Schilling calls out Kobe

"Who doesn't know Kobe Bryant right? I only know what I have heard, starting awhile back with the entire Shaq debacle. I don't really have an opinion one way or the other on or about him other than to know that people feel he might be one of the 4-5 greatest players to ever lace it up. What I do know is what I got to see up close and hear, was unexpected. From the first tip until about 4 minutes left in the game I saw and heard this guy bitch at his teammates. Every TO he came to the bench pissed, and a few of them he went to other guys and yelled about something they weren't doing, or something they did wrong. No dialog about 'hey let's go, let's get after it' or whatever. He spent the better part of 3.5 quarters pissed off and ranting at the non-execution or lack of, of his team. Then when they made what almost was a historic run in the 4th, during a TO, he got down on the floor and basically said 'Let's f'ing go, right now, right here' or something to that affect.

"I am not making this observation in a good or bad way, I have no idea how the guys in the NBA play or do things like this, but I thought it was a fascinating bit of insight for me to watch someone in another sport who is in the position of a team leader and how he interacted with his team and teammates. Watching the other 11 guys, every time out it was high fives and 'Hey nice work, let's get after it' or something to that affect. He walked off the floor, obligatory skin contact on the high five, and sat on the bench stone faced or pissed off, the whole game. Just weird to see another sport and how it all works. I would assume that's his style and how he plays and what works for him because when I saw the leaderboard for scoring in the post season his name sat up top at 31+ a game, can't argue with that. But as a fan I was watching the whole thing, Kobe, his teammates and then the after effects of conversations. He'd yell at someone, make a point, or send a message, turn and walk away, and more than once the person on the other end would roll eyes or give a 'whatever dude' look." -- 6.9.08, Curt Schilling on 38Pitches.com... who has much more to say on basketball and the Sox brawl, believe it or not ...

More Hoop Talk from Schill on Pau Gasol: "I heard that the Lakers got Gasol in a horrible steal of a deal and that the league should have investigated the trade for some sort of punishable crime. I saw a 7 footer last night who grabbed like 4 rebounds and spent the entire game whining about getting fouled."

Pats Mayo blends in

Reporters swarmed the New England Patriots' mini-camp practice by the dozens Friday. Not one of them scored an audience with the 10th player chosen in the NFL draft only two months ago.

Jerod Mayo, the versatile rookie linebacker from Tennessee, walked off the Dana Farber Fieldhouse practice field and into the locker room without fanfare while coach Bill Belichick, safety Rodney Harrison and even running back Sammy Morris held court.

Mayo might be the logical successor to Tedy Bruschi, one of the Patriots' all-time greats, but for now he is the potential impact player almost no one is talking about. This is how they do it in New England, where the veterans are veterans and the rookies, even the high-profile ones, tend to be seen and not heard.


Jerod Mayo is the likely successor to Tedy Bruschi in the Patriots linebacking corps.

"[Mayo] is eager to learn and you can tell that much," veteran defensive lineman Ty Warren said.

"From what I can tell, he does study. The opportunities he does get to come out there with us, you really don't hear Coach yelling at him because he's messing up.

"All those things are good vibes, but to give you anything in depth about his future or his role on the team, it's too early."

Belichick always has favored more seasoned linebackers to handle the varied responsibilities that make his defense so versatile. The Patriots switch in and out of their 3-4 base as situations demand, placing pressure on players to understand not only their own assignments, but those of the players around them. Young players need time to figure out the nuances.

Mike Vrabel, nearly 33, and Adalius Thomas, nearly 31, are firmly established as the starting outside linebackers. Bruschi, who turns 35 on Monday, is back as one of the starters on the inside.

Victor Hobson, 28, could start ahead of Mayo this season. Either way, the staff figures to devise specialized roles for the rookie, which could use his obvious talents without placing too much pressure on him right away. Asked about judging Mayo on more than simply how many games he starts, Harrison demonstrated the mentality all newcomers are advised to learn before assimilating in New England.

"To be honest, I don't care how you look at a rookie as long as he comes in and does his job and he works hard," Harrison said. "That is what we look at. However the coach uses him, that is on Bill Belichick. That is not my job to judge or any other player on this team to judge."

Harrison laughed at the thought during a walk across the outdoor practice field toward Gillette Stadium.

"We have enough problems trying to get ourselves together, trying to line up and do our jobs, so how the heck am I going to judge a rookie or someone else?" he said.

Mayo appeared to fit in Friday while chatting casually on the sideline with Bruschi to his left and veteran strong safety Tank Williams to his right.
Sando: Pats' Observations

Who's on the spot to emerge as a contributor in the Pats' passing game? Where does Marcus Pollard fit? Mike Sando reports from Patriots' minicamp. Hashmarks
• Camp full of touchy subjects

To the uninitiated, Mayo could have been a veteran.

"As time goes on and he finds himself being more familiar with guys and the scheme and the system, he is starting to open up and you're starting to see his personality a little more," Harrison said.

The Patriots have seven unsigned draft choices and 10 rookie free agents in camp. Nineteen of the remaining 65 players are at least 30 years old, providing youngsters with their own living reference library. Harrison, 35, is the oldest starter on defense.

"Rookies here are never on their own," Harrison said. "We have so many veteran guys that talk to rookies, talk to each other. Bruschi, Vrabel, myself, Richard Seymour -- we talk to each other about different things all the time. I think no matter where you are at in the league, you can always learn and always get better, and the constant communication between players is huge."

Harrison broke into the league with San Diego in 1994. He still credits cornerback Dwayne Harper, linebacker Lew Bush and linebacker Junior Seau among those who helped him adjust to the NFL. Warren, the Patriots' first-round choice in 2003, started four games as a rookie and nearly every game since. He credits Seymour, Harrison and former teammates Anthony Pleasant, Rick Lyle and Roman Phifer for bringing him along.

On the field, Mayo has the look of a typical promising rookie, flashing speed on one play, scrambling to track rookie free-agent running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis in coverage on another.



Like most head coaches, Belichick generally keeps the praise to a minimum when publicly assessing rookies in camp.

"He is a smart kid, runs well, pretty physical player and I think he will be a great addition," Belichick said on draft day. "Where he fits, we have to wait and see."


After leading the Southeastern Conference with 140 tackles in 2007, Jerod Mayo skipped his senior year at Tennessee.
Adding a linebacker early in the draft qualifies as uncharted territory for New England in the Belichick era.

Before drafting Mayo and Michigan's Shawn Crable among the top 78 choices this year, the Patriots hadn't taken a linebacker higher than 170th overall -- Ryan Claridge in 2005 -- since Belichick assumed control of football operations eight years ago. Until this year, the Patriots' veteran strength at the position allowed them to focus on other positions early in the draft.

The six linebackers Belichick drafted from 2000 to 2007 were late-round picks who combined to start seven games for the team. None of the six remains on the roster. Tully Banta-Cain, now with the 49ers, became most prominent among them.

Elsewhere, linebackers drafted in the range where the Patriots found Mayo tend to start right away.

NFL teams drafted 10 of them between the fifth and 15th overall choices from 2000 to 2007. Eight of the 10 became full-time starters as rookies:

• 2007: Patrick Willis, chosen 11th overall by the San Francisco 49ers.

