LAKERtown!!!!

<blockquote> <strong class="quote-title">groggerbug wrote:</strong> <hr> Okay, Tom, I commended you before for being the only non-Lakers fan and handling it with such aplomb... now you're startin' to step over the line with the trash-talkin'.... <img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/wink.gif" alt="image"><br><br> So another W for the Lakers, partly courtesy of Courtney Lee missing an easy layup at the buzzer... and that poor guy's gonna be waking up in the middle of the night seeing that one over and over and over for a looooong time... But ya gotta hand it to the Magic - what a brilliant play!</blockquote><br><br>Credit where credit is due..... The Courtney Lee play was a brilliant piece of coaching. This caught the Lakers with their Sunday whites down around theirankles and in the .05 it took for the play, it was the difference in a two-game swing. I didn't see any refs involved, I didn't see Kobe with histhumbs up, or his teeth showing, or any dirty play by Fish, or the other gaggle of excuses you like to come up with Tom, one word for ya..... Execution. Youcan have the most brilliant coach in the world drawing up the plays and taking the key timeouts, but if your players can't slide in a simple layup?There's a reason why the Magic is down 2-0, they EARNED IT!!

BEEF (aka Kobe) put the thumbs up to get the jumpball call.. when it was actually a foul.. but, no, he didn't show his teeth. Apparently he only does thatwhen playing well..<br><br>No dirty plays by either team.. but it was funny to see Odom pull the 2 Magic players to the ground be mad a foul was called on him though!<br><br>I said in my prevous post.. even with the calls made or not made (overall, it was a pretty well called game - with a few misses on both sides, but no biggieseither way), didn't make a difference , it was a fair win..<br><br>I made NO excuses for either game .. and agree, execution did it.. and as I told Chris, I dont think 2 more W's for the lakers will be hard to come by..

And it looks like "Fair Weather Tom" is preparing his exit speech!!

As much as that last play was about good coaching, letting Redrick play for 30 minutes trumps that. I hope Stan leaves that kid in for another 30 next game.And you don't put the game into a rookies hands, this isn't the 30th game of the season, these are the FINALS.<br>Lakers take the next game in Orlando too, then I expect to see the Magic turn it on for game 4 and pull off at least one win, or fold it up and start makingtee times.......

<blockquote> <strong class="quote-title">chrish284 wrote:</strong> <hr> As much as that last play was about good coaching, letting Redrick play for 30 minutes trumps that. I hope Stan leaves that kid in for another 30 next game. And you don't put the game into a rookies hands, this isn't the 30th game of the season, these are the FINALS. <br> Lakers take the next game in Orlando too, then I expect to see the Magic turn it on for game 4 and pull off at least one win, or fold it up and start making tee times.......</blockquote>Agreed.. Reddick is garbage.. Lee is good, but to put a rookie with the pressure fo the game winning shot (even if it is a layup) isn't thebest job...<br><br>Dave - my exit speech will be short and sweet : "BEEFBOY BLOWS!" <br><br><img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/roll.gif" alt="image"><br><br>

<blockquote> <strong class="quote-title">tcullenm3 wrote:</strong> <hr><blockquote> <strong class="quote-title">chrish284 wrote:</strong> <hr> As much as that last play was about good coaching, letting Redrick play for 30 minutes trumps that. I hope Stan leaves that kid in for another 30 next game. And you don't put the game into a rookies hands, this isn't the 30th game of the season, these are the FINALS. <br> Lakers take the next game in Orlando too, then I expect to see the Magic turn it on for game 4 and pull off at least one win, or fold it up and start making tee times....... </blockquote>Agreed.. Reddick is garbage.. Lee is good, but to put a rookie with the pressure fo the game winning shot (even if it is a layup) isn't the best job... <br><br> Dave - my exit speech will be short and sweet : "BEEFBOY BLOWS!" <br><br><img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/roll.gif" alt="image"><br><br></blockquote><br><br>LOL!!! Well I'll disagree on who was to take the last shot, I thought the play call itself was great, but calling Lee's number was the brilliant move!NO ONE was on the kid, they were all guarding "the stars", you would think any pro this far into the playoffs could make a simple layup, but it was ahell of a gamble and had he made it, it would have been the call of the year as the Magic pulled even, instead of two down. And think of the momentum theywould have had going in to Orlando, that was some old school dice rollin', my hat is off to Van Gundy!

<blockquote> I thought the play call itself was great, but calling Lee's number was the brilliant move! NO ONE was on the kid, they were all guarding "the stars",</blockquote>Exactly right!

