Another quality win today. Oklahoma gave us all we could handle, but we grinded out the victory. I was impressed with the defense Harden played on Kobe. Last year Kobe abused him one-on-one, but Harden was standing his ground and not falling for the head fakes. Artest did a great job on Durant and made him work for his 20 points. Westbrook completely disappeared in the second half for the Thunder and had some crucial turnovers down the stretch. I know the Thunder are getting a lot of praise for the moves they made at the trade deadline, but they are going to miss Jeff Green's scoring. Without Green the Lakers were able to double team Durant and Westbrook to get the ball out of their hands. The Thunder aren't going to get consistent scoring from Thabo and Daequan Cook in the playoffs.
He should have had at least 5 to 7 attempts today. Getting hit on the arm is a foul and the no call when Sefolosha hit him across the head and Ibaka jumped right into him on a drive. They wouldn't give him any calls. Even Van Gundy was complaining about the lack of calls Kobe was getting. They showed one drive where he got hit three times on the way to scoring a layup.
I think he's had a couple of games similar to this where he plays aggressive enough but still ends up not shooting any FT's.
Kobe's made his own bed with the officials by finger pointing and barking at them since he was a young pup. Now he is suffering the consequences. Fucked up? Yeah. Nobody to blame but himself, though. And I don't see the fascination with Dwight Howard. I'd rather go after Chris Paul or another elite PG if you're going to dream fantasy trade.
It's a vicious cycle for Kobe. The problem it creates is fans not trusting the game because officials are not impartial. The foul with Ibaka crashing into him and Sefolosha whacking him in the head was an easy call to make. When you miss a call like that as an officiating crew you lose all credibility and makes a mockery of the league. I like Chris Paul, but it's easier to build a championship with a dominant big man than a point guard. Paul would be a great upgrade with our current roster and give us the flexibility to run and gun during stretches of a game. I'd be worried about him being exploited in the post season though. He's undersized and can't defend in the post on switches.
I'd feel better with Paul + Kobe + Odom + Gasol over Kobe + Gasol + Howard. Actually, I really wanted Deron Williams.
Assuming that for this fantasy trade's sake, we're only trading Andrew Bynum and some fillers, but noone noteworthy, I'd rather have Dwight. It's great that CP3 can push the ball, shoot pretty well, get us steals, and run an offense, but I'd rather have the 7fter, the shotblocking, the shot-altering, and the power. On this specific team with Kobe and Pau, Dwight will have a bigger impact that Chris would. And this'll vary with different teams and different rosters.
that's a sure thing, i just wanted to point out that a str8 up deal would actually work even if they are 3M apart.
It's easier to build around a big, than a guard, especially a pg... a slightly good example would be their current teams Orlando and New Orleans.
Last night was an ugly first half. Just goes to show how bad Minnesota is and I feel bad for Rambis. He'll probably be let go because his GM can't draft properly. The Lakers need to clean up the turnovers we had 16 last night and one stretch we turned the ball over 6 of 8 possessions in a row. We killed the TWolves in second chance points and at the free throw line, but our offense was terrible for the most part (37.5%.) Even with Tony Parker hurt I don't think we can catch the Spurs, but we need to make sure we finish ahead of Boston, Miami and Chicago.
I think we have a chance of finishing ahead of chicago... but miami and boston are unlikely. sucks though. i think we can beat boston even if they have HCA. we'd have a hard time against miami though. *on a side note, id like to go out on a limb and say Chicago are my dark horse to win the east. they're a good team when booz - rose - deng are clicking on offense and they have solid interior D with noah.
I think we have a chance of finishing ahead of chicago... but miami and boston are unlikely. sucks though. i think we can beat boston even if they have HCA. we'd have a hard time against miami though. *on a side note, id like to go out on a limb and say Chicago are my dark horse to win the east. they're a good team when booz - rose - deng are clicking on offense and they have solid interior D with noah.
I don't see how Miami can be harder to beat than Boston. The way I see it the Lakers will have to beat the Spurs and whoever surface on the east without HCA.
TEST THIS WEEK! SPURS, ATLANTA, HEAT, and DALLAS. LETS GO 4-0 BOYS!!!! THIS IS THE TIME!!! HEART OF A CHAMPION!!!!