June 6, 2001

8:21 AM

The NBA Finals start tonight. I've never been a big fan of watching any sport, but the hometown Sixers have been quite exciting. Now I find myself hoping that they can find a way to win against those smug Lakers and quiet their arrogant, over-confident fans. Anyone else love an underdog?
posted by quirked (35 comments total)

I will root for any team that goes up against the Lakers. Phil Jackson has publically said some insulting things about my hometown (Sacramento) and anyone that wipes the smile off his face will be cheered by me.

All that withstanding, the Lakers have a phenomenal amount of talent, and when they're working together well, I don't think that there's another team in the NBA that can beat them. Go Philly!!!
posted by OneBallJay at 8:32 AM on June 6, 2001

Iverson is The Answer. (At least, when he's not rapping, coming up with puerile lines like "Come at me with faggot tendencies/ You'll be sleeping where the maggots be" -- anyway, hometown Schoolly D rhymed those words long ago. But I digress). Asked what was making him shoot so well earlier in the playoffs, he responded that the basket looks like an ocean.

The basket looks like an ocean. Beautiful. The Answer.
posted by dfowler at 8:32 AM on June 6, 2001

This is one Laker fan who is not smug or overconfident. I've watched the Lakers choke away too many comfortable leads to be smug.

Los Angeles is just basking in the glow of a team that turned itself around, a team that could have washed out in the first round but instead came together and is doing great things on the court.

The winning streak bodes well for them, but the only ones convinced of a sweep are police car-smashing die-hard fans and announcers who need an aggressive opinion to stand out. The rest of us are hoping they don't get spooked by losing a game.
posted by neuroshred at 8:34 AM on June 6, 2001

anyone who has been to LA lately(or lives there) should be sick of the Lakers. while the style of play and overall excellence of the team should be noted, the unabashed idolatry down south is loathsome. i think every sports reporter at the LA Times wants to blow Kobe and treat Shaq to a rimjob. i've never seen so many articles(9+) in one sports section about the same topic. just another thing for LA residents to pat themselves on the back about.

and, if anyone has seen them, you'll know how ridiculous and annoying the car flags are....

i find it hard to believe that i am typing this but, it would be refreshing to see someone with the class of Allen Iverson win the championship this year.
posted by donkeysuck at 8:52 AM on June 6, 2001

I agree as long as he is in the game it will be fun to watch.
posted by mmm at 9:02 AM on June 6, 2001

I just want to see the Lakers lose Game 1, just to break that damn streak they have going. Everyone will say it's rust due to the long rest they've had, but damn, that would be a joy to watch.

I'm all for the Sixers winning it this year.
posted by Cavatica at 9:10 AM on June 6, 2001

Lakers Baby, Lakers. No Apologies!!!!
posted by FPN at 9:19 AM on June 6, 2001

those flags are the silliest thing i've seen yet. and i've seen some silly stuff living in this city.

on the one hand, i think it'd be pretty freakin' cool to watch the Lakers blow out another series and sweep the Sixers. (i don't however, hold out much hope of that happening, because i think somehow the Sixers will fight quite a lot harder than the last set of teams.) on the other hand, blow outs get boring. oh yippee, they won another game. what a surprise.

but then on still the other hand, this is a team that's really gotten is act together and started playing like a TEAM (novel concept) so i'm all about them winnin' some. (:
posted by sarajflemming at 9:23 AM on June 6, 2001

The only question I have is if Mutombo, and Matt Geiger(?) will be able to stop O'Neil. Portland couldn't, Sacramento couldn't, and San Antonio couldn't.
posted by emoeby at 9:23 AM on June 6, 2001

I'm rooting for the Raptors. Go Raps!
posted by Big Fat Tycoon at 9:33 AM on June 6, 2001

Well, I'm actually glad to see LA worked up over a sports team (dumb flags and all). Last year when they won the championship the reaction was piddling out here - nothing like the revelry in Washington/Maryland when the Skins win the Superbowl. And considering the Dodgers and lack of a football team, the Lakers are about it sportswise out here. (and no, hockey doesn't count)
posted by owillis at 9:38 AM on June 6, 2001

I think it was Dreama who jumped up at a comment I made last year about Hockey not counting, I'm not sure. There's nothing wrong with Hockey. New York had nothing but smiles the year the Rangers won the Stanley Cup, and New Jersey was up in arms with the Devil's win last year.

Btw, Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals is this Thursday. Go Devils!!
posted by Cavatica at 9:47 AM on June 6, 2001

Well, being in the Philly area, I sure wish I could even fool myself into believing that the Sixers can "Go all the way, Bay-bee!" We've been dry here for basketball fame for 18 years. The yammer on fanboy radio is all about hunger, and how it makes a difference. But there's something else about hunger.

If you're hungry enough, a Big Mac transforms in your mind into a filet mignon topped by a ceasar salad on a bun. The home team is lean, mean, and deserving of their East Coast spot in the finals... but the Lakers are the Lakers. I'm just hoping we can get their faces a little dirty in the scrap to come.
posted by Perigee at 9:57 AM on June 6, 2001

I think it was me. Hockey counts, dammit! (Said like a true resident of the city of Ace Lemieux.) Go Avalanche!

As for the Lakers -- smug, and stupid. A team full of pseudo-celeb players whose reputation would be better if their heads weren't severely overinflated. (With the exception of Rick Fox, probably because -- unlike the rest of them -- he's got the full package including the hot wife.) They need to be taken down a few pegs just to be shown that they're not all that just because they can play. There's no humanity there. Blech.

Go Sixers! (And please, for the love of heaven, Philadelphians, restrain yourselves from rioting, okay?)
posted by Dreama at 10:02 AM on June 6, 2001

Hi. You can all just forget it. The Lakers are going to win. They are playing their best game right now. I love Allen "thug love" Iverson as much as any other woman who finds him amazingly sexy but sorry - it's all about Shaq, Kobe and the crew tonight.

