Lakers' Bryant A Lock For Finals MVP

[duncan228]

The local (Southern California) views.

Lakers' Bryant a lock for Finals MVP (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bryant-nba-russell-2445939-finals-team)
It's a very special year to win that newly named award.
Kevin Ding
The Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES – For the first time, the NBA has given its championship series MVP trophy a name. At the end of this series will be the presentation of the "Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award."

Obviously, Kobe Bryant is going to get it.

The thing is, Russell was never named NBA Finals MVP in his career. The first year the league gave the honor was 1969, Russell's final season. Russell's Boston Celtics did beat the Lakers in the NBA Finals then, but the MVP honor went to Jerry West, who despite a thigh injury had a triple-double in the Lakers' two-point Game 7 defeat.

It remains the only time the NBA Finals MVP came from the losing team. This award is not supposed to be for losers.

That's why it's going to be right on for the first Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award to go to Bryant, who'll be debuting as NBA Finals MVP.

For all the names people have rightly and wrongly called Bryant over the years, one that pretty much has never been used is the word "loser." Even so, Bryant's passion for winning has never been greater than now.

Before this series is over, I'll write a column documenting a slew of the little things that Bryant has done to make a difference in various teammates' success this season. You might think you know, but you have no idea.

The abridgement is that Bryant has put the team ahead of himself – or perhaps right there alongside himself, actually.

"He's continued to recognize that in order for him to accomplish some of his individual goals, the team goals have to match or exceed his own goals," Derek Fisher said. "That means other guys around him have to perform at a high level. Things he can share with them, he knows how important that is, and how well we take it when he does."

In this Lakers landslide Game 1 victory over Orlando, Bryant took 34 shots when no other player in the game took more than 13, and he scored 40 points when no one else scored more than 16.

In reality, Bryant passed up all sorts of shots early on when he could've gone sailing toward the rim but preferred to keep his team in rhythm. Orlando was daring Bryant to shoot his teammates out of the game, but he wouldn't go all the way there despite thoroughly sniffing out the turf.

When Fisher hadn't gotten a shot in a while, Bryant got past Mickael Pietrus as the Lakers were surging in the second quarter and could've shot – but he kicked the ball to the corner for Fisher's 3-pointer and a 41-34 lead. Bryant didn't even attempt a free throw until 3:19 into the second half because he actually didn't have the accelerator floored.

The result was still a team victory, despite all the Kobe headlines. The Lakers' defense was sensational – in transition (Orlando didn't have a single fast-break point despite Van Gundy emphasizing the need to avoid playing the whole game in the halfcourt), at the 3-point arc and against Dwight Howard.

Orlando's 29.9 percent field-goal shooting was the lowest by any team in the 81 games played this postseason. It wasn't too far off the worst shooting by any team in NBA Finals history: 27.5 percent by Syracuse against Fort Wayne in 1955.

But Bryant's performance earned its own historical context. With 40 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, Bryant became the first player to reach those levels in a single game since Shaquille O'Neal did in 2002, the last time the Lakers became champions. The only other players to put up 40-8-8 in NBA Finals history are Michael Jordan in 1993 and West in that losing cause in '69.

Russell abruptly left the game after his victory in '69 with a record 11 NBA championships. It wasn't until 37 years later that Russell resurfaced on the NBA scene when O'Neal revealed that Russell had advised him to bury the hatchet with Bryant on Martin Luther King Day 2006: "He told me that the thing that was going on between me and Kobe was silly."

Now this trophy bears Russell's name, not even Michael Jordan's despite the fact that Jordan was NBA Finals MVP six times to Russell's zero. The point, NBA commissioner David Stern said, was to name the award after "the ultimate champion."

And winning this award in a certain sense absolutely means more than the Maurice Podoloff Trophy for regular-season NBA MVP. (Podoloff was the NBA's first president.) Bryant has learned that much, saving individual energy during the regular season and cultivating team development instead of chasing another Podoloff.

It's only right that the first player to get a Russell will be all about winning, just like him.

[duncan228]

Orlando finds no answers for Bryant (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bryant-magic-going-2445692-game-pietrus)
The Lakers' Kobe Bryant dismantles the Magic, and its defense has nothing to stop him.
By Janis Carr
The Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES- Most teams know by now that whenever Kobe Bryant gets that steely-eyed glare they might as well pack up and go home. Game over. Come back tomorrow.

