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Found May 07, 2009 on Five Tool Tool: Yardbarker Blogger Network
The Lakers and Rockets Are Starting To Dislike Each Other
PLAYERS: Kobe Bryant,  Ron Artest,  Yao Ming,  Lamar Odom,  Derek Fisher,  Luis Scola,  Luke Walton,  Carl Landry,  Sasha Vujacic
Tonight in Los Angeles, order was restored. Kobe Bryant came out like a house on fire, and after the first quarter, it was all Lakers, 39-25, and we looked well on our way to the home team shaking off all rust and exerting their will. And then the second quarter started, and the Rockets showed how things were going to be very different. With a 16-point turnaround engineered by Ron Artest and the bench, the visitors shook off the first quarter blitz and foul trouble on Yao Ming to take a lead. More importantly, they showed the Lakers bench to be a weakness, especially when it came to converting from distance with a hand in their face. The game turned around so much, Testy was chatting up Jack Nicholson and Coach Philip was actually involved. I'm not a Laker Fan or a Rocket Fan, but hearing the dead LA crowd and seeing Coach Philip upset is, I confess, starting to sway me towards the road team. And I'm starting to suspect that TNT feels the same way, in that they were giving love to Testy's barber. (No, seriously.) It was tied at the half at 57. In the third, the Lakers put Ming back on the banch with his fourth, Bryant got it going again, and the Lakers were able to push it back to a double-digit lead behind Lamar Odom controlling the boards. Then it got stupid chippy, with Derek Fisher clocking Luis Scola in the face a play after Scola and Luke Walton had beef, and honestly, Fisher would have gotten five minutes and an ejection in the NHL, let alone in a game where the players don't wear pads. It was so bad, even the refs got the call right with an ejection. See it for yourself here. And that, more than anything else, tells you all that you need to know about this series. The Lakers don't go to this level of dirt unless they are feeling well and truly threatened, and with bench guys like Carl Landry (21 points and 10 boards on 7 of 9 shooting, in just 23 minutes) giving the road team big benefit, you can see how comfortable the road team feels in this matchup. So long as the Lake Show is getting next to nothing from Sasha Vujacic, and the Rockets are getting hyper-effective play from Testy (tonight he was 8 of 14 for 25 points), they are going to be a very, very tough out... But only if they don't implode from their own damn selves. Reserve Von Wafer got tossed for arguing with coach Rick Adelman, and when you say things that Ron Artest's coach can't abide, you must be kind of special. Then, Testy got tossed his own damn self with 6:57 left, after Artest got called for a foul after Bryant got away with an elbow to the throat. After getting no satisfaction from the refs, Testy got into it with Bryant, and with the refs on amber alert after the Fisher ejection, a quick-trigger toss of the most infamous player in the NBA wasn't all that surprising. It also was pretty terrible, flow-free basketball, which is just what happens when the refs get scared these days. When actual basketball happened in the fourth, the Lakers were able to get enough on the break, especially form Houston turnovers, to finish out the win. That's how Lakers will win this series; with Team Rocket turnovers, because every Houston offensive option is prone to do bad things under good on-the-ball pressure, and the Rockets aren't explosive enough on offense to overcome late deficits. But great pressure and third quarter leads are not the kind of thing that an erratic and thin defensive team does on the road, and that more than adequately describes this Lakers team now. The Rockets have home court advantage now, and if the refs ever let the teams play again, this one's going long, nasty, and good. Especially if Bryant loses his temper with the refs, the Rockets, or his teammates. There's all kinds of ticking time bombs in this series, on both sides.http://fivetooltool.blogspot.com - The Sports Blog That Loves You Back!
Original Story: http://fivetooltool.blogspot.com/2009... Verified_ybn

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Comments (28)
  • UNC23Tarheels
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    UNC23Tarheels said May 07, 2009

    That's Playoff Basketball Intensity,Derek Fisher is gonna be suspended for that elbow to Luis Scola and wether you think it's worth it or not it iswhat it is already...Now Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest as Charles Barkley calls that was just scuffling they weren't gonna fight,lol
  • SMH12289

    SMH12289 said May 07, 2009

    Artest got screwed last night....
    • UNC23Tarheels
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      UNC23Tarheels replied May 07, 2009

      Yeah, he shouldn't of gotten ejected,but the Referees were going off the incident between Derek Fisher and Luis Scola..
      • jjisthetruth

        jjisthetruth replied May 07, 2009

        If thats the case why wasan't Kobe called for the foul prior to Ron reacting. The only reason he reacted was because the refs didn't call it although it happend after incident between Fisher/Scola...
        • UNC23Tarheels
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          UNC23Tarheels replied May 07, 2009

          Your right Kobe Bryant should of been called for a foul but the Refs didn't make that call and it didn't help Ron Artest either that he got intro Kobe's face,that's all I'm saying..
    • sambot
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      sambot replied May 07, 2009

      artest got screwed because of his reputation. that isn't right.
      • jjisthetruth

        jjisthetruth replied May 07, 2009

        in his defense he did try to point it out to the ref, tough call you dnt want dudes in nba thinking they can just handle you
        • sambot
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          sambot replied May 07, 2009

          i was defending him.

