NETS -at- LAKERS - 11/25 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Losing the Sense of Urgency...Finding It Late...Then Getting Lost in General... Here's how it was supposed to play out: With just over 3 seconds left, the Lakers trailing by two, Kobe Bryant gets the ball, attacks and hits at the buzzer to go to overtime.

Or...the ball goes inbounds to Bynum, who kicks it back to Fisher whose man left to double Kobe. DFish who was on fire, 8-10, steps into the shot and drains the three to win the game.

Or...Bynum gets the inbounds, can't kick it back to Fish because he is covered. Bynum goes to work over a smaller man and connects on a jumphook to tie it up.

Instead, we get the ball inbounds to Vlad, who was 0-9 at that point, and he bricked badly on his attempt from behind the arc. Why Vlad is even in the game or on that side of the court is beyond me with how he was shooting.

Bynum said he read the diagram wrong and blew his assignment. He was looking to free up Vlad with a screen instead of coming to the ball. "Honestly when we drew up the play, I thought that I was supposed to set the pick for Vlade for the three," Bynum said in the OC Register. "Really, he (Phil) wanted me to face the ball and get it on the inbound — you know how the defense falls asleep — and then Fish steps back inbounds and I was supposed to give it right back. But the way he (Jackson) diagrammed it, I thought I was supposed to set the pick for Vlade."

On the Lakers previous possession, Kobe had been fouled on a three pointer and could have tied the game, allowing us to play D for a few seconds to take it to overtime, but he missed the third FT -- his only miss of the night in 16 attempts.

But let's take the game back a quarter earlier. The team lost its sense of urgency during a sluggish third quarter and early fourth quarter. They finally showed up with some energy and intensity, and the Lakers stormed back late in the game. It was there for the taking. In fact, they had the lead late in the game. A poor pass from Kobe and a forced wing jumper by him were two possessions we wish we had back. Still, he was willing the team back from the dead prior to that.

The problem was that we had to be willed back from the dead. That's where we lost the game. We had too little margin for error late in the game and it cost us. "We came out super flat as a team," Bynum said afterward, talking about the second half. "Our energy just dropped. There's no reason for that."


