NEW YORK KNICKS @ LA LAKERS

[tayzer]

Lamar is most effective off curls in the paint and it showed tonight...

[Slava]

It was a great game for a few Laker players to step up, mainly LO and Sasha, but Fisher also stepped up too after being in a bit of a slump the last few.

I'm happy for the win, but, not to be a downer or anything, it is JUST the Knicks... we really need to work on defense.

Admitted that it was just the Knicks but they played pretty good tonight. Crawford was in a good form and Nate could barely miss a shot in the 2 and 3 quarters. Add that to D Lee and Randolph having good games, they would have troubled most teams in the league if they show up this way.

[Sting3r]

horrible game. Way too many three pointers. Zone killed us...watch teams use it on us on the road trip.

At least we got the win.

[milesfides]

Kobe's making his teammates better. Undeniable.

Trusting all his teammates, and they came through tonight.

Vujacic, Turiaf, even Kwame. They were regularly set up by Kobe, who was actively looking to get them involved all night - even in the fourth quarter.

Odom scored in the post off Kobe's feeds. He was very successful in that. We hoped it would have been the other way around, but whatever works. Let's just hope Odom can continue to score in the post against better defenses.

Gotta give the Knicks credit. They came out to play, and David Lee and Nate Robinson were absolute nightmares. They've been playing well, they're legit.

Kobe and the gang closed it out though. A great win.

[Slava]

horrible game. Way too many three pointers. Zone killed us...watch teams use it on us on the road trip.

At least we got the win.

You called it. The Pistons will play the same zone twice as effectively and that'd a pretty hard game to win.

[semi-sentient]

Nice win.

It would be even nicer if we could put together a complete game instead of just the 1st half or 2nd half.

This road trip should be interesting.

I'm calling a win against Detroit.

[milesfides]

In the next 10 games, I predict we'll go 20-0.

[B-Scott]

Great win tonight, Kobe made the adjustment from the Cavs game and made the Knicks pay for double teaming him trusting his teammates more in the 4th quarter this game.

[zen_4_10]

In the next 10 games, I predict we'll go 20-0.

EDIT - the greatest thing is one of these was serious.

[Tommy Trojan]

Not pretty, but a win is a win

[milesfides]

Nah, Kobe's actually been looking to get his teammates involved for the past couple weeks, even in the Cavs game, he only took 6 shots and made em all, and had like 5 assists in the first half. But we weren't going anywhere, he asserted himself, got to the line, and we had numerous chances to win the game, it's just that the Cavs took the ball out of his hands in the last few possessions, and some teammates didn't step up or were scared to take shots. I'm not going to name names.

The difference in this game was that Kobe's teammates came through tonight against the weak Knicks' defense, notably Sasha Vujacic answered the call. 5-11 from three. He stepped up, and Kobe found him again and again.

You only make teams pay for cheating if you make shots. Tonight, Kobe's teammates did. Give them credit for stepping up, but no need to throw Kobe a cookie - he's been playing like this for awhile now. It only gets noticed when his teammates take and make em.

[Slava]

^^ You might be the first but I'm like the biggest Sasha fan

[Kobay]

Its the knicks man. We should have blown them out by 50 points, good thing isaiah went away from the zone defense or else we had slim chance to none to win it.

And expect to see tougher and night mare zone defense by Pistons.

[B-Scott]

Miles - Kurt Rambis was on AM 570 and said the reason Kobe was benched was because he started trying to go 1 on 1 to much against Lebron and wasn't reading the defense.

Whenever you dribble through your legs 7 and 8 times,then do a crossover and pull up for a basleline 20 footer,your not looking to pass the basketball. If it takes that many dribbles to get by the defender,then you need to pass. Lebron was still right there on him.

I thought Sasha had the same wide opportunities in that 4th quarter and Lamar was in similair spots on the floor. Lebron and Kobe just had a 1 on 1 battle going there.

Kobe made the necessary adjustment though

[dockingsched]

Its the knicks man. We should have blown them out by 50 points, good thing isaiah went away from the zone defense or else we had slim chance to none to win it.

