I was up until 3:00 A.M. Eastern steaming mad, living up to my moniker.
Having a red hot Pau Gasol called out of the post to provide a screen 25+ feet from the basket for an ice cold Kobe sickened me. That was just stupid basketball, regardless of any heroics that might have won the game.
Maybe that is the silver lining. As much as I appreciate Kobe, he over-indulged on a feast of bad shots in the Finals last season. I hope last night was his Kaplan Postseason Prep Review Course, because the Pretest showed that his answers were wrong.
Joined: 03 Nov 2004 Posts: 8272 Location: San Diego, CA
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 6:41 am Post subject:
THATS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PLAY AROUND AND BLOW BIG LEADS AT HOME _________________ "When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu
I don't know if anyone noticed this but Andre Iquadala pwnd Kobe. When Luke came in after Kobe's 4th foul in the 3rd quarter, Andre was practically held scoreless. From what I recall, I think we came from behind and gained an 11 point lead. Andre didn't go off until Kobe returned. It's times like these when I question Phil's IQ. We should have milked that lineup for all it's worth.
When Kobe came back he was determined to get his scoring going and ignored Pau. That was a stupid move which ultimately cost us the game. If Kobe doesn't wake up and see the light you can kiss the championship goodbye. When he's challenged by younger athletic freaks that are bigger than him, and getting double teams, we need to use that attention he gets by working the offense through Pau who's been playing out of this world.
Regarding Kobe's matchup against Andre, he should have posted him up, since he obviously can't take him off the dribble, and their collapsing Defense took away any open lanes created from screens.
Just to highlight some things that puzzled me from tonight's game.
Kobe's 4th quarter:
10:33 assist
9:15 miss
8:15 miss
6:45 TO
6:16 miss
4:07 TO
3:46 miss
3:20 dreb
2:53 dreb
2:39 assist
1:04 miss
0:06 two point basket
He was trying to make a three as he finally hit one, but stepped inside the line. They didn't need a three, but more importantly he shot too quick.
As soon as Stu got through saying they need to take as much time as possible, the ball left Kobe's hands. I said to myself, well now they have 6 seconds to tie or win it.
One guy doesn't lose games, but I didn't understand what he was doing most of the period. Seems like he had more than two turnovers.
Forcing it unnecessarily, as usual. Sometimes we can get away with it, but tonight it bit us in the ass. Kobe's got a lot of talent around him. Kobe ball the whole 4th quarter makes it too easy on the defense. We've got to just keep running the offense instead of ISOing Kobe all quarter.
Outside of that, I think Phil should have played LO more. He and Powell could have done fine against Philly's front line to give Pau a little more rest. I can't believe he left Fish on the bench til there was only 4 minutes left in the game. What did that give Ears 10 minutes to screw up? Geez! LO should have come back in earlier in the fourth as well. That loss was a combination of the bench sucking, Phil not giving them a short enough leash, and Ariza's brain fart for not using the foul to give. _________________ “I’m just a basketball player, you know? Just put me where you need me.” -Lamar Odom
I was up until 3:00 A.M. Eastern steaming mad, living up to my moniker.
Having a red hot Pau Gasol called out of the post to provide a screen 25+ feet from the basket for an ice cold Kobe sickened me. That was just stupid basketball, regardless of any heroics that might have won the game.
Maybe that is the silver lining. As much as I appreciate Kobe, he over-indulged on a feast of bad shots in the Finals last season. I hope last night was his Kaplan Postseason Prep Review Course, because the Pretest showed that his answers were wrong.
Don't worry, it'll have no effect whatsoever. Kobe is what he is. A great player with a tragic flaw. _________________ “I’m just a basketball player, you know? Just put me where you need me.” -Lamar Odom
I honestly felt that they would find a way to screw up. My first thought was: "they'll probably find a way to foul someone while the ball is being inbounded. get called for a tech, and be awarded the ball, and they'll win on a cheap two pointer or miserable foul call."
never in my wildest dreams did I figure them blowing it as stupidly as they did.
This game has basically put me off of this year's edition. The lazy, half-hearted efforts, the unearned arrogance ... the smug coaching decisions.
I've complained about this team even when they win because I've said all along that this brand of idiot-ball will come back to haunt them. It would be tolerable if they seemingly learned from their mistakes. But, sadly, they've only found even more creative ways to f-up and give games away.
Too bad. It's tough to watch a team blow a golden opportunity seemingly for lack of desire and professionalism.
SGH
SGH touches on something that worries me - it seems like 50% of the Laker losses are situations where they blow a lead in the fourth quarter and lose on a game ending play. This is not good.
