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Live Blog Game 2

by


Another Nomuskles live blog.

Pregame
Kobe receives his MVP award in front of the Staples Center crowd. The TNT crew says that watching a person receive an MVP award fires up the opposing team. Let’s hope that doesn’t hold true tonight. Nomuskles-girl is currently taking an Organic Chemistry/Biochemistry exam so we’re gonna do the deed with an infamous Live Blog.

1st Quarter
Starting five for both teams is as expected. Kobe, Pau, Lamar, Radman and Fisher for the Lakers. Memo, AK47, Brewer, Boozer and D-Will for the Jazz.
11:52 – Fisher gets it started well with a quick two. Nothing but net.
11:26 – First defensive stand goes very well for the Lakers. They force a 24 second violation. And whoops. Lakers inbound to no one and it goes out of bounds. Utah reboots. Kirilinko nails a jumper from the left wing over the Space Cadet.
10:56 – The Space Cadet returns the favor from the top of the circle. Lakers up 4-2.
10:38 – Utah is being more deliberate than a contestant on Deal or No Deal. AK47 gets a nifty Arvydas Sabonis up and under to go. Tied at four.
9:46 – LO gets aggressive on a broken play. He makes a great spin move to take it around Boozer. 2 points.
8:52 – Lamar abuses Memo’s defense. A little shake and bake along the baseline earns LO a layup.
8:10 – Good defensive sequence here, which leads to a Kobe leakout. But Kobe can’t convert. Kirilinko’s length bothers the layup. AK47 gets the jumper at the other end. An efficient and quick start to this game offensively for both teams. This is the anti-Boston/Cavaliers game. Did anyone else see that? The YMCA all-stars could’ve beaten either of those teams in HORSE last night. Disjointed doesn’t even begin to describe that affair.
6:55 – Bad call. The ball was off Memo’s lazy leg but the refs give it back. Williams gets a wide open shot off the inbounds play but can’t convert.
6:40 – LO gets the ball inside and earns two free throws. This is a good point to pause and let everyone know that king sized duvet covers are grossly overpriced in my opinion. Macy’s is $300 richer today for what is essentially an oversized pillow case. Happy Mother’s Day! LO7 converts both of his free throws (GASP!). Lakers up 15 – 13.
6:11 – Great transition bucket for the Lakers. Could’ve been a dangerous outlet pass (for the Lakers) against other teams, but as we said, the Jazz transition D is lackluster. D-Will, Memo and AK47 trot back, rather than sprint back.
5:09 – Lakers use their Lucky Charms free prize to decode the zone defense. This earns LO a lefty layup over two Jazz defenders. Assist to P-Gas.
4:14 – Since it’s the 60th Anniversary, I wish the Lakers would honor more of their heritage and great history. The legends should be invited back to every playoff game.
3:38 – It’s Jack Black and Kyle Gass in purple and gold. The Lakers are playing Tenacious D out there! How about the power to kill a yak? From three hundred yards away…with MIND BULLETS? Kobe gets the steal from Mehmet and he’s fouled before he can get away. Jerry Sloan earns himself a fine by getting a technical.
2:52 – Lakers are up 25-15 as the Spaniard goes to the line for two shots. He misses both.
2:18 – Derek Fisher enjoys the passive non-pressure of the zone defense. He nails a left corner three.
2:05 – Son of Bill harasses Harpring into committing an offensive foul.
1:43 – Dfish is feelin it in his soul. He hits another left corner three. This time over a defender and about as high as he could get it without needing FAA clearance.
1:02 – Turiaf blocks the crap out of a D-Will lay-up attempt and when D-Will gets it back, he steps on the sideline. Turnover.
0:46 – Turiaf rewards Luke Walton’s unselfishness (or unathleticism) by nailing a jumper. Luke says “thanks for bailing me out of that one. I didn’t really want to go one on one with Harpring.”
0:00 – The quarter ends with the Lakers up 33-18. Eight to nothing run to finish the period. Well done good guys! Don’t rest on your laurels. Jerry Sloan will not tolerate laziness and he’ll get these Jazzers to make a comeback.

2nd Quarter
The Bill Engvall show looks about as funny as heartburn on the freeway. Jerry Sloan complains about the refs calling fouls when Utah puts their hands on the Lakers. Isn’t that the definition of a foul?
11:04 – Dan Crawford doesn’t care to watch the game. He decides to call a foul on Luke Walton for holding onto the ball at the same time as Mehmet.
10:50 – Wow. Luke just stuffs a Harpring post-up turnaround. Millsap picks up the ball and jams his way into the paint drawing the foul, and one. He makes the three point play.
10:30 – Korver isn’t paying enough attention. Price slipped trying to guard Farmar and Kover refused to rotate till it was too late. Farmar makes them pay.
9:55 – Lakers give up too easy a bucket off an inbounds play. 35-23 Lakers up.
9:36 – I’m not a big Korver fan, but leaving him wide open in the left corner in transition seems like an idea the US patent office wouldn’t recognize as having any use. Sasha drifted towards the middle to stop the ball and Farmar drifted towards the opposite side trailing behind DWill. Everyone else clogged the middle and left Korver to rule his own little fiefdom. We’ll call that area Korver’s Korner from now on. Speaking of Korver, am I wrong to read into it that Korver is just traded to the Jazz this year and he’s suddenly the most popular player on the team and he’s white? He freaking comes off the bench and plays crappy D and sometimes makes three pointers. D-Will and Boozer should be the fan favorites since they, you know, dominate. Am I supposed to believe that Korver just has this magnetic personality that everyone in Utah loves? Umm right.
7:55 – Price “took it like a man” as Jordan Farmar drove hard to the basket trying to draw the charge. Trade Farmar for Shaq and I wonder if Price makes the same decision. Farmar makes two free throws.
Millsap is a force tonight. He’s active on the offensive end. He shows a nice spin move inside and gets fouled as he makes the layup. Misses the freebie though.
6:37 – LO7 definitely bring more energy tonight. He’s showing activity on defense and offense. I’m not sure what happened in game one, but he’s back in regular form tonight. Errr…that is not to say he is like a transformer and previously he was in the shape of an 18-wheeler.
6:20 – Pau drops the sledgehammer. Hahaha. It was not exactly sledgehammer esque but it’ll do. Two points.
5:46 – Millsap gets another layup with a foul (I disagree with the call, but who am i?) The Lakers need to get him in foul trouble pronto fast. After the free throw, 45-35 Lakers up.
5:28 – Pau is doing a great job in the post tonight. Okur is putting up much less of a fight and Gasol is getting his.
5:06 – The Space Cadet tries to ride Mehmet like a Koala mother (face to face) as he falls for the pump fake. The big man makes two free throws.
4:34 – Mehmet makes a great first step attacking move around Gasol who had no idea Okur had that much speed in him. Layup. Someone brainwashed Okur into thinking he was freaking speed racer.
3:12 – Fisher fakes the pass around the perimeter and just fakes the defenders out of their shoes. He gets the 21 foot jumper to go. No one in the vicinity.
2:41 – D-Will gets a three to go with 2 seconds left on the 24-second clock. The Lakers played great defense but Korver made a great cross court pass to give him an open look. DWill’s first bucket comes at a great time for the Jazz. Coming back from timeout, TNT tells us Boozer and Williams are doing poorly on offense. D-WIll has 3 points, Boozer has 0.
2:16 – Korver does a great job sealing off the Machine and gets an easy dunk.
1:33 – A fast sequence of back and forth finished off by a Kirilenko layup over Odom in transition.
1:02 – Korver gets another over the top lob. Jazz coaches figured that Sasha’s haranguing defense could be neutralized by posting him up in the block. This is a great way to utilize Korver’s height advantage. We’ll see if he can continue to capitalize on these opportunities when that is not usually what he called upon to do.
0:22 – Pau gets a good dump off feed off a DFish drive. Gasol tries to go up with it and Collins, who’s in there because the NBA grants players 6 fouls before ineligibility, fouls him pretty hard. Gasol starts swimming through the air. I’m not sure what he was trying to do there.
0:00 – poor pass by D-Will to AK47. A better pass and AK47 gets a momentum building alley-oop dunk for the Jazz. Instead, it goes the other way and DFish gets off a decent shot at the buzzer. It’s no good. Dfish has that wily smile on his face during the interview going into halftime. He knows he’s got DWill’s number. 63-49 Lakers are sitting pretty for the second half.

