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What would Cleveland do?
Posted by: SPQR on Monday, May 11, 2009 - 09:16 AM
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There has been alot of talk on here about how Cleveland was breezing through the playoffs because of their weak competion.
Last night, the Lakers played a Houston team bereft of Yao Ming, Dikembe Motumbo and Tracy Mcgrady. In other words, a team whos talent was comensurate with those teams Cleveland has been playing-or even worse. All we did under those circumstances was get our hats handed to us in humiliating fashion.
What fans fail to realise is it not just who Cleveland is playing, but HOW Cleveland is playing those teams. The recipe for a Lakers win couldn't have been more simple last night: Without Yao, they only way the Rockets could have beaten us with outside shooting. The one thing we did not do was cover the outside shooters. So because this team was too dumb and lazy to disrupt the only option available to Houston, we will be forced to play at least six games in order to dispatch them.
Cleveland and Denver are destroying the competion not only because of who they are playing but how they are playing those teams. If the Lakers played with the attitude and defensive intensity of those two teams, we also would be running through the playoffs at that pace and could have had a very easy win last night.
Am I the only one who feels had that been Cleveland or even Denver playing the Rockets last night those open jumpers, and their path to victory would not have been there?
The next time anyone wants to say, "Cleveland (or Denver) is winning all their games and blowing teams out because of their competition", I suggest you run a replay of last nights debacle and rethink your position. It is not just who you play, but how you play them that figures into the final score.
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Game 4: Mothers Day humiliation
Posted by: SPQR on Sunday, May 10, 2009 - 07:25 PM
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With center Yao Ming out for the rest of the series, the story line going into game four was how long would it take before the inevitable blowout occured. To no ones real surprise, it started almost as soon as the game began. To almost everyones surprise, it was the wrong team doing the blowing out.
In a comeplete rout fittingly played on Mothers Day, the putative 2009 NBA champioin Los Angeles Lakers played like a group of real disinterested, lacadasical bunch of mothers.
The starting team set the tone right off the bat. The perimeter defense led by Kobe Bryant decided that defense was something too difficult to play today and consequently handed the Rockets the one thing that could their undermanned fat from the fire: wide open three point shots.
Down inside things were no better. Pau and Lamar seemed to feel that touching the basketball could damage their hands and rebounded and played offense with the mindset that they did not want to damage those hands. Their hands remained undamage and Houston used the Lakers lack of effort inside and out to literally put the game away before you could say the words "Yao Ming is out."
I don't have to recap the plays. ABC did that for all of us, probably more so than we wanted to see. Aaron Brooks making fools of the statues posing as Laker gaurds, finding holes in what the Lakers charatably lable their defense, then kicking out to open players for shot, over and over and over again. Slow motion replays of open shooters jacking up shots while the Lakers stood stock still with arms down at their sides, for all the world looking like they were taking a sunday stroll in the park. Which in essence they really were. The Laker defenders stayed so far away from Houstons shooters all they needed were face masks to look as though they were afraid of contracting swine flu.
Even at halftime lessons were not learned or motivation found. Shortly after the start of the third quarter, Kobe was caught cheating on defense, the ball made it to Battiers hands and another three went down. It was as if Kobe had somehow missed watching the whole first half and decided to see what would happen if he left his man on the perimeter.
Pau ended up with some good offensive numbers. Unfortuntaly he decided not to play ball until the game was already two hours old. You were left wondering if he misjudged the the 2:30 start time as 4:30.
In the end one can only grin, bear it and forget about opportunities just nonchalantly given away by the Lakers today.
What does this mean for the series? Not all that much in the final anaylsis.
This scenario of one team rising up when they lose a star in the playoff while the other gets overcondfident has happened before. If the familiar pattern of these kind of incidents holds to the usual pattern, expect the Lakers, rejuvinated by home cooking and the sting of this defeat rebound in a big way over a Houston team that now will suddenly remember on the road that their best player is indeed gone for good. I fully expect a Laker win, probably by a very large score. I would then expect them to finish this in game six at Houston, though another half effort will predicate a game seven in LA.
What does this mean for challenges down the road? Well some discomforting things are pretty clear. The Lakers have alot of players on this team who were expected to play some pretty big playoff minutes who have shown they are just not dependable. These players may play good, may play mediocre or may play very bad. The one thing you do know is that you can't depend on them with any consistancy to do good things for you. These players are: Sasha, Drew, Walton, Fish, Farmar, Powell and to some extent Brown. That is alot of players expected to give contributions that the team cannot depend on game in and game out. No matter how you slice it, it is not a good situation for team trying to win a title.
The biggest problem to me is at the point gaurd. We have three of them, none of which is good enough to take a stranglehold on the job. It reminds me of the old axiom about an NFL team that has three players trying to win the starting quarterback job: when you have three quarterbacks, you really don't have any.
It is no coincidence that almost every game we play, we make the oppositions point gaurd look like a alll star-even when he is not. When you face a nice one like Aaron Brooks it just makes thing that much worse.
Looking at all three, offensively and defensivly I would make Brown my starter. To me he is the best of a very weak group. Derek is just aweful now. He can only help by hitting an occasional jumper or sending a message like he did in slamming Scola. Other than that he is really hurting us. Phil is not going to bench Fish. He has said he will be the starter for this team. I can't say I agree with this decision, but it certainly is true that he does not have a glut of good points to replace Fish with.
Looking down the road one sees a very good Denver team. They are playing good Houston style defense but are much more powerful and multi faceted than the Rockets on offense. Watching us lose two game to Houston certainly makes a matchup with an even better Denver team a true test of the Lakers measure. If we lose home court against that team, it may not be as easy to reclaim as it was from the Rockets in game three.
The Mothers Day humiliation will pass. We will go on to win this series. The larger question is how will a roster filled with so many undependable players, a lack of defensive smarts and attitude and such a large hole at the point affect us in the next series against a better team-and beyond?
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Fahrenheit 40: Kobe burns the Rockets with malice
Posted by: SPQR on Thursday, May 07, 2009 - 09:44 AM
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Fahrenheit 451: The title of Ray Bradbury’s classic novel of totalitarianism and book burning censorship. Chosen because it is the temperature that paper auto ignites.
Fahrenheit 40: The number of points Kobe Bryant scored in the classic game he burned the Rockets with on a day he chose to auto ignite the series.
