Ryantific: Hi Hon. That’s a awfully green shirt you are wearing to cover your tummy that holds my son, a future Laker fanatic.

Wife: Huh?

Ryantific: I’m just saying, do you really think you should be wearing such a GREEN shirt in this Purple and Gold house?

Wife: Huh?!

Ryantific: Such a CELTIC GREEN shirt?

Wife: You’re an idiot.

Which of course is true, but that does not change the fact that I might be heart broken if my son were to grow up a Celtic fan. I learned to watch the Lakers from my old man (It’s his birthday! So happy bday pops!). But what if I don’t do such a good job raising my son and he prefers Bird highlights over Magic highlights. Would I kick him out of the house? Possibly. Would I never talk to him again?:. No. The fact that he is watching NBA bball (hopefully there is still NBA at that time. Thanks Lebron.) even if it’s the C’s, means that he understands tradition. And I can even get down with that. I might root for Artest to pop Pierce in the mouth but ultimately I couldn’t imagine a better sporting event. The tradition and dominance that is Celtic Laker basketball is the best. The only NBA event that might be more exciting this next year is the Lakers Heat finals, but that has special circumstances. (I just don’t want the Dream Team 2011 to succeed.)

So, my wife, go ahead and wear green. I will accept my son for who he is even if he loves to watch Boston ball. Maybe he will perfect his jumper form from old Larry Legend footage. Heck, I wouldn’t complain about that, since my jump shot form is just ugly. I mean ugly. Really ugly. We’re talking Fugly.

Boston might consider a new logo for Game 7.

If you’re an avid follower of the Bias, or have had the unfortunate luck of knowing me for an extended period of time, you’ve no doubt heard me rant and rave about everything from HGH to the horrendous officiating in the NBA.

But if there’s one thing I bang on more than LeBron James and Joe Crawford, it’s ESPN and the bandwagon media, and how quick they are to judge and dismiss teams after one game, one quarter, even one play at times.

But when it comes down to it, momentum, and what happened yesterday, and this “what-you’ve-done-for-me-lately” take on sports is garbage more often than not.

Momentum is weak-sauce media speak when it comes to championship series, because much of the media has never played the game, isn’t clever enough to come up with something of substance, and has grown numb to the one-game-at-a-time cliché pitched by the players and coaches. But when it comes to sport being played at a championship level, particularly a shooting-percentage game like basketball, momentum only matters within that one particular game – basketball is a game of runs as they say.

But when we’re talking about a seven-game series, that’s being played every two, three, even four days, on opposite sides of the country, between two of the most storied franchises in NBA history, you might as well throw momentum out the door.

Think about it. Has momentum ever carried over from that Monday blacktop game to your Wednesday pick-up battle, with the same crew of players on the court? Has momentum ever played a part the following week in that Monday night co-ed softball league of yours? Probably not. Either you’re good, or you’re not. Either you’re on that night, or you’re off. That’s it.

And when you’re talking about a game being played between what could be four or five hall of famers, momentum is even less important. If I were wrong, the Cleveland Cavs would be holding a parade right now. But they’re not.

It’s why no team had won back to back games in this series prior to the Celtics’ Game 5 victory in Boston.

So what does matter you ask?

What matters, for lack of a better analogy, are the four Hs: and I’m not talking that 4H, our A-town and Indiana hick readers.

• Hall of fame experience/leadership
• Heads-up plays
• Health
• Home-court advantage.

I’ve been preaching it from the beginning of the playoffs, and that’s why the Lakers should wrap up their second straight NBA title on Thursday.

And it’s also why they won big, and I mean really big, on Tuesday.

Consider:

Hall of fame leadership/experience: Kobe Bryant learned from Game 5′s me-against-the-world approach and got his teammates involved early on. By the end of the first quarter, the Lakers were balanced in the scoring column and had a double-digit lead. And the team that wins the first quarter has won all six games of the series (which shows just how unimportant momentum is considering that team was coming off a loss in five of the six games).: Bryant and Derek Fisher have been in the NBA for 14 seasons. They’ve each been to the NBA Finals seven times. That is leadership even the Celtics’ Big Three has trouble competing against.

