Hugo Boss,

LOL! Lovin the Sasha jersey part.

Go Sasha! Go Lakers!

Ex: "he will not be better than Gasol/Turiaf."

It's not an either/or proposition. Bynum/Gasol/Turiaf is better than Gasol/Turiaf. Let's just say the Lakers do make it through the West. Do you really think that LO/Gasol is going to be able to handle Garnett/Perkins defensively? How about Powe/Davis off the bench?

I'm not saying it's not going to work. I hope it does. But, I'd love for the team to have options to be able to adjust and they won't if they're holding Bynum back unecessarily.

complex,
"wait for the balls release, then react... catch it at its apex... thats what Drew was doing night in and night out."

That is my point - that is not finesse, that is athleticism. If his knee is not back to 100%, he won't be able to do that, and thus his contributions will be pretty limited. If he had an effective 15-20 foot jump shot or hook shot, he would still be able to contribute at "80%"

After this loss, what will Shaq do?

I have it on good authority that Shaq will go down to Van Buren, the seedy side of town.

This is a bad area known for its prostitues, drugs dealers, and a 24 hr Dunkin Donuts where Shaq will eat Donuts till dawn.

While Shaq is in the gutter eating Dunkin donuts, Fatty is sitting back in his recliner, hands behind his head, with the biggest smile on he's ever had.

My God, life is good.

Its good to be a Lakers Fan.

Posted by: LakerTom

"Brought a definite grin to my face. How sweet it is. Suns down by 19 after 3 quarters. I wonder if Dantoni is "miked up." LOL. Gracias."
--------------------------------------------------
I just thought..........maybe we'll see some of the Suns while the Lakers are closing out their series on Monday. I'll bet the Suns will head for Heeney, CO. I hear there's some great fishing around there, and a rather unique bait shop:
http://www.coloradodreams.com/mbtsign.JPG

Yep. Real place. Been there......

complex.

You are so right about seeing Kareem in Drew. You gotta love it. Lakers reincarnation. When Kareem was still with the Bucks and had the rep as a “finesse” rather than physical player and Wilt was with the Lakers. I remember being at a game at the Fabulous Forum and seeing Kareem come down on a fast break and elevate and throw down the most monstrous windmill jam I ever saw any player make against Wilt. Drew has that same combination of finesse and power that made Kareem so great.

I still remember Kareem recounting how Drew finally “got” what he had been trying to tell him about angles and spacing in blocking shots and in a period of just 3 days nobody could get an easy shot at the rim in practice anymore. That is what we saw in the game.

The other thing I noticed is that Drew understands where players like to release the ball. He does not allow players to put the ball up off the backboard in that sweet spot right next to the rim. All great shot blockers eliminate any shots that target that spot right off. Notice when a player beats a shot blocker, the shot almost always goes up on the glass in that square foot where the rim and glass meet. Drew starts from there and waits for the player to make his move and then intercepts him. It is an impressive understanding for a 20 year old with as little game experience as Drew has to make. The boy is one smart player and person. True class all the way. He will become the defensive player of the year many times in his Lakers career. IMHO, he is already the next great Lakers center.

Now let’s get Magic to work with Farmar and Cooper to coach defense.

Tom

Hey Fatty,

You think trophy man is walking around down by the arena tonight?

Eyes on the Prize
Spelled the Funs Demise
An ad campaign
That went straight to the brain
of Dantoni
and Nash
and Stou-de-mire

Nighty Night Stevie

The Big lazy finally gets what's coming to him.

ex & complex,

"wait for the balls release, then react... catch it at its apex... thats what Drew was doing night in and night out." – complex.

“That is my point - that is not finesse, that is athleticism.” – ex.

Shot blocking and rebounding are more than athleticism, ex. Drew was not an effective shot blocker until he understood the physics and strategies of shot blocking, which Kareem taught him. His physicality did not increase, just his basketball intelligence and understanding of the dynamics of protecting the rim. Lots of guys could out-jump Bill Russell but none could ever be the shot blocker that he was.

Drew now understands how to stay away from the contact, where the shot block is going to occur, and what angle he needs to take to intercept or intimidate the shot. Even if he has lost a few inches in vertical leap, he will still be a force protecting the rim. His presence will also make Pau and Lamar better interior defenders. His intimidation factor will also be important as will his rebounding, which again is not just athleticism but a combination of athleticism, positioning, and timing.

Anyway, good discussion, guys. Let’s hope that Drew comes back and proves complex and I are right. I know for sure that is what ex hopes for too. Goodnight, guys.

Tom

This was a bad trade from the git go and showed miserably from the start.

The Suns played a little over .500 ball which lead to a low seed forcing them to play a real tuff team on the road in the first round.

Is Kerr a moron? Of course he is.

Who gives up an allstar for an aging slow center and then pays him 20 mil for 3 years.

Almost all experts agreed, it was reactionary and made no sense. They were proved completely right.

It was wrong at the time. It was really wrong during the reg season adjustment period. And was completely wrong in the playoffs.

