bynum

Editor's note: The top pic was created by The Big Nowitzki and sent to me by Shayan Mannan of Sports Haze. Evil Ted will be writing about the Celtics game.

The Los Angeles Lakers: You know what? In hindsight, the most shocking part about what just happened to the Lakers is how not shocking it should have been. L.A.'s season was a mishmash of up-and-down play. At times, they looked unstoppable. Other times, they looked helpless and lost. But their fans never quite lost that air of cocky arrogance and the non-fans never felt totally comfortable predicting the collapse that seemed inevitable. The Lakers had, after all, turned it on before.

But not this time.

The talent was there. No question about it. But something vital was missing and we may never know exactly what it was. Chemistry? That seems impossible given that the core group of back-to-back championship teams remained intact. Motivation? That doesn't feel quite right. The Lakers wanted to win.

I guess maybe it was desire. I can't presume to know what was going on inside their hearts, but this Lakers team felt different than the squads who won the last two league titles. Two seasons ago, they played pissed off after the way the Celtics had manhandled them in the 2008 NBA Finals. Last year, they played with a chip on their shoulder, because they still seemed to feel they had something to prove.

I never felt that this season. They played well in stretches but never inspired. At least, that's what it looked like from the outside. I think Kobe sensed it. I think that's why, after the Lakers lost to the Heat in Miami, he pulled that crazy "I'm going to shoot around until they kick me out of the arena" stunt. Kobe's a control freak. That's a large part of what's made him great. He could see the Lakers weren't competing the way they needed to if they wanted to defend their title. So Kobe controlled what he could control: His own maniacal effort.

Only that never inspired his teammates. No amount of ribbing in practice or public, no black swan / white swan comparisons, nothing lit a fire under the other Lakers. Basically, they lost the eye of the tiger.

Man, did they lose it.

I've always been a card carrying Lakers Hater. I wanted them to lose. I didn't want them to match the Celtics championship total. I didn't want Kobe to get his sixth ring or Phil Jackson to close out his career with a fourth three-peat. I wanted the Lakers to fail.

But like this? Swept. Demolished in Game 4. Meeting defeat in shame -- with cheap shots and elbows -- rather than facing it with dignity.

Look, I hate the Lakers, but I also respected them. They were champions. But, when the walls came tumbling down, they stopped acting like champions. They gave up in Game 4. They quit. They abandoned all the principles that won them back-to-back titles and started acting like a bunch of common thugs. For example:


And, not long after, this happened:


This fall from grace was about as graceless as it gets. It got to the point where Pau Gasol had to address Internet rumors about his personal life, while Jackson was forced to explain why he was smacking Pau in the chest during timeouts and had to resort to bitching about the officials. Kobe wondered out loud whether he was sick in the head for thinking his team could still win the series. Turns out, his teammates were just sick in the heart.

I mean, Andrew Bynum's post-ejection tearing off of his jersey while being escorted by the locker room by Ron Artest -- who himself had been suspended for Game 3 because he pulled a cheap shot on the same guy Bynum whacked -- was the lowest of the low moments of this series.

Championships are won. They aren't handed out because you're the best team on paper. The Lakers learned that lesson in 2008 and went on to win two titles in a row. I'm not sure what happened. Maybe Men in Black showed up and gave them a group mind wipe. "What you experienced wasn't back-to-back championships. It was swamp gas."

Bad form, Lakers. Bad form.

But you know what? A low moment for the Lakers was a high point for the Mavericks. Faily or unfairly, they have spent the past several seasons fighting a quiet war against accusations of being soft and mentally fragile. Well, they blew all those accusations to smithereens during this series. Sweet redemption after years of bitter torment. It kind of reminds me of when Phoenix swept the Spurs in the second round last year. Of course, we know how that turned out. Hopefully, the Mavs will have a better fate.

kobe facepalm
Possibly the strangest facepalm ever...

kobe facepalm 2
...but this is more like it.