Heads-up plays: These are the game-changing plays, Jordan Farmar diving for loose balls, going around and then over KG to put home two big buckets, Kobe giving up an open layup to a soaring Shannon Brown to get the crowd into it, encouraging Ron-Ron to keep shooting and get out of his funk.: The stats speak for themselves: The Lakers had 13 steals to only eight by Boston, had a 52-39 edge in rebounds, and an 8-4 edge in blocked shots. Ballgame.

Health: When Kendrick Perkins went down, I think the Boston Celtics season went down as well. While I’m contradicting myself a bit here by even hinting at what’s going to happen in Game 7, the injury to Boston’s blue-collar center puts a serious dent in the C’s frontcourt attack. While Perkins hasn’t done much at the offensive end, his absence at the defensive end allowed Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom to get free that much more on Tuesday night, and Gasol and Odom are the key to the series in my eyes. In Game 6, they combined for 25 points, 23 rebounds, 10 assists and 5 blocks, a pretty good all-around night considering how balanced the scoring was and that L.A. finished with only 89 points.

Home-court advantage: Unlike in 2008, the Lakers have home court in these playoffs. And unlike in 2008, the fans are actually giving L.A. an advantage. Since moving to Staples, I’ve argued time and time again that Los Angeles doesn’t have a home-court advantage other than the familiarity of playing there because their fan base could care less about the game itself. I’ve been to Staples: for a Clippers game. Beers are 2 for $20. At a Clippers game! Guys like you and me can’t afford to be there when the Lakers are in town. So you get fans like, I don’t know, look at Tuesday’s lineup: Christina Aguilera, Puffy, Andy Garcia, Spike Lee, Dane Cook, Diane Lane, Josh Brolin. In other words, not Lakers fans. You have Jack, and then you don’t have Jack.

But over the past three home games, I actually witnessed a standing ovation. And tonight, the crowd was as vocal a crowd as I’ve seen (heard, whatever) at Staples. And that happened before the Lakers started running away with it, so it wasn’t a fair-weather thing for once.: For all those times I’ve heard people say Pau Gasol was soft, I wanted to say L.A. is soft. Gasol was no softer than L.A.’s home crowds in years past. But now both of them are scrapping, showing emotion and producing in the clutch. In fact, Gasol has been the best frontcourt player in these playoffs. And L.A., next to Oklahoma City, has had the best home-court advantage. 10-1. Hard to argue with that.: Heck, I even saw L.A. fans sporting “Boston Sucks” shirts in L.A. this weekend, and they weren’t WCBias’ shirts. I also saw a one-year-old girl and a puppy wearing Kobe jerseys. It’s clear times have changed in L.A., and if Laker Fan has anything to say there won’t be any repeats of 2008. Not in their house.

We find out Thursday, when the Lakers shoot for 11-1, back-to-back titles, and a chance to save Ryantific from having to stomach the World Cup, not to mention a case of Budweiser Select 55, if the Celtics win.

Somebody get up in Jesus' face.

Initial thoughts from tonight’s 103-94 victory by the Boston Celtics over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals:

