Orlando wasn't that bad. People forget if Courtney Lee makes the layup, they force a game 6, which magically transforms it from a blowout to a close series. I'm not so keen on people making such absolute qualitative conclusions from finals, except in cases like Lakers vs 76ers, Lakers vs Nets, Spurs vs Cleveland.
Things like, Dirk can't win a championship because he's too soft, well, a few different whistles/referees or lucky/unlucky shooting, and it becomes "the Mavericks are a championship caliber team".

In recent years the finals have been rewritten to be "the ultimate stage", when that was the Western Conference Finals for most of the first half of the decade. But columnists love a storyline and they especially can't stop themselves from decomposing a complex game into simple parables.

BalliSLife

1339 Posts

June 16 2010 08:45 GMT

#3225

What did sheldon williams do? either way Im sure his wife candace parker is better than him.

matko5

Croatia385 Posts

June 16 2010 10:55 GMT

#3226

On June 16 2010 13:29 Ace wrote:
Did anyone think Orlando had a chance vs LA last year, especially after Game 1?

well, no.

but if Lee made that layup and Nelson didn't let FIsher make that three... who knows?

unknown.sam

Philippines2701 Posts

June 16 2010 12:31 GMT

#3227

LA has this for sure.

it's going to be one of those storybook endings/comebacks that will be talked about for years to come. speculation as to whether the lakers would be able to avenge their 2008 defeat will come to a halt, and this will unquestionably cement kobe's status as one of the greatest of all time.

boston basically played best supporting team in this year's finals. they seemed like the perfect team to lose to the lakers especially with all the drama involved in the celtics/lakers rivalry.

yeah i know it's retarded to have such a baseless conclusion, it's just a gut feeling and i'd love for my gut feeling to be wrong come friday morning. here's to an exciting game 7!

Itzeddiieee

Korea (South)787 Posts

June 16 2010 12:37 GMT

#3228

ACE match.
Lakers have map advantage

x2fst

1272 Posts

June 16 2010 14:10 GMT

#3229

On June 16 2010 21:31 unknown.sam wrote:
LA has this for sure.

it's going to be one of those storybook endings/comebacks that will be talked about for years to come. speculation as to whether the lakers would be able to avenge their 2008 defeat will come to a halt, and this will unquestionably cement kobe's status as one of the greatest of all time.

boston basically played best supporting team in this year's finals. they seemed like the perfect team to lose to the lakers especially with all the drama involved in the celtics/lakers rivalry.

yeah i know it's retarded to have such a baseless conclusion, it's just a gut feeling and i'd love for my gut feeling to be wrong come friday morning. here's to an exciting game 7!

what did you expect, this league ain't run by amateurs

[image loading]

Miss_Cleo

United States406 Posts

June 16 2010 20:42 GMT

#3230

Win or lose, I predict a riot in downtown LA.
And I will be there causin' some shit.

matko5

Croatia385 Posts

June 16 2010 21:10 GMT

#3231

On June 17 2010 05:42 Miss_Cleo wrote:
Win or lose, I predict a riot in downtown LA.
And I will be there causin' some shit.

cut pierce's penis in three pieces.

LunarDestiny

United States4177 Posts

June 16 2010 21:36 GMT

#3232

With perkin out and william sucking hard, it looks very bad for Boston.

Ace

United States16096 Posts

June 16 2010 22:04 GMT

#3233

sigh. Very sad and unfortunate but that's the nature of sports. Just going to have to play through it.

Kazius

Israel1456 Posts

June 16 2010 22:14 GMT

#3234

With Perkins out, Wallace's tendency to get fouls called against him, and Williams sucking donkey balls, it looks like the Lakers have this easy. With Perkins in, the Celtics have four favorable match-ups on the floor and that way can combat LA's massive talent (Perkins vs. Gasol - he just takes out his offensive edge, KG vs. Odom - because KG rocks, Pierce vs. Artest and Rondo vs. Fisher for obvious reasons) - without him it's three at best (Rondo, Pierce and KG), or a disasterous two (Bynum vs Wallace, Gasol vs. KG, and Kobe vs. anyone), and then LA's advantages really shine (because even with 3 going in the C's favor - that's not enough to make up for Gasol and Kobe's massive talent). Perkins is an excellent defensive center who can (with KG or Big Baby) stop LA's Gasol/Odom combination, and defend any big one on one - and force a lot of minutes with the triangle-unfriendly Bynum/Gasol duo. Wallace is good on defense (though not nearly as impressive as his early Detroit days), but refs just hate him because he gets very fired up (the way to be in his "zone" is getting into a semi-berserker frenzy) and doesn't know how to be low-key about his fouls.

... the sad thing is that before the game, I was talking with a friend of mine (who hates LA) and said that Bynum will be looking for blood with Perkins and Sheed, hoping to injure them or elicit a technical since his minutes are limited by injury and LA need to level the playing field for game 7. That's the same guy who (a long time ago now) told me there is no way the refs will let Sacramento beat LA. I should listen to the guy more.

It kinda sucks, because the Celtics this year really got me excited, in the way Detroit did in their championship run, and with Perkins I believe the game could have gone either way. But at least Kobe is gonna get his due respect - no one will be talking about him not being one of the greats after he wins this.

Deleted User 3420

24492 Posts

June 16 2010 22:31 GMT

#3235

The celtics are deep enough I don't really get why people act like it's over cuz perkins is out. Glenn Davis has been doing great even if he had a bad game 6. I predict a very intense game 7.

Ace

United States16096 Posts

June 16 2010 22:31 GMT

#3236

Bynum certainly didn't try to injure Perk though. It was just an unfortunate accident.

Holcan

Canada2593 Posts

June 16 2010 22:51 GMT

#3237

On June 17 2010 07:31 Ace wrote:
Bynum certainly didn't try to injure Perk though. It was just an unfortunate accident.

Kobe kicked the other leg out from him causing him to fall awkwardly, certainly looked like a kobe foul as well lolz, all well the series is over, the most important part of Boston is gone, unless Ray Allen is amazing or something else happens this is not going to end well for Celtics fans.

To people disregarding the importance of kendrick perkins have not seen this guy play against top tier 7 footers, the guy is amazing, and with sheed getting fouls called for pulling chairs, lolz.

BalliSLife

1339 Posts

June 16 2010 22:55 GMT

#3238

Lakers win and I'm not even jinxing it.

KOFgokuon

United States14899 Posts

June 16 2010 22:57 GMT

#3239

balls, torn ACL and PCL that's pretty rough

XaI)CyRiC

United States4471 Posts

June 16 2010 23:49 GMT

#3240

Even as a Lakers fan I feel terrible for Perkins. He's probably the one guy on Boston that I like because he doesn't talk trash or exhibit stupid antics, he just goes out there and does his job (and very well at that). He may look scary, but I don't remember him ever doing anything unsportsmanlike or unnecessary on the court. Just physical and hard-nosed basketball player, and it's a shame he's going to miss the most important game of this series after playing such a crucial part in getting the Celtics this far.