WCF: LA Lakers vs. San Antonio - Series LAL wins (4-1)

[Serpo]

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so joey gives his best pro-spurs home-cooking impression for 47:58 of the game

but this game goes down as a howard stern conspiracy for a non-call that never get called at the end of games anyway?

Ok maybe i should make it clear . I don't think Joey Crawford should be allowed to call NBA games anymore . I haven't seen a good called game by him for quite a while . Don't think he's a good ref anymore .

In general alot of the Refs in the NBA seem to be confused be the new rules and make tons of mistakes because they don't seem sure what they should call , especially the older ones .

There should be an age limit for refs in my eyes or something . The older refs tend to make more mistakes at some point of their career .

The NBA should look at the tapes of the season and replace some of the refs.

This is not about a David Stern conspiracy this is about bad officiating that became a trend in the NBA .

[kobe#8]

5 TO GO!

[6_Rings]

haven't read the earlier posts but the Fisher foul at the end of the game is usually a no-call during the playoffs cuz 1. there was really no intention to foul Barry. 2. foul can go either way cuz Barry leaned on Fisher.

[spike095]

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That was a goal tend by Odom....you can see the ball changes direction after it hits the backboard first then hits Odom's hand and hits the backboard again.

That's actually not what happened (look at :22) -- Parker puts up the layup, Odom hits the ball into the backboard where it rebounds back into his hand again, hitting his fingertips and bouncing out. You can see at :22 how Parker's layup unnaturally changes trajectory into the backboard before Odom touches it a second time.

Blown calls on both sides.

[dacher]

The 'E's lost it for the Spurs. Ginobli Horry Finley


Duncan also should have been more efficient against Pau.. But he also should have gotten the ball more. Blame Pops and the pgs.

And all those rebounds!!!


Hate the Lakers right now, but Spurs totally deserved to lose game 4, which they rightfully did. They didn't deserve any bail-out foul shots at the end.

[magicfan4life05]

man fisher is always causing drama in the last seconds of playoff games in San Antonio

[TommyTheCat]

lakers never trailed in road game hosted by the defending champs, who's backs were against the wall....................damn, that's impressive.

[zen_4_10]

Agreed Tommy. Well played game by the Lakers. To be able to really take it to them and not get taken out of the game by getting shafted all night by the refs really was impressive for such a young team.

[hazy-davy]

Am I the only one impressed with Gasol's defense against Duncan yesterday night?

[djericho]

Am I the only one impressed with Gasol's defense against Duncan yesterday night?

slightly agreed, just to the point Parker and the other spurs didn't throw the ball in with regularity. Due to defensive pressure by gasol or the lakers, or ineffectiveness of the spurs, I'd have to watch the game again. I'll let u know.

But how unimpressive was walton's defense on Barry? If Barry starts heating up (which I doubt on the road) in game 5, Phil needs to put Ariza on him. at least get Ariza some good valuable playing time before the finals. Ariza's length and athleticism will bug Barry more than walton's defense.

[hazy-davy]

Ariza is simply a much better defender than Walton. As long as he's healthy and ready to go, I see no reason to keep him on the bench, especially when he is needed as he was yesterday night. I honestly think Walton hurt the lakers way more than he helped them in game 4, and I'm not talking only about his D on Barry.

[akula1488]

Even Lebron James couldn't get a foul at the closing seconds at his home court in last years final game 3, why in the world would freaking Brent Barry get a call?

Even Kobe Bryant, who averages 10 FTA in the regular season and is the MVP, gets ZERO FTAs this game and SIX FTAs in 4 games. Brent Freaking Barry gets FOUR FTAS in one game!!!

Sp*r trolls have no rights to complain about officiating.

[at87on]

Gasol owned Duncan on both ends yesterday. Long arms and Duncan wasn't getting enough touches in the right spots. Parker was overdribbling and wasn't passing the ball into Duncan when he was in the blocks.. By the time Parker gave the ball to Duncan, he was near the top of the key with the shot clock in the single digits and had to force something up.

This loss is on Popovich. Having Manu in the game in the 2nd half and not yelling at Parker for making bonehead decisions.

[Serpo]

Even Kobe Bryant, who averages 10 FTA in the regular season and is the MVP, gets ZERO FTAs this game and SIX FTAs in 4 games. Brent Freaking Barry gets FOUR FTAS in one game!!!

While the other things you say are right this one is bogus . The Spurs don't foul Kobe they back off on him give him jumpers and open lanes . They rarely foul Kobe or are even in contact with him . This has nothing to do with Kobe not getting calls more with the way the Spurs defend him without contact.

[semi-sentient]

But how unimpressive was walton's defense on Barry? If Barry starts heating up (which I doubt on the road) in game 5, Phil needs to put Ariza on him. at least get Ariza some good valuable playing time before the finals. Ariza's length and athleticism will bug Barry more than walton's defense.

