kobe ftw!

image courtesy of espn.com

the lakers won today. only just. like, just just. barely got it but a win is still a win, as kvh says.

down 2-1 now. do i like the lakers chances? i dont know. really this series could go either way, but i've got a few points/notes about the finals series:

- boston plays terrific D. people talk about 'lakers need to move the ball around more'. it's not that they don't want to, they can't. no lazy passes here, you can't even receive (or make a pass) without a celtic defender draped all over you and forcing you off-balance. which makes for an easy reach or strip because without getting your balance you don't have much strength to hang on to the ball, much less make a play. celts have a definite edge in this aspect, taking the lakers out of their triangle offense which emphasizes so much on ball and player movement.

- that being said, boston also make a lot of illegal defensive plays. the refs don't call it because the whole team plays like that so it doesn't stand out. also bad on the lakers for not selling the fouls enough. KG got called once for an illegal screen but he got away with a whole lot of other ones. (van gundy and markjackson agree) but if you look properly PJbrown and Perkins get away with a lot too.

- but, to be fair, the lakers also get away with a lot here and there. kobe thinks he's fouled every possession, which, while there's a lot of contact, is not always the case. Pau just gets manhandled and never gets a call, but shame on him for not finishing and not selling the foul. he's the new mr softy. odom can't finish anything at the rim. never ever have a seen odom finish a layup at the rim if he's got some momentum and run-up. (unless he dunks it) if you ask me, odom for the lakers has been the most disappointing by far.

- meanwhile rayray hit 5 threes in game 3 to keep them close (and fill in for the lack of scoring by kg and pp) good for him, he's been quiet for most of the playoffs. people were saying next season he'd just be a role player and it'd be down to big 2 and the rest. so good for him to show up on the biggest stage.

- ive said this time and again, but ive been most impressed with sasha 'the machine' vujacic. from day one by far the most confident player (aside from kobe) to take the floor for the lakers. i like the way he's playing and he's definitely got a winning mentality. confidence is the biggest thing for a shooter and sasha certainly has no lack of it. he and farmar have been impressive. the rest of the 'bench mob' really subpar. mr space cadet radmanovic is good at times but unless he gets a constant signal to earth its hard to rely on him.

still, lakers gotta win the next 2 games (at least). so stay tuned.