Let me tell you something right now...the best possible thing for us happened last night when Kobe missed that shot to win the game. Right before that, Gasol tells him "let's go win this muffer, right now."
Had Kobe made that shot they would have once again been rewarded for playing like Team Lightswitch. Missing it and losing should serve as a wakeup call that they can't play in dresses for three and a half quarters and expect to win.
This stared a while back--Portland game at home during the long streak:
Lakers came out VERY flat and played flat until the 4th, when they really turned it on.
Good to know they can do that...bad to know they know they can do that.
Then this:
Tonights game worries me on the b2b. Lakers can't come out flat like they did at home, coast for 3 quarters then take a 13 point win. Not in the Rose Garden...that place is Laker kryptonite.
And we did...lost that game in the same fashion...couldn't turn it on in the end but a lot was chalked up to the historical issues there.
Sacramento game in Arco...
Man, so far this one is painful to watch. 1st quarter, we have already turned it over 4 times, can't hit a shot, can't rebound, it's ugly.
Despite that, we're only down 3. I don't know how they do it. How is it that the Lakers can play so bad at times, yet stay right in the game? I'm hoping things will pick up, we could use the win.
Now we're getting clobbered. The Lakers look like the 2005 Lakers tonight. It's ugly.
We're down 48-35 and showing no signs of life.
So far, the only way I can describe this game by LA is lazy and uninspired. Kings are up by 10 in the 3rd, and beating the Lakers in every single area of the game.
Lakers play 3 and a half quarters of horrible horrible basketball..
Then kick in with some of the best defense I have seen all year. They are on a 14-0 run, and up 7pts with two and a half min left.
Again, I'm stunned.
Man, these guys need to stop sleepwalking through games.
~snip~
Lakers really look out of sync; they have for the last 3-4 games. Hopefully the two days of rest will be good for them.
Darth on the Sac game last night:
This loss better wake them up, cause this "Coast for 3 3/4 quarters thing" is ********. You don't win games by just showing up for the last 2 min. Awful game.
Stu even referenced it in the game, calling them Team Lightswitch. That's what they did back in the prime of the Shaq/Kobe era...seeing what hole they could dig out of...it was maddening. This team isn't that good yet, and certainly not without Bynum or Ariza to play D. You can't light switch without your best interior defender and your best reserve perimeter defender.
Kobe makes that shot, more lightswitch. Maybe this way they can start coming out with a mindset to put the boot on the throat from jump.
BTW, I was pissed that Sasha got a foul called when he was pushed to the ground and into Beno's path. That should have been a no call...
