LAKERS STINK, BUT THE SERIES IS NOT DONE...

[dolphin]

20 years since a team up 2-1 lost the Finals, and that was the Celtics over the Lakers.

If it gets to 3-1, say goodnight. Lakers will expend all they have left on Sunday and ESPECIALLY if they fall short, they are back to one day off, realizing that for the fourth game in a row they are simply inferior at THIS point in THIS season with THESE injuries. Larry Brown is entitled to ONE ring for sure, and with the Kobe situation the league probably prefers a class group as the Pistons appear to be. AS WELL, given that we don't know who will remain on LA next year, their time for championships may be done for awhile. The Pistons will provide hope for the East, which the league needs. Elite college programs can rejoice as players from North Carolina, Kentucky, Connecticutt and Oklahoma are amongst this year's champions' starting five.

HOWEVER, the league is cringing with this degree of defense ruling the day. More rule changes in the offing...a wider court?...six seconds to get the ball upcourt?...20 second shot-clock? ...any team which wins with less than 80 points is awarded a special HALF-LOSS, while any team losing with less than 70 is awarded an extra loss? OK, that sounded goofy as hell, but clearly two or three changes are required for more entertainment. I know part of the problem is the lack of mid-range shooters emerging from college, but how can you change that?

 

[Highdaddy]

series is over Martel....take off your cali blinders and watch the games. Detroit Pistons are the champs. LA will only win 1 more game if they are lucky. Lakers are fat and have no talent on the bench...series over

 

[dolphin]

Searching for greater objectivity myself, I watched Game 3 again last night, trying to distinguish luck, hustle, chemistry, etc. It's easy to think a team which wins a burial is clearly the better team, but in this case I think it's simply true AT THIS POINT IN THIS SEASON. The comraderie of the Pistons is NOT to be underestimated. The power of a super guard tandem which is in synch is a rare force. Kobe could have scored 10 more with better screens and the FTs could have been a bit more balanced. But the Lakers are S-L-O-W compared with Detroit. Billups, Hamilton, Prince and Hunter are moving faster than anyone but Kobe and maybe George...Kobe can't play more than TWO quarters of good offense...he's having to work too hard on both ends. Malone can't defend now. Ben Wallace has more energy and desire than Shaq. What you can also say from that game is that the Pistons could have scored more as well. In any event, one team is hungry and READY and knows it can win from ahead or behind. The other team is on fumes now, trying to preserve dignity, hoping there is more magic in their tank. Champions don't require that much magic. The Pistons won't show arrogance, but on the other hand the Lakers logo is more an invitation for them now, rather than any cause to shudder. This Rocky was on the mat for the gap between Games 2 and 3, only to get up and take the next six rounds which we can call Game 3. The Lakers are so wobbly that even though they are likely to show glimpses of their best in the first half of Game 4, the knockout punch awaits them in the second half. Even Phil's rhetoric seems empty, whiny. He referred to Game 1 as "Soddom" and Game 2 he called something like "a gift from God". Basketball is more secular than that and the old Phil was more Zen than that. The Lakers are S-L-O-W and he knows that is why there is a fouling discrepancy. Meaningful adjustments have been attempted and already failed. There isn't much left to tinker with. Florida beat the Yankees last year. This seemed like a more daunting task at the outset, but at 2-1 it already feels easier. Pistons are more mature than those Marlins, while the Lakers have limited resources and no swagger.

 

[winbet]

Great write-up Dolphin but from reading your posts I cant help feeling your over analysing situations and missing the point of betting.

Betting 2 horse races is like being on a beach watching the tide go in and out, when its in, all the Fish are happy, when its out, all the birds are happy. A Heron doesnt care whether its in or out, he is patient enough to wait and get the best of both situations. Instead of turning over rocks when the tides gone out, focus on the best place to be when it comes back in.

There is no value in betting game 4 now but if The Pistons win, then The Lakers in the outright market will be over-priced. Food for the Heron!

 

[dolphin]

Winbet, I definitely appreciate your intention. I am always looking to learn and I DO know I can over-analyze.

