MAJOR props JoMal

[Laker Fan]

I have never seen anyone stagger the Lakers like that, total and complete props to your boys for a suffocating effort today, no excuses, no complaints, not anything, you beat them like redheaded step children, nothing to say beyond props and congratulations.

[jn]

Let me add my congrats.  The Kings played superb ball today and showed the focus they lacked against the Wolves.  JoMal, Gaither, that must have been a breath of fresh air.  

[gaither]

You're not kidding, jn. It was very gratifying to see this team play up to their potential. I hope this is a precursor of things to come.

Congrats to your team, jn, on the whupping they administered to the Kings the other night. Maybe that was the wake-up call this team needed. A team has to come prepared to fight the whole game, not just part of it. It is gratifying to see the T-wolves finally get some recognition this season. Looks like KG for MVP is a shoe-in, and it's about time.

[WayOutWest]

Thank God for the Easter Bunny!  I caught the first quarter before I was forced outside to hide easter eggs.  Came back mid-way through the 3rd.  The Lakers had cut the lead down to 11 with possesion of the ball and the shot clock turned off.  Kobe dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles then jacks up a 3 point shot about a foot or TWO behind the arc.  I was so disgusted by Kobe again that I turned off the set since the outcome was a foregone conclusion in my mind.  Sure enough things went from bad to worse.  From what I read and heard the Lakers were outplayed the entire game.  Unlike the Spurs game where the Lakers were pretty much in the game for all but the last few minutes of the 4th, the Kings just blew them out from the opening bell.

Props to the Kings, looks like there will be no creampuffs in the second round.

[JoMal]

Kobe was on a mission, period. (Laker Fan, March 25th, after the last time the Lakers and Kings played)

Kobe dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles then jacks up a 3 point shot about a foot or TWO behind the arc. (WayOutWest)

I am not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, but clearly Kobe had another type of mission in mind for this game.

This game really didn't even bring any kind of bragging rights, IMO, because the Kings just flat never showed up. CWebb is killing this team…..  Adelman needs to wake up and realize that CWebb, at least at this point, isn't going to bring his team a victory….. (Randy, March 25th, after the last time the Lakers and Kings played)

That sentiment continues...no bragging rights because I can't figure why the Lakers looked so lethargic in what was the most important game for them this year, same as the Kings. With the improved play of the rest of the Western Conference top level teams, and how the Spurs benefitted last year by having home court against them, why the Lakers (Kobe) chose this game for playing uninterested basketball is beyond me.

However, CWebb DID kill a team yesterday, and for a change is was NOT the Kings. While Christie was the clearcut star for the Kings in this game, the play of Webber was stellar. Malone's knee apparently is also not 100%, as Chris took him off the dribble and drove to the basket consistently against him and your center ()

I was very happy to see the team gain confidence and the after game interviews with Kobe, Payton, and Malone were a great thing for all us Laker fans to see. They are in good spirits. They are talking before the game and then going an executing that in the game. (Westkoast, after that March 24th game)

How fortunes change. In this game, it was the exact opposite. The Kings were back to doing their thing, mostly because Webber was made just a cog of the offensive ball movement instead of the end of it. It was clear a message had been issued to him because he passed out of the middle as often as not, plus he did not settle on his jumper, but drove into the key and tried to score and gets foul calls much more frequently then in some of the past games. The Lakers, on the other hand, did not display any of the cohesiveness alluded to by Westkoast after the March game. Shaq seemed annoyed and disinterested, while Kobe was sending a message of his own, and Malone looks to be hurting again. Then Rush gets reinjured and that did not look too good from my TV spot.

After being criticized by his coach for thinking too much about scoring, Kobe Bryant took just one shot in the first half of a 102-85 loss to the Kings on Sunday. Bryant insisted he wasn't avoiding shots -- even though that seemed obvious to everybody else at Arco Arena. After finishing with eight points on 3-of-13 shooting, he praised the Kings' defense, which has been among the NBA's worst this season. (from the Yahoo Sports article about the game yesterday

Okay, Laker fans, now what's going on? As you might tell, while pleased about the win, I am questioning exactly why the Lakers played without apparent interest in the importance of this game. Are they banking on the Kings losing both of their last two road games while they win out? While it certainly could happen, I can't understand what would motivate Kobe to take himself out of the flow of the game (Christie and friends helped in that, but even Doug was quoted in the Sac Bee today as saying "I'd be remiss if I said I didn't notice", when asked about Kobe's apparent lackadaisical attitude on offense.)

