Never too, early to get the chatter started. The Lakers made the necessary adjustments to win Game 3. Most notably, attacking the rim more (scoring & rebounding), and Shamu making life a little more difficult for Barbosa was a huge lift for the Lakers. How will Phoenix counter in Game 4? The Lakers have to be ready for the Suns to pack it in the paint even more on Sunday. The first two games, they did a good job of forming a wall to limit penetration, but in Game 3 the Lakers were relentless in attacking the middle of the paint. It started with Kwame getting his offense going early, and becoming a factor in the post. This opened up the court for Kobe to slash and get to the rim. If the Lakers employ the same strategy of Shamu and Smush on the court at the same time, expect Phoenix to bait them into shooting from the perimeter. D'Antoni is going to recognize the Laker guards really struggled with their shots going a combined 0-11 from the field (0-5 from behind the arc). He's going to force the guards to make those shots, by being more aggressive double teaming off of them in the post. Farmar, Smush, and Shamu have to be on target in Game 4 or this game could get ugly. Long missed shots lead to Phoenix fastbreaks, and if the Lakers can't punish Phoenix from the perimeter in Game 4, it could mean another Suns blow out. The Lakers have to be prepared for Nash and Marion to play a lot better than they did in Game 3. Those two were out of sync and Amare struggled with early fouls. Despite the bad play, Phoenix was still in this game until the end, so they'll take that positive and carry it into Sunday's game. They dealt with the best the Lakers had to offer, and only lost by 6. I'm hoping the Lakers are amped up and rediscovered some confidence to challenge Phoenix and push this series to the limit. However, we've seen this Laker team get complacent after a big win all season long. They have to break that bad habit and come into Game 4 with the mindset they had in Game 3. WIN AT ALL COSTS, MUST WIN SITUATION, DEFEND OUR HOMECOURT. The Lakers bench will have to be sharper in Game 4. They were only 1-16 from the field for 6 points in Game 3. The Suns will play with a lot more intensity and try to demoralize the Lakers on Sunday. The bench stepped up defensively, but now it needs to balance that out with better offensive production.
You smell that? That’s the smell of hope .. it escaped us after game two but its back after game three. If you think about it, the Lakers controlled the game for the first 3 quarters of the seris, and the last 3 quarters of the series, getting demolished the 6 quarters in between. If you put it that way, we’ve controlled the games about half the time in this series, so if we can tilt the scales a bit in our favor, we have a chance … it might be blind hope, but im hopeful regardlesss
great write-up, shape. i'm interested to see what kind of adjustments phoenix will make. i think nash will do a lot better but i don't expect much from marion again.
I watched game 3 at ESPN zone in anaheim. It was a great experience and a great game. Surprise that we pulled through even though trailing by 11 early on. Lets go LAKERS!! game 4 here we come.
We've got momentum going into this game. Kwame and Lamar have confidence, that's how we beat them three times last year. I expect them to show up again. I hope we send the series back to PHX with a 2-2 tie, and come back to L.A. 3-2.
If the Lakers switch on the screen and roll and play great defense, they will be fine! I never learned to lose hope and I won't do it anytime soon, so I look for my Lakers to even this series on sunday afternoon. Let's go Lakers!
My hope came back when I saw the score for yesterday's game. The Lakers better not get cocky about that or it will be another Suns blowout win. Kobe thought about his shot selection in this game. And good job of him driving to the hoop. But, the Lakers also got lucky cause Nash and Marion weren't performing up to there standards in that game. They better be prepared for Game 4. LETS GO LAKERS!!!
They need to keep running out on Nash or whoever tries to run a pick 'n roll, like they did last game. It forces the ball up near midcourt, slows the play down and increases chanses for a steal. They just need to make sure that the other guys are over played so that they can't get a pass.
<div class="quote_poster">Bahir Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">They need to keep running out on Nash or whoever tries to run a pick 'n roll, like they did last game.</div> 100% agree! Nash doesn't do well handling double team. He is also not a superb dribbler.
<div class="quote_poster">Bahir Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">They need to keep running out on Nash or whoever tries to run a pick 'n roll, like they did last game. It forces the ball up near midcourt, slows the play down and increases chanses for a steal. They just need to make sure that the other guys are over played so that they can't get a pass.</div> Absolutely right. The Lakers also need to keep up the pressure on Barbosa, cause even though he scored 20 on us, at least it wasn't mostly layups. But, we also need to guard his 3-point shooting, he drained alot of those in Game 3. If we just guard them well and take smart shots, we have a chance to win Game 4.
I think we made the necessary adjustments last game and just need to continue playing that way in game four. Shamu made like tough for Barbosa, so I wouldn't doubt to see him get some more PT as we watch Smush's continue to drop. The thing I love the most though is how Kwame played. He looked like a completely different player. He wasn't clanking dunks off the back rim and he was dominating the paint for us on both ends of the court. If he and Odom play as well as they did in game three, the Lakers should be able to win by all means. I just hope Kobe doesn't have to go for 40+ again in order to get the win. However, I do feel that we've got the momentum right now and we need to continue to play with confidence. If we can do that, I think we can win this series. And on a side note, does anyone else think the comment Odom made about them not playing as a team kind of sparked them, or is that just me? Cause after that, both he and Kwame had huge games.
<div class="quote_poster">The Legend Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">If we can win this series it has to be in 6 games, i doubt we will win a game 7.</div> One game at a time bro. I picked the Lakers in 6 but i'm more focused on game 4.
you are crazy if you think the lakers will win this series!! i hope i am wrong but still, the suns are a great team!!!
<div class="quote_poster">TopLake Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">100% agree! Nash doesn't do well handling double team. He is also not a superb dribbler.</div> Thank You!!! ive been thinking the exact same thing... all he does is dribble around the court and pass pass and pass... If you replace nash with maybe J Kidd, Marbury or any other decent PG in the LEague and ask him to 'run around and wait for an open guy' you would get the same results
<div class="quote_poster">dripi24la Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">you are crazy if you think the lakers will win this series!! i hope i am wrong but still, the suns are a great team!!!</div> if the warriors are a threat to the best team in the NBA... it only backs up my hope that we could upset the suns
The Lakers have to come in with the proper mindset that they have to defend their home turf. Hope they come out with swagger and confidence and Kwame builds on his performance from game 3.
Well it doesn't start out good for Kwame getting owned by Amare after one of his slow grab the ball, try to dunk it attempts. He has to get up much quicker.
