Official NBA Finals Game 5 Criscast: LA Lakers vs Boston Celtics, 6/13/10 @ TD Garden

[dd24]

I think we are probably blaming Artest too much. I'm not saying he played well or anything like that, but everybody else except Kobe didn't play well either. We have to look at how Paul Pierce is getting his buckets now. Of course he is a good one on one player and he gets some points when Boston runs that iso for him. Much of what Boston has done though, is go to that pick and roll. When Artest gets picked is it really his fault that Pierce makes it into the lane? I don't think so. With a good, properly set pick fighting through it isn't a good option. The Lakers as a team are not switching well on picks, and they also aren't putting themselves in good position for help side defense. I really think they need to watch the film as a team and see where they are positioning themselves on the court and how they can work better as a team to stop Boston. There were quite a few missed assignments on defense where the Lakers could have got stops. With that said, it's not like Boston put up over 100 points. If it wasn't for the Lakers needing to foul at the end of the game the Celtics probably wouldn't have cracked 90. Of course we don't want a team shooting nearly 60% but at the end of the day if you hold a team to around 90 you should win that ball game.

This tells me more of the problems lie in the offensive execution. All players except Kobe can be blamed for this. Even Gasol didn't shoot well yesterday. We all saw that Artest didn't either but let's not just take it out on him. I think it goes back to what I was saying before the series started (and some Lakers fans didn't believe me). It's about Bynum and Gasol playing tough. They haven't been tough on the offensive end. Bynum has a bit of an excuse because of the injury. You would think Odom would step up and do something because of this but he's also shown that he is extremely soft. All of the Lakers bigs have not stepped up to the challenge. It comes down to them needing to punch the Celtics in the mouth (figuratively speaking). They need to attack the rim. I think the Lakers are a team where if the offense is clicking and they are aggressive then their defense follows and is much more agressive too. I think the Celtics are the opposite. They are a team where if they make great defensive plays their offense gets going. Game 6 is mainly on the Lakers bigs.

I really think the Lakers weakest position is still PG. The Celtics PG's have just destroyed LA's. While I'm sure it can be seen in the numbers, there's more to it than just that. When you watch the games you can see the energy they bring to the floor and what they do to make the rest of the team better. Rondo has made so many little hustle plays that have resulted in 4 point turn arounds it's not even funny. PG is the most important position in basketball today. LA's PG's really need to step up. There's my rant..... I'm just really upset about the quality of basketball these teams have forced me to watch the past few games.....

[crisoner]

I BELIEVE as a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers that they will win Game 6

I BELIEVE because all season long when people have counted them out, said they were horrible, said they couldn't defend, shoot or score - they have come back stronger and more dominant

I BELIEVE that although the Celtics played a helluva all-around game last night - they will not play that well at the Staples Center in Game 6

I BELIEVE the Lakers will feed off of the crowds energy and inspired basketball like the Celtics did last night.

I BELIEVE that Kobe will defer to his teammates in Game 6 as he has this year during the times they have needed him.

I BELIEVE that Ron Artest is a very good, strong willed basketball player and he will bounce back and contribute in Game 6

I BELIEVE that Lamar will feed off the energy in the building and have the type of game he has had ALL season when the Lakers needed him the absolute most.

I BELIEVE in the bench. Jordan, Shannon, Luke and Sasha and whomever else is needed will step up and help the Lakers win Game 6

I BELIEVE in Phil Jackson and how he coaches his teams. There are those out there who feel he is horrible as a coach, with his rotations and what he says to his teams and only wins because he has had great players.

I BELIEVE this to be untrue. Phil Jackson is a great coach and has proven himself year after year although he should not have too. His record of 10 NBA Titles speaks for itself IMO.

I BELIEVE in this Lakers team and their ability to win Game 6 tomorrow night.

I BELIEVE........

DO YOU?

HA!

Thanks for this! Win game 6...that's all that matters now. Let's not think about Game 7 untill it becomes reality.

[lakers.fan66]

I BELIEVE as a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers that they will win Game 6

I BELIEVE because all season long when people have counted them out, said they were horrible, said they couldn't defend, shoot or score - they have come back stronger and more dominant

I BELIEVE that although the Celtics played a helluva all-around game last night - they will not play that well at the Staples Center in Game 6

I BELIEVE the Lakers will feed off of the crowds energy and inspired basketball like the Celtics did last night.

