2009 Western Conference Finals: (1) Lakers Vs. (2) Nuggets

[Lean]

Prepare to be bashed, sir.

[Jackal]

Everyone already knows Maaarf is a moron, nothing new there.

[MikeMan™]

do you guys think kobe will rape another denver girl in route to the finals??? my bookie told me the odds are 2:3 he won't do it this time

R-E-T-A-R-D . . .

[Maaarf]

Everyone already knows Maaarf is a moron, nothing new there.

lol jackal are you still on the twinkie diet? how's that working out for you?

[Jackal]

I'm glad you're still a fag, but I still don't fly that way.

[Maaarf]

*siiigh* if only you'd be as good with insults as you are with gaining weight and masturbating, lol

[benji]

As much as I hate to, I'm going to put this series entirely on Carmelo's shoulders. The guy can't shoot them out of the series as he basically did, he's regressing back to his "jacking up shots" stage because the Nuggets fall apart in the half court. Karl is killing this team with his rotation and his inability to figure out who should be inbounding. (Saw a comment about him doing this with the Sonics somewhere...Simmons chat? Mailbag? It's so true. The Sonics could have taken the 1996 Finals from the Bulls. If you watch the last three games of that series you wouldn't think the Bulls won 72 games. But he screwed up the first three games and it probably sent Kemp's career into a tailspin.)

Nene needs to foul out, because Karl plays him otherwise and it seems to kill the team if he's out there with Martin when the Nuggets are forced into half court. (I actually think something similar about the Magic, both teams seem to adjust better to what is happening in the game instead of trying to force into their "ideal" lineup. The Lakers and Cavaliers surprisingly do not.) Andersen is a lot better down the stretch because he actually sets picks Chauncey takes and doesn't clog the area as much. Games two and three were infuriating watching Nene set picks that were crap and just constantly getting in the way as people tried to setup shots. (Nene WAS great on the last defensive play of game two though. Even though that was the most obvious possession of the series. You want a two pointer or Fisher three point attempt, and Nuggets played it looking just for that.)

The Lakers just don't seem to care, it's like they assumed they would just make it back to the Finals. But they don't have Shaq to crush everyone like at the start of the decade. This is just anecdote, but watching the Lakers is like watching the Pistons, for most of the game they seem to all hate each other and want the season to just end. I've become hypersensative to this after watching the Pistons this season.

[Jackal]

The only one I get that vibe from (hating each other) is from Vujacic. To a certain extent Bynum too.

The rest though, not so much. Odom at times seems uncomfortable for some reason, but adjusts.

[dopeboy]

Odom seems uncomfortable since he started playing for the LAL.

[NovU]

The Lakers just don't seem to care, it's like they assumed they would just make it back to the Finals. But they don't have Shaq to crush everyone like at the start of the decade. This is just anecdote, but watching the Lakers is like watching the Pistons, for most of the game they seem to all hate each other and want the season to just end. I've become hypersensative to this after watching the Pistons this season.

I don't know but I thought the Lakers looked so focused maybe to an extent of being little bit tensed since they knew what was on the line. They sure didn't look like they weren't caring about the game.

As for Lakers hating each other, I don't see why not, but Kobe and Gasol seem to get along fine, and that's what matters the most I assume.

[Modifly]

...but Kobe and Gasol seem to get along fine

yeah right, Kobe only gets along fine with a center he can intimidate. There was one game not so long ago though I cant remember exactly which where Kobe basically slapped Gasol in the head for not making the right play and Gasol just sat there still and let Kobe bitched on him. When Shaq was around it was the opposite.

[NovU]

Kobe basically slapped Gasol in the head for not making the right play and Gasol just sat there still and let Kobe bitched on him.

Exactly why I said so.

[Andrew]

Nuggets are leading at the end of the first. If the current trend in the series means anything at all, we could be looking at the Lakers going up 3-1.

[Oakrhum]

Dahntay Jones should be canonized as the new patron saint of all Anti-Kobes.

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The Nuggets are on their way on tying the series. They're running away with this one.

[Modifly]

That's an ugly trip by Jones though. Looks intentional to me and Jeff Van Gundy.

[Oakrhum]

That's an ugly trip by Jones though. Looks intentional to me and Jeff Van Gundy.

That's not even called.

The referees are calling a lot of 'Antoine Wright' fouls in favor of the Nuggets.

[Modifly]

Maybe the refs didn't saw that ugly trip in time. Even if they did, it's hard to judge whether it was intentional or unintentional without looking at the replay.

JR Smith is having fun from beyond the arc.

[puttincomputers]

I dont think jones was even pleased with the foul. He kept hiding his face in the towel.

[Moz]

Those technical fouls (especially Kenyon Martin's) are retarded... those J.R. Smith treys and that Billups' steal saved them. The Nuggets' bench should be like this consistently for them to get this series done.

[Andrew]

A much needed win for the Nuggets, not just to avoid the 3-1 hole but also to restore a bit of confidence after the Lakers outdueled them down the stretch of Games 1 and 3. I think it's definitely going to be one of those series that follows the trend of the Game 5 winner taking the whole thing. I don't want to count Denver out, especially after their Game 4 performance but without a win in Game 5 I don't like their chances of winning a decisive seventh game in Los Angeles. That's not to say that they can't, but it's a tall order.

The technicals are definitely out of hand and ticky-tack on both sides of the ball. I can understand the referees not wanting things to get out of control physically or even verbally for that matter but with emotions running high, you've got to allow a bit of venting. So long as they don't have a quick trigger on the second technical it's not too bad I suppose, but the automatic suspension threshold also looms. That flagrant foul on Andrew Bynum was pretty weak too, definitely a two shot foul but too much of a play on the ball and not dangerous enough to be a flagrant in my view.

[Oakrhum]

The Lakers are now on a must win situation. They lose the next game, it's over.

[Andrew]

Quite possibly but I like their chances of coming back from 3-2 more than I do the Nuggets' chances of doing so.

[Moz]

What I meant was that those Nuggets players should know what's going on in the game. The Lakers are making a run and they're having those technical fouls (the last 2 or 3 of them in the final minutes of the game i recall). That insignificant clinch by Kenyon Martin is out of order and if I'm Karl I'll sit him right away.

[Andrew]

That too, JR Smith and K-Mart have exercised some poor judgement in the last couple of games but I do think they've been a bit quick with the T's on a couple of occasions.

[Lean]

Especially on JR Smith being trigger-happy.

Calls are out of hand in this game though.