That's the weird thing playing against the Lakers, usually most refs for the road playoff teams will let the teams play with fewer whistle, or sometimes with first game in LA the refs will lay off the whistles (like against Rockets in game 1, last year). But, it seems like once the Lakers are behind or coming back home to even up series, the refs will suddenly swallow the whistle. No aggressive defense and give the Lakers alot of leeway on both sides of the ball. Though, I have to say the Lakers do not have the same killer instinct that the Bulls had in 90s or those old Celtic and Laker teams.
Worst regular rotation player in the NBA by far. He's only managed to survive for so long because he hit a few big shots in 15 years. He's like a cockroach. About as ugly and dirty as one too.
i started to full out cheer for the suns when Dudley made that beautiful pass to amundson underneath for a layup. the pass was just so freaking perfect. great fourth quarter from the suns bench not sure if they can replicate that in LA they really fed off the suns crowd tonight. honeslty i was shocked the lakers couldnt handle the zone again tonight. I dont feel for Kobe at all, i dont get where you can say that IMF he has the most talent he has probably ever had around him since the 00 lakers. The suns really took Gasol and him out of his comfort zone and forced guys like Odom and Artest who aren't shooters become shooters. thats just sound defensive strategy
lol yeah GAME FOUR. see how much the refs swallow their whistles game 6 or game 7 when LA versus Boston Finals is on the line It's not rocket science... it's the same **** as last year... Phil Jackson is a terrible Xs and Os coach. He can't make adjustments, he cant even make timely subs. He relies on giving the ball to his superstar and having better talent than everyone else to execute his own gameplan. Last year he had the same problems with Adelman's smaller lineup he has with the zone when his gameplan is disrupted and couldn't adjust and stretched that series to 7 also. That series versus the Celtics a couple years ago, Thibodeau's defensive schemes wrecked havoc on Kobe's offense and Phil had no answers. Jackson is much like Calipari, a brilliant coach with a singular area of expertise that no one else can touch. Calipari can recruit, Phil can manage egos but they suck at actually coaching on the court.
Sure, he does have the most talent since 2000, but what good is talent when you have to go out and get 38, 10, 7 and still lose the game... I mean it was the same thing with LeBron. I felt sorry for him too.. he had talent around him (certainly not as much as the Lakers) but nobody was helping him out. I surely give credit to the defense, but that's almost 2 1/2 games where they couldn't adjust to the zone D... Like Collins was saying throughout the game.. you don't have to settle for 3's. You find holes in that zone (and thus it becomes ineffective after a while) but the Lakers just aren't able to do so, partly because the Suns are just hustling on defense.
not sure if this has been posted, but check out the Suns' +/- from tonight's game. every starter in the negatives, every bench player in the positives. pretty nuts. can't imagine that's ever happened in a conference finals win.
Also post the unbelievable Dragic play, i missed it... Someone should make a Goran Dragic highlight video and title it the "Dragon Shake" off of his career but mostly the playoffs. Scolaisballin you hearing this?
I really hope it continues to work, but in all truth it will fall apart in Game 5. If this PHX team had Battier this series would be over...
Dragic putting Fisher in spin cycle and making the layup <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wm8SInRvGA0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wm8SInRvGA0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
The zone is working because the Lakers don't have a penetrating PG....they need someone that can drive and dish other than Kobe....who is on their roster that is capable of doing that? If they did not have Kobe, they would be in serious trouble... DD
Brown is the only guard on their team besides Kobe that can create his own shot... but he hesitates to do so. Farmar's mainly a perimeter threat... Brown is that other guy but he just isn't aggressive enough.
Not all that good on the dribble either, he is ok...but they really need someone that can dribble, they got by last year with Fisher, but the Suns have exposed their weakness now..... Imaging what Boston will do to them....yuck..... DD
He's not a true PG. While he can drive and create his own shot, he takes the shot. Brown doesn't have the court vision to make the right pass. I feel the biggest variable is the officiating crew. Both teams are capable at winning with their game plans. If the game is allowed to be more physical, Suns have the advantage with their scrappy play. If more touch fouls are called, the Lakers have the talent and finesse over the Suns. Unfortunate that officiating is the swing variable, but the effect on the game is huge.
