NBA Finals Preview

The NBA finals tips off tonight, so I thought I might take a stab at giving my analysis and prediction for the series between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics. Now remember, my predictions are normally correct....

Game 1

Both teams are a little rusty to start off the game, given their layoff of almost a full week.  The Lakers take a 3-point lead at halftime due to strong play by Lamar Odom.  Ray Allen misses all the shots he takes in the game, befuddled by Kobe Bryant's defense.  However, in the second half, the Boston crowd helps Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce take the game over, allowing the Celtics to run away with a victory, 98 - 88.  Kobe Bryant scores 24 points on 10 of 27 shooting for the night.  Kevin Garnett says after the game that "he's glad the Celtics won."  Celtics up 1-0.  

Game 2 

Ray Allen starts out by making 4 three-pointers in the first quarter and the Celtics lead at halftime by 7 points.  Kobe Bryant remembers he's good and goes off for 18 points in the 4th quarter and leads the Lakers to a pivotal Game 2 victory, 101-98.  Bill Belichick -- New England Patriots head coach and big Celtics fan -- gets pissed off after the game and rips his hoodie in two.  Series tied 1-1.  

Game 3

Back in L.A., the Lakers take care of business in Game 3 in business-like fashion.  Led by Pau Gasol's 31-12 effort and Kobe Bryants 28 points and 11 assists, the Lakers blow out the Celtics 110-91.  Kevin Garnett has his worst game of the series so far with 13 points and 9 rebounds.  Ray Allen mirrors his Game 1 effort with 0 make baskets.  Pau Gasol comments after the game that "mi corazon esta alegre", while shaving his beard.  Lakers lead 2-1.

Game 4

In a must-win situation, the Celtics storm out of the gate and take a commanding 10-point lead in the first half.  Kevin Garnett shows his all-around game with 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists at halftime.  Jack Nicholson tries to high-five Kobe Bryant during a commercial break, but Bryant ignores him.  In the second half, Ray Allen refuses to shoot the ball, leading the Lakers to play 5-on-4 defense and leaving Ray Allen open in the corner.  Doc Rivers benches Ray Allen for Sam Cassell, figuring that some former Milwaukee Bucks player can produce in this big game.  Sam Cassell doesn't disappoint, by scoring 10 points in the 4th quarter and leading the Celtics to a 99-96 victory.  Series tied 2-2.

Game 5

The pivotal Game 5 has ticket-scalpers salivating; courtside tickets in L.A. are going for upwards of $80,000 per seat.  Both teams start out jittery, with 30% shooting in the first quarter.  Kobe Bryant has his best quarter of the series with a 19-point outburst in the 2nd quarter to give the Lakers a 9-point halftime lead.  Starting the 2nd half, Doc Rivers switches to his best defensive line-up, putting James Posey on Kobe Bryant for the entire second half.  Phil Jackson counters by glossing his 9 championship rings.  The Lakers only score 32 points in the half, and the Celtics close out Game 5 with two Kevin Garnett lay-ups in the final minute.  Celtics win, 91-88.  Phil Jackson remarks after the game: "Yeah, we lost.  The series isn't over yet.  You see, you have to win 4 games.  And the Celtics have only won 3 so far.  It's not over yet."  Celtics lead 3-2.

Game 6

Back in Boston, the Lakers try to extend the series behind Kobe Bryant's 20-point first half.  The Lakers halftime lead of 5 points has the Boston crowd anxious, not wanting to see a Game 7 in the series.  Coming out of the tunnel for the second half, Ray Allen receives a text message from a Milwaukee Bucks fan that reads "Remember how awesome you are."  Allen skips the second half warm-ups and sits on the bench in quiet reflection.  The second half beings with Ray Allen making 4 straight three-pointers to put the Celtics back up by 3 points.  As the half continues and Ray Allen continues to make shots, the Boston crowd realizes that history is being made.  Ray Allen three-pointer.  Ray Allen lay-up.  Ray Allen steal and dunk.  Celtics are now up by 12 and tasting a NBA championship.  Ray Allen three-pointer.  Ray Allen three-pointer.  The scoring run continues to Ray Allen throughout the fourth quarter and he finishes with 41 points in the second half, a NBA finals record, and the Celtics win 110-95 to claim the NBA title by winning the series 4 games to 2.  Ray Allen is carried off the court by his teammates and his second half performance is quickly hailed as the most unexpected clutch performance in NBA history.  

In the post-game conference, as Ray Allen accepts his NBA Finals MVP trophy despite being held scoreless in 2 of the 6 games, he makes these remarks:

"I got game.  I always knew I had game, and now I showed you all."

Thank you, Ray Allen, for being awesome.  I'll never forget.

Great Reads

I've read a couple of great novels lately that I would like to recommend to some readers out there. I say some because I think that mostly females would enjoy these books. If you're a male and have read them let me know. I can't quite get inside the male mind, but I'm pretty sure Matt wouldn't like them. Anyway they are Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier and The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland. Both books captivated me right from the start, were page turners and very well written. You can read about each book below.


