GT: Feb 8th Charlotte Vs LA Lakers 7:00pm

[TheKingofSting]

We're just a bunch of losers!

[LamarMatic7]

My usual random thoughts:

Boy, I'm glad Mullens is back. Despite all of his shortcomings, we desperately need him on offense. How about that drive of his to the basket that ended with a beautiful pass for the Bismack dunk? Like, what are the odds that it ever happens again!?

I absolutely didn't like the way we double teamed Kobe. Why do we even have three defensive players in Hendo, Taylor and MKG, if we don't give them a chance (that especially goes for the two rooks, let them learn from guarding one of the best)!? Just give them 16 minutes on Kobe each. Moreover, it was so clearly evident that Kobe, for some reason, wanted to make a point by not shooting the ball in the first half. Why do we need to double team him then? We were lucky that Nash missed three wide open threes in the first half, we might as well had not got that early lead. Of course, Meeks killed us when he got in the game and both of them made those threes when they counted the most, down the stretch.

Great job by Biz of bodying up Howard and making him whine. If it wasn't for that and-one, you could say that he used his fouls wisely. Somebody said that Biz's good averages against Howard have a lot to do with that 10/15/7 game. Well, there's also a game where Biz only played 12mins and had 2pts/4rebs, so it kind of evens out. I'm still amazed at his averages against Dwight, which now, five games between them, are:

26.2 MPG, .682 FG%, 10.0 RPG, 2.8 BPG, 7.8 PPG.


And here's the compulsory rant after a game like this one and things I absolutely hated:

1) Why the hell did we go with that four guard line-up???

2) Why the hell did we completely kill the tempo, if fast break points were the ones to get us that big lead???

3) Why the hell did we do it so blatantly that Kemba walked down the court and reached the three point line with only 15 seconds left, the possession consisting of a half-assed pick-n-roll and everybody standing around that leaves us with a bail-out jumpshot???

4) Why the hell did we put Sessions on Kobe???

5) Why the hell did we leave on of our guards (I don't remember who it was, was it Gordon?) on Artest and allow him to back him down one-on-one???

6) Why the hell suddenly everybody got scared and even Sessions stopped driving to the basket???

The most frustrating loss in a long time, we played three great quarters and then Dunlap did a "Tanking 101".


Random stat - we had 46 team rebounds and 4 of our guys grabbed at least 10 apiece. That's weird...

[SpearNMgicHelmt]

I think the reason we can't keep a big lead is that we stop pushing the tempo. We're not a good halfcourt team. Every time we slow it down, we end up taking a bad shot with the clock on our backs. Play after play after play.

We also lose our edge when we slow it down. Our defense goes away too. Then after they cut it to single digits, we fall apart.

20 points is nothing in the NBA, especially against a team that's better than you, which is about all of them.

This game really got me down. I can't stand Kobe or Howard, and the refs were terrible, particularly when we did have the lead. We deserved and-ones and weren't getting the whistle. The one play where Hendo dunked on Howard was particularly blatant.

Howard would foul out of every game by halftime if they called it straight. Yet he's one of the whiniest guys in the NBA about people fouling him.