That's how you defend LA

[underdawg]

Not that the Spurs didn't defend LA well, but it's nice to have some longer defenders to defend their offense. That said, it was a good win for Boston but I couldn't help but notice the "I love LA" theme being played during commercials and even ESPN's Finals logo is gold and purple - what the hell? Boston looked more athletic, but they took a lot of bad shots. Their defense is really good as advertised, but I don't know if they will shoot as well as they did tonight throughout the series. It was fun to see allme contained. As much as I dislike Fisher, he's a hell of a playoff player. KG looked pretty damn good, but I have a feeling that somehow the fakers get most of the calls and NBA gets what they want with the larger market getting the championship. For 2 more weeks, Go Celtics!

[E20]

Exactly. That is how you hold Bryant.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

Spurs definitely need to get longer.

Oh yeah, and Pop has too much faith in having the luxury of Bruce Bowen.
Would it have killed him to bite the bullet and throw in some double teams and force someone else to take a shot?

[timvp]

That's why the Spurs should have signed James Posey and not worry about his DUI or whatever he got hit with last summer. Posey is a top five clutch defender in the NBA.

[E20]

That's why you sign James Posey and not worry about his DUI or whatever he got hit with this summer. Posey is a top five clutch defender in the NBA.
It never came through to me that James Posey is good defender, I always thought of him as being old. But the Celtics team D shut down Kobe.

[SPURSGOAT]

WOOHOO!!! BEAT LA!! BEAT LA!!

Wish we were playing Boston.. looks like it would have been a good matchup.

[midnightpulp]

Also, this shows the effectiveness of having an effective swingman. Pierce was great, and Allen was decent with 19 pts on 5-13. The Spurs got nothing like that from Manu on a consistent basis.

I thought the Spurs executed their defensive gameplan well, just couldn't score.

[T Park]

That's why the Spurs should have signed James Posey and not worry about his DUI or whatever he got hit with last summer. Posey is a top five clutch defender in the NBA.


Yeah Posey would've been nice.

Don't know if he would've put em over the top though.

[mytespurs]

What exactly did the Boston do defensively that the Spurs didn't do....uh, make that couldn't do?

[Behrooz24]

Spurs definitely need to get longer.

.

http://www.med-pills.com/extenzenewproduct.gif

[kobyz]

i can't belive that we lost to this team, we much more better than the lakers

[timaios]

5 days of rest would have helped !

:bang

[ace3g]

well Posey is a Free Agent this summer?

[mytespurs]

i can't belive that we lost to this team, we much more better than the lakers


Well, we did so.......

[ducks]

pj brown was the reason boston won


spurs need splittler

[ducks]

notice the big three of boston scored over 60 points something spurs big three were only able to do once

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

What exactly did the Boston do defensively that the Spurs didn't do....uh, make that couldn't do?
Like E20 said, they actually had a better game plan against Kobe than us defensively.

Did Kobe ever once have an 40 percent game against us, that he's been known to have?

[ducks]

yeah thanks to watching spurs vs lakers tape

[ducks]

Like E20 said, they actually had a better game plan against Kobe than us defensively.
they will adjust phil does this well

[underdawg]

not just Posey, but PJ Brown had a good game too. He's nothing special, but long arms were definitely a plus as he came down with some remarkable rebounds. We've never really had size in the realm of snaq or any other big player, but we've also lacked a big with long arms. Elson seemed like he was long, but never really played that way. That's why I like Ian. Beef him up and I think he really does bring something to the table that we haven't had since DRob. I'm tired of hearing how he's not ready - get him in the lineup and let him figure it out.

[ducks]

pj made horry look like and idiot

[underdawg]

pj made horry look like and idiot

I don't know about that since they're two different players, but I'd like to have a younger player with Horry's build and of course basketball IQ. That said, I went to the preseason games and really liked what Ian did. I understand that he's raw, but put him on a team where he's just a role player and I think he'll shine. He was the main man on the Toros and I think that limited him. I watched him shut down the lane and block shots of driving guards during the preseason and that didn't seem raw at all. Yes, it was preseason but the principle is the same during the reg season and playoffs. He's long and I'm starting to see the significance of that more and more.

