The Celtics didn't just beat LA...

[UCantHandleTheTruth]

They embarrassed them and destroyed legacies while they were at it.

The 2007-2008 LA Lakers went from the team that 9 out of 10 ESPN "experts" picked, 2 to 1 favorites and far and away the best offensive team in the league (according to JVG, among others) to the team with the greatest choke in a Finals game in a game 4 that will be replayed for ages as a "Hardwood Classic" on NBATV. They will also be known as the most gutless Finals team after that humiliating performance in an elimination game 6 that ended up being a (series clinching) record sized blow out. No pulse from the 2nd quarter on in a game as important as it gets.

Kobe Bryant went from the guy who was "the best player on the planet" and the guy who made people pick the Lakers because he was playing at an MJ level and "you can just see it in his eyes- he won't let the Celtics win" to a guy who shall never be mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan again, not by anyone rational at least. He did nothing as his team choked a 24 point lead at home and did nothing after the 1st quarter as his team got raped by the Celtics. He was vastly outplayed by Paul Pierce. He still has won nothing without Shaq and with that physically and mentally soft team of his, that won't be changing any time soon.

Phil Jackson went from The Zenmaster who could pass Red to The Thenmaster who was outcoached by Doc Rivers and needs to retire. He watched his team cough up a Finals record 24 point lead at home in what was essentially a must win game and didn't adjust to Doc's small ball lineup. He watched his team go down 43 points at one point in what was truly a must win game. Would Red have allowed this to happen? Not a chance.

We got to see the Lakers for what they really are. A soft, overrated team that wasn't even in the same league as the '07-'08 Boston Celtics.

[spursfan09]

yes yes, congrats to the celtics

[ratm1221]

I love it! Fuck the Lakers and Kobe Bryant.

[thispego]

meh. if the lakers hadnt cheated they wouldnt have been in the finals anyways. Entertaining but nothing special here

[baseline bum]

F T L

[DazedAndConfused]

Do you guys remember what happened to your team in 2001? It's funny how quickly you forget history.

The Lakers are in a similar position, lacking strong perimeter defenders and their young players simply need more time to develop. It's not the end of the road by a long shot, if anything the party is just getting started. If you think the Lakers are going away, you are gravely mistaken. They are going to be the premiere team in the WC for the next 5 years until Kobe is no longer in his prime.

[Gaylord M. Focker]

Do you guys remember what happened to your team in 2001? It's funny how quickly you forget history.

No doubt!

[xtremesteven33]

Do you guys remember what happened to your team in 2001? It's funny how quickly you forget history.

The Lakers are in a similar position, lacking strong perimeter defenders and their young players simply need more time to develop. It's not the end of the road by a long shot, if anything the party is just getting started. If you think the Lakers are going away, you are gravely mistaken. They are going to be the premiere team in the WC for the next 5 years until Kobe is no longer in his prime.


not looking to good right now my friend.

-Phil, i doubt will ever coach great team defense.
-Odom or Gasol will be gone next year.
-Fisher is another year older
-Farmar is more of a SG than PG
-Bynum hasnt proved he can play 30-35 minutes season without getting injured.

Unless i see Ron Artest get to the Lakers then i will get flashbacks of Rick Fox.

than i see something for them in 2009

[CavsSuperFan]

The Celtics had to get into the NBA finals to pay for their over paid acquisitions…The NBA is getting so scripted…I know for a fact (please don’t ask me to reveal my sources)…That Vince McMahon was involved and that the two teams recorded alternate endings…

[johngateswhiteley]

They embarrassed them and destroyed legacies while they were at it.

The 2007-2008 LA Lakers went from the team that 9 out of 10 ESPN "experts" picked, 2 to 1 favorites and far and away the best offensive team in the league (according to JVG, among others) to the team with the greatest choke in a Finals game in a game 4 that will be replayed for ages as a "Hardwood Classic" on NBATV. They will also be known as the most gutless Finals team after that humiliating performance in an elimination game 6 that ended up being a (series clinching) record sized blow out. No pulse from the 2nd quarter on in a game as important as it gets.

Kobe Bryant went from the guy who was "the best player on the planet" and the guy who made people pick the Lakers because he was playing at an MJ level and "you can just see it in his eyes- he won't let the Celtics win" to a guy who shall never be mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan again, not by anyone rational at least. He did nothing as his team choked a 24 point lead at home and did nothing after the 1st quarter as his team got raped by the Celtics. He was vastly outplayed by Paul Pierce. He still has won nothing without Shaq and with that physically and mentally soft team of his, that won't be changing any time soon.

