The Los Angeles Lakers: After so much was written in the last two days about how tired the Lakers were following Game 3, they came out last night and played like they wanted to prove just how exhausted they really were. You know: Like a group of narcoleptics who ate a huge Thanksgiving dinner (I'm talking, like, four or five helpings) after running an ultramarathon and now are snuggled up on the couch under a warm blanket watching the Detroit Lions get destroyed by [Name of Whatever Team They're Playing on Thanksgiving This Year]. It's sort of understandable that the Lakers would be tired, since they've played every other day for three straight weeks now (with the one exception being the two-day break between Games 6 and 7 of the previous round); but then again, they have no one to blame but themselves for not having extra time to rest after needing seven games to beat a depleted Rockets team in the Western Conference Semis. It doesn't figure to get any easier for the Lakers either, as they will continue to go every other day (only now with traveling in between each game) for the rest of the conference finals. On the upside, if they play the way they did last night in the next couple games, they'll soon have a couple months off to rest up.

The Lakers' lethargy was especially evident on the glass, where they were absolutely obliterated 58-40. (That sound you just heard was Wilt Chamberlain rolling over in his grave, probably after zombie-sexing up the hottie three tombstones over.) Even more telling was that they let Denver rip down 20 offensive rebounds. Not only did Denver outboard the Lakers by 18, but it was the first time in 8 meetings between the two teams this season that Denver had outrebounded the Lakers at all. The best Denver had done on the boards against the Lakers prior to last night was just tie them in total rebounds (Game 3), but otherwise the Lakers have held a fairly decisive rebounding edge against these Nuggets all year. Clearly one team came to play last night...and the other team was the Lakers.

Officiating: Unfortunately, this was was yet another game in these Conference Finals where the refs tried to steal the show. And not in a totally sweet "Vanilla Ice cameo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze" kind of way. What had started off as a really great third round in both Conference Finals series has turned into the same traveshamockeriness we saw in the last round, with way too many fouls and free throws, and a bunch of questionable technical fouls and flagrant fouls being called. After Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, some people made a skunky beer stink about the absurd 86 combined foul shots. Well, apparently the NBA doesn't care that the fans don't want to watch a free throw parade, since the Lakers and Nuggets combined to shoot 85 last night.

In the last game's writeup I pointed out that four of Denver's starters had 5 or more fouls. Well, they must have made some pretty big adjustments, since only three Nugget players had more than 2 fouls last night (Kenyon Martin with 3, JR Smith with 4 and Carmelo Anthony with 5). Meanwhile three Laker players had 5 fouls and Luke Walton fouled out in only 12 minutes. In Game 3 the Lakers had a 14 free throw advantage, while in Game 4 it was Denver that enjoyed a 14 free throw advantage. It's just too bad the refs can't be a little more consistent in any area other than with all the excessive technicals (Denver once again had 3 last night, just like in Game 3) and flagrants (Andrew Bynum received one last night for swiping at the ball -- and hitting it -- and ruffling the Birdman's headband in the process). The officiating didn't cost the Lakers the game, not by a long shot, but it's just an ongoing concern for basketball fans that we can't watch the players settle things from somewhere other than the free throw line. Like maybe the Thunderdome.

Trevor Ariza: After being such a major contributor for the Lakers in this series, Ariza was about as invisible last night as Kevin Bacon was in Hollowman. [Edit: Or, alternately, as invisible as "solid plot" or "good writing" or "anything not resembling a giant turd of a movie" in the woefully bawful Terminator Salvation. -Basketbawful] He finished the game with as many fouls (5) as he had points, assists, rebounds, blocks and steals combined. He also had one turnover. You could argue that he helped defend Carmelo Anthony into shooting only 3-for-16 for 15 points, but 'Melo looked like he was limping around a lot out there, so I don't know how much credit the Laker defense should get. To be fair, Ariza supposedly is fighting off a couple injuries himself (and possibly an ouchie in his girl parts), but if those wounds are gonna limit him to the kind of performance he had last night, the Lakers might as well replace him with a runway model who can't walk down a runway. Because at least a hot babe falling down is fun to watch.

Derek Fisher and Sasha Vujacic: At this point, I'm ready to write a stock paragraph about these two guys and just auto-insert it into every Lakers-related WotN for the rest of the playoffs. They are officially the worst duo since Coy and Vance Duke. Last night, they combined for 11 points on 11 shots, 1 assist and 2 turnovers in 39 combined minutes of oncourt poopery. There's not much else to be said about these guys that won't make me throw up in my own mouth, so let's just move on to someone who hasn't made a recent appearance in the Worst Ofs...

