The Official Playoffs Thread

[smauss]

The Magic are a tricked layup away from a 2-1 lead.

Kobe "closed" the coffin on the Lakers tonight, singlehandedly losing them the game.

Joey Crawford, on the other hand, singlehandedly aimed to keep them in. He officiated the worst game I've ever seen out of a ref. Stern allowing this guy to officiate Finals games pretty much confirms any conspiracy theorist's worst nightmares about the league.

Personally, I can't remember seeing a series that has been as poorly officiated (unless you're a laker) as this one. Very disturbing. Makes me wonder why I bother watching. I'm glad that I don't pay for it!

[emunney]

If Lee makes an easy shot, Magic are up 2-1. Lee and Redick in game 2 is still amazingly bad.

Is it pretty much unanimous that that was an easy shot? I didn't see it that way at all.

[DH34Phan]

I love how Rafer Alston has turned himself into one of the best PGs in the game.

Given what we have had at the PG spot since he left Milwaukee, I would have loved to have kept him.

[Neapolitan Buck]

I think the Lakers have been "helped" by the officials, ok, but we have to say Howard got 6 FTs from 3 bad calls and had a couple of illegal blocks allowed. There's no doubt the NBA prefers the Lakers over the Magic, but to me it is simply bad officiating.

[jerrod]

oh man, i couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud when kobe was bailed out with a call when he was cleanly blocked by dwight and then missed the first free throw. i wondered what wise was thinking at that moment

[smauss]

I think the Lakers have been "helped" by the officials, ok, but we have to say Howard got 6 FTs from 3 bad calls and had a couple of illegal blocks allowed. There's no doubt the NBA prefers the Lakers over the Magic, but to me it is simply bad officiating.

I agree with you that there have been bad calls both ways. One could argue that there have been more in the lakers favor but what I think is at least as important as the number of calls is the timing of them.

[Newz]

The Lakers haven't been and still do not give the ball to Gasol nearly as much as they should be. He's been above 60% the past two series and is one of the most offensively talented bigs in the NBA, yet he is usually around 9-12 shots per game.

I guess big men on Kobe's team are used to not getting the ball as much as they should by now though.

[Sigra]

Is it pretty much unanimous that that was an easy shot? I didn't see it that way at all.

+1

[paul]

The Lakers haven't been and still do not give the ball to Gasol nearly as much as they should be. He's been above 60% the past two series and is one of the most offensively talented bigs in the NBA, yet he is usually around 9-12 shots per game.

I guess big men on Kobe's team are used to not getting the ball as much as they should by now though.

I actually find the whole thing really interesting Luke. Cast the mind back about 18 months when Bynum was first making a name for himself and that was really driven by Kobe to a large extent. He would pass up jumpers to hit the open Bynum for the dunk, throw an alley or two every game to him and made a real focus of getting him involved and basically handing him points. Bynum was extremely limited offensively yet was able to shoot a ridiculous percentage for a month or two (around 63% if memory serves) largely due to Kobe (and to a slightly lesser extent Odom) getting him the ball in near unmissable situations.

Fast forward 18 months and he's got Pau who is a significantly more talented offensive player than Bynum shooting a really high clip and looking extemely dangerous yet it looks like Kobe just doesn't want to give him the rock. The cynic in me says that maybe it was OK to boost up Bynum when he was a young guy who Kobe could take some credit for helping him blossom whereas Pau is an established star who could possibly threaten Kobe's alpha dog status if he's given too much help.

There may be no truth in that at all but I'm really struggling to see why Pau isn't getting the ball more after being so effective when he does and particularly when he can go at Dwight possibly hurting him the other way. Of course it hasn't been limited to this series either, it's been happening for quite a while.

[midranger]

Gasol is a top 20 player, playing the best basketball of his career, and Kobe won't give it up to him. It's a personality defect.

[lawrybeard]

No doubt Gasol finished well in that game, but that's about it. 3 boards in 40mins from a 7 footer is embarrassing.

[Ayt]

No doubt Gasol finished well in that game, but that's about it. 3 boards in 40mins from a 7 footer is embarrassing.

As Phil Jackson put it when asked why Pau didn't have more rebounds, "what rebounds were there to get?" He also said that rebounding was not the problem in the game.

[lawrybeard]

No doubt Gasol finished well in that game, but that's about it. 3 boards in 40mins from a 7 footer is embarrassing.

As Phil Jackson put it when asked why Pau didn't have more rebounds, "what rebounds were there to get?" He also said that rebounding was not the problem in the game.

True. 1 offensive board from the Lakers 38 missed shots is a long way from great though - and that came in the last 10 seconds. He also had 0 offensive boards in the 44mins he played in game 2.

So he went around 84mins without grabbing an offensive board.

[paul]

Pau isn't a great rebounder by any stretch even though his rpg numbers aren't too bad, but that's not the strength in his game. That's what Bynum should be giving them, but isn't.

[AussieBuck]

No doubt Gasol finished well in that game, but that's about it. 3 boards in 40mins from a 7 footer is embarrassing.

Gasol has always finished well, his hero teammate just doesn't like sharing. Gasol shot over 60% in last years finals while Kobe shot somewhere in the 30's. Just like the previous time Kobe lost in the finals with Shaq.

[europa]

This is the line from Bill Simmons' column I was referencing. It was written during Game 2 but it strikes at the heart of the issues many have with Kobe:

Important note: Kobe's reputation as a "killer" at the end of games remains overblown. The site www.82games.com just posted a study of game-winning shots from the last five-plus seasons (regular seasons and playoffs since the 2003-04 season) that revealed Kobe was shooting 14-for-56 (25 percent) with one assist and five turnovers, and made 12 of 15 free throws. So let's say that was 70 possessions total, including Sunday night. ... He only had one assist in nearly six years??? That's why Orlando quadruple-teamed him in that spot. Kobe is a phenomenal streak shooter, and he has a real talent for catching fire with a lead and closing games out ... but you can stop him in one-shot situations simply because he's his own worst enemy. He wants to be a hero, he's shooting it, and that's that.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st ... ortCat=nba

[AussieBuck]

This is the line from Bill Simmons' column I was referencing. It was written during Game 2 but it strikes at the heart of the issues many have with Kobe:

Important note: Kobe's reputation as a "killer" at the end of games remains overblown. The site http://www.82games.com just posted a study of game-winning shots from the last five-plus seasons (regular seasons and playoffs since the 2003-04 season) that revealed Kobe was shooting 14-for-56 (25 percent) with one assist and five turnovers, and made 12 of 15 free throws. So let's say that was 70 possessions total, including Sunday night. ... He only had one assist in nearly six years??? That's why Orlando quadruple-teamed him in that spot. Kobe is a phenomenal streak shooter, and he has a real talent for catching fire with a lead and closing games out ... but you can stop him in one-shot situations simply because he's his own worst enemy. He wants to be a hero, he's shooting it, and that's that.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st ... ortCat=nba

Yeah he's a rich man's Michael Redd.

[lawrybeard]

No doubt Gasol finished well in that game, but that's about it. 3 boards in 40mins from a 7 footer is embarrassing.

Gasol has always finished well, his hero teammate just doesn't like sharing. Gasol shot over 60% in last years finals while Kobe shot somewhere in the 30's. Just like the previous time Kobe lost in the finals with Shaq.

Over 60%
In the 30's.

= Awesome

[Sigra]

There may be no truth in that at all but I'm really struggling to see why Pau isn't getting the ball more after being so effective when he does and particularly when he can go at Dwight possibly hurting him the other way.

What if Gasol gets the ball more, score more and at the end become finals MVP? Offcourse that Kobe can't allow that. He already has 3 rings with his C wining MVP trophy and being considered best player. He just HAS to be best this time. That is Orlando's main chance honestly. They have to double team Kobe and they have to defend Pau one on one. Kobe will do the rest.

[europa]

What if Gasol gets the ball more, score more and at the end become finals MVP? Offcourse that Kobe can't allow that. He already has 3 rings with his C wining MVP trophy and being considered best player. He just HAS to be best this time. That is Orlando's main chance honestly.

Kobe's ego certainly can work in the opposition's favor. He's also reverting back to being a volume scorer. He's needing a lot of possessions to score his points and that's not a good trend. That's what the Pistons forced him into when they beat L.A. in the Finals. If the Magic can continue to make Kobe take a high volume of possessions to put up points that will enhance their chances of winning the title.