Preseason Game 2 : Lakers vs Clippers 10/9/08

[Slava]

I wouldn't blame much on LO, he's clearly in the doghouse right now and I'm just not sure why Phil's put him there.

Come on j-far your better then that. Your not sure why Phil put him there ? Here let me help you out.

For one how would like it as a coach hearing that your 3rd best player is on some beach chill'in out and not working out ?

How would you like it if you told him to get stronger over the off season and he didn't heed your words ?

And as LO put it, " This was the first time that I could just kick back on the beach with your beverage of choice".

Still not sure yet ?

Sorry man but uhh I'm not feeling sorry for LO not one bit. I knew it was strange when I heard about guys working out but didn't hear a damn thing about LO not once. I was hearing about Drew, Trevor, Jordan, Luke, Chris and Sasha. The whole damn world saw Kobe and Pau, but no LO ?

Come on j-far you can do better then that right ?

I don;t know much about what he did this off season but I listened to his interview with Jim Hill and he did mention taking a break but also says that he had to get back there and start working out.

Here's the link. http://cbs2.com/video/?cid=92

Also what really sticks out is the fact that he seems very hurt by Phil Jackson's idea of bringing him off the bench and I don't disagree with him either. He's the best SF we have and he should be starting unless Vlad starts to actually defend or Ariza starts to hit an open jumper.

He said "Its ok with me if someone completely outplays me and takes my place in the starting line up but otherwise I just don't want to start the season coming off the bench."

That right there is enough reason to believe that Phil's been forcing the idea on him. Like I said before, unless I see a better player at SF than LO, just don't put him down soon. He's as good a defender if not better than Ariza imo and there's no competition between them in other aspects of the game either.

Even in today's game he was being aggressive in the post, drawing defenders and moving the ball to the open man pretty well. He will do what he does and Phil was just reluctant to play him with the starters for a longer duration in the 1st half and that reflected on his stats more than anything else.

[TylersLakers]

So can anyone give me a run down of the game?

How did Bynum and Gasol work together?

[milesfides]

Why is everybody beating up on L.O.?

He's the odd man out, ever since Bynum stepped up AND we got Gasol.

Sure, there was the possibility that Odom developed great shooting (as if a player can just get a jump shot over the summer) and became a top 3 player for us. That's a bit too much to expect.

The writing was on the wall. That Odom didn't come into camp guns blazing doesn't mean much except that he didn't something incredible or remarkable. Phil's pledge to bench Odom if he has to simply gives more gravity to Mitch's unexpected revelation last year that Odom's future isn't guaranteed.

The luxury tax, a diminished role, the availability of depth, all are crapping together on Odom's head right now.

His playing like he doesn't give a crap might be a reflection of his recognizing what his status really is with the team.

And it can be a very depressing realization.

Give him a break.

[DEEP3CL]

Well miles like in a bad marriage, why don't we just end this now ? I mean your in a contract year most guys that I've seen during that stage come out to set the tone and put the leverage in their favor.

This is further more proof on how fragile LO mind set is. Phil did what he did on Media Day for a reason. Everything Phil does is a calculated move to see an end result.

The next move is on LO period.

[Verbal]

What up felllas!?

(Holds back jokes)

I peeped the 2nd half.

We made a nice run to cut it down to single digits and then Radman was still on the floor. Bleh.

You know how that turned out.

Good to see Kobe and Davis ballin (although I didnt see them at all in the 2nd half). =[


Well Deep3CL, you did a great job with this thread. Sexy.

Keep it fresh,
Verbal.

[Erik Eleven]

I thought I heard that Phil put Rambis in charge of the defense, this season. Anyone else hear the same thing?

[dockingsched]

ariza is making me a big fan of his. hope he can keep it up.

[Kobay]

The team will never learn to play defense without a good defensive coach either as a head or assistant. So until then don't expect anything defensively. Hell, im hearing Rambis is our new defensive coach. I guess double everyone is his strategy. Just stupid, our defense looks worse than last year while other teams are doing better, wtf is that?

[Danny Darko]

Well, I just hope we get some quality burn for the real starting line up. Right now... things are preseason ackward . I mean, Odom, yeah it does bother me a bit that he looks like he doesn't care, looks like he can't hit a shot or hold on to the ball, but I'll reserve judgment until a few good weeks have passed of the real season.

[DEEP3CL]

The team will never learn to play defense without a good defensive coach either as a head or assistant. So until then don't expect anything defensively.

100 % correct Kobay, until Phil drops his ego and hire a defensive minded coach who REALLY knows defense we'll continue to struggle no matter the opponent. I remember a couple of seasons ago when Scottie Pippen was in our camp to help LO, he should have been there to explain defensive principles.

Also Ron Harper wanted to join our coaching staff and had let Phil know he wanted to coach but Phil didn't even give him a sniff when he came back to us. But I'm going to tell you what the problem is and this is real talk. Phil and Tex are "talkers", meaning they want to be heard at all times. Both are too enthralled in the concepts of the Triangle, a defensive coach wouldn't get the chance to speak at a practice. Teaching defense takes a considerable amount of time, in fact to nail down certain principles would take days.

Our guys KNOW the triangle already why does Phil waste a tremendous amount of time every camp worrying about the offense. I'm tired of hearing every preseason on how the Lakers have worked on defense only to see no results of it in preseason games. I like everybody else, I could careless if they win in the preseason I just wanted to see some improvement on the defensive end of the floor. So far it ain't happening. And when did Kurt become some defensive ace. Hell during his career he was like Phil , relying on hustle to fill in for the short comings they lacked physically.

[Anklebreaker702]

The team will never learn to play defense without a good defensive coach either as a head or assistant. So until then don't expect anything defensively.

100 % correct Kobay, until Phil drops his ego and hire a defensive minded coach who REALLY knows defense we'll continue to struggle no matter the opponent. I remember a couple of seasons ago when Scottie Pippen was in our camp to help LO, he should have been there to explain defensive principles.

Also Ron Harper wanted to join our coaching staff and had let Phil know he wanted to coach but Phil didn't even give him a sniff when he came back to us. But I'm going to tell you what the problem is and this is real talk. Phil and Tex are "talkers", meaning they want to be heard at all times. Both are too enthralled in the concepts of the Triangle, a defensive coach wouldn't get the chance to speak at a practice. Teaching defense takes a considerable amount of time, in fact to nail down certain principles would take days.

Our guys KNOW the triangle already why does Phil waste a tremendous amount of time every camp worrying about the offense. I'm tired of hearing every preseason on how the Lakers have worked on defense only to see no results of it in preseason games. I like everybody else, I could careless if they win in the preseason I just wanted to see some improvement on the defensive end of the floor. So far it ain't happening. And when did Kurt become some defensive ace. Hell during his career he was like Phil , relying on hustle to fill in for the short comings they lacked physically.

Deep3 maybe we can hire Brian Billick, he's unemployed lol

[Erik Eleven]

Did anyone else pay attention to the few minutes Ariza was playing the point? He did very well as an initiator, I thought. I hope we get to see the same in the next game, only more minutes, please. What a brilliant trade it was to get him for Cook and Evans. I love his game.

[dockingsched]

Deep3 maybe we can hire Brian Billick, he's unemployed lol

billick's strength/specialty was actually offense, not defense. kinda ironic.

[Anklebreaker702]

Deep3 maybe we can hire Brian Billick, he's unemployed lol

billick's strength/specialty was actually offense, not defense. kinda ironic.

Yeah I know dcash but Billick was still the head coach of a Championship team that had arguably the best defense ever. I know Marv Lweis was responsible for that defense but he still has a job. lololololol