Lakers dodge a bullet

[westkoast]

Your saying the plane deal wasn't beaten to death?  Are you serious?  Maybe you are excited to hear about it but I don't think anyone else is.  Monday night the information came out, tuesday morning they talked about it EVERYWHERE.  Wednesday, EVERYWHERE.  The game is over, the time has passed, and it still is getting brought up?  Either it's the guys being lazy trying to find BS to write about or they want to keep bringing it up as an excuse.  I don't think there is any other way to look at it honestly.  If Pop and the Spurs are tired of talking about it I think you would feel the same way.

And maybe I am mistaken about these guys specifically but nationally..horrible.  LA weak.  NY weak.  Si and espn?  Weak.  Maybe as a Spurs fan you are use to the media snubbing your team and not providing good analysis on what you guys do.  And I am not looking for them specifically to talk more in depth about the Lakers.  I mean basketball in general.

[rickortreat]

That was a strange game.  Lakers came out flat and looked to be a little tentative or nervous on offense.  Fish, Odom, Kobe, even Gasol looked a little tentative and some shots were popping out.  Luckily Radmonovic showed up in the 1st. 

I thought the Lakers were toast for sure in that game.  Even before the second half.  They just didn't look like they were in sync and as a fan sometimes you just get the feeling it's not your teams night. 

As much as I'd like to give the Lakers all the credit for persevering and picking up their defensive intensity, no team should blow a 20 point lead with 18 minutes left in a game.  Whether it was fatigue or just poor execution, the Spurs blew it. 

The only logical explanation is the Spurs lost because Rick picked them to win 

Lurker, I'm with you, I can't stand Doug Collins.  It's painful to listen to that guy.  I'd actually take Walton over him any day of the week.  Although I'd put the idiotic team of Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Grungy way ahead of Collins in the crapfest department.  It's unbelievalbe to me that one of those guys has been a head coach and the other is being considered as one. 

Regarding the officiating, there were a couple of bad calls both ways over the course of the game.  That happens in every game.  I can't see how it affected the outcome of this game at all.  If the Spurs need one call in order to not blow a 20 point lead over a 16 minute span ... they've got problems. 

MSC, I Blame Rick for picking us also!!   

The refs were not an issue last night, I agree. The Spurs had the game in their hands and indeed di blow it.  I can only imagine there was a legion of Laker fans outside the hotel making noise trying to keep them awake even more...

I should only have so much influence! 

Spurs had the game won and then went to sleep.  They stopped hitting their shots, which is the only way a team can come back from 20 down.  A real shame, since it was a great opportunity that they had going.   Manu had a lousy game, and Duncan and Parker faded at the end.  No help from Finley or Horry, and the Lakers bench outplayed the Spur subs.

Lakers deserve credit for hanging in there and not giving up. 

Realistically, the Spurs still have another chance to steal homecourt next game. For most of the game the Spurs were quite dominant, and apparently ran out of gas. Next game we'll find out if it was circumstances or greater Laker's depth.

[Laker Fan]

All in all tho I think this is just one loss and one game they were expected to lose.

he did and at the same time he made his teamates look brilliant, especially Gasol.

I completely, 100% disagree with you Laker Fan.  Gasol makes Kobe's passes look good, NOT the other way around.  I will GUARANTEE you that's Kwame Brown on the other end of those Kobe lobs, they ain't falling through the hoop.  The adjustment in the air through defensive traffic while maintaing the poise and touch to convert some of those lobs are INCREDIBLE by Gasol!!  I'll give credit to Kobe for trusting his teammates more and giving up the ball this year and I think its done wonders for his game.  But lets not pretend that Kobe makes Gasol's game, we're talking an All-Star calibre bonafide 20 point a game, franchise Power Forward here.  He's making it look pretty easy out there and its not.

OK Skander, allow me a rephrase here, as your wording is probably more in line with what I meant, in fact I think it was WOW that summed it up nicely, they make each other look brilliant, and i will add that it is because they are BOTH brilliant to begin with. I have not seen  a 2 man scoring machine like this in LA in a long time, and they actually seem to like each other in the process, it's nice to know when 1 of your scorers struggles like Odom did last night, you have 2 players that compliment each other so well, Gasol is one of the best trailing men in the league, and his footwork is impressive for a man his size.

