Box Score: Lakers 92, Nuggets 88
Offensive Efficiency: Lakers 108.2, Nuggets 103.5
True Shooting %: Lakers 51.1%, Nuggets 49.6%
The Good
This was the type of game the Lakers wanted to play. It was on their favored slow pace instead of the breakneck speed the Denver Nuggets wanted to do. The Nuggets fought valiantly, yes, but it just seemed right that the Lakers were going on this methodical pace.
Kobe Bryant didn’t shoot particularly well (10 for 25) but I liked the way he played for the most part. He let the game come to him and his shot selection had a nice mix. Kobe got into the paint seemingly at will in the second half and he deferred at the right times. 22 points, 8 boards, and 6 assists for #24.
The much-maligned bench got HUGE contributions from Jordan Hill (12 points and 11 rebounds) and Steve Blake (10 points, 3 assists, even a block on Danilo Gallinari!). Hill was a bundle of energy. He had 7 offensive boards. And Blake, of course, hit that three that essentially put away the game.
Andrew Bynum also had a nice game. He could’ve rebounded more, yes, but 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks is pretty damn good. And Pau Gasol had a great all-around game at 13-9-6. And, finally, the Lakers outrebounded the Nuggets, 48-38. They were able to counter the guys with unlimited turbo in Kenneth Faried and JaVale McGee.
It’s not like it was a wire-to-wire finish by the Lakers; it was a close game throughout (both teams shot 39 for 86!). But with the way the game was played, I felt confident the Lakers were going to come away with this one.
The Bad
Danilo Gallinari went off. He scored 20 points and was taking advantage of the mismatches he was getting. Andre Miller also brought his old man game and was schooling Sessions and Blake early on (he eventually ended up with 15 points).
Also, the Nuggets were scoring early in the paint. They eventually outscored the Lakers in the paint, 52-48, but the disparity seemed more than that.
And, of course, it was hard to stop the Nuggets when they’re in transition. 18-7 fastbreak points in favor of the Nuggets.
For the most part, it was a grind-it-out game in favor of L.A.
The Ugly
Maybe the disparity would’ve been bigger if the Lakers shot better freethrows. L.A. didn’t shoot very many foul shots but 9 for 18 is ugly. 50 percent. Shaq laughs at that percentage.
Also, did you guys see Pau on the TNT broadcast? He looked completely out. My initial thought? Pau Gasol needs food badly.
The Plays Of The Game
There were two and you know what I’m talking about. There was the three made by Ramon Sessions after Gallinari fell on a Pau Gasol pick that left Sessions open. And then it was followed by an F U 3 by Steve Blake after a drive and dish by Kobe. That gave the Lakers the cushion to beat the Nuggets. I’m particularly happy for Steve Blake, who was (sometimes, unfairly) railed by Laker fans throughout the season. It was so good to see Kobe trust his teammates at a time like this.
One more win and the Lakers advance to the second round for a date with Oklahoma City. Just concentrate on closing this out first before looking at the Thunder.
Have a good week, ladies and gentlemen. Just don’t celebrate too much yet and don’t be like that stalker lady that walked out on the court earlier.
Sufian says
We will need to find out a way to somehow slow down harden. My best suggestion would be to have E banks guard Durant and Artest guard Harden.
Robert says
RRM: Another bad: 39-26 off the bench. Again – we are so used to this, that it is not even mentioned. However, we are about to play team(s) with major offense off the bench.
We need to close this thing out in 5. We will be without MWP in game #1 against OKC but so be it. We need to limit our TO against OKC and take advantage of the fact that they are prone to TO’s.
HBrob says
Solid game. Love the defensive stops down the stretch. And I’m very glad Gallinari didn’t get that flop foul at the end. Take that overacting crap back to the Italian soccer league! Go Lakers!
harold says
We can stick Ron on Harden… or maybe not.
Great win, but I do feel that we’re winning this more on talent than on coaching, which is really not a good sign considering that we’ll need every advantage possible from here on out.
