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SPQR
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Post subject: Lakers win like a piece of uninteresting roadkill.
 Posted: Nov 06, 2008 - 02:30 PM PST
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Serious Laker Fan
Joined: Mar 06, 2008
Posts: 450
Location: Pennsylvania
  
votes: 28
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The Lakers took down the their crosstown rivals the Clippers last night by 18 despite a somnombulant offense showing. Their little sleepwalk ended in the fourth quarter as the alarm went off saying it was time to get up and get to work-which they then did in impressive fashion.
While the win was not pretty, it was the type of win one sees in the 82 game NBA marathon.
It brought to mind games I used to see when the Chicago Bulls made their remarkable 72 game win season. I would watch them in games when they didn't have their A game. The score would be close and they would even be behind and I would think, "Maybe they will lose tonight." But no, sometime during the game they would become the Chicago Bulls and leave their opponent just another smashed up piece of road kill in their rearview mirror that had made the serious mistake of getting to close to the car.
No team can get up for every game and dominate from front to back every game all year. Lethargy is something that will happen on more than one occassion, especially when facing an opponent of the Clippers calibure. It's simply the nature of the 82 game schedule.
Is this type of win something to worry about? Not really. Only if this becomes the norm instead of the occasional. The 72 win Bulls did it several times and so did many other superior teams.
A bigger reason to worry would be if we start acheiving big leads then have them dwindle to small ones, or losses do to lax defense or sloppy offense. These are the signs of a team that has adopted bad habits that can lead to disaster.
In watching last nights game, I want to comment on couple things. The lineup of Kobe, Drew and Ariza is really a long fast defense that can be shutdown lineup for us. I was also impressed by the ball hawking in the lanes by Trevor and Farmar. Very good anticipation leading to costly turnovers by the Clips.
Drew was terrific. Seventeen boards and four blocks. He is feeling his way back and by January he will be the monster he was before his injury last year.
One thing that I would like to see more of, especially as Drew gets more acclimated: Going into him to start the half court offense. Playing inside out is always preferable than outside in or even just passing around the horn. This will take sacrifice on the part of Laker players. Vets like Kobe, Fisher, Vlad, Gasol and the others will have to make selves defer to a much younger man to start the offense. They may not really want to do this.
Youngsters like Sasha, Farmar and Ariza are feeling their oats and like to show what they can do, especially shooting. It is with second team that I would really like to see the offense run through Drew right now.
The reasons are simple and logical: Before he was hurt, Drew was leading the NBA in scoring percentage. This stat is huge in translating to success on the court for the obvious reason; if your team shoots at a higher percentage, then you are being more efficent in your offense.
Drew is no Marcus Camby. He has offensive game and showed it last year. The more we feed him the ball now, the more comfortable and proficient he will be at it during the late season and playoffs when we will need it. A confident, scoring Drew who is used to having the ball in his hands to initiate the offense is a huge plus for us as opposed to a reticent, uncomfortable Drew who only scores on rebound putbacks.
Making Drew a vital and feared scoring option will open up even more opportunities for the rest of his teamates. This is the inevitable and desired end result of a offense running through Drew.
Nice win on Wednesday and now the long layoff till Sunday. So far so good as far as I can see with the 2008 Lakers after four games. Sundays game at Houston is big, as both teams will be looking to send a message. Our first real "live" opponent to test ourselve against. |
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The Lakers don't win championships...They have dynasties!!
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OC_Showtime
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Post subject: RE: Lakers win like a piece of uninteresting roadkill.
Posted: Nov 06, 2008 - 05:11 PM PST
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Big-Time Laker Fan
Joined: Dec 20, 2007
Posts: 745
Location: Irvine,CA
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| They would have to change their offensive plan. In the current offense, Bynum is not usually set up in good position to score. He is coming out setting screens and not battling for down low position or demanding the ball like a scoring center would. I think this is by design as he gets back to form and "grows into" his body. Bynum is putting his energy into rebounding and defending the paint which is just what we need from him right now. Eventually, I expect them to open up his ofensive game more but I guess for now we just have to be patient and enjoy the shot blocking and rebounding. |
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gemfow
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Post subject: RE: Lakers win like a piece of uninteresting roadkill.