• Who was the best fighter in the gym tonight? A. Hillary Swank. B. Sylvester Stallone. C. Ron Artest.
• Who’s guarding Ray Allen?
• Lakers are up 2-0 if someone gets a hand in his face. On second thought, you could have put Michael Jordan on Allen and it probably still wouldn’t have mattered.
• Props to the Lakers fans for actually cheering tonight. Remember those moments in Games 6 and 7 Laker fan.
• If Allen goes off like this again, it’s time to put Artest on Ray-Ray and put Jesus Shuttlesworth on the ground. That was ridiculous.
• If I have to watch another Sienna mini-van commercial, I’m going to puke.
• At least we didn’t have to watch Joe Crawford give the gavee away.
• But, really, those two “fouls” on Kobe Bryant, were those really playoff, check that, Finals fouls? That inadvertent head bump of Allen? Then Kobe gets hacked, Rondo comes away with the steal, flops out of bounds, and it’s a foul Bryant? In LA? Really?
• Kobe looked like Reggie Miller there at the end of the first half. Unfortunately Ray Allen looked like Jordan for two halves.
• Andrew Bynum outplayed KG, Big Baby and Perkins combined. If you would have said Bynum was going to score 21 points (as many a Kobe tonight) in the series I would have been surprised. Only bright spot for the Lakers tonight.
• Nate Robinson = Skee lo. What if he was a couple inches taller.
• Finals bet: Lakers win, Slim (not a big fan of raw fish) buys a sushi boat for Ryantific and I. Celtics win, Ryantific buys a case of Budweiser Select (blah), and we dust it during a World Cup game – from the back of my Sienna mini-van. Yeah, soccer. I went there.
• Kobe’s jackknife, pump-fake shot is pretty sick. That’s a true signature move that the haters can’t give credit to MJ and the Hall of Famers before him.
• Those ABC Wipeout commercials also got tired. And when Carmelo Anthony was in the promo saying “players need to sacrifice their bodies,” I got a good laugh.
• Also, if I see another Mr. Spy vs. Mrs. Spy movie (Knight vs. Day or Mr. Mrs. Smith or whatever it was called), I’m going to puke: in my mini van.
• Should Doc Rivers have benched K.G. down the stretch? Who would have thought that would have ever been a legitimate question.
• Lakers need some R&R (Ray Allen and & Rajon Rondo). Unfortunately the series picks up in Boston on Tuesday.
• And why is the NBA Finals 2-3-2, when the rest of the playoffs is not? Seems kind of strange to me. Seems like it gives the visitors a edge, especially in a balanced series like this when the visitors are likely to steal one of two on the road.
• Where’s Tim Donaghy when you need him? Get that dude on the floor in crunch time.

Pau Gasol was looking like a Sleestack again tonight, and that's a good thing for Laker nation. (Getty Images)

Initial thoughts from the Los Angeles Lakers’ 102-89 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday:

• The only bad news out of L.A. tonight: UCLA’s John Wooden, 99, in “grave” condition.
• This is exactly why the Lakers brought in Ron Artest. Getting physical with 2008 NBA Finals MVP Paul Pierce from the opening tip. Pierce had 24 points, but 11 of those came in the fourth when the game was out of hand. Ron-Ron also hit 3 of 5 treys for 15 points as a bonus. R.Artest = Rodman (during the Bulls years).
• Home court will prove to be the difference in this one, even if it doesn’t go seven games. Getting this first win sets the tone for the series and lets them know they can be a physical, defensive team too.
• Surprised anyone got to 100 points tonight in this defensive, physical struggle –28 fouls and 27 free throws in the first half.
• Good to see Kevin Garnett looking like K.G. again. But at times, it looked like K.G. was playing by himself out there.
• All of the hype about Kobe Bryant guarding Rajan Rondo? Yeah, seemed like he was guarding Ray Allen a lot tonight. Not sure what the “experts” were talking about.
• I’m not sure Rondo can slice and dice the Lakers, especially in the post with Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom helping out, like he did the Cavs and Magic.
• And why didn’t the media make a bigger deal about who’s going to guard Kobe? He is the best player in the league right now (another 30-point game tonight). And the Allens don’t have the length to guard him. The Celtics better get Pierce or someone bigger on Kobe, or he’s going to go nuts every game. And if you double him, Gasol is going to go even nuttier.
• Get Scalabrine some PT.
• Bynum gave the Lakers 28 minutes tonight. He also had 10 points and six boards, not bad for a guy who was reportedly done.
• Officials for this one? Joe Crawford , Derrick Stafford , Joe Derosa. Really? Yo David Stern, why not invite Jim Joyce out here while you’re at it?
• In an non-NBA Finals note, WCBias.com is up to #575,682 in the rankings. Up from a mill a few months ago. Creepin’ on ah come up yo!

