Congrats on the win, Suns Fan

[LakeShowMan]

Absolute butt-whippin' today. You guys played much tougher and better than us the last three games. The better team won the series.

Good luck against the Clippers.

LSM

 

[nathan]

I feel sorry for you. To be so close and lose three straight has got to feel like a swift kick to the groin.

 

[D-Dogg]

Too bad the Lakers didn't show up and shoot even a little bit ok...this was a terrible Game 7 for such a fantastic series.

Good luck in the next round, and we'll see you next year.

 

[az1965]

Good luck in the next round, and we'll see you next year.

Next year? With Amare and KT in the line up?

You don't wanna see us... believe me...!

 

[SirStefan32]

Thanks man, and you guys played a great series. I thought you were the worst team in playoffs and I was wrong.

 

[SirStefan32]

Next year? With Amare and KT in the line up?

You don't wanna see us... believe me...!

LOL

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Thanks man, and you guys played a great series. I thought you were the worst team in playoffs and I was wrong.

Yeah, I'll give the Lakers their props. They didn't show up tonight, but they gave this team the most they could handle all series.

Say what you want, but it's good for the NBA when the Lakers are good and if they can find a legitimate PG in the offseason they'll probably be the fourth best team in the Western Conference next year.

 

[KloD]

Too bad the Lakers didn't show up and shoot even a little bit ok...this was a terrible Game 7 for such a fantastic series.

Good luck in the next round, and we'll see you next year.

I thought it was a great game!

 

[bko32]

that game was bs tonight. the refs were horrible and the suns are a bunch of whiners and punks. the nba and the lakers just just felt sorry for them and let them win tonight. what a joke!!!!


can we stop with the conspiracy theories now. that was absolutely embarrassing for the lakers tonight. that was a serious ass-whoopin'. congrats suns fans. this was the suns team that i was expecting the entire series. they showed tonight why they were the #2 seed. good luck in the next round. i'll be rootin' for you guys, except for raja bell

 

[Gaddabout]

Way to fight through the season, Lakers fans. I know what that's like.

 

[Renz]

I feel sorry for you. To be so close and lose three straight has got to feel like a swift kick to the groin.

It's not that bad. I never expected the series to get to 7 games in the first place. This was actually a great year compared to last season.

I am optimistic about the future now, unlike a year ago.

 

[Nasser22]

Good job Lakers. You guys surprised everyone, but I am so glad you guys couldn't close it out. I would've been depressed the whole offseason, but what a great series this was!

 

[elindholm]

The growth process for the Lakers will continue, but I think it will still be slow. Brown's collapse in this game doesn't bode well for his confidence next year, and it will take him a while to get it back. Maybe he'll be more comfortable backing up Mihm. I don't think much of Mihm, but I'm sure he would have helped.

Odom played really well, but the Lakers need a reliable third option. Whom are they likely to target in free agency?

I've never been one for the anti-Bryant rhetoric, but it's clear he's still a little confused about what his role is supposed to be. He is always capable of taking over, but figuring out the right time to do it is a puzzle he hasn't solved. I don't mean this as a criticism -- it has to be an incredibly difficult balancing act.

Walton really thrives in this offense. I used to think he was a scrub, but he can be a solid contributor on a good team. I'm surprised Cook doesn't see more time, since he always seems to shoot well.

I'm not trying to gloat, but I really don't think the two teams are all that close. Even when the Suns were down 1-3, I felt they were the significantly better team, and the last three games obviously didn't do anything to change my mind. The Lakers were 3-2 in the five close games, but that includes the robbery of Game 4; the other two games were Phoenix blowouts. The Suns outscored the Lakers by an average of seven points per game over the series, or nearly two points per quarter.

 

[thirty-two]

Thanks LakeShowMan.

Being down 3-1 was not fun.

What a great series though. Everyone played hard.

 

[D-Dogg]

What a great series though. Everyone played hard.

Smush Parker did not.


Everyone else did though.

 

[arthurracoon]

Thanks man, and you guys played a great series. I thought you were the worst team in playoffs and I was wrong.

ditto

 

[JCSunsfan]

Smush Parker did not.


Everyone else did though.

The problem with Smush is that he's just not a very good player.

From the Lakers perspective, I really think this series is a disaster. Props to all the Laker fans on how well you played and all, but letting a team come back from a 1-3 deficit will be in the back of their minds from now on.

Listen Laker fans, I am not ragging on your team, I am just wondering out loud about the potential long term psychological impact of this series on the your team.

