Comments on: NBA finals, Lakers Celtics Game 4: Bynum sits, game gets physical and it feels like 2008 again

By: Rich

Rich — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 18:22:24 +0000

This series is up for grabs. If Andrew Bynum’s knee gets all shot up with drugs and he can play, the Lakers have a good chance to salt it away; if not, they are in trouble, because the Celtics haven’t begun to shoot up to their potential and have a better bench.

By: Rich

Rich — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 18:21:01 +0000

By: obvious

obvious — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:08:18 +0000

There is a reason why the majority of people like the Celtics in this series. LA doesn’t have a bench like Boston does. Nor does it have nearly as many talented players. The Boston bench outplayed LA’s starters. I like how Kobe was gritting his teeth like he was going to “take over” and no one on LA could back him up. Kobe is a great player, but he can’t do it by himself. At least not against a team like Boston. Boston is built for this.

By: Omnius

Omnius — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:00:29 +0000

Bynum certainly was hobbled last night and shows that the Ancient Celtics couldn’t beat the Lakers if Bynum were healthy. Phil Jackson has to play DJ Mbenga because there are 4 Boston Little Big Men, matching up against 2.5 Laker Big Men. Mbenga is a 7 footer who can provide much needed energy to counter the Boston substitute big men’s energy. Just look at the start of the 4th quarter at how Boston’s Little Big Men outhustled the Lakers tired Big Men. Odom and Gasol can’t play the whole game, they need rest too or they won’t perform well late in the game. The rest of the Laker’s bench needs to step it up and Farmar has to stop playing like he’s with the Harlem Globetrotters and just play solid sound basketball without making stupid turnovers. Lakers in 6 games!

By: Dave G.

Dave G. — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:38:17 +0000

So, you’re alredy setting out the excuse as to why the Lakers lost the series? “Well, if Bynum was healthy we would’ve won the series”.
Were you a Boston fan last year when Boston lost the Championship due to KG being hurt?
You could’a had TWO Bynums in there last night and Big Baby still would’ve kicked their butts.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:40:07 +0000

Thank You! You are so correct! He is no Jordan and never will be!!!

By: stiltman

stiltman — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:20:58 +0000

Really? Kobe faced better defenses than Jordan? Take a look at basketball-reference.com’s list of career leaders in Defensive Win Shares here (i.e. how many wins did a player’s defense create over his career): http://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/dws_career.html
Jordan himself is at #19 on this list. I count 17 players who weren’t on Jordan’s own team ahead of him, and he had to face 8 of them for a significant part of his career — Kareem, Hakeem, Ewing, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Shaq, Mutombo, and Stockton. Kobe? If you count Shaq as being on his own team, 2 — Duncan and Garnett.
(Side note: this list is probably the first thing I’ve seen that really starts to quantify just how dominant a defensive center Bill Russell really was. He’s at #1 on the list, and blows the next two guys out of the water with an accumulation from 5-7 fewer seasons.)

By: doctorj

doctorj — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:16:48 +0000

Are we watching these games or just going by what we hear and read the day after? the games have been taken over by terrible calls and no calls on both sides. sometimes it looks like football; when the ref messes up, he gives a “mercy” call to make up for it. Where have fundamentals gone? by now, these guys should be almost automatic from the free throw line and they are not. way too much dribbling by the lakers on possession after possession = try shooting the ball and not taking everyone on the other team one on one…as far as kobe and jordan; well, michael jordan had a total KILLER instinct…on both ends of the floor; kobe does not quite do the same thing…bynum is hurt, but that is what he gets paid for….he will be fine in game 5 and so will the lakers…i think phil needs to trust his bench more because the starters need more than sporadic rest…michael used to let the game come to him and kobe needs to do the same thing…just lay in the weeds and let the game come to him…i just have a problem with guys who can’t handle the ball, flashy passes out of bounds, playing hot potato (i don’t wanna shot it, you shoot it) and just not handling business…and this is with BOTH teams…it is close…the guys calling the game call it defense, but the ineptitude displayed by both teams from time to time is indefensible….Lakers in 6!!!!!!!!!

By: Lakersin6

Lakersin6 — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:41:15 +0000

Bostonwhackie…you are a classic douche bag. Fakers??? Bryant a sissy??? Go back to burrying your head in the sand, then…when the Lakers win it all next Tuesday come back here on the board and try spilling some more of your sewage.

