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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/08/2010 in all areas

  1. Oh c'mon now...the Lakers shot 15 more free throws than the Celtics, KG played only 23min due to his 5 fouls (whether or not it helped or hurt Boston can be argued, but the refs still put a big-name player into foul trouble), and in game 1 Ray was hurt even more by the refs than Kobe was in game 2, playing only 27min. And as we saw in game 2, when Allen is able to get into a rythym early, something he wasn't in game 1 due to fouls, he can be as lethal as anyone. So if you're going to play the what-if game with Kobe, you have to do the same with Ray. I understand your frustrations with the fouls on Kobe and that Gasol/KG play, but the fact of the matter is that Boston has been equally if not more screwed by the refs than the Lakers. If you're going to play the what-if game regarding the calls against the Lakers, you have to do the same with the Celtics (like for instance the 2 clean blocks by Pierce and Dvis that were turned into free throws for the Lakers). The fact that Boston didn't play well outside of Allen yet they still won is ENCOURAGING to you? Allen may not score 32pts every game, but Pierce/Davis won't shoot sub 30% the entire series, KG will eventually produce better than 6pts/4reb, and you know very well that the refs will likely be more Boston-sided the next 3 games. And Ray scoring 32pts and hitting a ton of 3's is a lot more likely to happen again than Bynum getting 21pts and 7blks.
    2 points
  2. Yes, he doesn't get to demand a trade and then give our GM preferences on where he wants to play. Lol.... there is nothing wrong with expressing your opinion privately to your ORGANIZATION, has Hedo done that? No, he ran to the Turkish media and says he wants out. It isn't better to complain publically because now we will struggle to get any sort of value for him, we have literally 0 leverage in a Hedo trade now. After watching Wade for 7 years I figure you would know how a professional athlete should carry himself, I guess not, seeing the way you defend Hedo is insane. So it is our fault that he didn't enjoy his time here and played with no heart or effort? He hardly even made an effort to be effective this year, he was unable or unwilling to alter his game for the benefit of the team. Best option is a trade, but Hedo's behaviour now prevents us from getting any sort of possible value than we will now get. Lol. So when Pikachu faced off against Onyx he was supposed to give up and not try? Because that is exactly what he did, and now he is telling everyone he wants away from Ash, but what trainer is going to give Ash anything for him now that they know he wants out and has a bad attitude?
    1 point
  3. An adult/VIP/underground section just for the few good men here nah mean?
    1 point
  4. Doc Rivers made several slight adjustments to help the Boston Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 103-94 in the second game of the NBA Finals, squaring up the series at a game a piece. Instead of trusting frontcourt defenders to either outright double Kobe, or provide timely help at the rim, he sent doubles to Kobe from the top, and pinched off screen/rolls from the wings and corners. This accomplished three things.It helped Boston’s frontcourt be in better position to box out and rebound.With Boston’s defenders staying on their original checks, it mitigated Kobe’s ability to draw a defender and dish to Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum for easy assists.It forced other players to beat the Lakers from the perimeter, namely Ron Artest, who had a disastrous offensive game—1-10 FG, 1-6 3FG, 3-8 FT, 1 AST, 3 TO, 6 PTS.He resisted the urge to make wholesale defensive changes on Bryant, and trusted better execution to hold Bryant to a solid but unspectacular 8-20 FG, 2-7 3FG, 3-3 FT, 6 AST, 5 TO, 21 PTS performance. The rest of Boston’s positive performances could simply be traced to the residue of holding Bryant in check, to better individual effort level, and to good fortune. …good fortune such as Kevin Garnett saddling himself with early foul trouble. In his place, Rasheed Wallace was always in a good position to defend screens, and did a fantastic job fending Bynum and Gasol off the offensive glass. Whereas Wallace rebounded with force, Garnett was always looking to tip balls around, often times losing them to Lakers players. This is why Wallace wound up with seven rebounds in 18 minutes, to Garnett’s four in 23 minutes. Wallace also hit three of his five jumpers, compared to Garnett making only two of his five shot attempts. KG did redeem himself with a critical jumper over Ron Artest late in the fourth, he set textbook screens, and his passing was its usual exceptional grade. …good fortune such as Ray Allen not being saddled with foul trouble. Allen shed Derek Fisher’s ornery defense, punished Kobe for trying to shoot the gap, and punished the lack of wherewithal of Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown. Allen also feasted in transition before the Lakers could scramble to him, and hit several jumpers off the bounce when they closed out too hard. Before the first half smoke ended, Allen had scarred the Lakers by hitting his first seven threes, and scoring 27 first half points. The Lakers had to counter by showing their bigs hard on Allen’s off-ball curls, if not switching altogether. This often led to a rebounding mismatch though, like when Glen Davis shed Sasha Vujacic for a rebound early in the fourth. …good fortune such as Kobe picking up at least one questionable foul forcing him to play more conservatively on offense, when not sitting on the bench outright. …good fortune such as the Lakers not going to Pau Gasol enough, even though nobody could stop his swift assaults on the basket, his lengthy hooks, and his incredible balance to drive, stop, and a turn around to unleash an unstoppable turnaround jump shot. Paul Pierce needed a Sherpa to find the basket, but his defense was championship-caliber. He