I cant believe how similar this 4th quarter is to Game 1. 2 points in the last 5 minutes. Its uncanny how close the Spurs have been so many times to taking the lead and havent been able to do it. They have done evetrything else borderline perfectly. As Im typing this Kobe dunks it and the game is pretty much over.

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What the fuck? Thats bullshit. Im all for saying hey lets not let the refs decide the game, but that is a crystal clear foul. I cant believe even the biggest Laker fan would say thats not a foul.

Im not saying the Spurs deserved to win, they played lousy and got lucky to be in it at the end, but that was a bullshit non-call by a ref with a clear history of hating the Spurs and treating them unfairly.

Edit: I cant believe the TNT guys are saying Barry should have flopped. We have enough flopping in the league already. The refs need to do their damned jobs and recognize a clear as day foul when they see it. Also Barkleys point about the refs shouldnt have called the foul because the Lakers outplayed them is absurd. The Lakers clearly did outplay them but that shouldnt be a factor in making that call. It should be an objective call based on its own merit.

If there is a Game 7 in this series or the NBA Finals, expect Jack Nicholson to be the head referee.

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You have to make that call, unless you want to increase the flopping epidemic. The TNT guys are right that if Barry flopped, or "sold" the call, he would have gotten it. I hate that type of soccer-esque basketball. The calls should be called based on their merit, not the acting ability of the ball handler.

On a side note I cant believe that Kobe possession. I havent seen him make that boneheaded a play since the 90's.

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I get your point and normally would agree but Fisher forced their hand. He left Barry no viable shot, and the only way they had a chance was to have that foul called. There was no chance of Barry making that shot, and that is solely the result of the foul.

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Nice Nas, but I still think my last post is justifiable and explains my reasoning on this one. For the most part I am happy with how much they have let the players decide this series.

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I knew from the second I made the post there was no way you were agreeing with me. Im a Kobe fan too, but the last play of this game reminded me of why I hated this team so much in 2001-2003.

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The officials still decided the game. It's pretty simple really. Brent Barry was forced to take a very difficult off balance shot because he was fouled. No way in hell was he going to hit that shot and the only reason for it was that Fisher played terrible defense and fouled him quite obviously.

You don't want the refs deciding the game is the biggest copout in sports and it annoys me. Did they decide the game in the second quarter when they called a foul? Two points are two points.

It's not like this was a hit on the arm while driving to the basket. This was Barry getting his momentum completely knocked off and having to throw up a desperation shot. Fisher got rewarded for a very bad defensive play.

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No doubt it was clearly a foul.

However, the refs have never made those calls in the final seconds of a game, so why start now?

Yeah, alotta fuckin good that does the Spurs today. Theres no excuse for not overturning it at the time.

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In my opinion, this was worse than the suspensions from the Spurs-Suns series last year. At least the suspensions last year were correct interpretations of the rule. This clearly wasn't. Both of them severely hurt the team from winning a game.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Theres a very good chance that non call decided the NBA champion. The Lakers had a good chance of winning this series either way, but now they are almost a lock to win it and theres no way the East champ is beating them if they play as inconsistent as they have been during the ECF.

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Nas you have to realize how absurd your position is here. Just because the Spurs didnt play well the whole game doesnt mean the refs should hand the Lakers the game. It was IMPOSSIBLE for Barry to get a good shot off because of the foul. Like Rick said, the refs DID decide the game by not calling an obvious foul. The NBA wouldnt be issuing this statement if it wasnt very apparently obvious.

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Who cares? They were down 2 at that point. Would it somehow make it less of a BS call if the Spurs had led all game and then lost the lead in the last 30 seconds only to get screwed in the last 2 seconds?

That's even worse than "you can't call a foul in the last 5 seconds".

I don't care how a team got there. The final score is what matters, and there was a good chance it would have been tied heading to overtime.

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Your first sentence Im guessing his half kidding but totally absurd. Your second sentence doesnt matter because the Spurs are the no excuse kings of the NBA. They will never use an excuse. I cant remember the last time they did. The fact the NBA said the call should have been made is all the proof you need. As for the last sentence, Im not positive about that, we'll see. Depends on if the officiating crew is still comprised of Joey Crawford and Jack Nicholson.

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Theres absolutely no way you would have this position if the Lakers were down by 2 and Tony Parker jumped on top of Kobe Bryant. Of course Kobe would get the foul all day in that case, but if he didnt you would definitely be all over it. And for the first time ever I would agree with you.

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Fare you well, fare you well
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Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Makes one handed 30 foot shows while falling down because a PG is sitting on top of him? I didnt see that highlight.

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And the Spurs with their backs absolutely against the wall. Thats when they were at their best. I dont expect the Lakers to score more than 90 points tonight, but Im not sure who is gonna win. The Spurs defense will be as good as we've seen it all postseason, but I dont know if their offense will suddenly stop being dreadful. Manu needs to score much more than 7 points.

TNT showed a stat before the game that 7 lakers got an offensive rebound in the last game. I really like stats like that because it shows that it wasnt one guy or just their front line. At basically every position they got outhustled.

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Listen to the river sing sweet songs
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What a fantastic start, but noone is forgetting Game 1. Pops is one of the best coaches Ive ever seen, so why the hell did it take him four games to realize Kurt Thomas is better than Horry right now. Thomas has given them great minutes so far. Manu still looks hesitant with the ball, but I would too if Kobe were guarding me. Hopefully the Spurs can keep a 15+ point lead going into halftime.

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Listen to the river sing sweet songs
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I know supposedly Kobe is hurt Nas, but I havent noticed even the slightest dropoff in his play.

Manu is clearly playing at 70% tops. Dont tell me this is an excuse, its not. Its just an observation. Manu is downright hurting them on both sides of the ball.


The Spurs look terrible in the 4th. No hustle, no defense. They look like they have given up. You're crazy if you think Bowen is a better defender at this stage of his career than Prince. Prince has the quickness to keep up with Kobe and the length to bother him on all those mid range jumpers.

Next season the Spurs need to replace the majority of Bowen, Barry, Finley, Horry, Oberto, Thomas, and Vaughn.

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Brent Barry is about the best player on the floor right now for the Spurs.

He's the best besides Duncan and Parker.

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I haven't seen much out of Duncan and Parker - granted I've turned the game on early in the 4th quarter.

Nice shot by MJ err I mean Kobe.

This game is over. Kobe just decided it was.

Manu's cute trying to guard Kobe. It's like a man versus a boy. Kobe lets him play with him until he decides it is time to go.

Parker's struggled with his shot a bit but hes playing well. Duncan has a 17-15-9 so far, he did everything he possibly could this entire series. Ginobli will rightfully so be the scapegoat. Hes clearly hurt, but hes killing them out there, and has all series except that one fluke game. Bowen's best days are clearly far behind him. Hes a step behind Kobe every time.

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I can only imagine what this Laker team will look like next year with Gasol and Bynum down low.

They're burrito?

I was bound to get a prediction wrong sooner or later

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Listen to the river sing sweet songs
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They are not on THE down low.