Go Lakers!

[jjwr]

Well my Celtics are done, the Nets beat them therefore I can't root for them and that leaves the Lakers vs the Kings.

3rd Quarter, tie game....great series, heres hoping the Lakers pull it out.....and my reasoning?

Well I'm not really a Lakers fan, but as I said I don't want to root for the Nets and I really dislike the Kings so that leaves the Lakers.

If the Lakers lose tonight I don't think I'll even bother watching the NBA finals.....Kings vs Nets....yawn....neither team really interests me.

Probably be a great series but I don't think it'll be fun to watch.

So if Lakers win I'll watch, otherwise I probably won't bother. No biggy, theres always SportsCenter!

[Jedieb]

BOOOOOOOOOOOO LAKERS!!!

[Lady Vader]

*Clobbers Jedieb.*

:crack GO LAKERS!!! :crack

And if they do lose, I'll probably do what jjwr said: Not even bother watching the NBA Finals. Instead I'll go watch E2 again! :lol

[CMJ]

Damn I hate the lakers...I'm not from here...I don't have to like them. :P

[Jedieb]

The lucky bastards won again. I don't think the Nets stand a chance against them. I think I'LL be skipping these finals. Now excuse me, I have to go put some ice on throbbing head. Thanks Lady Vader, some lady! >_<

[Lady Vader]

:lol

I am a lady... but who said I acted like one?! :p;)

Well, guess I will be watching the finals. Here comes another heart attack! O_o

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well the Lakers weren't lucky, the Kings just blew it when you miss as many foul shots that they did you don't deserve to win. Plus they played really sloppy in the 4th quarter and OT some of those shots were just horrible.
Now for the Finals, I thought the Nets matched up well with the Kings but the Lakers I am not sure, the problem will be inside is there anybody on there team that can stop Shaq? Sure Kidd will be brilliant and he will have to be to even have a chance, but if they can't stop Shaq or even slow him down I doubt they will win. Lakers in 5

[Jedieb]

The Kings were the only team that matched up against L.A. But their 4th quarter performance was horrible. Have you ever seen a team shoot free throws so poorly in a game 7? And the horrible 3pt shots at the end of regulation and in OT. The Lakers made clutch shots, the Kings didn't, there's the difference. Bibby and Webber played their hearts out, but the team made too many mental mistakes. Webber never should have been in the position to play Shaq. But Divac made too many boneheaded fouls down the stretch.

I also don't see how the Nets can match up. Shaq will run wild. I just don't see how they're going to stop him.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Who is there Center? I know Kittles, Kidd, Van Horne all start but I can't think who is there starting center is? Actually this series reminds me of the Lakers vs the Pacers a few years ago, they couldn't stop Shaq and that is why they lost, now the difference is that series went 6 and that was because the Pacers had the experience in Miller, Jackson, etc to keep them around the Nets, besides Kidd, have never been in this kind of postion.

[dbn]

When will the bleeding stop?
AotC's falling at the boxoffice!
Lakers back AGAIN!!
Dallas Cowboys have not won a super bowl in over 5 years!!!

WILL IT EVER END!?!?!!?!?;)

[JonathanLB]

My Blazers got unfairly beaten in game 3 thanks to bad officiating combined with two really lucky shots, one by Horry and one by Kobe, and that was a game I was attending. It was painful, but I figured the Blazers would lose to the Lakers eventually, so ok...

Then the Avs lose to the Red Wings, kinda annoyed me as I had followed the Avs for a while now and I was pulling for them.

Look, hey, it is a sport and I don't want to argue over a sport but I will say what I have to say and then I will not be reading this thread again because the subject just frustrates me.

Here is how it was, like it or not, and I know I don't like it:

Game 4 -- Lakers win because of a three point shot at the buzzer in the first half that counted, when in fact it was in the hands of the Lakers player as time expired. The Lakers won this game by 1 point, so that basket very much did make the difference. Kings led by 14 at the half, yet it should have been 17. The argument that the Lakers would have "tried harder" because they were three more points down is not valid because 14 and 17 are both huge deficits; they knew they'd have to play hard, and they played their hardest to come back. They won on a lucky bounce to Horry, but Horry's shot was not lucky, it was skilled. He is a good shot, he has proven it time and again, but the BOUNCE to him was quite lucky as it could have bounced anywhere.

Kings won game 4 according to the score, but the incorrect scoring of the game by the officials actually handed the game to the Lakers, sending the series to a 2-2 tie when it was in fact 3-1 Kings. The Kings won game 5, which should have ended the series 4-1.

