<div align="center"> <font color="red">The Miami Heat (23-15)</font> at <font color="purple">The Los Angeles Lakers (20-17)</font> Monday, January 16th, 2006 STAPLES Center, Los Angeles, California 7:30 Pacific; TNT </div> [div=50%] <font size="3">Projected Starters</font> <div align="center"><font color="red"> <font size="1">(J. Williams, D. Wade, J. Posey, U. Haslem, S. O'neal)</font></font></div> <font size="1">Leading Scorer: Dwyane Wade - 26.4 PPG Leading Rebounder: Shaquille O'neal - 9.4 RPG Assist Man: Dwyane Wade - 7.1 APG The 'X' Factor: Antoine Walker (12.6 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 2.4 APG)</font> <font size="3">Backcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/jason_williams.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Jason Williams</font> PPG: 14.5, RPG: 2.5, APG: 4.8 White Chocolate, Jason Williams, has changed his stlye of play under the Pat Riley, but the Heat are still struggling to win the way people thought they would. In their Christmas day matchup, Jason Williams was huge in the Heat win. He's going to need a repeat performance in this one if the Heat want the same results. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/dwyane_wade.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Dwyane Wade</font> PPG: 26.4, RPG: 6.4, APG: 7.1 The sizzling Miami Heat star is on the rise, quickly. He's gone back and fourth with Kobe in their prior meetings so far and this one will be no different. He's going to get his points, rebounds, and assists, but he's going to have to work for them. Kobe won't give him any easy buckets. </font> <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/james_posey.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">James Posey</font> PPG: 7.9, RPG: 4.9, APG: 1.3 The Miami Heat swingman, who came over from Memphis, is having a decent year. In this game, he'll have Lamar Odom on him, who tends to leave his defensive assignment. Posey should find himself with some wide open perimter shots and he's going to have to knock those down. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/udonis_haslem.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Udonis Haslem</font> PPG: 8.3, RPG: 7.5, BPG: .22 Udonis Haslem is all hustle. He should have his hands full with a newly-inspired Kwame Brown. He needs to get his 8 points, box Kwame out, and cut the paint off. He can't let the Laker guards into the paint. If he has to, he'll have to take some fouls so Shaq doesn't get into foul trouble. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/shaquille_oneal.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Shaquille O'neal</font> PPG: 18.6, RPG: 9.2, BPG: 1.37 The former Laker superstar makes his second return to Los Angeles against the Lakers. No doubt he'll hear some cheers, he'll also hear some boos. Shaq is going to come into this game looking to make a thunderous impact on the game. In their Christmas day matchup, Kwame Brown frustrated him by playing good defense and giving Shaq horrible position in the paint. He'll have to work around that again, as the Lakers will try that same strategy. </font> [/div] <font size="3">Projected Starters</font> <div align="center"><font color="purple"> <font size="1">(S. Parker, K. Bryant, L. Odom, K. Brown, C. Mihm) </font></font></div> <font size="1">Leading Scorer: Kobe Bryant - 34.2 PPG Leading Rebounder: Lamar Odom - 9.3 RPG Assist Man: Lamar Odom - 5.5 APG The 'X' Factor: Smush Parker (11.3 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 3.0 APG)</font> <font size="3">Backcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/smush_parker.jpg[/imgl]<font color="purple">Smush Parker</font> PPG: 11.3, RPG: 3.0, APG: 3.0 Smush is coming off of a career game against Golden State where he had 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists. In this game, Parker will have to assert himself early again, look to score, that's when he is most effective. If he gets into the groove early, the Lakers should have a great chance at winning this game. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/kobe_bryant.jpg[/imgl]<font color="purple">Kobe Bryant</font> PPG: 34.2, RPG: 5.6, APG: 4.4 Kobe has been on an MVP-caliber tear lately. Saturday night against the Warriors, he had 38 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. In this game, you can bet he'll get close to 40 points. He'll also be playing his best defense against Dwyane Wade. He'll do everything he can to will his team to victory, it's his teammates that MUST step it up. </font> <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/lamar_odom.jpg[/imgl]<font color="purple">Lamar Odom</font> PPG: 14.5, RPG: 9.3, APG: 5.5 All the talent in the world, yet he can't utilize it day in and day out. That's Lamar Odom for you. For the Lakers to win, he's going to have to score. Assert himself on offense, you can count on him getting the others involved, but it's himself that must get involved. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/kwame_brown.jpg[/imgl]<font color="purple">Kwame Brown</font> - PPG: 6.4, RPG: 6.1, BPG: .37 His stats are very misleading. He's coming off of his best game as a Laker, scoring 18 and grabbing 12 rebounds. In the Christmas day matchup, Kwame played frustrating defense on Shaq. He wasn't budging. If he repeats that performance, grabs 10 rebounds, and scores 10+ points, he did his job. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/chris_mihm.jpg[/imgl]<font color="purple">Chris Mihm</font> PPG: 10.2, RPG: 6.6, BPG: 1.32 The Texas native, like Lamar Odom, is very inconsistent. The Lakers need to get him in the game early, have him attack Shaq. He has to stay out of foul trouble, which will be hard against Shaq, but it must be done. If he doesn't, he'll seriously hurt the Lakers chances of winning. </font> <font size="3">Keys to the Game</font><ul>[*]<font color="red">Feed Shaq Early</font> - Give the monster the ball early and often. Let him take his former home crowd out of it, early. Let him get the Lakers bigmen in trouble. If Shaq is in this game, dominating, there is virtually no chance for the Lakers.[*]<font color="red">Dwyane Wade</font> - The 3rd year star is going to have his hands full with Kobe Bryant. You can't stop him, but Wade will have to slow him down to the best of his ability. If that happens, then Wade should have the confidence to get his job done on the offensive side of the ball as well.[*]<font color="red">Take the Crowd Out of It</font> - The Laker crowd will be heavily into this game because of the history between Kobe and Shaq. If the Heat come out early and minimize the home crowd effect, the Lakers could be in trouble, especially if their players aren't stepping it up. [*]<font color="purple">Lamar! Lamar! Lamar!</font> - Former team. Big game. STEP IT UP.[*]<font color="purple">Kobe Bryant</font> - He can't try and do too much. He needs to rely on and trust his teammates in this game, or this could turn into a whipping of the Lakers. He'll get his points, rebounds, and assists, but he needs to let the other players get theirs also. When the time to takeover comes along, Bryant will do it.[*]<font color="purple">The Bigs</font> - The Laker bigs will have to stay out of foul trouble and go above and beyond their calls of duty. Kwame will have to play his tight post defense on Shaq again and Mihm will have to be in the game for more than 12 minutes, that means staying clear of fouls for him. They'll have to get easy putbacks and get Shaq and Haslem in foul trouble, which means they'll also have to hit their free throws.[/list]<font size="3">Prediction</font> This should be a very exciting game. I think both teams will show up for a gunfight, and I think L.A. will finally pull out a win against the Heat. I look for production from Smush and Kwame again, to compliment Kobe's. I say Wade goes for 32, 7, and 4. Kobe goes for 39, 6, and 5. Shaq, I think, will be in foul trouble and/or ineffective because of Kwame Brown's defense. Lakers: 102, Heat: 98
Man nice preview..can you teach me how to make one like this? it would be greatly appreciated....thanks
I'll do them as often as I can, if I get responses. They take some time and I just don't make them for nothing. If I get responses, I'll try to fit them in my work and school schedule.
Great preview man. Must have taken alot of effort. I'm going to be watching this game at around 2AM British time, knowing I have an important exam the day after! Hopefully we can win tonight. If Kwame, Lamar and Smush show up, I'm sure we'll get the W. Kobe needs to play how he's playing but he has to learn NOT to get carried away like the past two Christmas Day games. He's on fire in the beginning and then starts taking stupid shots so he cools off. When he's hot, he needs to get others into the game.
Thnx nice preview. However shaq punk'd us last game like a little btch. he dunked every ball he touched..i even recall kwame guarded him and shaq just spun away and took the basket down with him.. So far for Kwame dogging him.
Lamar Odom needs to continue playing aggressive basketball and everything else should fall into place. The Lakers have to put pressure on the Heat by attacking the basket and forcing Shaq/Wade to play defense. In the first meeting Wade got into foul trouble and the Lakers went on a nice run with him on the bench. The Lakers big men have to play a smart game and not let Shaq dictate the tempo of the game by dominating on the inside. The Lakers have to force the Heat into a perimeter game so the long rebounds off misses, can start the Laker break and take Shaq out of the game. The Lakers will have Ronny Turiaf for this game, and hopefully he gets some burn tonight because the Lakers can use his energy and rebounding. The Lakers have been dominating the glass the last two games, lead by Kwame Brown. He had a breakout game against the Warriors the other night and is starting to finish baskets with some power dunks. Earlier in the season if Lamar Odom went 1-8 with just 2 points, the Lakers would have lost in blowout fashion. But it looks like the role players are starting to find their rhythm and the production is becoming more consistent. This game means a lot for the Lakers because it will help their confidence right before they get back on the road. Lakers are playing great, I expect a win tonight!
