NBL

GONE FISHIN'

 

Be back after the draft.

raisinbrn at 1:08:53 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

LET'S GET IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

raisinbrn at 2:47:51 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

                  

Game 1 was completely winnable. 

We had a great game plan that we executed well.

If not for a couple of bounces that didn't go our way and Kobe missing shots he normally makes, we'd be up two games to none and going home.

We have some serious size on the Suns and we exploited that.  We were a little jittery in the first quarter, and ultimately I think that's what cost us the game, being young. 

After the first game most thought that Kobe was going to come out and be a monster after "only" scoring 22 in the first game.  Not me.

I thought that they should stick with what worked, and they did.  But kudos to Kobe and Phil for keeping them guessing.

I love this plan.  First off, it works, second, the Suns never know from game to game what Kobe is going to.  He was a little bit more aggressive in game 2, but he can still assert himself even more.  And many thought he would after the reports of Nash winning the MVP came out.  I think this will come into play when the Suns finally work out their adjustments to our "pound it inside game."  Kobe will be ready for the challenge and the Suns will be scrambling. I think we close out the series with Kobe being dominant while the Suns are expecting him to look for teammates and start taking them away. 

                   

Game 2 seemed so easy for us in the first half.  The Suns simply had no answer for us.  And little Sasha did what he does best, get under the opposing guard's skin, prompting a retaliation from Nash, with Kobe stepping in to protect his guy. 

Sure, the Suns made a game of it in the second half, but we answered every time they came at us, something we couldn't do earlier in the year.  That's growth right there.  The fact that we didn't give up the lead, or the game shows me that we are a much different (and better) team. 

 

I am eagerly anticipating being in the stands at Staples tomorrow night.

 

raisinbrn at 3:31:16 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

               

                

First of all forget, home court advantage.  Throw it right out the window.  Phil Jackson, and Kobe Bryant have proven that they can win big games on an opponent's home floor.

We open in Phoenix on Sunday and are poised to pull an upset, though with the way the Lakers have been playing lately, a lot of analysts out there have been saying anything can happen, so it's hardly an upset at this point. 

We know what Kobe can do, and we know what he can, and has done, in the playoffs.  We know Phil is the master of the chess match and we know that the Lakers are carrying a major load of momentum into the post-season. 

Sure, our lone win against this team in 2 seasons came while Nash and Bell were on the bench, but it was how we beat them, and that we stepped it up at the right time to clinch our playoff berth.

This is a different team than the team that hit the floor in November.  Lamar is filling the role that was envisioned for him nicely, and Kwame, well, he may as well change his name because he is a totally different player, which leads me to some keys for getting past for getting past the Suns:

1. Kwame has to continue to play well at both ends of the floor.  He is our last line of defense and a posy presence Phoenix has no answer for.  If Kwame continues his recent upswing and doesn't let his nerves get him, he's a main reason we get past this team.

2. Get the ball out of Nash's hands.  Don't let him get into the paint (see key #1) no penetration and they will begin to settle for the jumper and the threes, and they are a team that is willing to live by the three, let's make them die by it. Make the other guys make plays.  Turn Bell, Marion and Thomas into playmakers instead of finishers.  Make them work off the dribble instead of off the cut or spotting up. 

3. Get back.  Transition defense is key here.  The Suns running game is so good thatif we have lapses on defense they'll kill us in fast break points.  Of course this leads to what should be key 1A--

CONTROL THE TEMPO!! Don't let Phoenix get out and run.  Make them slow it down and score in the half court. This means we have to execute offensively and make shots.  It's harder to run when you are taking the ball out of the basket.  And we need to take care of the basketball. 

4. Rebounding.  One and done, don't give them multiple chances to score because if there is daylight Nash will find it.  And we need to grab second chance points on our end so Phoenix won't get the chance to run.

Phil will take care of the match-ups and Kobe will take care of the spectacular and the heroics, as long as everyone else knows their role, we take this series in 6.

 

raisinbrn at 1:35:41 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

PHOENIX BOUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

raisinbrn at 12:43:59 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

The Lakers are back to .500. 

 I could sit here and rant about team chemistry, or coaching.  If I wanted to be a sore loser I could sit here and rant about the refs, and I'd have some legitimate beefs.  Instead I will turn my attention to something different. 

Over the last two games, road games that seemed winnable, we lost in the closing moments.  No matter who or what you want to place the blame on for each loss, the bottom line is we had a chance to win  (or go into OT) in these games at the end.  Both games resulted in Kobe missing the game winning, or game tying, shot.

This has a raised some interesting questions among some of the Laker faithful:

Should Kobe be taking these shots?

Has anyone else earned the right to take these shots?

