The 2007-08 Los Angeles Lakers thread

[dreamcastrocks]

Remember when we had the little discussion of hypocrites the other day?

Pringles talking a gang of mess early this season ("3 more games, phil" and "we always bust the lakers out of the playoffs anyway") when they were winning, then turning around and "I hope we don't meet up" really bugs. Being a badass when you are winning and a wuss when you lose isn't respectable. At least Kobe is consistently an *****. To me, it's a hollow compliment.

I don't mind that quote. It's how rivarlies are born...

 

[D-Dogg]

I don't mind that quote. It's how rivarlies are born...

Which quote? The aggressive one or the timid one?

I respected the aggressive one...even if it got my temperature up...that is how rivalries are born. The timid one just made me roll my eyes.

 

[D-Dogg]

Fish will be on Jim Rome in 10 minutes or so, FYI.

 

[Linderbee]

Remember when we had the little discussion of hypocrites the other day?

Pringles talking a gang of mess early this season ("3 more games, phil" and "we always bust the lakers out of the playoffs anyway") when they were winning, then turning around and "I hope we don't meet up" really bugs. Being a badass when you are winning and a wuss when you lose isn't respectable. At least Kobe is consistently an *****. To me, it's a hollow compliment.

Okay, I can accept that.

 

[D-Dogg]

Any other Laker fans scratching their heads over these two things?

1) A couple of times we doubled shaq at the FT line area...why? That was silly...one led to a layup. Shaq's a great passer, and he ain't taking a 15 footer.

2) We hardly used the pick and roll at all. We've been killing with it recently, but there were far more iso plays called, with cuts off the double team. I expected a lot more PnR with Kobe and Gasol, especially since Nash and Shaq are not good at defending it (and we know how terrible shaq is at it). Saving it for the playoffs?

 

[KloD]

Any other Laker fans scratching their heads over these two things?

1) A couple of times we doubled shaq at the FT line area...why? That was silly...one led to a layup. Shaq's a great passer, and he ain't taking a 15 footer.

2) We hardly used the pick and roll at all. We've been killing with it recently, but there were far more iso plays called, with cuts off the double team. I expected a lot more PnR with Kobe and Gasol, especially since Nash and Shaq are not good at defending it (and we know how terrible shaq is at it). Saving it for the playoffs?

I think it's safe to say that the Suns were just plain sloppy most of the game, they were all over the place. It had to throw confusion at the Lakers, they must have been standing back thinking, "what the hell are they doing?" The Suns defense, or lack of, had me confused most the game... I kept thinking they were just making it up as the game rolled on.

Anyway, if these two teams meet in the playoffs, I expect two different squads than we saw last night with Bynum back and Shaq (and hopefully another trade) more confortable. I'm sure it will go seven.

 

[abomb]

Here are some interesting stats. I wonder who the top 5 REAL Kobe-stoppers are...

Kobe's career stats against selected players

Opp		FG%	3P%	PPG	RPG	APG
Career		.453	.338	24.8	5.3	4.6

Artest		.467	.383	27.4	6.1	6.6
Bowen		.433	.429	26.7	3.6	1.3
Bell		.441	.330	28.8	5.8	4.7

 

[D-Dogg]

LOL at Gambo and Ash.

THE MACHINE has arrived!!

They are bitching and moaning about Sasha! "I hate that guy" says Gambo. Yeah, so does Mike Bibby, Gambo.

Sasha Vujabitch they are callling him.

The Machine owns you, Gambo.

 

[D-Dogg]

They are now using "Sucha Stupidbitch."


OWNED by The Machine!

 

[Darth Llama]

They are now using "Sucha Stupidbitch."


OWNED by The Machine!

You have to be kidding me? I never listened to them before, but they sound like real ********. That's what passes for professional journalism around here?

 

[D-Dogg]

You have to be kidding me? I never listened to them before, but they sound like real ********. That's what passes for professional journalism around here?

No, they are radio jocks. Not reporters by ANY stretch. Just a couple of radio doofs, spouting off.

Gambo is a caricature, anyway.

 

[Darth Llama]

No, they are radio jocks. Not reporters by ANY stretch. Just a couple of radio doofs, spouting off.

Gambo is a caricature, anyway.

Hmm, well at least now I know to just avoid them. Sadly, it's stuff like that that makes me dislike the suns. It's a shame too, because none of it is the Suns fault. As funny as it sounds, I would like the Suns a lot more if I didn't live in Phoenix and have to hear stuff like this all the time. There seems to be a theme among many "fans" of the Suns (not all) and Jocks like these two, of total disrespect for the other team. Whenever the Suns lose, it's a conspiracy, bad officiating, or something like that, and when they win, it's because they're a great team.

