Who’s Tough Enough to Be an NBA Champion?
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↵I know now might not be the best time to bring up rugged playoff basketball, seeing as Chicago’s still crying bloody murder over Rondo’s foul, and Dwight Howard will miss a game for the crime of being big. After tonight’s games, though, I think it’s about time we revisit last summer’s conventional wisdom: That the Celtics out-toughed the finesse Lakers, and thus became world champions.↵
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↵Okay, so we’ve all been distracted by dreams of Kobe/LeBron. The Lakers got Andrew Bynum back, Pau Gasol got a few muscles, and we forgave that team its womanly trespasses. And LeBron is physical enough in his own way that cliches about hard fouls and protecting the lane become laughable.↵
↵But now you have the Hawks and Heat beating the crap out of each other, and an (admittedly injured) Dwyane Wade reduced to bugging refs for calls like it was the 2006 Finals. And the Nuggets bruising, athletic frontcourt rotation of Nene, Chris Andersen, and Kenyon Martin looking awfully scary right about now. If the Lakers had problems with Boozer and Millsap, they should be skittish about this troika of terror. Am I fully convinced that Houston will not only beat Portland, but maybe yet prove to an important test for the Lakers: In addition to Yao's sheer size, they've also got the likes of Ron Artest, Carl Landry, and Chuck Hayes to kick some rear, postseason-style.↵
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↵Thankfully, none of these teams are one-sided thug-fests; there's also plenty of skill on these rosters. All this means, though, is that whoever wins this title is going to have to combine some of the best qualities of last season's Celitcs and Lakers. Which, I think most sane people would agree is the ideal form of basketball.↵
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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
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