Get Up Eight Times

Everyone remembers the 2002 series, but few remember that the Lakers run to glory also started in another winner take all series, one that went the full five games of the first round in 2000.

Starting lineups: Corliss Williamson (in his prime, which means he scored in the double digits), Chris Webber (just into his peak years as a franchise player), Vlade Divac (not quite a nemesis yet for Shaq), Jason Williams (credited for bringing streetball back to the NBA, for better or for worse), and…no…is that Nick Anderson? Just what I wanted to do, combine nightmares of the past.

For the Lakers, Ron Harper (36 years old), A.C. Green (older than Ron Harper), Glen Rice (who I’ll just call G-Money for the rest of this segment); geez, this is shaping up to be one of the worst starting lineups in NBA history…oh, right, Shaq & Kobe. I forgot how much I hated the post-Jordan years–this lineup would have been eviscerated five years earlier.

Shaq goes to the post, Webber goes to the post, 2-2. Just like old times.

A.C. Green is the Ironman of basketball, yet no one eulogizes about AC the way they do about Cal Ripken despite how hard it is to play 82 games. This doesn’t really bother me, just thought it was worth mentioning.

Nice to see Bob Costas talking about contract years (in this case, Glen Rice). You’ll never get this stuff from ESPN.

C-Webb knocks down his second jumper, and White Chocolate nails down a ridiculous looking 3. Hard for me to see how the Kings took two games from this Lakers team considering how deep LA’s bench was (Fox, Horry, Fisher, Shaw). Then I look back at that starting lineup.

Shaq just powers his way to the basket. Vlade just ceded ground and O’Neal pounded his way through. People forget the real reason the 2002 WCF went 7–THIS Shaq showed up for Game 1, strolled his way through the next four games at 70%, then blasted his way through Game 6. I wonder if the same thing happened here.

Kings have missed only one basket, and they can’t put much distance between the Lakers because they can’t box out on the defensive glass. It’s funny how the tables turned; the Kings would outrebound the Lakers in Game 7 two years later, but they just couldn’t hit shots.

Webber playing great offense, and he’s power dunking. He just onehanded slammed a missed shot by Williams. I miss that Webber.

O’Neal is just overpowering Divac. This is not the 2002 version of Vlade and this is not the 2002 version of Shaq. Vlade is literally being pushed behind the basket.

Nick Anderson is screwing stuff up. I can’t watch.

Rick Adelman is still cleancut. No shaggy beard yet. I’m guessing Phil didn’t make his Hitler remark yet.

Boy, Vlade is throwing up a stinkbomb right now. Airballing a jumper and then allowing Shaq the front of the rim. This is usually a sign you’re getting owned.

Pass-pass-pass-layup. I’ll let you guess which team scored that.

C-Webb is going straight to the hoop. I’m guessing Horry’s not in the game.

Scott Pollard and Peja are in. I rememeber these guys.

I believe we’re at nine offensive rebounds for the Lakers, half by the Ironman. Okay, I remember this part of watching the Kings.

Nick Anderson on Kobe? I can predict how this will end up…speed crossover layup.

I remember the Kings defense being porous, but not to the point where I’d see Ron Harper go coast-to-coast. It’s amazing how much of a difference Bobby Jackson and Doug Christie would make next year–even though no one will think of the Kings as a great defensive team, they never got bad.

Webber with two fouls, and *gulp* Funderburke in. Can we say goodbye to offense?

A washed up Ron Harper with a dunk on a putback. I can’t imagine the aneurysms Bill Walton would be in if he were here.

Now I’m seeing unfamiliar names. Tony Delk & Jon Barry for the Kings, Travis Knight for the Lakers, and I think this could be a rout.

Lakers up by six at the end of 1. This could be a long one. The second quarter will be up soon enough.