***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

[Chip Douglass]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

Wow. Tremendous effort by EVERY Laker tonight. I was impressed. Kwame brought it. Lamar brought it. Smush even played great D! Kobe was Kobe, except he picked his spots perfectly tonight.

Agreed, I saw a sense of urgency in the players last night. The Lakers played like the hungry team down 2-0.

[Nets]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

The Nets might be in big trouble tonight, kidd might not play. something about his surgically repaired knees, hopefully it's nothing serious or else or chances of winning this series is over. You can't rely on vince to be the leader he always chokes, if he's in the pippen role he will thrive.
On another note i except Carter to have a break out game in one of these two home games

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

Kobe allowed Lamar to do his thing last night.. and it honestly looked a lot like last year in the first round where Odom was able to maneuver and snake his way inside for close attempts.

Why can't 24 do this every game?? He only forced maybe one or two shots all game.. but when the Suns collapsed he simply passed it.. and every time it ended up as being an open look or led to the ball being moved inside for a close attempt. And the Suns really had no answer. IMO it's not that difficult "to find the balance" as a lot of people put it between being assertive and being the facilitator. He did it with ease last night.

Shocked at Kwame's play after his apparent sprained ankle. Hope he can shake that off because without him the Lakers are probably done.

[M.I.M.L.]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

well i think why lamar and kobe and kwame pounded it inside was because they know u cant shoot too many long jumpshots or else the suns will murder them.

i think kobe can play like this every game, but he seems to feed off the emotion of his teammates, when it looks there actually trying kobe shares the ball and everybody has a good game, but still i thought there where times where kobe got the ball and everybody would just watch him and not move at all, but atleast we won.

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

well i think why lamar and kobe and kwame pounded it inside was because they know u cant shoot too many long jumpshots or else the suns will murder them.

i think kobe can play like this every game, but he seems to feed off the emotion of his teammates, when it looks there actually trying kobe shares the ball and everybody has a good game, but still i thought there where times where kobe got the ball and everybody would just watch him and not move at all, but atleast we won.

Haha, it goes both ways though when it comes to the Kobe sharing the ball dynamic.. if Kobe is launching ludacris, ill-advised shots why should Laker fans expect his teammates to play with any kind of motivation or rhythm? Last night Bryant played pretty much perfectly. And to me, that game can be replicated for the duration of the post season.

All he did was pass out of the hedges and that led to great looks. If they miss they miss but they're great looks.. and Bryant still managed to score 45 points without forcing.

[23]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

Haha, it goes both ways though when it comes to the Kobe sharing the ball dynamic.. if Kobe is launching ludacris, ill-advised shots why should Laker fans expect his teammates to play with any kind of motivation or rhythm? Last night Bryant played pretty much perfectly. And to me, that game can be replicated for the duration of the post season.

All he did was pass out of the hedges and that led to great looks. If they miss they miss but they're great looks.. and Bryant still managed to score 45 points without forcing.

good post ec.

pass the ball around and they have much more team success and they try on defense.

bean is capable of this type of play but its not his primary focus mot of the time.

anyhow. I missed the game but I already know how well they cam play when they play together.

I wish lakers fans would concede that his teammates don't suck as bad as they make it out to be...

btw kwame pulls one of these out every once in awhile, but that's all. be afraid next game because he's inconsistent like that, his entire career

[billmatic]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

I think the biggest difference was Kobe taking it to the basket. The past few games, he's been content to take the outside shot no matter how many hands are in his face. Raja is a good defender, but he can't stop Kobe from getting to the basket without fouling him. And poor Marion doesn't stand a chance when he has to check Kobe on the perimeter. Phoenix is forced to help inside which is what leads to the open looks for Kwame.

Kobe getting to the line also slows the game down and gets the Suns in foul trouble. I thought it was pretty obvious he was making a point to go inside, and he needs to keep doing that instead of falling back into the fadeaway jumpers every possession.

[billmatic]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

good post ec.

pass the ball around and they have much more team success and they try on defense.

bean is capable of this type of play but its not his primary focus mot of the time.

anyhow. I missed the game but I already know how well they cam play when they play together.

I wish lakers fans would concede that his teammates don't suck as bad as they make it out to be...

btw kwame pulls one of these out every once in awhile, but that's all. be afraid next game because he's inconsistent like that, his entire career

Lamar and Kwame stepped up, but the rest of the supporting cast was terrible on the offensive end last night. As in 3-24 terrible. His teammates don't all suck, but last night was not their best moment outside of Lamar and Kwame.

[Air23]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

It's official.

