Nba 2011-2012

Lakers wont win this series if they dont change their attitude
Kobe alone determined is not enough
 
Nanderson said:
You left Cousins off that list, who would be third in both points and rebounds.
Click to expand...

That's because Cousins is a power forward, Jason Thompson is their center. Cousins may play center at times for the 2nd team, but so do tons of other forwards.

Just going by yahoo sports listing anyway.
 
gooDevil said:
That's because Cousins is a power forward, Jason Thompson is their center. Cousins may play center at times for the 2nd team, but so do tons of other forwards.

Just going by yahoo sports listing anyway.
Click to expand...


Having watched every Kings game this season (and that's not easy to do), you're wrong. You have it the wrong way around. Cousins is the starting center, and plays the majority of his minutes there, while JT is the PF.
 
Then I'll take your word for it, forgot you were a Kings fan. They say the mind blocks out traumatic events! :angel:

NBA.com indeed has Cousins listed as a center and Thompson as a forward. From what I saw I'd suggest they're both forwards. Do you think Cousins plays like a traditional center? I thought Thompson did more of the grunt work under the basket in the bits I saw.

He did have a fantastic season, Minnosota are probably crying over taking Wesley Johnson before him in their draft.
 
Wade is making some magnificent shots. Heat up by 10 at the moment without really trying too hard, this series will be over tonight.
 
Here's NBA.com's offering on scoring among centers.

Howard 20.6
Al Jefferson 19.2
Bynum 18.7
Cousins 18.1
Garnett 15.8
Gortat 15.4
Monroe 15.4
M. Gasol 14.6
Pekovic 13.9
Gooden 13.7
Kaman 13.1
Hibbert 12.8

Rebounds
Howard 14.5
Bynum 11.8
Cousins 11.0
Gortat 10.0
Chandler 9.9
Noah 9.8
Monroe 9.7
Jefferson 9.6
Camby 9.0
M. Gasol 8.9
Hibbert 8.8

It would seem yahoo's stats are crap.
 
Looks like they're gonna get away with it, but letting a team get within 6 from 24 down or whatever it was, not too impressive. Great defense though, holding the Clips to 37% from the field, 29% from 3 and 80 points total.

Still, a win is a win. This next game in LA is crucial, if it goes back to Memphis for a game 7 then the Grizz will be favorites.

The Celtics similarly will be desperate to win game 6 at home or face game 7 in Atlanta.
 
Wasn't an easy series, but as Spoelstra said, it will only get tougher from here.

Good win. Indiana will be a very tricky one.
 
Yeah, the Pacers are young and will get better, but they're not ruthless enough to beat the Heat, without a whole lot of help from the Heat. I'd guess 4-1 as well.
 
Heat issued an apology to Amare and NYK after their announcer said Amare had been 'Extinguished from the game' after he fouled out :lol:

I hope LA can wrap up this series tonight, I do not want it going to a game 7.
 
That was very ugly by the Sixers, but after Rose went down they won 4 of 5 which most would look at and see as dominant.

Will be interesting to see if they can beat Atlanta or Boston, I think they match up well with both teams.
 
And it will be Boston v Philly, a classic NBA match-up, should be a real grudge match, these are the 2nd and 3rd best defensive team respectively after Chicago. Boston gave up 89.3 and Philly 89.4 per game this season, very stingy. Neither team is really considered a serious threat to win the title and while Philly is peaking, Boston's stars are approaching their expiration dates.

After Philly was so poor against Chicago I'm going for Boston in 6 games, but I hope I'm wrong.

The Lakers are terrible and I don't know if I'll ever enjoy watching them again while Kobe is on that team.
 
Can't believe we've failed to close out this series. Lakers would be as bad as Cleveland without Kobe, even with an illness he scored almost 1/3 of the team's points - Gasol had 3 in total from 10% shooting (he's really dropped off this season in terms of points contribution).

I think Denver will go on and win this series - not that it matters as OKC will win comfortably against either side.
 
