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

Game 1 Chat: Lakers vs. Hornets

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The wait is over and the Lakers’ defense of their championship starts today with the visiting Hornets. We’ve covered the X’s and O’s of this match up and know what the Lakers need to do on both sides of the ball to beat this team. Yes our guys are favored, but the games aren’t played on paper; the team will need effort and execution on both ends to get the victories they need.

With that said, we briefly step away from tactics and strategy to remind of the bigger picture.

The path to a potential championship begins today. There will be ups and downs, dramatic moments, and times where doubt will not only be natural it will be all consuming. However, through it all, I ask again that you try to enjoy the journey. The Lakers are looking to accomplish something truly historic as a team, in their coach’s last stand, with legacies ready to take a major boost should they succeed. Just think, the prospect of a 4th straight Finals appearance, a 3rd straight title, banner #17 for the franchise, ring #12 for the coach and #6 for Kobe and Fisher.

These are massive milestones that this team is chasing and we, as fans, are right there in the thick of it. I understand that when the team commits a careless turnover or misses that offensive rebound it’s difficult to see the forest through the trees.

However, through those hard moments this is a team that we should try to enjoy and appreciate. These chances are few and far between, cherishing them makes the end result that much sweeter should we get there.

And with that, enjoy this game and enjoy this run. We’re lucky fans. The journey starts now.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Aaron says

    Be Afraid

    Are the Heat hated? Of course. But the Lakers might be hated more. All week long I’m hearing from every media source/analyst that Bynum is a question mark. Can he play? What can he give the Lakers? Even will he be back for the WCF or Finals. You wonder if these guys do any work for their predictions, write ups, or reports? The most likely answer is they do research but they just downright speak with their heart and not their head. Even after the MRI comes back saying Andrew wasn’t even injured, even after he doesn’t miss a practice and Barnes/Artest do. Even after the injury report lists Barnes/Artest and Bynum isn’t even listed. Even after all that when I’m watching TV or listening to the radio all the reporters/experts are more than happy to add questions of Bynum’s status for the first round and even the WCF. Not game one. Not game two. But even series weeks from now? Interesting for a guy who isn’t even on the injury list. So when we raise a championship banner one more time here is to all those who cry with every Lakers victory and cringe with every Kobe scowl. But I guess the times are changing. I don’t hear Kobe has lost a step speculation heading into these playoffs. All I hear is flat out lies about Andrew Bynum’s status… I guess there is a new monster to fear.

    Be afraid of The Beast…

  2. Don says

    What are the chances his previous knee strengthening exercises helped prevent a worse injury for Bynum?

    Yay playoffs

  5. Taylor says

    Is it possible our Lakers this year are even less-prone to being rattled? When you think about last year’s run, the Game 7, Boston, it really makes me feel that this run can’t throw any added pressure, or at least raise the bar over what we previously dealt with. I realize it could be 6 for Kobe / 12 for PJ / ties for the top with the Cs, but individually for Kobe/Pau/Fish etc, I think it will be less mentally taxing than last year’s title. I realize each series/year brings its own challenges, but can anything really top what we went through in ’10? Thoughts?

    Got the 16 up on the wall. Time to start the countdown today!

  7. Joel says

    I don’t know if the lakers can or can’t play defense. But I do know that they don’t play defense when Bynum isn’t on the floor.

  8. sT says

    Too many distance J’ for the Lakers, get LO some layups and such.

    Edit: As I write this Bryant goes to-the-hole ‘and 1’.

  9. Jayelvee says

    Still early but have you noticed how Kobe hasn’t been animated (cry-baby) when he doesn’t get a call or on a turnover. He just shakes his head and is getting back on D. Perhaps Kobe is a FB & G reader…

  10. VoR says

    Kobe and Fish 11 shot attempts. Bynum and Gasol 2. Laker guards seem determined to make these games harder than they need to be.

    Almost no ball movement at all on O.

  11. Andreas G. says

    Neat little game from Marc Gasol in Grizzlies’ win vs the Spurs…24 pts on 9/10 fgs. Now let’s see Pau match that for the remainder of this game! (If he ever gets the ball ie.)

