Pierce with 4 points in the 4th. Way to come up big, Paul.

NP and Sod's friend: No worries. Appreciate the importance of the night. I just left a post on Testing the Bounce that I prefer our way of doing things to some other sites that have Draconian rules about posting. On one site, you are not allowed to comment about a certain person. period.

Just reading the poster who thinks Rafa jumping up and down and sprinting to the baseline is his singature thing and that makes him a star? okay fine lol!

Gamemanships is soo lost on some people.

Doc Rivers is an idiot. Pau is the only guy that can beat you right now. Double him and make Artest or Odom throw up another brick.

Phew Pau got that one

About time they got off Kobe there are other Lakers plaers that can shoot goals

my gawd!

look at that fire in pau's eyes!

76-70 laker lead! 1:30 to go!

thanks annie vamos!

hey, if lakers win, your friend rafa would be happy and that is a good thing, no?

Annie, good to know.

sf, yeah, but this entire series has been a disappointment. Neither team has played their best at the same time. Not even once.

And finally we see some 3s. Too bad Kobe didn't make his.

2-possession game lakers by 5, 25.7 to go!

keep your focus lakers, let's close it out!

Still to close for me

Dont stuff this up Lakers

which dumbass laker left rondo ungarded when he ran with the rebound to that 3-pt corner?

now only 2-point game, with 13sec to go. we have possession, thoug, and i hope the in-bound pass is not effed up!

I feel sick on my stomach

mr sharapova to the rescue?!

4-point game again! 11.7sec to go!

Okay

*faints*

Maria's lapdog... :D Looked like a badly played match, though the final quarter was good. Glad the Lakers won!

Congrats, NP and Sod's friend.

Sorry, 'lock.

am,

enjoy! i luv you!

NP Phil Jackson is now not a

Moron!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the Kobies get the job done, . Congrats. I wish I could work up more enthusiasm, but this game frankly leaves me with a bittersweet taste.

Congrats to NP, sod's friend, AM, and other Fakers fans. Commies to Celtics fans. Ho hum...nerves got the better of every1 in this game, and it was only about D. Once the Lakers started to make their FTs it was all over. Perkins was sorely missed.

Annie: To borrow some words from the b=ball viewers, a player would have to be a MORON or an IDIOT to feel intimidated or distracted by Rafa's jumping up at the net during the umpire's instructions or his routine zig-zag running to the baseline. I think that most of his opponents are, by now, oblivious to those things or are trying very hard not laugh out loud. They probably don't smile or giggle at those ritualistic actions (as I do) because that might just make Rafa beat them more severely. LOL

Arun, thx. But just for the record Artest was the real hero tonite.

AM, correct. He's no longer a moron... until the next season. :)

Ruth LOL!!!!!! exactly gee we see eye to eye

Yes

Ron you are my Hero!!!!!!!

Well said NP

just to make it official: 2010 CHAMPSSS!!!! yes!!!!!

thanks arun and pspace.

and, btw, it's not "fakers," pspace. they just proved that they are for real! :-)

I can't believe Celtics have lost after to have the ring almost in their hands
Home sweet home

P, I don't mind anyone calling the Kobies Fakers tonite. This game was a stinker, in almost every way imaginable.

AM, anytime.

NP: Agreed.

Kobe and Ron were involved in some spat during last season, right? How things change!

yes, indeed, am. ron artest is a hero.

he fought for this ring! key 3-pointer toward the end. 20-points overall, and he kept us in it when the going was tough in the first 3 quarters!

Psapce Thanks

Dont worry you have Rafa's Pink shoes etc as a consolation

hey, am and all the women out here.

how best can shrieke thank mr sharapova (sasha vujacic) tonight? oh, never mind, she's in london prolly prepping for wimby.

Boo hoo!!:( I'm too cranky now, AM.....I'll congratulate you in the morning!:) good night...sniff sniff

AM: first of all, you can call me by name and not "the poster" and secondly, I wasn't saying it wasn't gamesmanship, I was saying it was a signature move that several commentators have said brings excitement to the game. It really wasn't necessary to be rude to me. lol!

sonya, welcome back.

Arun, I wouldn't characterize it as a "spat." Just a few tempers flaring between two opponents.

Gee Phil Jackson has Dimples

Who Knew??

Annie Gee "people in glass houses hey"

enough thank you.