Ron Artest, Dunk Master: Oh. My.


Kobe Byrant, quote machine: From Basketbawful reader Charles Y:


Experts: More fail from stephanie g:

LA-Mavs experts

The Chicago Bulls: The Bullies won Game 3 thanks to an all-out attack by Derrick Rose: 44 points (a career-high), 16-for-27 from the field, 4-for-7 from downtown, 8-for-9 at the line, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, a steal and a block. And as ESPN Stats and Information noted: "One of the more impressive aspects of Rose's performance was that he was scoring from everywhere. He scored 12 points in the paint, 12 from three-point range, and 12 from mid-range, adding eight points at the free throw line."

Rose was undeniably awesome in nearly every sense of the word. But the Bulls also dominated the glass, pulling down 18 offensive rebounds, and got great production out of their bench. And blowing out the Hawks in Atlanta just felt right.

But the performance was not repeated in Game 4. So...what happened?

For starters, Chicago's interior defense was poor. The Hawks went 22-for-34 (64.8 percent) at the rim and outscored the Bulls 56-40 in the paint. Horford was 6-for-6 at the rim. Joe Johnson was 3-for-3. Jason Collins was 2-for-2. Crawford 1-for-1. Teague was 4-for-6. Smith was 6-for-11.

Teams don't earn many wins by giving up that many good looks around the basket.

They also got shot down by Johnson (24 points, 9-for-14, 3-for-5 on threes) and picked apart by Smith (23 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists). Smith didn’t shoot well (8-for-22), but he got to the line (7-for-9) and created extra offense though his passing and work on the offensive glass (5 offensive boards).

Overall, Chicago's defense simply wasn't that good. Atlanta finished with an Offensive Efficiency of 108.7. That’s too high for a team that relies on defense to win. Speaking of which...let's talk about their offense.

Rose finished with game highs in points (34), assists (10), free throw attempts (11) and shot attempts (32). It's that last stat that worries me. Especially considering the rest of the starting unit combined for two fewer shots than Rose took.

It's tempting to think the shot distribution wouldn't have been a big of a deal if Derrick had converted more than 12 of his attempts. But it was a big deal. And not because Rose's shot selection was terrible. After all, 22 of his 32 attempts came inside 10 feet. But he went only 6-for-14 at the rim and 2-for-8 from 3-9 feet.

To be completely honest, I thought there was a significant amount of uncalled contact on several of Rose's drives. Which isn't all that surprising, considering Hawks coach Larry Drew talked publically about his team getting more physical with Rose after Game 3. That's what happened. The Hawks forced Rose into several misses and got away with bumping him off a handful of shots that might have otherwise gone in or resulted in free throw attempts.

Said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau: "He kept driving the ball. I'm anxious to see the replays. From my perspective, I thought he was getting fouled. Maybe he wasn't going hard enough."

But here's the thing: Even if Rose hit more shots and earned more trips to the lines, and even if the Bulls had pulled this one out, I would still have a problem with the offense. Or, at least, what it devolved into.

Here's what the Bulls offense looked like in the fourth quarter:

Carlos Boozer missed layup; Rose made 10-footer; Rose made 14-footer + 1 free throw; Rose made layup; Rose missed layup (blocked by Teague); offensive rebound; Rose missed 14-footer; offensive rebound; Rose missed 8-footer; Rose missed layup; Kyle Korver made 17-footer (Rose assists); C.J. Watson turnover; Taj Gibson 2-for-2 at the line; shot clock violation; Rose turnover; Luol Deng missed three-pointer; offensive rebound; Rose made 7-footer and the foul; Rose misses free throw; Rose made layup; Rose missed layup; Rose missed 6-footer; Rose turnover; Salvatore’s blown call; Korver missed three-pointer; Deng made layup (Rose assists); Korver turnover; Rose made layup.

In summary: The Bulls' fourth quarter offense consisted of only 2 assists (both by Rose), 4 free throw attempts, 5 turnovers and 17 field goal attempts...12 by Rose.

