LA Lakers vs. Denver - Series LAL leads (1-0)

[andykeikei]

-= original quote snipped =-



Atkins has not played a single game healthy all season though. He would be the PERFECT guy to play backup PG for 10-15 per game (while reducing Carter's minutes) next to JR Smith. He was signed to start at the PG. I think its safe to say his role was going to be a lot bigger than Ariza's if he was healthy.

May be...but I won't be too optimistic. He was a chucker when he played for us. I think Nuggets fans kind of underrate what Anthony Carter can do on offense. He sees the court quite well in transition and that is one of the most important thing for Nuggets's offense. (I think AI makes a lot more bad decisions)

[JDawg]

To all the KOBE detractors, minimizers and the like....

Kobe shot poorly but did NOT play poorly.

He was given GREAT shots today. Lot of space to knock down jumpers.

Don't kid yourself. He just missed some easy jumpers.

Nothing BAD at all about his shot selection.

Go watch the fricking game man. All easy shots. IF he makes them everyone's talking about how great they are.

JEESH.

[Sedale Threatt]

-= original quote snipped =-
SedaleT: I didn't like Kobe's attitude; he was combative and not looking to create good offense. He has nothing to prove to K-Mart, and yet he regressed to his 99-03 days when he subjugated the offense to make a point. As always, Kobe is his own worst enemy. You bet the Nuggets' coaching staff instructed their players to taunt Kobe. He has to drive the lane and pitch out, period.

Again, I couldn't agree more. He was out there trying to prove that Martin couldn't stop him, and he pretty much took us right out of the flow we established. The only thing he did well today was get to the foul line, and perhaps draw extra defensive attention by virtue of Denver's gameplan to stop him at all costs. Otherwise, I thought he was a minus -- took poor shots outside of the flow of the offense, got a stupid T, played bad defense and was in foul trouble throughout as a result.

[G35]

-= original quote snipped =-



Again, I couldn't agree more. He was out there trying to prove that Martin couldn't stop him, and he pretty much took us right out of the flow we established. The only thing he did well today was get to the foul line, and perhaps draw extra defensive attention by virtue of Denver's gameplan to stop him at all costs. Otherwise, I thought he was a minus -- took poor shots outside of the flow of the offense, got a stupid T, played bad defense and was in foul trouble throughout as a result.

Yep. He had some hide your eyes shots out there.....

[hermes]

great game by the lakers, gasol was amazing

[andykeikei]

-= original quote snipped =-



Thats all conjecture. If Turiaf was out everyone would be saying "well turiaf is our best interior defender and would have played 25 mpg". I dont buy it.

But it is the truth. Ariza is our best perimeter defender outside of Kobe. He is crucial for us especially if the opposing team has great wing players, such as the Nuggets.

[yunggunz]

-= original quote snipped =-



Ariza has been used specifically on AI before. So its not some generality that I'm assuming.

When he played 12 minutes against the nuggets, or when he played 5 in garbage time?

he wasnt getting burn during the regular season in this matchup...theres no way he would have in the playoffs.

[Sedale Threatt]

To all the KOBE detractors, minimizers and the like....

Kobe shot poorly but did NOT play poorly.

He was given GREAT shots today. Lot of space to knock down jumpers.

Don't kid yourself. He just missed some easy jumpers.

Nothing BAD at all about his shot selection.

Go watch the fricking game man. All easy shots. IF he makes them everyone's talking about how great they are.

JEESH.

If you think jacking up 3s with a hand in your face early in the shot clock and forcing up contested turnarounds are GREAT shots...we're just going to have to disagree.

[eatyourchildren]

uh oh, jdawg's back

[andykeikei]

-= original quote snipped =-



When he played 12 minutes against the nuggets, or when he played 5 in garbage time?

he wasnt getting burn during the regular season in this matchup...theres no way he would have in the playoffs.

Phil Jackson quite likes him actually and he was getting more playing time until he was injured. You know I could say the same thing about Atkins and Nene too. If they didn't play well in regular season, why will they play great in the playoff? And has Nene ever been healthy in his life?
But all in all, both teams suffer from injuries. We should just let the excuses go and discuss what both teams can improve on the next game.

[Basileus777]

uh oh, jdawg's back

Now if only Byron Scott were here to tell him that how great Lamar Odom was.

[yunggunz]

-= original quote snipped =-

You know I could say the same thing about Atkins and Nene too. If they didn't play well in regular season, why will they play great in the playoff? And has Nene ever been healthy in his life?
But all in all, both teams suffer from injuries. We should just let the excuses go and discuss what both teams can improve on the next game.