Halftime
Charles is disappointed in the Jazz for not looking like they can beat the Lakers. EJ says “they look slow.” That was pretty matter of fact. I had to laugh. Kenny says the Jazz are settling for good looks, but not trying to punish the Lakers getting great looks. As a sidenote, I am happy for the Magic. They came out hungry and made it a series.
What kind of party is it? A block party.
Who’s invited? Everybody.
That cracks me up every time. I don’t know if I could ever get tired of it. Especially when it’s being said about D12, D.Ho, Superman, Dwight Howard.
This Public Service Announcement brought to you by nomuskles: If you haven’t seen Iron Man, go see it. Now. Don’t wait till the weekend. Go see it now. Seriously it was that great. Robert Downey, Jr. is absolutely fantastic.

3rd Quarter
10:50 – The quarter starts off with a lot of clunky shots. The long halftime hurts the rhythm. Deron Williams gets tagged in the nether regions as AK47 tips in his miss. He limps around the court while he tries his ovaries out.
9:42 – Jazz playing much better to start the half. Making their open jumpers and finding the open man. Here though, Lamar gets to the hoop and gets the foul and bucket. He misses the free throw though. Lakers up 67-57.
9:13 – Kobe found LO7 cherry picking after the airball/tipped shot. Lamar leaked out after challenging the shot and boozer wasn’t able to catch up. Great look up the floor by the Kobester.
8:40 – Kevin Harlan asks Doug Collins how he would guard Kobe Bryant “I would get three hard fouls and sit down.” While he’s blathering on Deron Williams makes a great move to get into the paint. Layup.
7:53 – Brewer benefits from a great feed by D-Will in transition. Single digit lead by Lakers. Lamar makes the quick layup at the other end.
7:25 – D-Will finds his way into the lane again and makes the layup. This is the Williams we’ve been expecting to see. The scary one.
7:07 – Pau says he might not be en elite defender but he’s not dead either. He roofs Brewer’s attempt out of bounds.
6:51 – Kobe drives HARD to the hole and AK47 and Mehmet are forced to foul. Mehmet is charged with the violation while helping his overmatched teammate. I don’t know if I buy this whole “look like they believe they can beat them” thing. This is not a bunch of players with their tails between their legs. But maybe I’m misreading this. Lakers force another turnover on a 24 second clock violation.
6:10 – the space cadet steps out of bounds and then walks back which allows kirilenko to get an easy layup. Pft. Luke gets up off the bench. He’ll come in at the next dead ball.
5:21 – Lakers up 14. 66-80. Timeout.
4:39 – The Lakers go into the Cleveland Cavaliers offense with Kobe playing Lebron. Kobe takes the Jazz on and makes a great bank shot. Degree of difficulty = ten of ten.
3:30 – Luke tries to give AK47 his Upper Respiratory Infection, because that’s the only he’s going to be able to keep up with the speed of Kirilenko. Tag you’re it. Foul on Luke.
3:12 – Kobe is triple teamed and emerges like a salmon from the flowing stream. I’m not sure how he made that one against three Jazz defenders. It was like he had an amnesia inducing charm as they forgot that he was in a position to shoot the ball. He made the defenders look lead footed and they were definitely not. He was just lightning quick.
2:35 – A bunch of Mormons just stood up and shouted “Yes, Please.” Because Deron Williams just threw down a dunk in semi-transition that will undoubtedly make tonight’s highlights. He pulled a Lamar right in Lamar’s grill. Nasty.
2:15 – Boozer picks up his fourth foul. 76-86 Lakers up but they need to be careful here. TV Timeout. Coming back, there’s a great anecdote shared by David Aldridge that Brian Shaw shared with him. Apparently there was a stretch where Phil did not yell at Kobe when they were teammates and Phil’s explanation was that Kobe was always in attack mode and Phil could not take that away from him. Interesting thought process there.
0:56 – Tricky moments here. Lakers are not slamming the door shut on this Jazz team. Jazz pull within 8. However, they do get a good stop on Williams penetration and DFish draws a sucky foul on Mehmet. If I were a Jazz fan I’d be a little bit annoyed with that call. It was all Fisher’s fault. Fisher makes the free throws. Williams turns the ball over quickly in the backcourt but the Lakers give it right back. 90-80.
0:16 – Great rebound by Lamar! Way to fight for it like he was Arnold in the Last Action Hero. This earns Fisher a three in the right corner.
0:01 – D-Will nails a three over Farmar despite the great heads-up play of Fisher to give the foul and get the Lakers defense set. 93-83 Lakers hanging onto the lead.

4th Quarter
11:15 – Vujacic nails a long two after Deron got his shot blocked/fouled on the other end (no call).
10:55 – D-Will drives baseline and draws the foul on Ronny. He’s got the right idea if you’re a Jazz fan (probably not if you’re reading this). He’s taking it to the bucket and being aggressive, putting pressure on the Lakers.
10:31 – Millsap gets himself a good layup inside. 87-95. Staples is a little quiet.
10:11 – Luke hits a big shot. Making the three from the right wing. Our bench has been big for us all year. Let’s watch as that experience during the year pays off here.
8:45 – Ronny makes a terrific pass but it was one pass too many. He threaded the needle but Pau wasn’t expecting it and he rushed the layup. In hindsight, Ronny should’ve shot the 18 footer because he was wide open. We’ll live with the unselfishness.
7:49 – 98-89 Lakers are still up after a Millsap second chance put back. Luke doesn’t get off a good shot and the Lakers are guilty of taking longer than 24 seconds to contact the rim. Timeout. I expect we’ll see the MVP back on the floor when we return. Utah may not win this game, but they are going to be tough at home. They’ll get a boost from the home crowd and the familiar surroundings. Just look at the Magic.
7:42 – Lakers decide they want to make it a little more interesting and spot the Jazz another point with a defensive three second violation.
7:31 – Millsap gets an offensive rebound and Harpring makes the Lakers pay. 98-92.
6:15 – Lakers dodge a bullet. Lamar turns the ball over. Jazz run the break but somehow miss the layup and the refs don’t call a foul even though there was some contact. Mamba comes back the other way and earns two free throws. He makes both. 92-99.
6:00 – Lamar gets called for a foul and screams like his best friend just died. It was more like a wail. Luckily, it’s just a foul. Boozer will shoot some free throws after the television prescribed timeout. He makes both. 94-99 Lakers.
5:39 – the jazz focus so much energy on stopping the Kobester that he is able to find the Machine on the right side for an open jumper. 101-94.
5:11 – Lamar does a great job defending the Williams/Boozer pick and roll. He came off his man to stop Boozer’s roll the bucket. Lamar blocked both of Boozer’s attempts.
5:02 – This is no time for lazy passes Mr. MVP.
4:55 – Fisher is money in the bank, shorty what’s your drank? He nails the three from straight on. 104-94. This was created by LO’s penetration off a Gasol feed from the pinch post.
4:26 – The Lakers create a turnover and Gasol earns himself two free throws. Pau makes one. The other one is missed but wouldn’t have counted anyway due to a lane violation. 105-94.
4:05 – Boozer makes two free throws. 105-96.
3:51 – Kobe found himself with a relatively easy shot because Lamar has vision. 107-96.
3:28 – Mehmet gives a great fake to make LO go flying by into the Lakers Girls but can’t convert.
3:01 – Pau almost plays great D on Kirilenko who draws the foul. He’ll shoot one. 107-99.
2:40 – Something out of nothing. The MVP is more than a magic man. He resides in the pantheon of Olympus. Sasha passes up the three after Korver chases him off the line. He has no options because he’s picked up his dribble except you-know-who springs free. Mamba probes for a couple dribbles and gets the double team leaning just a little bit and in that moment when the outlook is grim, the trap is about to spring and the shot clock winds down he wills his body through a chink in the double-team with a spin move that can only come from heaven’s kingdom. Zephyr creates a space where none previously existed for He is the chosen one. This gives Kobe a path to the lane but no path to the basket as Utah has a couple defenders to guard the Holy Grail. Kobe goes up to shoot but at the last possible moment he spots Pau with just a minute halo of space in the depths of the enemy stronghold. The MVP casts his magic spell of genesis. He creates, in front of you, me and a global audience, something as startling as Adam’s first breath. With a flick of the wrist the ball heeds Bryant’s indomitable will. It flies around Okur, to Gasol, who receives it and dunks it in one swift motion in a way few others could manage. It is in this moment we have all witnessed a virtuoso performance by one of the game’s all time greats. It is in this moment that the Lakers will find hope and the Jazz will only find despair. No matter how well the Jazz play the rest of the game, their fate will have already been determined by the one they simply call Him. Indeed, we are all witness. 109-99.
0:00 – Final score is 120-110, your Los Angeles Lakers.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. Gils_Keloids says