Said Thibodeau: "You know, when he's making the plays and he's scoring, everyone's saying how great he is. So tonight, he was aggressive. I didn't have any problem with the way he played. ... It's a make or miss league. If they go down, we're talking about the great plays and how unselfish he is."

Countered Kyle Korver: "I think when Derrick gets it going, he should shoot every time. But when it's not there, we got to work it as a team. We got to do a better job of getting open so he can see us, and he probably needs to do a better job sometimes of finding us, but it's a team thing. You can't out it on one person. Obviously, when he has it going, he is the best basketball player in the world, and we want him to take every shot that he feels like he's going to make."

Korver's right. The offense cannot become "Rose dribbles and drives while everybody else stands around watching." That's what happened in the fourth quarter of last night’s game, and it’s no wonder the Bulls scored only 19 points over those final 12 minutes. Look, Derrick has become a tremendous closer, one of the best in the game. But no matter how good he is, Most Valuable Player or not, the Bulls still need to execute an actual offense down the stretch.

That didn't happen last night. And it was costly. More so even than Bennet Salvatore's "inadvertent whistle" (see below). Much more so because officiating is out of a team's control. The way an offense runs is.

Take Boozer’s night. Carlos finally broke out of his offensive slump -- 18 points, 7-for-10 from the field, 4-for-4 from the line -- but attempted one shot in the fourth quarter. The first one, as it turned out, and he never shot again. That's ridiculous. Boozer is supposed to be the team's second offensive option. If the team isn’t going to go to him when he’s hot, when are they going to go to him? This is just a for instance. Deng is the team's third option and he took only two shots in the fourth.

Good offense requires ball movement and total involvement from all five guys on the floor. I'm perfectly okay with Rose taking 30+ shots as long as they come within the flow of the offense. When there’s no flow to the offense...that's when the problems crop up.

Everybody is at fault. Thibs is at fault for not running more plays that get players other than Rose good looks. Rose's teammates are at fault for not being more aggressive, getting open, and calling for the ball. And Rose is at fault for not generating more offense for the other guys wearing red jerseys.

It'll be interesting to see if they get it cleaned up in Game 5.

Officiating: With 2:27 left in the fourth quarter and the Bulls trailing 90-84, Derrick Rose made a nice ball fake, got Jamal Crawford into the air, and then drew obvious contact on a three-point attempt. Official Bennett Salvatore blew the whistle...

...then said it was inadvertent and ruled a jump ball. Josh Smith won the tip, Jeff Teague gained possession, and Atlanta’s possession ended with a dunk by Al Horford that increased Atlanta's lead to eight points.

That’s a big swing. It was also a bit mistake.

And Salvatore admitted as much.

Said Salvatore: "An inadvertent whistle is when a referee blows his whistle and didn’t mean to. That's exactly what happened. I blew my whistle and didn't mean to, I didn't think it was a foul. Having watched the replay after the game, it was a foul and I should have called it. I made a mistake."

He blew his whistle. But he didn’t think it was a foul. Okay.

Salvatore continued: "I blew my whistle. I was positive it was not a foul. I blew my whistle by accident. Which is an inadvertent whistle. That's why I disallowed it ... Having watched replay. It was a foul. I made a mistake. I was wrong."

Said Rose: "It's basketball. Hopefully next time they call it."

Added Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau: "At that time of the game, I've never seen that. But look, Bennett's a good official. He said he made a mistake. He's human. So that's what he did. He's a good official. He got him in the air, he came down on him. I thought it was a foul. But you know, sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t.

You don't have to be a math major to realize how costly Salvatore’s mistake was for the Bulls. Assuming Rose hit all three of the free throws he should have gotten, the Bulls would have been down only three points with two and a half minutes remaining. Instead, after it was all said and done, they were down eight with two minutes to go.

And, watching the game, you could tell the sequence demoralized them.

If that call had been made correctly, the Bulls could have won this game. But it's not why they lost the game. They lost because they played poorly.

