L.A. lakers their such bullies I swear, Shak is always thursting himself upon members of the opposite team and fouling them, his big size is such an unfair advantage to any opposing team.
Lakers shall loose!
paki maryam, ill let PT respond to you :D
Lakes are up 3-1 in the series now after win on Sunday. Mailman delivers 30 pts and 13 rebounds and Kobe clinches the gamw away in the final minute of OT. Lakers should wrap it up Wednesday night in LA and then rematch with Spurs is next.
CARMELO!!!!!!! I'm sooooo glad Carmelo got to taste a playoff victory - and what its like instead of being swept.
It's OVER!!!!! Nuggets baby making it a series!!! Looks like everyone that said the Nuggets be out in 4 straight missed that at least by a game.
Twolves have no inside presence - and on top of that - or because of that - they dont get to the free throw line much.
That might be their downfall against the Spurs. Its hard to beat the Spurs by taking outside shots or even Lakers - who knows though.
KG & Co. got outrebounded by 17, I don't expect that to happen again. Why did Wolves lose? Basically they got caught sleeping, expect them to up their play and finish the series quickly.
The team basically reverted to "give the ball to Garnett" while getting blown out - he was handling the ball more than Cassell was - which shouldn't have happened.
i was digusted by how the Wolves played game 3 - seriously I wanted to throw up - although the game was for the Nuggets but their intensity is so different since they're home for the next 2 games - one more game actually to go.
But one thing is... I noticed the Nuggets survived the game was they had too much alleyoops and crashing the boards - that were what lifted the Nugs to win the game - basically offensive rebounds, alley oops, and some great three pointers.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by 5Abi: *
paki maryam, ill let PT respond to you :D
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Who the heck is PT?
Go houston. The games have been close. I think Houton can win game 5. Do some more high post pick and roll and please..please put mobley on Kobe in the 4th.
Sacramento Kings are getting back into shape. But to win this year Chris Webber has to get back to what he was. The wolves could hurt the kings in the next round.
^They better get back into shape, I am rooting for them!
Mike Bibby:love:
Kobe simply torched the Rockets, 31 points 10 assists after a long day in which he flew over to Colorado, came back just minutes before the tip-off and put up one of his best performances in these playoffs.
Next up, the much anticiapted rematch with defending champions Spurs who eliminated them last year in Conference Semifinals, in 6 games. Tip off is Sunday. Stay tuned.
San Antonio is going to abuse LA like biaaaatch they are. Go Spurs.
Shaq flat out dominated Yao. Yao did not look comfortable at all against him in this series. The only reason Shaq's dominance isn't more apparent is because he didn't score 30 ppg. I'll give credit to Yao for his D. Shaq can't just back him down and dunk on him like every other C in the league. With Shaq on your side, Kobe has the luxury of playing one-on-one basketball. It was a long day for Kobe. He spent like 27 hrs in the court for last three days. But it was been proven before that he can play the ballgame.
I gotta give credit to the ROCKETS though, they played tough and contended with the LAKERS during every game. Game 2 and 5 might have been blowouts, but they were contending in the first 3 quarters on both of those games. The ROCKETS are gonna be championship material in 2 or 3 years. But it lotta depends who stays and who goes.
Now its time for the heavyweight title fight.
The LAKERS and SPURS have won the last 5 championships. In these last 5 years the LAKERS and SPURS have met head to head four times. The LAKERS have won two series, and so did SPURS(ONE minus Phil Jackson). It's going to be a great match-up, without a doubt. I've always loved to watch LAKERS-SPURS game than LAKERS-KINGS. SPURS will have home-court advantage; and I think it will come down to which team wins the 1st game on road. Whoever wins that battle, I think that ballclub will be victorious. The winner of this series has gone on to win the NBA championship. I think that will hold true this season as well.
SPURS have been playing the best basketball for a month just like a defending champion should. They have been undefeated at home for the last 15 games. But I'm sticking by my initial prediction and going with L.A. in six games. I was starting to waver after how we looked against Houston a couple of games ago but we came out focused and ready to play last tonight. I don't think we'll fool around with SA as much as we did with Houston. The key on offense will be getting Shaq off. Not only will it open up things for our perimeter players but it will also cause the SPURS frontcourt players to get into foul trouble. Their biggest advantage is their frontcourt depth. If LAKERS can force guys like Horry and Rose to get into foul trouble, it will force Duncan and Rasho to play more minutes. On defense the key is containing the SPURS backcourt. Duncan will get his. LAKERS can't allow Parker, Manu, and Bowen to beat us from the outside. Parker will beat Payton off the dribble at times because of his quickness so I'll concede that but if Phil let Kobe guard Parker, I think LAKERS will be in much better shape. Kobe has been defensively great; and he's on the 1st Defensive Team this year.
LAKERS can't give the SPURS any wide open jumpers. Bowen can't score in any other fashion. Giving him uncontested jumpers would be foolish. LAKERS have got to force the role players to win the series.
damn straight PT. Im amazed at your grasp of the delitcate intricacies of the game. You have come a long way in the past 2 years :>
Lakers gotta play D. Its plain and simple and move the ball inside to Shaq, stick to their game plan, that will free up Kobe as well. Payton and Malone came ot LA to win a championship, well this is the time they make their presence felt - which they seemd to be doing in the last two games vs. Rockets.
Lakers vs Pacers ---> in the final...
