Thursday, May 03, 2007

NBA Playoff Impressions: Two Years Later, Same Damn Result.

Spurs 93, Nuggets 78 - Goddamnit. I thought the whole point of dealing for Allen fucking Iverson was to avoid shit like getting slapped down by the Spurs in the same way we did in 2005, and losing in 2006 to a Clippers team because we didn't have that other star player. Well, George Karl can't help this team play defense, and waved the white flag after deciding to bench J.R. Smith (yeah, he fucks up a lot, but if he's 18 of the 33 [!] bench points your team scored in the first four games, you probably don't bench him.) The Spurs bench remains lethal, as Michael Finely just went off with eight three-pointers and 26 points total.

"It turned out that way with the series being over 4-1, but as for the level of play, I can't really say they're a better team than us," Denver's Marcus Camby said. "Each game was close and could have been flip-flopped to our advantage. I still feel confident in our team and what we can build here."
Don't kid yourself, Marcus: the Spurs are a better team than you are. The reason it didn't flip-flop to your advantage was because the Nuggets coughed up leads they shouldn't have.

Suns 119, Lakers 110 - The Lakers never led in this game, despite good play from Lamar Odom and Kobe grabbing his usual 30+, which now appears to be insufficient for this Laker team to ever win with. He'll now have to score 40 or more on a regular basis, and even then, it won't get them close next year with their roster as it stands. Kobe wants to see what GM Mitch Kupchak and owner Jerry Buss do to improve the team:
"Do it and do it now," he said. "Personally for me, it's beyond frustration -- three years and still being at ground zero. This summer's a big summer. We have to see what direction we want to take as an organization and make those steps and make them now."
The Lakers are not exactly in good shape as far as the salary cap goes. Unless they pull off some blockbuster trade (and they will have to ship out Andrew Bynum to pull it off), expect a first-round departure next year, too.

(Photo: D. Clarke Evans/NBAE/Getty Images)

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