Now, that didn't happen because of bad officiating, so we go to game 6.

Again, game 6 was a Kings win, not a Lakers win, but the officials also handed this game to the Lakers. Kobe absolutely threw Bibby down in front of the ref, yet there was no call. Pollard's 6th foul was incorrect; he never fouled on that play and the announcers said as much. 92-90 Kings lead, Webber drove to the basket and was called for an incorrect offensive foul. The Lakers player, which I believe was Horry, was not planted and his feet were very much still moving. Furthermore, you could see it was a flop on the replay clear as day. This was a momentum shifting play as the Kings should have went up 94-90. Webber DID make the shot, which was actually shot at the same time as the foul was called, so had the foul been against the Lakers, as it should have been (blocking foul, it is a rule in the NBA that a player cannot block an offensive player unless his feet are set), then the Kings would have led 94-90 with a chance for a three-point play to make it 95-90, but I will make no assumptions on that one. You decide whether Webber will have made it, it's about a 60% chance, hehe.

The Kings also won game 6, then, but the officials stole this game from them despite the fact they did win it.

After 6 games, the Kings won 5 of them, but this was not enough for the Lakers and the refs and the league and the network. Nope. They had to play a 7th and deciding game, despite winning the series much earlier 4-1, regardless of whether you understood the officiating in game 6, they already lost much before that. They lost yet again in game 6, and that should have ended the series 4-2, despite it ending 4-1 the previous game.

In game 7, the officiating was *mostly* quite good and the Kings DID lose themselves. The Lakers won this game fair and square, I believe, and the bad calls against the Kings were not the reason for their failure to win. It was in fact the poor free throw shooting, some of the worst I have ever seen in a playoff game or probably any game, that killed the Kings. So the Lakers actually won game 7 fair and square. The refs had a few questionable calls, for instance Pollard's foul late in the game, which was by no means a foul on Shaq, and then Divac's 6th foul was also incorrect. Kobe and Divac collided in incidental contact, neither had the ball at the time, which was loose, and Divac made no move to keep Kobe away for it. Both were going for the ball and neither fouled the other. As I said, incidental contact. Not having Divac in overtime could very well have cost the Kings the game because Shaq dominated, scoring I believe 6 of the Lakers 12 points. Had Divac been in there, it could have been entirely different. So am I saying the refs again contributed to the Lakers victory? I am saying that, yes, but I'm also saying that in this case, I did not believe it was the bias of the refs but the lackluster play of the Kings that lost them game 7. Therefore, I believe the Lakers won a fair and square game 7.

The fact remains, though, that the Lakers only won 2 of the 7 games in the series, which should not have been enough to advance to the NBA Finals as they were not the better basketball team. In fact, anyone who watched the series would agree that the Lakers were badly outplayed for the majority of the time, which is exactly why they lost the majority of games.

So am I upset because the Lakers won and the Lakers are a team I hate? No, that's wrong. I am upset because the best team, the team that won four games in the series, does not get a chance to play for a championship. Instead, we have an inferior basketball team representing the West against a badly outmatched East team that will, nonetheless, lose in 6 games.

You know what makes me feel the worst? I am just a sports fan here, so I have a right to be frustrated at the incorrect outcome much as I am still mad that the Patriots lost in the playoffs yet somehow managed to get credit for a victory that never was theirs (I love the Patriots, actually, but I do not like to see this as a sports fan; I want the best team to win and that didn't happen because of an official, which really is sad to me). As a sports fan, I have nothing really riding on any game as I do not gamble and I do not play for the teams and I do not own them. So what makes me feel the worst? I feel bad for Mike Bibby. I feel bad for Chris Webber. I feel bad for Vlade Divac. I feel bad for Rick Adelman. I feel bad for the entire Kings organization because they know in their hearts they won this series, and it hurts all the more because they know that no matter how hard they tried, the officials and the league ignored their achievements and awarded favor to the big city team. That must really hurt. They fought their hearts out and worked as hard as any team can and in the series, they proved they are the better team. They proved their team deserves to be World Champions, but it did not matter. You try stomaching that if you are an NBA player. Next year is a long ways off, this summer is a longer summer than you've ever had before, and you have to live with this series for the rest of your life with the full knowledge that your basketball team won had it not been for the officials interfering with the play on the court. To me, that is really a shame. I feel sorry for those bunch of guys, many of whom I do not even like, and I hate to see a team like the Lakers luck their way into the finals. I'd rather see them earn their trip than be given a full ride.

