Mental note, the Spurs can hit open jumpers

Just saw this in David Thorpe chat in ESPN:

****************************************************************

Ricardo (London, Canada): hey D-Thor (like that name?!) Just listening to The Herd this past hour and Phil Jackson said that Kobe wanted veterans but management didn't want to bring people in and that they're headed in a different direction. It's official, Kobe's out!!! ..... right?

SportsNation David Thorpe: (12:05 PM ET ) Sounds that way, yes.

****************************************************************************

Is this true?

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WED. NOVEMBER 14 2007
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I MAMBA24 PROMISE NEVER TO MAKE ANOTHER LAKER WIN PREDICTION, TO KEEP MY BIG MOUTH
CLOSED AND STICK WITH WHAT I KNOW, WHICH IS NOTHING. MEA CULPA
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Only one thing to say... and I said it on yesterdays blog... GUARD THE THREE POINT LINE!!!!!

Lakers should be embarrassed and ashamed!!

Why was this interview not in any LA paper? Bcos it does not paint Kobe as surly?

http://startelegram.typepad.com/mavs_fullcourt_press/2007/11/former-maverick.html

Former Maverick Kobe Bryant
Came down to San Antonio to interview Kobe Bryant and get a story for the Mavericks-Spurs game on Thursday in AAC and what a great interview several of us had with Bryant.

He was funny throughout, joking about rumors of where he was going to be traded. At one point, when he was asked about rumors that he was going to come to Dallas, he said: "I think they've got me playing on Mars, too."

Mark Cuban admitted the Mavericks inquired about Bryant. Who wouldn't? But Cuban said Dirk Nowitzki was untouchable and the Lakers responded that so was Bryant.

The idea that Dallas could get Bryant without trading Dirk was ludicrous. Only one way that happens and that's if Bryant lays down on the job -- if he purposely dogs it on the court. And one thing about Bryant -- he's much too proud to do that and too concerned about his legacy.

Let me put it this way. If I'm the Mavericks, I tell the Lakers, "You can have every player on our team except Dirk. You can have Howard, Harris, Terry, Stackhouse -- everybody except Dirk -- and we'll take Bryant and whatever you want to throw in to make it work under the cap."

And you know what? Unless, again, Kobe had quit on the team, the Lakers would never do it.

The rumors of Bryant being traded to Chicago were stronger and there were also rumors about a Kobe-Gilbert Arenas deal in Washington. So with Kobe joking about everything, someone asked him:

“Did you enjoy your career more as a Maverick, a Bull or a Wizard.”

“As a Celtic,” Bryant said, and laughed . “Hawk maybe. Naw, it’s crazy. It gets to a point where you laugh about it.”

-- Jan Hubbard

Does anyone think that Spurs have better talent than the Lakers? If you do, you're wrong.

Sure, Duncan is one of the best big man ever, but after him the pickings are pretty slim. Even Duncan is one of the least athletic centers/PF to make the all-time elite list. Parker and Ginobili are good/above average players for their positions, but take them off the Spurs and you'll see that just about every team in the NBA has a Parker and a Ginobili. Who else? Old man Bruce? 36 years old and he played like a 36 year-old his entire career. Look at his career stats:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3167/career;_ylt=AmIEF3WtDyrwKR3uzvt7H.qkvLYF

What would posters here say about Bruce if he was Lakers.

I don't think anyone on the Spurs is even worth an honorable mention beyond those four.

Now look at what the Lakers have. Kobe, Lamar, Bynum (who by the way is bigger, taller, quicker, more athletic and probably stronger than Duncan), Farmar (almost the same player Parker was his rookie year) Fisher, Radman (tall, strong, quick, athletic, great shooter).

If you bring in a scout from Pluto, who has never seen an NBA game and have him evaluate players from both teams individually, how many would he pick from the Spurs in his top 5 picks? Top 10?

Both top 5 and top 10 would be dominated by the Lakers.

So why are the Spurs Champs and Lakers chumps?

Phil said today that Kobe is going to be traded before the end of the trade deadline

Phil said today that Kobe is going to be traded before the end of the trade deadline

Pss...Phil I know you make 10 billion a year and have 99 rings but how about putting your best players on the floor to start the game? Is that really to much to ask for? The starting five should be:

Bynum
Turiaf
Odom
Farmar
Kobe

But I know your come back is Bynum's Conditioning and Defense and you like the Vet or the Rook. I say BS, Kwame or Mihm or Fish are not going to get us there. You start Mihm at Center.. are you nuts.. And then the big coaching decision at half, the best you can do is start Kwame???? What the ######!!!

I really don't know what Phil is trying to accomplish but it's clear he's not interested in winning. It's like he wants to start in the hole at the beginning of the game. I don't get it.

BYNUM NEEDS TO START!!!!
FARMAR NEEDS TO START!!!

WAKE UP PHIL!

BD

Here's the thing...

Good teams are supposed to make you look bad. We looked BAD.

We had way too much turnovers, most unforced, and our offense looked discombobulated.

Our defense had no excuse, but in the bright side we did shut down TD. You're supposed to stop the stars right, and make the role players beat you? Well the Spurs has world class role players (no pun intended).

We need to find a way to improve our D. Our rotations were horrendous. Our defense pathetic. We NEED to find a way to play better D, if we want to play well, and be better.

I hope Kobe's not gone. If he is, I bet PJ is too!

that game was bizarre last night. Bynum came in, Duncan picks up a quick foul guarding him and has to go out, Oberto comes in, immediately gets a foul trying to guard Bynum and then... nobody passes the ball to Bynum until the final few minutes of the game??? I mean... yeah, Bynum got a few touches here and there but WHAT THE ??? Then... after Bynum stops getting touches, Kwame comes in and they start feeding HIM the ball???

Then, after an 18-2 run against Kwame and the Lakers needing some scoring, who do they trot out there for most of the 3rd quarter? I don't get it, I don't understand why they are screwing with Bynum like this. I know they don't want to put too much of a load on him but... ???

So glad Phil likes having maybe the best 2nd team in the league but I want the best starting five in the league. And that doesn't include Kwame or Mihm or Fish, Phil!

Can somebody tell me the name of that defense the Lakers were using last night? The one where you frantically run at the open jump shooter? I don't think it's a very good one...

Tom
Kobe complains on every call too. And that's a lot more often than Vujacic.

Charley Rosen says the Lakers' mistakes are correctable. But are they really when they're the same ones, with the same personnel, as 2 years ago?

