I was stuck in the car for the entire Celtics game. Glad I had XM radio to broadcast it, but it sucked listening to the ESPN New York guys announce the game. The Knicks will be good next year, but man, they have zero depth.
What the fuck are the Magic doing? Howard must be picking his new team already, that motherfucker has checked out. Fuck, I don't want Atlanta making it, I don't want them playing the Bulls. Lakers Hornets game is fun as shit to watch. CP3 and Kobe Bryant supposedly became bffls over the summer with the Olympic games, not after this shit. They are hitting each other with every dirty hit (aka veteran move) he can. This shit is excited. Omeka Okafor is swatting the shit out of Lakers shots like he was back in African swatting mosquitoes. Ron fucking Artest is en fuego! And Kobe Bryant has 0 points. I think he's like 0-7 right now and missed the tech FT. Lakers down by 4. I wouldn't be celebrating shit if I was New Orleans right now, Kobe might find a white girl during break and wake up. Congratulations Philly for getting that win, too bad the NBA/David Stern will not let you win that no matter how well you play. Speaking of Philly, where the fuck has Mike Ness been? Isn't that his team? Sorry Rob, it's been broken down before, No defense strategy + Your Best Player fucking up your entire offense = loss.
I actually didn't watch game 4. I was too busy with Easter shit, so I don't know the particulars of yesterday's loss; I had no inclination to find out. With that being said, I'll be damned if this was Melo's fault. Game 2 was Bill Walker's fault. Period. Nobody who shoots 0-11 (and 0-5 from 3-point range) in a playoff game deserves to play in the NBA. Not having Amare and Billups certainly didn't help, either. The biggest problem with this team is the fact that Mike D'Antoni's defensive philosophy consists of, "Guarding? The fuck does that mean?" If he could take an offseason to build some semblance of a defensive repertoire, he might coach a team to the Finals one day. Maybe. Melo has his flaws, but I'm not going to pin this on him. At all. He did his damnedest to bring them back in game 2. Unfortunately, there was Bill motherfucking Walker.
What the fuck Lakers? You roll into the playoffs as the favorite even though you're not the one seed, and you might go 7 with the Hornets? I understand Chris Paul is killing it, but who didn't see that coming with 90 year old Derek Fisher? Can the Lakers let Derek Fisher go already? If Chris Paul keeps getting beat up and the Lakers win this series, they're going to go struggle against Portland/Dallas and get stomped by the Thunder. Not to mention if they had to play the Heat/Celtics/Bulls. I think a lot of people are going to be happy if the Lakers get sent home early this year.
I feel the same way about the Bulls, they let Indiana steal a game, kept their hopes up by not dry anal raping them the first two games, now Rose is not 100% and they think they have a chance. If the Lakers and Bulls get knocked out, I'll be pissed.
I know the Spurs can come back and win 3 straight, but I just don't see it happening. Memphis seems to be a nightmare match-up for them. I have a feeling the Lakers are going down too, if Kobe's ankle is as bad as they claim it is. I know he's a hardcore competitor though, so I'm looking forward to the game. It will be interesting to see if he has some sort of "Jordan Flu" moment, or if he ends up 2-19 for 7 points.
The Lakers will win. Probably in six games, but maybe in 7. I think there is virtually no chance of the Hornets winning, for a multitude of reasons.
There are a multitude of reasons why the Hornets are more than capable of winning the series, many of which are on display tonight. They have a MUCH greater shot of pulling off the upset than "virtually none."
Like what? Chris Paul has been their trump card so far, but they need to win at least one game in Los Angeles, which is unlikely to occur from a basketball perspective, and even less likely to happen with Stern's zebras officiating.
From a basketball perspective isn't one of, if not the, best point guards in the game better than the decomposing corpse of Fisher? Even if Kobe guards Paul, its going to take something away from his offense, which is one of the Laker's best assets. Its pretty well known that a fast PG can beat the Lakers if he gets even an inkling of support.
Yeah, just like fast, elite PGs in Rondo, Deron Williams, Nash, and Russell Westbrook beat the Lakers during the last few years, huh? Oh, wait a second.... Edit- And since I typed my last post at halftime, the Lakers have a commanding 13 point lead in the fourth quarter...
