Nice win Lakers! long series?

[suicide_squeeze]

Re: Nice win Lakers! long series?

I have one word for you......FISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!!

Now.....game 5? The deciding game? LAMAR ODOM will be the hero....that's my prediction. The second most deserving guy on the team, with special mention to Pao.....check that.....they ALL deserve cudos!!

Ariza was on FIRE tonight......he LIT UP his old team that traded him away......the way it should be. Sticking the knife in the team that DUMPS you is always a career definer....

[sportscentury]

Re: Nice win Lakers! long series?

sportscentury......let's speak frankly here....

Orlando is a "substitute" this year. They don't belong in the finals.

As soon as we all heard one of the three amigos was down for the year and it looked like the Laker/Celtics rematch was going down the tubes, the only other team that would have made this more interesting of a finals would have been Cleveland.

That didn't happen either.

So we're left with this series, which has actually been better than I thought it would be. Nail-biter games......two overtimes (first time in 25 years in a finals).

But it's over. It's highly unlikely this series comes back to L.A.

But we WILL be laying out the banners for the PARADE!!!!!!!!!!

Could not disagree more. Not sure what Playoffs you're watching. The Magic is a very strong team. They could just as easily be up 3-1 over the Lakers. They let games 2 and 4 slip away. Except for game 1, these games could not be more competitive or more closely fought. They are not as good as the Lakers, but the difference between the two teams is not that great. There are a lot of Laker fans who would agree with this in a heartbeat ... they know that the Lakers are fighting hard for these wins. Game 1 was a joke, but Kobe and company are fighting for and earning the others. There's some real talk for you, Suicide.

[mr.miracle]

Re: Nice win Lakers! long series?

sportscentury......let's speak frankly here....

Orlando is a "substitute" this year. They don't belong in the finals.

As soon as we all heard one of the three amigos was down for the year and it looked like the Laker/Celtics rematch was going down the tubes, the only other team that would have made this more interesting of a finals would have been Cleveland.

That didn't happen either.

So we're left with this series, which has actually been better than I thought it would be. Nail-biter games......two overtimes (first time in 25 years in a finals).

But it's over. It's highly unlikely this series comes back to L.A.

But we WILL be laying out the banners for the PARADE!!!!!!!!!!

Suicide, I would have loved to see a rematch from last year with a completely healthy Boston and completely healthy LA. Granted, Garnett would pose the exact same problems as last year but having a completely healthy Ariza and Bynum might have turned the tides, in fact, I think it would have been a completely different series this year. That being said, I don't honestly know that Boston even healthy gets out of the East as they barely got through Cleveland last year and even though Cleveland was a horrible matchup with Orlando, I don't necessarily think they are a horrible matchup against Boston. Nobody on Boston can slow down LeBron including the Truth Paul Pierce. Ray Allan is ready for the retirement home Cleveland would not have been so horribly exposed with all that crazy outside shooting even though Allan, Garnett and Pierce can all hit the 3.

Anyway, we will never know. I am not too sure that the Celtics window has not closed as well as they are aging quickly at several key positions and they have absolutely no depth off the bench. Oh, I forgot, they do have Starbury.

Good win by the Lakers but the Magic fans are already screaming about fouls and non calls etc. Why does that no surprise me.

[mr.miracle]

Re: Nice win Lakers! long series?

Ice in his veins. Reminded me of Robert Horry.

I miss Big Shot Rob

[mr.miracle]

Re: Nice win Lakers! long series?

Please for god sake, do not suspend Pietrus. I want everyone to be at full strength when they play in game 5. They are already debating that final play of the game.

[sportscentury]

Re: Nice win Lakers! long series?

I miss Big Shot Rob

The Fonzie of the NBA. The "Master of Non-Panic." The guy was money and he didn't even know it (or something like that). Yeah, he was fun to watch.

[sportscentury]

Re: Nice win Lakers! long series?

Please for god sake, do not suspend Pietrus. I want everyone to be at full strength when they play in game 5. They are already debating that final play of the game.

