NBA Playoffs 2009

[Ridders]

As great as Fisher's shots were, in retrospect he had a poor game, especially in the 4th. He was shooting poorly and he was getting abused by Nelson. Amazing what a couple of shots can do.

This has been a series for records, and Dwight has added to it with a NBA record 9 BLOCKS. Thats men amongst boys stuff.

This is just an observation, but Kobe to me looks really tired late in games. Both in Game 3 & 4 he has started brightly but faded badly as the game has gone on. If its the case he has to learn to recognise this and look to use his team-mates more (albeit he did have 8 assists).

Gotta give a shout out to Ariza, his effort in the 3rd quarter will probably go un-noticed but i don't think we get back in the game without him.

 

[Ridders]

Up by 3 with what, 15 seconds remaining, and DON'T foul.......wow.

Another game Magic has thrown away.

I might add, the Real Superman always hit his free throws when it mattered....

Its hard to put that on SVG. No doubt seeing D12 and Hedo clunk free throws all throughout the 4th swayed his decision. I couldn't even begin to imagine what a Magic fan would be feeling. Has to be one of the worst losses the franchise has ever succumbed to.

 

[McLovin]

Dwight should do a Shaq and join the Lakers....

 

[McLovin]

Actually, scratch that....I just want Glen Rice back in the league....

 

[Ridders]

Add Eddie Curry to that list. Who can honestly ever look at this guy the same way again...

 

[Ridders]

Had to love Fisher's grin after making the 3 in OT. Priceless moment.

 

[Stonecutter]

He was grinning the whole time for about 5 minutes after the shot.

I really dislike Fisher as a player. First San Antonio and now Orlando. Retire god dammitt!! I do love him a person though, did the right thing for his child and family.

 

[Ridders]

Couple of observations i have about the general lay-out of the Finals. One, am i the only one that thinks the 2-3-2 format disfavours the the team that has those 3 straight home games in the middle. Why does the NBA go with a 2-2-1-1-1 format for the whole playoffs, the come Finals time, change things around. Imo its asking alot of a team to win 3 straight home games, which the team with the lower seed has to do to realistically have a chance of winning the title.

Another point is what is the deal with the big break between Game 1 and Game 2 of the Finals (think it was like 4 days). Why have such a big break between Game 1 and 2, when they are in the same building, and then only have a day break before Game 3, when teams have to travel to another state and Arena. Never really understood this one.

 

[ByRd]

Agree with you on that, i dont like the 2-3-2 format and they should use the system they use for the whole playoffs in the finals.

And come on Lakers, lets wrap this up tomorrow!!!

 

[Mr Saab]

Agree with you on that, i dont like the 2-3-2 format and they should use the system they use for the whole playoffs in the finals.

And come on Lakers, lets wrap this up tomorrow!!!

They have to use 2 3 2 it as it is east vs west and it will result in too much traveling otherwise. This way there will only be 3 flights for one team at most. If it was 2 2 1 1 1 then it will result in even more travel

Example for 2 3 2

Orlando travel to LA to start the series
LA and Orlando both travel to Orlando
Orlando and LA both travel back to LA

 

[Ridders]

Special moment to see LA take the title. Have to admit i feel a bit for Orlando, if a couple of things went their way, they could have been up 3-1 going into this game. Great to see Kobe win his 4th ring and his first Finals MVP. To be honest, i'm even happier to see guys like Odom and Walton win their first. They went through all the sh*t that came with the Kobe Days and now they've got rings to reward them.

The upcoming off-season will perhaps be the most important one since 04'. Who the Lakers resign and who they let go will go a long way to deciding whether this is just a one off title, or whether there will be others to follow.

 

[ByRd]

Wooooohooooooooooo so proud of this team after the pain of losing the way we did against Boston last season. Kobe has his 4th ring and has one WITHOUT shaq so all the haters can shut it.

So happy for all involved and as you said guys like Odom/Walton who were there when things were looking crap and now this, its just awesome.

Also Kobe and coach Jackson, so happy for both of them and they deserve it.

 

[Stonecutter]

He has one without Shaq but without Gasol he wouldn't of won this one. Same situation all over again. Lakers were terrible until Gasol came over.

I wonder where Ariza or Odom will play next season.

 

[Mr Saab]

He has one without Shaq but without Gasol he wouldn't of won this one. Same situation all over again. Lakers were terrible until Gasol came over.

I wonder where Ariza or Odom will play next season.

And how many did Jordan win without Pippen? Its a stupid argument. Kobe won as the leader. With Shaq he was 2nd in charge.

 

[McLovin]

Yep...It was never about who he won it with. He wanted it as the first option/franchise player...

 

[Ridders]

Phil's hat with the X on it was gold. Imo the Lakers won this title because of experience and savy play, even though LA hasn't always been the best team on the court. In the Denver series, i though the Nuggets were the best team through 4 games, even though it was tied at 2-2. The turning IMO was Game 6 in that series. I thought Kobe had one of the best games of his playoff career and found a great balance between scoring and distributing.

Same thing could be said about this series. If not for a missed Courtney Lee lay-up (as difficult as it was) and D.Howard free-throws, Orlando have all the momentum in this series. While Kobe has shot pretty poorly in this series, his assist numbers have been by the far the best on the Lakers team.

 

[ByRd]

And how many did Jordan win without Pippen? Its a stupid argument. Kobe won as the leader. With Shaq he was 2nd in charge.

Thankyou, someone with a brain...the haters will say anything to discredit Kobe but oh well, he has proved himself on numerous occasions and now has his 4th title and a finals mvp to add to his resume

 

[Ridders]

Looking back, that 2nd quarter turn-around was simply stunning. I thought the Magic looked good in the 1st quarter, but that 16-0 run killed them. A bit disapointed the Magic didn't show more character, especially on their home court. I thought for sure that they would take the series to LA.

 

[Ridders]

On another note, IMO Pau Gasol has the greatest array of facial expressions i've ever seen in the NBA. There was one time in Game 4, when Fisher got foul for pushing Howard, who at the same time pushed Gasol to the ground. When the call went to Howard, Gasol made a shocked face that i have never seen before. Can't find a picture of it but it was the stuff of legends.

 

[El Coconuto]

Well done Lakers. I'm far from dissapointed. Orlando fans have been locked into full scale just-happy-to-be-there mode once we got through Boston. Everything else was an added bonus. Nice to see Kobe win one without Shaq, that fat bastard. Haha! Ten years on and I'm still bitter about Shaq's split. Well done Kobe. Well done Phil. Well done Lakers.