Kobe Chokes away Game 3

I have so much to talk about in today's blog, but I am going to attempt to keep it short and sweet. It's amazing to me that the two biggest superstars of our league, the muppets themselves Kobe and Lebron, have been such choke artists late in games these playoffs. Last night in Game 3 Kobe missed five foul shots, including a huge free throw with less than one minute remaining. He also missed two open threes that would've tied or given the lead. The biggest gaff of them all happened when he had the ball stolen from him by Michael Pietrus to all but seal the game. I always thought the great ones got better as the game went on. Kobe started off on fire, scoring 17 first quarter points, but got progressively worse as the game went on. Can everyone please stop the MJ comparisons now. Jordan never lost in the finals and always showed up and was clutch in the closing minutes.



The sad thing is, the Lakers will likely win this series, and Kobe will most likely win MVP, though Pau Gasol has been the MVP so far. Sportscenter and the other media outlets will do their comparisons, and hype up Kobe, when in reality Kobe lucked out. He didn't have to face Lebron or a healthy Celtics team. Even in this series, they should be down 2-1. If Courtney Lee makes that layup we are talking about this series in a totally different way. Phil Jackson even said that play was probably a goal tend on Pau Gasol. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2009/news/story?id=4246830&campaign=rss&source=NBAHeadlines

That always fascinates me about sports coverage. One made or missed shot can totally alter how the media portrays a game, team, or player. That shot goes in for the Magic in game 2 and people are talking about the Lakers underachieving, rather than the great Lakers team. It's been an interesting series for me, because I've had to go from rooting against the Magic to rooting for them. I've really grown to like this Magic team and how they play. Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis are probably two of the most underrated players in the game and really fun to watch. I love Mickael Pietrus too. He has been the X-factor in the series and has done a great job on Kobe. He also somehow got away with the most obvious double dribble in the history of basketball last night. I think my grandma could've called that one, but if nothing else it was amusing. In conclusion, I think the Lakers will still win this series, but it is definitely going back to LA for at least a Game 6.

In other news, another Red Sox win over the Yankees last night. That makes them 6-0 vs. the hated Yanks this season, and puts them in a tie for first place in the AL East. Big Papi hit another home run and seems to be slowly coming out of his slump. No matter how bad he is now, if you are a Red Sox fan you should never boo him. He is the reason you won two titles and broke the curse. Fans often times are too quick to forget their heroes, and only live in the here and now.

One last thing, for anyone who ever wants to compare Kobe and MJ, please borrow my Michael Jordan DVD and the debate will be over quickly. Thanks for reading!