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A Lakers Blog. Thoughts, reflections, and the odd rant on the Los Angeles Lakers and the NBA (even the Clippers).

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  2. Lakers Bringing Fear To The NBA says

    Not good news.
    They could possibly lose the next 3 games.
    That would take them from 1st to possibly 5th in the west.
    Terrible news for laker fans.

  3. Stephen says

    Kurt,
    Assuming it’s not a season ending type sprain,it will hurt the Lakers,but all is not lost. Even if he misses a week or so of playing time,any games the Lakers lose on their road trip will be compensated by the rest of the West facing brutal road stretches of their own while the Lakers will be at home. And in the glass a quarter full,not 3/4 empty view,this gives Gasol a chance to get some rest,take a breath and get recharged for the stretch run.

  6. TCO says

    Im gonna look at the bright side and hope we bounce back v Houston [like of like they did when they did not have T-Mac, and now continuing the streak without Yao]

    If we lose on Sunday, then………………

  7. hertagnism says

    This is where we find out what the team is made of. A devastating blow. Even if there are some positives, this season looks grim.

  8. Tremble says

    Is home court that important to us anyways? Who cares if we enter the playoffs with Pau and Bynum back healthy, but we are seed 5.

  9. AM says

    Considering how bad the second half looked, a 10-point loss is not that bad. Heck, a couple fewer errant three-ball attempts, leading to a couple fewer transition buckets for NO, along with a couple fewer missed layups, and the result goes the other way. But it looked like the Lakers panicked and went away from the game plan, and the cold shooting of Ronny, Fish, Sasha, and post-halftime Lamar didn’t help either. They really need better mental focus on this road trip if they want to find a way to win without Pau.

  10. TCO says

    I kind of want to see Coby Karl and Mbenga in a bit more. If Phil is trying to send a message by sitting Kobe for excessive periods, I doubt that would work. We need to play with energy and passion on both ends.

  11. chocomm says

    I agree w/ hertagnism.

    We will be underdogs in all of our next 3 games, but if we were truly going to contend this year, then now is the time to prove it. Let’s show the rest of the league that even sans Pau, we are still a solid team and we will not be pushovers.

    And on a random note, I can’t remember the last time the Lakers getting blown out by an opponent like the Spurs losing by 25 a couple days ago. This means we are in games till the end no matter we play poorly or well. Positive sign, I think.

  12. hertagnism says

    I also find it funny that we are the only team that injures ourselves. Not intentionally of course.

    What I’m interested in is if they will hold the fort and if they will rush Andrew back from his injury, which I hope they won’t.

  13. Renato Afonso says

    I’d rather have the 6th seed in the playoffs and don’t rushing anyone back… But this is really bad luck… We got 3 injured centers plus Ariza (our best perimeter defender). Not an easy 1st round coming up…

  14. The Dude Abides says

    I think it’s DJ time. Start him against Mutombo, and bring Ronny off the bench. I think they should sign Newble, too. DJ will hustle and give the team some decent minutes.

  15. Melvin Mason Jr. says

    This is the worst way to start a four game trip. It seems that every year our main guys are always getting injured. Lamar, Kobe, Mihm, Bynum, Ariza, Walton, and now Gasol.

    I know that Gasol will probably be back after the road trip, but we need Bynum healthy too because he is the true anchor to our post defense. His presence should help Gasol on defense too since he will be able to go back to power forward.

    Even with all the bad luck the Lakers have had with injuries this year, I am still happy that the Lakers are back in championship contention. I just hope we can make the playoffs and NO MORE INJURIES!!!!!!

  16. The Fanalyst says

    It would be an St. Patrick’s Day miracle to come away with a split on this trip now. It’s hard to argue with 21 in a row, but I don’t believe Houston is that good. Dallas is going to smell blood and now that we have to play them small it’s going to be tough. Forget about Utah, they’re monsters at home anyway. The Lakers can make a playoff run though as a lower seed, they’ve shown they can win on the road (if healthy). This sucks.