Kobe Bryant told Doug Collins before last nights second Lakers-Houston game that he would be on fire. What he didn’t tell him was that he intended to start a fire at Staples that would set the series ablaze and send a message to Houston that this Laker team would not roll over to physical play or accept anything less than victory, no matter what it took.
In order to purposely set fire, to do willful arson, four certain conditions must be met: You have to have circumstances that require the desire for burning. You need intent. Someone willing to make that decision to start a fire. You have to have someone willing to lay down an accelerant to start a very hot fire that will burn out of control. And finally, you need a person with the guts and cold calculation to light a fire, throw it on the accelerant. Someone willing to strike a match. Once successfully accomplished, there can only be the aftermath and investigation. Nothing can be done to repair the damage.
CIRCUMSTANCE:
Last night, two teams came into Staples on a mission. The Rockets, upset winners of game one wanted more than a split. They were determined to enforce their defensive mindset and physical play in an effort to get a Lakers home sweep and in doing so putting a very quick and shocking end to the title hopes tinsel town had harbored and nurtured since the day they lost to Boston last year. The Lakers came in determined to show that the first game was a fluke, that they are not paper tigers, not some meek pretender to the throne who folds up under the first hard hit, first glare, first push from a hardnosed physical team.
INTENT:
This game started out totally different from game one. Phil actually set the stage by benching ailing and immobile Andrew Bynum and inserting Pau Gasol at center. He gave him his brief as well: use your quickness to attack the basket and Yao Ming. This he did with a variety of spins and drives to the basket. Before Ming knew it, he had picked up two fouls and was sitting on the bench and as he sat there, it is not hard to imagine he was thinking this game would not be following the easy, pleasant pattern game one had been for him.
While Pau was displaying the change in Lakers philosophy it was The Great Man who was sending the message. With a display of offensive pyrotechnics unique to him alone, he brought out the full arsenal-jumpers, drives to the hoop, and an energy that one could almost reach out and feel. Almost every point was followed by words or a disdainful shake of the head. The message was clear, every basket screaming lethal intent: I am Kobe Bryant, The Great Man. You can’t imagine what I can do. You can’t hope to hold me down. You can only watch me do as I please. Your chances of winning do not exist.
Almost as quickly as Ming had fouled his way to the bench Kobe had thrown in 15 points and the Lakers had sailed to a huge lead by half time. The only thing keeping Houston alive was the play of Ron Artest. Of course Kobe had plans for Artest’s future too. On this night, he had plans for everything he wanted to accomplish and anyone who stood in his way.
THE ACCELERANT:
Houston to their credit would not go away. Behind the play and three point shooting of Ron Artest the kept making runs, finally even taking a slim lead. In the third quarter Scola and Odom got into a brief tussle. Luke Walton began crowded Scola and words were exchange; a technical foul was called. The smell of an open can of gasoline was starting to permeate the air of Staples. One the very next play, Derek Fisher decided to step forward and pour it all over the gym floor. While attempting to fight through a screen he “thought” was coming, Derek raised his arm and swung it and his body violently around. He cracked into Scola with force resembling a football play and sent him careening crazily to the floor. The referee’s now desperate to prevent a conflagration jumped in and hit Fish with a flagrant 2 and automatic ejection. By this point it was too late. The accelerant had been laid and they didn’t have any control of events. Kobe Bryant had taken that all upon himself and he would execute his will and his plan with cold blooded efficiency.
THE MATCH THOWER AND THE FIRE:
Three straight turnover leading to two fast break points quickly pushed the Lakers out to an 11 point lead as the game moved on to the climatic and hot fourth quarter. The Lakers went into the penalty at 8:35 mark signaling danger to their lead and their season.
Then it happened. At 6:57 the match got lit by the person best able by skill, temperament and will to do it. During a hidden scrum under the basket, Kobe gave the notoriously unstable Artest a well placed and very well hidden elbow to the throat. One could see it on replay, but for all intents and purposes, the replay could have and should have shown The Great Man calmly take out a Zippo lighter, strike the flint and drop it into the gas that had been spilled on the Staples floor. As Kobe ran back down the floor, Artest blowing his cool in front of a nation ran over to him, dogging his path, bumping and jawing away. Kobe put up his hands disinclined to engage Artest’s jabbering, all the while looking like an innocent child. The referees promptly threw Artest out, and with him Houston’s only real, best hope to salvage the game went up in flames.
To add more fuel to the fire, creating a move that will stand out through the ages of NBA playoff history. Kobe drove to the basket, threw the ball up off the backboard, ducked under and through Houston defenders, came out under the hoop to retrieve his pass and took it home for the duece. It was the type of play one tries when playing a weekend game on the a local blacktop court with only a few watching. Only Kobe did it in front of the world, not against friends but against fellow professionals. It was a perfect juxtposition of the both the joy and viciousness he was bring to bear in a game he would not let slip away. It was mesmerizing. It was unforgettable. It was vintage Kobe Bryant fanning the fires and saying, "I will burn these f**kers down!"
THE AFTERMATH AND INVESTIGATION OF A FIRE:
After the game was over, the wily and victorious Bryant strutted off the court. After a kiss from his wife in the tunnel, he met up with the accelerant. Derek Fisher was showered up and decked out resplendently in a fine, expensive suit. Not at all resembling the player who had just a short time ago set the stage for Houston’s burning once Kobe decided it was time to light the match. Kobe still bathed in the sweat brought on by his incandescent effort and the fire he had lit, gave his old friend and fellow warrior a high five. It was a fitting and emotional climax for two players who know what it takes to start a fire. It was a post game confirmation that these two, who have endured so much together over the years had turned a game one loss into a red hot, mean, fast, emotional series. You have the feeling they would not have it any other way.
What was the result of the torching of this successful arson? The Lakers shooting at a blazing fifty percent clip. Forty points for Kobe Bryant. Twenty two for Pau Gasol. Twenty five rebounds shared between Pau and Lamar. Fifteen fast breaks for LA and nineteen turnovers for Houston. Five technical fouls and two ejections. A completely nullified Yao Ming. And finally, one very huge win for Kobe Bryant and his team.
With the win, the Lakers have now put the pressure back on Houston. Despite the split they know what everyone else does. If they do not sweep their next two home games, this series will move irrevocably to the Lakers favor. To win one in Staples is hard enough; to win two is asking the impossible.
