NBA Playoffs 2008: (1) Lakers vs. (8) Nuggets

[GoHornets]

Lakers in 5, 4 maybe, if Carmelo has problems with the justice again

[Fluke32]

If the nuggets played against New Orleans maybe they would have a chance since both the Hornets and the Nuggets essentially don't play aggressive defense.

Lakers will win in 6 games. That is optimistically speaking for the Nuggets. Lakers have too many ball handlers for AI Anthony Parker and Melo to defend against, and that fact will wear them down eventually in the series.

[CMJ3]

Anthony Parker

ummm ok too bad he doesnt play for either team???

[Oskar]

He means Carter. And actually, Nuggets have very very good team. You see, Camby will be a big matchup for Bynum if Bynum's back then, if not, it's even easier for Camby. Kenyon is most likely going against Gasol, another good matchup, though Gasol stays on because of defense, though Kenyon is more athletic. So, Lamar prolly takes on Melo, Odom has a good defense, but hey, Melo's offense is too good for him, and he can also defend. Kobe has AI then.. I guess, so.. Well, AI can offensibly be quicker and such, but Kobe is probably going to own him because of the size. And well, the point guards stay point guards, both team have not so good PG's.

Even though Denver is my favourite and I hold my thumbs for them, I don't really believe they will get more than maybe 3 W's, but some part of me thinks they will. We'll see, none knows.

[benji]

I love the internet.

both the Hornets and the Nuggets essentially don't play aggressive defense.

They rank 7th and 9th, both within 1 point of the Lakers, and the Hornets within .2. But that's not the problem. Apparently they aren't "aggressive" enough when playing their top ten defense.

Lakers have too many ball handlers for AI Anthony Parker and Melo to defend against

And also apparently, you win games by having too many ball handlers now.

The Nuggets biggest problem is nothing about ball handling, it's that the Lakers offense is too damn good. Luke Walton is the only weakspot, while Jordan Farmar, the Lakers second least efficient offensive player, is moreso than the Nuggets go-to-guy.

Gasol stays on because of defense...Odom has a good defense

Apparently two players who have been historically never better than "average" on defense are great defenders when playing with Kobe. I thought only Jason Kidd had such powers! Gasol is out there because he shoots 64% with only 10% turnover. While Odom is out there because he's got a big contract. (I kid, he's had probably his best season this year. More evidence of Kobe being great right? right?)

[Dramacydal]

Goddamn, every time Kobe dribbles the ball and somebody gets close to him he gets the call. That's just fucking ridiculous, how you gonna call a foul on someone hitting the ball and only the ball and knocking it out of Bryant's hands. What the fuck? If he makes a sloppy play why reward him with a foul call? That's just fucking insane right now, all he gotta do is dribble along the sideline and as soon as someone starts to defend him he gets the call.

EDIT: Now they threw AI out the game but for what? Pointing out their mistakes? That's just ridiculous. The refs did a terrible job, man, fuck them.

[Panco]

The refs did a terrible job, man, fuck them.

I'd say Carmelo did a terrible job, man, fuck him.
Even Kobe is less selfish than that "I am the only one on the court" bastard.
Have you seen, how many times Kleiza was wide open at the side ? He had a good rhythm today, he would definitely have made at least a half of them or so, but still, Carmelo chose to "score" by himself and obviously..failed. It was horrible seeing him playing like that. Carl should definitely make smth and tell him to PASS at least sometimes, instead of shooting terrible, reckless, unreasonable shots..dammit.

[Dramacydal]

You know, I'm beyond the point of pointing out Melo's selfish play because it's a normal occurrence.

[mvpshaq32]

Kobe couldn't find his shot tonight, but Gasol was everywhere.
Always open in the post, crashed the boards, and even racked up 8 assists....
At the final minute, Carmelo looked like he was going to kill his teammates before pulling down that board and trying to dunk on the other end. Carmelo is going to go one man show the rest of this series.

[Dramacydal]

Carmelo is going to go one man show the rest of this series.

If this is true the Lakers are gonna win the series in 4.

[Wayne]

dramacydal - calm down there ..that's just all part of the game..bad calls, awful game calling..they are there..

Nice way to take game 1 by the Lakers..Gasol stepped up big time..and I'd like to see more of Luke Walton's playoff magic soon..keep it up boys..

[Bruce]

Why is Ira Newble on the boxscore? Can the Lakers play him???

[Fluke32]

I love the internet.

both the Hornets and the Nuggets essentially don't play aggressive defense.

They rank 7th and 9th, both within 1 point of the Lakers, and the Hornets within .2. But that's not the problem. Apparently they aren't "aggressive" enough when playing their top ten defense.

Those are just fool's gold. They never ever defend well at all. The Nuggets and the Hornets are only ranked that high because they lure the penatration towards their real assets on defense... They rely too much on the their help defenders Chandler (Hornets) and Camby (Nuggets). But if both teams faced LA, they'd have trouble dealing with multiple slashers in the lane. Both teams have no good on-ball defenders at all.

Lakers have too many ball handlers for AI Anthony Carter and Melo to defend against

And also apparently, you win games by having too many ball handlers now.

No, teams win by making a lot of mismatches and having only Melo, AI and Carter on defense, they can't defend well enough to make stops on their own.

The Nuggets biggest problem is nothing about ball handling, it's that the Lakers offense is too damn good. Luke Walton is the only weakspot, while Jordan Farmar, the Lakers second least efficient offensive player, is moreso than the Nuggets go-to-guy.

Offensively speaking, you're tight about Walton being the only weakspot, but in terms of hustle points, you can't go wrong with Walton.

The biggest problem the Nuggets has in this series really is the fact that they don't have on-ball defenders besides Martin as we've seen so far. Now, I really don't expect this series to last in 5 as I said before with the way things are going so far.

[Kbryant8]

Ah nice win again

[Chaser7]

Well its over... LA Sweeps Denver, gotta say the Warriors would have given them a much tougher matchup I think, but whatever. Apparently Denver is the first 50 win team to be swept out of the playoffs..

[Lamrock]

Well its over... LA Sweeps Denver, gotta say the Warriors would have given them a much tougher matchup I think

I hate to say it, but I agree with you. Glad the Warriors didn't make it though, since I like the Lakers, and want them to win it all, should they beat Utah, now that Phoenix is pretty much done.

[Bruce]

Nice, Lakers were the only team to sweep in the first round. Even though the Lakers also swept the Nuggets in their season match-ups, I am quite surprised this happened. A former MVP, former DPOY and a champ college player could not win one against the Lakers. I think the pre-game article on NBA.com says it all, that even Melo and AI are doubting if George Karl was really into it. I would go so far as to say he must have even given these games up for his son. I think it is likely that George Karl might be shown the door soon. Karl was able to put a better effort against the Bulls in '96, bowing out in 6 games in the finals. Bowing out and swept by a team led by Jordan-lite did not seem possible for me until it actually happened.

[Meloforchampion]

Hey guys I have a question and post it here to get some answers....

I wanna buy a kobe jersey and shorts but I already have the yellow one.
I´m from Europe ( Germany) and I wanna have the white jersey and shorts.
In europe they are made by the ,,champion" brand, but i cant find it....
Can anyone tell me how to find one ( except buying one from the USA- pax and so on-) please.
Hope I get some help...
Melo

[Lamrock]

Ban.

[Matthew]

Since when did you become a mod?

[Andrew]

He's been warned, what happens next is up to him.