I know. Unfortunately, too many Spurs fans seem to be taking a note from YOUR team's head coach.
You should STFU and stop making excuses. You lost. It's over.
I know. Unfortunately, too many Spurs fans seem to be taking a note from YOUR team's head coach.
why do laker fans keep mentioning a healthy Bynum in the same picture with Gasol, its either Bynum or Gasol not both
there are plenty of quotes from Laker management saying they traded for Gasol because of Bynum's season ending injury = If Bynum was healty, Lakers don't make the trade for Gasol, simple as that
Second, Kobe was playing with that pinky injury the entire season, and no his finger was not going to fall off, if that was the case he would have had surgery on it if it was that bad.
Also, you can't compare a pinky injury(which didn't show signs of bothering Kobe the entire season) to an ankle injury that Manu got in the Spurs/Suns playoff series which clearly bothered him in the Laker/Spurs series; which he also didn't get sufficient time to rest prior to that series.
Granted Trevor Ariza was injured but he is no superstar like Manu Ginobili, and I actually liked Ariza and he was one of the FA I wanted the Spurs to sign a few years ago.
The thing is also injuries to Fisher is that he got time to rest prior to the Spurs series even though I didn't see the injury bothering him throughout the playoffs.
You give the Spurs even 2 days rest between the 2 games in LA and 2 games in SA for travel time and there might have been a different result to the series
Here is a compromise for Lakers fans: We (Spurs fans) will say you were the better team because better teams win 7 game series if you (laker fans) admit that you played a Spurs team with an injured Manu Ginobili who was no where near his full potential
Whoa, don't ask so much of them. They're actually comparing Bynum missing(a great, blossoming center) who is 13 and 10, with Manu, who was third NBA All-Team, 10th in MVP voting, and can play Kobe level in the clutch. But whatever, we lost. Age was a factor, but that was because the FO decided to not make some needed changes. One thing would be dumping Elson, Horry, and Vaughn and looking for some younger guys, as well as giving Bonner minutes. No one can deny he has energy , hustle and leaves it all on the floor, AND he is the only non-French Spur still in his 20's. Neither team was at full strength, but the Spurs played Phoenix and NO. Can any objective NBA fan compare that to Denver and Utah?
Now it's the Lakers turn, since they get to face a team that faced even easier compe ion, and their numerous losses to crap teams just allowed them to gel.
I know I haven't been hear long enough to really get a read on people, but DAC threw a curve ball on me. I thought he'd be way more chill, but man I was wrong. Dude, just keep putting this:
Your fav team made it to the Finals, don't stress over what-if scenarios from the losing teams fans, it's what everyone does in this type of situation. Too bad no one on here is really that objective, except the Pistons fans.
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Manu was overachieving all year long. He was due to come back to earth. He is not that great.
We're not talking about Bynum, everyone knew he wouldn't be playing. Nor are we talking about Ariza or anyone else. We aren't even talking about the series. We are talking about Manu, specifically whether or not the Manu that played in that series was injured to the point where he was not the player he is when not injured. Seemingly, none of you Laker fans can accept that fact.
If he was fully healthy, do we win the series? Who knows? But I do know that if he was healthy it wouldn't have been over in 5. Anyway, that's not what I was talking about.
You seem to think you saw the real Manu when all you saw was a hobbled guy who couldn't do a thing.
No, the Spurs weren't quite good enough this year, I totally accept that and never said otherwise. But don't think you saw anything like the true Manu out there. Want evidence, watch about 80% of the Spurs' games over the last 3 years, the ones in which he isn't hobbled, and you will see a remarkably different player.
Yeah, sure. He hasn't carried the Spurs through numerous playoff series and won 3 rings in the process. Sure. Uh-hu. MORON.
You guys seem to think you know something about our team, but you just keep proving that you don't know a damn thing.
Who the has ever said that Manu was a ty player? We all KNOW that he was limited in the series. Nobody is debating that. We are also not debating the fact that his injury hurt the Spur's chances of winning.
Spur fan has trouble giving teams their due credit, that is the issue at hand. In '06 it wasn't the Mavericks that outplayed you, it was Manu making a stupid error at the end of the game. In '04 it wasn't the Lakers that outplayed you, it was Derek Fisher hitting a shot that shouldn't have counted. And now in '08 it wasn't that the Lakers outplayed you, it was Joey Crawford making a questionable non-call and Manu Ginobli being injured.
Manu Ginobili was injured. Not an excuse. A fact.
Let's turn the tables here, Lakers fans.
Dazed, I understand your point about fans not wanting to give other teams credit for beating them. Stated as plainly as possible, the Lakers won 4 out of 5 games and were able to defeat the Spurs in the WCF. For whatever reason, Kobe was given the opportunity to stick a knife in our hearts and he did just that. Kudos to the league MVP. The Lakers supporting cast stepped up when needed. The Lakers, again for whatever reason, were the better team in this series.
Now, here's the point that I think needs to be addressed. Suppose (uh oh, not the dreaded "what if") the Lakers would have lost the series. Wouldn't you try to find reasons why your team lost?