Posted: Nov 06, 2008 - 06:38 PM PST
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Die-Hard Laker Fan
Joined: Jul 12, 2007
Posts: 2280
Location: Maryland
votes: 27
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| SPQR: I would love to see Drew be the post player with the second team also, because that way you know he's guaranteed to get touches in the paint, which is something a big man needs. |
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"It made me feel like I should throw mine away." - Larry Bird, upon hearing that Kobe hadn't earned the MVP trophy until this year.
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LakerDawg
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Post subject: RE: Lakers win like a piece of uninteresting roadkill.
Posted: Nov 06, 2008 - 07:18 PM PST
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Serious Laker Fan
Joined: Sep 03, 2008
Posts: 209
votes: 1
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| I saw Drew get frustrated a lot last night when he got fouled and didn't get the call. He'd then complain to the refs and lag back on defense. He's gotta realize that bigs get fouled a lot and rarely get the calls. The refs never pitty the big man, but will gladly give calls to smaller guys. |
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"If the big dog don't get fed, the house won't be guarded...period." - the Big Baby
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JonathanDavid_24
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Post subject: RE: Lakers win like a piece of uninteresting roadkill.
Posted: Nov 06, 2008 - 07:19 PM PST
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Serious Laker Fan
Joined: Jul 27, 2008 Age: 19
Posts: 276
Location: McAllen, Texas
votes: 3
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| a win is a win =) |
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OC_Showtime
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Post subject: Re: RE: Lakers win like a piece of uninteresting roadkill.
Posted: Nov 06, 2008 - 08:00 PM PST
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Big-Time Laker Fan
Joined: Dec 20, 2007
Posts: 745
Location: Irvine,CA
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LakerDawg wrote:
I saw Drew get frustrated a lot last night when he got fouled and didn't get the call. He'd then complain to the refs and lag back on defense. He's gotta realize that bigs get fouled a lot and rarely get the calls. The refs never pitty the big man, but will gladly give calls to smaller guys.
Yes, that is something Drew could learn from Shaq. Shaq got fouled almost every time he posted up and often didn't get the call. It is a war in the paint and you just have to go with the flow and not get upset about every call. |
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SPQR
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Post subject: RE: Re: RE: Lakers win like a piece of uninteresting roadkil
Posted: Nov 07, 2008 - 08:32 AM PST
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Serious Laker Fan
Joined: Mar 06, 2008
Posts: 450
Location: Pennsylvania
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Yeah,
Drew gets frustrated on fouls. He's definatly still in the learning process. Shaq put up with more crap than any center I've seen. He also dished out more punishment than any center I can remember.
I would love to have him begin on the job training with the second team right now as far as getting low post position and becoming the first option in scoring. As good as the second team plays nobody on that second team can score at the efficiency Drew was last year (in fact no one on the first team can either). Once Drew and the offense becomes used to him being the intiator it will make the second team all the more effective. It will also get him used to this role for the day he will do so with the first team as well. It would also make this team even more multi-faceted and effective than it is right now.
Patience of course is required, but I hope Phil begins the process of intigrating Drew into a stronger role as the intiator of the offense. |
_________________
The Lakers don't win championships...They have dynasties!!
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CAZ_LAKERFAN_KOBEFAN
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Post subject: RE: Re: RE: Lakers win like a piece of uninteresting roadkil
Posted: Nov 07, 2008 - 06:28 PM PST
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Laker GM
Joined: Oct 27, 2007 Age: 20
Posts: 4575
votes: 4
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| the problem is that Andrew is too young, he won\'t get the call(unless its pretty very obvious), give him some years and you\'ll notice the difference. |
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The Sky is the limit.
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4lakers
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Post subject:
Posted: Nov 07, 2008 - 07:25 PM PST
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Die-Hard Laker Fan
Joined: Jul 05, 2007
Posts: 1195
Location: Los Angeles
votes: 14
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| I agree with this post completely. Now, if you guys watched any of the Boston games last year - which I did with the League Pass - I noticed something right away. They (Boston) played the semi-zone defense like the Lakers are copy-cating this season - thank God they are because it works great in today's NBA. But my point is that most of the Boston games were UGLY wins to say the least. A stifling defense and rag-tag gameplay all game long until they eventually got the victory. I think with the way the Lakers are playing - they are similar in some respects - it is a strong defense - ugly game style that is not a showtime smooth game - but a rag-tag event that may not be pretty to watch - but will sure get you a lot of wins. |
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Get some of this Garnett! More to come in next year's finals.
