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"youre not jordan"
haha classic.
Degrading Bryant and hailing Jordan all in one chant....
http://www.latimes.com/la-sp-plaschk...5112683.column
MVP? More like MIA
Kobe Bryant made just seven of 22 mostly wild shots. He had just one assist. He had four turnovers. The league MVP was unable to carry a team that needed carrying.
June 18, 2008
BOSTON — In the end, the chant became fact, the screaming pleas of throaty New Englanders transposed into a sinking reality for silent Angelenos.
In the end, the crazy dream that the Lakers could quickly turn dysfunction into destiny ended when the Boston Celtics slowly turned them into chowder.
L.A. Beat.
And how.
An NBA Finals that began with the Lakers spraying wild streams of hope across the Southland ended Tuesday with those same Lakers in a small and embarrassed puddle.
Which the Celtics splashed through. Again and again. Loudly and messily and triumphantly in a 39-point victory that gave them their record 17th NBA championship.
The final score in Game 6 was Celtics 131, Lakers 92.
The final count in Finals games was Celtics 4, Lakers 2.
The final scene was green and white confetti blanketing brown parquet, small tears blanketing giant cheeks, fans tumbling over barricades onto the floor as the Lakers tried to escape.
"Man, man, man," said the Celtics' Kevin Garnett, saying it all.
The final cheers were heartfelt songs filled with the relief of fans who have waited 22 years since the Celtics' last le.
But the final chants were more compelling, because they were directed at you-know-who.
In his best chance at establishing his legacy as a championship player without Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant was seemingly burdened by something even heavier.
He made just seven of 22 mostly wild shots. He had just one assist. He had four turnovers.
The league MVP was
AWFUL, unable to break through even the most basic of one-on-one Celtic defenses, unable to carry a team that needed carrying.
In the six games of the series, he shot poorly, led inconsistently, had only one really dramatic moment, and that was on defense.
And, so, in voices that seemingly shook the TD Banknorth Garden, with Bryant standing at the foul line in the third quarter, here came those chants.
"You're . . . not . . . Jordan!" the fans sang, referring to Michael Jordan.
No, clearly, at this point he is not.
When Bryant began the fourth quarter on the bench with his team trailing by 29 points, they chanted again.
"Where . . . is . . . Kobe?" they sang even louder.
Today even the most diehard Bryant fans must be asking themselves the same thing, in wondering how far he can lead a team by himself.
"Once you taste defeat, that makes you a little tougher," said Bryant.
Other Lakers were just as deserving of the jeers.
Lamar Odom had two baskets and three turnovers and not one offensive rebound for a team that combined for a stunningly low two.
Pau Gasol had four baskets and five turnovers and the indignity of being forced into a jump ball by a guy -- Garnett -- using just one hand at the time.
"I thought we played on our heels from the very get-go," said Coach Phil Jackson. "They overran us. . . . We never met that energy all night tonight."
Before the game, if the Lakers were to lose, I was considering writing a column extolling this season's amazing turnaround and applauding them for an inspiring effort that ended at the feet of a clearly better team.
Before the game, if the Lakers were to lose, I was reminding everyone how their best inside player was in street clothes, and how Andrew Bynum's return next season should make them NBA favorites.
But after what happened in the game, how could any of us believe any of that?
They need more than Bynum. They need toughness in the middle. They needed maturity everywhere.
"We were surprised we were here, and we're glad that we had an opportunity," Jackson said. "But whenever you get this opportunity, you don't want to let it slip away, and we did."
How bad did it slip?
In the last seven minutes of the second quarter, the Celtics outscored the Lakers, 26-6, with a lineup that included three Celtic subs.
How bad did it look?
Garnett stalked around the court waving and chanting, a pep rally celebration -- with 5:07 left in the game.
The fans began chanting, "Nah-nah-nah-nah . . . goodbye" -- with 4:53 left.
Paul Pierce began doing a disco dance on the Celtic bench -- with 2:21 left.
Speaking of bad, yeah, the guy who began the series being carried off the floor and placed into a wheelchair was the Series MVP, an award that Pierce should place next to his Oscar.
"This is unreal," said Pierce in his acceptance speech.
I agree. I picked the Lakers to win in five games. The Lakers could not have won this series if it had gone 25 games.
I discounted that the Celtics' three veteran stars -- two of them acquired last summer -- would not be denied the championship that had thus far eluded them.
I didn't give them enough credit, and I gave some of the untested Lakers way too much credit.
So, too, apparently, did Jackson, who took the unusual step of threatening roster moves even before the cheering stopped.
"We have to get some players if we're going to come back and repeat, to have that kind of aggressiveness that we need," he said.
So when they return next fall, some of the Lakers might be new.
After this awful farewell, it is hoped that some of them will also be improved.
"youre not jordan"
haha classic.
Degrading Bryant and hailing Jordan all in one chant....
Can anyone say with a straight face that Jordan wouldn't have been able to lead this Lakers team to a Championship?
Delusional Lakers Fans.
