The 2008/2009 NBA season thread

[faldor]

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

True.  In fact he was off in game 1 against the Bulls and I was starting to think he just couldn't play in the playoffs.  Then he went nuts and shot the lights out the rest of the series.  I know last season his son was sick and that probably weighed heavily on him.  I don't remember if it was the entire playoffs or not but I do remember he was deemed healthy during the finals. 

I keep making excuses for Ray, what can I say?  Being from Connecticut, I watched him at UConn.  He has one of the sweetest shots ever.  So I guess I have a soft spot for the guy.  Only one other UConn Husky played for the C's, and that's one I'd like to forget.  Trader Rick Pitino signed Travis Knight to a ridiculous contract to be the starting center after being a serviceable backup for Shaq on the Lakers for a few seasons.  I think Knight is still collecting checks from the Celtics.   

[Chief]

We had an amazing run for the year and the playoffs!  Lakers were hungry and hats off to them, I believe they would have beat anyone this year!!  This sure was a sweet moment, especially after waiting so many years and going through all the ups and downs!

[faldor]

Not to interrupt the Laker celebration again but I heard a couple Celtic related rumors tonight that I alluded to before.  Apparently Danny Ainge is throwing a bunch of stuff out there to see if anyone will bite.  Ray Allen and Rondo to Phoenix for Leandro Barbosa and Amare Stoudamire was one deal.  And the other is Kendrick Perkins and last years 2nd rd. pick Bill Walker to Memphis for the #2 overall pick in this years draft.  I don't like the Perkins deal at all, he's developed into a very serviceable starting center and has proved he can guard true big men.  Of course playing alongside KG probably helps.  The first deal is interesting.  Barbosa could play the point but obviously is much less of a true point than Rondo.  Much better shooter, which would offset the loss of Allen somewhat.  And Amare would make their frontcourt quite scary.  I'd hate to give up Rondo, as he's improved so much over the last couple of years.  He really looks like he'll be a top flight PG in this league for years to come, and those are hard to come by.  Then again, plenty of teams have won without top flight PG's.

I'm not in favor of either deal, but the first one is at least intriguing.

[D]

U have to remember

before KG and Allen, Danny Ainge was one of the worst GM's in sports. He was Kevin Mchale


If he trades Rajon Rondo, Boston are finished.

U have KG, so where is Amare gonna play?

Barbosa is no starting PG

Rondo had one of the best playoffs of anybody. Didn't he even average a triple double or close to it in that one series?

[Ignatius]

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.

Great Gasol pic.

We are very proud of him here. He's been all over the news, newspaper, TV shows....

He's without a doubt the best basketball player in history that's ever come out from Spain.

I always knew he was going to win a ring (or two) with the lakers. This guy is a winner, he's won the Champions league and all national titles with Barcelona.  He's now won the NBA title, rookie of the year, World champion with Spain...I knew he was going do whatever it took to adapt to the triangle offense and  to whatever was that the lakers demanded from him, specially on the defensive end and boards.

Now if ony Bynum was fit (physically and mentally) for a whole year, this duo could be just as good as Robinson/Duncan or Olayuwon/Sampson.

Oh and BTW, for once I agree with th "D". The Celts would lose if they traded Rondo. In my books, he's got the potential to be one of the greatest point guards in the game within a few years and he's young. The celtics need him to build around him once the big three is out of the ecuation.

[LunsJail]

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.

  Good point, still one of the most one-sided trades I've ever seen. How do the Lakers always seem to pull these things off?

[CheapJon]

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.

  Good point, still one of the most one-sided trades I've ever seen. How do the Lakers always seem to pull these things off?

true, except when losing shaq, you could almost say that it took 5 years to rebound from that

[D]

If LA don't steal Pau. They are nowhere near a Title. All this bullshit of Kobe winning it alone 

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Who in the world said Kobe won it alone??

He had 11 other guys on the team!!!!!

That's ridiculous.

[pilferk]

I keep making excuses for Ray, what can I say?  Being from Connecticut, I watched him at UConn.  He has one of the sweetest shots ever.  So I guess I have a soft spot for the guy.  Only one other UConn Husky played for the C's, and that's one I'd like to forget.  Trader Rick Pitino signed Travis Knight to a ridiculous contract to be the starting center after being a serviceable backup for Shaq on the Lakers for a few seasons.  I think Knight is still collecting checks from the Celtics.   

I hate it when you're in my head....STOP THAT!!

I feel the same way, on all counts.  Just like I have a soft spot for Ben Gordon over on the Bulls (and whereever he ends up next year).  I did a "happy dance" when Ray was traded to the C's.  I pray they do not let him go.

I THINK the Celts will be in good shape next year, but...everyone on that team is another year older.  They're going to need to do some fancy footwork to keep everyone healthy.

I say keep Ray, but look for a younger guy who can eat up some of those additional minutes, and try to make another run.

And anyone hearing the buzz about Shaq to Cleveland???

Oh, and congrats to the Lakers....

[D]

Who in the world said Kobe won it alone??

