Team Kobe holds the NBA scoring leader to 33% shooting and LA beats hot OKC

Kobe had a very efficient 21 points on only 12 shot attempts. He looks much healthier then last year which is probably due to his minutes being decreased from 38.8/game last year to 33.2/game this year. He is also averaging more points, rebounds and assists per minute then he did last year.
OKC has the most athletic team in the NBA but they are not championship contenders yet. They have one good outside shooter on the whole team (Durant) and have a lousy bench. In my opinion, LA or SAS are the only two championship contenders in the West.
Durant was held to 33% FG shooting by LA after being held to 35% shooting in last years playoff series loss to LA.
LA is 10-2 with Bynum in the starting line up and is 4-0 in that stretch against teams that have a winning percentage of .550 or higher.
Talk of the Lakers demise might be a good read but it is far from reality.

TJ, it's a pleasure to read your perspective on this. A lot of us have been hoping you'd weigh in on this conjecture concerning the Lakers. And more than a few feel that this season's Lakers are much like last year's and this year's Celtics in the sense of being required to recognize their potential points of vulnerability and adapt accordingly by playoff time.

The longer one is an NBA fan, the more one becomes convinced of the futility of becoming overly enthused by short-term success or overly disheartened by short-term challenges. That's why Dr. Naismith invented the 82-game schedule.

Oh wait!

Anyway, it's good to hear from you and your well-documented opinions.

Sam

Welcome back TJ, its good to know that you haven't given up posting here. I think that most everyone here is here for the same reasons, a couple being: one, we love the Celtics and two, a never ending quest for knowledge. We know that one of the best ways to gain knowledge is through hearing , contemplating and sometimes accepting a varying opinion. You are needed on this board because I think to some extent thats what this board is about. Again, welcome back and I for one wish good luck to your Lakers all the way through the Western Conference Finals, but trust in the fact I am hoping that there will be a lean, mean, green machine waiting to exact a little revenge in the Finals.

PS, I like your new avatar much better! Still a Laker but one of the few that I like.

Hi TJ, glad you're posting again.

I watched the most of the first half of that game. My impressions are:

1. Kobe is physically diminished. There were several times he rose up to shoot and he couldn't elevate over the defender and had to make an in-air pass. His competitiveness, however is undiminished and became an excellent playmaker. Seven assists is a lot for Kobe. When Kobe shoots 7-12 and passes the ball the Lakers are very tough. As Phil himself has pointed out, he doesn't always do that.

2. Bynum is playing well. He did everything that could be asked of him. Odom provided an offensive spark when the Lakers were struggling offensively.

3. Blake is as useless as I thought he might be. D-Fish did ok. Very few guards can stay in front of Westbrook.

4. If you look at the 'Superleague' thread I started and click on the link, you'll see that, before last night's game, OKC was only 7-8 vs the top teams in the league. Now they are 7-9.

Good victory for the Lakers. After losing to the Clips, they needed to make a statement, and they did.

bob

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bobheckler wrote:Hi TJ, glad you're posting again.

I watched the most of the first half of that game. My impressions are:

1. Kobe is physically diminished. There were several times he rose up to shoot and he couldn't elevate over the defender and had to make an in-air pass. His competitiveness, however is undiminished and became an excellent playmaker. Seven assists is a lot for Kobe. When Kobe shoots 7-12 and passes the ball the Lakers are very tough. As Phil himself has pointed out, he doesn't always do that.

2. Bynum is playing well. He did everything that could be asked of him. Odom provided an offensive spark when the Lakers were struggling offensively.

3. Blake is as useless as I thought he might be. D-Fish did ok. Very few guards can stay in front of Westbrook.

4. If you look at the 'Superleague' thread I started and click on the link, you'll see that, before last night's game, OKC was only 7-8 vs the top teams in the league. Now they are 7-9.

Good victory for the Lakers. After losing to the Clips, they needed to make a statement, and they did.

bob

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bob,

LA really picked up their game in the 2nd half. They made defensive adjustments since Bynum has been back in the starting line up and the results have been positive.
Bynum looks more aggressive and athletic with each game he plays. He commits too many fouls and doesn't get any breaks from the refs but he needs to learn how to play aggressively without fouling.
Blake can't seem to get into much of a rythm offensively but you can't just look at his stats like you can other players. Assists for LA's point guards is virtually meaningless in their system.
Kobe is clearly not the athlete he used to be and can't come close to matching the athleticism of Westbrook and Durant. Kobe has done a great job of adjusting his game to recognize his decrease in athleticism. He can find athleticism when he really needs to but can't do it on every play like younger guys can. His dunk in the lane last night showed he still has some explosiveness.
I read that Superleague article which I think is very interesting but do they keep changing the teams every couple of weeks? They have Dallas, NYK and Atlanta as a Superteam. Dallas is a doormat right now and Atlanta is a decent team in a top heavy Eastern Conference, but nowhere near Boston, Orlando, Miami or Chicago. And the Knicks as a Superteam? Fun to watch but they are not serious contenders.

TJ, a pleasure reading your thoughts and observations on your Lakers nice performance against OKC, Durant and Co. (except sometimes the "and Co." part comes up missing ... )

yes, Bynam will be more and more of a handful as he matures and learns the ropes of the NBA better ... on our end, we complain about foul calls at the center position too. and obviously Shaq isn't just learning, he knows the deal, but THE REFS !! OMG !!!

hope your team gels more and more, so we can meet when it matters. thx for posting.

Michael

Lakers down 13 with 9 minutes to go in the fourth quarter to Dallas. Could be loss #13 for them (just like Miami) and put both of them 4 games behind us in the loss column.

Just a little while ago they were up 64-57. Now they're down 90-77.