NBA Finals

[jaba]

I think that the Lakers will win Game Three. In reality, Game Two was really about two things: A Celtic blowout in the beginning, and then the Celtics blowing it, and a furious Laker comeback at the end that fell short. The Lakers did not play well for most of Game Two, and then the Celtics really were awful in the fourth quarter.

It would greatly surprise me if the Lakers didnt win at least two games at home, and send the series back to Boston. Kobe Bryant. and Phil Jackson, have been to the Finals too many times, to just fold up the tents, and go home, and we really dont know how the Celtics will react going on the road, and not having thousands of people cheering them on.

Mitch

I agree with you Mitchell....and when one celtic player has as many foul shot attempts as the entire laker TEAM in a game in boston, it tends to raise some eyebrows.

the lakers should win at least two of their three game home stand. I dont know if they can hold the Celtics for three games straight, but crazy things have happpened in these playoffs, like atlanta taking boston to a game seven.

 

[P[a]pi]

Lakers won game 3 with Byrant being clutch in the end and Sasha helping him along the way.

Odom and Gasol did some important things on offense at the very end of the game, but they gotta score 8 to 15 points a game. I mean Kobe and Sasha could carry the whole team to the promise land, but damn if Odom and Gasol just do their part it would be much more likely.

Then again, Kobe basically said he expects for players on his team to get shut-down every game, and that his team just has to shut-down as many players on the other team. He just admitted that his team is playing a defensive team, so the games will be scrappy, and kinda boring, but oh well. That's what ya get with the Spurs, Pistons and now Celtics.

Go offensive team, that's fun to watch! Yay! haha



Also, any coach that wouldn't speak up for his team and point out the free throw disparity between one guy on the opposing team and his entire team would be a moron. Doc Rivers joked Phil about not whining about free throws at the end of game 3, but that's just stupid. Phil did his job. He defended his team. He's their spokesman, and if he thinks his team got screwed, then it's his job to let everybody know.

Doc thinks he is above that, but that doesn't make the decision to hold your tongue any less stupid.

Also also haha, Kobe has to make all his free throws haha.

 

[jaba]

doc rivers told his team not to expect the refs to bail them out in this game, he told them to go out and play basketball. doc knows that the home team gets the calls in the finals.

if anyone else on that laker team steps up their game with kobe, we might have a seven game series. the problem is thats a big"if"....sasha had a great game, but lamar is still a mostly non factor despite the mismatch problems he presents when he plays to potential. Gasol is a talented, fundamentally sound basketball player who lacks the real agression to be a dominant force in the NBA. bostons point guard rondo is running circles around derek fisher, I hope that match up gets more competitive.

more important than the laker win last night was the rise in laker confidence in that game. If the young lakers start to believe that boston is not invincible, we may have a more entertaining series.

 

[Mitchell]

We might be looking at a long series, based on the Lakers play last night. The Celtics big guys looked awful.

I had a feeling that the Lakers were going to win last night. Phil Jackson is too good a coach, and the Lakers are too good of a team, to just roll over and go down four straight. L.A will probably win tomorrow night as well, making it a best of three series then.

The problem for the Lakers is that realistically, they need to sweep all three of their home games, to have a good chance to win the series. If the Celtics win a game in LA, I just dont see the Lakers going back to Boston and winning two more games there.

This series just got a lot more interesting last night. Now we'll have to see if the Lakers can maintain momentum from last night's win in Game Four tomorrow night.

Mitch

 

[primetime]

I honestly believe the Lakers are trying to kill Laker fans. We finally get free throws and what do we do? Miss a lot of them. Goodness, why can't they just blow the Celtics out at home?

I really believe in order for the Lakers to win, Pau Gasol needs to step up. For crying out loud, he is being guarded by Kendrick Perkins. For all of Gasol's skills, he should be able to score at will against Perkins because the Celtics are too busy making sure Kobe doesn't do anything. If Gasol gets aggressive, it will have a domino effect. I honestly believe Odom is not doing anything because he is now being "forced" to make plays. When Gasol was on fire during the season, that's when Odom got hot because teams had to concentrate on Kobe and Gasol. Odom needs Gasol to do well for his own sake.

If Gasol is scoring on the block, and around the post, Boston can no longer cheat on Kobe and it will open up the paint for Kobe because now there is a big man they have to pay attention to. The thing about this series is, the Celtics will not make any adjustments. They play like they always play. Doc Rivers said it himself. They are going to play like they did all year. If the Lakers make the right adjustments (aggressive Gasol and Odom reappears), the Celtics will not be able to stop the Lakers. But, as long as Gasol and Odom play like stiffs on the court, the Celtics are the definite favorite to win the series. Kobe can't win it all by himself...