By: NorthEast Baby

NorthEast Baby — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:37:36 +0000

Has anyone been watching theses games! To say Kobe doesnt have the killer instincet is the most rediculous statement I have ever heard! If it wasnt for Kobe this series would be over, the man is playing damn near 40 minutes a games. Still he gets critisized for not driving the ball to the lane more. Are you kidding me, the guy was on fire from 3, so why would you stop shooting it. He made 6 last night, but you still want more from him. I am not taking anything away from jordan but to say Kobe is not in the same class is crazy! Kobe has taken his team to the NBA FINALS 3 years straight but he isnt making his team better?? You people obviously dont know ANYTHING about basketball!!

By: Boston Blackie

Boston Blackie — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:37:21 +0000

JBLakers42 is a COATHOLDER for the FAKERS. Bynum,in his best day,would get eaten for lunch by the Celtics big men.The Lakers bench is weak as water. The starters will be dragging their butts by the 4th quarter of game 6 and the fat lady will sing again the tune “The Lakers are Fakers!”Jack Nicholson will be so despondent he will date Lady GAGA!

By: Boston BLACKIE

Boston BLACKIE — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:23:48 +0000

lAKERS4Lyfe is a classic MORON! The FAKERS will not win the championship. Bryant is a SISSY and wont dare get physical with the Celtics.He is afraid to mess up his Goatee!

By: RC

RC — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:09:20 +0000

A couple of things…
Kobe is no Jordan. This is true. And this Lakers team is not the Bulls teams that won championships. There is no Pippen, Kukoc, Paxson, Kerr, Cartwright, etc. Kobe has a good supporting cast, but it is not as good as Jordan’s. Kobe is exhausted by the 4th quarter it seems which is what happened in 2008. Kobe also doesn’t have the benefit of the Jordan rules. If you looked at Jordan wrong, you were going to get called for a foul.
If a player thinks that a foul was called that shouldn’t have been called, they question it and argue about it. It’s human nature. Some players are more demonstrative than others, but it’s all the same. If you want to call them cry babies, then do, but then you should use that term for anyone that complains about anything that happened them that they feel was not deserved.
And finally, the last time I checked basketball is a team game. So, even though we shine the spotlight on the starters and maybe one super-reserve player off the bench, all 12 (10 for the playoffs I think) can and do play a part in the outcome of games. So saying that Boston ONLY won because of their bench play is still saying that Boston beat the Lakers in game 4 of the 2010 championship series. There is not going to be an asterisk put beside the score of this game because the “bench” players and not the “starters” had the better performance in the game.
I will say this. This has to be the most unpredictable series going from game to game that I have seen in basketball. You just don’t know who is going to “steal” the show each night. I can’t wait to see what game 5 has in store.

By: LAcKERS

LAcKERS — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:51:07 +0000

The LAckers are Hollywood Star.

By: Drew

Drew — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:49:46 +0000

That is NOT a fact that Kobe faced tougher defenses than Jordan. Jordan went through the gauntlet of the New York Knicks several times, the Detroit Pistons who had previously beat them up, and several other good teams. The two Utah teams they beat in the finals were stout defensive teams.
The one edge I give Kobe over Jordan in is three-point shooting. That’s about where it ends. Jordan could never be contained. Kobe has shown he can be in this series.

By: Jodeman

Jodeman — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:49:43 +0000

And yet Bynum wasnt there and the Celtics bench owned the Lakers starters. So what is your point? What if, what if, what if? What if Allen and Rondo had made their shots in game 3. Then it would be 3 to 1 in favor of the Celtics. Bynam will play in game 5 and be somewhat more of a factor but not enough to stop Davis who has stepped it up. Bostons bench is WWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY better than LA’s and Jackson knew it last night again. Stop being a moron.