As for Houston’s hopes and dreams of putting a shocking and quick end to this series? That was burned up by the NBA’s master arsonist, immolating them up in so many different ways, large and small, on display and craftily hidden, smoking hot with passion and coldly calculating; just as he has done to so many others over the last decade of a brilliant career.
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Execution Meets IQ
Posted by: Dave on Wednesday, May 06, 2009 - 02:11 PM
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Last nights game, although "Only One Loss" brings home the reocurring theme this team has displayed this entire year.
1. Low Basketball IQ
2. Bad Execution In Crunch Time
To have so many veterans on this team it amazes me how low of an IQ this team displays collectively. We ignore EVERY SINGLE matchup advantage we have on the court. We find it damn near impossible to feed the post regardless of the position our big men have. I can't count how many possessions a game I see Fisher holding the ball over his head staring directly at Bynum who has deep position, just to swing it to the weakside of the floor completely away from him.
And to capitalize on that, we continue to take long jumpers, mainly three pointers in a tight game down the stretch.
Now we all know that had those 3's gone down, we'd be looking at a different outcome. But I for one am not a believer of a good shot being good simply because it goes in.
Now for Kobe's performance, I was please with the fact that he took his shots within the flow instead of doing alot of one on one to create his shots which takes up alot of time off the shot clock leaving guys standing around. But I was still disappointed that he still hasn't seemed to learn from the Boston series what it takes to beat a defensive team...and that's getting to the basket at all costs even if you get some charges in the process.
Your not going to beat a defensive monster like Houston/Clevland/Boston with fadeaway jumpers unless your sizzling hot for the entire game.
We all know Kobe's capable of going on one of those scoring sprees whenever lightening strikes, but realistically speaking, it's simply not good basketball. Especially when you have two seven footers standing by the basket dying to get the opposing center in foul trouble. And like I've posted a million times, if he continues to take these jumpers, our wins and losses will be solely based on whether he's hot or not down the stretch. And to me, that's not a good equation. But what was Kobe's response at the press conference? "We just have to make those open shots next time." This leads me to believe that the only thing Kobe figured out is that "If I made more of my shots, we would have won."
This team needs to realize that MORE JUMPSHOTS EQUALS MORE YAO MING! We need to get our bigs the ball and attack Yao at every possession. Once he's in foul trouble we can push the ball down Houston's throat. To me this strategy is pretty simply, but when you don't have high basketball IQ like this team continues to display, the gameplan is lost.
by LKnight
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Kobe smokes a cigar, then the Jazz: the scent of greatness.
Posted by: SPQR on Sunday, April 26, 2009 - 03:34 AM
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At the press conference following Kobe Bryants incendiary demolition of the Utah Jazz, a reporter asked him if it was true that he had smoked a cigar after game three to clear the stench of that game away. Kobe smiled and said, “yes.” The reporter then asked if Kobe would like to volunter the brand of cigar he has smoked. Kobe replied that he would keep that information close to the vest pending and endorsement contract.
Because he is a man of considerable wealth and means, one thing we can assume is that the cigar, by any other name, was expensive and smelled just as sweet as Kobe’s game looked on Saturday night.
On the heels of his worse playoff performance in close to a decade, one can also assume that when Kobe was alone with his cigar, unwinding and blowing the taste of that defeat from his mouth, he also made a promise to himself that he and this Laker team would play only one last game in Utah before this series ended back in the confines of the Staples Center.
One can also in hindsight also safely assume that Kobe made a decision that the Bryant who the Jazz saw last night was a throwback to the aggressive, attacking scorer who had terrorized the league for the better part of a decade, not the patient facilitator of more recent vintage. One can envision The Great Man, formulating the method of Utah’s destruction with each relaxing exhale of grey, pungent smoke, the smell of an expensive cigar carrying each deadly thought and private promise out into the air, born aloft and breathed into life by the burning desire of a player who knows he can bend a game to his will in a way only few before him ever could. As the clouds of cigar smoke rose on high and slowly dissapated into the air, so too did any chances the Utah Jazz had to win game four.
Game four did not end with Kobe’s first bucket, it did not end when Utah saw his fierce, unquenchable thirst for redemption and victory, it ended long before that, with Kobe Bryant smoking a cigar, making cold, calculating decisions about what he wanted to do the next time he stepped on the court. As he sat and smoked as each cloud of smoke disappeared, so too did Deron Williams, so too did Carlos Boozer. With each cloud of smoke another Jazz player dissappeared until the whole of the Utah team was gone. At the time, they didn’t know it. Only Kobe did. After the game, they all knew it, as did evey basketball fan in the country. Kobe smoked his cigar and made his promises in private. He smoked the Jazz and carried out his revenge in public.
Kobe light the Jazz as soon as the game began. He started taking shots and making them right from the opening tipoff. It was not a feeling out process or a tactic. I was an all out assault designed to break down the Utah team and destroy the protective carapace they rely on at home. He did not cut or slice but bludgeoned with hammer blows meant to hurt and drain.
At first the Jazz tried to ride out the storm. Deron Williams played with his usual aplomb. Carlos Booze once again attacked inside, muscling Pau and Laker interior as he did in game three. For a while it looked like they may keep up with Kobe’s ferocious pace. But it was not to be. Kobe kept going. Every ounce of his skill and will exhibited in his torrid pace and shots that seemed to seek out the basket with an accuaracy that defied reality.Each bucket, each blow was harder than the previous one. His message was clear: I am here to kill you. I will tear your heart out and if you are not ready to die you better step aside.
Kobe remained impassive, implacable. No smiles, no laughs, no emotion at all. As he attacked without remorse or remit, his long slanted eyes seemed dead and and his face eriely evocative of a pharoahs sarcophogus mask. To the Jazz, indeed it must have seemed like they were battling the spirit of an otherworldly king determined to take out his vengence in blood ten fold.