  17. the other Stephen says

    i really wanted to see this one. i wanted to watch two centers who rise to meet falling rebounds like hippos. there just wasn’t gonna be any rebounding. too bad.

  18. Warren Wee Lim says

    Is it just me or am I the only one here that thinks we can beat Houston… and Dallas… and Utah…

    Don’t mistake my optimism, these are games that are tough but this is one stretch where I can foresee Kobe averaging 40+ and coming up with at least 2 wins. I can’t say it makes me happy, but this is the part where all critics hold their breath, marvel at Kobe and declare: he is worthy. LeBron’s time will come, this is simply Kobe’s generation. And there goes my vote.

  19. harold says

    was this league ever this full of injuries, or does it look this way because it’s happening to the Lakers?

    Kwame, Kobe, Trevor, Bynum, Radmanovich, Pau, Odom, Mihm… I mean, half the players on our squad has been injured since shaq left, and that’s just in terms of numbers, not significance.

    Had kobe shut it down after the pinky, i’d say we almost had a chance to land Mayo at this rate…

  20. van says

    This is a very bad way to start a harsh 4-game road trip, but i think that this is the time that kobe should prove himself worthy as MVP. Its not that i don’t think kb24 is not an MVP candidate, its just that there are many people who doubt his ability to win games without a superstar along his side (for instance gasol). We’ll just have to wait and see what will happen.

    I really hope pau’s injury is not that serious and that bynum will be back in early april. we really need those guys.

    Go Lakers!!!

    p.s. i really believe the lakers are gonna end houston’s 21-game win streak this sunday

  21. Kurt says

    3. I in no way think this is some sort of end of the season disaster. And, after this road trip our schedule the rest of the year is not so bad, I think we’ll be fine (even if not the top seed).

  22. chris h says

    wouldn’t it be true that if we ..say…came into the playoffs as an 8th seed, that we would then play against the #1 seed?
    now for a minute, remember that this far down the road we will have had Pau back for a while, and Andrew back for a little less time, but, (and hoping we make it to the end with no more injuries) with the exception of trevor, (who I don’t think we’ll see again this season) we are going to be at FULL STRENGTH for the first time in a long time.
    now back to the playoffs, so we have to play on the road for the opener, if we split, we take back home court advantage, so I don’t see it as that important.
    then, if we play like we all imigine we can play at full strength, with the combo of Andrew at the 5, Pau at 4, Lo at 3, and KObe and Fish, with our amazing Bench Mob, I think we can beat the #1.
    so then, wouldn’t it be true that we just then became the #1 seed for the rest of the playoffs? because we took their road to the finals.
    yessss???…

  23. chris h says

    and as far as Houston, don’t you think for the initial games after Yao went down, their opponents took them too lightly? thus those many extra W’s.
    do you think maybe the league just took a collective sigh of relief when they heard pau went down?
    do you think that maybe now Houston might take us a bit for granted?
    smells like an upset to me, a W for the Lakers, because just having pau go down does not make us losers, and we can win without him.
    I agree, put DJ on Motombo, good match up, (he can learn a few things from him), and let Ronnie come in for the fire in the 2nd unit.
    by the way, I like the recent match up of Luke, (slow, fundemental kind of player) against their slow center, Brad Miller type, it seems to be working.

  24. pacio says

    I know not everyone is interested in MVP talk, but this is the time where campaigning actually has a direct effect on the game itself. Kobe can literally win or lose a tight MVP race with how he “carries” the team while Pau and Andrew out. It’s still only a few games (knock on wood), but it’s powerful campaign matierial that might bring enough people in his camp. We may or may not care about who is anointed MVP through some silly process, but come on-We all know Kobe’s aware of the race, and he wants the recognition of being the best. He understands that recognition deservedly goes to who wins the most, so all the more reason for him to make sure they win.
    It’ll be interesting to see if he goes into full launch mode and puts 35-40 a game or if he’s more facilitator, but the offense has to go through him now. I’d defintely expect him to bring his A game on defense over these next few games as well.