  12. Joel says

    10. The shot attempts are okay because Kobe/Fish are 6-11 and Bynum has been to the line twice. It’s the TO’s and slow-footed defense. But I do agree they need more ball movement.

  14. sT says

    This is apparently going to be a tough win for the Lakers, they seem to be behind always, and catching up to the Hornets, but heck, the Hornets are a pro basketball team who made the Playoffs.

    I wish are guards would stop jacking up J’s.

  15. Joel says

    So is “the Gasol” trade still robbery. I mean the younger Gasol did achieve something Pau couldn’t and thats a playoff win.

    But the lakers really need to pick it up on the defensive end.

  16. Lakers8884 says

    Does Steve Blake have to play when he comes back? Or can he just collect his paycheck on the bench like Theo, because Trey Johnson looks very comfortable out there for LA.

  17. Andreas G. says

    Joel: Different supporting cast. Being half Spanish, I’ve followed both brothers quite closely and Pau is clearly the superior player. That being said, Marc has turned out far better than I expected. I look forward to seeing them play together in London next year.

  19. just magic says

    Pau needs to play with a little more energy and hustle. He seems slow and not aggressive at all on both offense and defense.

    Do the Lakers realize that this is the playoffs? Where’s that championship defense? How many points does NO have in the paint? Bynum now with 3 fouls means NO can drive to the lane repeatedly and increase their lead going into the half. Pau and LO needs to step it up.

  23. Paul says

    good thing we aren’t playing Portland or Memphis instead of NO b/c if we were this game would be already out of hand. defense has been awful and pau and lamar have been nonexistent on offense

  24. Don says

    Guards may be making them, but Pau not even touching the ball at all. Guys need to start playing actual basketball instead of playground bullshit.

    Bynum cannot score one on one without good position first, stop forcing it.

  27. JM says

    When do I need to start worrying?

    Just trying to imagine if David West was playing. Would they be leading by 20 now?

  28. just magic says

    this is not a good half for the lakers. can barely get 40 points while NO is over 50. Pau and LO better show up.

  30. Joel says

    This just looks like a team that believes other teams will just bow down to them. The Lakers don’t defend and don’t run their offense. This is truly amazing. The lakers seriously need to put ball in Kobe’s hands evertime down and he’s going to have to create for himself and everyone else, until everyone else decides to play right.

  31. sT says

    Wow, that injury to Pau was very close to his left eye, glad it turned out to be just nothing. Now Bryant’s neck hits someone’s knee on court-side, but he seems OK.

  32. Andreas G. says

    That shot by Artest was a 10 on the craziness scale:D

    These injuries will fire up Kobe and (especially) Pau for the second half. I predict a dominant third quarter!

  33. Dimitrie says

    Someone tell me if I’m wrong, but it seems that Lakers should be playing in the middle.

    I think the ball needs to go through Bynum and Gasol more

  36. Don says

    I dont understand the shot selection and the forced action. These guys are professional basketball players

    I mean regular season maybe Kobe was just practicing his iso skills but its the playoffs, everything you dont want to happen is happening w/ this hornets team

  40. R.J. says

    I’m sick of coming up for excuses for why this team can’t be bothered to do the MINIMAL requirements to be competitive, like cut HARD and SPRINT back defensively. It’s their own fault they had to max out the full 82 just to get the 2 seed, and they all look corpselike out there. Darius is right about the off ball movement, but as always, this buffoonery is about what the Lakers are NOT doing way more than what New Orleans is doing.

  41. Snoopy2006 says

    Wow. This is why picking up a veteran like Battier was a top-notch move … I flipped the channel after the 2 Bonner threes and missed the great Battier play. I still think SA takes that series, but every single game so far has been exciting (except Atl-Orl).

  43. Joe says

    Ok I just need to vent about this one thing. I HATE WHEN THE LAKERS JUST COME DOWN COURT AND JACK UP BAD SHOTS!!! Ok I am done.