<blockquote> LOL!!! Well I'll disagree on who was to take the last shot, I thought the play call itself was great, but calling Lee's number was the brilliant move! NO ONE was on the kid, <br></blockquote><br>Watch the video again...Kobe missed picking up the guy who missed the layup with the game tied.<br><br>That was Kobes man to pick up...<br><br>Kobe even threw his arms up in disgust with himself when the kid caught the ball and missed the layup.<br><br>Doesn't matter now...thank the stars above!

Actually Kobe got caught up in a little traffic and Lee pushed off from him and put about a ten foot lead away from Kobe, who look confused as to whom toguard, it was a perfect play drawn up and about 95% well executed, it's that 5% that sends ya home!!

GO LAKERS IN GAME THREE!!! First one in Orlando.... should be a good game!

Yes, it should be. Maybe the Magic will find some rhythm. I lost all confidence in them winning the series (haha, that was quick.. here's to being afairweather fan! woo hoo!) - but I'd like to see them at least when a few games!

And the back peddling begins..... Are you sure you aren't a cowboys fan??? <img src="http://www.ezboard.com/image/posticons/pi_biglaugh.gif">

lol..im a laker hater, but also realistic (unless it comes to the Nuggs..lol) !

Congrats to the Magicfans. They played a great game. 75% shooting in the half, nice record!

That was a crazy half.. its amazing they shot that well, and still only barely had a lead.. Kobe for sure kept them in the game the first half!

And then he proceeded to kill them in the 2nd half. Worst 1/2 right behind the best 1/2 he's had this season. Sad really, but the Magic won. See yaThursday, and I don't think Kobe has another game that bad, Orlando can't top the last game, and that means.....

Orlando can't top that game? The only thing that Orlando had going for them was their shooting percentage and the fact that both teams had 13 turnoversinstead of the 20 vs. 12 (Magic and Lakers respectively) in game 2. The rest of the box score shows that Orlandos' numbers weren't all that great, andin some cases, even lower than their game 2 loss numbers.<br><br>Obviously it will be near impossible for Orlando to top that shooting percentage, but they can certainly do better in the rebounding and on the defensive end.Kobe had 31, in a poor performance, but the rest of the team played pretty well. They shot almost 6% better than they did in game 2.<br><br>As a side note, I think Van Gundy will be making a mistake if he tries to incorporate Nelson in to the game much more than he has. Alston got you to this pointafter performing quite nicely while Nelson was injured. Why mess with the chemistry? Nelson and Alston had the same number of turnovers, but Alston played 26more minutes and overall, looked a lot more confident.<br><br>A missed layup is the only thing for the Lakers being 1-2.<br><br>Mike<br>HWsMinis

Yup, gotta hand it to 'em - extremely well-played game! And the series is going exactly as I predicted so far - Lakers in first two, then Magic in theirfirst home game, then the Lakers to take the next two and the Championship. Kobe won't have another night like last night... And do you realize that hismissed FT's were the difference in the game? I think that's why he was hangin' his head so low afterwards...

Ya know you always hear that missed free throw by a star as the missing piece of the puzzle...... How many dunks, three point, lay ups and 10-foot shots weremissed by the Lakers and they were STILLthiscloseattheend? If they had made every shot, the Lakers would have had 220 points!! The Lakers ALWAYS go soft on thefirst away game, they ARE playing the Eastern Conference Champions and I didn't expect a sweep!!!!<br><br>I want this to go SEVEN because when it's over?? All I have to look forward to is the drone of baseball and my talk radio interrupted by some insipid fivehour game that ends 1-0........

<blockquote> I want this to go SEVEN because when it's over?? All I have to look forward to is the drone of baseball and my talk radio interrupted by some insipid five hour game that ends 1-0........</blockquote><br>Well thought out there with that comment, hadn't thought of that. Probably the deepest thought I'd ever seen from Chugger.<br>Has baseball started yet? Oh yeah, it has, I forgot I was offered tickets to the A's game on Memorial Day Weekend and passed before the question wascompleted...YAWWWWWWWWWWWN...<br>Last weekend I was channel surfing and there was a game on TV in the 18th inning...I'd rather be waterboarded than be at that train wreck...<br>

Deepest thought?? You should tune in more son. 529 games........ versus 16 for the NFL??? And ya wonder why??

