Why? Here's why...

[VMS]

You wanna know why the Lakers lost? I'll tell you why:

1. Team basketball. Larry Brown is a genius, using a technique that I never even thought of. Shut down everyone except for Kobe and Shaq. It's not all Kobe and Shaq's fault. It's Phil Jackson. He should have noticed this. I picked it up in Game 1, and thought: "Wow. That man is a genius." Larry Brown is possibly the greatest coach of all time. He takes mediocre team, adds another great player (Rasheed Wallace), gains their respect, and just played perfect basketball. It's in the stats people. If Shaq and Kobe score two thirds of your points, your not playing basketball, your playing 2-on-2. In every single game, Kobe or Shaq scored more than 20 points then any other Laker. The Pistons? The difference between their top scorer and the next 3? 8 POINTS.

2. Coaching. I always loved Larry Brown, even when he was with the Sixers, taking them to the NBA Finals. The man is a sensational coach. I think Doc Rivers said it best: "Larry Brown is the coach's coach." The players look up to the coach, the coach looks up to Larry Brown. The Finals this year proved that Phil Jackson can't coach his way out of a wet paper bag. Phil Jackson's Lakers: 4 All-Stars on their starting lineup alone. Larry Brown's Pistons: 2 All-Stars on entire lineup. If you can't make an A+ team win 4 games, you need to reconsider your career. Larry Brown took a B- team (no offense, I love 'em) and wiped the floor with the future hall-of-famers.

3. Defense/Rebounding. I don't think I even half to go into this, but I will. During Game 3, Ben Wallace had more rebounds then the entire Laker team. That is just sad. I actually felt sorry for the Lakers... OK, that's a lie. If your 2nd best rebounder is Rasheed Wallace, then you're gonna dominate the glass. The Wallaces took over the post. That shouldn't be possible when you have arguably the greatest Center and Power Forward of all time. You know how rare it is to block Shaq? In the season, he was blocked 4 times. In the Finals: Blocked 4 times by Ben Wallace alone. I think even 'sheed got in on the Big Man.

4. Athleticism. If you would have asked me who would win on 1-on-1: Kobe Bryant or Rip Hamilton, I would have laughed in your face. Kobe is the best guard in the game. How did Rip beat him? Speed. Every time Rip got the ball, he shook Kobe like he was makin' a martini. Kobe was flat out shut down by Rip. Rip stayed with Kobe all over the court. Kobe isn't used to that. The only other person who can do that is A.I., and he doesn't have the height that Rip does.

5. Ben Wallace. Yes, Big Ben, the Beast, Wallace. With jumping included, Ben can get higher than Shaq can, which is really rare. Now if I told you that someone could get up higher then Shaq, get more rebounds then Shaq, run faster then Shaq, box out Shaq, and weigh 100 pounds less then Shaq, you'd say I'm lying to you. Unfortunately for the Big Diesel, it's all true.

6. Points. No, not the final scores, individual points. In the finals, the Lakers had 2 players in double digits. The Pistons: 8. Their starting 5, Memo, Lindsey, and Big Nasty. Most of this falls back on #1.

7. Lying Analysts. Lying analysts? What are you talking about, Ben? Everytime I turned on any sports show I heard: "This is what the Lakers are doing wrong, and that's why their losing." They did do plenty wrong, but that wasn't the problem so much as what the Pistons did right. I have never seen better execution of plays in my life. The Lakers didn't change the way they've played, and never have. They've always gotten by on that. Until now.

8. The Bench. Devean George is the only decent bencher the Lakers have. The Pistons have: Memo, Corliss, Lindsey, Elden, Mike James, and my man Darko all on their bench. I feel that the Pistons bench could've given the Lakers a run for their money.

9. The Fans. If you watch an Lakers game in LA and a Pistons game in Detroit, it's obvious. The Pistons fans are more animated, put manners aside, and are blinded with team spirit. I love it, and so do the Pistons. The Laker fans are uptight, rich, and have manners. This is nice, but not at a game. When I looked in the crowd at game 5, there wasn't a single person that wasn't wearing either a Pistons Jersey, Rip Hamilton Mask, or a Big Ben afro.

10. Attitude. The Lakers were predicted to sweep the Pistons. So, naturally they felt that they could bring their B game and knock them out. After Game 1, they thought it was a fluke. After Game 2, It was thought the Lakers would win in 5. Game 3: fluke number two. Game 4: Maybe we should start playing. Game 5: Nah, we don't need to. Wrong attitude.

Those 10 reasons should be the bible of any team in first place. If you have these things, you will go far.

Ben "The Professor" Harrison, AKA: EXPLOSIVO!