O'Neal finished with 10 points and five rebounds, then risked another one-game suspension for using an expletive in a postgame interview.

O'Neal, banned for a game in February for cursing during an on-court TV interview, used a profanity when saying he was ``not impressed'' with the Kings' play.

Talk about your double negative. While it is old news that Shaq dislikes how the Kings play him and his opinion of Sacramento in general, what is he thinking, testing Stern like this when perhaps it would be better for his team regarding playoff positioning if he played in both remaining games . Does he really expect Stern to just fine him for a second offense, like he did for Stevie Francis?

The bottom line here is that the Kings certainly took care of business, but that was a bizarre game played by the Lakers. I know that the Kings' defense (  ) had much to do with it, but Kobe allowed much of what the Kings were doing to go unchallenged and that simply is not like him. As a fan of possibly their archest rival, I still respect the play of Bryant way too much to not see that he was unhappy about something and for a change it was basketball related.

Shaq is still a turd, however, and after that game, you don't even have to respond to me, Laker fans, in agreement. I can't even begin to guess what his problem is.

[WayOutWest]

I'm just praying Kobe's play yesterday means he'll be a Clipper next year!    

[Reality]

Wouldn't Kobe overeacting to Phildos admonision to stop so much shooting be the logical explaination?

Like I'll show you Phil what happens when i don't shoot.

[WayOutWest]

Nope.  It was obvious what happened to Kobe yesterday.  If you don't know you didn't watch the game or don't understand the game.  :ph34r:  

[Reality]

Oh do tell me what the eyes behind the white bedsheet saw    :lol:  

[Guest_Randy]

Kobe was on a mission, period. (Laker Fan, March 25th, after the last time the Lakers and Kings played)

Kobe dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, dribbles then jacks up a 3 point shot about a foot or TWO behind the arc. (WayOutWest)

I am not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, but clearly Kobe had another type of mission in mind for this game.

This game really didn't even bring any kind of bragging rights, IMO, because the Kings just flat never showed up. CWebb is killing this team…..  Adelman needs to wake up and realize that CWebb, at least at this point, isn't going to bring his team a victory….. (Randy, March 25th, after the last time the Lakers and Kings played)

That sentiment continues...no bragging rights because I can't figure why the Lakers looked so lethargic in what was the most important game for them this year, same as the Kings. With the improved play of the rest of the Western Conference top level teams, and how the Spurs benefitted last year by having home court against them, why the Lakers (Kobe) chose this game for playing uninterested basketball is beyond me.

However, CWebb DID kill a team yesterday, and for a change is was NOT the Kings. While Christie was the clearcut star for the Kings in this game, the play of Webber was stellar. Malone's knee apparently is also not 100%, as Chris took him off the dribble and drove to the basket consistently against him and your center ()

I was very happy to see the team gain confidence and the after game interviews with Kobe, Payton, and Malone were a great thing for all us Laker fans to see. They are in good spirits. They are talking before the game and then going an executing that in the game. (Westkoast, after that March 24th game)

How fortunes change. In this game, it was the exact opposite. The Kings were back to doing their thing, mostly because Webber was made just a cog of the offensive ball movement instead of the end of it. It was clear a message had been issued to him because he passed out of the middle as often as not, plus he did not settle on his jumper, but drove into the key and tried to score and gets foul calls much more frequently then in some of the past games. The Lakers, on the other hand, did not display any of the cohesiveness alluded to by Westkoast after the March game. Shaq seemed annoyed and disinterested, while Kobe was sending a message of his own, and Malone looks to be hurting again. Then Rush gets reinjured and that did not look too good from my TV spot.

After being criticized by his coach for thinking too much about scoring, Kobe Bryant took just one shot in the first half of a 102-85 loss to the Kings on Sunday. Bryant insisted he wasn't avoiding shots -- even though that seemed obvious to everybody else at Arco Arena. After finishing with eight points on 3-of-13 shooting, he praised the Kings' defense, which has been among the NBA's worst this season. (from the Yahoo Sports article about the game yesterday

Okay, Laker fans, now what's going on? As you might tell, while pleased about the win, I am questioning exactly why the Lakers played without apparent interest in the importance of this game. Are they banking on the Kings losing both of their last two road games while they win out? While it certainly could happen, I can't understand what would motivate Kobe to take himself out of the flow of the game (Christie and friends helped in that, but even Doug was quoted in the Sac Bee today as saying "I'd be remiss if I said I didn't notice", when asked about Kobe's apparent lackadaisical attitude on offense.)

