Rudy T and his isolation plays may not be as imaginative as some offensive sets out there, but isolation plays are where individual player skills shine. It can make you star on the court or the dunce. I think Kobe is getting used to it. He'll get it by the 2nd season. That's Rudy's style.
The funny things about that sarcasm is that many (and a growing number) Orlando Magic fans do not think that he is a pure PG. Check there fan forum every now and then and you will see. Maybe they are to dumb to identify a true PG like Francis even if it hit them in the face.
Kobe still shooting under 40% for the season, but the Lakers have become a team that is tough to beat. They always seem to come back.
The stats aren't the only similarity. Intentionally fouling Kobe at 1:01 when down by 4 points looked pretty familiar.
francis with an amazing 3.5 quarters to start the game. dishing, hitting everything, 12 ast and no TO's at one point. then single-handedly tears the magic down with that blown fastbreak (though he didn't mess it up by a decision, the ball just slipped out of his hand), then he travels, then misses a shot, gets it back, gets blocked, and foul tierre to send him to the line, then misses an open 3 when he could've passed back to cat (although he wasn't shooting well), then leaves jumaine open for 3, then frustration fouls kobe for no reason. of course he did keep the magic going and get them to that point for the first 3.5 quarters with a near perfect game up to that point so it kinda balances out to a good game when you consider he had 27 points, 13 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, and only 2 TO's. and that dunk over mihm was sick. i thought he jumped too far out and then he just crushed it over mihm. the epitome of a posterization. all in all, i was hoping for this result and i'm glad the lakers won because they need the win in the west more than the magic need the win in the east.
how many people on this planet think he is a "pure" pg? i'm guessing none. and you say "growing number" as if they are dissatisfied with the way things are going so far which seems kind of hard to believe considering they were the #1 seed coming into tonight.
Oh, so you give up on Rox already and root for Rudy T from now on? Hmm, I am thinking if I should do the same thing.
Laker record mantains with the 100+ for opponents. Lakers are 12-1 when opponents under 100 Lakers 0-7 when they don't. Rockets are just a sad, sad team.
it is better for mental health. though the rockets are still my team by a long shot, i've still gotta pull for rudy and then francis and the gang in orlando. too much invested in them to let it all go. i pull for orlando more than the lakers though. it's just the lakers needed the win more. of course, with the way we've started i've practically already consigned us to the lottery so it's just more fun to root for the magic and lakers at this point. plus, the more we lose, the quicker he is gone.
i wondered if the stat was still that extreme. francis got to the basket for a garbage time layup at the end but tried to pass to hedo for a 3 except hedo wasn't looking or the pass wasn't good and it went out of bounds to prevent the 100 point game. of course, if orlando hadn't sucked the whole 4th and only scored 14 they woulda broke 100 easily. and when is kobe going to figure out how to shoot again? i know people will say without shaq it's not so easy for him and he's showing his true colors, but he's shooting in iverson territory right now, and he clearly has been a better shooter than AI throughout his career. he's missing shots he has always hit throughout his career. easy pull up jumpers, turnarounds in single coverage, open 3's. everything. you figure eventually he'll fall into the 42-43% range but it's bad right now. which i guess makes it even more impressive that the lakers are still 12-8 right now.
*lol* @ "single-handedly tears the magic down..." As for your commentary on the closing of the game...Well, if it's a "wide open" three and you're your team's hottest shooter and you get the ball from a guy who's having a bad shooting night, I think it's okay if he shoots; he just missed it. I guess it's one of those things where if he didn't shoot and passed it off, I'm sure there would be those who would question that decision just as much? Oh well. But, that was with just under three minutes left, so they had plenty of opportunities to still win the game. The Orlando Magic coach, Johnny Davis, had a brain lapse in the closing minutes of the contest, IMO. Howard was on the bench for almost that entire fourth quarter, with only three fouls. The kid was having a good game, too. The Magic, usually a good rebounding team, were killed on the offensive glass -- Howard should've been in there. And on that wide open three by Jones, Francis was guarding Brown when the player guarding Jumaine came over to double Tierre along w/Francis. That left JJ open for the three. Francis tried to get out on him, but it was too late, but I don't think Francis "left him open." I agree that a huge play was when the ball slipped out of his hands on the fastbreak...the Magic were down by one @ the point I believe. But, he had a great game -- 27points (11-20 FG; 5-5 FT), 7 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 blocks, 1 steal -- and in essence was the reason the Magic had a chance to win it @ the end. Sometimes it doesn't matter how great a game he has, though, any mistake(s) he makes will probably get scrutinize even more (much like last year and before that). Oh well.
Francis was incredible - finding open teammates, making spectacular shots, and then just decided to open up a can of suckass over the last five minutes. That dunk was insane though.
