2008/2009 NBA Playoffs

Tim131

Ahhhhh, just lying on my bed in Orlando watching sport center to see if I can see myself on the highlights of the magic games last night!

Man that was an amazing game, the fans were amazing!!!

I'm gonna try get finals tickets now

eagle eye

Ok I wanted time to settle down before I posted about last night's game.

LeBron did not get much help last night and that was a huge part of what happened. The Cavs were poor at the line also, there is no good excuse for being that poor at the line. BUT I have to say that Howard got away with an awful lot last night as well. I seen him clearly foul on the offensive side numerous times and either ended up getting the call go his way or no call at all, and on one occasion he gets fouled and after the foul he takes a step and scores and it counts and he gets the foul.

The gap at the end can be contributed to the last two points I made, the bad calls and the bad free throws.

The final is going to be all one way imo, the Lakers will destroy the Magic. I think the Magic win one game, I sincerely hope I'm wrong as my favourite player left in it is Turkoglu. It would be nice to see a guy who imo has been the most improved player in the NBA over the past two seasons get a ring.

Sea Devils

Odom will be the reason why the Lakers win. All Odom needs to do is concentrate on defense and shut down Lewis or Hedo and Odom can do this as Kobe will be able to handle some from time to time. That game 6 against Denver was also the Lakers that I thought I'd see earlier on in the Playoffs. So if that team, or close to it, shows up each game, this series can be over in 4 or 5 as well

I just don't see Orlando winning. The Lakers have too much athletic length and Orlando can't exploit it the way they did to Cleveland. I also get somewhat of an impression that Orlando is happy to be here.

Kinetic^

I knew it, they'd bottle it. :rolleyes: Will be interesting to see what LeBron has to say considering he didn't go to the post game press conference. That's a fine for him anyway.

Lafortezza

I dont think the Lakers will destry the Magic. During the reg season, Orlando beat them 2-0!

Sea Devils

lafortezza wrote: »

I dont think the Lakers will destry the Magic. During the reg season, Orlando beat them 2-0!

I also don't think the Lakers will "destroy" the Magic but it's hard to see any way in which Orlando wins this series.

jimmay

Kinetic^ wrote: »

I knew it, they'd bottle it. :rolleyes: Will be interesting to see what LeBron has to say considering he didn't go to the post game press conference. That's a fine for him anyway.

Yeah I was wondering why I didn't see him interviewed after on the vids section on NBA.com...I'd of loved to know what he was thinking, I'll hafta keep my eyes and ears open, let me know if you're talking to him

The fine ha he could pay so his team never has to do a press conference again in their lives! First 'billionaire balla', apparently!

Carcharodon

Sea Devils wrote: »

Odom will be the reason why the Lakers win. All Odom needs to do is concentrate on defense and shut down Lewis or Hedo and Odom can do this as Kobe will be able to handle some from time to time. That game 6 against Denver was also the Lakers that I thought I'd see earlier on in the Playoffs. So if that team, or close to it, shows up each game, this series can be over in 4 or 5 as well

I just don't see Orlando winning. The Lakers have too much athletic length and Orlando can't exploit it the way they did to Cleveland. I also get somewhat of an impression that Orlando is happy to be here.

I would have to agree with this for the most part, not too sure if I could say the Lakers will win for sure, they will be favs but I expect Orlando to push them, they are playing great at the moment, Lewis and Turk are playing great and they have players to mark Kobe.

Sea Devils

Carcharodon wrote: »

not too sure if I could say the Lakers will win for sure, they will be favs but I expect Orlando to push them, they are playing great at the moment, Lewis and Turk are playing great and they have players to mark Kobe.

Well I was perhaps exagerating about the "if the Lakers played at the best they win the title line". I thought beforehand much like the 2000-2001 team that almost swept through the postseason they would understand what it takes to get it done in the playoffs . But they don't

Having said that if they have turned the corner and completely abolished the memories of games 4 and 6 of the Houston series then they win easily. I can see their consistency problems making then lose two games at least but they win in six.

I also disagree with the fact that "the Orlando beat the Lakers twice line". Charlotte beat the Lakers twice in the regular season does that mean they are a better team?

Sea Devils

Jameer Nelson to play in the Finals?

It's premature to assume that he'll be anywhere close to 100%, and more importantly, his timing will be off since he hasn't played in an NBA game in months. As a neutral I hope he doesn't play. I think it's a bad idea by Orlando if he does

Liam O

Sea Devils wrote: »

Jameer Nelson to play in the Finals?

It's premature to assume that he'll be anywhere close to 100%, and more importantly, his timing will be off since he hasn't played in an NBA game in months. As a neutral I hope he doesn't play. I think it's a bad idea by Orlando if he does

If he/Stan Van does feel that he's ready then why not?

He's one of the top point guards in the league and would ease some of the pressure on Alston.

Sea Devils

Liam O wrote: »

If he/Stan Van does feel that he's ready then why not?

