The Internets are alive: Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals hype, Day 3

Despite the layoff, the Celtics and Lakers are, in fact, playing basketball later this week. I promise. Here's what the blogs and beats are saying leading up to Game 1 of the NBA Finals ...

Roland Lazenby, SportsHubLA: "... there's immense pressure on Lakers star guard Kobe Bryant. He has to carry much of the offense, yet take a prime role on the defensive end, something he’s done all season, yet a feat that produces extra headaches with a multi-faceted team like Boston. "We could put Kobe on Pierce. I don’t know whether that’s good or not," [Tex] Winter said. "Or we could put Kobe on Allen, and I don’t know whether that’s good either. We’ve been looking at film, and we’re still not sure. Phil’s not sure what to do. We haven’t decided yet. It’s gonna be interesting."

CelticsBlog: "Chances are this series comes down to one factor: Can the Lakers shred the best defense in the league the way they did the best defenses in the West? If they can, hats off, they win. But if the Celtics do to Los Angeles what they did to Detroit in the fourth quarter of Game 6, what they did to LeBron for much of the Cleveland series, and frankly what they've done to everybody since Estaban Batista was yelling out "ubuntu" in Rome — which is SHUT PEOPLE DOWN — then Boston raises the banner."

Hardwood Paroxysm: "... despite what some people think, Rajon Rondo is going to kill Derek Fisher. I think Jordan Farmar will have a huge advantage on him, since Rondo suffers with fast guards, but he's not likely to get the majority of minutes. Throw in the face that the Celtics have already dealt with the "player you have to constantly double on the perimeter" conundrum, though Bryant presents more and unique problems. Kobe's going to get his. I see Boston taking two, then LA taking two, and then Boston taking two."

The Shamrock Headband: "I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if there's one thing these playoffs have shown it's that most Celtics fans, myself included, slightly overrated Kevin Garnett during the regular season. This isn't to diminish KG's considerable accomplishments but merely to point out that, knowing what we know now, it seems categorically insane that many were vocally lobbying for KG to win MVP over Kobe, which in restrospect would have been an error of near-Nowitzkian proportions. Make no mistake, Garnett is a great player, still quite possibly a top-five player in terms of overall impact if not overall skill. But Kevin Garnett's not playing for the same sort of historical status that Kobe is."

Bill Plaschke, LA Times: "A few weeks ago, you'll remember, Phil Jackson was asked if he knew what to expect on a nightly basis from Vladimir Radmanovic. "Absolutely not," he said. Laugh. Pause. Sigh. Here we are in the NBA Finals, and Absolutely Not is guarding Absolutely Money. Absolutely Not will have to defend the Boston Celtics' most explosive scorer and relentless attacker. Absolutely Not must stop a guy who scored 41 points in a Game 7 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Vladimir Radmanovic must defend Paul Pierce. With Lakers championship hopes perhaps riding on it."

Shira Springer, Boston Globe: "Phil Jackson leans forward and lowers his gravelly baritone to a whisper."The ghost of Red Auerbach is present," he says. "It's very present." Jackson stands upright again, raises his eyebrows in an all-knowing way, and looks around the Lakers' practice facility. As a player in the Celtics-Knicks rivalry of the early 1970s, Jackson learned to never underestimate the competitiveness and cunning of Auerbach. He expected "shenanigans" in Boston. He knew Auerbach "always had something up his sleeve."

Steve Dilbeck, LA Daily News: "If NBA commissioner David Stern has proven to be anything, it's that he is one smart businessman. Yet to the NBA's great dismay, curious evidence that something suspicious is afoot has been on the plentiful side this season. Particularly the postseason. Now I would never want to go all Oliver Stone on you, but the Lakers' postseason journey has been, shall we say, at times fortuitous. Unless you consider the Nuggets' bus catching fire on the way to Staples Center an everyday occurrence. Or the Spurs getting stuck on the runway until dawn a typical NBA episode."

Tony Massarotti, Boston Herald: "Larry Bird is considerably older now, a little bloated, more than 16 years removed from his last NBA game. But his words? Still as sharp as his shooting eye. "I’m really happy for Danny Ainge and the Celtics," Bird said yesterday during a conference call with Magic Johnson in anticipation of this year’s NBA Finals between the Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. "I’m looking forward to them winning another championship. Zing."

PerkIsABeast.com: "How, pray tell, will the Lakers cope with a seven-foot plus killing machine, who burns holes in opposing players with his eyes, who bites the necks out of rookies and leaves their carcasses to rot, who is hungry and will only be satisfied with red, gooey, flowing blood? Folks, I’m talking about intangibles. Can Kobe stand tall against a band of Samurai hardened by decades of adversity, ready to rip out the tree of opportunity and carry it with them if it will not yield fruit?"