How did the blazers manage to lose to the Lakers in 2000?

[Joshumitsu]

It's because my Blazers are a could've team.

They could've drafted Jordan, could've drafted Bird, could've kept Moses Malone, could've been a dynasty in the late 70's had Walton been healthy, could've had Sabonis-prime, could've won the 2000 Finals, could've had Durant or at least, a healthy Oden, could've gone to the Finals had they beaten Dallas last season.

[MaxFly]

The Lakers ran out to a 3-1 lead in that series and took their foot off of the gas. To their credit, the Blazers played excellent basketball to even things up, but most expected that 67 win Lakers team to get past the Blazers and to the finals that year. Expectations really turned after game 6 when it became obvious that the Blazers weren't going to lay down. The Lakers getting to the finals stopped being such a certainty.

How did the Blazers manage to lose game 7... Kobe Bryant...

At that point, I'd never seen a sidekick step up like that and infuse a whole team with energy. He led the Lakers in points, rebounds, assists and blocks. He also did it with a confidence that mirrored the confidence he had when he air-balled those three shots in Utah a few years previously. You could tell he was just waiting to have another opportunity like that.

[OmniStrife]

It's because my Blazers are a could've team.

They could've drafted Jordan, could've drafted Bird, could've kept Moses Malone, could've been a dynasty in the late 70's had Walton been healthy, could've had Sabonis-prime, could've won the 2000 Finals, could've had Durant or at least, a healthy Oden, could've gone to the Finals had they beaten Dallas last season.

Suns fan here, I know how it feels.

[Doranku]

The Lakers ran out to a 3-1 lead in that series and took their foot off of the gas. To their credit, the Blazers played excellent basketball to even things up, but most expected that 67 win Lakers team to get past the Blazers and to the finals that year. Expectations really turned after game 6 when it became obvious that the Blazers weren't going to lay down. The Lakers getting to the finals stopped being such a certainty.

How did the Blazers manage to lose game 7... Kobe Bryant...

At that point, I'd never seen a sidekick step up like that and infuse a whole team with energy. He led the Lakers in points, rebounds, assists and blocks. He also did it with a confidence that mirrored the confidence he had when he air-balled those three shots in Utah a few years previously. You could tell he was just waiting to have another opportunity like that.

And then he had that game against Indiana where Shaq fouled out and he just took over in OT to give the Lakers a dominating 3-1 lead.

The 2000 playoffs were huge for Kobe in molding the player who he is today, imo.

[Nick Young]

Suns fan here, I know how it feels.

Lol suns fans get over yourselves you never ever had a legit chance at a title, a running team with Amare as the defensive centerpiece will never go anywhere no matter how stacked you are at every other position, be glad with your two lucky playoff victories against the Lakers (and even then Kobe accompanied by Mihm, Kwame and the worst PG in NBA history Smush Parker took your overrated team to 7 games LAWL) and let it go.

[clipps]

Here's a main facter

[aj242]

Fixed.

Nah! Kobe became the best player by the middle of the 03' season.

[The_Yearning]

Honestly, the Lakers just got lucky in game 7. If you actually watched the game, Shaq had tears rolling down his eyes in the 4th quarter because he thought his season was f*cking over...

Another thing I like to add... Kobe was fearless and didn't had the estrogen that Shaq possessed in crunch time.

[OldSchoolBBall]

How did the Blazers manage to lose game 7... Kobe Bryant...

Wow, such revisionist history. You sure it wasn't Portland going 3-19 from the field in the 4th along with a BALANCED attack from LA? What a joke. Here's what was done in the final 11:00 of that game and by whom (I just watched the video):

Kobe: 2-6 FG, 3-6 FT for 7 points and 1 assist (there was a very weak foul called for him with 1:35 left, Walton called it "a bailout"). Intentionally fouled with 25 seconds left for his final 2 FT's with Portland down.

Shaq: 3-3 FG, 3-4 FT for 9 points (2 off. rebounds)

Shaw: 2-3 FG for 6 points, 1 steal (ties game at 4:25 with huge momentum 3-pointer)

Horry: 1-1 FG, 3-6 FT for 6 points (intentionally fouled with 11 seconds left for his final 2 FT's with Portland down).

At that point, I'd never seen a sidekick step up like that and infuse a whole team with energy. He led the Lakers in points, rebounds, assists and blocks. He also did it with a confidence that mirrored the confidence he had when he air-balled those three shots in Utah a few years previously. You could tell he was just waiting to have another opportunity like that.

Yeah, he led the team in all that, but Portland was still up by 15 points early in the 4th, so his exploits didn't have much effect. The PRIMARY reason Portland lost is that all of their players' balls disappeared and they choked horribly (3-19 FG in the 4th) along with great Laker defense and a balanced offensive attack. lol @ suggesting that Kobe was the reason they lost that game - his play didn't help prevent a huge lead for Portland in the 4th, and what brought them back from that deficit was Portland's choking, LA's defense, and a balanced offensive attack. Period. Stop with the revisionist history.

[AlphaWolf24]

Yet Shaq was the best player on the team from 96-02!

Shaq was never the best "player" in any time frame....the man's game consisted of poor footwork 3' from the rim and relying pure size and physical strength..

