Lakers will win by 4. The home crowd will be a huge factor. Kobe: 34 pts, 5 rebs, 5 asts Odom: 16 pts, 9 rebs Butler: 8 pts, 2 stl Mihm: 10 pts Atkins: 10 pts, 2-2 (3 ptrs.) Bibby: 21 pts, 4 asts Peja: 28 pts Webber: 18 pts, 10 rebs
I'm sure Kobe will take more than one shot in the first half this time. Kings have been bad on the road this season. If they continue that trend, I expect the Lakers to win this one by 5.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Cody 7k:</div><div class="quote_post">I don't know if anyone is aware of this... But the Lakers have had a few days off, so hopefully the Lakers will be more prepared than ever. </div> non issue. the Kings have had a few days off also. as I said in the Kings forum, the real key to this game is to let Bryant have his stats & shut everyone else down defensivly. If you can force Bryant to try & take the game on his own without anyone else getting into the game, he will start taking some bad shots. Christie is not going to shut Bryant down but funneling the entire offense through him is actually a pretty good defensive stratagy. Divac's last year in sac showd that he cant get up & down the court fast enough to deal with a running offense. that means when he is in, the Kings are going to have to push the ball upcourt quickly. when he isnt in, grind it out & make sure you find the open shooter. Im looking forward to seeing how Miller does against Divac...
The Lakers have a chance to win it just depends on how much they want and are willing to play as a team for 48 minutes not just 12 minutes. If they play like they usually do for a short time for the whole game no one would be able to beat them when they play like that. kobe will have a huge game.
I'm going to go with a gut feeling on this one and say Kobe will explode and lead his team to a 10 point victory. If they execute the fast break they will be playing right alongside the Kings. It also depends on how much they are willing to play as a team in the half court offense.
Ugly first 4 minutes..down 8-0..peja with 3 easy buckets, he is on fire...this is going to be a long night.
HALF TIME were down 51-48 pretty good for the way we played Kobes doin good putting up 14 points 3 rebounds and 3 assists while only taking 6 shots Lamar needs to pick it up.
Good game, I got home right in time from my trip to Boston and I get home to see this game starting, lucky me
Kobes on fire we need someone else to step up or else were going to lose. EDIT: what a dissapointing loss we had it.
man, what a game to lose. The Lakers had that. Wasted too much time dribbling around at the end of the game.
It's time for guys to step up and play defense. I'm talking about the following guys: Slava Medvedenko.
Defense,Defense,Defense, that was the key here. The lakers didnt play good defense at all. Not too add Kobe was forcing things too much, and trying to do too much himself and also dribbling the ball way too much, problems hes known for. You cant have Kobe and the whole Sacremento team trading off baskets because eventually Kobes gonna miss and make turnovers and such. Also though his whole team didnt have great shot selection, its just a matter of them trusting each other, and flowing.
Kobe shot a great game. His FG percentage was great, he was getting to the line, he was making big plays. I thought the rest of the team started to Lagg out at the end. I would have liked to see more of Butler. The foul trouble early on also made it a bit difficult.
Yes, he did shoot a great game, but that problem is HE shot a great game, and since he decided he wanted to be the leader of this team its his responsiblity to get other involved. Look at a player like lebron, he scores 20 points tonight, but hes also creating for his teamates within the flow of the game. Yes Kobe is getting his, but hes getting it by just taking the ball and taking it to the basket alone, yes he will get those times where he is double teamed and he'll pass it to the open man, but he needs to be getting assist all the time, especially as talented as he is because Kobe cant beat The Sacramento Kings.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting KleinBaller08:</div><div class="quote_post">Yes, he did shoot a great game, but that problem is HE shot a great game, and since he decided he wanted to be the leader of this team its his responsiblity to get other involved. Look at a player like lebron, he scores 20 points tonight, but hes also creating for his teamates within the flow of the game. Yes Kobe is getting his, but hes getting it by just taking the ball and taking it to the basket alone, yes he will get those times where he is double teamed and he'll pass it to the open man, but he needs to be getting assist all the time, especially as talented as he is because Kobe cant beat The Sacramento Kings.</div> Dude, Kobe is an SG and he's racking up assists. In fact, wasn't it 8 assists tonight? I know alot of point guards that can't even do that. -------------------- Well, I can't post much due to the fact that I have family visiting right now...you all know how that is...but I'm questioning Rudy T's coaching decisions right now. First off, Slava shouldn't be in the game after allowing Webber to hit shot after shot...after shot. Secondly, Luke Walton should be playing in games like this...especially in the final seconds. Why? If I were Rudy T, my first option for a late three-pointer would be Kobe...and my second option? Luke. And the last thing that bothers me is the fact that guys aren't stepping up for passes. When Kobe (or anyone else) makes the mistake of throwing a pass into traffic, you step towards it, not stay in one spot. This is a HUGE reason for the turnovers, especially early in the season. They weren't containing Kobe at all until the double teams...and Kobe was kicking it out ALOT...but then, in the 4th, he got a little greedy and in a way, he had a reason to. However, there were times where he should've passed it out no matter what. I'm not putting the blame on Kobe, and I'm not putting the blame on Rudy T...or Atkins, or anyone. I'm blaming the Kings, for playing a good game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting KleinBaller08:</div><div class="quote_post">Yes, he did shoot a great game, but that problem is HE shot a great game, and since he decided he wanted to be the leader of this team its his responsiblity to get other involved. Look at a player like lebron, he scores 20 points tonight, but hes also creating for his teamates within the flow of the game. Yes Kobe is getting his, but hes getting it by just taking the ball and taking it to the basket alone, yes he will get those times where he is double teamed and he'll pass it to the open man, but he needs to be getting assist all the time, especially as talented as he is because Kobe cant beat The Sacramento Kings.</div> Dude, Kobe is an SG and he's racking up assists. In fact, wasn't it 8 assists tonight? I know alot of point guards that can't even do that.