On Thursday, the Orlando Magic found itself in Bryant's sight and he took aim, scoring 40 points as the Lakers won Game 1 of the NBA Finals, 100-75.

“He's tough,” the Magic's Dwight Howard said. “He had everything going, every shot in the world. There's nothing you can do about that. What we can do is play harder.”

Bryant got going early, scoring six points in the first quarter. He added 12 in the second, defying every waving hand, outstretched arm and jarring body bump on his way to the basket. He made 16 of his 34 shots and all eight free throws.

He also contributed eight rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.

“We threw a lot of different things at him, but when he gets into the groove, when he gets going, it's hard to stop him,” said Magic guard Courtney Lee, who started the game guarding Bryant.

“He was tremendous,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said of Bryant. “The one thing that I thought was bad both from a coaching standpoint and from an execution standpoint was our pick-and-roll defense on him.

“I thought he really got going in the second quarter, running pick-and-rolls and getting a lot of pull-ups there. I thought we were giving him too much space on pull-up jumpers, particularly on pick-and-rolls and I thought he did a good job of attacking us on ball movement.”

The Magic switched off, replacing Lee with Mickael Pietrus on Bryant in an effort to slow him. Neither defender had much impact as Bryant continued his onslaught with 18 points in the third quarter.

“I think Kobe came out great,” Pietrus said. “We didn't know how to respond to it. He's been there before, he won three championships already and he knows how to play at this time of the year.”

Pietrus said that whenever he sees Bryant get in that mood, it reminds him of how Bryant played in the 2002 title run.

“I was watching him then and he knows that the first one (game) is going to be hard and serious and he came out and made tough shots.

“I was trying to do my best. But everyone knows that he's the Laker, so what can you do?”

What can a team do? How can the Magic slow Bryant in Sunday's Game 2?

“We have to step up and accept the challenge,” Lee said. “He got a little bit comfortable with the ball and we have to give it to him, get him out of his comfort zone. We didn't do it as the two guards, so he was able to probe with the ball comfortably.”

Rashard Lewis suggested taking the ball “out of his hands and try to make somebody else beat us. But they are a talented team.”

What other tactics can an opponent do?

“Just hope for the best,” Pietrus said.

[Allanon]

Don't tell this to the good folks at ESPN. They had Kobe and Dwight virtually even at the start of the series.

[duncan228]

Lakers not too excited yet, but Magic should be worried (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bryant-game-magic-2445894-lakers-finals)
The Magic better figure out a way to defend Kobe Bryant better than it did in Game 1. If not, this series might not be with us very long.
Jeff Miller
The Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES- Those banners with the words "The Finals" were hanging everywhere.

Both teams were outfitted with special golden logos.

The starters emerged from behind giant championship trophies.

Then Game 1 launched and, soon enough, so did Kobe Bryant, and things quickly dissolved into just another November night that was louder than normal.

The NBA Finals or a homestand finale? The Lakers were so convincing Thursday that they nearly coaxed the significance of out their largest game yet.

By the middle of the third quarter, the bench was breaking up with laughter, Dwight Howard had gone from Superman to Everyman and the end of this eventual 100-75 Lakers' triumph couldn't arrive soon enough. For either team.

"It's just one game," Coach Phil Jackson warned.

"No big deal," Bryant said.

Great start. Better finish. Yes, there are still three victories to go. Patience people.

Orlando has to be better than this and certainly will be better than this, perhaps by Sunday.

But the Magic in Game 1 was like one of those discounted knife sets featured in an infomercial. It looked a lot better on television than when it finally arrived at home.

The only thing missing at Staples Center was Ron Popeil promising, "But wait, there's more!" Or, in the case of Thursday, there was less.

The Magic had less than no answer for Bryant. It had no resistance, either. No discouragement, no response. And, against this guy, that adds up to one thing — no chance.

"We have to get into him more," Howard said, "and apply a little bit more pressure."

Get into him more? The Magic sure can't get into Bryant less. Orlando's Courtney Lee, who's a rookie, and Mickael Pietrus, who admits to being a big Bryant fan, appeared hesitant to even look at No. 24 never mind cover him.