Why couldn't Kobe repeat his last performance against the Suns tonite? Ugh! This award feels so empty.

I'm going to enjoy watching a movie with my wonderful son.

'nite all.

Annie, you're the best. Thanks to answer so great to the ones that alway are looking something to critic to Rafa and trying to find out WHY he plays so good and WHY he can win
+100000000000

NP how did you find the game? It was a bad one in my opinion but I'm so happy the Lakers hung in there, very proud.

I agree with Annie: That is a signature "Rafa" move and commentators often talk about it fondly.

I remember Rafa's first match back after injury last year and as he sprinted back to the baseline he was grinning from ear to ear.

Awesomeness. :)

And...did I hear Artest thank his psychiatrist? *Floves* :)))

kobe has a beautiful family, can anyone dispute that?

i like how kobe gave pau enormous credit in his mvp speech - " i can't say enough about that spaniard. he is an incredible person, and we couldnt do this without him!"

Oh...and congrats to NP and fellow Laker's fans. Great to see Pau Gasol have a good game and you could see how much it meant to him.

You know, if not for Kobe I really wouldn't have minded KG, Pierce and Allen getting their 2nd ring. Would be sweet to see Nash and Nowitzski get their ring someday. Too bad they have to deal with Kobe, Pau, Artest, Fisher and the rest of the Lakers.

np,

some sleep will do you a lot of good. our win tonight was not pretty, but it was solid and it showed that our team has heart and hence true champions.

the scoreline (89-79) says it all - stiffling defense. defensive wins are mostly ugly. besides stripping balls and fouls, offensive shots are missed because of the constant pressure and players just give up trying.

so give our guys huge credit: they hung in there.

kobe said it well: "this was the sweetest" (as ugly as the game/prolly whole series was.)

so sleep over it, and savor the victory in the coming days.

oops... scoreline mistype. it's 83-79!

Well congratulations to the Boston fans

This game came down to the wire

They can hold their heads up high.

Bad luck tonight

sod's friend exactly!!! especially since the lakers are not known for their grittiness, this was unexpected and sooooo sweeet. still on cloud 9 :)

sonya, I think my post above yours says it all. :) I do feel good, but still wish Kobe hadn't sucked so much in the very last game of the season.

rafadoc, thx. Yeah, this obviously means a lot ot Pau. He must've caught the Rafa bug from RG.

and oh, commies to celtics fans. seriously.

i can empatize with your pain - my man got walloped in rg2010 after a strong run to the final. it hurts, but better luck next time - you guys came very close, and if this final was played in boston, i have no doubt you'd have won.

so commies. really.

Though in saying that,

Yahooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Lakers Fans

Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeee

NP: True. :) Pau was very emotional, like his good friend the RG champ. :)

And commiserations to Celtics fans.

sonya welcome! we never met - sounds from the comments from others that you are an old poster re-surfacing for this special day!

well, nice to meet you, and let's celebrate our lakers together!

cheers!

sonya Hi you have not been here for ages

Ah well, the team with superior talent won. Would've liked to seen Perkins in there as Gasol had a HUGE game, which I wonder he would've had with another big, active body in there. (Sorry, I don't consider 'Sheed very active this stage in his career, but hey, Gasol's a wonderful player, regardless.) Horrendous shooting game by Kobe, but to give him credit he pitched in big on the boards. But yeah, agree with Pspace: he's no Jordan, though then again, it didn't take this game for me to figure that out. Bottom line: he'll never be Jordan, and moreover, I'd still rate Tim Duncan the best player of Kobe's era, though that's a debate for another time, and Kobe has narrowed the gap the last couple of years.

Back to tennis. I don't think gamesmanship and ritual have to be mutally exlusive concepts. Nor do I think that many players can't like and respect Rafa but occasionally be annoyed by his rituals/gamesmanship. Really, I don't think P-Mac was breaking new ground here with the Rafa stuff. And for those who don't want the locker room code of ethics broken? Hmmmmm ... were I a player, I might agree. As a fan, puhhhlease. Give me all the "Ball Four" stuff you can. Plus, that Lendl "maybe you'll be a man next time and father a son" line is a story that's been known for some time. On top of that, I'm guessing Lendl and BG would chuckle about P-Mac putting their smack in print.

I know NP it was certainly surprising to see that. I think he may have been tired...

Congrats Sod'sfriend. This must feel good. :)

USA v. Slovenia at 9AM CT in World Cup action. Will have to DVR it since I am working. I am loving World Cup!

