The Rent Party Incident
First off, an exclusive. Thurl is dead, but you know FD is still the place to find the NBA related jams. Thanks to Brickowski, we had the Tony Parker rap joint before ANYONE else. Today, we bring you Charlie Wilson, with "Laker Train," the first finals-related theme song of the season. Download and/or listen here.
From this song, Uncle Charlie really sounds like he's counting on Derek Fisher and Kobe...
On the heels of Shoals' master-dissection yesterday, I want to ask, does anyone else get the sense that they are watching the game tonight out of sheer obligation? Sure feels like that to me. If the Lakers win, then, for crying out loud, they were sposed to. If the Celtics win, the series is over.
On the other hand, with gratitude to Charlie Wilson, Curt Schilling, Phil Jackson, Bill Simmons, Lamar Odom, and a very special thanks to the ball-busting stylings of Bill Plaschke, what has started to develop is somewhat of a turf war that might make this series interesting. B'ray sheet, I complained about the lack of any true city rivalry between the 2008 incarnations of these teams. At 2-0, we have some rumblings...
More important than any BOSTON SUCKSiness in the thick LA air, one might say that the reputation of Los Angeles as a city is on the line tonight. The Boston fans, whether donning pink red sox hats or Spike Owen throwbacks, came correct. It's Los Angeles' turn now and tonight may decide the mettle of what those people stand for.
Quick diversion: I feel I need to say my piece on this article, and my piece is that my assumption is that the secret to Garnett's secrecy is not some mysterious shrouded soul, but rather, Garnett is private person because he's actually boring. He doesn't really have much to say and given all of the interpersonal adversity he's been through having been betrayed by so many (Marbury, Anthony Peeler, Glen Taylor, even Sam Cassell to a certain degree), he has become hardened and humorless. He's been this way for a few years, always forcing the media to wait and wait and wait for his stoic soundbytes while he took his long showers and took his sweet time getting dressed. Garnett is boring might be the new Wade is boring. We'll see if winning a finals unwinds him a little bit.
As a final question, does anyone know how to watch the game on a computer? I have to miss the first half tonight but will have internet access. F.
posted by Dr. Lawyer IndianChief @ 6/10/2008 01:48:00 PM
50 comments
50 Comments:
It's usually simulcast on some channel on justin.tv. You could try that.
Not to mention, Garnett's attempts at humor (ragging on Sager or something like that) seem so forced. What happened to the Fun Police?
ghair, i was gonna make that exact point. like two years ago at the all-star game he was trying to "clown" with shaq on camera...it was awkward.
Yeah, like someone said, justintv is the way to go.
Just click on this link: http://www.justin.tv/corpsehead
From there, if that channel is not showing the game, there are usually NUMEROUS links on the chat-load up for the site that will take you to the game. So you'll be good to go when you click on this link whenever the game starts.
I smell a Lakers blow-out.
thanks a million, guys.
I even thought KG seemed awkward speaking in that interview with Bill Russell. Still, KG is one of my top 5 players from this era to watch. Ever since reading a short blurb with pic in SLAM about this kid from Chicago who might leap straight to the pros. Nobody deserves success more and we're all lucky to have been able to watch the guy play.
As much as I don't want to admit it, I'd really rather not watch this game. The middle two quarters of game 2 got me down. I'm fearful that I'll have to be privy to watching imagination, hope and joy be trounced by pure functionality again.
That said I will watch. Because how can I not? It's not so much out of obligation but something more innate than that. I almost feel like if I miss this game things just won't be right in my world. That's of course a ridiculous amount of weight to place on a simple game, but like last month's Champions League Final, this has come to mean so much more. Honestly I wouldn't have this dull pain in my chest otherwise.
Just curious-- is the outcome of these first two games the reason for this dissatisfaction? I mean, if we had identical basketball, but the Lakers came out on top both times, would that make this a great series? I'm not asking this in a didactic way, I genuinely am not sure how you guys feel.
The first game sucked mostly because of that weird shit with Pierce and the fact that the Lakers seemed to lose the game as much as the Celtics won it. The second game was dissatisfying because of the near comeback that should have never happened (see Shoals' post yesterday) plus the insane amount of fouls.
To paraphrase someone in the comments, whoever wins is not going to be one of the greatest champions of all time (like the 96 Bulls or something)
Thought this would be of interest for its absurdity...
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_9534728
I would not want to watch any of those teams after that trade.
