[LAL/HOU] - Western Conference, Round 2

Who wins the series?


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Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Exactly...if the NBA was truly unbiased, Kobe would be suspended...but its not so Kobe is pretty much safe. LOL at Ron's post game discussion!

I'm pretty sure you guys are talking about Ron's alleged elbow to Manu's head, not Duncan's. And that was a special case becvuase a) it involved Ron soon after his return from The Brawl, and b) because Manu flopped to exaggerate it.

Not sure why, other than self interest, people continue to confuse this sort of play in loose ball situations with it when somebody has control of the ball. In a loose ball scrum, a lot more is tolerated, and it takes more to get a suspension out of it.

And Phil is being Phil -- he has whined and politicked the refs his entire career, and unfortunately it has worked sometimes.
 
I'm pretty sure you guys are talking about Ron's alleged elbow to Manu's head, not Duncan's. And that was a special case becvuase a) it involved Ron soon after his return from The Brawl, and b) because Manu flopped to exaggerate it.

Not sure why, other than self interest, people continue to confuse this sort of play in loose ball situations with it when somebody has control of the ball. In a loose ball scrum, a lot more is tolerated, and it takes more to get a suspension out of it.

And Phil is being Phil -- he has whined and politicked the refs his entire career, and unfortunately it has worked sometimes.
Yes...thats right... Manu. Memory is a little fuzzy.
 
This series is more interesting and at least as intense after only two games as the recent so-called greatest playoff tilt of all-time - seven game (5 OT) Boston v. Chicago.

Houston comes in and steals game one in a bloody slug fest, then LA facing a virtual do or die wins game two in a similar knock down drag out affair. I think Fisher gets suspended for game three, Kobe gets a pass, and this brutal series plays out back in H-town where it's now apparent ANYTHING can happen.
 
Yeah, that Boston-Chicago series was great in how even the teams were, but besides a couple of Rondo incidents it wasn't too heated. This series won't have the amount of overtimes and closeness in games as that series, but I think it may be more exciting.
 
please suspend Kobe! I've lost count at how many elbows this guy has thrown. Game 1 at Shane, now Game 2 at Ron!? You can clearly see that he loses position for the rebound due to Ron's strength...so what does that little b**** do...throw an elbow and walk away pretending to be innocent. Its sickening he always gets away with this sh** all the time.
 
Lakers= zero class from the coach on down...

Fishers elbow and Phil Jacksons responce to that elbow were pitiful

At least, this time they didnt whistle Scola for having his head foul Fischers elbow.
 
please suspend Kobe! I've lost count at how many elbows this guy has thrown. Game 1 at Shane, now Game 2 at Ron!? You can clearly see that he loses position for the rebound due to Ron's strength...so what does that little b**** do...throw an elbow and walk away pretending to be innocent. Its sickening he always gets away with this sh** all the time.
I know, we all hate it. It's just the league isn't going to suspend one of their favorite players for cheap shots in the playoffs. There definitely should have been something for that on Shane Battier though. Imagine if he did that to Ron Ron!
 
While Amare Stoudamire can get suspended for a game 5 for stepping a few inches over a line, Kobe will not receive a single consequence for this obviously flagrant action. Sure, Stu will suspend Derek "MVP" Fisher to make it seem like he's actually doing something to hurt the Lakers. Too bad Chris "Shannon" Brown is outplaying Fisher anyway.

While this is all obvious, the real kicker is what's going to happen to Ron and Rafer. Rafer probably should be suspended, and Ron might just because he's such a bad guy. His post-game interview sure showed how he's still such a nutcase....:rolleyes:
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
For the 1712th tie, the Amare Stoudemire suspension was an absolute, cold, hard, rule. Put in on purpose as an asbolute cold hard rule in the late 90s. There is no discretion in that circumstance, no review by the league. You step over the line, you are suspended. Period. End of subject. You coudl be Kobe. you could be Duncan. Does not matter. Its written in stone, in the rules. Has nothing at all to do with these sorts of discretionary incidents that we saw tonight.
 
Battier is mad classy. Its funny, him and Ron are like a good cop/bad cop defensive duo.