  • Hardwood said May 07, 2009

    Artest has an ego problem and thinks he's harder than everybody. He even thinks he's actually better than kobe. He's strong and a good player true, but he should compare his stats line by line before he lets his ego take over.
    • sambot
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      sambot replied May 07, 2009

      i think it's a combination of ego and the fact that the majority of his defense is mental. he likes to get into people's heads. it works for him.
  • jjisthetruth

    jjisthetruth said May 07, 2009

    Refs need to call these games consistent regardless of star status, mvp credits or whatever else. These players are playing on one court in one leauge. There are enough refs on the floor to get these calls right and if they will start doing their job we will have less Confrontation escalations. You cant expect for a player to allow another to handle them any type of way. People want Artest to bow down to Kobe and the refs and hes just not that type of player. And yes he got screwed. Then again More fans are probably there to see Kobe that Ron and the fans spend money so that may have been the cause of that call or lack of one. Refs need to start getting penalized or suspended for missing calls when there right there infront of all the action for simply not doing their jobs!

  • CtwentyoneP21 said May 07, 2009

    I'm in agreement that the refs need to throw out the status of players in this league, but considering the reputation Artest has built up, they made a precautionary decision..This is great for the series, reminds me of 80's NBA! The difference is there would have probably been no ejections..The only thing I was told while playing competitive sports as a kid was never to wake a sleeping dog...The Lakers slept walk through the first game and built a 15 point lead and lost that in the second game...Rockets need to keep there cool and play the game because lighting a fire under Kobe Bryant could be a recipe for disaster from here on out

    • mjatsanantx replied May 07, 2009

      nobody is taljing about the donaghy ref that had orders to throe games.he threw the sacramento and laker series years ago. kobe hasnt won sense shaq paul gasol is mvp refs are still cheating for lakers its obvious
      • jaymz77
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        jaymz77 replied May 07, 2009

        With all the money sitting in the stands at the LA games they could afford to pay off the refs.

  • mjatsanantx said May 07, 2009

    ref are getting orders from owners to foul certain players out certain games its obvious the lakers our gettin help
  • jaymz77
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    jaymz77 said May 07, 2009

    I like hard-nosed basketball, but I don't like cheap shots and I think there are some cheap shots happening. JJisthetruth, spoke the truth when she said the refs need to call the games consistent regardless of star status, mvp credits, and I'll add regardless of what quarter or how much time is left in the game.

  • DMtShooter said May 07, 2009

    Testy got screwed, but he also has to know the refs are going on a hair-trigger after the Fisher ejection, and there's no reason to go get in Kobe's grill three seconds after the technical. You get him back during the flow of play.

    Of course, that assumes the impulse and anger management skills of an actual functioning adult. And then there's Testy.
  • speedwell
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    speedwell said May 07, 2009

    How can Fish get ejected and threatened with suspension when Rondo yanked teeth out of Brad Miller's mouth and was only given a personal foul. There is a conspiracy here for sure.
    • sambot
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      sambot replied May 07, 2009

      you make this foul sound worse every day. i'm looking forward to how bad it gets next friday ;)
      • speedwell
        Placard_complete_small

        speedwell replied May 07, 2009

        Rondo once broke a leg off a table and tossed it through a guy's heart.
        • sambot
          Placard_complete_small

          sambot replied May 07, 2009

          ohhh... i thought it was the guy's OWN leg. my bad. ;)
      • jjisthetruth

        jjisthetruth replied May 07, 2009

        lol me too

  • DMtShooter said May 07, 2009

    Looking for consistency from game to game with the refs is a fool's errand. Different crew, different game situation, different crowd, and Fisher's place has no resemblance to a basketball play. Rondo is, theoretically, going for the ball to block a game-tying shot. Fisher is headhunting with 10 minutes on the clock, and a big number of plays to happen after.

    Also this: Rondo's a star now. Fish is a role player. I love the Association, but that plays. A lot. (And if it doesn't, you wind up with hockey, where the stars have less impact on most playoffs than the scrubs.)
    • speedwell
      Placard_complete_small

      speedwell replied May 07, 2009

      Brad Miller is a foot taller than Rondo, his arm was extended for a lay up, so the ball is about three feet away from Rondo's freakishly long fingers. The only thing Rondo made a play for was Miller's head, which according to the NBA's rules, would be a flagrant foul. I'm sorry to say that your excuses are weak, and they don't play out.
    • jjisthetruth

      jjisthetruth replied May 08, 2009

      True but can we get consistency in the same game, same refs, same fans. I don't think Rondo should have been suspended but a flagrant I would agree with. Fisher knows he can not go out like that, star players shouldnt be able to go out like that. To give a Kobe, Lebron, etc... a position call, or ball possesion call, ok but when your talking about elbows and wacking someone on the back of the neck with your arm ( as lebron did Josh smith game 2) that needs to be called.
  • SMH12289

    SMH12289 said May 07, 2009

    By rule Kobe should be suspended...Stu Jackson said on Mike & Mike about Dwight Howard..If an elbow is thrown and connects above a guy's shoulders, it's an automatic 1 game suspension...
    • jjisthetruth

      jjisthetruth replied May 08, 2009

      agree completely, you can't allow players in this leauge to throw elbows like that or it will get out of hand. The NBA has some bad boys they do not want throwing elbows or as DMT Shooter said this will end up looking like hockey. I thought that was an automatic 1 game suspension wich lead to my confusion for any need of review from anyone but the refs on the court in that moment. I actually thought you would get ejected and suspended, guess I was wrong.lol
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