They certainly gave them problems and gave a sort of blueprint on how to make it happen. Rondo won a finals against them, Williams is more of a power guard (even though he is quick), and Westbrook gave them all they could handle last year.
In the last three years, all four point guards I mentioned lost to the Lakers. In Williams' case, the Jazz lost in 5 and were then swept, Nash and Westbrook were each beaten in 6, and Rondo made it all the way to 7 before losing. In other words, no, there haven't been any fast point guards who have single-handedly beaten the Lakers recently in a series, and the Hornets this year aren't any different. And surprise surprise, as I type this, the Lakers have just taken a 3-2 lead.
At the risk of pointing out the obvious, the fact that the Lakers won doesn't invalidate the fact that they could have lost. Of course the Lakers are favored, but it's really not hard for an inferior team to win two out of 3 games, especially when they've got a super elite PG. I think if you take a series to 7 games, you have a pretty good chance to win. Anything can happen in one game. Oh, and Chris Paul is much better than Rajon Rondo. I'm not sure if this is obvious, but I felt like putting it out there.
I disagree; I think that an inferior team winning 2 out of 3 is very unlikely when 2 of those 3 are played on the opponent's court. Moreover, a single point guard just isn't enough to beat a two-time defending champion, no matter how great. I mentioned it a few pages back, but an elite center, forward, or shooting guard has gotten teams much, much further during the last 20 seasons of postseason play than even the greatest of point guards. (John Stockton, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, etc.) I agree.
I just wanna clarify that I never thought the Lakers were going to lose the series to the Hornets. Nobody's uninformed enough to think that...right? I'm just wondering how they let the Hornets win two games, especially one in Los Angeles. Luckily for them they'll most likely have Dallas(though Portland could still pull it off) in the second round, and they should be able to dominate the Mavs via Gasol and Odom while Dirk and Kobe cancel each other out(Dirk slightly better on offense at this stage, Kobe better on D). But after that if the Lakers can't take it to another gear they're going to have trouble with OKC/Chicago/Boston/Miami.
Memphis might have something to say about that tonight. So far, they've split the series in San Antonio. There's added motivation for them, since it'd win them the series. I won't refute this statistic, but do you feel there's any reason that could change in the coming years? It certainly seems like there a lot more very good point guards now than there were in Jordan's time, and I feel like the reason for that is because the game has become faster and more PG-friendly. I have absolutely no statistics to support this; it's merely a feeling I get watching the game. For all I know, I'm blowing smoke here. The only possibility I could figure is that the game has become a lot softer, so PGs don't have to be worried about being knocked around as much and have more freedom to roam, particularly in the paint (Tony Parker, in particular, seems the most adept at this). Let me put it this way: Rondo's game has more room to thrive today than it would have if he had played in the late 80s/early 90s. Back then, PGs like Isiah Thomas were the exception; now, it seems more of the norm. Yay or nay?
Simply put, because that's what this version of the Lakers do. It is in this team's DNA. As good as Kobe is, and as competitive as he is, he cannot transfer that killer instinct to his teammates in the way Magic or Jordan did (by the sheer force of their will). (Although Kobe has been a much better teammate in recent years). Consequently, these Lakers lose when they should not. The 2000-2001 Lakers went 15-1 in the playoffs. The notion that this team, could ever perform like that in the playoffs is unthinkable. What does this mean? For those of us who follow the Lakers, and those who hate them, we have learned nothing from this NO series (which I predict the Lakers will wrap up on Thursday by 14 points). For those questioning Fisher's role on this team I will simply say this. He is there for the intangibles, his toughness, his leadership, his fearlessness when it comes to taking big shots and the fact that he tempers Kobe. The Lakers' offense does not use a traditional point guard (the triangle never has). Much in basketball is a trade-off, and the Lakers can, and have lived with the liabilities that his 34 y/o legs have on defense. Like many on this Board, I have been very impressed with the Thunder, I think Dirk is playing great, and Portland has impressed. But I have not yet given up on LA.
Yep, that team was a completely different animal. Shaq in his prime, Kobe getting ready to enter his, veterans with championship experience in Harper, Grant, Horry... I'll take the 2000-01 Lakers over the Lakers of the past 5 years any day. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAL/2001.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAL/2001.html</a>