NBA thread 2008/09

[joerockhead]

Ehh, all fans bitch about the officiating!!

We all feel we are getting shafted!

[adrenaline]

We were in a bar last night after dindin and the baseball game had ended so the basketball game was on.. and wow.. the whole place erupted.. not cause they cared.. but what a clutch shot! Gotta respect that even if i don't care for the game!

[michaeljohn]

I am one of those guys that notes all kinds of interesting stats. There used to be a trend in MLB that if the Dodgers lost the NL West by 1 game in the regular season, the Eastern NL team would win the World Series. It happened 3 times I believe, I can recall 1971 and 1982. I do believe it finally failed. Glad I didn't bet! I see quite a few trends about the Lakers in this series. I thought I would share a few things.

First off, the Lakers career results in the Western finals is 29-9. I'll throw out the Minneapolis results of 6-4 and start by discussing the LA Lakers losses first. So, in LA, the franchise is 23-5 in the WCF. Here are the losing years for the LA Lakers in the WCF. home team in bold:

1961-62: First season in LA. Lakers had a poor 36-43 record, but managed to take the St. Louis Hawks (51-28) to 7 games. LA won games 1, 3 and 5. Lost in OT in game 6 at home. Lost game 4 at home by 1, and game 7 on road by 2. Not too bad, eh?

1970-71: Lost to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks in 5. Jerry West and Elgin Baylor were both injured and Lakers upset the Bulls in round one to get this far.

1976-77: Lakers lost to the eventual champion Portland Trailblazers in 4 and LA had best record in the NBA. Ouch, but it turned out that Portland team was for real.

1985-86. Lakers lost to Houston Rockets in 5, including last 4 straight.

1997-98: Lost to the Utah Jazz in 4.

So, out of 5 WCF losses, the Lakers only had HCA in 2 of them. We get the job done in the west, as we won the other 23!

Ok, I can think of a number of times the Lakers lost HCA in the Western finals, but still won the series. Here are the summaries:

Team in bold had HCA:

2008: Lakers over Spurs 4-1. won games 1, 2, 4, and 5.
2004: Lakers over Timberwolves 4-2 won games 1, 3, 4, and 6.
2002: Lakers over Kings 4-3 won games 1, 4, 6, and 7. Although the Lakers started without HCA, they took it in game 1, and lost it back in game 3.
2001: Lakers over Spurs 4-0
2000: Lakers over Trailblazers 4-3. Lakers won game 1, 3, 4, and 7. Portland stole HCA from us in game 2. We responded by winning games 3 and 4 in the Rose Garden, and performed a terrific 15 point comeback in game 7.
1990-91: Lakers over Trailblazers 4-2. Lakers won games 1, 3, 4, and 6.
1988-89: Lakers over Suns 4-0
1987-88: Lakers over Mavericks 4-3. Home team won each game.
1986-87: Lakers over Supersonics 4-0.
1984-85: Lakers over Nuggets 4-1. Lakers won games 1, 3, 4, and 5. I am hoping for a repeat of this scenario, obviously!
1983-84: Lakers over Suns 4-2. Lakers won games 1, 2, 4, and 6. Missed a chance to win it at home in 5.
1982-83: Lakers over Spurs 4-2. Lakers won games 1, 3, 4, and 6, going 1-2 in LA and 3-0 in San Antonio.
1981-82: Lakers over Spurs 4-0
1979-80: Lakers over Supersonics in 5. Lakers won games 1, 3, 4, and 5 over the defending world champions and recovered from losing HCA early.
1972-73: Lakers over Warriors 4-1. Lakers won games 1,2,3, and 5.
1971-72: Lakers over Bucks 4-2. Lakers lost games 1 and 4 over the defending world champions.
1969-70: Lakers over Hawks 4-0. Lakers 46-36 record was misleadng, Chamberlain missed most of the season, returning at the end.
1968-69: Lakers over Hawks 4-1. Lakers won games 1, 2, 4, and 5.
1967-68: Lakers over Warriors 4-0.
1965-66: Lakers over Hawks 4-3. Lakers won games 1, 2, 4, and 7.
1964-65: Lakers over Bullets 4-2. Lakers won games 1, 2, 5, and 6.
1962-63: Lakers over Hawks 4-3. Lakers won games Home team won each game.
1961-62: Lakers over Pistons 4-2. Lakers won games 1, 2, 3, and 6.

