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

Preview & Chat: The Indiana Pacers

by


California News - November 18, 2008
Records: Lakers 14-1 Pacers 6-10
Offensive ratings: Lakers 112.3 (3rd in league) Pacers 103.2 (24th in League)
Defensive ratings: Lakers 98 (2nd in league) Pacers 103.1 (7th in League)
Projected Starting Lineups: Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Vladimir Radmanovic, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum
Pacers TJ Ford, Marquis Daniels, Danny Granger, Troy Murphy, Rasho Nesterovic

Attention iPhone users. Just a quick site news note. One of the top issues with the new site design was that it did not read on iPhones. Now, that problem is solved for you and other people struggling with the new look on mobile phones.

Over on the sidebar, under the “Contact FB&G” section is a new little box where you can get a link to the new mobile site for FB&G. Just put in your phone number and you will get a text message with a link the mobile site. That site has the same content and comments as this site, just in a more phone-friendly format.

As always, if there are problems with this, shoot me an email and I’ll try to help.

Lakers notes: The Lakers take to a three game road trip, and Mike Trudell of Lakers.com sent along this note — “Indiana is cold.” The good news is that Canseco Fieldhouse is temperature controlled.

While you can nit-pick the Lakers tepid first half play lately, remember two key things: 1) Other teams are jacked up to play the Lakers right now and are throwing their best punches early, so it is hard to pull away; 2) Kobe and Pau are still sitting the fourth quarter a lot. That is the kind of thing that keeps legs fresh when the games really matter.

The Pacers Coming In: The good news, the Pacers are really better than a 6-10 team. They’ve beaten the Celtics and the Rockets, and have played the entire season without Mike Dunleavy, due to some knee problems. While they are losing games, the Pacers are not getting blown out. Their Pythagorean record (based on point differential) is 8-8.

The bad news — Pacers have lost five of their last six and are struggling to find an identity on offense. The only identity the really have is as a team that wants to get out and run, but execution by their guards has been inconsistent.

Let me be clear about one thing up front — I covet Danny Granger. He came into the league with a well-rounded game and built it from there. Someday he is going to be a key cog on a very good team. And his numbers are good this year again — he has to use 29% of the offense when he is on the floor (that’s a lot, 11th highest in the league) but he still has a very respectable True Shooting Percentage of 58.7%.

The problem is, after Granger’s 24 points per game, the team’s next two highest scorers — TJ Ford and Marquis Daniels — have TS% of 50% and their shooting from the floor has been weak. What that means is a lot of inefficient trips down the court.

And as a team, the Pacers live a bit too much on the perimeter and don’t get to the line a lot.

What the Pacers do well is play solid defense. Nothing spectacular and flashy, they don’t generate a lot of steals, but they play their positions and make you take more outside shots than you’d like (68% of opponents shots are jumpers and people are shooting just 42.5% eFG% on those). That said, opposing power forwards and centers have had success against the Pacers this year.

Keys To The Game: This is going to be a track meet — these teams play at the third (Lakers) and fourth (Pacers) fastest paces in the league. The team that plays better transition defense will get the win. And, this would be a good game for Fish to lay off the PUJITs.

The Lakers should even slow the pace down with the first unit, the Pacers have not defended the four and five spots well this year (both opposing centers and power forwards average a PER higher than 17) so is a good game to pound the ball inside early, get Gasol and Bynum involved and make the Pacers really defend the paint.

When the Lakers do push the pace, be smart about it and get good shots.

One Laker to watch — Jordan Farmar. He has had big nights against the Pacers in the past.

Where you can watch: Remember, early 4 p.m. tip-off on the West Coast. In LA, you can watch on KCAL 9. Nationally, it’s NBA TV to watch online.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Icaros says

    Tonight’s game won the NBA TV fan vote, so it will be available to most of the nation sans League Pass.

    Also, I missed the memo where they began going by “Indianapolis” Pacers.