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VujacicSlovenia
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Post subject: Re: RE: Lakers win like a piece of uninteresting roadkill.
Posted: Nov 07, 2008 - 11:39 PM PST
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Laker GM
Joined: Jun 12, 2008
Posts: 3017
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LakerDawg wrote:
I saw Drew get frustrated a lot last night when he got fouled and didn't get the call. He'd then complain to the refs and lag back on defense. He's gotta realize that bigs get fouled a lot and rarely get the calls. The refs never pitty the big man, but will gladly give calls to smaller guys.
That's the main thing I dislike about Andrew. He acts like he's a bloody veteran or something. We can talk ourselves into the "if it's a foul, it'll get called regardless" - but we all know that's nonsense.
Drew needs to realize that he's just a 21 year old that hasn't proven much of anything. He doesn't deserve to get all of the calls, and he should act more mature about it. I used to say the same about Vujacic, but it really appears that he's toned it down this season.
In regards to the big guy, small guy comparision - I don't buy it. We all watched Shaq get punched in the back on a nightly basis with no consequences. It's one of the things I never understood about the NBA - the non-calls on O'Neal. He's one of the most respected (and beloved) players ever. But he still never gets a damn whistle. It's weird.
Anyway, before the season, I said I'd really wait until mid-November to start making judgements on the Lakers. I don't really care that they've beaten the Clips (thought by some to be a good team, I never bought it, and now they look like the worst in the league), the Nuggets, or the Blazers. Nothing to be lauded. Beat the Rockets, Hornets, Mavericks, and Pistons next week? Now we're talking. |
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"It doesn't matter who gets what. It's just a matter of doing what it takes to win." - Pau Gasol
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lakerbloke
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Post subject: RE: Re: RE: Lakers win like a piece of uninteresting roadkil
Posted: Nov 08, 2008 - 04:46 AM PST
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Die-Hard Laker Fan
Joined: Sep 29, 2007
Posts: 1505
Location: good 'ol blighty
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Quote:
Drew needs to realize that he's just a 21 year old that hasn't proven much of anything. He doesn't deserve to get all of the calls, and he should act more mature about it. I used to say the same about Vujacic, but it really appears that he's toned it down this season.
He dosen't deserve to get all of the calls? What would make him more deserved of calls? Everyone has their fair share of bad calls. I remember times when Shaq was getting pummelled in the paint and not getting a lot of the calls. You almost make it sound as though he has a breaking in period before he's allowed to act "frustrated" when he feels he got fouled... |
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VujacicSlovenia
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Post subject: Re: RE: Re: RE: Lakers win like a piece of uninteresting roa
Posted: Nov 08, 2008 - 09:18 AM PST
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Laker GM
Joined: Jun 12, 2008
Posts: 3017
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lakerbloke wrote:
Quote:
Drew needs to realize that he's just a 21 year old that hasn't proven much of anything. He doesn't deserve to get all of the calls, and he should act more mature about it. I used to say the same about Vujacic, but it really appears that he's toned it down this season.
He dosen't deserve to get all of the calls? What would make him more deserved of calls? Everyone has their fair share of bad calls. I remember times when Shaq was getting pummelled in the paint and not getting a lot of the calls. You almost make it sound as though he has a breaking in period before he's allowed to act "frustrated" when he feels he got fouled...
That's exactly what I mean. In today's NBA, if a foul isn't obvious, it's a rarity that a young player will get the calls. I get irritated with his complaining because he should just realize that he won't get a lot of calls at this stage of his career, and he shouldn't compromise the Lakers' defense by yelling at officials and jogging slowly back down the court.
That's not how it should be, but it is what it is. |
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"It doesn't matter who gets what. It's just a matter of doing what it takes to win." - Pau Gasol
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frank
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Post subject: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Lakers win like a piece of uninteresting
Posted: Nov 08, 2008 - 12:32 PM PST
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Big-Time Laker Fan
Joined: May 26, 2007
Posts: 905
Location: Long Beach, CA
votes: 4
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| Drew is young and easily frustrated, and too demonstrative when he gets calls against him, especially the arm throwing thing he does that makes him look like a little kid. But, the only cure for that is playing time and experience; stay healthy Drew! |
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