It's like Pedro Martinez said when the Yankees whupped him, "Nothing else you can say except tip your hat and call them your daddy." Boston, you're my daddy.
Let's go in the way back machine when Kobe dropped the bomb that he wanted to be traded. One year ago, Lakers fans were looking into the abyss. Kobe wanted out, the team had no moves to make over the offseason and Philsie was sitting in a cabin in Montana burning incense. It was looking like the lottery was immient. The passage of time calmed Lakers fans. Armageddon didn't come, Kobe was not traded, the team stood pat and drafted an athletic point guard and a Chinese center. Training camp arrived in October and even better, so did Kobe. And he was engaged. He was interested in playing and being with the team this season. He invested in the team and himself to become the well rounded player everyone was waiting for him to become. Bynum blossomed and Ariza arrived in a under publicized trade. Both of those players going down required the Lakers to get production from places they didn't geniunely have a right to expect. Turiaf and Walton responded well with the extra playing time and have been erratic in the postseason as the stakes have increased. Derek Fisher re-joining the team gave them a solid voice and experienced presence they lacked to offset Kobe's intensity. The team had some pieces.
Then Super Bowl weekend, Pau Gasol arrived for spare parts and a draft pick. It was the steal of the century and it breathed championship life into the team. In a deep Western conference, they were catapulted into contenders and ended up with the best record in the conference after barely a half season together. With home court advantage, they were well positioned to endure the playoffs and maybe get to the Finals.
Now that they are there, and given their relative ease of getting through the tough Western conference, expectations are sky high. Boston completely retooled and added veteran, experienced pieces that had been through the wars, but never together and never with nearly as much talent. Danny Ainge added some pieces along the way and they really hit the jackpot.
So even though the 24 point blown lead is very difficult to swallow, it is important to remember that these failures may be growing pains for a young team, but they are pains at the highest level. They are here earlier than scheduled and it can only bode well for the future. I think the failure of this series can stick with this team and give them the drive that they need to get through adversity in the future. Philsie can use this failure as a learning tool and give them the motivation to perservere and hopefully give them the championships to come.
Boston's big three will be older next year and maybe they will have another shot the season after that. The Lakers are young and getting better. If they add a another veteran piece, they should be back here next year, applying the lessons learned this year.
That being said, with all the history made in this series, maybe the Lakers could do something historic themselves and win three straight games after being down 3-1. Until then, I suppose I will continue watching the 1987 Finals highlight films.
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
Friday, June 13
Sunday, June 8
You have got to be kidding me!
10 free throws to 38!! Lakers are playing like poo and this whole series is very close to going down the tubes for them. Kobe has lost six of his last seven Finals games--incredible when you realize he and Shaq together lost three finals games during their three-peat. I will take my hat off to Leon Powe, who looked McHale-esque and dominated in the paint, getting ticky tack calls that were not being made at the other end of the court. While Paul Pierce played well, KG and Ray Allen had relatively quiet nights. If you have to count on Powe giving you twenty points off the bench, you should be happy to be up 2-0. Even as bad as they played in both games, the Lakers had the chance to win both games. Hopefully some home cooking can give them the confidence they need to get some momentum and only have to win one in Boston. It seems that Paul Pierce is claiming this moment as his own. While not many teams have come back from being down 2-0, the Lakers definitely have enough talent to push this thing to 3-2 coming back to Boston. Don't forget many people had written off Miami after Dallas took a commanding 2-0 lead to South Beach in 2006!!
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
Wednesday, June 4
It's 1987 all over again!
At least I hope it will be 1987, which ended in a Lakers finals win...
Here is a good analysis of great offense meeting great defense in the Finals...my two cents says Kobe or KG will be a transcendant force in the series, ultimately defining their legacy. I'm nervous it may be KG's time, but the 2004 Finals aside, Kobe realizes MJ's competitiveness (and probably an underrated part of his greatness) never let anybody else win (i.e. Sir Charles, P. Ewing, Clyde, John and Karl, Gary Payton).
Pau is going to have to average at least 18 and 12 boards for the Lakers to keep this interesting. If the Celtics can't build a 12-15 point lead going into the 4th quarter, I think Kobe will be able to take over MJ-style.
How great would it be to see Philsie win his record breaking ten titles against Red's Celtics?
Kobe is almost in Jordan's air, but you don't get that inevitability that he was going to win. Once he got to the Finals, his teams went for the jugular early, going up 2-0, 3-1 in most series. He did have tests in the conference finals, most memorably against the Knicks and the Pacers. If you were not a Jordan/Bulls fan, while you just knew he was going to win, you hoped somehow the other team would be able to dig out a win that would never come.
Can Kobe catch Michael's six titles? He's gotta start this year to have a great chance at it. He only needs four more and with this crew and Andrew Bynum coming back next year, I think he's got a good chance to get there. Obviously, they'll need to tweak here and there, but with Pau and Drew, Jordan Farmar and Luke Walton, they should contend for the next six to nine years. SI had a great article on the development of Kobe and his competitive streak that at least rivals Jordan's . This is an interesting perspective that may be worth revisiting some day in the future.
Can't believe the Cubs' great start so far...as with the rest of Cubdom, I am holding my breath to see if they can keep this up all season. If the hitting can produce and the pitching stays healthy, they have a shot to get the pennant, however I think they will fall to a vastly superior American League team, regardless of who it is. Still, maybe this is the year!