    Now that penultimate entry, THAT is what Vic the Brick WISHES he sounded like. Nice wotk, er, work.

  5. The Dude Abides says

    Great recap from Nomuskles. Anyway, about the FT disparity:

    The Lakers did get a few breaks (non-calls) on a couple Williams drives to the basket, but just about every foul called on Utah was legit. I mean, Boozer shoved Pau with two hands in the back on a rebound for his first foul, and committed an obvious over the back (actually he swung at the rebound and hit Pau on the head) for his third foul.

    LA shot 43 FTs and Utah 16, but ten of the LA FTs were in the final minute when Utah was fouling to stop the clock/make it worse in the box score to give the refs something to think about. Take those away and the margin is 33-16, then if you add five FTs to Utah’s total because of five “and one” fouls, you would have less of a disparity. The actual total number of fouls was 30-20, with five of Utah’s 30 coming in the final minute. Anyway, I’m posting this summary because we all know that the FT disparity will be talked about for the next two days.

  6. lakerade says

    now THAT was a playoff crowd! from section 320 again, tonight the fans were boisterous and exuberant. From when Kobe said it was time to get the party started all the way to the chants of “sweep, sweep” at the end, tonight’s crowd was fiesty and ferocious, and the lakers gave them reason to remain so. when it did lull a bit in the second half, the pent up energy manifested itself in a wave that flew around the building at a torrid pace. i don’t care how crazy it is in utah, nothing beats an LA playoff crowd. 10 more.

  7. harold says

    great work 🙂

    i was really trying to see what happened on that play where the ball somehow appeared in Gasol’s mitts.

    times like that i truly believe that the ‘NBA is too fast for rookies.’ too bad often times it’s too fast for me too without the aid of a replay…

  8. harold says

    oh, and wayyyyy off topic, but thought i’d mention this as it seems sort of like a Kobe redemption day.

    http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-32-167/Karl-Malone–Demetrius-Bell–and-Mother-s-Day.html

    remember the Kobe-Malone feud thing with Malone allegedly having said something to the effect of ‘i go hunting for little mexican girls?’

    a whole new perspective, reading this. 20 year old with a (possibly) 12 year old. not sure if the girl was mexican, but she sure was little, and if Kobe or others knew of Malone’s rap sheet, i can definitely understand the outrage, though at the time, like the Shaq-Kobe feud, i tended to think Kobe was at fault.

    Now, well, it seems Kobe and his wife’s reaction seems perfectly valid and reasonable.

  9. tonystarks says

    Game 3 in Utah:
    – Officiating more favorable towards the Jazz
    – Derron is going to come out as aggressive as he did in the 2nd half right from the jump. Fish said at the half that D-Will is the head of their offense. No coincidence the Jazz made their run when he was attacking and looking for his own shot. He made it look so easy, I was thinking why he hasn’t been doing it all series (no doubt he will with a home crowd behind him tho).

    – Speaking of easy – Mamba had a few bonkers plays. That touch-floater over AK. Unbaweebabol. The spin into a hanging jumper over Brewer that banked in. Nice. You know those are just Difficult shots, but he made it look like pregame warmups. Thing is he’s been having like 2-3 wow plays a game ALL SEASON LONG.

    And once again, when Utah was making their run at the beginning of the 3rd, Kobe stepped on the gas to keep us afloat and even for the quarter. Gotta say that he was looking nice on the low block, just punishing whoever was on him, so much so that Pau didn’t get a touch down there for awhile.

    – Is Boozer gonna show up? Cuz the games in UT are gonna be much closer and Derron can only do so much. U get the feeling, tho, that Utah’s got way too much pride to lose game 3 without a full 48-minute effort. We’re bout to take their best shot. But if we win game 3…. then it’s pretty safe to say that we are really, really good. Like 15-1 in the ’01 playoffs good.

  10. Bill Bridges says

    “It is in this moment that the Lakers will find hope and the Jazz will only find despair.”

    This is truly outstanding wotk. thank you Nomuskles.

  11. Warren Wee Lim says

    I believe its now time to focus on what will be the real clincher in this series – Game 3.

    It is my projection that the Jazz will come out with guns blazing in Game 3. Perhaps cook some controversy with Fish if needs be to keep the minds of the concerned a little distracted. It will be safe to assume Deron Williams will be a beast in this game.

    I did not see game 1 but I saw game 2. I am personally impressed with how the Lakers handled the Jazz in the first half of game 2 where they could hardly miss and the Jazz could hardly hit anything. I believe defense was contributing to it and it was simply sweet basketball to my eyes.

    You have to take not that going up 2-0 against the Jazz is not an easy feat. The Jazz proved to be hanging there all the way and the Lakers were playing tremendous teamwork to be cutting through this team. I am simply wowwed by the crisp passes that we make all throughout the game. I think that’s the TRI at its best.

    We now have them on their heels, lets go for the jugular and match the Jazz energy. As drrayeye likes to put it, we have to see it from the “quarter’s perspective”. So if I may…

    1. The Lakers need to match whatever energy the Jazz are coming out with in the 1st Q. I do not expect the Lakers to drub this team like they did in the 1st 2 games, if anything, its the Jazz that has the most motivation to do so. We have to be a little cautious because I do not foresee Boozer and Okur going bananas with 2 fouls in the 1st in SLC.

    Execution will be key and being “thrift” would be useful. We need to not turn the ball over if we intend to be levelling their out put. As usual, the Lakers will be offensively sound but the Jazz will be more. Home Cookin in SLC is no fluke.

    I expect the Lakers to be tied with the Jazz or be behind be just 3 at the end of the 1st.

    2. The 2ndQ is our quarter. By now, Deron, Boozer and Okur would all have their rest and its time for the team that has the superior bench to come out strong. I am little concerned with Farmar’s funk lately and his ability to be a “leader” at this stage. He is regressing a bit from the 1st half of the year’s success. I expect us to catch up and be settled for a tie or a 2-pt lead at the half.

    3. The 3rdQ is once more Jazz-favored. I believe this is where Sloan pressures the whole club (punishing them with pushups on ice) if they do not build a decent lead going into the 4th. Once more, the young Lakers’ WILL will be tested. Kobe will be Kobe, and if the others fold into the pressure, I would not mind Kobe being Kobe for a quarter and single-handedly score 25 to carry this team.

    4. The 4th will be a culmination of who played better as a team all throughout the game. If the Lakers went into the Kobe path, there’s a good chance none of the others get going and the game falls into Kobe’s hands. If the Lakers suddenly are able to change pace and attitude, its kill time.