Phil Jackson went from The Zenmaster who could pass Red to The Thenmaster who was outcoached by Doc Rivers and needs to retire. He watched his team cough up a Finals record 24 point lead at home in what was essentially a must win game and didn't adjust to Doc's small ball lineup. He watched his team go down 43 points at one point in what was truly a must win game. Would Red have allowed this to happen? Not a chance.

We got to see the Lakers for what they really are. A soft, overrated team that wasn't even in the same league as the '07-'08 Boston Celtics.

paul pierce did outplay kobe...and the lakers were worked. tis true.

[thispego]

The Celtics had to get into the NBA finals to pay for their over paid acquisitions…The NBA is getting so scripted…I know for a fact (please don’t ask me to reveal my sources)…That Vince McMahon was involved and that the two teams recorded alternate endings…

what the hell are you talking about?

[daslicer]

Do you guys remember what happened to your team in 2001? It's funny how quickly you forget history.

The Lakers are in a similar position, lacking strong perimeter defenders and their young players simply need more time to develop. It's not the end of the road by a long shot, if anything the party is just getting started. If you think the Lakers are going away, you are gravely mistaken. They are going to be the premiere team in the WC for the next 5 years until Kobe is no longer in his prime.

You can't compare the spurs situation in '01 to the Lakers massive choke job. The first difference is that '01 team was very old espescially the perimeter players. In that series the spurs had no young guns outside of Duncan,Daniels,Rose and plus Derek Anderson was injured so he missed two games and he wasn't the same with the broken shoulder. The rest of the team was very OLD. I can laugh now at the situation even though it wasn't funny back then. The spurs had Terry Porter, Danny Ferry guarding Kobe a lot in that series and occasionaly had Daniles guard him. Obviously real bad matchups right there. The bench was really bad to all the players were old for the most part AJ, Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Lu ck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_ those guys were way past their prime and the only guy off the bench that could give a spark was Rose.

The spurs had to retool that team after what happened in the sweep. They got real lucky with FA signings and draft picks. You can't assume the Lakers to have that type of luck. The first move by Pop that summer was to get Bruce Bowen. He was able to convince Bowen to take a massive paycut to join the spurs for 1 year that only paid I think 800k back then which is really huge paycut for any player to take even Bowen. Do you really believe that some player would take that type of paycut to play with a drama queen like Kobe knowing next year getting a bigger contract is not guaranteed. Also Duncan is the one that told mgm to sign Stephen Jackson which they did to a 2 year contract. The spurs also drafted Parker that year to which was a stroke of good luck and they would add in a '99 pick year later to the roster who would be Ginobilli. A year later they would also add Speedy Claxton a backup PG who at the time was better then Derek Fisher, and then sign Kevin Willis a solid vet in the PJ Brown mold to backup Robinson at center. The last move they made I remember in the summer '02 was trading Daniels to get Steve Kerr back a move which would pay off big time later on that year.

The spurs FO was great during those last 2 year following the sweep. They revamped a team that was terrible against the Lakers and in nearly 2 years built a team that whooped the Lakers ass all over the court in '03. You also factor in Duncan wasn't in his prime yet until '03 and that is a big reason why the spurs were able to win 3 more championships after what happened in '01. Kobe is going to turned 30 and in 2-3 years his prime will be over. The Lakers window is not as big as you hype it considering Kobe's prime will only last a few years thus they only have 2-3 year window to win the title.

Also I don't think the Lakers FO will be able to make the great moves the spurs FO was able to make during the 2 years. Straight up Mitch Kupchek tends to be a stupid gm he just got lucky with the Gasol trade. Factor in that Kobe is not like Duncan a guy who can attract FA's.

[DazedAndConfused]

It's just laughable that Spur fan is trying to take credit for the Celtics win here. You are in NO position to talk shit, especially about the Lakers who not only beat you this year in the playoffs but delivered a FAR worse beating to your team in 2001. Let me break down the 2001 playoff series between the Lakers-Spurs for you. The Spurs were the #1 seed in the WC, confident that they could beat the big bad Lakers in the playoffs.

What ensued was the most embarrassing conference finals defeat in NBA history. You think losing a close out game by 39 is bad, try getting swept and losing the last two games AT HOME by 39 and 29 points. That's EMBARRASSING, at least the Lakers pulled off two wins against the Celtics. The Spurs got NOTHING, they were SWEPT and BEATEN SO BADLY that Pop offered these words after the series:

"Custer had no idea. That's my statement. Figure it out"

So before you talk shit, especially to Laker fans, learn you fucking history.

