The 2008/2009 NBA season thread

[crow316]

Cue the Queen!

[Ignatius]

Congrats LA!  Congrats Phil for his 10th ring, congrats Kobe for his 4th and Pau for his first  (first spaniard ever to be a part of an NBA champion team)

Going to bed now. It's 5 am....

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

What a night!

I waited seven long years for this.  That's a third of my life.

Catch ya'll at the parade!

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

By the way, congratulations to all my Laker lovers on this board!

Let's go crazy!

[fito_gnr]

Lakers champs again!!!!!! man I have the feeling this is just the beginning

go Lakers !!!!!

[D]

Laker hater in the house


Let's don't get crazy

I don't think LA would've beat Boston this year with a healthy KG


Laker fans have to admit. Orlando easily and should've been up 3-1 had their head coach and best player not choked away this series.

I feel Orlando lost 3 games more than LA won them. LA won games 1 and 5 but the other 3, Orlando just blew.

So, LA deserve the title and congrats, but this isn't going to be a "Dynasty"

[fito_gnr]

don't care what you say.... this is going to be a dinasty. the celtics are old, I don't see any team winning the lakers in a playoff series. you know the rings are like cookies you gotta be hungry

[faldor]

The Celtics are a tad on the older side and KG's status is a little concerning, but they should be a factor for the next couple of years at least.  Dynasty is a strong word and it's way too premature to use it for this Lakers team.  Don't get too far ahead of yourself, just enjoy the championship.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

I really want a Boston rematch.  Did Garnett have surgery on that knee?  I forget. 

If he had surgery, he'll never be the same.  But I want them all to come back 100%.  I hate injuries, I would never wish an injury on any player in any sport.

And no, I'm not even gonna talk about a dynasty, no way.  We have some key free agents we need to re-sign (Ariza, Odom) and make a few improvements as well.  And I'm quite the pessimist when it comes to sports.

Blowouts don't constitute "good" wins and close games do not reflect poorly on anyone.  Both teams deserved to be there, they were the two best teams this year, and of course they are going to have close games.

[crow316]

Laker fans have to admit. Orlando easily and should've been up 3-1 had their head coach and best player not choked away this series.

I feel Orlando lost 3 games more than LA won them. LA won games 1 and 5 but the other 3, Orlando just blew.

Orlando COULD have been up. There is no SHOULD. Had Orlando won game two with that lay-up, game 3 would have been entirely different anyways, so you cant say that Orlando wouldve been up 3-1. They COULD have tied the series at 1-1. They COULD have tied the series 2-2.  But NEVER was there a chance that they couldve gone up in the series.
 
And what happened to Dwight torching Gasol and Bynum like you said he would?  What happened to Gasol getting burned by Hedo and Lewis?  Lakers were the better team, they outplayed Orlando. Period.  Phil knew how to come up with a defense to stop Howard.  It wasnt an Orlando choke.

[crow316]

By the way. Does anyone else think that Mike Breen's call at the end of the game was pathetic?  I know that the outcome was decided early in the 4th, but come on. A little passion when announcing the winner of the NBA finals, please. I hope he's not around next year.

[D]

Howard did get a bit exposed offensively.

How much did Van Gundy disrupting the chemistry by playing Nelson hurt the team?

[crow316]

I think that Van Gundy really cant be faulted too much for playing Jameer. He is an all-star who had great success against the Lakers.  Maybe he should have pulled the plug on the idea after game one though. I do know that coaches dont like to play a player who bitches and moans about minutes, which I think is why we saw less of Alston.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

For Ignatius!

[crow316]

Sometimes I really wonder about him...

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

He's, uhhh, a European. 

That right there is pure unadulterated joy son.  He rotted in basketball hell for six years (Grizzlies).

He worked so hard to get here, I was one of his doubters last year.  I thought he was soft and that one thing you're thinking about. 

But he proved us all wrong this year.

[faldor]

I really want a Boston rematch.  Did Garnett have surgery on that knee?  I forget. 

If he had surgery, he'll never be the same.  But I want them all to come back 100%.  I hate injuries, I would never wish an injury on any player in any sport.

And no, I'm not even gonna talk about a dynasty, no way.  We have some key free agents we need to re-sign (Ariza, Odom) and make a few improvements as well.  And I'm quite the pessimist when it comes to sports.

Blowouts don't constitute "good" wins and close games do not reflect poorly on anyone.  Both teams deserved to be there, they were the two best teams this year, and of course they are going to have close games.

Garnett did end up having surgery a couple days after the C's lost.  They held off as long as they could with the hopes that he might be able to play if they had advanced.  So there is a real fear if he will come back at or near 100%.  There's been some talk about trading Ray Allen, since he's got one year left on his deal.  Maybe get something for him instead of just letting him walk away.  Not sure what's out there though.  Personally I think they'd be better off holding onto him and giving it another run.  I also saw a crazy rumor about packaging Allen with Rondo.  Not sure what the heck that was all about.  Hopefully it was just a bunch of nonsense, otherwise they'd have to get some serious return on their investment in that deal.

As for the Dwight Howard talk.  He's a great player.  Fantastic rebounder and defender and nearly unstoppable around the rim.  BUT, if you can force him to catch the ball away from the hoop, his game is very limited.  He's got no reliable shot, all the man can do is dunk.  If a team can single cover him and force him away from the hoop you're all set.

Anyways, it pains me to say it, but congrats to the Lakers and their fans.  Maybe/hopefully the C's will be back and healthy next year to give them a run for their money.

[faldor]

I'd be down for a rematch for sure.

Just a few notes on the C's.  After they were bounced it was found out that both Ray Allen and Paul Pierce were playing hurt.  I don't know the extent of their injuries but they obviously didn't look 100% in the Orlando series.  Of course, who is by that point of the season?  But that could be a reason why Ray looked "off" after being so good against Chicago.  He got shut down by JJ Reddick for heavens sake.  He HAD to be injured.  No white guy from Duke is gonna stop a healthy Ray Allen, I don't care how large the age difference is.  Also both Leon Powe and Glen Davis are free agents and Big Baby may have played himself into a larger contract than the Celtics are willing to pay.  Powe will probably be attainable after being injured, but again the health is a major question there.  He's had his share of injuries so who knows how he'll bounce back.  They need some serious frontcourt help, Mikki Moore certainly didn't work out.  And a true backup PG would help, Eddie House doesn't really fill that role and I don't know if Gabe Pruitt will ever be a reliable rotation guy.

Anyway, we'll see what happens.  I expect the Celtics to be back and be a contender once again.  BUT, there are certainly loads of questions, so nothing is guaranteed.

[D]

I wonder if the Memphis front office will get rings?


U look at Memphis' roster. Had they kept Gasol with OJ Mayo Mike Conley and Rudy Gay, they would've been on the rise.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Regarding my Allen comment, I was going back to last season.  He was off the entire playoffs until the Finals.