This game has been BS though. Rockets should be up by 3-5 right now, Kobe should be out. Ron should be beasting. Ah well. NBA basketball...Where bias happens.
We all knew that the Lakers would get the calls in this game, and they did, but that's not why the Rockets lost. They lost because they couldn't figure out a way to get Yao involved in the game, they turned the ball over 20+ times, and they got outrebounded. All that gets lost in the midst of the excitement and drama of the game, but the Rockets played poorly in the areas that they need to be sharp in, and it cost them the game. Let's not lose sight of that.

The Rockets have to get Yao involved, they need to take care of the ball, and they have to be stronger on the glass. If not, if they play Games 3 - 5 the way they played Game 2, this series is going to over for them. And that sucks, because they have a fighter's chance to knock the Show off.
 
Did we expect any different? The Rockets take home court from the lakers and a series of blown calls helps the lakers secure the win to even the series. Not to say the Rockets would’ve won game 2 for sure, but they had a chance until the refs took over. Also, did we expect anything other than Yao being in foul trouble from the start?


FISHER – This guy must be suspended. Watching the replay, you clearly can see that he hit Scola with intend. He looked to make sure where Scola was. It was an elbow because you can see that even after Scola absorbs the contact, fisher’s elbow flares outward a bit more. It’s a clear suspension for game 3. It wasn’t a pick like every laker is trying to play it off as. Fisher takes a hop step moving directly into Scola. The NBA must suspend fish for 1 more game to retain the 1 ounce of credibility they have left.


KOBE – This guy has regularly been a dirty player. He doesn’t get called out for it because he is kobe. Remember kobe elbowing and kneeing Battier as he tackles him after getting picked? He sneaks in cheap shots all the time because he gets away with it. But that a bitcX way of playing. Remember the Raja Bell incident a few yrs back? What got Raja so frustrated? Repeated elbows to the face that the refs allow. And the infamous play of Bibby fouling kobe’s elbow with his face. Kobe does this kind of stuff to every player that plays him tight. But he doesn’t play straight up like a man like Artest was saying. Kobe should have gotten a flagrant 1 for an elbow. That would’ve changed the momentum a bit. I mean come on, even if the refs really didn’t see kobe’s elbow, how did Ron get a foul for getting hit, arching backwards with his arms wide open?


RON – I think he handled himself very well in the postgame interviews. He clearly stated that he learned from his previous mistakes and just wanted to get his point across. I like Ron going into the description of what happen in the exchanges and hopefully it will be scrutinized in game 3 by everyone that the refs have to call it on kobe.

Just like RonRon said, play straight up. Don’t slap the defender’s hand or arm away or throw elbows. That’s call playing dirty.

I think the lakers are still a soft team. They don’t understand that there is a difference between being a tough physical team and being a dirty cheap shot team. They still play the same way and just commit hard fouls and throw elbows. Playing physical and tough is like Battier, Artest, etc. You play then straight up and stick your body to then. You bang without throwing elbows to hurt people. That’s why no mater how the lakers say they’ve focus on being tougher, people still see them as soft.
 

gunks

Hall of Famer
We all knew that the Lakers would get the calls in this game, and they did, but that's not why the Rockets lost. They lost because they couldn't figure out a way to get Yao involved in the game, they turned the ball over 20+ times, and they got outrebounded. All that gets lost in the midst of the excitement and drama of the game, but the Rockets played poorly in the areas that they need to be sharp in, and it cost them the game. Let's not lose sight of that.

The Rockets have to get Yao involved, they need to take care of the ball, and they have to be stronger on the glass. If not, if they play Games 3 - 5 the way they played Game 2, this series is going to over for them. And that sucks, because they have a fighter's chance to knock the Show off.
Now that I've cooled down a bit I can see that :p

Sloppy play in the 4th, and you're right, Yao wasnt doing much at all.

BUT...

Doesnt change the fact that the refs changed the momentum starting in the late 3rd. Rockets had it going their way, then the whistles started blowing. Kobe should have been gone, not Artest...That could have changed things.

I'm hoping the Rockets make the adjustments that you mentioned though, if they do game 3 is going to be a blow out in favor of the home team. Kobe is dirty, the Lakers are weak. I think I'd hate them even if I wasnt a Kings fan haha.


Loved how all the TNT guys seemed to have Ron's back after his interview.
 
What did Ron say in press conference?

