Hahahaha, Now if that don't teach us to be a bit more humble, and stop this nonsense that we are the greatest thing around, I dont know what will. Hard work and not just showing up are how you win championships, we have lost two games this season by getting blown out. Bench still has its weak spots, teams see the Lakers with a target on our backs this year, and are ready for us. Tonight better be a wake up call,, so stop deluding yourselves.

Anyone else still worried about our bench, in games like these, especially with a few starters obviously fatigued, our bench again lets us down, while the Nuggets bench dominated. Any suggestions on a good pick up before the trade deadline.

Hey- Did my doppleganger show up in the game chat? was he witty and charming and offering incisive and perseptive analysis of the game? Did he drive pfunk to tears more than once with brilliantly timed application of Luke Walton stats that directly revealed how full of it he is in his obsesional um, obsession?

well, why not?

Sigh. can't get good dopplegangers these days.

All that Laker crowing yesterday about beating Phoenix after Phoenix came off a six game eastern conference road trip and lost to the Lakers in a second game of a back to back was more than a little bit stupid.

Wah, Wah, Wah, Lakers had to play a back to back against two good teams; you can't play all your road games against the Clippers.

Green,

"All that Laker crowing yesterday about beating Phoenix after Phoenix came off a six game eastern conference road trip and lost to the Lakers in a second game of a back to back was more than a little bit stupid."

And so is coming on another teams' blog when your team lost as well, to an inferior opponent I might add. Oh yeah, and we were on a back to back as well, I guess they should've just automatically put us down for a loss since, you know, by your educated analysis a back to back ensures you will lose no matter what.

I guess you're just trying to build some self esteem after such a disappointing loss. And I'm also guessing you're trying to justify the fact that we beat down the team that gave you guys your first loss. Oh well, carry on.

I watched the first half, but asleep on my couch at half time. I am so glad I did!

funny thing was the same thing happened last year when the lakers beat phoenix by 40, then went to Denver and got blown out.

I'm glad I didn't see this game. I don't want to witness the Lakers quit a second time this early in the season. First Dallas, now this. Eight points in the 3rd quarter? Are we playing Phoenix circa 2006? Is Kwame our center, Smush our PG, Luke our starting SF?

AK/BK, can you tell the tech guys that that more recent lakerblog posts can't be accessed by the front of the sports page? It has the game chat link, but not the most current (this) link.

That's it.

Here's one to soothe the pain of last night's effort:

http://tinyurl.com/ykrwvvu

Wes

O the shame! O the embarrassment! Heads must roll after such a humiliating defeat by a major Western Conference rival!

No, I'm not talking about PhilJax. I'm talking about the Lakers' Travel Department.

I'd be tired, too, if after giving my all the night before, I didn't get to my hotel till four o'clock the next morning. The best way to manage my energy is to get to sleep the same time every night and getting up the same time every morning. Sleep patterns matter.

I know it's customary in the NBA for the team to fly to the next city after a game. I also think it's insane.

It would have been better to lodge the team Thursday night at a hotel near Staples Center, then board the team bus to the airport at, say, 7:30 the next morning. The plan leaves LAX Friday morning at, like, 8:30 or 9 am. The team watches game film on the plane. They arrive in Denver, fresh, at 1:00 local time.

Think about it. Kobe didn't get to sleep until the time he normally wakes up. Does anyone really think that's an optimal situation for any athlete?

The Lakers started the game strong. They just couldn't maintain it. By the end of the first half, shots were falling short. By the second half, there must have been a dozen offensive possessions where the shot clock was down to the final seconds (or later). Between sleep deprivation and lack of oxygen, the Lakers just weren't themselves.

It's one thing to say, that's just the way it is in the NBA. But how about just stepping back and asking, what about common sense?

Has anyone seen Ron Artest and his "great" defense this year., Carmello and JR Smith made us look more like Chumps than Champs, must be an 'Imposter" we have here.