As far as the Spurs are concerned, yes, they did run out of gas, that much was obvious, hope they are rested up by Friday because I want no excuses when we take them down  . But even with the tanks empty, a team as good and experienced as the Spurs should have been able to hold on for 16 lousy minutes up by 20. To me the fact that they didn't dovetails nicely with Skander's assertion that they couldn't, not because they were tired, not because they were not good enough, but because they were playing LA, and LA is as good and maybe better than the Spurs now, we'll get the answer to that question soon enough. I guarantee you if that was the Hornets, they hold on to win. I saw a BRILLIANT come from behind victory last night and LA, I saw them do what IMO they HAD to do, keep Parker and Ginobili from scoring at will in the paint, (they combined for 10 points in there) and most of all, I saw a young team not panic, and not give up. I too was upset at their poor play through the first half, I like MSC, had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach by half time, the same feeling the Spurs have now, when they were stepping on LA's throat and it wasn't enough, I believe the was a crushing loss for them, and I think it sent a clear message, LA believes in themselves, and they have just enough mix of youth and experience that it may put them over the top. I LOVED THAT WIN LAST NIGHT, it said more about LA's heart than it did SA's age.

[msc]

LakerFan, it was a huge win and did show a lot of heart from LA's side to gut it out. 

One thing that was clear, as Lurker pointed out earlier in this thread, was that the energy provided by Farmar and Sasha coming in to the game was huge.  I'm not sure if the youth of the Lakers bench can overcome the experience of the Spurs bench, but I do know the fresh legs late in the game was a significant factor last night.  Being at the game, you could really see it looking down at the whole court especially on the defensive rotations, which were downright slow in the first half with the starters out there.   

Now that the games are every other day instead of every 3-4 days like in the first couple of rounds, bench energy could turn out to be a deciding factor in this series. 

[Laker Fan]

Now that the games are every other day instead of every 3-4 days like in the first couple of rounds, bench energy could turn out to be a deciding factor in this series. 

Agreed, and to tell you the truth, the bench is as exciting as the starters, whittling that lead down to 7 points before the the 3rd ended was incredible for a bunch of young bench players in their first WCF, keeping Manu and Parker out of the paint was key. The bench strength is the most encouraging part of LA's development, and it really shined last night.

But let's not forget someone who got lost in all the props for what they did in the second half, Radman went 5-5 including scoring the Laker's first 8 points in the game, he keeps that up and SA may be in deep trouble indeed

[Reality]

Bruce Bowen will turn 37 next month.  You're right Reality, he should play 48 minutes a game 

He's a great defender and does a remarkable job on Kobe.  Unfortunately, there's no way he, or any other 37 yr old on the planet can sustain that level of intensity for 48 minutes.  He needs to get a breather here and there or he won't be as effective when he is on the floor.

I disagree with you that Bowen should play 48 minutes per game.  He has however played 40 or more minutes about 10 times this season, including 41 minutes in playoff Gm 3s clutch 110-99 win over New Orleans.  Last night he played 35 minutes.  Using Non-Laker math, Bruce could certainly have played 40-42 last night.  In fact Kobester Bryant played 44 minutes last night.  So once again, using Non-Laker math, the time Bruce could have stayed on Kobe could have been virtually all of Kobesters minutes.  Sure you Flamers loved it when Pop-A-Cement took Bowen out and put Gnob and Ime on Kobe.  Also what was missed was Bowens offense.  Yes, his 5-8 and 2-4 on treys made him the only Spur over 50%.  Including when Kobster was guarding Bowen at times.  Another good reason to get him out of there.

[WayOutWest]

I disagree with you that Bowen should play 48 minutes per game.  He has however played 40 or more minutes about 10 times this season, including 41 minutes in playoff Gm 3s clutch 110-99 win over New Orleans.  Last night he played 35 minutes.  Using Non-Laker math, Bruce could certainly have played 40-42 last night.  In fact Kobester Bryant played 44 minutes last night.  So once again, using Non-Laker math, the time Bruce could have stayed on Kobe could have been virtually all of Kobesters minutes.  Sure you Flamers loved it when Pop-A-Cement took Bowen out and put Gnob and Ime on Kobe.  Also what was missed was Bowens offense.  Yes, his 5-8 and 2-4 on treys made him the only Spur over 50%.  Including when Kobster was guarding Bowen at times.  Another good reason to get him out of there.

Amazing that he owned your post before you made it, it's like he can see the future and already destroyed your argument.  Bowen is too old to play that many minutes comming off the game 7 effort and charter plane fiasco.

HE ALREADY OWNED BEFORE YOU POSTED

Bruce Bowen will turn 37 next month.  You're right Reality, he should play 48 minutes a game 

He's a great defender and does a remarkable job on Kobe.  Unfortunately, there's no way he, or any other 37 yr old on the planet can sustain that level of intensity for 48 minutes.  He needs to get a breather here and there or he won't be as effective when he is on the floor.

HOW DID HE DO THAT?

Either that or the points went over your head or through your ears.  The YOUNGER Spurs ran out of gas and Bowen would have as well.  It was probably a smart move to rest Bowen and keep him fresh to gaurd Kobe when the Lakers were going to make their big push.  The problem was that Spurs could no score cause they were running on empty.  Their defense was good enough to win the game since they held the highest scoring team in the playoffs to under 90 points.  I think that is 10 or 20 points under their average.