"Now look at what the Lakers have. Kobe, Lamar, Bynum (who by the way is bigger, taller, quicker, more athletic and probably stronger than Duncan), Farmar (almost the same player Parker was his rookie year) Fisher, Radman (tall, strong, quick, athletic, great shooter)."
-HAB

are you serious? Really, i know you hate kobe, and this is so you can "prove" how kobe makes his team worse, but oh my god! I really don't know if i can take this seriously or not. Whatever.
Too bad you fail to mention they have other all stars on their team. And i love bynum, but dont even think of comparing the best PF in the history of the nba with a 20 year old kid whose never averaged 10 ppg.

I really enjoyed Ted Green's article. The frustrating thing about defenders getting caught in no man's land because they sag off the guy they're guarding but aren't really close enough to affect the ball-handler is that the one game they didn't do that was against PHX. It's not as if the guards effectively stopped Nash's dribble penetration. They just took away all of his passing options. Parker may be more comfortable scoring and his teammates less reliant on him setting them up, but it seems that adopting the same defensive philosophy they used against the Suns would've been something to try last night. Against NO too.

***Kwame Brown comes in and the Lakers immediately go -13 in the span of six and a half minutes? Seems like San Antonio confidence was bolstered at being reminded "Oh yeah, I almost forgot Kwame's on this team. What a joke. LOL!!!!" Regardless of the fact he was effective in keeping Duncan away from the basket, did a decent job on help defense and did manage to convert a couple of offensive plays - the guy was -17 for the game! If the team went -17 while he was on the floor then he had to be the reason!***

Zakee,
"Phil said today that Kobe is going to be traded before the end of the trade deadline"

WHERE DID YOU HEAR THIS?

taoshum,

i feel you bro. we dont feed our offensive weapon in the middle, drew, but we feed kwame?

Phil, why not do the unthinkable, how about starting Bynum??? Oh that's right, he doesn't deserve it, Mihm or Kwame do. Nice box score Kwame and Mihm 2 rebounds in 21 minutes.
No wonder Phil goes with you guys. Great offense with great rebounding at the center position. 2 years of Smush, and now, I get Mihm to start against SA, then were down big, and Phil makes the classic coaching decision, lets start Kwame for the 2nd half and will sit Bynum. Brilliant! With this type of coaching it is going to be a very frustrating year to say the least, and now what Odoms is hurt again. Just keeps getting better.

The only thing that might make me feel better is a victory tonight against the Rockets.

Go Lakers!!!

BD

TaoHum,

In compliment to what you are saying, I also felt Odom should've exploited Finley and Ginobili guarding him.

Yes I will shut up about the GAURANTEES. That was a GRADE A ass kicking in the hands of the SPURS.

I know people are going to be up in arms about the Lakers defense but their defense looked fine to me, 92 points isnt going to win many games in this league.

The Spurs scored over 20 points on turnovers, thats not bad defense thats bad offense.

Combine that with the fact Kobe shot 0-5 from 3s and had several others go in and out and you get the final score.

Poor Mike Ts guy Kwame WAS in the game during the end of the 2nd quarter when the Spurs went on the huge run to effectively put the game out of reach.

What happened to Kwames "presence"? Guess that 1 rebound and 0 blocks must imprress 9 rings, thats really hard to replace.

Anybody know why Sasha didnt suit up? I thought it was 15 guys strong?

Since we only have the Bi -Annual and the Mid Level exception next year, would you guys be open to signing Jamaal McGloire instead of Kwame if Jamaal was open to getting paid $4-5 million?

Any news on how McGloire is doing in new jersey? I wonder why his playing time dropped in Portland?

I feel he would be a more cerebral backup C/PF over Kwame and has about the same strength and wingspan....

Zakee,

Sorry, but I don't believe he said that.

Phil is going to manipulate the lineups tonight so we will lose. He already has full power with the team and is dating the owner's daughter. But he just wants to lose now..Look for him to put Brown in when they are down by 15 so the Lakers have no chance. Actually he can leave Brown in and they can still lose. So look for Phil to put the worse lineup possible so he can lose. He's tired of winning.

The HELP! defense article you linked to is awesome. It's about time someone said it. I was ready to tie someone to Bowen with a leather strap. Our defense makes me nuts.

Andrew Z and Ex,

In response to your posts in the previous thread I'd like to ask you a question. We all know The Spurs are better than us (thank you, Mr. Obvious) but you've got to admit that our mistakes ARE correctable. Despite center rotations that I'm less than pleased with and Luke Walton's shoddy early season play our frontline played well enough to make Tim Duncan disappear.

If guys like LO and Walton had made decent defensive rotations and closed out on shooters it may have been a different game. We may not be the most talented team in the league, but we can compete with most. Phil and the coaching staff just need to figure out how to clean up the mental errors. This is the second week in a row where we've left three point shooters wide open.

....And stop over passing. 15 first half TOs is ridiculous.

greek dude,

>>>Really, i know you hate kobe, and this is so you can "prove" how kobe makes his team worse

No, actually the point I am getting to is not directly Kobe-related.

I did give Duncan his props in my post. He is still the best big man in the game today. But, he had a lousy outing last night. 5 points, 5 boards? Who do they have beyond Dunc? Are Parker and Ginobili that great? Ginobili is not even a starter for them. Do the Spurs dominate the league almost year in, year out because they have better talent than the rest of the teams?

It's funny how Bynum always seems to be snagging rebounds and scoring buckets over multiple defenders while Kwame gets a free path to the basket. It actually makes sense if you think about it odds-wise. The scouting report on Kwame is his missed shot/fumbled pass to made shot ratio is 3:1. For every 4 offensive plays he's involved in, he creates 3 fast break opportunities for the other team - thus putting the Lakers defense at a disadvantage.

Kobe's calmness could be chalked up to it being very early still in the season and his belief this team can grow and get better. Or it could be that every demoralizing loss like this quietly vindicates him.

The Lakers know the Spurs. They played the Spurs a couple of years ago and beat them when nobody thought they could. Then last year we got the best of them.

It's the same thing as 2 season ago when we couldn't beat them.

Collapse and dish out is what the Spurs did until we adjusted. We adjusted when we had Kwame play Duncan one on one and kept everyone else home on the shooters.

Last night it was nothing close to it. I could really tell because by the time Kwame came into the game...it looked as if the Spurs were doing a lot of screens off the ball to free people up.

