I don't understand why you are shocked. Typically in this exact situation, game 3 is where the 0-2 team roars with their best shot and if they miss, game 4 is worse. At 0-3, half (or more) of the players on the losing team are ready to give up because the odds are stacked against them. Not to rub it in, but I didn't understand your premise at all. Lakers were in a death-spiral with Pau playing like a sissy. I didn't necessarily expect them to lose by 30 points, but it isn't suprising. At some point during the game they were going to collapse. The fact it happened in the 1st half caught me off guard. I called the flagrant fouls. Odom and Bynum were two of the guys I named.
I'm shocked because Phil is one of the greatest motivators and series adjustors ever. I'm shocked because Kobe has been able to impose his will on his own teammates, not to mention the opponents, not to mention the officials, for so long. I'm shocked they folded. And I'm shocked it was this bad. And I'm shocked that the unsportsmanlike conduct took place after the game was decided. I expected the cheap shots to come early. I expected them to burn a player (Barnes) with the cheap rough stuff early and set the tone where the refs would have to call every ticky tacky foul, then give Kobe the ball and let him walk to the FT line all game. The cheap shots after the game was decided......that's not Phil Jackson. He lost these guys today, lost' em. I would bet it's probably the first time Phil has ever lost his team. It comes in the last game of his career.
Give some credit to Dallas, they are just a pretty good team with a great superstar and good depth. They were just much better.
Kidd has been playing great, Barea is what Aaron Brooks would like to be now, Chandler is so important for them with his defense and rebounding, and Terry is just a machine from the bench. I am going to root for Dallas from here on...especially if they play against the Heat in the final. That will be a very tough matchup for them, though.
But if your 2nd best player stinks it up in the first 9 playoff games, there is no reason to think he will suddenly snap out of it. I didn't expect the Lakers to fold until the 2nd half. The late flagrants didn't surprise me at all because of the players involved and their history. More than any other player besides Artest, I've seen Odom commit more late-game anger fouls than anyone. PJ is an all-time great coach, but his motivation skills are vastly overrated IMO. He's lost teams before (the pre-Pau Lakers for example). I talked about it here quite a lot during those years as proof that he doesn't cast magical spells over players. In particular, Kobe has acted out on him numerous times to prove points. Jog your memory. During the Bulls years, MJ was the on-court AND lockerroom enforcer who demanded that everyone on the team respect Phil. Zen had nothing to do with it.
It's funny, that this series might have been over with after the Lakers blew that 16 point lead in Game 1, they never played the same since. It's also funny how alot of people thought the Mavs would be the ones who would make a critical mistake down the stretch.
If your second best player was just proclaimed by many a basketball insider to be the "best big man in the game right now" just last June during the Finals, there is every reason to believe that he will snap out of it and snap out of it in a huge way. He didn't, for whatever reason. I heard some whispers about a personal problem with him. Don't know his family situation or what else is going on in his life, but I did expect him to snap out of it, certainly.
Girlfriend dumped him, and Kobe's wife is her closest friend...so Gasol blames her for causing or encouraging the break up which led to a rift with Kobe. I fully expect Gasol to ask to be traded Kobe to ask mgmt to trade Gasol Mgmt look to trade Bynum and/or Gasol anyway to try and reboot the roster Big question is how much the lockout and new CBA effects things. If there is a hard cap, there'll have to be another round of the Allan Houston rule for teams like the Lakers and Magic to get under it. I think Phil's getting out for real this time. I wouldn't be surprised if there are leaks to the media this week about how toxic things got in the locker room.
Kobe is saying his wife barely knew Pao's girlfriend. And I'd be shocked again if either Kobe or Pao asked for a trade of Pao from the Lakers....unless the Lakers could get Dwight for him. And in that case, Kobe would trade his mama on mother's day to get Dwight in the middle.
Habits are funny things. Lakers were in trouble long before the playoffs. When you start believing your own hype, that you can turn "it" on like a switch when you want, you set yourself of for great falls. Would have loved to see Kobe shed some tears... would have been the cherry on the ice-cream on the cake.
I'm very disappointed in the Lakers. I was hoping they'd come back and make it a 7 game series to tire out Dallas for the WCF.
