<div class="quote_poster">Quoting drm2dnk:</div><div class="quote_post"> Plz trade mcgrady..he's too lazy too injured and trying to take over with 4 minutes left in the 4th is dumb. be like kobe..play hard all 4 quarters!</div> Kobe is in peak physical condition, and McGrady obviously isn't. Gimme a break. I stopped watching with about 4 minutes left in the game. But I thought Kobe was masterful pretty much throughout. I thought he played very well in the last game against the Rockets as well, despite the Lakers losing. He always seems very much in control when he plays against us. Smush Parker and Devin George did a great job on the boards, which hurt us. Yao shot under 50% for the fifth straight game. I can't remember the last time that happened. And it's not like he's been facing a lot of double teams or fronting. He's just missing shots that were routine for him before the injury.
I agree, Yao looks off, and didn't have the footwork to create space like he normally does. I'm sure he's still not 100% from his injury, and it's going to take few weeks for him to get back to his normal self. Stro' Swift is terrible out there, he's not focused at all. Three passes hit him right in his hands and he wasn't ready for it. He made Kwame Brown look like an impact player, which is very hard to do. Juwan Howard kept hitting the back iron of the rim everytime he pulled up from trailing in transition. He looked awful tonight in the P&R and had no idea how to defend it. I'm not sure if it's JVG or his coaching staff, but they really got out coached in all facets of the game. The Rockets never used the 3-guard lineup to get back in the game. Two point guards on the court at the same time has given the Lakers problems all season long. For starters, it would have given the Rockets another ball handler to break the Laker press. Time and time again the Rockets were shooting deep against the shotclock. Luther Head needed a lot more playing time tonight. He was effective, but only played 14 minutes on the court. Chuck Hayes would have probably been the answer to slow Devean George down on the glass. Devean ended up with 7 offensive rebounds, that's inexcusable on the Rockets frontline to allow him to dominate the glass.
Am I the only one getting sick of Van Gundy's schtick after every loss? "We didn't play with passion ... We didn't play with energy ... We didn't compete ... blah, blah, blah." That's such a damn copout. Just say what it was ... we didn't execute and make the plays needed to win the game. And that falls not only on the players on the court, but also on the coach -- who he decided to play (where was Jon Barry and Derek Anderson, or Chuck Hayes?) and how he prepared the team.
OK let me follow JVG thinking. We got killed on the boards and he sits the second best rebounding big man in C.Hayes for all but garbage time. Idiotic. I really can't get a feel for what JVG is trying to do with this team. The unimaginative, predictable seemingly no purpose offense showed its ugly face. Thank god the Rockets played a couple bad teams to win a couple, but tonight was awful. Stro needs those gloves football players wear. Hell oven mits would probably improve his terrible ability to catch the freaking ball. Over and Over and Over. The difference he is making is negative. Rebounding, position, defence. Just aint there for him. If he couldn't dunk the ball, he'd just be a tall grocery bagger. Yao and TMac both shot horribly in the first half. Yao showed up and played well in the 2nd. TMac never got going. Nothing to the basket, not many off screen catch and shoot, and his shot was long all night. 11pts wow. How great is Kobe right now.
We lost. Who cares. We played a playoff team and it showed that we can't compete with the bottom of the contendors, let alone the top. Where do I sign for the draft Adam Morrison bandwagon.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting drm2dnk:</div><div class="quote_post">Stromile 'bonehead' swift is gettin on my nerves. It's not a bad pass when it hits his knees and every time they dish to him he seems to fumble it. Oh and wtf is this brilliant matchup of wesley and kobe? jvg is that dumb! and plz take swift out..he doesnt box out ever and he gave geeorge and kwame tons of offensive rebounds. where is chuck hayes. update: bonehead swift gets in a good position but can't catch the ball again. ..i think these amount of turnovers are just too much to get a W. and swift is the reason Mcgrady sux..he missed all his shots in the 4th. Plz trade mcgrady..he's too lazy too injured and trying to take over with 4 minutes left in the 4th is dumb. be like kobe..play hard all 4 quarters!</div> I was at the game and tought Stro played better than Howard, and the only fumbled pass that was his fault was the McGrady under the basket,but to be honest It looked like T-mac wasn't going to give it up.Now JVG IS VERY STUPID!!! after the second shot that Kobe made on Wesley I would have put T-Mac on him, and on that note T-Mac looked like someone shot his dog, after that awesome dunk I really expected him to come to the party but once again he regressed to being a long jump shooter for the rest of the game. I never questioned T-Mac's skill but I DO question his heart.Now the other thing that pissed me off was the sh*t they were letting Brown get away with!!! Damn it was ridiculous!!!
