Yes yes the Lakers won by 13. Yes yes the outcome was never in doubt. Should it have been? After all this was the Jazz. The worst playoff team alive on the road. Without Mehmet Okur.

Let me go on record right here and now and say if the Lakers make the finals and play like they did today at home they will get swept.

Let me go on record right here and now and say if the Lakers meet the Portland Trail Blazers, The Houston Rockets, The Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Hornets or San Antonio Spurs and play like they played today at home, they will not make the finals.

Without Okur or any outside sniper keeping the Lakers honest their interior defense "held" Carlos Boozer to a "miserable" 11-16 shooting and 27 points. Bynum and Gasol couldn't keep a grandmother out of the paint today.

The Lakers got out rebounded on the offensive boards 20-7 and totally by 8. Without Okur mind you. At home mind you.

The Lakers won because the Jazz shot miserable outside without any pressure on them at all. Fisher couldn't guard me and Bryant, don't get me started on Bryant. The Lakers won because they played the worst team alive on the road in the playoffs. Anyone else would have beaten them easily.

That Savior of our's, Buy-none got 7 points and 3 boards. Who was at Center for the Jazz again? If you can't do better than 7/3 against the Jazz without Okur. Go back to the Playboy mansion and sell your body Andrew. You're not selling it or your mind with 7-3 today on the court. How embarassing for you. A total flop you were.

That Photo on Fox Sports page of Odom smugly congratulating Kobe is disgusting. Forget Odom's line. Who was he playing? He made poor passing decision all the time whether they were a turnover or not. He bricked his only 3, he had easily the softest good looking stat line I've ever seen in my life. The guy did absolutely nothing other than pad stats in this game. Nothing to help the team win.

Shannon Brown played 22 minutes. Shannon Brown has less than half a season in the triangle and couldn't get minutes in Charlotte. Sasha, Walton and Farmar with a combined 11 years in the triangle played a combined 27 minutes and contributed exactly nothing. Let me withdraw that. They contributed a negative nothing. A combined 2-9 shooting and Walton managed to get 5 fouls in 11 minutes. Trade these three for a duck. You'll get more from the duck.

Gasol was 7-11 for 20 with 9 boards but fouled out guarding no one. How do you only get 9 boards when there was nobody on the Jazz other than Boozer and Miles to rebound against? What the hell? 12 boards combined between Bynum and Gasol? Boozer had 11 himself.

This was the most selfish third quarter I've seen out of Kobe since Shaq left and Kobe tried to do everything that one year. He turned the ball over, got it stolen, got stripped, wouldn't pass, fouled, got a tech. That was easily the most selfish Laker quarter by a Laker player in the past four years. And I'm restraining myself Mr. Bryant. You do that again against a quality opponent and it's curtains for the Lakers.

When you consider the absence of Okur and the poor outside shooting of the normally much better Jazz, the Lakes defense still gave up 100. A total lack of defense by the Lakers.

The Lakers won because of Trevor Ariza. He had 21 on 8-10 of shooting including 3-4 from 3 land.  That and the fact the Rockford Lightning could beat the Jazz if the Jazz were on the road.

But you keep this up Kobe, Lamar, Andrew, Fisher, Pau and  you won't make the finals much less get swept out of them.

Yuck it up three stooges (Walton, Sasha, Farmar) Just be glad I don't own the Lakers because you'd be wearing the Purple and Gold for your last playoffs. You three are without exception, worthless. An embarassment to the uniform much as VladRad was.  Worse actually.

 The homers can rant about 1 down and 15 to go. You know and I know and you know I know Gentlemen. This was not a Championship effort. It was a vulgar display of selfishness. And I'm a Laker fan longer than any of you been alive.

Take a little trip around the sports boards. Everywhere Celtic fans are snarling back at the Bulls fans who are pounding their swords against their shields and making a racket like they've won something.

In North Texas Maverick fans are puffing and feeling like Mark Cuban with a 3-1 finals lead. The Spurs fans in a reflection of their star Tim Duncan are giving a gentle sigh and rolling their eyes.

In Cleveland the Lebronists are acting like everyone might as well go fishing and just hand the title to Lebron. The Pistons fans are rolling their eyes and thinking, this was not exactly unexpected ya know? Try to show a little restraint would you? And of course they won't. The Cavs have never won anything. Whether they will or not is no reason to remember that. They'll go nuts in spades every win.

In Portland at the Rose Garden it's all over but the shouting with the Rockets stomping the first time baby Blazers foray into the playoffs. Homecourt switches to Houston. Houston fans will storm the world with "second round here we come" chatter while the Blazers will say it means nothing because everyone knows Houston knows more ways to choke a first round lead than any NBA team ever has.

Derek Rose of the Bulls tied Kareem for the best first playoff game in NBA history by a rookie. Lamarcus Aldrige stunk up the joint. Yao Ming got his groove on against the duo of Blazer centers,. Ray Allen exceeded his first round worst choke of last year. Lebron led all scorers for the day against a team that wouldn't have made the playoffs in the west as he should have, Allen Iverson being otherwise engaged in a Kwame Brown type playoff disappearance "I don't feel good" while out partying with his bodyguards who were beating up people for Easter.

Tim Duncan, Mike Finley and Tony Parker did what a playoff team should do and the rest of the Spurs lead by Matt Bonner's ZERO points, mailed it in. Josh Howard pretended to pay attention during the National Anthem and he and Dirk took it to the Spurs.

Three of the four home teams lost their opening playoff games and lost home court advantage.

In the Mad Max Movie, Tina Turner offered up her version of the old Gladiators in a cage known as the Pleasuredome. Her "posse" of mutants, miscreants, thugs and mentally challenged went wild on the first blow delivered. And got louder with each following. They didn't really care who won. They just wanted blood.

Why should the miscreants and thug fans of the NBA be any different?

Welcome to the Pleasure domes.

In his first NBA playoff game, Derek Rose, favorite to win Rookie of the year fouled after after 50 minutes on court.  The Bulls pulled off the opening game upset of the Celtics in Boston 105-103 in overtime.

Before fouling out Rose played 50 minutes of a possible 53 minutes. Not too shabby Tthe young Point Guard of the Bulls hit 12-19 shots, 11-11 free throws for 36 points , pulled down 4 boards and dished 11 assists.

Incredible first playoff game effort. This kid may turn out to be a keeper.

A Rose by any other name is Derek on this day.