Avidon says
We are talking about OKC already? Wow.. guess I’ll play along. With or without Ron, does anyone seriously expect to win Game 1 or 2 in Oklahoma? That’s very optimistic thinking.
R.R. Magellan says
ROBERT: Yeah. But let’s still give the bench credit here despite being outscored. Jordan Hill had a double double and Blake scored 10. I’d say that’s some pretty good contributions coming off the bench.
clover says
I was cursing Blake until he started taking and making. His ball-handling, passing and D are substandard, but he played with heart. Why he does the Kobe cheat off his man, I don’t know–it’s not like he does much with a foot in the paint and he can’t recover to the three point line. He should be instructed to play fierce denial on Miller cause Miller schools him once he gets the ball and for some reason, no one else will even fake a help move when Andre backs Blake down for 6 to 8 dribbles and burns him repeatedly. Mental fatigue is showing on Gasol.
Hale says
Another bad: Possibly the last KCAL game but I’ll take 13 more Laker Ws, please.
Magic Phil says
Gallo gets the Flop-of-the-week…
JeremyLA24 says
#1 highlight I got from this game: we can trust our bench. Hill made a last second shot at the end of one of the quarters, Barnes made some crucial plays through out the game, and of course Blake came up HUGE at the end. #2 highlight: Barnes’ ankle was looking pretty good on that dunk early in the game. With that and a possibly still hot Ron Artest, I think we’re gonna go pretty deep this year in the post season. 3 down, 13 more W’s to go!
Ko says
Not really that bad. Next years games will all be on cable and we all will have to pay a monthly fee to watch them all. Looks like 9.95 a month. Well worth it because it puts millions in Buss pockets which I hope puts better quality players on the court.
Nothing is free anymore other then this sight and the radio.
Robert says
RRM: Of course you are correct, however we can’t grade on a curve. We are about to face OKC with Harden coming off the bench + if we get past them – it is SA with Gino. Spotting the other team 15-20 points off the bench means required perfection from most of our starters.
In any case – let’s close it out in 5 and hopefully Blake + Hill follow this up with a repeat.
Darius Soriano says
Bench scoring matters but pounding away at the point is…pointless. The Lakers don’t possess a natural scoring option off the bench and only play 3 guys off the bench nightly (with Ron out) so their point totals likely won’t match up anyway when the other team plays more guys off the bench that are natural scorers. Plus, the bench players are asked to mostly support the starters that remain in the game and play more complimentary games. Tonight, they did just that. Complaining about their point totals doesn’t fully encapsulate what they do provide.
JeremyLA24 says
True that Darius. Our bench is still inferior over all compared to the other contenders in the playoff race but at least we know we can trust them with crucial shots/ plays when it really matters.
Edwin Gueco says
Too premature to talk about OKC. This is not a done deal yet. MWP should keep on practicing his F/T and perimeter shooting.
Despite the victory, I still think McBob should play as an SF if Hill and Pau are on the 2nd team. McBob will handle the miscreants like Faried and Andre Miller.
Even though, it was a successful tonight, I still not convinced of playing Blake and Sessions together. There is no synergy between the two. I think Ebanks and Sessions or Blake and Barnes as reliever.
I also think Pau and Hill will be a better combination in 3rd Q and go for Bynum and Pau in the 4th Q.
Magic Phil says
@15 – Great point, Edwin. I was thinking the same thing during the game: What if MB just throw McBob in there?
Again, MB rotations are hard to understand…really…
Kevin_ says
Lakers have been a poor road team. They faired well in the altitude and came home with the split. One 30 point quarter for a high octane offense on the road in 2 games is a positive itself. Barnes (1-14 from 3) is a streaky shooter he’s going to get hot soon.
Chearn says
McHops will get his chance before it’s all said and done. So will Goudelock, Morris and Murphy. But, they better be ready, to come in the game with pure fire!
Casual Fan says
What is is the Mike Brown knows that we don’t? Everyone knows/thinks it’s obvious Blake and Sessions shouldn’t play together, yet Mike Brown keeps sticking to Blake instead of Ebanks. Is there a reason for that? I thought Ebanks played a pretty solid game, and has the footspeed to keep up with the likes of Andre Miller.