  25. hertagnism says

    pacio, i think everyone just got tired of arguing the same points over and over again in regards to the MVP race.

    Warren, there may be a few more out there that are as optimistic as you. If Gasol wasn’t injured, I would have said 3-1 (because of Utah). Now, I see them going 1-3. I see a good game this sunday since both teams are battling key injuries. Houston has no Yao, we have no Gasol/Bynum/Ariza/Mihm, but because of our superior depth, I think the teams still are up to par. It’s going to turn into a Kobe vs T-Mac game again anyways, and history has shown us that Kobe gets the upper hand. Plus, I don’t think our bench is going to just roll over and die. They will respond.

    chris, I agree w/ your point about those extra W’s houston got. Also, they haven’t faced many + .500 teams (except Dallas who was without Dirk). So I also think teams took them lightly, just as I hope they will take the Lakers lightly when they see that there is no Spanish conquerer or a Hall of Famer’s protege in the middle.

    One more thing I’d like to point out: did anyone see Kobe with a lack of passion? It just seemed he gave up that game. It’s so unlike the Mamba but I think he will bounce back with fire. If he dropped 36 when he didn’t have a fire in him, imagine if he was burning full throttle. Sunday will be a good day.

  26. nomuskles says

    From February 1 entry on the Pau Gasol Trade

    61. last comment for a while…. is anyone worried about gasol’s mr. glass-like ability to get injured all the time?
    Comment by nomuskles — February 1, 2008 @ 2:50 pm

    65. @61. Not today. Ask me again in a week.
    Comment by Kurt — February 1, 2008 @ 2:54 pm

    Did I jinx it? Sorry Everybody.

    Also, I can’t wait for the usual, “lakers training staff is clearly at fault for freak on-court injuries” wailing. ::sarcasM::

  27. TC says

    I think the predictions of imminent doom and gloom are a bit premature. Yes, Pau may well miss this road trip and I wouldn’t be too surprised if we went 1-3. But what can you expect when you don’t have either of your starting centers? On the other hand, I wouldn’t be too surprised if these guys all “man up”; Sasha goes off, Jordan comes up big, Ronny plays some rock-solid D; the Lakers respond as a team to these injuries. We’ve seen more mental toughness and guys rallying around one another this year than in the last couple, and to me that’s the most positive indicator of a team’s chances. I think they could beat Houston and they might. I wouldn’t be too surprised if they beat Dallas-I just think Dallas is as soft as Mandy Moore’s belly. Utah-I think they’re rounding into form, it might be difficult. But let’s say that we do go 1-3 on this trip and perhaps Pau misses Seattle at home the next game too, and Golden State at home after that; a game for which Ronny might be better-suited, in terms of pace anyway. Pau comes back after that; we’re still a top-flight team. Yeah, we might not be 1 or 2 in the West, but then again, what if Tim Duncan suddenly rolled on someone’s ankle, or if T-mac went down? I think the Lakers, regardless of whether Pau misses a few games and we go 1-3 on the trip, perhaps he misses Seattle and Golden State (I think he’ll be back by GSW). If the Lakers recover to full-strength by playoff time, they could be one of the most dangerous five seeds in playoff history. Anyway-I’m not worried.

  28. Danny Mac says

    I’m new here but go back to 62, yes 62 as a Laker fan. I went through the dreaded 60’s with the Celtics crying behind the garage after each final lost. But things changed with the 71 team and Showtime and the I hate to said his name Shaq era.
    Tough luck last night, but I love this team because you can see the togetherness. They are extremely young and athletic and I believe they play good when their the underdogs. If we can get everyone back and in BB condition, you guys know, nobody wants to play us as 8th or 1st seed. The Lakers are back for a long time to come.

  29. drrayeye says

    Not only has this team reverted to pre Gasol, but our discussion has reverted to pre Gasol. The task of the Lakers right now is to win as many games as they can with the players that they have–and that requires a new focus on defense–that’s “team” defense with an edge–and a changed focus on offense.