This is one of my bigger pet peeves in yesterdays game. Everyone knew Brent Barry was hot, yet we kept doubling Duncan and leaving him open. I'd rather take my chances with Duncan going one-on-one with Gasol than leaving a guy like that wide open.

As for Ariza, I think Phil is giving him spot minutes so that he can get more playing time in the NBA Finals, assuming the Lakers make it. Whether we face Detroit or Boston, a guy like Ariza is going to come in handy because he can take on guys like Hamilton, Prince, Pierce, Allen, etc. Not only that, but Ariza has shown that he is a great finisher -- far better than Walton, that's for sure. Additionally, it looks to me that he's worked on his outside shot, so we lose nothing in terms of floor spacing. If I were Phil, I'd give Ariza 15+ minutes in game 6 so that he can get more into the flow of things.

[Big Bird]

^^That's not true. The Spurs aren't some mythical non-fouling machine. Kobe gets hit, it's just seems that it's better for I don't know who if he goes to the line 6 times over the series compared to 96 in the Utah one. You won't sit there with a straight face and tell us that Kobe freaking Bryant, the primary ball-handler and facitilator of this ball club and one of the best players at drawing fouls doesn't get/deserve more than 6 freaking Free Throw attempts in the entire series, will you? I don't understand who created this myth that the Spurs are leaving him open shots and don't touch him and the entire media and their mommas slobbering over how great of a defense they are playing and keeping him off the line... and this bs about not fouling when he drives and giving him open space to the rim? What kind of weak stuff is this? He'd be shooting at a 60% clip had that been true.

p.s.: check how many FTS he averaged against the Spurs in the regular season (0, 4, 10, 6, which makes for 5 FTA/game). I guess they're just that good. They just decided they won't foul.

[HarlemHeat37]

Gasol didn't own Duncan yesterday, Duncan owned himself..when a player has already proven that his defender can't guard him(like Duncan has in the previous games) then you usually beat yourself..Duncan was playing the refs way too much last night..he had about 5 shots he threw up hoping to get a foul call, instead of just taking the smart shot and trying to make the **** basket..just like game 1 though, Duncan's shooting % looked worse than it actually was..again, he had a few shots where he was put in terrible position by the rest of the players and had to force one at the end of the shot clock..

and honestly, can everyone shut the **** up with this "Spurs fans complaining"..none of us are making a big deal out of this and we've all admitted the Lakers outplayed us..stop confusing "Laker haters" with Spurs fans..we aren't Suns fans..

I'd like to give some credit to my own team for not making excuses at the end, and not making excuses about Manu's injury..not making excuses about Duncan's sickness in the NO series..you have to play through it, and I'm happy my team knows that..the Spurs get a bad rap for complaining on the court, but nobody ever complains off it, like some of these whiny playoff teams of the past few years..excuses are for **** pussies..

it's a shame that Manu couldn't play well..if only Phil Jackson had subbed in Trevor Ariza, then Manu would have probably went for 40..

[HarlemHeat37]

if the Lakers win the title this year, it'll definitely go down as one of the greatest individual years in NBA history for Kobe..MVP, finals MVP, title and a great playoffs..

I've always thought his main flaw is the inability to understand when to shoot/pass at the right times, and he has been doing a great job this year..Gasol and Odom are both being overrated by the media IMO, especially Gasol..both these guys are virtually non-existent when Kobe is on the bench IMO..sure, they'll get a few points, but there's no way anybody would consider Gasol to be a top 20 player without Kobe..there's no way Odom would be getting all this love without Kobe(although Odom gets hated on too quickly for bad games)..Kobe has put the game out of reach with his scoring..he's facilitated the offense when he needs to give his teammates confidence..he scores efficiently when the team is in a drought..I thought he had the best supporting cast in the NBA, but I've definitely changed my mind about that..

[Straightwitdaroc]

if the Lakers win the title this year, it'll definitely go down as one of the greatest individual years in NBA history for Kobe..MVP, finals MVP, title and a great playoffs..

I've always thought his main flaw is the inability to understand when to shoot/pass at the right times, and he has been doing a great job this year..Gasol and Odom are both being overrated by the media IMO, especially Gasol..both these guys are virtually non-existent when Kobe is on the bench IMO..sure, they'll get a few points, but there's no way anybody would consider Gasol to be a top 20 player without Kobe..there's no way Odom would be getting all this love without Kobe(although Odom gets hated on too quickly for bad games)..Kobe has put the game out of reach with his scoring..he's facilitated the offense when he needs to give his teammates confidence..he scores efficiently when the team is in a drought..I thought he had the best supporting cast in the NBA, but I've definitely changed my mind about that..

Quoting it just because this is rare coming from you.

Classy post, HH.

[nashill]

i disagree... gasol and odom are actually the keys for lakers. kobe is expected to do his stuff. he is the best in the game but cant do it all alone just like the last 2 playoffs.