I think your thrust was that I may be falling prey to what Larry Merchant coined "Master Of The Obvious" (MOTO). On average I am a mild contrarian, but like any of us I can find myself trapped in a short-term cul-de-sac, falling in love with a team or an angle.

Big upset series are rare and have their own characteristics. I feel pretty sure we are witnessing one.

Bettors are leery of betting the Pistons at this point for the following reasons: fear of Kobe, respect for Jackson being 9-0 in Finals, little connection with a team which has no superstars and leads with brutal defense, phantom suspicion that the NBA will "orchestrate" a 7-game series, and because the notion that the Lakers were simply awaiting coronation since taking out the Spurs became embedded in the public's mind for a couple of weeks (and in the process reawakening the original sense that a Lakers' championship was inevitable prior to the season once Karl and GP came aboard). As great as Kobe is, he is hardpressed to be effective offensively for more than half a game v. the Pistons. Shaq is a nice potential edge on offense, but he is slow on 'D'. The Lakers are TRYING to shut down at least one of Detroit's guard tandem and aren't getting either one. Prince's confidence is growing and he feeds off the home crowd. Hunter is playing with speed and enthusiasm - more than any LA bench players on the road. Wallace has the best of Malone right now - IF he can even play. Detroit is faster, more consistently aggressive, more resilient, hungrier and have that great combination of knowing they are the better team now, while still being an underdog darling of some of the public. They are having fun without seeming arrogant; i.e. they are not giving the Lakers much extra fuel.

Kobe is not Jordan yet in one important respect. He doesn't vocally lead the team...he is not a coach on the floor. The two stars BOTH want the ball more this game and I doubt they both will be happy. Kobe COULD fall back to his "style" of his first two seasons, forcing things through double- and triple-teams, pissing off Shaq unless he is particularly hot. The Lakers desperately need a third player to score and yet are entering a game where the other players are being asked to worry about the stars MORE. The Lakers have been outscored by the Pistons by an average of 11 points per game in the second halves (ignoring OT differential in Game 2). That reeks of fatigue and is evidenced specifically by the number of offensive rebounds given up in those second halves.

 

[dolphin]

BTW, what is "the outright market"? The odds to win at 1-3 in games? The price on Game 5?

I think the Lakers would be 5-1 dogs for the series, and I can't imagine laying better than 4-1.

I think the Game 5 price would be Pistons 3.5, although it should be 6.

 

[jstu11]

THE FAT LADY IS SINGING FELLAS....PUT A FORK IN THE FAKERS....THEY ARE DONE

THIS SHIT ISN'T GOING BACK TO LA

TRUST THE BREAKER

 

[CedarCreaker]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CedarCreaker:

DETROIT (2004)

LAKERS (2004) PRIOR YEARS DIFFERENT...BUT THIS IS NOW AND THAT WAS THEN!!!!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> SOMETIMES I ANALYIZE THINGS RIGHT AND IT FEELS GOOD WHEN I DO..AND THIS IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE...NOTHING HAD CHANGED ABOUT THE LAKERS TO GIVE THEM AN ADVANTAGE SINCE GAME 1,2 AND 3 TO EVEN THINK THEY COULD HAVE WON GAME 4.(AND WE ALL KNOW THEY WERE LUCKY TO WIN GAME 2)..DETROIT HOME CT ADVANTAGE YOUNGER MORE AGRESSIVE PLAYERS AND LAKERS HAVE JUST GOTTEN WORSE..INJURIES AND TIRED LEGS AND NOW IN TEAM BICKERING AND NOW "THEY" EVEN KNOW THEY ARE BEAT. DETROIT WINS 3/4 AND THEIR SITUATION JUST GETS BETTER AND BETTER...LIKE SOMEONE SAID EARLIER "ONLY WAY DETROIT PLAYERS GO TO WEST COAST IS FOR VACATION THIS SUMMER"...LAKERS MIGHT PLAY TOUGH FOR PART OF GAME 5 BUT ONCE THEY FALL BEHIND THE REALITY WILL SET IN AND IT WILL BE OVER...AND I WILL COLLECT MY 6-1 SERIES BET AND THEN I WILL

 

[MARTEL910]

THE ONLY QUESTION I HAVE IS CAN THE LAKERS BE THE FIRST TEAM IN NBA HISTORY TO COME BACK FROM A 3-1 DEFICIT? CAN THEY WIN GAME 5 TO PREVENT THE ONLY TEAM IN HISTORY TO WIN THE 3 MIDDLE GAMES AND BRING THIS SERIES BACK TO LA? IF THAT IS POSSIBLE THEN WE WILL SEE A GAME 7.....
BUT I UNDERSTAND IT IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY FROM WHAT I HAVE SEEN.