  4. kwame a. says

    Defintely a game where we need to pound the opposition inside. Once the ball went into the post last game the Lakers bigs did a great job of finding the open player, and the perimeter players did a great job of making an extra pass to ensure a better shot. This formula shouldn’t be changed on offense.

    Defensivley, the Pacers don’t have a post-up threat, so we must extend our defense to protect the perimeter. Also, like Kurt said, we must be careful of a track meet, our two bigs in the starting lineup have a tough time getting back in transition off those PUJIT’s and quick shots by us will lead to easy buckets for Ford and co.

  5. chris h says

    hey finally, no more need to start off your post with SPOILER ALERT (if you were watching a non-tape-delayed game) … now no one does and we all watch at the same time.
    I’m kind of glad about this, being in eastern time zone these days, until about spring or so, so most of the regular season games are either late nights for me, or now that I have NBA broadband, (thanks Darius for the suggestion) I can also watch in the “next day archive”.
    it’s kind of nice to see rain and snow, but I’m sure I’ll miss the so cal sunshine soon enough.
    for now, yeah! I’ve got 3 games starting at 7PM, cool!
    go Lakes!

  6. Ryan says

    Hope I remembered to DVR this game since it is starting before I will get home today. Hopefully the Lakers come out tonight with a little intensity and look to close out this game early since they have another game tomorrow night.

  8. Darius says

    It will be interesting to see how TJ Ford does tonight. He is the type of quick, penetrating guard that has given us some problems this year.

    Also, when we get into our half court offense, I hope we stay disciplined. Our spacing and structure on offense should lead to better transition defense against a team that likes to run out and get early offense. Tonight will also be a test for Pau’s perimeter defense and test his ability to help and recover back to his man. Troy Murphy likes to hang around the baseline and the top of the key and shoot jumpers so Pau is going to have to be aware of his man and not leave him uncovered for too long. Murphy can and will hit the open jumpshot.

    One more thing, a good little article from Eric Musselman (via Ball Don’t Lie) about the Triangle and Obie’s take on why it’s effective. Not a ton of insight, but interesting nonetheless.

  9. J says

    Drinking game for tonight, do a shot everytime Fish has a PUJIT. If it is a track meet, he’ll have plenty of chances.

  10. Icaros says

    Didn’t mean to pull my former-teacher editing persona on you, Kurt. I thought maybe they were trying to appeal to the whole state, like the 500.

  11. wondahbap says

    Kurt,

    re:
    While you can nit-pick the Lakers tepid first half play lately, remember two key things: 1) Other teams are jacked up to play the Lakers right now and are throwing their best punches early, so it is hard to pull away;

    It’s agree with that. That’s why there really can’t be too much nit picking. We are getting every team’s best, then adjusting and dominating so far. This team has done a very good job of handling the pressures of expectations. That’s also why I have to tip my hat to Boston. Meanwhile, NOH has failed so far in this respect.

    Good teams want to measure themselves against the Lakers, and poor teams have players wanting to showcase themselves.

  12. harold says

    Kinda funny how trades impacted the teams we’re playing this season. Got to play Iverson in Denver and Detroit, and now we’re missing Jermaine in Toronto and in Indiana.

    Anyway, I think we’re doing fine. If I were to choose between having full 48 minute efforts then having a game where we just can’t muster enough effort and lose and having spurts of brilliance and laziness in one game and squeak by with a win, I’d choose the latter 😉

  14. chris h says

    hey guys, the darn NBA broadband is just sitting there, saying no live games, even tho they have it on the schedule.
    any links to view it?
    did it start on time?
    I’m not thrilled with this service, it chugs and freezes at times, and of course there’s no contact info or customer support.

  21. wondahbap says

    Indiana’s announcers aren’t too bad. Usually other teams’ announcers are too biased. I think it says something positive about the fans of a team when the the play by play and color analysts are fair. They don’t have to be sold and they know the game. So far, I can only say thyat about the Lakers, Knicks, and Pacers broadcast teams.

