Thread: LAKERS 2009 playoffs thread

Originally Posted by TooCool

Phil Jackson may be 9 rings, but he can be the dumbest coach at times.

Bynum - 15 minutes of play. 5-10 FG. 10 Points! WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING ON THE BENCH!??!?!

Perhaps he knows something we don't. Maybe Bynum's health isn't up to par? Bynum's minutes in Game 3-5 of the Utah series: 7, 7, and 12.

Originally Posted by TooCool

Odom - 31 minutes and only... ONLY 4-8 on the field. WHERE ARE HIS TOUCHES?!

I think you meant to say, "Why isn't he shooting more?"

Originally Posted by TooCool

"Mr. I'm sick but I think I can take over the game" Kobe Bryant. 14-31 on the field. Don't get me wrong, Kobe is the best player in the NBA, hands down. But when he has an off shooting night, he will not shoot his way out of it.

Kobe's FG% for the year was 46.7%. 14 for 31 is 45%. That's not an "off shooting night."

Originally Posted by TooCool

Gasol - 6-14 on the field. That's not what I expect from Pau. Sure, 13 rebounds but that's because the Lakers can't shoot worth a damn tonight.

Hard to complain about a 14+13 stat line, but that doesn't much account for the defensive end. He gets bounced out of the post like a pinball.

I realize we lose one game and all of a sudden the sky is falling, but geez. You didn't even mention the biggest concern for the Lakers in this series: Fisher's complete inability to guard Aaron Brooks.

Originally Posted by Joe Hoya

Perhaps he knows something we don't. Maybe Bynum's health isn't up to par? Bynum's minutes in Game 3-5 of the Utah series: 7, 7, and 12.

No, he only played 7, 7, and 12 because the refs were whistle happy and kept Bynum out of the game by calling fouls everytime.

Like tonight. The first two calls on Bynum were extremely weak and it just felt fishy.

Originally Posted by Joe Hoya

Kobe's FG% for the year was 46.7%. 14 for 31 is 45%. That's not an "off shooting night."

1-7 at the 3-PT Line. And did you know that he only had 5 FTs? I think all 5 of them were late in the game when the game didn't matter anymore. That's when he finally drove to the hoop.

Originally Posted by Joe Hoya

I realize we lose one game and all of a sudden the sky is falling, but geez. You didn't even mention the biggest concern for the Lakers in this series: Fisher's complete inability to guard Aaron Brooks.

Sky is falling because Houston is a very bad team and the Lakers match up against them extremely well. I just expect too much out of this team. They are built to win. They should be winning with ease.

You're right. I totally forgot about Fisher. I was only thinking of the Big 4. Fisher is badly getting outplayed and I think he ignored Kobe a bunch of times in the 1st quarter as well.

It didn't help that Shannon Brown was actually useless tonight too. 12-13 minutes from him and nothing, absolutely nothing. I guess I expect too much out of him too.

Originally Posted by TooCool

No, he only played 7, 7, and 12 because the refs were whistle happy and kept Bynum out of the game by calling fouls everytime.

This only holds for Game 3. He had all of two fouls in both Game 4 and 5.

Originally Posted by TooCool

1-7 at the 3-PT Line. And did you know that he only had 5 FTs? I think all 5 of them were late in the game when the game didn't matter anymore. That's when he finally drove to the hoop.

Shooting 45% for the game is simply not an "off shooting night" for a 46.7% shooter.

No disagreement regarding Kobe getting to the foul line, but that's not what we were talking about. Every time Kobe attacked the basket, Houston's defense collapsed and the kick-out 3-pointers weren't falling. We aren't going to shoot 2 for 18 from deep every night.

Originally Posted by TooCool

Sky is falling because Houston is a very bad team and the Lakers match up against them extremely well. I just expect too much out of this team. They are built to win. They should be winning with ease.

Houston is not a very bad team. They won 53 games and were a game away from having the 2nd best record in the West. (Denver won 54.) They play great defense (especially Artest, Battier, and Scola); Brooks is a very fast, talented young guard who's stepped up since they traded Alston; and obviously Yao is a huge factor. On top of that, they just took down a very talented Portland team.

Lakers should still take this series--I would guess in 6. But expecting Houston to be a walk in the park was unrealistic.

rockets have a good offense that revolves around Ming, then when Brooks is unstoppable...yeah, the rockets are a good team.

Shooting 45% might not technically be an "off-shooting" night, but 32 points from 31 shots is bad for Kobe. Over the regular season, he averaged about 26.8 points from 20.8 shots. Like TooCool said, he barely got to the FT line and shot way too many jumpers.

The good news is, they won't be this cold from the field next game. I'm not worried.

Originally Posted by Chris Sheridan, ESPN.com

Lakers fans are a different breed, and when you tell them you think their team is going to lose, they take it personally. Trust me, I have an inbox full of their angry messages, and my prediction of Rockets in seven games was the topic du jour on L.A. sports radio for the better part of Monday afternoon.

My opinion: Their worry scale should be at 9.5 now. And if they lose Wednesday, they can pull a page from Spinal Tap and crank it up to 11.

Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Lakers: Four key questions - ESPN

Dear Lakers Fans,

Eat the Head!!!

--Yao Ming

Kobe's angry. Not good for Houston.

Yao seemed easily contained tonight as well.

Finally, Kobe all fired up. It sucks that he needs motivation like this. But this should be a cakewalk to the championship, as expected.