    Once more I say it, going up 2-0 is somehow expected although many would not be surprised if we were down 0-2. That’s how good the Jazz team is. But if you look at it, how the Lakers play in game 3 will dictate what will happen in the series. If they allow the Jazz to win in blowout fashion, there’s a lot of psychological edge they would be giving up for game 4.

    My analogy goes like this:

    Lakers squeak out win in gm3, Jazz win gm4 and Lakers close in game 5.

    Lakers blow out the Jazz in gm3, Lakers finish off the Jazz at Salt Lake Sunday afternoon.

    Jazz win by less than 5pts, Lakers can still be confident and take game 4. Although, the Jazz could very well tie it up to 2-2 thus making it a 3-game series now. 1 game at Utah, 2 games in LA.

    Jazz win big in game 3, they win game 4. The series would probably go to seven games. Or the Lakers would need to play exceptional offense and defense to take game 6.

    IMO, at this point, the Lakers are in a good place. The Jazz would need to get 4 of the last 5 just to win and those odds, though not insurmountible, are quite steep against a pumped up, amped up, 6-0 Laker team. (On a 10-game winning streak actually if you count the 4-gm win streak at the end of the regular season).

    Still the Lakers cannot be complacent and overconfident.

  12. DowJones says

    Nice description of the that play Nomuskles.
    Kobe was ridiculous….spin/split the double team then behind Okur’s head…*sigh* I think i have a serious case of man love for kobe !!!

  13. B.J. says

    I live in SLC, and I couldn’t help but laugh about the Korver comment. It blows my mind how popular he is. He’s a valuable player mainly for his shooting (though when he decides to show up on defense, he is actually capable of making a play or two), but definitely shouldn’t be the most popular player on the team. But I guess mormons cling to non-threatening white guys. (Side note: The state of Utah is approximately 95% white, though Salt Lake County is only about 86% white. Either way, not a lot of minorities.)

    When Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer are aggressive, good things happen for the Jazz. Unfortunately, they’re acting tentative in the first half and not turning it on until the second, when it’s too late. You can’t spot the Lakers a lead and just expect to catch up, because the Lakers are too good and will hold you at arm’s length. Now it’s really an uphill battle. If the Jazz aren’t aggressive from the start the rest of this series, I’ll be home watching something other than the playoffs while your Lakers are making a return to the Western Conference Finals.

  14. ryan says

    7 & 8. I second that. Great description of that play. That was one of the greatest basketball plays I have ever seen Absolutely amazing. No idea how in the hell he… well any of it really. Speechless.

    And I agree about Iron Man. It was surprisingly really good.

  15. reed says

    I have to confess that my 96 year old grandmother, a lifelong Jazz fan, recently told me that her favorite player was Korver. Knowing why, I asked her who her other favorites were: “Harping and Kirilenko.” Why? “They just seem like good, clean cut boys.” Even though Kirilenko has a free pass to commit adultery? “Kobe is a criminal.”

    Some unfortunate, old-fashioned attitudes remain in Utah, but I think it is a very, very small segment of the mostly older community that has nothing to do with being Mormon — it’s just a very homogeneous place that hasn’t been exposed to enough diversity, like some other areas of the country.

  16. nomuskles says

    After the game, Charles Barkley described the play at 3:12 remaining in the 3rd quarter thusly, “Only God can stop that.” He described it like that because Kobe was triple teamed and none of the defenders had a chance at blocking the one-handed jumper. It was a shot that looked too easy and very defensible, and yet, not one of the three defenders was able to provide any resistance.

    Something about last night’s performance made me feel as if I was watching a performance that heaven-sent, not superhuman. I usually find myself in awe at the sheer athleticism and audacity of it all but last night I found myself in a different state of understanding — that last night’s game felt pre-ordained. The victory didn’t require superhuman miracles because Kobe and the Lakers were simply better and they knew it; gods among men. It was like reaching nirvana, a state of enlightenment in which everything becomes clear.

  17. pb says

    The idea scenario of game 3 or 4 would be for the Lakers to win a close game.

    I can just picture it playing it out like this…Game 3: Utah comes out firing in all cylinders and go up quickly, but can’t get a double digit lead thanks to the Lakers’ offensive efficiency. Still, they pound the Lakers on board and get some stops using their dirty, I mean physical style of playing. The finally get a double digit lead, but Fisher/Sasha barrage of 3 pointers bring the Lakers back into the game. With the Lakers down 2 with 4 seconds to go, Kobe takes an amazing 30 foot 3 pointer, not too unsimilar to ones he took more than a decade ago. This time, however, the ball is an airball all right, one that goes through the hoop without even touching the net. The Lakers win by 1.

    Game 4: Kobe and Gasol P&R Jazz to death and Derek Fisher continues to sizzle from the outside as the demoralized UTAH give up by halftime and we win by 30.

    Of course, the reality may be much different, but my scenario would bring karmic imbalance of the Lakers losing to UTAH in Kobe’s early years and finally bring closure to UTAH’s classless treatment of Fisher in SLC. The sweep would not be necessary but a game winning 3 and a Fisher redemption would be quite sweet.

    Reed, once again, a very balanced and insightful comment. Much of racism in U.S. is more out of ignorance/unfamiliarity than pure hatred. However, unintentional bigotry is still bigotry.

  18. Lamont Jackson says

    I concur with Warren and Tonystark – game 3 is where the Jazz throw the kitchen sink at the Lakers yo! I predict KB24 takes over in a close game down the stretch with AK47 doing everything he can to stop him. My boy Kobe is ballin! I had to play some NBA2k8 after last nights game. Ballin!

  19. pw says

    It would be interesting to know what percentage of teams that started 6-0 in the playoffs went on to win the championship. Does any of you know where I could look up that stat?

  20. P. Ami says

    Regarding the Korver/Mormon issue, anyone notice what percentage of blacks vote for Obama these days? Its not old fashioned to project similarity onto those who look like us, its human. We have a tendency to give more credit and place less blame on those we relate to and looks are part of that equation. Is this trait universal? No. But it is a human tendency that everybody in the world has to live with.

  21. cooley says

    Nice blogging,enjoyed reading every bit of it. I couldn’t watch the game since i had to participate in a seminar but your writing explained everything about the match to me. One last thing that i wonder is the reason of this huge discrepancy of foul attempts between two teams. In another forum, some Utah fans were not happy about that. So is it because the Jazz team hacked our players very often or because the Lakers had the home court advantage? Thanks!

  22. Reed says

    Let’s not call it a “Korver/Mormon” issue, implying that any favoritism of white players is tied to the religion. Less than half the population of Salt Lake is Mormon these days. It’s slowly becoming more diverse, especially since the Winter Olympic games were held there. I lived there for a few years and thought it was a lot more sophisticated than it probably gets credit for.

    Good point on the Obama example and human tendency to trust the familiar. But, as you note, this is a widespread phenomenon that is present everywhere — especially in areas that are homogeneous, one way or the other.

    I’m flying to Salt Lake for game 3, hoping to witness a demoralizing third victory. If they boo Fisher, I may get into a fight.

  23. chris h says

    cooley, read #5 above from “the Dude abides”, as he describes nicely what you are wondering about in regards to the FT’s.
    I’d agree that the last few minutes of the game made the box scores/stats become not an accurate picture of the game, Utah was intentionally fouling to try to get back into the game and stopping the clock.

  24. nomuskles says

    I don’t know about the free throw disparity. I didn’t have a problem with how the game was refereed. I think there were a few fouls that could have been called on the Lakers that weren’t but I’m not sure it would have done a ton to close down the 27 free throw differential (17 if you take out the intentional ones at the end). Maybe three foul more net foul calls would result if you went back. I’d have to watch it again and pay a lot closer attention looking for fouls against the Lakers, which I’m not really inclined to do. There was a lot of contact on a lot of Lakers shots under the basket too that wasn’t called so I dunno. I think the referees did a pretty decent job of being consistent at both ends.