The Oklahoma City Thunder: If the Thunder could have scored 11 points in the fourth quarter of Game 3, they would have won and reclaimed homecourt advantage.

Instead, OKC got outscored 23-10 in the fourth and ended up losing in overtime.

The Grizzlies are brutal savages. They're a scary team, man. Never thought I'd say it, but it's true. But still...the idea that a team with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook got held to 10 fourth quarter points after beginning the period with a 13-point lead is stunning.

Said Mike Conley: "I think once we looked up at the clock and saw how many points we were down, a little bit of desperation hit. We were like, 'Man, we cannot lose this game.' And guys amped up their game, made some changes here and there, and we were able to just be scrappy and play our game, and fortunately we got the win."

Countered Durant: "This is a tough loss. I'm trying to stay positive, but it was tough. This was tough. We were up 13 going into the fourth, had a good roll going. It was tough."

Added Thunder coach Scott Brooks: "We stopped doing [what they did for the first three quarters]. The last seven or eight minutes, we just stopped doing it, and we gave into their play. I give them credit. They really stepped up and got into us and made us take tough shots."

No kidding. From ESPN Stats and Information: "The end-of-game dynamic between Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant reared its ugly head again on Saturday. Entering Game 3, Durant had been tremendous in the final 5 minutes of regulation and OT, shooting over 50 percent from the floor compared to just 26 percent for Westbrook. Both struggled down the stretch on Saturday, combining to go 0-10 with the lone points coming on a pair of Russell Westbrook free throws."

As a team, the Thunder shot 36 percent, with Durant (10-for-24) and Westbrook (7-for-22) shitting bricks. Westbrook has 12 assists...but he also committed 5 of his 7 turnovers in the fourth quarter and overtime before fouling out of the game.

Bonk.

By the way, according to ESPN Stats and Information, that 10 points is tied for the fourth-lowest fourth-quarter playoff point total since 2005. I'm just sayin'.

Panathinaikos basketball fans: Nobody should get shot by an AK-47 over basketball. But it happened.

Chris' Playoff Lacktion Report:

Bulls-Hawks: Omer acquired a board in 14:12, but buried it in three fouls for a 3:1 Voskuhl. Rasual Butler had 121 seconds of prime rib pricing for a 2 trillion.

Meanwhile, Atlanta's Zaza Pachulia countered a free throw and board in 9:03 with a turnover and four fouls for a 5:2 Voskuhl, and both Jason Collins (in 1:45 via two fouls) and Josh Powell (in 4:07 via brick and turnover) got +2 suck differentials, with Collins getting a 2:0 Voskuhl and Powell earning a Madsen-level 1:0 ratio.

Lakers-Mavs: Joe Smith unmightily fouled in 3:23 for a +1 and a 1:0 Madsen-level Voskuhl, while Corey Brewer matched that suck differential for Dallas in 68 seconds via brick from the Stemmons Freeway.

Thunder-Grizzlies: Daequan Cook fried up three bricks from the Sterick Building, along with two fouls, to earn a +5 in 8:15!

El (Oh El) Heat-Celtics: Von Wafer plugged in his Super Nintendo for a mere four seconds, earning a celebratory Super Mario!!!!

Bulls-Hawks: Damien Wilkins bricked once in 58 seconds for a +1 and a Mario! And as commenter Batmanu notes...

Should we make mention in the Lacktion Report that Damien Wilkins' missed FGA was on a blown dunk at the end of the first half?

Yes, we will make mention of it. :D

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45 Comments:
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Watching that Artest video, the only thing I can think about is 'Grant Hill drinks Sprite...'

Anonymous Blizzard said...
Well, with the Lakers swept out of the playoffs, I have nothing left but to angrily troll other teams' blogs ... with that said, you should put yourself in tomorrow's WOTN. One of the ugliest things to watch as a fan is players "drawing contact" by jumping into a defender at the three point line, flinging up some garbage and getting a foul. Take your Bulls homer goggles off before you complain about that one, please. And what, 11 free throws wasn't enough for Rose? Hey, maybe if we're lucky the league will cancel the games next round, and just have the series decided by a best-of-10,000 free throw shoot-off between Rose and Wade.

