There gotta be a reasons that Kobe-Lebron commercials are everywhere this year. NBA is hoping for that perfect matchup would happen this year. Well, but there is always a party pooper in the way, and that would be Orlando. NBA would make big bucks if the Finals come down to Lebron vs. Kobe. Dwight Howard will make sure that perfect dream go through central florida.I really dont know about off court status of the 2 players but on court Kobe still owns something Lebron is searching for, RINGs and EXPERIENCE. You can compare the 2 and argue all day long, but Kobe got something Lebron doesn't. 5 Finals (1 is comming), 3 Rings and L.A. Lebron could own Cleveland, but you know what, Kobe owns Hollywood land. Thats why Lebron should consider getting traded to NewYork, where his name shines in Times Square Marquee his billboards everywhere in NewYork, that would completes it. Cleveland, man its Cleveland. Even Ron Artest went to see Kobe play in L.A.

Lakers had 5 guys in double figures
If you know who they are then you
know it's easy to facilitate those who
are already better.

But in the case of LeBron..Good idea.
Let's see how long that takes for his
teammates to get better.

Final thought;

Orlando is on their way to the NBA Finals.
Why? I can't see Orlando losing the last 2
games coming up. But if they did what a hoot
that would be and what drama that would create.

This is gonna be good.....

A lot of people clinging to their last hopes on Lebron vs. Kobe arguments. Jerry West made the statement with a purpose, he fired up Kobe. That worked. I laughed when I heard people said how bad Lebron's teammates were the last couple of games. They say IF Lebron gets better teammates, they would be rolling to the Finals easily. They total forgot that Clevelands won 67 games with those teammates that you called suckers. Lebron didn't win all 67 by himself. The argument becomes weaker and weaker. But still NBA will find ways to make Lebron vs. Kobe a hottest topic so we all could stay watching the games. They need us, they need our arguments. So peace to all.

If Orlando lost tomorrow. Game over for them. Cleveland will be rocking, they will bring down the house in Cleveland when Game 7 happens there. But if ORL lost 3 straight to CLE, man they should start firing the entire franchise. Only 8 teams have ever comeback to win 7 game series when trailing 1-3.

Regardless of which team advances in the east, I want as much as possible a fair and consistent officiating of the series for both teams. I don't want another 06 officiating where Wade is sent the charity stripe 26 times. That is ridiculous. 04 finals was another badly officiatd series imho. My only concern if we face cleveland is that Lebron will most likely get the advantage of the calls for their home games. Yes, more so than Kobe ever will in his team's home games.

I believe that the real championship team is the one that can win both at home and on the road. In the case of a Lakers-Cavs finals (if i'm right about my prediction), the Lakers should win the championship if they play to the level of their talent while bringing full effort all 48 minutes in each and every game. The only difference I see between that Lakers and the Cavs is that the Cavs have a less talented team but they play hard all 48 min to win.

The only real loss on CAV home court is to the Lakes. The other loss is meaningless. They had all starters out in that game. So if the Lakers could do it again, it does not matter if ORL or CLE wins the series.

owned...:(:dunno: ...

Letss go Magic for east :thumbup:

Nova, You're right on the dot again. Looks like it's Lakers - Magic at this point. Now I'm a little worried how the Lakers are going to contain Dwight Howard and gaurd the three point line which they are so poor at doing.

Lebron made his teammates better? I gotta double check on that. OK, since now he is watching the Finals at home. I will drop my argument on Lebron vs. Kobe as it is not needed at this time. Lakers will do just fine against the Magic just fine. But I think Phil Jackson will start Lamar in this series in place of Bynum. the inside force of Howard, Hedo and Rashard could post a inside outside threat, Hedo and Rashard are too big to be guarded by small Lakers small forward and too fast for double tower Pau and Bynum. ORL will have advantage of the inside game but the Lakers will have a faster and more efficient outside shooters and faster guards. So the game become will results in mismatch in matchups either inside or outside. Lamar is going to have to bring his A+ games in this series, but Lakers gaurds and small forwards will do the damage to ORL "not so good" guards. The early line has Lakers at -6 is about right it result in split action (49, 51). But misconcept of the ORL beating the CAV make the public thinking they are capable of beating the Lakers makes the early action so evenly split. The lakers will go small in Game 1, it looks to me that they will probable cover the line and if Lamar and Ariza show up and bring their A games as starters I will believe they would cover the first 2 games at home before taking to Central Florida for a pick-them action in game 3. Remeber no one in ORL line up could matchup with Kobe in this series. They will have hard time containing Kobe. I dont expect Pau Gasol will be big in this series, because Howard will keep him in check and leave him in foul trouble most of the games, so Lamar have to be big. Bynum is too slow for Howard.

