Well, it seems fairly obvious to me that you've buried yourself with your own examples. With the exceptions of #2 and #7, all of those can be attributed to the fault of the other team, not the Lakers. Unless you think that Brooks was not better than his defender in that game for example #1, which I do- that is not on the Lakers, that is on Brooks. If you miss an uncontested layup, that would be called a CHOKE (and let's be real- Orlando didn't lose in 7 games, they lost in 5- I think it's fairly safe to say that if a team wins in 5 games, they are the better team). #4 is also on Orlando- as you clearly indicate. #5 and #6 are clearly examples of a team not knowing the right thing to do in that situation. And about #6- you don't think having the ball bounce out to Jason Richardson the way it did didn't have any degree of luck to it? BS. You hate the Lakers like I do, but you see what you want- you ignore the other, like the fact that Phoenix was lucky to even get 3 opportunities to score in that game. You know why I don't pull out the "luck" card? Because I refuse to let others use it on me when they say that the Rockets "lucked" into 2 championships because Jordan was out. HOWS THAT FOR PWOWNNNNOEEDDDDDDDDDD (just kidding, I really don't like the Lakers- just hate the "luck" card more).
My only gripe with the officiating so far is that it's extremely reactionary. The Wallace call was awful, but most of them are borderline - you can call them if you're calling it tight. The issue is that on the Kobe call right there, the whistle came clearly late after he missed the shot and yelled. Likewise, the first foul on Rasheed Wallace when Gasol appeared to lose his footing and go down, no whistle until two seconds later, when Boston got the rebound... and the official essentially guessed that there was a reason Gasol was on the ground. Way too many "delayed" calls in which player/crowd whining is making the calls for them. That doesn't bode well for the road team.
Yes, they're the fault of the other team. I know they are. But from the Lakers' perspective, do you not grasp that QUALITY OPPONENTS going COMPLETELY BRAINDEAD OR INEPT in crucial moments is extremely fortunate? In a hypothetical, if the Rockets beat the Lakers by 1 point, and Kobe Bryant theoretically went 0-10 from the free throw line, we would be EXTREMELY lucky to win that game. Yes, it would be the Lakers' "fault". But when a player like Kobe goes 0-for-10, that is extremely uncharacteristic, and thus we would be fortunate in that scenario. (And about #6 - this is an aside, but do you not remember, Nash, Richardson and Frye - all 40% shooters from deep - missing four WIDE OPEN threes in the final two minutes? The Richardson banker simply evened out the awful rolls they had before it.)
Sure, some of those could be lucky- but you start looking at it that way and you can see all kinds of things that could be lucky- every missed call, every minor injury, etc. Once you start looking at it from that perspective, everything just gets further and further away from a team earning it. And I'm sorry, but I refuse to have anyone tell me that the Rockets lucked into the championships due to the absence of Jordan, or that Mario Elie's shot was lucky, or that Hakeem's block on John Starks was lucky (because he barely got the fingertips on it), that Starks' cold show in G7 was freak luck, that Hakeem Olajuwon getting ejected in Game 5 of the 86 WCF was lucky in that it allowed Ralph Sampson to be the only option for the final shot, etc. If you think I'm making these up, don't- these are just some of the things I've heard about the "luck" factor. And let's not get started on the lottery- some will have you believe that the Spurs "luck" in the draft was the primary reason for their 4 championships. If the players making those mistakes went by the names of Wade, Anthony, Bryant, James, etc., then maybe I would concede that. But the likelihood of Collison and Ibaku choking in the final seconds? Yeah, I'd place a bet on that.
The Celtics aren't losing because Perkins is out. THey are simply bing outhustled and outplayed by the Lakers. Artest and the Lakers bench came to play tonight.