Bryant was permitted to go wherever he wanted to go, which often was directly to the rim. He moved freely and aggressively, nothing on the court harder for him than his steely facial expressions.

Forty points later, Bryant had attempted 34 field goals (making 16) on a night when he repeatedly passed up open looks en route to supplying eight assists, just two fewer than all the Magic had combined.

The point total was a Finals career high. So was the number of times gritting his teeth and flaring his eyes.

"I just want it so bad, that's all," Bryant explained, almost softly, afterward. "I just want it really bad. You just put everything you have into the game and your emotions kind of flow out of you."

In the conference finals, Denver Nuggets Coach George Karl built his team's defense around video of the Lakers' 2007-08 Finals loss to Boston, particularly because Bryant struggled so much then.

Orlando's Stan Van Gundy apparently doesn't have access to a television. A year ago, Bryant was banged and badgered by the Celtics into shooting nights of 9 of 26, 6 of 19 and 7 of 22.

Thursday, the only banging he endured came while celebrating with his grinning and snorting teammates. Badgering? That came only from the media.

"He had the smell…just carried the game his way," Jackson said. "I thought we went there a little bit too often, but he said, 'Keep coming back, I'm OK.' So we did."

Especially in the third quarter, when Bryant outscored all the Magic, 18-15, and the Lakers went from 10 points up to emptying the bench. At one point, we believe we saw Travis Knight entering the game.

The defining moment for Bryant — and the Magic — came midway through that third quarter. With the shot clock nearing expiration, Bryant was facing an increasingly desperate situation 20 feet from the basket. Time for a prayer, an anxious heave at the hoop?

Hardly. Bryant lowered his head, drove and was permitted to get all the way to the rim with just the slightest of contact.

First, he flew past Pietrus. Then he slid by Rashard Lewis. Then he went up and over Howard, who appeared to be weighted down, perhaps by his defensive player of the year award.

"The thing is, Kobe definitely could score 40 points a night if he chose to," teammate Luke Walton said. "But he's gotten very good at picking and choosing when to go. When he gets going like that, you can't stop him. All you can do is hope he misses."

The good news for the Magic is they turned off the scoreboards Thursday night. When those lights come back on Sunday, the game will be tied again.

The bad news? The Lakers will be back Sunday, too, ready to turn on their Kobe Bryant. Orlando would be wise this time to at least try to find the switch.

[IronMexican]

15 rings, fagots.

[dirk4mvp]

Not when 40% Finals Kobe comes back.

[duncan228]

Kobe Bryant sinks his teeth into the Magic (http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-plaschke-lakers5-2009jun05,0,3155198,full.column)
His 40-point, eight-rebound, eight-assist effort leads Lakers to a dominating win.
Bill Plaschke
LA Times

Enough about his tumbling jumpers, his tentacle defense, his towering rebounds, his touch passing.

Did you see his teeth?

The story of the NBA Finals opener Thursday could be found in Kobe Bryant's mouth.

Seriously, did you see his teeth?

During the Lakers' 100-75 victory over the Orlando Magic, Bryant openly ground them as he ground his way to 40 points.

He visibly clenched them as he fought for eight rebounds and flicked out eight assists.

He bared them as he bared his soul.

"I just want it so bad," he said quietly. "I just want it really bad."

If, indeed, there was any question about how deeply this quest burns inside the Lakers' best player, the answer surfaced in a flaming glare that made it seem as if he wanted to not only beat the Magic, but bite them.

Championship choppers.

"We've seen that before," said teammate Sasha Vujacic, shaking his head. "He does that when he really wants to get going."

We've all seen it before, but have we ever really seen it like this? Over the last 13 years here, Kobe Bryant has looked at me with every virtual shade of anger and intensity, but he's never looked at me, or anybody else I know, like that.

"You just put everything you have into the game and your emotions kind of flow out of you," he said, also quietly.

Those emotions began to flow midway through the second quarter, when the Magic, although clearly outmatched, held a one-point lead.

"Then Kobe started making his shots, and it was like there was nothing we could do about it," said the Magic's Rashard Lewis.

Bryant's jumper gave the Lakers the lead. Then he made another jumper. Then he sneaked behind Hedo Turkoglu and stole a rebound.

