What was the gesture made then?

They lowered it to a flagrant 1 foul I believe.

Oh my god for the thousandth time, he was demonstrating to the ref that Kobe threw an elbow.

Lakers looked like the **** bags that they are yesterday. Houston defended them very well. I think this proves that they are the most overrated team in the league and that if a game is officiated fairly, they struggle. Anyone can win with 8 players on the floor.

p.s. Kobe played like a little girl. It was cute.

No need to be a douchebag about it.

Ron Ron was looking at Kobe when he did it. He also pointed at Kobe before doing it. The cut throat was obviously aimed at Kobe. Give it up, you're pathetic.

Do you take pleasure in prattling on nonsensically?

Lots of congratz for Lebron James for USA MVP?

You being all up on Kobe's dick all the time is pathetic. He's the most overrated player in the NBA. Don't you wonder why he didn't get the MVP or never does? Because only stupid LA fans like him. Because all they want to see is points scored, they don't care about team play or shooting percentage. He will shoot 15% from the field and keep shooting it all night because that's what LA fans "want to see". Whatever, pass the damn ball Kobe, you're not even the best player on your team, deal with it or end up like Iverson. Don't drive Gasol away like you did Shaq.

He can't carry the team, never has been able to and never will. He's the epitome of a bad sportsman, and I'll be damned if my kid grows up looking up to that assbag.

Almost as much as you enjoy using "big words" to appear smart.

Yes, thank you for pointing that out. LeBron FTW... Literally.

people its playoff basketball its going to get physical

so if the rockets/lakers get in a tussle today plzz lets not make a big deal about it

He got the MVP last year, you don't even have a hell of an idea what you're talking about clearly if you didn't know that. Stop talking, you're embarrassing the smart Cavs fans on this forum.
Don't make generalizations, unless you don't mind being construed as an idiot.
Bryant passes the ball\. As much as you stay in the year 2005, shockingly enough the league has moved on and so has Kobe. He now has reliable teammates to back him up.

I get it. He's an amazing player on a team that you don't like and you can't handle it so you find stupid little things to pick away at from him.

You think he's overrated? Fine, done, okay, clear.

The other 99% of the league thinks he's an amazing player and that's why he has acquired the legendary status he has. You can bitch and moan about how much he sucks all you want, but he isn't going away anytime soon.

Put your Kleenex away and face the game as a man for a change. All I here in this thread is boo hoo, overrated this dirty that. You guys are a bunch of pansies, tied to the referees shirttail. Basketball sucks when the officiating is too strict, I don't know why you'd want it that way.

Another thing, stop \blaming it on the officiating. Your a piss poor sport if you can't handle a team you don't like winning, and frankly I'm tired of your whining.

Quit sniveling, I couldn't care less if you think he's a bad sportsman.

How about a productive post from you for a change?



Don't let the big words slow you down.


We'll see

Finally, a non-complainer. Kudos to you, the physicality of the series is what's made it such a great one. Ditto the Celtics-Bulls series (shockingly enough, I didn't hear too much complaining about that series, figures since the Lakers were'nt involved)

Back on topic...

Two great games tonight, I'm hoping for wins by the Magic and Lakers. How about that Dallas game the other night? While it would be cool if they came back, I'm not holding my breath :/

God you're an idiot. He wasn't doing a cut throat gesture. Both Artest and Kobe confirmed this in the post game. Further, Kobe said Artest should not have been kicked out. You're ignoring what I am telling you, therefore you are the douchebag. Kobe's a dirty player who loses his composure on a weekly basis. When Shane Battier plays good D on LeBron, you don't see him throwing elbows in frustration. Kobe does though.

Take a read: Kobe Bryant crosses line between hard-nosed and dirty play - Steve Aschburner - SI.com

For some real discussion, does anyone else hate this notion of "Playoff Basketball?" Here's an idea: Call the game consistently from regular season to post season. I don't care if you call it tight or let the players play physically, just call it straight. I hate the idea that the NBA suddenly turns in to UFC come playoffs when the regular season is a very clean game.

And I also hate when people talk about how tough the game was in the 80s/90s. It's a different game now. There are less restrictions on zone defense (though there is a defensive 3 seconds), and the game is now a guard's game. Before the rules demanded more 1 on 1 matchups in game, which is partly why players like Jordan were able to do so good. In my opinion there should be no restrictions whatsoever. You should be able to put 5 guys in the paint for as long as you want and force the other team to earn their points from the field. It would make for a much more competitive league IMO.

