cdt3 wrote:I agree he was out of bounds. I hope they can protest, it seems genuine enough. Especially after the last game LA would have lost if the foul on Pau pushing JT to the floor in the first OT for the unguarded tip in.
The view from the right side shows Kobe's right foot was just BARELY inbounds, however the views from the
front and the
left side shows that his left foot was positioned
behind his right foot. His feet were not straight when he planted.
The NBA always lets the big guys push on the little guys. The only way to fight it is raising heck like Cuban. The Kings are talented enough now to start getting a little respect in the league.
That's the way it's ALWAYS been, really. And the problem is, complaining about it will only get us LESS respect around the league because laker supporters will simply accuse us of "whining just like we always do". They know they got a "gift", but in their arrogance, they always turn a blind eye for things that "happen" to go in their favor, and hide behind the fact that "we won and you lost! so you suck!". It just like after Game 6. The ENTIRE COUNTRY knows what went on in that game, but because "they won and we lost", that meant that we're just whiners. It would be the same thing today. We CAN'T say anything. That's probably why Westphal didn't say anything during the play. He wasn't going to win the argument IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, so why bother?
cdt3 wrote:That reminds me, why did Westphal put Sergio on Kobe? That was as bad as putting Bibby on him when he gave him the elbow to the jaw. Just on that fact alone we deserved an L for that game. Of course he pushed, bigger players will always push on smaller players. Calls are never made like that late, see MJ and his pushoff for title #5, or Gasol not getting called last game.
Either way the Kings need to use this game to drive them the rest of the year.
If you actually watched the footage, Sergio was NOT "on" Kobe. He was guarding Vujacic, who was inbounding the ball. Vujacic inbounded the ball to Gasol, and then Kobe came over and set the screen for Vujacic and then pushed off Sergio to get open. The REAL question to ask is, why was
Kenny Thomas initially on Kobe? HE was guarding Kobe when the play began, but he never stepped up like he should have. Though perhaps because Vujacic would have been wide open under the basket if he
had moved. I think that's why Gasol held the ball for so long. I think that was the set play. He was looking for an open man under the basket (Vujacic), but then Kobe "made himself" open for the best available shot.