• 2006: A.J. Hawk, chosen fifth overall by the Green Bay Packers, and Ernie Sims, ninth overall by the Detroit Lions.

• 2005: Shawne Merriman, chosen 12th overall by the San Diego Chargers, and Derrick Johnson, 15th overall by the Kansas City Chiefs.

• 2004: Jonathan Vilma, chosen 12th overall by the New York Jets.

• 2001: Dan Morgan, chosen 11th overall by the Carolina Panthers.

• 2000: Brian Urlacher, chosen ninth overall by the Chicago Bears.

As encouraging as the list of instant starters might be for a rookie in Mayo's position, Pittsburgh's Lawrence Timmons (chosen 15th in 2007), and Baltimore's Terrell Suggs (10th in 2003) were notable exceptions. Both needed time to find their way on veteran teams running 3-4 defensive schemes.

Timmons has yet to crack the starting lineup in Pittsburgh, although reportedly he is making progress. Suggs became a starter in Baltimore during his second season. Mayo faces his own learning curve in New England.

As for the Patriots' recent first-round choices, regardless of position, Warren's experience was typical. Most started a handful of games as rookies before emerging as regular contributors. Of the team's eight previous first-round choices under Belichick, only Seymour and guard Logan Mankins started more than six games in their first NFL seasons.

"To be honest with you, when I was drafted, I didn't know what to expect, so I was searching for answers," Warren said. "The thing I did was try to gravitate to the veterans who were willing to help me in the transition. That is probably the best thing for any rookie who comes into the NFL."

Powe's 21 power celtics to 2-0 finals lead

At the TD Banknorth Garden Sunday night, the team that brought the NBA "Showtime" fell victim to some serious "Powe-time."

Leon Powe, the Celtics' second-year power forward, scored 21 points in 15 minutes off the bench, pushing his team to a 108-102 victory over the Lakers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Powe nailed six of seven shots from the low post and garnered 13 free throws from his repeated assaults upon the basket.

"He was huge for us," teammate Paul Pierce said after the game. "We know what the Laker bench can bring, but we feel like we have the best bench in this series, and Leon went out there and proved it tonight."

With the Celtics down 20-19, Powe entered the game in the final minute of the first quarter and remained in play to start the second. In the first three minutes of the latter frame, Sam Cassell and Paul Pierce repeatedly looked for Powe down low, and the young forward responded by drawing shooting fouls on Sasha Vujacic, Ronny Turiaf, and Luke Walton. Minutes later, Powe converted a three-point play, giving the team a 10-point advantage.

"We made a concerted effort to get [Powe] the ball in the post in that one stretch in the first quarter, and when he came in the second quarter he responded," said Celtics' Coach Doc Rivers. "I thought that, [in the] first six minutes of the game, we established no post game. We actually had to go to Leon to establish a post game."

Pierce likewise called attention to Powe's early presence in the post.

"We got him the ball -- he had a mismatch, they tried to put a small guy on him. We feel like we can go to the guy. He's proven throughout the course of the year [that] once he posts up, get him the ball. And we've developed confidence that he can get the job done.

Powe also played a major role as the Celtics expanded their lead in the late stages of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth. Early in the final quarter, Powe blew by an overmatched Walton for a driving layup that put the Celtics up 85-64. A few minutes later, after receiving an inbound pass from Rajon Rondo, Powe took the ball coast to coast, converting an easy dunk to give the Celtics a seemingly insurmountable 93-71 advantage with eight minutes to go.

After the game, Powe talked about that unusual cross-court drive.

"Doc just told us, if they pressure us, just get it, just be aggressive with it. Make a decision but be aggressive with it because you don't want them to keep pressuring you every time. What I [saw] was a lane and I thought I could get there, and fortunately for me, I got there."

To date, the playoffs have been something of a roller-coaster experience for the young forward. After establishing himself as a mainstay of Rivers' rotation during the regular season and first round of the postseason, Powe saw his minutes decline during the Cavaliers' series. In part, Powe suffered lapses on the defensive end, but the emergence of P.J. Brown also impacted his playing time. Powe played only four of the six games in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons and averaged two points in four and a half minutes per game.

In sizing up the Lakers, the Celtics' coaching staff believed that Powe's size and strength would provide an advantage in the post and thus called his number in Game 1. Powe responded with four points and four rebounds in nine minutes, setting the stage for Sunday night's explosion.

With the Celtics' now only two wins away from a championship, the scene shifts to California, fittingly enough, Powe's place of birth. While relishing the opportunity to play big minutes in front of his hometown crowd, Powe, in light of his playoff experience thus far, promised to take nothing for granted.

"It would be great, but our job is to go out there and take it one game at a time, and you know, not try[ing] to get too carried away. if I get out there, I want to have a good game but also just want to help my team doing the things in the flow of the offense, not trying to have a good game on my own, [not] doing too much."

The Tuna speaks out about Jason Taylor

Bill Parcells is speaking out, and wants it known that Jason Taylor has a place with the Miami Dolphins.


Bill Parcells says "of course" he wants Jason Taylor to return to the Dolphins this season.
The Dolphins' football operations czar, in one of his first interviews since joining the franchise in December, said Thursday "of course" he wants the six-time Pro Bowl defensive end to be on the field with Miami this fall.


"Why wouldn't you want one of the very best players?" Parcells said in an interview with The Associated Press during an appearance at a Gatorade promotional event.



Parcells also downplayed widespread reports of a rift with Taylor, calling it "a fabrication."



Earlier this week, Taylor said he wants to play one more season, and has told the Dolphins he would agree to a trade if they wish.



For weeks, Bill Parcells has been hearing plenty about his feud with Jason Taylor.


Parcells says it doesn't exist.


Finally ending his silence about the much-ballyhooed topic, the Miami Dolphins' football operations czar not only said Thursday that he wants the six-time Pro Bowl defensive end on his team this fall, but also tried to eliminate the perception that he deliberately snubbed Taylor during a chance encounter at the team's headquarters earlier this spring.



Bill Parcells says "of course" he wants Jason Taylor to return to the Dolphins this season.

"Why wouldn't you want one of the very best players?" Parcells said in an interview with The Associated Press. "This thing has kind of taken on a life of its own and a large measure of this 'rift' is fabrication. I don't really know what the genesis was, other than there was some talk about a trade and people naturally thinking that when I come in it's going to be confrontational. And that's not necessarily true."

This was clear: Barring a change of plans, Parcells wants No. 99 on the field for Miami in 2008.

"Of course I want him here," Parcells said.

Earlier this week, Taylor said he wants to play one more season, and has told the Dolphins he would agree to a trade if they wish.



"Nobody's ever off the market. ... I'm not trying to be flippant, but I would say, yeah [he's off the market],'' Parcells told reporters, according to the Palm Beach Post. "For me to say that we are looking to do something, that'd be wrong."

Parcells looked tanned and relaxed, wearing a black shirt and gray slacks at a promotional appearance for Gatorade Tiger, the sports drink endorsed by world No. 1 golfer Tiger Woods. Seated on a tan leather couch, not far from where people were in a long-drive contest inside a lunar simulator and sipping free bottles of the drink, Parcells couldn't have seemed more at ease during a 30-minute interview in which he seemed absolutely genuine.

