Comments on: Around The World (Wide Web): Lakers/Magic

By: Emmett

Emmett — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:31:15 +0000

Did no one see Pau rolling to the basket after his pick on the last play???? Dwight helped on the screen so Kobe wouldn’t have a path to the basket giving Pau a perfect path to the basket. With six seconds left, all that would’ve stopped Pau was a roaming Jameer Nelson and a late Vince Carter. There’s no way Pau would’ve gotten anything less than two free throws had he gotten the ball. It might’ve left three or four seconds on the clock with the Magic having the ball, but I would much rather have them figure out another Courtney Lee run to the hoop or Vince Carter taking a contested 20-footer. It’s been plain sick to watch Kobe this year with the game on the line, but he misses sometimes. Hence overtime in Milwaukee. That might’ve been “his shot” but while he says he makes nine of ten of those, Pau can make ten of ten dunking uncontested at the basket. Pau has a better FG% than Kobe and he needs to be respected. Whenever I watch ESPN, Mark Jackson or whoever says Gasol is the most talented big man in the game. Then he should be taking more than 13 shots a game. And Kobe should not be taking 22. If that changed to 15 and 20, the ball would go into the triangle more, the team’s FG% would go up and Kobe might just get rid of a couple forced shots a game. The ones he actually misses. Kobe wants a ring more than anyone on the Lakers, but he won’t be the only one wearing one when they do.

By: John Morris

John Morris — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:39:33 +0000

One thing I didn’t see was Philly-Faddle showing any dislike over the way his team played. He will chew some ass here and there but the way they played in the first quarter and the way everybody was standing around at the end of the game watching Kobe try to win it warranted a time out – even from Phil.

I feel like going to the post in the games when the other team is more physical on the block can be a wasted position at times. If the refs aren’t blowing the whistle you have to try something else. We I see Pau and Bynum struggle for position, try to back their man down and then fling up some crap shot wishing for luck or a whistle it kills me. Also, those two have been losing the ball with alarming regularity lately.

Either way I’m not too worried. I prefer they are constantly questioned throughout the regular season. It keeps them improving – not getting lucky or relying on Kobe to bail them out. Sit on it Lebrat, Stan Van Gundy and the whole Celtics squad.

By: Darius

Darius — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:26:26 +0000

New post up. We’re talking offense…again.

http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2010/03/08/talking-offense-again/

By: robinred

robinred — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:14:48 +0000

@ 4 and 7 I disagree, and I agree more with 6.

I think Gasol is right. The 3 Kobe launched at 87-90 and the fallaway airball soon after that were very poor shots, taken too early in the shot clock. Also, people seem to forget that the Lakers were in position to tie in part because Gasol scored twice on tip-ins in crunch time, after Kobe threw up bricks. The Lakers need to work two-man sets sometimes in crunch minutes–not just isos.

By: Andreas G.

Andreas G. — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:08:29 +0000

From KD’s article:

“Times are not nearly as troubling as a three-game losing streak would have some suggest, but the Los Angeles Lakers are in need of a significant philosophy adjustment if they are to glide to consecutive NBA titles.
That last bit is important. As presently constructed, playing as we saw over the course of this three-game losing streak and as we’ve seen them play before, the Lakers can topple the Magic, Cavaliers, Celtics and any number of Western secondary options that might be thrown their way. As is, as is now, they are the champs, and they are playing well enough to win the championship in June.”

By: bruinsfan

bruinsfan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:07:49 +0000

I’ve been concerned about the offense the whole season – it hasn’t ever really looked that fluid and we have relied entirely too heavily on isolations. Still, I’d like to see Pau man up and say “I need to finish inside, not get frustrated, and play through contact” rather than constantly whining about how the ball isn’t moving enough. At some point, you’ve got to either put up or shut up.

By: Kenny

Kenny — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:05:52 +0000

Matt Barnes = Kobe Stopper. I’m just joking, I’m just joking.

For real though, you can still get in Kobe’s head, which shocks me, because he’s a 14-year vet now. It aint like he’s 23 anymore. Even though he doesn’t talk shit, he’ll throw an elbow after a play, stare at cats, and even be more aggressive than usual when he feels like he has to make a point, when someone like Matt fucking Barnes is talkin’ reckless. I’m surprised at that.

Anyway, Gasol is making a valid point. There’s no reason Kobe should have taken 30 shots last night. On the flip side, Gasol’s not totally in the clear, because there are plenty of times when I expect him to be more assertive, but he’ll defer, and leave it to Kobe to save the day. I wouldn’t put too much into them losing last night, though. Orlando isn’t a championship team, I don’t care what anyone says.

My thing remains…what are the Lakers gonna do about point guard? People continue to criticize Fisher, but noone is stepping up to the plate, so Fisher can be a backup, which I think would be great, if LA could actually use him in that role. He has a lotta mileage as well, but they don’t trust Farmer (for good reason) or Shannon Brown (he’s a basketball player, not a PG, which can be a blessing and a curse, depending on how you view it). Even with these factors, I wouldn’t panic too much if I was a Lakers fan (thankfully, I’m not). You know I had to add that last part in, Phil.

By: imposibol

imposibol — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:00:12 +0000

youve got to read KD’s piece

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/The-Lakers-are-where-they-ve-been-all-year?urn=nba,226619

By: Rudy

Rudy — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:46:10 +0000

I for one am so tired of Pau Gasol questioning the Lakers offense continuosly going through Kobe. To say that Pau Gasol didn’t get touches against Orlando would be false. He got touches, but Orlando did a good job of pushing him further away from the basket which history has shown usually makes Pau ineffective. No good defensive team is going to allow Pau to catch the ball, survey the floor, jab steep for 3 seconds, back his defender down for another 3 seconds without at least bringing a help defender.

Pau, if you want to be more involved, find a way to go quicker with your moves and get on the offensive glass. Kobe Bryant is our best option on offense and should get the touches especially late in the game when I get nervous to see Gasol at the free throw line.

By: lesha

lesha — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:17:17 +0000

i have to admit that the last 3 games have been frustrating to watch, but i dont think we should worry too much. while it is true that our guards miss many easy shots i think we all know that this is just a stretch of bad luck and its good that we have it now and not during the playoffs.
its not like were taking that many contested jumpers, were missing wide-open shots (especially artest). things will change on that end even more when sasha gets back rested.

i think it would be good to play andrew and lamar a little more and give pau some rest. he is not soft, he is simply tired from playing too much. we basically run every posession through him and when we dont he is the guy who has to be in a good position and get the rebounds. dwight howard chills on many posessions and tries to stay fresh for when it counts while pau is the centre of what were doing as a team.
same thing can be said about kobe. we should try to limit his minutes now, as long as we can still stay at the top of the western conference. lamar is playing really well at the moment, and deserves more playing time as well as more offensive opportunities.

even though we are losing right now, i am quite sure we will repeat this year. we seem to play the good teams very close and everytime i see kobe standing at the 3point line and not contesting a shot i think to myself: “there is no way he wouldnt contest this shot if we were in the playoffs right now…” and then we lose by 1 point. dont panic, we will come out on top again