Lakers vs. Phoenix Thread

[dirno2000]

Chum, as one who longs for a time when men were men in the NBA, you should get a kick out of this Bill Simmons exerpt.

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Reason No. 874: The Parish-Laimbeer no-call

They showed this game on ESPN Classic last week, the one that ends with Johnny Most screaming, "Now there's a steal by Bird, underneath to D.J. and he lays it in! The Celtics have the lead with two seconds left! Whatta play by Bird, he stole the inbounds pass! My God, this place is going crazy!!!!!!!!!" You know ... that game.

And I have written about Parish clocking Laimbeer in the first half before. Here's how I described it four years ago.

"During Game 4 of the 1987 Eastern Conference finals, Laimbeer had the gall to clothesline Larry Bird, causing a brawl and getting the Basketball Jesus thrown out of the game (which the Pistons ended up winning). When the series shifted to the Boston Garden for Game 5, you could actually feel the collective hatred in the crowd for [Laimbeer]. It was tangible. We wanted blood. I'm still convinced that this was the reason Robert Parish snapped and sucker-punched Laimbeer in the first half ... we practically willed the Chief to do it. I'm dead-serious. We brainwashed him. I will believe that one until the day I die. You really had to be there. It was primal."

When you watch the tape, you can hear the crowd cheering as Laimbeer writhes on the ground in pain. And you know what? I still enjoy the footage to this day. In fact, even though I own the game on DVD, if somebody is showing that game, I will always keep an eye on it, waiting for the final minute of the first half, just so I can see the normally serene Chief completely snap and pummel Laimbeer to the ground. Never gets old. It really doesn't.

But here's the crazy thing about that play: PARISH STAYED IN THE GAME! Didn't even get a technical! When you watch the replay, you can see the closest referee (Jack Madden) watching the whole altercation from 10 feet away. What does he call? Nothing! Nada! Zippo! It's the most incredible no-call in the history of sports. If it happened in the year 2006, ESPN would air emergency live episodes of "Around the Horn," "First and 10" and "The Sports Reporters" just so middle-aged white sportswriters could scream at one another about what happened. Back then? Nothing. I remember the Pistons fans complaining; everyone else in the country believed that Laimbeer got what was coming to him. And frankly? He did.

[Male30Dan]

Good... From the way this reads, Kobe should be able to punch the shit out of Bell and not be tossed!

While that crap would also be stupid, I would love Raja to get it after that clothesline.

[rabbitproof]

That's not basketball.

[rabbitproof]

If Kwame Brown sexually assaults Steve Nash, is that sending a message?

[Male30Dan]

Originally Posted by rabbitproof

If Kwame Brown sexually assaults Steve Nash, is that sending a message?

Well of course it is... Now what that message is could be discussed all day!

[chumdawg]

Nice Simmons excerpt, D2K. Ahh, the fond memories.

Hey, could someone with Photoshop skils show Kobe holding a trophy that shows him falling to the floor with Bell's elbow wrapped around his throat? Thanks.

[sixeightmkw]

Word just came down that Raja Bell will get suspended for game 6 for his little fiasco with Kobe.

[u2sarajevo]

Well he deserved it.... but I think I would have enjoyed the drama better had he been able to play tomorrow night.

[chumdawg]

There is no justice. There is NO justice!

[Male30Dan]

I wish he would have played too, but to someone here:

HA!

[Male30Dan]

Bell and Kobe have been taking a lot of shots at each other today through the media... Pretty funny stuff!

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by sixeightmkw

Word just came down that Raja Bell will get suspended for game 6 for his little fiasco with Kobe.

Its going to be funny watching the Suns try to defend Kobe. Funnier to see Nash walking home like Hulk to a box full of wine, and having no drinking buddy to share it with.

[Male30Dan]

Here is one link that has one of Bell's comments. I can't find an article that mentions Kobe's response to it, but it made Bell look pretty stupid. Bell also commented on Kobe's octagon statement but I can't find that either...

Again, pretty funny stuff! I almost, (ALMOST), wish this could go 7 so they could battle again...