And FYI daslicer, the Lakers are in FAR better shape than the Spurs were in '01. They need to do minor retooling, add a wing defender alongside Kobe and a backup C and maybe a vet or two and they are fine. Possibly trade Odom for a quality 2 way SF. That's it though, make those changes with a renewed focus on team defense and the Lakers are right where they want to be.

[ShoogarBear]

I'm sure the Lakers will come back strong next year. They have all that mental toughness.

[ShoogarBear]

I'm sure the Lakers will come back strong next year. They have all that mental toughness.

:lmao

[DazedAndConfused]

My point is the Spurs certainly didn't have mental toughness in '01 when they got embarrassed by the Lakers, but that loss MADE them tougher. They finally decided they weren't going to be the Laker's bitch and even though they lost again the next year in 5 games they came back in '03 and finally beat the Lakers.

[mystargtr34]

:lmao

:lmao

[daslicer]

My point is the Spurs certainly didn't have mental toughness in '01 when they got embarrassed by the Lakers, but that loss MADE them tougher. They finally decided they weren't going to be the Laker's bitch and even though they lost again the next year in 5 games they came back in '03 and finally beat the Lakers.

:lol Walking Vagina that sweep didn't have much to do with mental toughness other then the spurs having a roster filled with old players past their primes along with not that much depth. a Starting lineup of Porter,Daniels,Ferry,Duncan,Robinson vs Fisher,Kobe,Fox,Grant,Shaq really wasn't even. Porter isn't better then Fisher, Daniels has a huge disadvantage against Kobe, Ferry is way past his prime can't do anything versus Fox, Duncan has the huge edge against Grant, Robinson is old is still great defensively but isn't an all-star anymore versus Shaq whose in his prime. Factor in the Lakers got good production out of Tyron Lue, Horry off their bench that year along with Shaw vs the spurs bench that just had Rose producing since Avery, Sean Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Lu ck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_ were way past their prime and were pretty much dead during that series. I never felt the spurs choked in that series but moreso Talent WISE at that time they were overwhelmed versus the Lakers.

The '01 spurs were pretty much retooled in two years due to great work of the Spurs FO. The spurs pretty much added more talent in the summer of 02 thats why they beat up the Lakers that year. 03 spurs staring line up was Parker,Bowen,Jax,Duncan,Robinson vs Fisher,Kobe,George,Horry,Shaq. The '03 spurs had advantages at 3 out of 5 positions versus the lakers unlike the '01 spurs which only had an advantage at only 1 position and on top of that the position didn't have the edge at was SG and C but like we all know Bowen and Drob were defensive anchors who could drastically slow down Shaq and Kobe compared to the rest of the league. Factor in the spurs depth of Claxton,Ginobilli,Willis,Rose,Kerr,Ferry, Steve Smith off the bench versus the Lakers garbage off their bench of Shaw and scrubs and you can see why the spurs were hte superior team that year.

You can't compare the current Lakers situation to the '01 spurs. It was totally different situation in which a team was too old and thats why got humiliated versus a young talented team that just scared and intimidated. The current Lakers situation could end up like the '06 mavs a team that had young players who couldn't produce under pressure it sounds familiar. I'm not sold on your current team you have too man soft players who can't produce when the pressure gets tough. Vlad is nothing but a young Danny Ferry without the toughness + defense, Odom despite having great talent has no heart, Dfish is old he will be useless in a year espescially with the new fines for flopping there goes his sh1tty defense. I will enjoy watching opposing PG's lighting Dfish for 30 plus I'm sure Deron,Paul,Parker all smiled when this rule was passed. Gasol is also a very soft player that doesn't play well under pressure and he never did in the past ala getting swept 3 straight times with the grizzlies.

The Lakers remind me too much of the mavs from '05-present which is a team that will win around 57-60 wins consistently but will always choke come playoff time due to having soft players. You will see the same results next year but we will hear another excuse like "Bynum is still young and he wans't ready for prime time yet"

[DazedAndConfused]

daslicer it's quite clear you're just saying things to push buttons because I doubt even you believe the filth that comes out of your mouth. Not going to bother carrying this debate any further.

None of what you said is even remotely true and to be honest it's downright laughable if you actually believe that. And the only people making excuses around here are Spurs fans. You don't see one Laker fan saying "IF WE HAD BYNUM WE WOULDA WON", they have accepted defeat gracefully. Your fans need to take a page from your organization and concede defeat like champions.......err ex-champions.

[Roxsfan]

Do you guys remember what happened to your team in 2001? It's funny how quickly you forget history.

