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

[JellosJigglin]

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Did you just see KG yelling and screaming in a blow out against ATL? He was screaming and yelling in Powes face and didnt let him up for a second as he pounded the chest of Powe in a blow out.

Are we in the playoffs? Sheesh. Some people are getting all soft on us.

Magic was just talking about how when he was in the playoffs he hated his opponent. HATED them. He wanted to rip their hearts out. What a cocky SOB, that "Magic" guy. Who does he think he is?

[LLcoleJ]

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I'm letting the subject go...

ok. thank you for notifying me.

[LLcoleJ]

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Are we in the playoffs? Sheesh. Some people are getting all soft on us.

Magic was just talking about how when he was in the playoffs he hated his opponent. HATED them. He wanted to rip their hearts out. What a cocky SOB, that "Magic" guy. Who does he think he is?

Are you responding to me with commentary or do you think I have an issue with cockiness and or Kobe and KG's fire?

[Sedale Threatt]

Didn't mean to pile on or anything. For the record, I definitely prefer letting your play do the talking. You can show your passion and enthusiasm for the game, a la Magic, without showing up your opponent.

[JellosJigglin]

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Are you responding to me with commentary or do you think I have an issue with cockiness and or Kobe and KG's fire?

Just commentary. I agree with you.

[LLcoleJ]

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Just commentary. I agree with you.

Ha, cool.

[Sedale Threatt]

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Are we in the playoffs? Sheesh. Some people are getting all soft on us.

Magic was just talking about how when he was in the playoffs he hated his opponent. HATED them. He wanted to rip their hearts out. What a cocky SOB, that "Magic" guy. Who does he think he is?

Magic might have pumped his fist on occasion, and wanted to bury everybody who wore a different jersey than he did, but he rarely, if ever, did anything to embarrass his opponents.

[tracey_nice]

Magic embarrassed his opponents frequently.

[Sedale Threatt]

Well, not verbally at least.

[JellosJigglin]

But Magic was definitely cocky, and I think that's what we're talking about (?).

[Retrolock]

Kobe can be cocky all he wants, but if he had a not-so-cocky game its kinda sad.

Was Gasol being cocky during the game? I'd like to see a cocky AI stepping over a Farmar lol.

[HarlemHeat37]

nothing wrong with trash talking..I don't play basketball without talking ****, it isn't as fun without it..it's part of the competition..it's all about mind games..if somebody allows you to get in their head, then you have a HUGE advantage..

if Kobe is struggling, but he's still talking, then the defender has to remind him about the struggle..Kobe does talk, but it is possible to get in his head, we have seen it before..he isn't mentally weak or anything, but he has tried to defeat other teams all by himself to prove a point..so if he's struggling and still talking, the defender has to remind him about it..there are many things that a defender can say about Kobe if he's trash talking..

there's nothing wrong with Kobe saying anything though..he knows he can usually back it up, and he knows what it takes to win..he's been through this before..

[10scott10]

I found this picture on a alkers site and it really describes the game today

[eatyourchildren]

BTW, that last play by the Lakers: Sasha gets his hands on a pass, pokes it to Odom, who absolutely blazes down court, slows it down as he takes a few peppy steps, right to left behind the back shovel pass to Son of Bill, who alertly scoops it right back up high as Odom elevates and slams the rock with his right hand as he barely passes underneath the rim. Just felt great to see Odom's effort capped off by that.

[Deuce33]

Ugh, I'll never forget in Sacramento this year when Kobe did that 360 two hand jam...screamed then popped his jersey. Mannnnnn, that was one of the best moments for me ever as a fan, that sh** had me even pumped up and screaming. It was like a defining moment in saying that "we're here". I honestly love it when players do that, it not only gets them, and the fans pumped..it gets his teammates pumped as well and raises their intensity. That's just something I personally like to see from my star player.

[Bgil]

Kobe had one of the worst games I've seen him play in a couple months but it was just enough.

I don't people are giving enough credit for the amount of attention he draws. The reason he's the MVP this season even though his numbers are down is because he's allowing his teammates to play 4 on 3. How many players consistently get doubled behind the 3 point line? He's allowing himself to be a decoy.

I've been saying that for a while now. It's seems people only realize it when a team would rather have AI and Carter defend the post than guard Kobe. Team's rearrange their whole defense around stopping Kobe and suddenly Luke, Lamar, and Gasol look like the best frontline in the world.

[Bgil]

Odom-Gasol is officially the best frontcourt in the league..agree, disagree?

If they're playing next to Kobe? Yes. Otherwise no. Don't forget how awesome Gasol/Gay/Miller were in Memphis. Take away the ridiculous amount of attention that Kobe draw and Gasol/Odom/Luke look aren't even as good as the Memphis squad.

[Bgil]

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one on one kobe can get passed k-mart although if k-mart predicts the right direction he can keep in front, the problem is that anytime he makes a move there is another denver player who comes out to close out on the other side. Most of Gasol's shots were dunks and layups... all around the rim... and a lot of that has to do with the interior D being seriously depleted by k-mart a forward coming out to defend a gaurd. Gasol played great, but also give credit to kobe because he is the one who is causing the mismatch and having camby gaurd both a 4 and 5. That is why the zone worked pretty well because then players started to rotate to gaurd the interior better, but once the other players started knocking down open perimeter shots the zone became ineffective.

++ It's the "Shaq effect". IMO he's elevated his game to a level unreached by any perimeter player. When he's on the court (this season) the defense on his teammates gets ridiculously soft. Every other player on the team is getting wide open dunks and layups even when he doesn't touch the ball.

Lebron, Wade, Paul etc still need the ball to make things happen. I think that's what has set Kobe head and shoulders above others this season.

[Miami's Finest]

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If they're playing next to Kobe? Yes. Otherwise no. Don't forget how awesome Gasol/Gay/Miller were in Memphis. Take away the ridiculous amount of attention that Kobe draw and Gasol/Odom/Luke look aren't even as good as the Memphis squad.

You're seriously underrating Odom. Gasol/Odom were doing their best stuff when Kobe was on the bench.

[Bgil]

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Doesn't matter. The game didn't necessitate him taking 26 shots. If you're saying Kobe had the most impact by taking Martin away from the paint, you're right. But he wasn't keeping Martin honest by draining shots, that's for sure. Karl was determined to keep Martin on Kobe, so the best thing he could have done was drive the lane and pitch out.

He did that maybe 3 times all game, and also decided to shoot 26 times when Odom, Walton, and Gasol were clearly having better games.

Just admit it, Kobe had a bad game.

So far I've only seen the 4th quarter and the highlights from the Lakersground.net but I would think that driving on KMart when he's clearly giving it to you on purpose is playing into the defenses hands. Usually big men play far off guards to negate the drive but if KMart was doing exactly the opposite fro the start of the game then it was probably by design.

Keeping Martin out of the paint on defense probably goes a long way to weakening Denver's defense by essentially removing one of their best shot blockers and rebounders from the mix.

I save judgement until I finish downloading the torrent but I will say that I typically don't judge how well someone played by their shooting percentage. It's one thing to shoot bad and another to shoot bad shots. Was he stalling the offense? Forcing shots against multiple defenders? Losing the ball in traffic (I see he only had 1 turnover)? Was he shooting before rebounders were in position?