Kobe -- -- The knee issues are a concern and Kobe certainly looked flat tonight for most of the game. He even looked a bit sluggish early in the second half with the rest of the team. Once he got the blood boiling late in the game, he pushed through the struggles and carried the team back into the fight. Unfortunately, he had a couple bad possessions late and he somehow missed his final freethrow that could have tied things up and allowed us to play D for a few seconds to take the game to overtime. Too bad we dug ourselves into too deep of a hole that it demanded perfection down the stretch. The Stats: Kobe finished with 31 points on a poor 7-21 shooting (2-5 from three, 15-16 from the line), 3 boards, 7 assists, 4 steals and 2 turnovers in 41 minutes. The Action: Crazy 19-foot corner fallaway on his first attempt, nothing but net. He missed a long jumper straight away, Bynum rebounded it, Kobe cut, took the pass and scored an And-1, he made the FT. He was blocked on a jumper in the lane. He got it back on the defensive end, swiping the ball from Allen, he then drew FTs, making both. He missed a three in transition. Good job pushing up and hitting Bynum in the lane for FTs. He flashed to the low post, took the entry against Carter and drew FTs, he made both. He attacked weakside, drew a crowd then spotted Fish in the opposite corner for a long two. He missed a wing jumper. He spotted Fish in the corner in transition and it led to a three. He up-faked Carter out of position, attacked and scored around Williams with his left (Your NBA TV No. 9 play of the night). He missed a wing three on iso. He missed an awkward looking flat-footed jumper against the shotclock. He missed a turnaround. He took the behind-the-back feed from Farmar and went behind his back to LO for a dunk on the break (Your NBA TV play of the night). He lobbed to Bynum in the middle of the lane for the dunk. He missed a bank short. He missed a wing jumper. He got swatted from behind. He missed a fade in the corner off the inbounds. Very poor shooting half, going 3-14 (5-5 from the line) for 11 points...but he also had 5 assists and 2 steals. He jumped the passing lane, knocked down a ball and then was fouled for FTs, he made both, his first points with 5:45 left in the third. He made a tech FT. He drew FTs on the perimeter in transition, he made both. He missed a baseline jumper, short. He missed a three, short. Kobe had 16 points, after the third, missing both attempts he took. He attacked from the three line, barely elevated but finessed the layup in. He drew FTs, pump faking from the perimeter, he made both. He set up Fish, attacking to his side then kicking out for the three. Smart sequence, he iso'd up top with Fish to his left, that gave him a lane which he took, he drew contact from the help D and flipped in an And-1 layup over his head (Your NBA No.2 play of the night), he cut the lead to 4 with 3 minutes left after making the FT. He was ticked after Carter drew a foul on him after clearing out on the other end. He then faced up and buried a big three to cut the lead to 2 with 2:30 left. He was called for another reach on Carter on the other end, giving up FTs. Ticked, he took the handoff from DFish, squared up from the wing a few feet behind the line and swished the long three to cut it to 1 with 2 minutes left. The D didn't want anything to do with Kobe, so they left Sasha to double, Kobe hit Sasha and he drained the wing three to give the Lakers a 2 point lead with 1:30 left. He had a pass deflected and Sasha was called for a clear-path foul giving the Nets two FTs and the ball, weak, weak call. Down by 1, he forced up a tough, fading wing jumper, pulling up into a double team, just a poor decision...we had to foul after the miss and trailed by 3 with just 7.2 seconds left. He was fouled on the inbounds, he tried to shoot as soon as he got it, the refs debated and gave him three FTs with 6 seconds left...he could tie the game if he made all three...he rattled in the first, buried the second, then missed the third to tie the game. Ouch.

Lamar -- -- With the Nets small lineup, Lamar covered a number of different players and switched a bit, keeping the Nets guessing at times. Offensively, a much better game. He felt confident on his jumper and attacked the lanes better. Much of his scoring was done on the ball versus off of it. "We got these teams down, we have to put them away," Lamar said. The Stats: He scored 16 points on an efficient 5-6 shooting (1-1 from three, 5-8 from the line), 3 boards, 1 assist, 4 turnovers before fouling out in the last few seconds. The Action: He blocked Allen in the post on one end, ran to the post on the other and drew FTs, he made one. He got tied up trying to get a post entry, then lost the ball trying to draw the foul, he then got T'd up. Great save off a long outlet pass that shouldn't have been thrown, he tossed it into the lap of Nachbar who was out of bounds. He trailed the break and after a couple behind-the-back pass from Farmar and Kobe, he dunked. He pulled up and hit a 17-footer straight away. He took a kickout from Famar, didn't hesitate to put it on the floor, got into the lane and finger-rolled at high speed. Feeling it, he took the kickout from Farmar and swished the corner three. Much better first half than his entire last two games combined, scoring 10 points on 4-4 shooting. He had just 1 board, but was covering some perimeter players. He swished a pull-up from 17 feet. He picked up his third foul, early in the third on iso against Jefferson. He stepped out of bounds attacking from the left side. He got blocked by Williams who was trailing the break. He drew FTs, powering into Carter in transition, he made one. He drew FTs away from the ball, posting up Jefferson, he made both. He was called for an offensive foul, sliding to his right to avoid it and the defender flopped, the call erased a basket and LO had to sit late in the third with four fouls. He attacked down the lane and drew FTs, he made just one. He picked up his fifth foul in the post and had to sit after a short stint. He had to take an intentional foul and fouled out.

