A blessing in disguise?

[Reality]

Just heard an interview on the car radio.  When asked about his 3bie barrage Rush replied words to the effect of "When Kobe went down earlier this season with the injuries it gave me a lot of playing time and that helped."

[RolandoBlackman]

Hey Reality!

Kareem Rush had an awesome game...in my mind, the amazing thing is that he was in the game at all, considering PJ's penchant for having 'veteran' players on the floor for the most part.  I guess this is just part of the "Zen' mystique that PJ brings to the table in his position as head coach - he seems to have a feel for who and when to go to in a particular situation.  Who would have thought Slava would have played so well after stinking up the house for the entire playoffs?

Only 4 more to go...oh, yeah.  

-RB
Shaq#1

[westkoast]

I think it has more to do with luck than playing time.  He could have averaged 20 minutes a game all season and still could have easily went 0/6 just as easily as he went 6/7.

The one thing that he did benefit from when Kobe was out is that he picked up the triangle alot more.  Ive noticed that he isnt out of position as much as he use to be last year and the start of this year.  Kobe's noticed too....he hasnt had to yell at him in a while.  He saves that for Slava "Which way do I go George" Mede-stanko.

[Reality]

RB,

Yep Rush and Slava were indeed the difference makers in that stretch in the 4th when "Your Heros" wrestled the lead and the game away from MN.  Props to the other Lakers for realizing they were bricking (except Shaq) and getting the ball over to these two.  In a two minute stretch from 8:00 left to 6:00 left Rush drilled a couple of his 3s and Slava hit what at the time i thought was a three, he must have been just inside the line, a huge corner jumper for 84-79.  In the same stretch on 3 seperate possessions Serbiak clanked a couple 3 attempts and Spreewell clanked another.  
  Yet another case of Zen Phil Winters adjusting to what is NOT working for the Lakers in game time and opponent in this case MN IMO foolishly getting away from what brought them from behind to take the lead.
  When SASpurs had the 2-0 lead the Triangle Offense was not working worth squat.  Payton was taking a lot of guff from the LA media for wanting to run more pick n roll against Tony Parker.  Payton was right.  Phildo could have been stubborn and stuck with the Triange.  He listened to Tex and adjusted.  Pop on the otherhand has never made an offensive adjustment in his life.  I also don't think SAS needed Bob Horry to tell the media that the Lakers personnell was doing a horrible job of running the Triangle.  While perhaps Big Game usta Be Bob didn't tell them anything they didnt already know, why point out helpful strategy moves to the enemy?   :huh:  
  So just for fun RobL, what happens if DFishers .4 shot does not fall?  I have the Lakers winning Game 6 by either flat out double digits or finding a way to prevail in the late going.  Game 7 while one would like to favor SAS due to homecourt and the geezers on LA have to get tired without rest, that is all countered by Pop so I put Game 7 at 50-50.  Would have loved to have seen what it would have come down to.  :rolleyes:  Resume celebrating when you're done.    

[WayOutWest]

  When SASpurs had the 2-0 lead the Triangle Offense was not working worth squat.  Payton was taking a lot of guff from the LA media for wanting to run more pick n roll against Tony Parker.  Payton was right.  Phildo could have been stubborn and stuck with the Triange.  He listened to Tex and adjusted.  Pop on the otherhand has never made an offensive adjustment in his life.  I also don't think SAS needed Bob Horry to tell the media that the Lakers personnell was doing a horrible job of running the Triangle.  While perhaps Big Game usta Be Bob didn't tell them anything they didnt already know, why point out helpful strategy moves to the enemy?   :huh:

The triangle was working just fine, the only problem was late in the game.  In case you didn't notice BOTH games in SA were close up until the 3 or 4 minute mark, in some cases the Lakers had a lead.  The Lakers did open up the court like they did early in the year and it helped the Lakers get some easy buckets.  The major adjustments were on defense in dealing with Parker.  The Lakers packed it in the paint and dared the Spurs to beat them from the outside.    