Today was a very sad day for sports when something like that can happen. I wish that it only happened in boxing. We all know that sport was tainted many years ago, but the sting of this series combined with the Patriots incorrect Super Bowl victory really hurts as a sports fan. Do you know how badly I wanted the Yankees to win last year? But they didn't, and it had NOTHING to do with officials -- it was the excellent pitching and play of the Diamondbacks and they proved without a doubt in my mind that they were the better team, as much as I love my Yankees. That was not controversial. That was one team simply outplaying another team and winning fair and square. I wish I could have seen the same in basketball or in football.

I guess there's always golf and the NHL, two sports I do not feel the officials control hardly at all, compared to basketball where the officials own the league and are absolutely beyond reproach. They are above questioning and, unlike any other job, they are not evaluated on their performance hardly at all. In football, at least you have instant replay, which mostly managed to fix the problems, but the officials still have too much power and bad things can happen (i.e. the Patriots).

I will also not be watching the Lakers-Nets series. Best of luck to the Nets, I hope they can manage to play respectably, but I am not interested in seeing a team that LOST their conference finals series playing in the NBA finals. The wrong West team is there. I do not support mistakes and I will not help NBC's ratings, so forget about it.

[jjwr]

Game 4 -- Lakers win because of a three point shot at the buzzer in the first half that counted, when in fact it was in the hands of the Lakers player as time expired. The Lakers won this game by 1 point, so that basket very much did make the difference. Kings led by 14 at the half, yet it should have been 17

This made no sense when you first said it Jon......one shot does not a game make. It was the wrong call, simple as that. But your going to say that if they had ruled that one shot off that the entire second half of basketball would have been exactly the same as it was after it counted? Basketball is a game of emotion, the emotions are different after something like that, that is the big X factor your forgetting. These aren't machines, they're people with minds and things will be different depening on what is happening.

Had it not counted they may have lost by 10 or won by 10.....what if it missed, Kings go into the lockers quite full of themselves and come out flat, Lakers make a run and put the game out of reach. There is way too much involved in a game to say one shot made before halftime would have turned the game had it missed.


Kings won game 4 according to the score, but the incorrect scoring of the game by the officials actually handed the game to the Lakers, sending the series to a 2-2 tie when it was in fact 3-1 Kings. The Kings won game 5, which should have ended the series 4-1.

Another unfair extrapolation.....had the Lakers lost that game and gone down 3-1 would they have lost the next game? These are the Lakers, back to the wall, 2 time defending champion. You think the game might have been at least a little different if the season was on the line?

I'm going to admit right now the officiating in Game 6 was very bad, there was some calls against the Kings that were flat out horrible and shouldn't have been called.

Now for the devils advocate side....Shaq fouls out with about 3 mins to go in a close game 5.......The Lakers were getting horrible calls in Game 5, the Kings got horrible calls in Game 6....Game 7 was even....go figure. Theres a great article on ESPN right now about how officiating can vary so much one extreme(Game 5) to the next(Game 6)......basically the coaches whine and complain and the refs listen....but does that mean they'll call in favor of the coach who complains the most? Great article touches on all this, but my point is they both got totally hosed in one game, the other games were 2-2 and the Lakers won the deciding game....simple as that.


In game 7, the officiating was *mostly* quite good and the Kings DID lose themselves

Sour grapes aside Game 7 was officated very well, some bad calls on both sides but it was fair.

The fact is out there, plain as day, with a trip to the NBA finals on the line the Kings just couldn't do it. They didn't step up and make the shots they needed to push them to the next level, the Lakers did. On paper the Kings should have won this series but the Lakers always found ways to score, either Shaq putting them, shaq cutting to the hoop or Horry/Fox hitting jumpers, they always found a way, the Kings could not.

Anyone recall the look on Webbers face at the end of the overtime? The Kings needed a shot, down by 2, if they score it stays tied, if they miss the Lakers get the ball and can go up by 4 with not much time left....bad mojo. Where was Webber? The look on his face said it all, he didn't want the ball, he wasn't ready. You show a picture of Kobe in the same situation and I guarantee you he won't look beaten, he'll have a look of determination on his face and do everything he can to score.

The only person that seemed to watn the bal at the end was Bibby, Christie took a 3 but it was awefull and as the announcers pointed out it didn't even look as if he wanted the ball. Where was Webber? Their best player and he was invisible in what was probably the biggest game of his career.

