Kobe's game is all for nothing if Nash/Marion have their usualy game or if Odom and Brown don't have terrific all around games. Kobe was the leader, but lots of Lakers played their best and Phx stars (outside of Amare) didn't. Tmac isn't Kobe any more. Kobe is stronger and has a much healthier back. But Tmac in many ways is a better teammate, last night not with standing.
So Kobe goes off for 45 --> Lakers win.... And Kobe has 15 --> Lakers lose... But how come when Kobe had 15, the Lakers actually had a higher score (98 vs 95)? Kobe taking more shots = defense??? Suns lost cause Nash and Marion were AWOL, they got outrebounded badly (-9), and LA got LA calls. Evan
Dude, Kobe was playing a team game when he was averaging nearly 6 assists and we were 26-13. Have you ever thought that maybe the injuries and lack of chemistry due ti the injuries caused us to suck? I mean, its mind-blowing someone can say that. It's something a casual fan would say.
I think when Kobe paces himself offensively it usually means he's playing defense. The ONLY way the Lakers stand a chance is with their defense, not offense. This is why PJax has been preaching defense all this time, but the Lakers' players have been completely disinterested thus far. I know defense isn't "fun" or as sexy as offense, but that's what wins in the playoffs. Last game, Rockets played decent offense for almost three quarters, but their defense was absolutely atrocious and they couldn't make any stops all game long. Result? blow-out. That was the biggest reason I was so disappointed last night in our team. We didn't bring any energy to this game and we clearly came on hoping to 'steal' one instead of earning a win. Our commitment level sucked and it manifested itself through our defense -- or lack thereof to be more accurate.
So much talk about Kobe on the Lakers' game 3 win. Let me give some credits to Pjax's game plan: - try to control the tempo instead running on fumes with the Suns and take the Suns a little bit out of sync. - pressure the ball from backcourt. - play S Will on Baborsa to slow him down. - had a AA meeting to clear things out and got players on the same page. - did he even give some candies to p***y Kwame? He seemed to be motivated with a career playoff night. And Kwame played on after twisted his ankle in 3rd qtr. That's rare and weired. - run Lamar and Kobe for 40+ mins. Nobody wants to go down 3-0. - One last thing is always Kobe be like a super hero again.
are the lakers even going to pretend to play defense? nash with a wide open layup. an alleyoop to marion that didn't even work but he still gathered it in and made an uncontested layup, a wide open james jones 3 where kwame just looked at him and didn't even try to run at him, and now another uncontested dunk by marion where he was the only guy in the paint. even though it's only a 1 point game, it'll be a blowout if that continues. edit: i think the lakers may actually be playing the worst defense in the history of basketball right now. the suns had about 10 consecutive shots within 3 feet of the basket. only a diaw missed layup stopped the run. a blind man could find these people open and you're leaving them open against nash, not a good recipe for success. plus kobe has missed about 4 easy shots here recently, including a layup and a wide open 3.
might wanna get kobe back in the game. and nash is gonna have 30 assists if the lakers keep playing interior D like this.
Phil has played all 12 of his players in the first half and all 12 have contributed. Would JVG ever do anything like this?
Nash just tied the playoff record for most assists in a half with 15. Tied Doc Rivers and Magic Johnson.
That offensive foul on Nash gotta be one of the worst call so far in the playoff. How in the world would anyone buy that flop? anyone know whose the guy that flopped like a *****?
doc rivers? lol, nash, magic, rivers. but i think any of us on this board could've had 10 assists with the lakers D. i mean damn, how many open layups can you let a team have? i don't even know how it's a 7 point game really, and it's only at 7 with a late run by phoenix.
