Lakers

[Donuthole]

Of course. I guess we'll see next year, if he's able to take the summer off and get healthy. Does Team USA have any games?

Probably no more or less than they had last summer.

[Moliere]

[Fiyero]

In case it's been a while, I'd like to poke in and remind you that the Lakers are the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked.

That's all; carry on.

[TripletDaddy]

In case it's been a while, I'd like to poke in and remind you that the Lakers are the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked.

That's all; carry on.

this is actually a fair commentary.

[TripletDaddy]

Walking Wounded

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...5114064.column

After shooting no free throws in Game 3, Bryant only got his two in Game 4 because Thabo Sefolosha fouled him on a 15-foot jumper.

Kobe didn't take the ball to the basket right-handed all game, suggesting a) he was protecting his shooting hand with the broken finger, b) he can't get to the basket on his sore right knee, or c) both.

This raises a really painful question in Lakerdom:

WHAT IN THE !@#$%^&^%$#@! WAS HE DOING PLAYING HURT ALL SEASON?

Jackson's primary goal, apart from making the playoffs, is to conserve his team for the postseason.

Oops.

MIA

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...,2771814.story

It leaves Game 5 as the next proving ground, perhaps the last stand for the defending champions.

"It's going to be such a critical game," Gasol said. "We need to regain ourselves."

"But we understand this is a tough test. We said at the beginning of the series that this series wasn't going to be easy. It's going to be a long series. It's going to be a dog-fight – no more so than before because they have a tone of confidence. They know how to play against us. They know what matchups they like. We've just got to go for what we know."

[HBCoug]

I've thought for a very long time that this Lakers team did not have a championship feel about it. They barely kept their heads above .500 on the road for most of the season, refused to address glaring holes at the PG spot, and would go long stretches getting absolutely nothing from their bench (especially when LO was moved to the starting lineup to fill in for Bynum). It's hard to fault management for not making moves when you have 90M+ already committed to this team. With several players in the final year of their deals, I'm looking forward to an overhaul of the bench.

Then you look at what is happening around the West and see the two teams you thought could contend with LA for the Western Conference, Dallas and Denver; both likely to get bounced in round 1. If LA can hold home court against OKC (big if at this point), they play a Jazz team in round 2 with whom they match up really nicely. Both PHX and SA are decent draws in the WCF if they were to advance that far. Strangely, I think LA still has a lot of basketball to play this season, yet I can't imagine them winning a championship with this many holes. Am I crazy to think San Antonio may get back to the finals this year?

[TripletDaddy]

Spurs are firing at the right time. They are obviously going to close out the Mavs. Round 2 will be tough for them. Phoenix might run them out of the gym.

The Lakers will put away OKC and then have a much easier time with the Jazz, as matchups are more favorable.

However, this team, with injuries to Kobe, lack of perimeter defense, and ineffective bench, is not going to win the title.

This looks like the year Lebron gets his first ring.

Also, it is becoming more and more obvious why Kobe signed that extension sooner rather than later. I addressed this in a previous post.

The problem with restocking in the summer is that teams don't like to help the Lakers. And you never know how these trades and signing will work out. I think everyone assumed that Jefferson to the Spurs would work out better than it did, for example.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

There was a thread last year about guys breaking down after 35,000 minutes and never being the same. Many here said that would never happen to Kobe, at least he is locked up at a cheap price for the next four years. He is only going to get better and recover faster the older he gets.

Kevin Garnett broke down last year. He was drafted out of high school in 1995. Kobe was drafted a year later. Garnett is still averaging something like 14 pts and 7 boards, but defensively he isn't close to what he was just two years ago.

Jordan played 12 full seasons in the NBA. Kobe is on his 14th.

On another note, I haven't watched much of OKC or Kevin Durant. Durant seemed to have a lot of trouble against Artest in Game 1, but [holy shit] has Durant figured things out in a hurry. Two plays stood out to me from Game 4:

1. Kevin Durant just blows by Artest, jukes him like he was Derek Fisher or something, and finishes strong in the lane. Durant is 6'10 and now he handles the ball at the top of the key and in the lane better than Dirk Nowitzki who previously was the best in the NBA at over 6'10 at doing this.

2. Durant handles a quick pass from Westbrook on a fastbreak and goes up to dunk the ball in one quick, fluid motion, this is an area where he blows Nowitzki away.

Durant is a taller Carmelo Anthony with (what's developing) into a better outside shot.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

BTW, the Spurs look, right now, like the front runners in the WC. They're old, but they're healthy right now. Popovich managed their minutes very well and in typical Spurs fashion they're peaking during the postseason. If they can beat the Mavs 4-1, they can beat anyone in the WC.

But the EC is where it's at this year. The Cavs and Magic look very good and even Boston looks like they may have another run in them. Like the Spurs, the Cs are old but everyone is healthy (well as healthy as Garnett can be at this stage in his career) right now.

