Mmm, that's good crow

Time for me to face up to my horrible predictions for the conference finals.

I thought the Spurs would out-execute the Lakers. Bzzzt. I was right about Duncan owning the Lakers' frontcourt, though it seems he didn't disappeared in the fourth quarter more than once.

What I didn't anticipate was Gasol's rebounding ability and Ginobili's complete meltdown in the series. He was a complete non-factor, outside of the one Spurs win. If Manu is at 100%, this series is a lot different.

Oh, and blah blah blah Kobe is suddenly a transcendent player blah blah Michael comparisons blah blah. If not for the Gasol trade, which was dirtier than Chicago in the 1920's, Kobe would not be in the Finals. He would still be throwing his teammates under a bus. No one would be comparing him to Michael.

So hooray, Kobe can win when surrounded by talent. How is this different from Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, a healthy T-Mac, or others?

Kobe is the most talented player in the league. He can do great things. But no one can win a title by themselves. I just wish everyone would stop acting like he is the lone reason the Lakers are playing for their fifteenth title.

Then we have the Celtics. Ray Allen showed up, role players showed up big time, and suddenly Detroit couldn't hit a shot to save their lives. Billups and Rasheed had at least three or four wide-open looks from the 3-point line and just flat-out bricked them. So much for Mr. Big Shot.

Similar to the Spurs blowing a 16-point lead because they couldn't buy a bucket.

Anyway, I was wrong. We've got our green and gold banquet, and it wasn't because of the refs.