The NBA Finals tip off tonight between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, and to commemorate the game our boy Ryantific cranked out a couple Official WCBias NBA Finals Shirts.

They’re only $13.99, so get them while they’re hot … and support the free content on WCBias!

And for our East Coast fans, we have a couple shirts too, so hold off on the comments and letters to the Ed.:

• If Lamar “The Candy Man” Odom plays like this the rest of the way, give the Lakers the trophy now. Someone get this guy some Runts, or some Nerds, or something.
• McDonald’s LeBron James-Dwight Howard commercial reminded me of the ill-timed Kobe Bryant-LeBron James puppet show last year. Note to Ronald: get KG or Kobe a Happy Meal once in awhile.
• Another horrendous suit by Craig Sager (did you know this site was almost named SagersSuitSucks.com?) — even Phil Jackson couldn’t help but make fun of Sages … during the game!
• Gained some respect for Vanessa Bryant after reppin’ that black “Do I Look Illegal?” shirt courtside — making a jab at Arizona’s lame immigration law.
• Shannon Brown has some serious hops, almost pulling a Vince Carter on (make that, over) Jason Richardson.
• With Mike D’Antoni long gone, or as I like to say, “LeGone,” the Suns are a “defensive team.” Yeah, right. And Kobe’s not going to complain to the officials next time he misses a shot in traffic. HEY!

King James spent the timeout muttering to himself and staring at the floor with a DGF style that prompted me blurt out: “LeBron’s LeGone!”

Just like that, LeBron’s a goner.

Sure, LeBron got his triple double in Thursday’s 94-85 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 6, but when was the last time you saw James attempt just six shots in the fourth quarter of a closeout playoff game?

SIX!

And he scored, or went to the line on four of those six attempts, which makes you wonder, why was he dishing, and dishing, and dishing?

Reminded me of Kobe Bryant in the 2006 playoffs when he refused to take a shot in the second half of that 121-90 debacle to the Phoenix Suns.

You know, the game the homers at NBA.com described as a “puzzling disappearing act, (where) Bryant deferred to his teammates in the second half Saturday, taking just three shots and scoring one point on a technical free throw.”

Also reminded me of the crap Manny Ramirez pulled before being traded to Los Angeles by the Boston RedSox, refusing to hustle in the field, leg out fly balls, or interact with his teammates, or the fans, for that matter.

I mean, when have you ever seen LeBron defer to his teammates, in a situation like this? The whole thing is crazy. This is the best team James has played on: winning 60+ games for the second straight season: and there’s no guarantee he’ll be on another team that produces this many wins.

This was his chance. I don’t care how hurt he is, or what beef has come up in the locker room.

Your time is now, LeBron, take advantage of it. Just look at all the greats before you who were never able to win the big one (they’re all on TV calling your games, so it’s not like they’re hard to see – Charles Barkley, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller).

But, hey, at least LeBron will get more exposure in New York. ‘Cause we all know LeBron loves being the man, and could care less about the little people: like the poor ballboy.

While there’s a chance the Knicks could do what the Boston Celtics did a couple years ago, going from worst to first thanks to the addition of two HUGE signings, there’s also a chance LeBron doesn’t ever get to the Finals because his teams don’t have enough cap room to add another solid player.

As it stands right now, here are the odds for what team LeBron goes to next season, according to BoDog.com:

1. Cleveland Cavaliers: 1-2
2. Chicago Bulls: 5-2
3. New York Knicks: 9-2

I think the only way LeBron returns to Cleveland is if the Cavs get rid of Mike Brown, and they bring in some help — because it’s clear an aging Shaquille O’Neal, Antawn Jamison and an overrated Mo Williams aren’t going to get it done.