Where Shawn could help hide Nash's liabilty on D, Shaq could not. Where Shawn made Nash look better, Shaq could not.

It has to be one the most historically bad trades of all time.

Now we see what's at stake. The Spurs are showing the rest of the NBA what it means to play like a champion.

The rest of the Western Conference is officially on notice that they're here to defend the championship. The Lakers had better understand that they need to come out and show show the Nuggets the same type of intensity and focus that the Spurs are showing the Suns tonight.

Saying those things, the Lakers are going to have a hard time getting past the Spurs or Hornets in a 7 game series without Andrew Bynum.

It's almost game time. Are you ready?

Posted by: "Pig" Miller | April 25, 2008 at 09:53 PM

Pig,

You hit it right on the head. I hope our Lakers were watching how the Spurs ripped the Suns hearts out tonight and come out and do the same thing to the Nuggets tomorrow who are worse defensively than the Suns which is hard to believe. I'm confident if we're matched up with either the Spurs or the Hornets because we play better defense than the Suns and Mavs and are more efficient offensively. Unlike the Suns, we can get stops for stretches in games and we're more difficult to stop on the offensive end because we have more than Kobe now and we're a great passing team. Getting the top seed and securing homecourt will pay the most dividends in the WCF. I'm sure that PJ, Kobe and Fish pointed to the Spurs and told the young guys that's how it's done. Time to take the Nuggets hearts tomorrow and hone that killer instinct. Go Lakers!!!

Suns new motto was reported on ESPN!!!

D'antonis said we now "Need to Keep our eyes on the Broom"" LOL

Peace!!!

Angry_Laker

How is it that the Suns are worse on their home floor than in San Antonio? I couldn't see the game, so I don't know. But it must really... I mean really be depressing for Suns fans.

After losing Steven, KL (suspended indefinitely after a flagrant, type 3), Mike T (traded to Memphis) and official blog sniper Gunner (the war's over, Kobe won, G's gun is locked and stored safely away), the blog will now be mourning Fire32, who will soon be a big shriveled cactus serving as a perch for buzzards alongside the other one, the failed transplant from Florida.

It's actually very sad because the Suns didn't deserve it. And there were a lot of people in LA waiting for a revenge that will never come. But somebody (or everybody) in the Suns organization must have had a baked brain when they made that trade... at a time when the Suns were actually leading the WC.

Suns fans really have to be depressed about next year. It ain't gonna get any better and Shaq's on board for two more years.

Popovitch is a genius. Hack-a-Shaq was a risky strategy when Shaq was in LA because Shaq still made (and makes) 50% of his FTs and on an average possession, any given team makes 1 point. But with the Suns, it has a more devastating effect: it breaks their breakneck tempo and this is a team that lives and dies on speed, hypnotizing its opponents. Look at the stats of game 3. Nash had 7 points and 9 assists in 32 minutes. How could the Phoenix FO not have sensed the danger when they made the trade?

Maybe a few years in the lottery will bring the Suns back to life... if they haven't traded away all their draft choices. Will Shaq be able to con another contender into thinking he can bring them a trophy? Unlikely, so he'll still be on their payroll, whether or not he plays. Will Stoudamire pull a Kobe and do parking lot videos? Unlikely, because he doesn't have the drive and poker-player savvy to put that kind of pressure on his team, which in turn doesn't have the resources to improve itself.

The Suns were the only team in the playoffs with 3 MVPs under their collective belts. Now they're the only team with three losses in the first round. Will Nash even be serviceable next year? In any case, he won't have the remotest belief that his team might succeed.

What's left of the Suns? A wasteland, where the only rain is that of the chorus of boos the remaining fans poured down on their team at the end of the game.

Yes, Suns fans the pain has not yet started with Shaq. Here's the time line for next year, so pay attention:

He shows up to camp overweight---> He tries to work himself into shape in the regular season ---> He gets injured and takes half the season off ---> He blames his teammates/coaches/GM/Owner for not getting him the ball--->He gets back in time for the playoffs, but it's too late.

We've seen it before here -- welcome to the life with Shaq. Just rinse and repeat.

The Suns deserve every second of failure they can get.

KARMA!

For being cocky and disrespectful. Now D'antoni, Nash, Amare, Bell and Shaq can cry all summer long.

Bye, bye Suns, no ring for you.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++
How is it that the Suns are worse on their home floor than in San Antonio? It must really... I mean really be depressing for Suns fans. (Posted by: Tsphere | April 25, 2008 at 10:41 PM)

++++++++++++++++++++
Tshere,

The Suns did not play worse tonight, the Spurs simply figured out a way to destroy them--a credit to Greg Popovich.
It is time for Mike D'Antoni and Steve Kerr to swallow their pride and admit that getting the Big Cactus is a big mistake.
The only chance left for the Suns to get into the series is to sit Shaq and go back to play the style of basketball they have been playing in seasons past. Failure to make this adjustment would not only mean a quick first round exit, it would also cost him his job!