Then again, the Spurs teams did that during their championship runs.
I have news for you, too - it was a throwaway line by SGH, but I think it's the biggest problem right now:
Sister Golden Hair wrote:
... the smug coaching decisions.
Phil has irrationallly stuck with something that is clearly broken for a long time - and it has resulted in the rest of the league thinking they can beat the Lakers. You all realize the Lakers will have zero psychological advantage going into the playoffs, right?
Like clockwork, opposing coaches have been leaving their starters in at the beginning of the fourth quarter when Phil clears his bench, and like clockwork, those starters make a big run and get back in the game.
AND PHIL REFUSES TO ADJUST.
Last night, the unit he had out there was red hot and with momentum...and he subs them out rather than leaving them in to finish off the Sixers by extending the lead to 20+.
And Kobe...well, I guess he's entitled to a bad game every now and then right? His fourth quarter performance was HORRENDOUS. Forget Farmar, Sasha, etc - Kobe almost single-handedly cost the Lakers this one.
I know he hit the big shot with 6 seconds left - but that was after he turned the ball over a bunch of times on forced passes, and missed 5 bad shots that were outside of the context of the offense.
Do you think maybe if he had moved the ball inside to Pau the Lakers wouldn't have needed that shot...and wouldn't be in danger of losing the game at the end?
I know Ariza didn't take the foul at the end, but you can't boil the game down to that one play, DB.
This game was lost WAY before that.
(AND BY THE WAY...WHY THE @&$% WAS ARIZA GUARDING IGGY IN THAT SITUATION, ANYWAY???!!! KOBE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GUARDING HIM).
The way the team has played lately, it was bound to happen.
Kobe, due to sitting so much, went into Hero mode as soon as he stepped on the court in the 4th. He was trying to make up for lost time and put his imprint on the game. He didn't accurately sense the game. Yes, he hit what should've been the game winner, but as we are all feeling, the game should not have come down to the final seconds.
Not much to say about Ariza's brainlock. Just something to learn from. Interestingly, I figured Kobe would be guarding Iggy at that point in the game. No slight to Ariza, but that was a situation that Kobe would normally demand. But, of course, it was Kobe's foul trouble that led to Ariza guarding Iggy, the thinking being that the Lakers would use the foul to give and then perhaps switch.
JoFar and Sasha have been absolute killers on the floor. Shannon Brown led the 2nd unit guards with a -8. Sheesh!
Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Posts: 1890 Location: reppin Garden Grove
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 10:13 am Post subject:
remember 1/2 of our bench is now starting, Ariza/Odom. They used to be bench, now its Mbenga/Powell getting major minutes, the quality drop off is quite significant. _________________ "I didn't mean to walk in the shower with him. Yeah, I walked in the shower. I'm not a homosexual, but Kobe - he had no clothes on." - Ron Artest
Thanks for the recap DB. I didn't mind Trevor allowing Iggy to take the long 3 and not give a foul. I didn't like how he didn't elevate and contest the shot better. The look was too clean because TA didn't want to foul. He _________________ Stop crying and start doing.
And what a miserable way to lose too. It shouldn't had come down to Ariza having to foul, I know, but it did. And then Ariza forgot to foul. How does that happen exactly? How can a NBA player not know that he has to foul? It really is unbelievable.
Anyhow, I am glad this has happened now, perhaps it will serve as a wake up call for some.
Joined: 18 Mar 2009 Posts: 265 Location: San Diego
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 2:28 pm Post subject:
Guys, Trevor was in his jersey. "Loosely guarded" as the AP phrased it, is ridiculous.
Andre had shot 0-6 up to that point, he's not a great outside shooter, let him take the shot. Win like men, lose like men. Great shot, my hat goes off to him.
Guys, Trevor was in his jersey. "Loosely guarded" as the AP phrased it, is ridiculous.
Did you really watch the game last night? Seriously... you're so wrong I had to make sure you weren't being sarcastic.
Explain to me how Trevor was in Iggy's jersey. He wasn't in Iggy's jersey because he was defending the drive, not the shot. Do you understand the difference? Here's a clue, straight from Trevor Ariza:
“I thought he was going to try to go to the rim. I could have fouled him on the way but I didn’t expect him to pull up. He hit a tough shot. He’s a good player and that’s what good players do, they hit tough shots. That’s what he did.”
Now explain to me how Trevor was in "Andre's jersey" when he (in his own words) was defending the drive?
DBailey wrote:
Win like men, lose like men. Great shot, my hat goes off to him.
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THATS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PLAY AROUND AND BLOW BIG LEADS AT HOME 
