Author: David Shama

Even a high priced event planner couldn’t have concocted a better way for the Minneapolis-Los Angeles Lakers to celebrate the franchise’s 60^th anniversary than to have the team in the NBA finals against their No. 1 enemy, the Boston Celtics.  It’s a dream script the Lakers are following, returning to the NBA finals starting Thursday night for the 29^th time in franchise history, targeting a 15^th world championship that would put them within one title of the most championships in league history.  The Celtics, of course, have 16.

The Lakers have been promoting a 60^th anniversary logo during 2007-2008.  It refers to the Minneapolis-Los Angeles Lakers and is worn on Laker uniforms.  On games televised from the Staples Center in Los Angeles the anniversary logo can be seen on the scoreboard hanging over center court.

The Lakers won five world championships in Minneapolis before they moved to Los Angeles for the 1960-61 season. Only once, though, did the Minneapolis Lakers play the Celtics in the finals, 1959.  Boston swept Minneapolis 4-0 as part of an era when the Celtics won 11 titles in 13 years.

After the Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960 they lost seven NBA finals to the Celtics.  Laker frustrations with the Celtics didn’t end until 1985 when they finally beat Boston in the finals.

The Lakers won again over Boston in 1987 and the dream script has the two teams playing against each other now for the first time in 21 years.  It’s a fantasy trip for not only the teams, but also the NBA with its two most glamorous franchises sure to goose the league’s image and TV popularity (yikes, this could have been Utah against Detroit).

The Lakers are the favorites against the Celtics, according to many observers.  The Lakers are viewed as the more balanced team between offense and defense.  The Celtics are more likely to have low scoring games, and when a game is in need of a last minute basket Boston doesn’t have anyone who rivals the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant.

How successfully Boston defends Bryant may determine the series.  From the days when Elgin Baylor played in Minneapolis to present day, the NBA has always been about match-ups.  The guess is that Boston’s Paul Pierce, a muscular 6-foot-7, will defend Bryant, 6-6 and so good he’s been playing like a Michael Jordan clone.

Pierce may have some moments against Bryant but it looks like a challenging match-up and the one-on-one problems for the Celtics don’t end there.  With Pierce, a forward, taking the Lakers’ superstar guard, that leaves Boston trying to figure out how to defend the long front line of 7-foot Pau Gasol, 6-10 Lamar Odom and 6-10 Vladimir Radmanovic.  In addition to Pierce, the Celtics start 6-11 Kevin Garnett, 6-10 Kendrick Perkins, 6-5 Ray Allen and 6-1 Rajon Rondo.

Most observers would give the Lakers the coaching edge, too.  Laker coach Phil Jackson, a North Dakota native, has won nine world titles while Boston’s Doc Rivers is in his first finals as a coach.  Jackson can break the league record for most titles by winning a 10th this spring.  Who is he currently tied with? Celtics legend Red Auerbach, of course.  With this Laker dream script it couldn’t be anyone other than a guy who bled Celtics green and white.

In the unpredictable world of the NBA, the Celtics could win the series and put a few tears on the script.  Locally that might please some fans who root for former Timberwolves Garnett and Sam Cassell, now 38 and perhaps in his last playoff series. Interestingly, though, everyone I talk to is rooting against Garnett.

If Bryant or Gasol get hurt, the script looks like it will have an unhappy ending.  If the Lakers play poorly and the Celtics play like they’re inspired by the ghost of Auerbach, look for a 17^th banner in Boston.

And then, too, there are the game officials.  Just last week Brent Barry of San Antonio drew collision contact from Laker Derek Fisher on a last second desperation shot. Barry could have gone to the free throw line, made three free throws and won the game for the Spurs while tying the Western Conference finals at 2-2.  No foul was called but late in the week the league office admitted that Barry should have shot those free throws.

In the 2006 NBA finals the officials sent Miami guard Dwayne Wade to the free line adnausem.  Wade was seemingly off-limits to contact from defensive players. The result was a steady parade of Wade to the free throw line.  The officiating turned around a series where Miami trailed 2-0 in games against Dallas and then “free throwed” back to win in six.

The Minneapolis-Los Angeles Lakers aren’t looking for any surprises in their script.

In the parity-happy world of major league baseball, local fans should rejoice that Ronald Clyde Gardenhire is the Twins’ leader.

The 2008 big league season has so far showcased surprise bottom feeders Tampa Bay and Florida rising to the top of their divisions, and a whole lot of mediocre teams camping out at winning percentages near .500. The talent load on most rosters isn’t overwhelming enough to run away from rivals.

In the American League Central, Detroit and its high priced talent has been a flop while the budget conscious Twins have been flirting with the lead despite playing .500 baseball.  With the talent wealth distributed almost like socialism, the Twins have an edge because of Gardenhire who is among the game’s best managers.

Since taking over here in 2002, Gardenhire has managed teams that have won four division titles and finished third twice.  Admittedly, the division opposition often wasn’t the American League’s best but then again the Twins didn’t set the gold standard for talent either.

Yes, Gardenhire had some highly skilled players on his teams but he usually managed the best out of that talent, too.  Same this year with a team that has a completely rebuilt starting pitching staff and minimal power, but does have a solid bullpen led by perhaps baseball’s best closer in Joe Nathan, plus extraordinary hitting from Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer, and new found speed on the bases with center fielder Carlos Gomez and second baseman Alexi Casilla.

This team has been error prone in the field even though Gardenhire reveres dominant defense.  Already the 2008 Twins have made 43 errors in 56 games, the second most in the American League.  Two years ago the Twins had only 84 errors all season.

Gardenhire is a teacher who values fundamentals, so this team has frustrated him at times in the field and at-bat.  Yet he shows patience such as last week when 22-year-old left fielder Delmon Young misplayed a fly ball into an inside the park home run.  The easy move would have been to bench Young the next night, but instead he was back in the lineup.  Only after Young committed two errors in that game did he go to the bench.

Put simply, Gardenhire knows baseball and how to handle players.  In the often “even-Steven” world of major league baseball that’s an edge for the Twins.