Lamar Odom: I feel like I'm actually being pretty generous when I say that Lamar is having a subpar series (7.5 PPG, 34 percent shooting, 8 RPG, 2 APG), and last night was his subpariest yet. While he WAS one of only two Lakers to grab more than 7 rebounds (Gasol being the other with 10), Odom needs to contribute a hell of a lot more than just 8 boards if he's only gonna score 5 points on 1-for-8 shooting while committing 5 fouls and turning the ball over 3 times. Missing half his free throw attempts didn't help either. Which reminds me...

The Lakers' free throw shooting: This definitely could have been mentioned after the last game when they missed 14 gimmies, but after last night's 11 misses (in 35 tries), the Lakers have now bonked 33 foul shots in the last three games. In case you don't have an advanced degree in numeromatics, that's an average of 11 misses per game. Did someone expose the Lakers to an open vial of undiluted Shaqnopsis or something?

Dahntay Jones: He swept the leg, just like a good little Cobra Kai should. John Creese would be proud.


J.R. Smith: Dude was celebrating so hard last night you'd think he just got named Super Captain of Giant Awesome or something. Memo to J.R.: You didn't WIN the series, you only TIED it. Calm down. Buck Nasty said: "Yes, you made a three J.R. That is no reason to pretend that you are a three-point shooting chicken, who is also retarded."


More from Stephanie G: "Last night J.R. Smith was extremely animated, mugging and shimmying all over the place. Is this a proper all-time ranking of celebratory moves do you think or am I being too premature?"

1. Antoine shimmy

2. Cassell huevos juggling

3. Mario Ellie kiss of death

4. Reggie Miller choke

5. Shaq arm waving/pointing/looking at his off hand like it's talking to him

6. DeShawn Stevenson "can’t feel my face" / throat slit

7. And now, the JR Smith shimmy
That's a good list, but you forgot a couple. There was the Mark Jackson shimmy, the Larry Johnson arm bar, Dikembe Mutumbo's finger wag, the jersey pop (by many players, notably Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant), and of course the Kobe-trying-to-imitate-Jordan-and-falling-on-his-ass-and-rolling-over.

Memorial Day lacktion report: Chris trudges on, bringing us lacktion the way we like it: Very hot, and awfully wet. "Josh Powell bricked once in 2:43 for a +1 suck differential, a mark matched by DJ Mbenga in a mere 1:01. For George Karl's Nuggets, Johan Petro and Jason Hart resumed their familiar roles as human victory cigars, with Petro running out of gas during a shot for a +1 in 1:01, and Jason Hart stomping out a Koopa shell in the midst of a 37 second Mario."

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42 Comments:
Anonymous Gengar said...
The officiating keeps getting worse and worse as we delve deeper into the playoffs. Many of the “fouls” called last night, especially in the fourth quarter, were ludicrous, and almost exclusively in Denver’s favour. How many fouls in a row were called against Luke Walton for making jersey-on-jersey contact with Carmelo Anthony? Hell, even Luke Walton’s breath had three personal fouls. To be fair, the Lakers lost primarily because they were humiliated on the boards. I began to wonder if grabbing rebounds was against Andrew Bynum’s religion. All things considered, the Lakers should be slightly scared by now, considering they just got blown out whilst the opposing team’s star player looked as though he had forgotten he was right-handed.

Somewhat off topic, but what really brings my scrotum to an itch is when commentators say things akin to, “the refs are calling it tight tonight”, or “the refs are letting them play”. I always preferred referees consistently calling the game according to the NBA rulebook as opposed to calling the game according to some absurd, behind-the-scenes, black-magic, dice-rolling ritual.

Oh, and did anybody else see Kenyon Martin clearly lose to Derek Fisher in a jump-ball yesterday? lawl.

Blogger Nick Flynt said...
"5 points on 1-for-8 shooting while committing 5 fouls and turning the ball over 3 times."

And that's how Odom.....turned into his alter-ego, ScrOdom. Don't argue with the spelling, just say it out loud and you'll know what it means, baby.

Awww yeah. That Clipper stank ain't left you yet, ScrOdom.

Blogger chris said...
Gengar: Is it me, or was Andrew Bynum more contributory last year when he was the "guy who showed a lot of potential before that Grizzlies game" for about five months afterward?