  24. raymeister says

    guys, thanks for the streaming video links. it’s a lifesaver for us stuck in the office……… and IT hasn’t blocked those sites yet! ha!

  26. Zephid says

    if anything, this game proves that the Lakers biggest weakness is stiff white guys who can shoot from 18 feet.

  27. hansoulfood says

    My heart stopped a little after the steal by Ariza. I saw the play coming too. Thank goodness he’s alright.

  29. Joel says

    Another great run to close the quarter, kicked off by (surprise, surprise) Ariza’s hustle and athleticism.

    That was a sweet reverse oop by Odom to Bynum.

  30. chris h says

    oh man, oh man, oh man,,,,
    ‘da bench!
    17-0 run to end the 3rd…oh mannnnnnn!!!
    gotta love it

  32. Mico says

    Damn lakers are unfair, i was box score/gamecast watching then my net hiccuped. All of a sudden we’re up 15.

    Anyway, Kurt,
    from the front page, i’m having some trouble commenting, sometimes when I click on the title of a specific post , the comment form doesn’t pop up, (unlike before)

    I can only comment if I actually click on the comments button at the bottom of the post, is that a new quirk or is it just me?

  33. Joel says

    Sloppy play to start the quarter. Too many careless turnovers leading to transition baskets for Indiana.

  35. lakeshow says

    come on now…they need to focus on getting the rebounds and playing a little better defense

  39. harold says

    Sure our guys look disinterested in rebounds, but a lot of it also has to do with the ball simply bouncing Indiana’s way.

    But still, getting outrebounded by this team (or just being close) is a darn shame.

  40. Mico says

    Darn another internet downtime (darn Isp),

    and the next time i check the lead’s down to 6 what’s happening? I was hoping Kobe gets another under 30 minute-game today.

  41. like magic says

    i think the pacers are trying to make a statement by beating the 2 top teams in the league

  53. Joel says

    I guess this is what it will take for them to realise the importance of playing good defense consistently…

  57. 81 Witness says

    Un-f-ing-believable. Lakers failed to put another inferior team away. What is with these guys?

    Think we lost on 2nd chance opportunities. The end play summed up the game.

  58. hansoulfood says

    Damn…my coworker and I had bad feelings before the game started.

    The long rebounds really killed us. We need to learn get the rebound before we start running.

  60. phineas says

    I’m not sure about keeping the starters (plus Ariza) to play the 4th. It was the bench that went on the 17-0 run to close out the 3d quarter when our starters looked lethargic, and though they gave much of it, sometimes they have to learn to play through it. Also, the offense was not clicking and Kobe was clearly going into ISO mode. Sometimes them’s the breaks, but I thought Phil would show a bit more confidence in our 2nd unit at this point.

  62. harold says

    hard to believe it’s a 1 pt. loss considering we shot 73.3% from the FT line, was outrebounded/assisted by 9, had 3 more turnovers, etc.

    Then again, the Pacers were 93% or so from the line, and we did make 50%+ FGs.

    We simply have no rotation when opposing bigs hit mid-range jumpers or beyond.

  64. coolrunnings says

    Well…14 wins and 2 losses. Thats a 7:1 win loss ratio. At this rate we’ll only be 72-10.

  66. hansoulfood says

    I wouldn’t say this team is inferior. They play better than their record and they play hard. And this is the team that beat Boston.

  67. Anonymous says

    first game that got close and we showed what we are really made of…with the exception of Trevor eveybody played poor defense.

  69. emh101 says

    The Lakers made their patented run and then took their foot off the gas. The second unit gave up the lead and then the first unit couldn’t get into any sort of groove to end the game. Too bad.

  70. TC says

    It’s mildly amusing not being able to see the game and then reading the changing fortunes of the game via the tone of the posts…..Ariza firing up the faithful, Lakers missing free throws, and everything going to heel real quick at the end. Dang…..from not watching the game, that was some lousy D….and apparently giving up in the 4th quarter.