He found Derek Fisher for a three-pointer. He made a turnaround, fallaway jumper. He made another jumper that ended in hand-extended pose.

He found Lamar Odom for a layup. He found Pau Gasol for a jumper. He made a spinning layup with four seconds left in the half.

The previous three paragraphs all occurred in the last 6:36 of the second quarter.

During that time, the Lakers outscored the Magic, 21-10, and Bryant had a hand in 19 of those 21 points.

"We did everything we could to stop him," said Magic rookie Courtney Lee, the poor young victim here. "But he would make a shot. And make a shot. And make a shot."

You know who used to do the same thing in NBA Finals openers here? Bryant is going to hate to hear this, but in a certain section of Lakers history, he has now joined his good buddy Shaquille O'Neal.

During Shaq's three Finals MVP runs, his best, most involved games were always the first ones. And it was always intentional.

Shaq would purposely bring the sort of thunder that would send the opponent scurrying into a hole from which it never emerged.

In 2000, he had 43 points and 19 rebounds in the opener against the Indiana Pacers.

In 2001, he accounted for 44 and 20 against the Philadelphia 76ers.

In 2002, he went for 36 and 16 against the New Jersey Nets.

When stars want to get the first giant grip on a series and a season and a giant gold ball, this is how they lunge.

This is what Bryant just did.

While he probably won't take 34 shots again in this Finals, and while he will undoubtedly involve his teammates more in Game 2 on Sunday, the message was sent.

The road to the title doesn't go through Staples Center or Los Angeles. The road to the title goes through him.

"We understand how much he wants this, how bad he wants to win this championship," said Lamar Odom.

He shouldn't have to wait much longer. Those three Finals owned by O'Neal barely lasted much more than a blink, and neither will this one.

I initially predicted the Lakers in five games, but after watching the Magic shoot 30% and get outscored 56-22 in the paint, I must humbly change my pick.

I'm taking the Lakers in three.

If Dwight Howard is Superman, the dude split his tights, scoring just one basket in nearly 35 minutes. Heck, even a lump of Kryptonite could score one basket.

Turkoglu may be the Turkish Michael Jordan, but he looked more like the Washington Wizards' Michael Jordan, making just three of 11 baskets.

Lewis is, well, I'm still not sure what Lewis is. Did he even play? Oh, two baskets, zero assists, zero steals, four fouls? Oh, now I remember.

"We haven't found anything," said Bryant. "It's one game. No big deal."

Maybe the Lakers haven't found anything, but Bryant certainly has.

In all the talk that he couldn't win a title without Shaq, he couldn't win because he wasn't a leader, he couldn't win because he didn't deserve it . . . he has clearly found his fire.

"It's a bit of everything," Bryant said. "It's a lot of motivation, a lot of motivation, I'm using it all right now."

Plus a pretty mean toothbrush.

[Allanon]

Not when 40% Finals Kobe comes back.

Unlike last year, Kobe's defenders got progressively weaker as these Playoffs went on. Not surprisingly, the Rockets put up the biggest fight.

Artest/Battier are elite wing defenders.

JRSmith, Dahntay Jones, Courtney Lee, Mikael Pietrus are not.

I'd be surprised if Kobe doesn't average damn near 50% these Finals.

[duncan228]

Finals should be short and tweet, with a Lakers' sweep (http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-simers-lakers5-2009jun05,0,5545508,full.column)
Lakers Coach Phil Jackson tries his best to be intimidating while looking for the meaningful, even as his girlfriend Jeanie Buss sends Twitter messages from her seat.
T.J. Simers
LA Times

Here we are, and it really doesn't get any bigger than this with only four games to play in this year's NBA Finals.

The thrill, the excitement and the anticipation that come with waiting for Jeanie's next tweet, twit or the latest amateur home video released by Phil &Jeanie.

But first the latest installment of "Phil & I," moments before Game 1, the YMCA coach they've put in charge of Orlando asked the obvious question: "Are you intimidated at all by Phil Jackson or his championship resume?"

"What's he going to do me?" Stan Van Gundy shot back, apparently ruling out the possibility our guy might outthink, outsmart and outcoach him.

"His resume in these championships is pretty good," I replied, figuring someone needed to stick up for Phil.

