Game 49: Cavs vs. Lakers - Sun, Feb 8, 3:30pm

[LakersSquad]

We have to face 2 facts: a) Lakers ownz us. b) Kobe is still better than Bron.

If we want to win a championship Danny Ferry MUST make a move.

Wrong the Cavs have a 6-5 record vs us. We was just the better team today. If Lebron shots fall its a total different game.

[RevMan26]

I think we would be a better team if Lebron was our power forward. This would force him to play a bit closer to the hoop. He is a great rebounder; I am convinced he would average 28 pts 15 rebounds per game if he played the 4. Lebron is bigger than Karl Malone was, he would be so unstoppable as a 4 and with the other pieces we have, it would be better for our team in my opinion. Gets him closer to the hoop, get him off of pounding the ball at the top of the key and shooting so many jumpers.

I think it could work well with LeBron at the power forward spot. He would draw double teams in the post, and could kick it out to one of our shooters for a wide open jump shot.

On another note, this game truly showed me that we need to make a move. Ben Wallace is on the decline, and was almost no help on the court today. For us to win a championship this year, we need to highly pursue Amar'e Stoudemire or another PF/C to help us against teams with multiple bigs. We seem to struggle in the second half against elite teams, so a move is necessary IMO.

[dingclancy]

I think we would be a better team if Lebron was our power forward. This would force him to play a bit closer to the hoop. He is a great rebounder; I am convinced he would average 28 pts 15 rebounds per game if he played the 4. Lebron is bigger than Karl Malone was, he would be so unstoppable as a 4 and with the other pieces we have, it would be better for our team in my opinion. Gets him closer to the hoop, get him off of pounding the ball at the top of the key and shooting so many jumpers.

Pau- Z
Odom- Lebron
Walton- Wally
Kobe- West/Pavlovic
Fisher- Mo

We win 3 of those spots, the center spot is very close, and we lose just one spot.

When Wallace is on the court, he is not rebounding or playing defense like we need him to..and if he is not doing those two things, he is a liability because on offense he is just terrible.

Any thoughts?

Can't do that. Lebron has to learn real post moves first if he wants to play that close to the basket or else he ends up on the wing facing up again.

I agree to a point...but I think he would be fine as is...what low post moves does our PF have now? Does Dirk have a low post move? What is Garnet's low post move? What was Odom's low post move today(he just crashed the boards and made layups)? Just getting Lebron to catch the ball in the paint would be huge, I am pretty sure he knows what to do with it once he gets it that close.

Very few 4 men have low post moves, most are face the basket players....I just think it gets Lebron closer to the rim for more of the game, which we really need and allows us to play another shooter floor spacer more minutes...and today if he would have played Odom, we would have won.

I really think with West and Pavs at the two, let them guard Kobe, sure he will get his, but those two will make it tough. If Lebron is down low when our jump shooters miss shots he would clean up.

They are not really the same. Garnett and Dirk have reliable go to moves in the post, yes they take jump shots more than average and they may not be Duncan but they are still the best post scorers because they have all-star skills to operate down low.

Odom is different because his job with the Lakers is to cut and space out. We don't give him the ball in post and expect something good is going to happen. Lebron does not even have a midrange game. It takes more than getting the ball and driving the ball to be able to be productive on that spot because he does not have the luxury of head speed to create on offense. Just a simple drop step jump shot will do wonders for Lebron but he does not have that. If Lebron ends up retreating to the wing even if he is tagged at the 4 spot, Kobe will just shade him on D and the Lakers zone does its job again.

He will do better on the defensive side guarding Odom though, but then you will get blown out if you think West can make it hard for Kobe.

Right now your best shot is to trade Wallace and get Amare or JO.

[RevMan26]

West can do good defensively. I don't know about Kobe, but he kept Joe Johnson and Vince Carter quiet this year when we've played them.

[ShowtimeFan]

As a Laker fan, I got to admit the Foul calls seem to favor the Lakers today (and the other day against the Celtics), usually the home teams gets the favored calls, now I am not sure that it was enough to sway the game, but ya never know...

It was a great game and I hope the Cavs can knock off the Celtics and meet the Lakers in the Finals..

[nermindee]

good game cavs fans... I have to admit some of the calls were ticky tack on the cavs... Im a Laker fan and Im just trying to be real... but non of you guys used it as the reason why the cavs didnt win... unlike the celtics board, they think all of their losses were due to the refs... you guys are way better fans. Hope you guys win the east, lebron is still a monster and my second fave player.

[RevMan26]

LeBron is a beast. He just need to either get his jump shot down, or just drive to the lane. He always dominates the paint, but tonight he barely ventured in there; I have no clue why.

[Gordon Bombay]

lebron needs to get his ish together when we are facing the league's elite teams. we are 1-4 against boston, la and orlando because of his poor performances in those 4 losses - his was one outstanding performance was against boston and we wound up winning by about 15...so its all on you there bron, we win when you have a good game

lamar odom was beasting tonight. him and pau have taken turns humiliating us this season - good job defense

danny, these two games against the lakers prove you need another rebounder for this team

[SportsInfoBar]

They are not really the same. Garnett and Dirk have reliable go to moves in the post, yes they take jump shots more than average and they may not be Duncan but they are still the best post scorers because they have all-star skills to operate down low.

Odom is different because his job with the Lakers is to cut and space out. We don't give him the ball in post and expect something good is going to happen. Lebron does not even have a midrange game. It takes more than getting the ball and driving the ball to be able to be productive on that spot because he does not have the luxury of head speed to create on offense. Just a simple drop step jump shot will do wonders for Lebron but he does not have that. If Lebron ends up retreating to the wing even if he is tagged at the 4 spot, Kobe will just shade him on D and the Lakers zone does its job again.