DFish -- -- Great game by Fish. Kidd is about a tough a cover there is and will usually light up the stat sheet. Fish did his best to get it back. He was on fire from the perimeter. A number of his shots were nothing but net. wish he could have had a chance to win it. The Stats: DFish scored 20 points on an impressive 8-10 shooting (2-3 from three, 2-2 from the line), he had 4 boards and 3 assists in 29 minutes. The Action: He swished an elbow jumper in semi-transition. He swished another from the top of the key. He swished his third attempt, this one on a kickout from Kobe to Fish in the corner, a toe on the three line. He swished his fourth attempt when Kobe spotted him in transition in the other corner (he hasn't hit rim yet). After a long rest, he came back in and finally hit rim, rattling in the 20-footer. He had 11 points on 5-5 shooting in just 11 minutes at the half. Kidd started to take it to Fish and the Lakers to start the second half (he had 9 points and 8 assists in the third). Fisher was called for a charge on the break, running over a defender. He pulled up on the baseline and swished a jumper. He sank a 17-footer, bringing the ball up the court and hitting from the elbow. He got tapped on a three from the corner right over Kidd. Kobe kicked out to him and Fish swished a wing three. He was called for a reach on Jefferson late in the game, but Jefferson missed a FT. With under a minute left, he attacked to his left and missed a forced shot, got it back under the hoop and was hacked, down by one, he made both FTs to give the Lakers a 1-point lead.

Radmanovic -- -- Vlad got the start and the unfortunate finish. Horrible, horrible shooting night. It cost us more than on the final possession. Killed us all game long. Offensively, he couldn't hit a thing. Wasn't close on a numer of attempts and got swatted on a few. Pretty much worthless all night. Defensively, a lot of switching between him and LO on Jefferson. The Stats: Ugly. He went 0-10 from the floor, including 0-7 from three and 1-2 from the line for his 1 lousy point in 24 minutes. He was even called for a tech to give back that 1 point he scored. He mixed in 3 turnovers for some added stink. The Action: He missed a wing three. He got rejected by Williams trying to shoot over him, he then got the T. He attacked the lane and missed at the front of the rim. He drew FTs in transition when Farmar set him up, he made one. He traveled in the post. He missed a three, short. Weak attempt to finish at the rim and he was blocked again. He missed a three. His dribble was swiped on an attack and it led to a layup on the break. He missed a three, short. He missed a wing three, not close. Let's give it to him with the game on the line...clank.

Bynum -- 8) -- It would have been real interesting had the ball gotten into him for the game-tying shot. And DFish is covered on the return pass. He would have had to go to work. Too bad he blew the assignment. Bynum bounced back offensively after his poor game in Boston. Seemed like he could have had his way in the post tonight. No matter how he does on that end, Bynum says: "The thing I can do is just help my team defensively every night because that is just effort." He added that it wasn't easy because he's still trying to learn on that end. The Nets looked to put him through the pick and roll tonight quite a bit. "They ran it like 15 times straight," Drew said. "Everytime they see me, it's like pick on him. So, definitely, I have to learn to defend that better." He added that it was a collective effort to defend it, though. Pretty decent game, otherwise. He had some big boards and a couple blocked shots down the stretch. The Stats: He finished with 12 points on 5-7 shooting (just 2-6 from the line), grabbed 13 boards, blocked 3 shots and had 3 steals in 36 minutes. The Action: He went up high for an offensive board, pulled it down and fed Kobe cutting down the middle for an And-1 layup. He got hammered on a dunk out on the break, he missed both FTs. He ripped an offensive board away from the Nets and then powered up and threw down. Wow, he took a post entry away from the fronting Williams, power dribbled and threw down. He traveled in the post on what was a pretty good power step-through move until he dragged his pivot foot. He got the ball swiped from behind on the next trip. Next time down, Kobe sent him an oop and Andrew threw it down. He held position, didn't leave his feet and forced Jefferson into the brick. He missed a tip attempt with just 0.3 on the inbounds pass. He had 6 points, 9 boards, 1 steal and 2 turnovers in 17 first half minutes. He posted up Williams and hooked over him with ease in the middle of the lane. He drop-stepped with speed and drew a foul, he made one FT. He took an inbounds and tried to throwdown right over Williams, he drew the foul, he made one FT. He blocked Williams on one end, got it back after sealing Williams on the break and he back-rimmed the dunk attempt on the other. He took the post entry and powered in a short hook on the next possession. Poor screen-roll D and his man got an easy dunk as Bynum was in no man's land. He stole a bounce entry pass. He got blocked from behind (he looked mugged) and the Nets scored an And-1 on the other end. He blocked Kidd at the basket. Big defensive board with 54 seconds left and he was fouled. He blocked Williams under the hoop, but we couldn't control it.