AK,

That's the thing, we said this trade wouldn't help them beat the Spurs because it would just make it easer for Parker to destroy the Suns, and that's what happened. I let those two late season wins over the Spurs sway me.

Kareem may have taught the fundamentals to Drew to avoid the 3 secs, how to block in the post for rebounds but I don't see Kareem's style on Drew. If there is any resemblance in Kareem, it is Gasol the hook shots, tho' Pau does it with a running hook while Kareem was stationary within 10 yards, their sharpshooting in the F/T line, their set shots and both are soft in rebounds w/o any power at all. They conserve their energies. Drew goes for power in dunks and in rebounding, I don't see Kareem doing that during his time and that may be the reason why he played longer than any player till age 41, despite the intake marijuana, overall, he took care of his body. Well, mary jane was prevalent during that period and it is not a crime for having one.

Spurs are a dangerous team if the Lakers meet them in 3rd round. It is anybody's ball game because of their experience, reliability during playoffs, that's why many of us in this blog insist on having Bynum and Ariza. Many of you out there are cocky in saying that we can do it without them. How many Laker playoffs have you seen in your lifetime to have that kind of assurance? Ot it is just plain homerism and blind fighting spirit? Vlad and Luke are too soft in defense, Farmar and Fish are too slow by one step to catch up with foxes of Spurs. how do you expect them to be effective against Ginobli, Parker and Duncan? You say we beat them during the season. Nope, this completely another season called "Playoffs" Veterans play differently during playoffs. The big three of the Spurs are the liver, the heart and the brain compared to vital organs of the human body. I'm not saying it cannot be done but it is a calculated risk. So why gamble when we have the personnel who can do it. Currently, they are a finesse group that when their three point shooting goes on vacation, they depend too much on Kobe. Well, anyway we have to put all our chips with the medical staff. I am just disappointed with the prolonged rehab of the very young people. Next time to the Lakers PR group, Gary Vitti or anyone disseminating medical bulletins, please don't make any kind of projection, estimation, guesstimation on the return of an injured player if we are not qualified to do so. This is medicine not marketing. It only breaks down the expectation of so many fans and Gasol is not the solution for the absence of Drew, it has to be Gasol + Drew + Kobe + LO = Chammpionship. Those are the fearsome foursome formula. Now if you bank on next season, that's a wild supposition. It has to be this season when there is an opportunity to go for the big dance, why wait for next season? With the salaries alone of these four players and the other role players, it will be a logjam and headaches of Jerry Buss on luxury taxes, so let us seize the moment now by playing them while we have the fearsome foursome in the second round. Of course I'm assuming that in this playoffs, Lakers will pass the 1st round.

Classic HmrHed, Classic.....yet a truth we know to well...

It is fun to be right, even if it's only every so often (haha)...

And the good news? They get to do it again next year!

BK

Just a thought on Bynum.

What is the amount of games he has to play for his salary to be guarenteed? They may be holding him out to collect the insurance money on him, at this point it is almost feasable. We keep winning then its worth it, if we get in trouble, we activate him.

Could happen.

TWoody

I ain't afraid of the big bad Spurs. Who did they beat? A bad Phoenix team? That series would have gone 7 if Marion was still on the team.

The Lakers throttled, just throttled the Spurs in their most recent match (who were missing Ginobili). Yes, it was regular season, but that was for the 1 seed, so it was more like a playoff game, an early playoff game. I can say that with some certainty because I was at the latest New Orleans game and Game 2 against Denver, and the buzz, crowd, and pressure were similar. So, that Spurs game could not have been much different than an early playoff game.

And I know, Manu was missing, but I'm pretty sure all that pick and roll stuff won't be as easy against Fisher and Gasol. While he is no defensive stalwart, Gasol can actually move faster than a lamppost, and the length of his arms bothers Duncan.

Anyway, I hope the Lakers themselves are not like me, and looking ahead. They only need to beat Denver tomorrow (today?).

3 am
One journey complete
Another underway
I still love you

The beauty of comeuppance
The strangeness of symetricality
Last time I stayed
Superstition
The Lakers come first.

This time I leave
I have to believe
It can be different
The same on court
Where it counts
It always counts in court.

Please
Don't burn the beautiful pink
Kobe jersey....

You know the Spurs played well..they are the champions..they showed heart..

insert all the right things to say here..but BOTTOM LINE

I HATE THE SPURS!!!

ok?
I am a lakers fan...purple and gold...i may have some respect for their tenacity and killer instinct..but i guess just call me a DIE HARD FAN...

i am not one to say..well i am a lakers fan..but i appreciate how..NO NO NO..this is playoffs time..i am all about how magic was in the playoffs....intense..no mercy against the other team...much like kobe..no helping people up when you knock them down....

no nono

I HATE THE SPURS..screw the done suns....

nothing but lakers...amen!

Good morning Laker family around the Globe,

GAME DAY! Reporting in. Can't wait for the game. Today, the Lakers get to stab _enver right in the cavity where their heart would be. Go Lakers!