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United States4471 Posts
Thoughts about LA-HOU game:
1. Kobe should've attacked the basket more like he tried to in the last minute of the game. Not all game mind you as HOU did a great job clogging up that paint, but he shouldn't have settled for jumpers all night. Then again, a lot of those running bank shots he took usually go in, so I'm not too worried.
2. Artest on Odom seems to work very well because Odom has traditionally been a matchup nightmare for the Rockets. With Artest on him, Odom becomes a non-factor and that's huge. Artest was also kind of on fire that game, he was making all sorts of off-balance jumpers all game. When he banked in that three, I knew he was just having one of those nights.
3. The Lakers never made a concerted effort to get Pau going in the second half, and that hurt down the stretch. This is one of the criticisms against Kobe doing too much during stretches, the rest of the team starts to just watch and get out of rhythm, and Kobe eventually cools off with no one to pick up the slack.
4. Ariza needs to make those wide open 3's he had on multiple occasions this game. He wasn't able to make the Rockets pay for clogging up the paint. The Lakers need to shoot 3's better overall for the same reason. I'm confident they will, as they've shot pretty well all season and that shooting skill doesn't just disappear.
5. So glad that Yao wasn't seriously hurt. I feared the worst when I saw it was his knee, and was very relieved to see him return. His knee will hurt like all hell tomorrow, but hopefully they'll be able to treat it and get him okay by the next game. Loved how he played the game, truly the best Center in the game by far.
6. The Lakers just can't seem to handle quick guards on defense. Brooks is good, but he shouldn't have been shredding the Lakers' defense the way he was all game.
7. I'm kind of glad that the Lakers got slapped across the face in Game 1. The Jazz were too overmatched in the last series and it led the Lakers to approach the playoffs in a lackadaisical manner with no sense of urgency. Hopefully this will be a wake up call and remind the Lakers that they're going to have to fight to get to the Finals, and they'd better start doing it ASAP.
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6. The Lakers just can't seem to handle quick guards on defense. Brooks is good, but he shouldn't have been shredding the Lakers' defense the way he was all game.
that was one of the keys... I think shannon brown / farmar need to play more... Fisher just can't cut it.
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there was that one play that brooks make at the 4th where he just zooms by odom that play was awesome he literally dissappeared from the camera
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even though hou won game 1, i don't see them pulling off a series win against LA...lakers will wn it in 5 or 6 games
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If Bynums out, Yao's going to guard Gasol, and he's the one person in the league Gasol can't shoot over. Yao somehow looked more mobile on those around moves than Gasol.
Gasol scored when Yao had to come out to contest a drive.
Kobe's been settling for jumpers all season, against the Jazz, this is why a key to beating the lakers is to make him do that. In game 3 (or 4?) vs the jazz when he caught fire the first quarter, he scored a lot but the lakers were behind. I didn't think he was able to take it to the basket anymore, but apparently he's just in love with his jumpshot.
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That game was rough to watch. Lakers couldn't build any momentum.
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United States10774 Posts
time to shift gears, seriously.
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yo testie lets Dota b4 I go to sleep ^_^
lol @ Kobes knee to his face
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;o hokay one sec lemme wake up + dis is the wrong thread fool!
I hosted a game. wtfux wake up.
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I think Houston played really well and although their win was really great here are some thoughts I have:
a) I think the game was a combination of Houston played really great on both ends of the floor and the Lakers playing pretty lackluster.
b) In that way I think it was sort of a "wake up call" for the Lakers. What I mean by that is not that they necessarily underestimated Houston or thought they could coast through, but it lets them know that they need to step up their game even more to win.
c) Aaron Brooks was also a HUGE factor (18 points was it? and most of that came in the 4th I believe when he was just shredding LA). Phil Jackson is an amazing coach though so I can guarantee he will find a way to neutralize Brooks in the upcoming ways. This means that either he will have to find new ways of being effective, or they'll need to get production from elsewhere.
d) Furthermore, a problem Houston has had all season is being able to be consistent offensively... will Artest be able to be as effective offensively every game? Will Yao have 28-10 every game? They NEED that production in order to beat LA.
e) Yao Ming himself... can he sustain the high level of play for the entire series? He looked like he was dead fucking tired at the end of Game 1, what if the games/series itself drag out? Will his stamina allow him to be effective down the stretch of the series (games 4,5, etc)?
f) Will Battier/Artest be able to hold Kobe to 12-29 shooting (or whatever the # was) for the entire series? Artest said it himself, Kobe could have easily had 50 points yesterday, a LOT of his shots were rimming in and out. You have to expect that in other games, these shots will go in. He showed that he can still get his shots whenever he wants, and he can drive whenever he wants... if his shooting improves over the series, Houston is in for serious trouble.
g) Will Battier be able to be more of a factor offensively? He shot like 1-6 or something... Same with Scola, I don't think he was too effective either, they'll need to play better if Houston wants to win.
Anyways, good game.. but Lakers played fairly bad, and Houston played some great Defense. This looks to be a much more exciting people than many people, myself included, predicted.
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battier is so clutch man. he always comes through when we really need it
and he has so much class. from that gif it looks like he just got up and walked away after being kneed and elbowed by kobe
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United States4471 Posts
Yeah Kobe was being a dick on that play, clearly trying to rough up Battier to mess with him.
The one thing the Lakers can hold onto is that they played pretty poorly and still almost won the game (had a lead in the 4th). If those 3's start dropping, and they get Gasol, Odom, and/or Bynum going at all, Houston will have a tough time keeping up.
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Annnnd that's why most ppl expect a 4-2 ending for the lakers.
It'd be pretty cool if Houston won. Though the finals wouldn't be as exciting. Everyone is drooling for the cavs lakers finals.
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I'm drooling for Clevland to get rolled by Atl. Stay tuned =p
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Cayman Islands24199 Posts
LOL that's not going to happen
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fat chance xeris haha
battier got fucked up by vujacic (sp) pretty bad
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ya I know it won't happen BUT LET ME DREAM DAMNIT!
Gosh, I hate how the media put so much emphasis on individual games. Simmons writing about "is Yao making the belated jump to superstardom" ... playing one very solid game (28-10 isn't amazingly impressive either considering he is supposed to be one of the most dominant forces in the entire NBA) doesn't qualify that statement in my opinion. Or J.A Adande writing an entire article on "Can the Lakers still win?". Note: I didn't read the article. I've stopped reading garbage that Adande writes because I think he's terrible.
But really you can't make much out of one game other than "Houston played well, Lakers played badly." If they don't show significant adjustments and improved play in the 2nd game and it goes exactly the same as Game 1 then maybe you can start making these kinds of assertions, but until then we just need to wait and see what happens and stop sensationalising everything =P
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ESPN always takes things too far with their articles. That game was such a "whoops we fucked up" by the Lakers I can't believe anyone is really thinking they are in trouble.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg386/basketbawful/game12009playoffsLAvsHoustonKobeisa.gif)