I don't remember if the Spurs started the game that way. But whatever...the Lakers went away from everything we done over the last year and a half when we've been beating the Spurs.

mike

calm down everybody.

except for the large amount of turnovers, i thought the lakers played pretty well in san antonio.

having chris mihm start, with socks to back him up is a good formula for now.

kwame brown MUST be used like a ben wallace. defend and rebound. on the offensive side of the ball, JUST GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY.

we limit the turnovers, and last night's game is much closer.

socks' confidence is growing with each game.

phil knows and sees it. so does kobe.

hopefully they can both admit they were wrong (like myself), and move forward with bynum as part of this team.

the lakers WILL beat the rockets tonight. if the lakers simply take care of the ball better, we can hang with any team in the league.

we also have to remain healthy.

we got beat by the defending champs last night, the spurs did what they were supposed to.

let's limit the turnovers tonight, and whip the rockets!

c'mon lake show!

zen,

because sasha is irrelevant.

kind of strange to read 'why was sasha in street clothes?'

to me, it's a sign that things are getting better in laker land.

Zen,

In the NBA you can only suit up 12 players per game. So even though we had 15 healthy players, we could only suit up 12.

Which sucks coz like Vman said, maybe last night was Sasha's big moment (with his pink undershirt lol).

zen: "Anybody know why Sasha didnt suit up? I thought it was 15 guys strong?"

You can only have 12 active. Sasha and Karl were in suits. Either Cook or Critt was the third inactive player. I thought the blog would be jumping up and down that neither Cook nor Sasha played last night.

Xodus,
"but you've got to admit that our mistakes ARE correctable."

In theory. The question is whether or not the players on this roster can correct them to the level required to be a contender. For that to happen, a number of players have to significantly improve. Typically, you don't get that that high a "return rate" on young players, and established players typically don't change significantly.

I think the likelihood of that happening is questionable, at best, which is why I think the F.O. needs to look at improving the team via trade. (Free agency upgrades aren't an option re the salary level the team is at now.)

Xodus-

It's not just an issue of a player or two, it's the discipline and structure for the entire team. It just doesn't take four guys collapsing on the penetrating player to keep things in line. Guys have to do a better job of recognizing when they actually are in a position to help, or when it's another player's job to help. Walton has really struggled with that, for sure, especially since he needs to be extra careful b/c his recovery speed isn't as good. But the guards got killed a bunch with it, too. Farmar, Fish, Kobe, etc. It was a real, true team breakdown, one that needs to be corrected quickly.

And the "free safety" think Kobe tends to do (and did last night) just isn't an option against a strong, disciplined team like the Spurs. It results in some spectacular plays, like those great weakside blocks he had early, but a team like S.A. will quickly adjust and realize that often times he was guarding nobody in particular, then hit the open man. Not blaming Kobe by any stretch, but against good teams, EVERYONE has to do his job first, then move on from there. They don't have the defensive cohesion and discipline to freelance.

BK

Ginobili is not even a starter for them
-HAB

dont even think about telling me ginobili hasn't been the best player on the spurs this year.

And no, they don't dominate cause they have better talent. It's a combination of coaching, defense, effort, chemistry, and talent. And duncan had a bad game cause we collapsed to the middle and left the 3 point shooters open.

So dont compare the talents of the lakers and the spurs. it's not even close.

"For every 4 offensive plays he's involved in, he creates 3 fast break opportunities for the other team "
-laker sth

lol

on Odom, first of all, he's back 2 games and he's already injured... AGAIN! and then I guess? because of the finger injury last night, he dropped out of the game AGAIN, as he always does.

Now here.

NOWHERE.

Odom = 14 points. You can set your watch to it. One game is 18 pts, the next is 12 points... the next will be 8 points, the game after will be 20 points followed up by 8 points... etc. etc.

$13 million plus/season for this...

Parker was finals MVP last season, many people felt Manu should have won finals MVP on the SPurs last championship team. Manu would play at the 2 or 3 on almost all the teams in the league and Parker is among the top 5 pg in the league, that gives up an all-star core of 3 to add around. Bringing Manu off the bench is something Pops does to rein (sp) him in and give the 2nd unit energy but he's on the court at crunch time you can be assured of that. The Lakers don't have all star core of 3 or a super star core of 2, you need some combination of the above to win championships (and good role players, Bowen, Horry, etc.)
On another note what about Kobe, Kwame, Jarvis and Rad to the Knicks for Steph, Crawford and Zach, does that work under the cap rules? The Lakers would have a crowd puller in Steph (if not for skills then something), a power forward to play with Bynum in Zach and a shooting gaurd to replace Kobe. The Knicks would only need a point gaurd they would have Curry, Kobe, Lee and Q.

Just heard Phil Jackson's 10-minute interview to The Herd in ESPN Radio.

Key summary:

1. Kobe wanted veterans In Lakers just like Paul Pierce wanted in Boston. Boston movead ahead and got Pierce support, while the Lakers have decided to move in a different direction and build the team around the younger core they have got now.

2. When specifically asked about if the Lakers would get equal value by trading Kobe, Phil was non-commital. However, he did take a page out of history, and pointed to the trades of Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem, and Shaq. In each of those trades, the team that traded the superstar has suffered, and the team that got the superstar won championships. And in the case of Philadelphia and Milwaukee, they are never the same. So Phil says, there is a lesson to be learnt here when you trade a superstar.

3. Although there is a everyday drama associated with this whole saga, the team is focused on carrying on its everyday routine, and things are moving along. However, Phil did point that, the Lakers are not alone in this. Lot of teams have had bad starts, and teams will start focusing on what they need to do to get back to winning. So Phil says, December and January are going to be important in how things will shape out.

Bynum should have gotten like 5-10 more touches last night. They had no answer for him in the post.

Kobe Bryant says:

"They know this offense," Bryant said. "They knew it better than we did tonight. It's to be expected right now early in the season, getting guys back from injury, trying to build that rhythm a little bit. It'll come around."

You see? The players know what rhythm means to the game. The only one who doesn't seem to understand the concept is PJ.

As for this Ted Green write up. I thought I saw something not right when Kwame came into the game. The Lakers were playing a soft zone?

The guys writes:

"I’m so frustrated I want to foul Bruce Bowen six times myself and go in for a hot shower.

What’s undoing me is the joke they call NBA “help” defense.

You know, as in Help!, I’ve left my man and the shooters are wide open!

Or Help!, we look like we’re trying to double-team but we’re really playing Monkey in the Middle.

Or Help!, I look like I’m trying but I’m really saving my legs and energy for the playoffs."

And later:

"The more I watch the NBA, and I’ve been watching and covering and writing and broadcasting, I have to confess, for 40 years, the more I am confounded by this concept of what I believe to actually be some kind of soft zone.

Soft being the operative word.

Why can’t the wing defenders stay home and guard their men? Why can’t those perimeter defenders stay home and take the challenge of stopping the man they’re assigned to? Why can’t the centers and power forwards, the big guys, come over and challenge or put a hard foul on a driver at the conclusion of the play?

