Finals/Gm. 2 - Lakers @ Celtics/ 6:00 PT/ 9:00 ET

[Slava]

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Man don't even go there. I'm a Celtic fan and you're a Laker fan. Neither of us has any business talking about scripts. If we go down that route then we can start wondering why the year the Celtics fanbase was at an alltime low (landing the #5 pick) they end up suddenly receiving a franchise savior.... or that the year the celtics were finally competitive and the Lakers center goes down with an injury, they suddenly get gifted Pau Gasol.... or that several highly questionable calls during the Spurs series allowed the Lakers to advance to the finals.... if we're talking "script" then the whole Lakers/Celtics thing has been manufactured all year by the NBA and the entire league has a reason to be pissed at us.

Lakers are 0-4 against the Celtics this year. Their defense has been ridiculously soft. If you want a reason to be mad, be mad at the Lakers for breaking out of the triangle and not playing any defense... not pretending like it's some conspiracy to bring down the Lakers. Give me a break. Quit crying. It's going to be a long series.

Ok. I still believe that the two best teams in the league are in the finals but come on, if you can't see the disparity then there's really something wrong in your perception. The script thing was just frustration on my part but the game was not won or lost on the court yesterday.

We didn't play defense? Yeah I wouldn't dare touch anyone when I get called 2 fouls in thew 1st Q for as much as touching an offensive player without risking getting fouled in the 3rd Q itself at that rate.

[LarBrd33]

j-far. You're being cool. I respect you for that. But no man... the Lakers aren't playing defense. You let Powe get tons of open looks at the hoop. Pierce was getting several layup attempts early on. KG was able to play in the post like he was a videogame character. Powe went coast-to-coast on 1-5. Terrible, terrible defense. If you had watched this Celtic team struggle offensively against the Cavs and Pistons prior to this series you'd see what im talking about. I haven't seen so many open looks at the basket in a couple months.

[Slava]

If I remember correctly, KG didn't get anything in the post yesterday and I have to admit that Leon Powe hit us when we least expected it to. Stuff like that happens and hey how can I forget Kareem Rush of all people going bonkers and hitting 7 3s in the WCFs in 2004.

When Powe did go for the coast to coast lay up, we just basically gave up defending after that 13-0 run but I thought had the early fouls not been called, we'd have been in a far better position to make that rally later on. We did get a wake up call from Kobe in the last Q though that our offensive prowess is at times unstoppable and we can overcome any deficit. So I'd not pass any judgement until I see them play at the staples.

[LLcoleJ]

If I see one more Celtic fan come over here and make generalizations about the Laker fan base with stuff like " delusional" etc.. then warnings and suspensions will be swift.

[RJM]

I love this board...

[UKF]

Laker fans, You seriously have to be kidding me with the complaining about fouls. The difference of free throw attempts that Boston shot compared to LA was large, you got me there, but in each of the other series you were in the position that Boston was in in that last games. In game 1 against Utah, LA had 46 freethrow attempts. In game 2 of that series Utah had 16 attempts and LA had 43 that game. And in Game 6 when the series ended LA had 38 and Utah had 25. In the games that they won that series LA had 70 more free throw attempts then LA.

Laker fans need to stop complaining, you guys are not in a position to complain with the help you got in other series.

The reason Boston got to the line so much is because they drove to the basket, and if a foul wasn't called they kept on going to the basket un-like the lakers.

I would be surprised if you didnt get the calls in LA, so shutup and watch the game like a good fan.

[LLcoleJ]

:nonono: Laker fans, You seriously have to be kidding me with the complaining about fouls. The difference of free throw attempts that Boston shot compared to LA was large, you got me there, but in each of the other series you were in the position that Boston was in in that last games. In game 1 against Utah, LA had 46 freethrow attempts. In game 2 of that series Utah had 16 attempts and LA had 43 that game. And in Game 6 when the series ended LA had 38 and Utah had 25. In the games that they won that series LA had 70 more free throw attempts then LA.

Laker fans need to stop complaining, you guys are not in a position to complain with the help you got in other series.

The reason Boston got to the line so much is because they drove to the basket, and if a foul wasn't called they kept on going to the basket un-like the lakers.

I would be surprised if you didnt get the calls in LA, so shutup and watch the game like a good fan.

The LAST thing we need is to hear from a King Fan. Consider yourself warned for trolling.

[UKF]

Lol you have to be kidding me.

ok bye

edit: good luck in the series...

[LLcoleJ]

Lol you have to be kidding me.

ok bye

Do I look like I am joking? You could have worded it better, but you didnt. Ending it with telling us to "shutup" will never help your case. Next time try to be more respectable when visiting.

[semi-sentient]

Can the whining about the refs please stop?

Agreed.

The next 3 games will be in our favor anyway, if the refs stay consistent. It all works itself out over 7 games, as they say.

