Lakers Win Title: Up and Down Road Culminates To Victory!

Finally, a year after being humiliated by the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, the Lakers come back and dominate the Orlando Magic to prove they weren't a fluke. The Lakers struggled throughout the playoffs to play with real heart game

in and game out. In the first round they took care of the Jazz, but it wasn't the easiest series the league had ever seen. After beating the Jazz in 5 games, they moved on to face the tough Houston Rockets. Many thought this would be a tough, grind it out series, as the

Rockets had been just as good a team without their "star" Guard Tracy McGrady, as they had been with him. After taking a 2-1 series lead, the Lakers looked poised after losing the game before. They still had not lost back-to-back games; yet they didn't always

come out completely focused. This trend continued in Game 4, a game the Rockets played without star Center Yao Ming. The Rockets, and Lakers, knew that Ming was out for the season, and the Lakers came out "knowing"

they had already won the series.

Foolish. The tough and gritty Rockets came out focused, and determined to not let the Lakers humiliate them, and in turn, they smashed the Lakers. Although the final score may not have looked so terrible(99-87), the Rockets were up 29-16 after the first, and at one point were up by 30.

Now questions arose. Do the Lakers really want this? Do they already think it’s theirs? Are they so cocky, that they think they don’t even need to try? And on all accounts I think I have to say yes.

They did really want it, they believed it was theirs, and they knew they’d win it. But they didn’t impress a lot of people along the way. The Lakers came back to completely OBLITERATE the Rockets in game 5, lose game 6 and then won game 7 convincingly, progressing to the

Western Conference Finals, nearly underdogs against the Cinderella Nuggets. Some announcers said that so far in these playoffs, the Nuggets were playing the best basketball. And I have to agree. Up to that point the Nuggets

were playing great, they were hot, and they had their swagger. And if you give a team like the Nuggets those three things, it's a tough group to stop.  I was almost torn, Carmelo is probably my favorite player, right behind

Kobe, and for a couple of years I was disappointed with Kobe, and the Nuggets were the team to usurp the Lakers as my #1 overall team. I have liked the Nuggets since Melo entered the league, but those feelings weren't enough to have me root for them.

No, no, no, I was rooting for my Lakers to go all the way, even if it meant slapping Carmelo across the face. In the end, I kind of got the best of both worlds. Carmelo matured, and worked his butt off against the Lakers, and proved he was ready for the

spotlight, proving that at some point in his career he will more than likely win a championship, with the grit and determination he had in these playoffs, facing off against Kobe, I really think he can do it. And then of course the Lakers moved on to face off in the DREAM

FINALS...oh wait, LeBron lost? Haha. I loved it. Although I wanted LeBron to make the Finals so that Kobe could beat him, and shut people up for the summer, I also didn't want him to make it for almost the same exact reason.  So the Magic huh? The glorified Golden State Warriors.

 

 

The three point shooting, Super Man playing, Jameer Nelson is coming back after 4 months having, Magic. Obviously this team doesn’t even compare to the Warriors, but at times their strategies are far too eerily similar. They find themselves running down the court and heaving

up the first three they find, a game that can bury opponents and also backfire right in your face. Many were hoping for a tough match-up, an even series, I felt as though the Lakers should dominate. Although I was scared we'd get beat by a hot shooting team. The Lakers came out and won the first two games,

we're going to Orlando up 2-0. Perfecto. Then we lose the next one, we know we can't lose 3 in a row in Orlando. Game 4 comes, and it is Orlando's...but who wins the game for us? DEREK FISHER! I love the man, all homo, I don't even care, the guy is flat out AWESOME. How many big shots has he hit?

I went to the Lakers-Hornets game on February 20th, my 18th birthday was the day before, it was my present to sit about 12 rows from the floor behind the hoop and to the side, and D-Fish made my night. He turned the Finals around for us, and without that shot...we could have very possibly

not only lost game 4, but the next as well. But as it turns out, we win behind "His Clutchness" (as opposed to His Airness ;) ) and then close the series out in 5 the very next game. Thank you DF2, you da MAN!

So this is it? Kobe finally has "won the title without Shaq"? Please, those first three titles in his career, Shaq needed him just as much as he needed Shaq, everyone knows that. They just like to play it off like they don't just to knock on one of Kobe's "only achievements".

I guess I fall into this "haterific" category at times as well, as much as I respect LeBron I think he is overhyped, until he can close a game, and hit the clutch shots Kobe has made over the years, I don't think it’s fair to say he's better. Will he someday be? Who knows?

The odds aren't particularly against him, but let's see what he can do while KB24 is still in the league?

Congratulations to the 2008-2009 NBA CHAMPION Los Angeles Lakers! I was rooting for you every game this season, I hope we can keep the team together, and repeat next year. Things will be tough, I really hope we can play against Boston next year, man that is my dream Finals match-up. Let's do it, repeat!

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