I would differentiate between trying to figure out why a series loss happened and whining about fair and unfair, as we claim about many Mavs and Suns fans. I had an earlier post in this thread where I talked about the elements of a championship.
When Spurs fans bring up the Manu ankle injury, I don't think it's necessarily not wanting to give the Lakers the credit for winning. I just think it's a way for a group of fans to try to figure out why we lost, and the dreaded "what if."
My two cents' worth, anyway.
^Bull . Mitch Kupchak has stated that he would have done the trade regardless of if Bynum went down or not. Why the wouldn't he?
Gasol was never brought in to play C, he is doing so now out of necessity. When Bynum returns Gasol will move to the PF spot.
Who said this was true?
Kupchak pursued Gasol more aggressively when Bynum went down, but he would have made the trade regardless. Again why wouldn't he?
[QUOTE=DazedAndConfused;2576286]Kupchak pursued Gasol more aggressively when Bynum went down, but he would have made the trade regardless. Again why wouldn't he?[/QUOTE
get off the ing bandwagon
Kobe's been playing since February with an injury that most cats would've shut down their season and had surgery for.... the NBA season is and 82+ game grind if you're lucky. Either you can in' hang or you can't. But you do not about injuries because everybody has knick-knacks by the end of the grind. Spurs fans ceased all that injury talk when Manu went off in game 3, but when the woes resurfaced so did the injury talk. Manu told you brainless s that he wasn't hurt and was feeling better everyday. The Spurs lost this series because the Lakers were better on both sides of the ball. The Spurs were good enough to get leads, but when they couldn't keep them, here comes the Manu injury excuse - bull . The Spurs NEVER keep a lead and always end up forced to win the game twice just to get the one win. The Lakers were simply cool under pressure. Tim Duncan had 3 monstrous games, Kobe got to the line 11 times over the entire series, The Spurs had two huge leads in separate games.... and we still beat your asses 4-1.
Now shut the up.
What he said ^^^^![]()
These are highlights of Manu from this year alone. Manu wasn't anywhere near this during the playoffs and it did hurt us
Lakers were the most consistent WC team this year, during the regular season and the playoffs: that makes them the better team. Nevertheless, the Spurs could've easily been up 3-1 instead of the Lakers, and the fans know this, so just let it go. 2009 is an odd year!
Yet most of what we are reading from Lakers fans is this:
These are just a few...I don't know who you're referring to when you say "we all KNOW," but it looks like more than half of the Laker fans here (and about 95% of Laker fans everywhere) don't know. They just don't know, period.
Thank you mikekim, that is EXACTLY what I was disputing. Those Fakers fans who think it was the defense that stopped him are delusional and have no idea how incredible a fit Ginobili is.
As for Kobe's injury, sure he was beaten up, although clearly not to the extent Manu was because he still had lift and explosion, and could move laterally.
BTW, Manu has been battling injury for most of the season too. He missed a bunch of games just after Christmas with a groin injury I think it was, he sprained his ankle at least 3 times, then did it again in the Hornets' series, and then the finger nail. Add to that the general pounding he takes in every game because he penetrates so much and it's a wonder he can get out of bed in the morning... he is one tough hombre. As is Kobe, no doubt about it. Cheating (in the sexual sense) s bag he is, but he is also an awesome basketball player, and a tough mofo, no doubt about that.
Please. Game 1 and game 5 comebacks proved the Lakers can shutdown any team in league when they have too. They've been playing fantastic clutch defense, when it matters, all year. Which is what I said during the season. Before the playoffs. The only delusional people around here were Spurs fans claiming the Lakers couldn't play defense and that they didn't have enough 'championship experience'.![]()
And the Suns could have easily been up 3-1 on Spurs.
Yup. In the words of Mark Jackson Spur fan
YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT
Yeah, and why were the Spurs unable to answer those comebacks? A big part of it was fatigue across the whole team from the Hornets series and no rest, but even more important was NO MANU. He is our CLOSER. For the last three seasons, he has been the guy who takes over late in the third quarter, gets to the rack, gets to the line, and generally carries the team to victory. His injuries basically meant we had no closer, and thus the losses in games 1 and 4. In contrast Kobe closed each game beautifully, he was unstoppable.
I am not saying the Fakers don't play good D, but you know what, they weren't playing against the real Manu, that's all I'm trying to get you nonces to understand. I'd love to see how it would've played out if CLOSER MANU had been there, unhampered by injuries.
However, it's done with, and I totally accept that. Injuries are part of the game, and it was a weakness of this Spurs team that they needed Manu to be at his best to beat the Lakers (I even said that before the series a number of times, that I was worried Manu's ill-health would sink our chances). Simply put, no-one else stepped up to fill the void, and that's why your Fakers were the better team this year.
That pretty much highlighted the difference between the two.
If Kobe was injured then the rest of the compe ion has no hope when he's fully fit.![]()
Last edited by Slippy; 06-05-2008 at 06:57 AM.
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