Nobody is responding to my posts so I must be hitting a nerve somewhere. Don't worry, Crawford the Drone has been put there for a reason. The Fakers will win tonight - guaranteed. Any betters? The series has already been prescripted to go to 7 games. "I love this play...I mean game."

utzworld sez:

"Butler: You are so fearful and incompetent, you don't even have the courage to use REAL SCRIPTURE to fire back at me. Go back home, youngling. You've missed too many days of school. Hate to see you stuck spending another year in kindergarten."

Tsk, tsk! Such negativity from a man who offers himself as a conduit of the Creator? Charlatans are a dime a dozen, and He has no use for pretenders! Cast thee on thy knees, while ye still have a chance to beg forgiveness!

You should know better than to speak for the Creator, especially in support of a selfish, angry and spiteful #24 team leader. The Creator would much rather you offer support to the Truth, The Big Ticket - men of character and benevolence.

WE OFFER THANKS AND PRAISE FOR THE GREATNESS OF PAUL PIERCE, RAY ALLEN, RAJON RONDO AND KG!

Laker Nation, please repeat:

"IT IS RIGHT TO OFFER THANKS AND PRAISE FOR THE GREATNESS OF PAUL PIERCE, RAY ALLEN, RAJON RONDO AND KG!"

More dichotomies folks. That's great. In one breath you say "freaking refs sucks...this is a conspiracy." Then in the other you say "we are the LA Fakers...winners of 14 NBA titles with HOF coaches and blah, blah, blah." Did you ever think to stop and think about what you're saying? I hate to break the news, but it's RIDICULOUS. How in the heck do you think you got those 14 titles? Better not bite the hand that feeds too much.

"The Celtics are playing at their best, but there is not much they can do to elevate their game. If they can keep it up for the entire series -- well then props to them. But the Lakers have underperformed."
Are you kidding - you haven't seen the best of the Celtics yet.

ALL ALONG THE STAPLES

There must be some way out of here, said the celtic to Kobe
There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief.
Lakers they block my shots, they make me tumble to earth
Lakers get shots on free throw line, I get no shot that is worth

No reason to get excited, Kobe he kindly spoke
There are many here among us who felt the Lakers were a joke
But now you see the real lakers and know that losing’s the Celtics fate
So let us not speak falsely now, get in your wheelchair before its to late

All along the Staples, the lakers kicked the Celtics @ss
And when it was over the Celtics got out of town fast

There must be some way out of here, said the celtic to Kobe
There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief.
Lakers they block my shots, they make me tumble to earth
Lakers get shots on free throw line, I get no shot that is worth

No reason to get excited, Kobe he kindly spoke
There are many here among us who felt the Lakers were a joke
But now you see the real lakers and know that losing’s the Celtics fate
So let us not speak falsely now, get in your wheelchair before its to late

All along the Staples, the lakers kicked the Celtics @ss
And when it was over the Celtics got out of town fast

Who wants to jump on the BANDWAGON that BUTLER is RASUAL's cousin and not CARON'S.....

In the Zen master we trust:"We don't need a miracle; we don't need desperation;
we don't need favors from referees; we don't need a Celtics meltdown (though that would be fun to see).
We just need 48 minutes of solid basketball, and we'll be fine."

OUT FREAKIN STANDING!
WE DON'T NEED SH+t!! WHY?... BECAUSE WE THE FREAKING LA LAKERS AND NO
WHEELCHAIR FAKING, REFEREE FIXING, MANIAC YELLING PUNKS COME TO
OUR HOUSE AND DO ANYTHING BUT BOW DOWN.
WE ARE THE FREAKING LA LAKERS AND THE ONLY TEAM THAT CAN DEFEAT US IS US.
NOW GO OUT THERE AND WIN BY 30!!!!

Engineero - I'll respond to you. It's "bettors" not "betters".

I agree with Taoshum in that I don't see anything wrong with Schilling's comments. Even if the guy is a jerk and notoriously bad teammate, he'd be the perfect guy to point out when someone else acts like that since he's so familiar with the behavior. The Lakers getting their butts kicked so far feeds the trolls far more than we ever could. I'll be at Staples tonight wearing the same gear that I've worn to every Lakers win during these playoffs. I'll be enjoying my western dog from Big Dawgs and screaming in support for our team until I'm hoarse. I'll be in the house. The Lakers house and looking for the team to rip Boston's heart out over these next 3 games. Anything less is unacceptable.