NBA Playoffs: Ranking the remaining seven playoff teams - ESPN
****ty article from I guy I usually respect. So because Cleveland beat up two teams that wouldn't have been in the playoff race if they were from Seattle and Anaheim instead of Detroit and Atlanta they're the heavy favorite? The second most talented team is the heavy favorite?

They're playing better basketball than the Lakers, and it's a take your pick between Denver and Cleveland. No one is doubting that the Lakers are the most talented team, but Bynum is a no show right now, Odom is hurt, Fisher's showing his age, Walton isn't doing much, and the Machine has short circuited (BA-Zing!). Kobe's great, but he'll have an off game every once in a while and when he does, it's up to Gasol to carry the load... sometimes he can, sometimes he can't. Ariza is a stud though, he'll be solid for a long time.

Denver is solid, but the LeBron factor counts for quite a bit in my eyes.

Right the Cavs are probably playing the best, but
1. That could very well not last.
2. They played two teams that wouldn't have made the playoffs in the Western Conference, and probably wouldn't have even been in the chase.
3. LBJ is the only guy on the team who can create shots for himself.
4. Their frontcourt is mediocre.
5. LA handled them, twice.
6. I just don't like Hollinger's tone in the article, he acts like they're far and away the best team. Saying 'Cleveland looks like the only team that can beat Cleveland' is ridiculous.

You can't not rank the Cavs first right now. I don't care if they were playing the league's worst team, to go 8-0 with no win by less than 10 points shows that they are peaking and having no problem rolling. There is no reason for the Lakers to be ranked higher, when they are struggling against a Houston team that is sans its two best players (must note that this came out before LA's 40-point trouncing of the Rockets last night). Lakers vs. Denver is as close as they come, and I think he has Denver higher simply because they are a little more consistent right now- but he even goes out and says that the Lakers would be favored in that conference finals matchup... so I'm not really sure what the fuss is about.

His tone seemed fine- he says 'Cleveland is the only team that can be Cleveland', but he also prefaces it with 'at this point it appears'... he's basing these rankings on the now.

1 - You could say that about anybody
2 - Detroit no, though they were an incredibly underachieving team. Atlanta definitely has the talent, don't take that away from them, they're just too young, and were too injured.
3 - Z sometimes can, and Delonte absolutely can create his own shot. Wally can off of the bench too.
4 - It's better/deeper than 75% of NBA frontcourts
5 - The Wizards beat them twice too, would you rank them ahead of the Cavs?
6 - Maybe a little over the top, but he's not exactly saying they should just give the title to the Cavs. He's saying RIGHT NOW there is no team playing better basketball.

I think if all teams play to their full potential, we'd see a Lakers vs. Magic finals. I think the Magic are the best team in the East, but they lose when they take too many jumpers and don't feed it to Superman enough, because they aren't spreading the floor enough. Nuggets are playing the best of any team right now in the West, the Lakers have an (as I believe Phil Jackson put it) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing going. Their the best team in the NBA (IMO) when they play to their utmost potential. Problem is, right now they haven't been consistent enough to qualify as such. The Playoffs still have a long ways to go though, we'll just have to see what happens.

the rockets came to play today. Only 29 points so far? Surprising

Proggy the Cavs have Lebron James who is playing at a higher level than anyone in the history of the sport and by a noticable margin. The title and the next five-eight (if he stays) are theirs.

More Jekyll and Hyde crap coming from the Lakers, their inconsistency is ridiculous.

And how about that "technical" foul called on Kobe? Laughable at best, but unlike others in this thread I'm not going to use it as an excuse for the Lakers losing (if they do).

This just furthers my point on the NBA taking officiating too far.

Need more proof?

61 fouls called in Game 3 of the Nuggets series, or one every 47.2 seconds.

64 field goals in the game, which Denver won 106-105.

Thank you! Only let Howard dunk, and play defense, and pray he doesn't ever go to the line. And I seriously hope Turk has better shots on Sunday.

Oh, and, since I'm bias, feed it to the rookie! C. Lee played for my college -- love seeing him on the Magic.

Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, the team everyone loves to hate muhahaha!

Yeah I'd say it's going to be the Lakers and Cavs in the finals....Kobe vs. Lebron - NBA dream match-up.

I hope the refs don't feel that way too.

Wow, Kobe's looked great.