Is there anybody better than Doug Collins as a TV analyst? I miss him and Costas doing the NBA playoffs. He is able to anticipate trends within the game and pays attention to things like body language and confidence. I can see why a team would want him as a coach--he's smart, knows the game and can X and O with the best of them. However, he is a short term fix, not destined for a long term stay. A team like the Pistons or the Suns could maybe benefit from his influx of energy and passion, but the Bulls is just a bad fit. They are a young team that needs direction and a steady hand that allows them to build on success and Doug Collins is not it. I selfishly just want to keep hearing him call games next season.
By the way, I have a theory about how the eras in the NBA have been measured by the TV contracts. Going strictly on memory, I believe CBS had the rights to broadcast during the heyday of Magic and Bird until 1989 or 90. (Remember the classic music and intro?) Then the rights shifted to NBC and Roundball Rock. That's when the Pistons beat the Blazers and then Mr. Jordan arrived on the scene. NBC kept the rights of the three peat era, beginning with MJ's taking of Magic's mantle, the hiccup of the Rockets through MJ's final push of Bryon Russell and dangling wrist and the (hopefully first) Lakers three peat. In 2002, ABC outbid everyone else and won the TV rights and along with Shaq's toe, promptly ended the Lakers reign, beginning the boring, low rated, Spurs (are they a dynasty or not) era. As this contract has matured, it seems as if the Lakers or C's are ready to wrest the throne of the NBA away until the next go-round which should be coming up soon.
UNLV's nonconference schedule is out and it looks more aggressive than last year's slate. I think the weird promotional tournament needs some work and is way too complicated for no reason whatsoever. It should result in better competition for the Rebels as they try to dance for a third season in a row. While it is unreasonable to think they should win the league tournament again, they should play themselves into a Top 25 ranking at some point during the season. If the other teams can win some nonconference games, it should be a competitive league that could garner some Big Six attention.
Memo to Cox Cable--I'm ready for my ESPNews in HD.
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
Here is a good analysis of great offense meeting great defense in the Finals...my two cents says Kobe or KG will be a transcendant force in the series, ultimately defining their legacy. I'm nervous it may be KG's time, but the 2004 Finals aside, Kobe realizes MJ's competitiveness (and probably an underrated part of his greatness) never let anybody else win (i.e. Sir Charles, P. Ewing, Clyde, John and Karl, Gary Payton).
Pau is going to have to average at least 18 and 12 boards for the Lakers to keep this interesting. If the Celtics can't build a 12-15 point lead going into the 4th quarter, I think Kobe will be able to take over MJ-style.
How great would it be to see Philsie win his record breaking ten titles against Red's Celtics?
Kobe is almost in Jordan's air, but you don't get that inevitability that he was going to win. Once he got to the Finals, his teams went for the jugular early, going up 2-0, 3-1 in most series. He did have tests in the conference finals, most memorably against the Knicks and the Pacers. If you were not a Jordan/Bulls fan, while you just knew he was going to win, you hoped somehow the other team would be able to dig out a win that would never come.
Can Kobe catch Michael's six titles? He's gotta start this year to have a great chance at it. He only needs four more and with this crew and Andrew Bynum coming back next year, I think he's got a good chance to get there. Obviously, they'll need to tweak here and there, but with Pau and Drew, Jordan Farmar and Luke Walton, they should contend for the next six to nine years. SI had a great article on the development of Kobe and his competitive streak that at least rivals Jordan's . This is an interesting perspective that may be worth revisiting some day in the future.
Can't believe the Cubs' great start so far...as with the rest of Cubdom, I am holding my breath to see if they can keep this up all season. If the hitting can produce and the pitching stays healthy, they have a shot to get the pennant, however I think they will fall to a vastly superior American League team, regardless of who it is. Still, maybe this is the year!
Is there anybody better than Doug Collins as a TV analyst? I miss him and Costas doing the NBA playoffs. He is able to anticipate trends within the game and pays attention to things like body language and confidence. I can see why a team would want him as a coach--he's smart, knows the game and can X and O with the best of them. However, he is a short term fix, not destined for a long term stay. A team like the Pistons or the Suns could maybe benefit from his influx of energy and passion, but the Bulls is just a bad fit. They are a young team that needs direction and a steady hand that allows them to build on success and Doug Collins is not it. I selfishly just want to keep hearing him call games next season.
By the way, I have a theory about how the eras in the NBA have been measured by the TV contracts. Going strictly on memory, I believe CBS had the rights to broadcast during the heyday of Magic and Bird until 1989 or 90. (Remember the classic music and intro?) Then the rights shifted to NBC and Roundball Rock. That's when the Pistons beat the Blazers and then Mr. Jordan arrived on the scene. NBC kept the rights of the three peat era, beginning with MJ's taking of Magic's mantle, the hiccup of the Rockets through MJ's final push of Bryon Russell and dangling wrist and the (hopefully first) Lakers three peat. In 2002, ABC outbid everyone else and won the TV rights and along with Shaq's toe, promptly ended the Lakers reign, beginning the boring, low rated, Spurs (are they a dynasty or not) era. As this contract has matured, it seems as if the Lakers or C's are ready to wrest the throne of the NBA away until the next go-round which should be coming up soon.
UNLV's nonconference schedule is out and it looks more aggressive than last year's slate. I think the weird promotional tournament needs some work and is way too complicated for no reason whatsoever. It should result in better competition for the Rebels as they try to dance for a third season in a row. While it is unreasonable to think they should win the league tournament again, they should play themselves into a Top 25 ranking at some point during the season. If the other teams can win some nonconference games, it should be a competitive league that could garner some Big Six attention.
Memo to Cox Cable--I'm ready for my ESPNews in HD.
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
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