  25. barry g says

    boozer commits the types of fouls that i used to get annoyed w/ mihm and bynum over. is he just so used to getting away w/ pushes to the back and swinging at arms for a rebound that he doesn’t know how to help himself, even when the refs are blowing their whistles?? jazz aren’t gonna win w/out him…

  26. Aaron says

    Did anyone else see a play in the third or fourth quarter under the Lakers’ basket were Boozer shoved Sasha with 2 hands, yet the foul was on someone else on the Jazz? I couldn’t find it in the play by play and I don’t have a copy of the game, but it was a play replayed on TV and Sasha just got SHOVED, yet the foul wasn’t called. Anyone know what I’m talking about?

  27. B.J. says

    barry g –

    Agreed about Boozer and the fouls. He got in foul trouble on some very bad fouls in the first half. His head wasn’t in the game last night and it hurt him – and the team – badly.

    And regarding the Korver issue, you’re right, it’s not a purely mormon thing. But if Korver’s popularity and the booing of Fisher are tied to race, then the majority of people involved are probably mormon for the simple reason that the primary makeup of white suburban Utah is in fact Mormon. This would include much of the area around SLC, suburbs within driving distance of the arena. In contrast, the city itself may be less than 50% mormon, but it also has a lot more people who are minorities or have a more open-minded way of thinking.

    I’m not putting down mormons. It’s not just them. I’m just noting how demographics play a part.

  28. Darius says

    My fiance hijacked my computer access last night, so I just wanted to add a couple of thoughts to all the great ones I’ve read in this post (nomuskles: live game blog king….bill simmons has nothing on you.) and the game chat.

    *The energy was palpable in the arena at the start. I felt it through my new HD TV. But what impressed me most was the teams focus. We came out agressive on offense and defense. Only a few lapses in judgement held us back early and we were still able to generate a double digit lead. If we play that focussed, LA is a really tough team to beat.

    *Utah really, really has a Kobe problem. Brewer, AK, Deron, Harpring…none of them have the complete defensive package to really even bother Kobe. Couple that with the lack of a shot blocker on the interior and this is going to go on the entire series. Kobe’s going to continue to attack the lane and either finish or kick out for open jumpers for Fisher, Sasha, Walton (!), and Rad. I’m not sure Utah can stop this, and if they truly can’t, they won’t win this series. Kobe is too good right now and he’s too mentally strong to be deterred with hard fouls and too smart to stop doing what’s successful.

    *In the 4 quarter (especially the last 4-5 minutes), the Jazz did a great job of just kind of abandoning their sets and letting Williams attack. No screens, just get out the way and let him beat his guy. I think Sloan realized that by bringing over a screener it allowed the Lakers to dictate where the ball would go next by allowing the second defender to either force Deron to pass or by cutting off the driving lane until the primary defender could recover. If you just let Williams use his size, quickness, and handle, he has the skill to break us down and get to the rim. This fed his confidence that led to him burying those late jumpers too. If Sloan goes to more of these sets in game 3, the Lakers have to be ready to collapse the lane, rotate to any shooters on the perimeter, while still covering for a rotating big by boxing out Boozer, Milsap, Okur, and Harpring.

    *It’s been said a hundred times before, but it bears repeating: LA has the most efficient offense going right now. It helps that we have not played a defensive juggernaut like Boston, Houston, Detroit, or San Antonio, but we are rolling. The extra pass, the movement, the deciciveness within the offense….these are things that make execution a reality. *Execution is King* when it comes to playoff time, and this is where $10 mil a year pays off, if you ask me…

  29. This Little Pinky says

    Nomuskles – I have that same feeling.

    It’s like the end of the first Matrix (the rest were garbage), when Neo realizes his full potential and starts stopping bullets, and flexes his power.

  30. kwame a. says

    Did any else notice how dejected Barkley was when he knew the Jazz weren’t gonna win. Both at halftime and after the game dude had a look on his face like, I bet 400,000 on the Jazz for what.

  31. Chris J says

    Two comments…

    First, the whole idea that the Jazz are getting screwed by the referees is simply comical. They play a hard style and foul often because of it.

    If anyone has room to gripe, it’s every other team in the league that’s come up on the short end of the calls vs. the Jazz over the years, particularly in Salt Lake City where the Jazz gets away with murder year in and year out. The refs didn’t win either game for the Lakers so far. If Boozer & Co. want to stay on the floor, quit pushing everyone in the back when trying to rebound. (Yet somehow I suspect those same shoves will be OK while in Utah… We’ll see if I’m right come Friday.)

    Secondly, here’s a fun drinking game: when Doug Collins is working a game for TNT, take a drink each time he can go more than four seconds without speaking, excluding the times the play-by-play or sideline reporters are speaking).

    Non-drinking fans, including Mormons, can feel free to play along, since no one involved will ever have to take sip one.

    Collins seems to think other’s silence is his cue to start yapping. I miss Chick so much it hurts; and miss the days when we could at least get Joel & Stu on FoxSports West for the home games until the Conference Finals.

  32. Coop says

    Religious demographics are not a part of it. And even if they were (they aren’t), the discussion evolving from the point is clearly violating the spirit of Commenting Guideline #1.

    Being LDS myself (Mormon is a pejorative), I find the topic unnecessarily uncomfortable for a Laker’s commenting board. If you’re truly interested in the discussion, perhaps take an email route? I’d be happy to discuss it in that manner myself.

    That being said: Lakers for life, baby!

  33. Karl says

    Kevin Harlan always comes up with the best play descriptions. “With no regard for human life!”

  34. B.J. says

    Religious demographics are a part of almost everything in this country. But they are not the rule. In most cases.

    While the term “Mormon” may be considered offensive to certain people in some cases, in most cases it is not. I’ve lived in the Salt Lake area almost all my life, met many LDS people, had many LDS friends. I’ve even met a few that were fairly high up in the church. None of them found the use of the term to be offensive, even if used by someone decidedly non-LDS such as myself, so long as I was respectful.

    But you’re right, it’s getting a little off-topic, so I’ll shut up now lol

  35. chris h says

    I think Chuck was acting bummed cause somebody put a bug in his coke mug, did you see that business at halftime? (funny stuff, but I think he was kind of pissed and was going to let someone have it) you know when you get that funny feeling someone has played a gag on you, the camera crew was cracking up, then he found a bug in his cup…
    maybe that was why he was acting weird. but yeah, I did notice it.

  36. TC says

    The second coming happened last night? What did I do to get left behind? 🙂 Great recap from someone who didn’t, unfortunately, get to watch the game.

  37. Snoopy2006 says

    “If they boo Fisher, I may get into a fight.”

    lmao I’ll have your back. If things get too hairy we can pull a Reggie Evans job on the Jazz fans and run like mad.

  38. nomuskles says

    BJ, I think we should be careful about putting up such numbers and placing ideals on a group without giving them a chance to speak for themselves. I have no idea where you’re getting your numbers or if they’re even accurate and even if we took them at face value there’s nothing that says the White fans at the Utah games are going to have the same percentage of Mormons as the general population. NBA basketball games look nothing like the general population for many different reasons. Not only that, even if there was a lot of White Mormons who supported the Ashton look-a-like, there’s no basis for believing that it’s their Mormon background that has anything to do with that. It could be their Whiteness. It could be their love of pure shooting. It could be their love of high socks. Who knows?

    I think my observation is a little bit different. There are many differences between Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, and Kyle Korver. Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams are all-star caliber players and have what I would consider fan-friendly games. They work hard, hustle and are both extremely athletic. They are both well-spoken and as far as I know, have not had any major run-ins with the law. While all of those might be subjective benchmarks, the following is not, they lead their team in terms of production. Kyle Korver is not an all-star. He has not been a consistent starter and he probably never will be. He does do community outreach…in Philadelphia, where he formerly played. But in terms of his game, it’s rather lackluster. He shoots the three but his game rarely takes over since it relies so heavily on others setting screens or creating space for him through their brilliance. Rarely does he create his own shot. This is not the stuff that stars are generally made of and yet Korver’s popularity is seemingly through the roof among people in Utah, especially women. I’m left asking, “Why?”

