The Truth Hurts

I always say the worst day of the year is the day when the Lakers lose their final game. This year that day came a lot later than expected at the beginning of the season.
For that delay, I am grateful. It doesn't mean the day hurts any less, however.

A lot of things hurt about the way the Lakers lost to the Celtics. First and foremost is The Truth.
As in Paul Pierce. He completely outplayed Kobe Bryant in this series and deserved the MVP. The Lakers had no answer for him, and that includes the times when Kobe defended Pierce.

Here are some other truths.

• I never thought I'd say this but the Lakers were outcoached...badly.
• Phil Jackson made no adjustments. The Lakers should have had Lamar Odom guarding Paul Pierce, put Vlad Radmanovic on Kenrdick Perkins or P.J. Brown and Gasol on KG. Or better yet, they should have benched Vlad and Luke Walton, and put in Trevor Ariza. They even could have gone big with Ronny Turiaf on Perkins, Gasol on KG, and Odom playing small forward. All those options would have worked better. It would have been worth a try, but Phil just sat on his ass. Pierce may still have won the series for the Celtics, but at least it would have been tougher. At least, Pierce wouldn't have been able to drive into the lane while pressing the Easy Button.
• The Lakers fans (or the people who went to the Laker games in the Finals) were an embarrassment to basketball fans and real Los Angeles Lakers fans.
• The Celtics crowd was terrific.
• James Posey was the X factor. When he wasn't hitting big 3-pointers, he was doing a great job defensively on Kobe.
  
• Pau Gasol was the negative X factor. Sure, Lamar Odom was inconsistent, but he didn't completely lay an egg like Pau who played softer than Charmin. Those sure hands that he had all season completely went away in the finals. At times, he looked like dare I say, Kwame Brown. He even missed an inordinate amount of free throws, a telltale sign that he was nervous.
  
• The game 4 loss was ten times more excruciating than the end of the series.
• Had the Lakers won game 4, they wouldn't have won the series anyway.
  
• Kevin Garnett was hilarious after the game. He was crying, screaming, laughing all at once. I thought he was going to have one of those Kenny in South Park moments where his head explodes.
• Nothing beat the comment "Michelle you look good tonight, girl," to ABC sideline reporter Michelle Tafoya.
  
• Chris Mihm playing a minute in this series is a testament to Phil Jackson having no clue how to beat the Celtics.
  
• I hope Jeff Van Gundy never coaches again. Because he's a great analyst.
• I hope Hubie Brown lands a job somewhere because he puts me to sleep.
• I hate ubuntu.
• Ubuntu worked for the Celtics, who played together all series and showed great passion and heart.
  
• Andrew Bynum will look good in a Lakers uniform standing next to Pau Gasol.
• I wish next season started tomorrow.