[fhuang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by analogbox /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow, I'd give credit to Pose and Allen with their offensive tide in the 3rd and 4th quarter. Celtics' defense did a wonderful job and Doc's idea of spreading the shooters worked just as planned. Just wonderfully executed from defense to offense. Go Celtics!!

didn't get a chance to watch the final but are you/you guys saying doc rivers out-coach phil jackson? wow.

 

[ecclesand]

I do enjoy seeing Bryant pissed off. Go Celtics!

 

[robm321]

Haven't read any of this thread - just know the lakers are now done. They won't come back and win it.

 

[SactoMan101]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Haven't read any of this thread - just know the lakers are now done. They won't come back and win it.

I was listening to The Herd with Colin Cowherd live this morning and Cowherd may have stated the reason why the Lakers are getting killed: too many of the Lakers' roster are used to FIBA International rules basketball with its emphasis on perimeter-style play, and as such are real easy to "pound on" with players used to American-style play that emphasizes strong defense and half-court play. Is it small wonder why the Celtics' "Big Three" and the Celtics bench are suddenly so extremely effective in the Finals now?

 

[analogbox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fhuang /img/forum/go_quote.gif didn't get a chance to watch the final but are you/you guys saying doc rivers out-coach phil jackson? wow.

Yup. He clearly did. But it would never have worked if Allen, Pose and House didn't step up to their game. Thankfully, they did.

 

[virometal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fhuang /img/forum/go_quote.gif didn't get a chance to watch the final but are you/you guys saying doc rivers out-coach phil jackson? wow.

I'll take the other side. The Celtics players are the difference. They made more big shots and defensive plays than the Lakers. I think coaching gets too much credit and blame most of the time. In fact, this is the most active I can recall Jackson. Me thinks he knows his team is out-matched.

--

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sactoman too many of the Lakers' roster are used to FIBA International rules basketball with its emphasis on perimeter-style play,

This is a interesting point. I wonder what Odom's excuse is? He seems to disappear when the pressure gets ramped up. I lost track of how many times he passed out of the post in the fourth quarter.

--

BTW, I've harped on officiating enough but I have to say this. Did anyone else notice how blatantly Gasol set moving screens in the last few minutes? He looked like the unibomber threw on a gold jersey and proceeded to dog hump anything in green. It was hilarious. The whistles really let them play down the stretch.

 

[litlharsh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SactoMan101 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was listening to The Herd with Colin Cowherd live this morning and Cowherd may have stated the reason why the Lakers are getting killed: too many of the Lakers' roster are used to FIBA International rules basketball with its emphasis on perimeter-style play, and as such are real easy to "pound on" with players used to American-style play that emphasizes strong defense and half-court play. Is it small wonder why the Celtics' "Big Three" and the Celtics bench are suddenly so extremely effective in the Finals now?

The celts bench has been fantastic all year though. If anything, a few players have been horrendous (I'm looking at you Sam Cassell) and have underperformed compared to the reg season. Also: Ray Allen is playing phenomenally. Fantastic D on Kobe, and has been the most consistent of Boston's big three. What a turnaround from the playoffs.

 

[analogbox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by virometal /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'll take the other side. The Celtics players are the difference. They made more big shots and defensive plays than the Lakers. I think coaching gets too much credit and blame most of the time. In fact, this is the most active I can recall Jackson. Me thinks he knows his team is out-matched.

It's interesting that you said that. I was actually getting an impression of him looking totally out of space, not concerned nor involved. He just looks elsewhere like he's got bigger things to worry about. I don't really know Phil Jackson that much but he really looked lost thru out this whole series.

 

[purk]

Wonder if LA can come back from a 3-1 deficit......probably not. A better defensive team will win championship again.

 

[milkpowder]

The Lakers just lost their intensity late in the 3rd. If you watched the first couple of quarters, the Celtics got thoroughly out-played. Even if the Celtics had knocked down their missed open jumpers, the Lakers would still have been on top.

