I think that pretty much sums up my feelings. Absolutely despicable, at this point they don't deserve fans like us. I need to really start getting into NCAA or March Madness for the first time in my life. I would love to see ball players that play with heart and are not spoiled by money and give 110% out there. Lakers have been officially been boycotted
I don't know.. I think they will improve more once everyone gets their chemistry back now that they have most of their players. The PG position is just killing us Smush is so useless awwww!! Everyone has to step it up and show some heart though I agree they pissing me off too. People cant expect Farmar to produce like other PG veterans he is only a rookie!
The Lakers have become a 24 minute team since the start of the new year. They look fantastic for in the first half, and pathetic in the second half. This was a problem last season for us, if you recall, and you have to wonder what's being said at halftime. A majority of the Lakers losses are linked to them being blown out in the 3rd quarter. The team comes out flat on offense and doesn't move the ball around like they did in the 1st half. This has a direct effect on their defensive energy, because the team doesn't buckle down on defense when their shots don't drop. I've seen the opposition go on 5-0 runs, 7-0 runs, in the first 2 minutes of the 3rd quarter on this Laker team. This either erases the halftime lead we had, or puts us in a double digit deficit. Once the Lakers are forced to play catchup we get into the bad habit of trying to win from the perimeter. In the 1st half the Lakers had 14 assists and 26 points in the paint. In the 2nd half it was jumpshot after jumpshot, and no one was attacking the paint with consistency. This Laker team cannot afford to make mistakes, the margin of error is slim, because our defense is attrocious. Once again, the high pick and roll Denver ran in the second half put this game out of reach. The Lakers didn't have the quickness or rotations in place to defend Iverson or Carmelo. They blew by their defender and forced the Lakers to show the double team. This just led to wide open dunks and layups because the weakside help didn't follow through with cutting off the lane for the open offensive player. Kobe Bryant was the main weak link last night defensively. He was late on almost every rotation I saw, which resulted in Linas Kleiza having a career night against us. I'm trying to stay positive with this team, and they looked brilliant in the 1st half of the game. The Triangle was working to perfection and both Kwame and Bynum were finishing with dunks, instead of being soft and getting their shots blocked. The ugly I noticed last night was how fundamentally inept the Lakers are on defense. It starts with the guards on the perimeter, mainly Smush Parker. I was paying specific attention to him last night because he had to matchup with Iverson. What I noticed is Smush DOES NOT move his feet on defense. He starts off correct by playing on the tips of his toes, and pressures the ball without committing on his lateral direction (left or right), however, once the ballhandler crosses the halfcourt line, Smush abandons his technique. Smush relaxes on defense everytime Iverson crossed halfcourt and got inside the 3 point arc. Smush planted his feet and became a flat foot defender, relying on his arms, instead of feet movement to check Iverson. Once you become a flat footed defensively against a quick, and creative ballhandler like Iverson, it's over for you. Iverson would either cross Smush up and take him completely out of the play, drive by him with Smush caught on his hip, or ran Smush right into a screen in the high pick and roll. Iverson completely embarrassed Smush last night, and Smush fouled out in 3rd quarter in just 20 minutes on the court because of his piss poor lazy defense. The same bad habits applies to Lamar Odom on defense aswell. He plants his feet, and Carmelo makes one quick move left, right, forward, and Odom is out of defensive position, and chaos ensues with a complete breakdown of the Lakers interior defense. Kobe Bryant got caught cheating on his man all night long. He's become a predictable defender, trying to jump the pass, or come the weakside, instead of manning up on his player and taking that person out of the equation. It pisses me off to watch, because Kobe is trying to play free safety on defense, instead of playing the lock defense I'm accustomed to seeing from him. He was backdoored multiple times by not paying attention to his man, and he watched Linas Kleiza hit jumpers in his face all night because he gave him too, much room trying to cheat over. The bad news for the Lakers is the fact all these problems they have aren't going to work themselves out overnight. I'm not sure there's enough games left for the Lakers to iron out these bad habits and learn to beat teams by stopping them defensively. The Lakers have played themselves out of a favorable seeding, and now face a potential matchup with Dallas or Phoenix in the 1st round. Both these teams are efficient on offense, and can score 100 points even when they're having an off night.
<div class="quote_poster">illmatic Wrote</div><div class="quote_post"> Lakers have been officially been boycotted</div> Thats the spirit, boycott those Fakers..
I know this sounds stupid, but what if the Lakers are purposly losing so they can get a rematch at Pheonix?! I know sounds dumb, but just throwing the randomness out there.
<div class="quote_poster">YourNewChef Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I know this sounds stupid, but what if the Lakers are purposly losing so they can get a rematch at Pheonix?! I know sounds dumb, but just throwing the randomness out there.</div> that would be a mistake. last year they blew it with a worse Suns team and the Lakers were better than this year.
<div class="quote_poster">YourNewChef Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I know this sounds stupid, but what if the Lakers are purposly losing so they can get a rematch at Pheonix?! I know sounds dumb, but just throwing the randomness out there.</div> Um, how about no? Why would you want to face one of the hottest teams in the league, when you can face Utah?
<div class="quote_poster">Brian Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Um, how about no? Why would you want to face one of the hottest teams in the league, when you can face Utah?</div> How can we face Utah? We'd be vsing the Spurs, if we got the 6th seed. We'd need to be the 5th seed to vs Utah, and there really is no hope for us ever getting the 5th seed.
<div class="quote_poster">Eternal Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">How can we face Utah? We'd be vsing the Spurs, if we got the 6th seed. We'd need to be the 5th seed to vs Utah, and there really is no hope for us ever getting the 5th seed.</div> Good point. I thought the Jazz were the 3rd seed and the Spurs were the 4th. Either way though, I would much rather face the Spurs in the playoffs rather than the Suns. I know the Spurs have been on a roll lately, but personally, I feel we've just got a better chance against them. Suns and Mavs are the two teams I don't want us to match up against
<div class="quote_poster">Brian Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Good point. I thought the Jazz were the 3rd seed and the Spurs were the 4th. Either way though, I would much rather face the Spurs in the playoffs rather than the Suns. I know the Spurs have been on a roll lately, but personally, I feel we've just got a better chance against them. Suns and Mavs are the two teams I don't want us to match up against</div> I want the Suns personally. Their defense is very inconsistent, and they will go through stretches where they can't score. The Spurs are very consistent on defense, which will carry them when their offense is off, which is why to me the Spurs are more dangerous to any team in the league.
<div class="quote_poster">YourNewChef Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I know this sounds stupid, but what if the Lakers are purposly losing so they can get a rematch at Pheonix?! I know sounds dumb, but just throwing the randomness out there.</div> If it's a case of tanking to face Phoenix, the Lakers are doing a helluva an acting job. I don't have a problem with the Lakers losing games, but it's the manor at which they're losing which is frustrating me. Getting blown out in the NBA, means one team is shooting unconcious, or your team quits when they have to deal with a little adversity. In the Lakers case, I feel our team is quitting outside of a few players, and it leads to these 20 point shalackings. Nobody on this team is committed to playing defense this season, starting with the leader of the Lakers, Kobe Bryant.