Playing this type of basketball just strips Kwame of what he does best. Post up one on one defense, which allows everyone else to stay home on the shooters. That's how we've been beating the Spurs over the last year and a half.

Now all of a sudden we change that?

What is on PJ's mind?

You can complain about the roster but as long as PJ does all these questionable thing...I won't believe it. I want to see Kwame Brown's defense for 32-34 minutes a game and the Lakers not win before I believe it.

mike

Kobe's going to be traded?

Wow, that's a shocker... meanwhile back on Earth... our front office used to be the one that pulled off stuff like the 07 Celtics.

And:
Lamar Odom has come to the dance late but he'd better get his groove on soon.
This team still needs what it's needed since he came here, another consistent "go to guy" for around 14 million per season.

If there wasn't a clock ticking on this there would be reason to be optimistic. Any knowledgeable fan can see the talent and versatility on the team. Next year, this could start to work. Will there be a next year?

lakers_sth & Faith & the show,

Thanks. But the thing is that Phil wants to put the worse matchups on the floor because he wants to the Lakers to lose. If that was the case Cook and Sasha should have suited up! Although I think Sasha would have his best year if he was playing.

It's games like last night that make me wish I were a betting man. I'm not sure why, but I saw that blowout coming days in advance - just way too many mentions in the press about how well the Lakers matched up with the Spurs last year, and then all the coverage about it being Fish's first game back after .04... it was destined to be a stomping.

For PJ to do a interview after a loss and bring up the Kobe sage...that's interesting. Kind of makes me think he's taking the spotlight off his coaching. Maybe he read the Ted Green write up and needed to say something.

mike

"You see? The players know what rhythm means to the game. The only one who doesn't seem to understand the concept is PJ."

Your kidding right? Who do you think taught Kobe about the Rhythm of baskerball? It certainly wasn't Del Harris!

Jai,

Phil also mentioned that there are trades non specific for Bryant that are in the works, to add to the statement about Jan-Feb being very important.

Thanks for brining that up.

TaosHum
(Odom = 14 points. You can set your watch to it. One game is 18 pts, the next is 12 points... the next will be 8 points, the game after will be 20 points followed up by 8 points... etc. etc.)

As sho I know "Fat meat is greasy" ur comment above is accurate! Aint nuttin worse than a man wit talent..being so inconsistent. I would be surprised if Lamar comes back with 18pts..15brds!..Nah more like..wait what did he score last night?..just subtract 7pts from the and subtract 5brds and there you have it.

Which team presently fills you with more bitter, irrational anger; Celtics or Spurs?

Right now, I'm leaning Spurs. If nothing else, I actually like the Celtics stars as individual players. Talk of long-suffering KG/PP/RA "deserving" to have a shot at a title does not seem obscene.

Conversely, the Spurs stars seem to cut from the same unspeakable mold as the loathesome 80's Celtics. They are like the piece of some horrible, perpetual clock.

Re: both teams. I will grant that they are good at what they do, but any decent human being has to admit: they are the forces of evil.

I expect the Lakers to win tonight.

By the way, notice how Ginobili comes off the bench for the Spurs? Very effective.

And yet many of you complain that PJ does that with Bynum.

Kobe was quick last night. I haven't seen him that quick in like 6 or 7 years. In fact, Kobe is so quick, that on some drives he couldn't control his dribble because he is not used to being so quick! Looks like that new diet is working well for him. He is moving and jumping higher then I've seen in years. Maybe since his first few years in the league!

Anybody else notice he was a little out of control on some plays because he wasn't used to his speed. It was strange to watch, but Kobe has definitely changed.

Mike T,

I think i had a pretty good quote about you a couple days ago. Whatta you think?

"it's amazing, you hate everyone that makes kwame look bad.

Phil-called kwame a puss
Mihm-battle for starting center for 3 years
Luke-all his passes are dropped by kwame so he gets the blame"

mike T: "You can complain about the roster but as long as PJ does all these questionable thing...I won't believe it. I want to see Kwame Brown's defense for 32-34 minutes a game and the Lakers not win before I believe it."

At this point, nobody would believe you if you said water was wet so, in your own words..."Who cares what you think?!?!?! LOL!!!"

Ex,

No question the Lakers need to make a move. There's no reason why Kwame's expiring deal shouldn't be dealt at the trade deadline. I'm still praying that the Maloofs will decide they need to hand the team over to Kevin Martin and deal Artest to us. It's unlikely but I'm praying for it. The Pacers are coming back down to earth after a torrid start maybe JO will get frustrated again. And Pau Gasol is frustrated once again because the Grizz have improved but are still the worst team in their division.

BK,

I agree it's more than one or two players. I just singled out Walton and what I consider an awkward center rotation when Bynum is clearly the best of the trio and Mihm is clearly the worst. I'm not saying Bynum should start yet, but starting Mihm and not playing him the rest of the game makes no sense to me. And Drew played another good game. I think he should have played more minutes when we could have used his scoring and rebounding--not to mention the solid D he played. This can go one of two ways. The Lakers coaching staff shove game tape down the throats of the squad and show them that they've lost two games because of poor defensive rotations and they make the adjustment or they continue to make these bonehead decisions.

The problem is no one is sure what they should be doing, whether it's collapsing on Parker or Ginobili or staying at home. Too often guys inch into the lane to help but don't commit to playing help defense leaving a passing lane for Parker to find the open man. As for Kobe, I didn't mind him playing free safety early on because he was cleaning up the boards and playing great help D. The problem was he didn't adjust when guys like Bowen and Ginobili got hot from three point land.

Gawd, watching our team in the second quarter yesterday has got to be more frustrating than Einstein trying to solve the Theory of Relativity. I think about 29083450349785 bloggers (including myself) yesterday warned NOT to leave any of the oppositions shooters open, but apparently the fans opinions don't get into the Laker organization somehow. I just have to say that our team just sucks. period. We get teased with seldom good play here and there, and when it does happen, everyone knows in the back of their minds that its just going to be for a short while - nothing sustained.

So Im just going to blast these players:
Why in the world did we resign Luke Walton? He sucks major a$$..jeez.. He can't do any ONE thing correct. Sure he made a few shots, but jeez that is one ugly form on his shot. He must be happy about his lucrative contract - another player that played for his contract year. PATHETIC. Also, I guess VladRad decided to become a space cadet again, eh? Kwame, Kwame, those things attached to ur arms are called hands.. Use them thats how we became the dominant species on this planet. Lamar - PASS THE FRIGGIN BALL.. dont hold it for 10 seconds and travel with it.

No wonder Kobe wants to leave. I would want to leave also seeing how pathetic this team is. Trade away Luke, Kwame, Lamar and VladRad. Get some athletic promising talent, please.

GHE ftw!