The only reason I can think of is spacing the floor –Ebanks cannot shoot the 3, and Kobe, Gasol, and Bynum already makes the paint packed.
Everclear says
“Pau Gasol needs food badly.”
Gauntlet reference? =)
Chearn says
Pau Gasol needs to hit the weight room this summer!
R.R. Magellan says
EVERCLEAR: Thank you! Someone got it!
Kevin_ says
Ko: you’re right nothing is free. I can’t even read the Times on the net. Bologna
The Dude Abides says
The reason MB played Blake and Sessions together is because neither Barnes nor Ebanks is hitting from the outside. Fortunately, in the 4th quarter, Blake collected a loose ball on the right baseline with three seconds on the shot clock and took a wide open jumper…the same type of open two-pointer that he’d been passing up the whole game. Anyway, that shot went in, and he suddenly became confident on his outside shots, i.e. not hesitating. It paid off as he hit a couple more down the stretch.
I don’t know if you guys noticed, but Gallo actually flopped on the two biggest Laker possessions of the game. First, on the pick by Pau, resulting in the Sessions made three. Next, when Kobe drove the lane and passed to Blake on the left wing, Gallo flopped on Kobe’s drive and kick. I absolutely love it when the refs don’t fall for the NBA trout men 😀
batman says
what does “pau gasol looked completely out.” mean? i enjoy the write ups but whats with the obscure references that make little sense?
R.R. Magellan says
BATMAN: You mean you never use the term “completely out” to say “exhausted”? Maybe I’m the only one. Whoops.
AusPhil says
RR Magellan – Just wanted to say thanks for the recap, and big thanks for the Gauntlet reference. Magnificent.
The Dude Abides says
Ebanks might not have contributed anything offensively, but the Lakers were +3 in his 20 minutes of play, he did a better job on Gallo than any other Laker, and he had two blocks, one steal, three rebounds, and two assists.
Gallinari with Ebanks on him:
20 min, 4-8 FG, 0-0 FT, 8 pts, 1 assist
Gallinari with someone other than Ebanks on him:
15 min, 5-8 FG, 2-2 FT, 12 pts, 1 assist
The kid is having a decent series so far.
Kenny T says
Great game by The Show! Playoff victories are hard to come by, doubly so on the road. Players like Hill and Sessions are experiencing a baptism by fire and are proving themselves worthy.
It is difficult to compare the Laker bench to that of teams like SA or OKC or even Denver. All of those teams have the luxury of having a de facto starter coming off the bench. Ginobli, Harden and Andre Miller could all start for most teams. When all is said and done, the subs will play a huge role in determining the champs this year. As long as the Laker bench is solid, the team has a good chance to win it all.
kareem says
To all those commending Blake for his assertiveness, I think it came at the insistence of the coaching staff. There was a point in the third quarter, I believe, where Blake passed up several wide open shots deferring to other heavily defended players, leading to turnovers or missed shots.
A time out was called and a play was drawn up specifically for him. He went on to look for his shot the rest of the game, and hit big. I haven’t evidence that they told him to shoot the damn ball, but I suspect that’s what happened.
kareem says
Dude,
I think that Ebanks was pulled because he doesn’t provide floor spacing. His defense has been decent (not great, but decent), but without the threat of a three point shot, you end up having 4 players who want to post or slash around and into the paint on the court at the same time. And this is a problem with Denver’s pack-the-paint defensive strategy.
Moreover, I don’t think that defense was our problem, but our offense’s inability to create shots for the interior by forcing honesty on the perimeter. We need the three point threat to limit double teams. Of course, this argument is flawed if players like Sessions/Barnes/Blake aren’t shooting and making their threes. If Blake is more willing to take his shot, I’d rather have him in their with the second unit than Ebanks, whose offensive skill set is too much a reproduction of what we already have… With Ebanks on the floor, our half court offense is 4 on 5, just as it is when Blake refuses to shoot.
Blake, free your mind, and your ass will follow.
