NBA Finals

[lavender]

OMG I can't believe we have the same rant. I think all the players (Buss, Kobe, Phil and Shaq) but I do have a specific rant against Shaq. Shaq got in shape mostly out of spite. Yep is was out of spite. Buss said if Shaq would have taken care of business and stayed in shape he would have never thought about trading him. Shaq got in shape quickly mostly out of spite and he still didn't win. They had the players in LA and maybe with 2 more good defensive style players they could have been back on top. So annoying..

[attyfan]

IMHO, blaming the problems of the Lakers on Shaq isn't quite accurate. Miami lost, in good part, because it depended on two players -- Wade and O'Neill to carry the team by themselves. With the coaching changes, and all the other personnel changes, the Lakers had too many things happening too quickly to be a team -- and Kobe and an in-shape Shaq couldn't carry the team by themselves, either.

[DaveSato]

My rant:
I realize Shaq didn't leave LA because he wanted to and Kobe probably had more to do with Shaq leaving than Shaq has to do with it, but I'm glad to see Miami not in the championship series because for years in LA, Shaq was fat and was too lazy too get into shape. We trade him to Miami and what does he do? He drops 50 lbs and gets into the best shape of his life. He wouldn't do it to make the Lakers a better team, but he does it to spite the Lakers for trading him. Now the yokes on Shaq. He did all that work for nothing. If he were in shape last year, the Laker probably would have beaten Detroit for a 4th title in a row.

[lavender]

Shaq was part of the problem..not THE problem. There were other experience players that stepped up on the Lakers (Horry, Fischer, George). Miami didn't have that. So if everyone had focus and kept there eye on the prize regardless of their egos the Lakers could be in the finals.

[unique]

My big question is, would Phil want to come back and coach LA & Kobe. Supposedly Phil wanted to meet w/Kobe. Enquire wants to know if Phil is coming back to LA or not.

unique

[DaveSato]

Am I the only one who thinks ABC coverage of the Finals sucks and they really blew it with Alanis Morisette and Will Smith in the opener? I miss the John Tesh intro music that was played on NBC for so many years.

[RED DOG45]

Am I the only one who thinks ABC coverage of the Finals sucks and they really blew it with Alanis Morisette and Will Smith in the opener? I miss the John Tesh intro music that was played on NBC for so many years.

No, you're not!

ITA, I really miss NBC's coverage of the NBA. I don't know whether it was the theme song or what, but they put a certain excitement into the game that's not there anymore with either ABC or ESPN. They also ALWAYS showed the starting lineups live during the Finals.

I still enjoy NBA basketball, but ABC's coverage can get boring at times, especially if it's a blowout game.

Of all the networks covering NBA basketball right now, IMO TNT has the best coverage.