Lakers blown out by the Grizz at home

[Neurotic Guy]

I can't say I'm disappointed in seeing the Lakers look fallable, but I won't feel enen mildly comforted until they are heading home after losing a playoff series.  It will be good if they have a harder road in the playoffs, on the road and playing all the tough teams in the West, but it's silly to think that a bunch of early season losses means they are going down. 

Let me know when Kobe is looking like Tracy -- then I'll start breathing easier.

[Celtics4ever]

I want to beat them in the finals.  But any loss seems to be a good loss when its LA.

[GreenFaith1819]

This will be wildy unpopular with any Laker folks who drop by but the Lakers didn't beat the Celtics in a fair fight. The Lakers had a very easy way to go through the west while the celts were dealing with Cle and Orlando and not having home court. Then we get La and not have hc. Then we lose Perk and then the refs also go nuts in the 4th q of game 7 after allowing plenty of contact both ways until then.  It was too much to overcome not that Lakers care.

Its likely we won't have anywhere near as many handicaps this time. And all Im really saying is the Lakers weren't better than us last year and they are now worse and we are much better. I think our Celtics biggest hurdle will be Miami and San Antonio.

I see your point with Perk going down, but then Laker fans will say:

"Well, we didn't have Bynum or Ariza in 08 Finals"

I've debated that neither of those two would've made a difference back then.

I guess it is all determined by point of view.

Here's to hoping (and expecting) for a 100% healthy Finals in June - with LA and Boston.

[Finkelskyhook]

I can't say I'm disappointed in seeing the Lakers look fallable, but I won't feel enen mildly comforted until they are heading home after losing a playoff series.  It will be good if they have a harder road in the playoffs, on the road and playing all the tough teams in the West, but it's silly to think that a bunch of early season losses means they are going down. 

Let me know when Kobe is looking like Tracy -- then I'll start breathing easier.

As in McGrady?  Are you kidding?  Kobe doesn't take a play off.  Let alone tank for a trade.

Kobe will be in championship form come playoff time. 

[Rondo_is_better]

And the Celtics lost to the Pistons.

[RMO]

This will be wildy unpopular with any Laker folks who drop by but the Lakers didn't beat the Celtics in a fair fight. The Lakers had a very easy way to go through the west while the celts were dealing with Cle and Orlando and not having home court. Then we get La and not have hc. Then we lose Perk and then the refs also go nuts in the 4th q of game 7 after allowing plenty of contact both ways until then.  It was too much to overcome not that Lakers care.

Its likely we won't have anywhere near as many handicaps this time. And all Im really saying is the Lakers weren't better than us last year and they are now worse and we are much better. I think our Celtics biggest hurdle will be Miami and San Antonio.

I see your point with Perk going down, but then Laker fans will say:

"Well, we didn't have Bynum or Ariza in 08 Finals"

I've debated that neither of those two would've made a difference back then.

I guess it is all determined by point of view.

Here's to hoping (and expecting) for a 100% healthy Finals in June - with LA and Boston.

One major difference between the two situations that should be brought up when people make this claim is that Bynum was out most of the year.  Can't remember when Ariza went down.  Think it might have been in the regular season but certainly well before the Finals started.  The team the lakers started that series with is the one with which they finished.  The Celtics, on the other hand, lost their starting center in game 6 and had to adjust on the fly, replacing a major piece of their rotation DURING the series.  Lakers had months and months to adapt to playing without Bynum (and possibly Ariza too).

[Roy H.]

As in McGrady?  Are you kidding?  Kobe doesn't take a play off.  Let alone tank for a trade.

Kobe has done his share of pouting.  I mean, this is the guy who tanked Game 7 of a playoff series by refusing to shoot.  He's done the "refusing to shoot" thing multiple times in his career, but none was bigger than in that Suns series.

[slamtheking]

I like the quote by Phil (hurts me to even say something like that  ) where he rips Kobe's selfish play in that game and essentially calls him out on it.  took his team out of the game with that style of play.

[j804]

Whoop wrong thread

[tenn_smoothie]

let's not get carried away here - the celtics struggled just as badly last season and this year is still young. plus, i want the lakers in the finals, in the worst way.

kobe has always been a petulant little child. don't you remember his sorry act last year in the finals after laker losses in games 2,4 & 5 ?? he would barely answer questions and acted insulted that he had to show up at the post-game pressers. what a jerk, him & phil deserve each other.

[guava_wrench]

let's not get carried away here - the celtics struggled just as badly last season and this year is still young. plus, i want the lakers in the finals, in the worst way.

kobe has always been a petulant little child. don't you remember his sorry act last year in the finals after laker losses in games 2,4 & 5 ?? he would barely answer questions and acted insulted that he had to show up at the post-game pressers. what a jerk, him & phil deserve each other.

Kobe should play for San Antonio. It would be hilarious to hear him barely answer quations at the press table after Popovich's strained responses.

[indeedproceed]

It would be hilarious to hear him barely answer quations at the press table after Popovich's strained responses.

Anyone who says Steve Nash or Dirk or Shaq or any player is the "funniest guy in the league", has never watched a G-Pop press conference.