O'Neal finished with 10 points and five rebounds, then risked another one-game suspension for using an expletive in a postgame interview.

O'Neal, banned for a game in February for cursing during an on-court TV interview, used a profanity when saying he was ``not impressed'' with the Kings' play.

Talk about your double negative. While it is old news that Shaq dislikes how the Kings play him and his opinion of Sacramento in general, what is he thinking, testing Stern like this when perhaps it would be better for his team regarding playoff positioning if he played in both remaining games . Does he really expect Stern to just fine him for a second offense, like he did for Stevie Francis?

The bottom line here is that the Kings certainly took care of business, but that was a bizarre game played by the Lakers. I know that the Kings' defense (  ) had much to do with it, but Kobe allowed much of what the Kings were doing to go unchallenged and that simply is not like him. As a fan of possibly their archest rival, I still respect the play of Bryant way too much to not see that he was unhappy about something and for a change it was basketball related.

Shaq is still a turd, however, and after that game, you don't even have to respond to me, Laker fans, in agreement. I can't even begin to guess what his problem is.

You will forgive my lateness in responding but basketball doesn't mean anything compared to my wife's health.

The Kings put a whoopin' on the Lakers -- an old-fashioned slapdown like they haven't experienced all year long.  The Lakers were already "reeling" after the loss to SA but they were actually in that game -- not the one yesterday.  Congrats, JoMal.

Just a couple of thoughts because I don't have much time here:
1)  Don't make this about CWebb -- it was the Kings D that put the beatdown on the Lakers -- not CWebb's offense.  By double and triple-teaming both Kobe and Shaq and then swarm to the ball, it took the Lakers which obviously sapped their energy on the defensive end.  There were several times that the Lakers managed to stop the Kings offensively but they could never get ANYTHING going on the offensive end which sapped them defensively.  Christie (and Bibby defensively) did much more to win this game, IMO, than CWebb did.  

2)  The Lakers had ZERO energy from the beginning.  This team HAS played good ball this year but they certainly haven't since the game against SA.  It has to make me wonder -- never thought that a team with Kobe, GP and Malone would lie down and die -- but they certainly did yesterday.  I'm not trying to take anything away from the Kings -- but there were only a few moments that it seemed the Lakers even tried.

3)  WOW!  This was my response to the defensive scheme that Adelmann put together yesterday.  I have yet to see Adelmann put together a defensive scheme like that but the Kings performed it marvelously.  I have never seen Shaq and/or Kobe so shut down in a game before -- it was a masterpiece of coaching.  It's up to PJ to show that he can respond -- on the court, that is, not with his mouth.

Congrats to the Kings.  I'll post more later when I have time.

[JoMal]

Randy-

Sorry to hear about your wife. I hope it is not serious, but it certainly puts all things basketball into perspective.

As for the game, yes it was a stellar defensive effort on the part of the Kings from start to finish. That they played good defense at all is not that surprising in that they have done it before during the season, but that they did it for 48 minutes is just astounding. I never thought they could manage the effort for that long.

And no need to praise Adelman for it. He coaches the offense and spends his time working on the offensive execution almost exclusively. Assistant Coach Elston Turner is responsible for the defensive scheme and came up with the game plan this time and moreover got the players to commit to it.

As for praising Webber, I hate to tell you Randy, but he was a BIG reason for this win. While he did not do as much as Bibby and Christie did defensively, his help defense was above his seasonal effort to date, and while Peja and Bibby did not do much on offense, with C-Webb's game, they did not have to. Webber got Shaq into foul trouble a bit, and Malone was mostly a non-factor, but with matching sore knees, who can say who stop whom better on that matchup, except Webber played much more of the inside game then he has been and that WAS a huge contributing factor to the win. He got to the line 9 time, he got 12 big rebounds and he still got his 5 assists he has been averaging per game.

You might WISH that Webber was not a factor, but the stats and results speak volumes about that. Still, Christie was the MVP of this game in my book. Webber just did what we have been hoping he would since his return from injury - just to be one of the cogs of the team on offense and not the focus.