[rEdHoBBeS]

preach on brother

[Waz]

i cbf reading it all coz its huge 1st Kobe really shut himself down .381 fg% i think he is a superstar but really u cant b called a superstar and produce this wen the light is shon on u and he has been there b4 and 2nd this is only nit piking Devean George started all 5 games aswell 14 others during the play-offs so u really cant call him a bench player btw i hate the lakers so im not defending them and i agree with sum of the otha stuff u said but i just cbf reading it all coz its huge

ohhh and anotha thing the 11th point should b that n1 knew how 2 gauard rip its so obvious that he wont stop moving and using screens and payton should know how 2 beat him coz he is "THE GLOVE" and he has defended Reggie 4 years and Phil Jackson has coached against him 4 years so he should no wat 2 do and Kobe most recently has played againstboth Reggie and Rip but the still had no idea imo they should have played zone that way he cant run into open sace as much

[madison2003]

I agree with most of what you say. But uhm, Rip didnt shut Kobe down, Tayshaun defended kobe. I dont think you mentioned the Prince of the Palace enough. Tayshaun was a huge difference maker! And i'm glad you said what many analysts and non-piston fans refused to say: The Lakers were beaten by a BETTER TEAM. Also the reason Rip outplayed Kobe on offence was, well, Rip is like reggie, there is no way to guard him off the screen! Rip is just an endless well of energy!

[VMS]

you're right... Tayshaun's wingspan of 7'2" kept Kobe from getting his usual open shots.

[J@3]

Phil Jackson's Lakers: 4 All-Stars on their starting lineup alone. Larry Brown's Pistons: 2 All-Stars on entire lineup

Lol I like the way you said 4 All-Stars on their starting lineup alone for the Lakers, but for the Pisons it was 2 All-Stars on entire lineup. Lakers might have had 4 All-Stars in their starting lineup, but they still had 4 All-Stars for their entire lineup too.

Nice post tho

[hmm]

.

[Jackal]

Good post Explosivo, that pretty much summed up the entire series.

Btw, I do disagree with comments such as Brown being the best coach, ever. Red holds that position.

[point-guard]

ahaha..larry brown is the best coach ever...LOL..LMAO... :rofl: ..how many nba titles have he won?hmm..let me count....1?...and dont forget...rick fox said to the media that the phil jackson did not use the so mind games tactic or what ever fuc* he did in the past..most probably thats why

[VMS]

Think about it.

Phil Jackson can take the Lakers to the finals. I could frickin' take the lakers to the finals.

Larry Brown took the pistons to the finals. Nobody has done that for 14 freakin' years.

[Jackal]

I think a little more credit should be given to Phil.

Phil is a better motivational coach, not the Zen master for nothing.

Brown is a better X's and O's coach.

Don't downplay Phil's abilities, if Brown was put with LA, he wouldnt win. He couldn't control Iverson's attitude, how would he handle Kobe + Shaq's attitude? No, saying anyone can win with LA is wrong. Only when Phil was brought in did these two start playing together.

[magius]

if you're building a team from scratch or your team is not superstar-laden, but still competitive you pick larry brown, because his teams are always good defensively and always work hard.

if your team is full of egos or lots of superstars and you are underachieving you pick phil jackson.

nuff said

[VMS]

He's the only coach to get Iverson to the Finals though.

[Jackal]

The team around Iverson that year was great defensively. They did what they were asked to do.

[air gordon]

don't downplay Brown's abilities as a motivator as well. his team just achieved one of the biggest upsets in nba finals history, perhaps one of the biggest in all of sports in this era. that just doesn't involve X and O's.

besides, he's coached and succeeded with talent Phil Jackson would have nightmares about

that 2 seasons now and counting that jackson hasn't been Zen mastering the lakers

[VMS]

thanks for the backup crawford

[Matt]

Browns work in game 5

1. Q1, Payton drives to the hoop and in the middle he meets Ben Wallace who strips him and then goes coast-to-coast and dunks it......no Laker chased him, Slava gave up after about 5 metres and the sad thing is the second closest player to Wallace was Hamilton

2. Q2. Kobe on the fast break off a turnover, scores 2 points but he was chased down by Mike James.....even though James didn't affect what Bryant did he still chased him down and showed hustle despite a 95% probability that Kobe would score

these type of hustle plays won the game and series and that's thanks partially to Brown......on the Lakers end, Slava didn't even put his hands up to contest Okurs 3, and nobody stopped Prince coast-to-coast play, that was easy 2 points for him with just 4.8secs left in the 3rd

[Jackal]

I'm not downplaying Browns abilities, not at all. Just my opinion that Phil's a better coach.

Working with ego's of that size, that says something.

[air gordon]

yes and all likelihood is going to quit on Zen Mastering the lakers (2yr failing streak streak). that says a lot

working with egos AND maximizing the talent he's worked with for pretty much his entire career. that's something jackson could never say