vs Suns, Thu Jan 17, 7:30PM FSN/NBATV

[dockingsched]

no, lakers could get as high as 2nd without winning the pacific. the 3 division winners are guaranteed a top 4 seed, not top 3 so a 2nd place team in their division can sneak all the way up to 2nd in the conf.

[Sedale Threatt]

Cool. More proof that I don't know nearly as much about basketball as I think I do. Forget I said anything about the seeds, then.

[Manexx]

Odom should see more time at center. Kwame' experment should stop ASAP. Ronney atleast tries to play hard and he is productive.

[LLcoleJ]

-= original quote snipped =-



What I meant is that while we might be technically third in the Western standings, unless we win the division the best seed we could get is fifth. So figuring out where we stand is kind of a moot point. I could have botched that, but I'm almost positive that's how it works.

Well I was just commenting on us leaving top seed tonight and many said that we drop to the 5th. I looked at the standings and at this point it looks as if we are in the 3rd slot as of tonight. Sure, all standings are a moot point until the end of the season but its important IMO for the Lakers to have a sense of where they are and ride that confidence of being a top 4 seed. Plus, I like saying the Lakers are in 1st or 3rd place on any given night.. it makes me feel good , if short lived.

To your comment about division or bust. No, we dont have to win the division to place in 3rd or 4th in the west.

Pac
North
South

get a birth.

4th best record gets mixed in there. The only thing a division 1 finish secures you is a top 4 finish. However, if you look at last year.

Top teams..

Mavs, Suns, Spurs , Utah.

Spurs and Mavs are in the same division and they finished 1 and 3.

[milesfides]

-= original quote snipped =-

Kobe volume shooting never worked against the Suns in the past.

Well, this team definitely needs to spend some quality time at the ol drawing board to come up with a new game plan. Our identity has shifted and the guys look lost right now. The coaching staff needs to dictate what type of team we are going to be with Bynum out - and hopefully they take into account the weakness of our frount court. I know we are short handed but minutes need ot be distributed based on production on the floor and with which teamates.

It may be a bit rough for a bit. We are no longer a big team up front without Drew.

Kobe's volume shooting has won us games...I think last year our only win against the Suns was when Kobe went off for close to 50 points.

But generally speaking, Kobe always plays well against the Suns, but they usually have our number anyways. They score enough points to offset big numbers from Kobe.

So, I'm not sure how you can criticize him for not shooting more in the third - he was trying to get his teammates involved. I agree with you, he should have shot more in the third - and in the second, and in the first, and in the fourth. He should have shot more throughout the entire game.

The problem is that Phil Jackson is trying to force a team game when our team can't play a team game right now. He's trying to establish a post presence when we don't have a post presence.

Without Bynum, we're not as good as the Suns. They are more talented, and MUCH more talented at certain positions. Without Bynum, we can't force a halfcourt, low post game. So why play a losing strategy?

We should have gone uptempo, and Farmar, Turiaf, and Vujacic should have gotten way more minutes, because these guys can score.

Trying to outscore the Suns with guys like Kwame and Walton just isn't going to happen.

Again, everything revolves around Kobe, did he shoot too much? Did he not shoot enough? But at the end of the day, he brings it and plays well.

And like always, everything comes down to defense and the other players. Who contributed? Who didn't?

And for the second game in a row without Bynum, three starters, Fisher, Odom, and Walton, did not score as easily as they would have. They either need to step up, or the reserves need to see more minutes.

However, to Odom's credit, despite Odom having trouble shooting again, I did like his aggressiveness, his rebounding, and most of all, the visible effort.

[Sedale Threatt]

I suppose I forgot they fixed that after the Spurs and Mavs met in the second round a few years back.

I feel you about the standings. I was driving home the other day and it dawned on me: "Damn, we're in first place." We won't be back again this season, but it was cool while it lasted.

[K0BE-24]

holly shittt . . . watching kwame tonight, 8 weeks all of the sudden seem like 16 weeks . . . and luke should not get a pass either, he was just as pathetic and has been for most of the year ...

[milesfides]

It was nice watching/typing this game with you guys. We lost, but it was fun anyways. We had some excitement.

Say a prayer for Kwame Brown. He won't be sleeping easy tonight.

Peace out.

[Erik Eleven]

98 points is enough to win a game.

