After MVP Kobe Bryant fell short of the NBA Championship to Boston, he now leads a cast of all-stars from the USA Olympic basketball team to try to win gold in Beijing in August.  Joining Bryant on the Beijing-bound squad was 2000 Olympic gold medalist Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks), Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets), Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz), Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors), Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic), LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers), Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets), Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons) Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks), Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat) and Deron Williams (Utah Jazz).  Currently Oddsmakers at SBGglobal.com have the United States -350 to win the 2008 Olympic Basketball Gold Medal.

The Pistons issued a statement from Prince in which he said he was 'honored to be selected.'  "I take great pride in being given the opportunity to represent my country, and I strongly believe that with the team that has been assembled, the United States will be represented well," Prince said.  There will be a minicamp this week in Las Vegas and then they will all meet July 20-25 to play some exhibition games before the Olympics in China on Aug. 10.  "I'm excited about the players who comprise this team.  The selections were very difficult and something we've been working toward since we initially got the Senior National Team together in the 2006 summer.  Unfortunately, we are limited to a roster of 12 players and we had incredible commitment for the 33 players in our Senior Team program," said Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who will coach the Olympic team in Beijing.

This team is winning gold.  They are more than big enough - no other team in Beijing will have more than one big man the caliber of Boozer, Bosh, and Howard - plus Prince, Kobe, LeBron, Kidd, Wade, Anthony all rebound well for their size.  I really think Jason Kidd played so bad at the end of the season in the NBA that he doesn't deserve to be on this team.  But he will be a contributor to the team with his passing.  Our rebounding and size is not an issue.  We have three studs to play point guard, so we will constantly be pressuring them on defense and never have trouble running the offense.  The only thing is you win championships by playing defense; ask the LA Lakers that after losing to the best defensive team in the league this year in Boston.  Don't forget that while this team is loaded on offense, that's not enough to win. Just ask the Nuggets how this past post-season went.  But this will be the year I feel USA will win Gold.

The Current lines for 2008 Olympic Basketball Gold Medal at SBGglobal.com

• Argentina +500
• Lithuania: +1,400
• Greece: +1,800
• Italy: +2,200
• Puerto Rico: +6,300
• Spain -250
• Field (Any Other): +1,300

Congratulations to the Boston Celtics on their 17th NBA Championship.  The Celtics struggled to close out opponents in the post season because they failed to put together complete games.  But they did it with the LA Lakers in a big way, winning Game 6 and the Championship blowout fashion, 131-92.  What else can you say about the New Big Three?  Garnett scored 26 points with 14 rebounds, Allen scored 26 and Pierce, the finals MVP who shook off a sprained right knee sustained in Game 1, added 17.  Garnett set the tone early with 10 points in the first quarter (and of course his usual fantastic defense.  No more talk about him shrinking on the biggest stage.  He's a Champion now.  Without Garnett Boston doesn't win the championship much less make it...he's the true MVP of this team.

The Celtics showed themselves to be a better team throughout the series, even in the games that they lost. Doc Rivers outcoached Phil Jackson each step.  Paul Pierce was the Finals MVP.  He outplayed Kobe on both ends of the floor in this series.  I don't want to hear the Laker "fans" complaining about the referees or trying to take anything away from the Celtics.  The fact is that they just got outplayed by a better, more physical team.  The 2008 World Champion Boston Celtics were the team that most believed that defense wins championships.  For that they deserved to win.  They went out and executed championship basketball at the moment they needed it most.  They played their best game in their biggest game. They leaned on one another like true brothers and grasped sporting immortality.

I hope all the Kobe lovers are finally realizing that my comments from the beginning of the playoffs are true.  Kobe is battling the Kobe demons, when the going gets tough, Kobe won't trust.  He will force himself out of greatness.  Does wife Vanessa trust Kobe as much as Kobe trust his teammates.   Since the NBA Finals are over Kobe will demand another trade saying the franchise has done nothing for him to win and they will trade him to the Bulls and then the Bulls will trade for Shaq so Kobe can win a championship.  Here is a new law now, never mention Michael Jordon and Kobe Bryant in the same sentence again for all the sports writers out there.   

So called experts out there on ESPN and all the sports show's thought the Lakers should win even though the Pierce advantage and the frontcourt advantage were obvious.  The Celtics won 66 regular season games and not many people gave them credit.   Most of the experts wrote them off after the Atlanta series and the Cleveland series...because they went 7 games.  Bottom line is for a team that was supposed to win, they certainly had a lot of doubters.  Boston's 39-point win surpassed the NBA record for the biggest margin of victory in a championship clincher.