The Cavs need to handle this signing with care, just like the Lakers did for Kobe, after Phil Jackson took the year off in 2004-05, in preparation for the signing of guys like Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol.

Myself? I’d rather have Dwyane Wade on my squad, along with a capable big man like Chris Bosh.

Will it happen? Probably not, but it would be better than what happened during the Conference Finals.

Maybe it’s a good thing the Cavs aren’t in the Final Four, because if it’s been a nightmare for me, I can’t image what it’s been like for Cleveland Fans.

“A friend of mine told me today, after the game,” LeBron said, “that I guess you have to go through a lot of nightmares before you finally accomplish your dream. That’s what’s going on individually for myself right now.”

Don’t believe me? ESPN just reported it. Lead story on SportsCenter tonight!

Apparently, you can make trades during the postseason now.

Additional breaking news, from EastSidePN: Durant was reportedly suspended for the previous game, too.

Does that mean the Oklahoma Thunder must forfeit that last victory over the Lakers?

Guess Los Angeles should roll through the rest of the series – unless Kobe is traded to the Bulls – now that the next best player in the NBA isn’t with the Thunder no more.

Figure it out ESPN.

If YouTube removes the video above, watch it here.

Phil Jackson: Easy Wilson, this is a West Coast Bias sports fans site, remember?

Editor’s Note: This is part of a series of guest posts from WCBias.com fans. Interested in writing a guest post for WCBias.com? Contact us.

By Nick Wilson

Phil Jackson is not a guru. He does not have any mystique. He is not the Zen master. He’s not a basketball genius.

He’s an average guy with average intelligence who looks half-asleep most of the time but who happens to be coaching the most talented teams in the NBA in any given year.

Many lionize Phillip as a coaching legend because of all his rings.

Don’t get me wrong. Nobody can win 10 titles without knowing some knowledge of the game.

But a coach wins 5 games a year in decision-making at the end of games. Players win championships.

Every year, basketball commentators talk about Phil being the X-factor in bringing L.A. another title. Please. Um:.why then did Kobe throw a tantrum to get another superstar around him pre-Pau Gasol?

Are you kidding me, Lakers fans, that Cleveland has anywhere near the supporting cast that L.A. has this year?

Kobe goes out with injury and L.A. still wins most of its games. Lebron goes out and the Cavs are hopeless.

Antawn Jamison, an aging Shaq, and Mo Williams don’t even come close to the combined talent of Gasol, Bynum, Odom, Artest, and Fisher.

Back to Phil. A fourth grader could have coached Jordan and Pippen to six titles.

And all Phil had to do was play the “blame the referee” game that he does every year in the playoffs (i.e. Durant gets all the calls; Kobe doesn’t? Please).

Shaq was getting away with murder as the biggest fouling machine the NBA has ever seen when the Lakers won their championships with him.

Lakers fans seem to think that the triangle offense is like the Bermuda Triangle.

The triangle offense means spreading the floor and letting Michael Jordan or Kobe beat their man off the dribble or pull up for the J.

Phil’s coaching doesn’t/didn’t allow those guys to jump higher than anybody else in the league and get a clear look at the basket.

Phil is all hype. He fools everybody into thinking he’s smart by spewing a bunch of mumbo jumbo in interviews that doesn’t make any sense.

Give Phil a mediocre team and he’s a mediocre coach.

Give him a bad team and nobody’s talking about him the way people talk about Larry Brown as a true teacher of the game.

Give him the best teams in the NBA and all he has to do is not screw it up. NBA legend? Please. NBA opportunist? I’ll give him that.

Get on your feet Scotty, the Bias cracked the top million! Seriously, do something.

