Team Defense was horrible...Bench was just as horrible...Atkins couldn't throw a pebble into the ocean...Seattle shots lights out...Lakers lose ... The only real bright spot is that Jumaine Jones had another solid game...hopefully, he can stay consistent and be someone we can count off the bench..
Don't blame Kobe's teammates for shooting low percentages. That's normal, because they only get the ball when Kobe gets trapped, double teamed or has a low percentage shot with the shot clock running out and gives them the ball. Lamar Odom and Caron Butler aren't bad players, but the truth is Kobe can't make his teammates better (just like mcgrady). Look at Lebron James for example, he turned Drew Gooden into a double double machine and Jeff McInnis into an almost 20ppg player. go sonics
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">...and Jerome James only plays 20 minutes lol, at least he got a season high Really doesn't make sense as to why NOH would do it, Odom's contract doesn't expire, Odom doesn't bring revenue, and Odom isn't a better player than Baron Davis, and it's not like offering Tierre Brown will spice up the pot or something </div> There looking to rebuild, right? Look what Odom did in Miami as the main scoring option, he took them to the play offs, when Magloire comes back and having traded for those guards from Dallas they will have a solid lign up to rebuild with Odom being a unselfish player who can win games agaisnt people like the Bobcats and such. EDIT: If they want a close to big expiring contract I am sure the Lakers would be willing to give Grant, he is done in 2.5 years which is good cuz Magloire will be gone or can be resigned and they can start out new from there
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting BODY_COUNT:</div><div class="quote_post">Don't blame Kobe's teammates for shooting low percentages. That's normal, because they only get the ball when Kobe gets trapped, double teamed or has a low percentage shot with the shot clock running out and gives them the ball. Lamar Odom and Caron Butler aren't bad players, but the truth is Kobe can't make his teammates better (just like mcgrady). Look at Lebron James for example, he turned Drew Gooden into a double double machine and Jeff McInnis into an almost 20ppg player. go sonics</div> yes he did help Gooden in terms of bulding chemistry and getting him the ball, but he didn't make Gooden a good rebounder, playing with McGrady just gave Gooden 0 motivation to go out and play. About McInnis he doesn't score 20 PPG, but he's a good player, I liked him in 01-02 as a Clipper, was the best PG the team had recently.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting BODY_COUNT:</div><div class="quote_post">Don't blame Kobe's teammates for shooting low percentages. That's normal, because they only get the ball when Kobe gets trapped, double teamed or has a low percentage shot with the shot clock running out and gives them the ball. Lamar Odom and Caron Butler aren't bad players, but the truth is Kobe can't make his teammates better (just like mcgrady). Look at Lebron James for example, he turned Drew Gooden into a double double machine and Jeff McInnis into an almost 20ppg player. go sonics</div> Yeah, that must be it. Kobe's fault. If Caron Butler wasn't getting owned (AGAIN), then we would've kept the game much, much closer. But...Lewis tore him up...and that has absolutely NOTHING to do with Kobe Bryant.