Is Kobe refusing to let anyone else take these shots?

Would Kobe support different late game plays so that the defense is thrown off and someone else can take (and hopefully make) a wide open shot?

We all know what Kobe can do. He has taken and made some pretty crucial shots over his career.  We have all seen the miracle shots with defenders draped all over him that have tied and won games.  No one is denying the fact that he has "earned" the right to try to make the big play.  Nearly every year they do a coaches poll, and nearly every year, nearly every coach in the league says that they would rather have the ball in Kobe's hand than any other player in the league.  That's saying something.  But, we have also seen him miss his fair share of last second shots.  We just don't celebrate them because well, they''re misses. Even Jordan once said that he has probably missed more "clutch" shots than he has made. That's true for Kobe as well.  No one is perfect, even Kobe can't make them all. 

So who on the team SHOULD or COULD be shooting if not Kobe?  Certainly no one else on this team has Kobe's experience with these types of shots but they aren't all a bunches of slouches either.  In rhythm Brian Cook is a fantastic shooter.  And despite a very slow start Luke has been shooting the ball very well lately. Lamar has shown that he isn't one to back away from a late game play, despite all of the criticism he receives about not being aggressive.  Sasha will ALWAYS take any shot he can get.  And I just know Smush is dying to get that "game winning" opportunity.  But, is being WILLING the same as being DESERVING?  Sure it is.  It's the NBA, if these guys didn't know how to play the game and knock down some shots they wouldn't be here, or they certainly wouldn't be playing, much less being considered for this scenario.  Any player whether it's Kobe, Smush, Luke,Darius Miles, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Scot Pollard or anyone else, has a 50/50 shot of the ball going in.  It's that simple.  And of course the chance may increase or decrease based on the degree of difficulty and whether it's contested or not.  But, let's say a teammate had a wide open 15 footer and Kobe had a contested 30 footer....wouldn't the odds tell us that the 15 footer is more likely to go in?

So is Kobe "hogging" the ball and simply refusing to share the potential spotlight?  I say no.  The biggest knock on Kobe his whole career has been that he is a selfish player. The Kobe that I have followed since he came into the league is a competitor.  He WANTS to take the game winner because even if he has missed his previous six shots, he believes he can make it.  He wants to win.  He believes in himself, and his coaches and teammates obviously believe in him. 

All this being said, we have seen Kobe get flat out mugged out there, pretty much since the All-Star break.  It's no secret that Kobe is the driving force of the Laker team, and no secret that he generates the majority of the offense.  Unfortunately, it is also no secret where the ball is going late in the game, especially when we need a buzzer beater.  The defenders flock to him like bees on honey.  He struggles to get open to receive the in-bounds pass and struggles to find a line to get the shot off. 

The past two games I have seen two plays that forced the ball to a totally covered Kobe, and watched Kobe take a heavily contested shot and miss while there were open teammates.  It's not necessarily Kobe's fault, there is only so much time to get the ball in, get a shot and get the ball up in the air.  But we really need to start running some different plays and drill into these players (and the guy making the in-bounds pass) that Kobe isn't the ONLY option.  Use Kobe as the decoy, let him draw the defenders to him and let someone else take the shot.  Who knows, we could end up with a lay-up.  At the very least we end up with an uncontested shot rather than Kobe shooting with defenders covering his sight line to the basket.  Do we have to do this every time?  No.  Kobe is our main guy, he should be the one to try to step up in these situations, but for now, EVERY team, player and coach knows who is going to shoot the ball.  Why not catch them off guard and actually win some of these close games for a change? 

Do I feel that Kobe would support this? 

Absolutely, because Kobe is a competitor and a winner, NOT a ballhog. 

raisinbrn at 3:19:38 PM PST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Yeah, we lost.

I am too mad to say much more right now.

raisinbrn at 11:36:22 PM PST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

I am one mad fan right now.  My football teams are in chaos, and Sunday's game against Seattle was painful.

The Lakers lose to Seattle after beating the World Champion Spurs on the road only two days before.  And Kobe acts more like a child during that game than my year and a half year old son does. 

What is wrong with this team?  Can someone please tell them it's March, not November?  And this is the time for them to be coming together on the court and Kobe to be LEADING them to the playoffs NOT kicking balls, cussing out officials and elbowing teammates.

And the frustration continues because the Lakers are playing the Kings tonight and I have NO idea which team is actually go to show up.  Add to that that it's in Sacramento, AND if we lose we are not only booted out of the 7th playoff spot (by them) but booted out of the 8th (and final spot) by the Hornets (by virtue of the loss column, which is what matters right now).

I am just hoping that an embarrassed and focused Laker team with something to prove shows up in Sacto tonight and mops the court with the Kings.