Wow, I'm glad I've been out of town since Thursday night, although I sadly missed a good part of both games. I'm as frustrated to go down 0-2, but any rational person who watched more than a couple of Celtics games this year must have realized that outcome was a distinct possibility. I hoped that we'd steal one out there, but guess what: you have to win a Championship on your home court, and that's what we have to do. We win three in a row at home and steal one of the last two. Hopefully, that will be game 6, since I picked the Lakers in 6, but the banners don't say how many games you won that championship anyway.

My major source of disappointment is the fickle nature of the blog postings over the course of the playoffs. I've been watching this team since my dad let me stay up late at night in the 1970s, watching the games on tape delay. I've been a diehard Lakers fan ever since, never wavering in my love of the team (and trust me, during the post-Magic era, it was hard work doing that). I remember the tears falling down my face in 1984, vowing my eternal hatred of the Celtics franchise from that day forward. I remember the feeling of sheer joy as the Lakers vanquished the same team the following year, in Boston and then again in 1987. I suffered through painful exiles from my beloved team in Europe, NoCal, and Chicago and was forced to live through the horror of a city filled with fairweather Bulls fans whose flags are most likely mouldering at the bottom of a box in their attic. One thing I've learned over all these years is that winning a championship is extremely hard work. Some of the people who post on this blog seem to think the opposite and that the Lakers have decided to lay down and take it easy at the moment when they can least afford it; most of you are fickle new arrivals who may not exactly be bandwagon jumpers but most assuredly aren't of the 'thick and thin' variety of fan. For those of you who fall into this class of blog reader, you need to get a grip.

Of course we can be frustrated - that's why we're fans. Anything less than a four-game sweep is not ideal, but how often does that happen? I still believe the Lakers will win this, but face it - they might not! If that happens, we can mourn the loss of another banner with all of our friends and fellow diehards right here, until the pain of this lost season begins to fade into hope for the next several ones to come. However, until the clock ticks down to ZERO and the scoreboard shows 4 Celtics wins, my hopes for the Championship will never fade or diminish, one iota. To come on here and read posts by blog readers I've never seen before or the even more unaccountable ANONYMOUS, and to see their doom and gloom, blame KOBE, blame the coaches, blame the Refs, blame Bill Simmons pile of crap, after losing Games 1 and 2 in Boston, after a comeback of near LEGENDARY proportions...I won't accept it and won't acknowledge such BS any longer. Go back to your casual around the watercooler conversations with your other casual Lakers fan friends who don't know who Trevor Ariza is, don't know if Robert Horry is still a Laker, don't know why we got rid of Shaq, and still blame the MVP for all that is wrong in LakerLand. Around here - we're true Lakers fans who love our team far more than someone with your puny interest could ever fathom. We don't want you here, and at least for my part, you're not welcome anymore.

Go Lakers - Win it in 6, one game at a time!!!

rob -

Caron is my cuz! Yeah!

I told him it was a great move to go to Washington. That meant the lakers were getting lamar "I'm confused" odum.

Anyone want to talk about lamar's "performance" in this series?

Didn't think so...

rob:"Who wants to jump on the BANDWAGON that BUTLER is RASUAL's cousin and not CARON'S....."
ROFLMAO!!

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!!! THE TOADS IN THE HOUSE!!

Lakerbake, you need to get thicker skin...

Dude, I OWN a Lamar Odom tshirt!!! LOL! Schilling was sitting right next to the Laker bench and confirmed what I was seeing on tv. Several times, going into timeouts, Kobe was screaming at people. Do you perform better when somebody screams at you? Everybody is going to miss shots, you don't need your own teammates bagging on you for every mistake. That's not about "being men" it's just common sense.