I was wondering how long this train could stay on the tracks before one of the ADD fellas would derail us. 6 pages is a RECORD, for a non-poetry based thread.Well done, I commend you guys on your careful thought, ability to stay on point, but in the end, off she goes. Game 4 tonight troops, not bottom of the 9th,nor should this be confused with 4th and long. Lakers take #4, Orlando will not shot another 75% again, and Kobe will be around in the last 120 seconds to sinka FT here and there. Back on track now.

Word.<br><br>And btw, my boss had something interesting to say about Orlando's shooting 75% - if they were to go out and attempt all the same shots, from the samespots, with the Lakers SITTING ON THE BENCH they probably couldn't hit 75% of 'em. Ain't gonna happen again.<br><br>And re. Kobe's missed FT's - I wasn't saying that was THE difference in the game... the point I was (however lamely) trying to make was that Ithink it's the reason Kobe felt so bad after the game... he hates missing FT's almost as much as he hates losing.

It looks like (I HOPE NOT!!) that he will be doing a lot more hating after tonight......... ADD??? Naaaaaaaaa........ It's simple evolution Chris, kindalike pot metal toy cars, only so much can be said about em' before ya get bored!!

Wow................ To doubt the boys, I apologize again....... Fisher, visions of Robert Horrey. 2 OT's = 2 WINS!!! Kobe, player of the game, but ofcourse he was DIRTY... WHHOOOHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!! Piatrus was a coward punk, hitting Gasol in the back with his forearms after a dunk, what a CHICK#$%!

<blockquote> Piatrus was a coward punk, hitting Gasol in the back with his forearms after a dunk, what a CHICK#$%!</blockquote><br><br>What a punk is right...and they still lost!!!<img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/roll.gif" alt="image"><br>

Come on we all know when the refs give you 37 free throws and the lakers 20, and have all 3 big men with 2 fouls in the first quarter, it was obvious it wassuppose to be a magic win, plain and simple they choked, i cant wait for that ref to come out with his book, it will enlighten everyone about nba refs, onemore!!!

I agree Scott, it sure looked like the NBA wanted to drag this dog out as long as possible. They gave 2 fouls to almost every Laker in the first 10 minutes.LAME. Orlando is done, Pietrus will be suspended for game #5, DH can't carry this team, and the Lakers will play their game, thus leading to them hanginanother banner. This is also milestone for Kobe. Hate/love all you want, but in history, none of the GREATS have ever won, with completely different rosters.All the greats had their wingman, but not Kobe. He's now doin something, nobody else has. Scary part, Lakers are young, and only two Lakers have contractsthat are up this year. Thanks for the season, see you next year, same time, same place, same batchannel. I can hear a heavyset woman singin in the backcourtnow......

Ummm...Chris, no other player has won with completely different rosters? I'm not a NBA historian, but how about just a few years back when Shaq won inMiami, with a totally different roster? <img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/happy.gif" alt="image"><br><br>Mike<br>HWsMinis

He said GREATS Mike, Shaq was/IS a hack!!

Pietrus' "flagrant" foul on Gasol was b.s.(and dangerous) but the elbow by Kobe on Nelson,leading to Fisher's 3 was b.s. too- should<br>have been called. I predict the Magic will win the next game,but after that it's all Lakers!<br><br> Kevin(K-dog)

Shaq is not in the mentioning of GOATS, sorry. Great bigman, who should've BEEN one of the greats, but he was rarely in shape, almost never actually. Hewas horrific from the line, average on the boards, just a biggest guy on the floor-who should've been and coulda been so much more. Shaq was being paid 20million to be a bloated (Laker) center, and treated the Lakers' owner like a POS. 20 MILLION! Shaq isn't in the same discussions as the greats of thegame, sorry (top 50 sure). Robert Horry has 7 rings, but he's not mentioned as a great, Shaq is the same in my opinion.

Kevin, I disagree. Nelson shoulda been called for using his face to foul Kobe on that play! Double teamed in the paint, with four arms on you, something isgoing to happen. Kobe's elbow is a twig compared to those treetrunks that D. Howard swings around!

