04/25/24
June 01, 2004
Sam Wants a Rematch: The Lakers eliminated the Timberwolves Monday night, but Sam Cassell thinks they were the better team. "It's difficult," Sam said. "Because I know for a fact that if I [were] healthy, we'd be moving on to the next round. No doubt about it in my mind.
posted by dusted to basketball at 10:30 AM - 12 comments
Also, you can't beat the Phil Jackson Juggernaut Streak: When Phil Jackson's teams have a lead in a series (1-0, 2-1, 3-2, whatever), they have NEVER EVER lost that series. Not once. EVER. It's something like 41 in a row now. So if the Lakers win the first game of the finals, rush to your bookies and bet on them heavy to win the series.
posted by grum@work at 12:20 PM on June 01, 2004
The Lakers had won something like 12 straight games when they had the chance to eliminate an opponent, until Saturday, when the Wolves won game 5. As a Wolves fan, this has been a great year. They finally get pass the first round, beat Sac in 7, and take the Lakers to 6 games. And with a healthy Cassell this series would have been much different, even Phil knows that. "We had the good fortune of playing Minnesota without a full complement of their players. ... " said Jackson, never known as the most modest of winners. "We know it takes a lot of good luck to get [to the Finals], and we had it." I just hope this is the last go around for the Lakers. Jack N. annoys me to no end, trying to tell Flip Saunders where he can or can't stand. Either way, Minneapolis won that series.
posted by emoeby at 01:40 PM on June 01, 2004
I understand that Sam needs to believe they would win, but he's deluding himself. After game 1, the Lakers were playing only as hard as was necessary. I don't think they took games 2-5 seriously. The Lakers aren't as good as they were billed in the preseason, but the only team good enough to beat them was San Antonio. That's the series where the Lakers were truly lucky. I feel bad for Kevin Garnett and, to a point, Cassell, but it's silly to say what he did. The Sacramento Kings said they were the "real champions" after they were eliminated by the Lakers in 2002, and look where it's gotten them. I think a team is better off saying "we weren't good enough," analyzing their weaknesses and planning for the next season. Minnesota had advantages at two, maybe even three positions, but anytime you're playing Ervin Johnson, Trenton Hassell or Michael Olowokandi big minutes, you're going to lose.
posted by dusted at 04:27 PM on June 01, 2004
Minnesota had advantages at two, maybe even three positions, but anytime you're playing Ervin Johnson, Trenton Hassell or Michael Olowokandi big minutes, you're going to lose. One could easily say the following: Anytime you're playing Rick Fox, Tyrone Lue, or Brian Shaw big minutes, you're going to lose. -or- Anytime you're playing Devean George, Samaki Walker, or Stanislav Medvedenko big minutes, you're going to lose.
posted by Mike McD at 06:45 PM on June 01, 2004
True, true. I had to laugh when I saw Samaki Walker's name in there. I could see that one coming from a mile away. The worst - huge mouth and no game. Other than Samaki, who I totally agree is useless, Fox provides great defense (like Hassell), and the other Lakers were/are arguably better players than the TWolves I mentioned. But other than George, none of them played much this season. For all the talk of how horrible Payton fits into Phil Jackson's system, one of the great advantages of starting him is that Derek Fisher can come off the bench.
posted by dusted at 07:27 PM on June 01, 2004
"Minnesota rolled the dice with Cassell (34) and Sprewell (33) last summer, hoping that they would stay healthy over a nine-month season for 100-plus games. Didn't happen. That's not bad luck ... that's a direct result of their second- and third-best guys being a combined 67 years old. You are what you are." Karl Malone + Gary Payton = 75 years old. Shaq is just a year younger than Sprewell. There's something to be said for luck of the draw injuries. I'm not saying it's everything, or even close, but to discount that as a factor at all is naive. Would the series have been a lot better with a healthy Cassell? Absolutely. Would the 'Wolves have won? Maybe. Moot point now. Go Pistons or Pacers.
posted by Ufez Jones at 07:40 PM on June 01, 2004
Isn't staying healthy part of the game? Any game? IOW, it's not just a matter of dumb luck. Most of the time, the occurrence and/or the consequences of Stuff Happening is at least partly determined by things that an athlete does control, such as conditioning and smarts: smarts in injury prevention and rehab, smarts in how you play the game or run the race or whatever. Particularly with seasons as long as the NBA's has gotten, I think you have to start considering staying healthy as a matter of skill, at least in part.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 08:10 PM on June 01, 2004
I will say this: if Malone went down with his knee injury later in the season, I don't think the Lakers would be in the Finals. I really believe he's been that important to their success.
posted by dusted at 10:29 PM on June 01, 2004
Well, if the Lakers are playing Samaki Walker big minutes, things could get ugly as he plays for the Miami Heat. Who would get the points if he scored? The opponent? Miami? Throw Tyronn Lue in there and you got some Florida sizzle! I guess, really, with your inclusion of Brian Shaw, also, that you were just trying to make a point about Lakers' lineups of the past... but I couldn't pass it up.
posted by BobbyC at 04:45 PM on June 02, 2004
Well, if the Lakers are playing Samaki Walker big minutes, things could get ugly as he plays for the Miami Heat. Who would get the points if he scored? The opponent? Miami? Throw Tyronn Lue in there and you got some Florida sizzle! I guess, really, with your inclusion of Brian Shaw, also, that you were just trying to make a point about Lakers' lineups of the past... but I couldn't pass it up.
posted by BobbyC at 04:47 PM on June 02, 2004
We heard you the first time, Bobby :)
posted by dusted at 05:06 PM on June 02, 2004
Sportsguy says no: "Minnesota rolled the dice with Cassell (34) and Sprewell (33) last summer, hoping that they would stay healthy over a nine-month season for 100-plus games. Didn't happen. That's not bad luck ... that's a direct result of their second- and third-best guys being a combined 67 years old. You are what you are."