Also, Schilling commented on Gasol. Guess what? He's right! Gasol is a whiner. It's always somebody else's fault, the pass was too low, Gasol motions with his hands, the pass was too high, Gasol whips his hands over his head to show the entire stadium that indeed, the pass was too high. The ref doesn't give him a call, Gasol stands there and complains to the ref. If he did it once, it might have an effect but Gasol complains EVERY SINGLE TIME so why should one complaint have any meaning for a ref vs the other 20 complaints Gasol makes each and every game?

I love the Lakers but I think this stuff is obvious, you can see it on your little tv... if you have one... maybe you are listening on the radio so you don't have a clue what everybody else is talking about?

Bear 75233:

I actually have seen the best of the Celtics. It was back in 1985-1986, when Larry Bird led Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Dennis Johnson, Danny Ainge and Bill Walton to the Celtics' best season record and then to a 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Lakers. That team had talent; that team had heart; that team had players who bled Celtics green rather than mercenaries (i.e., KG and RA) who have conveniently joined the bandwagon. I hated but always respected that team.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/
truehoop/0-32-304/2001--
When-the-Near-Perfect-Lakers
-Almost-Imploded.html

very intriguing article, cant wait to watch the game, go lakers

LakerTom,
I agree about the disrespect of Kobe... and of the Lakers. Putting Kobe in foul trouble before the end of the first Q on a phantom foul took a lot of chutzpah. When I watched the action (on a bad feed) and realized a foul was called, I saw Fisher in the background and thought, what has Fish done now? I couldn't believe the foul was on Kobe.

The refs had to know that that meant significant minutes lost to the best player on the floor.

Hey J dawg,

I'm sick of hearing how the Kings got jobbed in 2002 by the refs. It's convenient for Queens fans to bring up the free throw disparity in Game 6, but they conveniently fail to mention Games 2-4 of the series. Here's a little breakdown in case you're interested:

Total Freethrows, 2002 WC Finals

Game 1 - Lakers 22, Queens 17 (pretty even here)
Game 2 - Queens 38, Lakers 25 (a little lopsided, eh?)
Game 3 - Queens 35, Lakers 15 (see a trend, yet?)
Game 4 - Queens 33, Lakers 23 (how about now?)
Game 5 - Lakers 27, Queens 26 (wow- talk about make up games)
Game 6 - Lakers 40, Queens 25 (the only game that Queens fans ever bring up)
Game 7 - Lakers 33, Queens 30 (at least they got to settle it on the court in this one)

Total Free Throw Attempts - Queens 204, Lakers 185. The Queens took 30!!! more FTAs than the Lakers in Games 2-4, so to take Game 6, with a 15 FTA disparity and use it out of context from the rest of the series is disingenuous at best (in your defense, you did say the Queens took more attempts than us in the first 5 games, which is kind of like saying a few more people died in Nagasaki than Hiroshima).

Please, stop the conspiracy talk now - it gets us nowhere. Thankfully, the box scores for every playoff series in the last several decades exist on basketball-reference.com; use it often, especially when people try to distort history. As for the 2002 Queens, boy, we really screwed those guys over. Inquiry!!!!

=== CURT SCHILLING TALKS? BUT what hasnt been mentioned? ===

Why is there no media uproar of Kobe urging Sasha to keep playing hard and to stick to Ray Allen in transition?

How about energizing Farmar?

The whole comeback was Kobe and a bunch of reserves FIGHTING HARD.

I respect that. That's guys FOLLOWING their leader.

And not a one peep about that from dumb azz punk azz biatch azz Curt Schilling.

Didnt CURT SCHILLING say he MIGHT play for the Yankees last year? CURT is not the one to talk about anything.

THE LAKERS WILL NEVER GIVE UP BECAUSE THEIR LEADER WILL NEVER GIVE UP.

That's what I respect. FPHHHUUK all this soccer mom stuff.

This is the NBA FREAKIN FINALS.

Whoever wants to go hard and PLAY D, then let's get in the game and EXTINGUISH THEIR LUCK.

Whoever wants to cry and say "whatever" needs to keep their dumb azz on the bench.

It's LAKE-SHOW TIME.

Holla.

Taoshum, Lakerbake,

I agree.

What? Kobe cant yell at his teammates now? He cant DEMAND better play?

This is the leader. The leaders DEMAND excellence.