Kobe Bryant calling out his teammates big time - it's harsh, but fair. I've been calling Pau out all series.

DENVER -- Kobe Bryant was sick. And tired. And out of time and patience for anyone who couldn't play with as much guts as he upchucked over the course of a long day.

He turned a question about the return of Metta World Peace from a seven-game suspension -- which will surprisingly take place in the first round of the playoffs after the Los Angeles Lakers failed once again to finish off the Denver Nuggets  and turned it into an indictment of his teammates.

"He's the one guy that I can rely on night in and night out to compete and play hard and play with that sense of urgency and no fear," Bryant said of World Peace. "I'm looking forward to having that by my side again."

Cue the Onyx: "SLAM! Dah dahhh dah. Dah dahhh dah."

This goes out to Andrew Bynum, and Pau Gasol and Ramon Sessions and ... would it be easier if I just linked to the Lakers' roster page?

His teammates won't like it, but there's no other way to put it in the wake of Denver's 113-96 victory in Game 6. Not after he spent the day vomiting so much, he said, "my room resembled a scene from 'The Exorcist'" -- yet still managed to shoot 13 for 23 (57 percent) while the rest of the team shot 22 for 60 (37 percent). Not when the Laker big men either didn't defend the pick-and-roll (Bynum) or didn't rebound (Gasol) or didn't keep pace with Denver's bigs running down the court (both of them). Not when the perimeter players missed 10 out of 14 3-pointers.

Not when Denver's Corey Brewer personally outscored the entire Laker reserve corps before garbage time allowed the end of the bench to pad their stats. Not when Denver's Ty Lawson was allowed to drive to the basket, shoot open 3-pointers and do whatever else he wanted in the process of scoring 32 points.

This was Denver's game from the outset and it was all the Lakers could do to make it close for a while. Bynum missed three shots at close range, Lawson drained a 3-pointer at the other end and the Nuggets put 13 on the board before the Lakers scored.

"They blitzkrieged us at the start of the game," Bryant said.

I didn't know "blitzkrieg" could be used as a verb, but it sounds about right for this one.

"They just continued to push and push and push," Gasol said.

Gasol didn't push back. He made only one of 10 shots, grabbed only three rebounds, picked up only one assist. Bynum got 16 rebounds but not much else.

All of a sudden this series is no longer about wondering what the Nuggets can do to counter the Lakers. It's about what the Nuggets are doing ... and if the Lakers are going to find a way to stop it.

"They're playing much more aggressive, much more dare-you type of defense, and we're not responding," Bynum said after another lethargic-looking night.

His solution: "Everybody on the team has to go out and not allow their guy to score."

If that's not exactly feasible, it's the mindset the Lakers need to adopt. Denver is looking like the top-scoring team in the league again, with 215 points the past two games.

The Lakers' Mike Brown is as patient and thorough at explaining the game as any coach in the league.

"Their bigs in transition are just beating our bigs down the floor," Brown said. "They've been getting beat down the floor, so our guards are helping out with their bigs at the rim ... "

That's leading to open shots for the guards, which is pulling the Lakers' defense away from the basket, and on and on.

Instead of explaining it, Brown needs to find a way to counter it.

The Lakers need to get the Gasol-to-Bynum interior passing going again. Sessions has to create for others. Matt Barnes can't settle for jump shots that aren't falling.

Most of all, Bryant called on his teammates to show the type of willpower that dragged him out of the sickbed and his bout with gastroenteritis to get 31 points.

"You have to emotionally put yourself with your back against the wall," Bryant said. "And kind of trick yourself, so to speak, to feel that there's no other option but to perform, but to battle. When you put yourself in that mindset, then your performance shines through. It doesn't matter what the defense does, it doesn't matter if you get fouled. It doesn't matter."

Bryant issued one warning after Game 5, when he went off for 14 fourth-quarter points and it wasn't enough to get the W. Kobe showed he could still put on scoring displays with the best of them. He also warned, "That's not something we can rely on to get us a championship."

