[LAL/BOS]Battle of the top seeds!!

Who will win the 2008 NBA Finals?

  • Total voters
    71
P

Pau

Guest
#211
#211
Kobe led the Lakers for the win but the night was Sasha Vujacic's. He has really come to his own offensively, and defensively. Great find by Kupchak when everybody ridiculed him for that pick. The other hero that nobody really spoke about is Gasol's defense on KG, forcing him to take jumpers (which he prefers) than posting down low. The Lakers came through when they had to.
 
est.1999

est.1999

Starter
#214
#214
talking nonsense. Garnett always takes those jumpers no matter who's guarding him. He's always been doing that and been critisized for multiple times. Never been an inside player. Part of the reason he has no rings and Duncan has 4
 
S

Superman

All-Star
#215
#215
Pau said:
Got absorbed by Pau Gasol's defense. Garnett has been bothered by Gasol's length and quickness.
Click to expand...
Ha! I had to pick myself up off the floor, after falling out of my chair laughing.

Garnett is afraid. He's scared, he's tense, he's in a slump and doesn't want to hurt his team, and is hurting his team because of that fear.

This is the reason why Paul Pierce is the leader of that team, and the reason why Garnett didn't win the MVP. Pierce carried his team through the playoffs even when Ray Allen couldn't buy a bucket. And even to Ray Allen's credit, he didn't stop shooting and crawl into a hole when he wen through his slump, and because of that, since Game 6 of the ECF, he's been lights out.

But this Kevin Garnett isn't the same player that was dominating the Kings in the 2004 playoffs, who carried his team to the best record in the Western conference in his MVP season and through the playoffs to the West Finals. This Kevin Garnett is deferential, doesn't look for his own offense, can't finish at the rim, can't hit a jumper, and in general isn't bringing anything more to the table than a guy like Marcus Camby or Tyson Chandler would/did for their teams in the playoffs.

He's supposed to be the difference maker between the 20-win Celtics and this year's 60-win Celtics, and I'm not buying it. I wasn't buying it during the season as evidence of his being the front-runner for the MVP award, and I'm not buying it now. Danny Ainge did a great job getting Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, and then he added guys like House and Posey and PJ Brown to the mix, and now the whole is greater than the individual parts of the equation. But the heart of the team is still Paul Pierce, no matter what anyone says, and if the Celtics are going to win a championship, they're going to win it on his back. Not Garnett's. That much has become evident.

Maybe if Garnett spent less time goaltending after whistles, he'd be able to put the ball in the bucket on offense.
 
P

Pau

Guest
#216
#216
Superman said:
Ha! I had to pick myself up off the floor, after falling out of my chair laughing.

Garnett is afraid. He's scared, he's tense, he's in a slump and doesn't want to hurt his team, and is hurting his team because of that fear.

This is the reason why Paul Pierce is the leader of that team, and the reason why Garnett didn't win the MVP. Pierce carried his team through the playoffs even when Ray Allen couldn't buy a bucket. And even to Ray Allen's credit, he didn't stop shooting and crawl into a hole when he wen through his slump, and because of that, since Game 6 of the ECF, he's been lights out.

But this Kevin Garnett isn't the same player that was dominating the Kings in the 2004 playoffs, who carried his team to the best record in the Western conference in his MVP season and through the playoffs to the West Finals. This Kevin Garnett is deferential, doesn't look for his own offense, can't finish at the rim, can't hit a jumper, and in general isn't bringing anything more to the table than a guy like Marcus Camby or Tyson Chandler would/did for their teams in the playoffs.

He's supposed to be the difference maker between the 20-win Celtics and this year's 60-win Celtics, and I'm not buying it. I wasn't buying it during the season as evidence of his being the front-runner for the MVP award, and I'm not buying it now. Danny Ainge did a great job getting Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, and then he added guys like House and Posey and PJ Brown to the mix, and now the whole is greater than the individual parts of the equation. But the heart of the team is still Paul Pierce, no matter what anyone says, and if the Celtics are going to win a championship, they're going to win it on his back. Not Garnett's. That much has become evident.