[Reality]

It was probably a smart move to rest Bowen and keep him fresh to gaurd Kobe when the Lakers were going to make their big push. 

Derrr errr except the Lakers made "their big push" as soon as Bowen went out of the game.
14-0.
So much for yet another lame self-proclaimed-ownage.

[Lurker]

Your saying the plane deal wasn't beaten to death?  Are you serious?  Maybe you are excited to hear about it but I don't think anyone else is.  Monday night the information came out, tuesday morning they talked about it EVERYWHERE.  Wednesday, EVERYWHERE.  The game is over, the time has passed, and it still is getting brought up?  Either it's the guys being lazy trying to find BS to write about or they want to keep bringing it up as an excuse.  I don't think there is any other way to look at it honestly.  If Pop and the Spurs are tired of talking about it I think you would feel the same way.

There were 2 points in that article that seemed to go over your head.

1) That the LEAGUE arranges for the charters not the individual teams.  I even bolded that statement.

2) That the charter problems were addressed and it shouldn't be a distraction for the rest of the playoffs.

But no you had to make it about the game (it wasn't), lazy writers (it wasn't) or an excuse (it wasn't).  The items I pointed out above were new...or can you honestly admit that you knew both of the above points before I posted the article.

And maybe I am mistaken about these guys specifically but nationally..horrible.  LA weak.  NY weak.  Si and espn?  Weak.  Maybe as a Spurs fan you are use to the media snubbing your team and not providing good analysis on what you guys do.  And I am not looking for them specifically to talk more in depth about the Lakers.  I mean basketball in general.

Yes, Spurs fans are used to being snubbed by the national media.  The typical coverage of the Spurs follows Doug Collins coverage of the game.  Spurs up by 20 and it is all about what the Lakers were doing wrong.  Or what Kobe needed to do to right the ship.  Nothing about what the Spurs did to build a 20 point lead.  Or another example...on ESPN's daily dime after the game 7 win.  Two of the 3 top articles were about the Hornets not the Spurs.  And 3 of the 10 items were about the Eastern conference.  Daily dime after game 1 and like 8 of the 10 were about the Lakers.  We are used to having no national coverage.

[westkoast]

There were 2 points in that article that seemed to go over your head.

1) That the LEAGUE arranges for the charters not the individual teams.  I even bolded that statement.

2) That the charter problems were addressed and it shouldn't be a distraction for the rest of the playoffs.

Lurker maybe in Texas it's easy to assume people won't get just simple things like  this but I am not from there.  The reason that I ignored them is:

1)Who cares?  The league does this for all teams and the Spurs are not the only team who use this company.  Not really worth mentioning.  Sounds like a crappy excuse to write about it AGAIN.

2) Yea it was addressed...a THOUSAND TIMES.

But no you had to make it about the game (it wasn't), lazy writers (it wasn't) or an excuse (it wasn't).  The items I pointed out above were new...or can you honestly admit that you knew both of the above points before I posted the article.

Have you read my other comments in this thread?  They are all about sports writing in general.  This falls under that does it not?  Covering the same story over and over to me is lazy.  Having information like 'oh they fired that company' is not worth mentioning.  First of all it just takes up space, second who didn't know it was going to happen, and third the company is going bankrupt anyways.

Yeah technically they are "new" small irrelevant points to add to a beaten to death story.  Did I know they were going to fire the company? YES.  Who the hell didn't?  Who thought the Spurs were going to keep using a company that screwed up major AND is on its way to shutting its doors? 

Can you honestly admit that you had no idea that the Spurs were going to stop using this company?

Yes, Spurs fans are used to being snubbed by the national media.  The typical coverage of the Spurs follows Doug Collins coverage of the game.  Spurs up by 20 and it is all about what the Lakers were doing wrong.  Or what Kobe needed to do to right the ship.  Nothing about what the Spurs did to build a 20 point lead.  Or another example...on ESPN's daily dime after the game 7 win.  Two of the 3 top articles were about the Hornets not the Spurs.  And 3 of the 10 items were about the Eastern conference.  Daily dime after game 1 and like 8 of the 10 were about the Lakers.  We are used to having no national coverage.

And you don't have a problem with that Lurker?  To me it seems a lot easier to say "Kobe only had 2 points!  Why didn't he score 100?!" then it is to break down how Popavich wanted Bowen to guard Kobe.  Or better yet how the Lakers defensive adjustments made by the Lakers was the main reason they erased the lead.  Not just because Kobe decided to score points.

Like I said maybe I was mistaken about these local SA writers specifically but across the board I feel the sports writing on basketball is lazy.  They are always looking for the flash and staying away from the substance.  Then ever so often you have these same knuckle heads (sports writers and commentators like Doug Collins) talk about NBA players having huge egos and spending more time trying to be flashy then they do on fundamentals....it really is annoying to me.  Yesterday was just a rant.  So take it with a grain of salt.