Haha no worries man…
Can’t believe no one gave the Mavs a chance in hell (except Barkley).
What was with Bryant’s complete lack of aggression, and when he decided to be aggressive he put 9 pump fakes on Jason Kidd before shooting a tough fade? Take the ball to the fucking rack. I feel like he was trying to make a point to Bynum [about the whole “gimme the ball” and other shit] and decided to not play the way he needs to, like he did against the Suns several years ago. This is not the time for that shit. Pau Gasol needs to have his contract revoked. This is fucking absurd. The Lakers are down 3-0 to an inferior team, and are on the verge of being on the wrong end of a historic ass whooping.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
What was with Bryant’s complete lack of aggression, and when he decided to be aggressive he put 9 pump fakes on Jason Kidd before shooting a tough fade? Take the ball to the fucking rack. I feel like he was trying to make a point to Bynum [about the whole “gimme the ball” and other shit] and decided to not play the way he needs to, like he did against the Suns several years ago. This is not the time for that shit. Pau Gasol needs to have his contract revoked. This is fucking absurd. The Lakers are down 3-0 to an inferior team, and are on the verge of being on the wrong end of a historic ass whooping.[/quote]
Come on dude, give the Mavs some credit. The Lakers limped into the playoffs, got taken to 6 games by a David West-less NO team and are currently down 3-0 to the Mavs. Time to face facts, Kobe is no longer the player he once was and Lakers simply aren’t that great.
Really don’t think the scoreline and stats give justice to how badly LA was beaten in g3. -6 is actually a pretty decent scoreline considering how much the cheap fouls, lack of Pau presence, and how horrific some of the D and offense was. Completely fell apart in the clutch. Still, LAL are quality enough to make history and still take the series. Don’t write them off. I’m still considering hedging my bet here. Especially now since people will throw a lot more cash towards the Mavs!
But seriously, you can not give Dallas 29/67 shots from outside and most very easy at that!
LAL have a much better inside game. I see that the only thing saving them right now.
[quote]Teledin wrote:
Really don’t think the scoreline and stats give justice to how badly LA was beaten in g3. -6 is actually a pretty decent scoreline considering how much the cheap fouls, lack of Pau presence, and how horrific some of the D and offense was. Completely fell apart in the clutch. Still, LAL are quality enough to make history and still take the series. Don’t write them off. I’m still considering hedging my bet here. Especially now since people will throw a lot more cash towards the Mavs!
But seriously, you can not give Dallas 29/67 shots from outside and most very easy at that!
LAL have a much better inside game. I see that the only thing saving them right now.[/quote]
Part of me wants to believe [and does believe] that LA can still take this, but Gasol’s lack of fire is pretty apperant and will ultimately do them in. Also, Bryant needs to take over the game when the situation dictates, and be more aggressive overall. He can get any shot he wants, any time he wants and he was completely passive in this game. I said earlier that I thought he was doing it to prove a point, but he might’ve had something physcally wrong, like the ankle or something 'cause he was pretty non-comital.
[quote]Teledin wrote:
LAL have a much better inside game. I see that the only thing saving them right now.[/quote]
Yep but the Mavs have Dirk.
I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach that the lakers are gonna win 4 in a row and complete a historic comeback. Idk. I don’t like the lakers but I have this feeling that if there was ever a time a team comes back 3-0, it is this time.
in a post game interview a member of the media asked Pau “Has your play this series undone what you have done the last 2 seasons?”
What a douche.
[quote]nomorewar wrote:
I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach that the lakers are gonna win 4 in a row and complete a historic comeback. Idk. I don’t like the lakers but I have this feeling that if there was ever a time a team comes back 3-0, it is this time. [/quote]
Im sorry but thats NOT going to happen. People say that the Lakers needed to win this game for a reason. Not only does it mean that the Mavs need only 1 more game to win but Lakers needed it because it would have gotten them SOME kind of momentum to start winning. Lakers are out.
[quote]QuadasarusFlex wrote:
[quote]nomorewar wrote:
I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach that the lakers are gonna win 4 in a row and complete a historic comeback. Idk. I don’t like the lakers but I have this feeling that if there was ever a time a team comes back 3-0, it is this time. [/quote]
Im sorry but thats NOT going to happen. People say that the Lakers needed to win this game for a reason. Not only does it mean that the Mavs need only 1 more game to win but Lakers needed it because it would have gotten them SOME kind of momentum to start winning. Lakers are out.[/quote]
Agreed.
I think LAL are far too demoralised to actually pull off a come back now. But then again, you can’t be 100% certain with them. To reiterate, their run after the all-star weekend!
I wouldn’t put money ever on anything other than a 100% gut feeling and looking back at the 2010 fifa world cup, these playoffs I’m pretty much perfect on my bets.
Back on track … LAL are far too shaken up to pull off a comeback. Dallas are playing the best basketball they have played all season. They are performing better against the Lakers than they did against the Blazers. I can see Lakers taking back maybe two games but no way are they going to beat the Mavs in 4 straight unless a major collapse occurs. Dallas are FAR too hungry for the ring especially since this might be Dirk’s, Jet’s and Kidd’s last real shot.
Not saying my intuition is proven, it is just hard to dismiss it when it has been so right so many times and won me quite a bit of cash. I really don’t know if Lakers are a better team with Artest or without him. Would love to get more insight into this.
For the record too, I don’t know why but I have a strong gut feeling the last few days that we will be seeing a 2006 re-match. Hence why I hedged my Bulls champions bet with Mavs or Heat to take championship. I guess we will see! 