Aside from the last 2 minutes or so, he was merely average. His shooting was kind of mediocre, as was the whole team's. The fact the Lakers won is a very good sign, considering they didn't play a very good game at all and were still able to win.

As per usual, the refs interference took away some from the game with their constant whistle blowing.

Yeah it sucks to see games decided by refs. I mean it seems like they come out of the woodwork in the last 2 minutes of every game.

So, dac, watching the Cleveland game? There goes any complaints you have about Lakers favoritism.

Explain... I thought it was poorly refereed on both sides.

I only watched the first few minutes of the second half, but in the first just about every call went Clevelands way. From LBJ blasting Howard to Ilgauskas throwing it in from out of bounds the refs certainly seemed like they were biased toward the Cavs. I don't think that there's some sort of conspiracy by the NBA or anything, but those two offensive fouls on Howard in the beginning and Varejao getting the foul every time he flopped seemed fishy.

LeBron's block was clean, completely. I didn't catch the Z out of bounds play. The one offensive foul on Dwight was legit, the other questionable. I think Varejao got one flop call...? I thought it was just horribly refereed, though I'm not blaming the refs for the Cavs loss (Delonte and Mo a combined 10/32 is to thank). There would be stretches where they'd call it super tight for like 8 minutes, then there would be plays that resembled football and nothing would get called.

Side Note: Mike Brown had a great strategy in the first half: defend the 3 and let Howard get his points. This led to a double digit lead, and for some reason, the Cavs went away from this. Makes no ****ing sense. Sometimes Mike Brown just makes me think LeBron is making him look a lot smarter than he really is....

I bailed going into the half, when Moe hit that shot from the opposite 3 point line... thought for sure they were going to come back and continue to destroy. So I missed any questionable calls. But it wouldn't surprise me one bit. LeBron/Kobe final game would be NBA gold. Thankfully, I caught the last 2 minutes, and the Magic is still giving me hope. =)

Oh, my bad, the Lebron one was clean, I meant the Ben Wallace play, which was pretty blatant. I'd say one was questionable the other just stupid.

Two.


Yeah, like I said, no conspiracy theories just ****ty reffing that happened to go the Cavs way.

I really don't like Mike Brown...I think the team would get on fine with just about any coach, great, great chemistry which has nothing to do with the coach.

What a disgrace. Cleveland.... they were who we thought they were.... and we let em off the hook.

I do give him credit for instilling great defensive ideals on the whole team, including LeBron, but sometimes he's just a deer in the headlights. I mean hell, they barely put Dwight at the line. You have fouls, USE THEM.

I think it was Joe Smith, but yeah. At the same time, Dwight Howard was pushing off A LOT, which never got called.


I look for the Cavs to win big next game though... You know LeBron won't let a game slide away like that again.

I think it'll be a close game. Magic played like crap in the first half and Cavs returned the favor in the second half. Plus, Turkoglu has to come out big at some point, he's due. :ar_15s:

Who's watching the Lakers game tonight? :basketbal

Of course im watching. Im predicting an LA loss.

Hoping or predicting, and why?

As for last night's officiating, I think it favored the Cavs slightly, though not enough to alter the outcome of the game.

This is a terrible NBA thread.

Their is no bias, the officials are just terrible and some do cheat, but not for any specific team, but whoever the Mob tells them to do so for.

Lebron is by far better then Kobe or anyone else, Cleveland will win the title unless they have an injury to Lebron or a serious injury to another key player.

Ouch.

Good thing this is a music forum.

Thank you for your baseless claims JJJ, oh wise and powerful senior citizen.

Blaming it on the officiating is completely unproductive and isn't really debatable. Do you have proof they are cheating? I'd love to see it (and please, no Tim Donaghy, the guy is GONE). I get tired of people always 1. assuming the worst in people with assumptions and 2. assuming there is always a scandal/conspiracy to be found.

I will agree LeBron is a slightly better all-around player than Kobe. Guaranteeing Cleveland will win a title is just stupid. They got manhandled in the second half of last night's game by the Magic, who were only behind because they had a terrible first half.

Here are three largely factual Celtics facts:

•They never lost a Game 7 at Boston Garden on a Sunday until this year.

•There was not a traveling call on a Celtic in the postseason between 1957 and 1986.

•In Game 5 against the Bulls last month, Ray Allen became the first Celtic to foul out of a playoff contest since Satch Sanders in 1966.

I sure hope so, but I'd put my money on Denver right now...