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Was that a Naked Gun reference there in the lacktion report?

Something I forgot to mention in this writeup: remember how in the Game 3 writeup I joked that even though Denver went 5-27 from downtown that at least the Birdman didn't attempt a three? Maybe he's reading this site, cause he jacked one up last night (naturally it was way off). When people worry about the mental mistakes Denver is prone to make, I think this is of what they speak.

Blogger chris said...
Wild Yams: Who needs Tim Donaghy when we've got teams prone to gaffes against the marketing stars of the Association? ;)

Actually, I've always wondered if that Western Conference Finals Game 7 from nine years ago fits in that category...

Anonymous Gengar said...
chris,

I agree. Hey, remember when Andrew Bynum said, and I'm paraphrasing, "I'm like Shaq, except I can hit my free throws". Uh, riiight. I recall Shaq putting eight different centres into witness protection program on his march to the Finals averaging 30 and 13 whilst he was Bynum's age.

I mean, I'd rather a 37 year old Shaq than Bynum right about now. It seems as though whenever Bynum becomes comfortable with the game and consistently puts up numbers, he suffers a laborious injury. Too bad.

Blogger Murcy said...
Melo had stomach flu, which limited him in nice words, and caused him to have icanthitthisitis in not so nice words. go nuggets!

word ver: wrifyin. this must be something real cool. "I'm gone wrifyin"

Blogger Will said...
While some people consider it to be controversial, Stern has no problem with human cloning. Apparently he cloned Joey Crawford a dozen times and just puts masks of the other refs over his faces. How else to explain all the techs/ flagrants being handed out?

Gengar: I did see that and I considered it a case of ball-don't-lie, because when they called the tie-up, Kenyon didn't even have a hand on the ball.

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
Was Terminator Salvation really that bad? I've heard mixed reviews now. But it couldn't possibly be worse than T3, right?

Blogger Wild Yams said...
I think after last night's game people are being a little bit too hard on Andrew Bynum. IMO his main problem now is just that Phil Jackson isn't playing him enough, and that's especially true if the Lakers are in fact as tired as they're reported to be, cause it would seem the way to help with that is to play someone like him more than just ~20 minutes a game. After all, in 23 minutes last night he did have 14 points, and looked to have a pretty decisive advantage whenever the Lakers got him the ball. The same thing was the case in Game 2. Bynum was producing, but it's hard to produce more than he has if he can't get any playing time. He did have 5 fouls last night, so that hurt him as well, but in Game 3 he only played 21 minutes despite picking up only 3 fouls, and in Game 2 he played only 18 minutes despite getting called for only one foul. I think Phil Jackson is just reluctant to work him into the rotation more than he currently is, and that's just how it's going to be. He did the same thing last year with Trevor Ariza, who hardly got any playing time in the playoffs even though he had been cleared to play, and even though he actually looked good when he was on the floor.

AnacondaHL - I thought Terminator Salvation was OK, but McG is really just an awful director. I think it could have been a genuinely good movie if they'd got someone halfway decent to direct it. The thing I hated most about it was the random mute 10 year old girl who tagged along all movie with no purpose whatsoever. She never did anything and never said anything, she was just... there. Maybe the studio execs just wanted to make sure there was someone in the movie that the pre-teens could identify with, which let's face it, is always what you want to consider in a Terminator movie.

Anonymous La Dolce Vita said...
Anyone catch Jeff Van Gundy insinuating last night that since Kobe wasn't doing the "fundamentally sound" thing by blocking out no foul should have been called on JR Smith's over the back? And then further elaborating that referee's should make foul calls based on whether or not a player is doing something that is fundamentally sound?

When he started calling Smith "Smitty" I had to turn the game off he had become so annoying.

Blogger Basketbawful said...
Gengar -- "Somewhat off topic, but what really brings my scrotum to an itch is when commentators say things akin to, “the refs are calling it tight tonight”, or “the refs are letting them play”. I always preferred referees consistently calling the game according to the NBA rulebook as opposed to calling the game according to some absurd, behind-the-scenes, black-magic, dice-rolling ritual." That...that's just crazy talk. Think how little we'd have to talk about if basketball teams simply won or lost based on things like "skill" and "trying." Yes, NBA officiating is chaos...but at least chaos is FAIR. According to insane supervillain clowns, anyway.

Buck Nasty -- You'd have to soak Lamar in a vat of FeBreeze for roughly eleventy-gabliggity years to get teh Clipper stank off. That stuff is tougher to get rid of than the blood stain leading from my bedroom, down the stairs and into the trunk of my car. Like, hypothetically speaking.

chris (and everybody else) -- You DO realize that Bynum signed a four-year, $58 million contract extension last summer, right? Do I need to start keeping a master list of all contract signings from the previous summer so people will realize who the Contract Year Phenomenons are?

Yams -- Regarding Birdman's three: Yeah, but you miss 100 percent of the shots you DON'T take...

Gengar -- You're dead on with the Shaq/Bynum comparison.

Murcy -- I might have already mentioned this, but as a fan of all things pirate, I love the hook picture. It's really wrifyin.

Will -- You know what else Stern has no problems with? Scrapbooking. Dude is straight up creepy.

AnacondaHL -- Let me put it this way, man. I would not wipe my ass with the script for Terminator Salvation for fear of creating a singularity that would suck everything on the planet up and into my sphincter. It made T3 look amazing in comparison. Yams is right that the directing was bad...but the story was even worse. I could have crammed about 14 Rosie O'Donnell's through some of the holes in the plot. The characters behaved like absolute idiots. Christian Bale only "starred" in about half of the movie, the human rebels were wearing their stupid hats, and the machines, despite taking advantage of that and making a carefully crafted masterstroke still kind of ended up losing, mostly because [SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT DO NOT READ ON IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED] they used only two T-800s to defend their entire freaking fortress...despite the fact that said fortress had a working assembly line that was building hundreds of T-800s. Kyle Reese -- the adult, not the teenager -- is rolling over in his shallow grave.

Yams -- One aside: Phil isn't happy with Bynum's defensive rotations, or at least that's what he claims, and P-Jax says that's why he hasn't been keeping Andy on the floor.

La Dolce Vita -- JVG seems to think that referees should make calls based on ethics and morality of HIS choosing...as opposed to, you know, actual rules and stuff. Which, now that I think about it, would make him a perfect NBA official.

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
Here's a handy list of 2008-09 contract years. Of if you want full details, Hoopshype has the numbers, although I'd use FireFox to visit due to annoying ads/popups.

Blogger Lord Kerrance said...
Mo Williams apparently didn't learn anything from Devin Harris this year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2009/news/story?id=4205686&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

Blogger Nick Flynt said...
If you look at some (day + old) Cracked.com entries, you'll see some pretty good 'T4' stuff. There is one flow chart that is extremely boring, but shows you the hilarious timeline goings-on throughout the films.

I'll save you some time and tell you that one timeline is created 'due to the profitability of of a third Terminator movie.' Hiyoooo.....try the link out for full effect.

http://www.hiyoooo.com/

Blogger chris said...
Bawful - How many Contract Year Phenoms then average a Voskuhl every other game like Mr. Potential does? I mean, sheesh, he may have singlehandedly prolonged the Lakers' series with such "play!"

Wait. I'm wrong. Singlehandedly would then have to ignore the non-contributions of Vujacic, Walton, Mbenga et al...

Anonymous La Dolce Vita said...
I forgot to mention...did anyone else catch the pregame show yesterday? Was that five minute collage of Kobe Vs. Lebron highlights followed by yet ANOTHER discussion of who's better really necessary? Just brutal.

Blogger The Thrill said...
Has Luke Walton made a shot in this series? Can someone get me his series stats thus far please?

It was very reassuring that the Nuggets could put up 120 points with Carmelo_Anthonyhaving an "off night".

I like the Nuggets in Game 5 even though its in LA.

Blogger Will said...
In the same vein as Lord Kerrance, in last night's game, ESPN had a shot of a Laker's fan with a sign that said "Kobe Bryant Finals MVP". I wish somebody told them that you have to reach the Finals to be crowned MVP

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
Thrill: Luke Walton's 2008-09 stats: (scroll to the bottom)

4 playoff games against Denver, 3-12, 1-4 3pt, 0-2 FT, 7 points, 9 PF, 4 TO.

Anonymous AK Dave said...
Lord Kerrance:

Beat me to the punch! It's guaran-Sheed: the Cavs are going to win because they're "the best team in basketball". I'm so glad somebody has opened his mouth and given his foot an opportunity to fill the void. I love it when players actually talk at press conferences- even if they are dumbasses.

Good for you, Mo! Now all you have to do is HIT A WIDE OPEN 3! Think you can do it??

