JellyBean said:

uPtoWnNY said:

Yeah, the only cool thing is, Lakers would have HCA vs the Maj.

But Dwight would own the Lakers inside.

uPtoWnNY said:

Pretty much. Matchups - That's what it's all about.

Well we can start talking about Lakers - Magic now, this ones over.

It's going to be a heck of a Finals. Congratulations to Orlando and the Lakers. Let's hope the play continues to impress, and that the players ultimately determine who wins!

No 'dream' finals match-up, but I'm really looking forward to this one. The Magic totally deserve to be there for dispatching the Cavs in 6 and it's going to be interesting to see this finals match-up.

2009 Playoffs have been good so far, I think.

MuthaFunka said:

I went to sleep on Orlando, because I never realized what a bad matchup they are for any team. They have a beast in the middle surrounded by cats who can rain threes. And getting NY native "Skip to My Lou" to replace Nelson was a brilliant move. I'm happy for Rafer,

uPtoWnNY said:

Now we're gonna see what Bynum's REALLY made of. Hopefully not cookie dough.

MuthaFunka said:

Bynum's looking a bit lost out there right now, to my mind. I hope next season he's more settled and can pick up from where he was before these injury problems. He was growing into a very, very solid big man able to make a significant contribution every night. Right now he's just not a really positive, consistent factor. You're definitely going to need him to step up in the finals. First up he needs to stay out of foul trouble though.

Fauxie said:

I think he came back too soon and now his body is letting him down.

MuthaFunka said:

Yup, like he doesn't have confidence in his body right now, which makes him cumbersome and a liability sometimes on defense, hence the foul trouble. He's got those two-handed never-a-flagrant fouls down pat though.

This is should be a good Finals. Congrats to the Magic for getting to the Finals.

MuthaFunka said:

When the Rockets contained Gasol and Odom, they won.

But the Lakers are suddenly playing much better basketball than they have all playoffs long, so it should be a great series.

WTF was up with LeBron not shaking any of the Magic players' hands after the game?

RodeoSchro said:

If Odom shows up, Lakers will have it.

RodeoSchro said:

Bad choice on his part. But I can understand what he is going through (went through). What is funny to me is, if Kobe would have pulled a stunt like that--- OMG!!!! We would still be hearing and seeing the video clip 24/7.

JellyBean said:

Oh so damn true!

Bynum's gonna be relegated to being just a big body with 6 fouls to throw at Dwight Howard. Unfortunately, the refs will largely decide this series based on how they call fouls on and for Dwight. His game's like Shaq's where there's a lot of contact with him just banging into defenders. It'll be interesting to see how they call it.

We (the Lakers) can't let Pietrus hurt us like he did the Cavs.

GO LAKERS!

Go Magic!

MuthaFunka said:

CO-Sign!!! I was wondering if this was going to be mentioned at all, since all of the media outlets have bought off on his explanation for it....that was messed up! The least he could've done was stick around long enough for a hug or some shit....but Lebron went out like a lil' BEEYOTCH!! He lost major cool points in my book for that....

....I mean, hell, my Hornets got fucked by 58, but at the end of the series, they manned up and gave props to the Nuggs....that was bush league shit by "the queen"...

reneGade20 said:

Exactly.

reneGade20 said:

So true. I mean, I can understand the whole "I hate to lose" talk, because we all hate to lose. But man/woman up and shake the other team's hand. Give them props and move on. It aint that hard.

whodknee said:

I'd put Ariza on Pietrus, Kobe on Hedo & Odom on Lewis. Lakers have more length than the Cavs. But they'll get pounded in the middle. I don't expect much from Bynum - he's not 100%.

...and bad move on LeBron's part. You're the face of the league - man up and face the music like the great ones before you did.
[Edited 6/1/09 6:27am]

Damn, I just heard something earthshaking on local radio. Not necessarily playoff related, but you guys will appreciate it.

People are wondering if James will leave the Cavs in 2010. Now that a Chinese group has bought into the Cavs, word is that James will stay because the exposure he could get in China will help him reach his goal of being a billionaire.

But what if the Chinese investment in the Cavs wasn't necessarily to promote James, but to entice Yao Ming to come over when HIS contract expires?

Shit. Makes a helluva lotta sense. Shit.

RodeoSchro said:

A lot of things can happened between now and then. If the Cavs don't pick up some help 4 LJ, look out. He had on a NY cap this morning at an interview.

Graycap23 said:

Don't believe the hype.

uPtoWnNY said:

I will believe it when I see it. I don't really see him leaving unless Ferry dooe not bring in some legit help.

Graycap23 said:

If he don't go to NY he can come right to Philly, we need him, lol!