[underdawg]

The other thing you have to think about is why the Celtics are such a good defensive team? Rondo, Cassell, Pierce, Allen and who else are really considered to be good defenders? We know KG is a good defender, but other than him who is a player that you consider a good defender? Is it their system? They really do have a lot of scorers for a "good" defensive team. Perkins and Posey ARE good defenders, but they also have offensive capabilities. I think the strength of their defense solely lies in the fact that they have long players that help down low by their length alone. They also help out on offense as a team like the fakers defend so close - their length matches up well with that type of defense. We have a man on man defender in Bowen, but we don't have a long defender other than Duncan. That has to be addressed as we encounter more and more athletic players (i.e. West, Gasol, Odom, Chandler, Carmelo, Stoudamire, etc.)

[SequSpur]

dude, the spurs are soft, they let kobe run layup drills on them.

blame old ass bowen for that... shit, wake up already... damn..

[underdawg]

dude, the spurs are soft, they let kobe run layup drills on them.

blame old ass bowen for that... shit, wake up already... damn..

nice take, but Bowen had nothing to do with our lack of inside defense and the ability of our opponents to get to the rim at will. Bowen defends scorers like Kobe and Allen, but he's never been called upon to defend bigger players like Gasol, Odom, Stoudamire and such. He played well against Kobe (as much as anyone can one on one) and if you deny that you're just a douchbag that doesn't understand basketball. Bowen will never be the guy defending the rim - that is where we failed.

[kobyz]

our game plane against the lakers was to not let kobe get everyone invold and let him beat us by himself , and that what happened, we limit him to only 2 APG/
i think the defence on him was good, but the defence on the others was not good

[rasho8]

I didn't actually watch the game. I think this is the first time I haven't watched the finals in 12 years.

I was flipping through channels and saw that Boston won.

I still didn't care.

This person wont be pushing the NBAs ratings up for this "DREAM FINALS" of theirs.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

our game plane against the lakers was to not let kobe get everyone invold and let him beat us by himself , and that what happened, we limit him to only 2 APG/
i think the defence on him was good, but the defence on the others was not good

yeah it wasan ineffective game plan. Also the "dont let Kobe get to the line and beat us at FT's" made the Spurs less aggressive than they should have.

it also didnt help that their bench ran circles around our bench.

[Lake_show]

Kobe had a bad game and we almost stole game 1 in Boston. Calm down kids that's not going to happen again.

[ChumpDumper]

I agree, they won't almost steal a game again. They'll lose by large margins.

[Lake_show]

I agree, they won't almost steal a game again. They'll lose by large margins.

*Yawn*, undefeated @ home, we'll get game 2. Series is over.

[PwrGetter]

Boston did well. If you check the stats, the FG% was about the same for both teams. The free throws is what killed us really. Odom missed 6 or so free throws, fisher missed two in a row in the beginning of the game, and some others.

Bottom line... Boston played great ball, Kobe sucked today, the rest of the team was decent, no excuses, Pierce shot the lights out.

[cze1860]

who defend Kobe and Gasol!:king

[PwrGetter]

who defend Kobe and Gasol!:king

Kobe = Combination of Posey and Allen.
Gasol = Garnet mostly...

Though, Kobe actually made quite a few shots that were heavily contested, as usual. But, he did miss quite a few open looks, and some 6-8 footers, which he called bunny shots.

Like I said though, Boston played well, Pierce was just insane in game 1. Was a good game all around, except for Lakers' abysmal 4th quarter shooting %.

[Fake Dynasty]

Kobe = Combination of Posey and Allen.
Gasol = Garnet mostly...

Though, Kobe actually made quite a few shots that were heavily contested, as usual. But, he did miss quite a few open looks, and some 6-8 footers, which he called bunny shots.

Like I said though, Boston played well, Pierce was just insane in game 1. Was a good game all around, except for Lakers' abysmal 4th quarter shooting %.We'll be fine. The frontline of Gasol, Odom, and Radman was 14-27 vice Kobe's 9-26. Kobe just needs to calm down a little bit in game 2 and let it come to him and flow through him.

Both teams were subpar from the field, but the difference was the 4th quarter and the lack of rebounding by the Lakers. We have to get on the boards and play hard if nothing else. Should be a good series.