When the conversation turned to Taylor, Parcells didn't hesitate to share his side the story.

Parcells had been silent -- publicly, anyway -- since Dolphins owner H. Wayne Huizenga hired him in December to run the team's football side. While evading the public eye, Parcells rebuilt the coaching staff, helped make roster decisions and looked at piles of film, all in an effort to change Miami's fortunes. The Dolphins were an NFL-worst 1-15 last season and haven't made the playoffs in six years.

But Parcells' relationship with Taylor, one incident in particular, has been dominant more than any aspect of his tenure so far.

Earlier this spring, when Taylor stopped by the Dolphins' facility during a quick trip back to South Florida from his work on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," Parcells reportedly ignored the 2006 NFL defensive player of the year when he popped into the same room as Parcells and new Dolphins coach Tony Sparano.

As the story went, Taylor said something to Parcells, and Parcells silently turned away.

Parcells remembers it a bit differently.

"See, that's not true," Parcells said. "It's not true. It's my understanding -- OK, and I could be misinterpreting, but I don't think I am -- that he came to meet with coach Sparano. There were 25 or 30 people in this room, we were doing film, and apparently, he may have stuck his hand in the door and maybe I wasn't paying attention. I wear hearing aids. That particular day, I didn't have them with me. I'm not trying to make an excuse, but there was no intentional, calculated, disrespectful thing that I personally did. I know that for a fact."

The saga took another turn last month when Sparano said Taylor would not be with the team for its offseason program or training camp -- sparking speculation that Taylor demanded a trade from Miami a story that Taylor himself tried to snuff out during a quickly arranged news conference on Sunday.

Taylor did acknowledge what has been believed for weeks, that he told the Dolphins he would be open to a trade if the team could find a deal that they believed gave them fair value.

He also said he told the team he intends to play one more season, yet stopped short of saying he absolutely would retire before the 2009 campaign. And he isn't expected at minicamp this weekend, something that Parcells said Sparano will handle however he prefers.

"I want to win in '08. That's what I want to do," Taylor said Sunday. "And I've told the Dolphins from Day 1 that was my intention. My intentions right now are to play one more year. I've tried to give the Dolphins the opportunity, if they wanted to do something and move me, then I was OK with that. If they can get value for me, then do that. That was the conversation we had behind closed doors a long time ago."

Sparano seemed to soften his stance on Taylor earlier this week, after the two held a private meeting to clear the air.

Still, it's hardly a certainty that Taylor takes part in Parcells' first South Florida training camp when it opens next month.

"There's really nothing new to report," Parcells said.

At 66 years old, Parcells -- who, yes, has a fiery side, although he stresses that he doesn't bring it out very often -- says he simply cannot be bothered by what people say anymore.

He insists Sparano and general manager Jeff Ireland aren't his puppets and that they are intimately involved in virtually all decisions related to the roster. He didn't react to Terrell Owens' comments to Bloomberg Radio earlier this week that Parcells is "kind of out of touch with a lot of today's athletes and things that are going on."

And he says most of the Taylor-related stories -- while contending they aren't entirely factual -- didn't bother him, either.

"I've learned that the more you stir it, the worse it stinks," Parcells said. "I've learned to kind of bite my tongue. But I can tell you, from my point of view, he's a good player and we'd like to have him on the team."

Green vs Purple..game 1 TONIGHT

Purple and gold versus green and white. 30 NBA Championships among those colors. The Logo, Hondo, Bird, Magic -- all the Hall of Famers who battled at the Garden and the Forum.

At 9 p.m. tonight, none of it matters. The rivalry will exist with the fans and the media, but between the current iterations of these two teams, history gives way to basketball. Because the only way to become part of it is to play.

"I remember my brother always asking me, 'Do you want to be good or do you want to be great?'" Paul Pierce said. "And those are the questions you ask yourself when you go out and work hard each and every day."

"In order to be great, in order to be a legend, you have to win a championship."

As tradition has it, the NBA Finals must start with Game 1 -- which may be more important than usual given Doc Rivers' opponent across the chess board. Lakers coach Phil Jackson -- he of the nine NBA Championships -- is 41-0 in playoff series after taking the first game. And the Lakers have opened all three of their postseason matchups by taking 2-0 leads, but that was when they had home-court advantage. Now, coming in at 4-3 on the road, their goal is to steal one at the Garden.

The Celtics have lost just once at home in the playoffs, but the teams they beat are suddenly relevant again. Like the Cleveland series -- against a post-trade-deadline deal team -- not much can be taken from the Celtics' two contests against the Lakers, because both came before LA's blockbuster deal for center Pau Gasol.

Both the Cavs and the Detroit Pistons had big men who could play off All-Star guards by hitting open jumpers when the defense overextended -- just like Gasol and Lamar Odom can do if the Celtics get too aggressive in trapping Kobe Bryant.

"That's part of what makes them so difficult, their ability to spread the floor with the fours and fives," Rivers said. "Most teams spread it with their ones, twos and threes shooting; they step their fours and fives off and they can spread it with them, and that's different for us."

But the focus for the NBA's top-ranked defense remains, and always will be, the MVP. And unlike LeBron James, who struggled to adjust to the Celtics' doubles off pick-and-rolls, Kobe knows exactly how to break defenses down.

"I look at it as a quarterback, really, because the defenses that I face are always support defenses," Bryant said. "Not necessarily looking at an individual but just looking at where the help is coming from and where my wide receivers are going to be, and when they're going to be open and if I have to call an audible, and if I do, which one."

Kobe's ability to improvise is a great part of what makes the Lakers' scoring punch so explosive (105.9 points per game in the playoffs). But this is far more than just an 'offense wins games, defense wins championships' sort of series -- the Lakers back up their O by D'ing up, posting the highest point differential in the postseason at +6.40 (the Celtics are second at +4.3).

"They're a better defensive team than people give them credit for," Rivers said. "I liken them a little bit to the Showtime Lakers. Everybody saw the flash with the Showtime Lakers, no one saw the grit, and that's the reason they won is their grit. They're a great defensive team."

While the Lakers will have a glaring defensive hole whenever Vladimir Radmanovic is guarding Pierce and Kendrick Perkins will certainly have his hands full with Gasol, the Finals could waver on the Kevin Garnett-Odom matchup.

"Well, my favorite word in this series is going to be 'help'. A guy like that is -- you need as much help as possible," Odom said.

On the other hand, Garnett expects to have his hands full trying to cover Odom and protecting the rim against Kobe and company.

"It's just going to be about knowing what they want to do and taking that away from them," Garnett said.

That's tough to do with so many weapons available. The Lakers' bench -- Luke Walton, Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar and Ronny Turiaf -- scored 32.3 points per game during the regular season. Considering the trouble Rodney Stuckey gave the Celtics, the early-to-mid second quarters and early fourth quarters may be opportune times for an LA run.

A win for the Celtics tonight would mean taking care of business, but for the Lakers a win could be a windfall. Though the Celtics finally proved they can win on the road with two victories at the Palace of Auburn Hills in the Conference Finals, the 2-3-2 format of the Finals gives the Lakers a chance to clinch at home if they can split at the Garden.