    I don’t have a good answer and I would hate to attribute it entirely to his being White and the other two gentlemen being ethnically ambiguous, but whatever it is, I’m fairly certain it isn’t Korver’s basketball prowess that is making the fans’ hearts swoon. I think a lot of us got to that point rather quickly (maybe too quickly) but the next step is the treacherous one. How do you explain his popularity? It’s easy to point to Utah’s history of Mormon influence which shouldn’t be ignored but shouldn’t just be the default answer for everything. Not everyone in Utah is Mormon. Utah is heavily white. But again, not everyone in Utah is white. If we’re going to open the can of worms, let’s do so respectfully and unassumingly as we share only what we know, and ask what we don’t. Throwing around overgeneralizations as facts brings us no closer to the truth than an outright lie. That cliche, “Everyone’s unique” applies here. Making assumptions will only foul things up.

  39. P. Ami says

    My bad regarding the Mormon comment as the issue is really a matter of homogeny rather then any specific group. Just threw the descriptive that first came to mind. I certainly wasn’t derogating Mormons or Whites or any human being as I view this phenomenon as a human norm which can both, go very wrong as well as provide for the continuity of special values. There are some very good values in the LDS group that is largely absent in our greater culture.

    As for discussing the topic, it came up in the post. It would be unreasonable to let any “featured” speaker make their point and then disallow responses. Its not off topic if introduced in the initial post.

  40. B.J. says

    In reality, people are booing Fisher much like you would sneer at an ex-girlfriend when you run into her with another man. On the outside, you act disgusted and put her down. On the inside, at least part of you misses her.

  41. TC says

    I like Warren’s analysis of the likelihood of various outcomes. If the Lakers let the Jazz get up by 12 or 15 after the first quarter, it could be over a few minutes in the second quarter. However, if they can hang, as Warren noted, within 5 at the end of the first quarter, and can respond to subsequent pushes, even if the Lakers don’t win, it shoudl be competitive which will take a lot of the fire out of the Jazz. And do you guys remember in the during the prior championship run how Kobe thrived on the road? He loves shutting people down. I think Fish will be circulating cold blood too. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Lakers won. I really do think they’ll keep it close in game three, at the least, and will win game 4.

  42. DMo says

    I’d like to think the Fisher booing started in the minds of a few knuckleheads and spread through the crowd thoughtlessly. These things happen when large groups of amped up people get together in one place to scream their heads off. (I’ve heard some pretty stupid chants at California sporting events too.)

    In terms of game 3, I don’t really expect the Jazz to get more physical, because they are already pushing the Lakers around quite a bit. They will get called for it a few less times at home and the media will declare it “an adjustment”. That said, the Lakers have shown quite a talent for maintaining their composure in the post-season and, after an initial Utah rally, I see them pulling even sometime in the second quarter and holding the lead to the end of the game. I know the Jazz can play better than they have in games 1 + 2, but I don’t think anyone besides Williams truly believes they can win 4 of the next 5. Unless Boozer comes to life in a big way, this series could easily become an L.A. sweep.

    [Note: Boozers statistical slide actually began in the last trimester of the regular season. Whatever’s bothering him (nagging injury, personal issues, simple slump) may not be easy to correct overnight in a series where his team is down 2-0].

  43. carter blanchrd says

    Add me to the list of people sick of Sloan, Boozer, Jazz fans, etc whining about the foul trouble. When you lead the league in fouls all season long (and most seasons), you can’t act indignant when the playoffs come and you’re still getting called for a lot of fouls. They’re guilty of more jersey-tugs and subtle shoves than any team this year ( Harpring yanking Turiaf down to the ground by the jersey in Game 1 being one of the more blatant examples). I don’t think I’ve seen Boozer called for a questionable foul yet this series, let alone an outright bad one. His offensive rebounding is hugely dependent on shoving the defender out of position at the last second, a point that the Lakers bigs have almost certainly been coached to exaggerate with a flail every time it happens.

    On the subject of officiating, I’ve been pleased with the relative lack of yapping at the refs from Kobe this postseason. It’s like he’s put in his work during the regular season and can just focus on the game now.

  44. Ryan O says

    nomuskles, great job again on the live blog. I read the whole thing just waiting for your reaction to the Miracle Play at the end…and I wasn’t disappointed 🙂 Keep it up

    On a different topic, my buddies and I have decided that the Laker girls need to start doing “the robot” every time Sasha hits a 3 (or does anything, for that matter). I think it goes without saying that this would be fantastic. The Machine is already one of the best nicknames out there, and that would just put it over the top. One of said buddies just happens to know one of the Laker girls from his college days, and he’s going to pitch the idea to her. So if you see this start happening, I hereby claim (partial) responsibility!

  45. pb says

    As far as refereeing is concerned, there are 10% of calls that was wrong and against your team, 80% that was fair and right, and 10% of call that was wrong and was in favor of your team. I’m sure there has to be at least +/- 10% on each of the categories. (There’s no mathematical/statistical data to support this. I’m just estimating to make my point.) However, the fans of each side will remember the 10% that went against their team more than the rest. Of course, the percentage of each category can vary based on several factors such as home team vs. away, aggressiveness of defense, style of offense (jump shooting/postup/drive), and the tendency of officials. It is practically impossible to achieve perfect consistency with human officials, so all you can ask for is consistency during the game. Lakers will get more calls than Utah in this series because several things favor them. 1) Utah’s physical style of defense. 2) Lakers offense emphasizing ball movement and penetration. 3) Kobe’s ability to take shots without getting blocked. Remember, this isn’t anything new. We shot more FT’s in the last series, too. It’s because the Laker players tend to drive and get inside the paint more than their opponents when they are executing their offense. UTAH’s defense works best when the opposing players play very static offense because they body up very well. It is less effective against the Lakers because the players make more cuts and drive in triangle offense (again, when they are executing it properly).

    I’m sure officials have blown few calls here and there, but there’s no way the officials helped DFish knock down 4/5 3 pointers or allowed Pau to get easy looks inside or made Kobe’s acrobatics shots easier. It’s true that one call can make a difference in a close game, but neither game 1 or 2 were close enough to say that officials cost the game for UTAH. If Boozer can’t stay out of foul trouble, that’s not NECESSARILY official’s doing. A bigger reason might be that Boozer didn’t play smart.

    In SLC, UTAH should get more calls but not necessarily fewer fouls than they have. My main point is that number of free throws do not always reflect impartial officiating as some Jazz fans claim.

  46. Kareem says

    Korver looks like a menacing Ashton Kutcher. He’s so popular among women because he’s a good looking dude… and he’s white. I know there’s this whole rational that pardons racial thinking, but somehow homogeneity does not explain away tags like “clean-cut” and “stand-up” attributed to a white player and nothing else to the minority players. Still the guy looks like he’d be right from the cover of Vanity or GQ, let the girls fawn. I’ll take D. Will’s professionalism, skill, and leadership any day. Hell, find me a woman like that and I’ll sell my soul for her.

  47. J.D. Hastings says

    I’d feel a lot better if Utah spent their time only employing the so called “Clean Cut” guys. It would make facing them a lot easier without having to worry about Deron Williams, Boozer, Milsap, etc.

    I don’t think the uncomfortable fan reaction to white players begins and ends in Utah. A lot of goofy white guys are over-embraced by their town’s fans. Mark Madsen was generally loved during his time in LA, and he sucked. Brian Scalabrine apparently gets that in Boston too. Of course, maybe that’s because they’re hustle guys who go out and give their all everytime they’re on the court. L.A. now loves Ronny Turiaf for that exact same reason, but it becomes easy to look at the commonality between all the white players who fit in that category without seeing what they might have in common with similar minority players.

    If you substituted Jason Williams for Korver, would he get the same reaction?