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE KOBE BRYANT WAS LAST NIGHT??????????????????????

 

[CedarCreaker]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MARTEL910:
THE ONLY QUESTION I HAVE IS CAN THE LAKERS BE THE FIRST TEAM IN NBA HISTORY TO COME BACK FROM A 3-1 DEFICIT? CAN THEY WIN GAME 5 TO PREVENT THE ONLY TEAM IN HISTORY TO WIN THE 3 MIDDLE GAMES AND BRING THIS SERIES BACK TO LA? IF THAT IS POSSIBLE THEN WE WILL SEE A GAME 7.....
BUT I UNDERSTAND IT IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY FROM WHAT I HAVE SEEN. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE KOBE BRYANT WAS LAST NIGHT??????????????????????<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> SURE THEY CAN..(

), GUESS ANYTHING POSSIBLE...BUT HOW CAN THEY TURN THAT SHIP AROUND...SHAQ ON 1 DAY REST AND BEING RUN RAGGED...MALONE STILL HURT...PAYTON PLAYING LIKE DOG DO DO, KOBE GETTING FUSTRATED AND TIRED, NO BENCH, FISHER HURT, MEDVADENKO BEING MEDVANDENKO..AND PLAYING AT DETROIT??...NOPE ON SECOND THOUGHT IT CAN'T AND WON'T HAPPEN...OVER TUESDAY

 

[MARTEL910]

LAKERS WILL FIND A WAY TONIGHT, KOBE AND SHAQ WILL NOT GO DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT AND THIS SERIES WILL FIND ITS WAY BACK TO LOS ANGELES WHICH COULD BE A NIGHTMARE WAITING TO HAPPEN FOR THE PIST-ONS AND COULD SPARK THE RETIREMENT OF LARRY BROWN....

 

[dolphin]

Naturally, you could prove out to be right, but the Larry Brown thing sounds almost mean-spirited and I don't think he would quit on a team which has SO embraced his values in the game. I still think that Game 4 WAS their fight, an effort while not being THAT great, was nonetheless all they really have to give.

Continuing to bet on them feels like "averaging down" on a plummeting stock. At some point it's time to lock in a loss and seek better opportunities.

 

[MARTEL910]

WE WILL SEE HOW THIS SHAPES UP AFTER TONIGHT, I AM TELLING YOU IF DETROIT DOES NOT CLOSE OUT TONIGHT THEY ARE IN FOR A TOUGH SUMMER, THEY PUT ON A GREAT SHOW SO FAR BUT THESE ARE THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS.....

 

[CedarCreaker]

"THESE ARE THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS"........YOU ARE RIGHT...THAT IS THE TEAMS NAME AND THE JERSEYS THEY WEAR BUT THEY ARE NOT THE "SAME" LAKERS AS IN YEARS PAST...EVEN YOU HAVE TO ADMIT THAT...AGAIN, THE NAME OF THE FOOTBALL TEAM IN MY AREA IS THE DALLAS COWBOYS , BUT THEY ARE NOT THE SAME TEAM AS IN THE PAST...TIMES CHANGE, PLAYERS CHANGE...THE GAME CHANGES...THOSE ARE TIRED LEGED LAKERS AND THERE ARE ONLY 2 OF THEM!!! QUICK NAME THE 3RD BEST LAKER IN SCORING AVG THIS SERIES??...SEE WHAT I MEAN???

 

[jstu11]

THE LADY IS WARMING UP HER VOCAL CORDS

GO STONES

 

[CedarCreaker]

HEY WHO'S SINGIN THE ANTHEM TONITE??? KID ROCK SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!