In all honesty though, I doubt Odom would still be on a Jordan lead team, he's such a huge ing under achiever that Jordan would have either brought out the best in him, or he'd be gone....
Bryant=Pippen
Against this Celtic team? I highly doubt Jordan makes a difference. If Lebron and Kobe couldn't get to the rim against this team what makes you think Jordan would? Jordan alone could not compensate for the serious defensive flaws on this Laker team.
You don't beat the Celtics with perimeter players. You need a dominant post presence to help space the floor and get them out of their pseudo zone defense.
Because no one ever stopped Jordan from getting to the rim. Comparing Kobe Bryant to Jordan is like comparing Garnett to Wilt.
If you seriously think swapping MJ with KB would have resulted in the Lakers winning against the Celtics you are a moron. Or a Kobe hater. Probably both.
Dude, i am not going to say they would have been a lock to win it with MJ but they sure as would have had a better shot at it. You know damn well that series is 2-2 with MJ. Game 4 with 5 min to play was begging Kobe to take it over and he could not do it. MJ takes that game over without a doubt he does and it is all tied up at 2 games a piece. Lebron at times does not look to get to the rim, nobody stops him from getting there when he makes up his mind that is where he is going. Jordan faced and beat better overall teams with better D's than the Celtics. Those Knick teams in the 90's for example especially the early 90's were deep physical, nasty defensive squads and he was dominant.
I actually appreciate Kobe, and I'm not a moron, and I think Jordan would have taken this team to the championship. The difference is that MJ would have drilled Odom head until he either became the next Pippen, or got traded for a Marion or somebody that could help him out. Same thing with Gasol.
Perhaps one of the biggest differences between MJ and Kobe is in the leadership department. And by leadership I don't mean who's scoring the most points. MJ would lit up a fire under ANYBODY that he didn't think was helping the team, win or lose, and would let the world know about it.
Haven't seen anything of that from Kobe, except when he lit up Bynum and asked to be traded.
man that play for garnett over pau, was clearly a travel if you look at his feet touching the groud already b4 he even puts up the shot
Kobe was mediocre as all in this series. MJ dominated against better teams, get over it.
Of course Jordan would have murdered the Celtics with that team around him. He singlehandedly won game 6 of the 98 Finals, on the road, against a Jazz team that would absolutely mop the floor with this Celtics team. Kobe Bryant has no ing excuse now. He has his supporting cast, and it's one of the deepest and most talented in the league. Kobe isn't half the player Jordan was.
Bryant needs another Batman.
Yes i am finding it funny that now that the Lakers got handled by the Celtics the fans went from saying, Lakers in 5 or 6 we are too deep and talented for them, too Kobe does not have enough help. Kobe is playing with not one but two all star level big men. An experienced, still in his prime and very clutch PG. A young deep bench, that is versatile and oh yeah his head coach is one of the best of all time. This Laker team had enough to win it all this year. Kobe did not play well enough, to get them to the promise land. He was mediocre in too many of these games.
jordan got to the rim frequently in an era of handchecks and lovetaps. and speaking of dominant post presence, jordan was one of the best post up guards in the history of the league. or did you not know this?
The comparison is not even close. Jordan dropped like 40 on the Jazz in the finals with a fever. Kobe, got worked in this series and he has no excuse, he is a great player, but MJ he is not.
Kobe is really one of those sad tragedies, where he thinks he has "it" to be the alpha dog or 'the man' .....when in actuality he was meant to be a Pippen all along...
To say that the same result would of ensued had Jordan been on this team is to say that Kobe=Jordan....
Which is, as we all have known for some time now, not true.........Moron.
Did you even ever see Jordan play?
Right, it's amazing to see how many Spur fans care about Kobe.
Michael Jordan
Scottie Pippen
Toni Kukoc
Steve Kerr
Ron Harper
Dennis Rodman
Luc Longley
Give me a break.
Props to Laker fans blind enough to stand by Kobe after he Dirked his second Finals in a row.
The revisionist history going on here is laughable. It sounds like 99% of you did not even watch Jordan in the 80's and 90's and all you know of him is the highlights you see on TV.
Jordan faced a very similar defense to the Celtics in the 80's against the Pistons. He tried to do it all by himself and failed miserably. I mean miserably. So much so that people wrote him off as a player incapable of leading a team to a championship, much like the criticisms of Kobe now. Maybe a Jordan in his prime shoots a bit higher FG%, maybe he stops Pierce a couple more times, but he doesn't change this outcome one iota. Celtics are still winning and it has far more to do with the other Laker role players than it does anything else.
The Pistons, with their punishing, physical play, established a plan for playing against Jordan, dubbed "The Jordan Rules" by Pistons coach Chuck Daly. The Jordan rules involved double- and triple-teaming him every time he touched the ball, preventing him from going to the baseline, hammering him when he drove to the basket, forcing him to the center where help defense could arrive and making him rely on his inexperienced teammates.
it's amazing to see fakerfans think that spurs fans care about kobe.
Really it's fun owning you little Kobe haters. You're so predictable.
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