Lakers vs Magic and the 2008-2009 NBA Playoffs/Finals Thread

[stevew]

Is this the easiest 2 round draw in NBA history? The Cavs have won all 8 games by double digits. Should be a nice 5 day break for our older guys.

[miami_fan]

If I see one more defender just run out the way and give away easy baskets I am going to scream!

[Groundhog]

This could be interesting.

JR Smith posts on twitter that he's setting the webcam up when he gets home, gives a link, then promptly leaves the room with the webcam still running. Some time passes (40mins maybe?) and he returns with his crew, and they all start puffing on blunts, live on webcam! At first JR is going off camera to take a puff, but he's clearly exhaling the smoke all on screen, and eventually just takes a puff on screen. There are only about 11 or 12 people watching, and it's still going on right now, though the smoking has stopped:

hxxp://www.ustream.tv/channel/black-entourage-ent.(make sure you include the ".")

This is unbelievably stupid, he better hope no one was recording this...

[larrymcg421]

Celtics just playing awful. This is hard to watch.

[Jas_lov]

What a terrible game. Both teams are playing awful, the Magic just suck less.

[larrymcg421]

The Magic should be up by 30 and that's not even an exaggeration.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

This could be interesting.

JR Smith posts on twitter that he's setting the webcam up when he gets home, gives a link, then promptly leaves the room with the webcam still running. Some time passes (40mins maybe?) and he returns with his crew, and they all start puffing on blunts, live on webcam! At first JR is going off camera to take a puff, but he's clearly exhaling the smoke all on screen, and eventually just takes a puff on screen. There are only about 11 or 12 people watching, and it's still going on right now, though the smoking has stopped:

hxxp://www.ustream.tv/channel/black-entourage-ent.(make sure you include the ".")

This is unbelievably stupid, he better hope no one was recording this...

you mean you weren't and didn't send it to the league already?

ass

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

you mean you weren't and didn't send it to the league already?

ass

I actually did record some of it. If blackmailing weren't illegal...

[DaddyTorgo]

just send it to the league - if he's that stupid then maybe a suspension will teach him a lesson

[SirFozzie]

yeah. hope the Celtics can win in game 6, because they've been fucking putrid tonight.

[Jas_lov]

Stephon Marbury of all people keeping the Celtics within striking distance.

[Jas_lov]

The go to guys right now are Starbury and Big Baby Davis. I like the Celtics chances. Pretty lucky to only be down 6 after playing terrible for 3 and a half quarters.

[larrymcg421]

FUCK YEAH SUGAR RAY

[miami_fan]

The full nelson is a celebratory move now?

[Jas_lov]

LOL! Orlando blew a 14 point lead to Stephon Marbury and Big Baby Davis. This is an epic collapse if they lose.

[Radii]

watching the magic run their offense just offends me as a basketball fan.

[larrymcg421]

I think a D League team would have been competitive with either team tonight. Whoever wins has been given a gift.

[Jas_lov]

They're just shooting wild 3s now.

[Jas_lov]

Big call goes the Celtics way.

[larrymcg421]

That's very very close, but fortunate that it was called and then changed, because Perkins had an easy two if they don't blow the whistle.

[Jas_lov]

Magic are so awful.

[Jas_lov]

Foul.

[Jas_lov]

Foul again.

[larrymcg421]

And they inbound it to Howard, lol.

[Jas_lov]

The Magic are out of timeouts now so as long as the C's make 1 FT, it's over. The Celtics will foul before the Magic can get down the court.

[larrymcg421]

What an ugly win, but I'll take it.

[DaddyTorgo]

wow...was i wrong

[Big Fo]

Two straight awful finishes from Orlando. The Lee/Alston/Redick/Pietrus backcourt can't get it done in the big moments.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Why does the Magic offense not seem to be centered around Howard?

[Jas_lov]

Can Howard do anything except dunk when he gets the ball close to the basket?

[Big Fo]

Howard isn't all that good on offense when it's not a dunk or layup. Those hook-shots haven't really been falling either. They should still get him the ball a little more often, it just seems like the team presses the moron button at some point in the fourth quarter and it's really obnoxious.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

Why does the Magic offense not seem to be centered around Howard?

