I Know I Said Seven Games, but Now I want Five

Just got back from watching the Lakers win game three at the Pepsi Center, and I've come to the conclusion that I've never covered a series like this before.

Part of me is blown away by the closeness of the games, and how exciting each one is to watch.  It's like getting to see a heavyweight championship fight every other night.  I've been "tweeting" a lot during the games (twitter @LAIreland), and with about two minutes to go and the game tied, I wrote that I hoped whichever team won would lose on Monday, just so I could keep watching the games.

That was the basketball fan in me coming out, but there's a problem with that.

The problem is although I'm paid to report somewhat impartially, I'm a Lakers fan.  And now that the Lakers have won, I selfishly want this series to end as quickly as possible.  If the Lakers can win on Monday, that ending could be on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

To those fans who don't have a rooting interest, that would be too bad, but I don't care.  I realize now that if the Nuggets tie this series at two, they could win it.  As a matter of fact, these games are all so close that either team could have won any game.  There is no result that would now surprise me, including Lakers in five, Nuggets in six, or either team in seven.

This series has the same feel of the Western Conference Finals that I covered in 2000, between the Lakers and Blazers.  They split the first two games, then the Lakers won the next two, in Portland.  But the Blazers were so good that they won games five and six, then forced a game seven in LA.  Portland was up by 15 in the fourth quarter, before the Lakers stormed back and won it--sending LA to the Finals.

Because of that, I want the Nuggets out of my life.  They have the same look as that Portland team.  I'm not scared of Denver, I think the Lakers are better, but I respect the Nuggets enough to worry about them.

Now, in no particular order, my favorite things about game three:

--Watching Trevor Ariza, who could barely stand up after falling hard after a driving lay-up, come back into the game and do three huge things.  He shut down a red-hot Carmelo Anthony, made three big three-point shots, and came up with another big steal of an inbounds pass that sealed the game.

--Watching Derek Fisher, who has been critcized more than any player on my radio show, pull the Lakers together in the fourth quarter and inspire everyone by saying "this is our gut check.  This is where we find out if we are championship material.  You have to do it right now."

--Watching Pau Gasol, another much-criticized player, hit two big shots down the stretch to help the one guy who had taken over the team, Kobe, get a short breather.

--Watching Kobe do it again.  As I said to Jim Hill, whatever he gets paid, he should get a raise.  No matter how tired he is, or how many times he doesn't get calls, he just keeps coming.  He's a once in a generation player, and I'm just glad he showed up while I have this job.

I think the Lakers have a great shot to get back to the NBA Finals, and as much as I love watching this series, I now hope it ends sooner rather than later.

Comments

[Kristin]

Hi John,
Great blog. Thank you so much for keeping us in the loop behind the scenes with the Lakers. We really appreciate your coverage of the games, your show, your blog and now - as if you didn't have anything else to do - your tweets!

Kristin
@hlwdblvd

[John Barry]

John, love following your tweets during the game. After game 2 i was convinced that the lakers weren't going to get a win in denver in this series. I still dont think they can win game 4 on monday (they have to be worn down after that one). I wanted to ask your opinion about what has been going on in the national media. You have been covering the game and not watching abc/espns coverage. Granted you work for the network so its hard for you to be impartial but the ballwashing of lebron james has reached disgusting proportions. Compounded by the constant criticism of lakers for a team who doesnt bring the effort consistently, doesnt have a leader like magic johnson, is soft, is rotating too many pgs etc. Could it be possible that Houston were that good? they did win 20 plus games in a row without Yao Ming the year before. THe national media such as Magic, Wilbon and Barry who all picked the Nuggets before the game need to finally give this Lakers team credit for winning when they need it most. So what would you call that, oh yah thats right this team has HEART. Thanks for taking the time to DM me on twitter by the way, its not everyday i get to hobnob with a celebrity!

Johnny
@johnnybarry

[LAERIC]

Hey, Ireland good stuff. Always been a sports fan especially Lakers and ive recently started listening to 710espn.U guys help me get through my work day especially after a laker playoff lost... keep it up finally started up a twiiter account following u maybe mace defenitley not A...ha ha....all we need is kobe driving more lakers are more effective that way.....Twitter LAERIC

[K.Lani]

Great post John, as usual! Is there any video and/or audio of D. Fish's huddle talk? I got cold chills reading it...I would love to see it.

BTW - I agree with Johnnybarry above...I don't think there is anyone outside of LA that isn't a Laker hater. The networks - ABC, ESPN & TNT, all need to practice some impartiality. I have to turn the sound on the TV off because I just can't stand all the love for everyone but the Lakers and no respect for at all for the Lakers - Once in a while for KB but barely. It's really gettin bad.