[semi-sentient]

Was Phil trying to expose him to pressure the FO to get Webber?

Because leaving Kwame out there for so long was nothing less than masochistic.

I honestly think Phil was trying to toughen Kwame up a little by putting him back on the floor. He's got to learn from his mistakes and play through them. At the same time, he's not going to get into game shape riding pine, so we're going to continue seeing heavy minutes from him, whether fans like it or not.

That said, I'd like to see us make a strong push NOW to bring in another big. We have Kwame's expiring and Critt's potential to put out there, at a minimum.

Had Kwame not made those mistakes, we probably would've won.

See, this is why I find myself defending Kwame more than I really want to. We're seriously going to blame every single loss from this point forward on Kwame? Yeah, he made some mistakes, but what about other guys mistakes?

What about the disappearance of Walton these past two games (and to a lesser extent, Fisher)? What about Odom shooting 10-35 these past two games? Blame Kwame for that too?

We were never in this game, period. We made a late push, but that doesn't mean anything. The game was a blowout from start to finish, and that falls on more than just one player. We're struggling as a team right now, and we have ever since Bynum went down.

The funny thing is we got beat on the perimeter. Had we showed any fire on defense and just executed on the offense we would have been ok. We let jumper after jumper fall.

Yeah, Why were the Laker forwards leaving Boris Diaw open EVERY SINGLE TIME?

I mean, really, we have to double Steve Nash from halfcourt?

Kwame Brown.

[Mindflayer]

Webber needs to make a decision today or we need to sign someone else. Kwame sucks and will never be able to work out anything. If Radman was healthy I would start Odom at center. Critt should only see minutes in blowouts. Critt is the Odom of PG's.

[Arroyo30]

holly **** . . . watching kwame tonight, 8 weeks all of the sudden seem like 16 weeks . . . and luke should not get a pass either, he was just as pathetic and has been for most of the year ...

we could have won this game if not for kwame's 7 turnovers, i mean the guy can't grab the freaking ball!!! d@mn find somebody who at least can catch the ball phil!!!

[8'sReverse]

My brother goes, "Why are they putting Kwame back in?"

He's eleven.

[semi-sentient]

we could have won this game if not for kwame's 7 turnovers, i mean the guy can't grab the freaking ball!!! d@mn find somebody who at least can catch the ball phil!!!

We could have also won if we had gotten more than 3 points on 1-10 shooting from Walton and Fisher.

Yet another way we might have won is by containing the MDE Boris Diaw and actually covering the deadly outside threat known as Shawn Marion.

[-G-]

My brother goes, "Why are they putting Kwame back in?"

He's eleven.

Is this supposed to be shocking? A 5th grader watching a basketball game?

[8'sReverse]

Is this supposed to be shocking? A 5th grader watching a basketball game?

Point is -G-, even an eleven year old knows what's wrong with a professional sports team.

[Slava]

I don't think Phil put Kwame on the floor because he wanted to toughen him up or get back some confidence and win the trust if teammates and fans. He just ran out of options plain and simple. Mihm is injured, Turiaf is the only other plausible back up.

The crowd just wanted to throw in their frustrations and find a scapegoat but Kwame needs a wake up call though.

[Erik Eleven]

Booing your own team's players is stupid.

BTW, my apologies if I mislead anyone with the wrong channel info. I checked it against the Lakers' website and I could have sworn it said FSN. Sorry.

[snaquille oatmeal]

Booing your own team's players is stupid.

BTW, my apologies if I mislead anyone with the wrong channel info. I checked it against the Lakers' website and I could have sworn it said FSN. Sorry.

you're fired!

[Squirrel Boy]

Well, what can I say? Kwame is a lost cause.

He can't catch. He rushes shots. He goes for a layup instead of a dunk. Bobbles the ball and makes us go down.

During the 4th quarter, we covered as much ground as possible. If it werent for Kwame, we most likely would have won this game. This team can still win guys. We've got the Suns' number this year.

Bynum will put us over the top when he comes back. Like Kobe said, "With Bynum in our lineup, we are a championship caliber team." If you get that praise from your captain, you know you're damn good.

And for Odom, my favorite NYer, he played the way we thought he would. But as much as I love the guy, his inconsistency is killing me. Now that we have Ariza to develop, we can ship Odom and Kwame for JO, no?