Kobe was the First option in the 4th quarters and by far the best allaround player on the team...

when the opponent is fouling you on purpose to get the ball back because you lack the fundemental's to close the game then you know you should put in work to get better..Shaq was far too Lazy.

[AlphaWolf24]

Wow, such revisionist history. You sure it wasn't Portland going 3-19 from the field in the 4th along with a BALANCED attack from LA? What a joke. Here's what was done in the final 11:00 of that game and by whom (I just watched the video):

Kobe: 2-6 FG, 3-6 FT for 7 points and 1 assist (there was a very weak foul called for him with 1:35 left, Walton called it "a bailout"). Intentionally fouled with 25 seconds left for his final 2 FT's with Portland down.

Shaq: 3-3 FG, 3-4 FT for 9 points (2 off. rebounds)

Shaw: 2-3 FG for 6 points, 1 steal (ties game at 4:25 with huge momentum 3-pointer)

Horry: 1-1 FG, 3-6 FT for 6 points (intentionally fouled with 11 seconds left for his final 2 FT's with Portland down).



Yeah, he led the team in all that, but Portland was still up by 15 points early in the 4th, so his exploits didn't have much effect. The PRIMARY reason Portland lost is that all of their players' balls disappeared and they choked horribly (3-19 FG in the 4th) along with great Laker defense and a balanced offensive attack. lol @ suggesting that Kobe was the reason they lost that game - his play didn't help prevent a huge lead for Portland in the 4th, and what brought them back from that deficit was Portland's choking, LA's defense, and a balanced offensive attack. Period. Stop with the revisionist history.

Just stop it..Kobe Fueled the Comeback and was the lakers best player...

he was everywhere and scored or assisted on all of the lakers 8 points in the closing minutes to take the lead and seal the win...

Kobe Bryant was the best player ..



your hatred is silly and petty...
next

[OldSchoolBBall]

Just stop it..Kobe Fueled the Comeback and was the lakers best player...

he was everywhere and scored or assisted on all of the lakers 8 points in the closing minutes to take the lead and seal the win...

Kobe Bryant was the best player ..

He was their best player in the game overall, but not in the 4th (that was Shaq if you had to pick anyone, but like I said it was a balanced attack). He was not "everywhere" unless if by "everywhere" you mean clanging several shots in the final 7:30. He most certainly did NOT score or assist on the Lakers' final 8 points (even if you exclude the intentional fouling by Portland at the end). He had ONE basket with 1:25 left and an assist to Shaq with 42 seconds left. That was the extent of his positive contribution over the final 6:00. Aside from that he missed a few shots from the field. Anyone can watch the final 11:00 starting here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27vW0...eature=related

I tallied all the numbers by hand. Get outta here with your lying nonsense. lol @ "Kobe fueled the comeback" when he did bubkes from the 8:30-1:30 mark, which is when LA cut the lead from 13 to 2.

[BlackJoker23]

maxfly its ok to come out of the closet

[ShaqAttack3234]

He was their best player in the game overall, but not in the 4th (that was Shaq if you had to pick anyone, but like I said it was a balanced attack). He was not "everywhere" unless if by "everywhere" you mean clanging several shots in the final 7:30. He most certainly did NOT score or assist on the Lakers' final 8 points (even if you exclude the intentional fouling by Portland at the end). He had ONE basket with 1:25 left and an assist to Shaq with 42 seconds left. That was the extent of his positive contribution over the final 6:00. Aside from that he missed a few shots from the field. Anyone can watch the final 11:00 starting here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27vW0...eature=related

I tallied all the numbers by hand. Get outta here with your lying nonsense. lol @ "Kobe fueled the comeback" when he did bubkes from the 8:30-1:30 mark, which is when LA cut the lead from 13 to 2.

Just ignore AlphaWolf, he's been proven to have posted false information such as when he represented Shaq and Kobe's 4th quarter stats from the WCSF and WCF in '02 as the 4th quarter stats for the entire playoff runs.

I try to avoid wasting time with him at this point, gave him a fair shot to see if he was reasonable, semi-intelligent or interested in attempting to have real basketball discussions, but as you probably know, he's not.

The funny thing about this 4th quarter stuff is that Shaq's 4th quarter stats for the 2000 playoffs blow Kobe's away and yet he's using the 4th quarter as a reason why Shaq was never the best player. For example, Shaq averaged 9.2 ppg in the 4th quarter in the 2000 WCF and 11.5 ppg in the 2000 finals 4th quarters.

And while I don't have the numbers for the 2001 run, based on everything I know about that run, neither had 4th quarter numbers that really separated one from the other or stood out that much in general due to the blowouts.

I probably shouldn't have even acknowledged him, but it is annoying when false information is spread because people who don't know any better often believe it.

Then again, AlphaWolf is the same guy who is so desperate to rank Kobe as high as possible that he actually relies on the casual fans opinion as some kind of proof. His reasoning being that only "hardcore fans" don't have Kobe top 5 and think Shaq was the best player during the 3peat.

Somehow following the sport more makes you know less about the game by his logic.....

[Gotterdammerung]

Sabonis fouled out with under 3 minutes to go.

Cue Blazers meltdown.