This, plus he acknowledged that Hill's hand came in last second. He didnt account for that. Take it to him for that if you want but that was originally a good look. When it was happening, I was wondering why he didnt just toss it 3 feet away to a wide open Fish from 18 feet though

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Every now and then Kobe reminds us what it was like watching Jordan. The shots he made to put the game away were amazing. The degree of difficulty was a off the charts. You couldn't play better defense and he still ripped their hearts out. Seems like every year about this time some of the same people who said LeBron was the best player in the NBA get convinced that Kobe is. I'm surprised he is playing at this level after watching him look like an old man for 5 months. I wonder if he can continue to play at this level in the Finals.

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Its Mother Fuckin June until the playoffs start.......Stern get ur head out ur ass

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

Kobe has always been a on a higher level than James imo. Better scorer, better defender and better clutch player. Kobe's got alot of miles and battled through some injuries this year but look at him! He comes up bigger than anyone in the NBA during the playoffs. I would take Kobe now over James in a game 7 for the championship without even thinking twice

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"You can kill the revolutionary, but you can't kill the revolution."

the celtics intro was better than the lakers

I only looked at the box score, but did artest seriously get tossed 30 seconds into his first nba finals game?
I guess not, it said double T, I thought 2 is an ejection?

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Ray Allen is 7 for 7 from 3 point. The refs are foul happy tonight.

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Fuck Edwards and Zobrist

Refs have taken control of this series. Terrible.

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Agree. This is ridiculous how many fouls have been called tonight.

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Fuck Edwards and Zobrist

Yes and no. Unfortunately, last night was so poorly officiated that the refs stuck out more than guys like Ray and Rondo. The reason I wouldnt say they are controlling the series though is that because the calls seem to be equally terrible against both teams. Apparently blocking a shot now counts as a foul.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Kobe Bryant was held to only 21 points last night in Game 2, thanks in large part to foul trouble and fouls that probably normally aren't called even for one of the NBA's marquee stars.

Also, I'm wondering if HOVA noticed Doc outcoached his boy last night. Made almost every right move coming down the stretch. Having Rondo take over helped alot obviously, but he did a great job overall. The amount of evidence is piling up now suggesting he's not a terrible coach.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

That's what I meant by controlling. They are taking it out of the hands of the players on both sides. I can't recall seeing a Finals start with the refs deciding what key players will or won't be on the court at any given time. Let them play. The review where KG clearly knocks the ball out was terrible as well. There were so many bad calls on both sides in these first 2 games.

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He didn't. He put Nate in because he had played the entire game and Kobe not being able to be aggressive was a bonus. If Ray Allen doesn't go off Doc is down 2 games even with Kobe being in foul trouble.

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If a bunch of things did or didnt happen, it may or may not be the same result. Boston overall as a team did not play well and they still won. Kobe had a chance to take over with 5 minutes left but no-showed after that 3 point play to make it 88-85. Rondo didnt no-show after that.

Of course the players decide the games when it comes down to it. But the coach's obviously have a big impact on setting them up for success or failure. Doc did everything right to set his team up for success. It speaks to your stubbornness to try to deny that obvious fact from last night.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

He didn't do anything. There was no great substitution or play called. You seem to really want me to praise Doc's coaching ability which basically consist of repeating "Don't play hero ball". I will thank Doc for having a good defensive assistant that I hope becomes a great head coach. Other than that there is nothing new to report.

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OK so every time they win, it's the players doing their thing and he has nothing to do with it. And every time they lose, he's a horrible coach. You must think that if Phil Jackson was their coach they would sweep through the playoffs, considering how bad you think Doc is and how great you think Phil is. I'll be looking forward to hearing these same excuses if(when) Doc outcoaches Phil in a second NBA Finals series. If you paid attention you'd notice Doc actually does alot more during games than Phil does. It looked funny, but if Doc doesnt jump out on the court and get that timeout, thats a huge 8 second violation that could've possibly swung the game. Last night he did little things like that all 2nd half, when Ray only gave them 5 points and an airball. You're not watching if you think all he does is yell meatball things at the team and let the assistants handle all the rotations/timeouts/play calls, etc. If Phil can take all the credit from Tex Winter, you really should allow Doc some credit for Thib's work. HC's have assistants for a reason.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Running onto the court and calling a timeout is illegal. Of course it was allowed by the NBA Finals crew. I think Doc has the type of team that he doesn't need to coach. He's lucky. Phil has the hardware to get the credit. He has a long history of winning. Doc doesn't. Other than playing Nate Robinson against Orlando I can't recall a decision Doc made in the playoffs where I thought it was a really good move. I honestly don't believe he would have played Nate in that game if Rondo didn't get hurt. It worked out.