"He's a great, great coach, but intimidated?" Van Gundy huffed. "I'd be intimidated, I guess, if Dwight Howard or one of these NBA players threatened to kick my ass. Phil sitting down there on his chair doesn't intimidate me, no."

Then why is Jerry Buss paying the guy $11 million? To date his daughter? OK, so I can relate, and if I had the money . . .

This just in, a tweet from Jerry's daughter: "we may have trouble in stands -- Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) and Superman (Tom Welling) from Smallville here."

Where else could you get such goosebumps? But then I digress, the most important thing going into this series, I thought, Phil's nine rings and experience advantage. And yet the YMCA coach basically says whoop-de-do.

What do you say, Phil?

"Anybody have a question they'd like to ask that's meaningful?" said Phil, the media more than willing to let him practice being intimidating whenever he wants.

So someone else immediately chimed in, Phil asked what he would tell people who think NBA games are fixed, Phil going on and on as if it was a meaningful question, 126 words in all to essentially say, "No they're not."

I gave it another try, telling Phil, "I'm going to give it another try," and because we are buds now, he gave his permission to continue.

"I heard an interview with Mitch Kupchak earlier and he said there's not much coaching going on now and Van Gundy doesn't think much of you. Aren't you worth something here in this thing?"

"You hope," Phil replied, "as John Wooden would say, your coaching is done when you get to the game -- that you've done the preparation work."

With the mention of Wooden, I said, there's the perception you don't take timeouts, "Did you steal that from Wooden too?"

"I do take timeouts," protested Phil.

"Most people think you never do," I said.

"I know," Phil said, apparently accepting the fact he's misunderstood everywhere else but here.

A tweet update from Phil's girlfriend: "end of 1st qtr Lakers down by 2 and Denzel Washington's wife Pauletta asked me for some gum thank goodness Phil gave me new pack from locker."

He might be misunderstood, but what an eye for detail.

That's why I like the Lakers to sweep the Magic.

I told Phil the President of the United States had picked the Lakers in six, Joe Torre had sent a text to Page 2 picking the Lakers in six, but more important than those guys, Bresnahan from Bresnahan's Take had picked the Lakers in six.

That means the President, Manager and beat reporter who can't get a date have the Lakers losing two games.

I told Phil I couldn't see the Lakers losing another game, so I wondered if he was now leaning more toward my prediction?

"That's a good question," he said to show you how far we've come. "But I can't answer it."

I thought maybe Jeanie might have the answer, checking her latest twit: "My girlfriend just called Turkoglu 'Tub of glue' told we dont play that way."

No, we just tweet that way: "Denzel Washington and Stephon Marbury chatting on sidelines cant wait to see Pelham 123."

I had no idea Marbury was making movies these days.

But knowing now anything might get tweeted, I asked Phil if he had tipped off his girlfriend and told her what he really thinks about how far this series will go.

"No," he said, "I just said that this is the game everybody puts the most importance on. This is the one where you get the stats, 70%, et cetera, et cetera, very important game, kick-off game, but . . . "

And then he got up to leave with his "but" just hanging out there.

"But what?" I asked.

"That's it," he said to laughter, mission accomplished, Phil good and loose to start this run for yet another championship.

And Jeanie tweets: "Lauren Conrad just arrived she looks pretty in flowy chiffon tunic. Lakers down by 3 7 mins left in half."

But, but, but, but . . . who's Lauren Conrad?

LIKE I told Phil, no question, a Lakers' sweep, and LeBron James owes everyone an apology for making this year's NHL final more relevant.

"Start of 4th qtr," Jeanie tweets, "Lakers up by 24 but fan didnt make half court shot."

The guy must have been from Orlando.

WHY does Phil have Kobe returning to the game, the Lakers up by 25 with seven minutes to play?

Did NBA Commissioner David Stern call down to the bench and ask Phil to do something to keep everyone tuned in?

WHEN THE second question offered to Stern in his annual address before the start of the Finals is WNBA related, you know the fix is in.

MY FAVORITE Jeanie tweet: "Ron Artest and Tyrese Gibson just got here! Lakers up by 20 points! 2:28 in 3rd."

No doubt they were off together trying to come up with clever new lyrics for the national anthem.

[21_Blessings]

TJ Simers is horrible