The NBA Finals

[Ruzious]

I'm not worried about Wall, but I absolutely agree about Kobe and Gasol. Gasol had a solid series, but Kobe is clearly the MVP. Keep in mind KG's offensive resurgence this series, and that at times Kobe was the only one on the Lakers competing-especially in the losses.

Nobody's denying Kobe's greatness, but to piss on Gasol's performance is beyond absurd. KG didn't have any resurgance in the series. He's an all-time great player and competitor, so I'd expect him to rise to the occasion. He averaged 15 points a game in the entire playoffs and 15 a game against LA. His rebounding was down to 5.6 a game vs. LA. Kobe was great, but 6 of 24 in Game 7 stinks. And throughout the series, he forced a lot of bad shots. Again, that's not to say he's not great - it's to point out that he's far from a 1 man show. He had had arguably the 2nd best big in the game playing with him. Frankly, Gasol was a better distributor - when he was allowed to touch the ball - than Kobe was. And his length on defense was a ginormous key - not just in defending his man. Bynum was just a shell of himself when he could play, so it was up to Gasol to be the key interior defender, and he was it. You can certainly argue that Kobe was the MVP, but to downplay Gasol's positive effect on the playoffs is absurd.

[GhostsOfGil]

i expect the celtics to come out with a lot more energy in game 2. they just got out rebounded and out hustled. i could see them taking the next game then 2 in boston. then lakers winning the final two in la.

[montestewart]

i expect the celtics to come out with a lot more energy in game 2. they just got out rebounded and out hustled. i could see them taking the next game then 2 in boston. then lakers winning the final two in la.

Oh my God! Is that you Kreskin?

[go'stags]

I'm not worried about Wall, but I absolutely agree about Kobe and Gasol. Gasol had a solid series, but Kobe is clearly the MVP. Keep in mind KG's offensive resurgence this series, and that at times Kobe was the only one on the Lakers competing-especially in the losses.

Nobody's denying Kobe's greatness, but to piss on Gasol's performance is beyond absurd. KG didn't have any resurgance in the series. He's an all-time great player and competitor, so I'd expect him to rise to the occasion. He averaged 15 points a game in the entire playoffs and 15 a game against LA. His rebounding was down to 5.6 a game vs. LA. Kobe was great, but 6 of 24 in Game 7 stinks. And throughout the series, he forced a lot of bad shots. Again, that's not to say he's not great - it's to point out that he's far from a 1 man show. He had had arguably the 2nd best big in the game playing with him. Frankly, Gasol was a better distributor - when he was allowed to touch the ball - than Kobe was. And his length on defense was a ginormous key - not just in defending his man. Bynum was just a shell of himself when he could play, so it was up to Gasol to be the key interior defender, and he was it. You can certainly argue that Kobe was the MVP, but to downplay Gasol's positive effect on the playoffs is absurd.

Oh no doubt, Gasol had a very good playoffs, and I don't think he got the ball enough. Kobe gave him a lot of love in the post-game celebration/interview. He didn't show up in game 5, when Kobe was the only Laker to show up, but overall Gasol had a very good series and playoffs. Good point regarding Bynum being hurt.

I was only responding because it seemed as if you disagreed with the previous poster because he thought Kobe was clearly the MVP. I also thought that, Gasol's contributions aside. My apologies if I misinterpreted your post.

[Kanyewest]

I'm not a Boston fan but my cousin is and I hate the Lakers, so I was rooting for Boston in this series.

Am I just being bitter or did the officials really take over that game in the 4th and give LA the title?

Boston, while not up by much, was controlling the entire game, and the officials were allowing a tough defensive game. Then in the 4th quarter the officials started calling tick-tack fouls on just about every possession. However, they called barely any fouls on LA. The Lakers shot 20 more free throws than Boston in the game and 15 more alone in the 4th quarter. They were in the penalty with about 7 minutes to go. When LA came back to take the lead, it was strictly on free throws; it was disgusting. They didn’t earn a thing.

What do you guys think?

The calls favored the Lakers down the stretch in the 4th quarter. There were late whistles blown after Gasol flailed his arms in the air and the Celtics weren't getting the benefit of the doubt either. But the Lakers earned the right to have homecourt down the stretch in the playoffs; that's what the Celtics get for coasting through the 2nd half of the regular season where they finished with just as many win as losses. IMO Cleveland matched up better with the Lakers than the Cavs especially since LeBron could have forced several Lakers into foul trouble. And they had homecourt advantage.

But yeah I feel bad for the Celtics that they didn't get a fair shake, much like the Wizards didn't back in those Cleveland?Washington series. BTW, anyone else in favor of refs calling fouls on people who flop or exaggerate contact (ie Derek Fisher flailing his arms up in the air or LeBron grabbing his face so the officials call a foul?)

[montestewart]

BTW, anyone else in favor of refs calling fouls on people who flop or exaggerate contact (ie Derek Fisher flailing his arms up in the air or LeBron grabbing his face so the officials call a foul?)

I like the idea, but I can see unintended consequences when occasionally someone clobbers an opponent and the refs ad insult to injury calling both a foul and some sort of new technical foul on the supposed actor whose face is bleeding. Seems like it could be hard to police. Better to just lean on refs to not calls fouls where overacting creates doubt. Might make all the players behave better.

I remember some Auerbach comment about flopping; he contended that in the old days, your job was to hold your ground, not fall over in an exaggerated manner and hope for a foul. It was a pretty comical sound bite; I was waiting for him to use the word "sissy."

[montestewart]

^
Thinking further about flopping, much (certainly not all) of the growth of flopping seems to have stemmed from lesser players trying to level the playing field as far as fairness in calls; a charge or block against Barkley, Bird, MJ. etc. might automatically merit a call, whereas the same move against a role player would get no whistle, unless they gussied it up with a nice reaction. Seeing that the acting got results, players were encouraged to continue on that path, and some made it an art of turning any contact into an occasion for a fanciful fall. This isn't scientific, but merely a recollection of over thirty years of NBA watching. The floppers, the stars, the refs, and the league, they all played a part in creating modern flopping.

[montestewart]

Seeing the reports that Rasheed Wallace may retire, based on the pain he was playing through in the playoffs, makes his game seven performance seem that much more gutsy