I agree. It’s a loss in the regular season. Big deal.
The only thing I would say I’m even thinking about is Kobe’s insistence on shooting killer 3’s. They’re great when he hits them, but we’re good enough of a team to not *have* to. He’s liking them TOOOO much lately. Sometimes they are needed, but not last night.
Oh, well. Time for the All-Star Game. It’s going to be fun watching Kobe ad LeBron go back and forth. The refs will eat the whistle on LBJ’s crab dribble. If it’s close at the end, I’m willing to bet that Kobe will take no less than 3 dagger 3’s.
Sorry to double post, but I havve to clarify my last comment.
Not to sat regular season games don’t mean anything, because our 6-0 road trip was BIG. What I really mean, is I don;t think this loss affects the psyche of the team. So, it’s only one loss in the scheme of things. The Lakers know they can beat the Jazz.
Pinkysays
Deron Williams was creating havoc on the Lakers defense. He’s good.
Jonathansays
Deron Williams creates havoc on almost every team, Lakers just looked tired last night. Kobe settling for way to many jump shotts and Gasol was absolutely gassed.
Little worried about how much PT he is racking up with Bynum out that he won’t be fresh come playoffs.
Darn Mehmet. I just wanted to be able to say that our HCA magic number was 29. Wait, maybe it is.
Gr8 Scottsays
It was a tough loss, but the fact that we were still in it shows the true heart of this team. That said, the ball just “stuck” in certain places and there was not a lot of movement. Here’s to healthy legs as we become road warriors and try to wrap up HCA for the west and hopefully the whole league.
VoRsays
Ahahaha – Kareem was so awesome in that scene! Perfect quote and perfect pitch for the effort last night.
The guys were burnt out. I can’t believe they almost came back. My only concern is Pau’s minutes. It is not just the minutes but the kind of beating he takes when AB is out. We need him to have his legs when the second season begins.
Agreed on Kobe and the dagger three’s. We are good enough and have enough options that it only needs to happen occasionally.
P. Amisays
We’re 0-2 in games where Kobe does the testicle dance. I think he needs to go back to revealing his chest and beating on it.
Anybody else impressed with the D down low with LO and Gasol using their length to disrupt high % shots? Obviously the Lakers have some problem rotating on bigs shooting 3s and stopping dribble penetration but I really liked what I saw down low.
T34says
Judging by the never obnoxious text poll of the night, I’m one of the few that prefer D.Williams’ game to Chris Paul.
You could tell our guys were beat by the end of the game, end of a long stretch of tough games + physical play will do that.
I also agree I didn’t like the Kobe dagger 3’s last night, it was one of those times where you knew he was going to keep jacking them up. I also thought we should have called a timeout with as much time on the clock as there was, but oh well. I understand the call, I just would have done it different.
Excited to see Shaq and Kobe on the same team again, hopefully we get a reenactment of Lakers/Blazers 2000 and get a Shaq walk.
kwame a.says
The Shaq-Kobe pick and roll will be the best part about the actual game. I’m hoping Pau plays less than 10 minutes, he has carried a big load and deserves some rest. I’m looking forward to the Saturday evening festivities, not just Howard and the dunkers, but also Kapono going for the three-peat and HORSE or GEICO or whatever they are calling it.
Theagreementsays
Jazz fans are vicious, but this one is hilarious! Check it out:
Gatinho… It was a lesser role, but I’d add Kareem’s cameo with Chick Hearn in “Fletch” to the Big Fella’s list of classic film appearances.
However, I did have to deduct a point for his appearance in that ridiculously stupid “MissionG” Gatorade ad recently. That may be the worst 60 seconds I’ve ever spent in front of a TV set.
Renato Afonsosays
Hilarious! The movie is excellent…
However, goes straight to the point… We should be playing the defense every single game…
sTsays
The loss does not really bother me, just the way the team closed out the game. I was happy to see them come back from what? 9 points down. The last shot and the way it was taken was not good at all, they should have taken a timeout and planned better shot selection, if they had one to take? Hmm, that is kinda a ‘should’ and ‘must’ statement by me.
Yea, Kobe, Shaq, PJ all together again, like a happy family, this will be fun to see this weekend.
The key was “you tell your dad to run up and down the court for 48 minutes”. Excellent point.
By the way, those accusations the kid’s dad was supposedly making sure sounded like the same things Shaq keeps hearing throughout his career.