They are a great team, but no one wins all 82 games, and reacting to the loss by cussing out the other team on the radio is beyond classless. Hey, whatever gets the ratings thought right?

 

[D-Dogg]

Kobe interview with Petros and Money on LA Radio:

"We're pretty even keel bunch, enjoy each others company, get excited for each and every game"

Did it feel like Game 7?

"Truly felt like a playoff type of game because of the energy of the crowd."

Pau has acclimated quickly, how surprised are you?

"Not that surprised at all. People have gotten used to seeing Pau on the Grizz, when he plays on the Spanish National Team he does a lot of the things for them that he does for us. Knew what he was capable of doing and be a seamless transition."

"Vlade/Sasha teaching me all the bad words in other languages"

"On the bench against ATL, Vlade said something to Sasha, I said something to Ronny, Vlade asked how many languages do we speak on this team? ha ha it's awesome though it's awesome"

Worried about some guys getting a big head re: championship?

"No, not worried about that at all. We're playing well, we know we have a lot of work ahead of ourselves, excited at possibilities, working that much harder. "

Compare makeup of this team vs. three-peat team?

"Completely different, much younger crew. Derek and I are elder statesman. We all hang out, get along extremely well. In terms of execution the three-peat was Shaq down low, me on perimeter. Throw it down to Shaq, or iso for me. This team there is more fluidity, ball is constantly moving. Little more fluid."

More comfortable with teammates than you ever have been. Accurate?

"No question about it. A lot of that comes from me seeing the hard work they put in. Always said that doesn't matter if you miss a shot or not, everybody misses shot. Important thing is the work ethic is there and guys have willingness to get better. Spend time in gym before and after practice so we can be better as a ball club.

Finger injury?

"Looked really weird, pinky felt like it was on the other side of ball. Reason we have tape is we don't want the finger going out more than it should be, if it does good chance it will dislocate again. So long as that doesn't happen, I'll be ok. Surgery was just not an option. Played last four games of the trip with the injury. Only thing that changed when we got back was that the injury would require surgery. I had played with it already, no sense for me to do procedure, why would I do it if I can play efficiently? re; Ronnie Lott finger solution, that's not going to happen"

Sasha?

"He works extremely hard. Sasha is a gym rat. Just a matter time until it carried over to 7:30. All the hard work has paid off, he has confidence, took him a little while to develop, but he's turned into a hell of a player. Sasha doesn't think about contract year, truly gym rat, he loves to play basketball, he's been like this since he's gotten here, he's in the gym all the time, it's paying off for him. Sasha never misses in practice/pre-games. Players become more comfortable with roles, when that happens you see some very good results."
Phil using the media, top seed, win 25 out of 30?

"Phil is great motivator, all we can do is take it a day at a time. That's our motto, that's what we will continue to do."

Book Phil gave you?

"He gave me pretty good one last year, Blink. Start really anticipating before it happens, a lot has to do with prepartion before game, the space, the emotional space, that you find yourself in that moment...am I sounding too much like a Jedi or something? When you find yourself in that right emotional space where you can really focus in on certain actions and prepration that you did before game, things start having illusion of slowing down"

Where do you stand on summer topic?

"I think I had to get some things off my chest. I wasn't comfortable going on 5 years of not really doing anything. The development of our younger players and the focus of wanting to win a championship and win one now, and us understanding that. It's helped us have a sense of urgency. They knew what I was there for, here to win a championship. Teams think that word championship is taboo, but once that was established, we just went right for it."

Team looks like it can be good for 5 years?

"Yeah we are young, key is to stay healthy, if we can stay healthy than we can do some special things, but we just have to take it a game at a time and not look to far down the line.

Great book choice by Phil for Kobe. Fits Phil's mindset as well..in the moment.

 

[abomb]

Awesome interview. I love the languages thing. I think Ronny speaks five himself.

 

[abomb]

Saturday night's Lakers @ Clippers game is on NBA TV at 10:30 PM EST.

The Clippers will be playing the second night of a b2b, as they host Utah tonight.

 

[abomb]

EV Trib;

"Wednesday's Suns-Lakers epic wasn't just must-see TV in Phoenix and Los Angeles. The latest installment of 'Shaq vs. Kobe' reeled in boffo ratings both locally and nationally. Wednesday's game was the third most-viewed NBA regular-season game in ESPN history and the highest in more than three years. The game pulled a 2.9 national rating, averaging 2,813,000 households and 3,616,000 viewers. That's the most people to watch the NBA on ESPN since Christmas Day of 2004, when 4,325,000 viewers tuned in for the Indiana-Detroit game -- the Pacers' first trip back to Detroit after Ron Artest's infamous charge into the stands to fight with fans about a month earlier."