Late breaking news sports fans: WCBias has cracked the top one million websites (yeah, AP finally corrected themselves and changed “Web sites” to “websites” after all these years) again thanks to some ramped up contributions by the biased boys of late.

In case you haven’t noticed, we have a new contributor onboard with the Bias, “notsellingjeans,” also known as JLJackso. Not sure where he came up with the name notsellingjeans, so I’ll let him explain that story. Welcome to the team, JJ.

I do know he’s come up with two damn good posts of late, and the Bias has cracked the top million this week, 948,073rd to be exact, according to Alexa. Coincidence? I think not. (OK, top million is tongue in cheek after a serious lack of posts prior to April, but out of all the websites and blogs in the world – there are more than 22 million WordPress blogs alone – it’s not too shabby. And in terms of U.S. sites, we’re actually up to 163,528 in the states – which means we’re turning around almost as much traffic as two local “news” sites – not to name any names there New Times and Cal Coast News.)

And we’re just getting started people.

In the meantime, check out JJ’s two posts if you missed ‘em:

• Can OKC Bring the Thunder?
• Roy Halladay’s Historic Season

Now my only question is, where’s RK? His Lakers, the defending champs nonetheless, are up 2-0 and not a peep? Dude must be having a kid or something. Or maybe he’s been banished to his bunker again.

Without further Freddy Adu, let’s get back to sports commentary … and my initial thoughts on the Los Angeles Lakers’ 95-92 “victory” over the team formerly known as the SuperSonics tonight:

• I miss the ‘Sonics,  Shawn Kemp, and his dozen kids.
• It was a win in L.A., but not in Vegas. The Oklahoma City Thunder were 6-point dawgs in Game 2: and mighta won in L.A. with some veteran leadership or coaching down stretch. Wouldn’t it be nice to see Scott Brooks get off the bench once in awhile? Who does he think he is, Phil Jackson?
• Speaking of Vegas, neither Tim Donaghy nor Joey Crawford were calling this one, but the officiating was brutal down the stretch, was it not? Here’s how the waning possessions went … and how they looked, in my eyes:
  • 1:47 – Kevin Durant whistled for a ticky-tack offensive foul (in the final 2 minutes, that call’s not made anywhere in the world except L.A.). Lakers 90-88.
  • 1:21 – Durant then coughs up the ball after a reach by Ron Artest, but this scoring champ doesn’t catch a break (nice work by Phil by the way, getting the word out about Durant getting to the line too much before the series: he was only 5 of 6 tonight). Lakers 92-88.
  • 0:22 – After a free throw by Shannon Brown, Jeff Green sinks a leaner in the lane (and is hacked, but the no-call leaves it 93-92 Lakers)
  • 0:15 – Kobe Bryant somehow escapes a triple team to get the ball back and is fouled on the floor (although on any other day in this league his shot would have counted as continuation). Bryant and Pau Gasol miss free throws late to give the Thunder a shot but failed 3s by Durrant and Green seal the 0-2 deficit.
  • In the end, the officiating (or lack thereof) negated itself, but still. Can we please get some sort of consistency going in these playoffs?
• Speaking of missing in action. Kobe’s old man hadn’t seen him play live in 5 years? What’s up with that? My parents still come out to my beer league softball games, and I’m a year older than Kobe. Show some support folks.
• Is Kobe’s digit going to be an issue in these playoffs? Appears to be. Again, as I’ve said a hundred times, health will be the determining factor of these playoffs. That mixed with a little HGH.
• Let’s not forget our East Coast shot of the day: Boston 106, Miami 77. Really? No KG, and that’s what the Heat bring to Boston? That series should have been best of 3, you lose Miami. In fact, let’s just stop playing in the East and give LeBron and Shaq a spot in the Finals.
• Out West, it’s a different story. If tonight’s Laker game was any indication, it’s going to be a while before we know who the best in the West will be: outside the Bias of course.

Cracked the Top 1 million, baby! Get on your feet and show us some love.