You hit the nail on the head Ted my man, A hobbled Karl Malone has had a huge impact on the series, more even than Kobe's stupid shot selections and his selfishness in game 4 where Shaq could have and should have scored close to 50 if Bryant would have just passed him the ball, he was unstoppable.
Malone's inability to play Wallace and frustrate his game has been a key factor all series, total props to Malone for trying but it is clear his knee will not allow him to do what he does best, frustrate his opponents post game and rebound.
Injuries are no excuse but I'm telling you Wallace matched against Medvedenko is killing LA, talk about a mismatch! Of course, Larry Bown deciding Kobe will not beat them and double and triple teaming him isn't helping, if Kobe would quit forcing jump shots and pass the bloody ball, or at least drive it and force the action down low, maybe it would change. The Pistons clearly don't respect any of LA's other players the way they are collapsing on Kobe every time he touches the ball, but then why should they, Kobe doesn't respect them either, he won't pass, and in any event, they are doing the same thing Kobe is doing, settling for jump shots, it's like they are terrified of taking it to the rack. I was screaming at George and Malone as well to quit passing up all those open looks they had because of the defensive pressure they have been putting on Bryant, and they just wouldn't shoot, or even take to the hole and force Detroit to foul, their lack of agressivness in the paint cost them at least 8-10 points worth of fouls, hmmmm, how much did they lose by?