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In NBA Finals Game 6, Ray Allen had 16 points.  But Boston's Big Three couldn't close out their first chance at winning it all, and now the will get two cracks at home.  Following the game, Allen left the arena immediately because of an undisclosed health issue with one of his children.  Allen has two sons and a daughter.  Allen has had a great NBA finals averaging 19.2 points per game and 5.2 rebounds.  He has seemed to get it going after struggling in the early rounds of the NBA playoffs.  Allen is expected to play Tuesday night in Boston.  His child is expected to be okay. The oddsmakers at Sportsbetting.com set the NBA Finals betting odds for the Boston -4 to LA Lakers for your NBA Playoffs picks on Game 6. 

Kendrick Perkins had to watch the game from the sidelines on Sunday night with a shoulder injury.   They really missed his presence in Game 5 getting touch rebounds and blocking shots. "It probably hurt us, obviously," Boston coach Doc Rivers. "Whenever you lose, the guy that was hurt or the guy that didn't play becomes very valuable."  "Perk is a physical guy," Garnett said. "He plays the post better than anybody in this league.  That's what he does.  When you lose a key guy, you're losing something."  Perkins will be a game time discussion on Tuesday night.

But will effect your NBA Playoffs picks that Rondo and Perkins could be out?  It seems most of the time the Celtics have made there run when they weren't in the game.  The Celtics have shown that they don't care how hard LA comes out,  they have the fortitude to come back.  Looking forward to a great game on Tuesday night.   Will the Celtics overcome their injuries and fatigue fired up by a roaring home crowd, or will the Lakers come out with fire for the whole game and ignore the crowd like they did in the Utah closeout game?  It should be interesting.

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You knew the Lakers were going to come out and play Sunday in NBA Finals Game 5 with there hopes of a NBA championship on the line.  They forced a NBA Finals Game 6 back in Boston in Tuesday night with a 103-98 win.  The Celtics didn't "choke" this one away.  They had an opportunity to be the NBA championship pick, but the Lakers flat out won the game.  What Game 5 of the 2008 NBA Finals will be remembered for is Kobe Bryant's steal and dunk to seal a tight ball game in the fourth quarter.  Kobe disappears after the 1st quarter but makes a key defensive play at the end, shall we call that lucky? (and also a questionable foul on Pierce?).  Bryant scored 25 points, and Odom added 20.   The oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com set the NBA Finals betting odds for the Boston -3.5 to LA Lakers for your NBA Finals picks on Game 6. 

Can't complain about the effort Paul Pierce gave Sunday.  Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 38 points and played all but two seconds.  "We wanted to go back home, but we didn't want to play," coach Doc Rivers said. "But now we have to play, and we earned that right. That's why the regular season is so important.  We fought for it all year. We have Game 6 at home, and that's not a bad place to be." Kevin Garnett had 13 points and 14 rebounds.  KG missing free throws and a point blank tip-in late as well as committing a lot of dumb fouls early is the reason for the loss though the poor start didn't help.  Just like they did in Game 4, the Celtics made a huge come back in 4th quarter but came up short this time.  Sam Cassell had a great spell there in the fourth quarter.  The C's were down 14 with 9 minutes to play.  Then Cassell came in and lit the torch going on a personal 7-0 run and spearheaed a 12-2 Celtics run and helped the Celtics tie the game with just under 5 minutes to play. 

In NBA Finals Game 5 KG was really a non factor in the biggest game of his career.  He must play his best game in Game 6 on Tuesday night as they try to take the title.  I don't know why the Lakers are having such difficulty holding on to huge leads against Boston at home... they'll lose one of the next two, they can't hold a lead at home, I don't expect much better on the road.  The Celtics, trying to win their first title since 1986, are consoled by the fact they are going home.  They are 47-7 at TD Banknorth Garden this season.  Like Kobe said, this series isn't over.  While it wasn't a convincing win, people need not forget that every game in this series has been under a 5 point lead with under 3 minutes to go, so there really hasn't been any dominating wins and they have all been close games.  The Lakers have won an away game in every series so far, so if they take Game 6 and then go to a Game 7, anything can happen. 

Trends For This NBA Finals Picks Matchup-  Under is 8-2 in LAL last 10 overall.  LAL are 11-4 ATS in their last 15 Tue. games.  LAL are 21-9-1 ATS in their last 31 road games.  BOS are 14-5 ATS in their last 19 home games.  BOS are 12-5 ATS in their last 17 Tue. games.

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