Preview: Western Conference Semifinals Game 4 Spurs @ Lakers 5/11/04 (TNT)

we don't need a BIG game from Kobe, although it wouldn't be so bad to see him drop 50. As long as the Lakers play with the energy they had in Game 3 that led to their 28-16 start, they'll be fine. If they front again, Feed The BIG FELLA.

 

Well Emo was right on point with Kobe having a great game. 42 points, yeah! I kinda wish they tried a lil harder to get a 100. But great win, and hopefully they can carry their momentum to game 3.

 

BIG WIN for the Lakers... Kobe can't be serious! 42 pts after 48 hrs in Denver is totally incredible... it's madness to the point we should check whether the Lakers actually cloned Kobe to have one attending the court and the real one playing basketball. I don't think even Michael Jordan could give that kind of performance after going through what Kobe is going through. But the biggest cheer is still on the W column.. we have two to the Spurs' two Ws. Game 5 will probably be the biggest and most important game of the season yet. By winning it, we will take over the momentum in the series. So, be here everyone!

 

Does anyone notice that everytime Kobe comes from court to court he has a killer game!!I wonder if going to court fires him up!Even though the Spurs played a lot better Kobe was to much.This was a deserved win for the Lakers since Kobe played so hard.

 

Wow, great game. Lakers looked good early jumping out to that 8-2 lead. Spurs came back though. Jumped on the Lakers in the 2nd quarter and built the lead to 10. But, wow, what a 4th quarter. The Lakers looked like they came out of half time determined to win this one and Spurs just came out flat. To show that, Lakers were +11 on the rebounds and took the rebounding edge in that quarter alone. Huge stat though was the 15 point turnaround in the 3rd. Lakers wasted no time in that quarter. They came out the aggressor. They didn't want to let the Spurs take this one on their home court. They looked like they did in game 3. They played with a great amount of energy and Kobe definitely came out and looked like he wanted this game. But, yea, great game by the Lakers. Kobe and Shaq were unstoppable all 2nd half for the most part and the Lakers played great defense and mistake free basketball for the most part.

 

What a game last night. For the folks on the East Coast, my deepest apologies to you if you missed Kobe's performance. By the second half, I'm sure it was around 1:00 A.M. and you were forced to go to sleep rather than drinking coffee to stay up.

But anyway, the first person to leadoff on my list is Kobe Bryant. What more can I say? The man has ice in his veins. (Yes, Phreeze you do believe me now when I say that right? ) The man was clearly unstoppable. All of his shots mostly came from the left side of the basket, and he was knocking them down at a consistent rate, he probably could've hit 50 last night. He also penetrated to the basket, drew the usual contact, and got himself to the foul line where the Lakers feasted on their opportunities to pull away in the second half. It's very weird and strange to see how a man can perform flying back from a court hearing just hours ago, and putting on an excellent performance in a plyoff game. It's very unreal. Perhaps the Lakers should send him to court everyday, because this guy is always due for something special in these circumstances.

I also have to give credit to Shaq. He once again showed his dominance for a third straight game. Especially in the second half, I saw the fire, I saw the determination, and I saw the will to win. He didn't waste any time receiving the ball in the low post, and muscling his way to the basket against the smaller and softer Rasho Nesterovic. Another good stat to look at was he actually knocked down free throws. He gave his huge knees good bending, actually put some rotation and elevation on the ball, and went 8/11 from the charity stripe. No Laker fan can complain with that statistic.

Karl Malone was a non-factor on offense for the second straight game, but he played decent defense on Tim Duncan. Before in the first two games of the series, Duncan loved the isolation on Malone, but my how the tides have turned. Malone made Duncan work hard for every field goal opportunity. He disrupted, harrassed, and once again got under his skin. And he took a shot to his ribs from Malone's elbow that really got him going. Gary Payton is still struggling both with his offensive game and his inability to keep up with Tony Parker. It concerns me because as the Lakers return to San Antonio for a Game 5, Parker is going to use his speed, energy, and the Spurs crowd to fire him up. G.P. better get his act together on this man, or we'll be right back to square one with himself being frustrated at his coach, teammates, and the media.

To conclude this post, I want to mention that our team defense was terrific in the second half. In the first half, we allowed the Spurs to have their way, to get very comfortable with their offense, hitting shots from the perimeter, and allowing the Spurs to go on a big spurt to end the half. But the Lakers roared back and completely shut them down for 24 minutes. That's what I want to see in this team for the remainder of this series however far it amy go. I demand intensity, energy, fire, determination, and most importantly heart. We know what's at stake, we suffered an agonizing defeat to this same team in 2003 when they ended our hopes of four straight championships, and all I want is to see this team go into the SBC Center and completely play Laker basketball and nothing more than that. If they can give us 48 minutes of these traits, then this team will succeed and possibly move on to the Western Conference Finals.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">For the folks on the East Coast, my deepest apologies to you if you missed Kobe's performance. By the second half, I'm sure it was around 1:00 A.M. and you were forced to go to sleep rather than drinking coffee to stay up.</div>

Lol. I actually had a lot of trouble trying to stay up. But the excruciating heat, forced me stay awake.

Kobe, Kobe, Kobe…I don’t know where the Lakers would be without him. The Lakers didn’t start off too good, and looked like they would drop this game, after the way they were played by the end of the second quarter. In the second half… Kobe came to the rescue; he bailed them out big time. Everyone should be praising him in the locker room. After going from a legal court to a basketball court in the same day and pull of a performance like that is amazing. He’s is the definition of greatness.

Shaq also came up big…as expected. This game was an ol’ school Lakers game. Shaq, and Kobe dominating the whole game, and not one soul can contain them. They were actually the only 2 Lakers to score in double figurers. But I’m a little surprised that Tim Duncan struggled in this game, I though he would have a much stronger game than that. (Scoring/Shooting Wise) Nonetheless, great win for the Lakers. I also expect them to win the next game at the SBC Center, and the Spurs to steal one at Staples Center.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting deucextre:</div><div class="quote_post">we don't need a BIG game from Kobe, </div>Boy were you wrong. Kobe needs to have another HUGE game in SA for the Lakers to win. It should be interesting.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting notMuchgame:</div><div class="quote_post">Despite what he has been doing, I wouldn't count on Kobe to have big game..</div>

....well, he showed me....


Anyhow, now that the series is back in San Antonio, the Lakers CANNOT afford to play as they did in the first half...Despite putting up good numbers, Shaq was being outhustled by Rasho and TD...

Shaq needs to keep his foul shots too...I dunno if u guys heard, but Bryon Russell has been working with Shaq on his foul shots...If Shaq continues to hit his foul shots, and the lakers go on to win the title, Russell certainly earned his ring despite warming the bench...

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">Boy were you wrong! </div>lol..I knew you were going to bring that back. The difference is mine was a prediction. I think it is pretty obvious that the Lakers need Bryant to come up big in every game for them to win.

 

The bad news for the Spurs is the fact Duncan has badly bruised ribs, which was a big reason why he has so ineffective last night

Spurs had the chance to basically seal the series but blew a 10 point half-time lead. S.A always seem to come out flat to start the 3rd quarter which doesn't bald well for game 5 on thursday.

Kobe was in the zone and was feeling it all night, It was expected for him to have at least one great scoring game, thats what great players do. Both teams have taken care of homecourt which you would expect from two of the best teams in the NBA. Now this is the time where homecourt advantage has to pay off.