[florige]

5 days of rest would have helped !

:bang



It really doesn't matter. Five days wouldn't have helped Manu any.

[florige]

yeah it wasan ineffective game plan. Also the "dont let Kobe get to the line and beat us at FT's" made the Spurs less aggressive than they should have.

it also didnt help that their bench ran circles around our bench.



They DO have a really good bench. It seemed like far to many times in the series when the game first started we would be outplaying the starters. But for whatever reason when their bench came in they would stay right in the game. Sometimes with our starters on the floor. In game 5 we were beating their first team, it wasn;t until their bench came in that they started to make a comeback and had it down to 6 at halftime. I don't think they have enough weapons defensively to stay with Boston though. They have too many players that can go off at any time. Us not having Manu who basically was stuck with shooting jumpers killed any chance we may have had.

[PDXSpursFan]

This thread is pointless. We didn't loss because of bad defense but because of the freaking offensive droughts we've been having since the start of the 2nd half of regular season.

[Medvedenko]

Boston's big 3 played really well. That's the difference in the game. Yeah, Kobe had a poor shooting night, compared to what he's been doing so far, but no big deal, he'll adjust. Lamar was a no show, but given his game of late, he'll be back as will Gasol.
The game was lost because the Celtics wanted it more, that's all it takes, oh and course hitting shots. The lakers missed a lot of open jumpers, but should have taken it to the rack a little more. If they lose game 2 it's over, regardless of the laker home record.

[Lake_show]

It Was 1 Game!!!!!!!!

[41times]

That is exactly what i was thinking. The Celtics played some dam good defense, especially on Kobe during the last 6 minutes of the game. I think he took about 10 shots and made 1 or 2. But he had to give up the ball a lot because the Celtics were in his jock.

When you look at the Celtics on paper, they don't impress me that much defensive wise. But when you watch them play, they almost always seem to be about 1 step ahead of the guy the are gaurding and get up on you without fouling as much as other teams.

I said Boston in 7 and i think i will stay with that until L.A. proves they can win at least 2 in a row.

[angelbelow]

for the most part, defense wasnt a problem for us, its the fact that we couldnt score. we held a 110 ppg in the playoffs (albiet they played the nuggets and jazz) into a high 80s low 90 point scoring team. if finley hit 2 more 3s horry went at least 5-50fg kurt thomas played in game 4 and ginobili plays like ginobili we would have won. i guess this is why its still so hard to swallow.

[spurs50_]

It wasn't our defense, like another poster pointed out, but our offense. Our top three guys were sucking wind because their backups are too old. Can't wait to draft Brandon Rush so we can see him play in a couple of years. This draft better not be another bust.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

Even if we held their offense to below their average...I think winning the games had more to do with HOW we defended them. We got stops yeah, but they still controlled the tempo thanks to Kobe, which is why we ended up missing shots and sucked on Offense because we ended up trading 3 point shots with them, which were the cause of our droughts.

The glaring difference between that Boston game and all our games were forcing Kobe into bad shots which left the other players cold. There was a lot more hustle and physical play from the Celtics, which ended up giving them more fastbreak points. I don't remember ANY fastbreaks and forced TO's against the Lakers for the Spurs.

Spurs played adequate defense but they didn't even force Kobe into bad shots at ALL, maybe only once doubled him in crunch time. Kobe was given free reign in our series, because of the don't foul him strategy, which I think kinda backfired in retrospect. We never played physical with the damn Lakers and that mentality against Kobe trickled down to the bench.

The only reason why our defense looked good was because we defended well in spots (limiting Odom and Gasol's contributions - mainly cuz of Duncan) the rest of that Lakers team I think shot very good percentages, and made up the deficits during the third quarter. So our defensive PPG was masked, when the offense really mattered. And we could never maintain our lead, or gain the lead.

Pop got outcoached by Phil Jackson once again in that series. Our defensive game plan didn't really let us control the tempo, losing leads, never gaining the lead. :bang

It helps that Celtics have guys who can dive for loose balls in June though. So it was also personnel and execution.

[exstatic]

Exactly. That is how you hold Bryant.

Ding. Boston at home: no calls. Boston on the road, not so much.