Suns @ Lakers Thursday 5/4/2006 game thread -Insider - Yahoo previews

[MaoTosiFanClub]

After watching a helluva lot of Kobe this year, I'm convinced he's a better offensive player than Michael Jordan.

However, the other parts of his game are nowhere close to Jordan's. At least, not yet.

This is something I've noticed as well. Kobe is a very overrated defender and is not nearly the ball handler Jordan was although his jump shot is light years ahead of MJ's at a similar age. When he puts his mind to it, Kobe's a really good defender because he's such a terrific athlete. But most of the time Kobe's very lacksadasical on the defensive end and loses the ball way too much in traffic.

 

[Evil Ash]

That's a simplistic way of looking at it. During the regular season, Kobe took bad shots (most likely to settle some score with Raja) and the Suns took advantage of it. I thought for the most part Kobe took good shots tonight and not surprisingly, he made 57% of them.

Simplistic? Probably

However ask yourself ...why has Phil Jackson had a gameplan that forces Kobe to pass the ball instead of trying to take over a game by himself?

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Shawn Marion can never open his mouth and talk about disrespect again after his curl up in the fetal position performance in this series.

Un-freaking-believable. Soft ass Marion - I hate Shawn Marion.

Well you look very foolish now. Marion played incredible tonight.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Kwame played great, Lamar did as well. Luke did ok in the first half, then disappeared. Smush NEVER showed up...terrible game for him.

TOs were the biggest problem, yes...but did Kobe get those TOs shooting the ball, or facilitating? Again, Kobe's shooting tonight came late, got us back in the game and then damn near won the thing. We went cat in the OT after TT came back from the dead and we refused to rebound in the last 30 seconds of regulation.

Just disgusting game. Again, these Lakers are too young, dumb and inexperienced to win such a winnable game. Idiots.

I expect a complete war on Saturday (it is Saturday, right?)

it was a must win for LA

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Well you look very foolish now. Marion played incredible tonight.

he is still kinda soft, maybe a little bit

 

[sly fly]

Intelligence. Knowledge. Respect. About the same as I try to give you in return.


Snapper.

I'm not bashing the way LA has played this series. I give them tons of respect.

Kobe is such a dominating force offensively, it causes his teammates to stand and watch.

Lamar Odom is scary good when he come to play.

Kwame Brown has shown remarkable improvement. You can credit Phil and the coaching staff for that.

I love Luke's game. Although, he has trouble on D.

Sasha is a mini-Ginobili in the making.

Obviously, the series isn't over. But, I do think PHX has it's groove back.

Let's hope he refs can stay away from determining Game 7.

Is that enough respect? Snapper?

 

[elindholm]

Well you look very foolish now. Marion played incredible tonight.

Well...

He defended well, rebounded well, and showed a lot of heart and hustle. But he also blew several point-blank layups that nearly cost the Suns the game. Everyone always talks about how he's such a great finisher, so let's start seeing it. Layups aren't rocket science, especially when you can jump as high as Marion does.

Overall, he played a good game, but not a great one.

 

[az1965]

lol.

Nash said were up 4-2 in this series, and then said oops, did i say that out loud?

LOL

 

[Cheesebeef]

Well...

He defended well, rebounded well, and showed a lot of heart and hustle. But he also blew several point-blank layups that nearly cost the Suns the game. Everyone always talks about how he's such a great finisher, so let's start seeing it. Layups aren't rocket science, especially when you can jump as high as Marion does.

Overall, he played a good game, but not a great one.

agree with the boards and heart and hustle - but incredible? Come on Chris - that's just ridiculous. Without a miracle shot by TT, we're done and Marion is again the goat.

But who freaking cares! Game 7 - SATURDAY - IT'S A WIN - MARK IT FREAKING DOWN!

 

[az1965]

Well you look very foolish now. Marion played incredible tonight.

Marion partially blocked Kobe's potential game winning shot today with 6 sec to go... huge game by Marion even though he missed few easy layups. He brought down some huge rebounds as well.

 

[bko32]

LOL

do you ever post anything of real substance?

 

[sly fly]

Well...

He defended well, rebounded well, and showed a lot of heart and hustle. But he also blew several point-blank layups that nearly cost the Suns the game. Everyone always talks about how he's such a great finisher, so let's start seeing it. Layups aren't rocket science, especially when you can jump as high as Marion does.