Personally I dont think Lebron will win any championships for CLE, its all about the money. If CLE doesn't want to amp up their resigning salary next season with him and buy him some decent supporting cast, his games will go downward as a demand to get traded or get out of CLE. If a star doesn't succeed with a team for a long period of time, that will likely happens. He needs to be BIG meaning a BIGGER stage than CLE. He might get his first one elsewhere, maybe with the KNICKS. The NBA will drown him if He and the CAVs dont do any good for NBA marketing, that will make another D-wade of the south if not lesser. For those on the Lebron Hype Train, jump off already, the train will crash if the CLE front office sucks.

Think free agents of 2010. I'm almost certain Lebron is going to the Knicks along with a few superstars.

The one team that has the personnel to match up with Orlando is the Lakers (and a Garnett lead Celtics). The match ups that gave Cleveland fits with can be handled with the Lakers bigs. They have possible answers at every position. Any combination of Kobe, Walton, Ariza and Odom can guard Leiws, Lee, Pietrus and Turkoglu. Howard can and mostly likely will dominate Gusol and or Buynum, but that ok, it is the Magic's 3pt shooting that is the killer.

And the Lakers will not be out coached, at Mike Brown was.

You won't have to worry about ORL 3-point shootings, with the Lakers quick guards that likely will be stopped. Kobe is one of the all star Defensive team and the long body of Ariza, 3-point shooting is taken care of. The only one thing that will bother the Lakers is the size, quickness, and long range shooting of Hedo and Rashard. They are too strong to be guarded by small forwards, too quick for their center, too tall for the guards with the long range. Now thats the Lakers killer. Thats why I say Lakers must start Lamar and he must bring his A++ game. At the other hand, there is no way ORL can guard Kobe and Fisher. The game will come down to who score more as the D is already set with both teams.

These days Fisher can be taken out of the game too easily... The length of Courtney Lee will bother Fish. He is not the player he used to be... They need any combination of Brown, Farmer and Fisher to play well, to win the back court battle.

No-one can guard Kobe but Peitrus is athletic enough to always be around.

Fish will be big, the young guards will make some impact but they will need Fish for veteran and leadership role. He has been through all of this before. That is the reason Phil got Fish back here again, he knows they will need his role deep in the playoffs and the finals. He might now score that much, but if he is there the game has a different tone. That is also the reason Phil starts him too.

Owned. Jaba. Game 1 and 2 are on the right track. They will come back to ORL for a pick'em action as I said earlier (-6) is a freebie, I dont know if you got it down. No one on that team could guard Kobe. Lebron James is falling way way back after this Final series is over. It is SHOW TIME.

I wanna make it rain! On a side note, I haven't heard from the Lebron fans since last week.:bustingup

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

Kobe blew it and choked last night, still, he kept the Lakers from getting blown out. Lakers had a chance to steal a game in Orlando, at least the effort was there. Kobe gets a free pass but if he keeps this up this kind of play while having the team play "kobe ball" instead of team ball, Lakers are in trouble.

Orlando shot lights out. They set a finals record I believe in FG% made. Game 4 should be exciting. I'm predicting Lakers to win game 4, lose game 5 and then win in game 6...Unless of course the Magic pull out with a major upset.

Interesting game analysis.

"Kobe blew it and choked last night?
still, he kept the Lakers from getting blown out?
I'm not sure both statements support each other.

Did kobe have a bad game in some critical areas?
you bet he did. Everybody should score 31 points
and have a bad night, but I would seriously doubt he will
as you say "keep up this kind of play" or as
you would describe it keep up "kobe ball".

Since Kobe scored just 10 points in the second half,
went only 4 of 15 from the field after the first quarter
somebody had to be keeping the Lakers in the game.
That would be the rest of the team. So this idea
that Kobe is keeping the lakers from playing team ball
is IMO inaccurate.