    We’ve got plenty of interesting things to think about without speculating about playoff matchups or the disease of MVP that sportwriters deliver at this time of year. Focusing on “Kobe for MVP” and the possible influence that “retro” indivdiualistic play might have on the voting of sportswriters is a distraction that we must ignore and filter out.

    Lamar of current desperation must remain the Lamar of the Gasol era–even sans Gasol–and keep that unslefish mentality intact. Kobe needs to dish out assists and play defense rather than upchuck even more than before. We already know what will happen. We don’t need any 81’s–we need balanced scoring and assists.

    For the next games, should the Lakers be more slow ball and D, or run and gun?

    Here’s my guess based on our non-existent supply of 7 footers:

    Our model for the next “??” games probably needs to be the Phoenix of old, the Golden State of last year–or maybe even Houston or Sacramento?

    Wouldn’t that be a switch–they try to be like us, and we beat ‘um down the court–at least for awhile.

  30. TC says

    27 – I agree; we have some bulldogs who love playing with their backs against the wall. I think they’ll compete very well, even if Pau is out.

  31. kwame a. says

    27-Welcome Danny Mac! I agree, this team seems to really enjoy eachother. I think we’ll be fine, hopefully Pau isn’t out too long

  32. matt. says

    When something like this happens, it reveals a team’s (or person’s) mentality. Do you view adversity as an injury, or as an opportunity? This is where a team’s character and maturity really come into play. A team with a lot of low-character or immature guys will just give up in the face of adversity (witness the Knicks), where a team with high-character guys will view it as an opportunity to step up and show what they’re made of.

    Losers make excuses, winners find solutions.

    Coaching also plays a big role in how a team responds to adversity. In most sports, over time a team will take on the personality of its coach. If the coach panics, the team panics. If the coach stays calm, so will the team.

    That’s one of the reasons Phil Jackson is such a great coach – he stays calm under pressure, and so do his teams. He always believes his team can compete, and so do his players.

    This three-game absence of Pau is merely the latest event in a two-year run of adversity. We’re about to find out what our team is made of. And I, for one, believe we will be pleasantly surprised.

  33. AM says

    There are going to be times in the playoffs where Pau, Kobe, and/or Andrew are out of the game with foul trouble, and we’ll be facing teams like NO, Houston, Dallas, and Utah. Rotations will be tight, so our backups would be facing those teams’ starters. Let’s look at this as a learning opportunity to see how they can man up and stay in the game or even come through with some wins!

  34. Harold says

    Ronny is going to need to play his best, and Sasha and Jordan are going to have to start hitting some shots.

    Luke is going to have to do A LOT more, he is needed on every part of the floor.

  35. anoni says

    Positive spin on the injuries:

    Some teams have not figured out how to adjust to Gasol and Bynum.

  36. The Fanalyst says

    Kobe is Kobe, nobody needs to tell him when to light it up. He did seem a tad dispassionate last night even from the jump. Weird. Fish hasn’t been as good as he was most of the season since coming back (how many butterfingers plays did he have last night?) and he needs to sort it out. Odom has grown with Pau in the lineup and I find myself saying his name without a groan more often nowadays. Hope he steps it up now. Luke is a utility player with no middle between hero and zero, he’s either great or terrible. Though he does seem to be at his best when everyone else is at their worst, so he needs to be a factor now. Turiaf is one of my favorites. He’s a guy I want on this team forever, but he isn’t a starting center in the NBA. Radman has been playing well since coming back, as he was before he went out, so that’s encouraging. Farmar and Sasha need to get back what they had a while back where they were taking turns being phenomenal off the bench, sometimes even together. This team is going to need to win some games now and I hope they realize it. I’m pretty sure with Phil and Kobe on the case these other guys are going to file in and get it done as best as possible. Let’s hope anyway.

  37. Rocket fan says

    I love how you guys think you can beat the rockets so easily especially when the rockets are at home. That arena is going to be pumping!! The Lakers are going to be overwhelmed and the rockets are going to stomp them. T-mac will definitely outplay Kobe and put himself into the forefront of the MVP race.