Because Howard is only comfortable in a very small area around the hoop. The C's players have been able to muscle him out of that area.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Jas_lov

Can Howard do anything except dunk when he gets the ball close to the basket?

Nope, obviously the Magic are a better team without him.

[larrymcg421]

They should get it to Howard more if only to draw fouls. In game 4, the C's big men were in foul trouble early. Big Baby had 3 fouls in the first half. If I was the Magic, my main goal would be to get Mikki Moore in the game.

[Jas_lov]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Nope, obviously the Magic are a better team without him.

I wouldn't go that far. Howard isn't good at creating his own shots, but he's a monster at just about everything else. Perkins seems to do a good job on him though.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Jas_lov

I wouldn't go that far. Howard isn't good at creating his own shots, but he's a monster at just about everything else. Perkins seems to do a good job on him though.

[MrBug708]

That's a bit better

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Lathum

It's ok Lathum, I understand your pain.

[Chief Rum]

Hmm, I see the Lakers are playing tonight. I wonder why this series took a four day break? I looked around on Sunday, and didn't see the Lakers playing.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Hmm, I see the Lakers are playing tonight. I wonder why this series took a four day break? I looked around on Sunday, and didn't see the Lakers playing.

Hello, welcome to the 21st century. The Internet sends it´s best regards

They lost at Houston on Sunday

Howard speaks up : Howard calls out coach's play-calling - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

“I have to get the ball,” Howard said. “I don’t think you are going to win a lot of games when your post player only gets 10 shots. It’s tough to get yourself going and get a lot of shots without a lot of touches. We have to get better with that.”
What Howard was trying to say was simple: Van Gundy has to get getter with that. Howard had 12 points and 17 rebounds, just 10 shots on the night. In the fourth quarter, when it all slipped away, Howard had just two shots. He made them both, but it was far too little, and that’s become far too much of a pattern here.

While i agree that he´s not a true go-to-guy on offense you still have to involve him. And if only because that does give the Shooters more room. In the regular season they did´t go to him excessively but often enough to have the defense collaps just in caser, that element is gone now and the 3P% is way down because of that.
Perkins does a great job on him though.

Van Gundy just flat out isn´t a good pressure coach. Maybe he isn´t a bad coach per se but his antics are just a huge distraction. He´s like the coaching version of Gerald Wallace, allways out of control and running arround like a chicken without a head...
Shaq called him "Master of Panic" , kinda fits.

Then gain Howard was terrible defensively tonight and showed no effort at all. And why he´s still sending blocks to the 10th row is beyond me ... Seriously, he could propably keep 50% of his blocks that go out, in bounds if he wanted.


Rockets got blown out, not much of a surprise here now that the adrenalin wasn´t pumping anymore after the Yao-blow...

[Big Fo]

I'm glad Howard called out van Gundy like that, those last four minutes were shockingly bad. He also mentioned how well the team had done with Howard and Gortat in the game at the same time, taking advantage of Boston's smallness, but that group never saw the floor late in the fourth.

With how unstoppable Cleveland looks this season and the Nelson injury this playoff campaign is more about gaining experience than a team thinking they could actually win the title this year but this team should still be able to get past Boston who are also weakened by injury. van Gundy deserves a decent share of the blame if Orlando fails to do so, he didn't do anything to stop that 11-0 run or previous fourth quarter failures. The last two games have been frustrating as hell.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by whomario

Hello, welcome to the 21st century. The Internet sends it´s best regards

They lost at Houston on Sunday

Howard speaks up : Howard calls out coach's play-calling - NBA - Yahoo! Sports



While i agree that he´s not a true go-to-guy on offense you still have to involve him. And if only because that does give the Shooters more room. In the regular season they did´t go to him excessively but often enough to have the defense collaps just in caser, that element is gone now and the 3P% is way down because of that.
Perkins does a great job on him though.

Van Gundy just flat out isn´t a good pressure coach. Maybe he isn´t a bad coach per se but his antics are just a huge distraction. He´s like the coaching version of Gerald Wallace, allways out of control and running arround like a chicken without a head...
Shaq called him "Master of Panic" , kinda fits.