Overall, he played a good game, but not a great one.

Eric, Marion's rebound and kick to TT completely erases any poor perfromance he had. That was a clutch board and kick.

That was big-league.

 

[F-Dog]

Barbosa Has Arrived

Took him long enough.

Seriously, if he played half this well in game 2, 3, or 4, this series would be over now.

Nash said were up 4-2 in this series, and then said oops, did i say that out loud?

 

[az1965]

do you ever post anything of real substance?

We won!

 

[Chaz]

Kobe was just sick tonight.

Those banked threes down the stretch were ridiculous.


Suns showed great heart and TT saved our bacon with that huge 3 to tie.

ONE GAME SERIES!

LETS GO SUNS!!!

 

[cly2tw]

It seems we play better with TT off the bench and JJ starting. Let's keep it this way!

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Well...

He defended well, rebounded well, and showed a lot of heart and hustle. But he also blew several point-blank layups that nearly cost the Suns the game. Everyone always talks about how he's such a great finisher, so let's start seeing it. Layups aren't rocket science, especially when you can jump as high as Marion does.

Overall, he played a good game, but not a great one.

4 steals...absolutely huge rebounds.

He didn't settle for threes and drove inside. Sure he blew a couple lay ups but big deal. He still shot 45% from the field and was aggressive.

I can't see how anyone can criticize 20 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, and zero turnovers.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

agree with the boards and heart and hustle - but incredible? Come on Chris - that's just ridiculous. Without a miracle shot by TT, we're done and Marion is again the goat.

But who freaking cares! Game 7 - SATURDAY - IT'S A WIN - MARK IT FREAKING DOWN!

The goat???

You are so biased it is crazy.

20, 12, 4, 4, and zero turnovers. 45% from the field.

There is nothing goat about that. He played very good defense and flat stole several rebounds from Kwame Brown by effort alone.

 

[DieHardFromMO]

Uh oh, the crybaby is at the podium.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Simplistic? Probably

However ask yourself ...why has Phil Jackson had a gameplan that forces Kobe to pass the ball instead of trying to take over a game by himself?

The gameplan seems to be to force the ball inside to take advantage of the Suns biggest weakness. I happen to think the reason we beat the Lakers is when we run our offense efficiently and score a lot of points. If we had not run our offense tonight, the Suns would be setting up tee times whether Kobe had shot the ball fifty times or ten times.

 

[jibikao]

This is something I've noticed as well. Kobe is a very overrated defender and is not nearly the ball handler Jordan was although his jump shot is light years ahead of MJ's at a similar age. When he puts his mind to it, Kobe's a really good defender because he's such a terrific athlete. But most of the time Kobe's very lacksadasical on the defensive end and loses the ball way too much in traffic.

Kobe's offense is one of the best in NBA history. I'll give him that. He is almost unstoppable. Defense-wise, he was guarding Raja who wasn't a big offense threat at all. I don't think Kobe's defense is all that great as you pointed out. His offense is top notch.

 

[elindholm]

Eric, Marion's rebound and kick to TT completely erases any poor perfromance he had. That was a clutch board and kick.

That was big-league.

Sure. But the Marion trade proposals are for players who would make big-league plays of their own. I mean, heck, of course he's going to do something right once in a while.

 

[Suns_fan69]

You're a better offensive team with Raja off the court.

You hit the nail right on the head. I'm almost considering keeping Bell off the bench, providing Barbs can replicate this game. The pressure he put on the defence tonight more than made up defensive shortcomings.

 

[elindholm]

I agree that Marion had a good game. But the Suns shot 57% overall, so 45% really isn't all that hot. And it's well below Marion's season average.

 

[sly fly]

Eric, Marion's rebound and kick to TT completely erases any poor perfromance he had. That was a clutch board and kick.

That was big-league.

Sure. But the Marion trade proposals are for players who would make big-league plays of their own. I mean, heck, of course he's going to do something right once in a while.

Save the trade proposals for a later date. I'm talking about right now. 30 minutes ago.

Having wet dreams about KG or Chris Bosh isn't going to get PHX a win in Game 7.

Just accept the fact that Marion was Marion in this game. He came up big when we needed him most. Are you really expecting him to hit the money-shot? If so, your expectations are too high.

We need Marion for the dirty work, and he delivered in the biggest game of his life.