The allure of the past will hover over this series, but it's still bound to be chock full of adjustments and altered defensive schemes. It's the NBA Finals 2008 -- not 1987 -- and though it might be Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen's first trip to the almost-promised land, take it from the younger three-time champion: the same things that were true back in November hold true today.

"With all the hype and all the media attention that surrounds the NBA Finals, once you step out there on the floor, it's about one thing and one thing only, and that's who can execute their game plan the best. Whoever does that will win," Bryant said.

New Celtics look to make new history

Like any great Renaissance, this one started in Rome.

It's easy to say now, but if you were in Italy back in early October for Training Camp, you got the feeling something special was happening to the Boston Celtics.

Days before his 30th birthday, Paul Pierce, who spent the spring thinking his Celtics career was over, was born again and about to be redeemed. Ray Allen was in the midst of a sort of homecoming, returning to his New England roots where he starred at UCONN. And Kevin Garnett, once a wunderkind who toiled in relative obscurity, was thrust into the warmth of a spotlight he'd rarely felt (and actively avoided) in Minnesota since becoming the first high schooler drafted in ages.


When the Celtics and Lakers got together in LA at the end of December, Kobe and company brought out the short-shorts to honor the 1980s. But in the NBA Finals, it's the rivalry beings anew with the league's brightest stars of 2008, not 1987.


Long before it was known if Pierce was staying and Garnett and Allen were coming, the trip to Rome was already planned, if for no other reason than international fans knew the name Boston Celtics, even if they couldn't identify anyone who'd played for the team in the last 15 years.

It was a marketing mission long before it was ever intended to evoke campfire kumbaya, or in this case, Campo de Fiori Ubuntu. But the Celtics got the best of both worlds, and it all happened within the shadows of the Colosseum, where ancient gladiators etched their names in history by fighting for their lives.

The stakes for these three players aren't quite the same; their actual lives aren't on the line, but their places in NBA history are absolutely on the line, and the 2008 NBA Finals could be their best shot at the great conquest.

Asked about whether great NBA players need to win a title for validation, Kobe Bryant, the league's best player who'll play chief antagonist this time around, summed it with a pretty fitting analogy. "Depends which club you're talking about. Are you talking about the Jordan Magic club?" asked Bryant. "If you want to get in that club, then you have to win. The other club, you don't have to win. Depends what club you want to get into, the 21 and over or the 18 and under."

The Celtics' three stars are actually in the 30+ club, and the basketball gods are flashing the lights for last call at the Jordan-Magic club. So from Day 1 in Rome, and even when teammates staged voluntary (sort of, but only if peer pressure is to be ignored) September workouts three weeks before camp began, the mission was for the entire roster was clear: capture an NBA title. The unspoken message: Do it while they're still in full command of their basketball faculties, lest they be known as dribbling asterisks; great players who never reached the mountain top, a fate haunting far too many of their predecessors stuck at reliving their glory days at the Barkley-Ewing club.

If the Celtics fail this year? Forget reaching the summit. Some never even see peak in the distance again. Asked at Tuesday's practice if he was sick of practicing and anxious to get started with the games, Allen responded flatly with "Nope", explaining that he intended on enjoying his time in the Finals.

"You allow the moment to take shape and be patient with it," Allen said, the obvious subtext being that this may be his only shot at a ring.

For the Celtics, and especially their veteran stars, patience has been the key, and the timing couldn't have been better. Asked point blank during the before a preseason game in Worcestor, MA if he thought the mix of Garnett and Allen along with himself would have worked five years earlier, Pierce was candid and expressed doubt that the arrangement would have succeeded.

"Man, truthfully? Five years ago? That's hard to say. That's the problem with young players. They're still trying to make their name in the NBA. As bad as it sounds, some of them put winning second," Pierce said. "Even though they might talk about how much they want to win, everybody knows they want to make a name for themselves. So we probably would have been in that position."

Despite having yet to have been asked the question by the media before, it was clear that Pierce had considered the question himself, perhaps having pondered his own basketball mortality after an injury-riddled season that would make anyone rethink their future.

Meanwhile, Garnett initially turned down a draft day trade that would have sent him to Boston, and the Suns and Lakers were in hot pursuit of Garnett throughout the summer. Phil Jackson told the media that the Lakers thought they had the inside track on Garnett, so it's remarkable that they ended up with a Finals date against KG and the Celtics.

"I just think that it's very interesting for our organization. We gave a great chase to Garnett last year and put a lot of pressure on the Minnesota franchise," Jackson said. "That we would end up missing out on that opportunity and still be here in this challenge, The Finals, is really kind of a great story in itself."

The Celtics' epic transformation story was right around the corner, though, and it was THE story of the NBA offseason, so their regular season dominance and presence in the NBA Finals almost seemed preordained. A team of destiny? Perhaps. Seven games (or less) will tell us that. We'll know in two weeks (or less) what fate they make for themselves.

But a matchup with the Lakers, especially when Kobe demanded a trade last summer and he and Pierce were betting who would be traded first? That's just sublime.

Over the last few days, you've read, watched and heard people waxing poetic about the NBA Finals, and in some form or another, they've all be harkened back to basketball days of yore, evoking names like Michael Cooper, Jerry Sichting and Gerald Henderson, to pick a few. TV ratings will be sky-high, team websites will be inundated with requests -- you're doing your part right now -- and tickets will be impossible to score.

In other words, order's been restored to the basketball galaxy. And while much of the league's history is propped up by the exploits of these two franchises with 30 titles between them, the 2008 NBA Finals nod at past, but in reality they celebrate the league's present. This championship series is about the modern-day NBA, and it just so happens to be that the two best teams in the Association are a few old familiar friends (to us) and ancient rivals (to each other).

As much distaste as a Celtics fan may have for the Los Angeles Lakers, would you have it any other way? What's the point of having a nemesis if you can't best them in your moment of glory? The Celtics and Lakers only played in the Finals three times in the 1980s, but you'd swear they did it every year.

Like Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain before them, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird will forever be linked together by the history of the legendary rivalry, but during an NBA conference call on Tuesday, both players went out of their way to explain that while the rivalry is great for basketball, the past is just that, and the 2008 Finals are about Garnett, Pierce, Allen and their Celtics teammates against Kobe Bryant and the 2008 Lakers.

"It really doesn't matter what happened in the 80s, or the 50s or 60s," Bird said, making it clear in his opening remarks that he was uncomfortable about doing the conference call because the Finals should be about the guys who are on the team now. "It's what's happening now. They're on the big stage."

"It really doesn't matter what happened in the 80s, or the 50s or 60s," Bird said, making it clear in his opening remarks that he was uncomfortable about doing the conference call because the Finals should be about the guys who are on the team now. "It's what's happening now. They're on the big stage."

Reporters from across the country continued to hammer away on Bird and Johnson about the past, asking if today's guys really understand the old rivalry. Posed with a similar question after practice, Allen was cautious in answering.

"It's hard to say. The rivalry will take shape when we start to lace it up and get a few games under our belt," Allen said.

Bird echoed Allen's sentiments about the first few games being a learning process, but made it clear that the Celtics can't afford to "waste" any of the early games. Magic, however, is confident that with the rings on the line, the rivalry will take care of itself.