My friend Jerusha recommended Rebecca to me a couple of years ago so I bought it and just now got around to reading it. I don't know what took me so long. Daphne Du Maurier first published this book in 1938 and it is described as a romantic suspense novel. The story is of a young girl who married an older widow Mr. de Winter. His previous wife Rebecca captivated many people and the new young bride had to follow in her footsteps. The story of her personal struggles with and what she uncovers about Rebecca made this book wonderful. With some surprising twists and a page turning ending, this book was a thrill to read.


About a month ago I was hanging out at the library with some friends and saw about 20 copies of this book on the shelf. So, I decided I'm going to check it out and give it a read. I was honestly not expecting to like it but Vreeland gave me a great story. Vreeland writes novels about real people, specifically artists, based losely on facts. This was a story of the artist Artemisia Gentileschi and her life. I often enjoy stories that span years of someones life and this one was no exception. Vreeland also did a wonderful job telling the story of Artemisia's painting, Judith, throughout the novel. My description of this book didn't really do it just but it is a great read!

Missing

Have you seen this bust of 1st President George Washington?

Ever since we took a weekend trip to the Lake of the Ozarks George has gone missing. He emails every once and a while but we don't want his emails we want him. If you have any information on the whereabouts of George please comment on this blog immediately. If you took George Bust and are reading this blog post, we hope you feel bad about yourself. He is our only child and a great front door guard.

Anne on the day George Bust was gifted to us.

Summer Dreams

I'm sitting in school right now supervising final exams. It's pretty boring because I can't grade papers until the kids are done with the exam, I have nothing to prepare for next week since it will be summer, and I'm super clean and organized all year so I have nothing to clean now. So, I'm going to post about what I want to do this summer...

1. Visit Germany (since we already bought plane tickets and have a place to stay I'm pretty sure this one will happen)

2. Read 10 books

3. Sleep until at least 8 everyday

4. Go for a walk almost everyday (if it's nice out)

5. Bust out the sewing maching I got for Christmas and re-teach myself how to sew. I want to make blankets and clothes.

6. Go to the Farmer's Market on a regular basis

7. Try at least one new recipe every week

8. Become friends with someone who has a pool, the summer off, and lives near me

9. Take a lot of naps

10. Go to lunch with Matt several times

School Lunch

Today I enjoyed school lunch for the first time since I started teaching 4 years ago. I never ate the school lunch or even ventured into the cafeteria when I taught in Champaign and I've never bought lunch for myself in the 3 years I've taught at Mahomet. I have spent way too many hours in the cafeteria though since I had lunch duty last year, but I don't want to talk about that painful memory. But today the stars alligned and I bought myself a school lunch. Several conditions had to be just right and they all were. I had cash, I had no food at home, I was too lazy to drive to Arby's, and a friend and co-worker who frequents the lunch line agreed to help me get through this ordeal. So, at 10:55am I ventured to the lunch line quickly picked up an iceburg lettuce salad with ranch and a soft pretzel with cheese (maybe) and paid the cashier $3.40 for the fine cuisine. This combination of items was not the "school lunch" but that looked very weird. The lunch at my school is not very good and many kids brown bag it. Although, it's good to know I have options even if they aren't too tasty.

In other news regarding previous posts...

1. Matt snores.

2. I'm still having some issues getting recertified because I tried to do it online. I figure we live in the 2000's so I should have no problem doing it online. But to make a long story short the certification specialist emailed me and said she was confused. So that makes me a little nervous. I have until June 30th though so I'm not sweating yet.

In The Middle Of The Night

Last night, Anne and I went to dinner with a few friends to a local restaurant called Seven Saints. The signature items at Seven Saints are mini-burgers/sandwiches called Sliders (similar to White Castle, but better). They have various types of Sliders, from salmon to bratwurst to buffalo chicken. Anyway, we enjoyed our dinner and our time there.

Skip ahead a few hours.....at 3:15 a.m., I was woken up by Anne and the following conversation ensued:

Anne: "Matt, I can't sleep. I'm going crazy. I keep thinking that I have to figure out the perfect combination of Sliders before I can go to sleep."
Matt: "Anne, just go to sleep."
Anne: "OK."

It is events such as this which remind me of why it was a great decision for me to marry Anne.

Reading Pen

I just learned about something cool today called a reading pen. Basically if you are having trouble reading a word or don't know the definition of a word you are reading you can use this pen to scroll over the word and get the pronunciation or definition. It looks pretty cool. I learned about it in a meeting with a student who is very bright but sometimes has trouble with words so that causes problems with his reading comprehension. The pen pictured above seems to be one of the top of the line pens and is about $250 (there seem to be cheaper ones that just read and don't give the definitions for about $70)