CELTICS -at- LAKERS - 6/6 - Do-Your-Own Thoughts and :-(( Ratings Night

[DancingBarry]

Sorry guys. Just got back from the game and not sure I've got the energy to spend the next few hours doing notes and working up a write up. I may be able to tomorrow.

So, please feel free to contribute as you can.

Thanks.

[OscarWang]

For everybody = and move on
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"Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise."

- Kobe Bryant

[Fleur-de-Lis]

[mhan00]

everybody but pau and andrew sucked.

refs especially sucked (for both teams, but really, really sucked for the lakers with the phantom kobe fouls and the MISSED OUT OF BOUNDS CALL WITH INSTANT (bleep) REPLAY). complete bull (bleep).

lakers are idiots for not trying to exploit pau and drew more in the 4th quarter.

[sec 110]

This series is going 7 games. It has been preordained so by the NBA. None of the next 4 games matter. It will be a best of 1 series back in LA next Thursday.

[mike_dee23]

Kobe Bryant - - Kobe started taking over, but fouls 4 and 5 handicapped him and the Lakers.

Shannon Brown - - Don't leave Ray Allen. Don't leave Ray Allen. Don't... DAMN YOU, BROWN. We saw him much more dropping down into the key on defense allowing Allen to set up on the arc.

Andrew Bynum - - Bosh who?
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MTFBWYA

[Jesseca328]

Sascha Vujacic good spark off the bench.
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PDTP: where legends are made

ALPHA ~ LakerSanity ~ 24 ~ Exick ~ ElginBaylor ~ TheBigRuski ~ re4ee ~ JerryMagicKobe ~ mbloves L.A. ~ unggoy ~ encina1~ Jesseca328 ~ phayze one ~ Flo'z

[srm90]

KEN (BLEEP) MAUER -
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[lakerhead]

everyone played poorly except for pau, drew, and kobe when he was on the court, but with the performance the team put out there they probably should have lost. should, but not could. i think in spite of the poor play they actually had a chance going into those final minutes.

now i gripe about the refs, but at least i understood it as a difficult job and sometimes that home crowd really influences them, but i've never thought they would officiate in a manner to control the narrative of the game/series. but after seeing how they had replay on a clear call and not over turn it, that just really raises some questions and i hope the league at least acknowledges it in some way. i mean they dont even have to act or anything, just don't ignore it.

[mike_dee23]

Sasha Vujacic - - He played well out there tonight. He made things happen in the fourth: chased Allen off the 3-point line; hit a 3 himself; grabbed an offensive rebound and dished it to Jordan for a corner 3. He will get much more time next game.
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MTFBWYA

[pokoy]

[Surfitall]

Let's just flush this game and move on. This isn't over.

[TooCool]

Very frustrating game to watch.

So the under 2:00 rule in the 4th quarter + overtime = instant replay. The ref BLOWS the call. They take a look at the instant replay... and stick with their blown call? What's the point of instant replay then?

The Kobe "foul" on Allen. Ray Allen knows he has the hot hands tonight and knows that Kobe is the kind of person that will take it to him. So Kobe does, and Allen flops and gets away with it. Ridiculous. I'll admit, the refs did try to make this up because the crowd was smart and would not stop booing. They made it up by calling an offensive foul on the other end as Fisher did the same.

Rondo falling out of bounds and Kobe got another "foul". Just absolutely ridiculous. This is how refs control games. Take the star player out of it. Ray Allen in Game 1. Kobe Bryant in Game 2.

Loose ball late in the 4th. Artest and Rondo running for it. Phantom foul gets called on Artest to get him fouled out of the game. Breen insisted that Artest "grabbed" Rondo but it was clear Artest did no such thing.

If that isn't "rigged" in some way, I don't know what is.

On the non-rigged side of the game. I really enjoyed what Bynum and Gasol did tonight. These two know how to score on the Celtics. It helps to have two big men down in the paint controlling the game.