This is what Jordan, Magic, and every great leader did.

Anyone who thinks otherwise is different and BIASED.

Every time the Lakers lose its,"KOBE'S NOT NICE TO HIS TEAMMATES" or "KOBE SHOOTS TO MUCH" ...

It's the same ole bullcrap. I thought we would be done with this when he got the MVP.

I see now that the haters and the involuntary bias wont stop until we get a CHIP.

wow.

Laker Nation --

How long into the game before the "paula" chants?

How long into the game before the "boston sucks" chants?

How long into the game before Kobe gets fouled and it's actually called?

How long into the game before the trolls abandon ship (the blog) tonight?

All Three Games Are Must Wins!! 'nough said.

Talking about Kobe gets you hits point. I never knew Curt had a blog until he wrote the Kobe thing. Thanks to AK, BK and Espn, we all know about Curt's blog and it comes at the expense of Kobe. Kobe attracts people why not use him. This is the second time AK and BK will post the trash Curt wrote about. Its too bad that some of you guys can't think.

We all Know that kobe can be mean when the team is doing bad, it doesn't mean he won't lace it up and lead this team. By the way, that was the same game Kobe almost lead his team from a 22 point deficit in a finals game. I don't know if you call the leadership. That whole 4th quarter might have changed this series, and we shall see about that starting tonight.

Go Lakers!!!!!!!!

Butler,

I actually agree with you for a change. So far the Lakers have been an embarrassment. Getting out-played, out-hustled, out- desired by a Celtics team. We might want to wait on crowning the Celtics just yet though. It is two games they won at home and had some nice help from the officials. Tonight is the key - Lakers win, we most likely have a series. If the Celtics win, it is almost certainly WHEN not IF the Celtics win the Championship.

I wonder how the Celtics will respond if they lose tonight and then happen to come up short in game 4 too? That would put a lot of pressure on the Celtics. I am not betting the home or my kids that the Lakers will win three in a row - I just want them to win tonight - the old one game at a time cliche.

Maybe the Lakers are like a great golfer - a couple bad holes and then they go on a run of birdies. And on the other side, maybe the Celtics are like my golf game, a birdie and a par followed by a bunch of double bogeys and others! Could be.....

Peace
Eagleboy

So I've got a story to share to you all:

Yesterday evening as I was finishing my hour and a half long drive back home from home something horrible happened.

I was a little hot since I had no A/C (im trying to save Gas) so I started to mess with the windows. But I opened the wrong window. The window I opened was my rear driver's side window. As soon as I opened the window I knew what would happen next. Out of the window fell my 8 year old... golden Los Angeles Lakers flag.

I heard it tumble onto the street pavement and I saw the guy behind me laugh in a chuckle. I immediately had a choice. Keep going or pull to the curb and run back up the street to get it. But I had to think if it was worth it. would I want to see my flag potentially mangled by cars driving over it or just keep driving never to look back?

I decided that my love for the flag was too strong. I swerved to the curb. I stopped my car and got out quickly to the sidewalk. I looked back and saw the gold laying on the floor like a hurt puppy. I started to run. I ran faster.

There was no traffic, but then some cars started to drive on the street. I paused. One car changed lanes. The second car went around it. Passionate Lakers fans recognized the severity of the situation. They saw me, they saw it.

I was happy. The Laker love was spreading to everyone and sparing this flag's life. I was so close. Then it happened.

Another car, possibly driven by a Celtics fan, or a bitter Spurs or Jazz fan did what I just thought would happen. In slow motion I saw it all. This car did not move. Instead it drove directly over the flag. I heard a loud noise. The flag was tossed 10 feet into the air. The car drove by. I gasped.

I looked both ways and then as it was clear I crossed the street. I expected carnage.

But a a miracle had occurred. Like one person says...the Lakers flag was like bamboo. It bent but did not break. Not even a tire mark was evident. It was saved.

I waited to this morning to put it back on my window, hoping that after it reached its particular low, today was a new day to be reborn.

I take this as an omen, not as a bad thing that it got ran over, but as a good thing that it still survives.