Off to bed for me...

Draw time soon! Look forward to joining the discussion at some point tomorrow. :)

sf, I know I'm not being rational. A a fan I just wish Kobe had played better, that's all.

sonya, I AM glad we won. :)

Dear Mr and Mrs D I promise I will be gentle ok

See you in the morning bright and early

np,

if you're still around:

i know it's too early yet, but do you think we can 3-peat?

i think we can, if...

1. both kobe and bynum go under the knife to get prim

2. phil returns

3. our players don't lose their hunger! (kobe and pau, they want it, for sure. the others? not so sure.)

NP I can understand your feelings about Kobe

Look at the bigger picture of things in the series though

Hi sod's friend and AM! yes i am so happy I had to share it with you guys!

I hope Rafa's happy and can draw inspiration from Pau for the next 2 weeks!

A = as

rafadoc, Pau should spend less time with Rafa and more bonding time with Kobe.

sonya, maybe. Replace this game with Game 5, but have it still played at home. It would've been the perfect ending.

rafadoc,

u have no idea. it feels muchos awesome !

winning cures a lot of ills.

NP Im still pissed at game 5. seriously we should have won that.

Sod's friend, I AM certainly ready for it but this time it's going to be a 4-peat :)see how happy I am?? lol!

sf, all those 3 are musts for a 3-peat. And that Artest stay with LA. Hope Fisher does, 2. He and Kobe = BFFs.

AM, I know. Kobe will have another shot next yr.

sorry NP I meant game 4 of course, Celtics were much better in game 5.

NP you are a better Kobe fan than I am. I could have cared less how many points he scored as long as we won!

Sonya Well nothing would give me more happiness for Rafa to win the title at Wimby

After the events of last year where he had to withdraw.Playing that expo before Wimby to see if his knees could do it still holds soo many bad memeories for me.I remember Rosangel being at the expo and she was soo sad to see him like that

Anway moving on Rafa reclaiming his title at RG was just the right medicine for him.I just want him to stay healthy for the rest of the season and to be competitve in all his matches.

sonya, correct, but it was in Game 5 where Kobe went on his biggest scoring spree of the series. The problem was, the rest of his team had all but disappeared, so that was the only option left for him.

4-peat - you're good sonya!

this crop of players can do it - i have no doubt.

we'll need a slight revamp for the aging ones - esp. fisher. brown ain't ready to fully fill fisher's shoes yet.

so we shall see what the lakers do in the off-season wheeling and dealing!

sonya, that's why I'm the biggest Kobe KAD around here, just as I'm the biggest Sampras KAD as well (with the only possible exception of imjimmy).

LOL, the best quote of the nite:

Q: How does this feel to you individually?
Kobe: I've won more than Shaq. [Laughter] You can take that to the bank.

Hey everyone. :)

Guess the Lakers won, then? Congrats to Lakers fans and commiserations to everyone rooting for the other team. :)

*waves to sonya* So nice to "see" you here! Twitter woudn't let me accept your follow request - don't know why - but would you mind making another one? I've taken the protection off for now, too.

Love the excerpt. :)

Eh, even as a Kobe KAD I can't put him definitely above Magic and Kareem yet. And of course MJ is still the king.

AM right on I feel he's on the right track in terms of taking care of his body. For the rest I trust him to continue on improving his game.

Sod's friend you got that right.
Lol NP I will certainly give you the Sampras kad however for kobe, Im sure he was thinking like me, all about the W :).

All right see you guys, it's been a fun evening! I will try to join in sometime during wimbledon-especially if rafa is going good- good night amigos!

j, Kobe is a pretty boring and dry interviewee. That's why that sound bite has more, well, bite than usual.

I agree with Annie that Rafa's jumping up and down/sprinting to the baseline isn't gamesmanship. It's not even intimidating: I remember at RG one year the opponent (can't remember who) started jumping too and Rafa broke into a huge grin, plus he usually ends it with a 'good luck' before he does the sprint. I read an interview with Reeshie where he went on about how the good luck thing...

He's OCD as hell, or he wouldn't continue to do his most embarrassing ritual:)

Sure, if he takes too long between points, he should be called on it. And he was at RG. But, I sometimes think the focus on Rafa ignores the fact that other players (i.e. Nole & Delpo) are also guilty of it.

anybody else listening to kobe's live post game presser?!

unbelievably candid! (kobe is always candid, imho, but this is special - he seems freed now - i love this!)

