A Statement Made

[BigTigLSU]

Re: A Statement Made

Its kinda like this until the lakers are knocked off they are still the champs. I am Sactown fan cause I love Bibby and C Webb when they get Bibby back they are gonna be tough but like I have said many times before you have play more then 30 games played

[neovsmatrix]

Re: A Statement Made

For one thing, I actually expected the Lakers to win this one. When they were down by 27, I STILL expected them to win this one, because I expected the Mavs to give up too early. The Lakers thrive when there's a lot of pressure on them. Especially against the better opponents like the Mavericks.

I still think the Mavs choked decidedly from a coaching standpoint. Adrian Griffin should have been out on the floor unless he was hurt. Even if he was in foul trouble, he should have been out on the floor to at least have a chance at making an impact.

They should have stopped every Laker run and kept that team at bay, with timely timeouts, and more intensity on the defensive end. While the offense struggled, it's their defense that really points to their choke job. At the very least, they should have been able to SLOW the Lakers' scoring output so the clock would run out before the Lakers got a chance to come back and win. That meant playing tougher defense. Instead, they played a crappy halfcourt offense where they generally went one on one and kept failing to score. At the same time, they failed to make barely ANY stops against the Lakers on the other end. Is that because the Lakers are a high octane offensive squad? Hell no. It's because the Mavs, when they couldn't score, they couldn't defend either.

If your zone's being picked apart, you go man to man. Start double teaming aggressively if you have to. Never leave a good 3-point shooter alone though.

In any case, I've always expected the Lakers to break out of the slump they're in. Though the way they did it yesterday was ridiculous. It was as much of a choke job on the Mavs as it was a great effort on the part of the Lakers.

If they make the playoffs though, Mavs are done for. And unfortunately, I think so are the Kings and just about every other team out there. Because the Kings still need to find that clutch player other than Bibby, it doesn't matter how good a team they are, they get way too emotional in the clutch and can't function like the Lakers can in the clutch. And that's where games really count.

[23]

Re: A Statement Made

I still say it's too early to crown anybody.

[Mr_Gopher]

Re: A Statement Made

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If they make the playoffs though, Mavs are done for. And unfortunately, I think so are the Kings and just about every other team out there. Because the Kings still need to find that clutch player other than Bibby, it doesn't matter how good a team they are, they get way too emotional in the clutch and can't function like the Lakers can in the clutch. And that's where games really count.

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Kings learned their lesson. They now have the mentality needed to beat the Lakers in a seven game series. I think CWebb has shown more maturity lately and they are focused. They are playing awesome right now and will be playing superb when Bibby returns. Pretty soon everyone will forget about Dallas's streak because Sacramento will be starting one of their own. I can't wait until Christmas to watch the Kings/Lakers game. Kings revenge will be sweet.

[Kruza]

Mavericks vs. Lakers

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I still think the Mavs choked decidedly from a coaching standpoint. Adrian Griffin should have been out on the floor unless he was hurt. Even if he was in foul trouble, he should have been out on the floor to at least have a chance at making an impact.

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Exactly. Adrian Griffin should've been on the court during the 4th quarter at least before the Lakers shrunk the lead to single digits. He had done a great job guarding Kobe over the course of the game, and it was clear that Michael Finley couldn't do the job on Bryant in the 4th quarter. Plus it wasn't like the Mavs needed Finley's offense -- they already had a huge lead; they just needed to sustain it with defense.

And another thing that got to be was Popeye Jones wasn't on the floor. I thought Jones should've been on the court instead of Shawn Bradley or Raef LaFrentz. Jones does a better job of defending inside the paint and rebounding, and Bradley was just getting eaten alive once the Lakers started crashing the boards for rebounds, while LaFrentz got the same treatment. Jones' wider body would've helped to box out more of the Lakers than those two had.

These things are what left me scratch my head as the game ended.

It was an awesome ending to this game, though. Lakers' comeback aside, I thought these two oversights are what ultimately costed Dallas the game.

Kruza

[BigTigLSU]

Re: Mavericks vs. Lakers

The Lakers really showed what can happen if you hit the open shots against the zone. Its not rocket science hit wide open jumpers and you can beat the any zone.