tlifeset wrote:Okay, I needed some time to gather my thoughts before I went full steam into a Real GM Rant. Let me first say that I was happy we were playing Houston because they are a tough opponent that will probably push this series to 7 games and make LA work for every basket.
Now, having said all that. I'll credit Houston with a very impressive win. They played great. But I'm not really attributing their defense to the Lakers poor offensive production. They just went cold ... all of them. Even Kobe. And there will be games like, if you can steal them ... great. If not, well it wasn't meant to be and we almost stole it.
I'm with a lot of you ... I am really really tired of Phil's games. Everybody could see that Fisher couldn't cover Brooks for over a quarter. Yet, it too Phil that long to make the adjustment because he's so damned stubborn. That's part one. Part two is ... why in god's name was nobody posting up Brooks???? Make Adelman adjust his roster. You have go to expose a 5"7 player ... you can't let him dominate like that.
Same thing with Bynum. Look, I'll be the first to admit that Bynum is slightly lost right now and not exactly as nimble as I'd like to see on defense or offense. Having said that, he produced when he was on the floor and he made Yao work for his points ... and more importantly, made Brooks and others think twice about coming in the paint. If it wasn't for Artest's hot shooting ... his +/- would have been great. Yeah, he fouls too much and the refs have it in for him a little bit. But so what if he fouls out ... it's no more psychological damage than Phil is causing by mysteriously benching players that need playing time to work out the kinks.
There are games when the shots aren't dropping and that's why they say defense wins. You can always count for defense. And all defense is, is a combination of strategy, trust and effort. Well, I didn't see a lack of effort ... and they clearly trust each other on help D. But the strategy was a mess. This loss is on Phil ... he could have made Artest have to put the ball on the floor more and he certainly could have made Brooks think twice about coming in the paint. But he didn't ... he chose to sacrifice a game one win for the betterment of his players in life. This is the same crap he pulled last year in the Boston series. He sits on his hands and absolutely refuses to make adjustments.
If I were Jim Buss I would send Mr. Phil Jackson a kind text message after the game ... Play Bynum more or kindly get yourself thrown out of the next game.
Yes. Yes. And yes.
This is what a post is about, man.
Fish is killing us these playoffs, it's absolutely disgusting how bad he is. Now I'm not huge on +/- I've never really given it much credit, it's usually something you see in the box score and go Oh really? That's interesting...
So it's sort of patheitic when you actually, in game, notice a player worsening a team. Derek Fisher needs to not play anymore. If he's not shooting lights out on the three, then he's actually completely worthless.
He can't shoot a layup, he can't guard quick guards, he can't handle, play-make, rebound...he's a streaky shooter and this is was not his day. When that becomes apparent we need to do something about it...only coaches have their favorites, guys who they "trust" and they don't go with in-game, day-to-day reality.
As far as Fisher goes, let's start hoping he gets into foul trouble, because PJ's not subbing him out late in games ever. Honestly, Phil loves D-Fish...he's his first choice for PG he's ever coached (his words not mine).
The Lakers were rusty. Plain and simple. Personally I'm glad we're not having a cakewalk to the finals this year. I'm glad we got punched in the mouth. Because we eased through the playoffs last year and look where it got us. You need to be battle tested. It's on now. If you're going to win a championship you can't be afraid to lose, you can't be afraid to have your back against the wall.
Next game I hope to see some sort of offense run, less iso, more Bynum, less Fish and more points.
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