Pau Gasol

ed Orlando by tapping the ball away from Kobe with 30 seconds left and Orlando ahead 104-102.  Pau Gasol valiantly dove on the floor to save the ball but couldn't get the ball to Bryant as Mickael Pietrus stole the ball and preserved the Magic's first-ever Finals win.

Continue reading "Two Strikes and Kobe's Out as the Closer"

On the heels of the poor Clippers being spurned by Elton Brand (more on that in the coming days) in hilarious fashing, the Lakers seem to have been hit just as hard. Word on the proverbial street (or more likely, on the off ramp of the information super highway) is that Ronny Turiaf has agreed, tentatively to play for the Golden State Warriors for $17 million over 4 years ( http://www.pe.com/sports/basketball/breakout/stories/PE_Sports_Local_S_turiaf_09.47b3657.html). What do I think about this, you ask? Good question, you. I get the same feeling that I got when Golden State signed Derek Fisher for $37 million over 6 years, and that is that Golden State has NO idea how to properly run a team. I loved Ronny on the Lakers. I loved making jokes with my friend about Phil Jackson yelling at Ronny at practice claiming that he “has no heart”, along with 4 billion other heart related comments (for those of you who don’t know, Ronny was diagnosed with an enlarged aortic root and required open heart surgery at the beginning of the 2005 NBA season). It does bother me slightly, that the Lakers had a chance to dump Ronny over this heart condition but chose to stick with it, pay his salary AND cover the expenses for his surgery, and he goes his own way once he is a restricted free agent. I know he must look out for himself, but it always bothers me with loyalty is thrown by the wayside.

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Reminiscent of the games past, the Lakers stormed out to an early lead (this time 19 points) only to watch it evaporate, like so much water on a hot sidewalk. They then stormed back out to a 14 point lead. Comfortable, right? Yes. If you’re the Celtics. Boston immediately responded by taking a two point lead midway into the fourth quarter. Luckily the Lakers were able to rebound (the ball and game respectively) and finish the Celtics off in game 5, content enough that they didn’t celebrate on the Staples Center Floor. When that is the highlight of a playoff series, you are in some serious trouble. The Lakers, are in serious trouble. This isn’t to say that they couldn’t pull off the greatest come back in basketball history, BUT when your starting center is a 6’5, 150lbs rail, you tend to lose confidence with your inside game…what? You’re telling me Pau is actually 260lbs? And 7’0? And SPAINISH????? Ok, whose fooling who now? So Pau only plays like he’s a junior in middle school when facing KG. This isn’t to say Pau is playing terrible, but it simply isn’t sufficient enough for the NBA finals. Pau’s inability to play inside is the greatest flaw of this Laker team, and that is the lack of an actual center.

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