The Lakers were out of the James Posey sweepstakes early, but I felt the issue was worth mentioning since they were in the running at some point.
Frankly, I think the Hornets over-extended themselves, and I’m not particularly disappointed that the Lakers missed out on the so-called new age Big Shot Robert Horry. First and foremost, any time you give a thirty one year old player who you expect good defense from a four year deal worth twenty five million [Yahoo!], you’re asking for trouble. IF the Hornets get anything out of this deal, it will be during the first two years, tops. When you’re building around a young guy like Chris Paul, you have to why you would want to commit yourself to a four year deal like that. I suppose with the West being what it is everyone wants to “win now”, but I’m not sure this was the right move for that.
First of all, did anyone else notice that the stat for percentage of teams that win the first game that end up winning the series changed from the Phoenix-San Antonio game to the Mavs-Hornets game? It was 83 for the first one, and became 79 for the second one I believe.
LeBrick James hits some lucky shots…
In a game that was far more interesting than I expected it to be, the Cavs pulled a close one out in the fourth behind another great performance by King James and solid performances from Big Z and Boobie. Some no doubt will point to those two missed free throws at the end by LeBron as points to be worried about, but I thought this game indicated that the Cavs have a little more heart than folks tend to give them credit for.
When the Spurs pull out a toughy it’s because of their playoff experience, but for some reason when a team like the Cavs pull it out it’s described as being not that big of a deal because “…game 2 is the one where the road team generally puts it all together”. The announcers seemed a bit overly pro-Wizards with the way they kept building Agent Zero and Co. up.
Anyone else really looking forward to the fight that will break out between the two teams? I’m hoping for something a little like Knicks-Heat back in the day with LeBron taking down Arenas and Stevenson by incorporating that backwards flip into the pool he had in the LeBrons commercial, Ben Wallace suffocating Caron Butler with his ‘fro, and Delonte West blinding Jamison with all those tats. Seriously Delonte, draw on a piece of paper like the rest of us.
Shaq discovers they key to not picking up a sixth foul is not playing defense…
I know these are two championship caliber teams and all, but wow if the defense down the stretch wasn’t awful by both teams. Well I don’t know, maybe the offense was just really good. Either way, it seemed like both squads were inviting one another to drop big shots on each other.
The only satisfying ending to that match up will be Shaq dropping a three ball at the buzzer in game seven right in the Big Fundamental’s eye. Poor Diesel looked confused when Duncan got the ball at the three point line.
Ginobli and Parker were off in the first half when the Suns seemed to be cruising, but in true Spurs fashion the squad rallied and hit two straight clutch threes at the end of regulation and at the end of the first OT. Apparently Finley is still alive, and Duncan can hit the long ball as those are the things that made the series 1-0 Spurs instead of 0-1 Spurs.
I wonder how much Phoenix misses Kurt Thomas. Who was it that said it was a mistake letting him go? Ah yes, I believe it was Dizzle and myself.
Amare is REALLY good offensively, much better than I gave the guy credit for. He keeps fouling out like that though, and the Suns are going to be done quick in this series.
Great TV.
I look for Manu and TP’s production in the the rest of the series, and Amare’s ability to stay in the game, as indicators to how the series will go.
Mavs prove the importance of playoff choking experience…
Apparently that Chris Paul guy is kinda sorta good. After a really solid first half, the Mavs prove that they’re not above choking away a game that really matters on the road just because they’ve been here before.
I know Dirk will get flack for the loss because that’s just the way the world works, but the truth of the matter is that you can really credit Josh Howard’s inability to score, Jason Kidd’s inability to show he has a pulse, and the talent of CP3 with the Maverick’s dropping the first game of a series I predict they’ll lose in six or less.
Behind an amazing effort by Chris Paul where he scored most of his points in the second half, David West came alive, Tyson Chandler cleaned up on the glass, and Peja hit the shots he was supposed to hit, the Hornets rallied in half numero dos to take game one.
The Jazz have a five point lead with 1 minute gone in the second…
As I’m writing this there is eleven minutes left in the second quarter and the Jazz lead the Rockets by five. I’m not going to watch this game because both teams are boring and I saw this match up already last season. I’ll probably periodically check the score, turn the game back on in the fourth, and hope that my Rockets pick doesn’t end up being wrong.