[Guest_Randy]

Randy-

Sorry to hear about your wife. I hope it is not serious, but it certainly puts all things basketball into perspective.

As for the game, yes it was a stellar defensive effort on the part of the Kings from start to finish. That they played good defense at all is not that surprising in that they have done it before during the season, but that they did it for 48 minutes is just astounding. I never thought they could manage the effort for that long.

And no need to praise Adelman for it. He coaches the offense and spends his time working on the offensive execution almost exclusively. Assistant Coach Elston Turner is responsible for the defensive scheme and came up with the game plan this time and moreover got the players to commit to it.

As for praising Webber, I hate to tell you Randy, but he was a BIG reason for this win. While he did not do as much as Bibby and Christie did defensively, his help defense was above his seasonal effort to date, and while Peja and Bibby did not do much on offense, with C-Webb's game, they did not have to. Webber got Shaq into foul trouble a bit, and Malone was mostly a non-factor, but with matching sore knees, who can say who stop whom better on that matchup, except Webber played much more of the inside game then he has been and that WAS a huge contributing factor to the win. He got to the line 9 time, he got 12 big rebounds and he still got his 5 assists he has been averaging per game.

You might WISH that Webber was not a factor, but the stats and results speak volumes about that. Still, Christie was the MVP of this game in my book. Webber just did what we have been hoping he would since his return from injury - just to be one of the cogs of the team on offense and not the focus.

JoMal, I truly believe that the Kings can do without CWebb and I never tried to say that he wasn't a factor in the game -- but I believe that Miller and Vlade can be just as effective but it was the defensive end that changed everything.

CWebb had a great game but I believe that Miller would have been as effective as CWebb -- I think CWebb is a better offensive player but I think Miller is a better defensive one.

Anyway, great game.

And thanks for the thoughts for my wife -- she tried hanging something without getting the ladder and fell off the stools she had stacked up (she is on coumadine so that wasn't a very smart thing -- still trying to get it to stop bleeding internally).  She is in bed now -- hopefully she will sleep well and spend more time at the doctors tomorrow.

[Guest_spursfan101]

Alas, shortlived, as once again, Kings lose again!

[westkoast]

Randy-

Sorry to hear about your wife. I hope it is not serious, but it certainly puts all things basketball into perspective.

As for the game, yes it was a stellar defensive effort on the part of the Kings from start to finish. That they played good defense at all is not that surprising in that they have done it before during the season, but that they did it for 48 minutes is just astounding. I never thought they could manage the effort for that long.

And no need to praise Adelman for it. He coaches the offense and spends his time working on the offensive execution almost exclusively. Assistant Coach Elston Turner is responsible for the defensive scheme and came up with the game plan this time and moreover got the players to commit to it.

As for praising Webber, I hate to tell you Randy, but he was a BIG reason for this win. While he did not do as much as Bibby and Christie did defensively, his help defense was above his seasonal effort to date, and while Peja and Bibby did not do much on offense, with C-Webb's game, they did not have to. Webber got Shaq into foul trouble a bit, and Malone was mostly a non-factor, but with matching sore knees, who can say who stop whom better on that matchup, except Webber played much more of the inside game then he has been and that WAS a huge contributing factor to the win. He got to the line 9 time, he got 12 big rebounds and he still got his 5 assists he has been averaging per game.

You might WISH that Webber was not a factor, but the stats and results speak volumes about that. Still, Christie was the MVP of this game in my book. Webber just did what we have been hoping he would since his return from injury - just to be one of the cogs of the team on offense and not the focus.

JoMal, I truly believe that the Kings can do without CWebb and I never tried to say that he wasn't a factor in the game -- but I believe that Miller and Vlade can be just as effective but it was the defensive end that changed everything.

CWebb had a great game but I believe that Miller would have been as effective as CWebb -- I think CWebb is a better offensive player but I think Miller is a better defensive one.

Anyway, great game.

And thanks for the thoughts for my wife -- she tried hanging something without getting the ladder and fell off the stools she had stacked up (she is on coumadine so that wasn't a very smart thing -- still trying to get it to stop bleeding internally).  She is in bed now -- hopefully she will sleep well and spend more time at the doctors tomorrow.

Lets not put Vlade and defense in the same line ever again Randy...thanks in advance