LAC v. LAL thread
LA needs to play with more energy, they seem so lazy and lackadaisical, they need to play with more energy. Before the game I thought that we'd see an amazing game out of Kobe where he goes for 50 or 60, but it seems like the Lakers are trying to get Dwight involved in the offense, but I have a feeling Kobe is ready to go off.
Agreed, Kobe seems to have that look in his eye. He's never had to deal with the Clippers being the best team in LA, so I think this is more than just a regular game to him. It's a statement game. But he can't do much if they keep feeding Dwight every play and Gasol keeps taking 3's/long 2's
It's a shame Dwight Howard's back injury has robbed him of his athleticism and quickness. He's no longer a special freak athlete. And who knows if he'll EVER get that back. Smh.
People have been amazed with DeAndre Jordan, JaVale McGee and Blake Griffin, but a healthy Howard was slightly more athletic than they were in my opinion. Now, he's not close to being the same athlete as them.
Jamaal?...
That's why i specifically said 'PG handles'. To me there is PG handles, and there is more of an iso type of handles.
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The way i see it.
-PG handles is about slithering thru defenses without loosing it, and ability to foresee double teams and defensive rotations.
-ISO handles is the ability to create shots off Isolations.
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The other player with the most PG handles is Rondo.
Did Howard hurt his forearm or shoulder?
And I'm confused, I thought D'Antoni hated to throw the ball in the post? Yet every time I look up Dwight has the ball down low. Due to his loss in athleticism and speed, I'm sorry to say that he's a subpar post player. And if they are going to throw it in the post, than why aren't they going to Gasol! He's lightyears ahead of Howard in terms of post game. I'm very confused at what the Lakers are doing. The only way the Lakers can get any succeed until they learn how to play together is just run Nash pick and rolls and Kobe post ups and jump shots, that's the only way they're consistently getting points.
Very disappointed in the Lakers, the only player that came to play was Kobe. I feel bad for the guy, the only way the Lakers even pull within single digits is if Kobe goes ham. He's shooting extremely well this season, this is what's been happening the past 20 or so games, he has 20 odd points through 3 quarters And then he has to get 15 in the 4th because they're down. For the first time in his career he's shooting better in losses than he is in wins. He just made another ridiculous shot.
Big stretch here for Dwight, they're going to the hack-a-dwight strategy, he's gotta make these.
And I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm glad D'Antoni is sitting Pau during crunch time, it's really painful to watch him, I really feel bad for the guy, when used correctly he's a top 20 player in the league.
Lakers have to get better on D... period! If they want to have a chance, they have to get better. Pau Gasol and Steve NAsh are terrible at Defense! I dont want to talk about Nash, but GASOL. He's going to end up getting traded if he doesn't put forth a lot more effort. Yea i know he's getting benched but you have to see the reason why. Its like he's getting softer! Tonight he wanted no parts of Griffin and Jordan tonight. Everytime Howard went to the bench, the Clippers would go on a run. ITs not the system thats affecting his efforts. He's just mentally weak right now. A system cant teach effort. I dont want him to be traded but he has to hold his own weight. Jordan Hill gave good mins but you can only play him for so long because he misses defensive assignments often. Nash played well for the most part, MWP struggled but he gave effort. Kobe played well tonight but I have a big problem with the fact that he had 0 rebounds and 3assists. I understand the assists but he HAS to get atleast 5rbs for the Lakers to succeed. And @ Aamir, i must disagree with you about the only player that came to play was Kobe. He was just th eplayer who took the most shots and scored the most points. Nash and Howard were also productive tonight. They both had double doubles. Dwight fouled and does not seem to be nearly as explosive as before surgery but he still finished with 21pts & 15rbs shooting over 50%. What does it take for him to receive any positive credit? Kobe played great but everyone has to stop giving him all the credit. Its like after everygame, commentators say "Kobe cant do it by himself, he needs help." Its frustrating to me. D12 is not is normal self but he is avg 18 and 11. The only thing im saying is the Lakers problem is a TEAM thing. Its not a "Kobe is fine, everybody else has to do better" situation.
just to clarify my stance on this, kobe bryant scored 38 on 15-25 shooting. He had 5 steals and 1 turnover in 44 minutes. In fact, in those 44 minutes that he played, the lakers were +6 on the clippers. In the 4 minutes kobe sat, the lakers were -11. Kobe busted his ass all night out there. To summarrize his performance as he played nice but just took more shots then everyone else makes me question if you watched the game tonight.
at least the lakers came back and fought hard late. That foul on dwight to bail out cp3 with one second left was huge. COuld have been lakers ball down 2 with a minute to go and they wouldnt have tried to force a three.
Oh well. At this point, its hard for me to even look at message boards after laker games. Its becoming redundant with all the excuses like beating a dead horse. Oh well, at least its fun watching kobe do his thing at such an old age. I get pleasure knowing that he still has it and is as fun as ever to watch. Now if only we can win some games.
Everyone talks about all kobe does is jack up shots, but he didn't take a lot of his shots until late when they needed him to, and quite frankly I think he should take more, this Laker team isn't as good as we think they are and D'Anton is a terrible fit for this personal. Kobe is their best offense, and personally I think they're better off letting him shoot 35 times a night and letting him do whatever he wants.
I mainly created this thread just to say, did anyone else see Kobe throw down on Paul? That was vicious.
Also, share your thoughts about the game so far