Thank goodness Sasha was aggressive....Man, game 4 is going to be a doozy.

 

[P[a]pi]

The problem for the Lakers is that realistically, they need to sweep all three of their home games, to have a good chance to win the series. If the Celtics win a game in LA, I just dont see the Lakers going back to Boston and winning two more games there.

Mitch

That's what I'm worried about as a Laker fan haha.

The thing about this series is, the Celtics will not make any adjustments. They play like they always play. Doc Rivers said it himself. They are going to play like they did all year. If the Lakers make the right adjustments (aggressive Gasol and Odom reappears), the Celtics will not be able to stop the Lakers. But, as long as Gasol and Odom play like stiffs on the court, the Celtics are the definite favorite to win the series. Kobe can't win it all by himself...

Thank goodness Sasha was aggressive....Man, game 4 is going to be a doozy.

I agree with all of that haha. And the other stuff too, but I wanted to focus on that.

 

[jaba]

Here's my interpretation,

No NBA fan will ever see a worse collective performance by KG and Pierce than game 3.

That game was exactly what the Celts want on defense. They just never got an offensive rythme.

Kobe was outstanding in the fourth quarter of game 3. I have no idea why they played Ray man-to-man on him in those last drives. It was like the C's were willing to give that game away. They didn't fowl at all in the last minute.

They weren't trying to sweep. The Celts respected the Lakers' emotional advantage, and let that game happen. Some execution is getting ready to happen in game 4.

i agree. The problem with this series is that there are so many "what if's"? For some reason, maybe just nervous jitters, role players on both teams are not playing as expected. I wonder if the pressure of playing for a championship is getting to some of these guys, because they are not doing what we expect them to do. I mean, nobody is really getting locked down defensively, they are just not making the shots they normally make, and Odom is just going on the mini vacation he takes during some games.

This series is tough to predict because the players are not playing as predicted.

 

[Mitchell]

I'm sorry to say, the Lakers are done. Tonight was the perfect chance for them to tie the series, up twenty four points, but the Celtics comeback, emotionally, will be too much to overcome for the Lakers. The question now is whether the Lakers will play for pride in Game Five, and send the series back to Boston, or go down on Sunday at home. The last time I saw such a huge lead blown in a championship game, was when my Braves blew a 6-0 lead in Game Four of the 1996 World Series.

I have no prediction, except that the Celtics will win the NBA title. The only question now is whether they will finish the Lakers in LA, or take it back to their home floor to win the title there.

Mitch

 

[Heeko]

If PP had shown up in game 3 instead of going 2 for 14, this series would be over.

 

[jaba]

If PP had shown up in game 3 instead of going 2 for 14, this series would be over.

well, actually the same could be said for Odom And Gasol and the lakers. Gasol has been a former all star (I believe) and odom is a 24 point, 15 rebound, 7 assist player when he decides he feels like playing basketball instead of being the inconsistent source of frustration he's been this series.
My prediction has always been that the lakers will win two of the three at home, and I still think that could happen, but boston will win the series because the lakers are talented when playing to capability, but they are not physical enough, and they definitely are not mentally tough enough yet for a finals series. The lakers found in game one of the home stand that they could actually beat boston, they got cocky and overconfident after a 20 plus point lead in game four, and the overconfidence and lack of defense came back to bite the lakers when boston turned up the intensity.

The lakers I think are ahead of schedule.... I did not expect them to be in the finals this year, but with this valuable playoff experience, and if the young laker center Bynum is as good as anticipated, a mini laker dynasty may be in the making, because the core of the laker team is very young.

 

[Heeko]

Most comical moment in the series

Was when Leon Powe was compared to "Dr. J in a slam dunk contest". The other announcer stopped right there and said "That has to be the single most embarrassing statement made on ABC airwaves." and personally apologized to Dr. J.

I thought that was hilarious.

 

[Heeko]

Most comical moment in the series (Part 2)

The Los Angeles Lakers. When you choke on a 24 point lead AT HOME, with no excuses to blame the refs on and you have the most valuable player in the entire league on your team.. yeah, that's pretty hilarious too.

MVP! MVP! MVP!

 

[primetime]

Okay, now that I have had some time to recover from that debacle of a game 4, I can post on this forum without sounding like I'm about to jump off a cliff.

