I think about 90% of the fans who got hit that day deserved it. ESPECIALLY the ones on the court, going down there to start crap. Bad decision by Ron Ron, but man I can see someone losing their cool and going up there.
so Kobe is going to be guarding probably the fastest/quickest player in the league to be run off umpteen picks on every set on one end and then be expected to carry the offense on the other? I sure wouldn't opt for that as an all game strategy if I'm LA, but then I don't think they have a good option vs RR. *edit* In an alternative universe where they'd have kept Ariza instead of signing Artest I'd like this matchup better for LA. Ariza could have shadowed/bothered Rondo, Fisher on Allen, and Kobe on Pierce. No way can Artest keep up with Rondo STOMP
2008 has nothing to do with this series. Lakers have home court advantage and the best player in the series. I like their chances.
almost all the same players from that finals matchup are back. Whats the old truism about predicting the future? okay, but Kobe was an even better player back when he was 29... right? While the Lakers and Celts both have multiple vets on the decline side of their careers, only Rondo has since entered his prime. btw... Cleveland had home court advantage on the Celts as did the Magic. STOMP
The Lakers will be way better than they were in 2008. Sure we lost Ariza, but we'll have Artest and Bynum this time. All the Celtics have is a better Rondo, which will get shut down by Kobe. HCA is a plus for the Lakers. They know how to project it, ESPECIALLY in the playoffs. I don't see Lakers losing any home games.
The Celtics are the same basically minus a very good wing defender in James Posey and Rasheed basically being PJ Brown. Posey was huge for them. The Celtics are also older and not quite the same players they were, mainly KG. Last time Gasol and Odom were the starting front court with Radmanovic(lol) the starting SF. Now it's Bynum and Gasol with Odom coming off the bench and Artest the starting SF. Big difference. Idk, the way Kobe is playing right now I'd say he's better. 9/10 games he's score over 30pts and just got done torching the Jazz and suns. He's on fire right now. At worst it's a wash. I'm not really sure who is declining on the Lakers other than Fisher. Everyone else is pretty much the same. Gasol is actually arguably a better player now than he was in 2008 imo. Things are different this time around. Doesn't help them this series.
I'm not sure I see the connection -- does Bynum have a "will be banished to Toronto if Lakers lose to Boston in 2010" clause in his contract?
No but it greatly increases our chances. I don't see LA making a huge change like that if they win the 'ship.
Boston players I hate: Kevin Garnett Paul Pierce Kendrick Perkins Rajon Rondo Rasheed Wallace LA players I hate: Kobe Bryant Pau Gasol Lamar Odom Derek Fisher Andrew Bynum Sasha Vujacic Jordan Farmar Boston - 5 LA - 7 Go Boston.
Powe is probably a bigger loss for them then Posey or Brown. Sheed more then replaces Brown and Tony Allen + Marquis Daniels are a wash for JP... Big Baby has taken some of the minutes that Leon garnered but he's not been as good. the Celts are older? Fisher is 35, Kobe 31, Artest 30, Odom 30, Pau 29... Bynum is just 22 but he's been struggling with injuries and is a major question mark, so my best guess is he'll be contributing off the bench in limited minutes. If so their starting 5 averages 31 years of age. The Celtics starters ages are Rondo 23, Allen 34, Pierce 32, Garnett 33, Perkins 25... average age of 29 here's a link to the box scores from 2008 Artest's PER is 11.4 for the playoffs... I know his D is still pretty good but I don't see him as a much of a deterrent to Pierce's perimeter game/a big difference. Using PER as an overview of offensive effectiveness, this past season's 12.1 was the worst year of his career... both his season and playoff PER ratings are actually below Vlad's in 2008. He certainly doesn't spread the court as well... why no mention of departed Lakers Turiaf or Ariza? it's undoubtably easier to focus on scoring when you're guarding Grant Hill and CJ Miles then trying to stay with any of the Celtic's main guards/wings. Are you going to go with the PER is BS and only your personal observations are admissible argument or can we look at stats which we actually can compare? If you do place value in that measure (PER) as an overview of whats what, then you'll be surprised to learn that Kobe Odom Pau Fisher and Ron Ron all posted higher PER ratings during the 2008 season. Bynum has improved, but again he's a question mark on what he'll be able to bring because of injury we shall see STOMP
