As a fan watching the 1993-94 Rockets, I can feel the Lakers' pain of being labeled chokers. But I believed the Rockets would come back then and they did. So I think the Lakers can too if they show enough heart. I'm not a Lakers fan by any stretch of the imagination but if they show enough heart, it's still possible. Btw, doesn't Doc Rivers remind you of a young Rudy T- speaking style and coaches on emotion rather than being a big X-O's guy.
Wow! I turned this off when the celtics were down double digits. I return and I see they came back? I am pissed that I missed this game!
The Kobe/Jordan comparisons will be done soon. Mike never lost in the NBA Finals and he never played as poorly as Kobe has in his last TWO Finals appearances. Sadly, now that KG is on the edge of getting that ring it doesn't feel right. He looks just like the type of player that people have criticized him for being his whole career. Hard to explain but I'm disappointed in him.
He's been great this year, he's playing the same big role he played in bringing a championship to Miami. He's easily one of the top role players in the league. And the guy is a terrific person off of it. He's my favorite guy on that squad, to be honest. A fellow Houstonian, too (by choice). I see him at the T-Mac Softball Charity event every year. A pretty stand-up guy.
Great come back. Pierce gave so much trouble to Kobe one on one in 2nd half. KG's post up game's unstoppable. Ray Allen drove to the basket more aggressive than Tmac. Gasol is a very bad team defender. He got two defensive mistakes in the late game. He didn't know how to switch in pick'n roll. And he didn't block Ray Allen's driven lane.
wow, lakers choked that. kobe didn't do jack the entire game offensively. first time he was shut down by another star player straight up b/c both guarded each other for the most part in the 2nd half.
kobe's stats in the finals are not that impressive. but again, it's just comparisons. kobe is the "closest" to MJ right now among all the perimeter players. when i say "close" it's still light years apart.
Nah! It's over, stick a fork in them. In fact, I said that after the 2nd game. Celtics are the better TEAM, and Kobe hasn't looked quite like the best player in the series that everyone expected him to be. Allen -- and Pierce, to an extent with his stellar D -- is stealing the show. I don't know how to explain it, but Kobe has been subpar in the last two finals appearances. When they lost to Detroit a few years back, I thought he was the single biggest reason why because of his ball-hogging tendencies and his seeming insistence to play 1 on 5. Then, as is now, the defense bothered him, so may be that's the connection there. The difference is he's shared the ball a lot more this time around, but he's still not able to dominate the series the way the Jordans or the Hakeems even had in finals appearances. As I said: the Celtics are more tenacious and more intense, and I just didn't think at the outset that the Lakers could match that; they are more finesse and just lack that physical toughness.
Again, don't get me wrong, the Lakers have decent bench, but it is not as great as it is made out to be. Against certain teams they look like a very average bench and the players are not of the caliber of some other championship teams from the past. None of the players can create their own shots and provide instant offense in the way, Cassell, Kukoc, Van Exel, or Vinnie Johnson could.
amazing comeback. I thought Celtics were a done deal... As previous poster alluded to, Posey is just awesome. He plays good defense, he does all the little things, he can slash occasionally, AND he buries 3 clutch 3 pointers. He even stripped Tayshaun Prince towards the end of the deciding game that really clinched it for the C's.
I agree with most of this statement. James Posey is just as good if not better than Shane Battier and the Celts got hims as a free agent I believe. Thus, they didn't give up anything for him and he's paid great dividends. Like you said, he played well for Miami in the playoffs too. Now the Rockets on the other hand overpaid for a similar kind of player. As far as James Posey being a Houstonian by choice, I dunno how true that is. I believe he lived in Royal Oaks, but a lot of athletes own homes in Houston and claim it as their primary residence for tax purposes (See Shaq). He might show up at a charity softball game, but he might also be drunk driving: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2830539 All in all, a great game by Posey who's played well all series. I wish the Rockets would've kept hm.
f4p, where to start the analysis: 1 Pau's stats look good, but most of his points were purely the result of great passing by his teammates. He also missed a couple of key bunnies that would have been crucial in slowing down the 21-3 run. His disappearing act during these Finals is incredible. He clearly has a case of stage fright. 2 LO played great most of the game but then he reverted back to non-aggression in the 2nd half. I understand PJ's logic in putting in the comeback squad from game 2, but I thought LO should have played the last 4-5 minutes instead of Radman. 3 Vujacic and (of course) Farmar were complete garbage tonight. That KILLED you. 4 Obviously Luke Walton has nothing in the tank this series. His crater job the last 3 series might put him on the trading block if they expect Ariza to contribute next year. 5 Your team with a historic choke job. This game, by itself, was worth more than all 4 games of the total garbage that was on last year. If the Celts defense is that much better than your offense, the Lakers never had a chance. This is the defense we saw from the Celts during the regular season that choked teams to death. 6 Kobe has to shoot a higher percentage. 6 FTs isn't good enough. He must make his opening statement in the 1st quarter, not the 2nd half. When he needed to turn it on, he didn't have it. On the Celts side, 1 PP with a great recovery from a slow start. His offense, plus his defense on Kobe, earn him the game ball. Today's clutch performance makes up for game 3. 2 KG was unstoppable in the 2nd half when he wanted to be. The Lakers cannot stop him down low. He needs to realize this and mop the floor with Pau. 3 The Celts wouldn't have won this game without Eddie House. Rondo and Sam were total garbage and House rode to the rescue. 4 Ray Allen is totally redeemed from his earlier playoff struggles. He wasn't about to give up the ball on that play with single coverage from Vujacic. He knew they didn't want to foul him and he forced the easy layup by being aggressive. (Of course they should have gone ahead and fouled him). 5 When the Celts signed James Posey, I said at the time he would be crucial for them to make a championship run. The guy had ice water in his veins. Those late 3s drove a stake in the Lakers. 6 Perkins leaving the game was a great thing for the Celts. The Lakers aren't his kind of team to play against. The Celts best lineup is when KG plays center. BTW, obviously Kobe ain't MJ. Anybody that feels otherwise is free to be dead wrong.
HOLY ****Zpeitzals!!!! Last time I turned off, the Celts were down 20; then I go to a forum and it said "What a comeback by the Celtics" Completely stunned. Wow no words. Can someone explain what happened?
we REALLY need a 3rd scorer. the big 3 of the celtics are fairly inconsistent scoring wise. we know tmac and yao are consistent. imagine if we had that 3rd guy that is "fairly" consistent, my god. we're just that one scorer away from winning it all.
Worth quoting again, great summary, agreed 100%. Eloquent per usual, a3p...but seriously, stop stealing everything I say!
http://www.clutchfans.net/players/james_posey/ He played one year for us (2002-2003). It was during the Steve Francis years.