It's not the getting pushed to the brink in the first round that set him off. That happened in the Lakers' championship run in 2000. It's not the no-show in a Game 6 that's so awful. Happened against the Rockets in 2009. It's the way this is going down, reminiscent of the days Bryant outscored the Dallas Mavericks by himself through three quarters, or put up 81 points against the Toronto Raptors.

That was also the year the Lakers blew a 3-1 lead in a series and lost to the Phoenix Suns. It was the year Kobe got so frustrated with everyone else's unwillingness to fight he stopped bothering to cross the 3-point line on offense in the second half of Game 7.

So far this year he's still swinging ... on his teammates.

"No," he said, when asked if they matched his heart in Game 6. "Of course they didn't."

Maybe it was therapeutic for Kobe. Cleansing, like all of the other, uh, expunging Bryant did throughout the day.

The question is whether the Lakers, like him, have gotten everything negative out of their system.
Click to expand...
 
hope denver wins the last game so i dont need to watch okc ridicule La 4 times
 
Danny1982 said:
The lakers are the favorites to win the west IMO.
Click to expand...

Really?!

Spurs are the deepest team left and the old 3 are playing very well this season whilst OKC have shown the quality they've got and if Durant, Westbrook and Harden play as well as they've done so far I would not be surprised if they swept LA.

We're struggling to beat the Nuggets, I give us very little chance to win the West.
 
Danny1982 said:
The lakers are the favorites to win the west IMO.
Click to expand...

you're in the minority. Obviously they have Kobe, and they have experience...BUT

Bynum refuses to show intensity on a consistent basis at the defensive end...Pau is a fecking bitch. Man up ffs...and Kobe, well he'll put up his numbers but he is going to spend a lot of time chasing younger guys...that will tire him out eventually.

Of course they'll have Artest back, but...he isn't going to win you a series.

Lakers winning the West would be an incredible feat as far as I'm concerned.
 
ha_rooney said:
Really?!

Spurs are the deepest team left and the old 3 are playing very well this season whilst OKC have shown the quality they've got and if Durant, Westbrook and Harden play as well as they've done so far I would not be surprised if they swept LA.

We're struggling to beat the Nuggets, I give us very little chance to win the West.
Click to expand...

You're judging based on one game. The Lakers is the most complete team in the west (and the east for that matter) in my opinion. They have solid players in all positions. Bynum is one of the best centers in the league. Gasol is one of the best power forwards. Bryant is one of the best guards (at least). And Artest and Sessions are very solid players. They had a bad game yesterday, but they are still the team with the biggest potential. If every team play to its potential, then the Lakers have the edge IMO.

They just need to get it together, and play! Gasol won't have 3 points every game, and Bynum can definitely do better.

Of course they can still collapse like they did last year against the Mavs, but I'm betting on Bryant sorting it out this time.
 
Neutral said:
you're in the minority. Obviously they have Kobe, and they have experience...BUT

Bynum refuses to show intensity on a consistent basis at the defensive end...Pau is a fecking bitch. Man up ffs...and Kobe, well he'll put up his numbers but he is going to spend a lot of time chasing younger guys...that will tire him out eventually.

Of course they'll have Artest back, but...he isn't going to win you a series.

Lakers winning the West would be an incredible feat as far as I'm concerned.
Click to expand...

I know I'm in the minority.. And obviously I could be wrong, especially in the playoffs where the margins are really fine.

But I think the Lakers are better than most people think.. In the playoffs it's not about consistency. It's about the ability to respond. The lakers have the weapons to do that, and I'm betting that Bryant can push the team to use them, when they need to.
 
Pau Gasol has not turned it on all season - very lackluster season from him, and the trend continued in the 1st round. Not sure why he is going to turn this around now?

As for Kobe pushing them to up their play...you see how he called them all out, and basically questioned their heart and desire? Mike Brown pointing out Pau and Bynum were quite simply out-hustled by the nuggets big guys.

