boozer and williams played like the All-NBA players that they are

shoot, even friggin' okur was ballin... consider that we got nothing from our starting center and nothing from our bench, what did we expect?

we'll get 'em on sunday

LET'S GO LAKE SHOW

I take this as a good wake up game for us...that we need to step up and take it to another level.

I'm not as worried about the 3pts that we took tonight...although we could use more ball movement and the will to shoot it.

They may have one this battle but we will win this war.

This is our time, our championship.

Go Lakers.

2nd round 5-1

And we gotta get off Luke's case. There's no guarantee they would've made a shot. Let's brush it off and move on to Sunday. Lakers in 5

My apologies K. bros

I was just wanting the sweep, super bad. Oh well, atleast this will bring our feet back to earth a little. Now we win the series at home, EVEN BETTER.

Bad loss... but not hopeless.

Even though the Lakers didn't play all that well on both ends of the court, they still had a chance near the end. This is while Utah was playing some spirited basketball & the crowd was going crazy. For the most part, the Lakers handled that adversity well. However, those late TO's were costly, especially Luke's.

Farmar needs to be aware that he's not as tall as Odom or as athletic as Kobe, so he shouldn't be trying to take it upon himself to drive to the hoop against Utah...it always leads to a bad pass, blocked shot (especially this one), or an errant shot. Also, they need to body-up Sasha on D. Williams instead of Farmar.

Gasol had a terrible game, but the game plan that was so effective in the first 2 games of driving toward the basket & then passing it to him cutting to the basket was abandoned for some reason. They need to get back to that.

Kobe had an off game, but was still Kobe.

If a few of those layups & 3's had dropped for us, then we would easily be up 3-0 in the series. The pressure is still on Utah, so I expect to see the Lakers do well on Sunday.

GO LAKERS!!!

Ok, we all knew in our hearts, the Lakers would be happy coming home with a split in Salt Lake City. Well, that's where we are.

Despite the horrible 2nd quarter, the Lakers were still in this game until the end. The Lakers will play with more poise on Sunday and we will head back to LA with the split.

The sky is not falling. Tonight, Odom and Gasol combined for only 25 points. Both have too much pride to settle for their performances tonight. Our bench, which has performed well during the regular season, has now had three playoff games against the Jazz. The Bench Mob expects more from themselves, as well, and should respond.

I know I've been critical of Gasol, and fairly so. But some of the hating expressed here on the blog tonight is out of line. Gasol, Farmar, Sasha, Vlad, and Luke all need to give us more. But we've made it to the playoffs because of their contributions all season. Throwing anyone on the team under the bus this far into the post-season is, frankly, idiotic. I know I'll take heat for saying this, but so be it. I'm damn proud of this team and proud to be a Laker fan. Go Lakers! We will win on Sunday.

Pfunk,

What do you want me to say? Walton lost the ball. Bad play, for sure. But that's hardly the same thing as a no effort, non-existent close out attempt, like Vlad made on that play. He literally stood there and watched Kirilenko set up, measure the shot, and launch it. If you wanna say the two scenarios are comparable, be my delusional guest.

What's just sad is that you're clearly rooting for something like that to happen. You're like a vulture, not saying anything when Walton's outplayed Vlad (who you bitched about Phil pulling), then cackling with glee when he makes a mistake. And yes, it was a big mistake. But the joy you take in it is just pathetic.

AK

Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | May 09, 2008 at 08:48 PM

AK-

Oh no you diidn't. SNAP!

Talk to the hand, pfunk!

Ok, no, seriously, I think that guy has had his moment. We need to move on.

FROM BOYNTON BEACH, FL

HI GUYS,

FORGET ABOUT THAT LOST, WE WILL MAKE IT ON SUNDAY. WE HAVE TO MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS BUT I KNOW SUNDAY IS 100% GARANTEE WIN. BELIEVE ME.

LET'S THE POSITIVE ENERGY FLOWS AROUND THE BLOGG AND THAT WILL GET OUR TEAM FOR SUNDAY.

SEE U SUNDAY.

BLESSINGS AND LOVE

SHEKOBE

Hey mebbe Pau should borrow No Country For Old Men from CB,,,might help him with that killer instinct. Still and all I expect him to have a Boozer like breakout on Mother's Day. Too much pride and talent,

Bottom line...very uneven game for us but still winnable. This is a worthy object lesson. Now we will need to see what our guys learned from the experience.

pfunk36,

Did Phil have a problem playing Aariza before he got hurt? Calm down man, you're grasping at straws like you're Mike T. Luke has thoroughly outplayed Vlad throughout the entire post season.

Vlad and Farmar stunk it up the whole night and you're hating on Walton? It makes no sense.

It's just one loss. Now it allows the Lakers to come back hone and win in front of the fans. If you want tickets, check out:

http://LosangelesSource.com/

I'LL START

fisher
kobe
lo
ronny
pa

because were getting killed on the boards.
an that block by ronny would'nt have been a foul in LA

Pfunk,

"AK, You need some serious anger management to resolve your issues."

