Wmc 15/16: We are finally at the END! BYE BYRON!!!

Is Luke Walton being discussed in the WMC thread out of force of habit? And no I don't think the voice being deeper than anticipated is weird, because when I first heard Brandon Bass speak the other day I was kinda shocked too, thought I'd heard him speak before and I remembered him sounding nothing like that.

Since we have no "God I hate ESPN" thread here, my WMC, ESPN. Tom Brady's suspension gets upheld, and SportsCenter becomes BradyCenter the rest of the day. The rest of the sports world ceases to exist, they talk about his suspension being upheld for hours. We aren't talking about finding out about the ball deflating, or the suspension being handed down, we're talking about it being UPHELD. The coverage this got, you'd think the greatest player in the history of sports died. You'd think the owner of ESPN died. You'd think a major terrorist attack happened or nuclear war began. Somebody high up at ESPN is clearly a Pats fan, if that wasn't obvious enough before (as well as Red Sox and C Bags fan).

 

ESPN is based in Bristol... Yeah. They're biased as all hell. To them the world still revolves around NY and so you get a much more East Coast coverage.

When they opened ESPN branches in all the major cities, I'd hoped for more specific coverage in those regions... Hasn't happened.

We've got terrific MLB news (specifically Dodgers related), we've got Pierce getting booed which deserves coverage, we've got Trout banged up a bit in Anaheim, we've got the NBA Champs in San Francisco, we've got the NFL maybe coming to LA, we've got the Padres hitting the reset button after only half a year, we've got exciting Laker rookies, we've got a deep and apparently talented Clipper team...

There's plenty to talk about in LA but instead we get this Brady nonsense and round the clock coverage.

For the record I don't care if he gets 4 games, but the proportion is just way off. How does a guy convicted of physically and mentally assaulting his wife/girlfriend get the same amount of games? (Greg Hardy) Hm.

 

I'm freakin starved for Lakers basketball. They're showing game 4 of the 2002 WCF (Horry 3 game winner game), and I'm cheering for scores in our comeback like it's a live game. Man some of the defense that team played, fantastic. So much more physical than you're allowed to play now, and it isn't even that physical compared to other decades. Bibby was killing us so Kobe switched to him and made him fall first play, then tackled him on a pump fake layup. They don't make 'em like Kobe anymore. Eager to guard the hot player, ice in his veins down huge in a big game.

Side note, Samake Walker saved the 2002 championship and we don't even remember it. He hit a 3 at the buzzer right before halftime (which shouldn't have counted )without which Horry's 3 doesn't mean the same or doesn't happen. Crazy.

 

We need to take it back then, it's our phrase. Besides he was really "Let's Go Clippers" anyway. Fair-weather, team hopping, fake fan. You're either with us for the winning AND the losing, or you're not.

 

NBA TV now showing Kobe's 65 vs Portland in 2007. The 2005-2007 teams had no business making the playoffs in the West, truly awful. Kobe was that good, without him those Laker teams are fighting for a top 5 pick. That's how I'm tying this into WMC, my complaint is Kobe didn't win an MVP for carrying these guys. They also had no business not getting swept, let alone almost winning, against the actual MVP winner's stacked teams.

 

Watched it too... Kings were just shooting the lights out in that first quarter while the Lakers were laboring to score. There was also the matter of Sacramento's players showing no class on our floor after every made shot. Bibby making faces and talking to himself. Turkoglu prancing. Webber smirking and that fake tough guy scowl. Their bench jumping up and down like unbridled clowns. Of course, there's Christie's ongoing signal to his wife after EVERY play.

I liked how Horry told them off especially Cleaves after his second corner three in front of their bench and pointing at them after the game winner in the middle of that mob. Good stuff...

 

^^^ Yeah, all of that, gcc. It was a fantastic game in the end. I feel like the entire second half every single rebound was pulled down with oomph. Guys were constantly on the ground, taking crazy shots, the ball was flying around the court, the defense being played was intense. Guys on both teams were giving absolutely everything they had, really that series WAS the Finals. It was plain fun to watch, even over a decade later it was exciting. I haven't seen a Lakers team play that hard and that exciting in years, I'd forgotten how it felt/looked. Then I watched the Kobe 65 point game and it's Kobe, Odom, a young Bynum, and a bunch of scrubs, such a contrast.

 

Yep, the squad was desperate not wanting to go down 1-3 heading to Sac. O'Neal was bowling over Divac, Webber and Pollard. You could loudly hear the collective groans of the crowd after every missed shot, rebound and foul. Even Albert, Walton and Jones were into it. I agree that the Jersey series was anticlimactic. To this day, I really believe the Game 2 tainted cheeseburger turned the series into what it was.

That 2007 was the doldrums. Seeing Parker's mug again... Ugh.

Lastly...thank goodness for NBA TV

 

love this picture/cartoon. so true back then