Lakers Thread

[Jackal]

Another great game defensively for Artest, he really annoyed Granger from getting 20+ points.

I hope he keeps it up and doesn't get bored..this is just the kind of defense he's going to have to give the Lakers come playoff time.

I know I go on and on about Odom, but he seems to really be enjoying his role. Before I'd hit my head with Odom passing too much and not making plays he has the ability to make, but he's really changed that. He's less selfish just the right amount and is assertive on the offensive end unlike before.

Nice shot by Bryant to end the second quarter too, with his difficulties I'd written that one off.

[NovU]

I always thought Kobe with Artest was almost like a cheating, since Kobe can focus more on offense and relax on defensive end. Especially considering how they lost to the Celtics in the finals couple years ago, I think with Artest, it'd have been different since Pierce would have been not that effective. Artest in the playoffs should really be fun to watch on defensive end. It's just how bad Lakers want I think. It's not the talent they're lacking if they fail, but it'll be about motivation...

[Jackal]

Heartbreaking loss to the Heat, Bryant really played well. Gasol was kind of quiet, but that's because he didn't get enough touches. During the course of the game I kept saying how they should've played more through him, but as I said...Bryant had it going on so can't blame them.

It's great hearing Reggie speaking highly of Bryant too by the way, I think it was pretty clear the two didn't really like eachother when they played. Nice watching Pippen have a laugh and words with Artest after a nice steal off of Wade.

Wade's got to stop falling down everytime he makes a shot at the rim. Shit is tiring.

[Jackal]

LA lost the game for themselves. Lethargic play all throughout, sloppy ball handling, flat shots and out-hustled in every which way.

Guess the overtime loss against Miami took its toll. Artest especially wasn't his usual defensive self.

[dare]

They ruined their chance as the best record on the league

[Jackal]

That doesn't really matter...to me atleast.

Nice if they got it..but not the end of the world.

[shadowgrin]

It's great hearing Reggie speaking highly of Bryant too by the way, I think it was pretty clear the two didn't really like eachother when they played.

IIRC Reggie practiced with Kobe during the summer of '99, just before the Lakers won their first championship. It was mentioned during the 2000 Finals between their teams. With Kobe teaching Reggie ways to drive to the basket easily and Reggie teaching Kobe on shot selection and such.

[Jackal]

They also got in to a fight during that period, right? I was basing my comment on aforementioned fight actually. Good to hear that if that's true too btw.

Heartbreaker in Orlando, the Magic had a lot of bs calls thrown their way so still kudos for them for pulling off the win.

Lol at Barnes trying to intimidate Bryant and Bryant not even flinching one bit. That was my favorite moment of the game.

[hova-]

Maybe he did not flinch on this one, but he certainly flinched when Barnes hit the three after Kobe trying to help out. Kobe must have been pretty pissed after the game, it's just not clicking right now.

[Jackal]

I think that's going too far. To say they aren't clicking...the Miami game was a close loss. The Bobcats trampled over them but I can live with that one since they seem to have the Lakers' number and it was a back to back game. This one was close too and as Andrew said, had Bynum been able to be more of a factor...it could've resulted in a win.

I wouldn't say they aren't clicking.

[hova-]

Well it's a slump, I don't say they aren't clicking in general, but right now they are not playing very well. The Magic had some bs calls against them and the game should have been over earlier but Kobe did his best to keep them into it. Gasol is playing very bad lately which hurts them especially when Odom can not step up his game instead.

Still there's no doubt that they are the best in the West after all.

[Patr1ck]

I wouldn't call it a slump, just a losing streak. They won 3 in a row just before these losses and two of them were close contests. So were two of these 3 recent losses, too. It's just the first time this season that they lost 3 in succession, and the last one was because Kobe couldn't tie it at the end of regulation.

Someone tell Lamar Odom not to be scared of Dwight Howard next time he tries to dunk.

[Andrew]

Kelly Dwyer's got a good take on it here. It seems "unscientific" to say these things happen but...these things happen, even to elite teams and defending champions.

[Jackal]

It involves Kobe Bryant needlessly trying to dominate games offensively. It involves him playing the hero late, which he's done to great acclaim this season, but sometimes to the detriment of his team offensively.

Concurred. Play the fucking offense through Gasol and Bynum for Christs sake. Run the damn triangle instead of dominating the ball and trying to make the play. You don't have the body and strength Lebron James has...but you've got better team-mates. Use them.

Look at the offense when Bryant was out and when Bryant is in. When he was out they had a solid inside-outside game. When he's back they stand around watching him trying to create, make a really difficult shot (which he at times makes and makes you go...damn) or clank it off the rim. Gasol gets most of his points off of offensive rebounds to some bad misses from Bryant, Fish and Artest.