Actually Ted Green wrote this:

"The more I watch the NBA, and I’ve been watching and covering and writing and broadcasting, I have to confess, for 40 years, the more I am confounded by this concept of what I believe to actually be some kind of soft zone.

Soft being the operative word.

Why can’t the wing defenders stay home and guard their men? Why can’t those perimeter defenders stay home and take the challenge of stopping the man they’re assigned to? Why can’t the centers and power forwards, the big guys, come over and challenge or put a hard foul on a driver at the conclusion of the play?"

I forgot to put a the end quotation mark. on the post.

mike

AK/BK, you guys doing purple, gold, and blue radio today?

From the Star-Telegram article:

"When Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal could no longer co-exist and Shaq was asking for a contract extension averaging $30 million a year, Buss shipped him to Miami. The trade might have worked out better for Los Angeles if not for Lamar Odom's health problems and also the ill-advised decision to trade Caron Butler, an all-star level player, for Kwame Brown, who is not."

Ouch. I hate it when journalists conveniently forget that we traded Caron AND Chucky Attitude for Kwame.

Little by little I'm going to get the media to look at what PJ is doing before they go around saying: The roster! The roster! The roster!

It may come down to the roster but before it does...it'll be what the hell is PJ doing?

mike

Greek dude-

Yes! Indeed we are. So you, and everyone! should tune in at noon... which is in about 10 minutes. Just click the show icon on the side of the page.

BK

The Lakers should win tonight because they'll give us another glimmer of hope at the "potential" of how good this team can be. Then they'll lose to teams like the Bucks and the Grizzlies, teams we should handle and then we'll be back to square one. The life of a Lakers fan. Brutal! Very brutal! The Lakers FO restructures, brings in West, Kobe reconciles with mgmt, West pulls off some miracle trades, brings Kobe the veteran help he needs, and we contend for a championship. Excuse me while I wake up and puke all over myself!

The weird thing about last night's blowout loss was that it "felt” like a winnable game.

Take away the untimely vagaries of the referees’ calls in the 2nd quarter, take away Luke totally losing his mind and thinking he can make Kobe shots, take away Duncan’s moving screens, take away Kwame ever entering the game and Bowen making 100% of his 3 pt shots and one has a very different outcome. (OK that is semi tongue in cheek).

Yeah, the Spurs are an annoying team for some reason (especially when they win). I think it may have something to do with Duncan's earnest astonishment that he would ever be called for a foul, Pop's oversealous rantings on the sidelines, or Parker blowing the doors off of any defender he faces.

TURNOVERS TURNOVERS TURNOVERS !!!! Bynum needs to get the DAMN BALL !!! Plain and simple ! Play the kid and get him some touches. As I've said all summer Farmar needs to play more ! Moving on, its time to pay back Houston tonight ! GO LAKERS !!

BK, nice, now i have an excuse not to do my materials engineering homework. Thanks

The D - It's weird. The team I always thought was evil as a kid was the Spurs with Artis Gilmore and George Gervin. Maybe because I watched too much SuperFriends and it was like they had evil versions of Lakers players.

The Bird-led Celtics I had respect for probably because it was a back and forth battle. Even though it killed me every time they beat the Lakers it wasn't like consistently losing to the Russell-led Celtics. If these Celtics make it to the promised land then there will be an air of unfairness and collusion between Celtics alumni to make it happen but I really doubt the Championship wouldn't feel "earned" as PJ likes to say. It's going to be a tough road.

Greek dude, Michael A, Exhelo, Kobe's T,

I'll just get to my point since I gotta mozy soon.

I am tired of all the talk how Spurs are such geniuses by finding these gems late in draft. They're not.

Parker and Ginobili are above average role players, but nothing more. Parker is a small 180 pounder who is quick. Is he quicker than an most 6', 180 pounders that make the NBA? No. Is he a great court visionary anywhere in the Kidd or Nash mold? No. He never averaged more than 6 dishes in his career. Never average more than 18 pts.

Manu is also smallish for a 2 guard and he actually may be quicker than most 2 guards. A bit.

Neither of them are pure shooters at all. They don't have near the sweet stroke of league's premier shooters.

The secret to Spurs success (not sure why it's such a secret, since I've read/heard a number of analyst discuss it in the same vain) is having the players buy into the system, and being disciplined play-in and play-out about exercising the system. Unity. Singular goal. They got each other's back. Brain over brawn. The organization is on the same page from top to bottom. Business approach. No voices of discontent leaking to the press.

The reason the Spurs won 3 Titles in the past 5 years is the same reason Team Greece or Team Timbuktu which don't have a single player nearly good enough to make NBA win World Titles over the incredible collection of the bestest and sickest players ever assembled. (certain other earlier Dream Teams aside)

So it's not that Spurs find needles in haystacks with their late draft pick. It's that those late picks flourish within their system of good coaching and winning culture. Spurs focus on players that have a combination of decent talent, decent intelligence and decent character. It serves them well.

A lot of people say they love my post. Quite a few in fact. People from other countries and stuff. And those who don't...seem to comment on my post anyway. Kind of like a two-edged sword. No matter how you look at it...people respond to mike t.

That says enough for me.

mike

Winning Culture!

When you see coach Pop doing this, that'll spell the end of Spurs dynasty..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6-SPSrOfw8

Word

Did you catch the L.A. Times write up?

The Lakers go soft in the middle.

I don't really understand that completely but who started the game?

Did you read Ted Green?

It seems he's talking about PJ and not Kwame. Anyone who understands the game knows this is PJ's doing.

mike

Chris H: "I think about 29083450349785 bloggers (including myself) yesterday warned NOT to leave any of the oppositions shooters open, but apparently the fans opinions don't get into the Laker organization somehow."

AK/BK - what do you guys think? You think anyone in the organization keeps tabs on what goes on here? You do interview a lot of them (Ronnie Lester for instance) who don't get media play anywhere else. Not poking fun. This is a serious question.

Greek Dude,

"Now i have an excuse not to do my materials engineering homework."

Actually we plan on discussing materials engineering as they relate to Kobe during the first segment, so you should be okay. haha

AK

You know what? Maybe Mike T is right. 15 turnovers on the first half and then he deliberately starts Kwame "No Hands" Brown to finish the job and maybe create more turnovers? Mike T might be on to something.

Mike T.

>>>A lot of people say they love my post. Quite a few in fact. People from other countries and stuff. And those who don't...seem to comment on my post anyway. Kind of like a two-edged sword. No matter how you look at it...people respond to mike t.

You get attention like that fat girl in a yellow micro skirt, red thong, purple wife-beater with a belly button piercing that hangs over the stretch-marked rolls.