...

Random observance: Denver has lost 3 games this playoffs by a combined 11pts. L.A. has suffered 3 embarrassing lopsided blowouts, two at the hands of Houston, and one last night in Denver. Does this mean anything? I dunno- I guess "a loss is a loss", but teams that never concede a loss and give the kind of effort that Denver is giving typically do well in the playoffs. Game 5 is going to be epic. Get Nuggular.

Say what you will about bad officiating, but in SPITE of all their blunders, the series' themselves are very very interesting, even if the individual games are tedious and frustrating to watch. It's like watching a train wreck- in a good way- sort of...

Stephanie G: +1 for all your comments and contributions over the last few weeks!

Blogger Basketbawful said...
AK Dave -- Ahem. Weren't you the guy asking for Karate Kid references? This post has 'em. I'm just sayin'.

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Mr. Bawful - I have read that Phil has said that as well, but IMO he's just being stubborn. Bynum's had 7 blocks in this series (not bad considering his limited minutes), and certainly has been producing better at both ends of the floor than Josh Powell or Luke Walton (the guys who are taking minutes away from him). In addition to playing those guys in front of Bynum, Phil is also leaning very heavily on Gasol, who played 44 minutes in the Game 2 loss in which he missed three 4th quarter free throws. It's just odd that Phil is more unhappy with Bynum than he is with guys like Luke Walton and Sasha Vujacic, when Bynum is clearly outplaying those players. I think Bynum should be getting 25-30 minutes in these games, not 20. He may miss a couple defensive assignments, but he needs the minutes and the experience, and really he's one of the few Lakers on offense that the Nuggets seem to have a really tough time matching up with. Like I said, it's tough to really produce much when you're sitting on the bench for most of the game.

Anonymous Osama Van Halen said...
"NBA recinds flagrant against Magic's Johnson".... on ESPbob today as a link. Ha ha ha ha ha...

Anonymous AK Dave said...
Did I ask for Karate Kid references? Well if I did, cool. If not, keep 'em coming anyway. "Sweep the leg" was very appropo. If you could work the whole "GET HIM A BODYBAG YYEEEAAAAHHH-HAHAHAHAHHAA" quote somewhere in there, I'll really be impressed.

And the TMNT/Vanilla Ice reference? Straight cash, son. "Go ninja, go ninja, GO!!" Ahhh takes me back to 6th grade... thanks for un-blocking old memories of the early nineties, Yams!

I'm now going to go find my hypercolor t-shirt and hammer pants, then sit around growing a rat-tail on the back of my neck while playing some "Metal Gear" on the NES just to continue re-living the "good old days".

As soon as work is over.

Anonymous AK Dave said...
Yams-

Bynum is kinda getting burned on pick-and-rolls and can't keep up with cutters when they drive the lane and is picking up fouls so quickly that Phil has no choice but to take him out of the game. I think his fouls and crappy defense are what are keeping him out of games to some extent, it's not all Phil Jackson's superdickery.

I know he picked up 2 quick ones in the 1st quarter in the last game, but I'll keep an eye on him and see if what you're saying is true. Certainly he is playing well on offense compared to his fellow forwards, but it seems like he's getting chewed up on D and has to foul to prevent easy Denver baskets. That said, I would agree that the Lakers are better when he's out there- but unless they give him 8 fouls to play with, he can't stay out there 35min the way he's playing right now.

Blogger Unknown said...
I do agree with Wild Yams there, the reason Bynum is invisible is mostly because of his inconsistant playing minutes. What I feel is, in the beginning of the season, Bynum acted as he's a super star and the most critical component to the team's success, Phil Jackson doesn't like his attitude too much. Well, it's good and bad, at least the guy is not over confident, but at the same time, Bynum has the freshest legs out on the court, they really need to use him as the first option on offense sometimes and let him dominate the board.

Blogger chris said...
Bawful, I hate to say it, when I think of Karate Kid references, I think of Bill Simmons and his "Cobra Kai Yankees." Yikes!

AK Dave: If the NBA increased the foul max to 8, Greg Oden would become a star.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
A couple of unintentional dirty quotes machines: Bream likes to say "{player x} tried to jam it in there" a lot these days.

Also, if you hadn't already hit the mute button in agony, you'd of heard Mark Jackson's bold proclamation: "Show us the whole Package Pao!!" after one of the 'Mallow's sweeping lay ins.