[Surfah]

Kevin Garnett broke down last year. He was drafted out of high school in 1995. Kobe was drafted a year later. Garnett is still averaging something like 14 pts and 7 boards, but defensively he isn't close to what he was just two years ago.

Jordan played 12 full seasons in the NBA. Kobe is on his 14th.

On another note, I haven't watched much of OKC or Kevin Durant. Durant seemed to have a lot of trouble against Artest in Game 1, but [holy shit] has Durant figured things out in a hurry. Two plays stood out to me from Game 4:

1. Kevin Durant just blows by Artest, jukes him like he was Derek Fisher or something, and finishes strong in the lane. Durant is 6'10 and now he handles the ball at the top of the key and in the lane better than Dirk Nowitzki who previously was the best in the NBA at over 6'10 at doing this.

2. Durant handles a quick pass from Westbrook on a fastbreak and goes up to dunk the ball in one quick, fluid motion, this is an area where he blows Nowitzki away.

Durant is a taller Carmelo Anthony with (what's developing) into a better outside shot.

Your perception is not reality. Artest has been giving Durant fits all series. Durant had arguably his best game in game 2, but his shooting percentage when Artest guarded him was still in the 35% range. He scored in game 3 but his shooting % again was horrible. Game 4 was an absolute turd with scrubs playing the second half, so you can't draw too much from that one. For the series Durant is shooting 38% and just 25% from 3 pt land. And Artest has forced him into a ton of TOs. Durant is averaging 4.5 a game. If it wasn't for his 41 FT attempts where he is near automatic, then his scoring would be way down.

A better argument would be if the Lakers didn't have Artest they could have been swept.

Durant though is a stud. If he could develop a post game he'd be unstoppable. He's got everything else.

[falafel]

I would trade Kobe for Deron.

Thanks for the offer.

[Surfah]

Thanks for the offer.

I'll throw in a first round pick too.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Your perception is not reality. Artest has been giving Durant fits all series. Durant had arguably his best game in game 2, but his shooting percentage when Artest guarded him was still in the 35% range. He scored in game 3 but his shooting % again was horrible. Game 4 was an absolute turd with scrubs playing the second half, so you can't draw too much from that one. For the series Durant is shooting 38% and just 25% from 3 pt land. And Artest has forced him into a ton of TOs. Durant is averaging 4.5 a game. If it wasn't for his 41 FT attempts where he is near automatic, then his scoring would be way down.

A better argument would be if the Lakers didn't have Artest they could have been swept.

Durant though is a stud. If he could develop a post game he'd be unstoppable. He's got everything else.

He's been hitting 42% of his shots since Game 1. That's not stellar, but not horrible either.

Some people think that Dirk Nowitzki's MVP back in 2007 was the worst MVP award ever. I would say instead that Allen Iverson's MVP in 2001 is significantly worse. (BTW, Barkley's MVP in 1993 and Malone's MVP in 1997 were also very shitty). His season long shooting percentage was 42% that year. Shaq played more games than Iverson did that year, only scored about three less points per game than Iverson (guess what he would have scored without Kobe on the team?) and had close to 13 boards a game. On top of that, Shaq only averaged one assist less than Iverson (a point guard!) that year.

Thankfully these ballhog knuckleheads (McGrady, Iverson, Francis, Arenas) that almost ruined the league during the post Jordan years have been almost completely phased out. Fortunately the remaining knuckleheads have been largely marginalized to bench players (Ben Gordon, JR Smith).

[UtahDan]

Well we're about a hour and half away from the sun beginning to set on the Kobe Bryant era in LA. It has been a great run, but the Lakers are going to get shown the door tonight. I feel like I want to reminisce a little, but I don't really have any positive memories.

I really do respect Kobe, but did you know that he has now played more games than Jordan did in his entire career? The trajectory of his career is on the down slope, simply because of the miles he has on him despite his relative youth. When the series ends tonight, don't look for Phil to be back next year. The man is a front runner and will never stay at the helm of a team that has no real prospect of being better next year.

So, I think it might be a good a idea to let you guys grieve a little and then lock the thread. Hang it in the rafters, so to speak.

[Surfah]

Well we're about a hour and half away from the sun beginning to set on the Kobe Bryant era in LA. It has been a great run, but the Lakers are going to get shown the door tonight. I feel like I want to reminisce a little, but I don't really have any positive memories.

I really do respect Kobe, but did you know that he has now played more games than Jordan did in his entire career? The trajectory of his career is on the down slope, simply because of the miles he has on him despite his relative youth. When the series ends tonight, don't look for Phil to be back next year. The man is a front runner and will never stay at the helm of a team that has no real prospect of being better next year.

So, I think it might be a good a idea to let you guys grieve a little and then lock the thread. Hang it in the rafters, so to speak.

The series is tied 2-2, best of 7.