I'll have to give Rondo some credit too. He hustled and it showed. Did he get lucky sometimes? You bet. Always at the right place at the right time for certain rebounds. Either way, the Lakers need to stop being lazy on defense and guard the damn guy.

Same for Ray Allen. I don't understand how all those wide open 3s don't piss off the coaching staff. It's unacceptable to be lazy and not chase him as hard as he's running.

Odom was MIA by the way.

Putting that all together.. very frustrating game to watch. The refs were able to control the game and that is never good.
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[City_Dawg]

Another bad 4th quarter for the Lakers. After the Kobe And-1 to put us up 3, everything went downhill. Too much standing around and 1on 1 play. Lakers got out rebounded, had less assists and got beat on the offensive boards. Not acceptable, especially in your own house.

I said before the series I wouldn't be surprised if the Lakers lost one of the first two. I hhate being right sometimes. They're now in a situation where they have to take 2 outta three on the road. Dont wanna come back down 3-2.

And Lamar needs to show up. Another pathetic showing.
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*sighs*

!...

[Burgundy]

You know, it's kind of funny that we've been begging for a significant free throw advantage the entire playoffs...and we finally get one...and the Lakers lose because:

1) The refs offset the ft advantage by handicapping LA's best player with foul trouble the entire game (can you imagine if Kevin Durant was in foul trrouble in Game 3 or 4? Seriously?).

2) Absolutely BLOWING the most pivotal call of the game (the KG out of bounds call), swinging the entire last 2 minutes of the game.

Amazing work by the zebras, actually.

How do you give more free throws to a team, while simultaneously screwing them over?

See Game 2, 2010 NBA Finals for a perfect example.

All that being said, Lamar Odom was attrocious for the second game in a row.

Shannon Brown played the most brain dead defense I've ever seen.

Ron Artest looked like mid-season Ron Artest on offense (that's not good).

Kobe could never get going because he was saddled with foul trouble the whole game.

And the Lakers still had a chance to win in the end. But Kobe didn't make the shots he normally makes.

[Ray_Gonzoles]

As the foul stench of the Leprechauns reappears at the cities gates, you notice they have brought unexpected reinforcements.
This time, the Leprechauns are not playing 5 on 5, but also have the help of 3 strangers from Stern Inc., which dampen the effort of the Lakers.
The rider called Death was handcuffed by the 3 strangers and the team falls in a tough battle.

You look in the carnage left and Stapled on gold paper and written in purple ink, DancingBarry has noted:

"With my own eyes, I saw the Horsemen take to battle, but were shackled not so much by the Leprechauns,
but the 3 strangers in black and white who’s whistles left the Horsemen unable to defend their turf.
They now leave to Bean Town to take back what was lost today. I will continue to track them…”
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"Just show up ready to work, ready to play, Have your big boy pants on, leave your diaper at home." Kobe Bryant
Anything less than a championship is a failure. Period.

[Fleur-de-Lis]

Stop blaming the refs. Celtics played like they wanted it more. Way too many players on the Lakers play with house money and get burned.
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Winning recipe: Effort, Intensity, Focus, Composure, Patience, Execution, Attention to detail, Discipline & Persistence

[ABynum17]

Instead of assessing their performance, I'll make some suggestions instead:

1) I think it's time for Kobe to play without the splint. This team is making him work VERY hard defensively, so we need him to be in perfect condition. Their coaching staff knows how to make substitutions, so we don't have the same coaching advantage(or an advantage at all, especially if you add Thibodeau.) It's clear that if Allen plays full minutes, their team becomes almost impossible to defend. I mean, defending Pierce, Allen, and Rondo full-time is a monumental task.

2) I think Bynum should also considered playing without that brace. Once again, this team is making Kobe work VERY hard defensively, so it's going to be tough for him to be our goto guy consistently. If let's say that extra explosiveness enables him to become a "consistent post option" against Perkins or even Davis, then that would be a huge help, because other than Pau and Kobe, we have no one else to rely on right now.

