Congrats Laker friends!

[jn]

I was hoping for Boston but how could I not be happy for you guys? 

Except, of course, for WOW, who is just awful.  I hate you. 

[westkoast]

Thanks jn...I'd type more but I am off to light cop cars on fire.  Why? I am not really sure.  I can only afford a lighter and not bottles of champagne to spray on myself.

[jn]

Atta boy westie!

[westkoast]

Atta boy westie!

Ok I am back after playing real life Grand Theft Auto.  Even though the graphics on the Playstation 3 are pretty good nothing beats lighting trucks on fire on the freeway for no real reason.

I have 3 words, mainly they are for Reality but I think it sums up not only game 7 but the whole road from Lakers going from 'soft' to back to back champs

"Defense wins championships"

[JoMal]

In honor of the latest well-deserved Laker championship, I ran naked down K Street Mall, whacking winos with my baton.

[jn]

In honor of the latest well-deserved Laker championship, I ran naked down K Street Mall, whacking winos with my baton.

 

Wait, no.  It was funny when I read it.  Then I actually visualized and now it's appalling.

[JoMal]

In honor of the latest well-deserved Laker championship, I ran naked down K Street Mall, whacking winos with my baton.

 

Wait, no.  It was funny when I read it.  Then I actually visualized and now it's appalling.

There were dozens of us taking turns. We were clanging our cowbells with glee as they tried to avoid our onslaught.

[rickortreat]

Congratulations to the Lakers for winning back to back!  #5 for Kobe now getting closer to MJ's record.  I  have to say Kobe is still the best player in the game and he comes through under pressure. In this regard, Lebron isn't even close.

The Lakers played a good game and were able to take back the lead from Boston. For a while I thought Ray Allen was going to save them, but the real key was Boston's inability to stop the Lakers from scoring.

[Laker Fan]

Thanks JN, JoMal, LA overcame a TERRIBLE first half where I wanted to reach through the screen and choke Kobe for not passing the bloody ball, but LA's defense kept them close enough that they were able to overcome that 3rd quarter where Kobe finally started to involve his team mates. Artest was DEEP in Pierces head and it showed in all but one game of the series, I was just happy they were able to stay poised enough to overcome that first half, I must say my heart was sinking at that point.

[WayOutWest]

MVP!
MVP!
MVP!

[Reality]

   ^^^ good one, very appropriate.

Just finished watching the replay.
Day of game i was with Mesicans watching the World Cup instead of the WWENBA.
Got to admit i called on the way home for a score update.  "Celtics by 4, were up by 13, 8 minutes to go in the 4th"
My response, "The Lakers get a ton of FTs the rest of the way, with Kome getting the most and they win by 2-3-4."

[Reality]

In honor of the latest well-deserved Laker championship, I ran naked down K Street Mall, whacking winos with my baton.

Jomal did you party like it was 2002?
Almost?

[westkoast]

LOL @ not watching the game but wanting to speak on it.  4 points with 8 minutes to go is an impossible feat when your playing defense.  That's why you need shooters like Bardog to get you back into the game.

[Reality]

B-Rad,
I did not watch the game live.
What i actually wrote:

Just finished watching the replay.

vs what you fabrikoast:

LOL @ not watching the game but wanting to speak on it.

  Hey you should be an NBA ref!
You are still a Krishna to the 10th power.
"Defense wins championships"
You mean holding Kobme to 6-24 and the Lakers to 32% shooting?   
Try "Free Throws Win **Championships**".

4th Quarter Free Throws

Lakers: 21
Celtics: 6

That's a 15 point difference and whenever it was only a 4 point game going into the 4th quarter, mathematically the Celtics simply didn't have a chance.

Kobe Bryant's Free Throws vs Boston Celtics Free Throws

Kobe: 15
Entire Celtics Team: 17

How does this happen? Kobe is a fade away jump shooter and was only intentionally fouled once. Did he really earn almost as many free throws as the ENTIRE CELTICS TEAM??? ... oh wait that's right, he was chucking the ball up and shooting 25% so the NBA had to step in and help their poster boy so that his final points number would look half ass decent. as usual roughly half of Kobe's points came from the freebie line.