Luke -- -- Not much of a game from Luke. He couldn't score or set up others and had his hands full defensively. He even made some bad decisions with the ball and a couple bad rotations, which is something he's usually decent on. The Stats: He scored just 3 points on 1-5 shooting, grabbed 3 boards, had 1 assist and 3 turnovers in 20 minutes. The Action: He swiped the ball out of Carter's hands and ignited the break. He tried to thread the needle early in offense and he turned it over. He missed a turnaround in the lane. Herky-jerky drive off the dribble, he then missed off the glass. He got blocked by Williams. He attacked down the right side, drew FTs and made one. He lost the handle making a move and turned it over. He sealed his man, took the corner entry from Vlad and scored a layup. Poor perimeter pass and Kidd picked it off for a breakaway.

Farmar -- -- Not great stats from Farmar and he was a bit inefficient on some plays where we had good scoring opportunities. Despite his poor shooting, Farmar will still usually give you something. He was aggressive on D, hit the boards and dished a few assists. He was a little steamed when he got benched in the fourth. The Stats: He scored just 2 points on 1-5 shooting, had 4 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 turnovers in 19 minutes. The Action: He pushed up the break and set up Vlad for FTs. Good recovery to his man and it drew a travel. He found Ronny in the lane for a score. He stepped back and drilled an 18-footer from the left side of the lane, his only score. He missed a wing three. He ball-faked behind his back, then when the defender didn't bite, he went behind his back to Kobe, who went behind his back to LO for the dunk. Pressure D, knocking the ball loose from Kidd for a turnover. He hit LO on a kickout for a three. He missed a sideline three. He missed a pull-up jumper on the break. He fronted the bigger post man and stole the entry pass. On the other end, he turned it over trying to force lob to Ariza, who wasn't sure what Farmar was doing. He had only 2 points on 1-4 shooting in the first half, but had the 4 assists and 3 steals in 12 minutes. He stupidly picked up his dribble in the corner when he could have worked the two-man game, then he threw it away forcing a pass on the baseline. He got blocked by Carter going soft on the breakaway (Carter looked flat footed, I bet Farmar could have jammed on him on that one).

Turiaf -- -- Limited minutes from Ronny. We could have used his D on the pick and roll at some points. Phil eventually went to that for a short stint. The Stats: He played just 8 minutes and scored 6 points on 2-5 shooting, he grabbed just 1 board and had 2 fouls. The Action: He missed a 19-footer from the wing. He took a Farmar pass in the lane, spun and hit a short jumphook over his man. He played just 2 minutes in the first half. He missed an open baseline jumper. He attacked from the elbow with speed and drew a foul, he made both FTs. He swatted Nachbar on the break and was called for a weak foul. He took a post entry, missed the first, got it back and scored.

Mihm -- -- Phil hardly went to him with the Nets not much of a post threat and more of a pick and roll threat (really could have used Kwame in this one). Mihm managed to play okay in his short minutes, getting on the offensive glass a couple of times as well as hitting his own shots. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-2 shooting and grabbed 4 boards in just 4 minutes of play. The Action: He gave up an offensive board that led to a three on one end, he got it back with an offensive board on the other and hit the jumphook. He tipped an offensive board to himself, he then got it back in the post, faced up and hit the jumper. He intercepted a pass from Kidd and outlet quickly to ignite the break.