What else can you say but the Lakers flat out choked. I mean, they crumbled under the pressure. They had the deer in the headlights look in their eyes and Boston was able to steal game 4 from the Lakers. Now, if you ever knew me personally, I am never comfortable with huge leads in the first half of any sport. Why? Too much freakin time left. If we had a 24 point lead in the 4th quarter, I am relaxed. The Celtics proved why you should never relax when you have a team down.

Funny thing is, the Celtic almost did the same thing in Game 2, which people conveniently forget about. I keep hearing how Doc Rivers didn't let his team choke away a huge lead and Phil Jackson did. One HUGE difference. The Celtics made their comeback in the 3rd quarter, when there was a ton of time left, but the Lakers made their comeback LATE in the 4th quarter and almost won. The Lakers ran out of time, otherwise they win game 2.

Is this series over? Not really. I know, I know, people keep saying I'm a Laker fan and I should face reality. But think about this. Everyone keeps saying "No team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals." But, also keep in mind that "No one has ever come back from a 24 point deficit in the Finals" either. We have seen some strange things in this series (Leon Powe, Sasha Vugacic, Pierce's less than a minor tweak knee injury, etc..) so it wouldn't surprise me if this series still goes 7 games.

About Pierce's knee injury. Does everyone realize now that Pierce's knee injury was NOT as serious as he made it out to be in Game 1? If he was seriously hurt, there is no way in hell he could guard Kobe Bryant that effectively in Game 4. He "tweaked" the knee, he didn't really do anything major to that knee. If I hear about that knee injury again, I will gag.

This series has been an eye opener. You always hear about the Lakers are soft and I kinda pushed it aside because we went through the Western Conference, but as I watch this series, I keep thinking, "Oh my gosh, we ARE soft". You look at Boston's players and let's just say they seem kinda of... how do i put this...."rugged". You look at the Lakers and you start visualizing "marshmallow fluff". I knew Pau Gasol was never a "banger", but damn, he got even softer this series. Kendrick Perkins is an absolute joke, but he is punking Gasol like there is no tomorrow. Now, people can see why Bynum was so vital to this team. If Bynum was healthy and playing this series, it would be the Lakers up 3-1 because there is no one on Boston that can stop him. Which means Gasol becomes more effective, which means Odom becomes more effective.

Right now, my mindset is "Not on our floor". Boston may win this series, but dammit, make them win it at home. The Lakers need to win game 5 just for pure therapy reasons. If we can get it back to Boston, who knows. This series has seen games where you think it's over, next thing you know, you're on the edge of your seat.

 

[Mitchell]

Prime, the problem for the Lakers is that Games 6 and 7 are on the road. I know this isnt baseball, but, in 1996, my Braves rallied from a 3 game to 1 deficit in the NLCS. The difference there was that the Braves only had to win Game Five in St Louis, and then had Games Six and Seven in Atlanta. The two games at home at the end of the series made a huge difference. I dont think the Braves would have won that series, if they had to deal with two road games for Games Six and Seven.

I will be surprised if the Celtics end it tonight. Even after the Celtics went up two games to none, I felt that if the Celtics won the series, it would likely go at least six games, and that the Lakers would win at least two of the three home games they had. I will still go with that feeling. However, it just seems to be unlikely that the Lakers can come back and win three straight games, two of them in Boston.

My feeling: Celtics win the NBA Finals in six games.

We'll see what happens.

Mitch

 

[Mitchell]

I'm not surprised that the Lakers won tonight, and forced Game Six. However, for the second time in the series, they played very poorly after a big first quarter, and allowed the Celtics back into the game, and then just barely survived.

Unless L.A. really plays their "A" game in Boston in Game Six, and they play excellent defense, and get a huge offense game from Kobe, I think the Celtics will probably end it on Tuesday night.

Mitch

 

[primetime]

This is one crazy series. The Lakers survived game 5 and now they have to beat the Celtics twice in Boston. Impossible? No. Likely? Probably not. But, as long as Phil and Kobe are there, there is a chance.

Speaking of Phil and Kobe, they both almost cost the Lakers game 5. Phil decided to experiment with Chris Mihm and the lead rapildy shrunk. For a guy who won 9 titles, it is hard to argue against him, but some of his moves were a little, um, weird.

Kobe Bryant has got to step up. In the 4th quarter, I didn't give a damn if no one else touches the ball, I wanted Kobe to deliver the finishing blows. Kobe decides to be "good teammate" and pass the ball to others who can't make layups to save their lives. Kobe says the Boston defense is throwing everything at him, but goodness, Joe Johnson SINGLE HANDIDLY won the 3 games for the Hawks in the 1st round. No one else touched the ball and Joe Johnson beat this so called great Celtic defense. In the 4th quarter, Kobe needs to get assertive.