Snoopy2006says
17 – Whoever “puddle” is on that Jazz blog, kudos to him. He clearly, logically, and quite fairly defended Lakers fans against the tiring stereotypes and embarrassed the writer himself to the point where he didn’t respond to puddle’s last comment. Good representation of an intelligent basketball fan, Lakers or not.
What if we have Kobe, Shaq, and Pau on the floor at the same time? The old 1-2 combo and the new one.
Wow, Rivers just got kicked out of the Dallas game after Garnett got his fifth foul. Nine point lead for Dallas. Nowitzki is on fire.
Behzadsays
my girlfriend works at a law firm and called me at work today and told me that one of the lawyers isnt using his court side seat to the Bulls/Heat game tonight.
well I just got back…and it is a completely different experience seeing the game from there. Let me tell you.
Next game is March 21 vs The lakers…and i will be rockin my KOBE JERSEY in the United Center
haroldsays
Boston’s 20 turnovers are killing them, despite doing just about everything else better than Dallas…
Anonymoussays
wow nowitzki killing the celts, but celts up by 3 with a little over 2 mins to go in the 4th
Anonymoussays
dang thought for sure the mavs would have nailed this one
Cactus Berrysays
Airplane! Gotta love that jive scene.
(Sad face for Boston winning) But hey! All-Star weekend. Fun.
Snoopy2006says
I watched it in low quality, but is it just me or does Mehmet Okur’s wife look like a much hotter version of Courtney Cox? Wow. Long live the Turks.
how come lakers bigmen are so into acting? is it just because of hollywood?
shaq acted, karrem did it and even wilt did it. he starred along with governor arnold schwarzenegger in CONAN the destroyer. stupid movie – funny cast.
the scene you picked is very good chosen, kurt. you gotta love kareem arguing with the little man. kareem has to be the most entertaining athlete-actor, at least he is head to head with oj simpson.
have a nice all star weekend, folks
jasonsays
When you end up 14-33 while starting the game 7-10, you should not have shot so much during the last stretch of the game. Kobe needs to start passing and not take all the shots during crunch time.
Kareemsays
I’m going to have to side against my namesake and (regretably) give Ray Allen props as the greatest BBall actor. Though technically still a Buck at the time, his job as Mr. Shuttlesworth is one for the centuries. Not only is that my favorite basketball movie, it’s one of my top 40.
‘Basketball is like poetry in motion, cross the guy to the left, take him back to the right, he’s fallin’ back, then just J right in his face. Then you look at him and say, “What?”‘
And ‘Booger’ from that same sequence: ‘I feel handsome when I’m on the court.’
The Airplane scene really is great. While we’re on comedy, has anyone ever seen the Barkley prank on Manute Bol? Comic genius. They have it on youtube.
35. What is with the need to blame? Lakers fans do this all the time. Kobe has won a lot of games that way, but fans box him into a “damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t” box. If he passes to teammates and they miss they say he needs to take over the game. If he takes those shots and misses, he should have passed.
This was as meaningless a loss as the Lakers could have had. Let it go and move on.
inwitsays
A schedule loss.
Not only were the Lakers ragged after their recent trip, but Utah had played last on Sunday, a nice two day rest at home.
For the game to be as close as it was, against a team that is fighting for a playoff spot, shows how much fight this Laker team has.
Richsays
This doesn’t really impact the Lakers but Marion & Banks are going to Toronto for O’Neal & Moon.
Behzadsays
He got Game is one of my favorite movies. I have the Special Edition and could probably quote the whole movie…but Ray Allen acts well in it?
I must Disagree…
Remember the scene where he is yelling at his little sister because she spouted rumors about them being rich and making money? He grabs her and she cries. When I was in an acting class in college that scene was played as an example of bad acting.
argopilesays
The reason that Kobe needs to pass more late game is, I believe, because when he starts jacking up shots his team stops moving. I watch every game and I see the same thing in almost every close game. Kobe starts hefting and his teammates start watching. They know they won’t get the ball so why move about. When the bigs come to give him a pick it’s cuz he motions them to do so. Late game they tend to stop trying to roll to the basket. A missed shot is a missed shot, I would just prefer to see the whole team in motion.
That being said I liked Fish stepping up and shooting it himself rather than just passing it to Kobe.
