LAKERS HANG TOUGH

Say what you will about the world champs....yankees of basketball, etc...
BUt they are fighting tough in OT tonite in Houston....without Gasol, they do have some heart.

Kobe played 48 minutes. I will let them have as many of those ot wins as they can rack up if Kobe is playin that many minutes. He wont hold up for a full season.

Jeb

Jeb,
You're right....he can't keep that up...
But I gotta tip my hat to them tonite....as much as I wanted Houston to beat them...they kept fighting until they won.

Lacelt

Truedat. They brassed it out.

Jeb

...and our guys....pulled one out of the fire....GO CELTICS

The easy ones don't show you much. It's the ones you gotta grind out that let you know who you are.

I know you guys hate him, and he drives me crazy when he tries to do too much himself, but one thing about Kobe that you can't knock him for is that he brings it every night and gives it his all- he does not want to lose. I feel the same way about KG.

KB carried them tonight in the 4th qtr and OT. He hit some insane shots and passed out of a lot of doubles.

They're winning on experience and execution right now. Kind of ugly w/o Pau in there.

Just saw the Cs highlights on Sportscenter.

Looks like your guys ground one out also. Better an ugly win than an ugly loss.

KG with nice tie up of Brewer on that last drive.

Typical inexperienced team- 2nd game in a row for Minny that the ball ended up in Brewer's hands, who's a disaster, with the game on the line. There is no way Flynn or Sessions should allow anyone else to touch the ball in that situation.

derick fisher: 0-5 with 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists 2 steals an 2 fouls -34 minutes and 3 seconds of playing time...

lakers entire bench= 16 points with just over 53 minutes of playing time

lakers 2nd OT in 2 games. they sure have been burnin the midnight oil. Kobe's been playing very well and u gotta give props to that, but is it just me or is artest more annoying than ever before?



- LilRip

Rip it's not just you regarding artest being more annoying. I think it's something about the purple and yellow...it makes everyone more annoying. (No offense Laker fans!)

Hey Bob: I hope the Laker engine fails, throws a rod, konks out, and they can't get a tow truck to the nearest Pep Boys. Maybe Manny, Moe, and Jack will decline their credit cards, same with Auto Zone!-MD.

babysky

I hated Kobe pretty bad until last season. Being a fella who has made some severe mistakes I am a big believer in second and third chances.

I thought Kobe shed a couple of bad skins in the denver series late 4 sure. He grew. I applaud that. Anyone who says he is still KoMe aint watchin him. In the finals he grew again and didn't revert back to the old ways.

It does Sky still very much chap my ass that Kobe gets EVERY CALL. Specially late. Like Jordan you cant touch, brush, glance or breathe on him or you get called for a foul. If the league dont clean that crap up it will lead to a rome esque decline. You being a fellow that calls it right I am sure are aware that the gents whom are making everyone a ton of money have their own set of rules.

Game six in sacramento comes to mind. I saw that. I was forever altered by it.

In terms of Kobe's conditioning it is and has always been second to none. But Sky he is getting older. You guys out west have been so lucky with him and think he is bulletproof. He aint. If he continues to play 40 a night you guys are done and you wont make the finals. Phil in all his zenness I am sure knows that. I guess he is trying to avoid a 3 and 3 meltdown but these games dont mean jack.

Anyway.

Jeb

I certainly agree that games this early in the season don't mean as much as games in March and April. I think it's a great idea to rest your starters when the opportunity presents itself. But this is also a business, and the business is funded in large part by the fans. Fans want their team to win and play as hard as possible every time the players take the floor. If their team isn't winning or giving it 100%, fans will not support them. It's well known that a good number of LA fans are fans of winning, not basketball. They have a great franchise that always seems to be in contention for a title and they've been spoiled by that. I think if Phil rested Kobe these past two games and LA lost because of that, it would make a lot of people angry and takes away from the spirit of the competition. I know if the Celtics lost a game that their starters only played 30-35 minutes in, I'd be pretty disappointed.

That said, as a Celtics fan I'm glad Kobe is playing so many minutes.

Kellyg

It is phil's job to manage his teams minutes. His aging superstar will not last if he is playing 48 minutes a damn night.


I would be pissed if I went to see the Celts play the Spurs and we lost while all the starters averaged 30min but I would let it go and plan for june.

But I sure see your point and I think it puts the coaches in a jam!

Jeb

Bob

Gasol "may" play on Friday. Even then he won't be in any form of game shape.
Phil has a juggling match on his hands already......and we are only 5-6 games in.

beat

bobheckler wrote:According to reports I'm reading, Andrew Bynum may have sprained his elbow last night in Houston. After the game, he couldn't lift it to get dressed. He's going to get an MRI in LA today. He's listed as day-to-day until the results are known.

Imagine Odom starting at center and Powell starting at PF. Or Mbenga at center and Odom at PF. I hope it's the second. I'd fall down laughing watching a Lakers game and listen to the crowd chant "MBENGA!!!".