By: NiMrod

NiMrod — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:43:50 +0000

Evan,
you are right on point here! Jordan, unilke Kobe, had that killer instinct that not only triggered his game to rise to the top, but it made his cast of players around him rise too…
You don’t see that with Kobe…and Kobe has better inside players as well. Where in the hell is Ron Artest??????!!!!!!! He has disapeared. Kobe does not drive as often as M.J. did…he keeps settling for threes. If he is not in foul trouble he should drive the damn ball and put somebody’s ass in the basket…

By: Hoops McCann

Hoops McCann — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:21:46 +0000

And Anonymous – Fisher rose up twisting and off balance on that shot because he had one second to beat the shot clock, not because he was trying to draw a foul or act like he was fouled. Pay attention to the game, everything going on in the game.
Great 4th quarter by Boston’s reserves, they took the game away from the Lakers. Jackson played most of his reserves the entire 2nd quarter of the first game and they played well. He’s got to give them some more time to rest Kobe and Gasol. Boston has won all four 4th quarters so far in this series.

By: Hoops McCann

Hoops McCann — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:12:36 +0000

The Lakers have one of the best medical staffs in sports. They maintained long before the playoffs even started that it was very unlikely that Bynum could further damage his knee by playing although it would be painful and would swell up. It’s a piece of cartilage that is going to be removed anyway, not ligaments or bone issues.

By: Hoops McCann

Hoops McCann — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:08:43 +0000

By: Common Sense is for Nubs

Common Sense is for Nubs — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:41:53 +0000

It is amazing that you are worried about the damage that Andrew Bynum is doing to his knee. That man gets paid millions of dollars to play basketball, and endure the extra stress basketball players do.
I’ll tell you what, you give me the amount of money he’s making, and you give him what I’m making… and no longer will I think that he should have to play every game.

By: Common Sense

Common Sense — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:51:18 +0000

It is amazing that no one is worried about the damage that Andrew Bynum doing to his knee. It appears that the Laker organization is only worried about a “CHAMPIONSHIP” and not about a young man’s future. How much more damage is has he done to the knee? Is it worth his future? Team doctors need to give better advise to the coaches and make common sense decisions.

By: jblakers42

jblakers42 — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:25:04 +0000

THE ONLY REASON the LAKERS lost last night was because BYNUM was hurt and couldn’t be effective on the court while playing, and only played 12 minutes because of his injured knee….that’s the ONLY reason BOSTON WON, DOC kept his bench players in for extended minutes to exploit the paint, which BOSTON’S starters wasn’t able to do……54-34 advantage in the paint is the telltale of this game…….
I bet anyone BABY DAVIS (although he’s good) wouldn’t have scored 18 points in the paint if BYNUM was able to play extended minutes and play affectively……..
and we still had a shot at the end to win and only lost by 7 points….
so who’s fooling who?

By: brutally honest

brutally honest — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:25:04 +0000

I am for neither team in the playoffs, for my team did not make it. However, that being said last nights game was amazing. Emotionally charged games like that are not seen often and for once it seemes like the players weren’t it it for the money but for the win and the love of basketball. Good luck to both teams but as of last night, the Celtics have my vote.

By: Doc

Doc — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:19:21 +0000

Jordan never faced defenses as good as Kobe has to face. The athleticism today is much greater. That’s a fact.

By: Lakers4Lyfe

Lakers4Lyfe — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:58:15 +0000

Ohhhh look! The Boston fans come out of the woodwork with the series tied and LA still with homecourt advantage, lol. Lakers still — in 6. Boston dumps game 5, just as I predicted earlier and LA takes game 6. Series over.

By: Boston Blackie

Boston Blackie — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:44:30 +0000

John is a MORON. End of story.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:31:50 +0000

C’mon John, you really think the Celtics are worse than the Lakers? Pau Gasol looks like he is on the verge of tears everytime he takes a shot. What about when he slipped and fell and Sheed got the foul. Derek Fisher acts like he got shot by someone in the stands everytime he shoots. There was one shot last night where no one touched him and he through himself to the ground sideways (I have no idea how that shot went in). I mean, the replay showed no one touched him and he was still crying to the refs? C’mon man, just play the game. Both teams are cry babies but the Lakers are much worse with the acting.

By: john

john — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:03:11 +0000

I love BB and until last night didn’t really care who won – i just wanted to see good games. Now i hope LA wins the championship as i would hate to see a bunch of whiners and cry babies after every call (even though replay showed the foul except on 1 of wallace’s )be called world champions.

By: wallyworld

wallyworld — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 08:58:41 +0000

jordan comparisons are lazy. think of something else.