<div class="quote_poster">Quoting BallerAK47:</div><div class="quote_post">Why is that awesome to watch?? gross</div> What the hell is that supposed to mean? I am a basketball fan, and GP and malone are taking to right to Dallas.
Yeah, my comment is coming from a bitter Jazz fan and a Laker hater, so of course I am going to say that
Unbiased fans are always better fans. I feel your pain, but be happy for Karl, he wants to win a ring, any true fan will support him 100% for those awesome years he put in for Utah.
Lakers are up by 19 with 9 minutes to go in the 4th, some of the Lakers new additions (Grant,Malone,Payton, Russell) are all playing well. Russell is playing extremely well compared to last season. The Lakers aren't missing Kobe, but he's sitting right next to Shaq on the bench right now. It would be interesting to know what the score would be with him there, there was a stat put up about the Lakers record with / without Kobe with Shaq there. It was higher without.
Good point tmac15, the Lakers are playing very unselfish. Maybe it is good that Kobe is sitting and watching this.
The Lakers are playing great team ball. Their are a lot of new faces, they aren't playing like a team which is trying to Gel, they look like a team thats been playing together for years.
Man, that was a fun game to watch!! I watched it with a friend that's a Mavs fan...he got a little quiet after the 2nd quarter. Here are some of my thoughts from the game... Fisher at SG...awesome. I never thought he would make a good shooting guard...seems to fit his game nicely now that GP can handle the initiating of the offense. GP...awesome. I absolutely love having GP on the squad. He makes players like Fisher and Devean so much better...and he finally brings back Showtime to LA. Malone...icing on the cake. GP was the type of guy that I really wanted on the team but the addition of Karl is simply icing on the cake. The Lakers finally have a PF that demands respect from the opponents, which just makes everything so much easier for other players. Devean George...this guy is one of the luckiest guys on the team. With any of the HOF'ers being double-teamed, Devean will most likely be the guy that'll be open. Play defense, make hard cuts to the basket and hit the open shot...that's all he has to do. After watching Devean play in the Summer Pro Leagues his first couple years, I can say that when he has the confidence/momentum, his spot-up shots are deadly. Kobe...just wait for Kobe to get back on the court...:mrgreen: As for the Mavs, they have an extremly potent offense at the expense of defense. Its a shame that they seemingly missed any open shots that they were given...but when they have one of those on nights where everything is going for them, there will be no stopping the Mavs. I thought the Mavs should have spread the floor a lot more and isolated anyone with Shaq. It happend a few times and Dirk was able to get by for the easy bucket. All in all, great win for the Lakers.
The Lakers played a good game, and were able to execute their offense against the weak Mavs defense. On the other end of the court the Mavs were stone cold. Nash, Finley and Nowitzki went 0 for 14 from downtown and the Mavs shot 37 % from the field overall. Being the shooting team that they are, they will have a hard time winning games if they miss that much. Newcomers Antoine Walker and Antawn Jamison had a pretty good game though, both shooting 7 for 13 and grabbing 7 and 6 rebounds. If the Big Three reach their normal level (higher percentages, less turnovers) they will be hard to beat. Did anyone else miss Nick van Exel? I sure did, he could've been that spark of the bench that they needed this game.
Just missed open shot after open shot...I mean they had time to relax and take the shot(which means the Lakers could not cover Dallas either), and it was not even close. Has to be something with playing in LA, if Dallas has to play there in the playoffs, I doubt that the Mavs would win even 2.
From what I saw the Lakers looked good..Payton played really well and led their team so well....Malone played a triple double kind of game? who would of thought it... Doing what Lakers did without Kobe was scary....They doesn't seem to be any problems with chemistry there..
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting allnet:</div><div class="quote_post">Malone played a triple double kind of game? who would of thought it.....</div> Malone was pulled with 4 minutes left in the game too.
King James, I think you're completely understating the Lakers defense. The Mavs did end up getting a fair amount of open looks, but at the same time, the Mavs also weren't getting into their set early into the clock. The lakers were playing a lot of isolation and a lot of denial, causing rushed shots to go up (even if mostly open) nearer the end of clocks. Don't also forget the good steals and block numbers the Lakers had going. I would have Liked to see a little more D, but this was a pretty decent show of what the New Look Lakers are all about. This is, mind you, without Kobe, on the Defensive Team, and a great passer/boarder/scorer. Team D is one of the last things for a jellin team to get together, so im not worried. The Suns and SAS will be the real tests for the squad, i feel. Youth and experience.
I know the Lakers have a good D and I respect it, but I just hate how people always put down the Mavs D, who I feel is underrated. They ranked about middle of the pack last season (ahead of the Lakers) in OPPG and with that so called crappy D made it 2 games from the Finals. The D is not as bad as everybody says it is. I know I'm going to hear it for this.
What we saw last night was a team determined. Lakers did play very unselfishly. Mavs obviously do have a lot of problems that need to be worked out in order to be the Lakers. if the Lakers can keep their play up to last night. Then they will win the championship
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Manu:</div><div class="quote_post">King James, I think you're completely understating the Lakers defense. The Mavs did end up getting a fair amount of open looks, but at the same time, the Mavs also weren't getting into their set early into the clock. The lakers were playing a lot of isolation and a lot of denial, causing rushed shots to go up (even if mostly open) nearer the end of clocks. Don't also forget the good steals and block numbers the Lakers had going. I would have Liked to see a little more D, but this was a pretty decent show of what the New Look Lakers are all about. This is, mind you, without Kobe, on the Defensive Team, and a great passer/boarder/scorer. Team D is one of the last things for a jellin team to get together, so im not worried. The Suns and SAS will be the real tests for the squad, i feel. Youth and experience.</div>Agreed. The Laker defense was good at closing out the threepoint...basically, taking all of the momentum of the game. The combination of momentum, adrenaline, emotion and homecourt advantage...the Mavs didn't stand a chance. Great win for the Lakers but we shouldn't be so quick to jump the gun. This was just one game...against a team that chokes in LA. Wait for the Lakers to play a few road games against some of the elite.
yo that Mavericks away jersey is U-G-L-Y. The game was aigh though, it felt weird seein Jamison and Walker on the team together... SICK!
Lakers dominated, they didn't need kobe. Hopefully this won't be a sign of things to come for the Mavs. I'm just glad the season has started!!
I havent read all of this thread.. But one thing before everyone jumps to conclusions that LA can with without kobe.. Fisher is not gonna score like that every game Dirk nash and finley are never gonna go 0 for 14 again from three.. Bryon Russell will never make that many open shots again, and Devean George has not come back down to reality.. That bein said LA looked great.. They had great transtition play.. and Malone is the absolute perfect fit in the triangle.. Theyll need kobe though to create shots and add some athleticism..
