Dear Lakers,... FINALS! HERE WE COME!

Written by Jimmy "Win In The End" Castro... as he calls himself. Anyway, Jimmy is a die-hard Laker fan and appears in our podcast, the Chronicles of Crotty. You can find Jimmy on Twitter under the name... wait for it... WinInTheEnd! Of course! This... letter... was written right after the Lakers clinched the Western Conference throne. I will now put his font on purple. Dear Lakers, FINALS, HERE WE COME! You did it and I´m very proud of each and every one of you. You guys came out and played in Game 6. You were the better team and you proved it. I have to give the Denver Nuggets a lot of credit; they haven´t been to the Western Conference Finals in 24 years. Their fans have nothing to be ashamed of. They should be very proud of that. Here are the positives of this game. 1. The 1st 6 minutes of the 1st quarter. We were winning, 9-7. Yea, I know it´s not a big lead. But we had to get a good start on the road. I want you guys to do that in the Finals of every game. 2. Trevor Ariza, you had 10 points in the 1st quarter. It´s great to hear that Kobe was not the leading score of the 1st quarter. You were making shots and you scored a total of 17 points (7-9 on the field in 22 minutes). 3. Lakers shot 57% overall. In 3 point land, you went 6-10. You guys were making shots on the road. Keep it up. 4. 28 assists. You passed the ball around. It´s great to hear when Kobe had 10 assists. I know he had 35 points but he was passing the ball well. 5. A very nice close out in the 1st half on the road. We had a 9-1 run and played great defense. After a score, everybody ran back to defend. Love that Kobe block on Melo. 6. They scored only 40 points in the 1st half. Yes, 40 points in their house. To me, that sounds like great defense. 7. Carmelo Anthony had 25 points and shot 6-17 in 37 minutes. Chancey Billups had 10 points, shot 2-7 in 39 minutes. You guys shut them down; again, great defense. 8. Taking over the 4th quarter. You guys were beating them by 13 points of the end of the 3rd quarter. I am so glad you guys didn´t kick back. You beat them 36-25 in the 4th. Knowing you guys, you become lazy. But that wasn´t the case in this game. You closed them out. 9. Rebounds. In the 1st half you guys didn´t look like you wanted the boards. But you did in the 2nd half. You beat them, 38-27, on the boards. 10. FREE THROWS! Yes, I said free throws. We shot 24 and we made all 24. 100 percent. You see, we get more breathing room if we make our free throws. If it´s over 80 percent, then I´m a happy camper. Negatives time. 1. Andrew had 2 quick fouls in the 1st quarter. Oh yea, and it wasn´t his fault. He had to foul them even though it wasn´t his guys. Guard your man. 2. In the 1st half, we were being so careless with the basketball. Protect the ball. Stop doing stupid passes. 3. 8 WIDE OPEN 3´s shot. Luckily they only made 3 of them. We can´t leave a guy open like Billups, Smith, and Kleiza. You know they're going to make it. Luckily, they weren´t. 4. Turnovers in the 1st half. We had 11 and, again, that was being careless. You guys picked it up in the 2nd half with only 1. 5. Pau, I didn´t see you use your body and size in the 1st half. But you picked it up in the 2nd half. Don´t be afraid to use it. You're a talented big man. I´m glad we're not playing on Sunday night. You guys will have 5 full days to rest. That sounds good to hear. I really don´t care who we face. Could be the best team in the NBA (Cleveland) or the team that swept us in the regular season (Orlando). I know we could beat both of them. Just play like the last 2 games and we'll be fine. See you guys on Thursday night for the 2009 NBA FINALS! One of your biggest fans, Jimmy ¨Win In The End¨ Castro