Ariza -- -- With the athletic perimeter players of the Nets, Phil threw Ariza into the mix. He has only had shootarounds thus far to integrate with the team. He moved the ball well and slashed with some speed in the offense. That will be his strength and will help diminish his lack of range on the jumper. It will take a while to get comfortable in the offense, but when he does he will start to find ways to score off the ball within the system. Defensively, he will be active and disruptive in the passing lanes and help secure the boards. He played just 7 minutes, but you could see maybe a hint or two of some of those skills. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting, grabbed 1 board and had 1 steal and 1 foul in 7 minutes. The Action: He got his first minutes and decent applause midway through the second quarter when he entered. After a succession of passes, he got the ball back with the shotclock low, put Carter on his butt in the post, faced up and banked from about 12 feet out. Pressure D on Jefferson, he fouled him in the lane. He grabbed a high defensive rebound and pushed out the dribble on the break. He attacked and kicked to Jordan, who missed the three. He deflected a pass in transition D to start the break the other way. He played 4 minutes in the first half. Back in midway through the fourth. He tipped a ball out of bounds, Carter then hit a jumper over him. Carter hit another jumper over him on iso. Phil than sat him, bringing in Lamar and Sasha.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha got some crunch time minutes and hit a huge shot. I would have rather seen him in there chucking than Vlad tonight. Sasha never forced anything and gave a good effort on D. He was in on another key, controversal play late in the game. Kobe tried to hit him with a pass, but it was deflected and the Nets were going to break out for an easy dunk. It all happened in a split second, Sasha fouled, reaching his arm from the side and taking the whistle. The refs gave the Nets a clear-path foul, two FTs and the ball. That's killer in the last few possessions of a game and it certainly didn't seem like a clear-cut case as Sasha was coming in from the side to foul. The Stats: He played 14 minutes and scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting, he had 1 board, 1 block and 4 fouls. The Action: Kidd posted him up and it was an instant two FTs early on. Late in the fourth, his man left him to get the ball out of Kobe's hand, Sasha took the pass and drained the clutch three from the wing to give the Lakers a lead. On the final play, he was sent to the far corner, while Vlad was sent to the ball, might have been nice to reverse that.

Phil -- -- He said he needs to talk to Dr. Buss about his 2-year $24 million extension that is on the table before making his thoughts known publically. Come on? Two year, $24 mil? Is he really contemplating anything? I'm curious about what that conversation goes like. Does he ask for a more veteran ball club? A certain move made? What?... Two Lakers got T's in the first quarter arguing with the refs. It didn't affect them later... The Lakers had a 26-18 first quarter lead, playing some spirited D, pushing the ball out for early offense and working for good shots... The second unit played some energy ball and helped the Lakers to a 49-37 lead at the half. A little sloppy on a few transition sequences. Jason Kidd had 6 turnovers in the first half. The Lakers shot 20-40 for 50 percent, the Nets made 14-36 for 39 percent. The Lakers fouled just 6 times in the half. The Lakers won the break 8-2 in the first half, despite some poor possessions... Then came the second half. They Lakers came out like they had just polished off Thanksgiving leftovers. And the Nets came out like someone just stole their Thanksgiving leftovers... Phil called a timeout midway through the third and yelled at the team. They lost the intensity they were playing with in the first half, Kobe included. There was no sense of urgency... He subbed out Vlad early in the third. Later, he subbed out Bynum for Turiaf as the Nets started to work the pick and roll... The Lakers were milking points from the line in the third off a ton of Net fouls... The Lakers lack of energy put them even with the Nets 72-72 after the third. They gave up 35 points in the quarter after giving up just 37 in the first half... Phil started the fourth with Bynum, Vlad, Luke, Sasha and Farmar... Phil sat zazen with that unit getting the boo's. The Nets lead ballooned to 10 points in a flash... The Nets had just 4 points off turnovers in the first half, but 13 in the second half... The Nets went on a 22-5 run between the third and fourth quarters... The Lakers came back with a late rally of the their own... Kobe hit a couple big shots, Sasha, too. Kobe then missed a key, tough wing jumper, forcing it into a double team. Very odd sequence and possession... The final play, as mentioned, forced Kobe into a double on the inbounds, it left an 0-9 Vlad as an option, 8-10 Fish passing the ball with no one on him and Bynum not prepared to get it. Phil wanted Fish to hit Bynum in the post with Kobe getting that double. That would have been sketchy, if Fish's man recovered back to Fish, but would have given Bynum a chance to show something with the game on the line. Wish Mr. 0.4 had a chance vs. Mr. 0-10. Wish the play was executed better. Or drawn up better to get No. 24 the ball without bringing him into a double...

