Comments on: Lakers vs. Hornets Live Blog powered by nomuskles

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:02:26 +0000

Thank God its day to day. I really was worried it could have been worse. But now tonights game is gonna be even more difficult to win now..

By: Kurt

Kurt — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:01:01 +0000

Odom injury post up. Look for the game preview in a few hours.

By: busterjonez

busterjonez — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:58:16 +0000

Thanks for teh great news Kurt. Was really worried about LO.

By: snagamat

snagamat — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:32:54 +0000

Is it just me, or Chris Paul kind of a dirty player? I don’t mean dirty in the sense of Bruce Bowen…okay, maybe I do. A better adjective might be dangerous. A lot of Bowen’s game has to do with taking the footwork/feet out from under a player. He positions himself so that a player has to go a certain way or has to step back rather than step into or onto Bowen. This results in more than a few turned ankles.

I think Chris Paul is just as crafty a player as Bowen when it comes to placing his feet and legs at just certain angles to disrupt other players’ trajectories. There was the jump ball last month described here http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-37-66/Chris-Paul-s-Crafty-Jump-Ball.html. No one was hurt there, but it shows how he’s very conscious of his placement. If you watch the play on LO last night, CP3 clearly stepped into Lamar’s path before Lamar got there himself. LO couldn’t react quickly enough and bam! Twisted knee.

I’m not saying it was a dirty play necessarily or that he intended to hurt Odom. It’s just unfortunate that such crafty footwork to disrupt other players’ games can lead to injuries. I hope LO gets better soon. Always love the liveblog, great job!

By: alex v.

alex v. — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:31:10 +0000

Nice job, NOMUSKLES. Loved the comment at 4:07 in the fourth (“Ariza is left all alone…again. And he misses. Again. ::smacks forehead::”) because I felt _exactly_ the same way at the time.

I love Ariza’s hustle, but sometimes I don’t think he quite “gets” the offense. I’d like to see him think about getting the best shot for the team in the triangle, rather than just trying to do it himself. I realize this is a difficult skill (and part of the difficulty of mastering the triangle), but I’ve been thinking about this for awhile, especially when we’ve been talking about whether he should start (which I lean against).

If it wasn’t for Kobe’s incredible 3rd quarter, it would have been much easier to dismiss this as a “those guys are HOT” loss.

By: clutch824

clutch824 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:23:58 +0000

14 – Because Pau didn’t find a way to get involved in the offense.

17 – Absolutely correct. West’s comfort zone is shooting the jumper. He was completely on, but he did exactly what he likes to do. The drives he made looked uncomfortable and were mostly unsuccessful. If he’s killing you with the 18 footer, you have switch the D & force the drive.

Anyway, like was already said that wasn’t a terrible loss. The Hornets just added a little flavor for later. Time for the Warriors preview…

By: Kurt

Kurt — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:15:56 +0000

I’ll have a new post up in a few, but here is the official report on Odom:

Lakers forward Lamar Odom was examined today by team physician Dr. Steve Lombardo and MRI results show that Odom has a bone bruise in his right knee. Odom will not play in tonight’s game in Oakland against the Golden State Warriors, and his status beyond that is listed as day-to-day.

By: Snoopy2006

Snoopy2006 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:56:03 +0000

West has the strength and length of a 4 with the quickness of a 3, which makes him such a tough cover. We have the perfect answer in Lamar, who fits the same mold. Bynum doesn’t have the quickness to guard West, IMO. I’ve always been surprised by how well (historically) Pau has been able to cover West, but when West gets hot like last night, Odom is our best shot at stopping him. Odom is our anti-West, with the perfect combination of length, quickness, and strength to counter all of West’s moves.

Of course Odom is a solid player, but his usefulness is increased against the Hornets, because he’s the only one with the physical tools to stick West.

I expect to see Powell tonight. Phil has always shown a distaste for smallball lineups, and historically has done well against them by refusing to go small. I think Powell can be a great contributor, I look forward to seeing his activity on the boards.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:52:51 +0000

David West was just ridiculously hot. Yes he had some (probably too many) open 20 footers, but most of them were contested, he just didn’t miss a shot from 20 ft last night, it happens. And unlike Kobe who handles the ball so much that you can double and triple team him to make someone else beat you when he is as hot as he and West were, you can’t trap west at 20 feet because he gets the ball off of pick and rolls and drives by Paul. It happens, i’m not too upset about that lost. Though I think Pau should have gotten more looks inside.

Lamar being out is going to be tough. Hopfully it is nothing too serious and he will not miss too long of a time.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:49:56 +0000

The way I look at it is, it took Paul and West to both have their best games of the season in one night to beat the Lakers. not to mention an injured Odom out of action for the 2nd half and of course Walton. Farmar as well but I dont think he is as missed as Walton. Did I also mention that Gasol was non existent on offense during the whole game…yea that aint gonna happen the next time we play them. But the point is, they still didnt beat us by much. We were winnng after 3 quarters. I feel there is so much positive we can take out of this game. New Orleans have proved they are probably a threat to us in the playoffs, but I am not convinced that team can beat the Lakers in a seven game series.