xfactor said:Without a more talented player leading the way can Wobe Bryant carry the Lakers to the playoffs???
cranrab said:
TimRock said:Yes, and a first round loss to the Jazz. Keep in mind, Vlad and Luke may not be back either. So they are basically playing without a real small forward. Why couldn't Kwame get hurt instead of Luke or Odom.
Also, too bad Aaron McKie and Shammond Williams just started to get real playing time. They are playing very well. Cook too. Kwame has to go. He can't catch the ball for shit. He fumbles every pass given to him. He also misses close range shots and dunks. and he travels damn near every time he touches the ball. The only thing we Lakers fans can hope for is that Bynum turns out to be as much of a threat as Shaq is/was.
SpiritualPorn said:Trade Kobe and start over........That team is cursed.
SpiritualPorn said:The fans will very soon start calling for Kobe's head.
cranrab said:nah, it'll never happen.
they've been lead around by the nose for far too long to ever suspect that the player they've been deifying could POSSIBLY be the root of their problems...
in 2000, glen rice HAD TO GO, even though he shot a blistering 42% from behind the arc IN THE PLAYOFFS on a way to a championship...
in 2003, robert horry was the scapegoat. sure, he shot a DISGUSTING 5% from behind the arc IN THE PLAYOFFS, but nobody mentions that he shot 50% from inside the arc IN THE PLAYOFFS. nobody mentions that robert horry only averaged an insignificant 3 shots per game from behind the arc either. and forget about that championship ring he earned in 2005.
in 2005 it was all the "other" fakers players' faults... even though chucky atkins, caron butler, lamar odom and chris mihm ALL went to the playoffs with different teams the season before...
in 2006 it was like a broken record... those "other" players were still the problem, even though some of the faces had changed.
in 2007 i find it EXTREMELY amusing that those same "other" players are getting blamed... only this time it's because the "other" players are injured.
paraphrasing fakers fan logic seen here on BGOL: "in 2005 and 2006 the "other" players weren't very good, so it's THEIR faults collectively that fakers weren't very good as a team."
paraphrasing fakers fan logic seen here on BGOL: "in 2007 the "other" players still aren't very good, AND they're not even playing because they're injured, so it's THEIR faults collectively that the fakers aren't very good as a team."
if fakers fans were familiar with the scientific method, they would isolate for the constant variable: tobe.
SpiritualPorn said:I'll tell you this.....
The fans will very soon start calling for Kobe's head....
Lakers fans were hoodwinked, bamboozled,.
Trade Kobe and start over........That team is cursed.
cranrab said:here's a very simple truth about basketball from ricky davis last night:
"That's how you play basketball -- guys finding each other and making plays for one another."
here's a second quote from KG last night that echoes the quote you posted:
"We knew he was going to go for the shots."
but let's look at these more interesting quotes.
tobe said this:
"We have to learn how to close these games out, especially defensively. We can't give guys open looks, no matter who it is. Blount's an excellent shooter; he made three straight '3's and got really hot. At the same time, you can't give guys wide-open looks because they might make it."
but young andrew bynum CORRECTLY threw it back in tobe's face, explaining exactly how those open looks evolved in the first place:
"(on Blount's three-pointers) "We had to help. Ricky Davis had deep penetration into the lane, then when he kicked it out all we could do was run out and put our hands up."
and i wonder who brian cook was referring to:
"I think we took too many outside shots instead of attacking the paint. "
SpiritualPorn said:I notice no one mentions that Kobe might get suspended for yet another elbow......
cranrab said:both tobe and coach jackson scapegoated william parker in the press last night (blaming the loss on missed FTs), but i wonder why these factors were glossed over?
who missed 17 FGAs, including 7 from behind the arc?
didn't tobe miss 2 FTAs also?
who was getting ripped by marko jaric in Q1?
who got housed by marko jaric and kevin garnett?
who had the team high in TOs for the fakers?
BUT THE HUGE FACTORS were lapses in FUNDAMENTAL BASKETBALL:
who fouled ricky davis to send him to the line at the end of regulation, allowing the timberwoves to tie the game and send it into OT?
who missed out their box-out assignment at the end of 1OT, allowing ricky davis to tip in a timberwolves miss that sent the game to 2OT?
who didn't score a single point in 2OT?
cranrab said:that shit is plain disgusting... it's worse than karl malone driving to the goal with his knee up, it's worse than reggie miller kicking his legs out...
who in the HISTORY of basketball flails his/her arms out TO THE SIDE when shooting a jumpshot? that has got to be the queerest, lamest, and lowest class maneuver by an offensive player in the ENTIRE HISTORY of basketball...
shooters are taught "arms up together, arms down together" as part of their follow through routine... tobe's OUTWARD flailing arms falls well short of a cheap shot, but that action is by far one of the biggest punk bitch moves i have ever seen.
back to the topic of this thread. i know xfactor only created this thread as a jab at the armenian's post about the heat and shaquille o'neal, but if you take a look at the current standings, it would seem reasonable to say that the fakers have the 6th seed pretty well locked up.
it also looks like i will be wrong about a 50 win season for the fakers, but is 46-36 an unreasonable expectation?