While the Celtics did a good job on Kobe, I think Kobe had an off shooting night anyway. He attacked the basket and took shots that weren't all that ridiculous for a person of his calibre. They just didn't fall for him.

The 4th quarter was just very odd. LA just stopped executing the way they did earlier in the game. I seem to remember that Fisher didn't play all that much either. Both he and Odom were absolutely spectacular when they put their head down and drove to the basket. It would end up with a bucket, free throws or a pass to a wide open Radmanovic or Vajucic. Why did they stop doing what worked well for them earlier in the game?

The one guy I was very disappointed with was Gasol. Almost everyone who got a chance to play played with passion (eg Ariza!). He was almost a non factor and didn't really do anything for the entire match. Even when they were playing a larger line-up than Celtics, he didn't seem to want to go for the basket and would rather pass. Defensively, he wasn't too great either. OK, I don't expect anyone to be able to Garnett, but even the other Celtics players seem to get into the paint too easily.

Believe me, this match was painful to watch as a LA fan. It was worth staying up though. Ray Allen has an incredible jump which was a joy to watch. His drives to the basket were pretty insane too...

 

[Audiofiler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by virometal /img/forum/go_quote.gif BTW, I've harped on officiating enough but I have to say this. Did anyone else notice how blatantly Gasol set moving screens in the last few minutes? He looked like the unibomber threw on a gold jersey and proceeded to dog hump anything in green. It was hilarious. The whistles really let them play down the stretch.

This post is hilarious and I agree. I too have made enough points about the officiating but this post is too much.

KG has been getting called (and deserving) for moving screens, but the refs have overlooked Gasol's galloping and Sasha's harrassing smoke-shuffle that he ruthlessly enforces all up and down the court too.

 

[analogbox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by purk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wonder if LA can come back from a 3-1 deficit......probably not. A better defensive team will win championship again.

That's always been the case through out the sports history. (Especially all the recent playoff games in NE area.)

 

[Hi-Finthen]

Incomprehensible. Disgusting. Deflating. Ridiculous. Sickening. Impossible to fathom. A total meltdown. Appalling. Revolting. Depressing. Talk about a choke job. Historical and horrifying. Alarming. Shocking. The Lakers have the game's best coach, the game's best player and a 24-point lead almost halfway into a game they really must win, and they fall apart, disappear, take the rest of the night off. Unexplainable. Laughable, if everyone isn't crying, and Boston doesn't have to win but one more game to win a championship that was still there in the Lakers'
clutches."

Quotes , from the other side (L.A. Times)are always best in a Schadenfreude sort of way

"La La La La; We Love It" ( Randy Newman tune with new meaning for Celtics fans)

Nice redemption from the first half as well as that third game in this Epic game four, which will soon to be served up on ESPN Classics, no doubt... "We Love It"...

Hmmm, Sundays game should hold interest, Hmmm

Ray Allen gets my MVP vote (if i had one) of this Finals series, so far!

Update: Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Lakers will be rebroadcast in its entirety on ESPN Classic at 8 p.m. on Saturday night. (LOL, told ya, LOL)

 

[ojnihs]

my boy KG finally getting his ring. good finals series for t-wolves fans. we will love kg no matter what team he's on.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Gasol has been really disappointing in this series. I don't really follow the Lakers, but I knew Gasol from his past on the Grizzlies, where he seemed like a constant 20/10 guy. I'm not sure if he's played this way ever since joining the Lakers, but he looks nothing like I remember him in recent years. More of a Rik Smits than a Tim Duncan, unfortunately for the Lakers.

But that said, there really isn't another remotely HOF-worthy player on the Lakers. It's not really a surprise that Kobe can't carry a team, on his own, through the highest level of competition. Nearly all the past champions have boasted at least two HOF'ers, or guys performing at a HOF level that year (think Dwyane Wade a couple years ago). As much as the media likes to make Kobe out to be MJ's successor, even MJ had Pippen. If Gasol were playing up to his capabilities, the Lakers would have had a much better shot, as Kobe would have had a proper All-Star sidekick.