Spartacus says
That Gallo flop was comical. He went down holding his face and when he got up he was holding his neck. Talking about OKC is a bit premature but just like to ask about the status of Perkins for the next round. Is he ready to play or is he out for a number of games? If he is out for game 1 then that could level out Ron Artest’s absence.
The Dude Abides says
Kareem, see the first sentence in my comment #24, I think we’re in agreement 😉
Manuel says
Let´s give a quick round of applause to our GM. Mitch brought in Sessions and Hill (and everybody else except Kobe). Without Sessions´ speed and playmaking and without Hill´s athleticism and hustle, we are not winning this series.
Aadi says
Lakers winning against OKC is pure optimism and faith, i guess we all know that, whenever we say it. If any of our starters fail to bring their A-game in any of the games against Thunders, its going to be extremely difficult. No expectations from the bench, they should try keeping the scores level or holding on to the lead. They will need to play with mad energy, surpassing the expectations. And someone will have to be the X-Factor from bench every night.
I always notice our defense can’t stop the drives to the basket. Whenever Denver gets the ball, they attack the rim and its a very usual sight. I wonder why there is no adjustment to that. Seriously, i don’t see us getting any edge on the coaching part. Barely any rectifications on the fly, i never hear someone saying words like- ”Kudos to MB for that”. The flow just doesn’t hit that symmetry in the mind, its not smooth. The point is that the team needs to come up with something that can get them an ‘Elite’ tag. I so badly want Lakers to win, maybe more for Kobe. And somewhere, in the end i might be satisfied with anyone winning but the Heat 😀
R.R. Magellan says
AUSPHIL: No, thank YOU for reading. Like I said, I’m just glad someone got the reference!
Ko says
Kevin
Crazy. Does the paper think their writers are so amazing that readers can’t live without them? There are 50 sites and free papers to read good writers. So now they don’t sell papers OR get fans reading them on-line.
Good plan. Think it’s called planned obsolescence.
Wonder if Metta is staying in shape or becoming a LO? He is on Conan O’Brian tonight. Isn’t that show out of New York? We playing in New York?
JB says
Re: LAT
Disable JavaScript in your browser before hitting any of their pages. Problem solved.
KenOak says
Great game and a great write-up by RR! I spent so much money on Gauntlet….
Aadi-
I don’t think anyone on this board is saying we absolutely *will win against OKC. That would be blind faith or blind optimism. I don’t think that it is completely beyond the pale to say that we *can beat OKC. We will need a good defensive effort from whoever guards Durant and we will need an efficient effort from Kobe and aggressive dialed in games from Pau and Drew, but it is possible to beat OKC.
DY says
Anyone hear about what MWP has been doing in his spare time recently? I’m hoping that he lost another 7 pounds, is spry, and eager to come back. Alternatively, I fear that he may inferentially be involved in one of the two events: 1) death at the Kentucky Derby; or 2) the French elections.
Travis says
I agree Ebanks I having a solid series. I’m excited to see him and Artest in the same lineup for OKC, that should give us a nice defensive boost.
Let’s hope MWP cOmes back hitting the 3 ball. Those 3s by Blake and Sessions were not only timely, but sorely needed. Teams will continue to pack the paint on our big 3 if we don’t space the floor. The difference between this game and game 1 were Blake’s early 3s. Those really opened the floor up for Kobe and Pau to operate.
Baylor Fan says
Brown did a better job of coaching than Karl in the fourth quarter. He actually used his bench and the Lakers were able to match Denver’s energy. Gasol’s pick on Gallinari left me breathless too. I do not understand why Karl wants his players lying on the floor during the game but maybe it is an adaptation to playing at high altitude. Anyway, the Lakers took care of business.
matt says
Ko,
Conan’s studio is in Burbank, not NY. Sorry to disrupt your absurd conspiracy that Ron is pulling a Lamar Odom for no reason over the span of a 7 game suspension right before the 2nd round of the playoffs.
Jeff T says
I was waiting for the stretcher to come out on the floor, and then carry Gallinari to the edge of the court. Then he would drink the magic water, jump up, and be ready to play. FIFA-NBA!
