09 NBA Finals- Lakers Vs Magic series thread

[Brian in Mesa]

Who's the moron in charge of releasing the confetti? LOL

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[D-Dogg]

Brian, you broke!

 

[elindholm]

Okay, so the Lakers are still probably going to win this series. What I want to know is, where are all of the experts saying that they can't win a title because their defense isn't good enough? Is their defense really that much better than what the Suns had in their two WCF years? Heck, is it good at all?

No matter how you slice it, the Lakers are an average defensive team. Maybe I've missed it, but has ONE talking head moron on television admitted that the "defense wins championships" rule may not be absolute?

 

[hsandhu]

Great freaking game. Well played by the Magic.

I agree, I thought both teams busted their asses as hard as they could. In the first qtr Kobe realized he could clinch the title right there but props to the magic for fighting back.

 

[Proteus]

Okay, so the Lakers are still probably going to win this series. What I want to know is, where are all of the experts saying that they can't win a title because their defense isn't good enough? Is their defense really that much better than what the Suns had in their two WCF years? Heck, is it good at all?

No matter how you slice it, the Lakers are an average defensive team. Maybe I've missed it, but has ONE talking head moron on television admitted that the "defense wins championships" rule may not be absolute?

The Magic shot 30% in game 1 and 42% in game 2.

 

[TJ]

What an amazing freaking game.

THIS is Orlando's best shot...glad the Lakers are weathering it soooo well.

Got three shots to win one....fail on the first?

Fail the second and the third and LA finds themselves in a big stinking pile of dung. Not saying ORL can overtake the series, but the way the Finals are set up with games 3-5 in ORL, momentum can swing pretty easily.

 

[D-Dogg]

Fail the second and the third and LA finds themselves in a big stinking pile of dung. Not saying ORL can overtake the series, but the way the Finals are set up with games 3-5 in ORL, momentum can swing pretty easily.

Eh, maybe. Doesn't happen often. That was a hell of a shot from Orlando..you think they have a better one to throw? That sure wasn't the Lakers best game in the second half.

 

[Darth Llama]

I'm really impressed with the Magic. They played a tough game tonight and got a well deserved win. I give the Lakers credit for hanging so close with them the way they were shooting, both teams played very well. I'm not surprised that Orlando won, I knew the Lakers weren't going to assert their will in Orlando the way they did in LA.

 

[Brianellsworth]

Go magic

 

[nashman]

Umm don't think the Lakers are as mighty as some like to think, your a goaltending call away from being down 2-1 to the Magic. And don't give me they won't shoot that well again because the Lakers shot damn well as well.

 

[Skkorpion]

What are the national ratings? Does anybody not a Laker fan care at all?

 

[IAWarnerFan]

What are the national ratings? Does anybody not a Laker fan care at all?

Obviously Magic fans care too!

 

[Brian in Mesa]

What are the national ratings? Does anybody not a Laker fan care at all?

So you only watch the Finals when it is your team in it? If you're a Suns' fan - you're only watched two NBA Finals?

C'mon - people are watching.

NBA finals TV ratings holding up from last year

NEW YORK (AP) — Television ratings for the NBA finals are holding up from last year even though Lakers-Magic isn't as glamorous a matchup as the 2008 series between Los Angeles and the Boston Celtics.

ABC said Wednesday that Orlando's 108-104 win Tuesday night in Game 3 earned a 10.1 overnight rating. That's down 6 percent from the 10.8 for last season's Game 3, which featured a Celtics team with far more tradition and a bigger market than the Magic.

Ratings represent the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program. Overnight ratings measure the nation's largest markets.

 

[Proteus]

Umm don't think the Lakers are as mighty as some like to think, your a goaltending call away from being down 2-1 to the Magic. And don't give me they won't shoot that well again because the Lakers shot damn well as well.

The Magic shot 63%, a record for an Nba finals game, so yah they'll almost certainly cool off. The Lakers shot 51%, much closer to normality, and still only lost by 4 points.

