<div align="center"> </div> <div align="center"><font color="Purple">Los Angeles Lakers </font> <font color="Purple">(2-2)</font> @ <font color="Green">New Orleans Hornets </font> <font color="Green">(0-3)</font> </div> <div align="center">Time: 5:00 p.m. PT Location: New Orleans Arena TV: KCAL Los Angeles, CST New Orleans</div> Season Series: 0-0, First matchup of the year Previous Games: Hawks @ Lakers 106-90 W Hornets @ TWolves 99-92 L Last 4 Games: Lakers 2-2 (Won 1) Hornets 0-3 (Lost 3) Head Coaches: Rudy T/Byron Scott Probable Starters: Chucky Atkins/David Wesley Kobe Bryant/Baron Davis Caron Butler/George Lynch Lamar Odom/P.J. Brown Chris Mihm/Jamaal Magloire Sixth Men Tierre Brown/Darrell Armstrong Injury Report Lakers Slava Medvedenko Devean George Vlade Divac Hornets Jamal Mashburn Junior Harrington Tim Pickett <div align="center">Players To Watch </div> <div align="center">Kobe Bryant & Baron Davis</div> <div align="center">Bryant: 28.8 pts, 4.50 rebs, 4.5 assists, .75 steals Davis: 27.3 pts, 3.70 rebs, 9.3 assists, 1.67 steals </div> <u>Emo's Laker Analysis</u> Kobe needs to be a playmaker: I'm sure everybody watched the horrific Utah performance a couple of nights ago, and witnessed how Kobe Bryant simply tried to do everything on his own, simply attempting to rally the Lakers back from a game in which they were NEVER a part of, with what looked like the supporting cast just standing like spectactors. If I take some pointers from the Atlanta game last night, and look at the boxscore, everybody besides Chucky Atkins scored in double figures. That's contribution. That's what needs to be done consistently for 48 minutes. Sure, it'll look nice to watch a game where Kobe explodes for 30-40 points, but if the rest of the team goes silent and barely contributes anything, how will we win ballgames? Points In The Paint & Rebounding: It doesn't take a genius to figure out with Shaquille O'Neal departing Los Angeles for Miami meant ourselves losing a big piece of not only a beast that no team would ever dare to come across, but an offensive scoring machine too in which game after game, the Lakers would dominate scoring points in the paint. Chris Mihm and Lamar Odom, our newly constructed starting frontcourt, have tried to continue a daunting task, but it hasn't been easy. To disregard the game in which we played the lousy Atlanta Hawks and our home opener against the Nuggets which both teams were tied 36-36 apiece scoring in the paint, our LA Lakers combined against Utah and San Antonio have been outscored 90-54. That's simply not getting the job done. Mihm and Odom especially, need to do a better job of not only showing up against mediocre opponents like Atlanta with double digit totals scoring and being aggressive on the boards, but continously being consistent in these categories. Since Kobe is the focal point of this offense, perhaps Bryant can allow the double team to come to him, to free up the middle so Kobe can distribute the ball to his teammates leaving a man open, and on the rebounding side we'd need to just do a better job of collapsing on the ball in second chance attempts, on the defensive side, boxing out with a greater chance of new possessions. Cutting Down On Turnovers: We're averaging how many? 16 a game? Unacceptable. Solid passes without risking, and better ball handling are key. Laker Transition: This team loves to run, and we must use this to our advantage out on the break. We can quickly tire out the opposing team as long as we use our energy, and our speed and quickness to really stick it to New Orleans and score easy points. <u>Emo's Laker Prediction 11/09/04</u> So far we're 2-2 coming off a win that should help us build confidence heading into New Orleans Tuesday night. If we continue to get most of our players in double digit scoring with tons of contributions, score points inside which has been a problem against teams that should contend this year with a rebounding edge, and play devastating defense which I know we're capable of playing, then there's no reason why we can't take this game. But it all comes down to Kobe Bryant. Will he be selfish and try to do everything on his own? Or will he be a leader willing to not only contribute, but distribute? I'm calling this game with the Lakers winning by a five point margin.
I expect a close one. The Hornets are one hungry team looking for a win and they will try to will themselves to victory. The Lakers have to play at thier own pace. As Emo said, Kobe needs to be a playmaker once again/ I expect Odom to shine in this game. Lakers by 2.
I have to agree with spawn. This game Odom will again show us his good game. I love watching this man play. This is gonna be his night to shine. I hope to see soms strong D from all of the players. This will be close but still in the end it would be the Lakers with the victory. Lakers by 5.
Anyone been looking at BD's stat line, he's basically the only playmaker on the team, and in the Dallas game, they had like 3 guys on his as soon as he took a step in the paint, but he's been playing sick. Look at that assist to turnover ratio, 5.6 to 1, that is killer, and he's shooting 49% from the floor, but even with his great play, the Hornets are losing because no one else is stepping up. David Wesley needs to be set up all the time, and so does PJ Brown, the only other "option" is Magloire, and he's not a 20 PPG option, more of a 15 PPG guy, and he's been shooting 40% for the past 3 games. After those guys, the closest thing to being an option is JR Smith, some players think they have it hard being the main guy, Baron Davis has it hard. The Lakers should be able to take this one, they shouldn't expect to cruise through because the Hornets can keep it close, but their's no offense on the team, if they can contain Baron they should win. Even if Baron has his way, the rest of the team just isn't producing enough for them to win. Lakers take this one by 5.
hopefully davis will get exhausted guardin kobe and kobe wont get exhausted davis hope lakers play good d, rip good rebounds and make shots !
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting heatfan83:</div><div class="quote_post">My pred: Lakers by 8pts. They Lakers will attack using D causing turnovers that lead to fastbreaks.</div> I don't know, forcing Baron and DA into stupid turnovers isn't going to happen easily, and David Wesley the SG was also a PG and a competent ball handler, so that will be hard to do.
I Think the Hornets will come on strong against the Lakers myself,but Kobe,Odom & Butler should be able to hold their own ground against New Orleans. Lakers 92 Hornets 87
this will be a very intresting game to watch although i the only thing i'll be able to see is the highlights. the lakers should have this one, becuase even though the hornet are hungry for a win they are also low on spirit, so if the lakers get an early lead and shut the hornets down quickly they should have this one also. good job on the review
B-Diddy is a great player well a fantastic one but still we got Kobe, Lamar, and Caron who all have the upper hand in there matchups on both ends of the floor. If we can keep B-Diddy to a sub-par performance and Jamaal Magloire to even a decent performance the game is ours, and my prediction is we will I'll take Lakers by 12.
Were killing them, honestly I didnt think we'd lead by this much. Right now its the end of the third and were leading by 31 points... Hopefully Caron, Kobe, and Lamar can keep this lead intact so we pull off the win. GO LAKERS!!!!!
omg! they just blew a 31 point lead!!1 this is inexcusable!! that was one of the worst 4rth quarters ever!!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting yanix:</div><div class="quote_post">omg! they just blew a 31 point lead!!1 this is inexcusable!! that was one of the worst 4rth quarters ever!!</div> Yah very bad game, well at least they got some game time with out Kobe. You know get some of the experience out of the game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Billa_Bong:</div><div class="quote_post">Yah very bad game, well at least they got some game time with out Kobe. You know get some of the experience out of the game.</div> I didn't see the game. Did they put Kobe back in after they lost the lead? If so, at what point.
NO they were up by 30 starting the 4th quarter caame in with reserves and gave up about 15 points which then went down to about 7 and kobe got fouled but we pulled out with the win good game looking forward to tommorrow.