Cdog says
My bet is Perkins plays game 1 – as NBA players typically play through injuries.
At worse, he’s 6 extra fouls (plus whatever other hacking they allow) against our players, and he’ll be mobile.
Normally – and I’ve had a hip contusion – if its bad enough you can’t even walk for a few days and are told not to do any running for weeks. But, in the NBA with all the money they have, there is probably better treatment and they can always needle the hip so he doesn’t feel any pain.
However, Lakers need to finish off Denver before they even think about OKC. It’s not like the Denver games aren’t competitive, and they’ll be a tough team to finish off.
But, last night Denver look exhausted by the 4th quarter and wasn’t able to run at all. Maybe the pleads by George Karl of the everlasting running is wearing on Denver, as I’m sure its exhausting to always be sprinting.
Robert says
Darius@13: As usual, I am guilty of being redundant. However, my point is that we get a decent game from the bench (last night) + we are ecstatic. In future rounds – we need this + more. Saying it is what it is, in this area, is almost like conceeding defeat in my opinion. We can’t allow Harden (or MG if we get to SA), to come in + smoke us without a response. KB + Pau were exhausted at the end of the last game. The return of MWP will help some, but we need last night’s type production from Hill + Blake, with better production from Barnes + Ebanks. Without that, we are asking for the superhuman from the Big 3 (even KB has limitations).
chownoir says
I’ll take 26 points and good 3 shooting percentage from the bench any day of the week.
SMH at people who expect free everything. I’m sure they would be the first ones to complain if someone asked them to do their job for free.
Aaron says
Speaking of me being right… Let’s talk about me being wrong!! It happens so rarley it’s more fun to talk about my predictions gone wrong. Yes it was easy for me to see Jordan Hill was our best big man off the bench. Yes it was easy to see Steve Blake is worse than Darius Morris. Yes it was easy to predict an energy guy like Matt Barnes with limited skills and awful hands would underperform in the playoffs. I won’t give myself credit for any of that. Easy calls. What really has me disappointed in myself… Is my Kobe playoff prediction.
It looks like I will continue to be wrong. Maybe I’m too big of a Kobe fan. Maybe it clouds my judgement. I should have questioned my prediction that Kobe would play winning unselfish basketball in the playoffs when my brother (the only guy I’ve ever met that knows basketball as well as I do) disagreed with me. He said kobe occasionally will make the right plays. Especially at home. But overall he will always be a gunner even when his athletisism fades for better and for worse. When I argued that Kobe is older and wiser now and sees he has so much offensive help around him my brother replied “Sometimes that allows Kobe to play a natural SG role but other times it provokes Kobe to hog the ball and take a variety of bad shots as he wants to make the other team pay for doubling Bynum and not himself… For paying more attention to Ramon on PnR’s than the old #8″
Alas we agreed to disagree. And as usual the once a year happening where I disagree with my brother looks like its gonna come back to bite me in the tushy. Maybe I will be proven right. Maybe when Kobe sees we are playing a team in our league he will play smarter and less selfishly. So I won’t have to read anymore of my brothers tweets like this one…”When announcers say Kobe puts on a clinic, I always wonder what clinic teaches players to go out of their way to take difficult shots.” Yes Kobe can be maddening at times. But he has a way of making the exact right okay when we really need it. So Steve Blake can be the new Derek Fisher. I guess it wasn’t hard after all to find another worthless PG with limited skills and athletism to make wide open clutch shots off of Kobe kick outs.
Robert says
Aadi: Yes – we need the bench exceeding expectations. We can hang with the OKC starters, but it is their bench + their full game stamina (bench again) where they have the edge. And do not be satisfied with anyone but the Heat, if we do not win. I can think of one team much much worse than the Heat, who has a chance to win now.