Lakers were making a little run but then sonics hit three 3s to ice the game. chris mihm had one offensive rebound and one defensive rebound...thats pathetic...and why the hell isnt bobbit playing
og15 , of course he you cant make someone a better rebounder, but you can get him fired up, t-mac couldn't do that...lebron does it every night, and he gets drew gooden at least 4-5 dunks per night...he gets mcinnis open 3s all night and doesnt hesitate to pass the ball to ANY of his teammates (example - the pass to eric snow against the grizzlies, when snow sealed the game with a tough layup)... Real Deal - you didn't even watch the game, so how can you speak about who got owned? I see you like Kobe, and I like his game too, but face it, he's more like mcgrady than he is like Lebron and MJ, he simply doesn't make his teammates better, its as simple as that. Good luck to your lakers with your great Kobe and the rest of the owned team
I think Caron has a nagging injury, this isnt the rookie Caron we saw, this is a little bit better than last year's banged up Caron. Odom, I am convinced he is worthless to us right now, what a pathetic game, I have no hope for him, seriously I would rather start Brian Cook over him right now. Kobe is doing it all, and dont even say he isnt passing the ball, he should be passing less if his teammates cant hit shots. I want to see him just hog the ball one night and just explode, maybe his teammates will get the picture that he can do it all by himself if they dont want to help him. Another thing about Odom, Game after game I just wish we would propose a trade to New Orleans for Baron Davis, I think he would love to play in L.A. and he would give Kobe another great scoring option who could take over games when Kobe is having an off night. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting BODY_COUNT:</div><div class="quote_post"> Real Deal - you didn't even watch the game, so how can you speak about who got owned? I see you like Kobe, and I like his game too, but face it, he's more like mcgrady than he is like Lebron and MJ, he simply doesn't make his teammates better, its as simple as that. Good luck to your lakers with your great Kobe and the rest of the owned team</div> How can he make his teammates better if they dont hit his shots. He opens every game passing the ball and continues that throughout. They are getting wide open looks, does Kobe say to the Basketball Gods "I will pass them the ball, but dont let them make it."? No he doesnt, he has no control over them making a shot or not, they are just not hitting wide open looks, You give Kobe a McInnis type PG and a center who can actually rebounds, plus a PF who actually wants to play, he will make them better, becuase honestly, Odom looks like he doesnt give a crap about this season anymore.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Billa_Bong:</div><div class="quote_post">There looking to rebuild, right? Look what Odom did in Miami as the main scoring option, he took them to the play offs, when Magloire comes back and having traded for those guards from Dallas they will have a solid lign up to rebuild with Odom being a unselfish player who can win games agaisnt people like the Bobcats and such. EDIT: If they want a close to big expiring contract I am sure the Lakers would be willing to give Grant, he is done in 2.5 years which is good cuz Magloire will be gone or can be resigned and they can start out new from there</div> I don't know what you're trying to say here, Odom didn't rebuild Miami, they aren't going to look at what Odom did in Miami because they're in New Orleans and Odom doesn't have Eddie Jones and Dwayne Wade. An expiring contract isn't 2.5 years, that's not expiring, and expiring contract is done this season. Their's not one chance of them taking Grant, that's just stupid, many other teams have players who's contracts expire in 2.5 years, or even 1.5 years Also I still don't get your thing with Odom being able to beat crappy teams, what does that do for them, they still don't lose salary, they get a worse player, they get less value than they can, and they get a guy who attracts less fans than Baron does. I'm not understanding how this helps them, and no one in the league will plan to build around Odom alone, he's a 2nd option or a joint franchise player type guy like Pierce-Walker. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> If Caron Butler wasn't getting owned (AGAIN), then we would've kept the game much, much closer. But...Lewis tore him up...and that has absolutely NOTHING to do with Kobe Bryant.</div> 6'10 athletic SF who's been tearing up the whole league vs Caron Butler, yea I wouldn't expect any less really, I won't blame Butler for getting scored on by a guy who's averaging 21 PPG on 48% shooting and shooting 50.6% this month.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting BODY_COUNT:</div><div class="quote_post">og15 , of course he you cant make someone a better rebounder, but you can get him fired up, t-mac couldn't do that...lebron does it every night, and he gets drew gooden at least 4-5 dunks per night...he gets mcinnis open 3s all night and doesnt hesitate to pass the ball to ANY of his teammates (example - the pass to eric snow against the grizzlies, when snow sealed the game with a tough layup)... Real Deal - you didn't even watch the game, so how can you speak about who got owned? I see you like Kobe, and I like his game too, but face it, he's more like mcgrady than he is like Lebron and MJ, he simply doesn't make his teammates better, its as simple as that. Good luck to your lakers with your great Kobe and the rest of the owned team</div> Kobe got his teammates open over and over. They couldn't hit a shot. Odom even got one under the basket and he just threw it away. We need a new coach immediately.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Undertakernv:</div><div class="quote_post">Kobe got his teammates open over and over. They couldn't hit a shot. Odom even got one under the basket and he just threw it away. We need a new coach immediately.</div> Not the solution, a coaching change right now would just put the nail in the coffin, as much as I hate the way this team is playing right now, they havent had a lot of time to gel. Players like Odom and Butler need to start making shots, especially Odom, this is the Clippers Odom we are seeing, not the Miami Odom. Chris Mihm is a freaking athletic 7 foot center, who frankly, cant grab a rebound to save his life...seriously get him off of the court and put Vlade in, I am sick of Mihm right now. Tierre Brown is doing too much on offense, throwing up air balls, I would rather see Bobbitt in, but I dont know if that will help too much. This whole team is just disgusting right now, and Kobe takes all the blame for it, when he is working his ass off to get them open shots, and they cant sink it...that is the problem...