Another thing the Lakers need to do is take charges. Like the commentators said, the Celtics are willing to put their bodies on the line, but not the Lakers. I guarantee that if Paul Pierce and ray Allen get several offensive fouls, they become nothing but spot up shooters instead of driving the lanes, which is what is really killing the Lakers.

Game 6 is a HUGE game. I think the Celtics need to win this game more than the Lakers. If the Celtics lose, now they are faced with a game 7 with all the marbles on the line and lost two games in a row to win a title. That will play on their psyche. This series has just gotten more interesting...

Anyone believe in miracles?

 

[jaba]

The lakers have the talent to win the series, but Tiger woods showed yesterday what the lakers lack, the mental toughness to win a championship.

and even if you dont have the talent, the atlanta hawks showed how far a team can go with tough scrappy play, and heart.

los angeles has to work on the mental game next season..

 

[primetime]

FUCK BOSTON....

FUCK THE CELTICS

FUCK PAUL PIERCE

FUCK RAY ALLEN

FUCK KEVIN GARNETT

AND ESPECIALLY FUCK DANNY AINGE


I will write more later....

*Disclaimer* I am experience true emotional rage right now... When I post again, I will give the proper congratulations and kudos to the team that won the title. Right now, I am just extremely pissed off and giving my truest emotion at this time.....

 

[Mitchell]

Skeeman, congratulations to you and the Celtics.

Prime, I'm sorry that your Lakers lost. Jackson is probably the best coach in the NBA, and Kobe is the best player in the NBA. They will be back. Being a fan of the Atlanta Braves, and having lost the World Series four times out of five, I feel your pain, my friend. The Lakers will be back. They have a good young team, Kobe is still iin the prime of his career, and Jackson is there for at least two more years. I have to rank the Lakers as one of the top picks to win it all next year.

Mitch

 

[SamuelKhan]

FUCK BOSTON....

FUCK THE CELTICS

FUCK PAUL PIERCE

FUCK RAY ALLEN

FUCK KEVIN GARNETT

AND ESPECIALLY FUCK DANNY AINGE


I will write more later....

*Disclaimer* I am experience true emotional rage right now... When I post again, I will give the proper congratulations and kudos to the team that won the title. Right now, I am just extremely pissed off and giving my truest emotion at this time.....

maniactickler feels your pain...he's still in shock from going 18-1.

 

[SamuelKhan]

Rock Chalk Paul Pierce!

Paul Pierce

We salute you as you join your little brothers as champions!

2008 NBA Finals MVP!

 

[Krokus]

I love the lakers, but I love THE TRUTH as well. And asthe lakers found out, when you play the Boston Celtics, the most successful franchise in NBA history, YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE!!

 

[ThatPercussionGuy]

That was the most boring NBA Finals that I can remember...all the hype, no substance. Everyone knew the Lakers were still Kobe and no one else...Paul Pierce and the drama from game 1, ridiculous.

Basketball has gone way way way down hill..thank god it's over.

 

[Mitchell]

The LA papers are crucifying the Lakers. I just went to LA Times.com, and they discussed how the Celtics won it because they played agressively, and fought for every possession, and that the Lakers looked lost, and played brutal defense. The Times also said that the Lakers were supposed to be the favored team in this series. Perhaps they are being too harsh on the Lakers. Yes, the Lakers have three titles in the 21st century, and the best player in the NBA in Kobe, and Phil Jackson as coach, but the reality is that the Celtics won 66 games, and had home court advantage in this series. It isnt like the Lakers lost to some 45 win mediocre team that sleepwalked through the regular season, and had a hot six weeks in the playoffs, like some teams do. The Celtics dominated all year long. Should the Lakers have played better in this series? Yes. My initial pick for this series at the beginning was Lakers in six. I went with the Lakers because of Phil and Kobe's extensive experience in the Finals. I think this series would have turned out differently, if LA didnt blow the huge lead in Game Four. If the Lakers had won Game Four, the momentum is different. They would have probably finished the Celtics last night, or, at worst, been playing a seventh game to decide the title tonight. Game Four killed the Lakers. While the Lakers did win Game Five, the fourth game essentially decided the momentum of this series.

I still say, the Lakers have a shot to win it all in 2008-2009. With Jackson and Bryant there, and if Andrew Bynum returns and is healthy, one would have to pick the Lakers as one of the most favored teams to win the title next year.

Mitch

 

[Tickle Fiend]

L.A. Beat