Argopile,
I think the way we’ve been playing is working to the tune of 42 wins and 10 losses. I understand the concern that we lost and that the loss can be seen as indicative of a bigger trend. However, when things do work no one is saying “what happens if this doesn’t work the next time”? They only cheer and appreciate the win. When we played the Spurs the first time (Fisher’s foul on Mason game), we ran the Kobe P&R with Powell on almost every single play during our run to take the lead. On these boards, everyone was loving how the play was working and praising Kobe for his decision making. I even remember Kobe waiving for the screen and then before it came he buried that 3 that gave us the lead. Fans were in love with the fact that he was keeping the defense honest and making the right decision almost every time down. In the end, sometimes things work and sometimes they don’t but I’m comfortable with our play and the resolve we show in close games.
If there’s one thing I do think (and agree with you on) it’s that we do go more to a P&R team in the end during close games and do not run our traditional sets. However, the other side to that coin is this: at the end of games, every team becomes an isolation team in one way or another. The Spurs go to Duncan on the block, the Celtics isolate Pierce, the Cavs do the same thing with Lebron, even the Magic go P&R with Turk and Howard and let Hedo create for himself. The Lakers usually either go to Gasol on the block or Kobe on the wing where he can isolate or run P&R with one of the bigs. This is what we do and I’d say it works.
Another point I’d argue is that close games really are a toss up. Some don’t like Hollinger around here, but as a stats guy, he’d tell you that most teams perform the same way in close games. He’d say that if a team is performing exceptionally well or poorly in close games that at some point the percentage of wins or losses they earn in those games will soon go back to the mean performance. Basically a lot of wins and losses in close games comes down to luck. I only bring this up because we may not have the best record in close games, but it really doesn’t concern me because I think some of the games we’ve lost have been fluky and I also think that if we get a bounce or a call or one or two shots that go in and out stay down that our record in those close games is a lot better. All that may sound like a bunch of excuses, but it’s really what I believe.
Brian says
Thanks Kurt. That takes the edge off last night’s loss. What a classic scene. 🙂
Pinky says
I think this means that the Lakers didn’t play defense well last night …
Craig W. says
Deefense, whada yu mean deefense?
Craig W. says
Although, to be fair, the Lakers did play 8 games in 14 nights in 8 different cities and managed to lose only one.
Gatinho says
Kareem has two of the best movie cameos by athletes ever. Here’s the other one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBRJ2qCx5VM
Anonymous says
Eh.. don’t see why people should be so bummed about the loss, considering even die-hard fans were expecting the recent road trip to go 4-2.
Nothing much to worry about.
wondahbap says
Anonymous,
I agree. It’s a loss in the regular season. Big deal.
The only thing I would say I’m even thinking about is Kobe’s insistence on shooting killer 3’s. They’re great when he hits them, but we’re good enough of a team to not *have* to. He’s liking them TOOOO much lately. Sometimes they are needed, but not last night.
Oh, well. Time for the All-Star Game. It’s going to be fun watching Kobe ad LeBron go back and forth. The refs will eat the whistle on LBJ’s crab dribble. If it’s close at the end, I’m willing to bet that Kobe will take no less than 3 dagger 3’s.
wondahbap says
Sorry to double post, but I havve to clarify my last comment.
Not to sat regular season games don’t mean anything, because our 6-0 road trip was BIG. What I really mean, is I don;t think this loss affects the psyche of the team. So, it’s only one loss in the scheme of things. The Lakers know they can beat the Jazz.
Pinky says
Deron Williams was creating havoc on the Lakers defense. He’s good.
Jonathan says
Deron Williams creates havoc on almost every team, Lakers just looked tired last night. Kobe settling for way to many jump shotts and Gasol was absolutely gassed.
Little worried about how much PT he is racking up with Bynum out that he won’t be fresh come playoffs.
penston says
Darn Mehmet. I just wanted to be able to say that our HCA magic number was 29. Wait, maybe it is.
Gr8 Scott says
It was a tough loss, but the fact that we were still in it shows the true heart of this team. That said, the ball just “stuck” in certain places and there was not a lot of movement. Here’s to healthy legs as we become road warriors and try to wrap up HCA for the west and hopefully the whole league.
VoR says
Ahahaha – Kareem was so awesome in that scene! Perfect quote and perfect pitch for the effort last night.
The guys were burnt out. I can’t believe they almost came back. My only concern is Pau’s minutes. It is not just the minutes but the kind of beating he takes when AB is out. We need him to have his legs when the second season begins.
Agreed on Kobe and the dagger three’s. We are good enough and have enough options that it only needs to happen occasionally.
P. Ami says
We’re 0-2 in games where Kobe does the testicle dance. I think he needs to go back to revealing his chest and beating on it.