He's one of the top point guards in the league and would ease some of the pressure on Alston

.

Well according to ESPN News he was "moving very easily and shooting the ball very well". If he was fully healthy and part of the rotation coming into this series, obviously he'd be a good weapon for Orlando, but nobody knows how "ready" he is to play in an NBA game. Even if he's completely healthy, there's the issue of timing. But who knows, maybe he'll be perfectly fine

I do know one thing though. If he does fail it won't be for a lack of effort!.

kmart6

Anybody else who has Sky but doesn't have Setanta getting it free right now!?

kmart6

Gone now!!!:(

kmart6

Woohoo...forgot I had 5!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):) So happy!!!!!

Sea Devils

I was getting it free as well. Still so far impressed with Five's Coverage even though the guests aren't great.

Quick First half summary: Odom shutting down Shard, Bynum shutting down Howard, Pietrus sucking on both ends of the floor.....Magic down 10

But Turk played well and Jameer made a big comeback..

eagle eye

Sea Devils wrote: »

I was getting it free as well. Still so far impressed with Five's Coverage even though the guests aren't great.

Quick First half summary: Odom shutting down Shard, Bynum shutting down Howard, Pietrus sucking on both ends of the floor.....Magic down 10

But Turk played well and Jameer made a big comeback..

Summary of the second half so far.

Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe

eagle eye

That thumping just adds to my belief that the Cavs were outcoached by Van Gundy in the Eastern Conference Finals. You can't do that to Phil Jackson. Don't get me wrong the Lakers were very impressive tonight but really all they did was kept fouling Howard and the Magic were not able to get it off quick enough from the outside as they did against the Cavs. Simple as and also the Lakers can set screens for Kobe.

Having said all that, Fisher played well tonight, so did Ariza, so did Farmer, Bynum played very well, Gasol had a very good game and Odom was superb, but they all paled in comparison to the on fire Kobe who had one of those super games tonight.

Sea Devils

Hopefully it will be a much closer game two. The Magic couldn't knock down an open shot at all and it didn't help that they were outscored heavily in the paint 56-22 which is incredible especially with Howard in there. Bynum did a fantastic job of making Howard catch the ball 8-10 feet away from the hoop, and that's why he only got 6 shot attempts.

On a sidenote I'll be in Spain for the rest of the Finals games. Here's hoping it's on TV over there:o

conno16

van gundy looked better suited to the gaa last night as opposed to an NBA final
all over the place, too animated, very sweaty
phil was havin a good laugh deep down i'd imagine
nba.com are really lashing into van gundy

kmart6

Def going to be more of a contest in Game 2...no way the Magic are going to shoot so bad again!

Sea Devils

Just going by game 2 I think Orlando got the worst PG play I've ever seen in a game in the Finals. Alston, Redick, and even Nelson wasn't all that good. He shoulda gotten more minutes though. But if they even got bad PG play, they would have won this game. What they got was well beyond bad

kmart6

Shoulda won it anyway,Lee shouldn't have missed that lay up!

Sea Devils

Well it wasn't the easiest shot in the world to make. He caught the ball at almost full speed and was a little behind the backboard. That's a tough shot. Should he have made it? Maybe. But it wasn't the epic fail that people are making it out to be.

I'd be plesantly surprised if the Lakers win tonight.

jimmay

I'd love to see the Magic turn this thing around and win the 2 in Otown. What the Lee miss shows you though is that these games can go either way and sometimes you need a bit of lady luck!

Having said that Kobe looks zoned in on nothing but a championship. Personally I thought he looked childish and a bit sad at his press conference after game 2 when he replied "no not happy it's not won yet...etc" but then I'm not the biggest Kobe fan.

Magic will have to be on top form tonight to win this.

kmart6

Frickin sound was off on 5 for the start very hard to follow...now its back...but clearly behind the live broadcast since I heard the same commentary twice!!!!>:(

eagle eye

Thats the Magic's only win of the finals imo. Played well though, but that mistake from Kobe where Gasol ended up on the ground with the ball and losing it was so critical.

Sea Devils

They shot an NBA Finals recrord of 62.5%. I don't see them repeating that at all.

Carcharodon

I haven't been able to watch any of the games yet, just highlights and end of lasts night game. Only just able to function again after long long weekend in Vegas.

Lee should of put that in in my opinion but it looks a lot easier in slow motion than real time, still though, probably would get it 90% of the time.

Magic looked like they deserved to win last night, both teams seemed like they played well, Magic just that bit better. I hope they can keep it going, I don't expect a repeat of game 1 by the Lakers or I hope I don't, Kobe and Lakers to explode under the pressure.

Liam O

The Espn commentators are so in love with the Lakers and it's pissing me off. Every time there's a foul called they say it's a bad call and everytime Kobe gets the ball they procalim how brilliant he is. I'm watching the repeat on Setanta now and Odom just fouls Howard and then goes bouncing around complaining about the call and the comentators say that that's what he should be doing