I will agree "Orlando shot lights out.
No doubt that and bad defense is why they won the game.
As one articled described it For a while, it
appeared the Magic couldn’t or wouldn’t miss.
From 20 feet, swish. From 10 feet, nothing but net.
Lay ups, runners, banks, pull-ups, didn’t matter.
You name it, if it went up, more times than not it went in.

What will be interesting is to see weather the Magic can
sustain that kind of game. My guess is no. But it will be
an interesting game 4.

Where Kobe choked was at the free throw line. He was 5 for 10 when he would normally be 9 for 10 or 10 for 10. Had he made those, the game would have either gone into overtime or Lakers would have won. Lakers didn't have a bad game (they shot over 50% from the field); Orlando just had the game of their lives.

Orlando played an excellent game, but just like they won't repeat their 29.9% shooting of game 1, they won't repeat their 62.5% shooting of game 3. Considering the Lakers couldn't collect any rebounds because the Magic weren't missing, I actually thought the Lakers played an excellent game to lose by only 4 points.

I thought Kobe looked tired. Kobe's shot was off. He's a text book example of a rhythm shooter who uses his legs as much as his arms in his shot motion. His first step looked slow and it looked like he couldn't power his way up to the hoop like he normally can on his missed layup attempts. But Kobe knows how to make the physical adjustments necessary to be game ready. He will have a better Game 4. He'll get his 30+ on Thursday.

Jackson rarely makes in game adjustments because he considers basketball to be a game of will; making an adjustment is conceding that your opponents will is greater than the will of your team. He'd rather have his teams play their way out of deficits using the original game plan.

In game 3, Jackson continued to use Kobe as the decoy, just as he did in games 5 and 6 of the Denver series, and games 1 and 2 of the Finals. Give Kobe the ball for the shot if he's open or let him draw the double team, where he can pass to an open team mate. When the Lakers play this type of offense, Kobe's line is typically 30+ shot attempts along with 8 to 10 assists. It worked out well in the early games, but Van Gundy made the adjustment to counter it in game 3.

SVG instead went more to single coverage on Kobe, but had Lee and Petrius body up on Kobe rather than playing Kobe a step off. Instead of double teaming, he had the weakside defenders trailing in the passing lanes, then coming up to double team Kobe late if he put the ball on the floor. Kobe's had 11 turnovers in the past 2 games - mostly on picked off passes and trying to split doubleteams. SVG's defense, for the most part, is working, so now it's time for Jackson to make the adjustment.

Although poor at making in game adjustments, Phil Jackson is the best at making game to game adjustments.

If it were me, I would to go back to running the Triangle and start running the ball through Gasol on the high post and I'd let Kobe work off the screens - without the ball.

I would start Lamar over Bynum which forces Howard on to Gasol at the high post, as opposed to camping out on the low block guarding Bynum. I believe Gasol has a better chance of getting Howard in foul trouble. Having Bynum come in off the bench for Gasol will keep Pau fresher at the end of the game.

There's a couple of other things that need to get done, like making an adjustment on Turkoglu so he can't go left, and knocking Rafer Alston to the floor a few times.

Lakers in 5 or 6.

Last night game was a mistake from the coach, at least partially, then Kobe's getting cold. First he ran Kobe as main threat and thought he would return with the same momentum. He took Kobe out for a long time, the guy got cold. Then the coach ran Kobe as a decoy, that was how they tie the game late, double team collapsed on Kobe that made a lot of guys open and they didn't miss 7 in a row that tied the game up. But in any basketball game when one team couldn't miss and other team just play their normal games, that will result in a blow out which didn't happen because ORL is not that good at defense either. If you expect ORL would come out and shoot %62.9 again, that unlikely to happen. I think Lakers brought their game, but ORL brought their A++ game because ORL wanted more, 0-3 hole is impossible to climb out. Anyway, if Vegas think ORL could cover -4.5 spread then they expect ORL to win outright. The game is 80% expected to fall within the spread range by the analysis which will make public split 50, 50. Then ORL winning the game outright is predictable.

what an awesome first half!

I know I was right about Fisher being in the Finals.

Lebron is probably saying "Darn Kobe, you still draw a 14million rating without me".

Fisher is a come through player for sure.