I hope the Lakers don't blame this just on fatigue. The new-and-improved Nuggets that played the Lakers tough in the playoffs last year may not have been a fluke a la the Hornets after all, as many predicted. Need to take them seriously and study the game tape, as you know other teams will.

A lot of talk about the elite teams getting better this year but that hasn't translated into as much a disparity in the win-loss records as expected so far. Not so good for those who bought into a 73+ win season for the Lakers, but good for the league as a whole.

I remember us beating the crud out of the Spurs every time we played them after they eliminated us from the playoffs. They'd win a ring and then we'd get our revenge by beating them at the start of the following season. Then, they'd eliminate us again in 4 or 5 games, win another ring, and we'd beat them the 1st game of the following year.

Oh well.

If we can't get Gasol back, can we get more pictures of his hot girlfriend?

http://tinyurl.com/yh24on5

http://tinyurl.com/ykkvodv

Wes

...second game of back to back, after chasing Phoenix around the night before, and then moving a mile up in altitude...that would have been a tough game to win...could have, but did not....for those who want to be critical, go flat line....look 9 of the next 10 games are at home....Let's see how we sit after that....afterall, the key to being a champion is winning your home games and the a good percentage of your road games (in the playoffs, assuming the Lakers will finish tops in win percentage...however, with the way a few of the other top teams got off to quick starts that's going to be questionable)...

Byron Scott, available...hmmm....time for Byron to come home....in a capacity that would not rock Phil's world.....

phred & K-bros.... the imposter situation's really odd... no way to deal with it by emailing? Contacting the other guy?

I agree with Rick that the travel situation sucked but to be honest, we've had it better than a lot of other teams this year... we've mostly played at home and have a favorable schedule ahead. Sometimes a team just hits that passing gear and before you know it, the game's gone. It happened last night. Denver's a good team and they owned the 3rd. Maybe Sasha should have gone and picked a fight with Melo, haha. Because there wasn't any x's and o's or time outs that would have changed anything. We definitely should have kept feeding Bynum but I don't think that by itself would have changed the outcome. Now, maybe if Sasha had gotten hit in the throat around the 6 minute mark of the 3rd? Maybe that would have gotten the rest of the guys fired up.

Good Morning Laker Fam,

Denver had a similar game against us last year in Denver and a lot of people started crowing about them being our biggest threat. I don't think so. Sure, they're better with the addition of Afflalo and Lawson(nice slam on Mbenga and Powell last night), but wait and see what happens when it matters most. I predict that Denver won't make it past the second round of the playoffs this year, killing the rivalry talk. Yes, they did thump us last night, but they were blown out by the Hawks, should've lost to the Bulls and then lost to the Milwaukee Jennings, so excuse me if I'm still not impressed(by the way, that Jennings kid is pretty good).

62% FG percentage last night for Andrew Bynum. I repeat, 62%. So why doesn't this man get more touches when the game is still close? Another poster on here that stated that Bynum doesn't know how to read the game and that his energy is wasted if he doesn't use his brain is a flat out idiot!!! Right now, other than possibly Dwight Howard, who would we rather have playing center for us other than Andrew Bynum??? Please don't say Chris Kaman(nice stats, but the Clippers are still losers). While the Lakers miss Pau, they shouldn't forget about their other effective big man in the post, especially when the perimeter player's shots are falling short. At least give Drew more opportunities to punish and challenge the Nuggets in the post, thereby slowing the game down a little, allowing us to dictate the pace. No doubt some will argue various points I've made, but it's hard to argue with 8-13 from the field for 19pts, 3-3 FT, 15 boards(11 def., 4 off.), 1 block and others altered, 1 foul. I do have a problem with the no assist to kill any argument on that.

Andrew had great position many times last night and was open on several occasions only to have his mates look at him and swing the ball the opposite direction, miss him when he was open, shoot jumpers or force the ball into him after the double had come over. Using Drew more also gives Kobe rest offensively. 62% is young Shaq like. Easier, high percentage shots.