Anybody else impressed with the D down low with LO and Gasol using their length to disrupt high % shots? Obviously the Lakers have some problem rotating on bigs shooting 3s and stopping dribble penetration but I really liked what I saw down low.
T34 says
Judging by the never obnoxious text poll of the night, I’m one of the few that prefer D.Williams’ game to Chris Paul.
You could tell our guys were beat by the end of the game, end of a long stretch of tough games + physical play will do that.
I also agree I didn’t like the Kobe dagger 3’s last night, it was one of those times where you knew he was going to keep jacking them up. I also thought we should have called a timeout with as much time on the clock as there was, but oh well. I understand the call, I just would have done it different.
Excited to see Shaq and Kobe on the same team again, hopefully we get a reenactment of Lakers/Blazers 2000 and get a Shaq walk.
kwame a. says
The Shaq-Kobe pick and roll will be the best part about the actual game. I’m hoping Pau plays less than 10 minutes, he has carried a big load and deserves some rest. I’m looking forward to the Saturday evening festivities, not just Howard and the dunkers, but also Kapono going for the three-peat and HORSE or GEICO or whatever they are calling it.
Theagreement says
Jazz fans are vicious, but this one is hilarious! Check it out:
http://www.jazzbots.com/web/2009/02/11/the-tumultuous-laker-fan/
Not a whole lot of love for Lakers fans!
Chris J says
Gatinho… It was a lesser role, but I’d add Kareem’s cameo with Chick Hearn in “Fletch” to the Big Fella’s list of classic film appearances.
However, I did have to deduct a point for his appearance in that ridiculously stupid “MissionG” Gatorade ad recently. That may be the worst 60 seconds I’ve ever spent in front of a TV set.
Renato Afonso says
Hilarious! The movie is excellent…
However, goes straight to the point… We should be playing the defense every single game…
sT says
The loss does not really bother me, just the way the team closed out the game. I was happy to see them come back from what? 9 points down. The last shot and the way it was taken was not good at all, they should have taken a timeout and planned better shot selection, if they had one to take? Hmm, that is kinda a ‘should’ and ‘must’ statement by me.
Yea, Kobe, Shaq, PJ all together again, like a happy family, this will be fun to see this weekend.
j. d. hastings says
Josh Howard is currently playing
exhelodrvr says
Kareem did a “Scrubs” episode, too.
Igor Avidon says
The key was “you tell your dad to run up and down the court for 48 minutes”. Excellent point.
By the way, those accusations the kid’s dad was supposedly making sure sounded like the same things Shaq keeps hearing throughout his career.
Snoopy2006 says
17 – Whoever “puddle” is on that Jazz blog, kudos to him. He clearly, logically, and quite fairly defended Lakers fans against the tiring stereotypes and embarrassed the writer himself to the point where he didn’t respond to puddle’s last comment. Good representation of an intelligent basketball fan, Lakers or not.
What if we have Kobe, Shaq, and Pau on the floor at the same time? The old 1-2 combo and the new one.
Pinky says
Kobe does comedy with a “fan” at http://goldenarmor.wordpress.com/
Ben says
Wow, Rivers just got kicked out of the Dallas game after Garnett got his fifth foul. Nine point lead for Dallas. Nowitzki is on fire.
Behzad says
my girlfriend works at a law firm and called me at work today and told me that one of the lawyers isnt using his court side seat to the Bulls/Heat game tonight.
well I just got back…and it is a completely different experience seeing the game from there. Let me tell you.
Next game is March 21 vs The lakers…and i will be rockin my KOBE JERSEY in the United Center
harold says
Boston’s 20 turnovers are killing them, despite doing just about everything else better than Dallas…
Anonymous says
wow nowitzki killing the celts, but celts up by 3 with a little over 2 mins to go in the 4th
Anonymous says
dang thought for sure the mavs would have nailed this one
Cactus Berry says
Airplane! Gotta love that jive scene.
(Sad face for Boston winning) But hey! All-Star weekend. Fun.
Snoopy2006 says
I watched it in low quality, but is it just me or does Mehmet Okur’s wife look like a much hotter version of Courtney Cox? Wow. Long live the Turks.
Samy says
Make your prayers for the Buffalo flight victims.
