Way to go Phil, cost us another one on the road. Let me hear it guys "Phil likes to let his team play out of a struggle, he has 9 rings i think he knows what he's doing" Puts in a horrible lineup in the game to start the 4th for 6 minutes and while Portland couldn't score any points, neither could the Lakers. Phil needs to stop tanking our games for us. This is the time where we capitalize on our easy schedule and Phoenix and Dallas bad start. We could be 6-0 right now in my opinion.
Right now, I don't mind Phil switching lineups. He's trying to find one that works, and it's still early in the season. We still have 76 games to go, and I'd much rather figure it out early on than having to figure it out later, when the games matter a lot more.
<div class="quote_poster">Moo2K4 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Right now, I don't mind Phil switching lineups. He's trying to find one that works, and it's still early in the season. We still have 76 games to go, and I'd much rather figure it out early on than having to figure it out later, when the games matter a lot more.</div> It's not even about that, I understand that......but it shouldn't be costing us games. 76 games left, but they're all equally important. The more W's we can rack up early on in the year the better, when later on in the season our schedule gets much harder. He needs to put in his cute lineups in the 2nd and 3rd. Not late in the 3rd or 4th where we need a guaranteed line up to perform, AND ESPECIALLY not on the road when we are trailing by double digits. Feel me? Chemistry and getting a good group of 5 guys out there will come as we play more games.. At this point, I would be more comfortable with Rambis coaching this squad on the road.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">We could be 6-0 right now in my opinion.</div> I hear that, and while yes- each W is equally important I think that so is letting the team build chemistry. Phil admitted to losing games last year for the Lakers and look how it paid off in the playoffs. Yes, we lost the series but we competed because when Bryant gave the ball up- the rest of the team knew what to do. That said, there's no reason we should lose to the blazers. I noted Kobe only had one assist- I don't live in LA so I couldn't watch the game but were they playing team ball or was it all Kobe just looking for his own shot? What the hell is with Lamar lately?
<div class="quote_poster">ilive4ball Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I hear that, and while yes- each W is equally important I think that so is letting the team build chemistry. Phil admitted to losing games last year for the Lakers and look how it paid off in the playoffs. Yes, we lost the series but we competed because when Bryant gave the ball up- the rest of the team knew what to do. That said, there's no reason we should lose to the blazers. I noted Kobe only had one assist- I don't live in LA so I couldn't watch the game but were they playing team ball or was it all Kobe just looking for his own shot? What the hell is with Lamar lately?</div> it wasnt all kobe... kobe was the passive kobe from the 1st to the 3rd qtr... he was passing 1st and occasionally scoring a bucket but he knew he had to do something to try and cut the lead so he became aggressive in the 4th but it wasnt enough
Dammit, a loss to Portland. Terrible game. But Kobe was hot, 12-19 from the field (niiice), 1-5 from downtown (naah), 7-9 from the line (ok..) - 32 points. I think that Odom needs to step up more and Turiaf should have more minutes if we want the W.
It's impossible to win 2 on 10 in basketball. Only Kobe and Luke came to play last night and everyone else was flat footed and unresponsive. Bynum was taken out of the game because the perimeter defense was allowing the Blazers to waltz right into the paint. The Blazers beat us by playing more physical and outworking the Lakers. The difference in the game was Portland's ability to get to the free throw line. The Lakers weren't exactly playing bad on either end, but Portland was getting to the foul line more and took a huge advantage in points in the paint during the second half. Farmar is in a funk right now, he's 0 for his last 11. He's settling for jump shots too, often instead of getting to the rim more. For some reason the Lakers always lose in Portland. We've lost 17 of our last 21 games at the Rose Garden. We've also been terrible in back to back games. I'm sure we'll be more prepared for the Pistons on Friday.
<div class="quote_poster">ilive4ball Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I hear that, and while yes- each W is equally important I think that so is letting the team build chemistry. Phil admitted to losing games last year for the Lakers and look how it paid off in the playoffs. Yes, we lost the series but we competed because when Bryant gave the ball up- the rest of the team knew what to do. That said, there's no reason we should lose to the blazers. I noted Kobe only had one assist- I don't live in LA so I couldn't watch the game but were they playing team ball or was it all Kobe just looking for his own shot? What the hell is with Lamar lately?</div> Kobe was not ballhogging at all last night. His teammates were flat all night long and the offense was out of sync. Kobe and Luke were the only two Lakers playing with some energy last night. In the 3rd quarter no other Lakers scored except Kobe and Luke. Lamar Odom was getting abused by Zach Randolph last night, and lost focus because of some shotty officiating. Randolph dips his shoulder into your chest a lot, and Odom felt those should have been offensive fouls, but the refs didn't see it that way. We could have used Kwame last night to defend a banger like ZBo.