  71. bruinsfan says

    i really think bynum should have been in there during the closing stretch, they were killing us on the boards all night.

    i’m gonna chalk this up to growing pains and hope the same losses dont happen come april

  72. chris h says

    not only am I upset about our losing the damn game, I am livid about the way NBA broadband just decides with no explanation to just ‘blackout’ tonight’s game, didn’t say it until about 5 mns after the game started, bastards!
    I paid a yearly fee to watch games on their service, even if the League Pass decides to go national with their Tuesday night game, why would they blackout a subscriber on their broadband service? doesn’t make sense to me.
    then, to top it off, there is no where on their site to contact them, (I know why, they’d get an earfull from me right about now!)
    but damn, that was a tough loss, even if I could only see it partially.

  73. like magic says

    that was a bad loss. kinda reminded me of the warriors ugly loss yesterday. rebounds being key to both loss. at least the lakers looked like they cared a little more than the warriors.

  74. Shawn says

    Well, the good news is that championship teams do blow leads like this. Celtics on Christmas Day in 1985 led the inferior Knicks by 25 in the fourth before losing in double OT. That team, of course, was one of the great teams in NBA history and would win the title.

    Doesn’t really make it any easier to take tonight, but it does put it in a little perspective.

  75. S.Nicholson says

    That was a horrible last shot my Daniels and a lucky tip in by Murphy. That being said, this is a game we should have won and it hurts. They gave it away.

  76. Anonymous says

    I’m sorry to say this guys, but I have to put the Celtics and the Cavs ahead of us.. They’re blowing out ALL teams that they play, while our team just keeps on slacking off in defense.. The Pacers sliced and diced our over-hyped defense.. Have you watched a Cavs or Celtics game lately? They’re not giving any chance whatsoever to the opposing team, destroying them from start to finish.. That’s the mentality that our guys should have..

  77. sT says

    Disapointing loss, missed free throws, second chance opportunities, lost a double digit lead, well the only good thing out of this was that I have Granger on one of my fantasy teams, but I still wish he would have had a bad night tonight, though.

    Philadelphia here we come…

  78. Anonymous says

    Whoever has Brand, A.I., or Andre Miller better start them on their fantasy team cuz they’ll for sure get career highs against this over-hyped defense the lakers have.

  79. lakeshow says

    we really need to refocus and work on playing defense through the whole game. maybe we should focus on getting stops near the end of the game when we’re ahead with a more defensive minded group and let the offense come from that instead of trying to outscore the other team. have we ever tried playing bynum, pau, ariza, kobe, and odom as a defensive unit before? that could give us a good defense to offense group that can play some good d, get rebounds, good passing, leading to some easy dunks and alley-ops. not a lot of outside shooting but if the focus is to get stops we won’t have to worry about scoring a ton. does anyone know if we’ve had this combo on the floor together before?

  80. me says

    Whoever has Brand, AI, or Andre Miller on their fantasy team better start them cuz they’ll get career highs against this over-hyped defense the lakers have.

  81. hansoulfood says

    Wait…how are the Celtics blowing ALL teams out? They won close to Houston, Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Charlotte.

    It’s one game and still early in the season. The sirens don’t need to go off yet.

  82. exhelodrvr says

    Calm down, people.

    It’s one game, a game that they should have won, but a game that they will learn from, which will probably end up being more beneficial than if they had won in a blowout.

    They are still on pace to win 71/72 games!!

  83. dk says

    OMG! What happened???!!! I didn’t see the game but when I logged on to see what was going on the game was already over. I can’t believe we lost this game. Obviously, no team is perfect but I do agree that the C’s seem to be blowing out other teams. (agree with #72). We’ve had moments of greatness but lots of times the focus and tenacity is not there. We all knew this was coming. We’ve been squeaking out a lot of games that we should have been blowing out the other team. I hope these guys remember the game 6 of the finals and what it felt like. (I still do!) I am a Laker fan through and through, but I feel that the C’s would beat us in a 7 game series at this point in the season. I hope the Lakers can gain their composure and kick some $%#@ in the next 2 games. With the talent and depth we have on our team we should be wiping these teams out!!! (oh well…I’m going to get a life and stop worrying about their win-loss record)

  85. nomuskles says

    certainly it’s a loss that shouldn’t have happened. But with this team, no losses should happen, and yet there will be a few. I hope the Lakers look at the game film and see how flat footed they were going after rebounds and how they don’t always play with a sense of urgency. the pacers outworked the lakers at the end of the game and it’s fitting that the tip-in rattled home to win the game. murphy’s hustle was the entire pacers team’s hustle.

