the pieces he has.