He will do better on the defensive side guarding Odom though, but then you will get blown out if you think West can make it hard for Kobe.

Right now your best shot is to trade Wallace and get Amare or JO.

I agree Lebron needs to work on the midrange game. But Dirk does not have a post move, he always gets the ball at the free throw line and either shoots a jumper or passes. I have not seen Garnets post moves either, he shoots mostly 18 ft jumpers. He may occasionally catch it closer and shoot a short shot, but I don't think he has all that great of post moves.

Just because he would be our PF, doesn't mean on offense he can't move around. Lebron does have one of the higher shooting percentages in the key, so getting him the ball there more sounds like a good plan to me. And on defense we need him guarding bigs and crushing the boards. If he played down low I think he would be top 3 in both rebounds and blocks.

If Lebron is going to shoot 20 shots and be totally off, I don't think it matters who we would trade for. Lebron had very few shots in the 1st half and we were rolling, then 2nd half, Lebron has to win the game in his mind...

[MasterRyu]

About KG, he is very skilled at the post. It's just he doesn't seem to try to use it a lot. KG has a fadeaway shot that a guy his size has no business of making. One on one, he can shoot over anybody.

About Lebron, he will have to develop his post game eventually in his career. He won't always have the legs to fly from the 3-point line to basket all the time. It was kinda embarrassing to see him backing down on Fisher and not being able to capitalize.

[TheOUTLAW]

LeBron will occasionally back someone down but he generally does it so slowly that the double will come long before he'd get a shot off. His backing people down is normally just to get the double team so that he can pass the ball.

[dingclancy]

They are not really the same. Garnett and Dirk have reliable go to moves in the post, yes they take jump shots more than average and they may not be Duncan but they are still the best post scorers because they have all-star skills to operate down low.

Odom is different because his job with the Lakers is to cut and space out. We don't give him the ball in post and expect something good is going to happen. Lebron does not even have a midrange game. It takes more than getting the ball and driving the ball to be able to be productive on that spot because he does not have the luxury of head speed to create on offense. Just a simple drop step jump shot will do wonders for Lebron but he does not have that. If Lebron ends up retreating to the wing even if he is tagged at the 4 spot, Kobe will just shade him on D and the Lakers zone does its job again.

He will do better on the defensive side guarding Odom though, but then you will get blown out if you think West can make it hard for Kobe.

Right now your best shot is to trade Wallace and get Amare or JO.

I agree Lebron needs to work on the midrange game. But Dirk does not have a post move, he always gets the ball at the free throw line and either shoots a jumper or passes. I have not seen Garnets post moves either, he shoots mostly 18 ft jumpers. He may occasionally catch it closer and shoot a short shot, but I don't think he has all that great of post moves.

Just because he would be our PF, doesn't mean on offense he can't move around. Lebron does have one of the higher shooting percentages in the key, so getting him the ball there more sounds like a good plan to me. And on defense we need him guarding bigs and crushing the boards. If he played down low I think he would be top 3 in both rebounds and blocks.

If Lebron is going to shoot 20 shots and be totally off, I don't think it matters who we would trade for. Lebron had very few shots in the 1st half and we were rolling, then 2nd half, Lebron has to win the game in his mind...

I am with you. Lebron can be successful in the post if he starts doing it now. He needs to build a rep out of it. Scouting reports around the league will tell you that he is not a post-up player and that the D will just let him get what he wants there because usually nothing will come good out of it. He is just not a threat on that area of the floor as of the moment.

He also does not have the skills to play well in the midrange/post off the ball. I am talking about flashing, cutting, using screens, setting up for the soft jumpshots, moving off the ball and most importantly - footwork (Dirk and Garnett have these skills). Those are PF skills that he needs to have or else the only way he will get points from that spot consistently is to get the ball from the 3 point line and back a PF down (which is counter productive). The question is if he got the ball on that spot, what now? i just don't think his game is best served on the 4 spot.

What I am saying is he does not have PF tendencies and unless he plays for Mike D' Antoni or Don Nelson he is not playing to his strengths which is to play with the ball and use all the floor space he needs.

[Icness]

Late to the party thoughts:

Lamar Odom played his best game in years. Lakers fans have been waiting for that for a long time. I would not expect him to come within 8 and 5 of those numbers in any other game the rest of the year, the playoffs included. A good player having a great day--just like Mo Williams sometimes does.

Part of why he had a great day was that they chose not to help off Gasol. Wally sure as heck can't guard Odom, and Wallace has always been a much better help defender than man-on guy. He gives up too much length to Odom and Odom likes that bump and grind style, helps him feel his spots. There were times where Z or Andy could have slid over and helped, but they stayed with Gasol. I assume that was the gameplan.

The missed FTs were bad. I believe they were 9-17 at one point. You can't piss away free points at the line against good teams. The refs did appear to favor the Lakers a bit, but they were the more aggressive offensive team and that always draws the favor of the whistles.

I like how the Lakers defended Lebron. I thought they did an excellent job passing him from one man to another, and each guy presented different styles. The Pistons used to do that very well before they decided to load up on ballhog scorers.

It's just one game of 82, though I do think this was the kind of game that the winner can draw great confidence from. Losing at home stinks but the run wasn't going to last forever. I actually won a nice bit of $$ betting on the Lakers and taking the 5.5 points.