A quick note about officiating. Its widely assumed that the Lakers got shafted in this Game. They did. But, not in the first half. 10/16 for Orlando and 8/11 for LA - not too horrible. Its the second half that is so shocking. In the 3rd, 1/2 for Magic and 6/7 for Lakers - again not too one-sided and really just evening out the 1st half (11/18 and 14/18 through 3 quarters). But, then the 4th quarter - 10/17 for Orlando and 0/0 (yup - ZERO of ZERO) for LA. In today's NBA it is IMPOSSIBLE to go a full quarter without committing a single shooting foul. I know there isn't any NBA conspiracy. But, this stat alone confirms that NBA referees are atrocious.
Now, to the important stuff. The 3rd quarter was legendary. Kobe kept them in the game but Trevor put them over the top. 30-14 in the quarter - now THAT is championship ball. The 4th quarter is legendary as well but in a much different way. Orlando had this game WRAPPED UP. As Chick would say its in the refrigerator. BUT, the Magic forgot to shut the door. Epic collapse by both the players and coaches. I'll give SVG the "no foul" play but why not press everywhere? No need for dbl-team. And, no need to cover the 2 pt field goals. Full-court pressure and park EVERYone at LEAST free-throw line extended. This is the culmination of the season. Play it to the fullest. I think Magic true colours showed up. They had trouble in every series holding leads. By this point in the season, "you are what you are". No different here.
A selection of tweets from the Game:
# DFish "...if I'm on the floor, I have to make a difference" cool!
9:56 PM Jun 11th from Twitterrific
# Enjoying this post game a LOT
9:30 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Now THAT is a flagrant foul
9:15 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Nelson must still be groggy. Just got out hustled by a 7 footer
9:13 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# "Fish gets a puppet" - Goose
9:11 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Jameer welcome to Pau's world
9:10 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Fish is AWESOME
8:53 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Two ha-yuge misses
8:50 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Hedo is on All Ugly Team. Done and done
8:46 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Noooooooo
8:45 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Ooooooooooooh
8:44 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# ABC enough with the R rated ADs. Kids are watching
8:43 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Hedo Turkolu = OC and traveling EVERY time
8:41 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Seems like Howard has 50 rebounds sheesh
8:32 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Superman better keep those chicken wings down
8:22 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Now THAT is championship basketball
8:11 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Offensive foul by Howard missed AGAIN
8:09 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Lakers D is En Fuego ahora
8:05 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Knock knock. Who's there? Los Lakers
7:57 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Big Sale in Orlando 50% off all foul calls
7:55 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Can someone please send Scott Foster the definition of Illegal Screen?
7:50 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# Wishing Lakers would pressure Howard on defense
7:48 PM Jun 11th from mobile web
# The fix is in . The Magic are being allowed to play a different game than LA
7:18 PM Jun 11th from Twitterrific
# Total bunk call against Powell
7:14 PM Jun 11th from Twitterrific
# Howard uses his hands more illegally than anyone since Rodman
7:10 PM Jun 11th from Twitterrific
# Mike Breen needs to get a dictionary - Murphy's Law??
7:07 PM Jun 11th from Twitterrific
# Bennett, if the defender is on the ground, it's a charge.
6:59 PM Jun 11th from Twitterrific
# Lakers can't buy a shot
6:59 PM Jun 11th from Twitterrific
# When will they start calling the Howard Moving Pick?
6:51 PM Jun 11th from Twitterrific
# Tough quarter. Magic played great. Still Lakes down only 4.
6:50 PM Jun 11th from Twitterrific
# I wonder if Hedo can ever drive without taking three steps every time?
6:40 PM Jun 11th from Twitterrific
# Apparently the Magic have never committed a foul ever
6:38 PM Jun 11th from Twitterrific
# Loving that Howard is in the VitaminWater ads now
6:36 PM Jun 11th from Twitterrific
# The Bennett Salvatore Effort is alive and well.
6:31 PM Jun 11th from Twitterrific
# Wonder if Superman can keep up this pace - he's pushing off on every rebound
6:25 PM Jun 11th from Twitterrific
The first half was so pathetic, I ended up locking out my API access. Good times.
I must admit the overtime period (no WAY the Lakers lose now) and the post-game were quite pleasant times for us. And, of course, the 4.6 shot was HUGE. I gotta believe the whole street heard us. :-)
I'm sticking with my original guess - Lakers in 6 (at home). I expect a very tight game 5 swinging to the Magic on some bogus calls down the stretch. Poetic justice for LA would be closing out @Staples with a HUGE blow-out win. We'll see. Can't wait.
No comments:
Post a Comment