We'll just have to wait and see...
 
MrMarcello said:
Why? He's an all-time great, second best SG ever IMO.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I used to be a big fan until he stopped running the triangle under Phil and just broke every play to take a fadeaway with 3 guys in his face.

There's nothing more annoying to me about watching basketball than players making the game harder than it needs to be, not taking advantage of their teammates to make themselves better.

If I was on Kobe's team for the last few years I'd have given up on him actually giving me the ball at the right time in the right place, that's got to be hard to put up with constantly. Yes, he usually gets his, though rarely with an impressive shooting percentage, but I think he makes his teammates worse at this point in his career.

Whenever I try to sit down and watch the Lakers since they won the series against Orlando it's been painful. And Kobe was absolutely brilliant in that Orlando series, the best he's ever been imo. I think that was part of the problem, he fell in love with hitting hard shot with multiple defenders in his face, because it impressed people so much. Kobe did his best to lose the finals against Boston the next season, only Fisher and Artest kept that from happening, they won it despite him insisting on taking fadeaways while triple teamed instead of passing it to an open teammate.
 
Well done by the Grizzlies, glad to see they were at least able to force a game 7 after playing very well in this series. Both teams deserve to go though imo, a shame someone has to lose. It's going to be very tough for the Clippers to win this game in front of a really raucous crowd, I'd say the Grizzlies are 2/1 favorites at least.
 
Garnett had another big night as Boston goes 1 up. Rondo now has 8 triple-doubles in the last 5 postseasons. That's 1 fewer than rest of the NBA combined according to ESPN, incredible stat but I still think his shooting needs to improve.

Hopefully the Lakers can win tonight. I agree with Magic that if we lose Brown's gone and Gasol's traded as well (possibly Bynum too if Kobe pushes for it - he has potential to be the best C in the league but his attitude can be poor at times and he can be very inconsistent.)
 
gooDevil said:
Well, the Lakers look like they can squeak this one out, but if they think they can beat the Thunder in a 7 game series then they're in denial.
Click to expand...

thing about Lakers is not the lack of talent but the lack of concentration and focus against lesser teams. so with them against the Thunder, I think they'll play better against them.
 
I agree completely, they have horrible concentration problem, have for years. They haven't been able to get excited about a low seed team until they've lost a few games. Not surprised to see them looking better with their backs against the wall.
 
Oh look..Pau stopped being a pussy for a night, and Boom, All Star Pau returns

23 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 blocks.

This is the Pau everyone expects to see on a nightly basis, not the passive douche that's been sleepwalking through the season, and even more so the playoffs.
 
Neutral said:
Oh look..Pau stopped being a pussy for a night, and Boom, All Star Pau returns

23 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 blocks.

This is the Pau everyone expects to see on a nightly basis, not the passive douche that's been sleepwalking through the season, and even more so the playoffs.
Click to expand...

Pau with Marc's attitude would be a beast.
 
cj4_elmo said:
Pau with Marc's attitude would be a beast.
Click to expand...

I get the playing with Kobe would sap the life out of most players...hell Even Shaq couldn't deal with him, so someone a bit more sober/retrained like Pau is going to find it even tougher.

But he has to realize, this isn't a 28 year old Kobe he's playing with...Kobe while still a great player, is a lesser player now, so Pau needs to assert himself.
 
Neutral said:
I get the playing with Kobe would sap the life out of most players...hell Even Shaq couldn't deal with him, so someone a bit more sober/retrained like Pau is going to find it even tougher.

But he has to realize, this isn't a 28 year old Kobe he's playing with...Kobe while still a great player, is a lesser player now, so Pau needs to assert himself.
Click to expand...

A young Shaq would be a perfect with Kobe right now. Gasol and Bynum, for all their talent, really needs to have the hunger which separates the great players from the very good ones.

They're both willing to take a step back and let Kobe take charge, even when it's clear that Kobe can no longer be the main man every night in the playoffs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.