The Rockets were awful again in shooting at their home court. Although the Lakers have almost the same shooting FG percentage, it was the lack of energy and desire to win that cost the Rockets the game. Also they gave up too many second chance points by being outrebounded on the defensive end. It would be a momentum if they won. Yao and Tracy seems to be contend on shooting in an awkward position or lazy shots in other words. You don't see the fire in their eyes. It would have been good if they had played the bench with the exception Swift(no intensity at all) at least you get some hustles and rebounding.
Yeah I'm hoping its a slump for both T-Mac and Yao. I really would be sad if one, the other or both were hurt AGAIN. Last year they only missed 6 games combined, and 2 of those were T-Mac for personal reasons not injuries. They both better have some serious rehab planned so McGrady's back isn't like this next year.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting blueracer:</div><div class="quote_post">The Rockets were awful again in shooting at their home court. Although the Lakers have almost the same shooting FG percentage, it was the lack of energy and desire to win that cost the Rockets the game. Also they gave up too many second chance points by being outrebounded on the defensive end. It would be a momentum if they won. Yao and Tracy seems to be contend on shooting in an awkward position or lazy shots in other words. You don't see the fire in their eyes. It would have been good if they had played the bench with the exception Swift(no intensity at all) at least you get some hustles and rebounding.</div> It's hard to have energy when tmac is always afraid to drive because of his injuries(which will affect him the rest of the season or career). Swift can't rebound or score and keeps turning it over when it could have been easy dunks; and wesley no matter how good a defender he is, can't match well with kobe's height and skill. Tmac couldn't guard kobe, but i'm sure bowen could have slowed kobe down with his hustle instead of an injured tmac or short wesley. It could have been a different game if hayes was in there instead of swift! At least the defensive board would have been taken care of. Yao looked lost but you can't really blame him since he never plays well when the rest of the team isn't performing. Opponents would just double or triple him
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting drm2dnk:</div><div class="quote_post">Tmac couldn't guard kobe, but i'm sure bowen could have slowed kobe down with his hustle instead of an injured tmac or short wesley.</div> There's no way in hell Ryan Bowen can guard Kobe. McGrady is our best wing defender when he's focused on stopping someone. Even if he isn't 100%.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">There's no way in hell Ryan Bowen can guard Kobe. McGrady is our best wing defender when he's focused on stopping someone. Even if he isn't 100%.</div> Well, it didn't turn out well when wesley and tmac was guarding kobe did it? DO you have any better suggestion on who to guard kobe? Tmac didn't defend kobe well and who knows if that affected him on the offensive end
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting drm2dnk:</div><div class="quote_post">Well, it didn't turn out well when wesley and tmac was guarding kobe did it? DO you have any better suggestion on who to guard kobe? Tmac didn't defend kobe well and who knows if that affected him on the offensive end</div> McGrady defended Kobe better than Wesley and Bowen did yesterday. Maybe it go really bad in the last 4 minutes of the game, I stopped watching at that point. But before that, McGrady did a decent job defensively. Obviously, no one is going to completely shut down a Kobe Bryant. And you're right, it did take a lot out of him offensively. Van Gundy was foolish not to have activated Derek Anderson to help guard Kobe. Ryan Bowen tried to guard Kobe a few possession in the first half, and it was embarassing. Kobe would have gone for 50 if Bowen was on him all game.
I think everyone has probably already said everything that I was gonna complain about......JVG leaving Wesley on the much taller Kobe was idiotic, and Stromile Swift is clumbsy with the ball in his hands.........bad rebounding, bad energy, bad defense..............just another day at the office.