I meant the one in Pete's post, LOL. Always think the locker rooms must be interesting.

Cheers and later, sonya.

"I meant the one in Pete's post, LOL. Always think the locker rooms must be interesting."

Of course, what was I thinking. You still have no taste.

sf, I was. Nice to see him loosen up a little. He'd been pretty glum throughout these finals.

Anyway, is that Kobe trash-talking, or Kobe making a friendly joke? :)

Good Morning Jewell

How do you manage the No Taste thing soo early in the morning

You are a Marvel

Good Night Sonya and dont forget to come back okay

Also Yay Lakers!!!!!!!!!!!!

NP How old is the Saintly one now?

oops I have to write to the Pope for proper confirmation

'Night sonya!

LOL, AM.

np,

sorry i missed your resply to my what-to-do's for 3-peat.

all good points you add.

bottomline: we have THE winning team (kobe as core/king, pau as right hand man/queen, fisher as inspirer and emotional leader/knight, lamar and bynum as the castles, and the rest as valiant foot soldiers/pawns to do battle against any and all foes).

no major tweak needed. just nurture them. i'm glad kobe talked extensively about "fixing (his) body" in his presser. we are thinking alike!

Here's my b-ball GOAT list, for those who care:

Tier 1 - MJ
Tier 2 - Oscar, Wilt, Russell, Magic, Bird, Kobe, Kareem
Tier 3 - West, Baylor, Dr. J, Shaq... and a few others (to be continued)

MJ is the Laver of b-ball: the GOAT in the mind of anyone with a serious interest in the game, and the knowledge to back it up. Oscar, Wilt, Russell, Magic, Bird, Kobe, Kareem = Tilden, Gonzales, Rosewall, Borg, Sampras, Federer in tennis. And West resembles Lendl so much it's scary: with less fierce competition (Russell & Co.) he probably would've joined Tier 2.

I really, really dislike when people talk on subjects they have absolutely NO fclue about. If your name isn't Susan, why are you worried about it? thebigapple, please keep my name out of your posts unless I specifically address you and yours, which will be never. I have never cyberstalked anyone, and certainly wouldn't do so on a board I have frequented for years.

On a lighter note, well deserved Laker victory. Wish the Celtics had downed more rebounds, but such is life.

"Anyway, is that Kobe trash-talking, or Kobe making a friendly joke? :)"

Prolly a bit of both, maybe a little more of the latter.

AM, he's 31. That's normally not a retirement age in b-ball, but Kobe's put on so much mileage now (he joined the NBA straight from high school) the age can be misleading.

sf, great minds. :) You think Kobe will finally get his surgery done this time?

ok, np, my basketball history iq is way below par, so i'll take your picks. of course mj is so recent i remember. magic on down, forget it! lol

sf, my list is incomplete. Still lots of thinking and revision to do.

np,

i bet he would. that interview you just saw says a lot about where kobe is. he finally, imo, broke (mentally) out of the shaq shackle, the naysayers who belittle his achievements, and since he's still feeling it, he know he has a UNIQUE opportunity to equal mj in the 6-ring lead.

you can take this to the bank: he is doing everything humanly (and medicinally) possible to be in tip-top shape before next season.

buckle up, it's gonna be fast ride!

Joe - I dunno how you get "P-Mac is a Nadal hater" from those comments. :) He took good care to be fair while making his criticism, no?

i meant "6-ring league."

kobe even acts like mj many times - the way he talks, that tongue licking the lips back and forth, it's oh so mj!

Hello all!
So many withdrawals - Ancic, Radek, Gasquet, Karlovic, Potro, Elena for now.

meant... "side to side." ok, that figures, it's time to call it a night.

what a good night (and day), really. i had a rough day that ended well, adn the lakers had a rough game (behind all 3 quarters), but in the end pulled through!

wish my good vibe will transfer to viking warrior extraordinaire robin soderling at wimbles!

Good morning,

Congratulations to the Lakers and fans specially NP and sod'sfriend.
Sweet 16! Now you know how a certain Swiss felt about that magical number.

Sod'sfriend, I read your comment after coming back from the doctor. So you are also a pretender tennis player?. Good for you (and your ankle).

Commisserations to the Celtics and his fans. Another chance next year.