Comments on: Lakers/Jazz Game 5 Chat

By: alex v.

alex v. — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:51:19 +0000

I think Sasha’s +/- numbers were good because he played good defense. He tipped a lot of passes and even when Utah didn’t lose the ball they burned off a lot of time recovering which led to bad shots at the end of the shot clock. I’m not sure I’d trade that effort for Sasha shooting 1-11 every night… but I’d think about it.

By: chris h

chris h — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:29:37 +0000

I haven’t read the comment past that Vion dude’s spewing about LO being a non-champion caliber type player… (but I will)
I bet he’s eating a LO-crow sandwich today, hahaha

LO rocked last night! he WAS a major difference maker, taking it to the hole with AUTHORITY!!!
boozer cannot guard him.
cheers Vion

By: Kurt

Kurt — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:42:27 +0000

Nomuskles new live blog is up.

By: Travis Y.

Travis Y. — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:36:57 +0000

1- The refs called a less physical game that favored the Lakers.
Seriously, the Jazz were getting fouls called for sneezing on the Lakers. Millsap became a nonfactor and many fouls at the end of the night were the type of actions the Jazz got away with at home.
2- Farmar and Radmonovic stepped up!!! It’s not so much that Farmar hit a three and tough and one, but his defense against Williams wasn’t that bad. He finally bodied him up a bit and was actually playing with some intensity.
3- Kobe allowed himself to be the facilitator the WHOLE GAME. I didn’t see one isolation, ball stopping play granted I might have missed a few. He was setting up guys and picked his spots to execute and here’s the key WITHIN THE OFFENSE! The ball movement was nice and Gasol and Odom got it going on the inside.
4- Sloppy game on both ends, with putrid passes and mishandling of the ball. But the Lakers tightened up in the 2nd half and it was a joy to watch.

Hopefully this carriers over to Utah…I think Utah has lost at home 4 times this year. And lo and behold we own one of em, I bet the Lakers can’t get a 2nd one… nehhh no way that would make them legit… let’s see.

By: Craig W.

Craig W. — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:28:38 +0000

One of the reasons for Sasha’s +/- numbers are that he is logging increasing minutes with the starters toward the end of games. His defense can be counted on, he often hits shots, and he is unafraid of shooting in the clutch – probably left over from when he was the go-to guy on his European teams. Anyway, since we win more than we lose with our starters, and we don’t get blown out much, it figures that his +/- numbers would be positive.

By: j. d. hastings

j. d. hastings — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:28:33 +0000

187- NBA.com’s stats aren’t adjusted, theyre jjust straightforward. Sasha’s +/- could mean he played good d, or that Valde played bad d. Or it could mean that he came in as Deron Williams or someone was being substituted out.

186- I hope so. I’m hoping that the key bigs for Utah have their confidence shaken and don’t believe. I don’t think Williams is going to get to that stage, but I’m hoping the other role players do.

And I agree that the offensive rebound was no foul. I can’t believe Okur even bothers to flop on that play given how often his own pushes in the back aren’t called. I don’t remember the play MT is talking about with Gasol running over Harpring, but again, given how often Harpring runs over people it could just b a case of their team being officiated the way the Jazz dictate it. There were a lot of calls that went uncalled on both ends inside (despite the high number of total FT attempts (and a lot of the Lakers advantage in that stat is from intentionals)).

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:19:40 +0000

One reason the Jazz lost – Carlos Boozer. He’s been horrible, save one game. Tonight he stunk it up! His defense has always been suspect – but at least he has had offensive output and rebounds. Tonight he should have benched himself – he was useless.

By: lakerfan101

lakerfan101 — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:01:31 +0000

Yea, j. d. hastings, I know what your talking about with Sasha’s stats. All I know for now is the regular box scores have no impact on that “+/-” stat whatsoever. Then sometimes it gets adjusted, I am not sure if the NBA numbers are adjusted or not, Kurt would probably know.
Anyway the Lakers were basically positive tonight and the Jazz were in the negatives, thats good for us huh.

By: 81 Witness

81 Witness — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:57:43 +0000

JD, I think we can find such a game. In Utah, Okur, AK, and Boozer found their shots and rhythms. All it takes is 1 or 2 guys posting bad shooting nights and it is ours. Such as a letdown performance by Boozer tonight carrying into game 6.

Excellent game by 24. He didn’t take many shots, but made some key decisions and trusting his teammates. Sasha, Jordan, and Luke will award his unselfishness in game 6. They may not have done it on a consistent basis tonight, but players do not forget.

By: Craig W.

Craig W. — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:57:26 +0000

Kobe said his back stiffened up in the 4th qtr. Perhaps that’s why he baited the Jazz, then passed it off. Smart play, whatever the reason.

Sasha is a shooter who is not hesitant to take the last shot. We need a couple of those on the club besides Kobe. Horry and Fish are the only other recent shooter who would take the last shot. Gasol doesn’t appear to be that and Lamar sure isn’t. I still don’t want Lamar handling the ball at the end of games – his free throw habits and his tendency for boneheaded passes (I know he made all his FT attempts tonight).