Kobe is looking great and I believe that we would have dominated this game too, provided that Fisher hadn’t picked up two quick chippy fouls in the first three minutes. Farmar does seem to be out of sorts, but Sasha was cold as ice as well.

I don’t hear any of the Jazz complaining about the free throws, even though the Lakers again had a big advantage at the line (37 to 28).

That said I don’t feel this is crushing by any means, as most of you seem to agree. If they can’t get it together tomorrow, 2-2 is going to suck. However, we could make like the Celtics and just win at home and take it in 7. That would be horribly weak, and I doubt it’ll come to that. I always thought this one would go 6. I’d like to see Fish wrap up the series in Utah on a high note. Then, it’s time to beat on some Hornets.

The problem is that I didn’t know how to put my thoughts into the right words and it came out as if I calling all Mormons racist (wouldn’t that in itself be a hypocritical comment for me to make, anyway).

At any rate, certainly no harm intended. I’ve lived in Utah since I was a little kid, and while the demographics are changing, particularly in recent years, the truth is Mormons are still more than half the population of Salt Lake County. They are friends, colleagues and co-workers. Even my dentist. And you know what? They’re regular people just like anyone else and certainly not deserving of any hasty generalizations (I’ve met polygamists maybe once or twice – it’s not like everyone here is running around with multiple wives and 50 kids. I hate that stereotype.)

Anyway, a little bit more on topic, those of you who were talking about Pau being maybe a “glorified role player,” I disagree. I certainly think he is an all-star caliber player. He’s just not a superstar. He was good enough to be the man for awhile for the Grizzlies, but they could never win even a single playoff game. However, playing alongside Kobe is perfect for him. He doesn’t HAVE to be the man. The Lakers have that already. He just needs to take advantage when opposing teams are over-playing Kobe.

Quite frankly, I’m afraid that Pau might play much better in game 4. Okur’s D is underrated, as is his overall toughness inside. I think it played a role tonight, but if Pau can adjust, I’m afraid the Lakers might be able to steal a win from my Jazz. That the same time, if Boozer plays with some actual confidence again in game 4, the Jazz will be hard to beat. This will be the most important game of the series for both teams and will be a tough, hard-fought match.

Losing game 3 by 5 with a chance to win in the closing minutes isn’t the worst thing in the world. Of course, we want the Lakers to go undefeated, but this isn’t Shaq-Kobe team or the Showtime Lakers. They are still young and finding about what they are capable of. I think they’ll respond better in game 4.

Two things I hope to see in game 4. 1) Pau making moves toward baseline. Pau is trying to get his teammates involved more by passing out of the post. However, he needs to ESTABLISH his post presence first. He needs to make move towards baseline with hookshots from either side or face up and take short jumpers instead of making moves toward middle. 2) Although LO doesn’t like to have plays run for him, when Milsap is guarding him, they should post him up on the right side (facing the basket), not the left side. From there, he can go to the middle with the jump hook or go drop step baseline move (making layups with his right hand). When our bigs are involved, the 3 point shooters, Fisher and Sasha, can have more time to launch their shots. I thought that the UTAH fowards were closing out to our 3pt shooters too quickly because they were not too concerned about LO too much. We need to see Pau to Lamar diving that we saw against dENVER more. Lamar’s aggressiveness will make Pau and Kobe’s offense more effective.

Farmar, that’s a whole another story. His confidence is shot. He should go back to shooting 18-20 footers instead of 3 pointers, for now. He really needs to get his groove back. He should focus on defense and try to not do too much on offense. We don’t need him to hit 3s. A transition layup and a couple of mid range jumpers would be nice.

All in all, I think the Lakers can hold their heads up high. They didn’t play too terribly. UTAH just played better. If the Lakers play better on Sunday, they have very good shot at winning. It won’t be easy, but it’s not impossible. There’s no way Boozer’s going for 30/20 again on Sunday.

Anyway, just looking at that old “+/-” stat the Lakers were mostly in the negative and the Jazz were of course in the positive, I am starting to believe in that new stat that and it’s relevence in games.