Wednesday, May 03, 2006

the most fun-nerve-wrenchin' game i've ever seen


i have seen it live.
kobe's sunk the suns on "the most fun shot i've ever hit", as he's
said, but it hasn't been everything actually.
really, the lakers-suns game4 was one of the great sport moments of my
short life and it was the ultimate madness.
so let's go tell it all from da start to da end (it began before the
game, sunday evening):
purple and gold are up 2-1 in the series, playing just unbelievable
team-wise basketball (remember, mr. kobe is on the team) and have an
important home-edge.
remember, i'm a huge spurs fan, but this edition of lakers is totally
unique and they're very sympathetic young squad.
i'm watching tv in my room, just alone, home alone, trying not to fall
asleep, drinking red-bull drink, eating like a horse, ya know, those
cheese hamburgers and so on, and esp waiting for that big showdown.
yeah, the lakers are overjoying phoenix (!), they're the best team to
watch when you wanna have fun (remember, boys just wanna have fun).
lamar odom plays it everything, all-around, up in the air, down on the
ground.
he's doing it all, inside and outside, defensively, offensively,
helping in scoring, passes and rebs are his delight, some block per
night or couple of steals per night.
kobe bryant is, yes, joining the greatest players of all-time club, as
it delirious flea has written.
he is now giving himself to his teamates, thinking only of lifting them
all together to victory, making them better at seeing what is great in
themselves (i'm citing flea).
fans must be glad that he's playing in this era.
a start of the game, tip-off.
i root for la kobes, a little bit unusually.
the 1st qtr, it's a normal play-off game.
bryant sits out all but 57 seconds of the second quarter with
foul trouble and still phoenix can't do better than a 41-41 tie at
break.
shawn marion's finally joining the series in the third quarter and
eventually helping to nudge the suns into an eight-point lead with
5:43 to go, supported by the suns' best trapping defense yet on odom
and bryant and kobe's obvious hesitation to attack in fear of fouling
out.
that eight-point lead, though, is only an 81-73 lead, meaning that the
lakers are again short-circuiting the suns' running game to get the
slow pace that they want.
they're doing so even though three of their new heroes (all of whom
are playing at multiple levels higher than they did during the regular
season) are scuffling with their first bouts of ineffectiveness: kwame
brown, smush parker and luke walton.
the lakers are unearthing a new/old danger man from kobe's well-rested
supporting cast: devean george's reintroducing himself to the playoffs
with three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
the hosts need diaw to miss one of two free throws with 12.6 seconds to
go, which still left the lakers trailing by five (the wish is
fulfilled).
they need parker, 0-for-7 from the floor entering the fourth quarter,
to drain a 3-point heave to cut the suns' lead to 90-88 (the wish is
fulfilled), OH MAN.
they need steve nash to slip at midcourt as parker's swiping at the
ball to set kobeee loose for the game-tying bucket (the wish is
fulfilled), WOW!!!
it's floater nothing but net or else said the looping layup on a
baseline drive, sending the game to ot, UNBELIEVABLE.
they need nash to make a bigger gaffe in the extra period (the wish is
fulfilled).
nash's managing to put his franchise up three with a big triple of his
own with 49.8 ticks left, JUST GREAT.
the lead's still one when steve, dribbling into a double-team at the
sideline like he never does, is caught at midcourt again, this time
with 6.1 seconds to go, I'M OUT OF REALITY.
walton's tying nash up for the jump-ball mismatch that's setting up
kobe for his buzzer magic, he's pulling a 20 foor j over raja bell and
boris diaw with complete confidence - he's winnin' it, the lakers are
winnin' it 99-98, I CAN'T TALK AT ALL.
guys, this is the running all-net dagger from the right elbow at the
overtime buzzer, THIS IS A FEELING OF TOTAL JOY, DIVINE, but remember,
it's a routine for him.
i'm jumping at my couch, i'm in the state of inexpressible being,
jumping out of my skin, happy, tired, amazed, say what you want, i've
got all feeling in the world and 18 997 laker fans even with the laker
girls and big celebrities are celebrating the victory in the wild
fashion - that's why da basketball is the best sport on the planet.
then i've jumped to my bed and quickly closed my eyes.
i've just couldn't believe what's happened, i've just couldn't believe
it.
da end.
now i'm looking forward to the clippers-lakers race, this is gonna be
like some civil war, i even expect some little brawl, a lot of
flagrant fouls, you know, you gotta expect it, because of
cassell-bryant matchup and other things, but a great and thrilling
b-ball overall (but remember, the suns-lakers series isn't over yet).
the lakers have been detracted all the year and suddenly they're the
black horse of this playoffs, they're taking their play into another
level (remember, phil jackson is a genius).
it'd be ridiculous to see lal win the championship this yr, but
remember, everything is possible or impossible is nothing, esp
with that guy with no. 8 (remember he's gonna wear no. 24 throughout
the 2006-07 season) in their herd.
and if it'll happen, the lakers will immediately retire the eight.
no question.
and i'll write a poem of himself (remember, only two players are in
the hall-of-fics-fame and have got their own poems. if ya don't know,
scroll down).

charley rosen's soft-o-meter
>>>
a definition of soft players: they avoid initiating contact whenever
possible and do not challenge bigger players under any circumstances
(in screen, box-out or interior defensive situations).
softies routinely exhibit false hustle, i.e., making solo dives after
loose balls that they have no chance of rescuing.
soft players play maitre d' defense.
monsieur, your table is THIS way, s'il vous plait.
soft players rarely rebound in a crowd - gobbling up missed free throws
is their delight.
soft players give up when their team appears to be beaten.
they score many of their points in meaningless situations.
here's another thing that soft players do: prevent otherwise
tough-as-pig-iron teams from winning championships, particularly if
they're the team's leading point-makers.
here are the specifications of the soft-o-meter:

90-100 = a cotton candy player such as vlade divac or peja stojakovic.

80-89 = a powder puff, like chris webber.

70-79 = a slightly overripe tomato, like bob mcadoo.

60-69 = a crisply toasted marshmallow, like walt bellamy.

50-59 = a nerf ball, like dirk nowitzki.

40-49 = a marshmallow-covered coffee bean, like antawn jamison.

30-39 = an under-inflated beach ball, like kevin garnett.

20-29 = a plastic CD wrapper, like jeff foster.

10-19 = a pair of new blue jeans, like tim duncan.

0-9 = a rawhide rope, like ben wallace playing at home and michael
jordan playing everywhere.

rosen's evaluating of the nets stars:
+ vince carter's score: 73
+ richard jefferson's score: 49
+ jason kidd's score: 5

p.s.: manu ginobili on his mistake (a turnover) at the end of the
game3 vs. kings, that led to crazy 2-point buzzer-beater by kevin
martin and to spurs loss down one point: *i just got hit and lost it.*
*it's the worst turnover of my career.*
and gregg pop on manu: *he's just like killing himself.*
*if that's the worst thing that ever happens in his life, he's going to
live a pretty easy life.*
p.s.2: good god, give the spurs energy and enough skill to win this
crucial game5 against sac hot team tonight.
PLEASE; i'll be praying for them the whole game.

Written by Foreigner in CS - May 2 2006 9:51PM

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