I love the hell out of you FD, but y'all have been insufferably WHINY about these entire playoffs. "Whoever wins will not be amongst the greatest teams" blah blah blah. That's such bullshit. The Lakers offense post-Gasol has been historically good. And the Celtics defense during the regular season has been HISTORICALLY great!! Both of these teams came together, playing way better ball than any of the Finals teams in recent history. The last two finals have been SOO bad, and we're gifted with a revived rivalry playing two drastically different styles...and all y'all want to do is whine at every aspect of it. Oh, the animosity is all fake. Oh, one team had 6 more fouls called than the other. Oh, there's no winning happening, just losing. If KG and Kobe, in the midst of game 3, TRANSCENDED THIS PHYSICAL DIMENSION and became BEINGS OF LIGHT dueling amongst the heavens, tomorrow morning there'd be an article shrugging it off and saying something obtuse about Amare. You all are DETERMINED to make this seem like a crappy series, when anyone with eyes can tell it is the opposite.
Just forget the Finals is happening and do a ton of draft articles, ok?? That's where you really shine.
When you say "FD", do you mean the bloggers or commentors? Because my whole problem with this series is that the Lakers are losing, and that Boston's managed to make me dislike several players I once actively rode for. This being a blog of personal basketball crisis occasionally quite detached from the actual NBA and all.
I would be ecstatic if this were turning out to be Lakers offense vs. Celtics defense.
Sorry to thread jack but:
How is this not a bigger story?? To anyone who has ever been REMOTELY suspicious of NBA officiating, please read this article.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3436401
Karma: I was about to post that. They'll go after the credibility of the source, it being Tim Donaghy and all, but that is pretty incredible. I'm not sure what to make of it; any chance the league mandates that the Lakers NOT get a lot of calls tonight, just because people might really be expecting it now?
The officials for tonight's game are Joey Crawford, BENETT SALVATORE (he of 2006 NBA Finals Dwyane Wade fame), and another referee that I haven't heard of.
I'm expecting a Lakers blow out tonight. The NBA is so frickin obvious with their desire to make this a "classic" 7 game series that it pisses me off.
Totally, Karma.
The other thing, though, is that this is the game (#2) where the weak-willed usually begins to flounder. Is this when Garnett begins his yearly Icarus impersonation? (Not that he has already not shown shades of it.) Will Pierce have enough to carry the team, or will he falter as well?
I am not watching out of obligation, but because this is the first Finals of the last 5 years that people who weren't fans of the Spurs/Pistons/Cavs/Mavs could love.
The other day I was puzzled as to how someone could say they had an interest in music- enough to even learn an instrument and practice it- but that he didn't think he had an appreciation for it. An interest without an appreciation? How can this be? I think I know now.
If you don't think this is great basketball, may you live long, and in UNinteresting times...
I think DLICs take on just about everything here is fundamentally flawed, but I've still got to ask -- how is the boring KG you keep describing any different than the freedarko KB? They're both pretty deadpan about everything outside of basketball and they've both changed their games this year away from what I understand to be the freedarko ideal (if freedarko qua style can be directly opposed to right way baskteball). The only differences I can see are that one is more stylish on offense, the other on defense; and, to my eyes, Kobe's deadpan seems like a put-on (ie, maybe it's not deadpan, maybe he is just a robot).
I'm totally with you guys when you talk about the Warriors, am sympathetic with your take on the Suns, and can even see some of the potential you see in the Hawks (I picked them at the beginning of the season to be better than they were). But I really don't see, beyond your historical partisanship toward Kobe (which I think even you would admit is mostly projection), how this Lakers team fits into your ethos.
I'm using way to many fancy words, but it's for the sake of efficiency. I also managed to keep from putting any words in quotes.
But seriously, and I'm not accusing, just observing, your coverage of this finals does seem like one of those places where freedarko self-consciousness overtakes the games themselves, which have actually been really pretty in some ways.
Maybe I should admit that my ideal of basketball perfection is the 99 Knicks.
TD--You forgot the Heat. But seriously, this game now is actually good basketball. Because it's not just Boston dismantling the Lakers.
Christian--People need to figure out that there's not really an FD party line. I'm the one obsessed with Kobe, and was long before this blog existed, when he was just the bratty kid beside Shaq.
I can't read Dr. LIC's mind, even though we are emailing right now, but I think with KG it's more a question of his game/on-court persona. What if that's superficial, or limited just to basketball? That's kind of depressing.
At least in Kobe's case, all the elements of his being are aligned.
Shoals, yr definitely right there- the Heat were in v 1.0 of that comment.