The Lakers are in a similar position, lacking strong perimeter defenders and their young players simply need more time to develop. It's not the end of the road by a long shot, if anything the party is just getting started. If you think the Lakers are going away, you are gravely mistaken. They are going to be the premiere team in the WC for the next 5 years until Kobe is no longer in his prime.

what happened to your team mr. talk:lmao

[DazedAndConfused]

what happened to your team mr. talk:lmao

They made it to the NBA Finals.

What happened to yours? Did you make it out of the 1st round yet?

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

Laker gave up on defense by the 2nd quarter. Then they gave up on rebounds by the third quarter.

[Roxsfan]

They made it to the NBA Finals.

What happened to yours? Did you make it out of the 1st round yet?

that was a pathetic showing. If my team made it to the finals and performed like that, I would pray for a time-machine and first round loss.

that should teach your dumbaSS BIG GAME talker to stfu......... your team got punked, that was pathetic:lmao

[csaenz]

None of what you said is even remotely true and to be honest it's downright laughable if you actually believe that. And the only people making excuses around here are Spurs fans. You don't see one Laker fan saying "IF WE HAD BYNUM WE WOULDA WON", they have accepted defeat gracefully. Your fans need to take a page from your organization and concede defeat like champions.......err ex-champions.

Ummm.....Did you see the press conference after the beating? Just wondering. This is from J.A. Adande's article the next day:

Over the course of the series, the Lakers showed an alarming lack of toughness, defensive backbone and offensive creativity. As a result they suffered the worst Finals blown lead on record in Game 4 and the worst ending loss in Finals history in Game 6.

Privately, some folks at the upper levels in Lakerland believe these Finals were a bonus and only a prelude to when they get really dangerous when Andrew Bynum comes back from his knee injury. Jackson gave a glimpse into that mind-set when he said, "We were surprised we were here, and we're glad that we had an opportunity."

The danger in that thought process is the Celtics beat the Lakers twice in the regular season with Bynum. And the supposed savior has played only about 40 to 50 really good NBA games in his career. And we've yet to see how he does in June, when the games matter most. And, oh yeah, he's coming off a knee injury.

Bryant said Bynum could solve a couple of the Laker issues: rebounding and shot-blocking. But could he single-handedly make up for the Lakers' 48-29 deficit on the boards in Game 6, in which they didn't get a single offensive rebound in the first three quarters?

Stats like that -- and a 65-49 offensive rebounding advantage for Boston in the series -- indicate that the problems go deeper.

Sounds like somebody is lying to themselves. Your team made excuses as soon as the microphones turned on after the game.

[csaenz]

And change your stupid icon already. It just makes you look dumb now.

[DazedAndConfused]

^Right back at you. At least our players care more about the NBA Championship than winning the Olympic Gold :lmao.

[trueD]

...

[trueD]

... the Lakers ... need to do minor retooling, add a wing defender alongside Kobe and a backup C and maybe a vet or two and they are fine. Possibly trade Odom for a quality 2 way SF. That's it though, make those changes with a renewed focus on team defense and the Lakers are right where they want to be.

You call adding a wing defender, backup C and a vet or two minor retooling? :lmao

Lakers need to retool THIS:

Fisher: 10.2/2.2/2.5
Sasha: 8.1/2.2/0.8
Vlad Rad: 8.0/3.8/1.5
Luke: 6.0/2.6/2.0
Farmar: 5.7/1.6/1.3
Turiaf: 2.0/1.0/.3

[HighLowLobForBig-50]

The Celtics had to get into the NBA finals to pay for their over paid acquisitions…The NBA is getting so scripted…I know for a fact (please don’t ask me to reveal my sources)…That Vince McMahon was involved and that the two teams recorded alternate endings…

i know you said please and all but i have to ask......

















can you reveal your sources, please?

[trueD]

Fisher has been way around the block, and Luke is in his 4th year.

And here's your big three:

Kobe: 30.1/5.7/5.6
Odom: 14.3/10/3 <<< hahaha
Gasol: 16.9/9.3/4

I'm not willing to compare them to the stats of the Celtics right here and now, but just imagine what it may look like.

Kobe is not a leader. He's way too much of an ass. Let Odom go to another team and watch him flourish, wish it could be the Kings. Wish we could get Odom for Artest...it won't happen though. Can you imagine Kobe and Artest playing together? Man, that would be sick...in more ways than one.

[monosylab1k]

^Right back at you. At least our players care more about the NBA Championship than winning the Olympic Gold :lmao.

Manu has done both. Your players cared so much about winning the NBA Championship that they set records for losing in the Finals :lmao

[thispego]

The Spurs were the #1 seed in the WC...

