Comments on: Gasol vs. Howard: The Gold Medal Game

By: steven c

steven c — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:27:44 +0000

actually rob, pitcher-batter matchups at wbc are probably in line with mlb record.
coupla points, which i agree are somewhat speculative. and orl home record irrelevant (as irecall cle had exceptional home record-losing once in real reg. season-to whom? I forget) before losing to orl.
1-format helps lakers because it’s tough to win 3 consec home games-2-2-1-1-1 would be better for orlando.
2- two adverse effects on orl of finals’ inexperience.
a.underdog’s “happy to be here”
b. first taste of finals pressure
3- lots of talk about orl off-la def match-up
how about orlando def vs lak off, esp. gasol, odom, bynam inside-guessing that howard has problem staying out of foul trouble.
4. alston ain’t jameer, and ariza now ain’t ariza in jan.
5 3s are sometimes fleeting so if they aren’t falling fopr orl it could actually be a short series
6-will “bad lakers” show up (see denver game 4)
7. one key certainly is odom. who the hell knows with him?
am not looking for any contrib from vuyovic, farmer, sadly not expecting major scoring from fisher. (any positives from these three is a real bonus.
don’t be surprised if mbega comes in to mbeng howard a few times!
conclusion: this ain’t lakers-nets or 76ers,
but this also ain’t celtics from last year.
lakers have more varied weapons and focused mindset, so i take lakers in six.

By: steven c

steven c — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:07:42 +0000

realize i’m picky but the “lies” quote is from british prime minister disraeli not mark twain

By: BCR

BCR — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:12:29 +0000

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2009/news/story?id=4225693

Our hoopster-in-chief believes in us.

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:04:25 +0000

Snoopy-I never said the Magic were going to own the Lakers. Please re-read all my posts. Perhaps this why you think they are immature and trollish(actually trolling is when you argue for the sake of arguing, usually something off-topic).

As for waiting and seeing whats said, I meant the blog posters. I didn’t mean the people who comment.

By: Mimsy

Mimsy — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:32:28 +0000

John T and everyone else defending Bynum: Yes. He does have a lot of heart. I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but if you dunk over Shaq when you’re 17, and then refuse to back down when Shaq gets in your face about it you’re not a wuss, and you’re not a coward. He’s just been through a lot, and frankly is in a bit of an unfair situation.

If he rotates over to help on defense, then whoever he was guarding is left alone for either lay-up or rebound. If he doesn’t rotate over then, well, he wouldn’t be doing his job. He’s supposed to help out on defense.

Watching him play since he came back from the injury, he’s finding his way there. He’s more assertive, he seems more confident. Yes, he does the helpless shrug sometime, but so what? He probably just doesn’t like collecting fouls, he prefers being out there playing. He does it anyway (see the link to Fisher’s comments), most likely because he has been told to play hard to help the team.

Give the kid some time. He’ll find his way, and then he’ll be unstoppable.

P.S.
Glad to see that some of you liked my little hair rant. It was fun to write.

By: Reed

Reed — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:56:32 +0000

New post.

By: The Sports Watcher

The Sports Watcher — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:30:45 +0000

I think the Gasol-Howard matchup is very key. The key here for the Lakers is how many games will Gasol outperform Howard on the offensive end. Not to say Gasol is better than Howard, because he isn’t, but on any given night, Gasol can be better than Howard. On such an occasion, that would give the Lakers the 2 best players on the court. If Gasol is better than Howard on 2 different occasions, they win this series easily.
~http://www.TheSportsWatchers.com

By: Charles

Charles — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:05:22 +0000

I agree with #89. Bynum gets hard fouls on purpose knowing that saving fouls wouldn’t equal extra playing time anyways. I imagine that he will take away a free easy baskets a game with his fouls and while he is in there, do a decent job on Howard.

http://therookiecontract.com/

By: wiseolgoat

wiseolgoat — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:03:38 +0000

also to pile onto Rob here, quoting a 7-2 home record this postseason is a good fact. Saying that the Magic “will” win 1 of the first 2 games isn’t.

Just wanted to make sure you were aware of what you’re saying given your new status as a poster here.

By: wiseolgoat

wiseolgoat — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:01:45 +0000

in regards to Bynum sacrificing his reputation for the good of the defense – the players and coaches are very aware of what he’s doing to our defense despite not having a box score impact. They also recognize how he sacrifices his playing time after accumulating hard fouls in an effort to prevent easy buckets too.

http://lakers.freedomblogging.com/2009/05/29/bynum/17915/