  86. Kurt says

    Did anybody who thinks the Celtics are better than us watch them barely beat the Bobcats last night? And by the way, you know who else beat the Cs? THE PACERS!

    People, we are 14-2. We had a close road loss on Dec. 1. Let’s be honest here, it is not that big a deal. It’d be nice to win them all, but back away from the cliff.

  87. hansoulfood says

    I think we Laker fans are a little spoiled. Two years ago, the fans were lucky to see a 3 game winning streak. Now we see a 7 game winning streak come to an end and it’s Armageddon. The team will learn from their losses better than their wins.

  88. wondahbap says

    Anonymous,

    Are you serious? Yes, losing like that sucks, and no defense wasn’t good overall, but it’s loss #2. Calm down.

    I would put the Celtics ahead of the Lakers only because they wear the crown, but be serious. There are going to be losses, and trust me, Cleveland cannot play a crappy game like the Lakers did and be in position to win. When the Lakers play well, they dominate. When they play crappy, be it offensively, or defensively, or both, then we barely win or have a chance to late.

  90. Snoopy2006 says

    It feels strange being the voice of reason, but let’s chill out a little. I’m happy with this loss. Yeah, happy. If it had come against the Celtics, then maybe it shows we’re an inferior team. What this loss does tonight is just show LA they can’t coast, they can’t let up even for a second. It teaches our young team a very good lesson, one that they needed to learn. Make no mistake about it, Indiana is inferior to us. This loss occurred because of a lack of focus, of not staying aggressive for the last quarter.

    No worries. This is good for us. Being too good (think 06 Mavs, etc.) without being tested doesn’t always spell championship. We needed a little kick in the derriere.

  92. Caltron says

    I blame the loss on Farmar. After we made the run and were up by 16, Farmar made boneheaded play after boneheaded play. Traveling after trying to go one on one early in the shot clock on one play, and throwing it away after leaving his feet on another.

    Those turnovers led to easy Pacer buckets and basically took all the momentum away from the Lakers. Jordan thought the game was in hand and took the opportunity to look for some offense for himself. That was the real turning point of the game and Jordan has a lot of growing up to do.

  93. Darius says

    I missed this game, so there’s no game specific comments from me…just some general thoughts.

    It’s a long season and there are a ton of games left to play. I’d like to see us beat the teams that we’re supposed to beat, but you can’t win them all. Even though we’re a strong team, there is still learning to be done and growth in our future. I’d actually prefer that we not be at our peak right now and make some mistakes that can be used as teaching opportunities. We’re 16 games in to what (we hope) will be a 100 game season, so while I understand the frustration with a loss, it’s only one loss. We’ll lose again…maybe even tomorrow. Just know that these are the types of games, that with our talent level and smarts, should lead to better results come May and June.

  94. harold says

    Caltron – I agree, and it felt as if Jordan committed 4 or 5 TOs except that those two were it. Of course, Farmar seemed to have done a lot of damage on the defensive end too; I think half the open shots they took were on the expense of Farmar.

    We had some miscues and ill-advised fumbles, a Vlad moment, and honestly were’nt supposed to lead by 15, just that Ariza really, really hustled.

    What really is puzzling is that we were outrebounded badly. This is just downright unfathomable considering the kinda bigs Pacers have, with half of them spacing the floor beyond 15ft. There was a sequence in the 3rd or 4th quarter when like 3 long rebounds ended up flying to Pacer players in one possession – that’s when i kinda thought this was not going to be a W.

