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. […]
NBA Playoffs
Lakers/Jazz Game 6 Chat
I want to touch upon a throw-away line from a recent Kobe radio interview (by Petro and Money on 570). Kobe noted that he grew up in Italy, plus you have the international influence of Pau Gasol, Vladimir Radmanovic, Sasha Vujaic, even Ronny Turiaf (despite going to Gonzaga). He then said all of them grew […]
Lakers/Jazz Game 5 Chat
UPDATE: Over at Basketball Prospectus, coach Anthony Macri (part of the IMG team in Florida, so you know he knows his stuff) broke down the Laker offense from game four and looked ahead to game five. Below is just part of it, but if you read just one preview of tonight read his, it’s the […]
Playoff Fast Break Thoughts
Very interesting games on the docket to watch tonight, as we wait another day for the LAkers to take the court. Does home court hold sway in the Hornets/Spurs series? • I am obligated to start this post off with a “Kobe will play” note, which I think we all expected anyway. The only real […]
Lakers/Jazz Game 4 Chat
It is clear the Jazz are figuring out what they can do on offense that the Lakers struggle to defend – in game one Utah’s offensive rating was 103 (points per 100 possessions), in game two it was 111, game three it was up to 118. There are a couple things the Lakers can do […]
Game Three Thoughts
The Jazz played their best game, they were the aggressors on Friday night. In the first quarter D-Will was penetrating on Fisher (as Darius pointed out, often going away from the pick and just taking him off the dribble), plus Carlos Boozer found his game near the basket and that confidence extended to his jumper […]
Lakers/Jazz Game 3 Chat
It’s going to be loud, the Jazz fans will be pumped, motorcycles will run across the hardwood ridden by bears like some sort of Russian circus via the Wachowski brothers. Reed, one of the most popular commenters/posters on this site is going to be in the arena tonight — we’ll see if he’s a lucky […]
Live Blog Game 2
Another Nomuskles live blog. Pregame Kobe receives his MVP award in front of the Staples Center crowd. The TNT crew says that watching a person receive an MVP award fires up the opposing team. Let’s hope that doesn’t hold true tonight. Nomuskles-girl is currently taking an Organic Chemistry/Biochemistry exam so we’re gonna do the deed […]
Lakers/Jazz Game 2 Chat
On one side, it seems like all is right with the NBA world — Kobe got his MVP, the Sonics are staying in Seattle for another year, and we get a Laker playoff game at home tonight. But know this — the last time Utah lost back-to-back games it was December. Tonight is going to […]
Lakers/Jazz Thoughts
Some assorted thoughts from Game One, we’ll break down the details in the coming days: • I enjoyed that game because I enjoy watching two teams that know how to pass. That was smart hoops. • I also said this series was about defense — Utah shot 40% (eFG%) the Lakers shot 48.6%. Count one […]