  44. robinred says

    And the journey will not be a smooth one.

    But I have to say I am not surprised. All the other 1 and 2 seeds had rough rides as well, though.

  48. Joel says

    Can we trade the inconsistent Gasol the inconsistent Odom back. The lakers were much better when they knew Gasol would show up every game.

  49. chearn says

    This playoffs is called, parity in the league! If a top seed thinks that it will be a cakewalk through the early rounds, they’re sadly mistaken!

  51. sT says

    Plenty of time for the Lakers to take control and get a WIN out of this. As I write, Bryant cuts between two defenders for the 2 points and now it is a 2 point game.

  53. kehntangibles says

    The good part? Gasol will be fresh for the 4th quarter b/c he hasn’t exerted himself at all thus far. :p

  54. Snoopy2006 says

    When the ABC guys played the tape, it was even more egregious. That is some horrid, horrid transition defense. Pau’s been in sleepwalk mode (defensively) all game long, and Drew hasn’t done much better.

  55. Snoopy2006 says

    The other thing is our bigs are really letting the smaller NO frontline push them off their spots. I’ve seen very few clean post-ups starting with good, deep position.

  57. Anonymous says

    Does pau have a 2 inch vertical or something? Guy can’t grab a rebound to save his life.

  58. chearn says

    The Lakers are predictable on offense, I hoped that they would incorporate a wrinkle or two on offense. They may very well have a few plays that they’ll use if they go far into the playoffs.

  61. Dimitrie says

    Lakers biggest weakness? Running and hustling in defense IMO Fish just got hustled by C.Paul

    Our offense isn’t very bad.

  64. maxnyc says

    Don’t worry everyone! Remember, come playoff time the Lakers will turn it all on….

    oh….wait…

    nevermind.

  66. chearn says

    Bynum was not ready to go, the Lakers should have stuck with Odom in the starting lineup. That way, Bynum could get his timing back. Maybe Bynum needs to start in order to keep his knee loose. But, we are off kilter on offense and defense.

  68. sT says

    Just to many trolls, but it is the Playoffs, so I guess this is to be expected.

    Artest with the bank shot for 2 points, then Kobe with the turnaround shot with a hand in the face…

  69. Mourning says

    It seems like half the Hornets’ baskets are those annoying short range floaters. Isn’t there something our defense can do to contest those?

  72. chearn says

    Okay, the Lakers forgot to flip the switch…so I’ll do it!
    FLIP!!!! Let’s Go!!! Lakers will win this game by four points!

  73. Darius Soriano says

    I’ve no problems deleting comments. Not from Hornets fans that want to post baiting comments or from regulars that respond. We’ll have a civil conversation here, to be sure.

  76. Andreas G. says

    sT: Exactly. It’s always the same story: The Lakers are portrayed as the worst team ever. Kobe is a chucker, Pau is soft, Fish slow etc etc. This is why I mostly just read the great articles these days, and skip the comment section all together.

  79. sT says

    Why was Pau having to run out and stop CP3 from hitting a jumper just then, Lakers need to look at their defense after this game for sure.

    Andreas G., just saw your comment, and I do believe the Lakers will win this series, period. Now Artest with the trey, cool indeed.

  82. Joel says

    Pau is as bad at defending the Screen and Roll as Shaq is.

    This team wasn’t prepared. And that’s on Phil. The lakers have made mistakes on defense almost every other defensive possession.

  83. kehntangibles says

    We’re treading very carefully to live by kobe/die by kobe. That’s gonna make things tougher on us offenseively, to say nothing of our inability to get stops

  87. Andreas G. says

    Everything going against the Lakers today.. Oh well, let’s hope this is a wake-up call.

  91. VoR says

    My initial hunch was Lakers in 6. Reminds me of the Houston series a couple year ago.

    Paul is absolutely destroying Fish. Not sure how the Lakers fix that.

  92. Cdog says

    What the heck has happenned to Pau Gasol?

    What the heck has happenned to the Lakers D?

    This is a pathetic performance.