---
This week I believe I celebrate my 1 year anniversary on the Lakers blog. This year last year I was arguing about Kobe. Now I am hoping for an NBA title. Thanks everybody for a great year. Special thanks to Mamba24, Jon K, Rick Friedman, Korey, complex Brotha, COMPTONS FINEST, and Jorema, KLBeast (RIP), GUNNER, the real Charles, Laker_Tom, LTLF, and others I may have missed.

Go Lakers!!!!!

Tully Moxness -

You bring up a great point. Clearly the Kings were not a "finesse" team that couldn't get to the line. If they were the team that was drawing more free throws the whole series, then how the heck did it happen that when it came down to the 4th quarter of game 6, with the series on the line, the Lakers suddenly shoot 27 free throws in a single quarter??? You don't think it odd that the Kings were the better team at going to the line the whole series (because no one on the Lakers other than Kobe and Shaq could ever draw a free throw or even get guarded with any effort), and then suddenly the Lakers get 27 free throws in one quarter?

Ask yourself this - if it had been the Celtics getting 27 free throws in one quarter to come from behind to win the game, would the complaining and moaning by Laker fans be any less?

So one guy claims that the Kings were a finesse team that couldn't get to the line, and the other guy claims that the Kings were always getting to the line and it just had to even out. I love it when homeboy explanations contradict each other.

Passionate Laker Fan,

I feel your pain, I was screaming and yelling at the officiating the last game. It was without a doubt over the top horrible. Just atrocious!. However, I do not believe it is fixed by David Stern or the NBA. Could officials be involved in nefarious activity - uhm yeah, I think that has finally been documented with Doanaghy. Do you know how much money someone could make if they had any evidence that Stern and the NBA were fixing the outcome of the games/series? A revelation like that would kill the league and all these players making millions would stop getting paid. It just does not happen like that. Sadly, it is the fact that the Lakers have abandoned what got them to the finals - playing as a team with passion and energy. Where is the crisp ball movement? Where are the dives for loose balls? Why are they allowing Powe to go coast to coast and watch him dunk? And to think despite the crap play of our Lakers, they were in both games and with some decent execution for an extra 5-6 minutes of game time, they could have won both games. Think about - play well for another half of one quarter of basketball and they would have been in position to win the freakin’ games despite playing like the LA Clippers. Boston is a good team, but the Lakers have yet to show consistently they are the better team and unless they hop to it, it is 2004 all over again. The "better team" losing to a team from the pathetic Eastern Conference.
Peace,
Eagleboy.

Posted by: Eagleboy | June 10, 2008 at 01:21 PM

I respect your post.
However, if you believe that the NBA is not fixed, then you are incredibly mis-guided.
Boxing is fixed.
Soccer (especially the World Cup every 4 years) is fixed.
Did you notice Brown lost the horse race this past weekend (thus earning Vegas millions)?
Do you think it will be by chance that the Lakers will shoot more free throws than the Celtics tonite?
And speaking of free throws, why is it that home teams always shoot more free throws at home and the road team shoots less when on the opposition's court?
Answer: the officials controll the tempo of the game.
More than any other sport, the NBA officals can controll the flow of a game.
Enough with this post.
You believe what you believe.
And again, with nothing but love, I respect your beliefs.
However, nothing will change my mind-or the minds of millions of sports fans in general-that the NBA and sports in general that the fix is on.
Too much money is at stake.
The NBA gave Dwayne Wade-not the Heat-the championship so that they could use him to promote the league (those commercials with Barkely helps his image as well as the league's image).
Dirk of Dallas does not promote well (if he did, Dwayne Wade would not have shot 20+ free throws in games 3 thru 6).
The NBA is fixed.
In the end, it does not matter what I think since I will not follow this sport after David Stern gives Kevin Garnett his ring.
Lakers win games 2 & 3; Celtics win game 5; Lakers win game 6 to win at least one in Boston; and David Stern will do to the Lakers what he did to the Piston is game 7 in San Antonio (per Rasheed Wallace): The Dictator will give the city of Boston its first championship in 21 years (he needs to end the Celtics drought to make the Lakers and Celtics a rivalry again; remember: the Lakers have won 3 championship this century).
Again, I respect your belief; however, I dis-agree.
Peace.