As time went on, Utah could not keep up. Williams effectiveness disappeared. The scoring and crisp passes faded away. Carlos Boozer could no longer corral rebounds and found making a basket a torture test. The Jazz were wore out and frazzled. Everytime Kobe got the ball, they tried to converge on him in ever more desperate attempts to stop him. The resembled a team afflicted with a nervous twitch that wouldn’t go away. Kobe, his mission accomplished, unleashed the dogs of war. Shannon Brown started hitting threes, so did Sasha. Lamar Odom dominated with drive to the hole and hit the backboards with alacrity. It looked all too easy and it was. Kobe’s teamates were simply cleaning off the bone Kobe had thrown them. If you ever want to see an entire team get worn out, pounded down, its collective will and desire ripped out, its energy sucked dry by one mans ablity and will, play a tape of game four of the 2009 Laker-Utah series. In the end, Utah was not ready to die and they stepped aside.
At the end of the game, there was a scent in the air. Like with Kobe’s cigar, it was something special, something high end. It was the scent of revenge. It was the scent of redemption. It was the scent of promises made and delivered. It ultimatly was the scent of greatness and a team smoked by a single man who would accept nothing less than total vindication.
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Anatomy of a defeat: Kobe, Pau and Drew lead us to a loss.
Posted by: SPQR on Friday, April 24, 2009 - 09:53 AM
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There is an old saying that victory has many parents and defeat is an orphan. Of course this not taken literally but is used to show how no one takes responsibility for mistakes. In fact, losses or defeats always have parents, and in sports they have an anatomy too. Various parts of the team body contribute to every loss a team suffers and last night was no exception.
I won't go into excruciating detail over the game or every play that was, or wasn't made but instead will play a little electronic Jackson Pollock and just kind of throw out my impressions of the game as I was watching it. The things that stuck in my mind as they happened in real time.
My impressions of an anatomy of a defeat:
Andrew Bynum looked terrible. He seems lost, unfocused and unsure of himself right now. As soon as he committed that first foul seconds into the contest you just knew he would contribute nothing to the cause last night. Of more concern than his play last and the loss was the revelation that the knee brace is causing him pain AND fatigue as the game goes on. He wants to change the brace but doctors won't allow it. If he can't overcome the pain and fatigue he is experiencing now as the playoffs progress, then the fact is that for the rest of the year we may be stuck with a Drew who is a pale imitation of the player we hoped to get back from injury. While this certainly does not preclude the Lakers from winning the championship, it would make it a lot tougher. This now becomes THE major Lakers story line and concern as the playoff continue.
Kobe Bryant looked and played just as ineffectual as Drew did, only sans the fouls. I have never seen The Great Man look so listless and unable to control a game. You could see he wanted and tried to take it up another gear and take over but the tank looked empty. On a night when he couldn't put a pea in the ocean, his decision making failed as well. At a crucial moment when the Jazz finally climbed back and wretched the lead from our hands in second half, what does Kobe do on the first play when we are finally behind? He comes down court, sets up behind the three point line with a defender in his face and throws up a three. As soon as he coiled for the shot I knew it was not going in and judging from his body language as he shot he looked like he knew this as well. He looked like he was just hoping it would from past memory and did not take the shot with any confidence. Kobe is Kobe but on a night he was much less than that, at that very critical juncture of the game, the smart move would have been to wait for his teammates, run the offense and try to get a bucket instead of launching a prayer that had little chance of being answered.
Pau Gasol missing free throw after free throw as though he were manufacturing misses on a assembly line. Those misses really came back to haunt us. Pau holding the ball at chest level or lower and..holding the ball...holding the ball...holding the ball ad infinitum in those long, awkward arms until he gives an opposing player time to punch it out and take it the other way. Or his other variant of the same mistake: Pau driving the ball into the teeth of the defense and once again having the ball stripped away at the end of those mile long arms. Pau pulls these two moves a lot, but when the Lakers win you really don't notice so much or care. In a game like last night you both notice and care.
Shannon Brown is a nice player and has been a good find this year, but someone has to teach him that if you jump and lean forward against a smart and good player, that other player will simply shoot, move forward and create the and one. As long as Brown keeps doing this, opposing players will keep taking advantage of it.
Luke Walton missing open jumpers and letting Matt Harpring drive around him like he was Michael Jordan. When Luke is bad, he is very bad. How often is Luke bad when he goes against good teams? A lot. I know he has his fans here, but this is one observer who will not be sad when he packs his miniscule offensive and defensive abilities in his gym bag and says his final goodbye to the purple and gold.
Carlos Boozer misusing Pau Gasol late the game, tearing by him for a monster dunk. In letting Boozer get 23 points and more importantly 22 boards, it was fitting that Boozer used Pau as an ESPN poster boy on that play. Pau can’t let him get 22 boards while answering with only 9 of his own. That is just too great a disparity in that type of close game.
All this being said, to mine an old cliché, was there anything good to take from the loss?
Actually there was. Our defense was much better than the debacle of game two. Also, because Utah played that last regular season game with us with a lot to lose, it was a game executed with playoff intensity. Taking this into account we had actually beaten them three straight times, not two, entering last nights meeting. To ask us, or any team to defeat Utah four straight times is really pushing it. I have a hard time envisioning any team in the league pulling that trick off, especially with the fourth game taking place in Utah. On a night when so many important Laker cogs ran off their tracks, we still almost did it.
If this series follows the pattern of so many other NBA series over the years, this close win by the Jazz just presages a game four loss for them and a finale to the series back in LA. It is what I expect to happen. Now the team has to regroup and make it reality.
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Lakers - Utah II: Once again just short of a great script
Posted by: SPQR on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 09:47 AM
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In a town built on celluloid make believe of the silver screen, where reputations and careers are predicated on the success of your latest movie, the Lakers opened up their second production in three days last night to mixed reviews.
The team opened up by forcing its will on Utah, hammering them down low in a first quarter attacks of its bigs, Drew and Pau, to set the tone for another likely blowout. And like their first game, a script that was so tight and promising for viewers in the first act began to come apart with some very sloppy writing on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court showing that this team can defiantly take a refresher course on how to not get bogged down in the long second act and wrap up all the lose ends in the closing third segment.
While the flow of this game did not totally match that of the first, the overall concept was the same and one has to ask: why did they do a remake of a production that missed the mark the first time it was released on Sunday? While the Lakers did extend their points in the paint advantage as they should have in the first game, a defense that did a decent job shutting down everyone except Deron Williams in game one now could not shut down anyone. Both times one left the Staples theatre thinking it was a nice way to spend two and a half hours but with an empty feeling that with some more care and effort in it’s conception and execution they could have witnessed a truly great show that would linger in the minds and conversations of fans for days and not just enjoyable fluff that is quickly forgotten.