And i thought the Magic were gonna win from the free throw in overtime. BTW, that was the worst and most atrocious officiating I've seen in the NBA. Call a game fairly and consistently and you can clearly see who the superior team is. Foster and Salvatore shouldn't be referees any more. They are an embarrassment to the league and so blatantly have an agenda against the Lakers. Yes, I'm venting. Yes I'm pissed, but at the same time I'm glad the Lakers pulled out with a W which they so rightfully deserved.

Peace out. See you Sunday.

I absolutely agree...one of the many reasons why i stopped supporting the NBA for some time was the terrible officiating. I can understand that bad calls will be made from time to time...but recent officiating, in particular during the playoffs and now, finals, have been far too sensitive and inconsistent towards both teams.

No matter how much they try to dress it up, basketball started in the streets and majority of players will always play with that mentality. Players are going to get extra physical in the post-season...they've earned the right and i believe should be allowed to a certain measure...[/rant]

Anybody got any good jabs for refs when at a game? Couple of my favs:
- HEY REF, GET OFF YOUR KNEES, YOU'RE BLOWING THE GAME!
- HEY REF, WHY DON'T YOU BEND OVER AND USE YOUR GOOD EYE!

I've always said that i believe Fisher probably has the best shooting arch in the league. Such shots are higher percentage, especially in the clutch.

I shut my mouth off for now - Lakers played so good.

OK guys, who takes the game tonight.

Magic is favored by 3 1/2 with an o/u 198.

I am a Laker fan but think the Magic will take it close and under 198 total points.

My prediction Magic by 5 and total score of 201.

What's your prediction?

My prediction is that I won't be watching :)

;)

I'd have to say that considering that winning this game could mean not just the championship but also no more practice till next season...i'll have to go with LA by narrow margin.

Well we were both wrong. Lakers win with a big margin. Geez the Magic played like a beat down dog and what was up with Turkoglu, looked like something was wrong from the beginning of the game.

Congrats Lakers :woot:

Can't wait for football season

Now both Lebron supporters and Kobe supporters can rest. Kobe haters will be banging their heads against the keyboard trying to think of something to say. Lakers is 4-1 ATS this series, make it rain.

So I watched the last 5 minutes (that makes 5 minutes of NBA action i've watched all season), and that has to be the most subdued championship celebration i've ever seen and not just because it was an away game.

Ref's...
 

Washed the X after a trip to the beach so missed the second half...i saw the first and for what i saw, the ref's made better calls and allowed both teams to play ball.

My hats of to great basketball from both teams, #24 (formerly #8) & final MVP, Ariza did a solid job guarding Turky-glu (yes i know it's misspelled), and especially the unsung hero: Phil Jackson, a true General :thumbup: LA maintained the momentum and were much more consistent than in previous seasons, on both sides of the ball.

I am a regular member of a sport forum. All of a sudden I see a quick drop in posts supporting Lebron and Howard. The haters just disappeared, no where to be found, no response, nothing, no one home. Dont ever compare a GUY with NO RING and a GUY with 4 RINGS, thats not even fair for the first GUY. Simple algebra 4 > 0. 6 Finals > 1. LA way > Cleveland. Beautiful wife > ugly wife/girlfriend or whatever.

Congrats to the Lakers... but I don't get it why fans after the win, went out and started vandalizing over 70 cars. wtf??

Give it up to POS fans...awesome. Lets celebrate the win of people we don't know who play for a team we don't represent in any way by burning things, breaking things and being total POS losers. Enjoy your 21B debt :tsk:

And how the hell are there only 25 peeps arrested? Should be more like 250. Cops were probably busy busting people for "3 strikes you're out" pot charges.

Seems Iran has some Laker fans too...

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e...lakerfans4.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e...lakerfans3.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e...lakerfans2.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e.../lakerfans.jpg

Despite the urban renewal of Figueroa Blvd. in and around Staples Center and L.A. Live, downtown L.A. is still a bad place with a whole lot of bad people up to no good.

But apparently Villaraigosa and Bratton failed to take note of the lessons learned in 2000, when similar riots took place in front of Staples after the Lakers won the first of the consecutive championships. If there was a tactical alert in place last night, it wasn't very effective. Tactical alerts do not include leaving patrol cars sitting unattended in a potential riot area.

Just yet another reason for closed borders and police officers equipped with flame throwers.