"Trust me, when that ball goes up on Thursday, they'll understand," Johnson said. "It's for all the marbles. It's for everything."

Red Sox Nation flexes All Star vote

Red Sox Nation continues to flex its collective muscle at the All-Star ballot box. Just as they were last week, five members of the Red Sox are leading the All-Star voting at their positions, according to updates released today by Major League Baseball.

At first base, Kevin Youkilis (662,869 votes) holds a comfortable lead over Justin Morneau (409,406 votes) of the Twins.

Dustin Pedroia (591,860 votes) leads all second basemen, with the Yankees' Robinson Cano (354,535) trailing.

At third, Mike Lowell (409,685 votes) is getting more support but he trails the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez (712,899 votes) by more than 300,000 votes. Derek Jeter (832,561 votes) has a commanding lead at shortstop over former Red Sox shortstop Edgar Renteria (273,857 votes), now with the Tigers.

Red Sox DH David Ortiz leads all AL vote-getters with 893,915 votes. Hideki Matsui (423,551votes) of the Yankees is running a distant second in the designated hitter competition.

In the outfield, Manny Ramirez (811,612 votes) has a big lead over rising star Josh Hamilton (479,492 votes) of the Rangers and Ichiro Suzuki (456,136 votes) of the Mariners.

In the tightest race among Red Sox leaders, Jason Varitek (477,630 votes) is holding the lead at catcher, but the Twins' Joe Mauer (396,643 votes) is gaining ground.

Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury leads all write-in candidates in the American League and could be headed for a showdown with Chicago's Carlos Quentin, the league's home-run leader, if each one makes it into the final vote ballot. The All-Star final vote is an annual Internet and text message ballot for fans to elect the 32nd and final player for each team.

The 79th All-Star Game will take place at Yankee Stadium on July 15. The last day to cast your vote is Wednesday, July 2.


GO HERE TO ROCK YOUR ALL-STAR VOTE!
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2008/ballot_reg.html

East coast meets West

They are two teams on opposite coasts, but they faced the same problem: getting back to their championship form. At the end of the 2006-07 season, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers had general managers on the hot seat. Celtics GM Danny Ainge was on the hot seat along with coach Doc Rivers after a miserable 24-58 season. That record landed Boston in the bottom of the Atlantic Division and included a franchise-record 18-game losing streak.

The Celtics would hope to land either Greg Oden or Kevin Durant in the NBA draft with possibly a top-two pick. But the Celtics' luck ran out, and they landed the No. 5 overall pick of the '07 draft. It was beginning to look like 1997 all over again, when they failed to land the top pick (and missed out on Tim Duncan).

But then it happened. Early in the first round, a trade was announced between Boston and Seattle that would change the landscape of the Eastern Conference. The Celtics would receive All-Star guard Ray Allen and the 35th overall pick (Glen Davis) in exchange for Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and Jeff Green (fifth overall pick).

But the Celtics weren't done. About a month later, another general manager on the hot seat (Minnesota's Kevin McHale) decided to ship the best player in franchise history (Kevin Garnett) to Beantown for five players and two draft picks, with the most notable being Al Jefferson. McHale unloaded his superstar to his former Celtics teammate, Ainge, and gave him the best assist of his career.

Over on the West Coast, disgruntled superstar Kobe Bryant was demanding several trades. First, it was the trade for Jason Kidd. Then it was a trade for Garnett or Jermaine O'Neal, and then for himself to be traded out of town.

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak was on the hot seat because if he dealt Bryant, he would have traded two of the biggest superstars in Lakers' history (Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant). Bryant demanded a trade publicly. On radio. On YouTube. Bryant also publicly berated his younger teammates (namely Andrew Bynum).

But none of those trades took place, and the Lakers began the season amidst some uncertainty.

But before the 2008 trade deadline, the Lakers pulled off the ultimate coup by landing All-Star forward Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie and Marc Gasol. The trade immediately made L.A. a contender in the Western conference as well as a legitimate title contender. After the injury to Bynum, the Lakers had a huge hole to fill, and Gasol fit the bill.

Paul Pierce its your time!

Paul Pierce's 57 postseason games played are the most by a Celtic who has never won an NBA title.

A Celtics-Lakers NBA Finals brings many classic memories to mind. Most of these memories are distant, dating back to an era where Michael Jordan was a brash kid and NBA scouts were drooling over the likes of Armon Gilliam and Dennis Hopson.

PIERCE: HIGHEST PPG VS. SINGLE FOE
Opponent PPG Games
Lakers 27.9 16
Nuggets 27.3 18
Suns 27.2 18
SuperSonics 25.4 17
Warriors 25.1 17

But in the 21 years since these old rivals have met in the finals, the greatest Celtic of the "down" period in franchise history has also made a name for himself against the Lakers. Pierce, who grew up in Inglewood, Calif., in the shadows of the Great Western Forum, has always saved his best for the Lakers.

Pierce has averaged 27.9 points per game in his career versus the Lakers, more than his average against any other team. In fact, March 13, 2001 could be considered his unofficial entry into the league's elite. Pierce scored 42 points on 13-of-19 shooting in a 112-107 loss at L.A.

Pierce was nearing the end of his breakthrough third season at the time. He averaged more than 20 points (25.1 ppg) for the first time and took the reins from Antoine Walker (23.4 ppg) as the C's leading scorer. What happened after the game is what made it a watershed moment in Pierce's career, though.

Shaquille O'Neal, in the midst of his three-peat and a role as the most dominant force in the game, pulled a Boston reporter aside and offered the following: "Take this down. My name is Shaquille O'Neal, and Paul Pierce is the [expletive] truth. Quote me on that, and don't take nothing out. I knew he could play, but I didn't know he could play like this. Paul Pierce is the truth."

HIGHEST ACTIVE PPG VS. LAKERS
Foe PPG
Gilbert Arenas 29.1
LeBron James 28.8
***Paul Pierce*** 27.9
Allen Iverson 27.0
Shaquille O'Neal 26.0

Pierce is a unique character in these Finals. He is the one member of the Celtics' big three who has been in Boston through plenty of lean years. He also grew up in Inglewood during the 1980s, where the Showtime Lakers were the hottest attraction in town. And his numbers show that he brings something "extra" when he plays the Lakers.

Despite the tremendous scoring average, perhaps the most impressive aspect of his game against the Lakers is that he has averaged 10.7 free-throw attempts per game, which is proof of his more aggressive approach attacking the basket against LA.

When Pierce has been criticized in the past, one of the main weaknesses that his detractors see in him is a tendency to fall in love with his jumper too much at times. Pierce's ability and willingness to attack the rim could prove crucial in this series.

In his career, Pierce has seven 30-point games and one 40-point game against Los Angeles.

Schilling throws off mound for first time since going on DL

Boston right-hander Curt Schilling took a significant step in his effort to return from an injured right shoulder when he threw 25 pitches off a bullpen mound at Fenway Park.


The session Wednesday was the first time Schilling had thrown off a mound since he was placed on the 60-day disabled during spring training.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said Schilling's sole complaint was that only 22 of the 25 pitches were strikes.