Robert says
chownoir: I do not expect anything for free. In fact I think I have made it clear that I wanted the Lakers to pay much more for their bench than we currently are paying : ) Titles cost money, + as Ko/Kevin are discussing above, so does cable television : )
P. Ami says
If we are talking about the LAT being free, whatevs on that. Very rare to read much worthwhile from that paper anyway. As for the Lakers telecast, we do pay for free TV. Our TV fees are all built into the various products that are advertised. We pay for watching the NBA by being submitted to ads for “Think Like a Man” and being told that cigarettes kill babies sleeping two floors up and 5 doors back from the balcony we are smoking on. If I have to pay $10 to watch the Lakers next season, I should not be seeing any Geiko ads.
Kevin_ says
JB: thanks.
Aaron: what more do you want? He’s at his season average and is playing lockdown defense. While Bynum has 41 rebs in 150 mins. Jordan Hill has 37 reb in 82 mins.
Funky Chicken says
Aaron, if you had a point to make I’m pretty sure most readers failed to see it if, like me, they quit reading after line after line of self-congratulations….
On a different note, I doubt that this is by design, but there does appear to be one benefit of playing Blake against Miller. Miller owns Blake offensively, but since Andre is a slow, ball-dominant guard, when he “takes over” the game it takes Ty Lawson completely out of his game. After the game, George Karl said that he would like to see Lawson push the ball and drive into the paint 30 or 4 times a game, which is next to impossible as long as Miller is abusing Blake on the low block….
Kareem says
In case you haven’t heard, newspapers are dying. Writers should ideally get paid to write (they are doing work, after all). The quality of their coverage is another question entirely. But maybe it goes hand in hand, the less money the make, the less staff and resources they have, the lower quality their product. Hence, Bill Plaschke.
Aaron says
Funky Chicken,
Well… You cheated yourself out of some good reading. So I’m sorry. Re: your Phil Jackson like brilliant theory… It doesmt really work here as Lawson has only been effective in the full court unless he is being guarded by Steve Blake. So it’s not one or the other. Lawson pushes the ball effectively in the full court and Miller is more valuable and susscessful in the half court with this size. I think it works brilliantly in Denvers favor to have both on the floor. All four PGs that is 😉 When the game is slower and Lawson can’t push the ball in transision they have Miller as their only good scoring option in the half court. Lawson hasn’t been able to score in the half court against Ramon Sessions and Andrew Bynum. It’s not happening for him. Ramon is just as quick as he is and Bynum makes it impossible to finish in the lane. Lawson literally just dribbles to the paint when he gets there (which is not often) and when he does he looks at Bynum and dribbles right out.
Now I like your theory. It’s what Phil Jackson would do in the playoffs. He didn’t mind putting Fisher on the oppositions PG if that opponent had a better option. He would seduce the other team to killing Fisher over and over resulting in ball stagnation as the PG wouldn’t share the ball with his team and his teams best player. In this case (since Denver doesmt have a better half court option) it doesmt add up.
azzemoto says
#38 GREAT TIP!!! I disabled Java like you suggested and it worked. You are a computer whiz~! Thank you.
marques says
What I don’t understand is why the lakers don’t use Kobe the same way the bulls used Jordan, but him on the block and let him fire fade aways at will, its not his misses that hurt, its the turnovers he gets from not being able to hold the ball anymore. His first step died three years ago, put him on the low block and let him figure it out.
chownoir says
Robert, I suggest you read and understand Coon’s salary cap page, understand what the revenue share impact is, the luxury tax implications and how that works with flexibility in acquiring future players.
Until you understand all that. Not going to bother having a discussion regarding Lakers overpaying for any available body just because they signed a big TV contract.
LosFelizLaker says
I think Sessions deserves much more props. That was his (hopefully) first big Fisher-like 3. I can’t believe people aren’t making a bigger deal about it.
Cdog says
Marques – They can’t put Kobe on the block every possession for 2 reasons. 1 – The Lakers have viable offensive threats in the post other than Kobe (See Gasol, Bynum) who aren’t very strong threats away from the basket (although Pau is incorporating more range). The 98 Bulls weren’t given offensively talented big men.
2nd – The Lakers have no other consistent shooters. Just looking at the 98 Bulls, where posting up was the primary weapon in Jordan’s game, Jordan was a terrible 3 point shooter. That season he shot 23.8% in 138 attempts. Granted, my bet is a lot of them were near the end of the shot clock, but Jordan couldn’t act as a floor spacer that far out.