And clearly, you're the master when it comes to letting go of an issue and not obsessing over it. Construction criticism noted.

"It is so obvious how much you root for Luke Walton.........I think I know why."

Ah, yes. The typical Pfunk statement. "I'm thinking something, but I don't have the sack to actually say it, so I talk in a cryptic manner that hopefully masks this lack of sack and convinces everyone reading that I'm somehow saying something profund." Seriously, dude. If you got something to say, come out and say it. I doubt you will, but I'm giving you the red carpet to do so.

"However if you are interested in winning a championship Luke Walton is just too slow and unathletic at the 3 for us to win.......it's that simple."

A) Walton is a backup 3, not a starter (which is exactly how I've said many times that I'd prefer it) and B) He outplayed Vlad by a long shot tonight and throughout the entire playoffs, which you can't seem to come to grips with, since it bothers you to actually see the guy succeed. Thus, like I said, you remain silent when he plays well and come out like a vulture when he makes a mistake. Pretty lame.

"My concern is if Ariza returns as you suggest..........Will Phil Jackson play him??"

No, I don't think he'll play Ariza much, because the guy hasn't stepped on a court since January and won't be in anything remotely resembling game shape for at least a couple weeks. Of course, you're also ignoring that Phil started Ariza for a while. But hey, why acknowledge something that crushes your rants? What's most hysterical is how you're actually calling for Ariza to eat up Walton's time, as opposed to the guy Walton's actually outplaying. But I'm the one with an agenda?

Seriously, man. Just come out and say why you don't like Walton and get it off your chest. Everyone knows as it is. But you're trying way too hard and way too unconvincingly to pretend it's about something else.

AK

Like happy, but totally unlike that in a very bad way.

I basically cleared out a Cleveland bar screaming at the television. Urgh.

Anyhoo... not the end of the world.

Jazz played (generally speaking) better defense than they had earlier and did not foul as much.

I don't believe that the game was well refereed, but it wasn't conspiracy bad.

To put it simply, if we would have had less turnovers and Kobe would have played a better first half, we would have won the game.

I did find it disturbing, however, how much the rest of the team deferred to Kobe at the very end of the game. Yes, he was hot, but we win by playing as a team with team confidence, not by deferring to Kobe.

Anyhow, invincibility is broken, but not inevitability. We'll do fine. Better than that.

GO LAKERS!

I promise Bio-Chrono readings on Derek Fisher, Pau Gasol and Trevor Ariza before the next game.

GO LAKERS!

Phred- Friggin hysterical! As they say laughter is the best therapy, esp after this (tantalizingly)close game.

Fire in the hole 32

AK, Xodus, et al,

pfunk, we tried. frankly, it's damn hard to stoke controversy on this blog anymore. Mike T is gone, possibly for 10-20, we don't know. Jon K is a nice guy, and willing to enter in conversation and have a good time. KL whatever, Gunner, neil, etc have wandered off to the land of blog where one can say irrational things or at least not post on real blogs. passionate lakers fan has undergone a remarkable transformation to a sane, articulate, concerned Laker fan. Others have been mostly just Laker fans from the get go and have been very happy that the Lakers are winning.

Very few, or possilby you, have been all we have left. The mysterious connection between Pfunk and Chuck 23 notwithstanding,...

ah, crap , I do pratter on.

I admire your persistance in posting despite getting smacked down by people who know what they are talking about. You obviously desire some kind of emotional fulfillment from this blog. However, it is not ours to question why, it is but ours to tell you to get stuffed and how. I do like having someone to mix it up with when I am feeling punchy. But let me just say, as a conscientous member of planet earth, SHUT THE FAHOOK UP ALREADY!!!!.

We don't care, nobody cares, you need to find fulfillment in other venues. In laymen's terms, GET A FARFAGNUGGIN LIFE!

I might be getting carried away here. I am just trying to kill time, and I can move on with things.

But, jeeez.

Today was a heart breaker. I knew those missed free throws would come back to get us. I'm really scared for the Lakers right now. Pau is weak, Vlade and Farmar are non-existent, and we can't get REBOUNDS!!!!!! If Utah wins Sunday, I predict we will be swept.

Pfunk,

"Before you question my question of whether or not Phil will play Ariza (even when he's healthy) please examine Phil's record. Ariza was starting and playing well during Christmas and the Lakers went on a nice winning streak with Ariza in the starting lineup. Luke come back from one of his many injuries........and what does Phil do?
He promptly inserts Luke back into the lineup against Boston sits Ariza who was playing well and continues to yo-yo Ariza for Walton until Ariza was hurt. THESE ARE THE FACTS AND NOT OPINION."

Well, they're the facts if you're willing to leave out some specific info. Like the 7-game winning streak the Lakers went on with Walton back in the starting lineup was bigger than the 3-gamer with Ariza starting (The streak wasn't necessarily because of Walton, but you're the one making a thing of it). Or that the two often played similar minutes even with Walton starting. Or that you didn't bother to explain why it was a problem to start Walton to begin with.