Then gain Howard was terrible defensively tonight and showed no effort at all. And why he´s still sending blocks to the 10th row is beyond me ... Seriously, he could propably keep 50% of his blocks that go out, in bounds if he wanted.


Rockets got blown out, not much of a surprise here now that the adrenalin wasn´t pumping anymore after the Yao-blow...

I am all for giving Perkins getting credit but Howard is right. And I don't want to hear the talk about his poor foul shooting either. He is not Mark Price at the line but he has not been horrible there either. If he is in the game, he has to touch the ball. If they want to run an offense like they did against Philly when Howard was suspended, then put him on the bench, play Gortat and move on.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

I am all for giving Perkins getting credit but Howard is right. And I don't want to hear the talk about his poor foul shooting either. He is not Mark Price at the line but he has not been horrible there either. If he is in the game, he has to touch the ball. If they want to run an offense like they did against Philly when Howard was suspended, then put him on the bench, play Gortat and move on.

hey, you are preaching to a converted here You are absolutely right that if you have a dominant or even very good player you damn better play to his strengths or move one.
What Orlando desperately lacks is a Pick and Roll Point Guard. Alston is terrible at that because he can´t score on the move or finish at the rim at all and thus the defense doesn´t commit to him and Nelson isn´t much better at it either because he imo lacks passing skills there and isn´t that good a finisher either. And at the 2 you have guys like Redick or Pietrus who i wouldn´t want dribling the ball at all ... Turkoglu can run it, but it´s just not as effective with a forward/Center combo, easier to trap and all because it´s executed slower.

They really made a living out of good spacing in the regular season, now they don´t feed/involve Howard and their spacing goes down the river.

They actually shoot less 3s than in the regular season, but only because they can´t get open and not because they go inside more.

[RainMaker]

Watching the Magic play, they've been at their best offensively when Howard has not been on the court. Game 6 against the Sixers and a few other games in this series when he's been in foul trouble.

Not to mention that he is the Defensive Player of the Year and allowed the Celtics to score 33 points in the 4th quarter. He played the entire quarter too. A real leader steps up in that spot and doesn't whine and doesn't blame everyone else for their loss.

[miami_fan]

So you agree he should not be on the court?

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

So you agree he should not be on the court?

No. I'm saying the problem with the Magic isn't him getting the ball enough.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

just send it to the league - if he's that stupid then maybe a suspension will teach him a lesson

I think the NBA suspends a guy for 10 games for marijuana use after his FOURTH positive test.

No idea how many failed tests JR has now.

Guy has a ten cent head. . . but my God can he fill it up when he gets going. He just finished torching Jason Terry in the Nuggets/Mavericks series.

First time in the conference finals in 24 years. If only I could get the Lakers team that played in Houston the other night to show up for 4 games in this next series.

Don't think the Nuggets matchup well against the Lakers. We'll be very, very tough at home, but I don't know how we take one in LA. Is it to much to ask for the Rockets to find a way to beat the Lakers for us?

[whomario]

I suppose it might be too much ... Maybe take it to 7 but even that sounds unlikely to me.

Denver deserved to advance, just the flat out better team. At the end of the day the Mavs just couldn´t get stops/the Nuggets came through when it counted. Take your pick, both sound about right.

For the Mavs Nowitzki with an impressive series overall, going for 34/12 on 53% shooting while being defended really, really well.
But when your starting Center averages more Fouls than rebounds. And almost as many TOs (10) as Points (15) and you don´t have a starting SG to speak of... Or any real SG worth anything ... And then you have your starting 3 playing on 2 bum ankles.
Well, let´s just say that this is definitely a case of "one guy can only do so much" .
Props to Denver for recognizing that and playing him 1:1 most of the time unlike the Spurs did (who double and trapped every time basically) and not give open shots to the help players, good decicion by Karl.
For Denver Billups/Melo played a great series again hitting all the big shots. And their help guys did a good job. Not all in every game, but always enough.

Billups no with 7 consecutive Conference Finals.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by whomario

Hello, welcome to the 21st century. The Internet sends it´s best regards

They lost at Houston on Sunday

Hmm, maybe I need to work on making my sarcasm more obvious.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Hmm, maybe I need to work on making my sarcasm more obvious.