Remember when Denver came back from a big deficit (was it 0-2 in a five game series?) and beat Seattle. That was a good Seattle team, but they were never the same after that. They were always second guessing themselves.

It would be interesting to do a little research and find out what happened to teams thay gave up 3-1 (bof 7) or 2-0 (bof 5) series leads. I would guess that they declined after that.

Seriously, it might have been better for this young Lakers team if they had been swept.

 

[CaptainInsano]

This series RULED. To be honest, if game 7 was a nail biter I think my head would have exploded. This will be one of those series watched for years to come. Kobe scored not just in volume but a ton of his shots were from the divine, and watching Diaw and Barbose grow up before your eyes is just beautiful. The extremely hard foul on Kobe by Raja was insane... This series has it all.

What a time to be a suns fan, and same to the lakers, what a time to be a laker fan.

This series was crazy. I had counted the suns 99% out and the lakers were playing at about 150% of their regular season average and then the suns just took off and worse the lakers faltered, not just getting beat by the suns but LETTING the suns beat them by not sticking to the game plan and having people disappear.

Well the lakers will improve next year, but you definately do NOT wan't to face us again next year.

 

[sacrebleu]

Seriously, it might have been better for this young Lakers team if they had been swept.

Are you kidding??? I am very proud of what the Lakers accomplished in what was a rebuilding year. This shows the Laker youth that they have the talent to play on par with the league's elite teams in the playoffs. They just didn't have the experience to handle the pressure. Every single playoff game is invaluable going forward. Some players never get that experience.

Frankly the Suns should be ashamed it took them this long to figure the Lakers out. Remember, it took a lucky bounce and a clutch Thomas 3ptr to save you.

Not to take anything away from your team. The Suns made the right adjustments and are clearly the better team. Congrats and good luck with the Clips.

 

[elindholm]

Frankly the Suns should be ashamed it took them this long to figure the Lakers out.

In a way, that's true. The Suns were Missing In Action for Games 2 and 3 and the first half of Game 4. Over the last 3 1/2 games, however, they were clearly the better team. Two close games were split and the other two were Suns blowouts.

I don't know why it took them half the series to wake up, and I agree that it's somewhat embarrassing.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Are you kidding??? I am very proud of what the Lakers accomplished in what was a rebuilding year. This shows the Laker youth that they have the talent to play on par with the league's elite teams in the playoffs. They just didn't have the experience to handle the pressure. Every single playoff game is invaluable going forward. Some players never get that experience.

Frankly the Suns should be ashamed it took them this long to figure the Lakers out. Remember, it took a lucky bounce and a clutch Thomas 3ptr to save you.

Not to take anything away from your team. The Suns made the right adjustments and are clearly the better team. Congrats and good luck with the Clips.

Maybe. In the Lakers favor they have the best Shrink in the NBA coaching their team. If anyone can get them thinking right, he can.

 

[cly2tw]

I don't know why it took them half the series to wake up, and I agree that it's somewhat embarrassing.

Half of the credit goes to Phil J who got the Laker role players play bigger than they themselves believed for 3-4 games. The other half goes to the Suns young players in Diaw, LB and JJ, who matured on the run in this series. Somehow, Bell's suspension was a blessing in disguise that triggered the Barbosa blossoming in the last two games!

 

[George O'Brien]

Before the series I though the Lakers would win one or perhaps two games. Phil put together a good game play and got some exceptional play from his guys. They took the Suns out of their game and I didn't think the Lakers had the people to get that done.

However, the same basic truth that the series began with was true in the end. There is no disgrace in losing to the better team. The Suns not only had a much better record, the Suns have a much better team. Yes, the Lakers exceeded expectations this season and came on strong late in the year, but their head to head to head was something like a 7-1, with the only loss being a game where Nash and Bell didn't play.

Suns fans are still upset about how badly their team played in the first four games, but some of it was that the Lakers played better than had all season. The Lakers fans should be proud of what their team did and how close they came to a major upset - because it would have a major upset.

 

[jibikao]

The question is can we bring this energy to Monday?

The good news is we play at home so no traveling tomorrow.

This team is truly amazing.

 

[F-Dog]

Thanks, LSM.

Your team fought very hard. I was impressed by Kwame in particular--I had expected to see game 7 Kwame for most of the series, not just the last game.



IMO the Lakers' future depends on Kobe in a lot of ways. He's kind of old to still be developing as a player, but I don't think he put much effort into learning the team game before 2004/5, so there's still a chance for him.

Andrew Bynum is the other player who'll have to develop, and quickly. Good luck with him--I hope he turns out to be worth the wait!