It was a good game and we got lax in the second half. We didn't run as much as we were in the first and the lakers started to hustle and got us (but we did give them all they could handle at their arena). Losing still sucks and we have to have to habitually have our foot on the pedal in the fourth quarter. I'm just curious why the coaches play Yao's last minutes at the beginning of the fourth quarter (as well as the third, I think) and not at the end?
I think a better rotation of players will have us a better team. However i hate waisting wins against LA to do it like almost every single year. Tired of them dropping games like this.
Seems like we lost poise when the Lakers were closing in....consistency is the key! I guess we still have a while to go to being like the Lakers, the World Champs.
I don't understand it either. It makes zero sense. If Yao is your "closer" or your star player, why isn't he in the game to close it out? Kobe usually rests a lot of times until the 7 minute mark of the 4th quarter. Then plays it out. If you know for a fact Yao's minute limitations. Why not bring him off the bench to close the 3rd and 4th quarters out? It doesn't make any sense. If you want to start him in the 1st half fine, but the 2nd half he should be on the bench until the 6 minute mark of the 3rd and 4th quarters. Also, why wasn't Buddinger on the floor in the final 2.4 seconds. Is he not the best shooter on this team? Why not at least have that threat on the floor to make the Lakers defend him. Having Battier on the floor right now on the offensive end made no sense. He can't create his own shot, and his jumper has been bad for the last 2.5 years. Adelman has got to do a better job making adjustments. He was out coached badly in the 2nd half, and made very few adjustments. I would of liked to have seen the Rockets go smaller. Miller didn't need to be on the floor. He should of had Scola at the center, with Battier, Brooks, Martin and Buddinger. Something like that. I've just never been a fan of Adelman's in game coaching. I think he does a great job with the overall strategy, but his adjustments leave a lot to be desired for me at least.
option or not. battier should know better than to pass it to the smallest guy for a layup on a last second shot. kevin martin was wide open and even a contest martin jumper would have been way better than a brooks layup amongest 5 defenders. in fact, it should have been MUCH better if it was according to battier's reputation and standard
I don't know about you guys, but Rick Adelman makes me want fish sticks... <a href="http://s126.photobucket.com/albums/p88/alancamacho/Mobile%20Uploads/?action=view¤t=1288159646.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p88/alancamacho/Mobile%20Uploads/1288159646.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
I'll be watching the Knicks closely this season hopeing they give us that #1 swap pick. I hope they win only 10 games this season.
I wondered about this too. I was thinking maybe they don't want Yao to be sitting so much between his court time. If he played the beginning of the second quarter and then came in at the end of the third, he would have rested for basically one quarter of basketball time plus the halftime break, which is probably over thirty minutes. Could be that he tightens up with too much rest. After all, they have him riding a stationary bike when he's not on the court. If this isn't the reason, it makes more sense to me to have him close out games.
Because in general, the guy who takes the last shot is a wing player, not Yao. Yao's value so far is primarily defensive - he stands in the paints and waves his arms, and the other team will find scoring in the paint a lot harder. But given that his offensive play was less then stellar, I didn't see a reason for him to really do anything, not to mention he fouled out. Howard may be the best center out there and is a star, but the Magic sure as heck don't want him taking the last shot. Well, if you choose to ignore the fact that Battier was the one throwing in the ball in and thus wouldn't be taking the jumper anyways, that point might be valid. ........................................................................................dare I ask who the heck is going to guard Gasol and Odom with that lineup. That's just mind boggingly stupid.
I don't think he's talking about the very shot but, say, the final 6 minutes of the game. Having a paint presence like Yao in there is a big help on both ends of the court.
I think the poster means why isn't Yao playing the last 6 minutes of the fourth quarter instead of the first 6 minutes. He was doing that in the preseason too. Fouled out or not, I think the coaches were going to keep him off the floor the final 6 minutes anyway, which is silly to me and I guess to these other posters as well. Yao is not Dwight Howard, he can hit free throws in the final minutes. As far as the Budinger comment, Why not have someone else throw in the ball and have bud in the play? (Bud doesn't have to throw it in) And I think the small lineup would have been good for that last shot. (not the whole 4th quarter) Not to mention before the final timeout Rick had Aaron in-bounding the ball for the last 2 second shot (Why? He is one of our best shooters. I'm glad that changed after the last timeout, at least that made a little more sense) I do think Rick got a little lazy coaching in this game, and should have called a timeout earlier when the Lakers first started going on their run (before they tied us and started getting the lead) in the 3rd to 4th quarter.
I dont really care actually. The next draft is as weak as a draft can get and we already have enough young talent. I'd be more interested in what we can pull off at the Feb. trade deadline.
Exactly.They drop these kinds of games after being up double digits most of the game on a rgular basis
blown layups turnovers and blown defensive assignments cost us this one, but we put up a helluva fight. was it just me or did brooks/martin look hesitant to take shots in crunch time?
My bright spot of the loss was Kevin Martin. 26 points in 29 minutes. 47% from he field, 50% from 3, and 7-7 from the line. Why did this guy only play 29 minutes. He is Mr. efficency. I would'nt want him as part of Carmelo trade even if the Nuggets wanted him.
he was in foul trouble cus the refs kept calling him for fouls every time he touched kobe or any other laker for that matter
Because Brad Miller was making such a huge difference on Gasol right? Gasol only had 29 and 11 with Miller playing 24 minutes. Give me a break. Watch the game. Brad Miller doesn't have any better chance stopping Gasol then Scola did. Odom isn't a post player. The key to defending Odom is to not let him go to his left hand and drive. Brad Miller isn't a shot blocker for that matter either. My point was simple, go to a smaller lineup for offensive purposes because the offense seemed to get stagnant with Miller and the Lakers took advantage. Sometimes you have to go small to combat at teams defense. The Lakers made the proper adjustments to slow us down.