I can't think anyone would think the Lakers would win this game, the team didn't hit the sack until 5am and flying to boot. I saw KBs face on the bench in first half and even he looked very very tried. In fact I don't know why Phil even played the First unit in the second half, I would have played reserves that would have piss in the Nuggets faces.

Analyzing this game I see the achilles heel of the Lakers

Kobe seems to be the only player who establishes great position in the low post which leads to the ball being thrown to him way to many times. when this happens his teammates tend to stand around leading Kobe to take a bad shot. Now Bynum is the best person to recieve the ball down low and at times was in position to recieve the ball but didn't. Kobe for all his skills cannot see the court as well as the 7 foot beast and a double team on Kobe is more likely to result in a bad possesion than it would be if Bynum or Gasol had the ball down low.
Not a knock on Kobe, but it's really bad coaching to use this strategy too many times. Denver used a simple trap scheme and Kobe's shot was off resulting in an easy Nugget victory.
The Thuggets were also rewarded by the referees last night and the Lakers were not given the same respect. The Lakers can play thug ball too and when they did it was foul foul foul. It's too bad for Artest that the refs are treating him like a Laker player instead of an tough NBA defensive presence.
The Bench was a major disappointment, and Fish's poor performance is now the norm. He can't shoot, pass, hit a layup, lead a break, or defend. Fish is dead weight and if something doesn't change, change the person making the decision to keep him in the lineup.
Nine Rings once again was asleep at the wheel, I sometimes dream of having a coach who actually coaches in the moment, plays the players who are hot, pulls the the ones who aren't. A coach who looks for combinations that work instead of putting in players at their prescheduled times. I only pray this is his last season.

I don't buy the idea that we made a mistake not getting the ball to Bynum more. Andrew Bynum is being paid 12 million dollars a year for a reason. He needs to demand the ball more. Stop blaming some nebulous entity for Andrew not dominating. The buck starts and stops with him.

Wes

Posted by: wesjoenixon | November 14, 2009 at 11:44 AM

Wes,

I respectfully disagree with you. Watching the games, I've seen many times Andrew calling for the ball in the post when he has great position only to have some of his mates swing the ball to the other side of the floor where Kobe is posted up. I'm surprised that you can't see him demanding the ball with his arm outstretched, sometimes reposting and still not getting the ball. The main culprits for this are Fish, Brown, Luke and Sasha. Kobe, Ron, LO and Farmar at least make attempts to get him the ball.

Remember last year during certain games in the regular season and then in the playoffs, especially in the series against Denver how both PJ and Pau lamented the fact that Pau wasn't getting enough touches in the post despite being super efficient??? Pau even said in that Denver series that he didn't understand why he wasn't getting more touches when he's so effective down low. All you have to do is go back and read the articles last year and you discover how disappointed PJ and Pau were about that. Fast forward to the present and you'll see that it's happening to Bynum right now. It's nothing nebulous at all when many of us on here can see clearly that his mates just don't get him the ball enough. To keep mentioning his contract is just becoming redundant because from my vantage point, Drew seems to be dominating and could be a more dominant force if his mates involve him more. As it was with Shaq, high percentage shots and high FG percentages are undeniable proof that the big man deserves more touches.

It's not to say that we shouldn't go to Kobe a lot in the post, but Kobe shouldn't have to shoulder the offensive load alone just because Pau is out when Drew has been putting up Pau like numbers and we have LO, Artest and Fish who has had two games of zero points which is unacceptable to me from our starting PG.

Sure Andrew has a lot to still prove and needs to stay healthy and play well to justify his contract, but for now he's our second option and most automatic offensive weapon next to Kobe which is why we should utilize him more. Mark Jackson said during last night's game that Bynum should just have his bags packed for Dallas because Mark Jackson believes that Bynum will be the starting center for the West in the All-Star game.

The one area that I would really like to see Andrew improve upon is his passing out of the post. His defense is improving and he seems to be getting over the mental hurdle of last year's knee injury. All I'm saying is that we need to utilize both Pau and Andrew more in the post because they're a load for anyone.