Playoffs 2010: Western Conf Finals, Game 3 – Lakers At Suns Game Thread

[tobiazz]

Sad, how people dont get the concept of coaching. Amare was getting his points but it wasn't like we were blowing them out. HUGE game by Amare but the zone won this game.
Now that Amare put up a game bigger than even Kobe's, people are going to whine about how he didn't play well in this series till now.

Are you suggesting Amare was standing around and not attacking the basket, in the first two games, because of coaching?

Another huge advantage tonight, is the minutes Kobe played. I want to see him come to game 4 with fresh legs.

I don't.

 

[Michael]

Jackson blames the game on the refs. Classy.

What did he say?

 

[Bert]

What did he say?

It wasn't much he just said he thought the game "Changed" in the 2nd quarter when Pao didn't get an 'and 1' on one of his shots.

"I didn't like that"

Just Phil being Phil.

 

[Mainstreet]

What did he say?

I believe he was crying about Gasol not getting a foul call in the first half or something of the sorts.

 

[AfroSuns]

Are you suggesting Amare was standing around and not attacking the basket, in the first two games, because of coaching?



I don't.

I am not saying he didnt play with more aggresivness today, but that aggressivness was fueled by an unexpected defensive scheme that seem to befuddled the Lakers most of the time. Did you notice how many times the Lakers opened up the lane tonight. They were taken out of their comfort zone. One play, Lopez was the only person under the basket!!!
Amare is never going to score 40 every game, so are you saying we lose if he doesn't. It is not only about Amare. It is a chess game and coaching plays a bigger role than any player on the court.

Kobe is shooting great because of the rests. I know he is a great player but the non back-to-back helps., he is banged up and it was obvious he was gassed 4th qtr tonight.

 

[Griffin]

The Lakers shot the ball better than us, they grabbed one more rebound, our bench shot 3-21, the whole team shot 5-20 from beyond the arc, and we won the game. Now if only we could hit some of those open shots like the Lakers did in games 1 and 2...

Much better defensive effort. Great job going inside and getting to the line. Amare finally dominated offensively (42 points, 11 boards) and Lopez had a big game (20 points). Nash with 17 points and 15 assists. JRich with another solid game (19 points). Hill with 9 boards and 3 steals. Our starters certainly came to play tonight.

The important thing is, besides the fact that we won, is that we can play better than this. We have yet to shoot the ball as well as we are capable of in this series. The bench has to contribute more in game 4.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

I guess the Suns figured out how to win with Frye in the Laker series.... not play him. This may send a message to Frye and get his head back into the game. IMO, the Suns will need him to win the series.

If Frye can just get his shooting percentage to double digits I'll be thrilled.

 

[AfroSuns]

The Lakers shot the ball better than us, they grabbed one more rebound, our bench shot 3-21, the whole team shot 5-20 from beyond the arc, and we won the game. Now if only we could hit some of those open shots like the Lakers did in games 1 and 2...

Much better defensive effort. Great job going inside and getting to the line. Amare finally dominated offensively (42 points, 11 boards) and Lopez had a big game (20 points). Nash with 17 points and 15 assists. JRich with another solid game (19 points). Hill with 9 boards and 3 steals. Our starters certainly came to play tonight.

The important thing is, besides the fact that we won, is that we can play better than this. We have yet to shoot the ball as well as we are capable of in this series. The bench has to contribute more in game 4.

+10000

 

[cly2tw]

I am not saying he didnt play with more aggresivness today, but that aggressivness was fueled by an unexpected defensive scheme that seem to befuddled the Lakers most of the time. Did you notice how many times the Lakers opened up the lane tonight. They were taken out of their comfort zone. One play, Lopez was the only person under the basket!!!
Amare is never going to score 40 every game, so are you saying we lose if he doesn't. It is not only about Amare. It is a chess game and coaching plays a bigger role than any player on the court.

Kobe is shooting great because of the rests. I know he is a great player but the non back-to-back helps., he is banged up and it was obvious he was gassed a little by 4th qtr tonight.

Common, Amare was much more concentrated on both ends of the court this game compared to the first two. His drives were more decisive with smart moves like double clutches. On defense I saw only one backdoor allyoop dunk by Odom that was due to his bad positioning. So, something changed between game 2 and 3 for him.

 

[Tyler]

I have a feeling amare is going to come out trying to prove something and put us in a hole.

good feeling

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

Common, Amare was much more concentrated on both ends of the court this game compared to the first two. His drives were more decisive with smart moves like double clutches. On defense I saw only one backdoor allyoop dunk by Odom that was due to his bad positioning. So, something changed between game 2 and 3 for him.

