I know it's kind of off topic, but, oh well... God, what a CHOKE job the Kings just pulled. Except for Webber and Bibby, the whole team looked like they were going to poop in their pants every time they got to the free throw line or took a shot... Divac just looked pitiful with his two-bit flops and I couldn't believe how he was clanking away at the line. He left Horry wide open on two occasions and paid both times. And, I don't think Doug Christie even hit the rim on one of his shots. On top of that Turkoglu peed in his pants when Bibby got double teamed and passed him the ball during the overtime. Instead of taking a wide-open three, he dribbles into 4 Lakers and makes a stupid pass. And the refs were even calling fouls on Shaq and Kobe at the end of the game, which kind of blows my theory that they were going to hand it to the Lakers. Instead of the refs giving the game away, the Kings managed to do it for them. What a joke.
Don't forget Stojakovic's beautiful wide open 3-pointer that missed the rim by like 5 feet. The Kings' nuts shrank tonight at the FT line, which is pitiful when you consider that they were playing at home.
You can't diss those guys. This was their first game seven. The Lakers won on experience. It's like that game seven overtime Rocket loss to Seattle in 93. Not the experience part, but the Rox had to take their lumps to know how to act in that situation. You can blame it mostly on Christie flaming out more than anyone else. He knew it, but he still hoisted it up. I was just glad Phil was smart enough to take out Devean George... Next year is totally different. Like the Jazz who held down the Lakers for 3 years, the Kings will have a different mentality. If they can manage to keep Bibby...
Well actually, I think Adelman made some bad coaching moves. Pollard totally contained shaq in the 3rd period. Pollard didn't get to play any in the late 4th q. Pollard ran the break well and finished often! Also, why was doug Christie playing, and more importantly why was he shooting 3s at the end. He was shorting all his shots.
You cant say they choked. That was their first game seven. They played their heats out and fought this game to overtime. But individualy one person stands out as a choker in this game and that is Christie. What was he thinking shooting those shoots in O.T. when players like Weber were open. I wonder how much cash he was givin for his performance in O.T.!
Bibby and Webber??? Shouldn't it just be Bibby.....where was Webber in the 2nd half and overtime? Feel so bad for the Kings' PG........he did all he could to make the team advance......too bad all their 100 million dollar man could do was revert back into the Chris Webber from last year's playoffs, all the while thinking of how Tyra was gonna feel about the loss. What was the term Vescey used to name Webber....a "Fake Franchise" player? We all know about the freethrows, but at one point I could swear it read that Kobe only had around 6/7 total points in all the 4th quarter and overtime? Was that true? If so........how bad does that make the Kings look.
Webber is making the second highest payroll in the league. Some people say that Webber gets dissed to much at what he doesn't do while ignoring the stuff he does. But if he's paid that much, he has to do everything.
I don't know why i keep defending webber, but come on. he choked?? i don't even think he was a big player in the free throw brickfest. didn't he only miss 1. i believe shaq at one point was 3/11 in the 2nd half+OT. i think kobe like someone said only had 6 or so in the 4th and OT. i guess they choked too. coming into this game webber was putting up 25 pts, 11.3 rebs, 5.5 asts and shooting 53%. his passing this series has been unbelievable (that pass to pollard at the end of the half, the under shaq's leg pass to divac, the pass to divac in the late 4th in game 6) and he makes their offense run so smoothly when he's in. a lot of the reason bibby gets to shine so much is that he rubs his man off on webber and then he has an open shot or can drive. at the end of the 4th, he does shoot less and it's probably for a few reasons. possibly the pressure. also possibly he gets doubled a lot or even everytime, that's how he got 11 asts, passing out of doubles. with no certain go to move, he can't just get a shot off anytime. bibby has been on fire. why not keep going to him if you can consistenly set picks and get him open. should they give it to webber just so everyone can say "look, webber is shooting at the end" or should they try to win the game. it's hard for me to see how anyone can place the blame on webber. hell, he even took responsibility for guarding shaq the last nine minutes of the game, that doesn't sound like someone who was backing down from the moment. the point is, webber had nothing to do with this loss. i believe it had a little more to do with the most horrible shooting imaginable. 16-30 ft's!!! 2-20 on 3's!!! how the hell was this game even close with those numbers. and yes, stojakovic had the worst choke moment of the game for my money. i mean damn, not even drawing iron, quite bad. at least christie managed to put a few dents in the backboard. as bill walton would say, watch your face.