    My other random thoughts were:
    1. Kobe forced it towards the end, he came up empty often.
    2. We just didn’t bother to close out some shooters (to their credit, those open guys didn’t make too many shots)
    3. We had nobody guarding the 3 point line at times, with Fisher and Farmar deep inside the paint early in the opposing team’s shot clock
    4. Had many careless dump-to-the-middle passes that were intercepted
    5. Went really pass-happy as if to see who’d fumble
    6. Need to practice free throws.

    Can’t believe it was a 1pt game to be honest. We could’ve and should’ve been blown out.

  95. Rafael says

    I think that this is what Phil was talking about when asked about the possibility of these Lakers winning 72 games.
    He stated that the team was too young and that they needed to age in order to have the experience necessary to dominate regularly.
    The fact that we are 14-2 should be a pleasant surprise, as we would still be in great shape if we were 11-5, or 12-4.
    If anyone wants to jump off the ledge because of a (or 5) lucky bounce(s) that gave us a one point loss, that just means that there will be more room at the parade down Figueroa.

  96. Craig W. says

    Caltron,
    I agree with you. This loss can be traced to Farmar – as much as any loss starts with one person. He was the one running the team at the beginning of the 4th. He just kept trying to force things, including passes, when he should have quieted everyone down. When things started going the Pacers’ way he just amped everything up – wrong! I sure hope this is a real lesson to him and he can draw on this experience when things get tight in the future, because he doesn’t have the superstar talent to get away with this overeagerness.

  97. luubi says

    forget defense. we would’ve won if we’d continued to play offense. seriously, this team should be outscore the pacers in 4Q.

    we would’ve also scored if we’d held the ball and taken 24 sec violations a few times instead of turning the ball over.

    anyway, this shows how nearly impossible it is to reach that 70 mark. there are just way to many ways to lose. you can lose playing lousy, you can lose against a hot team, you can lose playing a plain better team, you can give away games you should’ve won, you can lose a heartbreaker, etc etc.

  98. luubi says

    sorry, meant to say “this team should be able to outscore the pacers in 4Q.” and “we would’ve also won if we’d held the ball…”

  99. Joel says

    I just got home (after working late, then heading straight to band practice), only to discover that my DVR failed to record the game. The channel info still swears I’m watching the Lakers versus the Pacers, but because the broadcast was switched to NBA TV relatively last-minute instead I’m actually stuck with three hours of the Nets and the Wizards.

    Initially this frustrated me to no end, but after coming here to find out the final score and learning that we blew a 4th quarter lead and lost on a buzzer-beating tip-in from Troy Murphy, I’m wondering if perhaps this wasn’t the universe favoring me with a small mercy.

  100. rhybread says

    @94 Notice how both Fish and Farmar had major problems with an extremely quick PG running past them, getting deep into the pain, and then dishing for an open shot. I was surprised that PJ didn’t put Ariza on Ford in the 4th quarter.

  101. Rafael says

    @99 PJ did put Ariza on Granger, who is probably the better offensive player. The Pacers have a lot of weapons, and are really an underrated team.

    Daniels, Ford, and granger are all good scoring options, and sadly Kobe and Ariza can only cover two of them.

  102. R says

    They better trade Odom for … somebody (Kidding!!).

    Seriously, people who are worried about the Lakeshow need to relax a bit.

    Hey, isn’t it exciting how young ‘drew is rounding into form?

  104. lakeshow says

    really, i think that crappy play means we need to make some major moves in order to get better. i say we trade phil.

  105. aB says

    We lost and it sucked, but I’m kind of over it. I agree with everybody that its not a time to panic, but I don’t understand why Bynum wasn’t in the game for the last 5 minutes sans the last 45 seconds of the game. It seems to me that at age 21, he’s alot smarter than Odom is at age 29 in taking care of the ball and getting crucial rebounds. I thought he was doing fairly well and could’ve helped us. Other than that, I’m just glad we have another game tomorrow so the Lakers don’t have time to lament too much over the loss. Plus…..Kobe in Philly……..can’t wait to see the homecoming reception.