 

[Darth Llama]

EV Trib;

"Wednesday's Suns-Lakers epic wasn't just must-see TV in Phoenix and Los Angeles. The latest installment of 'Shaq vs. Kobe' reeled in boffo ratings both locally and nationally. Wednesday's game was the third most-viewed NBA regular-season game in ESPN history and the highest in more than three years. The game pulled a 2.9 national rating, averaging 2,813,000 households and 3,616,000 viewers. That's the most people to watch the NBA on ESPN since Christmas Day of 2004, when 4,325,000 viewers tuned in for the Indiana-Detroit game -- the Pacers' first trip back to Detroit after Ron Artest's infamous charge into the stands to fight with fans about a month earlier."

Damn, you beat me to it. I was just about to post that.

 

[D-Dogg]

I ran across this buried in a thread at LG.

Apropos quote from Larry Bird's 1989 bball bio "Drive" (pp 115-116):

1983:

"I wish I could forget the next series. We played Milwaukee and in the first game I dislocated the pinky on my right hand. I remember that I thought we needed some spark and I was trying to pick up my own game a little bit when I went diving after a loose ball near midcourt.

I caught my finger on someone's arm -- or shoulder -- and the finger just bent back. I went to the bench and had it sort of popped back in there, but it was so sore I could hardly move it.

I've dislocated it three times since and for the last several years I've been playing with it taped so I won't do it anymore. If I didn't tape it, it would keep sliding out at the least bit of contact. I've had it checked out and a doctor told me that the only way to treat it is to have a plastic knuckle inserted after I retire. All the ligaments in there are torn and there is nothing anyone can do about it."

Shows you can play at a high level with Kobe's type of injury...also that medicine has come a long, long way since 1983. Kobe will have surgery to heal his...Bird played for years with it.

 

[abomb]

I ran across this buried in a thread at LG.



Shows you can play at a high level with Kobe's type of injury...also that medicine has come a long, long way since 1983. Kobe will have surgery to heal his...Bird played for years with it.

As a Lakers fan, say what you want about Larry Legend, but it is impossible not to respect the hell out of that guy.

I was watching Magic's 1992 retirement ceremony. They were hosting the Celts (of course) and paraded up Lakers greats to talk about Magic and such. Chick announces Larry Bird and the Forum goes nuts with applause. Bird gives a great speech about how Magic will always be a part of Celtics history.

I hope the NBA can get back to that amount of hate and love between teams and players.

 

[abomb]

I also love the fact that Celtics' fans, esp Bill Simmons, hate the 1986 Lakers for losing to the Rockets in the WCF. They consider that title a notch down from the others.

 

[Darth Llama]

As hard as I try, I find I still just can't hate the Celtics. They were a classy group despite the fact that they were the bane of the Lakers existence. I want them to do well because I want to renew that great rivalry. I hope the Celtics continue to have a great year, steam roll the east, fly into the finals, and then get crushed by the Lakers. God that would be a great year.

 

[D-Dogg]

As hard as I try, I find I still just can't hate the Celtics. They were a classy group despite the fact that they were the bane of the Lakers existence. I want them to do well because I want to renew that great rivalry. I hope the Celtics continue to have a great year, steam roll the east, fly into the finals, and then get crushed by the Lakers. God that would be a great year.

When I think about the Celtics, I think about the smell of vomit. When I think about KG, I mourn his loss of life at such a young age. When I think of Boston, I think of the old-style stadium piss-troughs.

I don't hate the Celts at all.

 

[Darth Llama]

When I think about the Celtics, I think about the smell of vomit. When I think about KG, I mourn his loss of life at such a young age. When I think of Boston, I think of the old-style stadium piss-troughs.

I don't hate the Celts at all.

Wow.. that's um...

Wow.

That's how I feel about the New York Knicks. That's an organization that lacks any sense of class. I say I don't hate the Celtics, but I cheer for them because I want to shatter them, so maybe I do hate the Celtics. Doesn't really matter, I hate whatever team is playing the Lakers, they all suck the same to me.

 

[D-Dogg]

but I cheer for them because I want to shatter them, so maybe I do hate the Celtics.

That's a particularly evil kind of hate. Very Judas meets Brutus type of "oh, you are a strong and respectable team and a wor.... *STAB*...muaahahahhaaaa!"

 

[Darth Llama]

That's a particularly evil kind of hate. Very Judas meets Brutus type of "oh, you are a strong and respectable team and a wor.... *STAB*...muaahahahhaaaa!"

Hell yeah!