  38. Lakers Bringing Fear To The NBA says

    Rocket fan:
    Ill give your team credit that the’ve won 21 straight and give them their props.
    When push comes to shove, the Rockets are an over-achieving team that doesnt have their dominant center. The only way their winning is because is their defense. Even without Gasol, Lakers can still score points.
    Odom is the x-factor tomorrow.
    If Odom comes to play, then you should be worried about how the Rockets are overwhelmed.
    Kobe will be Kobe. Odom needs to play like hes the third best player on the court.

    Overall, great story for the Rockets, but come playoff time, T-mac will choke in the playoffs(he hasnt even gotten past the first round in his career!). Rockets are not title contenders and thats the bottom line.

  39. Rob L. says

    1. The Rockets are definitely for real. But they’ve been a bubble contender for a few years now. This isn’t all that surprising. What might be surprising is that they’ve continued without Yao. This could mean having a healthy T-Mac is waaay more important to Houston than anyone thought. I think they beat the Lakers on Sunday. I don’t think they get to the Finals.

    2. With Gasol down for however long he is, I’m looking at one Laker and one Laker only who needs to step it up…Jordan Farmar. We need his Tony Parker end-of-season coming out party. There have been flashes of this all season. Besides Kobe, Jordan was the only guy who showed some game against NO.

    3. Lakers’ fans are getting a treat right now. We’ve been granted the ultimate “what if?” scenario. The Lakers squad that will be taking the floor the next three games (at least) will be pretty close to what analysts thought this season would be. Will the depleted squad surprise fans? Or will we see just how a big a bullet this franchise dodged?

  40. kwame a. says

    Rob L-What’s up man, good to see you post, you should do so more often. I agtee with you about Houston, all the experts who are surprised by them had them pegged for a top 4 seed in the preseason, they aren’t flukes. I hope to see Ronny step up his game, he has shown he can be a starter, and I think he can have big impact tommorow.

  41. Tremble says

    Anyone know any updates about Pau’s injury? Looking at Kobe’s and Phil’s face, it looks like the perhaps the injury isn’t as bad as initially thought?

  43. matt. says

    Rocket fan — Don’t bet the house on T-Mac “definitely” outplaying Kobe, you might end up homeless.

  44. exhelodrvr says

    Realistically, the Lakers were probably going to go 2-2 on this road trip. So (if he only misses those games) his injury only cost two games.

  45. muffy_P says

    I’ll bet Kobe steps it up for the next few games and carries the team. I’m predicting at least one win from the 3 game road trip. I doubt they’ll get a win with Houston, though, with the way Houston’s been playing.

  47. hertagnism says

    Rocket fan, although I admire your passion for your team, we here like to discuss instead of attacking. We don’t do the ESPN msg board “my team is better than your team and that’s that” without offering some backing.

    Thanks for the link Tremble. A moderate sprain which sidelines Gasol for two weeks. Isn’t that around the time Bynum is supposed to return?

    I watched some of the Rockets game post-Yao and I love how they share the ball and how they defend. However, I think they are a big question mark come playoffs when teams can zone in on your weaknesses. Can they handle the Spurs w/o Yao? Suns? The only team I think they have a chance of beating is the Warriors, but even then it’s still a coin flip. Their streak is a great accomplishment. But they need Yao.

    One thing that has been bothering me for awhile now: what is up with the Machine?!

    Anyone know who’s commentating the game tomorrow on ABC? Van Gundy?

  48. pb says

    SA lost two in a row, too. NO will lose more with CP3 and Tyson Chandler injured. West is just too brutal right now….

  49. Jimmy says

    #46, what do you mean CP3 and Chandler injured?

    You got me excited for a second, but then I checked ESPN and saw nothing. Elaborate, please.