After returning from the Magic-Pistons game... I ****ing hate every single Detroit Pistons fan. Every single fan who wore some sort of Pistons Jersey, Hat, T-Shirt or Tampon managed to be a complete ******* during every point of the game.

I'm sorry if you're a Pistons fan without a social disorder, but the rest of them ruined it for you. **** Rip Hamilton's flopping. **** Rasheed's complaining. **** the woman who reffed the game. **** Dale Davis trying to thug around. And **** Detroit.

Also, **** the Magic. They're ****ing terrible.

And I apologize for the language, I just needed to get my F-three-asterisks out of the way. ****.

Who the **** pissed in your cereal? :wink:

j/k, Brankles. Don't kill me, man.

[Air23]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

Game 4 is massive.

It's likely the Rocks best chance to win the series.

If not, Utah gets all the momentum and the Delta Centre is harder to get a road win than Houston IMO. Salt Lake City is notoriously hard come playoff time.

Agreement. If Houston wins Game 4, it's over. If not, this series is going to seven games, with all the pressure on McGrady.

Now, what if T-Mac fails to get out of the first round this year?

[Air23]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

Agreed, I saw a sense of urgency in the players last night. The Lakers played like the hungry team down 2-0.

Great win for the Lakers, but...

*you knew there'd be a "but"*


But, they played their best game of this series, and barely won. At home.

They're still in trouble, IMO.

[GSW]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

Agreement. If Houston wins Game 4, it's over. If not, this series is going to seven games, with all the pressure on McGrady.

Now, what if T-Mac fails to get out of the first round this year?

Basketball is a Team game.

I wouldnt blame tmac , hes playing some of the best basketball in his carrer. is it really his fault juwan howard and rafer alston suck?

[Mo_Magic]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

good post ec.

pass the ball around and they have much more team success and they try on defense.

bean is capable of this type of play but its not his primary focus mot of the time.

anyhow. I missed the game but I already know how well they cam play when they play together.

I wish lakers fans would concede that his teammates don't suck as bad as they make it out to be...

btw kwame pulls one of these out every once in awhile, but that's all. be afraid next game because he's inconsistent like that, his entire career

The same can be said for Parker, Williams, Farmar, and Bynum, Evans, Radmonovic, Brian Cook, and sometimes even Walton. And while Odom shows up a lot of the time, he's not ALWAYS there.

His teamates don't 'suck' they're in the NBA. But they are a VERY weak supporting cast compared to other playoff teams out there. Do you honestly think that his supporting cast is ANYWHERE NEAR the level of San Antonios? Pheonix? Dallas? Miami? Chicago?

These guys are not as good as you make them out to be. It's the team ball that makes them this good. If you play as a team, obviously everybodies gonna play better. None of them are really individually talented at anything. They're incosistent. His teammates do 'suck' compared to other playoff teams in this league, but if they play team ball like this last game, they can hang with anyone out west.

I don't think they suck as bad as everybody says, but even you can't say that they're not a WEAK supporting cast. None of them has ever proven anything, with the exception of maybe Odom.

With all due respect, it's not even that these guys are "not as bad as laker fans make them out to be." it's that the lakers are exploiting mismatches.

[M.I.M.L.]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

lol dre u make it out to be as if kobe is playing with the 96 bulls team, and if he doesnt win its his fault because he most definatley has the talent around him to go to the championship round.

Nash is playing with some Amazing talent, and if he was not on the suns, the suns could still go far.

I think even the year when michael jordan left scottie pippien took them to the eastern conference finals.

those are teams, teams can win without one player having to be so dominant,

if kobe doesnt score this team has no chance, the lakers played great ball last night but he had to score 45 still, and they only won by 6.

[Leahmic223]

Re: ***Official 2007 NBA Playoffs Discussion Thread***

Lamar and Kwame stepped up, but the rest of the supporting cast was terrible on the offensive end last night. As in 3-24 terrible. His teammates don't all suck, but last night was not their best moment outside of Lamar and Kwame.

Thing is though...everyone played hard. If not on offense then on defense...everyone wanted to do something for the team.

I even seen Smush pass up a open 3, they played team ball last night. Kobe distributed the ball, and score when needed (when they would miss 3 or 4 shots, he'd get a score)

Near Perfect game by him. Also he still got his points. If he did this every night...I think this team would be MUCH more successful.

Kdre is right. His team isn't that bad, and if they are...he made them look great last night, something he hasn't been able to do.

I hope he looks at the tape and says "Man...I wonder if those guys were playing better because I didn't try to take over."

Still game 4 is big... we have to defend homecourt and win one on the road, so Kobe and the Lakeshow have lots of work has to be done.