Signed,
Bitter

Blogger Michael Hsu said...
Good thing the Lakers lost. We don't need tax payers paying for another 4 million dollar parade that only non tax payers can attend.

Anonymous Batmanu said...
Should we make mention in the Lacktion Report that Damien Wilkins' missed FGA was on a blown dunk at the end of the first half?

In regards to the Lakers - they always seem to lose in spectacular fashion. Thus is the life of Hollywood.

In regards to the Mavs - I don't think they get past the Grizz or Thunder. Sorry. I'm going for the Grizz personally, since they beat my team.

In regards to the Hawks - Another maddening game from them. If they could only consistently live up to their potential...

In regards to the Bulls - I agree with the Boozer comment. They need to let him go to work. Of course, they could just run a flex offense. It's been mentioned before, and they have about half of Utah's former players.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/18622/what-the-chicago-bulls-can-learn-from-the-utah-jazz

Anonymous Anonymous said...
As a Mavs fan, this victory was bittersweet. On one hand, the team I have loved through thick and thin for years swept the defending champions and finally made it back to the WCF. But on the other hand, I was both disgusted and horrified at how the Lakers went out.

I don't know if as a whole, they expected to be given their next trip to the Finals, if Jackson's past successes kept him in denial of the troubles his team was having, or if this team was in that much trouble emotionally. Whatever it was, game 4 was just pathetic. Not only did it seem like they didn't even really try, but they acted like spoiled punks when things didn't go their way.

I've never liked the Lakers, but I have always had respect for them. After game 4, I'm having to remind myself that the behavior displayed on court is not necessarily a reflection of the organization. With as storied as the Lakers organization is, I would have hoped that its players would have gone out with a little more class, but I guess I was wrong.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Can't stand Bynum. When he's not hurt and getting paid to recover, he is calling out his team in the media, or whining about not getting enough shot attempts.

And then he commits assault that could have been season or career ending on Beasley and Barea in the past few months. Bullies always go after smaller guys.

I wish he would have tried that on a Knicks guard during the Oakley era. Bynum would have ended up on his back in a hurry.

Blogger Marcus said...
fakers done for...
david stern didn't gift them a championship this year

so much for the spurs/lakers wcf

something tells me the east will win the `ship this year

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
LOLKERS NEVER HAD TO GO THROUGH DIRK'S MAVS ALL 5 CHAMPIONSHIPS INVALID!!!!1!!1one.

Blogger chris said...
Batmanu: Okay, time to make an update. Thanks. :D

Still amazed that in the blowout that officially put an end to the Lakers, there was not a single bit of lacktivity.

Blogger chris said...
I wish he would have tried that on a Knicks guard during the Oakley era. Bynum would have ended up on his back in a hurry.

My parents, sister, and I were watching that ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, "Winning Time" a few days ago...

watching the response to Bynum's clubbing here was such a letdown compared to the routine footage of physicality and intensity in that recap of the 90s Pacers and Knicks!

Blogger Brandon said...
Rose created contact on the Crawford call. I am sick of watching shooters jump into the defender and hope for a whistle... that's an offensive foul in my book.

Anonymous Stockton said...
The Bulls (Rose) should involve Boozer more, but don't count on him to STEP UP!!
He will put the numbers, but he also runs away from responsability in crunch time... and if he gets roughed up, he WILL rely on jumpers...

Bottom line, not the toughest SOB in the league...

Anonymous Stockton said...
Yeah, I would like to see Bynum try thta stunt on Oakley... or one of his teammates...