SpiritualPorn said:“We just contained everybody else,” Garnett said. “We knew he was going to take the bulk of the shots. You could tell by his demeanor.
“Once he did that, the other guys didn’t have much rhythm, so we took advantage of that.”
SpiritualPorn said:What was the total breakdown
cranrab said:the total breakdown was laziness and lack of effort by tobe. pure and simple. if you get a chance to see it, or for those of you who watched, go back to the final 1:31 of regulation.
mark blount had already begun his 3 point barrage, but william parker hits 2 FTs and the fakers are up by 4 with only 1:31 to play. but william parker is to blame for the loss?
what happened next? tobe got roofed by marko fuckin' jaric and then like a baby immediately commits a retaliation PF AND STOPS THE CLOCK for the timberwolves. :58 left to play. note: tobe shot early in the shot clock, with 7 still on the clock.
what happened next? ricky davis penetrates (guess who was playing the matador D?), the fakers big men collapse to help, leaving mark blount open for another 3, and he sinks it. fakers still up by 1. :47 left to play
what happened next? tobe launches a completely unnecessary 3 (trying to be the hero) and proves once again he is one of the dumbest players to ever step on the wood. tobe shot early in the shot clock AGAIN, with 7 still on the clock. fakers up by 1, :30 left to play.
i know some moron capt-save-a-tobe out there is ready to jump up and say tobe was trying to get a 2 for 1, but on the road with a lead, LOGIC DICTATES YOU TAKE AN EASY 2.
*QUICK EXPLANATION* for those unfamiliar with the concept of a 2 for 1.
a 2 for 1 is a time/clock management concept whereby a team will try to squeeze out 2 quick possessions instead of only 1 long possession.
for example: if there are 35 seconds left to play, i can use most of my 24 seconds up and leave my opponent approximately 11 seconds to run a play.
OR i can get a quick shot up in 5 seconds, allow my opponent to use their 24 seconds, and still have approximately 6 seconds left to run another play. in this way, i have effectively traded 2 quick possessions for 1 regular one.
*BACK TO THE GAME*
william parker got the OFFENSIVE rebound but missed the putback. fakers call timeout, still ahead by 1, :27 to play. but it's his fault the fakers lost?
on the ensuing possession, kwame brown got roofed by marko fuckin' jaric and the timberwolves called time out. fakers still ahead by 1, :06 left to play
william parker steals the ball and immediately gets fouled. fakers still ahead by 1, :05 left to play. but it's his fault the fakers lost?
william parker makes 1 of 2 FTs and the fakers are ahead by 2, :05 left to play. but it's his fault the fakers lost? rather the opposite. had he not made the 1 FT, the fakers would have lost in regulation because of what happened next.
AS ANY COACH WILL TELL YOU, on an inbounds play, you NEVER give up the baseline corner. hell, after the wizards/cavaliers playoffs last season, ANY FAN WILL TELL YOU the exact same thing. so what does tobe do? he GIVES UP THE BASELINE CORNER to ricky davis, who penetrates to the rim. tobe left the ENTIRE FAKERS D exposed and poor kwame brown had to pick up the PF because of it.
those who missed the game can see video of some of the plays i've described here:
http://*******************/wmedia/nba/nbacom/recaps/recap_902_lalmin.asx
note tobe's position in relation to his assignment (ricky davis) in EVERY PLAY. how does a person play defense from behind his man?
edit: WTF??? how the hell you gonna censor that site? for those who want to see the clip, cut and paste, then type "bossDOTstreamosDOTcom" where the asterisks appear. of course, DOT = "."
cranrab said:i'm a little busy right now, but PM me later tonight and i'll tell you what's been going on inside the fakers camp and why the wheels seem to have fallen off the wagon.
http://www.nba.com/news/kobe_070307.htmlSpiritualPorn said:I notice no one mentions that Kobe might get suspended for yet another elbow......
yeah this is what I need to know.cranrab said:i'm a little busy right now, but PM me later tonight and i'll tell you what's been going on inside the fakers camp and why the wheels seem to have fallen off the wagon.
Criptonite187 said:
Shut The fuck Up U Dumbass
eewwll said:
SpiritualPorn said:Cran told me some NBA players check in here once in a while....
I think we are being heard
LordSinister said:I only remember 1 game where Shaq was Shaq and Kobe was gunning. The problem was, he only did it once. The only game they won was because of Kobe.
LordSinister said:Check Shaq's stats in the three previous finals, and this one and tell me what's what?
eewwll said:Shaq shot over 50 percent EVERY game.
eewwll said:Doesnt common sense dictate that you give a man that starts the series 13-17(77 percent) more touches.
eewwll said:In two of these games Kobe had more MISSES than Shaq had ATTEMPTS..and the other games it was still close to that type of lopsided shooting.
cranrab said:semantics here. be careful not to interchange touches with FGAs. shaquille o'neal may very well have had sufficient touches; the probably is the ball never came back out the black hole once it left his hands and found it's way to the garden weasel.