  93. Aaron says

    Alright Darius. Don’t be lazy. It’s time for a why the Lakers second best player and best defender isn’t on the floor for the last five minutes of games post.

  94. Joe says

    Not surprising or an upset. This Laker team has been unpredictable all year. I don’t know why anyone should be surprised. Lets face it, the Lakers are not a very dominant team anymore. This series is going at least 6.

  95. sT says

    Even Kurt said in 5, so this is the 1 loss in the series, I guess. Aaron, PJ did sub Bynum for Gasol, momentarily, at the 3 minute mark, but then went back to his normal closing unit.

  96. kehntangibles says

    You know what? New Orleans played as well as they possibly could and deserved this win. We played like utter shite and deserved to lose. If Phil and company are worthy of their job, they’ll find a way to win this series. Bottom line is that we are the more talented team.

    That said, I’m turning this game off now before I punch something.

  97. JM says

    Why didn’t we see more of Trey Johnson? Fisher can’t guard a turtle wearing cement shoes.

  98. chearn says

    92) Hopefully, you’re not speaking of the Houston series when Cooper ended up lying on the floor in disbelief!

    Lakers have not held home court all year, it is a bit disconcerting!

  99. Dimitrie says

    Hey, the Spurs lost and the Lakers lost.

    Should be interesting. I just don’t know what to do about Fish. That new guy seems to be way faster than him.

  101. lakerlord says

    lakers look slow, old, lethargic and lackadaisical, so what else is new this season?

  102. Andreas G. says

    Pau and Lamar coming alive too late…way too late. Well this game sucked, but I’m not too worried.

  103. kehntangibles says

    Also, I vote from now on to ban ever wearing white uniforms. Seems like we always play awful when wearing them.

  104. Lakers8884 says

    If Pau isn’t going to play hard he doesn’t need to be in the game it’s that simple. Bynum right now is a better player and he needs to be on the floor more frequently.

  105. Joe says

    100, “Can be” are the two key words. But with no discipline on defense and jacking up bad shot over and over, not going to happen.

  106. Paul says

    Paul made a ton of plays and was essentially unguardable but it was the role players that killed the lakers. NO bench shot 16/22. Just a lack of hustle and a sense of urgency especially on D

  107. Don says

    Some blame goes to kobe and the guards for not looking for Pau early to set the tone. Can’t get in a rhythm if you don’t get touches. But Pau has to get in position and demand it as well.

    Lakers still think they can beat this team by playing one quarter or one half. Glad they lost this down the stretch so they’ll play with some urgency instead of stealing a win and not working on the things that are losing them games.

  108. kehntangibles says

    Still not worried about losing this series, but for pete’s sake – How many more wakeup calls does this team need?

  109. Archon says

    Even if chris paul is the best player in this series, the lakers have the next four. I don’t think the lakers will lose but if they did it would be unforgivable

  112. Rudy says

    Tired of watching the Lakers play like this. Either way, I’m not worried and expect the Lakers to blow them out in game 2.

  114. Zephid says

    98, totally agree. Trey Johnson played some really feisty D.

    I fe for Aaron Gray and the Hornets. The Lakers are going to play like shit and still win this series. Thank God these aren’t best of one series’

  115. Aaron says

    I really don’t blame Gasol for his poor offense. He is a jump shooting big man. Sometimes your shot is just off. His lack of energy on defense is concerning. He isnt a good defensive player… But he is better than that.

  116. Mace says

    How many Lakers does it take to change a light bulb? They can’t. They just stand there screaming for help when they throw the switch and nothing happens.

  117. emh101 says

    Pau is not just a jump shooter. He has a great game around the rim . . . which he misplaced for this game.

  118. David R. says

    They said they needed CP3 to play out of his mind. well there you go. How strong are the faithful though. i still have our Lakers have this in 5. there no way Pau Gasol goes 2-9 for the rest the playoffs, Lakers just cannot get up for these early afternoon games. but they are gonna have too though. what else to say but now anxious for wednesday to come around. Lakers lets get it done.

