GM1: Dallas at LA Lakers

[fish7718]

I see how Gasol messed up, but I don't understand why all the blame is on him. Kobe has a turnover with 20 seconds left, and nobody talks about that.

Don't you know it's never Kobe's fault?

[Dash]

Oh come on, I've missed like all the upsets thanks to exams.

[AboveLegit]

Did anyone notice how many jumpshots Kobe took in that game? Joe Treutlein of HoopData pointed out that none of his 29 attempts were at the rim, and he did have 0 assists. Whenever Kobe is trigger happy, the Lakers aren't at their best. But of course, not all of the blame is on him, he was also the reason why they were in the game, but he's gotta be more efficient.

[MainEv3nt]

we basically won that game on pure luck, i wouldn't be surprise if lakers blow us out next game.

[fish7718]

Did anyone notice how many jumpshots Kobe took in that game? Joe Treutlein of HoopData pointed out that none of his 29 attempts were at the rim, and he did have 0 assists. Whenever Kobe is trigger happy, the Lakers aren't at their best. But of course, not all of the blame is on him, he was also the reason why they were in the game, but he's gotta be more efficient.

I wonder what the media/people would be saying if a certain resident of south beach had done that

[Erick Blasco]

There is a huge double standard when it comes to Kobe vs. LeBron. I didn't watch the game too closely, but it did look like most of Kobe's shots were open jumpers. I don't think he played a poor game, but he was awful in the final minutes.

 

The refs never call a foul when the opposing player "hugs" the guy without the ball in the final two minutes. Plus it looked like Kobe tripped on his own accord.

 

Why didn't Gasol make the pass to Odom on the Kobe play? Maybe the Lakers scouts saw something they could take advantage of, but with 10 or seconds to go, the Lakers always pass to the big man on the opposite wing, have Kobe back screen the inbounder then come off a down screen at the wing. The Lakers and Gasol changed that. Gasol never made the pass to Odom so the curl by Kobe turned into a two-man game with a handoff. Curious.

[Real Deal]

Yes, 48% shooting is not efficient.

 

And Kobe was passing the ball. The team (minus him) was 1-10 from three, and 22-55 (40%) from the floor.

 

Efficient? Who all watched the game?

[Real Deal]

I don't think he played a poor game, but he was awful in the final minutes.

Aside from the turnover that was his fault (would've been nice to have Fisher, or someone, following him to the rim...but that never happens), what did he do wrong? He hit a shot with a minute to go to put us up by three. He was fouled by Kidd (don't care if they called it or not, it was a hold for at least three seconds).

 

Are we really talking about Kobe Bryant, and not about how pathetic the rest of the team played?

 

 

"Eh, Kobe didn't have a poor game. It wasn't that great. Kinda decent, average. Like a Barea-type of game."

 

God forbid Kobe scores just 28 points on only 46% FG in the next one. Inefficient, selfish bastard of a player.

[Real Deal]

James' last three poor shooting games...

 

LeBron shot 42%, 8-19, in the first game vs. BOS...although, nobody said a word about it, and ABL considered it a great game.

 

http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/topic/22925-gm1-boston-at-miami

 

He shot 5-13 (39%) in the previous game, against the Sixers, but nobody mentioned it.

 

http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/topic/22845-gm5-philadelphia-at-miami-mia-3-1

 

He shot 4-14 (29%) against Philly in Game 1, but nobody cared to say anything except for Flash (who is a Heat fan):

 

http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/topic/22673-gm1-philadelphia-at-miami

 

I wonder what the media/people would be saying if a certain resident of south beach had done that

Nothing at all.

 

Done with this one, simple as that.

 

On to Game 2.

[Guru]

Did anyone notice how many jumpshots Kobe took in that game? Joe Treutlein of HoopData pointed out that none of his 29 attempts were at the rim, and he did have 0 assists. Whenever Kobe is trigger happy, the Lakers aren't at their best. But of course, not all of the blame is on him, he was also the reason why they were in the game, but he's gotta be more efficient.