At this point Laker fans are seriously disgusting me. Tonight the Lakers shot 39.5% from the field. Which is ironic because prior to this game Kobe was shooting 39.0% from the field. Yet now you are saying that the Lakers can't shoot? I've never heard anyone say that Kobe needs to improve his fg%, but as soon as his teammates shoot similarly you get on their case? Oh let me guess, it's because Kobe is taking impossi.....erm excuse me Laker fans ( ) I mean, difficult shots. Not an excuse, he is supposed to be a superstar. And he created this team. What about nights when Kobe goes 8-24 from the field, but the Lakers shoot 44% as a team? You still find a way to blame it on everyone other than Kobe. Then when we blame him everyone gets mad. Please start to realize that the star always takes the blame, and actually Kobe is deserving of it. Kobe is putting up numbers just like AI has always done in the past. Now he is starting to see what it's like to be a lone star.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting BODY_COUNT:</div><div class="quote_post">Real Deal - you didn't even watch the game, so how can you speak about who got owned? I see you like Kobe, and I like his game too, but face it, he's more like mcgrady than he is like Lebron and MJ, he simply doesn't make his teammates better, its as simple as that. Good luck to your lakers with your great Kobe and the rest of the owned team</div> Then what do you have to say about Ray Allen, who seemed to have put up the same number of assists, less rebounds, less points and around the same shooting percentage as the great Kobe? Let's face it, Ray is more like McGrady than he is LeBron and MJ, he simply doesn't make his teammates better, it's as simple as that.
A coaching change is a bad idea, that would just disrupt the team, Kobe 8, do you really think Divac would do a better rebounding job than Mihm? I mean Divac was never a dominating rebounder, and he's even older now, I don't think Vlade would improve the rebounding situation which wasn't even a problem in the game, but their's not many rebounds to grab from a team shooting 50% from the floor, and their high amount of 3 attempts would cause more long rebounds
[quote name='og15']I don't know what you're trying to say here, Odom didn't rebuild Miami, they aren't going to look at what Odom did in Miami because they're in New Orleans and Odom doesn't have Eddie Jones and Dwayne Wade. An expiring contract isn't 2.5 years, that's not expiring, and expiring contract is done this season. Their's not one chance of them taking Grant, that's just stupid, many other teams have players who's contracts expire in 2.5 years, or even 1.5 years Also I still don't get your thing with Odom being able to beat crappy teams, what does that do for them, they still don't lose salary, they get a worse player, they get less value than they can, and they get a guy who attracts less fans than Baron does. I'm not understanding how this helps them, and no one in the league will plan to build around Odom alone, he's a 2nd option or a joint franchise player type guy like Pierce-Walker. Wade was under developed in his rookie year and isnt the Wade we saw last year, and Jones isnt great he is turning into a role player. Odom led that team to the play offs weather you like it or not, Wade was a rookie pg who didnt get many oppurtunities accept in the play offs and Jones well its jones he wasnt a even close to being in his prime. I am saying about Grant, go to hoophypes.com, the year Grant contract expires, the Hornets loose all there old done players with big contracts and the only big contract they have left is Davis over the next 9 years, now look at it this way, would you rather have a grants contract who is done in 2.5 years with the rest of there old players leave them with 0 $ current contractsd that year which is huge with them which means they can go ou and try and pull in big free agents and also that year there are a ton of good draft picks and sign them to long term deals which is what NOH are looking for. I dont think they are worrying about filling seats, nobody is watching there game with or without Davis, they stink and have no chance of winning whcih nobody wants to see. Why not bring in a player who will eliminate 50 mill in contract payment from 2006-2011 or w/e to Davis than give 28 mill to someone and get rid of that contract faster.