  119. Cdog says

    Jarrett Jack and Chris Paul ate us up for Breakfast lunch and dinner?

    What, pray tell, will be the answer for both of them? Our only other guard has the chicken pox and wont be ready for this series, and Trey Johnson is not the answer.

    Kobe didn’t even go into superhero mode tonight and we lost down the stretch, because we couldn’t get any stops on defense and fouled on almost every defensive play in the fourth….

    Only Kobe and Artest came to play in this game…
    I just want to know what Odom, Pau, and Bynums excuse will be, cuz we got manhandled. Theres no reason that if the NO bigs can manhandle ours, that any other teams cant as well…

    I mean, the Hornets beat us with Okafor getting 4 shots and in foul trouble all day…… and Kobe scored in the mid 30s on an excellently efficient day (until his last three shots didn’t fall with the game out of hand).

    Aaron, you want to know why Andrew Bynum was not in at the end of this game – the Jump ball at mid-court is all the explanation we need.

  120. Aaron says

    Re: Gasol
    I really don’t blame Gasol for his poor offense. He is a jump shooting big man. Sometimes your shot is just off. His lack of energy on defense is concerning. He isnt a good defensive player… But he is better than that.

    Re: Fisher
    Matt Money Smith said last week on 570 AM “Is this the year not signing a real starting PG comes back to bite them in the ass? Fisher is clutch… But maybe if he wasn’t a 38% shooter while being the worst defender in the NBA the Lakers wouldn’t need those clutch shots.”

    Re: Artest
    The guy is just a warrior. All that needs to be said.

    119,
    Lol. A jump ball? Those are crap shoots. Aaron Grey jumped sooner. Bynum was the Lakers best big man today just as he has been since the all star break.

  121. Dimitrie says

    First, I like the white uniforms on Sundays.

    Second, David R. is right. We went through this whole season dealing with Fisher. Gasol just had a bad game. We only lost by a couple points.

    We got this

  122. Joel says

    Props to D Fish. When you see the way he fights from start to finish, you understand why he’s been apart of 5 championship teams. He’s the only one that has to defend a superstar. Too bad Pau doesn’t have that type of fight. He’s soft. Plain and simple.

    The lakers as a whole are utterly pathetic. Their defense is seriously bad. They make so many mistakes on the defensive end. This team was unprepared and this isn’t an anomaly. They’ve played this type of defense all season.

    Let me run down the list.
    -Nobody knows how to defend the Screen and Roll. For some odd reason the big just saggs back, and when that big is Gasol, the opposing team always gets an open uncontested midrange jumper. I don’t know why they never trap and allow their defense to recover.

    -Shannon Brown is a horrendous defender. Kobe needs to start fighting over screens.Gasol just needs to learn how to defend. As a team the need to learn how to rotate on the defense end and stop switching when it doesn’t make sense and start switching when its guard on guard, big to big.

    Phil also has to tweak the rotation to where Bynum is playing the last 5 minutes of the game plain and simple. Also Bynum doesn’t play well with the second unit. He never has. Pau should be in with the second unit to start the second and fourth quarters. And its funny because Phil’s excuse every time they lost was that it wasn’t the playoffs yet…

  123. R.J. says

    outworked, outplayed, OUTCOACHED.

    1. The bench failed to gel all season long. It looks like a guessing game out there when they play offense, and Shannon is a constant threat to dazzle us on O but singlehandedly cave in our defense with a mindless switch/gamble. It is too late to fix that. Time to cash in on the fact that Kobe played only 33 minutes per game this year.

    2. I don’t care how nuclear the Hornet bench went or how bad Pau was. This is a team that lost ALL 4 games to the Lakers playing today MINUS their leading scorer, and they missed a ton of free throws, so the “Hornets were unbeatable today” excuse doesn’t fly.