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Lakers are playing great, I expect a win tonight!</div> The lakers are playing OK and Kobe's bailing them out.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ilive4ball:</div><div class="quote_post">The lakers are playing OK and Kobe's bailing them out.</div> Kobe has definitely been bailing them out, but I like the progress made in the last two games from the "other guys." Mainly, Kwame Brown, he's playing with a lot more confidence now, and his teammates are getting him the ball a lot more for high % shots. Kwame's rebounding is also up, not turning the ball over, and staying out of foul trouble. Smush is taking the ball to the basket more and isn't settling for off-balanced jumpers. Also the FT shooting has been lights out. v. CLE 18 for 20 v. GSW 20 for 25 A huge improvement over those 60% outings from the line. Keep an eye on the Odom-Payton feud tonight. These two got into it after the first game was over, I don't think it's been resolved either.
well, im definetly excited for tonight. i hope that we finally beat shaq and his heat, but in order to do so, we must start out strong and finish strong. we must contain shaq and of course, contain payton, who pretty much killed us last game. i just hope we come out with a win. oh yeah, btw, ronny turiaf is in the D-league shape.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting phiLA:</div><div class="quote_post">well, im definetly excited for tonight. i hope that we finally beat shaq and his heat, but in order to do so, we must start out strong and finish strong. we must contain shaq and of course, contain payton, who pretty much killed us last game. i just hope we come out with a win. oh yeah, btw, ronny turiaf is in the D-league shape.</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">OAKLAND ? Ronny Turiaf's stay with the Lakers might be short-lived. The Laker draft pick will spend about two weeks with the big club before being sent down to the Development League, Coach Phil Jackson said Saturday. Jackson said Turiaf, who underwent heart surgery last July, needed additional experience and conditioning and probably will be assigned to the team's Fort Worth affiliate when the Lakers begins a seven-game trip Jan. 29, their longest of the season. "Maybe we'll give him a chance to hang on with the team for a while," Jackson said. "We probably should be sending more guys down. We have all kids on this team, but right now we have a roster as such that we just don't have the ability [to do that]. "We think that some time in the near future, March or sometime in there, [Turiaf] should probably start feeling like he could play continual action." Turiaf averaged 13 points and 6.3 rebounds in nine games with the CBA's Yakama (Wash.) Sun Kings. Players in their first or second NBA seasons are eligible to be sent to the Development League. The Lakers have five players who qualify: rookies Turiaf, Von Wafer, Devin Green and Andrew Bynum, and second-year guard Sasha Vujacic. Players can be sent down up to three times a season.</div> Source Turiaf is on the roster for now. Hopefully they have him listed as active for tonight's game.
I have actualy missed all the meetings. Everytime they have played I was either in Vegas or somewhere. Even last season I missed the games its wierd especialy since I wanted to watch them so bad and I dont miss laker games!! Tonight I am watching for sure and they will win!!
If Kobe does what he does every game...and the role players play like they have been these last few games....AND if Lamar becomes a scoring threat in this game....we can totally win the game....we lose to Miami by fewer than 6pts...and thats with NOT all cylinders firing....so this is a game that we are in....and we can win IF everyone does their job.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting DynastYWarrioR6:</div><div class="quote_post">If Kobe does what he does every game...and the role players play like they have been these last few games....AND if Lamar becomes a scoring threat in this game....we can totally win the game....we lose to Miami by fewer than 6pts...and thats with NOT all cylinders firing....so this is a game that we are in....and we can win IF everyone does their job.</div> Replace all those ifs, with WHEN!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Fiyah:</div><div class="quote_post">So Shaq greeted Kobe pregame. My hats off to both of them. MLK day brings people together!</div> That's good. Where did you hear it from?
They shake hands? I was just watching TNT and it showed Kobe and Shaq shaking hands. I mean the last time they have played they didn't even look at each other. Very classy on both part of those guys.