The other alternative I have in mind is too ugly to mention. I'll let you know which team showed up after the game.

raisinbrn at 4:28:01 PM PST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

When we started this road trip I knew we wouldn't sweep every game.  I was just hoping for something close to a split, maybe a 4-3, or even a 3-4 record when we got back to staples.  We started the trip 23-19 which meant we would come back with a 27-22 record or at worst, a 26-23 record. 

Either way we'd be at least a few games over the .500 mark. 

Well, either of those are a longshot at this point. 

After a predictable loss to Detroit we rebounded nicely and came back to beat the Knicks handily.  I thought we were on the right track until....

BAM!!  Blown out in Indiana???  This is a team we should have beaten convincingly yet they trampled all over us.  I was completely scratching my head, but still I gave them the benefit of the doubt.  It was the second night of a back to back, something we are terrible at.  We had a terrible shooting night, but those happen.  Until....

BAM!! Killed by the Bobcats.  The Bobcats!!!!  The worst team in the league.  Yeah Lamar was out but we made them look like world beaters. We never even had a lead against the Bobcats.  The discarded Jumaine Jones had a career night against us, while our group of er, uh, players couldn't stop them.  We shot a decent percentage but we just didn't have it. 

So now we are 1-3 on this trip. 

The game tonight is the second of a back to back against a Hornet team that is playing better than expected.  I'm not expecting great things.  Then we move to Texas for 2/3 of the Texas triangle for a Dallas team that has to be wanting revenge after Kobe's 62, and a Houston team that is finally getting its parts back together.  So what now??  We could easily go back to Staples under .500.  A loss tonight drops us to the eighth spot and two more losses could drop us from the playoff picture all together. 

It's clear we need a new plan of attack.  I'm all for team ball but these guys have to make baskets with some consistency and regularity otherwise let Kobe do his thing, we aren't winning with this "balanced" attack anyway. 

I also think that Mitch needs to make a trade before the deadline.  Ifnothing else to being us a spot up shooter that can at least come off of the bench and contribute.  Brain Cook could Phil this role, but it seems that Phil isn't looking to him for that.  It's a shame too because any time you have a big guy that can shoot from behind the arc it spreads the defense at opens up the middle a little bit more.  Send Cookie to Kareem to work on his post moves and then he becomes a great asset to this team.  Are you listening Phil??

We need someone to help Kobe.  Lamar is great at being unselfish and making plays, but we need a guy that can score.  I am not advocating trading Lamar, I'm just saying we can't look to him to be the second scoring option, that's just not who he is. 

And at the risk of repeating myself, Kwame's a bust.  Let's see if we can sucker a team into taking him off of our hands.

NEXT UP: A rant about our defense.  Play some!!!!!!!!!!!!

raisinbrn at 10:56:39 AM PST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Not much to say, except that we are watching the greatest player in this era do his thing.  It's fun to be a Laker fan.

 

I'll let the pics, links and Kobe's own words tell the story. 

If you've got Broadband you'll enjoy reliving all 81 points here:  NBA Media Player

 

Getting the second highest point total ever is quite an accomplishment, it's even better when you pull your team back from an 18 point deficit.

"I thought my guys were there," said Raptors coach Sam Mitchell, who threw defences at Bryant that he hadn't tried since he was in college. "Without a doubt he's a great player and the thing that's most amazing is he's relentless. On that offensive end and defence he just doesn't take plays off."   TheStar.com - Kobe's 81 points sink Raptors

"Wow. Kobe's an amazing player. I just give him credit. That's the second-highest points scored in NBA history. You hate to be on the negative side of history, but you've got to give credit where credit is due. He put it down on us, he really put it down on us. ... It's going to be talked about, viewed, analyzed, overanalyzed for a long time. Unfortunately, for us we're going to be on the wrong side of the analysis."Jalen Rose

                          81!!!

           Kobe's Biggest (littlest) fan. 

Kobe on Kobe:

• "I couldn't even dream of this when I was a kid; it's a blessing from God to be able to play this game."

• "It hasn't really sank in yet. We have four days off coming up here and I would have been sick as a dog if we'd lost this game. I just wanted to step up and inspire them to play a better game and it turned into something pretty special."

• "To sit here and say that I grasp what happened tonight, I'd be lying."

• "It's special because we've [Kobe and Coach Phil Jackson] been through so much. We've been through so many battles, we've been through so many things."

"And it's special for me because when I play the game, I play the game to try to please [Phil]. If he's happy with my performance, it makes me happy because I learned the game from him. ... He just looked at me and smiled at me and said he was proud of the way I played."

Get the shirt!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant 81 points Commemorative Tee

raisinbrn at 2:04:50 PM PST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own