And, even though the Lakers have been off the good thing about that is they are rested. Philly just played a week of hard basketball (Milwaukee was trying to hang) which only ended on Sunday. They flew to L.A. on Monday (at least a 5 hour flight) so they only had yesterday to rest. I hope THEY (the 76ers) are ready. If not, it sucks to be them.

Even if the Lakers were to lose tonight (Highly unlikely) they'd come back and win it. I really hope they keep the streak going though because outside of the Bulls winning 72 games in one season I haven't seen basketball like this in a long time.

P.S. thank you Oliver for not saying anything bad about basketball.
posted by summer1971 at 10:27 AM on June 6, 2001

I could care less who wins, it just amuses me the amount of fair weather philly fans that have sprout up around the country, where were you guys in the early 90s?
posted by corpse at 10:33 AM on June 6, 2001

LA Lakers = Dallas Cowboys = Atlanta Braves = Bottomless Pits of Unspeakable Evil

There is in every major sports league, one team that is, by some cosmic definition, detestable. I don't care nuthin' for hockey, but I assume there's one over there too.
posted by Skot at 10:34 AM on June 6, 2001

I guess I should add a real comment; personally, this is the final I dreaded, 'cause I hate both teams. The Lakers may be the golden boys of the NBA, but I still can't stand Shaq. I'd like to see Iverson and the Sixers pull a few out just for that (one would just be pathetic), but on the other hand, it would be amazing to see a team run the table.

Also, I'd like to add that they should really institute a height cap in the NBA. I think it would totally change the game for the better.
posted by Big Fat Tycoon at 10:49 AM on June 6, 2001

BFT - Don't hate on the big people mmmkay?
posted by summer1971 at 11:05 AM on June 6, 2001

The FLAGS! Yes, here in LA they've gone crazy with these stupid flags that people attach to their cars. I've seen vans dragging 6 of these things, one in each window, probably wasting an extra gallon of gas just competing with the wind resistance.

So as a Los Angeleno, I for one will not be rooting for them just so everyone will take down their stupid flags. Of course if they win, I'll be looting my local record store.
posted by perplexed at 12:06 PM on June 6, 2001

Kobe's Wife is kind of cool. Not that it has anything to do with Basketball, but Vanessa Williams came up, who's married to Fox.
posted by Cavatica at 12:31 PM on June 6, 2001

The NBA Finals start tonight.

The what whats? For God's sake, speak English, man!
posted by kindall at 12:48 PM on June 6, 2001

Skot -- you left out the Yankees....the true face of evil...

As a sad, sad, sad fan of the Spurs (and the Avs...way to go Roy!), I am tossing my allegiance to the Sixers on this one...I really admire the Sixers' "play until the pain is gone" attitude. But yeah, they're gonna lose, maybe even get swept...
posted by kphaley454 at 1:13 PM on June 6, 2001

I detest the showboating and chest-beating of NBA players.. but I'm tuning in for the halftime show.

God, I'm such a girl.
posted by likorish at 4:24 PM on June 6, 2001

On second thought, I'm starting to dig the Sixers. That was an amazing, gritty win tonight. No record books for the Lakers.
posted by Big Fat Tycoon at 9:24 PM on June 6, 2001

That game showed exactly what I've enjoyed about the Sixers: scrappy, never-give-up basketball. Man. What a game! I'm still all fired up. :)
posted by megnut at 9:44 PM on June 6, 2001

You have to give Tyronn Lue credit for holding Iverson away from the basket for so long. I hope he gets to see more time during this series because it looks like he is what the Lakers need if they want to keep Iverson from scoring.
posted by summer1971 at 9:50 PM on June 6, 2001

Nickname for Lue: "Middle School"
posted by modofo at 10:05 PM on June 6, 2001

LOL. My best friend and I always joke about how Lue looks like he's 12. And tonight with him guarding Iverson, it made Iverson look young too. The funny thing is they are both older than Kobe and he looks older than both of them.
posted by summer1971 at 11:07 PM on June 6, 2001

Lemme chime in with an important word on hockey. . .

GO AV'S!!!!

The Devils ain't taking this unrelated thread without a fight.
posted by crasspastor at 12:21 AM on June 7, 2001

Lue reminds me of Lil' Bow Wow (or however you spell his name). Anyway, I'm really impressed with the Sixers and especially Iverson even though I was pulling for the Bucks. Unfortunately, this game allows the Lakers to shake off their rust and they'll probably win the series.
posted by gyc at 1:15 AM on June 7, 2001

Go Hoya's!! Ooph. I mean Go Sixers!!
posted by vanderwal at 4:58 AM on June 7, 2001

That game rocked. The Sixers came to win and I think more than a few Lakers were surprised.

It took me a while to fall asleep after, which makes for a stressful morning on the subway.
posted by mmm at 6:01 AM on June 7, 2001

One more thing and then I'll leave this subject alone I swear. It amazed me that all the players on the Lakers are taller than Iverson and yet not one of them could guard him enough to keep him from having 20 points in the first half. They come back, put Lue in and suddenly there's an answer for the ANSWER. I really hope Phil Jackson sees the value in putting Lue on Iverson and gives him more playing time. That was just awesome last night, even though they ended up losing anyway.
posted by summer1971 at 7:13 AM on June 7, 2001

wow... since neither myself or my friend really knew much about the players (save mutombo, bryant, iverson, shaq), we both came up with our nicknames when referrering to the players... coincidentally/surprisingly, lil bow wow is what we called that one dude guarding iverson in the second half.
posted by lotsofno at 7:15 AM on June 7, 2001