    3. The Lakers’ biggest problems imo is offensive stagnation and tempo. There are endless cuts/counters in the Triangle, but you have to MOVE to benefit from any of them. Also, when you walk the ball up you are limiting the number of cuts/passes the defense will have to overcome to get a stop. Pau is a microcosm of our offense. The longer he holds the ball the less effective he gets. This goes back to the point I was making all game long. Ron also, despite playing well overall, caught the ball flatfooted and not ready to shoot, killing rhythm, ball movement, and ultimately a number of possessions. SO MUCH GETS CLEANED UP BY JUST PLAYING HARD. It starts with that, and New Orleans outworked the Lakers. Paul will cancel Kobe out this series, so it comes down to the rest of the Hornets against the rest of the Lakers. On paper, we all know how that should play out. Paper lost today.

  124. Joel says

    Phil is back to making excuses. He just doesn’t own and say this loss was on me. The lakers were not prepared and thats on him

  125. Glove says

    Disappointed in the way the Lakers played especially on defense. Hornets did an excellent job taking care of the ball with only 3 turnovers, led to 6 Lakers points, while 13 Lakers turnover led to 17 Hornets points. Lakers could not get into any rhythm in the 4thQ with all the fouls they committed and Chris Paul was simply great. Hornets had too many points in the paint 52 to the Lakers 34

    Lakers need to force more turnovers in game 2 to get some easy points and get Gasol going early who should have a bounce back game. Don’t think the Hornets will be 51.9% from the field again. Should Bynum gets crunch time minutes and would this help the crunch time defense for the Lakers?

  126. Los Feliz Laker says

    After the Lakers lost to Denver, I knew they would start phoning it in. So I didn’t watch the remaining games, because I finally hit the point after 25-plus years of watching this franchise that I don’t like this TEAM. If you are a hardcore fan, this team just punishes you with inconsistent, disinterested play. Now when I set time aside to watch a game like today, I feel like I wasted my day. I don’t the Hornets have a chance of winning this series. But I wasted almost three hours watching the Lakers look terrible. I had Lamar with 2 points and no rebounds in the first half (14 minutes).

  128. Aaron says

    121,
    It’s not that Bynum doesn’t play well with the second unit… It’s more that the second unit plays up tempo and never throws the ball inside

  130. robinred says

    Green, Jack and Gray: 14/18

    NO had 3 turnovers, which is both a tribute to Paul and the mark of an old, slow team playing defense.

  131. sT says

    I am going to find it hard to rest until we even the series up at 1-1, I am bummed out now for sure. If anything is a wake-up call this first game loss should be for the Lakers.

  132. TB 8788 says

    Aaron Gray and Jarret Jack won’t go 10-11 from the floor again. Don’t think Chris Paul can play any better. Pau can’t play any worse. STILL, the Hornets present some troubling matchup problems all of a sudden. Dominant PG (always a problem); effective post size; and that ever-problematic quirky PF build (short, wide, thick, and athletic) in Landry.

  133. VoR says

    Kudos to Artest for showing up and playing with heart.

    I expect a different, more disciplined Laker team to show up for the next one. In a series, game planning matters, so we shall see who makes adjustments. At least there is no need for the Lakers or their fans to worry about boredom setting in.

  134. Ken says

    Oh by the way how is that Sasha for 90 year old Smith going. At least he had heart. Time for Mitch to go. He cleaned a bench that won 2 titles and filled it with junk. Jerry West please put away that 9 iron.

  135. Don says

    Oh yea Vujacic would’ve been our savior. Fire the man who built a championship team. jesus christ

  136. milesaugust says

    Yes the Hornets have a chance of winning this series. This team is driving me crazy, are they aging/deteriorating right before out eyes? I don’t know what to think…Can’t stop Jarrett Jack or Aaron Gray, what the heck. At least Blake could have given Fish a breather, never thought I’d miss Farmar. Need some serious adjustments (that sounds familiar), don’t want to see Pau switching to guard C. Paul anymore.

    This is the last hurrah, folks, hope they can right the ship.

  137. Aaron says

    Alright… Everyone calm down. I’ll be suprised if the Hornets win another game. But yes… Kudos to Artest. Time to let Mitch stay. Everyone wanted Ariza. Trevor has been the worst rotation swing man in the NBA. Meanwhile Artest has been one of the best defensive players in the league for a second straight series. He again today was a beast on both ends of the floor.