[Male30Dan]

By the way, visit this link and vote about the Bell/Kobe incident and others and then review the results... Pretty telling really.

[Murphy3]

If someone deserved to get sucker punched, it was Bill Laimbeer. As a matter of fact, I hope people sucker punch him randomly as he goes down the street minding his own business....

[FreshJive]

If I were hit in the face, and the opposing coach yells, "you fn desreved it bitch" (or whatever expletives were added), then I would be tempted to retaliate in a similar manner. I don't get why standing up for yourself and your team is "punk" behaviour.

I just love this: "I think he's a pompous, arrogant individual."

I also think having your nuts grabbed and pulled is much worse then being slammed to the ground.

[Five-ofan]

What raja did was wrong. What he should have done was gotten up and punched kobe in the face. I hadnt seen the preceeding incidents yesterday but i dont blame the guy for being pissed. I still disagree with what he did because it was a bitch move but if he would have just punched kobe in the face i would have said well he had it coming.

[mary]

[mary]

Was this the kobe elbow in question?

[EricaLubarsky]

lol raja never even got it in the jaw there

[orangedays]

[Arne]

If anyone goes on edefending Raja, I'll be extremely pissed...

This was flooping in its most extreme form. What a bitch move.

[vjz]

Link

By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
May 4, 2006

Phil Jackson has nine championship rings. Kobe Bryant has three. Raja Bell has none, although he does have a one-game suspension to serve.

In a beautifully calculated bit of series-long gamesmanship, the Los Angeles Lakers' championship-experienced coach and star have taken Bell, the Phoenix Suns' best defender (not an oxymoron), out of Thursday's critical Game 6 in L.A. It was all so predictable you can hardly believe it worked.

Bell had to be on the Lakers' radar before this series even began. He is a player of great defensive talent (enough to actually slow Bryant) but also of great emotion (enough to react to five games of poking and prodding).

So the Lakers poked. And then prodded. Bryant got some elbows up; Jackson got Bell's ire up with biting comments from the bench.

In Tuesday's Game 5, Bell snapped, idiotically throwing Bryant to the floor in the fourth quarter of an easy Suns victory. He was ejected and then predictably suspended for one game, leaving Phoenix with no obvious answer for the most dangerous scorer in the NBA.

It was a matter of taking the Lakers' bait, hook, line and (team) sinker.

"I have no respect for him," Bell told reporters Wednesday of Bryant, who has played chippy all series. "I think he's a pompous, arrogant individual."

Like congeniality matters.

Then there was Bell, immediately after mauling Bryant, turning toward Jackson and, according to the Associated Press, screaming "That's your foul." Bell explained that he was still upset that, after being fouled earlier, Jackson had told him he "(expletive) deserved it."

"I thought that was kind of bush league from such a good coach," Bell said. "That was enough for me."

If you know anything about Phil Jackson, you know he doesn't waste words, time or energy on anything that doesn't help achieve the end game. Phil Jackson talks to Raja Bell for one reason – to get in his head so he'll do something that benefits the Lakers. In this case, something stupid like getting suspended.

This was Mind Games 101, even if no one on the Lakers is ever going to admit it. But this is why certain coaches and certain players figure out how to advance in the playoffs, even when they don't have the best talent.

This was two playoff veterans – ultra-competitive and proven winners – taking on an inexperienced opponent and getting him to melt down at the worst possible moment.

If you are into this kind of psych-out sports stuff, this was about as good as it gets.

"I got a bruised cheek here and I can barely open my jaw on this side, and that didn't come from nowhere," ranted Bell, citing hard fouls by Bryant that the refs never considered flagrant. "I felt like I'd had enough of that."

"When I get hit in the face multiple times, you've stepped across the line with me," he said. "It's not basketball anymore. It was basketball for four games, then when he hit me in the face, that was the last straw."

This might be the last straw for the Suns, who, while still capable of storming back and taking this series, sure have a tougher road now.

The best reaction on Tuesday night to Bell's idiocy was not Bryant's big grin but the expression of Steve Nash. His face was part disgust and part disbelief that five months of hard work and overcoming adversity might have just gone up in smoke.

