#66. LA Lakers @ Houston Rockets. 12:30. ABC.

[O.C Brandon]

Too much talk about Kobe on defense tonight, lets not act like he played 94 feet the whole game, most of the time Vladimir was on McGrady anyway.

Minhee said it, I said it and I know a lot of people were thinking it, "I hope kobe doesn't shoot us out of the game" if you noticed in the 3rd when the team cut it to 2, kobe had not scored yet. But kobe wasn't going to let the team do it without him getting a piece of it and he kept shooting and shooting.

All I ask is that he recognize when his shot isn't on, yes he had 9pts in the 1st but off 10 shots. Just pass

goodnight all

[Slava]

Too much talk about Kobe on defense tonight, lets not act like he played 94 feet the whole game, most of the time Vladimir was on McGrady anyway.

Minhee said it, I said it and I know a lot of people were thinking it, "I hope kobe doesn't shoot us out of the game" if you noticed in the 3rd when the team cut it to 2, kobe had not scored yet. But kobe wasn't going to let the team do it without him getting a piece of it and he kept shooting and shooting.

All I ask is that he recognize when his shot isn't on, yes he had 9pts in the 1st but off 10 shots. Just pass

goodnight all

What game were you watching? Kobe started that spurt with a driving lay up and a jumper.

[Slava]

Ah the irony!

Odom of all people talking of intuition?

By the way where was that off ball movement that got him so many points last month? He wasn't getting the ball in the post then was he?

He missed crucial FTs and he should be taking responsibility for that before criticizing teammates.

[Slava]

He would have had over 20 points in the Rockets game if

He just made FTs down the stretch. Thats not exactly what lost us the game but then again thats a big mistake too, a momentum killer.

[Slava]

Farmar's drop off has impacted us heavily during the past few weeks. He is our "second unit" and I hope this sophomore slump is over soon.

[milesfides]

Too much talk about Kobe on defense tonight, lets not act like he played 94 feet the whole game, most of the time Vladimir was on McGrady anyway.

Uh, no.

[milesfides]

And Phil's right, because:

-nobody should ever talk about wanting the ball AFTER the game
-history.

[b shaw20]

The Lakers outscored Houston 48-32 in the paint. The inside game was fine, but the 30 points and 8 threes from Alston wasn't.

That was the one factor that tipped the scales of an otherwise fairly even defensive and ugly game.

the problem was that Houston also played solid perimeter defense, while the Lakers couldn't stop Alston. Or, Fisher and Farmar couldn't stop Alston (over the screen guys, over the screen).

Kobe....... was gassed, he didn't get any rest either.

We need to be able to spell Kobe sometimes on defense, we need to provide him with more help on offense, and the coaching staff needs to do a better job of putting together a working offense, and getting players to adjust defensively.

Yes, ultimately we lost THIS particular game because we could not get a hand in the face of Reefer. I mean, at what point do we say to our guards - do not, leave him open. After the 3rd 3 pointer, the 5th?... My guess is that we'll continue to lose if we put this kind of defensive effort and fail to adjust offesnively. Iif our coaches have to tell our guards that in orer for them to adjust, then we must have a bunch of (Please Use More Appropriate Word) monkies playing for us.

Last I recall, we were atop of the leaders in defending 3 pt fg %. I can understand teams beating us up somewhat inside since we have no one to protect the basket now. But we knew going in, Houston too had no inside game to speak of.

They packed it in and we were not willing to out-work them to get in the interior of their defense. Instead, we settled for difficult contested perimeter shots. Perhaps if we had continued to exploit the inside, we could have found a way to win the game. Especially, when McGrady did not assert himself until late in the game.

As far as Kobe being "gassed",.... one minute he is labeled the most physically fit athlete and now he is gassed? Until recently, his numbers had been down vs previous years so he should be somewhat fresh. But we can't know for sure one way or the other. Perhaps he was gassed, perhaps he just settled for jumpers?

I think it boils down to the style of basketball we are playing. We have enough talent on this team, that even without Gasol we should find a way to win 2 of these 4 games. More than any one person, it is on PJax to make sure we play the right way.