That was a cheap shot. There's a little Dahntay Jones in Pietrus, I'm afraid.

[mr.miracle]

Re: Nice win Lakers! long series?

That was a cheap shot. There's a little Dahntay Jones in Pietrus, I'm afraid.

Agree Reid, I just hate it when teams don't play at full strength which give their fans an excuse to complain when they lose. Of course if the player was not cheap shoting to begin with then they would not be in that position in the first place.

[mr.miracle]

Re: Nice win Lakers! long series?

The Fonzie of the NBA. The "Master of Non-Panic." The guy was money and he didn't even know it (or something like that). Yeah, he was fun to watch.

Big Shot Rob was just on the Dan Patrich show the other day for a nice interview. Dan asked him after all the game winning 3's he hit beginning in 95 in his first year in the league when he finally missed a game winner in the playoffs a couple of years back he said he could not believe it. I remember that game and personally could not believe it myself. He just kept knocking down the 3's time after time in the playoffs. The most clutch shooter in the history of the NBA playoffs.

[sportscentury]

Re: Nice win Lakers! long series?

Too bad there isn't a way to combine the two NBA Finals threads. Joba's and Rudy's threads are parallel universes.

[mr.miracle]

Re: Nice win Lakers! long series?

So, does this one go back to LA or does it end in Orlando. I think Phil had it right on when he mentioned Indiana in 2000 when the Lakers went up 3-1 and got crushed in game 5. That was a different time but only two guys on this team Bryant and Fisher were playing then. Hopefully the can get the other players up to end this thing and celebrate in Orlando on the Magic's own home floor. Since all the local bars moved back last call to 3 am, we could see the magic fans burn down the city and the Magic Kingdom once their team gets sent home empty handed.

I am sure that the Magic will not role over and give up. Expect a tough close out game at this point.

[sportscentury]

Re: Nice win Lakers! long series?

So, does this one go back to LA or does it end in Orlando. I think Phil had it right on when he mentioned Indiana in 2000 when the Lakers went up 3-1 and got crushed in game 5. That was a different time but only two guys on this team Bryant and Fisher were playing then. Hopefully the can get the other players up to end this thing and celebrate in Orlando on the Magic's own home floor. Since all the local bars moved back last call to 3 am, we could see the magic fans burn down the city and the Magic Kingdom once their team gets sent home empty handed.

I am sure that the Magic will not role over and give up. Expect a tough close out game at this point.

I agree, but I think Kobe is so much more focused now than he was back then. He simply wants to choke every last breath out of his opponents. I think it will be close, and the Magic may squeeze another out, but I think Kobe and gang will execute the knockout blow. If it were up to me, I'd have the Magic win the next two, so we could see a 7-game series... but I'm not betting a dollar on that scenario.

[mbenga28]

Re: Nice win Lakers! long series?

Please for god sake, do not suspend Pietrus. I want everyone to be at full strength when they play in game 5. They are already debating that final play of the game.

he should be suspended, smashing fists into Gasol's back. If Pau didn't hang on the rim, that could have been an injury.

[sportscentury]

Re: Nice win Lakers! long series?

he should be suspended, smashing fists into Gasol's back. If Pau didn't hang on the rim, that could have been an injury.

I agree. The refs didn't help matters. The officiating really has been bad. I'm not sure how the refs missed that elbow that Jameer took from Kobe only moments before Pietrus' dirty shot. That is the kind of thing that could really frustrate a team as it sees its championship dreams slipping away on its home court. I'm not saying that it at all excuses Pietrus' foul, of course.

[mbenga28]

Re: Nice win Lakers! long series?

not just with the elbow but in general

"There were times he was out there cursing the refs out and they weren't calling technical fouls,'' Alston said of Kobe. "I would get ejected [for that], but they won't eject Kobe.''

I heard a couple of people talking on the train this morning that Gasol shouldn't have dunked the ball because the Lakers had the game in hand and he was rubbing it in. Your thoughts?