Phoenix has plenty of reasons to complain about the refs in this series, but that doesn't mean you wonder "What would Ronny (Artest) do?"

The Suns did everything right this season to shake off the loss of Amare Stoudemire and wind up the second seed in the West. They absolutely maximized themselves.

But there is a difference between the regular season and the playoffs and Jackson and Bryant know that as well as anyone. A playoff series is, at times, a battle of attrition, emotion and maturity. It isn't just speed and skill. Brains often overwhelm brawn.

Without laughing, Bryant and Jackson even publicly implored the NBA not to suspend Bell.

"I let him play. … Maybe he wasn't hugged enough as a child," Bryant smiled.

Kobe smiles a lot these days. Smiles about the way his team is playing. Smiles about his new daughter. Smiles over his restored relationship with Jackson.

Smiles that his team, which many thought wouldn't even make the playoffs, is on the verge of Round 2, where an historic matchup against the down-the-hallway Los Angeles Clippers await.

He was smiling big on Tuesday after getting hammered, brushing off the foul and playing up to the Phoenix crowd. He had every reason to. Raja Bell fell for the oldest trick in the book and took himself out of the most crucial game of the series.

Just how you can imagine Kobe and Phil dreamed it up.

[orangedays]

the Phoenix Suns' best defender (not an oxymoron)

Ah...so the idiocy starts.

Phoenix is not a good defensive team but neither are they awful. But let the bandwagoning begin! _allas all over again...

[Male30Dan]

I told you Barkley said he thought he wasn't hit in that video... Thank you very much Mary for digging that up... Touche!

Defend that shit now!

[WayOutWest]

Originally Posted by vjz

Link

By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
May 4, 2006

Bell had to be on the Lakers' radar before this series even began. He is a player of great defensive talent (enough to actually slow Bryant) but also of great emotion (enough to react to five games of poking and prodding).

They must hand out sports writting jobs like candy if any moron can get inked.

Kobe vs. Raja Bell during the regular season:

Game 1: 39 points, 13-26 from the field, 50% fg%
Game 2: 37 points, 12-33 from the field, 38% fg%
Game 3: 51 points, 19-33 from the field, 58% fg%
Game 4 Raja did not play.

Kobe averaged 42 ppg and 48% fg against Bell, 7 ppg more and 3% fg higher than his season average. Uh yeah, he was on the Lakers radar.

[Male30Dan]

ARE WE READY TO RUMBLE???

[u2sarajevo]

Apparently the Suns sure are....

[Murphy3]

Smush Parker looks miserable out there...and then he's not hustling to get back on defense..

[Evilmav2]

Say goodnight, sweet Phoenix. This fella isn't making it out of the hallways of the Staples center...

[AxdemxO]

I just have a feeling that this series is where nash will prove that he deserved the MVP. To me if it wasnt Dirk it was Nash and this series he will probably bring the Suns back to win with everything thats going on. That will really prove his case.

Suns are on fire.

[Male30Dan]

Have they $%#$%$ missed?

[u2sarajevo]

They have shot 11-13 so far.... Shawn Marion's the only one that' missed.

[Male30Dan]

Originally Posted by u2sarajevo

They have shot 11-13 so far.... Shawn Marion's the only one that' missed.

So I was right... They were 11-11 before those two missed shots by him just now...

CRAZY!

[Drbio]

Good grief...these guys are shooting lights out.

[Male30Dan]

OK Lakers... There we go... Down 4 despite that crazy run by Phoenix early... Great job! Knock that little #%@% Nash out of these playoffs.

[u2sarajevo]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

Settle down, folks. The Suns will still win this series. Settle down.

Just so we all remember chums fatefull prediction.....

And yes, I know.... if they win today they still have to win another one. But they win tonight and you can take the L out of Lover.

[Male30Dan]

OH YEAH!

[dude1394]

I've changed my mind. I can't stand seeing the arrogant rapist anymore. I've tried and tried but I cannot.

Go suns!

[Male30Dan]

AND THE LEAD!