Blogger Diosnomeama said...
@Chris: In order to make Oden a star, not only would you have to increase the foul limit to 8, you would have to get rid of every center in the league and replace them with Shawn Bradley clones. Also, you would have to convince David Stern to allow motorized wheelchairs when his glass knees break again.

Blogger Wild Yams said...
AK Dave - I can't take credit for that TMNT reference, as that was an addition by Mr. Bawful.

As for Bynum, in the last game you're mistaken. He did finish with 5 fouls, but he picked up three of them in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter. He picked up one foul in the first quarter (at which point Phil immediately pulled him), and then he picked up his second foul just 3 minutes into the second half (and Phil immediately pulled him again). Bynum then had three fouls in the first half of the 4th quarter, and after picking up his fifth Phil pulled him for the rest of the game, and instead inserted Luke Walton (who then picked up three fouls himself in the next two minutes, and fouled out).

In any event, like I said, in Game 3 Bynum finished with only 3 fouls in 21 minutes, and in Game 2 he finished with only one foul in 18 minutes. Whether Phil is annoyed with Bynum's defensive rotations or not, Bynum does have almost 2 blocks per game in this series (despite only playing about 20 minutes a game), and he is proving to be one of the most difficult matchups for the Nuggets when LA is on offense. If Phil wants that 10th ring then he needs to go to Bynum and play him more minutes. That's doubly true when he's giving those minutes instead to Luke Walton (who isn't producing anything at all in this series). Besides, it's not like Lamar Odom is playing so great that you hate to take him out of the games, right?

Speaking of Bill Simmons (since chris brought him up above), do you think he's gonna be more upset if the Crabs lose than when Boston lost? With the way he dotes on LeBron I have to wonder if his wife is jealous. I'll bet he's taking it extra hard that the Crabs are now on the brink of elimination, especially since he recently said: "Don't start thinking Orlando is good please." and "Let's all settle down on the Magic. They will be lucky to win 1 game." For the record I think Simmons is all over LeBron just cause he's standing opposite of Kobe in this whole "greatest player" nonsense, and so I think that just like in Aliens vs. Predator, he figures that the enemy of his enemy is his friend. Or something.

Speaking of LeBron vs Kobe (everyone's favorite subject, I know), how weird is it that when LeBron has gone for 40 in these Conference Finals his team is 0-3, yet when Kobe has gone for 40 his team is 2-0. Maybe selfishness is not solely Kobe's domain. Ha, what am I saying? Like the media tells us, when LeBron has huge games like he did tonight and his team loses it's cause his teammates didn't step up, but when Kobe has similar games in Laker losses it's cause he's selfish*. Sorry, I forgot the storyline for a second there.

* - Just to be clear, I'm not saying Kobe isn't selfish, I'm just saying LeBron might be as well.

Blogger Diosnomeama said...
ESPN with another brilliant headline: "NBA rescinds flagrant against Magic's Johnson." What exactly was so flagrant about Magic's johnson in the first place?

Anonymous Anonymous said...
In Lebron's defense Yams, he really is only 0-2 in games he really scored over 40. We all know he didn't deserve 40 in Game 3, especially with that "foul" on Howard when he blocked Lebron's 3. How bad is it when even ESPN writers are questioning the calls he's getting?

I bet Simmons is stewing about Mo Williams right now. After all that tough talk about how they're going to win anyway, Mo shoots 5/15 and hides behind Lebron. If the NBA suspended 'Melo 15 games for that hit and hide (we all know he only got that many games because he ran away, not because he threw the punch :D) against the Knicks, how many games should they suspend Mo for this brag and hide? In addition, he also managed to let Rafer Alston go off for 26 points (I'm assuming that's the matchup, I missed a good portion of the game unfortunately). That's like tugging on Aquaman's pants and turning him into Superman...

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Doisnomeama: Ever heard of a thing called aids? You know, and getting it while married? I think that's a flagrant that deserves to stand...

Anonymous Egads said...
"For the record I think Simmons is all over LeBron just cause he's standing opposite of Kobe in this whole "greatest player" nonsense, and so I think that just like in Aliens vs. Predator, he figures that the enemy of his enemy is his friend. Or something."

Yeah, you're right. It's not like LeBron has any talent or anything. Must be an Alien vs. Predator thing. The LeBron-hype is all fed by the media. He's just an average player. Replace him with Zach Randolph and the Cavs don't miss a beat.