That damn brace shouldn't be mandatory. Let's put it this way, at worst, he'd get a season-ending injury, but if we don't win at least two on the road, the season is over anyway. We can't rely on homecourt because this team has too many strong minded players. In fact, they've been the best road team in the postseason. Their 3-pronged attack in the backcourt seems to be overwhelming Kobe, Fisher and Artest, so we need a HUGE advantage in the frontcourt to offset.

3) We've gotta find a way to make more of our "circus shots" like KG did, in the first possession. I don't know how Doc's been able to get his guys to do that(or maybe Pau did), but if we can't match that, then we have no shot, because it appears that we can't defend them all. Even if we defend Allen and Rondo well next game, I bet KG and Pierce will go off.

4) I think Pau's comment on KG hurt us. We had to double KG every time, even when he was "already covered," and that led to a bunch of wide open layups for guys like Perkins and Rondo. If Pau hadn't said anything, then we could have hoped that he takes the jumpers and choked. Oh well, I guess we have to live with it now(how about backing up your teammates Drew? After all, they've done the same for you all postseason.)

5) Odom shouldn't take any shots at all. He's either too weak-minded, or their defense is this good. I'd go with the former, but right now, we can't afford to be like Phoenix with Frye and hope that he toughens up mentally. The way I see it, Pau and Bynum should play 40+ min the rest of the way. And it's up to Bynum to make enough of an impact such that we won't have to rely on Odom at all.

6) I would restrict our backcourt rotation to Brown and Sasha and just let them play defense, and let Pau, Bynum and Kobe be the goto guys. Farmar and Brown's shot creating ability is just too inconsistent. I think as long as they hold the opposing bench guards' to single-digit points, then that should be considered a victory.

7) It's time for everyone to start searching their heart. Do they really want to lose to this team again or not? We have to find a way to make "tough" shots, because that's mostly what we'll get. Be like KG and find whatever that can motivate you. Even if they can only make themselves a threat, then that's good enough.

[Klone_dd]

Pau and Bynum played huge on both ends of the floor. It's a real shame to lose when they played so well.

Kobe was hampered by fouls. The strategy of playing off Rondo was ok thru 3 Q's. Rondo was 4/14 at one point, but then made his last 4. The problem with playing off Rondo so much is that 1) it gives Rondo a clear, unobstructed view of the court, 2) gives Rondo a running start to penetrate and 3) Kobe's looking to help which gives Rondo offensive board chances. The cross matching of Kobe v Rondo and Ray v Fish hurt us in transition which is where Ray got off.

Fish & LO were MIA. RonRon did a great job on Drama Queen (2/11 and under 10 FTs), but Ron's offense (1/10 and 3/8 FTs) killed us. A dagger TO in the final 3 minutes marked the beginning of the end.

[Qsmiff]

[PopcornMachine]

Lakers Game Plan Today:

A) Play D, force missed shots, but don't bother to rebound the misses.

B) If the score is close in the 4th ... dontworryaboutit ... relax.

C) After realizing you should have worried about it, start jacking up 3s or other crazy shots assuming you will get the foul call.

Set plays? What's a play? We have an offense?

That is all.
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I'm with COCO!

[srm90]

[Fleur-de-Lis]

[slippy]

Lakers have been outscored in the 4th quarter for 6 straight games. In other words, they go into the 4th quarter with a big lead and struggle to keep it, or they go into the 4th quarter close and fail to pull out.

Having said that, I called that the Lakers and Boston would split the first 2 games, and since we won game 1, I'm not that worried. Lakers have to win either game 3 or 4 now.

[ABynum17]

We had a 20+ FTA before the intentional fouls and still lost, we definitely can't blame the refs today. In fact, that's the reason that this loss is so worrying, losing a game when we had a 15+ FTA advantage.