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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 and Chat: The Philadelphia 76ers

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Records: Lakers 43-15 (1st in West), 76ers 22-35 (10th in East)
Offensive ratings: Lakers 108.8 (10th in NBA), 76ers 105.7 (20th in NBA)
Defensive ratings: Lakers 102.0 (Tied for 1st in NBA), 76ers 108.6 (20th in NBA)
Projected Starting Lineups: Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum
76ers:  Louis Williams, Jrue Holliday, Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand, Samuel Dalembert

The Lakers Coming in:  The Lakers, for all intents and purposes, are not playing close to their best ball.  And, in game 59 of the season, that’s probably starting to become an issue.  Earlier in the season, this could be explained away with the addtion of Artest, Pau being on the shelf, inegrating a more polished Bynum, Kobe’s post game, etc, etc.  But at this point in the season, the Lakers should be starting to gel.  I’m not in panic mode, but I am a bit concerned.  It’s not the loss to the Mavericks or any loss that concerns me really.  It’s more the level of play that has me looking a bit harder at this team.  Last season, there were cries from fans about coasting or not playing hard, but this season that is not the case.  I really don’t see a complacent team when I watch the Lakers play.  I see a team that isn’t executing in the manner that it needs to in the moments of the game that may not require the most focus.  I mean, against Memphis and even against Dallas, we saw a team that hunkered down and got the baskets it needed to either win the game or give themselves a real chance.  But what about those moments in the middle of the third quarter or right before halftime?  Those moments matter too and I’m not seeing the attention to detail that I’ve seen in the past. 

The 76ers Coming in:  The major story surrounding the 76ers right now has little to do with anything that is happening on the court, but rather with a guy that isn’t on it for them right now.  As you’ve likely been reading over the past few weeks, Allen Iverson has been with the team off and on for some time dealing with an undisclosed illness to his daughter.  Needless to say, we all wish that this situation turns for the better for Iverson and his family and my thoughts are with this on court warrior must now be feeling a bit helpless with a situation that he can’t control.

On the court, the Sixers seem to be going through the motions.  I don’t mean that they’re not playing hard, but they’re a team that is not constructed in a way that will promote success for the long term.  To steal a line from Jay-Z, the 76ers seem to be like a treadmill – running in place.  Many around the league were thinking that Philly would be a major player around the trade deadline and make a deal that would shake up their roster so they could start to rebuild with a nucleus that better fits their scheme.  Well, that didn’t happen.  So, the Sixers are still stuck with pieces that don’t quite fit and a coach whose system is rigid and requirese certain types of guys.  I know that if I was building a team that ran a Princeton offense, I really wouldn’t choose to have any of the starters on this team populate that roster.

76ers Blogs:  Philadunkia not only has a great blog name, but they bring some great insight to the Sixers.  Also, visit here, to check out some questions I answered for them for their ‘Fo with the Foes series.

Keys to game:  In the last game between these two teams, it turned out to be throw back the clock night as Iverson was vintage and Kobe dueled with him to give the fans of Philly a look back to 2001.  Sadly, we wont see any of that tonight – at least not from Iverson – due to the circumstances that I mentioned earlier.  So, we’re left with the potential for a couple of different storylines that don’t quite provide the same punch, but could be interesting nonetheless.

Offensively, as I mentioned to Philadunkia, the Lakers have an big advantage inside and should go to it.  Bynum and Pau have distinct size advantages over both Dalembert and Brand and should work them on the block and either score with relative ease or make them double and then move the ball to open teammates.  Another advantage the Lakers have is with Kobe facing a rookie in Jrue Holiday.  In these types of circumstances, Kobe seems to relish facing the up and coming young bucks to show them how much further they have to go in their young careers.  So, we may just see agressive Kobe tonight, but I also hope that his teammates come along with him to join the party.  Philly is not a strong defensive team, but one thing they can do is force turnovers.  Philly is in the top ten in opposition’s turnover rate and with the Lakers propensity to turn over the ball in the last two games, this is something to monitor.  The Lakers must not be lazy with their post entries nor with their ball reversals because Philly does have some athletes to take advantage of these mistakes.

Defensively, the Lakers need to clamp down on Iguodala.  In the last game against the Sixers, Ron Artest pretty much locked up AI2 to the tune of 8 points to go along with 5 turnovers.  Without Iverson tonight, Iggy will be depended on more to produce offense but if he can’t muster a better effort against Ron, this game could get ugly on offense for Philly.  Two other players to watch are Philly’s two PF’s, Brand and Thad Young.  In the last game, Brand was the only other Sixer to score more than 10 points by notching 19.  Sure, he needed 19 shots to get there, but he showed he’s still got some craftiness in the post and can still make that 15ft jumper.  Pau may not have his hands full with Elton, but he won’t be able to just ignore him either.  He should really be aware of Brand on the offensive glass as 5 of Elton’s 14 carroms were picked up on our defensive glass.  As for Thad Young, he may not have taken the step that many fans and (surely) his coaches would have wanted him to this season, but he’s still a versatile forward that can do a lot of things on the court.  He has range out the three point line and has a decent handle.  Plus he’s left handed, so he gets an extra credit sticker from me.  He’ll likely find himself matched up a lot with our own lefty, so LO will need to be aware that Thad will hang around the three point line but sneak into the paint if you ball watch too much.  We’re going to need an aware LO this evening, so here’s hoping he ate his sour patch kids before the tip.

Where you can watch:  7:30 pm start time here on the West on Fox Sports West.  Also on ESPN Radio 710am.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Craig W. says

    What I really want tonight is to see the triangle run all game – through Pau. Let’s learn to use this system for an entire game and see where it gets us.

    Yes, we could freelance and we probably stand a good chance of winning — but let’s not do that, shall we?

    Following the Philly fans desires; lets put a beatdown on these guys and finish off their coach, then they can start again with someone who will use the existing talent.

  3. chris h says

    and when is the coaching staff going to ask Drew to do the re-post thing, and this is a 2 way street, the guard needs to bring it back inside, right now it’s not coming back out from drew cause he thinks he won’t get it back.
    I can’t believe they haven’t discussed this and figured out how to make it work.
    I still remember that one play when Kobe was out, think it was against Utah, or SA, there were about 4 passes, resulting in a nice 3 pointer, inside, out, back in, out and reaound the perimeter.
    that was sweet

  4. pb says

    I also hope that we see more defensive intensity. Their guards, Holiday and Williams, can both penetrate into the lane with their quickness. Also, Brand and Dalembert can crash the offensive board, meaning we’ll have to rebound better. If the game is close, Iggy will guard Kobe, which means Mamba’s size and athletic advantage over their guards disappear. Plus, Iggy has proven that he can hit big shots (Remember last year’s buzzer beating 3 pointer?).

    We should blow this game open in the 2nd quarter and coast to a victory if we establish the post early and get their bigs into foul troubles. If Sixers get out in transition at will off long jumpshot misses, we could be in trouble.

    I still predict that we’ll get to see Taco unit tonight.

  5. Burgundy says

    Excellent point, Darius, about the Lakers 58 games in – it’s not a matter of effort that’s the question, it’s a matter of execution.

    Last season they just seemed to execute better, and I think it all comes down to (I think you said this in a previous post) outside shooting.

    Last season, Fish and Ariza were threats to knock down three balls.

    This year it’s just Artest. Teams are actively daring our guards (Fish, Farmar, Brown, Sasha) to shoot wide open three pointers, and our guards are missing, literally, 76% of the time.

    Consequently, our big men have less room to operate, which is bogging down the offense.

    Pau is getting post touches, but they aren’t productive ones, because Fish (or Farmar’s) man is sitting in his lap, and because our point guards can’t seem to throw the ball in the ocean this year, team’s don’t have to respect their outside shot, and the spacing of the triangle is all screwed up.

    Of course, it doesn’t help that none of our guards not named Kobe seems to be able throw a proper post entry pass, but then again, that’s just picking old scabs.

  6. Craig W. says

    Someone I would rather see getting post entry passes, instead of initiating them, is Lamar. Get the ball to a guard and then start cutting.

  7. Antwonomous says

    Did you guys read Simmons’ chat? He’s picking Cleveland again, and sounding confident about it. As a Lakers fan I am no less than thrilled at this development. He did the same thing last year and we saw what happened.

  8. R says

    7 – I don’t expect the Cavs to make an early exit this year; I’m thinking they meet the Lakers in The Finals – if (a big if) the Lakers get past Denver.

  10. Isolate says

    I saw that Jane, kinda petty if you ask me. Coaches interference is one thing but when Kidd deliberately ran into him and ended up out of bounds while making contact seems like Kidd initiated the contact.

  11. passerby says

    Here’s to toronto deserving a good win against a back-to-back playing cleveland team…

    And here’s to tying them up in the w-l column…

  13. Warren Wee Lim says

    Jason Kidd’s statline tonight is about as ridiculous as you can go for a 36+ player.

    19-16-17. PG getting 16 rebounds. That’s sick!

  15. DirtySanchez says

    Clevebron losing in the playoffs last year will help them more than it will hurt them this season. More experience and a chip on their shoulder that they dont want to have thae same heartbreak they had at the end of last year.

    Wait, they kinda remind me of a certain team from the west coast that won it all last year. Havent seen those guys in a while, I wonder what they have been up to.

  17. 13thirtyone says

    if Z is back with cavs, i think it saves to say that they will be in the finals..

    now, it’s the west that i am worried about..
    mavs is definitely improving after they get butler n haywood..
    nuggets is also improving from last year..

    while lakers is playing like they deserve to play in the finals.
    an attitude that cavs has last year, and we know what happened to them last year.

  18. Mike Penberthy says

    For much of last year Lakers played with the same attitude of entitlement and won a championship. Their early 2000’s titles were also won playing this way. Fans may not like it, but with this franchise, apparently, that’s just how it is.

  20. Kaveh says

    This is a bit off topic, especially as the game is starting. Nevertheless, I think that it’s important. Earlier today i watched the last game of last year’s NBA finals. The difference between the offense was astounding to me, and it definitely is not Kobe’s fault. Kobe is playing exactly the same. The difference is what PJ calls “flow” or what i regard as teamwork. It seems that whenever anyone gets the ball, this year, it is 1 on 1 time. Whether that’s Bynum, Kobe, Pau, Fisher, etc. Now this is tolerable with Kobe/Bynum/Pau, because even though our offense suffers, it doesn’t suffer much as they are complete players and can dominate. The problem is the other players. Shannon Brown, Fisher, Farmar, and even Artest a little. These players simply do not have the skill level to go 1 on 1.

    There is no team offense and I think that’s the major issue. No flow at all. Even in last years playoffs when Bynum played horribly due to injury, him an Pau were in synch with each other. I know everyone loves to blame Bynum this year, but what about Pau? When was the last time you saw Pau make some passes to Bynum for easy baskets? In fact, when was the last time you saw him throw any passes to anyone in the paint? Of course that’s an exaggeration, but if you compare it to last year it is an incredible difference.

    Kobe needs to lead by example, and I believe that he is trying. Unfortunately, whenever someone gets the ball, it sticks. It is not only Bynum/Kobe. It is the entire team. Kobe passes the ball to Fisher, and he attempts a 1 v 1 as though he is Jordan incarnate. Shannon Brown gets the ball, he is jump shooting as though he is dj mbenga. No flow and no teamwork.

    This must change in a hurry. I think the championship ring made all these players think that they are far better than they really are. That is the only explanation why Fisher/Brown think it is ok to go 1 on 1, and give up on the passing.

  26. Anonymous says

    We do have 2 very bad defensive point guards. To bad Mitch dosen’t feel the same as the rest of Laker fans.

  27. 3ThreeIII says

    If it wasn’t for the logo on the floor I would believe this was Philadelphia’s gym we were playing in. The LA crowd seems dead tonight…

    (Wait…wait… Did that Laker’s Legends just revolve around Eldon Campbell? And did it say he was the Laker’s scoring leader for the 1990’s? *feels dizzy* Have I mentioned how spoiled we are by this team?)

  28. DirtySanchez says

    No flow, no cohesiveness, no assertiveness, no chemistry. A team with a bunch of have nots. Its as if everybody on the team is a free agent next year and out to get theirs.

    Hopefully that changes by the time the playoffs start.

  29. Kostas says

    I believe we will setlle down in the second half, but this is not beautifull basketball we are playing right now

  30. Laker4life says

    Why do we play like we can come back and win anytime? I hate how we get complacent like this.
    Then again we are the Lakers… we can win.

  33. Drew says

    Kobe really making an effort to move the ball and run the offense tonight…I like the way he is playing

  35. Laker4life says

    Kobe’s going thru an attitude right now. He been chewing that stupid gum for 2 games now and he’s playing the “let me show them I can facilitate” game. I hate when he gets like this.

  36. Kostas says

    It may have to do with the day off phil gave them yesterday.It happens sometimes and it takes just about a half to get back in synch…have faith

  37. logo says

    Koby looks bad. This dosen’t look anything like last years team. Much slower without Ariza and aging Fish. Whats happened to them?

  38. Laker4life says

    @35
    I see that too but sometimes it gets to late to come back and it’s 1 game we let slip away…again. We’ve all seen this happen.

    51% Phil FG shooting

  39. zirk says

    The “let me show them I can facilitate” game is f-ing annoying! Why would anyone want their best player, their superstar, one of the best players in the game, if not the best, to be a stupid facilitator?! I’m sorry, I don’t think I’d want Peyton Manning or Drew Brees to start a game by handing the frickin’ ball off 20 times in a row before throwing a pass!

  41. zirk says

    If Phily wins tonight, I think they advance to the Divsion III CIF Finals. It’s good to know we’re losing at half to a high school team. Way to make an effort.

  42. Drew says

    I really agree with the comments made about the crowd…I think the Lakers would be able to play with a lot more energy if the crowd would get into the game and make some noise

  43. Laker4life says

    Can’t wait for playoff basketball… this is as Norm said “out of sink”

    Completly agree zirk.. CIF Qtr. Finalist lol

  44. ken says

    if the Lakers are looking ahead to Sunday they could be in big trouble. This is the 3rd game in a row they have looked bad. They will get run off the court Sunday.

    Someone needs to wake them up. They look like a avarage team right now and for sure not as good as Denver and Dallas.

  45. Kostas says

    Of all people you guys picked Kobe to criticise? Wow. He took only 5 shots and has 7 assists.Some people need to make up their minds about which kind of Kobe you want to see. One night he’s shooting too much today he is playing the “let me show them I can facilitate” game. i realy don’t understand some of these posts. It is only halftime people..relax… try to enjoy the game.

  46. ken says

    Lakers losing tonight would be like Slav beating Canada tonight in Hockey. No wait, forget that at least they play hard.

  47. VoR says

    Fisher, Farmar, Brown – 3/11

    It isn’t just the missed shots. It’s the lack of any credible threat from the outside. This is the biggest difference I am seeing. The defense doesn’t have to extend out at all.

  49. Laker4life says

    When we want to we can beat any team any night. But we know the only team and game that matters is the last one.
    This is killing me… every year SOS!!!

  51. LOfan says

    Man, I have not seen the Lakers this lethargic all year. I was gonna go to this game…thank god I didn’t spend the money.

  52. Laker4life says

    Now we’re gonna see Kobe try to “prove he can do it”… by himself

    This is killing me!!!!

  56. logo says

    Fisher is just the worst player I have ever seen. Does he know he is 6 foot tall. Please someone tell him. Dumb!

    Like my 5 year old try to shoot over me and I am 6’4′

  57. 81 Witness says

    This lack of effort is killing me to be a Lakers fan tonight. Fisher with his usual intangibles (courtesy of SS&R) and the bigs not hustling or giving a rats butt on the board.

  59. LOfan says

    Fisher is the worst player? Really? Thats a bit much. At least the effort is there…thats more than I can say for most of the team right now.

  60. logo says

    laker defense is painfully slow. Any team cam beat them down the floor.

    There is no way this team repeats. NO WAY!

  61. Darius says

    Right now, I’m frustrated too. But I’d never to presume to think that I know what the players are thinking, that they don’t care, that they don’t understand the game, or any of the other comments of the like that I’m reading right now.

    What I see is the Lakers getting beat in the open court by younger and more athletic players. Philly is racing the ball up the court and getting easy looks that they’re converting on. The Lakers need better floor balance on offense in order to transition to defense more effectively. And then, in the half court, play off the Sixers in order to better deny dribble penetration.

  63. VoR says

    I don’t think it is a lack of effort at all. Watch the Sixer’s D. almost every player is in the paint. Bynum, Gasol and Bryant are not the problem.

  66. LOfan says

    Darius,
    I dont mind the Lakers not shooting well…that will happen to every team from time to time. But I have seen every Laker game for the past year, and I see a big difference in how their energy level goes us against the better teams and slows down until the 4th quarter against weaker teams.

  67. VoR says

    LOFan who do you feel is not playing hard right now? I’m looking at stats for the starters and I am nto sure where you see a lack of effort?

  68. zirk says

    No kidding, Laker4life. It might be a good idea to start guarding Williams! And also not let Dalembert score more points tonight than he has total for his entire career!

    And 44. When it comes to me, I always want kobe to come out gunning! Always! He’s your superstar! I hate when he plays the “facilitator” role. That might also have to do with the fact that I have no confidence in the other players when it REALLY counts. I’m sure there are others who disagree and hate it when kobe “dominates” the ball. But I’m not one of them. Just my opinion…

  69. Darius says

    LOfan,
    No. And I don’t think I typed that. What I said was that people say the Lakers don’t care. I don’t see that and don’t agree. People say that Kobe is *thinking* something and I’d like to know how they know that. Right now the Lakers look a step slow, but that’s going to happen some nights – especially when you play a team that is racing the ball up the court at every opportunity against an unbalanced defense in transition. I don’t think I’ve read two comments on this board tonight that give any sort of basketball explanation for what is going on. It’s all conjecture about a mindset that is presumed exists. That’s sports talk radio at its finest, but not actually evaluating what’s going on on the court.

  70. logo says

    Darius! Are you watching the same game as I am. This is the world champs playing a D-league team. Its all about EFFORT OR LACK OF IT.

  71. PhilAus says

    Not too worried about the game overall, but I’m not sure I like seeing us make our first decent run of the 2nd half and then sub out 3/5 of the lineup…

  74. 81 Witness says

    Lakers playing at 76ers pace. Looking listless, no goal, no initiation. Walking through the motions. Bynum just wants to get paid and go home half the time. Throw that thing down big man! Throw it down!

  75. 3ThreeIII says

    By the way, playing at about 80-90% against a team that is 70% as talented as you are for the first 3 quarters is the correct way to play if you are professionals.

    No team, not one, can play at 100% effort 100% of the time over an 82 game season.

    Perfectly fine to treat a garbage team this way, unless you lose.

    I would be surprised if we lose here. I expect a 5 point lead going into the 4th, and a 9 point win overall.

    We will see…

  76. LOfan says

    darius,
    I get what your saying now. But the team just looks out of sorts, and as a fan who saw them get beat in dallas, i expect them to take games more personal I suppose. There was a point tonight where I believe that the 76ers got 4 or 5 layups in a row. The defense has to be blamed for that. Dalembert averages 7 points a game. I’ve now lost count on how many he has. But saying all that, I understand your point of view. I know we fans are emotional, but we expect perfection from this team, even if it is completely unrealistic.

  77. ken says

    Anybody notice how few fouls get called aganist Koby this year. Its like all those call go to James this year. He has been fouled 4 times tonight.

  78. Laker4life says

    I’ve watched every possible Laker game for the past 15 years… STRAIGHT. This is our team, our Lakers, we get like this when our leader “KOBE” gets the way he is or whoever our leader was.

    We think we can come back on any one. Why? Cuz this is Hollywood and we like the drama. Thats how its always existed.

    So dont act like this is all “basketball fundementals” out there. Maybe for other teams but not us.- Darius

  79. Darius says

    logo,
    I think you broke your caps lock. You may want to take a look at that.

    And what I saw were four Lakers sucked underneath the basket and a crashing Sixer taking advantage of flat footed Lakers too deep under the basket. Too many times I think fans mistake ineffectiveness with a lack of effort or trying.

  80. LOfan says

    Laker4life,
    I have heard Magic say in an interview a few years back, that when their team won the first title, the team confidence went way up as well (as it should). But he said something interesting to go with what you said, he said that even if the Lakers were down by 20 at halftime, they KNEW they would win.

  81. Darius says

    #76. Obviously not everything can be explained away by X’s and O’s. I acknowledged earlier that the Lakers are a step slow. But does that mean that they’re not trying?

  82. Bobji says

    Hey everybody chill, Artest dunked again tonight.

    Philadelphia has squad with a lot of length, they’ve done a decent job of disrupting passing lanes tonight. Give them some credit too.

  84. PhilAus says

    Aside from that little sequence near the end of the 3rd, our overall rebounding has looked a little better today. Both big guys in double digits. Still looks like a few too many offensive boards given up, but I actually like the effort on the glass more than in a lot of other games.

    And for those taking shots at Drew, we would’ve KILLED for double figure boards out of him most if this season! I know he’s only got 1 assist, but it’s not like LO is setting world on fire with passing tonight.

  85. Zephid says

    I think people are too caught up in trying to attribute reasons to stuff. Like, “Oh, the Lakers are playing even with a sub-500 team, so they must not be trying hard.” My take is that there probably isn’t a neatly packaged causal reason behind it. Some balls are bouncing the Sixers way; Lakers are missing some assignments. These things happen; there’s not always a reason behind it.

  86. Laker4life says

    No… but Kobe is playing like “half” Kobe until he decides when the team needs him. And when he does that every other player all the way down to the bench play like “oh well we got Kobe to bail us out”.

  87. zirk says

    Darius,
    This is just my opinion, and you’re right, we don’t know for sure, but I really do think that they aren’t trying AS HARD or don’t care ENOUGH. Even if they weren’t necessarily “playing” well, I have a hard time believing that if they were treating this game like Game 7 of the Finals, they would be struggling this bad with the sh*tbox Sixers! Yes, I know it’s not Game 7 and only like game 59 or so of the regular season, but you get my point…

  88. Laker4life says

    @LOfan
    I saw that one too and it dates all the back to when we lost all those DAM titles to the C’s in the 60’s. 67′ just eerks me. It’s the physky we have we wont ever admit it but we like to play mind games. Espacially Phil. You can see it in his face when he gives interviews.

  91. LOfan says

    Laker4life,
    I’m glad I missed the 60’s. Watching the lakers and West getting beat by boston repeatedly would have been too much for me.

  95. Darius says

    zirk,
    But it isn’t game 7 of the Finals is it? If fans expect full on game 7 level of the Finals effort every night, I feel sorry for them. That’s like expecting to win the lottery. Or expecting to eat the best meal of your life every night of the week. It just doesn’t happen. And have that fan as a mindset must be so overwhelmingly disappointing that I don’t know if I’d even enjoy being a fan except for those rare nights that my team actually achieved that.

  96. ken says

    Final point Darius. I bet you work as hard tonight as you will during playoffs. They get paid a lot to try hard every game.

  97. PhilAus says

    Iguodala closing in on a triple-double. And Thaddeus Young seems to only score from offensive boards. Got to get a body on him.

  103. Lakers8884 says

    Haven’t been able to watch the game tonight but can someone tell me why Derek has still played while shooting 3 for 11, while Jordan has decent shooting numbers off the bench?

  104. Laker4life says

    if we can just play alittle D we can barely get outta here with a W. Which is all that matters really.

    WE WANT TACOS

  105. ken says

    now they are trying hard. See the difference.

    Point is if they have been trying then they are not very good. Suns blew this team off the court a few days ago.

  106. PhilAus says

    Can anyone who’s across advanced stats tell me how many travelling violations the Lakers have had per game this season? Maybe it’s just the 2 from Drew against Dallas that have me noticing it, but it feels like a lot more this season than in the past.

  107. zirk says

    Darius,
    I see your point, but actually, I think we SHOULD expect that every night. And by “that”, I mean effort, intensity, hustle, etc. How many times have you heard a coach, a commentator, or player say that you may not always “play” well, but you should always bring the effort. That’s something that is ALWAYS within your control. Now that doesn’t mean we should expect to win or play well every game. To me, that would be like expecting to win the lottery. But as a competitor, I think you should at least TRY YOUR HARDEST to win every game, and be disappointed when you lose.

    And who knows, maybe they are. But I think my whole issue with this “effort” thing is that it seems like we take crappy to mediocre teams way too lightly way too often. Maybe that’s what keeps coming across as lack of effort.

    Anyway, I always appreciate your insight and posts. People may have differing opinions on here at times, but what we all have in common is that we’re all Lakers fans!

  108. LOfan says

    Ken,
    I agree. I can see a huge difference between the effort (THATS RIGHT I SAID EFFORT) in the first three quarters and the last 9 minutes. Night and day.

  109. R says

    103 – I believe the consensus is that Fisher provides positive intangibles which nobody but PJ can discern (evidently).

  111. pb says

    I bet half of you would be a couch potato for the rest of your life if you got a guranteed million dollar contract. Stop harping on the Laker players for not trying hard enough because they get paid so much. You are not their employer. If you don’t like it, stop being a fan. PERIOD.

    Just enjoy the game for what it is. A GAME!

    It’s one thing to be a passionate fan. It’s another thing to be an obsessive jerk with entitlement issue.

    Win or lose…the Sun comes up tomorrow.

  118. zirk says

    I agree, Ken. Because I’m sure most of us agree that from a shear talent standpoint (except for you-know-who!), not many teams can match us, if any. So in the games that we’ve lost, and even in some that we won but didn’t necessarily play well, it usually hasn’t been because of talent. It’s usually because of one of the intangibles like “the other team wanted it more”, “they brought more effort and intensity”, “they played smarter”, etc. I hate losing because of things like that. How many games have we lost this year where we played a good to great game, but the opponent just played better? I can’t think of many.

  120. Darius says

    And, the Lakers win. I think we can all agree that’s the result that we wanted. It wasn’t pretty, but as Pau just said, Philly did a good job at capitalizing on the mistakes and also ran at every opportunity. I’ll have a recap up tomorrow, after I rewatch parts of this game, but in the end I’ll take the win and start getting ready for Denver.

  121. Laker4life says

    Joel & Stew both said “no effort no passion”. Uhhhh… like we didnt care. G thats funny… Herrreeeee’s Phil

  122. ken says

    i know you can’t win them all but we should expect effort every game. These guys only have to work hard 3 hours apx 100 times a year. Am I bummed because I was never good enough to play in the NBA Sure! But that dosen’t mean I can’t expect effort every game.

    As a 40 year fan and a 30 year season ticket holder I feel i have the right to expect effort more then expect wins.

  123. ken says

    “mindless turnovers”
    “lack of urgency”
    “lack of emotion”

    all quotes from Phil after the game.

  124. Laker4life says

    @122

    Agree… I pay to pay for games, I pay for their apparel, I watch and give them my ratings which in turn turn into profits ala ads, I support them weather it be word of mouth or blog. I deserve effort from all of them. Cuz when it comes down to it we all pay their salary.

    I’ve always told people those are my gold ball trophies. Before I tell them how I think they are. And I want #16. (well technically 10th trophy)

  125. sT says

    Hey, Fisher has the highlight of the night for FSW, a lob to Bynum resulting in a hard dunk, cool, right?

  126. Ray says

    Man, I avoided this thread during game because ofthe bi-polar laker fans thinking that effort through an entire game or runs by the other team mean they aren’t trying hard.

    Yah, our team gets paid well, so do the sixers. Stop living minute to minute. If we were getting blown out, then hell yah complain. Otherwise, just wait til the game is over. Commen on execution, comment on defensive breakdowns, but don’t argue that they get paid a lot of money, cuz the people they play get paid just as much.

    For this old enough, chick used to say, bball is a game of runs, both teams will go on them.

    Bottom line. Win. Nothing else matters.

    Go lakers.

  128. Busboys4me says

    Of Fisher on his failed attempts to the hoop, Chick would have said it best….

    Drvie by Fisher, he BLOWS the lay up… Put back by Fisher, NO GOOD!!!….he gets the rebound and the put back is REEJECTED!!!

  130. kaveh says

    3ThreeIII wrote on February 26, 2010 at 9:13 pm
    By the way, playing at about 80-90% against a team that is 70% as talented as you are for the first 3 quarters is the correct way to play if you are professionals.

    No team, not one, can play at 100% effort 100% of the time over an 82 game season.

    Perfectly fine to treat a garbage team this way, unless you lose.

    I would be surprised if we lose here. I expect a 5 point lead going into the 4th, and a 9 point win overall.

    We will see…
    ========
    wow, classic!