Lakers beat Celtics to take Game 5. Post-game discussion here

[gb8]

ust to say a great game by Paul Pierce, really attacked us off the dribble, and also running the pick and roll so well. Kg didnt show up for the Celts at all and those missed freethrows were crucial.

Lakers played struggled all night after taking that early lead through a red hot kobe (something which he failed to rekindle later in the game). I am impressed with the fact that Boston late in the game kept shifting the defence infront of kobe rather then jus getting their man and waiting for kobe to make his move. Odom had a decent game for us, dont know why phil subbed him there for a stretch in the fourth for luke walton ( more on phil later). Pau showed his balls might have finally dropped, he still came with some soft moves at times when he could have gone harder into the defense most memorably late in the game with garnett on 5 fouls he bailed him out by settling for a fading right handed jump hook 5 feet from the hole rather then going up strong and forcing contact. Our defense on the inbounds play was terrible all game whether the baseline or the sideline which I think again is a coaching error.

Phils subs pattern made no sense all game, and am really wondering what is going through the mans head today. Playing Chris Mihm who hasnt touched a basketball this year is inexcusable.

All in all we grinded out the win and our bigs showed some character and heart tonight. Kobe had another subpar game by his standard and really was a non factor for long stretches of the game. The team got the win tonight, however it doesnt look to good for us in boston if this is how we will play.

PS 3000th POST

[~LA's fine$t~]

and Paul Pierce shows Kobe who the better player is

I'd like to see how they do if their position were reversed.
If Kobe had the luxury of going up against no interior defense, and guys like Radmanovic & Walton. And see how well Pierce plays against Boston's defense.

[ihatetimthomas]

Paul Pierce is a beast. I really dont know what we will do with him. Lakers have not figured out what to do with him either. Kobe gets no easy looks. Pierce has really gained much more of my respect this finals.

Happy with the win, but still many question marks. Defensively, we have many mental lapses, and on offense, we are having trouble getting Kobe into rhythm for a full game. Not to mention next game is in Boston. They are going to have to figure out a way to at least slow down Pierce and get everyone to the place they need to be on their rotations

[bleedinpurpleTwo]

I'll take the victory, but it was WEAK.
Laker defense is just horrible. Its like they dont know who is supposed to help after the p.r.
just terrible.

and the Celts exploit mismatches very effectively. Celts are just older/wiser.

PP is a beast, as Ive said all season.
I remember when everyone was propping KG for MVP. PP is the man on that team. Does anybody doubt this now?

[The_Truth34]

Paul Pierce>Kobe

[Kobe=MVP07`]

Pierce and even arguably Allen have outplayed Kobe significantly this series. Pierce at the very least. Allen's played as well as Kobe has at a minimum.

Kobe laid another egg tonight. Why do people talk about his basketball IQ when he cant even figure out that you dont beat a box and 1 by dribbling the ball and attacking from the top of the key. Dude just doesnt get it. He did the same thing vs. Phoenix when they ran the box last postseason. Great basketball IQ my ass.

Too bad Pierce's unbelievable performance was wasted on a loss. He was incredible.

o shut up, if MJ faced Zone defenses from 1 of the best defensive team ever he would not be as effective

kobe 1on1 can take anyone, 2 on 1, sometimes even 3 on 1 but ZONE makes things different

either a forced shot or have to get rid of the ball to beet a zone..

[The_Truth34]

I'd like to see how they do if their position were reversed.
If Kobe had the luxury of going up against no interior defense, and guys like Radmanovic & Walton. And see how well Pierce plays against Boston's defense.

sure blame your team


but you should really be blaming Kobe


Pierce did everything Kobe was supposed to do... 19 FT's for Pierce how many for Kobe 6?

[No.45]

lakers have to find a way through this impregnable celtic defense.

[VCDrivesAPorscheToWork]

Although the Lakers won (lucked out)....this game feels like a LOSS. Boston is clearly the superior team and Doc Rivers is clearly out-coaching Phil Jackson.