  So just for fun RobL, what happens if DFishers .4 shot does not fall?  I have the Lakers winning Game 6 by either flat out double digits or finding a way to prevail in the late going.  Game 7 while one would like to favor SAS due to homecourt and the geezers on LA have to get tired without rest, that is all countered by Pop so I put Game 7 at 50-50.  Would have loved to have seen what it would have come down to.  :rolleyes:  Resume celebrating when you're done. 

Since we're playing "what if", what if the clock operator had stopped the clock when he was supposed to at .8?  IMO Kobe gets a shot and wins the game anyway.  What if Horry hits that shot in game 5 last year and the Lakers win the game?  IMO the Lakers win in 6 and 4-peat, that would have meant Karl Malone would not have been a Laker and the Spurs win the title this year IMO.

Had Fishers shot not gone down IMO the Lakers win a sqeaker in game 6 and blow the Spurs out in game 7 by 20+ points.

[Guest_Randy]

Let's see:

What if the Spurs hadn't lucked out in the lottery and gotten David Robinson?

What if the DRob and Elliott hadn't both gotten hurt in the same year so that the Spurs would have a chance at the lottery?  

What if the Spurs hadn't got incredibly lucky in order to get the first draft pick and get TD?

What if you didn't play that "what if" game and actually gave props like the classy posters on this board?

What if you didn't hate the Lakers so much so you could actually be somewhat objective when it comes to anything they do?

Lots of "what ifs" huh?

[Lurker]

What if Shaq decides to stay in Orlando?

What if Charlotte refuses to draft & trade Kobe?

What if PJ decides not to put up with the media spotlight in LA LA Land?

The what ifs can go just as deep on the LA side Mr. Randy.

Stay away from the what if they don't win the lottery crap.

[WayOutWest]

What if Charlotte refuses to draft & trade Kobe?

What if the stupid Minny fans didn't let the FIRST EVER NBA Dynasty leave for LA?
 

It wasn't the Hornets choice.

Kobe would have gone Danny Ferry on them.

[Lurker]

What if Charlotte refuses to draft & trade Kobe?

What if the stupid Minny fans didn't let the FIRST EVER NBA Dynasty leave for LA?
 

It wasn't the Hornets choice.

Kobe would have gone Danny Ferry on them.

Maybe so....or maybe some other team would have drafted him.  But in either case Kobe isn't playing for multiple titles in LA.

Isn't what if games fun?

What if Ted Septien would have never traded all his first round draft choices?   Then some kid named Magic wouldn't have been a Laker.

Isn't what if games fun?



 :ph34r:  

[Reality]

WOW if you're going to respond to a post to RoBL then for goodness sake would you start drinking wheatgrass every morning and juicing like RoBL is doing.

WOW posts today: The triangle was working just fine, the only problem was late in the game.  In case you didn't notice BOTH games in SA were close up until the 3 or 4 minute mark, in some cases the Lakers had a lead.  

Did you mention Teflon the other day?
In some "cases" the Lakers had the lead.  Umm are you talking about "cases" of Laker Winnin Juice being served at your television viewing site?  Cause I am talking about Games 1 and 2, that being a total of two games.  Game 1 indeed the Lakers lead at times in a back n forth game in which the Spurs sucked totally yet flipped the switch in the 4th and won.  In game two the Lakers lead was at 6-4.  They trailed the entire rest of the game, at times by 20 to go down 2-0.  (yes i know they got within 4 when SA took the third qtr off.)  Nonetheless SA finished and thus "Your Heros" WOW were down 2-0.  It was at this time the Triangle was adjusted to give Payton the ball much more and do pick n rolls.

  So just for fun RobL, what happens if DFishers .4 shot does not fall?  I have the Lakers winning Game 6 by either flat out double digits or finding a way to prevail in the late going.  Game 7 while one would like to favor SAS due to homecourt and the geezers on LA have to get tired without rest, that is all countered by Pop so I put Game 7 at 50-50.  Would have loved to have seen what it would have come down to.  :rolleyes:  Resume celebrating when you're done. 