One before beer run- I don't know that I buy the narrative that Boston's offense is an afterthought. Watching them this year has struck me as akin to recent vintages of the Pistons, but fun.
(actually, watching the Pistons is fun, but only with Detroiters)
Personally, I'm rooting for the Lakers because of Farmar, but with some reservations. I know Farmar didn't sit out when the Lakers played on Shavuot, but somehow it's okay because the rule evolved that Jewish players only need to sit out Yom Kippur.
Shouldn't the Koufax rule be that players need to sit out any championship game if it falls on a major Jewish holiday? Because who cares if Farmar sits out Yom Kippur?
So the important part would be missing a championship game, not observing the highest of the high holidays?
That kind of inverts the original problem Greenberg and Koufax had.
The Koufax solution was an affirmation that Jewish identity still trumped assimilation. Given the choice between playing a crucial playoff game and observing the most important Jewish holiday, Koufax and Greenberg chose the most important Jewish holiday.
The important part isn't missing the championship game, or observing the high holiday. It's choosing Judaism over the game.
Because it's not like Koufax or Greenberg were particularly religious individuals. They played every weekend on Saturday- they played Rosh Hashanah. But when it came to the biggest stage, they put Judaism first.
So are you saying they sat out because it was the playoffs? "Biggest stage" would certainly suggest that.
That's what Farmar missing the Finals because of a Shavuot would say to me. Like it was a chance to announce to the world that he was Jewish, which is exactly every anti-Semties wet dream. Koufax and Greenberg missed games because observing Yom Kippur took precedence. It was about putting Judaism first, but as duty, not a statement.
Although to the outside world, it's become as much the latter.
Stuart Scott is Ahmad Rashad with a lazy eye, JVG is GOAT since he died and he lied- er- retired to play by play in Paramus with Mark Jack.
Does Farmar stay home and not use electricity otherwise?
Maybe it's insane to use Mattingly and Ewing as justification for this but I pull for the Celtics because I have sympathy for all great players who deserve rings. Kevin Garnett deserves a championship. The player I watched tonight might be a jump shooting shadow of the one I loved through his heart breaks over the years but I want it for him Pierce, Allen and Eddie House regardless. I realize the same argument could be made for Odom, but just fuck that Lakers team in general for real.
I have to say, I am not terribly into this site caring about the fans' performance. I think we all know where I would go if I cared at all about whether LA or Boston has better fans. Just please don't start complaining that NBA players are douchebags because they like to listen to rap music before games instead of Interpol and TV on the Radio.
Also, to the other commenters, I would personally say that a reason that the Celtic incarnation of KG does not receive a lot of love on this site is because he fails (even more than before, so it is really no longer cute) to impose his will on the game as someone of his talent should be able to, a la Kobe or AI.
Sorry to be a "theorist", but since the allegations actually reached David Stern, there is no doub that the NBA wanted to make the game seem more "consistent" with thier calls. I'm happy with the Lakers performance, but I wouldn't be surprised if another game in this series became terribly lopsided in terms of calls. I still say the series goes 7, and it's only going to be COMPLETELY called fairly in game 7....which will probably be won by Boston, even though I'm a Lakers fan. Watching this game made me realize that the Celtics have made Fisher and Odom (two huge x-factors) completely obsolete in this series with thier defense, and that Pau can't hold KG's jockstrap. Also, the Lakers had plenty of chances to break this game open, but couldn't capitalize. Instead, the Celtics climbed back from a 11 point lead and lead by 4 at one point. Thank you Kobe for saving us again.
1. This Lakers team is just not that good. They are soft-- as soft as I can remember a winning team being.
2. Have any of you watched that 2002 Game 6 recently? It really is comically bad officiating. I mean really embarrassing.
"Maybe it's insane to use Mattingly and Ewing as justification for this but I pull for the Celtics because I have sympathy for all great players who deserve rings. Kevin Garnett deserves a championship."
I understand, and am a student of liberated fandom and all (I'm a Pacers fan from NY, fwiw)...buuuuut I have to say that it is insane and disgusting on a very visceral level that you use a Yankee and a Knick to justify ANY Boston Championship.
I think that game pretty well ruled out either of these teams being FD. About the best you can say is that Sasha and Leon can now put together a vaudeville act and hit the road this offseason.
If Bill Simmons never existed, is it possible that the FreeDarkos, StraightBangins, etc of the world would loathe Boston as much as they do?
Or is it more of a espn/media hype related thing? I tend to think the former.
