Well, it wasn't a perfect first half, but it was pretty damn solid. We were just talking about 'team defense' in that other thread, and I think that's something that the dubs are doing surprisingly well tonight so far. Some poor shot selection, but the defense more than made up for it. And my favorite thing? Kobe looks like an old ass man guarding Monta...it's a thing of beauty. If we don't collapse in the 3rd like the MIA/ORL games, I feel pretty damn good about this thing.
Yeah word around the league this season is Kobe lost a step. Definitely not as dominant so far but still sooooooo good. I bet he comes out looking to really beat Monta down this half. Beans, Lee, Vlad and Gadz competing up front. Too bad Ekpe isn't playing but none of those guys laid goose eggs either.
Just getting MURDERED on the glass in the second half...and as usual, a disgusting free throw disparity.
Monta tries to body up on Kobe on the perimeter and then doesn't move when Kobe goes to the rack...awful.
Monta and Kobe just cannot guard each other. Both of them look very outmatched on D. Only difference is Kobe is allowed to push off with his off-hand lol
ZERO free throws in the 4th quarter on our own court...that should NEVER happen, ever. Another moral victory! Yayyyy! *sarcasm*
I thought the Warriors played well. I just think there were too many minutes with Vlad at the 4 against Gasol at one point and Odom late in the game that the Lakers completely took over. I thought Udoh would have been a great counter to those two who may have been able to hold his own. But for some reason he did not get off the bench. That was very odd. Is he injured or sick? Vlad should not get extended minutes as the 4 against the Lakers. I have no idea what Keith Smart was thinking. Even B. Wright is a better idea. I don't like to bash coaches on rotations he uses in games, because it's easy for a spectator at any sport to do such. But this sticking with Vlad in this game in particular is just crazy. It was fun to watch Ellis-Kobe there at the end. Obviously Ellis is just a bit too short to guard him super well. But I can't complain about his effort. He played 48 minutes on all sides of the court. Great showing by Ellis, especially coming off the flu. But what's up with Curry the last two or three weeks or maybe longer? He just does not seem very motivated or into the game. Finally this is just another game showing the warriors need a lot of help off the bench. I love Gadz and Lou but when your backup bigs can't make layups or get rejected on everyother shot, you know there's trouble. Anyway great effort by the Warriors. Just a little too short. I think this effort wins many games in the NBA. They kept good care of the ball. Perhaps just that rebounding and free throw difference is that big mountain for this team.
I think Smart shied away from his usual rotation and put in Gadz because hes so big agianst the big Lakers front line. Great coaching...
I had no problem with that. I was glad he did that. I just meant to say that talent wise our bench is not the strongest (something for the GM to work on). Smart went way too long with Gadzuric/Radmanovic vs Bynum/Gasol in the second quarter though. That's when Gasol was taking over. Even after a timeout after several minutes of domination where the Lakers were specifically attacking the Gasol-Radman matchup this matchup remained the same. I was hoping for Gadzuric/Udoh or I thought even Udoh/Lee would be better or anything to at least try to keep Gasol from dominating and bringing the Lakers back into the game. The same thing happened at the end of the game, but this time the Lakers used Odom.
Monta got owned by Kobe. Not Monta’s fault really. Again, he’s undersized and even then, he’s not a very good defender. He might have had some instances of decent d, but he regularly got beat and/or shot over with ease. The dagger 3 by Kobe was like no one was in his face, literally. Monta put a hand up, but his hand must have been a foot below Kobe’s face. I would have loved if Dorell Wright guarded Kobe, Monta guard Derek Fisher or Ron Artest (vice versa with Curry). That makes a lot more sense to me, but Smart didn’t want to do that, or Monta was too stubborn to not take up the challenge. If the latter, I’m not sure what to say. Perhaps the “competitive challenge” was what fueled Monta’s great offensive game, but it also seemed to fuel Kobe. All in all, although an entertaining game that some might dub as a moral victory, I see no such thing. It was utterly disappointing that certain adjustments weren’t made, including the use of our bench. Out of all the players we had available, and we had all of them for once, Smart decided to go with Vlad and Gadz. I don’t have too much of a problem with Vlad as he has earned some of those minutes (not all), but to not take advantage of health and depth was a little weird. I would have loved to see Amundson go up against Lamar Odom. I would have loved to have seen Brandan Wright use his long arms to contest Gasol’s hook shots. I would have loved to have seen Udoh muscle up against Bynum. None of that happened.
Bingo. Now I give Monta tons of credit because he was amazing on offense and tried to stay in front more than other times (because it was a showcase game) but he was still reaching and the bodying up and then watching Kobe go by? Typical, failing to understand basic D. Someone get him a dvd of Battier, Battier doesn't "body" someone up 25 ft. from the hoop, he gets in good position and moves his feet. I did not have a problem with the D on Gasol and Odom, those guys have good shots; but Warriors were going for pump fakes, then failing to box out. Terrible.
Vlad may be a space cadet, but when he's hitting his 3s, no one is throwing down the tomahawk in traffic better than him, okay maybe Griffin, but that's it.
To his credit, Gadz and Vlad both did well and I do understand why you want the size against the Lakers. I just think don't agree with a coach changing things like that to adjust to the other team. Especially right after he said he had his rotation set. If he threw Udoh and Lou out there and they got owned then go ahead and throw Gadz out but to me its kind of a sign of lack of confidence in the team. Sort of reminds me of when Avery Johnson changed his starting lineup when the W's-Mavs series started- although they were the better team so it was even crazier then. Its nitpicky, I know, but to me you've gotta stick with your guys. Yeah Monta definitely lost his cool on one possession there and gave up a 3 pt play because he was leaning on Kobe out at the 3 pt line. He and DW were switching off on Kobe and DW actually had pretty good success it seemed like. Like i hate the warriors said though, they both made each other look like sh*t. Monta's D sucks but what can he really do against Kobe? Thats where you need a big athletic SG who can stay with him but even then the guy is hard to stop.
Monta and the Warriors played well against Kobe defensively in the first half. Kobe had five turnovers in the first half, giving the Warriors the big fast break points edge that was huge. When Kobe went off in the fourth the only thing I thought Monta struggled with was being shorter than Kobe. He seemed to move his feet well and contested most shots like you'd at least ask for. D. Wright on him would have been the better matchup for the Warriors, but given the matchup I thought Monta did as well as you can hope. Kobe was just on. Also Radmanovic was horribly outplayed. Yes there were a few seconds here and there where he did a few things. But the Warriors lost the rebounding by huge numbers because of him. Odom was grabbing offensive boards at will with Vlad just standing there. If there was a stat that measured the team's rebounding difference when a player is in the game, I think that number would be very large in the negative direction number with Vlad. I believe he finished with 1 rebound in all those minutes. That was horrible.
How does Udoh get a DNP against Bynum/Gasol? What is going on there? That was a mistake by Keith Smart. There's no other way to put it.