  50. Stephen says

    I know Kurt will do another great job on previewing the Rockets,but I want to give some observations on “my” team.
    They are playing outstanding team defense. It all begins w/Shane Battier. His non-stop shadowing of the other team’s top scorer not only sets the tone for the team,it also allows the rest of the team to concentrate on the rest of the opposition. His hard work allows the rest to make defensive rotations on the perimeter and protect the paint. Motumbo in giving 15-20min in 2-4 stretches where he is blocking everything intimidating less mentally strong-or arrogant!-players.
    Scola has learned how to use his body to play defense in the NBA and does the Euro flop thing decently-w/time he’ll get the ref’s acceptance and become more effective w/it. Recently he has been suprising players by some weak-side shot-blocking. Hayes has amazingly fast hands and has become quite adept at knocking the ball out of player’s hands when they bring it down low. He too uses his body to defend and will try to take charges at every opportunity. McGrady is expending more energy on D and is starting to get steals and is blocking a few shots now and then. Every now and then he will make a defensive stand on the perimeter and get a steal or force a bad shot-and the crowd goes nuts when he does. Alston,Jackson and Head try to stay w/their man,run out on open shooters,poach the passsing lanes and generally use their hands to slap at the ball. The Rockets as a team knock alot of balls loose and they get the majority of loose balls.
    They are NOT great individual defenders,they ARE great team defenders. The system suites them,but most importantly they commit to playing D even when everything else falls to c***,and don’t let a hot opponent discourage them.
    On offense,to borrow a phrase,it’s Tracy!Tracy!Tracy!.
    He is the only player on Rockets who can break a defense and cause it to scramble. You can count the number of times each game the starting PG,Rafer Alston,drives and kicks out to an open shooter on the thumbs of one hand. The Rockets are running a bastardized version of Adelman’s motion offense. the smalls hang around the 3pt line and space the court giving T-Mac and the Houston “bigs” room to manuever. There are alot of screen/rolls and motion by the bigs. Usually when McGrady drives he’s looking to set up a teammate and the Rocket big men have learned where the open spots are for easy layups.(Part of offensive sputtering past few games has been injury to Carl Landry. When he gets the ball he explodes at the basket. Scola and Hayes have little verticle jump so they have a tendancy to throw a few too many fakes before shooting,giving D time to recover.)
    The Rockets are very unselfish and not only make the pass,they make the next pass too. Alston,Battier,Head and Jackson will all take the open 3,even when they are ice-cold.When 2 or 3 of them are on,they will make a run that just crushes teams. When they’re off their D keeps them in the game so that the 1 or 2 that fall late are huge.
    McGrady is getting the ball on the wing or elbow most often and will pivot to face the D. He looks for openish cutters and players open on the 3pt line.(Because of spacing and his height he often throw cross court to open Battier-whose man has dropped back to help on cutter.)If doubled he passes to top of key where second pass usually has an open shooter at the end. If the D covers that option he will start a Great Circle dribble along the interior of the 3pt line until he gets the angle he needs to drive towards the basket where he will frequently pass to a now open big. McGrady will have a stretch where he will rip off 4-6 baskets in a row,usually in 3Q,that fills the team w/confidance and suddenly everybody’s shots start falling and the Rockets will start rolling-and those shots may be the only ones he makes all game long,but for whatever reason,when he has one of those runs it seems to kick the team into another gear.
    Alston has become the second option and likes to use the high screen to take a VERY streaky jumpshot or dive into the lane where he lobs up a high,floating shot.
    Head is the only gd who seems to cut backdoor and has worked on being able to get his own shot off of a defender.He can rain 3s when he’s on. Jackson has had few good games so far,but his presence has had a major impact. In his first game w/Rockets he led a couple of fast breaks and it was like he unlocked a hidden door for the team. Since then they do try to run the break for a lay-up whenever possible.(Since most of the team is not particularly fast,let’s just say we’re not talking Golden State.)
    Scola is very crafty around the basket and uses the backboard all the time.After watching him all season I can tell you the Spurs made a major mistake in letting him go.I think they watched him for yrs and focused on what he wasn’t(a jumping jack who’d collect rebounds and block shots)and ignored what he is-a hi-energy hustler who never quits,fights for any rebound in his space and is very crafty around the basket. He has a decent mid-range shot,but it comes out low and slow so he can be run off taking it.Hayes can’t score from beyond 6 ft and Motumbo takes so much time gathering himself a high % of his shots are blocked. Right now Scola is the only healthy Rocket w/any low-post game.
    Novak is a deadly 3pt shot-and little else-and Harris who they just signed had 12 pts in his last game…and 8 total pts in his NBA career before then.
    One potentially killer weakness is Rockets are a poor FT shooting team. In their last game they missed 2 technical FTs! On the other hand their FT defense is outstanding-teams shoot a poor % against them.Prob fatigue,or being mentally tired from the constant grinding by the Rockets.