Francona said the 41-year-old veteran will head back to the mound Friday planning to throw 35 pitches.

Schilling signed a one-year, $8 million, incentive-laden contract with the Red Sox before being diagnosed with right shoulder weakness.

He has been steadily building toward throwing off a mound in the weeks prior to the first formal session, including shoulder and arm exercises.

2016 Olympics headed to the Windy City?

Getting to the final phase was one thing. Now, Chicago has some hard work ahead to overcome weaknesses in its bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Chicago was one of four cities selected as bid finalists Thursday, along with Tokyo; Madrid, Spain, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The lineup sets up a high-profile contest featuring major cities from the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Failing to make the International Olympic Committee shortlist were three cities -- Doha, Qatar; Prague, Czech Republic, and Baku, Azerbaijan.

The IOC said Doha had the potential to host the Olympics and even rated the Qatari capital tied for third with Chicago in its technical assessment. But the IOC said it turned back Doha because it proposed holding the games in October.

The finalists now advance to a 16-month race that will culminate on Oct. 2, 2009, with a secret ballot by the full IOC at its session in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"It's a very competitive field," said Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, who is trying to take the Summer Olympics back to the United States for the first time since the 1996 Atlanta Games. "The competition begins now."

Chicago got a strong dose of reality in the IOC's report assessing the technical bids, which cited problems with finances and transportation, among other things.

"We really respect the experts who have done the evaluation," said Chicago bid leader Patrick Ryan, who had not yet read the report. "We're going to learn from that. We're going to respect it and we're not going to alibi to ourselves about it. We're going to do everything we can to correct all the deficiencies."

Tokyo scored highest in the technical evaluation, which rated cities in 11 categories -- including infrastructure, venues, transportation, security and finances -- on a scale of 1 to 10.

The Japanese capital scored an overall average of 8.4, followed by Madrid with 8.2. Chicago was back at 7.0 with Doha, with Rio at 6.5. Chicago didn't rank first in any of the categories, and lagged in fifth in three.

The early ranking is not crucial, however. When the IOC picked the finalists for the 2012 Olympics in 2004, London was ranked third behind first-place Paris and Madrid in the technical report. London went on to win the games in 2005.

"We'll evaluate the report, look at the strong points and any weaknesses," Daley said. "There's always a wakeup call for everything. If there is any negative, you take it and try to be able to correct it, simple as that."

The IOC report said Chicago's wording on government guarantees "does not fully confirm" with requirements; questioned the $27 billion figure listed for highway and transit projects; said sports venue construction budgets "appear low and may warrant review," and cited a "lack of detail" in plans for transportation between venue clusters.

"We're very pleased, but at the same time sober knowing we have to improve and have a tremendous amount of work ahead," U.S. IOC member Bob Ctvrtlik said. "This is the first hurdle. ... We'll keep improving until we submit our bid book."

Cities must submit their detailed bid files to the IOC by Feb. 12, 2009. After that, a panel of IOC experts will visit each of the cities, tour the proposed sites and meet with bid and government leaders. The panel will release an evaluation report to the IOC members a month before the October 2009 vote.

Madrid is back again after a third-place finish in the vote for the 2012 Olympics.

"I think there are about 40 million Spaniards that want us to bring the games home," bid leader Mercedes Coghen said.

Tokyo, which held the Summer Games in 1964, hopes to bring the Olympics to Asia eight years after Beijing.

"Now it's full steam ahead for my team and the Japanese people," Tokyo bid chief Ichiro Kono said. "We have no time to lose in preparing the best possible candidature file for the IOC."

Rio would become the first South American city to host the Olympics.

"We're very happy -- the emotion to have a city of a country that never organized the Olympic Games among the others that have already organized. It's a great challenge but I think we are ready," Rio bid president Carlos Arthur Nuzman said.

Whether to include Doha in the final mix shaped up as the main issue for the IOC executive board. In the end, the IOC said it couldn't accept Doha's proposal to hold the games from Oct. 14-30 to avoid the searing summer heat. The IOC prefers the July-August time slot.

The board "unanimously decided not to grant this exception as it conflicts with the international sporting calendar and would therefore be bad for the athletes and for sports fans," IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said. "It would disrupt athletes' training programs and overload the sports schedule at an already busy time of the year."

Doha, capital of a tiny but wealthy Arab Gulf country of about 1 million people, had loomed as the wild card as it sought to bring the games to the Middle East for the first time.

"While we are of course disappointed, we remain extremely proud to have been given the opportunity over the past 12 months to demonstrate that Doha is a truly modern and developing city, able to compete with some of the world's largest capitals and able to host international sporting events of the highest standard," Doha bid chairman Hassan Ali Bin Ali said.

Boston's "D" vs LA's "O"

Call it the immovable object versus the unstoppable force.

Lost in the wave of excitement about the retro NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the L.A. Lakers is the contrast in styles these two teams represent. When the Lakers have the ball, keep your eyes peeled, because it doesn't get any better than this matchup: the best offense in the game against one of the best defenses of all time.

Boston led the league in regular-season defensive efficiency by a large margin at 96.2. Relative to the league, only two teams in the past 35 years were better defensively, the 2003-04 Spurs and the 1992-93 Knicks (see chart).

Though we can't compare the Celtics to any team before the 1973-74 season because the league didn't track turnovers until then, we can consider this team a worthy successor to the Russell-era mantle of defensive dominance. Feisty D allowed the team with the league's 10th-best offense to roar to a league-best 66 wins.

Boston has kept up that defensive effort in the postseason. In the playoffs, the Celtics again rank first, narrowly edging out Cleveland at 99.4 and lapping the rest of the competition. Though not quite as dominant as the Celtics' regular-season statistic, this 20-game performance is a reasonable facsimile of the first 82 games.

Meanwhile, out on the other coast, L.A. swept to the top record in the West based largely on the league's third-best regular-season offense. But even that No. 3 ranking understates the Lakers' success.

The Lakers ranked fifth in offensive efficiency on Feb. 5, the day Pau Gasol first donned purple and gold. Then they had a little hiccup in late March, when Gasol missed nine games and all but three minutes of a 10th because of an ankle sprain.

Outside of that, Gasol played in 26 regular-season games for L.A. The team's offensive efficiency mark in those games? A staggering 114.0, which would have led the league by a mile had the Lakers kept that up all year; in fact, had they performed anywhere near that mark for a full season, they would have rivaled the greatest offensive teams in league history.

As with Boston, L.A.'s offensive performance hasn't been quite as jaw-dropping in the playoffs. L.A. is third among playoff teams in offensive efficiency at 109.0, standing a whisker behind Orlando and New Orleans.


The Los Angeles Lakers' offense has been highly efficient since the arrival of Pau Gasol.

Still, the 41 games of the Gasol era have produced very impressive results. Los Angeles has played half a season's worth of games with him in the lineup and has posted an offensive efficiency mark of 112.0, which would have comfortably led the league. (Phoenix was first in the regular season at 111.2.) And 15 of those games have come in the crucible of playoff competition, including five conference finals games against an elite defensive team from San Antonio.

So between Boston's defense and L.A.'s offense, we've got quite a showdown ahead of us. Rarely have two teams had such overwhelming strengths clash.