It's not only about gettin your teammates open in the beggining of the game and then trying to do it all by yourself later in the game. It's about giving them confidence and having a good locker room atmosphere. Attitude wins games...I don't wanna use the cavs as an example again, but Lebron makes kids like Anderson Varejao & DeSagana Diop look like decent players...Put Lebron in with Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and a quick pg like chucky atkins and you'll see a team that gets a tons of steals per night and 100s of layups...I personally don't care about the lakers, so dont think I'm biased...If Kobe's teammates knew he had 100 percent confidence in them , they'd play much better...I like Kobe and his game, but I doubt he can be a good leader... RealDeal - i agree, the sonics have better shooters than the lakers...maybe that's why they won tonight, but still you have to admit the sonics' chemistry is much better and Kobe isn't doin much to improve in that area
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jurassic:</div><div class="quote_post">At this point Laker fans are seriously disgusting me. Tonight the Lakers shot 39.5% from the field. Which is ironic because prior to this game Kobe was shooting 39.0% from the field. Yet now you are saying that the Lakers can't shoot? I've never heard anyone say that Kobe needs to improve his fg%, but as soon as his teammates shoot similarly you get on their case? Oh let me guess, it's because Kobe is taking impossi.....erm excuse me Laker fans ( ) I mean, difficult shots. Not an excuse, he is supposed to be a superstar. And he created this team. What about nights when Kobe goes 8-24 from the field, but the Lakers shoot 44% as a team? You still find a way to blame it on everyone other than Kobe. Then when we blame him everyone gets mad. Please start to realize that the star always takes the blame, and actually Kobe is deserving of it. Kobe is putting up numbers just like AI has always done in the past. Now he is starting to see what it's like to be a lone star.</div> Kobe is out there working in multiple roles trying to get his teammates open, grabbing rebounds, working on D, and still finding a flow in his offense. Everyone else just needs to hustle and make some open shots. Is that too much to ask?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">A coaching change is a bad idea, that would just disrupt the team, Kobe 8, do you really think Divac would do a better rebounding job than Mihm? I mean Divac was never a dominating rebounder, and he's even older now, I don't think Vlade would improve the rebounding situation which wasn't even a problem in the game, but their's not many rebounds to grab from a team shooting 50% from the floor, and their high amount of 3 attempts would cause more long rebounds</div> Catch me when Im not heated Divac wouldnt make a big difference, but like Kobe, he is a great passer...he could open open shots for cutting players, something Mihm cant do. It is just not rebounding, Mihm is way to inconsistent when it comes to road games, he mind as well stay home and play at STAPLES because he is very ineffective on the road.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jurassic:</div><div class="quote_post">I've never heard anyone say that Kobe needs to improve his fg%, but as soon as his teammates shoot similarly you get on their case?</div> Okay. http://www.justbball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28766 <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Real Deal:</div><div class="quote_post">And Kobe Bryant... Scoring - shoot better. That's all I ask. Once you get your shot back, start taking over the game in the 3rd quarter and early 4th...and then go back to passing and making plays (that is, if we don't have a PG yet). If needed, start the engines back up late in the fourth if we're in a close game...but first, find your shot.</div> http://www.justbball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28983 <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Kobe 8 Ball:</div><div class="quote_post">Kobe once again is struggling shooting, if it wasnt for Jumaine Jones this game wouldnt even be close right now IMO. I hope Jumaine can keep up the hot hand in the 2nd half. I am waiting for Odom, Caron, or Kobe to get hot or we will not win this game because the Magic are just hitting all their shots.</div> http://www.justbball.com/forums/showthread...15&page=2&pp=20 <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Billa_Bong:</div><div class="quote_post">Kobe had a monster game but 32 shots is way to many, slot selection he needs to work on it, I know he gets it with nothing left but he did take some shots which were just stupid, I don't know if he was trying cuz he was on fire or something.</div> I've got many more.
I saw the game the whole thing i can sit here and tell you guys that Kobe himself set up about 25 shots for his teammates which only 3 of went in. I can also say he found Atkins open for about 6 shots and atkins didint hit one. Its ver sad seeing the way our role players are playing. They need to step it up. The solution is not trading Lamar or getting a new coach, its stepping up and playing with heart which no one except Kobe is doing right now. And about Caron he actually had a good game today Lamar in the other hand had a horrible game.
