the lakers ability to miss wide open 3's for long stretches (and ability to keep taking them) and play horrible defense for long stretches will be their downfall. i'm not sure if it will be against the nuggets b/c their offense should eventually get going but that's how they lose games like bobcats and grizzlies at home and how they can lose this game. i mean you figure over 7 games if you give them this many open 3's you're going to pay for it, but they're just so streaky it could cost them several games.
kobe has been so fortunate throughout his career. outside of the past 2 yrs, he could struggled badly through playoff games and his teams still win (he had shaq then now he has a very balanced team)
One thing I have noticed is Pau Gasol has it EASY in LA. He barely has to *create* any shots. He gets tons of dunks and easy layups in the flow of the triangle offense and the great passing. His great hands and length allow him to be very effective.
The Orlando Magic went 22/22 from the freethrow line before they missed one.Thats impressive.If the Rockets can hit their freethrows against a physical Jazz team maybe the outcome might be a little different and also make layups.
gasol and odom just dominating the game for the lakers with their rebounds, passing, and cutting. that's the thing about the lakers offense, they have so many guys who can pass and know what to do with the ball. that play a few minutes ago, kobe came off a pick, got the ball, immediately fired it to odom open underneath and then he immediately flicked it to gasol for a layup. on most teams, you might get the guy making the kobe pass but very few teams have the guys who can make the odom quick touch pass (we had bonzi for a while). and then walton, even though he sucks, knows how to make those passes as well. so if you're even barely out of position, they're taking advantage of it. that's why the nuggets should have a ton of trouble stopping them this series. whereas on the rockets (and most teams), once tmac makes the first pass, if that guy isn't open, we practically just have to reset the offense b/c no one can make the pass that is fairly easy but requires great court vision.
u see how to stop a kobe/tmac. put tall guys on them. with ak47 and double teams, tmac can only shoot (and his jumpshot sucks right now). denver is putting martin + double teams on kobe -> jumpshots and he's not making them. but karl is dumb for keeping carter in there and thus looking so small on the perimeter.
LOL Kobe is such a punk. Gets fouled by Anthony Carter then casually elbows him in the face to make it look accidental. Technical on Carter.
Kobe can't hit anything, he tought he would have an easy one on the break but he didn't I judt wonder what would people said if it was T-Mac...
drive you lazy heartless punk if we had yao, he'd be doing what gasol is doing and we win game 1 . that's what you get when you're paid 20 mil. you get criticisms.
they're not even doubling kobe much now since the 3rd quarter started. kmart is actualy a very good defender, but kobe makes a tough shot right there. 4-15 is good though.
Man, LA plays no defense. Gasol can really score but if they don't get Bynum back I don't see how they will beat a team with a legit big like SA, Det or Boston. They did the right thing by locking that #1 seed up though.