But it's not the very first time a great offense has met a great defense. Which brings us to these questions: What happens in such impacts? Does the defense win the day? Or does the offensive team's high skill level overwhelm?

Yep, it's time for a history lesson. Let's take a look back in time to see what happened in recent playoff series when great offenses and great defenses clashed and the matchup was at least somewhat even on paper:

San Antonio vs. Phoenix, 2005 Western Conference finals
This is probably the most extreme example of such a matchup to date. The 2004-05 Suns were the fourth-best offensive team of the past 35 years; the Spurs, as the chart above shows, were the fifth-best defensive team. As far as offense versus defense battles go, this was an epic.

Unfortunately, two factors got in the way of a great series. The first factor is that for Games 1 and 2 (two narrow home losses for Phoenix), the Suns didn't have guard Joe Johnson because of a nasty facial injury. His absence somewhat reduced the team's offensive firepower right at the time it faced its greatest test. Second, Phoenix's No. 17 defense was no match for San Antonio's No. 8 offense, and the Spurs layupped their way into the Finals in five games.

Verdict: Win for the defense

L.A. Lakers vs. Detroit, 2004 NBA Finals
This battle pitted a potent Lakers offense against one of the best defensive teams of all time, the 2004 Pistons. Though the Lakers were "only" second in offensive efficiency, that mark came with Shaquille O'Neal missing 15 games, Kobe Bryant missing 17 and Karl Malone missing 42 -- obviously, at full strength they were a force with which to be reckoned. Similarly, Detroit ranked only second in defensive efficiency for the season but was No. 1 with a bullet after its midseason trade for Rasheed Wallace.

This turned into one of the biggest upsets in recent history, as much for the magnitude as the outcome. Nearly every prognosticator said L.A. would roll to the title; instead, the Pistons used their suffocating defense to crush the Lakers in five games.

Though Malone's injury in the Finals certainly played a part, score another for the D.

Verdict: Win for the defense

Dallas vs. San Antonio, 2003 Western Conference finals
The 2002-03 Mavericks were one of the best offensive teams in recent times, featuring Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel. They had tied for the league's best record in the regular season with San Antonio, a team that was the polar opposite -- with Tim Duncan and David Robinson, few teams have ever defended the interior better, and the Spurs easily were the league's top defensive team.

Once again, defense reigned, and once again the offensive team had an excuse -- this time, the knee injury suffered by Nowitzki after the Mavs had stolen Game 1 in San Antonio. With its best player sidelined, Dallas lost all three games on its home court while averaging a meager 85.3 points.

Verdict: Win for the defense

L.A. Lakers vs. San Antonio, 2001 Western Conference finals
The defending-champion Lakers coasted through the 2000-01 regular season before turning it on at the end. Again, they finished "only" second in offensive efficiency, but that was with Kobe missing 14 games, Ron Harper 35 and Derek Fisher a whopping 62. Meanwhile, the Spurs rolled to the West's best record behind a defense that was No. 1 in efficiency, with the Duncan-Robinson duo serving as its cornerstone.

That should have set up an epic battle in the conference finals. Instead, it was one of the most lopsided series in league history. Finally at full strength, L.A. blasted the Spurs in four games by a total of 89 points en route to its second consecutive title. Though San Antonio's inability to score played a role, L.A.'s offense also had the upper hand.

Verdict: Win for the offense

Indiana vs. L.A. Lakers, 2000 NBA Finals
Sure, they had Shaq and Kobe. But believe it or not, L.A.'s first Phil Jackson-led championship team ranked first in defensive efficiency with the younger Shaq patrolling the middle and the likes of Fisher, Harper, Robert Horry, Rick Fox and Brian Shaw on the perimeter.

Meanwhile, it was the guys from the heartland who had the league's top offense -- an efficient mix led by sharpshooters Reggie Miller, Jalen Rose and Rik Smits. And in the Finals, that offense was even better than it was in the regular season, rolling up 106.7 points per game against an L.A. team that had given up just 92.3 for the year.

Nonetheless, the Pacers couldn't contain the Lakers at the other end, and L.A. prevailed in a sneaky-tough six games. But in the offense versus defense battle that's the framework for this story, score it for the O.

Verdict: Win for the offense

Chicago vs. New York, 1993 Eastern Conference finals
The 1992-93 Knicks were, to that point in history, the best defensive team of the post-merger era (see chart), winning 60 games and earning the top seed in the East. With Pat Riley coaching the likes of Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason and current Celtics coach Doc Rivers, it's pretty easy to see why.

In the conference finals, those Knicks ran into a Chicago team that had the league's second-best offense; plus, it had some guy named Michael Jordan whose minutes it could ramp up in the playoffs.

True to form, the Knicks held the Bulls to eight points below their season average. But the Knicks' offense went off the rails and cost them the epic series, even though they won the first two games and held home-court advantage. The Bulls prevailed in six tough games in one of the best series in recent memory, paving the way for the third of Jordan's six championships. Nonetheless, this is another triumph for the D.

Verdict: Win for the defense

Chicago vs. Portland, 1992 NBA Finals
The 1991-92 Bulls won 67 games with a dominating offensive attack led by Mr. Jordan, of course. In the Finals they ran up against a Portland team that also was wickedly talented but did most of its damage at the defensive end, where it finished a close second in defensive efficiency.

Portland's defense did the job, holding Chicago to 104 points per game -- right at the Blazers' season average on D and six below Chicago's. But, as with the Knicks in '93, the Blazers' offense didn't come through. A Blazers team that scored 111.4 points a game in the regular season didn't hit that mark in regulation once, and averaged 96.7 -- nearly 15 below its regular-season average -- for the series.

Verdict: Inconclusive

Boston vs. Detroit, 1988 Eastern Conference finals
The 1987-88 Celtics were the fourth-best offensive team of the past 35 years, helping them roll to 57 wins and, seemingly, another Finals showdown against the Lakers. But the upstart Pistons had other ideas. They had the league's second-best defense, which would help them become the league champion Bad Boys the next two years.

This season was the Pistons' first step, as they knocked out Boston in six -- and in this case, the defense absolutely was the reason. Boston averaged 113.6 points in the season but cleared the century mark just once in six games against Detroit, and needed double overtime to do it. In fact, Detroit gave up nearly nine fewer points a game to the Celtics than it had during the regular season.

Alas, the Pistons couldn't quite get past the league's second-best offense, Los Angeles, in the Finals, losing in seven after dropping the final two games by a combined four points.

Verdict: Win for the defense

Philadelphia vs. Boston and L.A., 1980 Eastern Conference finals and NBA Finals
The NBA was basically a three-team league in 1979-80: The Celtics, Lakers and Sixers won 61, 60 and 59 games respectively, but no other team cleared 50. L.A. and Boston won with offense, finishing first and second respectively in offensive efficiency thanks to Magic and Bird, but the Sixers were the opposite -- a defensive juggernaut that ranked first on that end of the floor.

In the playoffs, the Sixers came away with a split. In the conference finals, Philly's D prevailed, absolutely suffocating the top-seeded Celtics. Boston was held nearly 20 points below its season average in the series, even failing once to clear the century mark in an era when reaching 100 points per game was routine.