I really can't put my disappointment in Kobe Bryant's play into words. I'm beyond disgusted and past the point of being in shock. He wasn't looking to attack in the 4th quarter and his decision-making is atrocious. Kobe looked lost, dazed, confused, scared, tentative and gutless. I've NEVER seen him this intimidated by one team (Boston) and by one player (Pierce) since I started watching him play as a rookie in 1996. I don't know if it's a "mental block" or whatever....but Kobe and his legacy is FINISHED. He's been exposed in this series. For the so-called best "closer" and best "player".....Kobe has miserably FAILED once AGAIN in the NBA Finals (ala 2004).

KOBE WILL NEVER WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP AS A LEADER OF A BASKETBALL TEAM. This is a FACT and it pains me to admit this.

I have ZERO faith and confidence in him and in this team. Defensively, the Lakers are TRASH and Boston can do whatever, whenever and wherever they want to do. I expect the Celtics to win Game 6 going away.

They're the better team with the better Superstar player.

because JVG and Mark Jackson kept talking down on the Lakers.

[hotsizzle]

Pierce and even arguably Allen have outplayed Kobe significantly this series. Pierce at the very least. Allen's played as well as Kobe has at a minimum.

Kobe laid another egg tonight. Why do people talk about his basketball IQ when he cant even figure out that you dont beat a box and 1 by dribbling the ball and attacking from the top of the key. Dude just doesnt get it. He did the same thing vs. Phoenix when they ran the box last postseason. Great basketball IQ my ass.

Too bad Pierce's unbelievable performance was wasted on a loss. He was incredible.

Kobe didnt lay an egg tonight. He managed the game well constantly setting up his teammates. Maybe you're just looking at his 8-21 shooting.

[~LA's fine$t~]

sure blame your team


but you should really be blaming Kobe


Pierce did everything Kobe was supposed to do... 19 FT's for Pierce how many for Kobe 6?

Pierce has it a hell of a lot easier, you seriously think Pierce would be able to drive inside like that against Boston?

[The_Truth34]

Pierce has it a hell of a lot easier, you seriously think Pierce would be able to drive inside like that against Boston?

yes


Posey? Kobe should rape him if hes any good. Pierce was raping anyone who was guarding him tonight

[The_Truth34]

Kobe didnt lay an egg tonight. He managed the game well constantly setting up his teammates. Maybe you're just looking at his 8-21 shooting.

hey you



don't you agree Paul Pierce>Kobe?

[Poseidon]

Kobe laid another egg tonight. Why do people talk about his basketball IQ when he cant even figure out that you dont beat a box and 1 by dribbling the ball and attacking from the top of the key. Dude just doesnt get it. He did the same thing vs. Phoenix when they ran the box last postseason. Great basketball IQ my ass.

Loki...please accept my sincere apology for my previous posts where I compared Kobe Bryant w/ Michael Jordan. It was pure ignorance and blind homerism on my part. I don't even know what I was thinking.

Watching Kobe lay a colossal egg in this series and crumble under pressure while playing like a scared rookie just made me appreciate the greatness of Michael Jordan even more. This is the SECOND STRAIGHT Finals appearance where Kobe has disappeared and this is unacceptable for someone of his talent and caliber. Not shooting well is one thing....but becoming a gutless coward on the biggest stage and playing passive basketball is another.

At this point, I don't know if I even consider Kobe an elite "FRANCHISE" player anymore.

This just goes to show that both Kobe and LeBron James (with his gutless 2007 Finals performance) will NEVER come close to sniffing Jordan's jock.

[krispykreme23]

Vladimir Radmanovic absolutely sucks. At everything. Does anyone else also notice he shuns Kobe every chance he gets? He NEVER passes the ball to Kobe no matter what and I saw him completely ignore Kobe when he was trying to talk to him and give him a high five more than once.

Beyond that, he doesn't do anything useful. So he hits a couple open threes every game and maybe makes a couple layups, but any average roleplayer can do this. But, he is always trying to do more than he is capable of, and then turns the ball over constantly.

Luke Walton sucks too. He is too weak to play in the post. He doesn't have the ballhandling to play anywhere else. He is not good at shooting wide open jumpers. Why does he even play?

The Lakers need to get some better roleplayers this offseason. Maybe with Bynum coming back, they won't have to play Radmanovic or Walton ever again, but they need to pick up a good tough defender who can hit open jumpers; someone like James Posey.