By now, we've all seen the footage of Derek Fisher fouling Brent Barry (before the shot) and the shot clock violation that shouldn't have been.

San Antonio went to the line 26 times (connecting on 24 of those attempts) while the Lakers were at the charity stripe only 19 times(connecting on 14 attempts). Kobe Bryant, who scored 28 points on 29 attempts, didn't attempt a single free throw. Nine of his 29 attempts, were inside the paint so either the Spurs did a fantastic job of avoiding contact or Bryant avoided said contact.

There were plenty of missed calls on both ends but the officials didn't decide the outcome of the game.

Nevertheless, LA Law posted an image of a goaltending call assessed to Lamar Odom. The image shows Odom making contact with the ball but doesn't indicate whether contact was made before or after it had touched the backboard.

If Lamar blocks it before it hits the backboard, it's not goaltending.

You be the judge:



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Some facts from ESPN's Daily Dime:

• San Antonio has won 13 straight and 16 of its last 17 playoff games at home. The Spurs have won 15 of their last 21 playoff games overall.
• The Lakers have lost 8 of their last 11 postseason road games.
• When winning both Games 1 and 2 of a best-of-seven series, the Lakers are 36-1 all-time in any round.
• Overall, as the Conference No. 1 seed, the Lakers are 155-72 all-time in the playoffs. The Lakers are 44-47 in Game 4 of a best-of-seven series all-time in any round.

From Mike Kahn of Foxsports:

• When Ginobili scores 20 or more points, they are 7-1.
• When he fails to hit the 20-point mark, they are 2-5.

Priority #1 for Los Angeles tonight has to be containing Manu Ginobili - at all costs.

If Kobe Bryant is this era's Michael Jordan than Manu Ginobili is his Clyde Drexler. Ginobili, not Tim Duncan (the greatest power forward of all-time) was San Antonio's leading scorer this season. As Kahn alluded to in his article, as he goes, so go the Spurs.

It baffles me that some people underestimate Manu's importance to his team and the historical significance of his career. The guy is a winner, plain and simple.

One of the greatest winners in the history of the game.

Since Kobe Bryant isn't afforded the luxury of a Scottie Pippen type lock-down defender as a teammate - and Trevor Ariza is still working himself back into shape after months on the injured reserve - it's paramount that Phil Jackson assign Kobe the unenviable task of stopping Ginobili over the rest of this series.

Bryant remains the NBA's most talented offensive player and led the Lakers to victory on that end in game 1.

But he's also a perennial 1st team All-NBA defender.

It's time for him to prove his worth on the defensive side of the ball in this series.

The Lakers fate is dependent upon it.

Ballerblogger.com

The best Kobe Bryant article I've ever read.

From Chris Ballard of Sports Illustrated via True Hoop:

So, you see, this is Kobe, all of this. Sometimes childish, sometimes regal, sometimes stubborn, always relentless. This is a guy who, according to Nike spokesperson KeJuan Wilkins, had the company shave a couple of millimeters off the bottom of his signature shoe because "in his mind that gave him a hundredth of a second better reaction time." A guy who has played the last three months with a torn ligament in the pinkie of his shooting hand. A guy who, says teammate Coby Karl, considers himself "an expert at fouling without getting called for it." (Watch how Bryant uses the back of his hand, not the front, to push off on defenders and a closed-fist forearm to exert leverage.) A guy who says of being guarded by the physical Bowen, "It'll be fun" -- and actually means it. A guy who, no matter what he does, will never get the chance to play the one game he'd die for: Bryant versus Jordan, each in his prime. "There'd be blood on the floor by the end," says Winter, who has coached them both. [Read]

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Dime Magazine put together a very interesting piece yesterday where they asked their readers to define greatness.

Bill Russell won 11 NBA championships.

Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all-time.

Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Larry Bird aren't far behind.

What made those guys great?

My definition of greatness is rather simple:

1. Excellence on both ends (offensively and defensively)

2. Ability to make others better

3. Clutch play

4. Winning

My first list included championships but I don't think a player needs to win a championship or multiple championships (although it certainly doesn't hurt) to be considered great.

But they do have to win.

And win consistently.

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From Brian Windhorst via Cavalier Attitude:

"It's a bit of a chicken and egg theory in my opinion. The offense often stalls because LeBron stalls it. He does this because he doesn't trust his teammates or the system. But he doesn't trust them because they don't work. Seeing how many open shots Wally Szczerbiak missed would affect anyone. Wally has been an excellent shooter in his career and he was having a very good season in Seattle, yet he gets open shots in Cleveland that he misses. Is that Danny Ferry's fault? Is it LeBron's? Is it Mike Brown's? Ultimately you have to acquire people who will mesh well with LeBron and it hasn't happened offensively yet." [Read]

This is something I alluded to in my Cavs/Celtics recap.

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