This post makes no sense bro. Did you watch the game? As long as Kobe is making his jumpers, he is being efficient. He has one of the best mid-range games in the NBA. Also, the Lakers lost a big part of their huge lead while Kobe was on the bench. The only thing you can blame Kobe for is that turnover at the end of the game.

[AboveLegit]

This post makes no sense bro. Did you watch the game? As long as Kobe is making his jumpers, he is being efficient. He has one of the best mid-range games in the NBA. Also, the Lakers lost a big part of their huge lead while Kobe was on the bench. The only thing you can blame Kobe for is that turnover at the end of the game.

A team with Kidd, Stevenson, and Terry as their primary defenders on Kobe should be getting killed everytime down the court. Coming into this series, I had thought Kobe would be attacking Chandler to get him into foul trouble. The stat is staggering, you have to attack the paint as a guard. But since the beginning of the game, Kobe thought he could hit everything, and that's not a winning formula for the Lakers.

 

I know his role players weren't playing great, but it's no coincidence that they play better when Kobe is shooting less than 20 FG's and actually assisting on field goals. Charles said it best during Inside the NBA, Lamar Odom should be getting more than 15 shots a game, and he may even be better off starting.

 

Like I said, Kobe was also the reason they were in it, so the blame cannot go on him entirely, but I didn't particularly like what he did last night.

[fish7718]

James' last three poor shooting games...

 

LeBron shot 42%, 8-19, in the first game vs. BOS...although, nobody said a word about it, and ABL considered it a great game.

 

http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/topic/22925-gm1-boston-at-miami

 

He shot 5-13 (39%) in the previous game, against the Sixers, but nobody mentioned it.

 

http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/topic/22845-gm5-philadelphia-at-miami-mia-3-1

 

He shot 4-14 (29%) against Philly in Game 1, but nobody cared to say anything except for Flash (who is a Heat fan):

 

http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/topic/22673-gm1-philadelphia-at-miami

 

 

Nothing at all.

 

Done with this one, simple as that.

 

On to Game 2.

Not only did they win all those games, he had at least 5 assists in each game, I hardly see any correlation at all, sorry.

[Real Deal]

I know his role players weren't playing great, but it's no coincidence that they play better when Kobe is shooting less than 20 FG's and actually assisting on field goals.

Where's the proof? The win/loss record? Typically, when we are losing, or blowing leads (like we did last night), Kobe has to get us back into the game by shooting the ball. That alone can bump the shot total from 18 FGA to 25, and when we lose the game, suddenly, people look at that?

 

I really wish you guys would start watching the Lakers games. It's not a shot at any of you, it's me really wishing it.

 

Last night, after we took our 16-point lead off of an irrelevant three that Kobe shot, the Lakers started playing pathetic defense. From that point, to the end of the quarter, Kobe shot nine times to try and keep the lead. He made six of those nine shots, but when the quarter ended, the Lakers had lost nine points from that lead.

 

The ten total shots in that third quarter, nine coming after we started blowing our 16-point lead, would be on pace to him taking 40 shots in a game.

 

It wasn't his FGA that lost us the game, or him not getting anyone involved...it was our defense in the third and fourth quarters, particularly when we had the biggest lead of the game, and early in the fourth, when he wasn't on the court for six minutes.

 

If Kobe doesn't have that 15-point third quarter, he doesn't have a chance to win the game with three seconds left. It took him 10 shots to have that quarter. Are we really going to complain about his 29 FGA? When the Lakers lose, he typically shoots a lot more? It's obvious why.

[Real Deal]

Not only did they win all those games, he had at least 5 assists in each game, I hardly see any correlation at all, sorry.

That's irrelevant. What I said was strictly talking about your comment, which was all based on Kobe's shot attempts.

 

I didn't see any reason why LeBron James was even stuck in this topic in the first place. Who played in this game? You mentioned the Miami Heat on the fourth page, mentioned LeBron in the following post.

