L.A. is soft. Garnett will destroy Gasol all series. I don't think the Lakers will be able to bang w/the C's for too long. Check out the stats on the players(namely Lebron and Prince) Pierce has defended thru the playoffs. Its not mere coincidence that Kobe had a horrible night last night. Not to say that he's not going to have a good game, but on the average I think Kobe is in for a sub-par (for Kobe) series. This is obviously dependent on the strength of Pierce's knee to be able to dig in, shuffle back and side step. With the way Boston has had to fight, gnaw and claw thru the EC playoffs, this Laker matchup is like a sigh of relief. Don't get me wrong, I respect LA's ability to shoot the basketball and run an efficient offense, but unless they start taking it to the basket more and crash the defensive glass better it won't even get to 7.
Let me just add that I hate David Stern and the stupid *** way he does buisiness. Nice gay *** huge trophy painted on the middle of the Garden floor you ***. Good schedule for the games w/no Fri/Sat games, fruitloop. 9 o'clock start time on a Sunday night.. Pathetic. He could have accomidated both coasts and the Prime Time time slot so much better. Recind your commisionership Stern!
You're letting your homerism cloud your judgement friend. I am all for Boston winning the trophy but they hung with Boston with Kobe struggling. Gasol disappeared, and "The Big Three" were consistent. This is not by any means over or even close to being.
They do that all of the time. They acknowledge one side's flaw or inablity without correctly balancing or recognizing it out on the other side.
But he did have an "off night". We are talking about the greatest player in the NBA today, you are not going to contain him the whole series. Boston played a good game dont get me wrong but Kobe is going to get his so to say.
You can say whatever you want. I'm no homer, but I've been right about this team since day one. All of a sudden after playing a lights out in postseason, Kobe is "struggling"? Hmmmmm... just when the C's roll in, eh? I think your quick rib to call out homerisim on me because I am a fan clouds your(and anyone elses who feels the same) judgement.
He will have a sub-par series for Kobe's standards just like Lebron and Prince had sub-par series for their standards. Not saying that he's gonna suck like he did last night but when alls said and done I think we'll be talking about how Kobe didn't have the type of series that he would be capable of having.
No way, I'm a huge KG fan. Have been from the day he entered the league. We all have our own opinions. I'm just saying I think this will easily be a 6-7 game series.
If KG, Allen, and Paul struggled, would we be saying the same? I dont know if Boston can hang with LA if the big trio struggle. But so far the only one that has shown signs of inconsistency is Allen. I am a little worried how this knee injury is going to effect Pierce's play though.
Pierce isn't going to miss any of these games in the finals, he has waited too long to get where he is now to sit out a game.
We'll see. It's my opinion and obv. speculation but I do see a trend. Like I said, I dont think Kobe will get shut down, I just dont think he's gonna find a true rythem for an extended period of time which he has had all thru the playoffs. That's not homerism talking just trending and inference.
Good thing is, there's a nice gap between Game 1 and Game 2. He should get it treated properly and be fine for Game 2. Maybe not 100%, but somewhere close to it.
Nobody except Kobe can gaurd Pierce. Jackson isn't going to put Kobe on Pierce because The Lakers need Kobe on the offensive end. What this means is Lakers are serverly mismatched defensively. Lakers need a find away to get rebounds to, unless something changes I see Boston plus 10-15 over the Lakers in rebounding. Odom and Gasol aren't going to be huge in this series Boston is to good on defense.
Kobe isnt going to guard Allen, he'll wear him out. Paul with a slight hint of a knee injury is the logical person to put him on anyways. But Odom on Allen is a bad match up for Odom.
these Refs suck and Rondo needs to shoot the ball every once in a while.. Gasol playing more agressive.. imteresting to see how long that will last
And this is coming from a Celtics fan. The refs are awful tonight. Gasol has been practically raped and can't get a call, Kobe breathes on a guy and gets nailed with fouls. This looks like 8 on 5 tonight and with the Celtics playing at a high level as it is, it will be impossible for L.A. The NBA has a severe problem on its hands and with this being such a high profile series, it won't look good for them since this is very blatant here tonight. Awful. Worse than the Miami-Dallas debacle. I thought the Tim Donaghy''s of the NBA world were taken care of? Kudos to Paul Pierce who is playing amazing tonight. I figured he would be much more of a jump shooter tonight yet he is still taking it to the hole quite a bit. I just wish the game wasn't being decided by the refs.
Granted, L.A. still has to earn their way to the line. Fade aways and jump shots everytime down the floor will not cut it. The refs do suck tonight though but its not ALL on the refs.. Keep taking your pretty fades and contested jump shots only to be outdone buy not banging in the paint as often as you need to..
I never said DOnaghyreffed those games. What I am saying is that the NBA still has a problem and it is manifesting itself in game 2. Like it or not, the Dallas-Miami finals is remembered by a lot of people as a debacle. Halfway through the 3rd quarter and the Lakers have 2 frer throws. Considering Boston is the more "physical" team and L.A. the more "aggresive," how is this possible. Pau was nailed by KG, no call. Pau was literally smacked by Rondo, no call. Kobe picks up three fouls in the first half (two of which were horrid calls). Lamar Odom has 4 (the fourth was legit) Kobe just drains a shot with a foul call, basket waived off. I have seen continuations that have gone on forever on Boston's side and they get the call, Kobe, not so much. Oh and one of L.A.'s free throws was a technical...
I have given Boston credit. They have played great. Which makes it that much more confounding that the refs are almost blatant about giving Boston free throws almost every trip down and L.A. can't get a call. L.A. has taken a lot of jump shots, but they also have driven to the lane and haven't gotten the call at all. You know it must be bad when Spurs message boards are sympathizing with L.A. That never happens.
Its been tough on LA this game I agree but they are the type of team to be able to overcome this (discrepency at the line) which is why I won't sympathize.
:lol You won't sympathize with them because you are a Boston fan and it benefits your cause. And nobody could overcome this officiating, not even a team that has MJ, Magic, Kareem, Malone andBird in their primes playing together. That is how bad it is. at Lamar slamming the ball off of PJ's face. I wish he had done it to the refs.
This game is over, Boston is up 2-0. Hopefully the officiating evens out in L.A. The league should be disgusted with itself right now. Congrats to Boston, their players have played great, it just sucks that the refs have helped them out even more in game 2.
You act like I am not acknowledging Boston, I have repeatedly given them credit. Then again, we are also not getting the free throw attempts Boston's bench is getting either. I think the current count is what? 26-4 in favor of Boston. That is a joke and I think Phil has a duty to his team to mention it after the game.
Sam you can't be serious. Celtics are the more agressive team thats why their getting the calls. As for getting raped are you kidding me? Rondo just ripped the ball from his hands and I'm glad their catching Kobe and his elbow throwing. There have been alot of bad calls on both teams don't make it seem like the C's are getting all the calls their just being more agressive.
Its a joke now C's are killing the Lakers so the Refs are looking the other way when Boston hasn't changed their play style while the slightest fouls is called on them. Their trying to make a game out of it. That Pierce traveling call was BS that Powe call was BS, Powe had all ball much like Rondo did when he out muscled Pau.
Another boring home team wins all series here? The refs always make themselves known in the NBA playoffs, they easily have the worst officiating in professional sports.