I BELIEVE that Kobe will defer to his teammates in Game 6 as he has this year during the times they have needed him.

I BELIEVE that Ron Artest is a very good, strong willed basketball player and he will bounce back and contribute in Game 6

I BELIEVE that Lamar will feed off the energy in the building and have the type of game he has had ALL season when the Lakers needed him the absolute most.

I BELIEVE in the bench. Jordan, Shannon, Luke and Sasha and whomever else is needed will step up and help the Lakers win Game 6

I BELIEVE in Phil Jackson and how he coaches his teams. There are those out there who feel he is horrible as a coach, with his rotations and what he says to his teams and only wins because he has had great players.

I BELIEVE this to be untrue. Phil Jackson is a great coach and has proven himself year after year although he should not have too. His record of 10 NBA Titles speaks for itself IMO.

I BELIEVE in this Lakers team and their ability to win Game 6 tomorrow night.

I BELIEVE........

DO YOU?

I do.Always have.Always will.A true believer.Thank you just something that needed to be said and I'm glad to have heard it.

[Lakers_Kobe_Fan]

I believe they come out and take game 6.....however the question mark is game 7...who will step up for the lakers in the biggest game of their lives?

they sure didnt step up in game 5..

Just play...give all you got and leave everything on the court

[lakers.fan66]

I really don't want to think about game 7 yet.They have to give everything they got in this game and Kobe should start as a facilitator because when he's a scorer-third quarter-everyone else is just looking at him.Gasol Bynum and Odom will have the teams fate in their hands.lets see what they do with it.

[bentot6]

This will be an epic, exciting series! I hope it will go 7 games and may the best team win.

[dd24]

I really don't want to think about game 7 yet.They have to give everything they got in this game and Kobe should start as a facilitator because when he's a scorer-third quarter-everyone else is just looking at him.Gasol Bynum and Odom will have the teams fate in their hands.lets see what they do with it.

I think Kobe would love to be a facilitator. The problem is he's the only one stepping up. At this point I think Kobe would be extremely happy if he had 0 points and 10 assists and LA got the win. He always said it, he scores when he has to. I wish he would have shot the ball every time in the 2nd half yesterday. He was the only one putting the ball in the bucket and he knew it. I was scared every time someone else took a shot, and rightfully so because they were all misses.... Kobe was on fire. It made sense for him to be the scorer. What they need is for other people to actually step up.

[lakerfreak]

Nice posting by dd24 ^

Im going to add that this is one of the reasons we should have tried to put away this team as soon as possible.

Ron Artest did his job on pierce for most of this series. The problem is, when the series extends to 6 or 7 games, Pierce is not going to keep struggling. He is a great player for a reason. Pierce will probably be watching of ways he can neutralize Artest's defense and improve his game as the series goes on.

Ron held up for as long as he could. Now time for the other guys to start playing D. Its not artest's fault when KG, Allen, and Rondo all get easy layups in the third quarter after Kobe is hitting the toughest shots of his life.

Artest offensively could improve, Pau could toughen up, and I won't even comment on Odom further than this line as he continues to show us that he isn't a reliable player.

Phil made a great point to say that in these types of series', the benches of the two respective teams will probably decide the series. We all know that the starters are gonna do what they do. The benches though will come in crucial times of the game, late in the second quarter when we're attempting to make the momentum of the game belong to us.

Now while the lakers are down and finally with their backs against the wall for the first time in many years, I still think they will find the way to bring keep the trophy in LA. Im sure Kobe doesn't want to be finishing his career 0-2 in the finals against Boston either.

[bladefd]

Now while the lakers are down and finally with their backs against the wall for the first time in many years, I still think they will find the way to bring keep the trophy in LA. Im sure Kobe doesn't want to be finishing his career 0-2 in the finals against Boston either.

The thing that frustrates me is that when the game matters the most, most of our team does not show up. I was so pissed last night, was awake half the night thinking about how they blew it.. I don't even know if there is enough time for there to be some sort of quick fix to turn the series around. I am starting to lose confidence in the Lakers to show up, if I have not already.