But they didn't do as well in the Finals against L.A. The Lakers got their numbers, Magic went off in the clinching Game 6, and L.A. had its first of five titles for the decade.

Verdict: One for the defense, one for the offense

Golden State vs. Washington, 1975 NBA Finals
This oldie but goodie was another battle of No. 1s. Washington had the league's No. 1 defense, captained by Wes Unseld, and had just beaten the league's other 60-win team, Boston, in the Eastern Conference finals. All that stood between them and the title were the lowly 48-win Warriors, who had the league's No. 1 offense behind Rick Barry but weren't considered in the Bullets' league. Besides, Washington had just taken out the No. 3 offense in the past round -- this wasn't expected to be much different.

As we all know now, it was much different. Golden State swept the Bullets in four in one of the biggest upsets in league history, though the culprit was more an implosion of Washington's offense than anything the vaunted Warriors attack accomplished.

Verdict: Inconclusive

The One That Could Have Been
There's one other matchup of No. 1 offense vs. No. 1 defense that nearly came to pass -- 22 years ago, we nearly had exactly what we have in the 2008 Finals.

The 1985-86 Los Angeles Lakers easily were the league's top offense, and their 62 wins led the West. That year's edition of the Boston Celtics sported the league's top defense, and their 67 wins led the entire league. All was set for an epic showdown between the league's past two champions … right up until the part when the Houston Rockets upset the whole apple cart in the Western Conference finals, winning in five games.

So instead, we get the matchup now. There's no Magic and no Bird, but we have Kobe and KG and another gritty Boston team against a flashier bunch from L.A.

And as the above examples show, it seems the Celtics have a decent shot at thwarting L.A.'s attack. The scoreboard on the 11 series shows six for the defense against just three for the offense, with two proving inconclusive. The top-notch defensive team also won six of the 11 series outright.

Of course, that kind of meta-analysis can't account for the smaller variables in any individual series, but it's useful to consider nonetheless. The prevailing opinion has been that this is the Lakers' series to lose, even with Boston's home-court advantage. But if Boston has as much success shutting down the Lakers as its defensively dominant predecessors have had in series against highly ranked offenses, its odds of bringing home a title may be much better than the consensus perceives.

MORE trouble for Patriots Franchise

New England Patriots offensive lineman Nick Kaczur was arrested in April for illegal possession of prescription painkillers and cooperated with federal agents in a sting of his alleged supplier, an attorney said.


Nick Kaczur (No. 77) reportedly told the U.S. DEA he had purchased hundreds of oxycodone pills weekly from an alleged supplier and wore a wire in three buys of the prescription painkiller.

According to Bernard Grossberg, the attorney for alleged dealer Daniel Ekasala, said Kaczur wore a wire to help agents build the case against Ekasala.

The Boston Globe, citing Grossberg, a federal affidavit and two sources who had been briefed on the investigation, first reported the story.

A Drug Enforcement Administration agent said in an affadavit that a cooperating witness -- whose name was not revealed -- wore a recording device during three drug buys in May in southeastern Massachusetts. In each of the deals, the witness bought 100 OxyContin pills from Ekasala for $3,900 in cash, the agent wrote.

Grossberg said Kaczur, 28, told investigators he had been purchasing hundreds of oxycodone pills from the man since November 2007, according to the report.

Ekasala, was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday on three counts of possession of oxycodone with intent to distribute. He remains free on an unsecured bond of $10,000 after pleading not guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

On Tuesday, Kaczur denied taking part in a federal investigation or buying drugs and said he was not familiar with Ekasala, the Globe reported.

"I don't know what you're talking about, bro," Kaczur said on the front porch of his Attleboro, Mass., home, according to the Globe. "I don't know where this is coming from. I don't know what you are talking about."

According to a six-page affidavit filed by the DEA agent, the unnamed cooperating witness -- a buyer who was reaching out to the alleged dealer by text message -- met with the dealer to exchange cash for drugs.

Grossberg and two other people briefed on the investigation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Kaczur was the cooperating witness in the case.

New York State Police said Kaczur was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, a misdemeanor, following an April 27 traffic stop on the New York State Thruway.

Kaczur had been pulled over for speeding in Whitestown, N.Y., when police discovered a "small amount of controlled substance for which he did not have a prescription," a substance identified as the painkiller oxycodone, N.Y. State Police Sgt. Kern Swoboda said.

Swoboda did not know the current status of Kaczur's case in New York.

Patriots spokesman Stacey James declined to comment on Kaczur, according to the report. "We're deferring all questions on this matter to the appropriate law enforcement officials," he said.

Kaczur's agent, Vance Malinovic, said he was not prepared to comment on the case, according to the Globe.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello also declined to speak directly to the case, according to the report. "It's a law enforcement matter, and any questions should be directed to the appropriate law enforcement agencies," he said.

Grossberg said Ekasala, an unemployed construction worker and father of 2-year-old twins, has also been asked to cooperate by federal agents, but has repeatedly refused. He said Ekasala was "an extremely reluctant participant and was somewhat enamored of being friendly with or having contact with a professional athlete," according to the report.

"My client was always sympathetic to Mr. Kaczur and suggested to him many times, as the text messages will show, that Kaczur ought not to be doing what he was doing," Grossberg said, according to the newspaper. "Professional athletes in this country are treated like royalty, and royalty sometimes abuses the people they come in contact with, and I think that's what happened to Ekasala."

But assistant U.S. Attorney Brian T. Kelly, while declining to comment on the investigation or Kaczur's role as a cooperating witness, said he didn't buy Grossberg's explanation of how Ekasala came to become a drug supplier. "The crazy fan defense doesn't seem real plausible, but it will be up to a jury to decide," Kelly said, according to the report.

The Patriots selected Kaczur in the third round of the 2005 draft with the 36th pick overall. A native of Brantford, Ontario, he played four years at Toledo, where he was the first player in school history to make the All-Mid American Conference team in four seasons.

Pat's sign OL Oliver Ross

The New England Patriots signed veteran offensive lineman Oliver Ross today. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Ross, 33, is a veteran of 10 NFL seasons with the Dallas Cowboys (1998), Philadelphia Eagles (1999), Pittsburgh Steelers (2000-04) and Arizona Cardinals (2005-07). The 6-foot-4-inch, 327-pound offensive lineman was originally drafted by the Cowboys in the fifth round (138th overall) of the 1998 NFL Draft. Ross has played in 89 career games with 52 starts.

The Iowa State product played in two games with the Cowboys as a rookie in 1998. The next season, he was released by Dallas following the preseason and was signed by the Eagles, for whom he was listed as a gameday inactive for 15 games in 1999. He spent part of the 2000 season on the Steelers’ practice squad before seeing his first significant game action in 2001. That season, he played in all 16 games with seven starts for Pittsburgh, seeing action at tackle and guard. From 2001-04, Ross played in all 64 of Pittsburgh’s games, totaling 35 starts over that span. In 2004, he started every game for the Steelers at right tackle. Ross was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an unrestricted free agent prior to the 2005 season, starting 12 games while seeing action at both offensive tackle spots. He played in 11 games with five starts in 2006 before missing the entire 2007 season with a triceps injury.