Congratulations to the Lakers
Congratulations to the 2008-2009 Los Angeles Lakers on winning the NBA Finals.
The championship has answered so many questions this year:
- Will Phil win a 10th NBA Championship?
- Will Pau Gasol respond to his critics of being soft?
- Will Kobe finally win a championship again?
- Can the Lakers keep a lead?
- Who is Joey Buss?
Now here are some new questions for the next season:
- Will Kobe finally take care of that finger injury?
- Will the Buss family pay up for the resigning of Ariza, Odom, and/or Brown?
- Will Kobe opt out and ask for maximum money?
- How deep into the luxury tax will the Lakers go?
- Will Andrew Bynum develop into a world class Center?
I'm not going to make predictions, but I believe if the Lakers resign Odom and Ariza the Lakers will be back in the Finals next season. What I am not so clear on is who will be their opponent. My money is on Boston. I don't believe Cleveland will replicate another 65+ season or finish first in the Eastern Conference, with or without Shaq. Orlando will lose Turkoglu and lose a reliable starter in the process. Boston will keep their team intact with the rise of Rondo, Davis, and Perkins because of the injuries to Garnett and Powe this season. For this reason, Boston is actually deeper and more experienced than their 2008 squad. I wonder if the Lakers can take their supposedly newfound toughness to counter their Boston adversaries.
I like LA's chances.
Bizarro Game 3 – LAL vs ORL
Close your eyes for a second. I'm going to describe the stats of a team, and you tell me which team would win.
Your team shoots 62.5% from the field (an NBA Finals record). You have 7 more assists than your opponent. You fouled less than your opponent. If you subtract your three point field goals, you have 75 FG% from the field. Do you win?
Most likely you will say yes.
Next question, how much did you win by?
Most likely a double digit win.
Now open your eyes. Your team won by just four.
I am still confident the Lakers will take the championship this year. Orlando had all of the above mentioned going for them and 'escaped' with a win. Dwight Howard had his hand in the right place to fumble the ball of Bryant's attempt to split the double team. Gasol recovers the ball and then chooses not to call a timeout but try to dump the ball back to Bryant while on his back. Kobe Bryant shot 5-10 from the free throw line. Add all of these unlikely scenarios and I think as a Laker fan you have to look to Game 4 with excitement.
The Lakers kept up well with the Magic because of their offense. On the defensive end, you can't give anyone credit for letting your opponent torch you for 62.5%.
Fact. Lakers were still in this near the end of the game.
Fact. Lakers lost on a collection of unlikely scenarios.
Fact. Lakers will still be in it during Games 4 and 5.
Fact. Lakers will win this series in 5.
Fact. Expect articles discussing the 'what if' scenario of Courtney Lee making the Game 2 Layup and claiming this series could easily be 2-1 Orlando. Expect comments from fans saying MJ would have won this game. Expect Bill Simmons to write a retarded pro East Coast and anti-Laker article. Expect a J.A. Adande article to make you feel better after reading Simmon's garbage.
LA LAKERS VS HOUSTON ROCKETS GAME 6 THOUGHTS
We're freaking out!
It's not time to panic, but it's definitely time to look introspectively. This is exactly what pundits said after game 5, and the Lakers put away any notion of that in game 6 with their 40 point victory. I decided not to write a post after game 5 because quite honestly, the Lakers were at their best and the Rockets were countered tic for tac in that game. In game 6 though, I felt the Lakers actually played well minus the first quarter and the end of the second.
Here's some food for thought:
Without Yao, the Rockets have beaten the Lakers 2-1 this postseason. They also won 3 out of the 4 quarters in game 6.
The Lakers shot around 30% in the first half in game 6. I don't care what level of basketball you play, from little league to the pros, that will not cut it.
Scola was outstanding in the first half. His footwork down low allowed him to move deftly around our bigs. His outside shots from 17-20 feet were outstanding.
Landry and Brooks killed the Lakers in the 2nd half. Multiple times they went for the jugular with off the ball cuts to the basket. I'm a huge believer in dribble drive penetration because of its ability to force the defense to react, and thus leave space in their offense to make the extra pass. In game 4 they were making their threes off of these passes, Rockets win. In game 5 they weren't, Lakers win. In game 6 they opted not to shoot the three and instead passed the ball to the off ball cutting man down the lane. Tons of opportunities for short range shots.
Pau Gasol's defense this game was suspect. Bryant: 3 blocks. Gasol + Bynum: 0 blocks. There should be a stat called the intimidating factor. This number would max at 100 and it would directly correlate with a player's ability to simply alter a shooter's shot, breaking their rhythm and thus lowering their long term field goal percentage. Bynum would get a 10, and Gasol would get a 20.
The Rockets were 7-18 for threes, and 36-71 overall. This means that the Rockets were 29-53 with 2 point field goal attempts, netting a whopping 55%.
The Lakers were 5-23 for threes, and 30-84 overall. This means that the Lakers were 25-61, netting a disappointing 41%. The funny thing is that 41% in some games will actually win you games if you do some of the following:
1) Attack the paint, putting more stress on an opponent's defense and garnering free throws. These are the type of games fans hate because they are boring and slow. But hey, it's a win possibly.
2) You shift your lower percentage three point FG attempts over to the 2 point category. This makes you, on paper and on the court, a much more aggressive-attacking style of team. Maybe the Lakers should listen to the cheerleaders screaming 'BE AGGRESSIVE BE BE AGGRESSIVE'.
Lakers had 11 assists, Rockets had 19. Lakers actually outrebounded Houston 45-39.
My opinion of why the Lakers lost... the Lakers selected a poor offensive portfolio of shots and they played lackluster defense early in the game, allowing Houston to rattle off a huge lead which they never relinquished.
Even if the Lakers win this series. It's really difficult for Laker fans to enjoy it. Adventures are normally judged by their outcomes, but deep down inside you can't be happy about your journey if you half assed your way and then pushed through when you felt like it because you could. I'm sure my Lakers can't be very proud of themselves right now.
Even with that said...
Prediction: Lakers win game 7.