That is an idiotic comment. How do you know those who paticipated in the riots were illegals? Just because some of the revelers were hispanic doesn not make them illegal. I was just in LA this weekend, and Laker fever was everywhere. Frankly, I thought that a championship win on the road would lead to subdued celebration in LA.

In any event, the same thing happened in Boston, and happens at (and following) most european soccer matches.

When asawadude refers to "closed borders" I think he's talking about Canada. They are an unruly bunch. :taz:

Unfortunately even though it was a road win I'm sure the idiots who rioted and looted were planning on doing it whether the Lakers won or lost the series. They're a bunch of knuckle dragging halfwits no matter what color they are.

No, it's hardly an idiotic comment. Just because you were in LA for the weekend, you're now an expert about this city? I didn't say the rioters were illegal aliens, but most of them are not far removed by generation.

The flame thrower comment might have been harsh, but the closed borders comment is spot on.

Hmmm... Well, I spent most of my life living in California, San Jose to be exact. All of my family lives in SoCal. I may not be an expert on LA, but I consider myself well versed.:rolleyes:

Did anyone think there wasn't going to be large scale vandalizm in L.A. after the Lakers won? :dunno:

I mean seriously, is anyone really surprised?

win/loss doesn't change anything. thats L.A. and for the closed borders comments. I really dont see the need of mentioning that here. hooligans are of any race, age, sex, legal status. i used to live in L.A, it is the thing they do thing there. the riot was going to happen no matter what. of course they are p.o.s but to exclusively blame on the group of certain race/sex/age is not right. hey, they shoot each others accross gas stations on the intersection on Crenshaw like almost every week. Again thats L.A.

The city of L.A. should have been better prepared for this. I mean you know what's coming especially when there's a very good chance of the Lakers winning the championship that evening.

I was at Staples celebrating with the rest of the fans in a non-violent and non-destructive manner and it was CRAZY. In spite of the trashing that took place in the city, I had the time of my life celebrating with the fans. I did take off shortly after I noticed the growing number of LAPD officers as the night went along.

These puppet ads are just brilliant...:bustingup

Nike has always been the best at marketing. From Bo Knows to Mars Blackmon (It's gotta be the shoes!) to Lil'' Penny to the Kobe/Lebron Muppets.

Definitely agree...

I must say that my fav so far has to be Lil' Dez...LOL @ 0:50



"Lebron...you have over 20 triple doubles, can i have one?" :bustingup

Both of those commercials are great. :thumbup:

I agree. Nike has marketed themselves about as good as it gets for a while now.

Here is the kid that plays the voice of lil' Dez.

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV...669_SS100_.jpg
Bobb'e J. Thompson (from Role Models and Idlewile)

Keenan Thompson voices Lebron and David Alan Grier voices Kobe.

Hey StartX5, check out this article.

Forum Blue And Gold Deconstructing Kobe

Maybe somebody can intelligently explain to me.
What is with all the Kobe hating?
Article writing with a hater slant?
Constant bickering about Kobe this Kobe that?

I don't know the man and Honestly I don't think
90% of the people who spout off know him either
so I just don't get it.

What is with all the Kobe hating?

- I do not know and I would like to know myself. Maybe Bill Simmons has some answers for us.

Article writing with a hater slant?

- I agree, but I see it more as an objective rebuttal to Bill Simmons article on the Lakers/"Kobe" winning the championship. Definite jab at the Celtics on the end but I'd be lying if i said I didn't see that coming. Hey, the author did admit he was a Laker homer.

Constant bickering about Kobe this Kobe that?

- love me or hate me

jaba

My question wasn't a response to the linked article.
It was just a general question that still requires a specific
answer based on all the Constant bickering about Kobe
this Kobe that some of which we find in this thread.

It's one thing to talk about not liking somebody's
game, or their stats compared to whoever. But there just
seems to be so much venom and it's hard for me to
understand the reason.

Please leave Kobe alone. Undoubtedly his is the best player in NBA. Jordan is sooo history, but Kobe is RIGHT NOW.

In the past I was irritated by him, because of things he said about his team and teamates, etc. But he has matured into a solid leader in his team. Most importantly he understand he needs to share a ball to win, and he did!!!

I've never been his big fan but I would give him a credit he deserve. Go, Kobe.

Just a little bit of history repeating...:rolleyes:

Arrests in L.A. celebrations :: Chicago Sun-Times :: Photo Gallery