And the really funny part about it is that G-Pop could not care less. If someone said "Hey Greg, did you know you were voted funniest guy in the NBA?", he'd answer "Oh wow, cool. Hey, did you know on average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year? What's that? I thought we were listing useless facts."

[GreenFaith1819]

This will be wildy unpopular with any Laker folks who drop by but the Lakers didn't beat the Celtics in a fair fight. The Lakers had a very easy way to go through the west while the celts were dealing with Cle and Orlando and not having home court. Then we get La and not have hc. Then we lose Perk and then the refs also go nuts in the 4th q of game 7 after allowing plenty of contact both ways until then.  It was too much to overcome not that Lakers care.

Its likely we won't have anywhere near as many handicaps this time. And all Im really saying is the Lakers weren't better than us last year and they are now worse and we are much better. I think our Celtics biggest hurdle will be Miami and San Antonio.

I see your point with Perk going down, but then Laker fans will say:

"Well, we didn't have Bynum or Ariza in 08 Finals"

I've debated that neither of those two would've made a difference back then.

I guess it is all determined by point of view.

Here's to hoping (and expecting) for a 100% healthy Finals in June - with LA and Boston.

One major difference between the two situations that should be brought up when people make this claim is that Bynum was out most of the year.  Can't remember when Ariza went down.  Think it might have been in the regular season but certainly well before the Finals started.  The team the lakers started that series with is the one with which they finished.  The Celtics, on the other hand, lost their starting center in game 6 and had to adjust on the fly, replacing a major piece of their rotation DURING the series.  Lakers had months and months to adapt to playing without Bynum (and possibly Ariza too).

Good Point.

And if my memory serves me correctly - we played in LA the very first game with our new Big Three, right after Christmas if I'm not mistaken (2007). LA had a healthy Bynum and Odom (not Gasol, yet - he wasn't gift-wrapped to LA until 2008 ).

Just kidding, LA fans.

Additionally, Rondo didn't play for some reason, and TA stepped in and played rather well vs Kobe.

But anyway I remember that game vividly, because that was the same game where Odom tackled Ray Allen out of frustration due to KG blocking his shot and the impending blowout (110-91):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs730kkm9Vc

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=271230013

Perk played rather well against Bynum, making him a non-factor. I did not see Ariza making much of a difference, either, at least in this game. According to the box score, Bynum fouled out.

[RMO]

This will be wildy unpopular with any Laker folks who drop by but the Lakers didn't beat the Celtics in a fair fight. The Lakers had a very easy way to go through the west while the celts were dealing with Cle and Orlando and not having home court. Then we get La and not have hc. Then we lose Perk and then the refs also go nuts in the 4th q of game 7 after allowing plenty of contact both ways until then.  It was too much to overcome not that Lakers care.

Its likely we won't have anywhere near as many handicaps this time. And all Im really saying is the Lakers weren't better than us last year and they are now worse and we are much better. I think our Celtics biggest hurdle will be Miami and San Antonio.

I see your point with Perk going down, but then Laker fans will say:

"Well, we didn't have Bynum or Ariza in 08 Finals"

I've debated that neither of those two would've made a difference back then.

I guess it is all determined by point of view.

Here's to hoping (and expecting) for a 100% healthy Finals in June - with LA and Boston.

One major difference between the two situations that should be brought up when people make this claim is that Bynum was out most of the year.  Can't remember when Ariza went down.  Think it might have been in the regular season but certainly well before the Finals started.  The team the lakers started that series with is the one with which they finished.  The Celtics, on the other hand, lost their starting center in game 6 and had to adjust on the fly, replacing a major piece of their rotation DURING the series.  Lakers had months and months to adapt to playing without Bynum (and possibly Ariza too).

Good Point.

And if my memory serves me correctly - we played in LA the very first game with our new Big Three, right after Christmas if I'm not mistaken (2007). LA had a healthy Bynum and Odom (not Gasol, yet - he wasn't gift-wrapped to LA until 2008 ).

Just kidding, LA fans.

Additionally, Rondo didn't play for some reason, and TA stepped in and played rather well vs Kobe.

But anyway I remember that game vividly, because that was the same game where Odom tackled Ray Allen out of frustration due to KG blocking his shot and the impending blowout (110-91):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs730kkm9Vc

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=271230013

Perk played rather well against Bynum, making him a non-factor. I did not see Ariza making much of a difference, either, at least in this game. According to the box score, Bynum fouled out.

Was always baffled about that being a double tech.

In a way I'd love to see them trade Bynum.  That way, of those two players who were so important that their absence sealed the lakers' fate, one was allowed to walk in free agency and the other was traded.  Am I really supposed to believe those two would have changed that series?  It was a six game series (five and a half really considering the lack of competition in that last game) and if the NBA didn't insist on that idiotic 2-3-2 format, this would've likely been a five game series.  No way the lakers win game 5 in Boston after blowing game 4 and no way Bynum/Ariza swing the series that much.  The Celtics were just better that year.

And to be fair, I won't use Perk's injury as an excuse for last year.  It's sports and injuries happen.  Sure he would've been much more effective on the boards and that ultimately did us in but he could not provide the kind of offense that Rasheed gave.  Our rebounding would've improved but our offense would've taken a hit.  That's why you never take a game off in a series (thinking about game 6 still makes me ill).