Once again, another easily winnable game, yet we manage to choke. This game reminds me of the Golden State game a couple of days ago, where our stupidity killed us. We were up by 11 at one point in the third, yet somehow we give up the lead and lose by 4. Lamar Odom had a fantastic first half, but was pretty much invisible in the second half, which shouldn't surprise anyone. Bynum had an alright game, but choked for us at the free throw line. Kobe was terrible out there. I'm not sure if it's his injury, but if it is, he should really consider sitting out a couple of games because he has been nothing short of frustrating the last couple of games. His shots are not falling, and it pisses me off to watch him try his "superman" shots which end up being bricks. He did a great job rebounding the missed free throw and giving us a second chance, but he shouldn't have settled for that three, especially considering how horrible he has been shooting lately. The officiating this game was horrible as well, but I can't complain because it's always like this when we go to Cleveland. Either way, I can't blame the refs for this one, because we pretty much gave this game away. At least we play Philadelphia and New York next, which should be an easy two game win, but you never know with this team. Lebron impressed me tonight. He took over for his team when they needed him the most, unlike Kobe. Kobe needs to take a couple of days off to rest his injuries because he has obviously not been himself. But knowing Kobe, he will continue playing through the pain, which is why I'm hoping we can blow out Philly tomorrow so we can give Kobe a rest.
Well looking at this game we played very good but there were many factors that killed are game.Second chance points ruined our game if we had a lot of second chance points we would of probably won this game.Also why the hell did we go with the three, we should have gone with the two and force it to overtime.Bynum played good again and is impressing me a lot.Farmar and the second unit did not play good they basically killed us in the beginning of the forth quarter.We have another game tomorrow and we basically lose all back to back games.Odom had a pretty good game which really surprise me.And one last thing, why the hell did Phil had Luke gurd James that was so stupid on his behalf.
Phil should have made substitutions during the Cav's huge run, but he didn't. But we obviously can't blame him since he has nine rings, so it's not his fault I'm sick and tired of Phil sleeping on the bench, and I'm sick and tired of his substitutional patterns. But whatever, he has nine rings. And about Odom, he did have an alright game stat wise, definetely not great. He was great in the first half, he was being agressive and hitting all his shots. In the second half, he turned back into Lamar, and I swear I didn't even realize he was on the court. We better not give up an easy win tomorrow
Once again, Lamar disappoints. He comes out firing on all cylinders...looking amazing..and then he disappears after the first quarter, not the first half. Kobe Bryant's injury is effecting him far more than some people think, you can easily tell it was hampering him towards the end of the game. Despite dropping 33, LeBron played a pretty bad game. Ariza did a nice job on him, but I don't get why Luke was guarding him? Why did Luke have so many plays drawn up for him? Why the hell did Jordan Farmar get in the game, he was playing like ass..he's had a couple of ass games now. He doesn't pass to Kobe either. The Cavs go on a 16-0 run, we bring in Kobe to stop the run and Jordan passes the ball to the other side of the court. I've got a feeling, and I've had it for awhile, that he's got some issues with Kobe Bryant and it's hurting our chances to win. He needs to work those out and stop being a stubborn little bitch. He's a fucking role player, nothing else...and will never be more than a qualified role player. Rumble young man, Rumble! Bynum was a beast out there, two major blocks on LeBron. Despite the two missed free throws that could've tied the game, he played amazing ball. He was hustling, dominant, and had that killer instinct grabbing the ball. He also showed a few nice post moves. I don't get why the hell the second unit didn't feed him the ball when Cleveland was on their 16-0 run. Jordan Farmar and Sasha refused to throw the ball inside. Bynum was demanding the ball, and Sasha dribbled like he was Chris Paul. Speaking of Sasha...I understand he's played great ball lately, but he's not a fuckin offensive god, he shot way too much, dribbled way too much, and held onto the ball way too much tonight. He completely killed the flow every time he touched the ball. A very disappointing loss, but there is no doubt in my mind that given a healthy Kobe Bryant, that is a secure win. It's obvious we're the better team, Cleveland's got some issues they need to work out. They need some real help around King James.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Skater Boi @ Dec 20 2007, 11:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Well looking at this game we played very good but there were many factors that killed are game.Second chance points ruined our game if we had a lot of second chance points we would of probably won this game.Also why the hell did we go with the three, we should have gone with the two and force it to overtime.Bynum played good again and is impressing me a lot.Farmar and the second unit did not play good they basically killed us in the beginning of the forth quarter.We have another game tomorrow and we basically lose all back to back games.Odom had a pretty good game which really surprise me.And one last thing, why the hell did Phil had Luke gurd James that was so stupid on his behalf.</div> We played very good? It may look that way, but we didn't. Our bench sucked and like you stated, we gave up way too many second chance points.