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
Haha, excellent reference Anon. In the celebration of the Lakers's fall, let us revel in the nostalgia of Grant Hill drinks Sprite.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Didn't Bynum pull a similar stunt at Gerald Wallace a while ago? Of course back then everybody was like "oh, he really didn't mean to do it". Well, i guess this time he showed he has perfected the elbow to the ribs thing

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Odom and Bynum,

They don't want to be traded for Dwight Howard. After they were ejected from the final game of the season, they are each a little less likely to be acceptable to Orlando in a trade.

Mike S

Anonymous Kaank said...
Wow... This is a good day to be alive. The Lakers are gone and all the talk about how they can kick everyone's ass as they please is over. Very happy for J-Kidd and Nowitzki, they deserve a ring for their efforts, their careers. There is something else I wanna add. As a Celtics fan, I kinda remember Wild Yams being all "giddy" with excitement after the Perkins trade. He also said very pleasant and insightful things like:
-"But fuck it, I'm a Laker fan so let the good times roll!"
-"BTW - Now that the Celtics don't have Perkins at center, it doesn't matter nearly as much if Bynum stays healthy for the Lakers. Without Perkins there, there's nobody left to push Gasol around if he is forced to play center. In fact, against the likes of Big Baby and Kristic, Gasol could have a great shot at Finals MVP if he had to play center! Wouldn't that be exciting :)"
-"Not to worry though, with Nenad Kristic and Glen Davis at center the Celtics shouldn't miss a beat :)"

Talking timely is an important thing. Now that mr.Gasol (nice disappearing act btw, bravo) and his extra classy friends like Bynum and Odom have gone fishing in may, we can be sure of that right Wild Yams? ":)"

Anonymous Tree said...
@Brandon and Blizzard: I am not a fan of that type of play either, but it doesn't matter - that's always called and there's no excuse for not calling it there. Like it or hate it, it doesn't matter and it's not 'homerism' - that needs to be called until there is some directive that that is no longer a foul. They can't change the rules on-the-spot in the middle of a game ... wait, nevermmind - it's the NBA, of course they can ... it's just more baffling inconsistency from NBA officals.

I am genuinely amused by Lakers/media angst about Pau ... yeah, he wasn't the greatest this spring, but did the NBA retroactively erase the past 3 years from their record books? I mean, no Pau, no back-to-back championships and no back-to-back-to-back finals appearances. Yeah, he sucked this year, but I think he deserves a little slack until this becomes the new normal for him. Between the NBA and international play, the guy has been playing almost non-stop for 3+ years.

Kobe fun fact, though: 12-39 in 4th quarters in the Mavs series, aka "yikes".

Anonymous milaz said...
Not that it makes much of a difference because fans of both teams destroy the game in Greece - but it was the Panathinaikos fans that got shot by Olympiacos fans (if you read the article carefully).

Anonymous Karc said...
Kobe Bryant - 1st Team All-NBA Defense. I am not making this up.

Again, I'm trying not be as negative as I could be, but this is really pushing it. I mean, the 2008 MVP was a lifetime achievement award that got a pass, but this is pretty inexcusable. Ron Artest was a better candidate, since he had to defend all of the wing players. Totally a reputation vote. Much like Derrick Rose's MVP award.

Anonymous kazam92 said...
Who keeps putting Kobe on these all Defensive first teams?

Furthermore, it's absolutely laughable Derrick Rose got more votes than Wade, Westbrook, or Gerald Wallace

Anonymous Arouet said...
In regards to the Mavs - I don't think they get past the Grizz or Thunder. Sorry. I'm going for the Grizz personally, since they beat my team.

And people are still underestimating the Mavs. It's incredible. Are they going to have to go 8-0 the next two rounds to get any respect at all?

Anonymous Batmanu said...
@ chris - Awesome update. :)

Blogger DDC said...
If these voters are not going to take the voting seriously, they just need to get rid of the All-Defensive Team completely. Tony Allen or Dwyane Wade were markedly better defenders than Kobe. Oh well, at least the Lakers lost and we don't have to hear about how great they are the rest of this season.