7:19 PM, time to study for the test that’ll decide 30% of my grade in my Management class. Thank you David Stern. The NBA, where robbing folks of crucial studying time happens. And of course rather than studying, I'm writing a blog complaining about a lack of study time in true #### fashion.
Oh yeah, and anyone who wants a great little pre-game warmup to the Lakers-Nuggets game should check out TimMoore’s blog which as usual absolutely kills it as far as Lakers coverage:
Sure the Lakers won the game and thus won the division and all that jazz, but is anyone else as disturbed as I am by the complete collapse by the Lakers in the second half? It was mind boggling to watch.
When the game started I was expecting a rough and tumble game that would come down to the wire, but when the Lakers jumped ahead by like thirty I figured it was a wrap. I was already planning my blog on how I overestimated the Hornets and how Kobe is a god amongst men. How Byron Scott should decline the Coach of the Year honors and instead give them Phil’s address. How Chris Paul should lay down under the car that Mamba jumped over. How CP3 for MVP supporters should go stand behind Kevin Garnett in the “Almost…but no” section.
And then the second half happened.
As quickly as I’ve ever seen, a twenty point lead became ten. Then it fell into single digits, and the Lakers continued to throw up clunkers. I couldn’t believe my freaking eyes at the awful defense and ridiculous reliance on jumpers I was seeing. The over dribbling by the Lakers and the suddenly solid defense by the Hornets gave me flashbacks to the UCLA-Memphis game. Take a guess at which team was UCLA and which one was Memphis.
But then it seemed to go back to normal. The Lakers picked it up, Kobe made another amazing dunk, and all seemed well with the world. I was at peace, the Lakers were CLEARLY going to win that game. The Lakers had like a thirteen point lead in the fourth, and that’s when I said once again: GAME OVER.
My thoughts shifted to how overrated Chris Paul has been, how the inexperienced Hornets really will go down like everyone said because of said lack of experience, and how this team can’t roll with the big boys in the West. Yawning I flipped the channels a little bit checking to see what was good on ESPN News, but I quickly became annoyed with their new stupid layout and switched back to the game.
In a word: Whoops.
Peja apparently realized that he was a pretty good shooter, and started hitting the three ball. Bonzi woke up from that coma he’s been in ever since his last playoff games against the Spurs when he was playing with Sacramento, and the Lakers went back to forgetting the point of the game is to put the ball into the hoop. When it became a one point game, I began to pray that the more crazy Laker fans on this site were away from any sharp objects.
But then I realized this is the NBA…where Derek Fisher happens. I love Fish, bad foot and all. Lamar and Pau came through in the clutch too, but it was that steal by Fisher that changed everything. From that point on, you may as well have marked it down as a +1 in the Laker win column.
At the end of the game, I wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to be proud the Lakers won or shocked that they could blow such a lead. The Lakers truly seemed like the better team out there all night when the game was on the line, but I can’t help but feel that the Spurs wouldn’t roll the way the Hornets rolled. That if the Lakers played like this against them defending champ boys, the Big Fundamental and GINOBLI would’ve torched them.
Nice to see the Lakers are a dominant squad (at some points) against Western elite, but damn…
As far as the MVP race, last night decided nothing. The Chris Paul played well despite the foul trouble, and when you consider the comeback effort he led in an away building I can’t believe anyone would say he doesn’t deserve to be in MVP consideration.
I am leaning more so towards Kobe regardless of that though, despite the fact that last night’s game was a wash.
The above is a very good blog as to why Kobe deserves the MVP vote over CP3, but any Laker fan deluding themselves into believing there is a giant enormous gap between the two on the worthiness meter oughta slap themselves. Kobe gets it, but by an inch rather than a mile.
Couldn't let the world go without my honest and reasonable look on the Lakers. I'm a true blue Laker fan, but I'm pretty realistic about it as opposed to some of the other crazies running around. Now when I first wrote this profile I wrote that I wanted to speak on all sports...forg et that. I'm here for one reason and one reason only, to talk about hoops. Insult my Lakers and you'll feel my wrath, talk outta your BLEEP about my team and I'll call you on it. Oh and I hate bandwagon fans who quit on the Lakers cuz Kobe wants to leave so if you're one of those, I don't like you. Lakers are gonna be 81-1 in 2034. Heard it here first.
