I often find it amazing hwo opinions can change on the drop of a hat. How, in a matter of days, someone's treasure turns into trash. It's not uncommon in sports; Mike Bibby remarked earlier in the playoffs that Boston's fans were, in essence, bandwagon jumpers. But tonight, after the Lakers lost 108-102 to trail the NBA Finals 2-0, the negative blogs that have appeared on this site, blaming everything from the referees to Kobe having a terrible support cast, amaze me. Isn't this the same team that everyone outside Boston said would win this series in a walk? Why the sudden change of heart?
Observing most of this game (I came in late in the first with the score knotted at 19), I can give some credence to the referee problem. When you're outshot at the line by a 3-1 margin, that's hard to overcome. And yes, your supporting players had problems. But until the fourth, everybody on the team had problems. Kobe was shooting at his game 1 clip (until a late hot streak). Odom spent much of the game in foul trouble (and he hasn't been a factor when he's been on the court). But Gasol (aside from not being a physical presence at times) had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Here are some reasons the Lakers lost tonight:
They dug too deep a defecit to overcome: The comeback was impressive, but logic dictates that you must spend so much energy to come back, you have nothing left for the finish. Although I will give you if the decision to go for three (down by 4) was curious.
Leon Powe going Kevin McHale on them: Like McHale in his prime, Powe couldn't be stopped underneath. He scored 21 points (after coming in averaging 4 per game) in only 15 minutes! When Powe, and not Garnett or Allen, is the Celtics' second leading scorer for the night, you're going to lose.
No defense, no rings: The Lakers actually shot respectable tonight (49%), but Boston shot 53%. The Celtics are not a high scoring team to begin with, and allowing them to shoot that percentage is begging for disaster.
Luke Walton is playing!: O.K., maybe I'm being too harsh on Luke; his benchmates weren't much better except for Jordan Farmar, who shot better than Derek Fisher and matched him in points in 12 fewer minutes. Why did Fisher get 30 minutes when he was struggling?
Overall, it was a bad night for L.A. Now they head home down 2-0, and the last time that occured (1989 against Detroit), they were swept. Even more disheartening for Laker fans, the Celtics have held a 2-0 lead on the Lakers three times (1959, 1963, 1965), and the series were won in four, six and five games, respectively. So, is L.A. done? Though I will never say never (and the finish tonight could be a morale booster), the Lakers need to do a better job crashing the boards, and need some life from their bench. Also, Kobe needs more consistency, and Odom needs to show up back home. Otherwise, Red Auerbach will toast title #17 with a heavenly victory cigar!
The Celtics allowed 41 points in the 4th quarter, which is more than they allowed the Lakers the previous 2 quarters combined.
I keep harping on how the Lakers need to do 3 things to win: move the ball, rebound and defend.
In the 4th quarter, Kobe drove and dished, creating easy shots for Ronny Turiaf, Pau, etc. The Lakers were +2 in assists in the 4th, the only quarter they had more assists than the Celtics.
The Lakers outrebounded the Celtics 11 to 9 in the 4th quarter. That was the ONLY quarter they outrebounded the Celtics. Coincidence?
The Lakers held the Celtics to 25 points, which isn't a great defensive effort, but it is the 2nd lowest scoring quarter of the game for the Celtics.
In other words, the Lakers came back because of those big 3.
I did a statistical analysis of Phil Jackson's 9 championship teams, and 9 of 9 went the playoffs besting their opponents in defense, rebounding, and assists.
The Lakers have yet to best the Celtics in ANY of those categories.
The Lakers are trying to beat the Celtics with skills and not heart. It will take both. The Lakers HAVE to start hustling, which includes defending, and grabbing rebounds.
If the Lakers will buy into doing the dirty work, they should be encouraged about their chances for success. They actually had a chance at winning BOTH of these games in Boston.
And if the shoe was on the other foot? We all know the most fickle fans in sports are either from new england or new york. If the fans are so great, why are those 2 cities considered hard places to play?
I'm a Boston fan because Pierce played at KU and Kevin Garrett is my nephew's friend. My husband is a laker fan and he is sweating it out. This will be good. The championship isn't over. As for the referee's: Remember this is a show that people pay big money to see. You'all need to put this into perspective.
Nice post Downs,
The Celtics were just more energized (from the fans) and fired up!! Powe came to play and just took everybody with him. Pierce was as usual ... a superstar.
I'm a sportsfan. Not for Lakers or Celtics. Still, lakerfans do seem to whine like Kobe.
I would think the things you mentioned (officating and support/bench) are valid discussion since every single professional NBA writer is writing about it (outside of Boston) I'd like to know how you justify the two phantom fouls on Kobe at the same time that Posey was doing everything but using a bat on Kobe and no fouls were called/
I haven't written about it because it sounds like sour grapes and I predicted Luke Walton, Farmar, Vlad and Odom would be worthless. I didn't know Turiaf, and for the most part Sasha and Fisher would join them. Right there you have 7 of 12 and two others haven't got off the bench so I don't see how you could expect anything different when basically only Kobe and Pau have showed up.
I credit Boston for much of that but you can't tell me there hasn't been a lot of home court referring. I only hope we get that back in L.A..
I see Pierce and Doc Rivers cry for every call.It's not Laker fans crying,it's just the ref's have to be more consistant with their calls.Rondo ripped the ball out of Gasol's hand and the ref didn't even flinch.Real good defense I suppose.Then they came down and hit a three to start a rally.Just make the calls.
Where were the complaints in the Jazz/Lakers series in game 2? The Lakers held a 43-16 FT (+27) advantage over the Jazz. The Jazz attempted 101 fg's to the Lakers 68 and still lost? The Lakers enjoyed a +59 FT advantage in that series, even including -20 differential in a game they didn't even show up for.
Nique "wrote":
"I'd like to know how you justify the two phantom fouls on Kobe at the same time that Posey was doing everything but using a bat on Kobe and no fouls were called"
When Posey was raping LeBron you proclaimed that it was in fact LEBRON fouling Posey.
I guess Posey was going soft on Bron Bron and brought out his dirty tactics for God - oh I mean Kobe.
Lakers had more points in the paint than the Celtics, so you're wrong about the "settling for jumpers" line in game 2.
The officiating was one-sided to the extreme, the 3.8 times more free throws for the Celtics was the highest this season. In comparison the Jazz-Lakers game Nost mentioned was third with the Lakers getting 2.7 times more. 2nd was the Mavs in their win over the Hornets at 2.9 times more fts.
No team in the playoffs has gotten over 3X until last night.
Those refs are crooked for some reason, whether it's gambling, the league, or dislike for Jackson and Kobe...
I am David Downs, and I'm a sports nut who loves basketball and football and am open to good discussion about any sports subject. I am a Detroit sports fan, but I not a homer. Expect frequent vents on subjects that irritate me, and also expect the utmost respect for anybody's opinion, even if they disagree with me. Because, after all, that's what these blogs are all about, aren't they?