What were the weak spots in the story line that contributed to this feeling of potential unfulfilled?
After a blazing start by Pau, Drew and Lamar that hinted at what this team could be if it fired on all cylinders down low, the team seemed to become disjointed on offense. The ball did not get put in low with the same alacrity or effectiveness as it did in the first, great act. As the second act started, Drew dropped some passes he should have caught and was thrown some bad passes. His shot blocking was improved but his board work is still underwhelming. It is obvious to even a casual observer that while he is back in body, his game is still light years removed from what it was at the time of his injury; following the same pattern he exhibited during is initial return from injury at the start of the year. In essence we still will have to wait a while longer for the “real” Drew to rejoin the team.
In getting away from what worked early in the game, passes became sloppy and the pace seemed artificially forced to produce a quick shot too many times instead of taking the time to work the low post as they had earlier. Instead of the desired result the attempt to turn what had first been a well thought out drama into an action picture produced turnovers and not points. As is the case with many flawed movies, this one suffered from too many action sequences and not enough character development.
For the extensive minutes he played, Pau’s rebounding was anemic and reminiscent of games last year that brought him criticism. Of course the high shooting percentage of both teams does mitigate this to some degree. His offense, like Kobe’s was immaculate and both helped carry the show to heights it did achieve.
The two biggest culprits seem to have a symbiotic relationship: a complete breakdown of the defense and Deron Williams. Williams is showing why some fans consider him the equal to, and even the superior of CP3. Tall, fast, strong and economical, he has become a past master of breaking down a Lakers defense already hamstrung by shortcomings. Whether it is taking an all too often open jumper or driving the lane to dish off for a lay-up or short shot, Williams will find that perpetual seam in our defense and exploit it to its fullest. It does not matter who guards him, Fisher, Brown or anyone else. Williams is strictly leading man material and reduces anyone trying to stop him to just a character actor. If he keeps playing like this expect the Lakers to lose one game in Salt Lake.
The question remains: is our defense really as bad as it looked last night or is Williams legerdemain just making it appear so? That question will be answered when we play our next opponent who will not have Deron around to probe and attack us with the ease that he does.
So after two quick releases the Lakers playoff run continues. Two efforts that each fell a little short of greatness. Overall fans have to be happy to have a two game lead and in effect ended this series-no matter how things shake out in Utah. Once Williams is finally in the rear view mirror it would be nice if the team could do a bit of script rewriting in regards to turnovers, defense and smart offensive execution by giving their leading men down low more screen time. That would produce the a classic effort worthy to win that big award show in June that every team covets: the NBA championship.
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Lakers upset? This team and NBA history say forget it!
Posted by: SPQR on Saturday, April 18, 2009 - 01:43 PM
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There has been some concern expressed-and rightly so-that the only thing that can beat the Lakers this year is the Lakers. Because of the makeup of this team and talent it has I agree that overconfidence or arrogance is the only way we can not end up with a victory parade when this post season ends.
But what are the chances of this dark influence of lassitude or ego actually rising up to smite our chances and give the ring to a less capable team? Not much.
Why would our team become complacent or arrogant? What has it accomplished that would lead it to follow down this path? What has Kobe, Pau, Lamar, Drew or the others won to make them act in this manner? Nothing.
All Kobe knows is that he won three rings playing Robin to Shaq's Batman. While the three rings were nice, this is the last thing he wants to be remembered for. He want's to follow in Michael's and Magic's and Kareem's and Bird's footsteps. To quote the Joker in the latest caped crusader movie, he wants fans and players to look at him and say, "Now there's a Batman!" not "He was a only a Robin." Is this great player, with so much at stake really going to become overconfident or lax at this late date, with the chance to be Batman finally within his reach after so many frustrating years? Not likely. The last impression Kobe has of a playoff finals is participating and watching a team HE led getting humilated in historic fashion in game six in Boston. Does this seem like motivation for this great player to become lax or allow his teamates to? Not likely.
What has Pau Gasol won in long career? Nothing. What is his last memories of the playoff? Being humilatied by Boston, reading and listening to fans accross the country-including Laker fans-sounding off about how soft and malliable he was in the finals. How much his short comings led the the last game route, the loss of the series. Would this resume lead to Pau becoming lax or overconfident in his play or desire? Not Likely.
What has Drew won in his years here? Nothing. In fact his playoff experience is practically zero. Just a few scant minutes long ago against Phoenix. All he knows is that fans say he could have made a positive difference last year and should do so this year. All he knows is that he is on a team that has players and fans who expect him to be the final peice of winning puzzle. Would this type of pressure and expectation lead Drew to become lax or overconfident? I don't think so.
What does Lamar know of championships in his NBA career? Nothing. All he knows is that he is critisized for not being dominant enough. All he knows is the team he wants to play for the rest of his career will be evaluating his playoff performance and taking his measure to see if they will want him back next year. Does this sound like circumstances that would lead to a lax, overconfident Lamar Odom? I don't think so.
The same applies to all the players on our team: Walton, Sasha, Derek and the rest. They have done nothing except give Boston another ring at their expense last year. Not exactly a reason for cockiness or overconfidence.
Quite the opposit in fact. The history of this team as a whole, and the singular pasts and seperate experiences of each individual player would indicate that this team will be anything but complacent or overconfident now that playoff time is here. The team and the players have something to prove as a unit and as individuals.
The only team that on paper has the athletes to even stick with the Lakers for a while is Portland. They are a very young team that does not carry the motivation or in the end, even the maturue talent to over come a team like ours which is further backed up by home court advantage.
The NBA is not like Baseball, Hockey or football. Since the NBA expanded to a 16 team first round in 1983-84, only two teams seeded lower than third in their conferences have reached the finals, one of those- the 95 Rockets- was the defending champion.
The Lakers are not going to become a part and party of this happening a third time this year. Nor will they allow the second or third seeded teams to stop them from taking a championship that they have waited a very, very long year to claim as their own.
This is no fat and sassy three time NBA champion waddling into the playoff satiated and bloated on its past success, primed for a big surprise at it's expense. It a team with plenty of motivation and a very lean and hungry look.
Beat ourselves with overconfidence? No, it is not going to happen to this team.