PT, 5abs, yaaro who're you backing in the Lakers vs Spurs battle?
man wouldn't it be more fitting if these two teams met in the finals? whoever of these two wins is gonna sweep the Pacers/Nets or whoever else comes through anyway?
In eight tries, TIMBERWOLVES advances to the second-round of the playoffs, where they'll meet KINGS.
I gotta take few minutes for B. Dizzle. The guy is banged up, and so did the roster of HORNETS, but they aren't backing down. Ever since Game 2 B. Dizzle has just totally taken over this whole series. If New Orleans wins this series, it's for one reason and one reason only, BD.
This 5 game series is the first time I've gotten to watch BD alot this year. If he loses weight and improves his conditioning maybe. He is one of the most out of shape guards in the NBA. It's ridiculous that a 6-3 PG can weigh 230. The guy was 190 as a FR at UCLA and he's added 40 pounds (none of it muscle) in a few years. He needs to lose 20-25 pounds so that he can improve his endurance and his durability. I think his bad knee would be much better off at a lighter weight.
He needs to get with Tim Grover in the off-season to improve his conditioning. B. Dizzle is an unbelievable talent being held back by his weight, and furthermore his injuries.
BRING ON THE KINGS!
Assuming everyone is healthy - T'wolves will win the series but it won't be easy - probably because Wolves don't have Hudson and Wally on the roster - as both of them are hugely important spark bench shooters - Hudson especially.
Trent needs to raise the level of his defence against Bibby - and Spree needs to make sure he won't let Peja wide open - though - I'm starting to question the chemistry this team has developed (that blowout loss in Game 3 and near loss in Game 4 was just - uh, not impressive against a rookie-led 8th seed) - alot of trash talk but Spree did come up big - maybe Wolves needs this postseason to get it together - and will be more dangerous next season - Either way though - this will be KG's coming out party - or it won't be - He needs to prove he’s the MVP of the most important part of the season - the playoffs!
COME ON WOLVES!
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*Originally posted by sambrialian: *
PT, 5abs, yaaro who're you backing in the Lakers vs Spurs battle?
man wouldn't it be more fitting if these two teams met in the finals? whoever of these two wins is gonna sweep the Pacers/Nets or whoever else comes through anyway?
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Samb, we support the Lakers, ofcourse. You are right, Lakers and Spurts should be meeting in the NBA finals but thats not possible cos they are both in Western Conference. The winner of this series is going to win the championship anway. They will beat Kings, Wolves, Pacers, Nets - whoever comes their way.
5Abi, I think Indiana has a good shot at title if they surpass Detriot.
The game pretty much went the way I thought it would, except not as many points scored. The game was there in the 4th quarter for the LAKERS to take, and they couldn't get the job done by turning the ball 10 times in 4th qtr! Very uncharacteristics.
Turnovers, poor shot selection caused the game to LAKERS. Inconsistence exposed which Phil Jackson have talked about all season long. LAKERS had the game in the 3rd qtr, blew in the 4th. SPURS played heckva hustle game from start to end, but most importantly in 4th led by Tim Duncan!
LAKERS gotta take care of the ball. SPURS played one kind of defence but the turnovers weren't forced by SPURS. I've never seen pathetic defence by Phil Jackson's team dated back to his days with BULLS and three-peat run with LAKERS till today.
Now, the LAKERS are off to L.A. I bet Phil's gotta give lecture on the plane.
S.A will win it in 6. Phil has always won championships by keeping the teams within the system..The triangle offense is non existent in the current team. You can't have four allstars as starters and no ego issues...They should replace Payton with Fisher in the starting lineup. If Kobe is double teamed everytime on the defensive end then Lakers have no chance to win this series.
Well the credit goes to Spurs defense and changes they made in the 4th quarter. Lakers had 5 point lead by the end of 3rd. In the 4th they scored only 13 points while Spurs scored 26 pts. Lakers committed 11 turnovers in 4th quarter and looked fatigued. That was the difference in the game.
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*Originally posted by Fayz: *
S.A will win it in 6. Phil has always won championships by keeping the teams within the system..The triangle offense is non existent in the current team. You can't have four allstars as starters and no ego issues...They should replace Payton with Fisher in the starting lineup. If Kobe is double teamed everytime on the defensive end then Lakers have no chance to win this series.
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I'll breakdown some points you made.
System is the key word here.
Malone and Payton spent their whole career at Utah and Seattle, so I can make the case, it was difficult for them to adjust in Phil's style of Baseketball, however, Malone has been great but Payton has been disappointment so far.
L.A didn't ask Payton to come here. He came here in the quest for a ring. Payton is a full-court person, loves to have ball in his hands but it seems he has trouble with triangle offense. While Fisher would be good in a starting lineup, but it's not going to happen. I still hope The Glove shows his love again with his some defence plays. I'm a huge Gary Payton fan. In fact he's one of my favorite players. And I'll be the first to tell you that he's not the defender that he once was, and Parker will probably go to work on him. However, he needs to make shots. His running jumper and floater aren't just falling...and that's a worry.
Ego is not new for Phil; and to be honest, it's not the case among Fab Four. Not now at least.
Kobe double teamed is a problem? Not at all. He can beat two defenders off the dribble. I really liked the intensity Kobe showed in Sunday's game. His aggressiveness put Bowen on bench in the 1st half.
Alot of depends on tomorrow's game. If SPURS wins it, then I believe they'll win it in 6 Games. But if LAKERS win it, then we'll have a series. This season has been a roller coaster ride for Laker fans.