The Divac call......it was a good call, Kobe had a bead on the ball and Divac took him out, with all his flopping and whining he's hardly gonna get calls, thats his own fault, but that was a good call.

Kings also couldn't hit free throws, in a game 7 to decide who goes to the championship they miss 14 or so free throws....its a testament to how good of a team they are that the game went into overtime. Had they hit them the game would have most likely been over, but they gave the Lakers a opportunity and they took it.

On a tangent for a moment, I'm mainly a NFL film(as far as TV goes)...I like watching basketball but its something I much rather play/coach, whereas football isn't overly easy to play around here.

I'm also a New Englander and huge Patriots fan, if your worried about bad calls check their game against the Steelers next round for some flat out horrible officiating. As odd as it was the Raiders call was the correct call by the rules. Yes it looked as if he was doing something else with the ball but he had the ball tucked and as they can't judge exactly his intent they called it by the rules....heck the NFL is keeping that rule for this coming year, its a good rule!

When I was watching the game and Brady lost the ball I turned the TV off....my beloved Patriots after this great run just fumbled the ball away in the playoffs...game over. I decided to turn it back on and see what was going on.......it was being reviewed!!! At first I didn't understand it and when the call was made I wasn't sure what the deal was but I was really happy it was called. At that point I didn't care if it was the correct call....being a Patriots fan I always watch sportscenter after the games and this was no different. Right off the bat they had NFL experts saying it was the correct call, heck the next day the head of the NFL officiating demostrated it and how it was correct. Controversial but correct.

Unlike the NBA the NFL is very public about its ref's making the wrong call and will say when it does.

Even if it was the wrong call the Raiders had every chance to win that game, 3rd and longs, 4th and longs and their defense couldn't stop anything. The Patriots got lucky the ref knew the call and then played the better football to win the game. A 45 yarder in that snow? Then again in OT......heck most of us probably wouldn't drive that far in a snowstorm like that :)

The biggest problem with NBA and officials is so much of it is the refs opinion on the matter at hand.....charges, fouls, etc....and thats why you see so many bad calls. These guys are such good athletes they move so quick that I'm sure the refs are having a hard time keeping up with it and do miss calls.

Speaking of poor refs.....whats up with baseball Umpires? You'd think they'd all use the same strike zone and call things fair....those guys are just as screwed up as the rest.

Anyways, regardless what happened the rest of the series the Kings had every chance to win that series but they didn't, the Lakers are the 2 time defending champions and they know how to win games. Thats something the Kings still need to learn. I do feel sorry for Bibby but he's the only one, the guy's been stuck on a bad team for years and he carried this team at the end when everyone else decided to take a 17 minute vacation in the 4th and OT......when the game needed to be brought to another level the Kings weren't up to the task, a lot of that should fall on Webbers shoulder's, he's their best overall player and should have had the ball in the 4th but he didn't.

I'm not a huge Lakers fan, just rather watch them some more over the Kings, if they win again so what, my Celtics aren't there so no biggy. Just some opinions on the whole Kings/Lakers situation and that maybe it wasn't as bad as it seems.

[Lady Vader]

I'll agree the referees are either getting too old or need glasses. I saw some stuff that shouldn't have happened and did, and I'm rooting for the Lakers.

But is all this complaining neccessary? I mean, think about it. The Laker fans, had the Kings won, would be looking for as many excuses as the King fans are now. It's just the way life goes.

It just bugs me how so many have to complain.

My only consolation is that after Wednesday (I think that's when the finals are), everything will go back to normal and the damn country won't seem so split over a sports game. :rolleyes

[jjwr]

Some people definetly get carried away over a big loss.....there are reasons the King lost the series, but why is it always the Refs?

Refs are the easy way out, Lakers were hosed by refs in some games, Kings were hosed by refs in some games. But the Lakers played when it was needed most, thats something the Kings need to figure out to move onto the next level.

Lakers deserved the win, I'm assuming they're gonna win the series but they won't win again next year unless they get some great additions to the team.

[Live Wire]

The ref's weren't perfect and they had some bad calls and missed calls but in the end it all evens out. Winning or losing isn't the ref's thats just a copout.


As for game 7 the kings had it and they let it slip away. But they only had it cause of bibby! Bibby was killing us! His three pointers from the side were absolutely flawless and every time he headed for the side we started screaming noo!!!! Anyway thanks to overtime the lakers took it! So Im happy now. :D