It was disgraceful what those guys did.  They knew their season was over and so there was apparently no incentive for them to refrain from that kind of low stuff--so they get kicked out, so what?

There's no amount the NBA will fine them that will amount to more than a slap on the wrist.  The only way the league can send a strong message that that kind of conduct won't be tolerated is either to suspend each of them from a significant number of games, not just 1, to start next season, say 10 for Bynum and 5 for Odom.  Or else suspend them for multiple games at the end of next season when LA could be battling for playoff seeding. 

Odom's was like a blind-side crackback football block into Nowitzski's shoulder.  It was not extremely like to injure him, given where the blow was delivered, sideways to Nowitzki's upper arm.  It was not a basketball play, in any way.  It was a football play, a dirty play.  Bynum could have seriously injured Barrea.  I think Tirico, the PBP announcer, said it was the lowest thing he'd ever seen anyone do in a (n NBA? basketball? any sport?) game.  Brown said it was "bush league", no place for it.  

So good riddance to the classless Lakers, some of whose players have been arrogant as hell in the past but they have not been unprofessional up until now.  Gasol just got completely manhandled out there the whole series.  When Jackson said he thought 2 of his players played "depressed", without naming them, who did you think he was referring to?  My thought was definitely Gasol and probably Bynum as the other.  Bynum played with such fire in game 3. 

I wouldn't be at all surprised if LA trades Bynum in a blockbuster deal to Orlando that includes their getting Howard.  I get the sense Howard wants out of Orlando at this point, having given his all this season only to see them ousted by the Hawks.  If he's determined to leave anyway via free agency they may figure they need to get as much value for him before that as they can.  That team isn't going anywhere anyway--they're going to have to blow up their current team and perhaps they can get draft picks if they trade Howard, although getting a very high one mitigates against their trading him to LA.  LA will go after him hard, I believe. Their biggest weakness was exposed in spades in this series--their defensive guard play.  Dallas' guards were beating Fischer and Bryant off the dribble as though they weren't even there. 

Disgraceful.  It's easy to hold your head up when you're winning.  Character often reveals itself about players and teams when they lose.  These knuckleheads are still young.  Maybe somebody wise can reach them and talk a little sense to 'em.  Here's hoping.  And here's hopin' their impressionable fans get the memo there is no bb court on the planet (or anywhere off the court for that matter) where that behavior is tolerated. 

A-man is going to write on the NBA soon, I believe, but for now, a few comments on Bulls-Hawks.

Charles Barkley is mostly right that Rose cannot take 32 shots--not the 32 shots he took last night, at any rate, of which he, being Rose, made around 12.  Too low a percentage.  Too many of them were Bryant-like, heavily contested shots late.  Being Rose, he made a number of them, miraculously.  But he also missed a number of them. 

He may have been fouled on some of those plays--had it been Bryant we'd have seen the usual Bryant incredibly annoying body language when he thinks he was fouled.  The whistled, and then waved-off, foul by Teague on Rose's 3 pointer was an important play where instead of it being perhaps a 3 point game with lots of time left, Atlanta controlled the tap and to their credit never let off the gas pedal and just finished strong.  Atlanta did not play not to lose that game, either down the stretch at any time during that game.  They went out and won it, with a monster performance from Josh Smith. 

Postgame commentator Chris Webber was defending Rose against Barkley's point, saying Rose is the only Bull who can create shots for himself.  I don't know about that.  Deng, when he gets the ball on the perimeter, can and does get to the rim and finish.  When Boozer gets the ball down low he can beat his man and score and he played well last night.  He didn't get the ball enough.  It was way too much Rose for Chicago to really be effective on offense.  If some sort of time analysis could be done, I would guess Rose had the ball 75-80% of Chicago's possession time.  Other guys, if they don't get the ball when Rose gets jammed, often will disengage mentally and feel at least a little frustrated.

So they will need to adjust and I suspect they will adjust.  Being MVP now, Rose may be putting too much pressure to win games by himself with points down the stretch when he doesn't need to do it that way, he can take whatever the defense will give him.  He just needs to relax and play his usual game.

I'd earlier said I thought Atlanta's chances went out the window if Heinrich could not play.  I now think I was very wrong about that. 

Heinrich is a better defender than Teague, true.  But Rose makes everyone look bad.  It's not just about who is guarding Rose but about what the help looks like once Rose beats his guy, and can you either force him into too many Kobe-like shots where he's (sometimes, anyway) going to miss some of those?  Or will he make most of them anyway, or get his teammates into the flow and kill you that way? 

Whatever the reason the Bulls did not have any kind of offensive rythm or effectiveness down the stretch.  Credit the Hawks for outstanding defense--that's definitely part of it.  The Bulls run Korver in circles hard off of 3 screens and he still was unable to get freed up 3's last night.  That's just great defense by Atlanta.  Since when has Atlanta ever played like that?

Back to Teague/Heinrich.  Atlanta is most effective when they are pushing pace, getting baskets in transition, using their athleticism in the open court.  Teague has done an outstanding job of that.  Heinrich doesn't do nearly as much of that.  Nor is he nearly as effective doing that as Teague has been.  It's when Atlanta gets into, or gets forced into, a low-tempo half-court offense that they often struggle. 

So we'll see if the Hawks, playing yesterday with a level of confidence and aggression I've not seen from them in memory, can get a similar effort and get another game in Chicago.