Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Lakers win 4-3)

Discussion in 'Los Angeles Lakers' started by Mamba, Apr 27, 2009.

?

Lakers or Rockets?

  1. Lakers in 4

    7.9%
  2. Lakers in 5

    28.9%
  3. Lakers in 6

    18.4%
  4. Lakers in 7

    5.3%
  5. Rockets Will Win

    39.5%
  1. huevonkiller

    huevonkiller Change (Deftones)

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    Five. :)
     
  2. Umair1

    Umair1 Clutchcity

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    LOL I'm not getting offended, I'm just saying don't say Kobe had a flu or whatever that's not a good excuse. I'm just saying Battier deserved some sort of credit for doing what he did out there
     
  3. KG5

    KG5 Rondo's #1 Fan

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    I don't care anymore that Boston lost cause the Lakers lost too!
     
  4. Trip

    Trip 2000000000000000000000000

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    Don't bother. The Lakers fans are just like the team itself. Any failure is caused only from within, and external factors have nothing to do with it.

    Did anyone see what Kobe said post-game? He blamed the loss on the Lakers not making threes and free throws, saying nothing about the Rockets' defense.
     
  5. xCLAVEx

    xCLAVEx JBB JustBBall Member

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    I saw that, the arrogance is laughable, considering they just got their faces stuffed.
     
  6. KG5

    KG5 Rondo's #1 Fan

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    i get your point about giving credit where credit is due.. but i guess teams have to be confident. if they believe that the problems were caused by internal factors which they could control it gives them the mindset that they can correct these mistakes and take the next game. what would happen if kobe said, the rockets defense stopped us, and if they play that way every game there's nothing we can do about it". How would that fire the team up? i guess it offended rockets fans but thats just kobes way of pointing out the mistakes and points they can improve on.
     
  7. Trip

    Trip 2000000000000000000000000

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    I don't expect him to admit to that, but he could have complimented the Rockets for what they did. Something like, "They were the better team tonight, we need to do this in game 2 blah blah blah". Don't mean to sound bitter or anything but the Lakers' general air of arrogance about them irritates me. If I were a Laker fan of course I'd feel different, but since I'm not...
     
  8. xCLAVEx

    xCLAVEx JBB JustBBall Member

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    You just described the general reason why the Lakers are so reviled. They always say they lost because they played bad, never giving credit to the other team. It's the arrogance that puts people off. Nobody (outside of die hard fans) likes a cocky bastard.
     
  9. Shapecity

    Shapecity S2/JBB Teamster Staff Member Administrator

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    Last night didn't feel like a playoff game until the last 3 minutes. The Rockets played with a purpose and the Lakers didn't match their energy or make the proper adjustments on defense. The Lakers finally played with some urgence trying to come back from 10 down, but despite a few stretches, our team treated this like a regular season matchup.

    I don't think the Lakers were ready for the two-guard lineup of Lowry and Brooks. Their speed on the court killed the Lakers last night. The Dream called it when he said Brooks would be a key player. Brooks broke our defense down and blew around Fisher like he wasn't there. I couldn't believe how easy he got to the rim without a Laker big sending him on his butt. Even the play where he dived for a loose ball with Gasol and then Gasol giving that ball up instead of forcing a jump ball. Instead Gasol took his hands off the ball afraid to be whistled for a foul. That play summed up his effort last night.

    I did agree with Kobe's post game comments. The Lakers missed a lot of wide open 3's they normally make and they left some points at the free throw line. If those two wide open 3's Ariza shot go in it's a completely different outcome.

    Great effort last night by the Rockets. They won the hustle points and dictated the pace. Yao Ming showed he's a true competitor demanding to be allowed to play after hurting his knee.

    Hopefully this loss wakes the Lakers up and they get back on track by evening this series up.
     
  10. Shapecity

    Shapecity S2/JBB Teamster Staff Member Administrator

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    I think the adjustment LA makes in Game 2 is Odom starting ahead of Bynum. The Rockets love to clog the lane and body up on players. There just wasn't any room to operate with Bynum and Gasol on the court at the same time. The Rockets had no answer the few times the Lakers ran the high pick and roll. When Odom was running it with Gasol the Lakers scored easily. I hope the coaching staff saw that and will exploit Houston in Game 2. They ran it 3 times which led to an Odom layup, a Gasol dunk, and a missed mid-range jumper by Odom. All three looks were wide open and uncontested.
     
  11. KG5

    KG5 Rondo's #1 Fan

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    good point.
     
  12. Moo2K4

    Moo2K4 NBA West Producer

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    Unless it's a deciding game, you're not going to give the other team compliments. You're going to be critical of your team and say what you could do better the next time. No coach or player compliments a team after winning game one of the series. Why give them extra confidence by coming out and admitting they were the better team? That would have been a very bad coaching move by Phil if he were to have come out and said that in the press conference.
     