Did you expect him to go under that double screen? That play was not his fault, Robin (or Frye, don't recall who was in) should have peeled off on that. He definitely had a few lapses, but that was not one of them.

 

[tobiazz]

Amare is never going to score 40 every game, so are you saying we lose if he doesn't. It is not only about Amare. It is a chess game and coaching plays a bigger role than any player on the court.

He needs to drive and prove himself a threat in order to a) get points and b) free up teammates for points. He doesn't need 40 to do that. He also needs to try on defense and rebounding. He met the criteria much better this game than the first two.

It's probably more of a checkers game than chess game, but coaching is certainly important. Having stars is most important but the coach is probably about as important as having that third scoring threat on the team (if that makes any sense).

 

[AzStevenCal]

It's probably more of a checkers game than chess game, but coaching is certainly important.

I'm not sure if you were being specific or general here but it's always been a pet peeve of mine when an announcer likens fairly routine basketball decisions to a chess match. There's a lot to coaching but most of what happens during the game itself is pretty basic. It's all pretty much act and react and chess demands a lot more than that.

Steve

 

[mjb21aztd]

good win for the suns tonight, love the way amare played tonight just so much passion on the offense side and some on the defensive side also with rebounding. Also just love the way Lopez played tonight he was a huge reason we won tonight imo.
I am however very tired of Frye though it just seems like every shot he takes is going to be a brick just no arch on the shot , I really hope Frye gets going but not to much confidence. Way to take the first game at home suns lets get the next one!!!!!

 

[AfroSuns]

I'm not sure if you were being specific or general here but it's always been a pet peeve of mine when an announcer likens fairly routine basketball decisions to a chess match. There's a lot to coaching but most of what happens during the game itself is pretty basic. It's all pretty much act and react and chess demands a lot more than that.

Steve

And i will say the board game you adopt is what separates a good coach from a great coach.

 

[dodie53]

i love the zone

 

[AfroSuns]

Jackson: Bynum could sit Game 4

Phil Jackson said center Andrew Bynum, in early foul trouble in the Los Angeles Lakers' 118-109 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, might not play in Game 4 because his ailing right knee is limiting his effectiveness.
"I'll talk to him and see how he feels about it," Jackson said after the game Sunday. "I think he was ineffective. There were some things that got by him."
The 7-foot Bynum has been hampered after suffering a slight tear of the lateral meniscus in his right knee late in the series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Despite Sunday's loss, the Lakers lead the best-of-seven series 2-1.
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/news/story?id=5213823

Although he hasn't contributed much, i think this is huge because it depletes their bench with Odom starting

 

[Cheesebeef]

LOVE seeing a W where the bench plays horrendous and we can't shoot the 3 to save our life.

This series is going back to LA tied.

 

[joshstmarie]

good feeling

Everyone gets lucky.

 

[az1965]

I didn't think Frye could do any worse but he proved me wrong by scoring 1 pt today going a full 0.5 point below his series average of 1.5 pts!!

 

[cly2tw]

Everyone gets lucky.

But you just don't like the guys you hate so much get lucky, right?

Did you expect him to go under that double screen? That play was not his fault, Robin (or Frye, don't recall who was in) should have peeled off on that. He definitely had a few lapses, but that was not one of them.

Well, because everybody keeps bashing Amare, I thought to give THEM the benefit of doubt and attribute to Amare what THEY would have blamed Amare for. Amare was supposed to cover Odom who scored. Exhibit #A against the defendant Amare.

Seriously, it was not funny in games 1 and 2 how our guys miscommunicated on switches etc, many due to lack of concentration on Amare's part. In this game, Gasol and Odom didn't get as many wide open passes under basket. We gotta keep it up.

 

[cly2tw]

LOVE seeing a W where the bench plays horrendous and we can't shoot the 3 to save our life.

This series is going back to LA tied.

Actually, Dragic played very smart and got crucial fouls called on Lakers' bigs with his drives and under basket moves, despite shooting 1/4. LB and Frye had no confidence in their shots, and Dud didn't get as many open looks. But our general improvement on defense kept us in the game. And we gotta keep it up.

 

[Yuma]

My question is, why can't Amare do this EVERY game?

 

[cly2tw]

My question is, why can't Amare do this EVERY game?

My guess is, with Lopez playing like that, Lakers have two fewer hands in the paint to help out on Amare. Remember the classic quote from Amare, "that's why basketball is a team sport: you need more than one to stop me"? Well, two fewer hands would help a lot.

 

[Cheesewater]

Derek Fisher is a punk.

And kudos to RoLo for giving him exactly what Fisher deserved and nothing more.