    The X-factor in the game will be the refs. If Battier gets a couple of early fouls the Rockets are in deep do-do. If they let the Rockets bigs bang around,swipe at balls and take charges,the Lakers have the bad tendancy of letting calls get into their heads and taking them out of their game.
    If you watched the Rocket games you’d know:
    1)The pressure got to them to win #20 and 21.The team gutted them out and I think will start to relax again. They got the record,the next few games they’re supposed to lose,so I see them playing free and easy for the next few games.
    2)McGrady has played all 48 minutes in 2 of the last 4 games. After the first 48min game he was pretty sluggish in the next game.
    3)After 3 1/2 seasons,Houston has finally embraced T-Mac as one of their own.Being traded for fan fav Francis,the injuries,the Playoff failures,have all kept Houston from accepting T-Mac as their guy. That has changed and T-Mac is a guy who feeds off emotion/energy. He might start doing at home what he so often does on the road and the Rockets will become even better.
    4)Sportswriters are masters of hypocrisy.They say the NBA doesn’t have players who work hard,play D,do all the little things then they dismiss the Spurs as boring and blather on about the second longest winning streak in NBA history as not being worthy because the schedule is soft,or teams had injured players,or,or,or…

    Regarding the streak,like many Rockets fans,I’m getting tired of the whole downplaying of how great a run the Rockets are on. The Spurs had an 11 game streak,the Lakers a10 game streak and the Rockets have gone undefeated for a stretch equaling BOTH their streaks combined. Oh,Dallas was w/out Dirk,did anyone see a 7’6″ Chinese Center play or the Rockets 6th man? during their streak the Rockets have beaten the Cavs twice*cough,cough*,the Hornets twice,once w/Yao,once w/out*cough,cough*and the Hawks at Atl*cough,cough.Boston recently had a strech of 10 games w/only one foe at .500,the rest below,and they couldn’t even win all those.
    I guess what I’m saying is whatever comes,this streak should be appreciated for what it is-a demonstration of what hard work and determination can accomplish-instead of being nitpicked w/a zillion “Yeah,but…”s. Thus ended the soapbox portion. 🙂

    Anyway,I wish the Lakers nothing but the best of luck…starting Monday.

  51. ian says

    One thing that I think needs to be discussed more is that Kobe gave up on that game in the second half. I could feel that he was on cruise control on offense (this could be interpreted as his trying to get everyone else to step up) but on defense I noticed multiple instances of his not closing out an open shooter and just half-heartedly raising his hand. I am one of his biggest fans but I think he decided to conserve himself. Maybe he decided that the shock of losing Pau was too much for the team to handle and that they would just regroup for Houston on Sunday.

  55. harold says

    just noticed that there’s another Harold now 😉

    anyway, i love how the end of the regular season has become must-see TV. unlike the east where two teams are already IN.

  56. kwame a. says

    37-I think if were to ask T-Mac what he’d rather have, a first-round victory (for the first time in his illustrious career) or the MVP, I would venture he’d say first-round vicotry.

  57. Kurt says

    Hey all, I was away for half a day, and now that I’m back a couple comments got deleted. Everyone is welcome to post here, so long as they are respectful and we keep the conversation going at level of quality that does not degenerate into name calling or rants without thought.