I know I should not be overreacting since the series is far from finished, but it is time to be nervous as hell now. I was a little bit nervous going into the series, but I expected at least 3 of our starters to show up. Pau got his beating in 08 so I expected him to man up and be there for us when it matters the most as the 2nd best player throughout the series. Fisher I expected to hit big shots for about ~4 games this series, and Kobe I knew was going to be there. Fisher did very well and won one game for us, but to expect him to win multiple games for us is not going to happen. Kobe kept it close and pretty much put a shadow over some of our other blatant weaknesses in game 5 (definitely could have been even better with better shot choice but sometimes, you have to take what you are given), but that too is not enough to win a series - maybe a game or 2 at most.

Bynum has disappointed me a bit even though he is injured. If he was healthy, I would be going nuts right now, but he has a legit valid excuse for not playing well. I honestly cannot blame him for not playing that well the entire series. As much as I hate to say that, he will be a major factor in the next 2 games; he is the one guy on our roster that can solely change the entire series around. If only he wasn't hurt.

Lamar Odom. Next.

Bench: No show. This alone could have changed the outcome of a couple of the games. We had probably the best bench in the entire NBA 2 years ago and top 3 last season. This season, we have nothing. Nobody at all. Lakers have to make some kind of cheap changes to the bench to shake it up a bit. Seriously, they should not re-sign Farmar and Morrison better be gone too. They should try to find some taker for Vujacic if possible. We might be able to get something for Vujacic. Just take apart the entire bench, if some decent offer comes for Odom I would say go for it (probably unlikely for us to get something solid for Odom). If only Hedo's contract wasn't for so many years with $11mill on it in 2 years, DAMN!! Imagine him off the bench. He wasn't playing good this season, but teams were focusing on him a lot since he jumped from 3rd or 4th option straight up to 2nd option this season. Makes a big difference. with a team like the Lakers it would change since he would probably drop back to the 4th option like he was with Orlando. Only wishful thinking, take it with a grain of salt.
Anyways, I would personally rather have the bench be 3 players deep (with 5 starters) than try to make it 5 players deep. 3 players depth is all we need off the bench (a PG, a C and a SG to backup Kobe). Regular season is pointless, forget that. Just prepare for the playoffs since playoffs are automatic when you have Kobe, Pau, Artest, Bynum.

Finally, another issue is consistency/somewhat reliability:
As hard as the Lakers came out playing yesterday on the defensive end, they could not sustain that at all going into 2nd half. Defense went from 8/10 to 4/10 in 2nd half (maybe even 3/10) based on Laker standards with the team we have.. This is probably the biggest reason why I am losing confidence. This team is pretty much Jekyll and Hyde throughout each of the games. We have seen this picture over and over with the Lakers the last couple years: this team is not very reliable whether people like to hear it or not, it is how it is. And no, I am not just talking about our bench guys. I am also talking about our players like Kobe and Ron, etc on the offensive end. If their jumpshots are not falling, that's it. Each of their offenses are screwed. Kobe can definitely do other things, but sometimes he just keeps shooting hoping it goes in (kind of like LeBron). If Ron's shots are not falling, it become 5 on 4 on the offensive end. If Pau's shots aren't falling, he can't push his way into the paint and dunk on somebody. That is just not his game. Bynum is the one guy that can give us some sort of consistency, BUT he is usually hurt leading to unreliability.

Long post but I just had to get my frustration out. I KNOW I should NOT overreact, but I am really losing my patience this series. All of the Lakers' weaknesses have been put out in the open showcase for everyone to witness, and it is frustrating to see the Lakers revert right back to their old ways in game 5 (with the exception of Kobe).

[bigmac834]

Lakers will win game 6 :)
24:30 hours countdown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lakerfreak]

The thing that frustrates me is that when the game matters the most, most of our team does not show up. I was so pissed last night, was awake half the night thinking about how they blew it.. I don't even know if there is enough time for there to be some sort of quick fix to turn the series around. I am starting to lose confidence in the Lakers to show up, if I have not already.

