... until you said this: “I like Lamar Odom a lot.”

The same Odom that has tried to start a fight with the Blazers multiple times in the past few years?

I can’t stand the Spurs either. And doubly so since I have two annoying colleagues at work who are HUGE Spurs fans. I really want to see them get pouty, and I really don’t want to hear them gloating … again.

I can’t stand the Celtics either. That city and their sports columnists really need a big dose of SHHHOOOOOSH!!!

As for the Lakers, I would root for them to beat either of the two teams mentioned above. But against the three I’d rather see win, you can bet I hoping Kobe never gets another title and realizes he could never win one without Shaq.

The rest of the teams I could care less. I did find it weird that last night I found myself cheering when K*be hit that fall away 2 with the foul.

I suppose I want the Spurs or the Hornets to win it all to keep it in the west.

And I totally am with a lot of posters here when I say that I want Boston to fall flat on their faces.

I thought we were trying to be like the Spurs. Same core group of guys, winning titles, or coming close, year after year. Does this mean everyone else is going to hate Portland in a few years? This extremely likable group of guys? I sure hope so!

Mark Twain….have you lost your mind?

You should get pritch-slapped for this post!

They were playing magnificent ball, with Parker, Oberto, and Duncan bounce-passing one assist after another to each other. Pretty! TP’s duel with CP in game 3 was amazing. Boring? Not those guys. And Darkstar is right, the Spurs are our spiritual ancestors.

I will say that I’ve had a harder time hating this Laker team than previous ones. They’re a bunch of guys with a Blazer connection (Walton), some tragedy (Odom, Fisher), some infamy and redemption (Kobe) and lots of history and success (Jackson and Kobe). And they play hard and smart. I’m sure I’ll hate their guts again the first time we match up with them in the playoffs.

This brings up an interesting question: The Blazers are in the Northwest division and the Western Conference. Since the Blazers missed the playoffs this season, shouldn’t we fans have been rooting for Utah, who won our division, and then for whichever team wins the West?

Everyone knows that K#obe has faked every injury he has ever had just to look like Jordan. I bet K#be gets “the flu” in the conference finals. He’ll fake that too so he can get some sort of sympathy. He’s faking his finger and back injury, just like Pau fakes taking showers. Oh, and Phil Jackson. Oh, Phil Jackson. I really hate him.

tominhawaii: What do you want?
Miklo: I thought you wanted it.
tominhawaii: What?
Miklo: My chop.
tominhawaii: I don’t want his pork chop.
[grabs apple from Milko’s tray]
tominhawaii: I want his life.

If the Celtics win with Doc Rivers, I think I may blow a casket. There’s something about not paying your dues and fighting upwards toward a title that bothers me. I feel like every team should face adversity and disappointment in the playoffs before rightfully crowned.

Same reason I’m hoping the Hornet lose and also because of their poor attitude on the court. Chris Paul may be an upstanding young man off the court, but on the court, he’s a punk. So is David West. Their team has a few screws loose and on the verge of losing control every game. Reminds me of the Blazers when they are overly emotion and got taken out of the game.

“like I said, I’d totally agree with you if the Blazers were playing BBall right now and not sippin coors light on the golf course.”

Yeah, that’s what the Blazers are doing right now.

Goofing off and not working out. Uh-huhhhh.

Most of our guys are either A) too classy to be found drinking on the golf course with a bunch of old fogies or B) they’re not old enough to drink.

In all truth, I love Derek Fisher and I admire Kobe’s mad skillz, and in all truthness he is usually fairly humble and I like how he always has his family with him at press conferences, etc. Ever since the Colorado incident, he’s really made a point of it to be seen with his family. A+ from me there.

I just have a hard time when you can think Lamar Odom chop blocking Ray Allen is cool. That’s sick. Odom got SMOKED by KG and he took out his frustration on Allen like a junior high idiot. Not even ‘Sheed did that.
Towel in the face is bad, but running and checking the dude into the stands??! This ain’t hockey.

In all truth, I am hoping for Lakers vs. Celtics. KG and KB24 are the 2 most fierce competitors in the league. Would love to see them go at it.

Hopefully I haven’t offended you too greatly. I have meant everything with an Around-the-Horn attitude.

You somehow fail to mention that, from a preponderance of evidence (especially the bloody t-shirt), Kobe clearly raped that Colorado desk clerk. As if that wasn’t enough: in an effort to get the heat off himself, Kobe threw Shaq under the bus, alleging that Shaq always paid off the women that HE was accused of sexually assaulting.

This is, as you said, a truly remarkable basketball player. He also, beneath the charm and good looks, is a despicable human being. That is why, quite apart from my distaste for all things LA, I could never root for this edition of the Fakers.

P.S. If you’re one of those who ask why the Colorado desk clerk settled, you might recall that her name was released to the media, after which she received numerous death threats. What would YOU-or, say, your sister-have done?

Come on. If you followed the Kobe case closely, it was obvious what happened. The only argument you could reasonably make in Kobe’s defense is that, in his deluded mind, no woman could say “No” and mean it. That’s essentially the explanation Kobe gave in his required post-settlement mea culpa.

Is it possible Kobe was truly sorry for his actions and is a changed man? There we DO get into the realm of the unknowable. But don’t tell me that I “have NO IDEA what happened between those two.” People close to me have been raped, and I’m not inclined to put on blinders just because a rapist is a fantastic athlete.

You got everyone else who is still in the playoffs . . .

I am cheering against spurs, pistons, and celtics.

This is a short list of things I would rather have happen, than the Lakers winning another championship:

LMA, Oden, and Roy traded to the Knicks for their three worst players
KP quits as the GM to write children books
Paul Allen sells the Blazers and they move to Arkansas
Everyone I have ever known or loved, never speak to me again
Blazers Edge close down
Osama Bin Laden become the US President
Zombies take over the mainland
All sports in the world disbanded

If it took the Blazers never winning another championship, to keep the Lakers from ever winning another championship, I would do it.

I hate Kobe the player, I can care less about him as a person. I really, really, really hate Phil Jackson. It is on the verge of wishing very tragic things to happen to him. I struggle with those feeling, because I like to be a nice guy. Actually, my favorite dream involves the Yankee’s airplane crashing into the Laker’s airplane.