Thanks, and please feel free.

Ray

Drrayeye, if you want you or I can paste your well thought-out comment over to the new thread so it isn’t missed.

152 – Kurt, you sound like a worried fan that can’t admit he’s worried. Now we’re going to use the 1st 2 rounds for adjustment purposes? That Boston team played way down to teams they were clearly better than. They started being themselves game 2 against the Pistons. We’re just lucky that none of the western comp can guard Kobe…

1. Bad foul shooting.

Farmar is less than 60%. Maybe that is the worst in the NBA for guards. Still the rest of the team is less than stellar. Odom’s free throws have been scary mysteries for years, and even Pau Gasol and Kobe have stumbled at times recently. When one considers that Villanova as a team went 22-23 to barely edge Pitt in the NCAA tournament, one sees how critical free throws could become in the playoffs.

2. Bad judgment.

Lamar managed to exhibit almost all of his lengendary tendencies in Atlanta yesterday during his 9/9/4 triple single outing: 3 of his patented “Oh no! Dumb” three point shots (Sasha only missed 2); numerous errant passes or incorrect decisions on the fast break; having defensive rebounds pulled away from him and put back for easy baskets; frustration failures on layup after layup gone awry. He was not alone. Kobe had four turnovers, was 1-6 on heavily contested threes, and improvised away from the offensive and defensive plans unnecessarily. Farmar only played 11 minutes, but he managed to rack up a minus 15 during his short stay on the court. It would be too easy to add in examples from Sasha or Josh. Only Luke seems to have remembered how to play basketball recently.

3. Responding to physical play.

It hasn’t been just Atlanta. Portland, Charlotte, and Utah have also had success with pressure defenses that included physical fouls on attempted layups. Other teams have had major runs in the fourth quarter by “going physical.”

Playoffs in the East are going to be more competitive for Cleveland. Orlando or Boston in the ECF is not going to be an easy matchup. And depending on the seedings, an athletic Atlanta team could also present a tiring series.

On the other hand the Lakers most likely will sweep the first round, and maybe the second.

So while the Lakers definitely aren’t performing at a high level right now, Cleveland might be prematurely peaking, and stands a good chance of feeling the effects later on in the playoffs.

Lakers cannot win the championship with the bench playing like that.