Its "go" time now and this is no time for him to be letting the players figure it out on their own. Additionally, the players should also police themselves and ensure they don't continue to make stupid, avoidable mistakes (eg - Sasha not giving it up to a finisher on the break).


Focus dammit.

[snaquille oatmeal]

He would have had over 20 points in the Rockets game if

Well it depends on who you believe. Phil or Odom

Was it his teammates fault for not recognizing what was working or was it Lamar's fault for not being more aggessive.

Its kinda hard to be aggressive when the teammates are not recognizing whats working.

how about recognizing that your team mates are not recognizing you and therefore be more agressive and tell your team mates to recognize during the game not after.

[O.C Brandon]

-= original quote snipped =-

how about recognizing that your team mates are not recognizing you and therefore be more agressive and tell your team mates to recognize during the game not after.

or you know how kobe always tells the media after the game how he just "reads" the defense and sees what their giving him? well how about he actually take what's there?

kobe did a poor job of finding the 70% shooter, and everytime lamar got the ball in the post he was aggressive. maybe if this game wasn't on abc and mcgrady wasn't on the other side then kobe would have played smarter.

headlines "kobe drops 40 and snaps 2nd longest winning streak in history"

no kobe...no

[B-Scott]

-= original quote snipped =-

how about recognizing that your team mates are not recognizing you and therefore be more agressive and tell your team mates to recognize during the game not after.

I don't want to make this a Lamar vs Kobe thing, but be realistic here.

You know darn well Lamar wasn't getting the ball in the 4th quarter, no matter what he did.

Your teammates should be smart enough to see a teammate who is feeling it. I mean the guy was 7-10 from the field and that jump hook was money.

The good thing out of this is Lamar is now in playoff form right now with 16 games left in the season. The key for him is staying healthy now that he is at this level.

[CX44]

I may be wrong but I thought face guarding was illegal in the NBA. Battier did it all day long against Kobe. Anyone have any idea about this. I may have football and basketball mixed up.

[Spanish_Laker]

Let Rockets be happy for now. Hopefully, we will sweep them in the first round.

[snaquille oatmeal]

-= original quote snipped =-



I don't want to make this a Lamar vs Kobe thing, but be realistic here.

You know darn well Lamar wasn't getting the ball in the 4th quarter, no matter what he did.

Your teammates should be smart enough to see a teammate who is feeling it. I mean the guy was 7-10 from the field and that jump hook was money.

The good thing out of this is Lamar is now in playoff form right now with 16 games left in the season. The key for him is staying healthy now that he is at this level.

I wasn't making a Lamar V Kobe thing. I was just point out that if you recognize that you are hot and your team mates don't, then it is on you to make sure that you speak up and let everybody know you are feeling it so the team can take advantage.

btw I thought Odom played well.

[LLcoleJ]

He would have had over 20 points in the Rockets game if

Well it depends on who you believe. Phil or Odom

Was it his teammates fault for not recognizing what was working or was it Lamar's fault for not being more aggessive.

Its kinda hard to be aggressive when the teammates are not recognizing whats working.

I dont know, half the time I saw Odom in the post and the other time at the top of the key. Since the offense is designed as a motion offense, one would assert that he needs to be in motion.

He has the green light to be agressive - and that is what Phil was saying.

[crazyeights]

Well hopefully now Odom and the rest of the team is enlightened to the fact that he wants to be more aggressive?

****, I don't know...it's the only way we're going to pick up a game or two.

[FukaX]

no lamar dont be aggressive.

just play smart.

[ChocolateThundr]

Can we stop blaming Kobe and Lamar for offensive issues?? It was our lack of defense on Rockets' shooters like Alston that we lost the game Kobe haters and Lamar haters needs to gtfo

[dockingsched]

^^truth

[Guy986]

I may be wrong but I thought face guarding was illegal in the NBA. Battier did it all day long against Kobe. Anyone have any idea about this. I may have football and basketball mixed up.

Lets turn the NBA into a game of horse. No defense allowed!