Love you Mike:-)

mike t: "A lot of people say they love my post. Quite a few in fact. People from other countries and stuff. And those who don't...seem to comment on my post anyway. Kind of like a two-edged sword. No matter how you look at it...people respond to mike t.

That says enough for me."

So you're the Hasselhoff of this blog?

"At this point, nobody would believe you if you said water was wet ..."

Do you actually think whether you believe me or not matters?

Ted Green said it all. He's not referring to Kwame...but to Phil Jackson.

My work on Phil Jackson, starting with the Jackson Journals, is going to have the desired effects. I want the media to take a good close look at what PJ is doing. And I want them to write about that before they claim: The roster! The roster! The roster!

PJ doing this interview on ESPN talking about wait until December and Janurary...tells you he's being questioned.

Anyone with eyes sees that what he's doing makes no sense.

mike

mike: "Anyone who understands the game knows this is PJ's doing."

How do you know this when you don't understand the game yourself?

Exhelo

"Typically, you don't get that that high a "return rate" on young players"

Magic, Duncan, Worthy, Bird, LeBron, Wade, Carmelo, C Paul, D Williams... since the only serious shot the FO has attempted was Garnette and JO, I'd say they're bettin' on that high rate of return.

Looks like at best a late surge this year as the kids get experienced and then 09 step up to the next tier. If that is the plan, maybe Javaris should put on a uniform.

Mike T.",A lot of people say they love my post. Quite a few in fact. People from other countries and stuff. And those who don't...seem to comment on my post anyway. Kind of like a two-edged sword. No matter how you look at it...people respond to mike t."

HAB, "You get attention like that fat girl in a yellow micro skirt, red thong, purple wife-beater with a belly button piercing that hangs over the stretch-marked rolls.Love you Mike:-)"

YES FOLKS IT'S
HAB vs MIKE T
FOR THE UNDISPUTED VANITY POST OF THE WORLD

C.S. - I hear you. It was difficult to differentiate between the Lakers forced and unforced errors last night. How much of it was their own fault vs being caused by the Spurs? "Winnable" would've been nice but I would've settled for "competitive".

Zen,
" then he deliberately starts Kwame "No Hands" Brown to finish the job and maybe create more turnovers?"

No, it was because Kwame would fit right in with that style of play.

"PJ doing this interview on ESPN talking about wait until December and Janurary...tells you he's being questioned."

This shows what you truely know about Phil. Nothing. EVERY year he says he waits until December/January to see what he truely has. Even during their championship years he said that.

mike: "Do you actually think whether you believe me or not matters?

Ted Green said it all. He's not referring to Kwame...but to Phil Jackson.

My work on Phil Jackson, starting with the Jackson Journals, is going to have the desired effects. I want the media to take a good close look at what PJ is doing. And I want them to write about that before they claim: The roster! The roster! The roster!

PJ doing this interview on ESPN talking about wait until December and Janurary...tells you he's being questioned.

Anyone with eyes sees that what he's doing makes no sense."

You don't matter. So by extension, believing or not believing in you doesn't matter either. Ask AK and BK to corraborate your theories with Ted Green himself.

For PJ to do an ESPN interview after the Spurs loss...he must have been getting a lot of emails with the question: Hey Phil! What are you doing out there?

Phil has a lot of friends in the media. How are they going to continue writing about the Lakers' roster if PJ continues to do the stuff he does? He's kind of taking their legs from them. So the question has to be asked: Hey Phil! What are you doing out there?

mike

mike: "My work on Phil Jackson, starting with the Jackson Journals, is going to have the desired effects."

So, your goal was to burn out my scroll wheel?

exhelodrvr ,

Well it worked! I think Phil maybe forcing a power struggle with the FO. It's been obvious this season.

tha show,

>>>>because sasha is irrelevant.

Sasha is hitting 50% of his shots and 43% of his 3-pointers.

Maurice Evans, on the other hand is shooting 25% and 0% of his threes.

The Lakers were 2 of 16 on 3-pointers last night (including 0 for 2 by No-threes Evans),
which allowed San Antonio to pack in tight on defense. THAT is why they didn't pass
it in to Bynum much. Every time they would try to set Drew up in the post, the player
guarding the passer would just sag off and double Bynum.

Say what you like but the Lakers could really have used some 3-pointers last night. I'm
not saying Sasha would have won the game for them, but he may have made a little
bit of a difference.

tha show,

>>>to me, it's a sign that things are getting better in laker land.

Let's see. In the 4 games that Sasha has played in, the Lakers are 3-1. In the two games he
hasn't played in, they are 0-2. How exactly is that getting better?

mike: "My work on Phil Jackson, starting with the Jackson Journals, is going to have the desired effects."

So, your goal was to burn out my scroll wheel?

HEY I LOVE READING THOSE JACKSON'S JOURNALS BUT EVERY NOW AND THEN
MIKE GETS A LITTLE TOO HOT TO HANDLE

LTLF: "The Lakers were 2 of 16 on 3-pointers last night (including 0 for 2 by No-threes Evans),
which allowed San Antonio to pack in tight on defense. THAT is why they didn't pass
it in to Bynum much. Every time they would try to set Drew up in the post, the player
guarding the passer would just sag off and double Bynum."

It's interesting that Drew seems to be more effective working off broken plays and offensive rebounds. He thrives amidst the chaos, but has a more difficult time operating in set plays. Probably because the defense is prepared for him in the more traditional low post attack rather than scrambling to deal with his size.

Hell, Ted Green didn't even shoot PJ an email...he just wrote it up.

"I know you’ve all seen it. A perimeter wing defender comes over to “help” a teammate guarding an opponant driving toward the basket. Only this second “help” defender almost never actually gets to the spot where the play is being contested. Instead, he gets caught in no man’s land, giving a clear lane for the penetrating player to whip the ball back to the man this “help” defender just left wide open at the 3-point line.

While the “help” defender is guarding nothing except the floor.

Final tally: Peja 10 threes, but the floor was held scoreless. Bruce Bowen, 6-6, but again, nothing for the floor.

So I ask: Who is this defensive wizardry helping? C’mon, Phil. Like Dumbo, I’m all ears. If it’s not the primary defender it’s helping, and it’s not the end result it’s helping, and it’s not the win column it’s helping and it’s not my sanity it’s helping, let me ask one more time for emphasis:

Who is this helping?

For $10 mil a year you’ve devised a brilliant scheme to leave Peja Stojakovic wide open?"

No this guy didn't send PJ an email. He just wrote it up perfect!

mike

OK Mike T, C.S. will bite.

C.S. does agree that there were two questionable substitutions.