He basically said him and kobe always had their battles. Sometimes he gets lit up, sometimes he slow kobe down. But he never plays kobe dirty. He always uses legit defense while kobe always gets cheap shots in such as slapping his hand away or elbows. Ron said play fair and straight up. Win playing fair or lose playing fair. And that he has no plans to revenge and will just continue to play physical because that how he plays since the hood.
 
“We are playing basketball, there is a lot of contact taking place,” Bryant said. “If you are going to be physical you have to expect to get physical back.”


This is exactly what I mean by the softie lakers not knowing the difference between being tough & physical and being cheap shot dirty. Ron was out powering him for position for the rebound by using his superior strength. If kobe wants to play physical, out power Ron or box Ron out. Not by throwing elbows to the throat. Kobe response to physical play with dirty plays. And they wonder why people still call the lakers soft.
 
He basically said him and kobe always had their battles. Sometimes he gets lit up, sometimes he slow kobe down. But he never plays kobe dirty. He always uses legit defense while kobe always gets cheap shots in such as slapping his hand away or elbows. Ron said play fair and straight up. Win playing fair or lose playing fair. And that he has no plans to revenge and will just continue to play physical because that how he plays since the hood.
Also, Kobe said in his post-game news conference that he didnt think Artest should have been ejected. But no mention of the foul amazingly called on Ron-Ron who received elbow to the throat. Bryant just described the incident and basically entire game as so much, "heated intensity in the playoffs."
 
The Rockets lost, but it was their game. The Lakers were playing a desperate game on their home floor.

Lakers would have lost without the refs.

The Rockets could've won. I mean we've seen them being able to rally from being down even without Yao being effective. The lakers were out of fouls early in the quarter. Not to say they would've won for sure. But they certainly had a chance. The refs just made sure they didn't have any chance. Ron really didn't deserve to be suspended. How many times has kobe argued a call and even yell at the refs in their faces after a call and get only 1 technical. I'm talking about through out his career. Ron didn't even do as much as that.

I suspect that Yao wasn't getting involved because he was afraid of getting called for fouls. Getting into early foul trouble always does that to a players head. Yao is the focus of their D so Pau and Bynum always plays him physical. In order for Yao to impose himself, he need to be physical back. But you can just sense that he is afraid to get another foul everytime he's out there. Like phil jackson said, he doesn't think it was anything the lakers did. We know its the refs doing work again.

2 fouls early, Yao sits. 3rd foul before half time Yao sits. 4th foul early in the 3rd so he has to sit again. so on and so on.
 
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Ron really didn't deserve to be suspended. How many times has kobe argued a call and even yell at the refs in their faces after a call and get only 1 technical. I'm talking about through out his career. Ron didn't even do as much as that.
I think the thing that did it was

a. reputation

b. the throat gesture.
-I think it was Brick who said it earlier. When Ron went to his throat, it looked as if he was doing, you know, the "death" hand across the throat threat.
 
I think the thing that did it was

a. reputation

b. the throat gesture.
-I think it was Brick who said it earlier. When Ron went to his throat, it looked as if he was doing, you know, the "death" hand across the throat threat.

Yeah I thinks so too. He was thrown for his reputation. But I didn't think that gesture meant anything like that when I first saw it. I thought he was trying to tell the ref he got choked or something. Also the refs was hearing what he said right in front of his face so I think Crawford is again just doing his job as a "company man".
 
What is the exact rule regarding elbows anyways? Elbows above the shoulders that connects is suppose to be an automatic ejection from what I remember. If thats the case then kobe should've been ejected.

Since the refs didn't call that, what is the rule regarding suspension for above the shoulder elbows?
 
What is the exact rule regarding elbows anyways? Elbows above the shoulders that connects is suppose to be an automatic ejection from what I remember. If thats the case then kobe should've been ejected.

Since the refs didn't call that, what is the rule regarding suspension for above the shoulder elbows?
should be a foul unless your kobe and in the playoffs.
 
watching ron artest interview im glad he didnt do an erick dampier saying ima go knock out kobe so bad his gonna be like his father.. a jelly bean

cause for sure hes going to be out in the series

if artest is indeed suspended the league is conspiring to give the lakers a win... stern is a big d****ebag


so whats the verdict on these plays? rockets have a strong case with battier and artest cheap shots courtesy of kobe
 
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