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I'm starting to believe that you're either intentionally ignoring the coaching matchup or you just aren't sure how they affect the game. You kept mentioning Kobe's foul trouble, but the Lakers never adjusted and they kept going away from pounding the ball inside when the entire Celtics frontcourt was in foul trouble and Baby and Perk were visibly overwhelmed. Gasol had 1 point in the 4th quarter. Boston hit LA hard enough to get them out of their comfort zone and LA turned into a jump shooting team and Phil did nothing to counteract this. I would say because of Kobe and Gasol LA clearly has more of a "Team coaches itself" roster than the C's. PP and KG couldnt provide anything last night and they actually had to depend on Shelden Williams for minutes. Boston still won. Doc handled Rondo/Nate fine too. He used Rondo as much as he could the first three quarters knowing Nate wouldnt have fit in nearly as well with Ray being hot and what they were trying to do, then brought Rondo back in right when the game was at a crossroads in the 4th and it worked out. Phil was sitting doing nothing the entire time, letting Kobe dictate to him what minutes he played. Doc Rivers clearly outcoached Phil last night, and really there's no evidence to the contrary.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Doc is a better coach than Phil and the combination of Kobe and Gasol means the Lakers don't need a coach unlike the seasoned veterans on Boston. Say no more. Your basketball knowledge certificate is being revoked effective immediately.

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OK that's fine. But if your boy doesnt get off his ass and decide to do something about Fisher getting completely owned, it wont make it back to LA. I know he normally doesnt feel the need to start coaching till Game 5 of a series at the earliest, but perhaps in his old age he doesnt remember how that worked out for him two years ago.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Fisher has to stick Allen because they need Kobe on the offensive end. Kobe can't chase that guy around all game and Rondo would destroy Fisher. Most of the Allen's points came on blown assignments and Kobe was guilty of one too. Odom is the X factor. If he shows up the Lakers will win. If he doesn't Boston will add another trophy to their case. Odom usually struggles on the road too so it may be a long series. I don't think Phil can get up and down like he used to because of his hip surgeries. I've Youtubed some of the Bulls old games recently and you can tell the difference.

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True, but the man can still whistle. Isn't that enough?

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I think the hip factors in, but overall you can tell the Lakers just dont try to make any adjustments. Why not have Brown and Farmar play alot more than Fish? They're clearly way more effective on the defensive end. In game 2 Fisher switched between Allen and Rondo because obviously he cant guard anyone besides the 1 or 2. He played 35 minutes and they absolutely killed him every time. This is obviously unacceptable and Phil would do something about it if he was still able to stay awake during games.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Brown blew more assignments than anyone and he can't shoot. He looked lost on the court early in the 4th quarter. He was jacking up shots like his name was Kobe and Kobe was on the court at the time. Farmer is too inconsistent to trust. Fisher has been solid most of the playoffs and they count on him to knock down the open shot when they double Kobe. I actually think Sahsa Vujacic would be the best option.

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Sounds like things the alleged GCOAT should fix.

Fisher hasnt been solid most of the playoffs, they have simply won despite him because of Kobe and their length. He has been burned in every series, only this one might be the worst one yet because of Rondo's athleticism and the need to put a body in front of Ray at the 2 spot.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

With the refs calling it as tight as they have been it takes Fisher out of games because he plays physical defense. So far that hasn't been allowed.

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While the officiating has been horrendous to the point of almost ruining the series so far, Fisher needs to be called on shit like that. He's the only PG I can think of that consistently fouls to make up for his lack of speed, and it's always excuses as "good, physical, bulldog type defense". Thats just plain wrong. If a guy beats you on the first step, you cant just throw your whole body sideways and completely stop his momentum. Fisher is the king of that move and it's annoyed me(as a Laker-hater) practically all decade.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

That's winning defense.

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Right position, wrong team. Rondo showed Kobe he knows a little something about that too in the 4th quarter on Sunday.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul