In a way, every game lost is meaningful. There are the smaller factors that make up a loss that we all want to analyze; that we want to find trends in. The finer points of the game that need to be explored when looking at the team and figuring out what trajectory it’s on. Even as a big picture thinker, longer term issues like playoff seeding and home court advantage can become part of the conversation – even if those are considerations that go far past a mid November night. So, last night after rewatching some of the game, thinking about the Lakers’ record, and then really focussing on this loss I started to wonder how much I cared about the result.
The answer? Not much.
The reason being is that games like the one against Denver need not be put under the microscope and examined too closely. This was loss #1 of the year and it happened in one of the tougher road environments that exists in the league. The Nuggets went on one of their trademarked hot streaks and the Lakers couldn’t keep up offensively while not having an answer defensively (few teams do when the Nuggs get as hot as they were). Really, I agree 100% with commenter dirty sanchez when he wrote:
This contest was lost in the last 4 mins of play, the score was tied at 105-105, the next 2 mins the Nugs built a 9 point lead…I will take this teams chances of winning with 4 minutes left (and the) score tied against anyone in the league coming out on top the majority of time. Last night was just a bad night, it happens, not pleased but LA wasnt going to go 82-0.
No need to dwell on this game. I think we’d all be thrilled if the Lakers lost once every nine games (sustained over a full year, that would have the Lakers winning around 73 games – which isn’t going to happen, but still worth noting). So as of now, I think focussing on Phoenix is the best way to move forward. Yes last night stung, but often times the path back to victory begins with games like last night’s – especially for the really good teams. You know, like the Lakers.
sT says
Yes, this one first loss is just like when you buy a brand new car, then one day you see your first dent in it, you are kind of bummed out for a while, but then you get over it. Unfortunately you probably will get more dents before you sell it, the point is to not let those dents disrupt your happiness with your car.
Pat B says
Why didn’t LO play in the 4th? Was Phil auditioning Shannon and Ron?
BlizzardOfOz says
I mean, it’s just one game. But giving up separate runs of 11-0 and 16-0 in the same quarter … pretty awful.
pb says
Shooters like Smith and Melo can get going once they start hitting layups and FTs and get in the rhythm.
Lawson was the biggest culprit as he hit everything from layups to 3s. I thought the momentum of the game shifted to DEN, when our bench started to take the first available jumpers at the beginning of the quarter that fueled the DEN fastbreak attack.
I really think Pau was somewhat gassed as he was the only big who was out there. He needed to take care of too many things on both ends without LO being in there. It shows how many little things LO contributes on both ends of the floor.
With the score tied at 105, the team that executed better would win, and that team was DEN last night. The Lakers were the bumbling fools. In the past, especially in the Playoffs, the roles were reversed.
Like I said, the DEN is one of the few teams in the league that can beat the Lakers even when the Lakers play well. The Lakers didn’t play very well (at least not in the 4th quarter), and their lead wasn’t big enough to overcome DEN push in the 4th quarter. If they had extended the 3rd quarter lead to 20+, the Nuggets would have packed it in…SIGH~
Here’s to starting a new 8 game winning streak…WARREN!
The Dude Abides says
Things could be worse. We could be Blazer fans. Gotta love the Onion 😀
http://www.theonion.com/articles/careless-blazers-goofing-around-with-basketball-sh,18448/
h/t Basketbawful commenter JJ
Mark says
Guys. Plain and simple. Our entry game post didn’t have “Warren” on it. That’s why we lost. Blame the basketball gods.
Mark says
Kevin Love with 31 effin rebounds. That’s 31 effin rebounds.
chearn says
@7-Kevin Love is a beast! Maybe now Kurt Rambis will run his offense through Kevin, maybe the coach and his top two players–Beasley being the other–are on the same page.