He had 11 other guys on the team!!!!!

That's ridiculous.

Sports talking heads on TV

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Who in the world said Kobe won it alone??

He had 11 other guys on the team!!!!!

That's ridiculous.

Sports talking heads on TV

I wish I got the same channels you're getting! 

Because all I'm getting is the usual BSPN hate and reading crap articles by fucksticks (yes, I said that) like Bill Simmons and Dan Shaughnessy, who really needs to drink bleach and die.

I'm off to buy my championship gear.

[crow316]

If LA don't steal Pau. They are nowhere near a Title. All this bullshit of Kobe winning it alone

A) Nobody is saying Kobe won it alone. They are saying he did it without Shaq.

and B)  Just to remind you, before we got Pau, and Bynum was healthy having 20-10 nights all the time, we had the best record in the west, and I think the league at the time. , and we were ranked #1 in the power rankings. Who knows what would have happened if Bynum didnt go down that first time.  But to say we were "nowhere near a title" is flat out wrong.

All that dosent matter anyways.  Lakers are the champs.

[Bodhi]

I wish I got the same channels you're getting! 

Because all I'm getting is the usual BSPN hate and reading crap articles by fucksticks (yes, I said that) like Bill Simmons and Dan Shaughnessy, who really needs to drink bleach and die.

Do you guys get a different feed from ESPN /TNT on the West coast?  Over here, all the media does is suck Kobe's dick 24/7 no matter what he does.  Whether he is raping girls or winning MVP's they are constantly kissing his ass.  Seriously, the Lakers get all the calls from the refs, David Stern loves Kobe, and ESPN just ranked the Lakers as the greatest franchise in the history of the NBA.  Watching the playoffs, if Kobe got to the free throw line on a routine drive to the basket the announcers were acting like it was the greatest play in the last 20 years.  Where is all this "hate" coming from?

[D]

If LA don't steal Pau. They are nowhere near a Title. All this bullshit of Kobe winning it alone

A) Nobody is saying Kobe won it alone. They are saying he did it without Shaq.

and B)  Just to remind you, before we got Pau, and Bynum was healthy having 20-10 nights all the time, we had the best record in the west, and I think the league at the time. , and we were ranked #1 in the power rankings. Who knows what would have happened if Bynum didnt go down that first time.  But to say we were "nowhere near a title" is flat out wrong.

All that dosent matter anyways.  Lakers are the champs.

Sure and u barely beat Orlando with Pau and Andrew

Take Pau off LA's team this year and they don't get past Houston

[crow316]

Sure and u barely beat Orlando with Pau and Andrew

Take Pau off LA's team this year and they don't get past Houston

Winning in 5 is barely beating Orlando?   Thats funny.   
And whats your point about Pau?  I never said he wasnt important to this championship. Take any important starter off of a championship squad, and you can say that they "wouldnt have won if."  Point is, we do have Pau, and we did beat Houston.
What I did say, is what a lot of people forget.  The Lakers were rolling last season before Bynum went down and we acquired Pau.

[w.axl.rose]

Finally got to see the destruction from the riots and who is the first person i noticed in that video??? Garry, throwing bricks at the buss windows 

[D]

Sure and u barely beat Orlando with Pau and Andrew

Take Pau off LA's team this year and they don't get past Houston

Winning in 5 is barely beating Orlando?   Thats funny.   
And whats your point about Pau?  I never said he wasnt important to this championship. Take any important starter off of a championship squad, and you can say that they "wouldnt have won if."  Point is, we do have Pau, and we did beat Houston.
What I did say, is what a lot of people forget.  The Lakers were rolling last season before Bynum went down and we acquired Pau.

Yes  Orlando barely beat themselves.

Game 2 was Orlando's, Howard hits 1 FT they win game 4

so yeah, Orlando should've won like Boston last year but choked.

LA had nothing to do with Lee missing that bunny or Howard missing those FT's or Turk missing 4 FT's in the 4th quarter of game 4.

[AxlsMainMan]

Finally got to see the destruction from the riots and who is the first person i noticed in that video??? Garry, throwing bricks at the buss windows 

I saw him flipping over cars on the National myself.

[crow316]

Shoulda, woulda, coulda, man. LA put themselves in positions to win in both of those games. Its fuckin basketball, of course you can say "we coulda won if I made my  shots."  Both games that you point out WENT TO OVERTIME.  They started over. EVEN. And Orlando got beat. Plain and simple.
Game 2 wasnt Orlando's.  Sure it was close and Orlando had a shot at winning, but it wasnt "their" game.

LA had nothing to do with Lee missing that bunny or Howard missing those FT's or Turk missing 4 FT's in the 4th quarter of game 4.

They sure had a lot to do with capitalizing on that, though. Which is what the game is all about.  I know you like to play the "what if" game a lot. So, What if Kobe didnt miss his freethrows in Game 3? Its a sweep.  By your logic, Orlando's lone win in the series is because Kobe missed his freethrows. So Orlando didnt even really "win" that one game, the Lakers just lost it, right?