I know I should not be overreacting since the series is far from finished, but it is time to be nervous as hell now. I was a little bit nervous going into the series, but I expected at least 3 of our starters to show up. Pau got his beating in 08 so I expected him to man up and be there for us when it matters the most as the 2nd best player throughout the series. Fisher I expected to hit big shots for about ~4 games this series, and Kobe I knew was going to be there. Fisher did very well and won one game for us, but to expect him to win multiple games for us is not going to happen. Kobe kept it close and pretty much put a shadow over some of our other blatant weaknesses in game 5 (definitely could have been even better with better shot choice but sometimes, you have to take what you are given), but that too is not enough to win a series - maybe a game or 2 at most.

Bynum has disappointed me a bit even though he is injured. If he was healthy, I would be going nuts right now, but he has a legit valid excuse for not playing well. I honestly cannot blame him for not playing that well the entire series. As much as I hate to say that, he will be a major factor in the next 2 games; he is the one guy on our roster that can solely change the entire series around. If only he wasn't hurt.

Lamar Odom. Next.

Bench: No show. This alone could have changed the outcome of a couple of the games. We had probably the best bench in the entire NBA 2 years ago and top 3 last season. This season, we have nothing. Nobody at all. Lakers have to make some kind of cheap changes to the bench to shake it up a bit. Seriously, they should not re-sign Farmar and Morrison better be gone too. They should try to find some taker for Vujacic if possible. We might be able to get something for Vujacic. Just take apart the entire bench, if some decent offer comes for Odom I would say go for it (probably unlikely for us to get something solid for Odom). If only Hedo's contract wasn't for so many years with $11mill on it in 2 years, DAMN!! Imagine him off the bench. He wasn't playing good this season, but teams were focusing on him a lot since he jumped from 3rd or 4th option straight up to 2nd option this season. Makes a big difference. with a team like the Lakers it would change since he would probably drop back to the 4th option like he was with Orlando. Only wishful thinking, take it with a grain of salt.
Anyways, I would personally rather have the bench be 3 players deep (with 5 starters) than try to make it 5 players deep. 3 players depth is all we need off the bench (a PG, a C and a SG to backup Kobe). Regular season is pointless, forget that. Just prepare for the playoffs since playoffs are automatic when you have Kobe, Pau, Artest, Bynum.

Finally, another issue is consistency/somewhat reliability:
As hard as the Lakers came out playing yesterday on the defensive end, they could not sustain that at all going into 2nd half. Defense went from 8/10 to 4/10 in 2nd half (maybe even 3/10) based on Laker standards with the team we have.. This is probably the biggest reason why I am losing confidence. This team is pretty much Jekyll and Hyde throughout each of the games. We have seen this picture over and over with the Lakers the last couple years: this team is not very reliable whether people like to hear it or not, it is how it is. And no, I am not just talking about our bench guys. I am also talking about our players like Kobe and Ron, etc on the offensive end. If their jumpshots are not falling, that's it. Each of their offenses are screwed. Kobe can definitely do other things, but sometimes he just keeps shooting hoping it goes in (kind of like LeBron). If Ron's shots are not falling, it become 5 on 4 on the offensive end. If Pau's shots aren't falling, he can't push his way into the paint and dunk on somebody. That is just not his game. Bynum is the one guy that can give us some sort of consistency, BUT he is usually hurt leading to unreliability.

Long post but I just had to get my frustration out. I KNOW I should NOT overreact, but I am really losing my patience this series. All of the Lakers' weaknesses have been put out in the open showcase for everyone to witness, and it is frustrating to see the Lakers revert right back to their old ways in game 5 (with the exception of Kobe).

A lot of what you're talking about are things that can be redirected. For example when you mentioned that ron-ron not shooting well makes it a 5 on 4 game, He doesn't have to shoot to be involved in the offense.
Earlier on in the season he was one of our best passers. He would rack up assists and still play great at the other end. Why isn't he doing this now? Offense isn't just about scoring. great offense is also setting a great pick, getting the offensive rebound, making the necessary pass. There are things he can do other than shoot the ball.

As much as we love the clutch Derek Fisher, he isn't gonna have games like this every single game. Though most of the time he hits his clutch late game threes, don't have high expectations because of his actual role on the team.

lol its funny to me how a series can be turned around in 5 quarters. Thats right....5....In game four, we played excellent throughout the first 3 quarters and then stopped playing in the fourth. Then game 5 we just didnt play at all until the 4th quarter.

