Lakers vs Spurs

[.]

Here are a few keys I noticed, which the Lakers really should improve next game

- Shaq shouldnt let Rahso Nesterovic get in the front of him in the offense, most turnovers came from high lobpasses over Rasho.

- Kobe needs to stop shooting those hard fallaway shots from 20ft. No one can stop him when he is driving to the rim, and he can either get a simple score, draw the foul, or find a open teammate.

- Tim Duncan can shoot from anywhere, so there is no need to relax once you have stopped him from getting the ball in the lowpost. Ill say be on him wherever hes dangerous.

- When Shaq gets the ball, he should go to the rim with power like he used to do, great example was when he had that offensive rebound in the second quarter, and was trying 2 times to put it back in but he missed it all the time, he was close enough to dunk the basketball, and he would also draw a foul when he did that.

-Dont let Tony Parker run like that, atleast show some effort that you are willing to slow him down

-The ending seconds of a quarter still are part of the game, so that doesnt mean that you can just stop playing defense and give them a chance to make a basket, the same thing happend against Houston in round 1.

-Get a early lead, the Lakers are 1 of the worst teams in the league to contain a lead untill the fourth quarter, they have lossed more games because of that.

[Ben-le-ouf]

How unlucky I am! I did not see this game.
However, here's my opinion about a few things that were posted.

Kobe Bryant did good.... Malone/Shaq were bad but not as bad as the 'Glove'... wat the helll - he has not appearred in any games this postseason! It's ridiculoucs- wats happened to Gary Payton????

Gary Payton: What is he a 12 year old rookie? What the hell was he doing out there? We understand he has a big ego, but this was huge. Come on. Get with it, it's the playoffs man.

I'm sure Payton can still play at a very high level. The problem is that he doesn't have a lot of opportunities to show his talent. Payton needs time and the ball in his hands very much to make his game express itself. He's not like Bobby Jackson who can explode on very short periods of time.

I don't know but my theory is Payton never won w/ the Sonics because he choked in playoff games like this... Cmon Gary. Did he get any points?

Payton did everything when he was in Seattle. They lost when he played bad, they won when he played good. With Payton, the sonics were a good team... Look at what they are now...

[air gordon]

randomn thoughts

someone drove past bryant?! pigs must be flying! hell froze over! cats hanging out with dogs!

it's kind of different when you face a big men who is trying to get double teamed

i'm beginning to think the only reason payton is starting is because fisher isn't healthy enough to play a lot of minutes. it's not a matter of utilizing payton- his type of game does not work against the spurs defense and his defense is just as lacking shaq's ft shooting.

shaq is the hardest post player to front (i'm sure al michaels will be the first person to let you know that) because he'll burn you time and time again with the mini backdoor lob. i thought this strategy was risky but i guess i underestimated rasho's strength and the spurs help defense from their perimeter players.

malone cannot guard duncan. that crap i heard of him using his cliche veteran saviness to stop yao ming won't work. malone's only defense is him swiping at the ball and both he and duncan know this.

while laker optimists will say that this is only one game and that they will make adjustments. i would like to counter and say bowen was in early foul trouble, the spurs shooting a poor ft percentage was what kept LA in the game, and key role players turkoglu and horry went scoreless.

there were some good articles by stein and bucher on espn.

the membership bet parctipants who chose the lakers just took a step closer to ledge

[beau_boy04]

Did you see the game last night? if not the spurs won the game!!!! =(

Check out these stats:

G Payton 1/8 FG, 3 ASST

Kobe 31 pts.

T Parker 20 pts, 9 asst, 8/19

T Duncan 13/19, 30 pts, 11 rebs

Analysis:
Lakers

Shaq: apparently age is catching up with him. He's not being the Shaq that I know of.

Kobe: had a great game despite the great defense by Bowen and Ginobili.

Payton: 1/8 fg? come on now! you're a future hall of famer and you're gonna let a 21 y/o kiddo beat you like that? One of the main keys for LA if they want to win this series is Payton. He's got to step up his game. His assists/per game in regular season was 5.5 which is 2nd second in his career. Of course his playing time is the 2nd lowest as well. What a coincidence huh? But come on you had Shaq, Kobe and Malone and you're numbers are so lame. By the way I hate the way you chew your gum -- it makes you look so cocky.

Malone: The man is 40y/o and I admired his desire and will to win his 1st championship and he had a great series against the Rockets but now he's facing Duncan which is just too much for him (according to the 1st game)

Rest of team: lack of defense, transition defense. I remenber one part of the game when Shaq was being retarded and didnt get back on defense on time and he got busted by Nestorovic for 2 easy quick points. Come on show me some desire and will because I'm not seeing too much of any of those ingredients in the Lakers.

Note: my man Michael Jordan in one of his game as a Wizards he was diving for the ball and the rest of his teammate were just standing there looking at him. This show me how competitive MJ was and how mediocre the rest of his Wizards was.

Spurs:

Duncan; what can I say? I never liked this man because he couldn't dunk like Dominique Wilkins and he couldn't do any flashy things on the court but the man is so skilled fundamentally and thats why he is so good. By the way his look is so humble! I wish he could give some of that to Gary Payton =)

Ginobili: oh my gosh, how much can you do Ginobili? you're just starting your career and I see a great future ahead of you. Keep up the good work.

Parker: people are saying he's only 21 and he's too young ( MJ was 21 when he entered the league). I'm not saying he will be the next MJ but just showing you an interesting fact. If he plays the whole serie the way he played in the first game, he's going to get the best outta Payton. As a matter of fact if Payton keeps playing like that he might of as well just retire by the end of this season.

Conclusion:

I have to admit that I'm a Lakers fan but the Spurs are going to win this series and the championship. I'm so sorry for Karl Malone because the championship ring has being avoiding him for his whole career and I dont think he's gonna get it this season.

Thank you for your time =)

[beau_boy04]

What is up with this ? -- Posted: Tue May 04, 2004 7:26 am

Today is Monday May 03, 2004 4:32 pm.
By the way I live in the US.

Is this site being managed by people from Australia or something?

Thanks.

[magius]

yup. andrew is aussie.

the only way the lakers can win is if each and every single one of them plays at 110% throughout the entirety of the game. duncan will not be stopped, parker will not be stopped. why wont parker be stopped? because no one on the lakers can even come close to stopping francis, mobley or bibby, they dont have a great perimiter defender. they wont stop parker unless shaq plays the intimidating interior defense he sometimes can, but i think his knees are giving.

for payton to have an impact on a game he has to be the true point and he has to control the ball. with kobe around, this is not going to happen even if jax wants it to. play him when kobes not on the floor.

if the lakers are going to beat the spurs they will have to come together as a unit and play team basketball, which is doubtful.

the only other way is if shaq reammerges as the shaq of old, but thats doubtful against the likes of duncan who could handle the shaq of old. you almost have to feel sorry for shaq-- facing the only two players in the whole league that can either outplay him or in yaos case tire or nullify him.

[Andrew]

What is up with this ? -- Posted: Tue May 04, 2004 7:26 am

Today is Monday May 03, 2004 4:32 pm.
By the way I live in the US.

Is this site being managed by people from Australia or something?

Thanks.

Indeed. The forum and news posting software are both set to GMT +10.

[Macca]

yup. andrew is aussie.

And if anyone has a problem with him being an Aussie, you can sort it out with me... just j/k

This will be a close one I think, it could run the Spurs way or it could go the Lakers way. Both have decent lineups

C: Shaq...........Rasho
PF: Mailman......Timmy
SF: Goerge.......Horry
SG: Bryant.......Manu
PG: Glove.........Parker

Something like that, plus you've got bench players and rookies, it's going to be a hard fought battle. I actually don't want either teams to win. I think it's someone elses turn. Someone form the East. Lakers would maybe win, if they played like a team, and knuckled down on the D, otherwise it could swing into Spurs territory, where they will hurt you, again and again. Maybe another 2 games played will tell a better story, clearer picture...

Macca

[Ben-le-ouf]

I have to admit that I'm a Lakers fan but the Spurs are going to win this series and the championship. I'm so sorry for Karl Malone because the championship ring has being avoiding him for his whole career and I dont think he's gonna get it this season.

that makes me remember Barkley going to Houston in 1997. The Rockets were trying to get back their title by doing very big trades. But it did not work.. The same thing seems to happen for Malone and the lakers.

[guillus2670]

Almost 3 am in france here and cant wait for the game to start
I hope lakers will win with kobe leading the team

[Jackal]

It's 3.47 a.m. & I'm following it from ESPN Game cast.

Shaq with ten, still behind. Parker on a scoring frenzy.

Defence?

[Jeffx]

I lost count of how many times Tony P. broke the Laker point guards ankles - damn! Where's the Laker defense?

[.]

I guess they left it in Los Angeles, only down by 4 right now some how some way

[Jackal]

SA lead LA 2-0.

Good game, Parker kills the Lakers.

Nice game by O'Neal.

Let's go to LA.

*grumble* One step closer to losing membership. *grumble*

[Andrew]

I think Magius was right. My power to jinx teams has returned for the second round.

[air gordon]

what happened? i missed the game. oh wait i just saw the live telecast

i guess it's better that some fans just followed the game via gamecast. it wasn't a pretty one to watch if you were on the laker side

TNT mentioned this at the end:
out of 120 total series, only 7 teams have come back down 0-2
lakers haven't won a playoff game @SBC

to the participants, halfway home for both sides

[Bill Russell]

Parker KILLED the Lakers tonight, I saw the game on ESPN. Shaq played very well too. Malone a bit, Payton too. Kobe was a disappointed, and Bowen harassed him a lot, disrupted him.

Parker is i another level. He crossed George so bad, it must be move of the series. He looked like Iverson with a shot, really. Duncan did his usual. San Antonio shot like 35 FT's, while the Lakers sucked at drawing fouls.

Trust me, I dislike the Lakers, but I don't want to see the same team winning the title year in and year out. I want the Lakers to win the series, so that Lakers fans can get a little bit of hope, just for Sacramento to destroy them in the next round.

[Micchy_boy]

lakers in a big hole. another 4th quarter collapse!!!!

in my opinion the biggest shot of the game was hedou big 3 pts. at that point lakers was on a run and spurs lead down to 2. then kabooom hedou 3 a momentum killer.

[Fresh8]

Oh mannnn! I need to point out that LA has neva comeback 2-0 down to win a series...in team history- only once....

Back home now- i hope they work things out by next monday (Aussie Time!)

We really need Kobe/Shaq to play well....and the team to play in the 4th quater....and someone to stop Parker!

[magius]

now, now, lets not get too excited. all san antonio did was mantain home advantage. if they can win in la then they will have surpassed my expections. and lets also remember that most of the times la had home court advantage to begin with so they didnt go down 0-2 very often. that said, i dont think jax's mental games can compare with pops basketball genius, so i think that anything jax will come up to counter pop will be thought of ahead by pop and effectively countered. to win the lakers need all 4 all stars and the role players to play the best they possibly can in the same game to win. that hasnt happend for a whole game all year, but it may still. they have to play a perfect game to beat a perfect system because the lakers rely to much on talent. the spurs have to just play spur basketball no matter what happens, pop has to get them ready because game 3 will be a frenzy, i hope the lakers will get it together to make it more competitive, but right now they look wary more than hungry.

being talent rich is all well and good, but when it comes down to it the team with the best player usually wins, and duncan is the best player in this series by far.

andrew, where were you in houston? where were you in houston..... *shakes head*. you dissapoint me.

[Andrew]

andrew, where were you in houston? where were you in houston..... *shakes head*. you dissapoint me.

The jinx was in effect in the first round, but I think it hit B Diddy and the Hornets instead.

[magius]

you've lost a step, andrew. you've lost a step. one round? one series! only!!!! pathetic......

[Matt]

Spurs keep homecourt, but also have a mental edge over the Lakers

[hmm]

HEY k08e4mvp Better make it 0-2 SON !!!

[-BHZMAFIA-]

im loving the way the lakers are fallen apart just like their players will fall apart next year.