I agree, though, that none of us on this site have half the basketball knowledge that Phil Jackson has. He truly is a master at adjustments and a great tactician. I expect him to make all the necessary adjustments, it will be up to the players to execute.

I’m glad Phil yanked Radman quickly. If he can’t hit the three, he really can’t affect the game in any other way.

I mean, look at what Williams does to the smaller Chris Paul, who’s often hailed as the second coming of point guards. Jordan has a bright future, but he’s no Chris Paul. I hope he can shake his slump and regain his confidence, but it won’t be easy if he has to do it against D-Will. Fish needs to help him out by saving some of his fouls for the second half, even if it means giving up a bucket here or there in the first.

As far as Vlad and Farmar are concerned, they need to really focus on making hustle plays. Everytime they make a mistake or miss a shot, I see them hang their heads and not get back on D, allowing Utah to get easy baskets. If their shots aren’t falling, they have to contribute in other ways. I feel like they are letting their offensive struggle to affect their defense as well.

Finally, although my ideal scenario of winning one of game 3 or 4 via barrage of Fisher 3s and Kobe’s game winning bucket didn’t pan out, I still feel confident about our chances. It’s 2 out of 3 now, but we have two games at home. Definitely, game 5 is a must (That’s an understatement). We need our bench to show it’s mettle and our Staples crowd to really show that LA fans can be just as supportive as Utah fans without resorting to classless acts.

Only Fish and Kobe have ever been through anything beyond the 1st round. Walton was a rookie and didn’t really play and Ira was a reserve with Cleveland. The first 6 games of these playoffs really didn’t teach our other players much because we won them all. It is only when you put what you think is everything on the line, and the other guy still beats you, that you realize you have to dig down deeper. Lamar and Vlade have not been pressure players so the problems were to be expected. We also shouldn’t be surprised by Pau because his experience didn’t force him to get very tough down low. Farmar is still only in his second year and Sasha has performed quite well, based off his experience.

Now we are battle tested and probably ready for anything. Pau has no illusions, Lamar has found what he can do in any tough situation and what he has to improve on this summer (see Rick Barry), Vlade – well I hope Ariza can adjust to this rough play, Farmar is coming home and should see some improvement.

While this is not what I wanted, I think our team can take something from these two tough losses and toughen up ourselves. At least we were able to come back on the Jazz in both games and I don’t think they, or their fans, expected that. I think they thought they would win by double digits like we did in L.A.

If we do what we are supposed to at home, we should be in better shape for either the Spurs or Hornets.

I must say, after re-watching the fourth quarter, that Jordan and Mbenga were involved in every play in a negative way during that stretch where Utah got the big lead back. In one particularly unfortunate sequence, down by 6 after LO’s three-point play, Farmar let Price go backdoor on him, get the pass, then get an and-one from Mbenga. On the other end, Jordan lets a Lamar pass go right through his hands out of bounds. Then, Jordan fouls Millsap on an offensive rebound. Millsap misses the second, Okur gets the board, back to Millsap for the Mbenga block/foul (the replay shows hand on arm — sorry DJ fans). Really missed Turiaf there. All the while, Korver is on fire.

In OT, Gasol made a great, quick move to get past Okur but missed the dunk, and Sasha didn’t give up the ball early enough on a P&R with Pau, ending up under the basket and passing out to nobody. Other than that, it was Kobe isos and a lack of movement. A couple of times, he was double-teamed, and nobody even faked a cut until Kobe had already decided to take it on his own. Only once did I really see him jack up a shot without at least waiting for a better opportunity to develop (a three attempt over Kirilenko).

On the defensive side, Utah executed one scheme almost perfectly to beat us. (Hubie had a great explanation of this as the game was going on.) Williams and Boozer ran the pick-and-roll on one side of the court, forcing Lamar or Pau to stay in the lane under the hoop as the other big showed on Williams. Meanwhile, Okur would make his way out near the three-point line on the weak side, and the ball would go to him instead. Neither Kobe nor Sasha closed out, so Lamar or Pau had to run from way under the basket, and couldn’t make it in time. This burned the Lakers about three times in the extra period. The one time the ball actually went to Boozer on the P&R, Lamar and Pau sandwiched him and forced a turnover.

In a game this tightly contested, things like the Turiaf ejection and Kobe’s injury played a huge role in the outcome. With Turiaf getting better blocks or fouls instead of the and-ones from Mbenga, along with rebounds and at least the threat of offense, and with Kobe hitting one more shot or one more free throw that he left short due to his declining performance as the game went along, the game could’ve been ours.

Well, hopefully Kobe can rest up and the home court will bring Jordan and Vlad (M.I.A. tonight) better results and we can put the pressure back on the Jazz for Game 6.