missed several rotations, but his double teams were strong and timely, and he locked up Ron Artest, even stuffing one of his layups on a one-on-one break, despite being tooted for a bogus foul. More impressively was Pierce’s ability to rotate to Los Angeles’ shooters, recover to his own man, close out hard enough to prevent an open jumper, stay balanced enough to prevent a blow by, be in position to funnel to help, all while displaying active hands to poke away loose dribbles. Kendrick Perkins wasn’t able to pose a problem for Gasol, but he was more aggressive in looking for his offense. If that offense wasn‘t pretty, he did saddle the Lakers frontcourt with some fouls—4-7 FG, 4-6 FT, 12 PTS. Glen Davis was too small to be a presence on defense, and his inability to elevate resulted in an impossible time trying to finish at the rim—4-13 FG, 8 PTS—but he hustled on defense and attacked the offensive glass. Tony Allen played effective defense on Bryant, while Nate Robinson provided a lift with seven important fourth quarter points. Sheldon Williams tried desperately to erase a double digit Celtics lead, by twice throwing the ball right to Kobe Bryant, fouling Ron Artest at the three-point line, having a soft layup attempt swatted, and missing a rotation on defense. But the biggest difference between games one and two was Rajon Rondo. Because Boston’s defense was able to get stops, Rondo was allowed to push the ball in transition, finding Allen repeatedly for spot up threes when he wasn’t simply finishing over the Lakers on the break. Plus, down the stretch, Rondo made several superstar plays to clinch the Celtics victory: Not giving an inch to Kobe in the post, using his gumby like arms to wrap around him, steal the ball, and stick a foul on Bryant midway through the third.Reaching around Kobe to poke the ball away from him behind the three-point line, resulting in a steal late in the fourth.Blocking a Derek Fisher three from behind.Finishing a nice out-of-bounds set play for one layup, using a great screen from Garnett to pin Bryant for a second layup, and following a blocked shot for a rebound and putback for a third layup that turned a three-point Lakers lead into a one point Celtics margin within two minutes.Hitting a backbreaking jumper with under two minutes that extended the Celtics lead to five. Rondo was seldom blocked out and crashed the boards throughout. His extreme speed allows him to crash the boards and still create quick transition opportunities, whereas other guards would have to wait at halfcourt for an outlet pass to push the ball, while his offensive forays are mitigated by Pierce and Allen being responsible to get back on defense. Rondo was the best player in Game Two, and continues to rewrite the mythology of the Celtics. No longer is there a big three, only a big-time point guard putting up Magic Johnson type numbers—8-18 FG, 1-1 3FG, 2-5 FT, 12 REB, 10 AST, 2 STL, 1 BLK, 3 TO, 19 PTS. Aside from Gasol, who was an afterthought in the Lakers offense; Kobe, who tried to play hero ball far too often; and Andrew Bynum who is playing the best defense of his career; too many Lakers were duds. Ron Artest’s nightmarish offensive performance was previously outlined, but Fisher also couldn’t find the range—2-8 FG, 6 PTS. Why not tweak the triangle so that when the Lakers run a high screen/roll, Fisher is standing in the strong side corner, and not Artest, since Fisher is a much more accurate shooter than Ron-Ron. Rumor is, Lamar Odom actually participated in Game Two—1-3 FG, 5 REB, 5 PF, 3 PTS. Farmar and Brown were out of control on offense, and looked like hapless children trying to defend Allen. Sasha Vujacic hit a three but has a penchant for making mistakes and playing energetic, but ineffective defense. Give credit to Doc Rivers for taking the Lakers’ first punch, and responding with a nice counter blow. Let’s see how the Lakers will respond when the ring shifts to Boston.
    1 point
  5. The Cavs would of gone to the finals had they had Ricardo instead of LeBron. I've never seen LeBron drop 72 points before.
    1 point
  6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynWb34L-Qn8&feature=player_embedded#!
    1 point
  7. I never said there wasn't any pressure on the Lakers. There is a ton of pressure on both sides, it's the NBA Finals. It's just that there is quite a bit less pressure to win one out of three games versus winning all three. Also, there were two unusual things that happened in game 2. One was the Celtics shooting 68% from three (11-16), and the other was Kobe Bryant getting in foul trouble throughout the entire game. Each are things that gave Boston the advantage, and each are things we are not likely to see twice. As far as matchups and things of that nature goes, the Lakers have the clear advantage. It's been clear so far that the Laker bigs outmatch the Celtic bigs, and that Artest's defense cancels out Pierce's offense. What's left is the guard positions, where Kobe keeps Rondo in check while Fisher chases Allen around screens. If Allen isn't hot (at least not NBA Finals record-breaking hot), and Kobe isn't playing passively due to foul trouble, the fact that the best player in the league is on the Lakers team gives them that advantage.
    1 point
  8. Tries to be wise [expletive] towards Apple = FAIL
    1 point
  9. The way the schedule is set up, there is a lot of pressure on Boston to will all three at home, or else they'll have to close it out by winning one or even two more road games in order to win the series. Ray Allen is not going to drop 8 threes again, nor will Kobe hit this kind of foul trouble twice. If I was betting money, I'm still using it on the Lakers.
    1 point
  10. good, no one is inviting u to the lakers championship parade anyways
    1 point
  11. Rebounding for PG's is a useless stat. The rebounds he gets are one's that his own teammates can get, but don't so they can get transition upcourt. It's Allen Iverson 10/10 times.
    1 point
  12. 1 point
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