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Discussion: Prepare Yourselves Lakers Fans, The Battle Is About To Begin!
Posted by: Lakers4Kobe on Thursday, April 16, 2009 - 05:41 AM
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After a long, weary 82 game season, the Los Angeles Lakers finish with 65 wins and 17 losses, not too bad at all. In fact, the third best record in franchise history. However, the Cleveland Cavaliers were just able to sneak through at 66-16, but the issue of Home Court Advantage is no longer a topic of discussion. We’re here to talk about playoffs.
It came down to the last day of the regular season, with some surprises and some disappointments, but the playoff matchups are set. There’s more than one intriguing series set and some are definitely going to be some to remember. Let’s break it down, and see what the Lakers have to do to get to the Finals, and who they’ll be facing. Let’s start with Round 1:
Western Conference
1. Los Angeles Lakers vs. 8. Utah Jazz
I feel sorry for any team that has to face LA in these playoffs. Not only are they the deepest team in the league, but they are spurred on by vengeance. They want to crush the demons in them that remain from last year’s finals, to set the record straight. Utah is more than capable of winning a playoff series, but not against the Lakers. As Jerry Sloan put it himself, “Things look pretty bleak.”
Lakers in 4.
2. Denver Nuggets vs. 7. New Orleans Hornets
This will be a great matchup. Chris Paul will be trying to lead his team into the second round after what was unquestionable a disappointing season. Injury woes slowed down the Hornets, but one can’t help but wonder if they miss Jannero Pargo. On the other hand, Denver have exceeded all expectations this year and many are predicting them to be in the Western Conference Finals. However, this will be a tough series for both teams, but I just don’t think the Hornets have the momentum or firepower to beat Denver.
Nuggets in 6.
3. San Antonio Spurs vs. 6. Dallas Mavericks
Talk about polar opposites. San Antonio lost one of their best players, and what many considered their x-factor in Ginobli. They stumble into the playoffs as the 3rd seed after spending most of the season at the number 2 spot. On the flip side, Dallas is roaring into the playoffs, having finally found their groove. Their playing great basketball and Jason Kidd has been rejuvenated. This season can go either way though, but I think Home Court Advantage is going to play nicely for San Antonio. Both teams have to be prepared for this. I think San Antonio will pull it out but it can go either way.
Spurs in 7.
4. Portland Trailblazers vs. 5. Houston Rockets
Portland has to be one of the biggest surprises this season. Most journalists were predicting them to wind up anywhere between 6-8 seed out West but they stepped up to another level and finished 4th. I suppose you can say Houston has been a slight disappointment, but having stayed in 5th even after losing Tracy McGrady for most of the season they should be pleased with themselves. As much of a surprise Portland has been, I just don’t think they have the experience to beat a Houston team that hasn’t advanced past the first round since the 90s. Houston will be incredibly motivated to get past the first round, and they successfully avoided the one team they didn’t want to see in the first round: the Utah Jazz.
Rockets in 6.
Eastern Conference
1. Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 8. Detroit Pistons
Cleveland has surprised so many people by finishing with the best record in the league and Detroit has surprised so many people for stupidly trading away Chauncey Billups for the Not-Answer. Detroit is stumbling into the playoffs and there is almost no hope for them in this series. They will be lucky to win a game, simple as that.
Cavaliers in 4.
2. Boston Celtics vs. 7. Chicago Bulls
Derrick Rose is going to be a star. He is an amazing player and one day he will lead a team into the finals, mark my words. However, it’s still his first year and Chicago lost their last game of the season, failing to avoid the Celtics in the first round. The Celtics slowed down a bit this year, losing 4 more games this year than last, but their record is still incredibly impressive when you consider the absence of Kevin Garnett for the 20 games or so of the season. They’ll be getting Garnett back in the first round and that will be all the motivation they need, still, I think Chicago can snatch a game or two.
Celtics in 5.
3. Orlando Magic vs. 6. Philadelphia 76ers
Both these teams have stumbled into the playoffs. They lost some of their last few games and they just underplayed. Orlando didn’t play Dwight Howard for the last few games so their excusable but Philadelphia just packed it in for the season after they locked up a playoff seed. Philly did win in Cleveland, the only team besides the Lakers to do so this season, but Cleveland was resting 4 starters, including LeBron James. I just don’t see Philly making much noise this year.
Magic in 5.
4. Atlanta Hawks vs. 5. Miami Heat
This is going to be a great series. I’m really looking forward to this one. These two teams played pretty well this season and I think they’re only going to get better. Atlanta was close to winning 50 games and Miami went for winning 16 games one season, to locking up the 5th seed in the playoffs the next season, under a rookie coach, who deserves some heavy consideration for Coach of the Year. I think Home Court is going to be huge in this series and I think it will go to a game 7. At that point, it will be time for Dwayne Wade to shine. Will he step up and pull his team through? Or will he crumble under the pressure? I think it’s the first one.
Heat in 7.
So that’s it for Round 1. After the first round some teams will be exhausted, some will be well rested, but it’s all going to make up for a very interesting semi-finals. Out East, things will be very interesting. Let’s have a look:
Western Conference
1. Los Angeles Lakers vs. 5. Houston Rockets
Houston will finally be out of the first round, but they will be heading into a huge roadblock. All season long the Rockets have tried to beat the Lakers and they’ve failed every time. Blame Ron Artest for sparking Kobe’s competitive side. Houston will be happy to be out of the first round, but the Lakers will take the second round as just another road bump. They will not be giving up anything and Houston is going to feel the pressure of the LA juggernaut. Sorry Houston, your postseason ends here. I just think LA has Houston’s number, but I’ll be conservative and say the Rockets win one at home.
Lakers in 5.
2. Denver Nuggets vs. 3. San Antonio Spurs
Both teams will be coming out of gruelling first round matchups and both will be weary, but San Antonio will run out of firepower. They will sorely miss Ginobli in this matchup, especially when JR Smith starts lighting them up from downtown. Denver will be hoping that San Antonio gets through the first round, because they just can’t keep up with the Nuggets offensively. That being said, the Spurs being the Spurs, they will never go down without a fight, but I think their season ends here.
Nuggets in 6.
Eastern Conference
1. Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 5. Miami Heat
LeBron James vs. Dwayne Wade. Ringless vs. Ring. This will be a great series, with both players taking it out at each other time after time. Cleveland will win it, but it will be great to watch, and I think Miami can take two games, and possibly even push the Cavs to a seventh game but I doubt it.