Look at it this way... The refs were giving us bad calls (Fisher did not commit a foul on that last play), the bench was terrible, and Kobe was terrible, yet we only lost by 4. Had Kobe been 100% tonight, or even 80%, we would have won. Or if the bench played up to their averages, we would have won as well. Just a bad game overall. We'll bounce back tomorrow against Philly, hopefully.
The refs were pretty bad, that was clearly a foul on Gibson, if anybody. Fisher had complete control and Gibson came under him.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Black Mamba @ Dec 21 2007, 01:03 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The refs were pretty bad, that was clearly a foul on Gibson, if anybody. Fisher had complete control and Gibson came under him.</div> Agreed. From a neutral perspective, that's a no-call at best. It's sad that the reffs were able to dictate that much of the game, but what was Kobe doing taking that shot anyway? That's the best look he could have gotten? Either way, the real loser is Lamar Odom for having that stupid star on his head.
I gotta say, the refs were pretty bad but the Lakers did it to themselves. In the end the Cavs just outplayed them.
The second unit was the reason we lost the game last night. The Lakers built an 11 point lead and the second unit allowed the Cavs to put together 15-0 run to get back in this game. It was frustrating to watch because the run started at the end of the 3rd quarter so I was expecting some roster changes to start the 4th. Instead the same 5 guys who just blew our lead were in the game and the Cavs continued to their run. I was also trying to figure out why PJax had Luke Walton and Radman matched up with LeBron James for most of the game. He's the only player on Cleveland who can get a shot off shouldn't the focus be on shutting him down? Why did the Lakers keep leaving Gibson open from the perimeter? If you're going to double off someone make it Pavlic or Gooden. Instead the Lakers let the Cavs two best scorers loose. The Lakers have a bad habit of abandoning their offense when they don't have the lead. They were settling for jumpshots instead of posting Bynum and running the offense through him. Going to him a lot in the 3rd quarter allowed the team to build that 11 point lead, but once Cleveland made a comeback Bynum didn't get an touches. He was only getting shots by grabbing offensive rebounds. Kobe had him wide open twice under the basket when the Cavs collapsed on him. Instead of giving it up to Bynum for a dunk Kobe kicked it out once to Fisher who missed badly and then once to Odom who missed a 3pointer. Kobe's last shot was inexcusable. He shot a flat jumper from behind the arc when the team only needed two points. This was a game the Lakers should have won easily by making some minor adjustments and being more disciplined on offense. Cleveland's offense is a one trick pony named LeBron James.
I wanted to add the foul call on Fisher was b.s., but the Lakers should never have put themselves in that position in the first place.
I wouldn't say Kobe's last jumper was inexcusable. He said that it felt great leaving his hands, LeBron said that he turned around and thought it was money. I thought it was a good shot, just didn't hit it. You've got to play by that saying, "Play for the tie at home, play for the win on the road."
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Black Mamba @ Dec 21 2007, 06:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I wouldn't say Kobe's last jumper was inexcusable. He said that it felt great leaving his hands, LeBron said that he turned around and thought it was money. I thought it was a good shot, just didn't hit it. You've got to play by that saying, "Play for the tie at home, play for the win on the road."</div> They had 10 seconds left still to run a play. Kobe took a 28 foot 3 pointer and didn't make any attempt to get closer to the rim. I would rather play for the tie and send the game into OT. Lakers just had a one bad stretch during the end of the 3rd and early 4th quarter, but outplayed the Cavs the rest of the game. I prefer this saying instead "keep the game going as long as you can." I hate losses like the one last night.
I still don't see how that was a bad shot. Every body in the building knew that Kobe was a step behind because of his injury, Kobe himself knew it. He had no explosiveness last night and his teammates didn't produce when they had their shot in the clutch (Bynum, Lamar, Fisher). It was Kobe's best, most effective option last night considering the injury.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Black Mamba @ Dec 21 2007, 07:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I still don't see how that was a bad shot. Every body in the building knew that Kobe was a step behind because of his injury, Kobe himself knew it. He had no explosiveness last night and his teammates didn't produce when they had their shot in the clutch (Bynum, Lamar, Fisher). It was Kobe's best, most effective option last night considering the injury.</div> He could ran LeBron into a screen and if the defender came out to trap it would have been an easy dunk for Bynum. If the defender doesn't step out Kobe could continue with a path to the rim or pull up for a mid-range jumper around the free-throw line area. Kobe does deserve to take the final shot in those situations, especially after he provided the Lakers with an opportunity after ripping that rebound away from Varejao, but I wish he took a higher-percentage shot and the Lakers ran a more creative play to free him up.
Honestly though, I don't think there was a higher percentage shot for him. His jumper isn't the same with his groin tear. Personally, I think we should've posted up AB17 and let him work.