Maybe if Garnett spent less time goaltending after whistles, he'd be able to put the ball in the bucket on offense.
Click to expand...
Laugh but actually watch how Gasol affects Garnett. See through his finesse game. Watch the tape.

As far as KG torching the Kings in 2004, not a good comparison. KG was 4 years younger and the Kings didn't play the kind of defense the Lakers play.
 
A

Ayala11

Prospect
#217
#217
Well game three was a horrible game. An to know that even then the Celtics could have won.:D So far to me the best game of the series has been game two. Well hopefully both teams will play better in the next game.
 
RKid

RKid

Bench
#218
#218
I was just watching some old Red Auerbach videos on the tube and I realised how good of a coach Red Auerbach really was. Red>Phil coming from a laker fan.
 
S

Superman

All-Star
#219
#219
Pau said:
Laugh but actually watch how Gasol affects Garnett. See through his finesse game. Watch the tape.

As far as KG torching the Kings in 2004, not a good comparison. KG was 4 years younger and the Kings didn't play the kind of defense the Lakers play.
Click to expand...
Kevin Garnett's struggles are making it seem like Pau Gasol is shutting him down, but he's passive and deferential on offense, when he's easily the best post up player on the floor in this series.

I know you like Pau Gasol; that's evident from looking at your screen name. But he's not capable of shutting Kevin Garnett down. No one is, really, except Kevin Garnett. And that's what's happening.
 
B

BMiller52

All-Star
#220
#220
No point in watching game 4 if you want to see LA lose. My guess is LA wins g4, Boston eeks out game 5 and gets hella free throws and the lakers cry to the refs, LA gets even more fts than boston got in the previous game, now on Boston's home floor. Then who knows what happens in game 7.

So might as well watch g5 and g7 but episodes g4 and g6 are probably going to be pretty pointless since we already know what'll happen.
 
JerN820

JerN820

Bench
#221
#221
For some reason I see Boston winning tonight. It would be hard to believe that Pierce and Garnett would struggle back to back games. They combined for only 19 pts last game and still had a chance to win.
 
V

vladetomiller

Bench
#222
#222
BMiller52 said:
No point in watching game 4 if you want to see LA lose. My guess is LA wins g4, Boston eeks out game 5 and gets hella free throws and the lakers cry to the refs, LA gets even more fts than boston got in the previous game, now on Boston's home floor. Then who knows what happens in game 7.

So might as well watch g5 and g7 but episodes g4 and g6 are probably going to be pretty pointless since we already know what'll happen.
Click to expand...
Welcome to the club :) I think LA or Bos finish the series in 6 but I wouldnt be surprised with 7. Stern doesnt really care about common sense anymore
 
tradepeja

tradepeja

Starter
#228
#228
BMiller52 said:
No point in watching game 4 if you want to see LA lose. My guess is LA wins g4, Boston eeks out game 5 and gets hella free throws and the lakers cry to the refs, LA gets even more fts than boston got in the previous game, now on Boston's home floor. Then who knows what happens in game 7.

So might as well watch g5 and g7 but episodes g4 and g6 are probably going to be pretty pointless since we already know what'll happen.
Click to expand...
Wow, so spot on. At least thus far.
 
VF21

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#229
#229
I'm watching "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" Perhaps the question should be "Are 5th graders smarter than NBA officials?"

 
Larry89

Larry89

Disgruntled Kings Fan
#231
#231
2 phantom fouls on Pierce for Kobe and a bunch of blatant non calls including a fist to the gut by Turif on Pj Brown, not to mention that vujacic blatant trip should have been a flagrant
 
6th

6th

Homer Fan Since 1985
#237
#237
As I mentioned earlier, I had my crystal ball serviced before the finals began. It predicted Celtics in 6......win 2 at home, win game 4 in LA, then win game 6 at home. So far, we are right on track thru 4 games. :D

GO GREEN!

BEAT LA!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.