Heard at the Game -- -- The final play in the huddle was heard to be drawn up for Kobe to get the ball and attack. Kobe was furious he didn't get the ball on the play... He was also particularly aggressive demanding the ball earlier and ticked at Luke and Lamar when they didn't give him the ball on other possessions... Odom and Phil got into it repeatedly during the game, with LO saying he was working his ass off and Phil telling him he was bringing us down...

[OscarWang]

Keep our heads up guys!
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"Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise."

- Kobe Bryant

[Laker7]

Too bad Bynum blew the last play because other than that play and the FT's, I thought he played a pretty good game.

I do not understand why PJ did not put Mihm in and go to him offensively. The Nets front line is pathetic.

Like what I saw from Ariza. Hope he gets more playing time soon.

Good to hear PJ getting onto Lamar. Lamar needs to change (be a more agressive scorer) or go. Either way is fine with me.
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[OscarWang]

Too late man
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"Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise."

- Kobe Bryant

[Jeffs]

I don't think there is an emoticon to describe how poorly Vlad and Luke played.

Can't wait until Ariza starts getting some more time. These are precisely the type of teams that we need him to play substantial minutes against.
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Jeffs

I feel like I just watched someone TRULY give 100%. Not the BS I'm-gonna-give-a-110%-just-like-everyone-else-says platitudes, but someone that went until he just....broke. - GT

[LAkers 4 Life]

Phil looks like he's losing some control over his team. He better start earning his $$$ and fix these problems. Lack of communication, especially on the defensive end, has killed the Lakers the last few games along with no halftime adjustments by Phil to counter what the Nets were going to do in the third, which was let Kidd loose.

[KOBE 2.0]

Help us ALMIGHTY WISDOMS!

[Laker7]

I also like Bynum owning up to the fact he blew the final play. Plenty of other players in the league that would blow it off or blame someone else.
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[DancingBarry]

L7 - Bynum owns up a lot. He's one of the most frank assessors and self-critics that I recall hearing in the pro game. It's a nice change of pace. That will serve him well as it makes him open to instruction and aware of his weaknesses. You combine that with the flashes of fire he is starting to show...and he's got a pretty good head on his shoulders (despite tonight's blow it on the play).

[Tanlentueux]

thanks for the recap.

[melo061]

Kobe seriously needs to get out of his rut. If he shoots a little better, laker's win. I know the other guys suck but you simply cannot have your leader shooting 33%. I'm sure he understands his shooting off, maybe we'll see more post up opportunities like we saw in this game.

Odom with yet another spectacular game

I didn't get to watch this game live, infact i haven't seen the last 3 games live and we've lost all 3. Maybe there's a link!
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Perfect music.

[A Mad Chinaman]

Thanks for the Recap

DB - it appears that the Lakers are about 5 minutes away from being an elite team. Of course, many other teams are also 5 minutes from achieving that status.