"Speaking of LeBron vs Kobe (everyone's favorite subject, I know), how weird is it that when LeBron has gone for 40 in these Conference Finals his team is 0-3, yet when Kobe has gone for 40 his team is 2-0. Maybe selfishness is not solely Kobe's domain. Ha, what am I saying? Like the media tells us, when LeBron has huge games like he did tonight and his team loses it's cause his teammates didn't step up, but when Kobe has similar games in Laker losses it's cause he's selfish*. Sorry, I forgot the storyline for a second there."

Nice sample size. LeBron takes some questionable shots from time to time, but are you saying it's his fault that his teammates are shooting an abysmal percentage with wide open looks that he's giving them? Should he pass them the ball even more? Is he not averaging more assists per game than Kobe, despite his teammates horrible shooting?

Is it possible that other players on the Lakers and Cavs have an effect on whether they win or lose?

Blogger Unknown said...
From ESPN:

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2009/0526/nba_g_cavs1_576.jpg

hahahaha lebrons hair

Blogger Diosnomeama said...
Anonymous: Ever hear of something called sarcasm?

Blogger Junior said...
I don't know if it's really a good bawful material, but well


Marko Jaric did it, Adriana Lima is pregnant...

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20281112,00.html

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Egads, all I know is that during the regular season LeBron averaged around 30 ppg and his team won 66 games, and in the first two rounds of the playoffs he only scored more than 40 points once. That means in the postseason the Crabs are 1-3 when LeBron scores more than 40, but they're 9-0 when he scores less than 40. Just looking at that I'm saying maybe he should be trying to involve his teammates a bit more, since him doing all the scoring doesn't seem to be working for Cleveland.

As for Simmons, yes of course LeBron is a fantastically great player, maybe the best in the world; but then again you could say the same about Kobe and yet that doesn't preclude Simmons from trashing him endlessly in his columns. So what I'm saying is that given that Simmons is about as impartial as Fox News, maybe the reason he almost fellates LeBron in his columns is because, like I said, he stands opposite Kobe in this "greatest player" debate. I'm not saying LeBron doesn't deserve to be in any "greatest player" debate, I'm just saying there's calling someone a great player (or the greatest player), and then there's the kind of stuff Simmons does, and ordinarily that kind of praise is stuff that Simmons tends to reserve only for Boston teams or players. Reading his piece comparing LeBron to Bruce Springsteen and Bono gave me creepy John Hinckley, Jr. - Jodie Foster vibes, and I started wondering if he carried a picture of LeBron around in his wallet next to the pictures of his kids or something. Anyway, that's why I wondered if Simmons should be placed on suicide watch after the Crabs lost again last night.

Anonymous Dan B. said...
Wild Yams -- LeBron can only do so much to involve his teammates. They all seem to be either a) completely avoiding playing defense, b) putting up ill-advised bricks, or worst of all c) standing around waiting on LeBron to take over the game and win it for them. The entire mentality of the team has shifted drastically from the regular season when LeBron could count on his teammates to contribute if he fed them the ball. Now they're not doing their fair share on the offensive end to help put up points, which just results in LeBron getting frustrated, putting up bad shots, making risky desperation passes, etc. This is doubly bad when they aren't doing much to stop the Magic on the defensive end. (For the love of God, when Rafer Alston's raining threes left and right, cover him!)

Blogger Wild Yams said...
Dan B. - "The entire mentality of the team has shifted drastically from the regular season when Kobe could count on his teammates to contribute if he fed them the ball. Now they're not doing their fair share on the offensive end to help put up points, which just results in Kobe getting frustrated, putting up bad shots, making risky desperation passes, etc."

I just swapped out the words "LeBron" for "Kobe" in your quote so you can see how that sounds when you read it (this is pretty much what people had to say about Kobe during last year's Finals, after all). Like I said, I'm not trying to say that Kobe isn't selfish, I'm just saying that LeBron might be as well. Not for sure, but just maybe. The best player in a series in which his team is favored goes for 40 three times and his team loses all three of those games? Might be something going on there. Just file it away in case this becomes a growing trend.

Anonymous Dan B. said...
Wild Yams -- Notice I never mentioned Kobe at all. I was just specifically countering your argument that LeBron is try to do too much in and of itself, ignoring the Kobe/LeBron comparisons. I think it isn't because he wants to try to do to much, but because his teammates are forcing him to do too much. I don't watch many Lakers games (West coast means late start times for me), so I can't comment as well on Kobe.