The first was Walton for Ronny after 6 minutes. It just felt out of what you would call "rythm". Walton's poor outing is detailed above by others.

The second was Kwame starting the 3rd quarter. C.S. understood (but did not like) Kwame coming in with 6 left in the 2nd, but even if Phil wasn't going to play Mihm anymore why start Kwame at the beginning of the third. It honestly felt like he was throwing the game to C.S. (Note: C.S. has coached zero teams to an NBA championship, so what do I know?).

Wait a second...so out of nba.com, espn.com, si.com, foxsports.com and latimes.com, the lakers have the lowest power ranking in their own hometown paper?

>>>On another note what about Kobe, Kwame, Jarvis and Rad to the Knicks for Steph,
>>>Crawford and Zach,

That deal smells like butt.

Why don't you give away the best player in the NBA and a promising rookie and an
expiring contract and get back the most overpaid player in the NBA, and salary cap
nightmares for years to come.

If there's any deal with the Knicks, here are some things you can count on:

1. Crittendon will NOT go out with the deal.
2. David Lee WILL come back in the deal.
3. Scatarbury will NOT come back in the deal.

I'm not fond of Randolph, but if he was involved, the Lakers could then ship him off to
Chicago (who really wants a low post scorer) for something like Tyrus Thomas and Ben
Gordon. Or better yet, Tyrus Thomas, Joachim Noah, and Chris Duhon. The Lakers
would still suck this year, but imagine how good they could be in 3 or four years when
all of these guys develop:

Bynum, Turiaf, Thomas, Lee, Noah, Crittendon, Farmar, and Chase Budinger (who they
would take with their lottery pick next summer).

...

More likely though, the Lakers will buckle down a bit, grind out a 6 or 7 seed and next
summer will be much like this summer, except the Lakers will have to take Kobe's trade
demand more seriously.

laker_sth - you're on a roll. That's good stuff.

Random Observations:

-The Lakers would've had a chance to win if they unleashed KOBE BALL last night. On certain nights, KOBE BALL needs to be unelashed. But at least they played like a team. Kobe was focusing on defense, fascilliating and passing to Luke and Kwame all night. They might've been blown out, but at least they played TEAM BALL. That's all that matters, right?

-Kobe, thus far, has been auditioning for Defensive Player of the Year. Unfortunately, this team cannot stop anybody, and his effort will be frequently wasted. Every starter is average or below average on Defense. Good team defense is impossible with so many weak links. Good team offense IS possible with several weak links, as long as you maximize the use of your offensive weapons. This team's only chance for success is to outscore the opposition.

-The Kobe haters complain about "Kobe Ball", wait til you endure a couple more games of "Luke Ball". Actually make that SIX more years. The "Big Liability" will haunt this organization until 2012. If you believe in the Mayan Calendar, we will be stuck with the "Big Liability" for the rest of our days on this earth.

-HAB, PLEASE tell me you're joking that the Spurs have comparable talent to the Lakers. You've got to be joking. You almost had me for a sec. That was a good one buddy.

CS:

"Note: C.S. has coached zero teams to an NBA championship, so what do I know?"

Don't you mean, "Note: C.S. has coached zero teams to an NBA championship, so what does C.S. know?

Consistency. It's what seperate great referrers to self in the third person (eg. Ricky Henderson, Karl Malone) from the amateur referrers to self in the third person (e.g. Keyshawn Johnson).

Who presently holds the Kevin Willis award for the most sweetly dim-witted player in the league? Remember, this excludes those whose evidence of stupidity is hubris, greed cruelty or anything else, you know, grown-up. I'm talking "ooh... shiny" levels of dimness.

I have to always nominate Stromile Swift here. You can actually feel your own brain cells committing suicide when he appears on the TV. Anyone else?

You people are silly and refuse to implement knowledge into your thinking.

Last year on LTV the show reported that this site gets 5-7 thousand hits a day. Now what do you think that means? Is that people coming onto the site more than 10 times a day each?

Probably not! They probably keep track of the IP address and email addresses. That probably means that there is 5-7 thousand individual people who come at one point or the other in their day.

Now put on your thinking caps. What does it mean?

It means that this site has about 100 times more readers than it does posters. What does that mean? It means that for the 50 or so poster there are 5000 readers. What that means is this: Just because the majority of the bloggers say one thing doesn't mean that's what the majority of what the readers think.

I get a lot of compliments, man. Put two and two together.

And as I pointed out in the Ted Green article...the professionals are starting to question what PJ is doing. The whole idea is this: I don't need the majority of you to agree with me. I only need the professional writers to be honest in what they see and write.

mike

Zen And Mamba,

He said it today on ESPN Radio in his interview. The problem with the situation is that the Lakers basically don't want to be like the Milwakee Bucks when the trade Abdul Jabbar. Left with nothing.

Laker Truth,

I agree. I was a big Luke guy last season when he was hitting open threes and helping facilitate the offense. Now there have been too many possessions where he becomes a ball stopper. He'll catch the ball, dribble the shot clock out and take a tough fadeaway jumper. This isn't the Luke Walton we all came to know and love. If Luke's hurting us on offense, he's worthless since in an ideal situation we've got to try to hide Luke on defense (tough chance considering everyone else is playing terrible D as well.

Laker Truth,

>>>HAB, PLEASE tell me you're joking that the Spurs have comparable talent to the Lakers. You've got to be joking. You almost had me for a sec. That was a good one buddy.

No of course I am not saying Lakers have comparable talent to the Spurs.

I am saying that the Lakers have superior talent to the Spurs. Take Timmy and Kobe off their teams and what's left? (and the point is not that Timmy is better than Kobe, since Timmy was mostly a non-factor last night, although generally the best Center in the game is more valuable than the best off-guard)

You don't think Odom is worth more than either Ginobili or Parker on the open market? I think many GM's would give you both of them for LO.

Beyond Parker and Ginobili, Spurs don't really have any tradable pieces of any mention.

LT Laker Fan, I'm with you on Noah. In the summer, I was pushing for Tyrus Thomas but I think everyone understands how desirable he is now, but Joaquim Noah has been a big surprise to me. I thought he would get overpowered and disappointed in the NBA but that guy has some FIRE! I'd love to have a rotation of Ronny and then Noah coming in right behind him at PF.

If we're gonna rebuild, let's build around young guys with the desire to improve, Farmar, Turiaf, Bynum, I think Crittenton has the desire - we just haven't seen him yet... LOL! but then if we're going to trade Kobe, you get a Joaquim Noah, a first round draft pick and whatever way this team is going, either Odom gets moved as well and we go after a young, up and comer SF like Deng or a young, about to break out type guy from another team as part of a 3 way trade.