  138. Ken says

    Sorry Don but you clearly do not know the truth. West made the call to Buss on Pau not Mitch. Jimmy Buss insisted on drafting Andrew against Mitch’s objections. Name one move Mitch has made in the past 5 years? Multi year contract for Walton. Steve Blake? Theo Ratliff?

    You might want to learn the inside story before making statements. As for Sasha, in case you haven’t noticed Fisher and Blake shot 35% and 38% this year the worst two point guard combo in the NBA.

    Sasha and Farmer were two time champs. If you think our guards can compete with Westbrook just re-run today’s game. Paul 33 points and running through Fisher.

  140. Ken says

    And I just wasted a Sunday watching this effort. LO 1 rebound. Kloie could get more then that. Pau at 7 foot standing at the 3 point line and some guys named Jack and Gray out scoring our bigs by himself and our guards.

    As the great Forrest Gump once said “stupid is what stupid does”.

    I want my $1200 back.

    Lakers now 2 and 7 the last two years on Sunday morning ABC games.

    Our team needs Red Bull in tbe morning!

  142. Josh says

    Totally shocked that the Lakers blew game 1, at home, to the Hornets. Just ridiculous and inexcusable.

    Still, they’ll win this series.

  143. chris y says

    will you guys just RELAX, stop predictably panicking. This team always does this. They will win this series in 5-6 games and we won’t talk about this again. Whats worse is everyone cites the wrong issues. Maybe Kobe said something to Pau to bother him. If one or two plays go wrong kobe starts jacking up shots, even if he makes them you need to understand this takes people out of their game, or Pau is just sick of knowing where the advantage is and never getting the ball. If we don’t win the championship this year it will be because Kobe still wants to be the alpha dog and won’t take advantage of our bigs. I can see us losing in the finals because kobe wants finals mvp. Seriously, he should have 10 assists a game in this series and NOT 26 shots. kobe should never shoot over 20 shots ont his team. I don’t care what the circumstances. It’s not kobe’s responsibility to make sure our bigs are into the game its the coaching staff’s, he should just focus on making the right plays. How can you blame a guy that has done nothing but win while he has been here. Pau changed this franchise. We haven’t even had Bynum for our last three playoff runs. Give the guy a break and chill out. Pau NEVER establishes deep post position but when he consistently gets the ball we are dangerous. Lamar is going to have one of these games every series. Everyone just reeeeelaxxxxxxxx. everythign went right for NO that won’t happen again.

  144. chris y says

    and I think it’s about time Kobe realizes that no one likes it when he goes into hero mode. This is a 2 time defending championship team, he doesn’t need to chuck up shots to get them going. He needs to play efficiently pick his spots, rest his body. The thing that drives me insane is that kobe is arguably the smartest basketball player to ever play and he can’t see that taking more then 20 shots a game has never helped this team. Just one game i’d like to see him focus on passing the whole game and not worrying about what happens just run the offense and live with what happens and watch what happens. After a while it gets frustrating for other players. Fisher is 36 years old he is a grown man who has hit more clutch shots then kobe has and he runs the offense extremely well, we’re supposed to run an offense and the only one who doesn’t know how to is Ron Artest. If kobe doesn’t set screens or roll or throw it inside, or fight through screens on defense, or move his feet. WHY WOULD ANYONE ELSE? that’s the tone he needs to set, we already know you can stroke a 20 ft fall away in anyone’s face now show everyone how to play this game the right way for ONCE. if anything this team has chemistry issues, it has nothign to do with talent level of laziness. wake up and stop looking at everything at such a basic level.

  145. Ruben says

    First of all I don’t under stand Phil Jackson.Now why start Artest when Odom or Brown are way better then Artest? Odom is a starter he should not be a six man.The more Brown plays the better he gets!Brown should be the six man then Artest.HE Artest hurts the Lakers more then he helps.Idon’t under stand why they trade for him.