Think they're thin now, without Gasol? Considering Bynum has never returned from any of his injuries as quickly as projected, this could be very, very interesting.

bob

bob-

Chuck Hayes yanked BYnum's arm pretty violently, and he immediately grabbed his forearm and elbow. If it had been a guard going to the rack they would have called it a flagrant. I've always had a problem with the double standard for big men vs smalls and the way fouls do and don't get called.

The punishment that Shaq, D12, etc take on a nightly basis is pretty crazy.


AS for the potential Laker lineup if BYnum can't go for a game or two, let's just say that Friday's game vs Memphis could be a very ugly game.

Get ready for Dj Mbenga vs Hashem Thabeet!!!!!

Sky

Got to call you out on this one a bit. I heard that poor shaq routine for years as you guys won and won. He just bogarted people outta the way and he gave way more than he got. The refs didn't know how to call the games.

In his case (shaq's) he is a pure freak physical specimen. A giant guy perfectly proportioned that moved like a damn guard. If he was in shape...say the way Kobe always is...well the whole damn association woulda ben playin for second.

Jeb

jeb65 wrote:babysky

I hated Kobe pretty bad until last season. Being a fella who has made some severe mistakes I am a big believer in second and third chances.

I thought Kobe shed a couple of bad skins in the denver series late 4 sure. He grew. I applaud that. Anyone who says he is still KoMe aint watchin him. In the finals he grew again and didn't revert back to the old ways.

It does Sky still very much chap my ass that Kobe gets EVERY CALL. Specially late. Like Jordan you cant touch, brush, glance or breathe on him or you get called for a foul. If the league dont clean that crap up it will lead to a rome esque decline. You being a fellow that calls it right I am sure are aware that the gents whom are making everyone a ton of money have their own set of rules.

Game six in sacramento comes to mind. I saw that. I was forever altered by it.

In terms of Kobe's conditioning it is and has always been second to none. But Sky he is getting older. You guys out west have been so lucky with him and think he is bulletproof. He aint. If he continues to play 40 a night you guys are done and you wont make the finals. Phil in all his zenness I am sure knows that. I guess he is trying to avoid a 3 and 3 meltdown but these games dont mean jack.

Anyway.

Jeb

Kobe took a BIG step forward in that Den series, that's for sure.


You'd be surprised at how many calls he's NOT getting, and how many calls the Lakers are NOT getting this year. I think the refs are pissed that Phil said some of what was in Donaghy's book was true b/c the Lakers have been getting f**ked on a lot of calls this year- even at home. And I'm never a blame the ref kind of guy. BUt something is clearly going on when it's bad call after bad call (both fouls and out of bounds) game after game. And I don't think it's a coincidence that it started in the second game, right after Phil made his comments about Donaghys' book having some truth in it.


You're referring to game 6 in LA vs SAC in '02. What no none ever talks about is game 5, which was just as lopsided, but was in Arco and the calls were in the Kings favor. They took Shaq out of the game early with some ridiculous, phantom offensive fouls, so I guess I always looked at it like it evened out.

And the refs had nothing to do with the Kings crapping their pants and not being able to win a Game 7 at home vs their biggest rivals. Peja and Hedo missed open looks down the stretch while Kobe, Shaq, Fisher, Horry did not. Game 7 was about mental strength and intestinal fortitude.

I'll take Horry on my team any day before someone like Peja or Hedo.


No one with a brain out here (aka- people not named martinilover or greenkiller or whatever) thinks Kobe is bulletproof.

Is he in great shape >? YEs.

Do smalls wear better with age than bigs ? Yes

Does Phil need to not burn out his starters ? YEs.

But homecourt is important, especially in the Finals. I'd rather have it than not. It's not the end of the world if you don't, but it's hard to win three in a row at home.


So Phil has got some balancing to do. And the Farmar/ douche tandem is killing them right now, because I'd like to see Kobe's minutes in the mid-30's.

Jeb

Perhaps if Mr. Mountain learned how to shoot free throws at a moderate 75% clip........much of the Hack a Shaq would never had happened in the first place.

Part of the game big boy. As is making free throws.....or putting someone on the line that chips orange paint instead of giving up a dunk.

beat

Sky

It is well to hear the other side. But doode Jackson has from my perspective gotten a lot of breaks from the refs in his charmed life.

Game six was the very worst example. You guys TOOK game 7.
But game six the season was on the line and it shamed the game. It was so obvious. That's my beef at least make the rig look good. Show a little pride in your fixing.

I have not seen any Lakes games this season but Dallas and I was surprised by the number of calls yall didn't get. I know you ARE watchin the Lakes and if you say the calls are breakin bad I trust you and believe that.

It's funny. I tried very hard to adjust my opinion of Kobe. But because I am a Celtic fan I still lapse into my KoMe judgements and ignore the facts. Bias tilts my view. One thing i admire about you is you seem super fair about all of this.

I really value that. I will try not to see everything through green glasses and to see what is there as opposed to what I WANT to see.

Somethin to think about.

Jeb