This year, Kobe is shooting 30% from 3 (in 287 attempts) which isn’t great numbers, but its still more consistent than the atrocious year Jordan had from that far out.
Also – if Kobe’s on the block, and Bynums on the reverse block, the defense can even more easily sag – and it makes it harder for both Kobe to work and for Bynum to get clean touches. On this team, Kobe is the best guard at getting Bynum the ball, and teams are still not willing to let him roam free outside the 3 point line for fear of getting burned.
It also takes the other teams best wing defender and keeps him away from Bynum, so that the doubles are coming from less adequate defenders.
Robert says
chownoir: Nobody but Jerry West understands the salary cap fully. So do not insult me and imply that you do.
I do understand that we had 2 TPE(s) and there was nothing in the rules preventing us from using them. The Laker owner bottom line (taxes etc as you mention) is a different matter. But if you want to talk bottom line, then that is where the cable contract comes in.
Darius: Please review the posts and let me know if you think chownoir’s post is appropriate.
Anonymous says
have to agree with chownoir on that one.
Hale says
11. Ko,
It’s not about free. It’s preferring the KCAL broadcast and growing up watching Chicky Baby on it. However, there’s no way I can fault the move to T/W.
Kevin_ says
When Hill gets 20 minutes Lakers are 4-1 (SAC game was loss). 3 double doubles. Team averages 18 offensive rebounds those games.
Darius Soriano says
#60. I see nothing wrong with Chownoir’s comment. In fact, I encourage every fan of basketball to familiarize themselves with the nuances of the latest collective bargaining agreement. I’ve found the more informed the fan, the better the conversation.
https://webfiles.uci.edu/lcoon/cbafaq/salarycap.htm
Robert says
Darius: So, if I disagree with you about something CBA related, and I tell you that you should familiarize yourself with the CBA before I am willing to discuss it, you would not find this insulting? And what part of what I am saying has anything to do with the CBA anyway? Taxes and rev sharing is part of the CBA, but does not prevent anyone from doing anything, it merely means there is a price to pay. Perhaps you + chownoir may want to read that piece of the CBA since you are encouraging me to do so. Then we can have a quiz afterwards : )
Darius Soriano says
A new post is up.
http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2012/05/07/sundays-leftovers/
Snoopy2006 says
Confused – this LAT report has Jordan Hill becoming a free agent this summer, but Sham Sports has Hill down for a team option next year. Anyone know for sure which is right?
Frank the Tank says
Robert –
Lakers only had one TPE, the sasha one expired in December. And they tried to acquire Beasley with the Odoms TPE, but the trade fell through. There wasn’t anyone else really worth it, except for obviously Jordan Hill. Ive seen you complain about the front office not using the TPE for a couple months now, but the fact is, they tried! So you shouldnt keep ignoring that.
rr says
#60. I see nothing wrong with Chownoir’s comment
_____
The comment was unnecessarily snide, as well as condescending.
Robert’s basic point–that the Lakers could have used the Vujacic and Odom TPEs had they wished to do so
–is correct. Due to the Lakers being over both the cap and the tax line, it would have cost them a lot of money. And, as noted, they apparently did make a serious effort to acquire Michael Beasley.
Where Robert sometimes goes off the rails a little is that he never makes it clear (other than trading for Dwight Howard) exactly what he thinks the Lakers should do–he just wants something done. It may be, of course that he has ideas but simply doesn’t share them due to the site policies.
Finally, while it is not unreasonable to approach the FO as some people here do–“It is not my money and let’s just trust them”–I assume that most of us here are not Lakers’ employees. The Lakers have the second-highest ticket prices in the NBA and the franchise has either the first or second-highest franchise valuation in the NBA, depending on the source. If the Buss Family ever sells the Lakers, they will make tens of millions of dollars. So being critical is OK, too.
Darius Soriano says
#70. Hmmm. I didn’t read it that way.