I know it'd hurt his ego a lot, but he's got to be told that Gasol is the more important player in the offense. He might be their leader and the "star" of the team, but when Gasol plays well...the team will win. I've always advocated going through the big men...and when you've got an above average passing big man in teh middle, why not?

End rant.

[shadowgrin]

Run the damn triangle instead of dominating the ball and trying to make the play.

I've always advocated going through the big men...and when you've got an above average passing big man in teh middle, why not?.

Jackal pretty much summed up the importance of a decent passing bigman in the triangle offense. Let that be a lesson to any Luc Longley haters.

[Andrew]

The good: the Lakers snap their three game losing streak as Kobe adds another gamewinning shot to his resume.

The bad: the Lakers needed fourteen fourth quarter points and a last second shot by Kobe to win a home game against the Toronto Raptors.

[dare]

Yeah but still the Lakers win and Kobe was the savior again. It may look that the Lakers struggles in this game but this is a start, I'm sure they can get their rhythm back.

[Andrew]

Kobe having to pull out the heroics and go ballistic on teams they should be beating much easier has not been an uncommon occurence this season though. That's not to say they should win every game in a blowout but they're seemingly relying on Kobe to expend a lot of energy and effort to get the job done during the regular season when they probably should be winning games against outmatched teams a little easier and with more of a team effort.

Kobe himself expressed some dissatisfaction with the way it went down. From Yahoo! NBA's recap:

Wright’s failed desperation shot set off a celebration for the Lakers, who haven’t lost four straight since April 2007. Yet the streamers hadn’t fallen from the Staples Center roof before Bryant began criticizing the Lakers’ latest lackluster effort.

“This thing tonight was garbage,” he said of the Lakers’ effort, adding his account of the positives from the win: “None.”

[NovU]

Agreed, Andrew. Defending champion with upgraded roster, yet we haven't seen them dominating the game lately, not to mention quality wins. Instead we saw a couple of loss against sub par teams. Certainly, it is a slump whether they won tonight or not. Kobe has rights to be frustrated and so are his teams. I hope the struggle continues though...

[Andrew]

I wouldn't call it a full blown slump but I don't think they're playing up to their potential. Since replacing Ariza with Artest this season, they're giving up fewer points but they're also scoring less themselves and winning by a smaller margin on average (differential of 6 ppg as opposed to 7.6 ppg last year; not a huge decline, but a decline nevertheless). Those numbers still place them at a respectable rank compared to other NBA teams, but still seem less impressive than they could (or should) be.

[Jackal]

Kobe needs to chill the fuck out. He kept going away from what was keeping them ahead.

Everytime Bynum touched the ball, something good happened. If Bynum missed, Gasol cleaned up. Bryant was more effective in this game than the previous ones because he didnt settle for jumpers and actually took it to the rim most of the game. It's when he falls in love with those impossible to hit (and then hits some) jumpers that the Lakers lose. He did the same thing against the Raptors...there were possessions where Andrew was calling for it and the guards (Bryant/Fisher) just denied him the ball.

Not to mention Kobe's defense is atrocious. Everytime someone scores on him because he's sagging off to the paint...he turns around and looks mad at his team-mates. Fuck that Bryant, they wont bail you out on every defensive assignment, defend God damn it.

The Lakers as a whole weren't playing their best defense, but to put the blame all on your team-mates, that's just sad.

I find it highly hypocritical of Bryant that he's lashing out at his team-mates when he isn't playing within the system.

[benji]

But isn't that what he's done his entire career?

On the upside, takes some pressure off the refs if he's spending half a game bitching at his teammates!

[Jackal]

True that, but back when he was not passing the ball to O'Neal he actually drove to the basket, hit the shot and got an and one.

Now he doesn't pass the ball and hoists up jumpers and missing most of them.

[Andrew]

I wonder if there aren't a few defenders in the league that are especially wise to some of Kobe's offensive idiosyncrasies. You can usually tell when the shot is going up as he'll start to put the ball between his legs, seemingly stiffen a little in his movements and start the same series of jukes and fakes before wheeling and firing up the shot. In the games I've seen this season, there have been some defenders who have had the patience and timing to calmly wait for the theatrics to end and then done a good job of challenging the less than ideal shot attempt. Kobe being the talent that he is will make that shot sometimes and can still sucker a defender into fouling him on a jumpshot, but other times the result is a really bad attempt while the rest of the Lakers stand around and watch.

[Jackal]

You're right, even someone as dimwitted as me can tell what Bryant is going to do. You watch enough games and you can tell. Defenders dont bite on his fakes as easily anymore either, because he usually uses the same amount before either taking the shot or passing it to a team mate with few seconds left on the clock.

The younger defenders bite more often than guys that have defended him more often. You can see it well against Matt Barnes, Raja Bell and Affalo. These are teams and players that watch what he does from game tapes and play him pretty well without biting on his series of moves.

Before he'd go to the basket a lot more as I said, now he's settling for jumpers.