MdT says
how come lakers bigmen are so into acting? is it just because of hollywood?
shaq acted, karrem did it and even wilt did it. he starred along with governor arnold schwarzenegger in CONAN the destroyer. stupid movie – funny cast.
the scene you picked is very good chosen, kurt. you gotta love kareem arguing with the little man. kareem has to be the most entertaining athlete-actor, at least he is head to head with oj simpson.
have a nice all star weekend, folks
jason says
When you end up 14-33 while starting the game 7-10, you should not have shot so much during the last stretch of the game. Kobe needs to start passing and not take all the shots during crunch time.
Kareem says
I’m going to have to side against my namesake and (regretably) give Ray Allen props as the greatest BBall actor. Though technically still a Buck at the time, his job as Mr. Shuttlesworth is one for the centuries. Not only is that my favorite basketball movie, it’s one of my top 40.
‘Basketball is like poetry in motion, cross the guy to the left, take him back to the right, he’s fallin’ back, then just J right in his face. Then you look at him and say, “What?”‘
And ‘Booger’ from that same sequence: ‘I feel handsome when I’m on the court.’
The Airplane scene really is great. While we’re on comedy, has anyone ever seen the Barkley prank on Manute Bol? Comic genius. They have it on youtube.
Kurt says
35. What is with the need to blame? Lakers fans do this all the time. Kobe has won a lot of games that way, but fans box him into a “damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t” box. If he passes to teammates and they miss they say he needs to take over the game. If he takes those shots and misses, he should have passed.
This was as meaningless a loss as the Lakers could have had. Let it go and move on.
inwit says
A schedule loss.
Not only were the Lakers ragged after their recent trip, but Utah had played last on Sunday, a nice two day rest at home.
For the game to be as close as it was, against a team that is fighting for a playoff spot, shows how much fight this Laker team has.
Rich says
This doesn’t really impact the Lakers but Marion & Banks are going to Toronto for O’Neal & Moon.
Behzad says
He got Game is one of my favorite movies. I have the Special Edition and could probably quote the whole movie…but Ray Allen acts well in it?
I must Disagree…
Remember the scene where he is yelling at his little sister because she spouted rumors about them being rich and making money? He grabs her and she cries. When I was in an acting class in college that scene was played as an example of bad acting.
argopile says
The reason that Kobe needs to pass more late game is, I believe, because when he starts jacking up shots his team stops moving. I watch every game and I see the same thing in almost every close game. Kobe starts hefting and his teammates start watching. They know they won’t get the ball so why move about. When the bigs come to give him a pick it’s cuz he motions them to do so. Late game they tend to stop trying to roll to the basket. A missed shot is a missed shot, I would just prefer to see the whole team in motion.
That being said I liked Fish stepping up and shooting it himself rather than just passing it to Kobe.
Darius says
Argopile,
I think the way we’ve been playing is working to the tune of 42 wins and 10 losses. I understand the concern that we lost and that the loss can be seen as indicative of a bigger trend. However, when things do work no one is saying “what happens if this doesn’t work the next time”? They only cheer and appreciate the win. When we played the Spurs the first time (Fisher’s foul on Mason game), we ran the Kobe P&R with Powell on almost every single play during our run to take the lead. On these boards, everyone was loving how the play was working and praising Kobe for his decision making. I even remember Kobe waiving for the screen and then before it came he buried that 3 that gave us the lead. Fans were in love with the fact that he was keeping the defense honest and making the right decision almost every time down. In the end, sometimes things work and sometimes they don’t but I’m comfortable with our play and the resolve we show in close games.
If there’s one thing I do think (and agree with you on) it’s that we do go more to a P&R team in the end during close games and do not run our traditional sets. However, the other side to that coin is this: at the end of games, every team becomes an isolation team in one way or another. The Spurs go to Duncan on the block, the Celtics isolate Pierce, the Cavs do the same thing with Lebron, even the Magic go P&R with Turk and Howard and let Hedo create for himself. The Lakers usually either go to Gasol on the block or Kobe on the wing where he can isolate or run P&R with one of the bigs. This is what we do and I’d say it works.
Another point I’d argue is that close games really are a toss up. Some don’t like Hollinger around here, but as a stats guy, he’d tell you that most teams perform the same way in close games. He’d say that if a team is performing exceptionally well or poorly in close games that at some point the percentage of wins or losses they earn in those games will soon go back to the mean performance. Basically a lot of wins and losses in close games comes down to luck. I only bring this up because we may not have the best record in close games, but it really doesn’t concern me because I think some of the games we’ve lost have been fluky and I also think that if we get a bounce or a call or one or two shots that go in and out stay down that our record in those close games is a lot better. All that may sound like a bunch of excuses, but it’s really what I believe.
Kurt says
New post up.