There's still a big chance for this trophy to be ours like I said. We still have home court advantage. From a mental standpoint, anyone can say we are done....but on paper, we won 1 game in boston which was all we needed to do to bring this back to los angeles where we play very well. If we win game 6, I don't see why Fish, Kobe, Ron, even LO would back down if the championship was 48 minutes away from being presented, AT HOME!

Firstly, they just need to do some soul searching. I am confident lakers will come out with a sense of urgency. It doesn't necessarily mean we will win, but when we come out with that sense of urgency, we become nearly impossible to beat. Boston is the type of team that likes to take breaks when they feel that they "got this". they relaxed a bit after we lost game two....then we won game 3. I am sure with this 3-2 lead, they (boston) will not come out and play as hard. Don't forget that they had a 3-2 lead on the magic last season only for orlando to come back and win their series 4-3.

As far as the momentum swing goes, it tells us that we will win. Let me explain how.....We won, Boston won, we won, boston won....then boston won again. This pattern is telling us that we would win two in a row just like Boston. If we're superstitious, then it tells us we will win the next two. Unfortunately life doesn't work this way but it helps sometimes lol.

Look for a very energetic lakers team. Look for a Bynum who plays as if he was a healthy player. Look for Pau on the offensive end to be aggressive. Look for Ron to be a very physical defender. We will take game 6. lakerfreak's first career guarantee is in this post.

[tamaraw08]

I think we are probably blaming Artest too much. I'm not saying he played well or anything like that, but everybody else except Kobe didn't play well either. We have to look at how Paul Pierce is getting his buckets now. Of course he is a good one on one player and he gets some points when Boston runs that iso for him. Much of what Boston has done though, is go to that pick and roll. When Artest gets picked is it really his fault that Pierce makes it into the lane? I don't think so. With a good, properly set pick fighting through it isn't a good option. The Lakers as a team are not switching well on picks, and they also aren't putting themselves in good position for help side defense. I really think they need to watch the film as a team and see where they are positioning themselves on the court and how they can work better as a team to stop Boston. There were quite a few missed assignments on defense where the Lakers could have got stops. With that said, it's not like Boston put up over 100 points. If it wasn't for the Lakers needing to foul at the end of the game the Celtics probably wouldn't have cracked 90. Of course we don't want a team shooting nearly 60% but at the end of the day if you hold a team to around 90 you should win that ball game.

This tells me more of the problems lie in the offensive execution. All players except Kobe can be blamed for this. Even Gasol didn't shoot well yesterday. We all saw that Artest didn't either but let's not just take it out on him. I think it goes back to what I was saying before the series started (and some Lakers fans didn't believe me). It's about Bynum and Gasol playing tough. They haven't been tough on the offensive end. Bynum has a bit of an excuse because of the injury. You would think Odom would step up and do something because of this but he's also shown that he is extremely soft. All of the Lakers bigs have not stepped up to the challenge. It comes down to them needing to punch the Celtics in the mouth (figuratively speaking). They need to attack the rim. I think the Lakers are a team where if the offense is clicking and they are aggressive then their defense follows and is much more agressive too. I think the Celtics are the opposite. They are a team where if they make great defensive plays their offense gets going. Game 6 is mainly on the Lakers bigs.

I really think the Lakers weakest position is still PG. The Celtics PG's have just destroyed LA's. While I'm sure it can be seen in the numbers, there's more to it than just that. When you watch the games you can see the energy they bring to the floor and what they do to make the rest of the team better. Rondo has made so many little hustle plays that have resulted in 4 point turn arounds it's not even funny. PG is the most important position in basketball today. LA's PG's really need to step up. There's my rant..... I'm just really upset about the quality of basketball these teams have forced me to watch the past few games.....

Great points DD24 esp about Artest. Didnt watch the 2nd half, but Boston used a lot of screen rolls from the past and the Lakers elected to switch everything so its not like Pierce have had so many easy shots over him in the entire finals. Pierce's offensive stats esp FG% have been down before he eventually found his touch. What does everyone expect Paul will all have lousy FG% 6-7 games?