And expect to see tougher and night mare zone defense by Pistons.

the lakers had a 30 point quarter against the zone in the 2nd. sasha/farmar/vlad killed the zone. the problem wasn't the zone, it was the defense.

[snaquille oatmeal]

That's right, everyone jump on the Sasha bandwagon. Don't forget who was Sasha's first fan on these boards.

^^ You might be the first but I'm like the biggest Sasha fan

yeah, but there is only one Sashobe

[milesfides]

There is no doubt Kobe was trying to lift his team in the 4th quarter. He got to the line 18 times that game. He shot 50% from the floor. He had 6 assists. Kobe did force some offense in the fourth. That's not because Kobe was ignoring his teammates. The truth is that the Cavs are a better defensive team than the Knicks, they covered the shooters, and Odom didn't have the advantage that he had tonight. Kobe tried to get to the line and create plays. Phil pulled him - unfortunately a bad move, because our team relies on Kobe to do anything.

And Sasha did get shots and hit them - he just wasn't on the floor long enough. Phil went with Fisher, who was cold, and Walton, who has been cold all year. Kobe always looks for Sasha, he trusts him completely.

It's no surprise that when Kobe is surrounded by capable, aggressive-minded players, he finds them.

It's when he's surrounded by inept offensive players that he forces the action, which is exactly what he should do when he's surrounded by a limited Walton, a passive Odom, a cold Fish, and a fumbling Kwame.

When Farmar, Turiaf, and Sasha are on the floor, surprise, surprise. The ball moves. It's called basketball. When you put 4 players who can't perform their roles, then it's fairly obvious that the one guy who does is going to try to force the action.

See Dwayne Wade in Miami. He didn't get crappy all of the sudden. He's just lost capable players around him, making him force the action. It's a sign of an unbalanced roster, not a selfish player.

[FukaX]

I felt kobe was too into the matchup with lebron for the cavs game.

Sometimes he makes it very obvious to his opponent that he won't pass and hes going to look to score to prove a pt that he is unstoppable.

( For instance when i see kobe at the top of arc pounding the ball 2 or 3 times between his legs while looking down at the floor, i know for sure that ball is going no where but to the rim)

Overall lebron did a good job guarding kobe and not fallign for kobes pump fakes and the cavs did a good job trapping him when kobe penetrates.

On sunday, derek fisher was just not converting these kickouts that kobe set for him which might have made the game alot more winnable

[milesfides]

The problem is that Kobe is always aware of what's happening.

Even tonight, he dribbled between the legs getting read to attack, then whipped it to Odom for the layup. Even during the Cavs game, never did I feel Kobe was trying to match Lebron's points. Lebron was gunning it from the tip, Kobe was patiently feeding his teammates. Like Kobe said in the past, he's past that stuff. He forced it in the 4th because his teammates were playing passively. That's it. He always tries to respond to how his teammates are playing.

The problem is that when Kobe looks to get aggressive, many times some teammates bail out on the play because they expect he's going to miraculously make it. I used to think this was because they were rolling their eyes, "there goes Kobe again," but based on my observations, these are guys that generally are passive offensive players. Luke, Odom, and Kwame. They're HOPING kobe bails them out, they're not making themselves available.

Somebody said this on ESPN, maybe Jon Barry, but he said it's also selfish for a player to NOT shoot the ball. Because they don't want the responsibility, or pressure, and overpassing costs the team.

We saw it with Luke Walton. The guy wanted Kobe to bail him out for his life.

When Turiaf, Farmar, Sasha, and Fish play, they continue to move, regardless of what Kobe's doing on the floor. Because they know that Kobe can give it up even at the last second.

How many times has Kobe forced the action, drawn defenders, and at the very last moment, kick it out for a wide open shot or layup? The guys who capitalize on these are those who are making themselves available, who aren't standing around watching, even if it DOES look like Kobe is trying to score himself.

[snaquille oatmeal]

miles- I miss the post-game analysis threads you used to break out.
good times