RSS
June 21, 2008
Lakers Postscript
This has been a very difficult post to write. The completely embarrassing game six that ended the Laker’s season was just very hard to stomach and left a lot of questions.
How does a team that two weeks ago was favored to win the NBA Finals against a Celtics team that struggled against the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers go out with that little resistance?
The Lakers were tough enough to beat the Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs, but that toughness dissipated when confronted with the Celtic’s swarming defense. While individually the Celtics players aren’t that much to write home about defensively, collectively they played smartly and ferociously.
Having said that, nothing excuses that game six debacle. It’s one thing to lose the deciding game of the NBA Finals, but it’s another thing to get blown out by 39 points. Rick Fox said it best on the Petros and Money show on AM 570 KLAC on Wednesday when he said, “[The Laker’s play] was close to insubordination in a lot of ways”. Rather than stick with the game plan, each player took the game into his own hands. The results speak for themselves.
What is perhaps more irritating than anything is how little hate there is for the Celtics in the city. Most people have been saying that they have to give a hand to the Celtics for the great job they did.
Excuse me, but what the fuck happened to Lakers fans?
A lot of people here have blasted me for being a bandwagon fan and a clown, but am I the only one who has this vitriol for the guys in green?
If it were the Cavaliers who won the title, that’s one thing. But the fact the Celtics won it and how they flaunted it throughout the fourth quarter is sickening.
That aside, now it’s time to focus on the Laker’s future and boy have the armchair GMs come out of the woodworks.
“Trade Lamar,” some say. “Get rid of Pau,” others say.
While it’s appealing to gut the team, it is not the time for Mitch Kupchak to get carried away for the first time in his GM career.
This youth-filled team made it to the NBA Finals.
Next year, Andrew Bynum will be back.
This team got their first taste of the spotlight, and they got their first bitter taste of failure in the process. As Vic the Brick likes to say, it’s all about the journey. In this playoff run, they will come out it a tougher team. Remember the Shaq-Kobe teams earlier this decade were routinely dispatched easily in the playoffs in the late 90s.
It was a remarkable year, and it was a remarkable failure at the end. But it’s over. Now time to enjoy baseball.
AP Photo by Winslow Townson
| 
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
[ report this ]
Boston sucks. Detroit sucks. I hated the old Celtics... Bird, McHale, Ainge, DJ, Chief, etc. The fact that KG, Pierce and Allen have roots in LA makes it somewhat different.
Game 6 was a debacle. Now it's time to suck it up and move forward. One thing is clear, the Lakers aren't tough enough in the middle. Maybe Bynum will change that. Maybe.
Last year at this time I thought KG was the answer to all our prayers. Tough as nails. I was willing to give away Lamar and Bynum + 1. I still stand by that today and would make the trade in a heartbeat. Kobe+KG+Fish and the Laker bench would have got the job done (sans Pau, sans Lamar, sans Bynum, sans Cook, etc.).
My second choice last year after KG was Artest. At the time, I thought the Pistons would be the Lakers greatest obstacle to a championship. I still think Artest is worth a shot. He can shoot, rebound and he's tough. Crazy, too.
Hard choices. But at least we have options.
[ report this ]
We'll have a healthy Bynum next year and a rematch with the Celts.
[ report this ]
"While individually the Celtics players aren’t that much to write home about defensively, collectively they played smartly and ferociously."
You said it right there. That, is exactly why the better "team" won. The Celtics played like a team, while the Lakers, do what they usually do, pass the ball to Kobe and hope he scores 80 points. Not to mention that they look to the ref every time they get bumped and cry when they don't get a foul call. It is pathetic.
I used to be a Laker fan, back when they played like a team. I'm talking, the days of Magic, Coop and Kareem. Now, I'm rooting for the teams that play well together... together, being the key word here.
Don't feel bad when people call you for a bandwagon fan, that's pretty much what a Laker fan is nowadays. Unless there's a superstar on the team, nobody's rooting for the Lakers. Sorry, the truth hurts. It is LA. It's more fashionable to be a Laker fan than a Clippers fan. The Clippers, a team who plays like a team, not very though.
Laker fans wish Kobe to be the next Michael Jordan, but there's one thing Michael Jordan had that the Kobster doesn't... a supporting cast. That's what made the Bulls so like-able in the 90's. Their versatility. Players like, Scotty Pippen, Horace Grant, Johnny Paxon, Bill Cartwright, are you kidding me, that, was a team. Who do the Laker's have, Kobe and... and... oh that's right Pau, and... and... Lamar had one good quarter in six games. Yeah.
It's not so much who needs to be traded, or who's Kobe going to get along with, it's more like who wants to play to win. Apparently not the Laker's or Laker fans. They want Kobe to do it all... and he just proved that he can't carry a team.
Now, the Celtics on the other hand, they paid for the Championship. They made the right moves and go the right players, but unfortunately or fortunately, depending on who you're talking to, their team played to win. Everyone who was on the court for the Celtics contributed to their win. Everyone. Even the guy who brought out the wheel chair.
It's a team sport people.
[ report this ]
trade lamar, pau, and kobe (throw in radman for salary purposes) for KG, paul pierce and ray allen
how does that sound?