When LA starts WCF without HCA we are 7-3. When we start WCF with HCA we are 16-2.

Now some people say the past has no bearing on the present, but when you take a team as consistent as the Lakers, you have to wonder. Again, in 7 of the 9 championships in Los Angeles, the Lakers have lost HCA at some point in at least one series. It also happened several times we won the west, and lost the finals. Also, Kobe, Fisher, and coach Jackson have seen HCA fly away in several series from 1999-2000 to 2001-2002 and still won it all.

My prediction? Lakers split in Denver this weekend. The LA times says same, but we lose tonight. I say if we are going to split, get it done tonight! Game 3 starts very soon!

[michaeljohn]

Originally Posted by joerockhead

Ehh, all fans bitch about the officiating!!

We all feel we are getting shafted!

I'll only bitch about the refs if somone whines about the Lakers getting a break in a game. Best example is last year, game 4 in San Antonio WCF. The NBA dropped the ball by saying a foul should have been called on Fisher, but the reality is, Barry traveled first. Watch him pivot, then lift the other foot before he dribbles. Looks like a great play by Fisher to intimidate him into the travel. A good non call by the refs.



Ok, my beef is, the refs blew it 3 times just before this in favor of San Antonio. First, Ginobili hit a clear 2 pointer but was awarded 3. Next, Odom had a clean block on a Parker drive but was called for goaltend. Last, Fisher hit the rim with a shot, Lakers got the rebound with about 12 seconds left and ahead by two, but the 24 second clock was not reset. I have seen Spurs fans say if the foul is called, Spurs win that series and then beat the Celtics! What's in the river water in San Antonio that causes these delusions?

[canu]

I'm thinking it will be a very close game tonight

[michaeljohn]

Originally Posted by canu

I'm thinking it will be a very close game tonight

I think so too. Halftime, Denver 52 Lakers 48. If we had hit our free throws, we'd be ahead. Oh well. Denver doesn't look as sharp as they did in LA. Lakers look ok. Every time Denver tries to get a run going, we come clawing back. Let's see how both sides adjust at the half.

[michaeljohn]

joerockhead: that was a tough game, and tough for either side to lose. I hope you didn't lose your voice at the Arena. I like the way the Lakers hung in there, Just as Denver was doing in LA. There were dome bad calls and such, but heck, that's expected. Kobe got blocked and no goaltend was called in the first half. Hopefully, you had a great time watching this good game live and in person.

Trevor Ariza with another brilliant late steal!

I still think the Lakers are cursed for a 7 game series. Let's see what happens Monday. I'd sure like to duplicate 1985.

Lakers need to practice their free throws. This was like the game in Boston on February 5. We had to go to OT to win that as we missed about a dozen freebies.

[joerockhead]

Some Bad Call? How about some bad NO CALLS!

11 - 3 in the third!!!
31 - 24 in the game!!!

What does Melo have to do to earn the respect of the Fuckin League?

The Nuggets lost because they got frustrated with the BS officiating, and did not play smart. They lost because they started taking stupid shots and trying to get the ref's to make calls.

And they lost because they cannot inbound the ball.

Yes, the Referee's had a major influence in the game.

They say a nugget 1/2 the size of Paul, threw him to the floor! TECH!

What a bunch of Bullshit.

They call a tech for a supposed "Taunting" after a foul (not called) on a three point shot.

Ref's had too much influence.

Maybe the Nuggets will grow, and ignore Stern's love of the Lakers, and try to win no matter what.

Oh, and Gasol came through big in the 4th.

If the Nuggets play smart, like they did in 1st and 2nd series, they can still win it all. It is just tougher now.

[michaeljohn]

Regarding the taunting call, I didn't see a foul on Sasha, but a Nugget heard what was said and rushed in to drag his teammate out of there. Refs missed a few fouls on Kobe, he was fouled on a three point attempt, and many more they say. On the former, ball don't lie. Ariza quickly hit a three to make up.

[joerockhead]

YEs Kobe did get fouled, as well as Melo, and Anderson, and most of the nuggets that drove the paint in the third.

I have no problem letting some go, as long as the numbers are not so far off!

These teams are closely matched, and the fouls will be too!

Also, in Game 1, Melo got a Tech for slapping his hands at the ref after a foul call, yet, in Game three, a Laker did the SAME thing, and nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Fair? Hell no!!! The Ref's only called the Laker Tech, after he was yelled at by the fans.

