[Scott Merryfield]

Congrats to the Celtics. I did not see any of the Finals games, but it sounds like they won rather handily last night.

[Kirk Tsai]

Random thoughts:

Game 4 is one of the most devastating Laker games ever. I don't know when I'll get over it.

Sportswriters, TV personalities, and other "journalists" are the ones who always make the comparison between Kobe and MJ, and now we have to see/hear a barrage of "he ain't no MJ" comments. Build them up, tear them down. Take some damn responsibility.

The Lakers were ahead of schedule to get to the Finals this year. They got embarrassed by the Celtics, but it's common for young contending teams to get beat down before they figure things out. It just so happens that this time it was on the biggest stage.

But, anything except for a Lakers championship next year will be a disappointment.

The Celtics played magnificently this year. I had a some doubts about them early in the playoffs, but they were the best team throughout the season, by far.

The Celtics tanked last season, got KG and Allen, and won it all. There is no such thing as karma.

Bring on Celtics-Lakers 09, and let's (Jan) hope we get to pull a 1985 on them.

[Andy Sheets]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirk Tsai

Sportswriters, TV personalities, and other "journalists" are the ones who always make the comparison between Kobe and MJ, and now we have to see/hear a barrage of "he ain't no MJ" comments. Build them up, tear them down. Take some damn responsibility.

With all due respect to the man, I doubt Jordan could have dragged the Lakers to a victory either. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't God. Just a really damn good basketball player

The Lakers might come back next year and win it all but right now they're still young, they're missing Bynum, and despite their talents Gasol and Odom aren't the most mentally strong players out there. And then there's the fact that the Celtics play outrageously good defense against dominant swingmen - it's hard for guys like Kobe to go off on them because the Celtics make sure they don't even get good shot attempts.

[Robert_Z]

Well I watched game 6 last night. zzzzzzzzzzz Someone tell me how that was any better than watching the Spurs in any of their previous Finals?

I still find it hard to believe that the Spurs lost to those Lakers. But at 4 games to 1, there's no debate. The Lakers were better, but it's hard to accept that Tim, Tony and Manu did not have the hunger, stamina, endurance, etc. to repeat.

Many co-workers were laughing it up, enjoying the Lakers' meltdown. Not me. The Celtics did what the Spurs failed to do. How is that supposed to make me feel better?

One final observation:

The Spurs had a monster comeback to take the life out of Phoenix.
The Lakers had a monster comeback to take the life out of the Spurs.
The Celtics had a monster comeback to take the life out of the Lakers.

So it goes ...

[Andy Sheets]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert_Z

Well I watched game 6 last night. zzzzzzzzzzz Someone tell me how that was any better than watching the Spurs in any of their previous Finals?

Does anyone know what the tv ratings have been for this series? I'm also curious to know if the "dream finals" turned out to be what the NBA was hoping for.

[Robert_Z]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy Sheets

Does anyone know what the tv ratings have been for this series? I'm also curious to know if the "dream finals" turned out to be what the NBA was hoping for.

To my knowledge (although I only watched game 6), there was little to no coverage or discussion about TV ratings. This goes back to one of my points. The media and bitter fans bring this up about San Antonio only because that's the only thing they have to cling to. Ratings are only an issue when the Spurs play, so the media can have something negative to say.

It made me feel better to read that Ginobili might miss the olympics because of his ankle. I feel better because it shows that he really wasn't himself down the stretch. The thought of him "running out of gas" on the way to a repeat was more than I could swallow. Thankfully, it was not that, but a bad ankle that stood between the Spurs and the elusive repeat.

[Andy Sheets]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert_Z

To my knowledge (although I only watched game 6), there was little to no coverage or discussion about TV ratings. This goes back to one of my points. The media and bitter fans bring this up about San Antonio only because that's the only thing they have to cling to. Ratings are only an issue when the Spurs play, so the media can have something negative to say.

I did a quick look around and from what I saw, while the ratings were up compared to the past couple of years, it wasn't the nuclear explosion of national interest the NBA and networks were clearly hoping for. Of course the spin is all positive - "Hallelujah! The ratings were the sixth best since the last Bulls championship. We're back, baby!!!" - but I tend to think that what made Lakers/Celtics so intriguing to 80s viewers was Magic vs. Larry and their supporting casts. Compared to them the current Celtics are a pretty bland bunch, and the Lakers are all no-names except for Kobe, who is one of the most firmly disliked athletes active right now.

[Scott Merryfield]

I still believe the late start times for the Finals has to be hurting the TV ratings in the Eastern time zone. Since tip-off for each game was well after 9pm, I didn't even bother to turn any of the games on, knowing I would be shutting it off before halftime. I had no rooting interest for either team, so I wasn't going to lose sleep watching.

[Kirk Tsai]

The 08 Finals were 50% higher rated than last year's.
Finals' Game 6 earns best TV ratings since '00 - SI.com - 2008 NBA Playoffs

It's wikipedia, so it could be wrong, but the 07 Finals rating being the worst since recorded is correct IIRC.
National Basketball Association Nielsen ratings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia