Lakers Thread

[Dean]

Cheers Zoom.
Back to the game, Ray Allen was on today

[Axel]

I just don't buy all the Lakers hype. Kobe is great, obviously, and Lamar is a formidable second option, but after that, nobody is really great. Smush is a below average, PG, Kwame and Mihm are also below average at their position. Luke Walton has improved, and is a good player off the bench, but who else are they going to rely on? Farmar is a rookie, he will hit the "rookie wall" and Bynum is essentially a rookie as well.

LA has two good/great players, and a bunch of mediocre at best players. I suspect that it will prove true by the end of the year that LA will just make the playoffs again, and probably get knocked out in the first round.

[Zoom]

I ain't hyping them up or anything but just being really optimistic.

I think Kwame is better than average but not super great... Walton won't ever be a huge contributor but if there's any team/system he can play in. it's this one the best. I never expected Farmar/Bynum to be contributing and as the season goes on, I think they will both be on the bench more often. Smush Parker is a sixth man at best but at least he's doing a modest job at starting. Vlad Rad is still injured and will be for the season.

But if there's anyone who can get the best put of underacheiving players, I feel that it's Jax. I have faith in this team, noone else needs to. I think we can surprise a lot of people this time around, we can make the playoffs and the second round.

And we're just 1 or 2 seasons and a player or two removed from making some noise in the postseason.

[[Q]]

Missed the game tonight because of some bullshit homework I had to do, but just looking at the box score, Kobe with 9 asts makes me think he's trying too hard to get his teammates involved (so he can "prove the doubters wrong"). I saw a little bit of this in his first game back vs Seattle.

[Cloudy]

Bryant was given a technical foul with 5:18 left for throwing the ball against the base of the basket after Brian Cook was called for a foul. Bryant indicated afterward he was unaware of the league's new emphasis about technicals for reactions after the whistle.

``Actually, the time that they had the meeting, I was doing rehab,'' Bryant said. ``They surprised me with that one.''

This emotionless NBA we have now...

[Zoom]

Missed the game tonight because of some bullshit homework I had to do, but just looking at the box score, Kobe with 9 asts makes me think he's trying too hard to get his teammates involved (so he can "prove the doubters wrong"). I saw a little bit of this in his first game back vs Seattle.

Stop hating on him man I can't wait for Kobe to score 30 and dish it out 8 or 9 times and the team will win. Oh wait, it's going to happen against Minny. Thinking that I know you, you will probably call it a fluke.

And man, what happened to Lamar? Aren't you going to say anything about it?

[CMJ3]

Kobe getting all the assists is starting to make Smush Parker look useless and do nothing on the court lol. I think Kobe should just stick to the scoring, i love watching him score 40

[Zoom]

Not if it doesn't get our team no where... maybe that's what you want though.

I just want to see balance across the whole roster and each player doing their bit. Kobe's job is to come in when we need him to step up and hit shots like he did last season. But we want him fresh for the playoffs so that's why guys like Lamar can't just stop shooting on any given night.

[CMJ3]

Lamar Odom is used to being the roleplayer, he doesnt like being the star, thats why when Kobe came back he felt it was his duty to stop taking all the shots and let Kobe have the starlight. I dont think he wants the fame, he doesnt seem that type of guy. It was the same when he was on the heat, He just fed Wade all the time etc.

[Zoom]

He's not used to being a roleplayer... he's just being a fucking pussy. Saying shit like, 'I'm just doing my job, rebounding and passing' may sound modest and stuff but it's fucking bullshit. Did you see him being aggresive??? He was actually playing so damn well... he's totally capable of it. He's just got to stop being a fucking pussy.

Playing aggresive and doing what everyone is telling you to do isn't playing for fame. If he wants to help his team win, he has to step up and attack every night.

[Zoom]

95-88 Good win against the Wolves. Kobe's still getting back into it... I think we can give him a few months up until January to get back into it Bynum going strong once more.

And good news with Kwame returning this Saturday (Aussie Time)

[Cloudy]

Who do you think will start, Brown or Bynum? I hope Bynum.

[Kbryant8]

Kobe getting all the assists is starting to make Smush Parker look useless and do nothing on the court lol. I think Kobe should just stick to the scoring, i love watching him score 40

Kobe doesn`t do nothing on the court??
are you fckin kidding me?
17 pts after a knee surgery and 6 assists isn`t bad at all,let`s add those 2 steals also.
Kobe and Smush doesn`t have anything to compare.

[---]

He was saying it makes Smush look like he doesnt do anything

[Kbryant8]

He was saying it makes Smush look like he doesnt do anything

my bad .

[Cornerthree]

A'ight now I'm officially Andrew Bynum fan... That guy's doing the job real nice...

[sdude]

Is it only me or is Lakers turning into Suns ? five players 30 or more minutes last game

[Cornerthree]

Well yeah it's something like that... It's just strange to see Kobe's not getting 40 minutes anymore

[dada]

Kinda sucks the Lakers lost......actually it sucks.

I hope they dont give the Pistons a result their next game in LA. All I want them to do is try and pile up the wins early and get that team morale high for the long run. I get the feeling this team can do something really special this year.


As for Bynum tonight, he had a grand total of 2 points. He'll bounce back but I think he needs to maintain his agressiveness because it wasnt like Kobe or Lamar were jacking up shots. This guy could put up nice numbers this year and all I hope is that the fire in his belly doesnt burn out first quarter.


Another note, Kobe's been turning the ball over a bit too much this season. 6 tonight actually. He needs to try and take care of the ball a bit more for the team to reach the level they can. 12 of 19 shots was really good and I hope he keeps it in that range this season. He can shoot cloer to 50% for the year if he chose his spots a little better.


Well, looking forward to the next game.

Yours truly,
Laker fan.

[Zoom]

I hope they dont give the Pistons a result their next game in LA. All I want them to do is try and pile up the wins early and get that team morale high for the long run. I get the feeling this team can do something really special this year.

All our home games come this first half of the season... so you're right we need that confidence boost of a large buffer and big record.

As for Bynum tonight, he had a grand total of 2 points.

Didn't he foul out too? Anyways, he's young so he will have his ups and downs...

Another note, Kobe's been turning the ball over a bit too much this season. 6 tonight actually. He needs to try and take care of the ball a bit more for the team to reach the level they can. 12 of 19 shots was really good and I hope he keeps it in that range this season. He can shoot cloer to 50% for the year if he chose his spots a little better.

Lamar turned it over 6 times too This year's team is good, everyone can score at least 2 out of 3 times... perhaps. But anyhow, my point is that Kobe's lucky he's got options for once and that along with better shot selection may mean that people will stop calling him a hog.

[[Q]]

Nice to see Kobe returning to his normal self.

it's pretty bad when you lose to Portland minus Roy. It didn't help when Phil put Sasha Vujacic and the other bench players in for a good 6-8 minutes at the end of the 3rd and to start the 4th. They lost the game there. as far as the bench goes, I think that Kwame coming back will screw up the chemistry they had the first few games.

another thought: I'm sick of people hyping the Lakers and jocking Kobe and the Lakers just because they had a good start. Starting the season 4-1 is really good, but people forget that 4 of the 5 games were against teams that won't make the playoffs.

As for Bynum tonight, he had a grand total of 2 points.


Didn't he foul out too? Anyways, he's young so he will have his ups and downs...

yeah he was in foul trouble the whole game.

btw, Zoom are you from So Cal? just curious because it sounds like you are watching all of these Laker games

[Jugs]

All I'd like to say is:

WOOP. .

[xman]

Nice to see Kobe returning to his normal self.

it's pretty bad when you lose to Portland minus Roy. It didn't help when Phil put Sasha Vujacic and the other bench players in for a good 6-8 minutes at the end of the 3rd and to start the 4th. They lost the game there. as far as the bench goes, I think that Kwame coming back will screw up the chemistry they had the first few games.

another thought: I'm sick of people hyping the Lakers and jocking Kobe and the Lakers just because they had a good start. Starting the season 4-1 is really good, but people forget that 4 of the 5 games were against teams that won't make the playoffs.

As for Bynum tonight, he had a grand total of 2 points.


Didn't he foul out too? Anyways, he's young so he will have his ups and downs...

yeah he was in foul trouble the whole game.

btw, Zoom are you from So Cal? just curious because it sounds like you are watching all of these Laker games

what´s your problem, if you don´t like it then you don´t have to read those topics.

[Zoom]

what´s your problem, if you don´t like it then you don´t have to read those topics.

No offence but you should shut up about that. Qballer is awesome to have in this thread He actually contributes to making some sort of discussion... and thoughts can be shared even if they are opposing views. A forum is for discussion and sharing opinions... not everyone agreeing on the same thing.

btw, Zoom are you from So Cal? just curious because it sounds like you are watching all of these Laker games

I wish. I'm just Aussie who reads lots into games and watches the highlights and try to imagine what them stats tell.. sort of an inquistory process for me to interpret games...

And man, the hype will just get heaps better when we are doing great by All-Star break courtesy of a ton of home games at the start... i emphasise on this fact... and then afterwards if we start to struggle away then people will start to not post or bash the team for poor performance. Me though, im always behind us... and so are a handful of other people I've seen here.

EDIT: Closest thing from SoCal I've seen is this dude I balled with who was wearing Trojans Shorts... is Torjans right? USC? Wait.. is USC Southern Cal?

And man, Kwame returning will mean that when Bynum is playing bad, Kwame will be ready to play. As of now he's not starting no more so we will see how it goes. I like Kwame more than Bynum... so keep on hating qballer!

[dada]

Didn't he foul out too? Anyways, he's young so he will have his ups and downs...

yes he did but the guy played 21 minutes and only hoisted 2 shots (1 he missed and another he was fouled on which I assume resulted in his 2 free throws). I'd expect him to get at least 5 or so solid looks at the basket in that amount of time on the floor.

Lamar turned it over 6 times too

I'm not too concerned about Lamar turning it over as I am Kobe. Lamar turning the ball over means that he is getting more touches in my book compared to years past so he cant complain (he still has to buckle down also but I'll give him a pass).

I feel like to get Kobe's Laker teammates to stick with him for the rest of the year and believe they will get touches he has no choice but to be more efficient with his possessions. He is currently averaging around 5 turnovers a game and if he maintains that average and starts increasing shots as we all know he will then the team wont be any better than last year.

The Lakers as a whole average like 19 turnovers a game and they have to start cutting that down, beginning with Kobe leading by example. They need to turn all the negatives into positives.





Anyways, looking forward to tonights game. Gonna try watching all of it even though I know I will be wasted for work tomorrow.