The 2009/2010 NBA Season Thread

[D]

Drives me nuts when people say Kobe is in Jordan's league

NO


Kobe 4-2 in finals 1 mvp
jordan 6-0 6 mvps


Kobe played and won 3 titles with most dominate player in the game, Jordan WAS most dominate player in the game.

[crow316]

Dude, seriously bringin up that debate again?  Total MVPs are pointless, and just prove that Jordan played in a watered down league. Nash's MVPs should been Kobe's anyways. Neither player has a true weakness, really. Jordan got WAY more calls. Kobe has the ability to create and make more difficult shots than Jordan ever did. Its all a wash.  But it makes a fun and pointless debate.  Magic was better than Jordan, anyways.

[Ignatius]

Well you seem confident, and that's good.  A few things though.  Granted KG isn't quite as good as he was 2 years ago before he got injured, but he's playing A LOT better during the playoffs then he did all season long.  He's nearly back to his old self, so I wouldn't be so quick to think Pau and company will trample over him. 

KG's numbers speak for themselves. We've seen a significant drop in his contribuitions since 2008. However, he's still vital to the Celts cause he brings other intangibles to the franchise; leadership, experience, focus...but as far as contributions on the floor, I think he's far from where he was a few years back.

And admittedly the Lakers have a good frontcourt with a lot of size, but the C's are no slouches in that area with KG, Davis, Wallace, and Perkins.  I hear Bynum's draining of his knee didn't work out so well and he's not going to be anywhere near 100%, so that may be a bit of a blow to the formidable frontcourt.

Wallace plays more like a small forward these days. He's always looking to shot three's, so he'll probably be guarded by Bryant or Artest. That leaves Perkins, Garnett and cry-baby Davis. In theory, not strong enough to face the likes of Gasol, Odom, Bynum...

Don't forget about Ray Allen either, you didn't mention him at all.  He's still capable of catching fire and scoring 30 points on a given night.

True, but he's not going to score 20 every night. Allen can score 27 one day, but remain in single digits for the reminder of the series.

So it's far from just Pierce and Rondo, and I honestly don't see how they shut down both those guys anyway.  Who's guarding them, Artest and Kobe?  Then who guards Ray?  There's going to be a mismatch somewhere regardless.  Two years ago Kobe roamed free and paid little attention to Rondo.  I'm not so sure they can play that way and have the same success this time around.

To me if the lakers are able to stop these two by preventing a combined score of more than 40 points a night, the Lakers will be in business. It's obvious that is impossible to stop both players on every single night. The way Rondo has been playing and Pierce's clutchness, the Celts could have a chance if both players are smoking hot each and every night. I don't see that happening though.

I believe Jordan Farmar will play more than usual. He's most likely to play better defense on Rondo than Fisher. Kobe will eventually guard Rondo in given moments, but if Kobe plays hard on defense, he'll probably lose some intensity on the offensive end.

I still say Lakers in 6.

[w.axl.rose]

haha nice, i predicted in facebook we would win by 13 points and we did  i was wrong with kobes points though, i said he would score 37.

[faldor]

Ignatius, do you own a crystal ball?

Everything happened pretty much as you described it.  BUT, it's only one game.  I have to keep telling myself that at least.

I was very impressed with the Lakers though.  I didn't know they could play defense like that.  The C's could just never get into any rhythm on offense and the Lakers were pretty much able to do whatever they wanted for the most part on offense.  Honestly, I'm surprised the game was as close as it was, because it was a complete mismatch in my eyes.  The Celtics were able to stay within striking distance but you never got the feeling that they had it in them to make a serious run.

Gasol was impressive too.  He completely dominated the game, even moreso than Kobe.  Kobe did what was expected.  Now maybe you Laker fans expect that from Pau these days, but I certainly didn't.  He came up big and dwarfed KG, like Ignatius said he would.  Kevin was WAY too tentative, passing up open shots, etc.  And Ray Allen was in constant foul trouble so he was never able to get going.  I still think the Celtics have an advantage in the backcourt with Ray, Rondo, Pierce but they were never able to exploit it tonight due to foul trouble.  Refs called the game extremely tight tonight on both ends.  I'd like to see them let them play a little more as the series progresses.

