good point about last years 4 game losing streak. there was a stat last year that said no Phil Jackson coached (Bulls or Lakers) squad had ever lost 3 in a row in the season and won a championship. I hope I didnt mess that stat up. last year's Lakers put together three 3 game losing streaks and the writing was on the wall for me. this year's team is far from elite, and far less talented than last year's squad that was swept in the 2nd round. they had no athleticism last year, how do you see this year as an improvement?
They may soon be adding the missing piece that pushes them over the top into elite territory... AlexKennedyNBA Alex Kennedy
Screw the Fakers. Them the j*zz and Phallus should all feel the sting of a million acromantula bites. However.... Why do people not understand the concept that the regular season means diddly squat in the NBA? No team or player wants to play hard for 82 games to go on and play an additional 15 in the playoffs. Their bodies and minds can't handle it. If any of you have played sports you would understand this. So that's why in the playoffs everyone is on the same playing field. The guys that don't work hard suddenly do. The Lakers with their bigs will be able to just wear teams down in a 7 game series. Defenses will be locked in and the other team knows what youre running in a 7 game series. It comes down to execution and just having better players in the end. And with a dominant post up presence and killer closer the Lakers have the base ingredients to win. However, if they continue to have a perimeter defensive sieve and no shooters to space out the floor for their bigs they will be in big trouble. But like Jopat said the TPE and the deadline will be able to cure that. That Time Warner deal will not cause the Buss's to be upset with the Luxury Tax hit. God it kills me to admit that
The notable thing is on some of the possessions late in the game, there was no double-team. Iggy stopped him one-on-one. Some of the shots Kobe was forcing were dumber than dumb. He should have swallowed his ego and given the ball up to a better matchup.
Typical Laker fans, expecting every team to just gift them players. I don't care how old the Boston Three Party gets, the Celtics are not trading Rondo to LA- especially when the Lakers have virtually nothing to give. A 30 year old Pau Gasol with Keyon Dooling as point guard not the solution. When was the last time Boston and LA traded players with each other anyway?
And I'm not counting the failed Gary Payton trade. A legitimate, big trade like the one proposed here.
Watchin the replay of the LA-Philly game right now and gosh is Kobe dumb in the 4th. With like 1:40min left and 15sec on the shot clock he gets heavily guarded by Holiday and decides to shoot a heavily contested 3 with two steps behind the 3pt line. Lakers the the ball back, he demands the ball, gets guarded by Iggy and decides to throw a super akward contested hook shot/fadeaway cross and bricks it. Never looked for his teammates on those two possessions. 40sec to go, 18sec on the clock and again, he goes iso on Iggy while ignoring his teammates. Then drives to the basket while getting contested by Iggy and Hawes plus Vucevic are in the paint to contest his shot. No chance he's gonna make it but of course he's chuckin up a weird fadeaway and misses. Bein down 90-95 with 10sec to go what does Kobe do? Gets the ball from Pau and immediately shoots a turnaround 3pter while having defender in his face? BRICK. No one can watch this and defend Kobe, he never got doubled in the last 6minutes, all dumb and heavily contested fadeaway jumpers with enough time on the shot clock. Terrible, and he does this often.
it looks like the '01-'02 and '09-'10 lakers each had 1 three game losing streak. i didn't check the bulls but i remember in The Book of Basketball simmons mentioning that jordan didn't lose 3 in a row for the last 600+ games he was on the bulls so that probably takes care of all 6 titles. so still pretty insane to go 11 seasons with 2 total 3 game losing streaks. unless 3 game losing streaks are more rare than i think for champions. in '94-'95 we had 4 three game losing streaks and one of them was a 5 game losing streak. what i didn't remember was that the '01-'02 lakers followed up their crazy 15-1 playoff run and 8 game winning streak to end the regular season with a 16-1 start. that's 39-2 over 41 games!
you are correct, it was that they never went on TWO three game losing streaks in the same season and go on and win the title. i was going off fuzzy memory but you confirmed it.