[tamaraw08]

A lot of what you're talking about are things that can be redirected. For example when you mentioned that ron-ron not shooting well makes it a 5 on 4 game, He doesn't have to shoot to be involved in the offense.
Earlier on in the season he was one of our best passers. He would rack up assists and still play great at the other end. Why isn't he doing this now? Offense isn't just about scoring. great offense is also setting a great pick, getting the offensive rebound, making the necessary pass. There are things he can do other than shoot the ball.

As much as we love the clutch Derek Fisher, he isn't gonna have games like this every single game. Though most of the time he hits his clutch late game threes, don't have high expectations because of his actual role on the team.

lol its funny to me how a series can be turned around in 5 quarters. Thats right....5....In game four, we played excellent throughout the first 3 quarters and then stopped playing in the fourth. Then game 5 we just didnt play at all until the 4th quarter.

There's still a big chance for this trophy to be ours like I said. We still have home court advantage. From a mental standpoint, anyone can say we are done....but on paper, we won 1 game in boston which was all we needed to do to bring this back to los angeles where we play very well. If we win game 6, I don't see why Fish, Kobe, Ron, even LO would back down if the championship was 48 minutes away from being presented, AT HOME!

Firstly, they just need to do some soul searching. I am confident lakers will come out with a sense of urgency. It doesn't necessarily mean we will win, but when we come out with that sense of urgency, we become nearly impossible to beat. Boston is the type of team that likes to take breaks when they feel that they "got this". they relaxed a bit after we lost game two....then we won game 3. I am sure with this 3-2 lead, they (boston) will not come out and play as hard. Don't forget that they had a 3-2 lead on the magic last season only for orlando to come back and win their series 4-3.

As far as the momentum swing goes, it tells us that we will win. Let me explain how.....We won, Boston won, we won, boston won....then boston won again. This pattern is telling us that we would win two in a row just like Boston. If we're superstitious, then it tells us we will win the next two. Unfortunately life doesn't work this way but it helps sometimes lol.

Look for a very energetic lakers team. Look for a Bynum who plays as if he was a healthy player. Look for Pau on the offensive end to be aggressive. Look for Ron to be a very physical defender. We will take game 6. lakerfreak's first career guarantee is in this post.

About Artest. I agree that in the regular season, Artest did passed well, I thought I was the only one who noticed it. He did most of his good passing vs bad to average defensive teams. It's a lot different when you deal with Boston's vaunted defense esp in the finals where possesions are so precious.
You mentioned about how Orlando beat Boston last year when they were down 3-2. Let me just say tho that they did it with a very good clutch player like Hedo Turkoglu and Boston's KG didn't play.
I agree with you tho that the Lakers need to do some soul searching. Being at home helps and for them to win, they would have to play BETTER, it's not the case of a young OKC playing great at home and playing scared when they leave home and play at Staples.

[lakers.fan66]

I think Kobe would love to be a facilitator. The problem is he's the only one stepping up. At this point I think Kobe would be extremely happy if he had 0 points and 10 assists and LA got the win. He always said it, he scores when he has to. I wish he would have shot the ball every time in the 2nd half yesterday. He was the only one putting the ball in the bucket and he knew it. I was scared every time someone else took a shot, and rightfully so because they were all misses.... Kobe was on fire. It made sense for him to be the scorer. What they need is for other people to actually step up.

You are absolutely right.In the third when Kobe wanted a breather he arranged a play for Pau but he turned the ball over and C's got a layup on the other end so from then on Kobe knew he was thier only scorer but I like taht he stresses that DEFENSE WINS GAMES.The could have taken the lead but his 19 points minus 11 by Pierce and a couple of other guys so they were still trailing.They couldn't get any defensive stops,played without energy, didn't chase loose balls just played with no heart(not Kobe).When kobe missed those forced threes in the fourth you should have your big men to try to tip it in or get an offensive rebound and another posession.It was like noone else was there expect for Kobe.I don't like to say this but the first quarter wil be crucial because i believe Kobe will disribute the ball and either Bynum Gasol and later Odom are hitting shots or Kobe takes over the game and tries to carry the whole team on his shoulders.As he proved he can do.Don't lose hope and believe they want the title more than we do