Alacron said:I thought it was interesting that Vlade said the chemistry was not there his last year in Sacramento. At least that's what I thought he said.
Rome also asked if there was something else Webber could have done to get the team over the hump, and Vlade replied something like. 'I think he could have. I mean, you can always do more.'
Vlade also said that Bibby is our leader now, along with Peja.![]()
Rome asked whether Vlade accepted that the Lakers were just the better team in 2002, that it just wasn't meant to be because they ran into Shaq and Kobe. Vlade said no, we were the better team, we just didn't have the luck. He then made a joke about how he passed to Horry for the winning shot, but I think he's thinking more about a game 6 kind of "luck."
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Francisco d'Anconia said:2002 was luck?????
Look I am a Kings fan. I was at the WCF in 2002. Stoically sat there while my wife cried while Kobe was knocking down those final free throws in game 7. But the Kings were not the victims of bad luck.
a) It was not luck that the Lakers took game 1 in Arco.
b) Horry's game 4 shot was lucky but certainly clutch. He shoudn't have been standing there, at that moment - but he was... and he knocked down the shot. Vlade had just missed FTs at the other end. bottom line = failure to make free throws and a big time shot by a big time shot maker. Some luck, but not 100% luck.
c) Game 5, right before Bibby made the biggest shot in Kings history - the Kings were recipients of the worst call of the series. The ball was out of bounds off Webber, but the Kings were awarded the ball. This was the luckiest occurrence of the playoffs.
d) Game 6 was one gigantic "make-up call" by Bavetta. Too bad, the Kings were better that night. But all that did was square the injustice from game 5. Funny thing to me is, if the Kings had won that game, everyone would be talking about how the refs gave us game 5 and the series.
e) Game 7, Peja had a chance to knock down a shot.. MUCH easier than Horry's game 4 shot.. to ice the championship. Nothing but air. The Kings shot 53.3% from the line vs 81.8% for the Lakers. The better team won.
Now I think 2002 was a thrill ride.. the Kings were almost as good as basically a legendary 3-peat Lakers team. That should be good enough for people - at least for people grounded in reality. It's too bad people can't enjoy 2002 for what it WAS, instead of crying about, and making excuses about, what it WASN'T.
Francisco d'Anconia said:"We were the better team, but...." is a mantra of people who weren't the better team.
The Kings did not win the championship because they missed 14 free throws in game 7. I can't just decide to discount that glaring fact.. I can't decide that "except for missed free throws under pressure, we would have won - so we were better". It's utter bunk.
The Kings were the better team except when it came down to having the #2 offensive weapon knock down a jumper late in game 7 or having ANYBODY shake off the yips to hit a free throw.
"The better team, except.... but...." To me there's no such thing as that.
sloter said:Is this the right place to say : Die Lakers Die ?
Francisco d'Anconia said:"We were the better team, but...." is a mantra of people who weren't the better team.
The Kings did not win the championship because they missed 14 free throws in game 7. I can't just decide to discount that glaring fact.. I can't decide that "except for missed free throws under pressure, we would have won - so we were better". It's utter bunk.
The Kings were the better team except when it came down to having the #2 offensive weapon knock down a jumper late in game 7 or having ANYBODY shake off the yips to hit a free throw.
"The better team, except.... but...." To me there's no such thing as that.
Bricklayer said:You forgot that Game 4 would never have come down to that Horry shot had Samaki Walker not been credited with an illegal 3ptr at the buzzer in the first half -- a mistake so bad it resulted in a rules change.
You also forget we played basically the entire series without our #2 offensive weapon, and still made it the closest WCF in history.
We were the better team.