NBA Playoffs 2008

Our defense was certainly good, but you're right about the open looks. We gave up to many and were lucky not to go down on many ocassions. We still deserved the game though.



The game was clearly lost on the boards and I have to give credit to Odom and Gasol. Odom still had a bad night offensively, but he came away with some good rebounds and showed up in the last 5 minutes. Gasol was a threat to Duncan all night and Duncan was clearly tiring in the last 5 minutes. If I'm the Spurs, I'm getting younger this off-season. You guys are not durable at all.


Jackson was bitching at the refs all night long. He was right about the 1st quarter, but he should've got on with it and shut his mouth.

 

I think I watched 1 game in the High School league. In the west a 90-85 games can be quite exciting, in the east a 110-105 game can be the most boring thing you've ever watched. I usually just watch the highlights and from those and the talking points, LA could probably sweep both teams if they got arunning game going.

 

No matter the sport the argument over MVP always revolves around who's the best player versus who's is the most valuable to their team. Even though I think he's a petulant, whining, self-absorbed punk and the only great player I've ever witnessed who has more than once done the "I'll take my ball and go home" routine can there be any doubt who's the best player in the world than Kobe Bryant?

If you told the Spurs that they would have held 20 pt. and 17 pt. leads in respective games in LA I'm sure to a man they would have said they would have one at least one of those. They were killed on the glass, poor Tim Duncan was giving it a go on the inside alone. The fact his teammate in the post consisted of Oberto, Udoka, a washed-up Horry, and Kurt Thomas who all combined to do nothing it's no wonder they lost the series

The only team of the 2 remaining that has a chance is Boston. Not because they are a better team than Detroit (they might be now that both Billups and Rip Hamilton are hurt). It's because of the stupid scheduling the NBA does for the Finals (2-3-2). Boston would have the home court so if they can get it back home down 3-2, the last 2 games will be in Beantown. However, I'm already resigning myself to another banner going up at Staples Center.

 

Don, you're a prick. I wanna gloat, I wanna brag,I wanna talk all kinds of shit and here you are taking it like a man and not bitching about officials and am taking the series loss gracefully. DAMMIT! :wink:



Oh well, this shows you who the best player is and who the most valuable player is. In every win, Kobe showed up and carried the team to victory. The other 3 big name players for the Lakers played like absolute shit for most of the series. Odom,Gasol and Fisher couldn't buy buckets and it was up to Kobe to carry the load. He did that and did it without going to the foul line. Greg Anthony is right. If Kobe wins titles and does this for awhile, he will go down as better than Jordan. I mean Kobe did it all last night. How many players pull up against Duncan and shoot OVER him and drain it? Most players woul dhave that ball sent to row z. This guy is amazing and I'm glad that I get to watch a player of his caliber play night inand night out. It's an honor to watch him play. My Granddad got to watch Wilt and West,My Dad got to watch Magic and Kareem and I get to watch Kobe Bryant. I love this team. I love this team.



Now onto the Finals. Boston or Detroit will go down in 4-6 games. We will take a game in Boston or Detroit and handle them at home. Why will the series not last long? Because neither team has players that can guard Gasol. Perkins is gonna get his ass handed to him if he plays against Gasol and Maxiell isn't even close to Gasols quality. If we play Boston, Rondo will get a royal beatdown by Fisher. Either way the matchups will not be good for either team. On the one hand Billups can guard Fisher, but Maxiell and Wallace won't be able to handle Gasol or Odom. On the other Garnett can take care of Odom, but Perkins and Rondo can't guard Gasol and Fisher. Either way both teams are screwed and you can quote me on all of this.


Now onto the future. The Lakers accomplished a major goal last night and IF Gasol continues to work on his offensive game and IF Bynum come sback healthy and improves(Like every young player of his quality does) The Lakers will win 70 games next year and win a title. Last night was the start of a dynasty and possibly the best dynasty in the history of the Basketball and I really do mean that.

 

He has more than 4 years. Mike played til he was 41. Kobe isn't even 30 yet. This team is one of the youngest in the league and Kobe has at least 6 or 7 GREAT years left with another 1-2 decent years. If he wins even 4 in 9 years, he will have surpassed MJ in titles and will probably also have racked up 3 or 4 MVP awards as well. You're forgetting that our big 4 is like 25 years of age on average. We have at least 6-7 years of greatness ahead because of our young age.