 

[Michael]

The Magic shot 63%, a record for an Nba finals game, so yah they'll almost certainly cool off. The Lakers shot 51%, much closer to normality, and still only lost by 4 points.

And it seems very unlikely for Bryant to choke again. 5 missed free throws, a key turnover and 2-8 from the field? Not gonna happen again!

That was the Bryant of old. Catching fire but then never realizing that he cooled down and continue racking up crazy shots instead of moving the ball.

 

[Darth Llama]

And it seems very unlikely for Bryant to choke again. 5 missed free throws, a key turnover and 2-8 from the field? Not gonna happen again!

That was the Bryant of old. Catching fire but then never realizing that he cooled down and continue racking up crazy shots instead of moving the ball.

Exactly, Kobe won't play that bad again. In game 4 I look for the Magic to keep shooting well (not 65% but good,) and the Lakers to shoot a little better as well. I'm taking the Lakers in a close one to push their lead to 3-1. I think Orlando will survive game 5 though and send it back to LA where the Lakers will take it in a lopsided game 6.

 

[D-Dogg]

Hollinger wrote an article that shockingly doesn't mention PER, and outlines the Lakers offense being in line with its regular season output:

Orlando's record shooting obscured an equally important detail: The Magic barely won, because the Lakers themselves hit a not-so-shabby 51.3 percent from the field. The Lakers shot well in the first two games, too, at 46 percent, so it seems we can officially call this a trend: Orlando's defense is having a lot of trouble with L.A.'s offense.

So the Lakers shot a small bit over avg in this game, and the Magic shot a Finals record. And the game basically came down to one possession.

In the regular season the Lakers averaged 109.8 points per 100 possessions, and the Magic gave up 98.9 -- a nearly 11-point gap in productivity. Clearly, a big determinant of who will win this series will be whether L.A.'s efficiency number is closer to the 109.8 or the 98.9.

And on that count, this series remains the Lakers in a rout. If anything, Tuesday night cemented their advantage. L.A. scored 104 points in an unusually slow-paced game (it's tough to get much transition going when both teams are taking the ball out of the net), resulting in a 113.8 offensive efficiency mark. That was the Lakers' best output of the series, even better than the 110.0 from Game 1 or the 102.7 from Game 2.


You'll note all those numbers had three digits before the decimal point, a very bad trend if you're an Orlando fan. The Magic need to be holding the Lakers below a point per possession, especially at home these next two games, but haven't been able to come close thus far. For the series, the Lakers' 108.7 offensive efficiency mark is nearly an exact replica of what they did in the regular season. In other words, Orlando's top-ranked defense has barely made a dent in the Lakers' attack.

 

[Ronin]

11 rebounds for Howard in the first quarter

 

[D-Dogg]

Not expecting much tonight with Salvatore running the crew. He's just an atrocious ref who lets crowds affect his calls, homer ref to the core.

Hope they stay close and have a remote shot in the 4th. Down 8 with 6 minutes left and we'll have a decent shot at it.

 

[mojorizen7]

I just tuned in about 15 minutes ago but already i've noticed that Kobe is being guarded by guys that are under control when defending him out on the perimeter.

 

[D-Dogg]

mojo, that's because he put CL on the bench with pump fakes already.

 

[elindholm]

I swear, put "Phoenix" on the Laker jerseys and every TV analyst in America would be saying that they don't play defense well enough to win a title.

 

[mojorizen7]

mojo, that's because he put CL on the bench with pump fakes already.

I see......smart adjustment.
Defense 101, using your feet on defense doesn't mean leaving the floor.

 

[Proteus]

Lakers down 37-49 after the 2nd quarter.

The Lakers' main problem today is that they can't shoot. They're shooting 33% with 1/10 3 pointers. The Magic are shooting 49% with 3/12 3 pointers.

 

[mojorizen7]

I swear, put "Phoenix" on the Laker jerseys and every TV analyst in America would be saying that they don't play defense well enough to win a title.

Huh? Do you mean the Lakers D tonight?