Dagger

You all know much of a Kobe fan I am - haven't always liked the way he's carried himself, but as a complete player, there have been none better in the last 4 or 5 years. With that said, I've also never been one to say Kobe is "on the same level" with Jordan - never. BUT, what he did in the second half of that game was nothing short of amazing. 26 points in the second half, 17 in the fourth. There was no chance he was coming out in that second half (more on this later).

Unfortunately for Duncan, Kobe's performance (and Laker win) over-shadowed his remarkable game and yet again showed why he's the best at his position in the game...and has been for some time. Triple double in a losing effort - ain't that a bitch. And how Tony Parker is able to get to the basket like he does I'll never understand. They simply wore out against a younger and more athletic Laker team - they'll be back...they always do. Horry has to retire...HAS to retire. He's got 7 rings and was a huge liability against a younger, stronger Odom. Great career for the Will Smith stunt double, but it's time to hang it up.

Other than that the Spurs have their core locked in for the next 2 seasons so I imagine they won't drift far from the top 2 or 3 teams in the West anytime soon. Their management/coaches have proved themselves plenty of times in building this team and maintaining this talent.

Gasol:
So if you read my last post you may have come away thinking I'm a Gasol "hater". Not true. I have been critical of his play as of late primarily because of his softness. I may need someone to give me an intervention on Gasol because I swear to everything Holy I was cursing his name left and right during the entire game. Funny thing happened when the game ended - I read the box score and saw his stats......I then went and banged my head against a brick wall a few times, re-read the stat sheet and fainted. 12 points, 19 rebounds (10 offensive), and 5 assists. Wh-wh-wh-whaaaat? When in the hell did he do that? I guess I stand corrected because I will take those numbers on any day against any team in any situation.

He's clearly a finesse player (like most European players) and that's not a bad thing. If all stays constant, will be very interesting to see how he plays with Bynum down low and back at the power forward position - his natural spot. Unfortunately, him moving from a 5 to a 4 doesn't make him a tougher/more physical player - that's going to have to come from somewhere else on this team.

Zen Master:
Two things that were such brilliant and ballsy moves by Phil that you don't realize until it's analyzed after the fact. First, they were down by 17 in the second quarter with the second team in the game...and he kept them in for 4 to 6 minutes and maintained his rotation. No way any other coach would have done that...not in a second. Odom, Kobe and Gasol on the bench for that stretch.....and thos second-teamers cut the lead by a few points. That's confidence.

Second, he played that second half like it was a MUST WIN even though he was up 3-1. The beauty of that was he was right. You gotta think most would agree that if San Antone could pull out that win in LA they would most definitely find a way to win game 6 in the River City. And no way the Lakers, Jackson or anyone wanted any part of a game 7. He knew he needed that win and coached like it. I'm not positive, but I believe Kobe played every second of that second half. And he should have. Win this one and you're off for a week.

Kobe:
If you ever wonder if Kobe is attacking these playoffs with a greater sense of urgency than anyone else, look at his playoff averages: 32 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Better yet, his performance in the last two close-out games has been astonishing. 30+ in both games and a HUGE fourth quarter in both.

I previously wrote on this blog about my worry with either/both teams in the East, but after last night, I just feel there's no way Kobe will let this team lose a series. Another key element is home court advantage - in that the Lakers no longer have it regardless of who wins the east. But, the beauty of the finals is the format is 2-3-2 so three straight games in LA won't hurt.

Regardless, Kobe seems to be doing what ever he wants, when ever he wants to against some very, very good teams. You've likely heard it before, but the Lakers are 0-2 against the Celtics this year, but that was before the Gasol trade and before Kobe turned into a freak in the playoffs. It's hard to say if the Celtics are under performing or if it's just the parity in the league, but based on what I'm seeing right now, no one is playing with as much confidence and as well as the Lakers. Not making any projections, but I'm clearly much more confident than I was just 24 hours ago.