Well, at least no one got hurt.  Other than that, not much positive to bring out of this one as a Celtic fan.

[Ignatius]

Ignatius, do you own a crystal ball?

I just live 9 hours ahead of LA, so I watched the match 9 hours earlier than you guys...

Gasol was impressive too.  He completely dominated the game, even moreso than Kobe.  Kobe did what was expected.  Now maybe you Laker fans expect that from Pau these days, but I certainly didn't.  He came up big and dwarfed KG, like Ignatius said he would.  Kevin was WAY too tentative, passing up open shots, etc.  And Ray Allen was in constant foul trouble so he was never able to get going.  I still think the Celtics have an advantage in the backcourt with Ray, Rondo, Pierce but they were never able to exploit it tonight due to foul trouble.  Refs called the game extremely tight tonight on both ends.  I'd like to see them let them play a little more as the series progresses.

I just don't think the softy reputacion was fair anymore. In 2008 he was indeed overwhelmed by the pressure, the moment...and things didn't really go his way. However, during the course of these two years, he's proved already he's gotten tougher. Not only he's much stronger than he was, but he's much more aggressive on both ends of the floor. Take a look at his rebound stats for instance. He's increased his boards per night by almost 30%.

Gasol is the kind of guy who makes things happen. He opens the floor, finds the open guy if he's been doubled, makes plays, he shoots well...he's an all around player. I know I talk a lot about what his teammates think of him, but recently I saw a video in which Kobe was asked "who's your favorite NBA player"? An he replied, Pau Gasol.

Here's a link some about Gasol's "softeness".

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/scott_howard_cooper/06/04/gasol.finals/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1

[faldor]

Yeah, Gasol certainly does look like a different player after watching him last night.  Granted, I'm just basing it off that one game and what you Laker fans have to say as I haven't seen that much of him the last 2 years.  But he was VERY impressive last night.  He was a force and the Celtics had no answer for him.  His teammates put him in great positions to succeed too.  Just an overall near perfect game for the Lakers.  If they can keep that up, they're going to be tough to beat.  I'd expect the Celtics to bounce back.  They did not play well.  They hung in there early on but lost control towards the end of the first half and were never able to get it back.  Hopefully Ray can stay out of foul trouble next game.  It's a tough task to guard Kobe though so it won't be easy.  I thought Tony Allen did a nice job on him but he's nowhere near the offensive player Ray is, so that had a negative effect on the Celtics gameplan.

Now we wait until Sunday.  This schedule is ridiculous.  You really need 2 days off to play in the same city?  For game 3 they fly across the country and only get 1 day off.  Yeah, seems logical.  I know it's all about TV and which days they want to air the games, but it's just ridiculous.

[fito_gnr]

I totally agree with you faldor about the schedule.. it's ridiculous!!

well, I think my beloved Lakers are going to celebrate in Boston!! hehe

[faldor]

I totally agree with you faldor about the schedule.. it's ridiculous!!

well, I think my beloved Lakers are going to celebrate in Boston!! hehe

I think they will celebrate in Boston too, meaning they'll probably win a game there.  Hopefully they won't be have THE celebration there though.  Game 2 is going to be pretty important for the C's because I just don't think they can beat LA 3 straight at home.  So if they lose game 2 AND 1 game in Boston, they'd be down 3-2, needing to win 2 in LA and I wouldn't like those odds.

Celtics were nearly unbeatable in Boston in 2008, but that's been far from the case this year.

[Malcolm]

Kobe..Chyea..It's Ya Boy, Young!

[w.axl.rose]

sad that the lakers lost but that was a good game. Ray Allen just killed us 

[faldor]

Ray Allen was just en fuego in the first half.  Rondo took things over in the second half.  Ray hits an NBA finals record 8 threes, Rondo gets a triple double.  And the Celtics overall defense was back to normal this time around, holding the Lakers to 40% shooting.

Once again, as long as the C's backcourt can stay out of foul trouble they have a huge advantage over the Lakers guards.  Kobe can only guard one guy back there and Fisher or whoever against either Ray or Rondo is advantage Celtics.  Showed that pretty clearly tonight.