 

You will stop doing it.

[AboveLegit]

Good post.

 

Bynum also didn't get enough touches. Everytime he touched the ball, it seemed like something positive came out of it. Why didn't he get enough touches?

 

I stand corrected RD, you're completely right, but I fully support the idea of Kobe being a little more of a playmaker than a scorer. I don't care what the situation is, in the playoffs, one man will not win you games. What happens when Kobe's jumper isn't falling? Having that second or third option always helps.

 

Phil was absolutely terrible last night. He kept Pau on Dirk in the last few seconds of the game, which resulted in a costly foul.

[Real Deal]

Stein wrote a pretty good article (that I just posted) about us losing luster, and in it, he states that Kobe is suffering from the same thing Dirk is.

 

And for all the external suspicion that Bryant's left ankle is still vulnerable -- thereby persuading him to hoist nine 3s and otherwise rely on his midrange game as opposed to attacking the rim -- it sure looked from press row as though he was suffering most from the affliction that so often plagues Nowitzki.

 

No one else to throw it to.

 

Gasol looked as lost/passive as you can while assembling a 15-point, 11-board, 7-assist evening. Ron Artest shot a wild 1-for-8 from the floor and did little beyond goading Nowitzki into a flailed elbow that drew a costly technical foul during the Mavs' composure crisis late in the first half.

 

Jackson, frankly, had an off night, too. The Zen Master left Kobe on the bench too long to start the fourth quarter -- even with Bryant's ankle in mind -- and made a costlier choice by putting Gasol on Nowitzki on a game-turning possession with 19.5 seconds to go. Gasol's silly over-the-back foul on the entry pass made Dirk's job a lot easier, sending his fellow Euro to the line, but perhaps Pau was so overzealous because he knew Nowitzki was shooting 5-for-5 when guarded by the Spaniard before that late tangle.

People get caught up in Gasol's numbers, but they don't realize when and where he's getting them.

[Nitro]

As long as Kobe is making his jumpers, he is being efficient. \

 

Not true. When you don't get to the FT line and take 29 shots to get 34pts, you're not being particularly efficient. I wouldn't qualify it as inefficient necessarily, but he didn't play a very efficient game yesterday.

 

With that said, Kobe is not to blame for that loss...it was the collective, lackadasical effort when they went up big that lost them the game. I do agree with ABL that the Lakers are at their best when Kobe tones down his shot attempts and the team works from the inside-out as that is what separates the Lakers from every team in the league. Kobe simply cannot be relied on to score big on a nightly basis anymore, and they have to remember that.

[fish7718]

That's irrelevant. What I said was strictly talking about your comment, which was all based on Kobe's shot attempts.

 

I didn't see any reason why LeBron James was even stuck in this topic in the first place. Who played in this game? You mentioned the Miami Heat on the fourth page, mentioned LeBron in the following post.

 

You will stop doing it.

My comment was based on Kobe's shot attempts vs Kobe's assists - 29:0 and I said that had LeBron done that, people would not have blamed Bosh (Gasol for the loss), LeBron is in the topic because it's a comparison between a player in the game vs a player not in the game. The heat were mentioned because it is a topic about a playoff game and my post mentioned all 4 playoff games. JYD brought up the Knicks, they ain't even in the playoffs!

 

Sorry oh great creator, I forgot the comparisons of Kobe to he who shall not be named are frowned upon, as is putting greatness himself, Kobe Bryant, in negative light. I will try to stop doing it.

[Real Deal]

My comment was based on Kobe's shot attempts vs Kobe's assists - 29:0 and I said that had LeBron done that, people would not have blamed Bosh (Gasol for the loss), LeBron is in the topic because it's a comparison between a player in the game vs a player not in the game. The heat were mentioned because it is a topic about a playoff game and my post mentioned all 4 playoff games. JYD brought up the Knicks, they ain't even in the playoffs!