Random Thoughts (Some Sports, Some Not):

• Very random, but there's a great show that had a short stint on FX (I think) called Firefly - I got into it via a former co-worker (DBell) and they randomly had a marathon on the sci-fi channel (which has some crazy shit on it if you ever check that channel out) and was able to record them. Sort of a sci-fi/western show - very entertaining so check it out if you stumble on it. They made a movie about the show a few years back called Serenity - show is better.
  
• I'm going to ask this yet again - why has it become a foregone conclusion that Greg Oden is going to elevate the Blazers to an elite team in a very strong conference? I still don't get that - WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HE CAN DO AGAINST PREMIER COMPETITION!! Half of a college season - that's all we've seen. AND, his obvious weaknesses are easily exposed in this league. Not saying he'll completely suck, but to assume he's going to elevate this team to premier status is a bit overzealous.
  
• Do the crazy people out there realize how similar Obama's and Clinton's proposed policies are? Seriously. The organized Democrats may be facing an implosion of mass proportion - who amongst us can look away? It's funny....it's just not ha-ha funny.
• One more note on the election front - it's interesting how no one was putting up a fuss over Michigan and Florida 6-10 months ago when it was announced that their delegates would not be seated at the convention (because they blatantly and intentionally broke the rules that were crystal clear). Now all of a sudden it's a big deal, huh Hillary? The funnier thing is if she were winning she wouldn't give two hoots about it and Obama would be screaming his head off about it - stupid politicians.... Look, I know the rules were probably asinine and I'd be lying to you if I said I understood it, but the fact remains: they knew exactly what they were doing when they did it and they knew exactly what the consequences would be. Given that there should really be no debate/question as to whether or not those delegates should be allowed to be seated. The best part you ask? Now they've gone in and compromised to seat half of them. OK, so now we remove the accountability and responsibility part about following the rules? Stellar work guys.
  
• I don't watch WNBA, but rookie Candice Parker is pretty damn impressive - she may dominate the league for the next few years.
  
• Saw a headline on the Bush allegations at USC - is that still going on? Between that and OJ Mayo incident it may be a long year for USC.
• Well, I didn't follow as much as I normally do this year, but Texas' baseball season ended on Sunday with a loss to Rice in the regional championships.
  
• Saw a few new movies this weekend as it was a lay-low weekend at our house: Michael Clayton was pretty darn good, very entertaining. Oceans 13...I liked it better the first time when it was called Oceans 11. Seriously, stop making these movies. And finally, I'm not ashamed to admit I rented and watched Rambo (wife wasn't around for this one). By a mile the most violent and at times, disturbing movie I've ever seen. Seriously, I'm not a wuss about superfluous violence in most instances, but this was just way too much. Some of the graphic scenes (and there were A LOT) were just way too overboard. And I swear to you right here and now I only understood about a third of what Stallone was saying throughout the entire movie. As you may have guessed, this was a "film" where dialogue was not important/necessary.
  
• I'm ready for football season already...
  

That's what I got folks - enjoy the week.

On The Ropes

Soak it in Spurs fans, your age is catching up with you. It's not over yet, but you have a tough road ahead of you. BUT, the Spurs are the only team in the league who I think can come out of this hole. Not saying they will, but they are more than capable.

Huge win for the Lakers - absolutely huge. No one can deny that the Lakers completely out played the Spurs for 99% of the game, but they just got lax like they have a tendency to do at times. The whole game it seemed that the Lakers were on the verge of blowing the thing open while it seemed the Spurs were just hanging on and it took everything out of them just to climb to within 2 before the Lakers would score 4 straight - that was the story of the game.