Cavaliers in 6.
2. Boston Celtics vs. 3. Orlando Magic
Another great matchup. Both teams will be fighting to play Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals. It will be a battle of the bigs, with Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett battling it out under the rim. But don’t forget the guards, as Ray Allen and Paul Pierce will have to respond to the barrage of 3 point shots that are inevitable when you play the Magic. This is another series where Home Court is going to be huge, and I think this is another seven game series, with Boston claiming victory. But if Boston finds its defensive rhythm with Garnett again, it could just as easily be a 5 game series, but that remains to be seen.
Celtics in 7.
So that’s the semi-finals. The four remaining teams will be feeling to pain of the post-season but the opportunity to win a ring is all the motivation some of these teams need. The Conference Finals are going to be great, so let’s have a look.
Western Conference
1. Los Angeles Lakers vs. 2. Denver Nuggets
Last year, LA swept the Nuggets out of the first round. But that Nuggets team had Allen Iverson, and this one has Chauncey Billups. Billups is undoubtedly the MVP of the Nuggets this season, despite the increased play of Carmelo Anthony. However, the Nuggets are sorely going to miss Marcus Camby in this series. Andrew Bynum will be playing against Nene, who despite improving dramatically this season, is nowhere near the defensive presence that Marcus Camby was. Look for the Lakers to feed their bigs in this series as Kobe takes a backseat. Gasol and Bynum will be huge in this series, and Lamar is going to be a huge x-factor off the bench. It will be up to him to lead the bench against the Nuggets reserves and he will have to raise his game to another level. He has been playing great lately off the bench, and he is going to have to keep that up until the end. LA will be incredibly motivated to get to the Finals again and I don’t think Denver will be able to hang around. LA takes this series and sends a message out East.
Lakers in 5.
Eastern Conference
1. Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 2. Boston Celtics
This is going to be a great series, an epic series. There will be so much hype surrounding this matchup and I think it’s going to live up to it. Boston beat Cleveland in the semi-finals last year and I’m sure that is going to be in the mind of all Cavaliers players. LeBron will want to be in the Finals again and that will drive him in each game. However, the Celtics have their eyes on back-to-back championships and they are not going anywhere anytime soon. Kevin Garnett is going to have to step up in this series. The Cavs don’t have anyone who can contain him, unless you think Ilgauskus and Verajao can defend Garnett. If Garnett can pull his team through, then the Celtics win. But, the kicker here is the Home Court Advantage and it will be HUGE here. This series is going to a game 7, eerily similar to last year, but I think the outcome is going to be different and the Cleveland Cavaliers win it in a close game 7, setting up a matchup in the Finals with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Cavaliers in 7
And the Conference Finals come to a close. We now head to the holy grail of basketball, the NBA Finals. Make no mistake, this is going to be a huge series and the media coverage is going to be ridiculous. Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James. The two best teams in the league will battle it out and there is going to be pandemonium in one city, but which will it be? Let’s have a look.
NBA Finals
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
It all comes down to this for LA. They will have 7 opportunities to win 4 games against the Cleveland Cavaliers. This will be an epic Finals series, and there will be no backing down from either team. There are going to be so many factors to consider in this matchup: momentum, desire, will, home court, depth, coaching, leadership. The list goes on and on, but there is no denying one thing; at the end of this series, either Kobe Bryant or LeBron James will officially be declared the best player in the world, and there will be no logical argument to say otherwise. Both players are great, and Kobe is already on his way to legendary while LeBron continues to carve up the league with his talent, it is going to be God vs. Titan.
So how is it going to go? We have to remember that Cleveland has Home Court Advantage in this series. That will be a huge asset to them because they are nowhere near as good on the road as they are at home. But looking at Cleveland’s home record, they are 39-2. The last loss came on the last day of the regular season when almost all starters were resting. But that leaves one other loss. One loss that is going to be a huge mental factor. That loss came against the Los Angeles Lakers, who came into Cleveland missing Andrew Bynum and a Kobe Bryant that was suffering from a stomach virus, and who had to be hooked up to an IV drip at halftime. At halftime the Lakers were down by 10 and some Laker fans thought they wouldn’t be able to come back, but thanks to a brilliant third quarter from Lamar Odom (15 points, 10 rebounds in the 3rd alone) Los Angeles came storming back into the game and Kobe closed it out in the 4th.
So LA has beaten Cleveland twice this season, once with Andrew Bynum and a Kobe with a dislocated finger, and once without Andrew Bynum and a Kobe with a stomach virus. LA has not been 100% healthy in either matchup, and that just adds more fear into the heart of all Cavs fans.
The first two games are going to be in Cleveland, and this is what I see happening. LA is going to win the first game and strike the first mental blow. It will be a team effort and the Lakers will exploit the Cavs because they just matchup so well against them.
In game two, the Cavs will know they have to win it to have any hope of winning. They will take game two, but LA will have that one key win in Cleveland, and with the next 3 games in LA, things won’t be looking so well for the Cavs.
Game 3, LA. Staples Centre. The Los Angeles fans will be there in full force and will be going crazy. Pandemonium will erupt in the building as the Lakers head onto the court. The Lakers will take this game, going up 2-1 in the series and setting themselves up nicely to take out the series.
In game 4, Cleveland will be desperate for a win, as a 3-1 deficit is incredibly hard to fight out of. However, Cleveland will not get this pivotal win as LA has been so effective in shutting down LeBron in the regular season and I don’t see that changing here. Game 4 goes to LA, and they lead the series 3-1.
Game 5, and the stadium erupts as the Lakers take the court. As each player is introduced, roars and screams from the crowd ignite a fire under the players, none other than Kobe Bryant, who will be looking to rid himself of last year’s demons. The game begins and come the 4th quarter, it is all but settled. Cleveland puts up a valiant effort but there is no hope as the Lakers drive and drive and push all hope out of the Cavs’ hearts.
As the final buzzer sounds, confetti and balloons fall from the roof. People are crying, screaming, cheering and whistling. The Lakers stand on the court and embrace the celebration, knowing their hard work has finally paid off. Emotions run wild as players break down in tears (Sasha) and the realisation of this team’s greatness becomes apparent. Kobe and LeBron embrace centre court, the recognition that one is still greater than the other. Cleveland, gracious in defeat, heads into the locker room as LA continues to celebrate.