I'm pretty sure everyone read your post. You don't need to tell us what you wrote. Zero assists doesn't mean Kobe chose not to pass the ball. I already provided the FG% of the rest of the team, and had you watched the game (I know you didn't, or you watched the wall next to the TV showing the game), you wouldn't have made a comment about his lack of assists.

 

Sorry oh great creator, I forgot the comparisons of Kobe to he who shall not be named are frowned upon, as is putting greatness himself, Kobe Bryant, in negative light. I will try to stop doing it.

Funny enough, I knew you'd go this route at some point. You have a pony in your avatar.

 

My apologies for not being such a comedian.

 

I hope the game of basketball actually interests you from this point forward. It doesn't seem to after the Knicks got their asses handed to them by Boston.

[Real Deal]

Not true. When you don't get to the FT line and take 29 shots to get 34pts, you're not being particularly efficient. I wouldn't qualify it as inefficient necessarily, but he didn't play a very efficient game yesterday.

Efficiency is defined by how many shots you make, versus how many you take. He made 48% of his shots. He's efficient.

 

And he scored 36.

 

Bryant has been doing everything he possibly can to get to the line for the last 2-3 months, but hasn't been getting the whistle. In yesterday's game, he relied on jumpers because a) he's on a bum ankle, and b) he's not going to get the whistle. When he drives in, gets clotheslined, doesn't make the shot and doesn't get the whistle, people look back on the shot chart three hours later and see how he missed his layup, look at his FG% and see it lower, and make their statements based on that.

 

Maybe it's Kobe's fault because he doesn't drop his head, close his eyes, and recklessly go to the rim to get to the line all season long, like other players do. Because of that, referees aren't used to calling them and putting him at the charity stripe, so they just don't do it.

 

To be honest, he's been shooting jumpers over driving and flopping for the last 2-3 years, and it has resulted in two consecutive championships. It's embarrassing to see other players score 10-15 undeserving points at the line, so I'm proud to say that Kobe has more to his game than just that.

 

Damn him for shooting 48% though.

[Check my Stats]

Owned.

[Legacy]

It's funny how everyone was saying how Gasol is the best PF in the league and now when it comes to crucial moments, he chokes big time. I would take Dirk over him any day of the week.

[Real Deal]

It's funny how everyone was saying how Gasol is the best PF in the league and now when it comes to crucial moments, he chokes big time. I would take Dirk over him any day of the week.

To be fair, Gasol played very, very well last season.

 

He's an entire different person now, though. Most of Laker Nation has been talking about it in the second half of this year. May have to do with Drew playing so well, but I really don't know.

 

But yes, you're right. Dirk is the superior PF. I may have said they are as good as each other at one point, and I know for a fact I've stated that Dirk is the best PF in the game many times, but I've never, ever stated that Gasol is the best at that position.

[GamerGuy]

During the start of the 4th, our bench kept chucking up jump shots and three-pointers. By the time Phil put Kobe back in, the lead was pretty much gone. That killed us.

 

Also, how does Kidd get away with holding Kobe's jersey there at the end? That was a bad no-call.

 

Terrible. Hopefully we'll make the correct adjustments for Game 2.

[Legacy]

To be fair, Gasol played very, very well last season.

 

He's an entire different person now, though. Most of Laker Nation has been talking about it in the second half of this year. May have to do with Drew playing so well, but I really don't know.

 

But yes, you're right. Dirk is the superior PF. I may have said they are as good as each other at one point, and I know for a fact I've stated that Dirk is the best PF in the game many times, but I've never, ever stated that Gasol is the best at that position.

Yeah, I know you haven't but a ton of Laker fans were saying that Gasol is better than Dirk and other comments such as that.

 

Like you said, Bynum playing at this level has made Gasol seem less efficient. But at the same time, it allows Pau to play his natural position as a power forward so I don't know what's wrong.

 

If you had a choice, would you trade Bynum to have Gasol play better, get rid of Gasol, or just keep them both?

 

I remember at one point Bynum was nearly traded for Bosh. If that happened, this frontcourt would have been the softest in the league.