Robert says
Well – comments can be interpreted in more than one way, + there are multiple opinions on whether the Laker’s FO/Coaches/Players are doing the right things. We can have differing points of view and often there is no “right” answer, which is why as you have pointed out many times – we should stick to content about the Lakers and not about other posters.
Robert says
Frank,
Thanks for the response. I think you will agree that the non-use of the TPE’s is a done deal now whatever the reason was : ) My original point is that we need more from the bench in order to compete with OKC + SA. We had an “ok” bench game last night, but we are so used to the bench being bad that we are ecstatic. That will not be good enough against OKC-Harden or SA-MG. So our bench needs to fire on all cylinders for us to be competitive (IMO). If we had a more talented bench with a natural scorer (as Darius pointed out), this would be different. We don’t have that – so we must play to perfection (better than last night – else we simply put too much pressure on the starters).
PS: If we had no chance at all – none of this would bother me, however we are at a point where some slight improvement in the right areas could make a huge difference (we are closer to that point than I thought we would be)
chownoir says
I didn’t intend it to be condescending and frankly I’ve seen much more blatantly condescending and snide comments by a couple of the more voluminous participants here and I don’t see any complaints about that.
My point was that Coon writeup is pretty clear on the impact of how spending can affect flexibility down the road. Just because the team has the ability to spend now should mean they automatically should spend it. Rather they need to be careful on how to spend it. The Beasley attempt is a good example of how the team has no qualms on spending if they deem the return justified.
I have issues with Robert’s continued hammering on spending the money when he hasn’t taken into consideration how it could affect the team in the long term. The team has historically done well because they refuse to make short term moves at the expense of long term health.
The few times they’ve done that, it has hurt them. Robert’s point that they have money coming in and shouldn’t worry about it isn’t that simple.
As Coon’s writeup shows, there’s also a lot of money flowing out due to revenue sharing and the impact of the repeater tax. Without careful management of the money the team can easily make less money than they have in the past due to the repeater tax and the increased revenue sharing.
Depending on how much they are over the cap and where they fall in the repeater rate, the team could easily pay upwards of 80 million a year or more by the time final revenue sharing is figured out.
Many early reports say the cable deal is 3bill or about 150 mill a year but that’s the max end. Supposedly it’s closer to 2B or 100 mill a year.
So it’s hard to blame Buss for being conservative. People think there’s all this money coming in but they easily could just break or lose more if they’re not careful on how salaries are spent.
Furthermore by being over the cap so much, it severely hamstrings the team in trying to make competitive offers.
Robert, you have repeatedly failed to acknowledge this part of the equation in your complaints about the team not spending money when they have all this new money coming in.
In reality the team might just break even. And remember they were making 30 mill a year already on rights. So it’s not 100 million on top of the 30 million. It’s only an additional 70 million. Which again is easily wiped out by revenue sharing and repeater tax if team overspends on salary.
That’s why I pointed you to Coon’s page first. Otherwise further discussion is essentially pointless as we would not be using the same conditions during the discussion.
Finally FWIW, I do know a fair amount about the cap. Certainly not all of it or as much as an executive , but probably more than the average fan. I’ve been reading Coon since he first originated the cap FAQ back when we used to participate in the Lakers usenet group. I’ve followed it when it was just a handful of questions to where it’s now a ridiculously long and complex document.
But Coon does a fantastic job in outlining the key points in an easy to read fashion with charts and examples. Understanding his basic writeup, really drives home the complexity of making deals and the multiple factors in a decision.
Never mind that you first have to find a viable trade before going into the financial impact. It’s easy to complain about not using the TPE, but a lot harder to actually look around the league and see where it can be used and if it’s worth it.
rr says
Until you understand all that. Not going to bother having a discussion
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If you don’t think that is condescending…not sure what to tell you. You have been condescending IMO many times, as is the case with a few of the people who go back a long way with the site.
As to the content, you make some good points. But you miss a key one: if the Lakers go farther in the playoffs, that generates a lot of extra revenue. Like I said, it is reasonable to back the FO and to identify with them. It is also reasonable to expect them to go 100% all-out to get another title before Kobe retires.
McJoberts says
What a cute little couple.