Hey JoMal!
You have nailed the #1 reason for the Kings getting beat by the T-Wolves IMHO - the mysterious disappearance of Predrag Stojakovic's game almost throughout the series. I have to tell you that it seemed like Peja wasn't really even in the game for most of the series. Four-on-five at the Pro level usually means an 'L', as it did in this particular instance.
Obviously, Flip divined that Peja would be a non-factor in Game Six, and settled on the "Stop Bibby"-centered defense as the means of stifling Shaq-ramento's point production. Due to the ineffectual Peja, this plan worked like a charm - still, the Kings challenged KG & Co. right to the buzzer. I was SURE Webber's shot was in! Shades of Robert Horry in the pivotal 2003 Game 5 LAL-SA playoff game...
Actually, I (and may I say it, most TrueLakers) would much rather see "Our Heroes" face the t-Wolves than the Kings. The Kings match up MUCH better against "Our Heroes" than do the T-Wolves. 'The Pachyderm' is going to go nutz on them...Ervin Johnson?
And jn and WoW, FYI I have been totally immersed in preparing my son to gain admission to Stanford University. He is in 10th grade now (jeez, when I first joined this group he was in 5th grade!), and has a demanding Advanced Placement-packed curriculum. I have been providing non-stop mentoring and 'motivation' to help him attain and maintain the high level of academic performance that will be required for him to become a student there. Your parents are educators jn, you know what I am talking about. As you can imagine, my son is not exactly enamored of the amount of work and effort this involves, he being 15 years old - thus, the 'motivation' I mentioned earlier. This has taken up nearly all of my time that is not already allocated to my new business (which performs PC system installation (Linux, Windows) implementation, administration, and maintenance for small businesses) and my heavy involvement with the Democratic Party (hey, it IS a presidential election year - and, 'The Usurper' must be ousted). As you might surmise, I'm kinda busy these days!
Not only that, when Dabods first changed to a new ISP I could not use my RB handle for some reason. I kept trying to make it work (hey, after all I AM an IT Professional - my inability to get things functioning correctly really offended my sensibilities), but failed until now. If you do not believe me, just ask jw...so, I'm not front-running!
Besides, how can anyone living in the greater Los Angeles area be labelled a front-runner, when the circus-atmosphere season "Our Heroes" have had this year is considered? Here in content-starved 'La-la Land', the LAL have been providing the media with enough fodder for any four other teams - we are literally inundated in Laker-related news (how's that for an apropos metaphor?). There is no way that any TrueLaker could have just ignored the LAL goings-on that this season has encompassed.
Anyway, the school year is drawing to a close, and we've (LOL) taken all of the AP Exams now, so my overburdened schedule is somewhat lighter now...just in the nick of "winnin' time", too!
So, expect me to be posting quite a bit now for the next few months - that is, until school starts in September. For us (LOL again), the 11th Grade will be OUR "Winnin' Time" - we are aiming for National Merit Finalist, and are already in preparation for it. That scholarship money will be sorely needed...do you know how much it costs to send one of your progeny to Stanford? Dang.
Laterz, braddahs...
-RB
Shaq #1