• Let’s start with the controversial non-call. Yes, he was fouled. No, the refs didn’t have to make that call. It’s the playoffs, baby! The refs will let the players decide the game. Besides, there was no chance that Brent Barry could’ve made that shot and he seemed to not want the shot but just fish the foul. He should’ve squared up and take the shot and met Fisher head on.
• How about the other non-calls and the like? Fisher’s shot grazed the rim, so that means a fresh 14 seconds on the shot clock. Instead, Kobe had to hurry his shot because officially and erroneously there were only 2 seconds left in the shot clock. » read more

• The Los Angeles Lakers definitely lost this game.  Of the big three, only Kobe came to play.  I guess you can’t fault Lamar and Pau for that.  Every game from hereon in (well, after the 1st or 2nd round actually) will be their first time this deep in the playoffs.  I just hope that these 2 bigs learn from their mistakes… quickly.  Yep, San Antonio didn’t win this one.
• If you look at the boxscore, the stats don’t define the real Lakers.  We can start at the freethrow line (47%) and stop there.  Well, let’s not stop there.  The Spurs dished 22 assists to Lakers’ 13… uncharacteristic. » read more

• Spurs flew home using a New York Knicks plane.  Now, isn’t that ominous? For the Spurs, that is.
• Phil Jackson didn’t wait for the fourth quarter to double-team Tim.  PJ, I think, is trying to impress me.  Stop it Phil, I already admitted that I made a mistake and that you still are the better coach when pitted against Pop.  Heck, you are still the best coach ever, in my book at least.
• As expected, Kobe attempted more than 3 attempts.  As expected, Kobe did not hoist a lot of shots.  He was efficient (do I sound like an expert now?).
• As expected, LO and D-Fish bounced back.  When LO plays like that, the Lakers are unbeatable.
• Kobe was spectacular with his drive and dish.  Drive and pass to Lamar… to Pau… to Sasha. » read more

Here’s a video of Ron Artest manifest his respect for Kobe. It’s nice to hear true defensive artists like Ron (and Bowen) to not claim they can stop Kobe… unlike Ruben Patterson.

The Lakers recover from a 20 point deficit to win by 4, 89-85.

Using bullet points seem to be an easy way of organizing random thoughts so I’ll use them starting today. I got this idea from Forum Blue & Gold - a highly informative blog site about the Lakers. I’m sure a lot of sporting sites/blogs use this lazy format but there’s something about Kurt’s post that made me think I should be using bullet points too - something about the real world keeping us busy. » read more