On the flipside, it's become pretty apparent that the Lakers do in fact have a pretty sizeable advantage in the frontcourt.  Bynum and Gasol were beasts tonight.  KG was non existent until late in the 4th quarter.  Pierce was very quiet as well.  Both Artest and Odom were garbage for the Lakers.

And the refs continue to call the series way too tight.  Let them play.  Guys seem like they're playing the entire game in foul trouble.  Celtics bigs, Ray Allen in game 1, Kobe tonight.  Not to mention the Lakers went to the line 41 times tonight.  That's just ridiculous.  It was obvious they were making up for game one when the Celtics took 2 more free throws than the Lakers.  They weren't going to let that happen again.

One final thing.  I don't think I've ever seen a guy have as big a negative impact on a game in such a short time than Shelden Williams did tonight.  Throwing the ball away twice in the final 5 seconds of the first half was the LOWlight for him, but that wasn't the half of it.  Not sure what the +/- was for him, but it had to be - A LOT.  There's a reason he's been seldom used in these playoffs, and I'd be surprised if Doc calls upon him again.  He was just beyond awful.

[Ignatius]

Good win by the Celtics. Allen had to had a big night, and he did. Hopefully this is the last of him we see in the series.

Rondo was incredible, so was Rivers on that time out. Gasol had a bit night again with only 6 blocks.

Off to Boston now, hopefully the lakers are able to clinch a win or two.

[fito_gnr]

D Fish!!! he is amazing!!!

[faldor]

Ignatius, once again on the money with Ray Allen.  He was spectacular last game but as you said, he can disappear, and he did more than that tonight.  I think he tied for the worst shooting performance in Finals history going 0-13.  And he missed the layup at the end that was waved off because of a offensive foul by KG.

Fisher was huge down the stretch.  Celtics made a valiant effort to come back on the defensive end.  They just got down too big in the first half.  It was too much to overcome.  KG had a big game for the C's.  Once again though, one of the big 3 was in foul trouble.  It's been a different guy every game, tonight was Pierce's turn.  It'd be nice to avoid foul trouble one of these games.  Refs STILL calling things too tight.  Way too many NON shooting fouls being called.

Once again, I was very impressed with the Lakers overall defense.  I guess game 1 wasn't a fluke.  They've played spectacular defense in the two games they've won, something I didn't think they were capable of.  I thought they needed to score over 100 to win.  They're proving that that's not the case.

Well, I didn't expect the Celtics to win 3 at home.  However, I also didn't expect them to lose the first one at home either.  Now games 4 and 5 are must wins because you don't want to have to win 2 more in LA.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Shove broken glass up the Celtics ass.

"No means no?"

Fuck you.

[w.axl.rose]

Shove broken glass up the Celtics ass.

"No means no?"

Fuck you.

what happened to celtics in 4?

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Shove broken glass up the Celtics ass.

"No means no?"

Fuck you.

what happened to celtics in 4?

Obviously the Lakers showed up, which surprised me.

Did you hear that NO MEANS NO chant when Kobe was shooting free throws?  Weren't those the same fairweather fans chanting MVP three years ago?

[D]

I think Delonte West was sitting next to Ray Allen's Mom

[pilferk]

The officiating SUCKED last night.  I'm not saying it gave anyone an advantage (I don't think it did...it sucked on both sides of the ball) and I don't think it contributed (much) to the outcome...but it completely killed the flow of the game.

Ticky tack fouls, blown out of bounds calls that needed reviewing, missed foul calls....just horrible all the way around.  Made the game hard to watch...and I'd guess it made it hard to play, for both teams, too.  I suspect it kept a lot of the shooters out of rhythm....Kobe included.

I'm a Celts fan, and I've thought they'd lose in EVERY round except the first.  I didn't think they could be Cleveland, and they did.  I thought Orlando would be too much for them...and they won that series pretty handily.  I STILL think the Lakers are the better team this year, and I suspect they will win the series.  But at this point, I'm so used to the Celts pulling magic tricks that I wouldn't be shocked to see the Celts win the next 3 games by 20 points and cruise to a series win.  Surprised..but not shocked.  Ultimately, this series probably goes 6 or 7 games with the Lakers winning (much as it pains me to say it).

Go ahead Celts..prove me wrong again.