Green Shinobi said:
I was really pissed, but I didn't think it was the end of the world. My opinion on the game is that the Blazers were just hitting a ridiculously high percentage of their jumpshots, which opened up the floor for their slashers to get layups at the basket. This coincided with the Lakers looking dead tired on defense and Fisher and Sasha stinking it up from 3-pt range.
In other words, this is the kind of loss that just happens sometimes. The other team was red hot and the Lakers weren't.
The problem with calling this a fluke is that when they played at Staples, Roy wasn't there and they still gave them a hard time. That's because Aldridge is ****ing awesome.
BatiGOOOOOOL said:
Actually, that just goes to show what a huge vagina T-Mac is and how badly the Rockets have it with him as their "leader". He has all the talent in the world, as seen in that insane sequence, but he is such a spineless bastard that he will never amount to anything. When the time comes for the Rockets to need guidance in a tough playoff series, he will fold and so will the team right behind him.
Yes, it's hard to argue with a fairweather fan of a team ("Go Celtics!" when your team is slumping, please) that has won 4 titles. Maybe I should start rooting for the Spurs so I can start blasting other players for unfair reasons.
How is he "spineless"? He may be mentally weak and gets depressed and so on, but he's been in some unlucky situations, no doubt. The guy ALWAYS brings it in the playoffs. You can't expect him to win 1 on 5 or 2 on 5 (w/ Yao). If you're going to criticize T-Mac, you should criticize the hell out of Yao also because he too is associated with the first round playoff losses.
Just call the whole team "spineless" and be done with it. It's not my fault that as shooting guards age, the less aggressive they are. The better shooting guards tend to chuck more efficiently, that's all.
Don't tell me that if I substituted Duncan for Juwan Howard and gave you a Bobby Sura who re-injured himself after Game 3 that you'd have 4 titles. Don't. Give. Me. That. Shit.
Yes, T-Mac deserves some of the blame (he tries to shoulder the burden even though sometimes he's not ready for it), but then, the whole Rockets organization also deserves some of the blame also. I don't like bullshit double standards.
I have criticized him a lot, but enough is enough.
The "lol first round" label he gets is merely a product of the media needing someone to pin this on. Look at the numbers he put up in the Utah series and he put up a spectacle of efficient shooting and assisting in game 7 of the Utah series. You just can't expect him to carry the whole team on his back, that's not how great teams work.
The main thing is that his health prevents him from playing consistently. Back spasms are recurring things and now he's busted up his knee. While we're at it, let's blame Yao for his stress fracture!
Kobe, shame on you for hurting your finger. Parker, you're a bad player because you've injured your foot (I am aware these players haven't sustained as much injury as McGrady, but that's not the point, the point is using recurring injuries as an excuse to criticize someone).