What I mean is this, if the Lakers (collectively) had the ability to eliminate those dreadful stretches that usually last about 5 minutes during crucial times of the game - things would be a lot better. Spurs/Suns have players in Nash/Manu/TD/Tony Parker that will raise their game to effectively eliminate these times. Kobe (obviously can do this himself) but somehow not able to help the team collectively get out of these times. Imagine what would have happened if during that 10-0 run, they answered with a mini-run of their own.

Kobe's legs - what is the latest on his knees? Even though he missed some shots at the end of the game, if the Kobe-led team was able to have a 22 point differences (from leading by 12 to losing by 10).

Amazing how much a difference it is having DFish in the lineup, as oppose to the Mighty Smush!

Luke seems to be in a constant funk - is he not able to read the 2nd team effectively for some reason?

what's the latest in the Turiaff injury situation?

[LakerSanity]

No one should blame Kobe or anyone offensively for this loss, blame our defense... ONLY DEFENSE.

This game is yet another example of why defense matters. The Nets scored 65 points in the second half. We shouldn't have to average 40 points a quarter to beat teams. To put it in context, Kobe could have shot the exact same he shot, but instead of 65 points, we give up 25 a quarter in the second half... we do that, we still win by 13 points.

It's ALLLLL about defense. That's all that matters. Even though our O was nothing to talk about in the 1st half, we had a lead because we held them to under 40% shooting. Our O in the second was actually just about the same as it was in the 1st half (49 in the 1st half, 51 in the second), however our DEFENSE got SUBSTANTIALLY worse.

Phil needs to whip the horses on D.
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Twitter: @DeleteThisPost

[DancingBarry]

No energy and intensity ... no D. They came out flat in the second half and got flattened. That's where we really lost the game.

[LakerSanity]

[KingKobe20]

If Kurt Rambis was playing we would of WON!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mation]

Thanks DB. Our guys need to have a collective talk with one another, regroup, and erase some of this negativity with a win on Tuesday.

Kobe's really going to need that break come next week Wednesday. You would think with three of the top-ten NBA-TV highlights, we win this game. Good to hear that last play wasn't the intended one. Like the honest quotes from Bynum after the game.

[D Nice]

What upsets me almost everytime I watch this team is that with two incredibly simple moves, we could fix almost everything.

We could get a consistent #2, plug our defensive holes, and get some big man depth. All it takes is Odom for Marion and Brown/2nd Round Picks for K. Thomas.

PG: Farmar/Fisher/Crittenton
SG: Kobe/Ariza/Sasha
SF: Marion/Walton/Carl
PF: Turiaf/Thomas/Vlad
Cc: Bynum/Mihm

Tell me what that team lacks? We've got someone who can guard the Yao's, Duncan's, etc's in Kurt Thomas, we've got 3 at least solid defenders on the perimeter, we've got interior finishing with Bynum, a 2nd guy who you can rely on for 16+ every night, shooting, everything. Our only weaknesses would be a lack of playmaking outside of Kobe and a post presence, but with Farmar/Critt and Drew's development, we could really be hell as soon as next year.

It just baffles my damn mind.

[A Mad Chinaman]

[jmark]

A full & a 20 sec TO and Drew still didn't know what to do???? Ask! :roll: Stew even joked about that during the broadcast.
_________________
"I appreciate all those who have supported me. Thank you for believing in me. My family and I are going to need your support and prayers now more than ever." Kobe

[TooCool]

These are the kind of games that we need to win. It's going to bite us in the butt when it comes to playoff positioning =\

Thanks DB! Good post as usual.
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[Shaber]

Drew did not loose this game.

It was Vlads 0-10 and Lukes "speed" and 1-5.

You can add 10 missed FT-s if you like... Overall this team needs a better spirit - isn't that something a head coach should take care of?




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Counting days till Rambis takes over.

[parsons777]

[CorkyTomjanovich]

That poor pass from Kobe at the end was Sasha's fault. When you trap the wing, common sense tells you to rotate to the top, but Sasha was sticking close to the left wing.

[limchrc]

Close match. Hope we can win our next match.