If Vlade didn't foul out, he'd probably set the pick and roll, and given them another option to pass to Webber. I think Doug Christie's stink made Webber look worse than he really did because you have Christie hoisting up those three pointers and all you could think of was, "Why isn't Webber or Bibby taking that shot??" Since Bibby was double teamed, that only left Webber. And Webber had the mismatch when the Lakers rotated off the pick and roll.
A team can't go 16-30 at the free throw line and expect to beat anyone in a game 7. The Kings had 'em, and all they had to do was hit their free throws. I'm very disappointed, because I feel a Sacramento/New Jersey final would have been very entertaining. Now I know I won't be watching the finals. New Jersey will win one, and everybody will go "ooh" and "aah", just like with the Sixers last year, and then the Lakers will win it all. Ugh. This sucks.
The Kings didnt Choke. They didnt hit their free throws but they hung tough and gave the Lakers a run for their money. Give the KIng`s some credit, they will learn from this and be stronger for it. Excellent series
Webber's eyes looked like a "deer in the headlights" the whole game-you could see the fear on his face. Only Bibby (and Jackson) wanted to take they key shots. Sac was the better team...they just didn't know how to close the deal. A healthy Peja could have made a real difference. It wouldn't surprise me if they win it all in the next couple of years. D R
The reason the Kings lost was because Peja got injured and cleary was not anywhere close to being in top form this series. In my opinion, he was the Kings MVP during the regular season, so when he becomes a complete non-factor it going to make it tough. With a healthy Peja it could have easily been Kings in six.
LOL Thanks again Fakers. Wasn't pretty, but CWebb, Vloppy and the Kangs get nada. Loved the "deer in headlights" mention earlier. Very different from the scowling of the previous games. Who's shutting up now, CWebb?
KR, do you have to be on this irrelevant rant, this thread is about how the Kings made their own bed to lie in it (I have read numerous threads here and you seem stuck on this). Only a couple of people are blaming the refs so get off your soapbax. The real idiots in all this are all those who thought the Lakers would win in 4 or 5 easy. It was a great series, either team could win (what I had been saying all along--even after the Kings were up 3-2 I said game 5 was just 1 game out of 3 that would decide it). The truth if anyone other than Bibby on the Kings had balls, if anyone of the Kings hit the defensive boards hard (Webber only had 8 boards in his defining game), if the Kings could even hit their freebies, they would have won. Again, no one other than Bibby saced up in any phase of the game except the more talent limited BJ and Pollard perhaps. Credit the Lakers for grinding and grinding, and being right there to take advantage of the Kings choking. That is the story, along with the one that it was the best NBA series in a long, long time. I actually don't see the Kings getting this close again. Vlade is getting old and Webber is already sliding down. This was there golden oppertunnity with Shaq hobling, Kobe with food poisoning, and the rest of the Laker's sucking, with home court advantage and a 3-2 lead--and man they still couldn't get in done. Further, guys like Christie, Hedo and Peja are always going to have those tight bricks and airballs in their mind. Last night was a terrible night for that franchise. For those of you who disagree think about Portland's choke 2 years ago, Karl Malone and KJ's finals fizzlies--everyone thought they would have another oppertunnity but the fact is they never got another. Some times it is your moment and you lose or get it done. This was the Kings moment. They had all the advatages over the Lakers and couldn't get it down--the Lakers key 2 guys are younger than Vlade and Webber, and you have young upstarts like the Mavs getting better quick. It was there moment to seize and they seized up like a deer in headlights. That will always stick with them. I don't care because I don't like Webber and the Kings, I do feel sorry for Bibby though. Of course he doesn't have to resign there, and besides, he already has a championship that Webber never will earn.
Kings did choke. 16- 30 from the free hrow line?!? Thats just sad. They spent 6 months working hard for home court advantage and blew it just like that. WHoever called Webber a fake franchise player hit it right on. He's as soft as Vince Carter. I hate the lakers with a passion but they deserved to win this game. They played smart basketball for the entire game. One time in a huddle during the game, Rick Adelman said the lakers only have two guys that can score but the kings have five.