Also, I'd like to see Rambis or Brian Shaw get a shot at the head coach position if Phil is going to leave. Rambis was overmatched years ago but now I think is more than ready.

i would give up (and so would every gm) lamar for manu and tony

0 all stars for 2

HAB,

No GM in the league would give you both Parker and Ginobili for Odom. Maybe 2 years ago (and that's a BIG MAYBE) but not today. Parker and Ginobili have both made all-star teams and have been key pieces of NBA champions (Ginobili nearly won the Finals MVP in 2005 and Parker won in 2007).

I would understand if you said the Spurs have less talent than the Suns, Mavs and Nuggets, but the Lakers? Please.

Kobe and Odom are the only guys who could start on the Spurs. Farmar, Turiaf an of course Bynum may eventually be very good players, but aren't all the way there yet. And all three are on their way to being very good players.

In case you missed it, the NBA All-Star ballots came out today. Lakers only have three
players on the ballot - Kobe, Luke, and Lamar. Surely it must be an oversight that they left
Kwame "The Champion" Brown off the ballot.

I heard what Phil said and I don't think there's going to be trade this season. And if there is, I don't think it happens before Dec. 15 and more likely is the trade deadline. I think we should play out the year and let the chips fall where they may. If by next year Kobe can't be convinced to stay, than I say we deal him.

Zakee,

I still don't believe those were his exact words. I don't think Phil would say those exact words.

Phil wouldn't say "Kobe will be gone by the trading deadline.". That is just not his style.

Here's my note to Mr. Ted Green.

I understand what you're saying and it makes pefect sense. What doesn't make sense is that PJ already knows how to defend the Spurs offensive structure. He laid out the perfect defense over the last year and a half that allowed us to beat the Spurs during that time.

The guy literally threw away that game plan for what we saw last night. Before we starting beating the Spurs, over the last year and a half, the Lakers played the Spurs exactly like how we played them last night. We lost back then and we lost last night.

The question shouldn't be: "So I ask: Who is this defensive wizardry helping? C’mon, Phil. Like Dumbo, I’m all ears."

The question should be: Why did you abandon the game plan that has beaten the Spurs over the last year and a half? C’mon, Phil. Like Dumbo, I’m all ears.

The question remains: What are his motives?

mike

Mike T,

I think you have already surpassed the one day record for posts previously held by KLBeast.
At least KL's posts were shorter while being repetitive.

Greek Dude,

>>0 all stars for 2.

All stars are voted by fans. Fans notice players on the better teams. Put LO on the Spurs, and Parker and Ginobili on the Lakers, Spurs are still an elite team and LO is an all star, and Lakers are still mediocre and Parker and Ginobili are good role players on a mediocre team.

You don't see it, than you don't see it. Can't prove it one way or the other.

Mike T,

Last year on LTV the show reported that this site gets 5-7 thousand hits a day. Now what do you think that means? Is that people coming onto the site more than 10 times a day each?

Those stats were given to KCAL probably from the K Brothers and they are misleading. I know a little about how the web works and unique visitors and hits are two different things. I don't think the L.A times Lakers Blog gets 5-7000 unique visitors every day. If they did, I would expect more posts...

Did you know that for every visitor who looks at a page on the blog, it generates about 5-20 hits to the server? So it's not about the hits. It's about unique visitors and page views.

That 5-7 thousand hit comment was made to make you think the blog was bigger than it really is because the L.A times wanted it promoted. They weren't lying, but it's a useless stat for determining how many people visit the site.

>>>i would give up (and so would every gm) lamar for manu and tony

I would give up Lamar for EITHER Manu Ginobili or Tony Parker. I'd give him up gleefully
for both of them.

Take all 30 teams, take their one best player off, put an open market value individually on the remainder of the roster and the Spurs would rank near the bottom of the heap.

Beyond Duncan, Spurs succeed with very little talent.

the D

Since the best of the brain challenged players don't get much mic time, I'd have to go with Marbury, inspired by his "another level" interview some years back in the 1st round of the playoffs.

I get the feeling that man has stupid he hasn't even used yet... and given what we've seen lately, he may be about to unleash it on NYC.

C.S.,

I'm not a Chris Mihm fan but he wasn't doing that bad for PJ to pull him at the 6 minute mark of the 1st quarter. The Lakers were only down by one point 9-8 at the time. I don't understand that at all. Then to put Kwame in at the 6 minute mark of the 2nd quarter only makes the whole rotation approach even more confusing.

mike

I would give up Lamar for Duncan too

Lamar Odom`s little pinky got injured last night somthing that just make me go hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm If their is one thing you can count on in life and that is taxes, car traffic in L.A. and Lamar getting injured every year,they said it is only a minor injury but it looks like only a harbinger of things to come a foreshadow of the future,on average this man has missed 47percent in his career,just like his playing is inconsistent but in staying healthy,omg I think this will be a long season.

Zen-

I don't think it's an effort to be misleading. The last time I got a figure- and it's been a while- I think we were around 70K per month in unique hits. I could be off on that, though. But there isn't necessarily a correlation between hits and comments. We have a great, engaging audience on this site. Other sites might be well read, but not as heavily commented upon. So I don't think there's any effort to deceive. I would guess the total number of page views is higher.

BK

Mike-

There's a difference between a game being close and the team playing well. The Lakers were close early with Mihm in the game, but they were hardly playing well. The offense had no flow and they were turning the ball over like it was made of plutonium. I don't mean this as an indictment of Mihm, or a promotion of Bynum or Kwame. Only that the score isn't necessarily indicative of how they were playing. That they made early changes, based on the lack of execution last night, seemed fairly appropriate.

BK

Xodus,

>>>Kobe and Odom are the only guys who could start on the Spurs.

You bring up a good point. If you combined the two rosters and had to make 1st and 2nd unit, Lakers would dominate both of them.

Timmy plays the 4, so Bynum or even friggin Kwame would start at the 5. They're both better than Oberto and Elson. Perhaps even Mihm. Kobe at the two. LO at the 3. Parker at 1.

Second unit still has a Laker at the 5, a Laker at the 1 (Farmar or Fish), Manu at the 2, Bowen or Radman or Luke at the 3. Who at the 4? Ronny? Mihm? who do the Spurs have? Bonner?

Spurs would have 2 of the 5 in each unit at most.

HAB,

>>>Take all 30 teams, take their one best player off, put an open market value individually
>>>on the remainder of the roster and the Spurs would rank near the bottom of the heap.
>>>
>>>Beyond Duncan, Spurs succeed with very little talent.

That's complete and utter tripe. There are two other All-Stars on the team with Duncan,
and a ton of good role players like Finley and Bowen and Brent Barry. San Antonio has
plenty of talent.