Anonymous TransINSANO said...
Good post. This Laker team had this coming all season, you reap what you sow in the NBA. The writing was on the wall, but even Laker haters were giving this team too much credit based on pedigree and past performance. Hell, the Mavs took the precaution of not allowing any "broom" or "swept" signs in the arena, and Tony Allen said the most dangerous team was out, ironic since that best characterizes the team he's on. Anyway, the predictable blowouts in response to losses never came Lakers, or even responses, and they finally crashed and burned like a college kid that only showed up for finals. It's really disappointing never to know what could have been had they played all season with the same focus they had after the All Star break, before flipping the switch off again and never being able to flip it back (I felt like they were giving up the championship right then, if you really want to win you don't just let a team Miami go ahead of you). Maybe the Lakers would have been better off slipping to the 4th seed and being written off from the start. Then again, it seemed like no amount of losing or external motivation could get them going internally. Even down 0-3 they were still singing the same old song, but of course they packed it in like they always do when they know they can't win.

Kaank - You do realize all the bad stuff he said about the Celtics turned out to be true though, right? I'd probably be more concerned about that.

Karc - You're comparing D. Rose's MVP to Kobe's phony 1st Team Defense nod? That's being pretty mean to Rose, at least he had to make his reputation this year.

Blogger DC said...
Shouldn't it read "Olympiakos basketball fans", not "Panathinaikos basketball fans"? According to the brief article, it was an Olympiakos fan who brought the AK-47 and shot a bunch of people.

BTW, I have read that the Olympiakos-Panathinaikos rivalry was like a much more intense Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. I'm taking that as an understatement, given that the rival fans pre-arranged a midnight fight, and one of them brought and used an assault rifle.

Also, remember Vasilis Spanoulis, who helped the Greek team upset Team USA in the 2006 World Championships, was subsequently signed by the Houston Rockets, and sucked in the NBA? He was apparently the MVP for one team before joining the Rockets, and then decided to join the other team afterwards, and it's not going well with fans from his former team.

Blogger Cortez said...
"Kobe Bryant - 1st Team All-NBA Defense. I am not making this up."

Who's a more effective off guard on defense?

"Ron Artest was a better candidate..."

That would have REALLY been a reputation vote.

"Much like Derrick Rose's MVP award."
&
"Furthermore, it's absolutely laughable Derrick Rose got more votes than Wade, Westbrook, or Gerald Wallace"

Westbrook? Wallace? Wow.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Kobe did not deserve 1st Team All-NBA Defensive Team, TA should've been in his place. I can only imagine the kind of defender he would've been in 1998.

I honestly don't know who wins in a DAL/MEM WCF.

Anonymous tabman said...
i don't know if anyone has mentioned this statistical anomaly, but shawn marion had a +/- of -1 in a 36 point blowout.

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
DDC - "These voters"? You mean the 30 head coaches?

Cortez - Keith Bogans lol.

Anonymous kazam92 said...
Cortez, you seriously believe Rose plays better defense than the 3 guys I named? The same guy who let Jeff Teague get to the rim on him?

Anonymous Karc said...
@Cortez - Tony Allen, Dwayne Wade, and Russell Westbrook were all better than Kobe this year.

Ron Artest is a more worthy candidate because he had to defend better players, but he's not deserving of First Team defense either, that's all I'm saying.

Derrick Rose winning the MVP was the media screaming over itself that the Bulls had a better record than the Heat, Lakers, and Spurs over the regular season. The way he's getting exposed in the playoffs makes the award as laughable as Byrant getting a defense award.

Coaches really don't take the award seriously anyway (which is how Keith Bogans got a vote). I'm sure Basketball Reference will come out with some stat-filled "Real All-NBA Defense Team" soon.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
dal-mem would be a slugfest, z-bo can´t guard dirk and vice versa..

Blogger The Sports Hayes said...
Wild Yams may have jumped the gun on the Lakers celebration but what he said about the Celtics were right on the money.