    Utah has to deal with some of the perception of being racist because of the actions of a few fans during last year’s playoff series with Golden State. Is it fair to project from that incident onto an entire body of fans? No. But maybe it will provide more impetus for those fans to deal with the offending parties when it does threaten to come up…

  48. CLS says

    Pau is fine and all but damn I love Kevin Garnett. Even on the Celtics it’s hard not to get caught up in the emotion he plays with. I wonder what the Lakers would be like had he ever come here.

  49. harold says

    first, a mere formality, but Kobe a unanimous choice for NBA first team. team of MVP candidates, actually.

    i don’t see how people can fret over fouls when i recall none that were momentum-changing (was there even a situation that could have changed momentum? like, pulling even?) nor were there any that were worth 10+ points, the point differential in the end.

    if you get beat by 10 or more, phantom fouls are probably the least of your problems.

    as for race and popularity, i don’t know, maybe it’s just that Korver is better looking than Carlos or Deron. superficial stuff like that, esp. if he’s more popular among women. Maybe it’s wrong to judge players this way, but it’s sure the way i judge cheerleaders; i could care less whether a specific cheerleader is more hard-working, etc.

    anyway, game 3. we take this one, we can move in for the sweep. I’m hoping for NOH to get game 3 too, so the Lakers have even more motivation going in…

  50. Aaron says

    Geez – two comments as I watch the Celts-Cavs game:

    1. The Lakers’ offense is so much more appreciated when compared to the stagnant schemes run by both of these teams.

    2. Lebron’s great, but the dude can’t shoot from 15 feet and on (at least when I’ve seen him over the season). Even if the stats show otherwise, the C’s are giving him room to take the jumper and he’s not hitting that. Give that room to Kobe and he’ll drill you.

  51. Craig W. says

    CLS,
    Ironically, the Lakers might not be as good if KG had been traded. Just think about this lineup: Fisher, Kobe, Vlade, KG, Kwame. Now we have no Lamar, Bynum, Farmar and probably still don’t have the draft picks.

    Our first string wouldn’t be as fluid because of Kwame/Mbenga/Mihm. Our 2nd string would probably consist of Sasha, Walton, Turiaf and not much else.

    We would lose a lot of games when the starters would need some rest and, without a fluid first string, we wouldn’t have great leads.

  52. The Fanalyst says

    Everybody is talking about the Jazz and their foul calls. I don’t know why. They’re the best arena football team in the NBA. They don’t ever get called for face masking or intentional grounding…

  53. euph0ria says

    I’m not gonna get into discussing race, but I’d have to say that most of the Utah players aren’t even good looking. Mehmet Okur reminds me of the Geico Caveman, and Ronnie Brewer looks like Smush Parker (neither are attractive).

    Anyhow, I hope the Lakers can maintain that momentum riding from Game 2. It’ll be interesting how they react to the intimidating, crunk crowd up in Utah. I’m looking to see if Mister MVP takes the next two games as a personal challenge like he did in that victory back in late March. I hope he does…after all, we all know the Jazz have no answer for him.

  54. laughing hard says

    I’ll have your back too Reed — I’ll be there leading the MVP chants from the upper level =)

  55. nomuskles says

    SA and NOOCH are in a great battle right now. I hope it stays that way in the second half Michael Finley and Ginobili have been a huge part of SA’s success. NOOCH is doing it thei usual way with their three best players.

  57. CLS says

    CraigW, I agree it doesn’t work, and let’s not get greedy. I just love the way he plays. As a pure fan, there’s probably no place I would rather see him play than Boston. If you’ve ever had the privilege of seeing a game there, you know how well he fits in.

  59. lakerfan101 says

    Thanks Nomuskles for the live blog it was great as usual, with SA winning at home maybe there is something to be said of “the home court advantage”. Hopefully the Lakers can pull a win in the next two games.

  60. Kurt says

    San Antonio made Chris Paul the shooter, he had 35, West 23 and then a huge drop off. Plus, double digit scoring from Bowen and 3 of 5 from deep from Finley helped balance the scoring. The question is, can they repeat that?

  61. penston says

    Next time I see another feature on ref BobbyD and his undercoverness, I’m gonna throw my Hot Pocket at the TV.

  62. The Dude Abides says

    Wow, what a great game tonight between the young upstart Hornets and the bloody but unbowed Spurs. Amazing stat lines for the two PGs: Paul 35 pts 9 assts, Parker 31 pts 11 assts. Popovich finally did what everyone in the NBA universe was recommending and stuck Bowen on Peja. Let Paul get his, and try to prevent the NO three-point shooters from going off.

    Have to agree with poster Kareem on Kutcher, I mean Korver. He’s popular because he could be on the cover of GQ. The Lakers had a popular guy like that a few years ago who used to be married to Vanessa Williams. Also, the white players most popular with the ladies seem to be the ones who don’t shave their heads.

    Onto the foul discrepancy between the Jazz and Lakers, especially the Boozer situation: the guy needs to adjust his game to the referees’ calls, it’s that simple. If you pick up an early foul for shoving a guy in the back on a rebound, out in the open 20 ft from the basket, then maybe you shouldn’t try that same play again. If the Lakers can play through any potential “let them play” philosophy by the officials in Game 3 in SLC and not let it bother them, they can win one, and possibly two games there. It’s been pointed out on this board already how much better the Lakers have been playing ever since Kobe was forced to zip his lip when he picked up his 15th technical. I’ve noticed very little sulking by the Laker players these past six games when they wanted a foul called on a drive. Everyone has done a good job of rushing back on defense and not leaving your teammates to defend four-on-five while you argue with the officials. If the Lake Show continues that mindset, we could have a sweep.

  64. Emma says

    Well… but wasn’t Korver pretty popular in Philly also?

    I’m sorry, I’m a girl and I don’t find Kyle Korver attractive… to me he kind of looks like the Beast from the Linda Hamilton _Beauty and the Beast_. Also did not think Rick Fox was attractive, though I love him of course. What is wrong with me?!

  65. drrayeye says

    Game 3 background: This may be premature, but ALL the second round “homers” have won two games. Note: Two have already lost game 3.

    This will be the biggest test for the Lakers in the playoff so far. Most experts, who project the Lakers to win in 6 or 7 (even Hollinger), are expecting the Jazz to win. The Jazz team is certainly expecting to win. The Jazz fans are determined to help.

    To all the doubting Thomases, this is the chance for the Lakers to prove that they are really special to the entire NBA. I think that the Jazz team already knows.

    One of the reasons that the Lakers may win has to do with what Kobe calls “team intelligence.” That’s quite a switch from when Phil referred to last year’s team as “slugs.” No matter what the Jazz try to do tactically, the Lakers will have a quick and appropriate response.

    On the otherhand, the Lakers can do things offensively for which the Jazz have no response. The Nuggs had the talent but not the teamwork; the Jazz have the teamwork but not the talent.

    It’s not like the Lakers have never defeated the Jazz in Utah . . . . .

  66. Amazing_Happens says

    Kobe was on KCAL570 earlier with Petros and Money.

    I’ve never heard Kobe more comfortable in an interview.

    http://am570radio.com/cc-common/podcast.html

    Here are some highlights, if you don’t want to listen to the whole thing, or you can’t get the audio for whatever reason.

    I know I can’t touch nomuskles, so I won’t even try to match his rapier wit.

    -The Lakers didn’t want to be a buzzkill with the all the energy in the building from Kobe’s MVP award, so that provided some added motivation to win Game 2.

    -Kobe’s daughters were more excited to watch Michael Jackson’s “Beat it” video in the car after the game than anything. It was if the MVP ceremony never happened.

    -Kobe say Derek Fisher plays with a lot of heart and moxie.

    -Kobe said that a light goes off in his head when a defender like Harpring guards him so close, because they both know Kobe can get by him, so Kobe presumes that the defender is trying to push him into a help situation. Kobe recognizes this and makes sure to read the floor, as that means his teammates will be open.

    -Kobe says that committing to opting out of a contract (or not) well before the time comes is bad business in any situation, but still, he doesn’t see himself going anywhere in the future.