  107. cahuitero says

    Lose sucked. But Trevor Ariza played incredible during that third quarter. It’s hard to even come up with names of anyone else in the league who is as disruptive on the defensive end–especially the perimeter–as he has been this season. Guys in the NBA just don’t get ripped like that, much less someone as talented as Danny Granger. The only players I can think of that can affect a game like with their defense on the perimeter are Andrei Kirlenko and Josh Smith. Any thoughts?

  108. Renato Afonso says

    About blaming the loss on someone, maybe Farmar was the one with most guilt on the offensive end, but 118 points suffered? This Pacers team is not that good…

  109. Adam T says

    #86.
    The reason I am at this blog.
    Still, technically, on pace
    We’ll see what kobe has in store
    true story?

  114. El Seano says

    That was a tough one to watch, very tough. We coulda still won that game (though we wouldnt have deserved it) with only the tiniest difference in the ball bouncing around the rim on that tip in. But you can’t win them all, need to bounce back and learn from our mistakes.

  116. Craig W. says

    Phil does not yet trust Bynum to close very tight games. This may change if we continue to get outrebounded down the stretch. He really likes Lamar and I think – since Lamar is not starting – that taking him out of the finishing lineup at the end may hurt his self confidence. I suspect Phil doesn’t mind losing this kind of game early as it teaches lessons to young teams and he can change out Lamar later in the year when he’s really lined out his job on the team.

    Besides, if we look at Famar’s poor play under pressure, Vlade’s lose handles in the 4th, and the continuing Fish/Farmar problems with quick guards, there are lots of other problems besides LO at the end of the game.

    All that said, we are still 14 – 2 and improving.

  117. azzemoto says

    “It’s like deja-vu all over again”…. I suppose after every win that the Lakers let slip away forever in time will always remind me of last year’s finals vs Boston.

  119. Kurt says

    118. I don’t think so. Bynum and the guys built that lead then seemed to get comfortable, Jordan started pushing too hard and turning the ball over, and it started to fall apart. So, Phil tried to shake things up with a roster change, it just didn’t work.

    I like that Bynum wanted to stay out there. But, as the linked post talks about, he was out there and was standing still as Murphy got in position for the tip at the end. So, he had his chance.

  120. Ryan O. says

    118 & 119. I agree with Kurt, that just sounds like frustration to me. As for Farmar…I hate that it seems like we’re already starting to turn him into our latest whipping boy, but he has been making some really bad decisions lately. Fisher PUJIT’s haven’t been hurting as much lately as Farmar’s early-shot-clock-late-game-contested-jumper’s (ESCLGCJ’s?). For whatever reason, it seems like he’s been looking for his own shot a lot more than he’s been trying to set up teammates lately, with the exception of Ariza.

  121. luubi says

    on positive note, still loving Ariza. you see guy strip the ball handler for clear path to basket like once a game, but Ariza just does it repeatedly. great thing about that is now that he’s developed the rep for doing that, he can get away with that kind of physical play and the refs will be less likely to call ticky-tack fouls on him.

  122. Mattimeo says

    Does anybody really think we’re going to win over 70 games? Maybe 60+ but… I remember seeing the stats about the 12-1 lakers team or something in the shaq era and how they ended in the 50+ range I thought. Also, remember how someone a few posts ago relayed Rick Fox’s break down of the “4×20” rule apparently that PJ follows. Later on he’s going to be resting and I wonder if the bench mob will continue to be able to carry on a 7:1 ratio. Yes I know half our games are blowouts now and we rest the starters but…

    Also:
    2001-2002 58-24 .707 I think that was it right? Something tells me it’ll cool off later and we’ll coast in to a high 50’s season. Not that I’m complaining, we get 1st in the west and that’s all I really need (Hopefully we beat the C’s when we play them in the regular season tho).

