Comments on: Preview & Chat: The Miami Heat

By: Kurt

Kurt — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:29:28 +0000

new post up (JB, you may want to cut and past it into the new thread)

By: JB

JB — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:16:02 +0000

Some fun stats gleaned from the standings as things sit today. The Lakers have:

* The best record in the league at 30-6. * They have the third-best home record at 20-2, behind Cleveland at 19-0 and Boston at 18-2.
* They have the best road record at 10-4 (SA at 10-5 and PHX/CLE at 10-6), the best division record at 8-1, the best record against Western Conference teams at 20-2 (CLE is 20-5 against the Least), and the best record against Eastern Conference teams at 10-4.

None of which should be unexpected, as they’ve got the best record in the league right now, but the breakdown is nice to see they’re taking care of business almost every night, and certainly as good as can be expected. However, my favorite part of this analysis is Boston’s 8-5 record against the West.

By: brimshine

brimshine — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:13:01 +0000

Three travelings in one game by Ariza, that’s got to be some sort of record right?

By: Travis Y.

Travis Y. — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:05:21 +0000

RIck Fox made a point of view that I would expect from a former player. He was saying how Bynum and Vlade are both players that derive their confidence from their offensive performance. When they do not get enough touches within the flow of the offense they tend to slack even more on the defensive end. By getting more involved on offense you start to see Bynum patrolling the paint with more efficiency and starting to become more active in pick and roll defense as well as rebounding.

Remember once upon a time when we had a big dog named Shaq that said, “If you don’t feed the big dog, the house ain’t going to get guarded.”

The Lakers need to make an inspired effort to get those two involved. When you get everyone going the whole becomes greater than the parts. Therein lies the key.

By: theshmoes

theshmoes — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:59:35 +0000

awesome game by bynum. bynum had some reallyy impressive post moves, shaking and baking. i like when he’s confident

By: wondahbap

wondahbap — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:50:56 +0000

I don’t want my last comment to seem like I’m down on Fish.

I’m grateful to have him on our team.

By: wondahbap

wondahbap — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:41:32 +0000

Kurt’s right.

Except for covering Paul Piercein the Finals, SF wasn’t a problem in last year’s playoffs, and he gave everyone, including Cleveland fits.

PG has always been, and remains to be a problem. Fish has some good defensive games, but we always get exploited there, and if he’s not knocking down shots, then we’re not getting much else from him, because he’s not the best passer, nor decision maker. There are too many elite PG’s in the West.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:58:47 +0000

Right now, I’m more worried about PG in the playoffs than SF.

By: exhelodrvr

exhelodrvr — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:09:29 +0000

126) “we got multiple options in this position.”

Usually that means that no one stands out, which is the case now. All three have notable weaknesses and strengths. If Vlad would keep his head in the game, Ariza would develop a mediocre outside shot, or Walton would get his shot back, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:46:57 +0000

127 – largely because we don’t have a solid starter at that position. Luke can’t shoot, Vlad is a defensive liability (as vividly demonstrated by the last two games), and Ariza is still largely a slasher and can’t space the floor on the offensive end. It’s one of the reasons we were interested in Artest in the summer.