Team Free Throws

Lakers: 37
Celtics: 17

20 free throw differential is tough to over come, especially whenever 21 of the Lakers 37 freebies came in the 4th quarter stopping the clock and allowing them to catch up. In the last 20 minutes the Lakers shot 25 free throws. Celtics shot only 8. really???

Team Shooting Percentages

FG%: Celtics 41% - Lakers 32%
3PT%: Celtics 38% - Lakers 20%
FT%: Celtics 88% - Lakers 68%

The Celtics shot the ball FAR BETTER in EVERY SINGLE CATEGORY, yet somehow they still lose the game.

And no, only 1 of those fouls was intentional.  And yes, when Boston got hacked at the other end ie Gasols obvious hack of KG taking it to the rack, no whistle.
Icing on the cake, Gasol jumpin up and down with the ball -no travel- basket good. 

[westkoast]

So you are posting shooting stats to prove what exactly?  That good defense was played?    I am going to put exactly what I am getting at in ( ) so there is no dancing around or trying to twist points being made.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since we are talking about Kobe's horrible shooting  let us also look at this stats for the Celtics:

Ray Allen, Paul Pierce: 8 for 29

(What is this getting at Reality?  That when Kobe shoots poorly the Lakers can still win as long as the other stars are shooting just as poor.)

In the final quarter Rondo, Allen, and Pierce only made 4 shots between the 3 of them.

(What is this getting at Reality? Its pretty tough to win games when your 3 best players can only generate 4 buckets in the 4th quarter and dont try to go towards the rim as a bulk of their shots came 17 or more feet out)

Let's throw up some more stats:

Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant Rebounds: 33
Entire Celtics team:  40

Pau Gasol Offensive Rebounds: 9
Entire Offensive Rebounds For Starting 5 for Celtics: 7

Pau Gasol Total Rebounds: 18
Starting 5 for Celtics Total Rebounds: 23

Number of times the team who won the rebounding category won the game in the series: 7-0

(What am I getting at Reality?  How do you counter act a bad shooting night??? By rebounding the basketball on both ends of the floor but specifically on the offensive end.  The Lakers had just as many offensive rebounds as the entire starting 5 of the Celtics had TOTAL rebounds)

Lakers Shot Attempts: 83
Celtics Shot Attempts: 71

(What am I getting at Reality? Getting 12 more shots up than the other team makes a huge difference.  Even shooting 30-35% that's 8 extra points just strictly based on your ability to get the ball up to the rim more often)
Ill continue on....

The Celtics were out scored by the Lakers in 3 consecutive quarters.

How about attempts in the paint?  Surely this points to who might have been attacking the rim more right?

The Lakers had 21 attempts in the paint
The Celtics had 11 attempts in the paint

As for the free throw margin, yes it was big, but you failed to mention at what stages in the game the Celtics got into the penalty.  You know, that pesky rule that if you commit to many lazy defensive fouls you are penalized for it.  In the 4th quarter they got into the penalty with 6:50 left in the game.  Usually when this happens, Lakers or Thunder, the team who is in the penalty is going to give up a ton of free throws.  Doesn't really matter who it is as long as they have a few offensive weapons who can catch players grabbing, blocking, holding, or pulling on the perimeter.  Feel free, since you watched the game so closely, to point out all the phantom fouls the Lakers received around then.

Lakers bench: 9
Celtics bench: 7

Lakers Turnovers: 11
Celtics Turnovers: 14

(What am I getting at Reality? The Celtics may have shot better but they lost in every other category.  Again, there is more to basketball than offense)

What puts icing on the cake for me with your post is you strictly focused in on offensive stats and free throws when championships are won with defense.  Oh and of course the irony of the Lakers being 'WWF' and the Celtics not. That was pretty funny to see you complain about that.  Especially since people like yourself have been saying they are not tough, dont play with strength, are little babies, are wussy, and get pushed around.  Now all the sudden they are throwing clothes lines and smashing people LOL!!!!