[UKF]

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Do I look like I am joking? You could have worded it better, but you didnt. Ending it with telling us to "shutup" will never help your case. Next time try to be more respectable when visiting.

I cant respect the LA board man. its not possible..
jk lol

There are some intelligent Laker fans, to them I am sorry, but to complain after what happened in the last two games is terrible IMO.

[incontrol__]

Your Signature and Avatar spell your teams name so wrong it's not funny. You only got the S right.

[UKF]

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Agreed.

The next 3 games will be in our favor anyway, if the refs stay consistent. It all works itself out over 7 games, as they say.

And that is how it will most likely play out. It will end up being a good series. I expect it to last atleast 6 games.

[LLcoleJ]

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I cant respect the LA board man. its not possible..

If you cant then dont post here.

There are some intelligent Laker fans, to them I am sorry, but to complain after what happened in the last two games is terrible IMO.

I am over the reffing and others are not. We will move on from this as we have a game 3 to prepare for. However, just because people complain doesnt give anyone the right to tell them to shut up and to further draw comparisons to other series and seasons it even further taking this discussion down the drain.

Its clear to me that we did not get good calls in the first half and I have the right to comment on that. Just like everyone else. I have no problem with other fans disagreeing with that either. However, when they come here and dictate how Laker fans should feel and post then we have imature squabbles that lead to flame wars.

The Lakers have to do alot more in this series then worry about the refs if they want to win. I imagine they have moved on from that and are focusing about game 3. Thats what I plan on doing and I am not going to allow posters to bitch back and forth about it on this board.

[Sedale Threatt]

I'd be a lot more willing to entertain the foul discrepency as the prime reason we lost if we hadn't played so poorly in both games.

Out of eight quarters, the Lakers played well in possibly three, and one of those, last night's fourth quarter, was more of a fluke than anything considering we went with a junk lineup and Boston clearly called off the dogs.

Otherwise, we have such a laundry list of problems to deal with (defense, bench play, Kobe/Pau/Lamar all underperforming) that, as poor as they were last night, I can't even begin to point the fingers at the officials.

It's so pointless, anyway, considering officiating almost always in the eye of the beholder. Change L.A. to Sacramento and Boston to L.A., and you've got a virtual carbon copy of the debate following Game 6 of the West semis back in 2002.

Speaking strictly for myself, if I didn't have any patience for everyone who cried about that back then, I'd feel like a huge hypocrite if I had any patience for it now that the shoe is on the other foot.

I respect, and try to subscribe to, the Popovich theory -- worry about the things you can control. IMO, we just aren't playing well enough to deserve the right to complain much.

[Cy32]

I'm neither a Lakers or Celtics follower for the most part so I have not read all of the over 50 pages of this thread but this is something that some of you might not have noticed. As happens in many games the difference in number of free throws taken by each team was not lop sided at all being 21 fouls for Boston compared to 28 for the Lakers which was near even until the end of the game when the Lakers needed to foul to have a chance for the win.

Many times it's not in the number of fouls but if they are shooting fouls that wins or loses a game. Boston got 38 free throw attempts on 28 Laker fouls compared to the Lakers only getting 10 free throw attempts on 21 Celtic fans with 10 attempts being very low on 21 fouls I would think. The difference in the number of attempts weren't that different.

IF the fouls were called correctly as to whether they were shooting fouls then the Lakers have to play smarter and not foul on so many field goal attempts. If they are going to foul to prevent a shot they have to do it before the player attempts the shot.

[LLcoleJ]

huh?

[milesfides]

From Bill Simmons:

"For Game 2, they had a valid excuse

[milesfides]

I'm all for the calls-evening out theory,

But there's no question that after a good start (again) those 2 quick ticky-tack fouls on Kobe pretty much took him out of the game early and allowed Boston to go on a run.

Moreover, both Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant were clearly hacked going to the basket, most notably by Kevin Garnett. He was called for one foul the entire game. ONE foul.

I mean, I understand we took too many jumpers in game one. What I don't agree with is that pundits are looking at the shot chart and saying, not enough shots made in the paint - the Lakers must have not been attacking the basket. Bull. The Lakers did aggressively attack the basket, we just didn't get calls. Considering Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett took mostly jumpers, hell, with the exception of Leon Powe, why would the Celtics be the more aggressive team? Why wasn't Gasol getting rewarded for taking the ball strong to the rack? Why was he penalized for being aggressive?

Hey, when Kevin Garnett, already an elite post defender, is allowed to foul without getting called for it, yeah I think that'll prevent shots being made in the paint.

I understand home court advantage, but Game 2 was ridiculous. From Phil Jackson to Vladimir Radmanovic to Charley Rosen to Bill Simmons, the uneven calls were extraordinary.

It was bad enough to have effected the outcome of the game, imho.

[Slava]

That offensive foul on Kobe when just shook his elbow against Ray Allen was just ridiculous. I knew right then that it was not our night.