And don't give me that racial stuff. Having lived half my life in the whitest Boston burbs and the other half in various places across the South and rust belt cities, I can say with confidence that Mass./New England is one of the more racially tolerant environments east of the Mississippi (i know nothing west of that).
Saying that people in the "whitest suburbs" are "racially tolerant" perfectly encapsulates New England's race issues.
Actually, so does "don't give me that racial stuff."
The time Rondo missed last night was big. Phil's decision to leave Sasha on Allen and move Kobe to guard Rondo/House and help off them to double KG and close Pierce's driving lane was a good one.
The refs finally called KG for one of his 20 illegal screens at the end of the game.
I can't take this officiating.
I think KG's off-court personality went from interesting to dull during the playoffs in 2004. During those playoffs he had a pair of classic interviews, one of which unfortunately brought him some totally absurd criticism. In the first interview he went off on how his Wolves were going to have to eviscerate the opponents, and he did so in such a graphic and disgusting manner that it was really quite funny, going well beyond saying "we need to rip out their hearts" and instead going on about having to eat their livers and drink their blood and all other kinds of crazy shit. It was a fantastic soundbyte that I wish I had saved somewhere.
The second interview he gave was prior to Game 7 against the Kings when he made similar comments, although this time the theme was in reference to the weapons he was going to have to break out for this series. Rather than just say "I'm gonna have to break out the big guns for this one" or something similar, he went into great detail with exactly which weapons he'd need: grenades, missiles, nine millimeters, M-16s, Uzis, etc. It was another classic soundbyte, but unfortunately all the anti-gun people or anti-war people got in a snit about it, thinking he was somehow advocating gun violence or not showing enough respect to the men and women serving in Iraq or something, and KG was forced to issue a ridiculous apology. Ever since then he has seemed to settle into dull mumbling with his eyes cast downward, a physical embodiment of the death of fun.
"Saying that people in the "whitest suburbs" are "racially tolerant" perfectly encapsulates New England's race issues."
Please dont mix words. I said I've lived in white-bread suburbs of Boston...long accused of being racially intoleratnt. And that in my 13 years of living in New England (11 in Boston and its burbs and two in Providence), I felt surrounded by some of the most liberal/progressive/racially tolerant people I have ever been around. Basically, it was StuffWhitePeopleLike sprung to life.
To say that New England's "race issues" are anymore pronounced than those in Atlanta, Birmingham, Detroit, Cleveland is blissfully ignorant, at least from what I have seen.
I didn't mean to turn this into a huge racial discussion (actually thats what I was specifically hoping to avoid, but should have known better)...I just wanted to know if the Boston hatred on sites like this and those similar (of which I frequent and enjoy) could be attributed in large part to Bill Simmons. That is all.
spanishbombs -
If you don't think KG imposes his will on a game, you ain't watching.
He guards The Lane. He gets damn near every rebound. He gets his shot off whenever he wants, and while we can sit and snip about gettin' into the post, the simple fact is he DOESN'T HAVE TO. This is where people don't seem to realize just how Good his jumper is. He's Fucking Money from 18 and in - including the last game, because when the shot ain't falling, he's gonna still get you the 12 boards, the 6 assists, the 3 steals, and the 2 blocks.
If that ain't imposing your will, well, ya'll read too many Bill Mumphrey novels.
Or more than likely, seen too many MJ clips.
ItTakesAThiefToCatchAThief, I can't disagree more. Kobe also has a completely money jumper, even out to a farther distance than Garnett does, but Kobe did a better job of imposing his will last night than Garnett did because Kobe was determined to take it to the rim for layups and trips to the foul line. Yes, KG definitely has a fantastic jump shot, but by not going in the post or driving at the rim he's really taking away one of his biggest weapons: his freakish athleticism at that height.
Defensively KG is most definitely leaving his imprint all over these games, but that's only one half of the game.
"Basically, it was StuffWhitePeopleLike sprung to life."
Exactly my point.
Anyway, I never said Boston was more or less racist than Detroit or Birmingham. No one outside of New England would argue that Boston sports fans are not assholes. Philly fans are also assholes, if that makes you feel any better.
"but that's only one half of the game".
Ok...what did Kobe do on defense? Come on, man. Kobe imposed his will for two minutes at the end of the game. It's what he does. If KG's jumper is falling, though, he doesn't get that opportunity.
Last I checked, that "taking away" of his game got the Celts the lead in the last part of the third.