And mind you, I say this as somebody who would have preferred Phil started Ariza. I just didn't think it was a big deal either way.

And again, why is it a matter of benching Walton for either Newble or Ariza, when Luke's actually outplaying Vlad? Why are you not calling for Radmanovic to sit? This is a plainly obvious point that I and several people have asked, which you keep ignoring, because you likely have no answer (like many instances when someone calls you out). If you want to successfully pretend that you're running without an agenda, you're gonna have to do a little better.

AK

troy,

>>>Dare I say, could Jordan Farmar turn out to be a bust....

Yeah, people were saying that about Bynum after his second
year as well. If you want to cheer Smush, go ahead, but
Smush definitely was a bit of a head case. If he missed his
first two shots, then you knew that he was going to pout
and suck all night and stop playing at both ends of the court.

Farmar is slumping right now. He'll get better. Mark my
words, there will be at least one game in this playoffs
where you'll think... "Wow, without Farmar we would have
lost this game" (in the same sense that people were
saying that about Luke after the first couple games of
the Denver series.

Vlad versus Luke.

As bad as Luke can be, you pretty much know what you're going to get from him. He won't help you all the time, but he usually won't really hurt either.

With Vlad, you may get that occassional get shooting game, but they are very rare. Other than that, you don't really get anything from Vlad.

Also, if you study the injury history of Ariza, I'm not convinced he can stay healthy for an entire year. Assuming he will back Lamar when he gets healthy, we are going to have to get rid of a SF. Will that be Luke or Vlad?

My money is that Vlad gets his walking papers this summer.

Posted by: troy | May 09, 2008 at 08:15 PM

Wow so much to debate but here goes. Vlad is getting pulled when he is hot like in regular season. Even Stu commented on this. He got hot they went away from him and then pulled him.

When he came back he was cold and could not get into rhythm. PJ's stupid substitution patterns. Then almost everyone complains Vlade is not consistant. Gee, wonder why. I think you are right though that Vlade will go because PJ will not let his pet project Luke go.

===============================
And mind you, I say this as somebody who would have preferred Phil started Ariza. I just didn't think it was a big deal either way.

And again, why is it a matter of benching Walton for either Newble or Ariza, when Luke's actually outplaying Vlad? Why are you not calling for Radmanovic to sit? This is a plainly obvious point that I and several people have asked, which you keep ignoring, because you likely have no answer (like many instances when someone calls you out). If you want to successfully pretend that you're running without an agenda, you're gonna have to do a little better.

AK

Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | May 09, 2008 at 10:18 PM

AK

Just more Luke love from you. No Luke has not outplayed Vlade but as someone pointed out he has a longer rope. No one can play consistant when he gets yanked whether good or bad game. Luke stays even after bone headed plays.

PJ is too stubborn in his ways and that is why he has not gotten that 10th ring yet.

Ira was brought in to be insurance for TA but again as someone pointed out he has not been used. No one is saying start or sit someone Luke/Vlade but give him some minutes maybe against Korver or DW.

I think also like you in that TA should have started over Luke but unlike you I do/did see it as a big thing.

=======================================

Farmar is sooooo weak...

GET YOUR AZZ OUT THE GAME!!!

golly...

WEAK!

Posted by: Korey | May 09, 2008 at 08:07 PM

All I can say about Famar is...we traded the wrong guy. I'm sorry, I would've kept Javaris, a way bigger steal than Famar's no defense-weak-playing a** is.

Posted by: Rhon Salmon | May 09, 2008 at 08:13 PM

I now more agree with that. I wish we could have kept both Farmar and Crit and given another first rounder instead.

But with the not ready for prime time Farmar I now wish we could have kept and developed Crit but PJ would not give him PT like he gave Farmar.

We need to get a another FA PG with experience to get stability in our game and develop Farmar more slowly.
====================================
Now more on PJ. We have been killed on the boards and what lost us this game was turnovers and shoddy defense especially by Farmar vs DW.

PJ needs to make adjustments but I hope I am not talking to the air. I hope he wakes up.

Maybe to cool down Okur at times put Mbenga at center and Pau at PF so Pau can stay with Okur and challenge ouside shooting. Put LO at sf to keep Kirilinko shut down and Mbenga can bulk up against Boozer.

Rest Pau with Ronny at times and Mbenga with Ronny at times. We then should be able to better control boards and then just play D and no turnovers. Let Jazz try to match up with that. Use Newble too.

We as Lakers fans have gotten more of our monies worth this year than we thought we would so we need to chill. We were all looking forward to next year but the lakers have played better than we thought and we also got Pau so the thinking has changed. If you look at the teams playing in these playoffs, I don't see any clear cut front runner or favorite so why not the lakers, Utah is clearly not better than the lakers so why should the lakers let Utah beat them. The lakers need game 4 just as much as Utah and I hope they realize it. If Utah wins on Sunday, it will spell trouble for the lakers because Utah will eventually win in La so the lakers better take care of business or we will all be saying our woulda coulda shouldas.