The celebrations go on till the parade at Figueroa Street. Millions of people crowd the streets to cheer their beloved team, and each Laker player realises the feat of their accomplishments. They finish the playoffs with a 16-3 record. This team could not be stopped, the desire for the championship ran deep through all the players.
When people look back at the 2008-09 NBA season, one team will stand out above the rest. The Los Angeles Lakers will go down in history as one of the deepest teams ever, from 1-14, each player dedicated hundreds of hours of time and effort to get their championship ring and there will be no denying the greatness of this team.
Prepare yourselves Lakers Fans, the battle is about to begin!
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Playoff fear of the Lakers: Atomic bombs and skyscrapers.
Posted by: SPQR on Wednesday, April 15, 2009 - 10:45 AM
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In a time not so very long ago, but in an era which now seems almost too strange and inconceivable to be real, Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union had fears. A psychopathic killer and insecure man with a need to control everything in his realm, he was forced to deal with realities forced upon him from a country outside his reach-the United States. As world war two came to a sudden and surprising end with the detonation of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs he found himself and his country is a position he found untenable: second best in a two country world. Not a man without guile, capability and resources his solution was simple and typical: he put is scientists under the literal gun in his order to develop his own atomic bomb and used the considerable talents of his huge spy network to steal the secretes of this amazing new weapon the west thought they guarded so well. In four short years he had his bomb and his fears were allayed.
In the thirties he called a meeting of his underlings, henchmen and fellow bureaucratic mass murderers to confront another fear of the west that gnawed at the dictator’s mind. This time it was skyscrapers. Stalin, leader of a country that was suffering famine, poverty and with citizens being shipped to his gulag concentration camp system to work and die was afraid of what Soviet citizens would think if they traveled abroad and saw the imposing, overwhelming colossuses that symbolized America’s prosperity, strength, vitality and richness of creativity. It would make them think, and that was the on thing he did not want to happen at any cost. Once again a leader of endless solutions, he decided to ban travel to the west. His countrymen would never see these buildings; never have to deal with the implications of a society that could create them. Never begin wonder if they were indeed the strongest and best nation on earth as they had been told. Never get that ugly, dawning realization that there was a better way.
Last night, the Utah Jazz got an up close and personal look at the team that will eject them from the first round of the playoffs. You have to give them credit; they tried to stay right there, to send a message that this series won’t be the fait accompli so many say it will. They tried and they failed. That’s how it is when you deal with a team like the Lakers have. As with the long ago fears of Stalin’s western foe, this team from the left coast also has sky scrapers that give opponents pause to think and reflect. Made of flesh and bone instead of steel and concrete, they cast no less an imposing shadow on the landscape of the NBA playoff power structure than Americas towers did to the geopolitical implications of the cold war era. As the game went on the combined force of Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum simply proved too much. Each one did his meaure of damage, non of them could be stopped. One could see the Jazz scrambling around, fighting for everything they got but because of the Lakers height and talent, the ease in which they could operate; one had a good idea of the inevitable outcome. That is how it is when one team can do as it pleases whenever it wishes.
In the third quarter, the Lakers unleashed their ultimate weapon. Kobe Bryant, who had been muzzled with foul trouble in the first half decided that it was time to put a finish to Utah’s valiant struggle. The Lakers version of the atom bomb exploded in a blinding array of jumpers’ drives and passes that revealed the potency of the best player in basketball and irradiated Utah in an avalanche of points that left them gasping and beat down, finally unable to rise or fight further. As the lead stretched out and the game was decided one could only marvel at the extent of the weapons we brought to bear. Like the atomic bomb, when Kobe Bryant explodes everything else is washed away in a cloud of blinding brilliance and like the detonations at Nagasaki and Hiroshima any resistance is ended, the conflict brought to a very fast and final conclusion. That is how it is when a team has a weapon that transcends all others by such a large measure.
To add insult to injury, even the Laker ground forces did some mopping up. Derek Fisher found his long absent stroke, Sasha decided that being a machine was fun again and all the Lakers secondary weapons seemed to revel in peeling back the layers of the Utah’s deficiencies with each pass, basket and rebound and fast break. It was pretty only if you are a Laker fan. For everyone else it was a warning: The shape of things to come.
Watching Deron Williams fighting his heart out, throwing his best game at team of skyscrapers and atom bombs he couldn’t hope to match was a profile in courage. He resembled the captain of a ship, used to calm, shallow waters, suddenly finding himself in a monsoon of tidal waves and endless fathoms of deep water his ship was not equipped to sail on. As each leak was sprung, he rushed to and fro to bail his ship out, to plug the holes and stymie the ever increasing water coming aboard, and to coax more effort from his water pump; a great pass here, a drive to whole and one there, a defense rebound leading to a fast break. It was great basketball by a man determined not to lose and it was all in vain. In the end, the center did not hold; the ship came apart, foundered and sank, the crew and brave captain lost at sea. Watching Deron sitting on the bench at the end, slowly shaking his head, a look of sadness in his eyes, surrounded by lesser teammates who could not match his will or game, one could see the frustration and acceptance on his face that his will not be a very long post season. After all, when you have to face skyscrapers and atomic bombs, what hope is there that you will move on?
As the NBA playoffs begin once again history is about to repeat itself. Once again fear is being generated from the west and nervous eyes cast about for solutions. But unlike measures resorted to by that clever, evil dictator of another era, no scientist can duplicate the fusion that ingnites Kobe Bryants explosions and no spy can steal the secretes of his game. In the world of the NBA he is even more unique than the weapon Stalin so coveted and stole. This weapon is ours and ours alone. It seems so unfair, if you are not a Lakers fan.
Also unfair if you are not a Lakers fan is the fact that no dictate can be issued from the coaches of the teams we will play as Stalin did with his people that can prohibit their players from having to travel to the west and see our sky scrapers. To stand in their shadows as Utah just did, to feel the game they bring. To force them to pause and reflect on a team better than they are in the most personal way possible-on the court.
Atomic bombs and skyscrapers. This may all seem unfair to the teams and fans of the ball clubs populating the NBA playoffs-but not to me. To me it seems so very fair. I am a Lakers fan and I can’t wait for the playoffs to begin.
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