Lakers Thread

[shadowgrin]

It's D'Antoni Knicks mode.

[NovU]

Thanks to that, Lakers are a fantasy league mess right now. LoL

[Jackal]

You guys are giving Mike too much credit, really. The guy is dumb. He wouldn't start Kaman + Gasol even if it worked amazingly. He likes Williams, that's the only reason that guy is even on the team.

I think Mike is just a terrible coach, but I've already mentioned that in seasons before. It's a very guard dominated offense and I don't like it because I enjoy watching post/paint play. Especially with a guy like Gasol who was probably one of the most skilled big men in seasons past.

And if they are tanking...then it's not because Mike is choosing to do so, it's just a bonus that he's so dumb to stick to his shitty rotations. Btw; I have nothing against tanking. This season is a throw away, I said that the moment Howard blew his vagina. That being said; I think they'll have to build the team back up via free agency in the coming years and not rely too much on the draft since they only have their pick this year.

Novu since you seem to forget things (Mike Brown coaching LA and all)...Mike D had a strong dislike for Jordan Hill when he was on the Knicks & has history with Williams from his Knicks days too. So he might just not play Hill because of whatever reasoning he has just like in NY.

And of course the fucktard has to join the conversation stating the obvious, can't be left out now can he?

[NovU]

Honestly, I think the Lakers should tank this season and try to land top 10 pick. There's nothing in it for the Lakers other than pride this season. I thought more Lakers fans would be saying 'fuck it, let's tank and get that top 10 pick'. I mean next season sounds really promising especially with clean book. Kobe re-signs for 10mil a season, LAL draft young prospect, shop FA. Sounds perfect.

If the LAL are really tanking, D'Antoni should stop being pretentious and declare it obvious like Stevens from Boston. I mean Sauru right now must be ecstatic how things are going over there. Tonight, he benched Green and Faverani for entire 4th quarter despite the game being a close one. And Bass/Avery/Gerald are the guys that got most playing time with Avery hoisting all the shots for BOS. Isn't that beautiful?

[SoF'nAwesome]

And of course the fucktard has to join the conversation stating the obvious, can't be left out now can he?

Please don't. No, I'm hurt.

[Jackal]

Trying. Too. Hard.

On topic..I'm glad Williams fouled out, gave Hill those minutes and he won them the game. Nice to see D'Antoni insert Henry in to the starting 5, now he should look to replace Williams with Hill. Nice defensive effort by Johnson, we all knew he had hops but it's good to see he's applying it on the defensive end instead of taking Kobe-shots on the offensive side.

[NovU]

Must be an awesome feel good victory over the Rockets. Dwight Howard's missed freethrows cost the Rockets a game. His smile was wiped off clean when Steve Blake hit that 3 pointer. What a thriller.

[Bruce]

Fluke #2 of the season just happened for the Lakers and it's great that it was against the Rockets and Dwight. LOL. Good to see Kaman and Gasol starting together, at least they were able to match the rebounding of Dwight & Asik. 99-98 Lakers on a Blake buzzer beating trey.

[NovU]

LOL. Good to see Kaman and Gasol starting together,

Yup. The LAL came out and built a huge lead. Though 19 point lead was wiped off, Blake's 3 pointer gave the Lakers a win. Win is a Win, so no complaint there I guess.

[Stress Fracture]

[shadowgrin]

[Jackal]

I hope Dwight Howard never wins a championship.

[NovU]

BOOM

Look at Nash's love for Lin. He bearhugged him.

[shadowgrin]

Refs didn't call it because Lin was hugging Nash too, look at his right arm on Nash, same way Nash's left arm was on Lin.

Typical Heat Nation! to whine expecting a foul.


I thought Patrick Beverly was good at defense, he was terrible at that play.

[NovU]

Foul or not, it's the sequence that made all this epic. LoL, check out Lin's gesture at the end. "seriously, guys? c'mon."

Beverly otherwise for that play was ok overall on D for the game. But Harden... not that he was known for D anytime in his career but it's clear he's going Kobe, sacrificing D for O.

[Jackal]

Lin's gesture was towards Howard/Beverly. Beverly was supposed to cover Blake and if picked off Howard was supposed to rotate. Watch till the end of the game, Lin & Howard seem to be in an animated discussion about positioning and how Howard was supposed to rotate with Lin doing lots of hand gesturing.

[shadowgrin]

Looking at it, probably Lin's coverage was Blake with Beverly at Nash but since Lin got tangled with Nash it was up to Lin's teammates who were behind him who had a better view of the play to adjust accordingly, Lin might even be shouting about it as it was happening, yeah bad rotation indeed.

[Stress Fracture]

And a very good and solid screen by Gasol.

[Bruce]

And a very good and solid screen by Gasol.

But it looked to me like Nash & Gasol had very specific assignments to guard Lin & Beverly. My theory is that possibly MDA has a long list of pet peeves regarding DH, and that is DH while strong on blocks and rebounds is slow to rotate on perimeter players. Or it could be simply, MDA might have gambled that the Rockets were thinking the Lakers team was gunning for a tie and went ahead for the 3. Talk all they may about this being beating the Rockets, but I am sure the Lakers are very satisfied in grabbing this win.

[_Steve_]

Anyone else here who has got the feeling that Nash is done?

[Andrew]

It seems that that's a distinct possibility, with him still suffering the effects of the nerve damage that resulted from his leg fracture. That doesn't sound pleasant at all for day-to-day life, let alone professional basketball at the highest level.

[Stress Fracture]

Really makes me wonder what is with the Suns' medical team because their players stayed relevantly healthy. Nash didn't have those kind of injuries back then.

[Andrew]

I believe the fracture was just a freak injury that unfortunately had the additional complication of nerve damage.

[Patr1ck]

Isn't he the oldest player in the league? I'm sure being older makes it harder to recover from those injuries, regardless that he's a professional basketball player.

[shadowgrin]

Really makes me wonder what is with the Suns' medical team because their players stayed relevantly healthy. Nash didn't have those kind of injuries back then.

http://valleyofthesuns.com/2012/04/05/s ... ing-staff/
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/w ... s-trainers

The Suns’ big man had misfired on 30 of his previous 39 three-pointers and 52 of his 82 attempts overall entering the April 11 game versus Minnesota. So clearly something had changed for Frye when he shot like Dirk Nowitzki against the Timberwolves, canning a franchise-record-tying nine treys and drilling 12-of-18 shots overall in an overtime win.

Frye explained that his right butt cheek shut off, which then affected his thigh and his hamstring and threw off his balance and ultimately his shot. Once the Suns’ training staff fixed the first issue, Frye felt — and played — like a different player.