My keys to the game Lakers: Kobe has to have a better shooting night not like the last two. Odom has to take more shots, last game he was 6 for 9. We need solid rebounding from the bench. The bench needs to come alive. POST ALL GAME COMMENTS HERE...
Wow, HUGE game tonight. If LA wins this, I will be very shocked. Sacramento has been dominating at Arco recently, so I'm taking them by 7.
they should do what they did the last game.. Make Kobe go straight at Artest. Make Artest chase Kobe through screens and get him tired. Kobe should also try to facilitate the first quarter and get Odom in there, and then dominate all he wants in the fourth.
The Lakers are going to miss Devean George tonight. He was a big factor in the first meeting because of his rebounding and defense off the bench. The Kings have won 12 straight at Arco, and Artest's conditioning is a lot better then it was in the last meeting. Something the Lakers can count on is Kobe having a huge night. He rarely has two lousy games back to back, and he will be out for blood tonight. This is an important game for both teams so I expect a playoff level atmosphere tonight. The Lakers must play a lot better on defense against the Kings. Mike Bibby will want to push the transition and the Lakers have to get back to defend. In the Seattle game, everytime one of the Laker guards penetrated, the Sonic guards leaked out and got easy transition baskets. The Laker big men have to recognize where everyone is when the shot goes up and be ready to sprint down the court if necessary. I just don't have a good feeling about this game. The Lakers will miss Mihm's inside presence and without him down low the Kings are going to be even more aggressive with their double teams on Kobe. If the Lakers can go into the 4th quarter down by 5 or less, I give them a chance to pull out an upset tonight.
hahaha... I sure wouldnt want to be Artest for tonight. Kobe is pissed! I sense an explosion. I say kobe 45-50 points. Lakers win by 8.
Kobe is going to play a crazy game today. I think he'll be more team orientated with more assits and passing. He'll definatly be ready for the challenge after the upset the last game. I'm predicting a Lakers victory by around 15 points.
with two bad games in a row, Artest just told reporters he WILL shut down Kobe tonight...not a good idea.
I love Artest for saying that, makes the game more entertaining. however i dont' think any player alive is capable of shutting down #8.
LOL, Artest is a silly man with a silly mustache. I think the Kings should put Artest on Odom and try to completely shut him down. Let Martin/Bonzi try to guard Kobe and encourage him to try and do it all by himself. When Odom doesnt contribute the Lakers usually dont win, especially against good teams....like the Kings
this is an important game for us, and it wont be easy considering all the injuries we have. the last time we played them, we blew them out, i believe, its been more than a month now and artest and his new team are starting to get more chemistry and are really pushing our spot in the playoffs. if we dont win this game, i believe that we will slip to the 8th spot in the west. considering that, its a must win. we need to have kobe on fire like last time, control bibby, control the paint, and guys like kwame must be agressive and grab boards and make the "little" plays, also, we need smush to be focussed and not make stupid plays. all in all, its going to be tough since we are short handed, but i still think we can win this one.
STOP UNDERESTIMATING ARTeSt He's the best defensive player to ever play. Look what he did kobe 1-7 stuffed him and stole it from him and outscoring kobe 15-2. When the crowd chated MVP it was meant for ARTEST DPOY and MVP and Finals MVP GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO RON
<u>First Half:</u> - Kobe Bryant was just getting manhandled by Artest in the first half. He needs to stop forcing up bad shots and take it to the rim. - It is very obvious how out-of-shape Jimmy Jackson is at this point, ole' boy can't even hustle for a ball he was two paces ahead of! He was also pretty much winded just running up the court. The only good thing i've seen from him so far, he seemed to have understood the triangle very quickly and is rotating pretty well. - Kwame Brown can't catch the ball if his life depended on it. I understand his hands are that of someone 6'4', but at the same time he has a very hard time just finishing. He lacks fluidity in his game at this point.
4-12 for 9 points so far for Kobe. I have a feeling Kobe is going to explode, but the Lakers will still lose.
Damn, nice games by both Kobe and Odom. very balanced. Kobe even had 7 assists. But double figures everywhere for Sactown. We are tied now!! OUCH!!!
How the heck are the Lakers going to do good without Mihm? I watched parts of the game and they looked like they missed him, too bad he's out the rest of the year.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">We are tied now!! OUCH!!!</div>You might want to check the standings again.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Damn, nice games by both Kobe and Odom. very balanced. Kobe even had 7 assists. But double figures everywhere for Sactown. We are tied now!! OUCH!!!</div> did you watch the game at all? Kobe did not fare well at all despite the box score. The Kings absolutely murked the Lakers with all those threes. Oh, and the Kings took the 7th spot now, 1/2 game ahead of the Lakers
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting J_Ray:</div><div class="quote_post">How the heck are the Lakers going to do good without Mihm? I watched parts of the game and they looked like they missed him, too bad he's out the rest of the year.</div> dude?? out for the year???
Give credit where credit is due, the Kings out played the Lakers last night. I think the key mistake was made by PJax when he put Sasha in the game in the 4th quarter. The score was 92-86 and the Lakers had some momentum. Mike Bibby didn't have a single point in the 4th quarter, and Smush was doing a good job of keeping Bibby in front of him. Then Sasha comes in and the Kings go on a 12-2 run in just 3 minutes, with Bibby scoring 7 of the 12. This pushed the Kings lead to 16 and put the game out of reach. Without Mihm in the game, Ron Artest didn't have to sag for double teaming down low and could play very aggressive on Kobe. The Kings did a great job of swarming Kobe and not giving him any space to pass the ball. I didn't expect the Lakers to win tonight, but most Laker fans knew the failure to get Ron Artest would come back to bite them in the butt. The Kings are 10-0 with Artest and 15-7 overall. He's completely changed the identity of that team and the Kings are playing a physical brand of basketball. Last night everytime a Laker player was fouled, they ended up on the floor. I think Kwame hit the deck 5 or 6 times in the 1st half alone. This is how the Lakers need to play, no more easy baskets, foul people and foul them hard!