>Had Fishers shot not gone down IMO the Lakers win a sqeaker in game 6 and blow the Spurs out in game 7 by 20+ >points.
>Since we're playing "what if", what if the clock operator had >stopped the clock when he was supposed to at .8?  >IMO Kobe gets a shot and wins the game anyway.  

Thus your May 14th post: I agree, the Lakers look spent at the end of games, with the exception of game 3. If the series goes 7 games it definatlely favors the Spurs.

If it goes 7 the Lakers only advantage is experience. They've been on the brink of elimination in a game 7 twice and both times pulled it out.

It looked more like an old tired Laker team getting run down from behind by a much younger and hungrier Spurs team until Fish hit that miracle.

I could not believe how badly the Lakers folded under the Spurs defensive pressure. Some of that had to do with Kobe being too tired to do anything but jack up weak J after weak J but still the other Lakers were held in check, including the Diesel.

That shot by TD in Shaq's face was incredible. I honestly felt at that point the game was over. There was a tiny sliver of hope for Kobe to hit a miracle shot but once I saw the Spurs defensive pressure on Kobe I was sure the Lakers would notn even get a shot off. end post.

I thought at the time of the shot it should have been 1.0 for Lakers, not just 0.8

Hmmn so a "tiny sliver of hope for Kobe to hit a miracle" is now rrrrrraaaagh Kobe would have hit for the win.   Glug glug.

[WayOutWest]

Game 1 indeed the Lakers lead at times in a back n forth game in which the Spurs sucked totally yet flipped the switch in the 4th and won.

In other words you AGREE with me.  THAT WAS MY POINT.  You suck at debating.

I agree, the Lakers look spent at the end of games, with the exception of game 3. If the series goes 7 games it definatlely favors the Spurs.

Those comments were made before Malone stepped it up against TD.

Hmmn so a "tiny sliver of hope for Kobe to hit a miracle" is now rrrrrraaaagh Kobe would have hit for the win.   Glug glug.

Pay attention, .4 was a tiny sliver, .8 was a GIVEN Kobe momemnt.

[Reality]

Weak weak and more weak.

[Guest_Randy]

What if Charlotte refuses to draft & trade Kobe?

What if the stupid Minny fans didn't let the FIRST EVER NBA Dynasty leave for LA?
 

It wasn't the Hornets choice.

Kobe would have gone Danny Ferry on them.

Maybe so....or maybe some other team would have drafted him.  But in either case Kobe isn't playing for multiple titles in LA.

Isn't what if games fun?

What if Ted Septien would have never traded all his first round draft choices?   Then some kid named Magic wouldn't have been a Laker.

Isn't what if games fun?



 :ph34r:

Lurker,

Sure, there are many "what ifs" with the Lakers as well -- you can play that game with any team in the league -- I have to say it's a pretty stupid game, don't you agree?  That was the whole point -- there's a poster here, who claims to be a Spurs fan, who wants to play the "what if" game -- but ONLY with LA.  

The Spurs have gotten breaks -- just like the Lakers have.

[Lurker]

Lurker,

Sure, there are many "what ifs" with the Lakers as well -- you can play that game with any team in the league -- I have to say it's a pretty stupid game, don't you agree?  That was the whole point -- there's a poster here, who claims to be a Spurs fan, who wants to play the "what if" game -- but ONLY with LA. 

The Spurs have gotten breaks -- just like the Lakers have.

Of course there is as many what ifs for most teams in the NBA.

Boston:
What if we would have won the Duncan lottery?

Utah:
What if Jordan would have been called for a push off?
What if Malone came up big in the clutch?

Dallas:
What if Nellie remebered what defense was?
What if the three "J's" would have worked?

Seattle:
What if Kemp understood commitment to anything besides food?

Portland:
What if we drafted Jordan instead of Bowie?

Orlando:
What if Grant Hill actually played for us?

Clippers:
What if we had an owner instead of a tightwad?

As I said to WOW....isn't what if fun?

[Reality]

As I said to WOW....isn't what if fun?

Lurker,

Dont forget the hugest NBA history altering "what if" of all time.

What if Lenny Bias had lived?

The Celts title streak!   WooHoo!