Unless Shaq and Jermaine O'Neal (plus Rondo, Pierce, Allen) somehow get and stay healthy, the Celtics will soon be joining the Lakers on the golf course.

Blogger tonious35 said...
Neither a Bulls or Hawks fan, but this a timeline that came into mind about the inadvertent whistle:

*Salvatore blows the whistle

(0:01 later)

*Salvatore remembers that the Chicago mob bet against the Bulls that game because the Hawks were listed as under. Anything not resulting in a Bulls loss, he will get a "visit" in a parking lot.

(0:01 later)

Bennet Salvatore pees a little in his pants.

(0:05 later)

Inadvertent whistle is decided.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Well if it's Memphis that gets through
I don't know if Dallas can defend both Z-Bo and Marc Gasol (never thought I'd type that)
although they did a good job on Bynum and Pau, but these two aren't as hot-headed or soft as those two.
I'd call Memphis to win that series if they can get through (KD is a shorter more atheletic Dirk but less accurate shooter)

Anonymous bing said...
The only time I felt like this Lakers team might win it all was the couple of weeks coming out of All Star break. 17 wins, or something similar, seemed briefly like things were coming together. Or not.

If a fan has to wonder whether shipping Farmar and The Machine out of town was actually a good idea, you know you are in serious trouble!

Blogger Tom said...
It looks like the Lakers are tring to be the new Bad Boys. I can't believe all the cheap fouls in this series.

Anonymous Shayan said...
If you listen to Jackson's post-game comments, he mentioned he's happy that the season's over. Obviously he didn't want to be swept, but it sounds Jerry Sloan-ish to me in how he's tired of trying to coach this team full of egos and divas. Much respect to Kobe, he had a bad game, but he brought it every play. Bynum is such a b*tch it's not even funny.

the rivalry between pana and olympiakos is unmatched to anything you can relate to in U.S. sports.
those two clubs are not just sporting rivals in every professional sports made in greece. they are also of political and economical rivalry on teh streets. fans supports different parties and such.
nothing that happens between european clubs happen just "over sports"

Anonymous lechuckie said...
@tree: the nba should not allow this kind of "fouls" to continue in the future. for me, this is the most unbearable part of watching an nba game. perhaps they should make it that jumping toward an airborne defender should be called an offensive foul?

re pau gasol: it's proven once again that lakers fans/media will never accept the fact that PAU is the MVP of the team. when kobe plays terrible, the team can still usually win, but when pau sucks, they have very little hope of winning.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
@lechuckie: Congrats Pau, you're the MVP of the 2nd round swept Lakers.

Anonymous Angry laker fan said...
Someone said Bynum and Odom fouled intentionally in order to sabotage their trade value. I have watched these guys (well, actually just one of these guys, Bynum is paid 16 mil a year to recover and make a late comeback ONLY to be injured just before the playoffs because his laziness prevented him from recovering faster and finding his rhythm earlier) play for years and this is simply the type of behavior they display when shit hits the fan. And then afterwards, Kobe/Fish/P-Jax make it clear there' no need for that kind of BS when the game is all but decided but yet they CONTINUE to shit on the game that has given them so much over the years... and now I feel like they didn't even deserve the past successes. If you cannot accept defeat with grace and class, what does that say about you as a person, and as a professional? I say trade their asses, so people can STFU about how these guys would be franchise players or at the very least all stars had they played for a different team. All these spoiled role players don't have a single clue of how fortunate they are to play for a championship contender and if they can't understand that they should be used as trade bait, simple as that.

Anonymous Angry laker fan said...
Oh and I agree 100% with Chuck and Kenny, you can't show off your doughy ass body like that (again, lack of conditioning and improper rehabilitation aka laziness will do that to you), especially after you just blindsided the smallest guy on the court. Geeez

Anonymous Anonymous said...
What's the point of being classy when you lose? Nobody remembers anybody who lost because they were 'classy', go all out, fuck the other team.