I See Green!!!!!!!

Hello LakerNation. I’m telling you guys I cannot wait for this season to get started. It will be the “drive for 5″ for Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher, Ron Artest hard defensive efforts will have finally paid off for him, and Phil Jackson will ensure that no other NBA coach ever catches him with an unprecedented 11th NBA Championship. I know I know, the season hasn’t even started yet and I have visions of Larry O’Brien trophy dancing in my head, but if you are reading this, I’m sure you have been seeing the same visions..lol.

Now let me tell you why I see green. In the summer of 2007, while my emotions were all over the place because of the situation going on between the Laker Brass and Kobe Bryant, my vision for the first time was just making it to the playoffs so I could be watching my boys play past April. I have been a Laker fan for a long time, and I could not remember the last time I felt that way, but not knowing if Dr.Buss would really ship Kobe off for a “group” of players that could not equal his talent all together, kept me up praying at night. I’m not kidding guys, the Lakers consumed me until training camp started and I seen Kobe still in purple and gold. I did not know how Andrew Bynum would react to Kobe’s infamous video…it was rough.

Somewhere far off, in a land where the sun barely shines, leprechauns run wild, ray allen signs, and our getgarnett campaign died. A three-headed monster was created. The monster popped up everywhere, on sportscenter commericals, on nba.com, even in my dreams…what a nightmare.

I watched the first home game of the season versus the Rockets, and heard the crowd boo Kobe! Yea you read correctly, Kobe was booed in Staples Center, but by the end of the second quarter those boo’s turned into cheers once again. Kobe Bryant was once again putting on a show(45pts/8rbs/4ast/4stl & record 27FT Attempts) for the crowd of entertainers, and die-hard fans. That type of display, even the haters would have to applaud. Andrew Bynum showed his great potential in that game with 14pts/13rbs, yet did not look like a “monster” the way the boys in green did.

December 30,2008 I watched my nightmare unfold right before my eyes. The celtics dominated the Lakers on every level. (did i just write that) Kobe was 6-25, and Bynum was on the bench, fouling out after 22minutes with 8pts/2rbs. While the 3headed monster combined for 74pts/20rbs. They were at that moment championship ready. But then a funny thing happened on February 1,2008: The acquisition of Pau Gasol. I won’t even take the time to explain how “prayer” really works…lol. The Lakers acquired Pau for nothing of significance, and you could see the joy return to Kobe’s eyes. Just like that, it wasn’t just the resurgence of the celtics, but the Lakers as well, and now the discussion of rivalry could really begin. Well we all know how that ended.

2007-08 saw the boys in green take home the Larry O’Brien trophy, where it trapped under some “rainbow” of hope that it would never depart. Only for 2008-09 to roll around and it returned to it’s rightful owner. Where it proudly sits with it’s 14 other friends, draped in the colors of royalty.

No matter how many more rings we win in the next 5 seasons (uuumm 5), if we don’t meet up with this 3headed monster, their will always be that lingering question of-how tough were the Lakers really? They never truly got to match up with a team like the celtics to really test them? blah blah blah.

Even with the re-tooling of the Cavs and Magic, I still see “green” coming out of the east. kevin garnett has issued the “challenge” saying “the celtics are going to win the next 2 NBA championships. Would someone please bottle up whatever drugs he taking so we can sell them…lol. Starting line-ups: Lakers-Fisher, Bryant, Artest, Gasol, & Bynum vs celtics-rondo, allen, pierce, garnett, & perkins. I hope they understand that the Lakers just got even more intense in the defensive area, and rondo will not have a field day against us, as most seem to think. Fisher minutes will certainly be limited this year during the regular season, and Shannon Brown is more than able to play rondo. Oh and kg, Gasol is a totally different animal than you experienced before. The battle of the benches pits Lamar Odom vs rasheed wallace, and I won’t take the time to explain Lakers advantage their. If wallace starts, their bench is non-existent (marquis daniels, shelden williams, eddie house vs josh powell, lamar odom, and farmar)…advantage Lakers. So there you have it…I see green.

Lakers vs celtics 2009-10 NBA Finals

Results Lakers in 6

all stats via lakersuniverse.com

follow me on twitter.com/utcpla24