They suck now... But its frightening how good they can be with ONE decent PG in the lineup. If they get someone like that, they'll be headed to the Finals, I'll call that
you have consistently said that the Lakers are better than the Clippers as well as the Thunder in this thread. they still have the worst bench in the league and two of the least efficient/productive point guards in Fisher and Blake. do you stand by this claim still? please do not include possible trade scenarios. and could you clarify this comment in the Lakers in Disarray thread?
The Lakers have some really good players (Kobe, Gasol, Bynum) and some really horrific players (Fisher, Metta, Steve Blake). They should trade Gasol for a supporting cast to put around Kobe and Bynum.
I tend to agree. Their production outside of their big three is so godawful that it's dragging down their entire team. The kind of upgrade they can get just acquiring an average starting point guard would be like moving up from a starter to a superstar... that's how terrible their PG play has been. Their production from SF and off the bench is very lacking as well. They are in the rare situation were a 3 or 4-for-1 type deal makes sense for them.
Gasol for Calderon or Sessions + fillers is all they are going to get if they pull the trigger this year. why can't they just be accepted as a middle of the pack 2nd round exit playoff team... like last year?
The playoffs are mostly a half-court affair. Playoff teams don't let their opponents run up and down the floor on them defensively. There is absolutely no way that a Mike Brown coached team is going to let that happen. The Clippers are obviously a very good team. But they are too young and one dimensional in half-court offense. It is PnR and that's it. Yes, I think the Lakers take them in a playoff series because of the Lakers experience and their ability to play a true post up half-court offense. (Even in light of their problems at this point.) The Thunder have the same style as the Clippers. They get the turnover defensively and the run-outs. Yeah, they've got a decent half-court offense since they have 2-3 guys that can get off the jumper against practically anyone. But once again, when you get into the playoffs, you cannot rely on jump shots in the half-court. You have to have a post game. The Thunder DO NOT have a post game. It's all screens and jumpers with Russell and Durant driving to the hoop when they are overplayed. Looks fantastic in the regular season. Will propel them to a great record. They are a very, very good team. But they have no post up threat. Playoff defenses choke off those drives. Playoff defenses choke off those jumpers and force fadeaways and force the jumpers from further out. Playoff defenses cover the court better. You need a post game. The Thunder don't have one. The Thunder have one great player (Durant) and a player that is a superior athlete at his position with the ability to shoot and finish (Westbrook). In a 7-game playoff series, I am still picking the Lakers. Sorry. Yes, the Lakers PG play has been horrible. And Kobe is overcompensating for that and the fact that he doesn't have a SF that can shoot worth 2 cents. I'd still take the Lakers with the current roster. Yes, Fish is old and over the hill. But what happens come playoff time?? The dude turns into a rock. But here's the kicker. They're gonna get a PG upgrade. It's coming. Just a matter of who they get. They're gonna get somebody. The playoffs is a different season. The Lakers are still best positioned to come out of the West in my opinon. The Spurs are also well-positioned and I'd take them over both the Clips and the Thunder as well because of their post ability combined with their backcourt. The Blazers have disappointed me. They should have a much better record. They've lost games because of lack of effort and boredom. I still like them better than the Clippers and Thunder in a playoff series because they have a back to the basket post option that is very good. Look, my story is the same. You gotta have a back to the basket post game. The Thunder and Clippers DO NOT have that. I know the Thunder use Durant in a pseudo post-up role but it's a gimmick and they go to it as a gimmick, not as a regular part of their offensive reportoire. You need a substantial back to the basket post-up threat to win in the playoffs. The Lakers have it in spades (Kobe, Bynum, and Pau as long as he's still there). The Spurs have it. The Blazers have it. The Grizz have it if they get ZBo back. Denver has it if they get healthy. Dallas has it with Dirk. Now, some of those teams I just mentioned are lacking in other areas such as paint defense which make them non-contenders. But you gotta have a substantial back to the basket post-up threat to keep advancing in the playoffs. The Clips and the Thunder have everything else but...a substantial back to the basket post-up threat.