LO may not have played in the 4th quarter because, he’s tired! The coach may have given him the 4th quarter off because LO is fragile and because he’s fragile he could easily revert back to the inconsistent Lamar that we are used to. Sit him down and let him get his legs back under him, I’ll wager that the next game Lamar will again stuff the stat sheets.
Snoopy2006 says
31 and 31. Wow. Mind-boggling. This might mean Anthony Tolliver’s getting his minutes cut back to 37 a night.
Tyler says
Quit trying to make me all rational and reasonable when I’m freaking out about a Lakers loss. Actually I’d like to say that Gasol played like total crap, which I don’t expect to happen to often, which means I’ll try not to read a whole lot into the game.
As far as Kevin Love is concerned, does anyone else think that we may have dodged a bullet with Rambis? The guy has been clashing with Love and refusing the play him big minutes despite the fact that he is probably the best player on the team (it is clear the he and Beasley are much better than anyone else on that team).
Jeremy says
I’ve decided that the chance to go for 3peat is too important too miss much and have therefore ordered NBA league pass. I’m pumped.
As awesome as KLove’s night was I was very happy to also Beasley have a huge night (again). I’m not sure why but I’ve taken an interest in seeing this kid develop and I hope he reaches his promise
nomuskles says
There were many bumps in the road the past few years and there will be many bumps this year as well. Last night’s loss was difficult to watch because the Lakers folded down the stretch by not executing their offense or defensive plan. It wasn’t that the Nuggets had more talent, it’s that the Lakers decided they could win by jacking up threes without ball and player movement and by not guarding the paint or the three point line. I’m sure the Lakers are going to have many more of these games this year as they come together as a team and find their identity.
Other than that, the rotation seems off right now. I’m not sure what it is (I haven’t had time to watch all the games) but there are stretches where the team struggles offensively and defensively. My gut feeling is that the team really struggles offensively when Pau and Lamar go to the bench. Pau distributes from the post so well and is obviously so dangerous in his own right. But Ratliff and Caracter just don’t have that strength to their game. This results in Shannon Brown threes.
3ThreeIII says
When you are in the same group as Kareem, Moses, and the Chief, you have played a hell of a game.
31 rebounds in the NBA is a huge, HUGE game.
Have I mentioned I wish we had been able to draft Love?
Bobji says
I think Rambis is more wily than most give him credit for. It seems that he has just been doing some Phil Jackson style motivational mind games with Kevin Love in order for him to realize his full potential.
Mark (#6) hit the nail on the head about the cause of the lakers loss.
Joel says
This is the kind of performance you don’t really worry about unless it becomes a trend. We haven’t seen the kind of lazy, impatient offensive execution we saw in the fourth quarter vs Denver all season, so let’s give them the benefit of the doubt that they’ll sort that part of it out. (Defense and rebounding are probably going to be a bit erratic for a while until Bynum returns.)
SA says
10,
Re: Rambis, I have the Wolves as one of my teams to watch on League Pass and after seeing a few games, I don’t think this is fair. Love is still second on the team in terms of mpg and he’s only benched when he’s not trying on defense. There’s no doubt that the guy is a great rebounder, but he can be lazy or make boneheaded decisions on defense.
Reign on Parades says
One thing we can take away from that game was that Fish’s fiery speech didn’t do much for the Lakers to “respect the game” more
I have flushed the last two games from memory, all that remains are some lingering Shannon Brown highlights
tsuwm says
those of you who blame the loss on the (non)Warren factor weren’t paying much attention last year. the correlation of Warren posts to Ws was very poor. but the season was a journey.
YCLIU.
/sarcasm
Craig W. says
Darius,
Shouldn’t you have a link to “A Wolf Among Wolves” in the Northwest Division. There isn’t currently any link to the T’Wolves.
Sedale says
I’ll be happy as long as the Lakers don’t lose the last game of the season. Anything short of that won’t be nearly as sweet.
Darius Soriano says
A new post is up.
http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2010/11/13/saturday-special-let-shannon-shoot/