I do have to mention the officiating - it was a really, REALLY bad night for this crew. In the first half they were making bad calls on both sides, but the second half really saw the Spurs get the benefit of the doubt the vast majority of the time. There were 2 instances that stood out that might make most Spurs fans vehemently disagree. The first was the call on Barry with under 2 minutes that sent Odom to the line (he made 1 of 2). Not sure I saw a foul. The second was the last play of the game. BUT, I will say, that was a good no call an I assure you Pop didn't call the "fake a shot 10 feet behind the 3 point line and then dribble into him." Barry blew the call. Think about it like this - if you're an official and it's a 2 point game in the Conference finals chances are good that you're thinking "no way I'm blowing this whistle unless someone gets absolutely butchered". Like I said, that was a good no call.

If Barry was smart he would have immediately jumped straight into Fisher while throwing up a shot to REALLY draw the foul - why in the world did he dribble? I know Barry had the hot hand, but not sure I agree with him getting the shot in the most important game of your year. But what do I know.

Odom had a pretty good bounce-back game compared with game 3 - he played very hard. He did get into some foul trouble, but he did a good job of staying in the game till the end. Fisher started out looking good, but he really struggled most of the night and took a pretty bad shot there in the final 10 seconds or so. And Luke Walton - my gosh, that guy makes me absolutely crazy. I'm cursing his name one minute, the next I see him pull an offensive rebound and score 4 points in like 35 seconds. I don't know what to think about him - I can't talk about it.

Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe. Look at the stat sheet and you'll call me crazy, but he had his worst overall game of the series I believe. He really forced the issue way too much, especially at the end - what the hell was he thinking?? I know he was frustrated as the team as a whole struggled shooting the ball from outside (AND missed quite a few easy shots...again). He'll learn from this and he'll be better on Thursday - if he reads the press clippings he'll be spectacular, I think he'll get hammered a bit by the press.

(Sidenote: Very interesting article about Kobe Bryant here - especially the interview with current/former teammates, coaches, scouts, etc. Really makes me think about him and what he says/how he plays in a whole new way. Check it out: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/chris_ballard/05/27/kobe0602/index.html?eref=T1)

One more thing on the Lakers - remember when Pao Gasol played for the Lakers? Where the hell has this guy gone? Seriously, the more I see this guy the more I think we REALLY need Bynum to come back and be healthy. If Gasol's shot is on (those little four footers), he can give you 18-24 points, but if not...rrriiiiight. I've learned a lot about Pao - namely he can't defend Tim Duncan AT ALL. I'm not saying he should stop one of the best players in the league every time, but try and keep him from getting 29 and 14 every freaking night. He can't rebound worth a poop and his passing skills are decent. I'm not sure this team can be a championship team without a Bynum (or someone else) who can really pound the boards and make the big men of the league work for theirs - Duncan makes scoring on Gasol look like any of us could do it....every single time. I don't mean to sound overly negative, I'm definitely happy he's on the team, but I'm also watching A LOT more of Gasol than I ever have and I'm getting to know what he's all about. He's the type of player who can play well into his late 30s/early 40s, but will never be the physical presence that teams need. Seriously, when I think about what Bynum was doing before his injury and what having him and Gasol could look like, I start to salivate.

Now, about those Spurs. Like I said, I truly believe (seriously, I know) the Lakers out played the Spurs for the vast majority of this game. They used their experience and their toughness to keep it close and claw back when they needed to. But, like I mentioned earlier, they just look exhausted. I don't think their Big 3 had much rest tonight and it showed late - making mental errors and coming up short on their shots. Still not counting them out just yet, but I'm not sure what else they've got in the tank and they're going back to LA in less than 48 hours.

Here's how I picked it (not publicly on this blog, but privately to some readers of this blog):
Lakers win games 1 and 2
Spurs win game 3
Lakers win game 4
Spurs win games 5 and 6
Lakers win game 7

I'm not fully discounting this theory, but I'm certainly not as confident in the Spurs winning the next 2 games based on how they played tonight....at home. We'll see, but like I said, if any team can do it, the Spurs can.

I will also concede this - should the Lakers advance, I'm not very confident in playing either of the Eastern Conference teams - bad matchups with both of them. But we'll cross that bridge when it comes.