9 titles in a decade is impressive, but remember that we're playing in the best conference in the history of Basketball. If we win 5 in the next 10 years, that will be even better because of the competitiveness of our conference.

 

Lakers vs Celtics

For the NBA & ABC this is the ultimate dream matchup (no conspiracy theories please, they both earned their trips). Even a hater like myself can admit that it is special. I'll be curious to see how much of jump in the ratings this Finals will get (my guess is the highest since Michael's last). Now can the series be competitive?

Being in the car a lot and listening to the local sports talk there are 2 lines of thinking in LA amongst the Faker fans. 7 out of 10 callers think it will be a sweep or 5 games at most. The other 3 think because of the homecourt that the Lakers will have to win it back in Boston . No one is the least bit concerned. Bottom-line; establish dominance early and not let the Celts get their teeth into the series.

The Celtics have played to their competition in each round. Beyond horrible to one of the worst teams ever to make the playoffs in the Hawks. Uneven and slightly better v the Cavs. Finally quite a bit better when they beat the Pistons in Detroit twice. They'll have to raise their play again in order to have a chance. Bottom-line; the bench has to contribute (Posey, Brown, House, Cassell all veterans, all needed).

 

RE: Lakers vs Celtics

I think the Lakers will win this series in 5. The Lakers are younger, fresher and have the depth needed to overcome the Celtics experience. Honestly, the Celtics have looked old in the playoffs and I think they have not even played that well to get to the Finals. I think the lack of other teams in the Eastern Conference is why they made the Finals.

The Lakers will mop up the Celtics without breaking much of a sweat.

 

This is the first time since Denver where I can honestly say that I'm not the least bit worried about the Celtics. Lakers will win in 5 games and will sweep them in LA. Let's put it this way. We beat the Spurs in 5 with 4 of our 5 starters playing like shit. We'll beat the Celtics in 5 even if those 4 continue to play like shit. If they play decent, this could go 4 with a royal beatdown.


Even IF we don't win the series, this is still the start of something great and to be honest I'm not even really caring about the series other than wanting to beat Boston. I know that next year was the real target and we're just here a year early.

 

Wow 24, I thought you'd predict a 3-0 finals with the ass-kickin so bad that the Celtics would just wave the white flag and not bother showing up for game 4 :wink: Don't go wishy-washy w/your 2nd paragraph, as soon as the Gasol trade went down this year became the target. Never count on the future when it comes to sports. As a kid living in the Portland suburbs the Blazers won the title and the following year won 50 of their first 60 games. Bill Walton (who was the best player on the planet) broke his foot and was lost for the year (and career). The team couldn't win it w/out him. If he had stayed healthy the Blazers would've been a dynasty, but it wasn't meant to be. What I'm trying to say is don't count on next year, because you're one injury away from going into the 'what might have been category'.

 

Even with the Gasol trade, next year was the target. I honestly don't care if we winthis year. I'm happy with the finals as I wasn't expecting this until next season. Of course I want us to win, but if we don't, oh well.

 

Whot!!!!?????

You mean this damn thing ain't over yet?!?!

 

Took me about 20 seconds to figure out what the hell you were talking about.

And for everyone else who did not know, I found this: http://malaysia.answers.yahoo.com/quest ... 449AAS18E9

 

The same knuckleheads who said it was going to be a sweep (for LA) out here are now claiming "conspiracy" as the reason the purple and yellow are down 0-2. 'The NBA is making sure the series is going 7' or 'Tim Donahegy (the ref busted for betting) was right when he said all the refs are betting'.

The monster ratings ABC and the NBA were banking on have not materialized. A couple of reasons (my theory anyway) 1) The ridiculous time the games have been put on. Who is the genius that decided to put the game on 9 pm et on a SUNDAY??? hey idiot(s), people are chilling on that day its okay to put it on at 7 et/4 pt. Even the mid-week games should start no later than 8 pm et. 2) Bird v Magic (along w/all the other great players) sparked everyone to tune in while Kobe v Garnett just hasn't resonated. 3) The playoffs simply haven't good throughout. Since MJ retired people stopped watching, there was a buzz at the beginning of this postseason, but except for the first Suns/Spurs game there hasn't been 1 great game 4) Finally, the thought of any Boston team or the Lakers winning another title has turned off sports fans in general (except for fans of said teams). Simply there is no 'lesser of 2 evils' in this matchup.

 

I guess we shouldn't be too surprised by 24's silence, after all he already said he doesn't care if they lose. 8)