Most Kobesexuals are still dealing with phase 1. Seems like Pau is bearing the brunt of stage 2.
Laker fans, the weeks and months ahead might be a difficult time, but I want you all to know that what you’re feeling is totally natural. 2 championships in 3 finals appearances is nothing to laugh at, you guys had a great run while it lasted.
^^ LOL thats awesome
Anyway, the perspective of LAL fans is that dramatic finishes and near-escapes have become par for the course by now (anyone remember Game 7 of the 2000 West Finals??) and this is simply more of the same. In other words, LAL has gotten away with “procrastination” before, so why not now?
From the standpoint of x’s and o’s, it was indeed curious to see LAL stop pounding the ball down the stretch. They were in control because of that, but inexplicably, they just started standing around on the perimeter for those final 5:00 or so. Of course they also quit rotating defensively, and credit to DAL for knocking down those big jumpers that they needed.
Funny thing is, LAL could easily be up 2-1 at this point (again, credit to DAL for owning the 4th quarters in Games 1,3) and THAT is why most informed observers are still hesitant to write off LAL, even now…
^^^Because they would have to pull off the greatest comeback in NBA history in order to do so.
I could see the Mavs losing game 4 and MAYBE game 5, but there’s no way they’re beating them 4 in a row. Not going to happen.
Also I bet Phil Jackson is eating his words about the comments he made regard Caron Butler and the Mavs chances.
[quote]Teledin wrote:
I really don’t know if Lakers are a better team with Artest or without him. Would love to get more insight into this.[/quote]
LAL fans are similarly confused, but I suspect it comes down to matchups.
Artest’s greatest value is against perimeter studs like Durant, Anthony, Pierce etc. But he can’t seem to slow down Dirk (no one can) or even Jason Terry (apparently) so he’s not exactly contributing a whole lot out there.
I’d like to see Odom continue to start at the 3 since it keeps him more mentally involved throughout, but we saw the drawbacks to that as well - poorer defensive rotations on the perimeter and an even more decided bench edge for DAL.
[quote]chillain wrote:
Anyway, the perspective of LAL fans is that dramatic finishes and near-escapes have become par for the course by now (anyone remember Game 7 of the 2000 West Finals??) and this is simply more of the same. In other words, LAL has gotten away with “procrastination” before, so why not now? [/quote]
[quote]therajraj wrote:
^^^Because they would have to pull off the greatest comeback in NBA history in order to do so.
I could see the Mavs losing game 4 and MAYBE game 5, but there’s no way they’re beating them 4 in a row. Not going to happen.[/quote]
Yawn. This DAL team isn’t exactly known for their “killer instinct” and close-out ability
[quote]chillain wrote:
[quote]chillain wrote:
Anyway, the perspective of LAL fans is that dramatic finishes and near-escapes have become par for the course by now (anyone remember Game 7 of the 2000 West Finals??) and this is simply more of the same. In other words, LAL has gotten away with “procrastination” before, so why not now? [/quote]
[quote]therajraj wrote:
^^^Because they would have to pull off the greatest comeback in NBA history in order to do so.
I could see the Mavs losing game 4 and MAYBE game 5, but there’s no way they’re beating them 4 in a row. Not going to happen.[/quote]
Yawn. This DAL team isn’t exactly known for their “killer instinct” and close-out ability
[/quote]
You sound pretty confident. Would you be willing to put your money where your mouth is?
[quote]chillain wrote:
[quote]chillain wrote:
Anyway, the perspective of LAL fans is that dramatic finishes and near-escapes have become par for the course by now (anyone remember Game 7 of the 2000 West Finals??) and this is simply more of the same. In other words, LAL has gotten away with “procrastination” before, so why not now? [/quote]
[quote]therajraj wrote:
^^^Because they would have to pull off the greatest comeback in NBA history in order to do so.
I could see the Mavs losing game 4 and MAYBE game 5, but there’s no way they’re beating them 4 in a row. Not going to happen.[/quote]
Yawn. This DAL team isn’t exactly known for their “killer instinct” and close-out ability
[/quote]
You’re going to say that about the team that has crushed the Lakers in 2/3 4th quarters so far?
Seems the team missing the killer instinct last night was dressed in yellow, making key turnovers and terrible plays while they had a 91-85 lead, that evaporated into a 95-91 deficit in 2 minutes.
[quote]red04 wrote:
[quote]chillain wrote:
[quote]chillain wrote:
Anyway, the perspective of LAL fans is that dramatic finishes and near-escapes have become par for the course by now (anyone remember Game 7 of the 2000 West Finals??) and this is simply more of the same. In other words, LAL has gotten away with “procrastination” before, so why not now? [/quote]
[quote]therajraj wrote:
^^^Because they would have to pull off the greatest comeback in NBA history in order to do so.
I could see the Mavs losing game 4 and MAYBE game 5, but there’s no way they’re beating them 4 in a row. Not going to happen.[/quote]
Yawn. This DAL team isn’t exactly known for their “killer instinct” and close-out ability
[/quote]
You’re going to say that about the team that has crushed the Lakers in 2/3 4th quarters so far?
Seems the team missing the killer instinct last night was dressed in yellow, making key turnovers and terrible plays while they had a 91-85 lead, that evaporated into a 95-91 deficit in 2 minutes.[/quote]
Shhhhhhhhh red04!
I’m trying to make some money here 
[quote]therajraj wrote:
You sound pretty confident. Would you be willing to put your money where your mouth is? [/quote]
Sure, as long as the odds are right.
Will you lay 12-1? 10-1?