...try getting swept and losing the last two games AT HOME by 39 and 29 points.

So before you talk shit, especially to Laker fans, learn you fucking history.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

Ummm.....Did you see the press conference after the beating? Just wondering. This is from J.A. Adande's article the next day:

Over the course of the series, the Lakers showed an alarming lack of toughness, defensive backbone and offensive creativity. As a result they suffered the worst Finals blown lead on record in Game 4 and the worst ending loss in Finals history in Game 6.

Privately, some folks at the upper levels in Lakerland believe these Finals were a bonus and only a prelude to when they get really dangerous when Andrew Bynum comes back from his knee injury. Jackson gave a glimpse into that mind-set when he said, "We were surprised we were here, and we're glad that we had an opportunity."

The danger in that thought process is the Celtics beat the Lakers twice in the regular season with Bynum. And the supposed savior has played only about 40 to 50 really good NBA games in his career. And we've yet to see how he does in June, when the games matter most. And, oh yeah, he's coming off a knee injury.

Bryant said Bynum could solve a couple of the Laker issues: rebounding and shot-blocking. But could he single-handedly make up for the Lakers' 48-29 deficit on the boards in Game 6, in which they didn't get a single offensive rebound in the first three quarters?

Stats like that -- and a 65-49 offensive rebounding advantage for Boston in the series -- indicate that the problems go deeper.

Sounds like somebody is lying to themselves. Your team made excuses as soon as the microphones turned on after the game.
The local LA news reporters after game 6 were also calling the Celtics "Cheaters"

and called Danny Ainge a 'thief' for stealing Ray Allen, etc. Laker fans of all people complaining about shady deals. :lmao

" Laker WORLD ORDER " my ass.

[thispego]

:lol Walking Vagina that sweep didn't have much to do with mental toughness other then the spurs having a roster filled with old players past their primes along with not that much depth. a Starting lineup of Porter,Daniels,Ferry,Duncan,Robinson vs Fisher,Kobe,Fox,Grant,Shaq really wasn't even. Porter isn't better then Fisher, Daniels has a huge disadvantage against Kobe, Ferry is way past his prime can't do anything versus Fox, Duncan has the huge edge against Grant, Robinson is old is still great defensively but isn't an all-star anymore versus Shaq whose in his prime. Factor in the Lakers got good production out of Tyron Lue, Horry off their bench that year along with Shaw vs the spurs bench that just had Rose producing since Avery, Sean Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Lu ck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_ were way past their prime and were pretty much dead during that series. I never felt the spurs choked in that series but moreso Talent WISE at that time they were overwhelmed versus the Lakers.

The '01 spurs were pretty much retooled in two years due to great work of the Spurs FO. The spurs pretty much added more talent in the summer of 02 thats why they beat up the Lakers that year. 03 spurs staring line up was Parker,Bowen,Jax,Duncan,Robinson vs Fisher,Kobe,George,Horry,Shaq. The '03 spurs had advantages at 3 out of 5 positions versus the lakers unlike the '01 spurs which only had an advantage at only 1 position and on top of that the position didn't have the edge at was SG and C but like we all know Bowen and Drob were defensive anchors who could drastically slow down Shaq and Kobe compared to the rest of the league. Factor in the spurs depth of Claxton,Ginobilli,Willis,Rose,Kerr,Ferry, Steve Smith off the bench versus the Lakers garbage off their bench of Shaw and scrubs and you can see why the spurs were hte superior team that year.

You can't compare the current Lakers situation to the '01 spurs. It was totally different situation in which a team was too old and thats why got humiliated versus a young talented team that just scared and intimidated. The current Lakers situation could end up like the '06 mavs a team that had young players who couldn't produce under pressure it sounds familiar. I'm not sold on your current team you have too man soft players who can't produce when the pressure gets tough. Vlad is nothing but a young Danny Ferry without the toughness + defense, Odom despite having great talent has no heart, Dfish is old he will be useless in a year espescially with the new fines for flopping there goes his sh1tty defense. I will enjoy watching opposing PG's lighting Dfish for 30 plus I'm sure Deron,Paul,Parker all smiled when this rule was passed. Gasol is also a very soft player that doesn't play well under pressure and he never did in the past ala getting swept 3 straight times with the grizzlies.

The Lakers remind me too much of the mavs from '05-present which is a team that will win around 57-60 wins consistently but will always choke come playoff time due to having soft players. You will see the same results next year but we will hear another excuse like "Bynum is still young and he wans't ready for prime time yet"

dasclicer knows his shit!