The goal was to get a win. There was no bonus for style points. So, on the most basic of levels, Sunday’s game was a success for the Lakers — there will be a game Tuesday. The Lakers executed well enough to win, but that is different than executing well. The defense and rotations were […]
Lakers Analysis
Game 4: Where what just happened? Happens…
It’s tough to describe the feelings that come with a game like this. It’s an angry/depressing/confusing/doubting kind of feeling. And you feel that way all while getting kicked in the face. It’s being thisclose and giving it all away. Do you remember those VW commercials, where the people are driving, making jokes, and all of […]
Game 3 Thoughts
It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t the breakout party for the vaunted triangle offense that Lakers fans have been waiting for. The brand of basketball played by both teams in game 3 was an insult to eyes and ears everywhere. Sometimes, that’s just how it goes, but this was no better than watching the Spurs […]
Game 2 thoughts…
Too little too late…. I saw this written in the comments last night and thought it summed up one aspect of the game quite well. After trailing by over 20 points in the 4th quarter, the Lakers made a furious comeback and cut the deficit to TWO points with about a minute to […]
What Needs To Change
I agree with the assessment of many on this board — the Lakers played one of their weaker games of the playoffs. They can play much better. But the Celtics did not play their best, I would say (from my somewhat-limited knowledge of the Cs) slightly above average for them. (You could make the average […]
Game One Thoughts
Credit to the Celtics, they did what they wanted to do — they controlled the paint on defense, kept Kobe from penetrating, played physical and controlled the glass. I think the good news for Lakers fans is that Boston did all that and it was still a close game. What matters now is how the […]
Game Three Wasn’t As Much Fun As Game Two
Manu Ginobili was hot. Even-when-you-were-in-his-face-the-three-would-fall hot. Combine that with a more aggressive Tony Parker (getting into the lane) and Tim Duncan, and the big three accounted for 70% of the Spurs scoring. With those three all going motion returned to the San Antonio offnese, and Brent Barry helped open up the floor. All of that […]
Feeling Sort Of Comfortable
It’s hard, as a Laker fan, not to be in your happy place after last night’s Laker win. The LA offense returned to solid level of efficiency (109 points per 100 possessions) behind 58.8% shooting. And against the very good Spurs defense, those are good numbers. But what was key was the Lakers defense — […]
Waiting, and Looking at the Stats
First things first – The Jazz are a very good basketball team. To be honest, before the playoffs they scared me as much as either of the two teams remaining on the other side of the bracket. Maybe more, because our best antidote to what they do is named Andrew Bynum and he wasn’t playing. […]
Game 4, How It Ended
I am not nomuskles and won’t even try, but here is my breakdown of the final five minutes of regulation and all of the overtime I could stomach. 5:06, Jazz 96, Lakers 88: Off an out of bounds after a time out, Kobe gets the ball on the wing and runs across the top of […]