What did Kobe do on defense? Well, since he was guarding the PG position for Boston, I'd say the 8 total assists between Rondo, House & Cassell are a good place to start. He guarded Pierce a bit at the end too, and he didn't do anything. Plus, Kobe's switch onto Rondo allowed him to roam a lot more on D and just disrupt things in general. The 81 points Boston scored last night as compared to the 103 they averaged in the first two games says that Kobe must have been doing something out there on the defensive end.
KG shouldn't abandon his defense, no one is saying that, but the guy needs to go to the hole. Just shooting jumpers is playing right into LA's hands.
"The 81 points Boston scored last night as compared to the 103 they averaged in the first two games says that Kobe must have been doing something out there on the defensive end."
No. It says Boston was missing shots. Open shots. That probably won't happen again. And he guarded Pierce - who was having his worst game of the postseason - on the last two possessions? My stars, what an imposing of the will.
Kobe imposes his will on offense, and is one of the most overrated defenders in the game. KG imposes his will on defense, and is one of the most underrated offensive threats in the game.
Just shooting jumpers is playing into L.A.'s hands, when he's missing. But who was the guy who made the turn around bank shot with 2:20 left to cut it to two? It wasn't Eddie House, who proceeded to piss the game away on the next possession before Sasha's three.
You ain't winning this argument.
"it is insane and disgusting on a very visceral level that you use a Yankee and a Knick to justify ANY Boston Championship."
I operate by a Dexterish logic that only makes sense to me. I dole out my hatred based on personal grievances. My entire conscious life Boston has stayed out of the Knicks' way, so I have no grudge to speak of. Meanwhile, I still hate Ken Griffey Jr. for rounding third and catching Mattingly's homerun in China in that Nike commercial, and I'm being chastised by an NY born Pacers fan? Here's some Donaghy conspiracy shit for you. STARKS GOT BULL DOZED UNDER THE RIM HOMIE.
ItTakesAThiefToCatchAThief, in Game 2 the Celtics scored 108 points behind 16 assists from Rondo. Last night with Kobe guarding the point the Celtics looked badly out of whack on offense all game long and only scored 81 points, and Rondo was a complete non-factor even before he sprained his ankle. You asked what Kobe did defensively out there, I think it's pretty clear. True he definitely imposed his will more on offense, but Kobe was a bigger factor defensively than Garnett was offensively.
You're nitpicking things here anyway. All of that has nothing to do with what Garnett should be doing on offense. Do you really think if he decided to drive or post that it would mean he'd have to sacrifice his defense to do it? Is his defense predicated on him settling for an endless stream of perimeter jump shots? Sounds like a flawed way of utilizing a 7 footer with that much athleticism, especially on a team who only has Kendrick Perkins as their other post "threat". If Garnett continues to just shoot from the perimeter and continues the 35% shooting he's got for the series, then up 2-1 or not, I don't like Boston's chances. Ask San Antonio how well you fare against the Lakers when you don't score more than 90 points in a game.
John Starks introduced me to sports pain. He is by far my least favorite basketball player ever, breaking a poor 8 year old's heart with that 2-18. Talk about how gritty he was and how much heart but for god sakes hit a fucking jumper while you're at it.
i feel exactly the same way about starks. they sell a 1994 houston rockets championship dvd that has all 7 finals games on it...i've come close to buying it a bunch of times but i honestly don't know if i could watch them again. devastating.
Assist totals don't impress me - they're padded by the scorekeeper, especially Rondo's in Game 2.
KG ain't gonna finish this series shooting 35%.
"KG ain't gonna finish this series shooting 35%."
that's what they said about duncan, and about boozer and while its true the numbers were closer to 45% then 35%. . but that's besides the point.
the point is that Garnett should be scoring inside more, and if that's something you don't agree with. . .
.. well. . you'd be the first. .
I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that I actually observe Sukkot, Shavuot, and Passover that skews my view on this. It has never seemed to me that Yom Kippur is so much bigger than Shavuot, though I realize that to mainstream American Judaism this is the case.
But Shoals, I think you're being disingenuous in suggesting that Koufax or Greenberg had little awareness that they weren't just sitting out Yom Kippur, but they were sitting out Yom Kippur when the game was critical to their team's season. And I further think you're being disingenuous in suggesting that the fans weren't aware of how much personal success they were sacrificing for their Judaism.
I'm not suggesting the former, but I don't think they sat out because it was a big game. If anything, that made the decision harder, not easier.
Maybe I'm underestimating the latter, and of course they realized that everything they did reflected on the Jewish community. However, that's different than sitting out for the sake of sitting out, which is what the original hypothetical here ("Jordan Farmar should sit out when people are paying attention") suggested.
Jonny -
I am the first.
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