Well this is a **** (Please Use More Appropriate Word) conversation. In the end, its just excuses. but I know if the Nuggets lose the series, it will be ebcause they were outmatched. If the Lakers somehow lose, the excuse will be that they were shorthanded, which is a bull cop out.

Lets just see what happens with the players that are actually on the court.

[Sedale Threatt]

great game by the lakers, gasol was amazing

Here, here. Instead of talking about the poor performance of one player in a game we won -- seriously, how does the conversation invariably end up centered around Kobe? -- let's talk about Pau instead.

What an absolutely fabulous all-around display of offensive skill from a 7-footer. Great movement off the ball, hit the open man repeatedly, attacked the rim every chance he got, even knocked down a few jumpers. Watching him and Odom play off of each other was so entertaining.

If anything, I would have liked to have seen Pau be even more aggressive. Maybe blame that on his teammates. We had a guy with the hot hand going into the fourth quarter, and he barely got a touch until three or four minutes remained. That wasn't very smart, and we're lucky it didn't cost us.

At any rate, so much for Pau's playoff curse. Brilliant stuff.

Also, a tip of the hat to Luke. He's been pretty craptastic for most of the season, but you can see what he's capable of when he can hit a few buckets and establish a rhythm. I actually thought he did a decent job on Anthony, which was something I was concerned.

[eatyourchildren]

For Denver: Make your FT's, play some modicum of defense, show some heart (aside from Kleiza and Smith)

For LA: Keep Kobe's ego in check, keep moving the ball, play better defense.

[humblebum]

Celtics fan here. Just wanted to congratulate Laker Fans for making it to the second round. The Nuggets are too selfish offensively and lazy defensively to actually beat a well-schooled Laker team.

It's disgusting that the Nuggets have as much talent on their roster as they do and they simply show no willingness to play as a team. They represent all that is wrong with the NBA.

So here's to a quick and tidy sweep so that all NBA fans will be spared the pain of watching the Nuggets me first brand of basketball.

[TMACFORMVP]

Gasol and Odom were terrific, Lakers ball movement was superb.

[shobe_81]

There are so many people in here crying like little girls regarding Kobe's post game interview, or that he was stat-padding, or that he wasn't a factor in the game!

Yea Kobe had a horrible shooting game but he still managed to get 36 despite only making 9 shots and 1 3pointer.

And it's not like the shots were crazy fade-aways like when he played Houston, they were good shots, although he should have attacked the basket more. Maybe he felt Martin was playing off-of him too much so he tried to make him play up by trying to make shots.

And Kobe wasn't a factor? Hmm Kobe is at the 3pt line, Odom and Gasol are inside the paint while Camby is in the paint and Martin is at the 3pt line guarding Kobe, I'm guessing that didn't have anything to do with Gasol and Odom playing Hot-Potato?

You haters are PATHETIC!!!

What's next? Kobe hits most of his shots: "Denver's defense was just crap" right? Like we already didn't know that!

[andykeikei]

Celtics fan here. Just wanted to congratulate Laker Fans for making it to the second round. The Nuggets are too selfish offensively and lazy defensively to actually beat a well-schooled Laker team.

It's disgusting that the Nuggets have as much talent on their roster as they do and they simply show no willingness to play as a team. They represent all that is wrong with the NBA.

So here's to a quick and tidy sweep so that all NBA fans will be spared the pain of watching the Nuggets me first brand of basketball.

It's way too quick to say we are gonna past the second round. It is just one game. I would say we would have 70% going to the second round if we can keep our homecourt. But if we lose, I am going to be scared.

[eatyourchildren]

Celtics fan here. Just wanted to congratulate Laker Fans for making it to the second round. The Nuggets are too selfish offensively and lazy defensively to actually beat a well-schooled Laker team.

It's disgusting that the Nuggets have as much talent on their roster as they do and they simply show no willingness to play as a team. They represent all that is wrong with the NBA.

So here's to a quick and tidy sweep so that all NBA fans will be spared the pain of watching the Nuggets me first brand of basketball.

I think a reason why George Karl likes to play Anthony Carter is because he's probably the headiest of the players on the team, and Karl doesn't trust Allen Iverson with the ball on the time. Even if AC is a defensive liability (actually, he's only a defensive liability because they have him guard guys 6 inches taller than him), he at least TRIES to orchestrate Karl's offensive sets. AI likes to over dribble, and Melo almost never passes up his iso's for an 18 footer.

[Basileus777]

There isn't any need to get so defensive about Kobe. Yes he played poorly, and yeah he's being criticized for it. But the same thing happens to every superstar. If LeBron, Paul, Dirk, KG etc have a bad playoff game everyone is going to call them out in the game threads too. If you are the best player in the NBA and the MVP favorite, and play poorly in a playoff game, people are going to talk about it here.

And only one person "cried" about the postgame interview.