News and Notes from the LA Times

Mamba · Jun 13, 2009

Staff writer Mike Bresnahan ties up some loose ends on days of Lakers playoff games.

I can't go any further without writing about the Orlando resort where the media are staying for the middle three games of the NBA Finals.

There are seven restaurants, four pools, a beach volleyball court, 18-hole golf course and a sports bar. The pools have waterfalls in them. One of the restaurants is a hibachi-style place.

Writers have started referring to the resort as "the campus." It has everything. Did I mention that the pools have waterfalls in them? I might never come home.

Q&A of the day

Question: "What about the officiating in Orlando? That must have been the worst officiating I have ever seen. Kobe and Pau were literally fighting people off them. This isn't Lucha Libre."

--Tom Reyes

Answer: There was definitely a disparity in fourth-quarter fouls in Game 4 (Orlando shot 17 free throws, the Lakers none). But that's history.

Of greater importance, I was just looking for a way to get "Lucha Libre" in our sports section today. Thanks, Tom Reyes!

Big trouble in Orlando

People who picked up the Orlando Sentinel on Saturday saw a huge headline on the front page of the entire paper: "Stan Van Goofy?"

Columnist Mike Bianchi wrote that Orlando Coach Stan Van Gundy had been making "bafflingly inexplicable decisions" in the Finals.

Bianchi questioned why Van Gundy didn't order his players to foul Derek Fisher before the Lakers veteran made a tying three-point basket with 4.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter of Game 4. Bianchi also wondered why Van Gundy shoe-horned Jameer Nelson into the lineup for the Finals after the guard missed three months because of a shoulder injury.

"It makes no sense," Bianchi wrote. "None of it does. The Magic are down 3-1. They should be up 3-1. It's a fine line. Unfortunately, Van Gundy and his team have finally crossed it."

And to think that some Lakers fans have criticized Phil Jackson's coaching this season.

Final thought

Somebody stop me. I've picked the last six Lakers games correctly. Maybe our Page 2 columnist will finally acknowledge that I know what I'm talking about. And that I can get a date.

Tonight's game will be the hardest call of the playoffs. Will the Magic throw in the Finals towel and fold? Or will the Lakers play at five-sixths speed and instead clinch the title in front of the hometown fans Tuesday?

Tough to predict.

I'll take Orlando, but only because I picked the Lakers to win in six before the series began.
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http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-bresnahan-lakers14-2009jun14,0,7180442,print.story

Mamba · Jun 13, 2009

@ Stan Van Goofy.

huevonkiller · Jun 14, 2009

Black Mamba said: ↑

@ Stan Van Goofy.
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Yeah he's not at fault imo, he's done well enough.

Mamba · Jun 14, 2009

I don't think he's done a good job. He doesn't seem to be a motivational guy. I would hate for him to be the coach of the Lakers.

Like Shaq said, he buckles under pressure. After the game 4 loss, he didn't even say anything to his team. That isn't a great HC, IMO.

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