<blockquote> <strong class="quote-title">Kdog of NH wrote:</strong> <hr> Pietrus' "flagrant" foul on Gasol was b.s.(and dangerous) but the elbow by Kobe on Nelson,leading to Fisher's 3 was b.s. too- should <br> have been called. <br><br> Kevin(K-dog)</blockquote>+1 - Gotta love the fact that Kobe can throw elbows all the time, and rarely gets called.. just like in the 4th when he was flailing elbows allover DH. Granted, the elbows on DH wouldnt have made a difference in the game..but the obvious elbow to Nelson's chin lead to the 3 pointer by Fish..which lead into the Magic having to inbound amd the domino of the loss. <br><br>I'm sure a few of you will say I'm making excuses.. but I'm not.. whoever won won, and so be it, let Kobe get his ring.. but at least admit that ifANYBODY on the Nuggets, or most any non superstar (ie KOBE) had thrown that elbow, they'd have gotten at least a foul called.. if not a Tech, or Flagrant. <br><br>Just because Kobe is a great player does not mean he should be held to a different standard than other players...I'll put my flame suit on now...<br><br>Dave keeps referring to "EXECUTION" - last night it was "ELBOWCUTION"....<br><br>Just a few famous elbows (and a knee elbow 1-2 combo!) from the great Kobe:<br><img src="http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p248/tcullenm3/kobeartest.jpg" alt="image"><br><img src="http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p248/tcullenm3/manu.jpg" alt="image"><br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxGoMAMuDUQ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxGoMAMuDUQ</a><br><br><br><br><br><br>

<img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/roll.gif" alt="image">

<blockquote> <strong class="quote-title">chrish284 wrote:</strong> <hr> This is also milestone for Kobe. Hate/love all you want, but in history, none of the GREATS have ever won, with completely different rosters. All the greats had their wingman, but not Kobe. He's now doin something, nobody else has. <br><br></blockquote>Unless I'm misunderstanding what you're saying, I'll point out that both Wilt and Kareem won titles with completely different teams. Plus Kobe has one important wingman from the 3-peat, Fisher, who I think was a bigger loss than realized back when they scrapped him for the Gary Payton-KarlMalone experiment.

"Shaq is not in the mentioning of GOATS, sorry."<br><br>Actually, he is. Spend some more time listening to most of the basketball "know it alls" and he's always in the "one of the greatest bigmen" conversations. He is most certainly in the top 50 of all time, and that, I believe, puts him as an all time great. When they have to make up rulesbecause of you, then heck ya gotta be a great. LOL.<br><br>Horry is talked about as one of the greatest "specialists" in the game, ever. He just wasn't a marquee, 40 minutes a game, superstar.<br><br>As for the preferential treatment that Kobe gets, he's not the first. Magic carried the ball every stinkin' time he dribbles. Jordan spent a lot oftime traveling with the ball. Shaq got away with tons of 3 second violations. They get their calls, 'cause Stern says so! It's a widely known fact andthat is one giant smudge on the record of the NBA.<br><br>Great thread!<br><br>Mike<br>HWsMinis

<blockquote> <strong class="quote-title">HWsMinis wrote:</strong> <hr> As for the preferential treatment that Kobe gets, he's not the first. Magic carried the ball every stinkin' time he dribbles. Jordan spent a lot of time traveling with the ball. Shaq got away with tons of 3 second violations. They get their calls, 'cause Stern says so! It's a widely known fact and that is one giant smudge on the record of the NBA. <br><br> Great thread! <br><br> Mike <br> HWsMinis</blockquote>This is very true.. superstars get super treatment.. and so goes how the NBA makes it's money. Free enterprise, NBA is a business just likethe rest I suppose! <br><br>At least it's exciting to watch... frusttraing at times, but fun none the less!<br><br>

"This is very true.. superstars get super treatment.. and so goes how the NBA makes it's money. Free enterprise, NBA is a business just like the restI suppose!<br><br>At least it's exciting to watch... frusttraing at times, but fun none the less! "<br><br>I agree Tom. They should consider changing their name to NBE (National Basketball Entertainment). Hee hee...<br><br>It is fun to watch, though I prefer March Madness (not that college refs are that much better...)<br><br>Mike<br>HWsMinis

Shaq was/is a tree, he would stand rooted in the paint for days and was a liability more than he was an asset. When a term is invented "Hack-a-Shaq"becuase the big goon can't shoot a free throw, or even care to work on his craft? That's why he rots in Phoenix with Steve "Shemp Howard"Nash and Kobe is gunning for #4!<br><br>As for Tom?? The boy is STILL brining up the Nuggets?? LOLOLOL!!!! They are done brotha' NEVER to be heard from again. Elbows?? Watch anyone who handlesthe ball, it's kind hard to do with your arms to your side, Kobe simply moved and the idiot ran into him and acted like he got a slam from Mike Tyson inhis prime!! That's part of the game, it's not about making doilies with grandma. What's NOT is that punk PUTRUS who Bill Hickocked Gasol in theback, too bad..... They will go down and use that as an excuse.