  13. Moo2K4

    Moo2K4 NBA West Producer

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    Last night, in the bits and pieces of what I saw of the game, the Lakers looked like a rusty team. They weren't efficient on offense and were committing some silly TOs. Pau also played his worst game in months last night, which wasn't helping the cause. The Lakers have to come out with more intensity and game 2 and actually play like they give a shit. An NBA title isn't going to be handed to them, and if they don't focus on this round, they might not get a chance to go for it this year.
     
  14. Shapecity

    Shapecity S2/JBB Teamster Staff Member Administrator

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    Each team had the ball for 95 possessions tonight, a figure that almost exactly splits the difference between the Lakers' and Rockets' regular-season averages. I was surprised not to have come up with a pace in the 80s, as watching in realtime the game certainly felt like a slow, sludgy affair. Admittedly, the count is inflated by the end of the 4th quarter, when the Lakers were trying to foul their way to a comeback.

    The per-possession numbers for each team:


    Turnover rate: Lakers - 14%, Rockets - 19%.
    FTA/FGA: Lakers - 0.22, Rockets - 0.40 (ouch).
    Effective field goal percentage: Lakers - 45%, Rockets - 51%.
    True shooting percentage: Lakers - 48% (oy), Rockets - 58%.
    Offensive rebounding rate: Lakers - 28%, Rockets - 24%.
    Defensive rebounding rate: Lakers - 76%, Rockets - 72%.
    Points per possession: Lakers - 0.97 (grrr), Rockets - 1.05.

    A main cause of our misery lurks in the true shooting numbers above. The Rockets posted a nice 58% true shooting figure on the strength of a 25-for-29 performance from the line. Powered by 16 missed threes and 12-of-19 free throw shooting, the Lakers punished the rims to the tune of 48% true shooting, a figure that if sustained over the regular season would land you four percentage points behind the league-worst Clippers.

    Source: Silver Pick & Roll
     
  15. Mamba

    Mamba The King is Back Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    I disagree. Why start Odom over Bynum? Drew played decent last night. Gasol needs his minutes cut and Bynum needs to be in there more. Gasol needed a break last night, but Phil didn't give it to him. I think our mistakes are easily fixable and I still expect this series to go past 6, with us taking it. The Lakers played one of their worst games of the season last night, and the Rockets didn't beat us convincingly. I don't know why we should be scared.
     
  16. Shapecity

    Shapecity S2/JBB Teamster Staff Member Administrator

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    Bynum will have more success coming off the bench. The Rockets had Scola guarding Ariza last night and was daring him to make long distance shots. He was the 3rd defender in Houston's defensive scheme and helped clog the lane up. Having Bynum and Gasol both in the post basically allows Yao to defend two guys at once and doesn't force Yao to defend away from the rim where he's not nearly as effective.

    Odom gives the Lakers another ball handler and jump shooter to spread the floor. It also puts a lot more pressure on Yao and should allow the Lakers to get out and run more because Odom can rebound and push the ball coast to coast. In Game 1 we barely had any fastbreak points, which is a staple for our offense all season long.

    Bynum off the bench forces Houston to make a tough decision with who to defend him with. Without Mutombo the backup center is 6'6 Chuck Hayes. Bynum should be able to shoot right over the top of him all night long (assuming our guards can feed the big man.)
     
  17. Lost One

    Lost One ...

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    Anyone know why Drew only played 15 minutes last night? I know he was in early foul trouble but he played well after that. Is he in Phil's doghouse or something? I would've given him more minutes, he seemed to be playing okay.
     
  18. huevonkiller

    huevonkiller Change (Deftones)

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    Nah you did get a little offended, mr sensitive. :)

    When didn't I give Battier some credit? I think clearly various factors contributed to a mediocre game from Bryant. He wasn't even stopped in my opinion, he got hot in that second half after not even shooting around before the game.
     
    Last edited: May 5, 2009
  19. huevonkiller

    huevonkiller Change (Deftones)

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    I thought Battier was solid on him, but I can't comment on the flu? To me you're just presuming I wasn't giving the Rockets any credit, and he reacted in an overzealous manner to a vague comment I made.

    Dude, that sig of yours yesterday was the most arrogant thing in this whole thread. :cheers:
     
  20. huevonkiller

    huevonkiller Change (Deftones)

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    Re: Round 2: Lakers vs. Rockets Series Thread (Houston leads 1-0)

    Well I like the mind games actually, I want the Rockets to feel inferior. Then after the series you can dish out all the nice comments.

    Not like Ron Ron was acting nice to Bryant before the series, we don't have to do anything for you guys and I think it is the right attitude to be honest.
     

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