  123. Caltron says

    120,

    When I’m 90 years old sitting in my rocking chair reminiscing about the Lakers of old, I will remember 2 things about Derek Fisher:

    1. The 0.4 shot
    2. All those PUJIT’s haha (funny how I knew what that was almost immediately)

  124. MannyP says

    The Lakers of last year always had trouble with quick PG. Fish just doesnt have the legs to guard them the entire game and that’s probably why he takes shortcuts such as those silly PUJITs. Farmar is a good player, but not a championship caliber PG. Sorry guys. I know most of you love this guy because he grew up in LA and went to UCLA, but he consistently gets killed by small, quick PG. Considering that most of the Laker’s biggest threats (Celtics, Cavs, Detroit, Hornets, Jazz and Blazers) all have quick and smal PGs, I woud say the biggest area of concern for the Lakers is the PG spot.

    The front office is not blind to this. That’s why there’s an open roster spot on the team and why no trades occurred in the off season. I think that the best thing this team can do is pick up a defensive minded PG who can assist with them short fast guys. I know some here have suggested playing Sasha as a PG, but the boy’s D is spastic at best and, as a result, he draws a lot of fouls. Just my 2 cents.

  125. the other Stephen says

    thank you, ryan, for bring up the ESCLGCJ’s. it’s always PUJIT this and PUJIT that around here. i also like the ABNRNHD’s, or Andrew Bynum No Rebound No Happy Defense. =D

  126. chris h says

    can someone explain to me the difference between NBA TV, NBA League Pass, and NBA Broadband?
    I thought they were all the same company, but I think the reason we got blacked out on League pass and Broadband was because at the last minute, NBA TV decided to go with a Laker game…(I guess they do this on Tuesday nights)
    so, if they do this, does this mean I run the chance of getting blacked out every Laker game that falls on a Tuesday? because it seems the nation likes to vote the lakers to play…
    whassup with this?
    sucks!

  127. Darius says

    chris h.,
    Since I feel somewhat responsible for getting you to sign up for the service, here you go…

    I think League Pass and NBA Broadband (online version of this same service) will black out ANY game from the local region that you register (ie, you’re in TN so you won’t get the Memphis games on your broadband service because those broadcasting rights are owned by local providers) AND they will black out ANY nationally televised game. So, Wednesday and Friday ESPN Games, Tuesday and Thursday TNT Games, and Tuesday NBA TV Games can and will be blacked out. These games are on national TV and (theoretically) you can get them through your local cable provider. Sorry, I know it sucks.

  128. raymeister says

    The master of PUJIT = Byron Scott. Talk about a thing of beauty. I always used to wonder as a kid why someone would settle for an open court 20 footer, but they were so automatic.

  129. chris h says

    hi darius,
    thanks for the info, (and by the way, I am overall happy I got this, because even though the stream freezes sometimes, the next day archive option is much better and I use that one alot).
    so, my question to you is this-
    because I was in TN, they blacked it out cause the game was in Indy?
    I couldn’t have gotten it locally even if I tried, so this is just weird. and while I’m here, I haven’t noticed even one time a Memphis game being televised. I’m in knoxville, and all they watch is college here.
    what about joel, (#99) who also had his game changed at the last minute? I wish I could understand their logic.
    or, what I really wish is the reason I’m here, family health issues, gets better and I can go back home to LA, with my tivo, 70 HD screen, and the ability to watch all the games! (with no hiccups).
    and no worries, I’m glad you directed me to this, it is better than nothing after all.
    cheers!

  130. chris h says

    hey Darius,
    after rereading your poet, I got it that NBA TV is different that League pass/broadband, and when they go national, I’m going to get blacked out.
    that was my question, I thought they were all under the same company, thus blacking out a subscriber would be ridiculous, got it now.
    thanks

  132. lakeshow says

    no to be demanding, but don’t we have another game today? what’s up kurt? i need my preview. i need my fix so i can get over last night’s misery. again, not too be pushy since we all have a day job.

    i really appreciate all the time and energy you put into the site btw…thanks!