Stern wants it to be close, he does not want any of the 4 to dominate, let them keep it close, and then let the two biggest draws win.

[BackdoorJesus]

LOL

fair? scoreboard baby

two more buh-bye

envy you being there though

[koЯnut]

Listen Joe,

The free throw discrepancy is because in the second half the Lakers were attacking the basket more. Plus, the Nuggets were forced to foul at the end of the game.

What about the push from Carter (or Smith I can't remember who did it) on Kobe. Should have been a flagrant 1. What about the BS tech called on Fish during the jump ball when Kenyon pushed him.

What about game 2 and the lane violation on the jump ball at the end of the game that could have lead to the Lakers taking the lead. Let alone the push Carmello had on Ariza on the very same play.

Nevermind the Three that Billups hit at the end of game one when he was without a doubt out of bounds.

The referee's have been equally horrible in this series. But that's playoff basketball.

What does drive me crazy is when they call the ricky ticky fouls but swallow their whistles on the blatant ones. I swear Vu can't defend anybody close without getting the whistle. What is he supposed to do?

It's been a great series. Lakers in 5.

[michaeljohn]

So, game time for Lakers in about 2.5 hours.

I'll predict a Lakers vs. Magic finals. As much as I wanted to beat Boston, they weren't good enough this year, and we proved that already, beating them twice. Same with the Cavs. The Magic however, we lost both games to. Both were down to the last seconds. Also, if Lakers do advance to play the Magic, we get to play the team that beat us, and Boston, and the Cavs. So, that in itself makes them a worthwile opponent.

I predicted above that Lakers would win in 7. I hope they can do it in 5, 6 at the most. Magic, theoretically should win in 6. Both teams have to win game 4. Orlando was already in that position with the Celtics and lost it and the next. They had to win the last two to advance. I think their confidence has grown since they overcame the stunning defeat in game 2.

We'll see what happens soon.....There will be one game every day through next Monday if both series go 7 games.

[michaeljohn]

Halftime, Nuggets 52, Lakers 45. Felt like we should be down more. Hopefully Denver is wearing down a bit. Carmelo only 1-11 from the field.

I know I was tense watching Saturday's game, I am relaxed right now. I guess that explains why it's easy to slack. I still like Lakers chances to get a W tonight. If not, it's a best of 3.

[joerockhead]

Originally Posted by koЯnut

Listen Joe,

The free throw discrepancy is because in the second half the Lakers were attacking the basket more. Plus, the Nuggets were forced to foul at the end of the game.

What about the push from Carter (or Smith I can't remember who did it) on Kobe. Should have been a flagrant 1. What about the BS tech called on Fish during the jump ball when Kenyon pushed him.

What about game 2 and the lane violation on the jump ball at the end of the game that could have lead to the Lakers taking the lead. Let alone the push Carmello had on Ariza on the very same play.

Nevermind the Three that Billups hit at the end of game one when he was without a doubt out of bounds.

The referee's have been equally horrible in this series. But that's playoff basketball.

What does drive me crazy is when they call the ricky ticky fouls but swallow their whistles on the blatant ones. I swear Vu can't defend anybody close without getting the whistle. What is he supposed to do?

It's been a great series. Lakers in 5.

Blah Blah Blah.... My main point was the 11-3 in the third. YES, the Lamkers drove the basket a lot and got a lot of calls. Yes, the Nuggets Drove the basket a lot, and got none of the calls.

Yes, Kobe has been fouled many times and not gotten then call.
Yes, Melo has been fouled many times and not gotten then call.

Yes, if you had READ the whole tirade, you would have seen I also said the Nuggets lost it, and failed to keep playing smart, and did not inbound the ball.
(but you are not a Nugget fan, so you chose to miss that).

As I said in an earlier post, ALL home team fans feel they are getting screwed. (Read it on the page prior to this if you can).

Two More, Buh bye??? HAhahahahahaha You guys are not real.

Six is what I said WAY back. I know we will not get it, but that is OK.
Yes, I will still BITCH about the officiating, if you do not want to here it, then do not read it and do not comment.

with Exception of MJ - Whom is a die hard and lives for the Lamkers, I will not call Duh-UM.

Butt for you two (Kornholer and BDj) that think it will be over in five....