Last Season’s Lakers. Houston certainly gave “The Kobe Rules†a shot, trying a few different ways to force the ball out of Kobe’s hands. At one point late in the first half, when Kobe had been bringing the ball up the court, the Rockets started trapping him with two men as soon as he crossed […]
Archives for December 2006
Preview and Chat: The Houston Rockets
Don’t expect a long preview, it feels like we did this just a few days ago. Double Yao. The one thing discussed after the last game here was that the Lakers waited until the second half to start doubling Yao Ming in the post. Not so coincidentally, that’s when the Lakers went on a big […]
The Kobe Rules
It was mentioned by Ian yesterday in the comments, Dallas has developed its “Kobe Rules†— defensive rules that apply just to Kobe in an attempt to stop him from doing things like scoring 62 points in three quarters. The rules are pretty logical: try to deny Kobe the ball, be physical with him, vary […]
Preview and Chat: The Dallas Mavericks
Odom’s status. The official word has come down and it looks like the Lakers are without Odom for the next four weeks at least. Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. Saving Kwame. Another great post at Lakernoise by Roland Lazenby, this one about the turnaround in Kwame Brown: Yes, Kwame Brown […]
Life Without Lamar
Well, that sucks. If one guy deserved a season without misfortune it was Odom. First things first, we’ll know more later today on just how long Odom will be out after the MRI is completed. Early guesses ranged from one to six weeks, depending on who you listen to. But as kwame a. said in […]
Preview and Chat: The Houston Rockets
14-6. It was the record we hoped the Lakers would come out of that heavy home schedule with, and even with the toughest tests ahead I think we’ve learned a lot about this team through 20 games. And there are a lot of reasons to be excited. Due to a couple of big games I’ll […]
Third quarter D steps up
Getting statted up: Ginobili had 4 third quarter turnovers, Parker 2 as the Lakers for the first time this season showed signs that they can play lockdown defense against a contender in a crucial part of the game. It is a Phil jackson signature to finish quarters strong, especially third quarters, and the Lakers did […]
Preview and Chat: San Antonio Spurs
Spurs Point differential: +9.2 The Lakers are going to have to keep these guys under 100 points if they are going to give themselves a chance. The Spurs and the Lakers have almost identical offensive ratings, so this one comes down to the Lakers playing above board defense and the Bynum/Brown duo showing up enough […]
Entry Pass
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall” -Confucius The uneven play of a young but talented team is a frustration that can sometimes be hard to bear. You see the potential and the flashes of continuity. Sometimes, as happened last Wednesday, you see that potential manifest itself […]
Preview and Chat: The Atlanta Hawks
The Reverse Ewing. Most of you are probably familiar with ESPN.com’s Bill “The Sports Guy” Simmons, who coined the phrase “the Ewing theory” for when a team overachieves without its star. He based it on those Riley-coached Knicks of the 90s, who had some good games sans Ewing. And while the evidence is anecdotal, I […]