    -Kobe used to call Sasha “10:30” but this year, he’s ready. Petros says that the national broadcasters claim that the nickname “The Machine” was self-given, but both Petros and Kobe refute that. Money says it was given by Stu Lance.

    -Petros asks if the international diversity of the team helps the Lakers. Kobe say that it has been huge. He says that international basketball stresses ball movement, quick touches, a lot of it owing to the same strategies used in soccer.

    -Money asks Kobe who he would vote MVP besides himself. Kobe says either Chris Paul or KG, a toss-up depending upon your criteria.

    -Kobe is not surprised by the Hornet’s success against San Antonio, as they are a good home team. (Seems spot-on, as NOH just lost on the road tonight.)

    -Petros points out that Farmar and Mbenga have huge ears. Kobe laughs, and says that the teammates rip each other all the time in the locker room. Kobe says Luke has had the same size head since Luke was 8 years old.

    -Petros talks about what women want for Mother’s day. Petros tries to get Kobe to agree that women want “plans” not “things”. (Apparently, Petros forgot he was talking to a guy who bought his wife a 5 gazillion dollar diamond ring to say “I’m sorry”)

    -Kobe says that Phil coaches according to the character of the team. Phil is more instructional this time around.

    -Money wonders what Kobe will be doing in Utah for 4 days. Kobe say he will be bodyguarding Vlad, making sure he doesn’t hit the slopes and snowboard.

    -Kobe congratulates Petros on his engagement, a nice touch to end the interview.

  67. j. d. hastings says

    Truehoop quoted one of the hornets blogs today as noting that when they lose it’s often because the opposing team shoots above average from 3 point range while the hornets shoot poorly from range. The idea being that the hornet defense is designed to lure teams into taking a lot of outside shots. Works well if they miss, but if a team gets hot it’ll cost them the game. Looks like dude knows his team.

  68. harold says

    64 – catchy, talent with no teamwork, teamwork with no talent. although i’d be dang near ecstatic to have half D-Will’s talent. actually, i’d be happy to have Coby Karl’s skills. but certainly AI is a bit more assertive than Dwill, Melo a bit more than Booze, Kleiza more than AK, Camby more than Okur…

    i don’t know why i’m so confident, but i think we can take game 3. it’s almost as if the playoffs are like a game where each stage gives you just enough experience to get you to another level.

    first comes denver, with talent on offense without much teamwork. here you shore up your defense while perfecting offense, get some chippiness resistance, and get an opportunity to strengthen the collective psyche by taking game 3 and sweeping them

    then comes Utah, now with both talent and discipline. here you get more practice with defense (esp p&R, something they’ll see a lot more of if they meet NOH), more playoff style fouls, and more opportunity to strengthen the mindset by going to even more hostile environments.

    next up, if they have surpassed these two initial skill-building levels, they get to test it on either NOH or SAS, the former testing defense, the latter testing offense. by this time, the Laker offense should be clicking even more to lead to better defense/and penetrate better defense. kinda hoping to see the spurs here, although it would be fun to have the top two mvp vote getters battle it out.

    and at the end, we meet our arch nemesis and yet another top mvp candidate…

  69. Underbruin says

    50 – Well, that’s a bit unfair. For one, you’re forgetting Crittenton, who would have replaced Farmar on the second unit. Second, I see nothing in there preventing the Kwame-Pau trade, which could have still happened. Yes, it would mean giving up -both- young PGs, but that’s still a deal that, if it’s on the table, HAS to be made.

    Fish-Kobe-RadMan-KG-Gasol as the starting five is potentially devastating, with Sasha coming off the bench at the 1 instead of the 2 (and Bryant probably doing most of the ball-handling when Fisher gets his rests). Would things have for sure turned out that way? Who knows. But, while I think Lamar is a terrific fit for the triangle, pairing Kobe, Pau, and KG would have been astonishing.

    Obviously, this is all moot.

    In other news, San Antonio still good. 🙂

  70. Bill Bridges says

    #50… But we’d have James Posey, Eddie House, and Sam Cassell….

  73. Darius says

    A couple of comments about the Jazz and fouls…

    *I think that Utah needs to do less fouling if they want to be called for less fouls. I’m all for physical play, but one of the reasons you play physical ball is for the mental advantage you gain by consistently *letting the opposition know you’re there* as I like to say. But the lakers are a mentally tough team, so that goes out the window…

    *As for uneven officiating, if you notice what types of fouls are being called against the Jazz, it’s not from contact from drives at the rim, it’s on reach-ins on the perimeter/off ball bumping and holding/pushing on rebounds. Kobe may be going to the line a lot, but those aren’t all on shot attempts, some of those are because he’s drawing fouls when the Jazz are already in the penalty. Shoot, the Lakers (just like the Jazz) aren’t even getting a lot of calls at the rim. I have seen plenty of plays from both teams where I thought there should have been fouls called, especially when players are driving and get all the way to the rim only to be deterred (see: receive contact) when they try to finish. I actually think a lot of Utah’s fouls have to do with the tremendous speed and quickness advantage the lakers have (like Doug Collins mentioned).

  74. Renato Afonso says

    63. Emma, nothing’s wrong with you for sure… I just prefer portuguese men 😉 just kidding, don’t pay attention…

    On topic…

    Utah is just doing too many stupid fouls, like pushing the back in rebound. If they call the first time, don’t do it again… And Boozer has been doing it for YEARS now. The rest, it’s just physical basketball, and if they cut those stupid fouls, I think the number of fouls for each team gets more balanced (except for Kobe, who keeps taking the punishment).

    Utah is just following two rules…
    1 – No easy basket
    2 – We may lose, but your body will remember us tomorrow

    Nothing wrong with that (if the refs keep calling it like they should).

    About tonight’s game, I think we have a better shot at winning game 4 than game 3. The crowd will be insane today…(not getting into X and O’s again… either I’m usually wrong or people don’t care;))

  76. Dave says

    I’m a male Jazz fan and I thought you wrote a nice blog. I agree with most of your points. The Lakers offense is running on all cylinders right now. We’ll soon see if Utah can hold serve at home.

    One thing I need to mention, if you talk to actual Jazz fans they will easily say that D Will is the most popular player. Most of my buddies have a man crush on him. He is definitely the MVP of our team. It is true that Korver’s jersey has been the hottest selling since he arrived, but that probably has more to do with the fact that most fans already had the Boozer or Williams jersey. Korver was the new guy and therefore became popular, especially among the women. Looking around the arena you are just as likely to spot a Milsap jersey than you are a Korver jersey. Talk to any girl here in Utah and they will tell you how hot Korver is. Therein lies his popularity. It’s the girls that love him. Not for his play but for his looks. The same could have been said for Brian Russell years ago. All of the female jazz fans thought he was so hot. So in those regards, I don’t think it is much of a race issue.

  77. pw says

    Forgive the rant, Kurt, but I am just sick and tired of the media fawning on Lebron (including guys like Abbott and KD). Offensively he has two scoring options.

    – one is the drive to the basket overpowering people like an NFL running back. And he gets more calls than others because he is “The King”
    – the other is the 3-pt shot.

    He has no mid-range jumper, no post game. I agree he is still young and within a few years he will develop some of those things.

    After yesterday’s game, everybody wants to blame Mike Brown. It’s not Brown’s fault if he gets his star player to do the 2 best things he is good at and the same player unfortunately is not able to do those things.

    Then there is talk about crappy teammates. Cleveland has 4 all-stars in their starting lineup: Lebron, Big Z, Ben Wallace and Szcerbiak. That’s double what the Lakers have. Apart from that they have 3-4 good players in Gibson, Delonte West, Varejao and Devin Brown. This team is certainly not lacking in talent. At the same time, players like HUghes and Gooden are doing much better with the Bulls than they ever did with the Cavs.

  78. Emma says

    The Dude Abides – haha, it’s kind of sad that I immediately thought of Bmenga (sp?) and Farmar with those ears…