[quote]scj119 wrote:
Artest doing lots of Artest things so far.[/quote]
I’m telling you, he’s more trouble than he’s worth. He occasionally makes big plays, but if you look at the course of the game he’s made so many boneheaded plays that he’s just trying to erase his own mistakes.[/quote]
No argument here, who else are they going to play in his place though? Would you rather those minutes go to Brown/Barnes? Or are you just longing for the days of Ariza haha
Even if you play Odom at the 3, him/pau/bynum can’t play 48 minutes, gotta have Artest in there some of the time I think. They painted themselves into a corner w/ him[/quote]
Definitely still pining for Ariza, haha. Seriously, when his head’s in it Artest is as good a 2 way [meaning post/perimeter] defender there is, but his head’s usually somewhere else and his ridiculous self belief on offense causes so many problems that it blows my mind they keep him on the floor.
I guess they bring Odom off the bench ‘cause of his versatility and maybe Artest’ psyche can’t handle not starting, but I think in this series they’d be better off flipping that around. And, Brown could be a BEAST on D if he dedicated himself, but he floats in and out too. And so far Barnes has been a wash.
Did y’all here that Bryant was 6-8 in the first half but the rest of the Lakers were 2-11? That’s not exactly helping him out.
Also, I found it interesting Phil said he had a special dinner with his 4 kids who flew into town last night. He wasn’t watching game tape? You’re down 0-3!!
Mavs getting lucky to hit 100% of their 3pters but the larger problem is that all of those looks are wide open. LA hardly even contesting. Artest was helping off Terry in the corner after Terry’s gone 4-for-4, seriously?
I dislike the Lakers quite a bit so you’d think I’d take pleasure in seeing this game/series play out like this… but this is so disappointing. This isn’t how a mini dynasty(and probably Kobe’s last chance at really pushing the MJ conversation) should come to an end, it just isn’t. I wanted to see the Lakers team I actually disliked lose, this looks like some other team wearing their jersey’s.
I might catch some flak for this comment but it honestly reminds me of my Cavs last year(not on a 1:1 don’t kill this comment just yet); Kobe is supposed to have a very solid and capable supporting cast, we all know these others players are serviceable and even all-star caliber at some positions. So why are they playing like they are role players on an 8th seed? No man can carry a team playing like this, just not possible.
^Yeah no one likes to see a good team putter their way out of the playoffs.
But it’s definitely weird to watch.
The Last Laker 3-peat and the bulls dynasty was a self-dismantling after a championship. In this case, we are literally seeing a team that’s just not good anymore get their asses raped.
[quote]red04 wrote:
I dislike the Lakers quite a bit so you’d think I’d take pleasure in seeing this game/series play out like this… but this is so disappointing. This isn’t how a mini dynasty(and probably Kobe’s last chance at really pushing the MJ conversation) should come to an end, it just isn’t. I wanted to see the Lakers team I actually disliked lose, this looks like some other team wearing their jersey’s.
[/quote]
Not a Lakers fan either…x2, though.
And yeah I see what you mean with the Cav’s comparison. Or even the Magic this year.
[quote]red04 wrote:
I dislike the Lakers quite a bit so you’d think I’d take pleasure in seeing this game/series play out like this… but this is so disappointing. This isn’t how a mini dynasty(and probably Kobe’s last chance at really pushing the MJ conversation) should come to an end, it just isn’t. I wanted to see the Lakers team I actually disliked lose, this looks like some other team wearing their jersey’s.
I might catch some flak for this comment but it honestly reminds me of my Cavs last year(not on a 1:1 don’t kill this comment just yet); Kobe is supposed to have a very solid and capable supporting cast, we all know these others players are serviceable and even all-star caliber at some positions. So why are they playing like they are role players on an 8th seed? No man can carry a team playing like this, just not possible.[/quote]
Pau Gasol is way better than anyone on the Cavs last year. So is Bynum in my opinion. Moreover - this same cast JUST won a championship, you can’t say they are drastically worse than a championship-caliber team talent-wise. Other teams upgraded while the Lakers mostly stood pat.
I really want to know why Phil isn’t going huge and forcing Carlisle to match up one of Barea/Kidd/Terry on Odom defensively. When Carlisle goes small you can do one of two things: react and go small, hoping Blake and Brown outplay Barea and Terry (not happeneing), or defense-by-offense of putting in your best 5 and forcing Carlisle to be the one who is reacting to a lineup change.
[quote]LarryDavid wrote:
So who do you think Dallas faces in the Finals, Bulls, Celtics, or Miami? [/quote]
Thunder-Heat, you heard it here first. The WCF is gonna be awesome regardless of who wins MEM/OKC though. Can Ibaka give Dirk problems? I have no clue but he has a good a chance as anyone.