Heartbreak.

“This is Paul Pierce,” the caller says. “You’re a bum, and all your teammates are bums.”

Only it isn’t actually Pierce—or Carlos Boozer or Carmelo Anthony. Instead, it’s just an attempt by Walton’s Hall of Fame father to motivate his son in the NBA finals.

“He wouldn’t even change his voice,” Luke Walton said ‘

Well said. I didn’t like Pau’s body language but I thought he did a solid job on defense and his rebounding energy in the 4th was absolutely vital. Luke’s penetration and pitch out to Kobe for the wide open 3 was specifically mentioned by Doc as the pivotal play of the game.

But every play bar Sasha can play better on offense. We will look for that tonight.

I think the Lakers can drop these punks by 20points, but if they dont manage to get up and scare these guys, Boston will win in 6.

Laker bloggers seem obsessed by the dark side and pet agendas.

Many of our Laker bloggers don’t seem to understand or support the roles of many Laker players–suggesting that certain Lakers be benched or traded when these players fail to play according to some athletic fantasy that only these bloggers vaguely understand themselves.

Pau Gasol is a chamelion–a power forward playing out of position. Pau can score, pass, rebound, block shots, and defend–but not all at the same time. He rarely outshines other players on his team–even though he can. One game he might score 30–sometimes in the first half. Another game he might take down 19 rebounds–9 of them offensive. Another game he might frustrate an opposing player and hold his scoring way down. In game 3, Gasol played great defense on Garnett, and scored/rebounded in the fourth when needed. In a game against Utah, he made decisive game winning plays, such as a controversial rebound/putback that won the game.

Pau is castigated for not blocking out. It is difficult to block out a player that weighs 80 lbs. more than you-but there are other ways to get rebounds.

Lamar is Lamar. He has been an X factor all year. He does not match up well against Boston as an offensive threat, but can still play defense and rebound.

VladRad has had games like Sasha games three for the Lakers–and can make other contributions. Unlike Lamar, VladRad can hit the three–so he can spread the floor. VladRad can go to the hole, rebound, and play defense–but not like Lamar. They are complementary role players that Phil can deploy.

Luke is one of only three Lakers that has been to an NBA final before. He matches up well against Boston widebodies. Luke and Ronny Turiaf can both make the 15-20 foot shot that Boston defense allows–even if they haven’t shown that ability with any consistency yet.

We have yet to learn whether Laker balance beats Boston defense.

The tragedy of the playoffs so far is that the best predictor of win/lose is free throw differential–not player matchups. The winners of ALL the games so far wear zebra stripes.