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Yep, they will need to finish the month *strong* to climb back into the playoff hunt. Dwight came back sooner than I thought he would so there is a glimmer of hope.
The way they've played in the last two games, the Lakers can easily go .500 in the next 8.
Kobe's actually hustling on D, putting pressure on point. This puts the ball into someone else's hands; Dwight in the lane and every one else just has to cover spots.
There seems to be a better "groove." I think Dwight is getting healthier and you can see it in his legs.
Clark is still doing well; he's like a better Jordan Hill...at least in some aspects.
Jamison is still kinda hot and cold, although he's hot right now.
Again the Lakers just need consistency; Dwight needs to keep on playing and get better, and Kobe needs to realize that sharing the ball and playing D wins games.
The way they've played in the last two games, the Lakers can easily go .500 in the next 8.
Kobe's actually hustling on D, putting pressure on point. This puts the ball into someone else's hands; Dwight in the lane and every one else just has to cover spots.
There seems to be a better "groove." I think Dwight is getting healthier and you can see it in his legs.
Clark is still doing well; he's like a better Jordan Hill...at least in some aspects.
Jamison is still kinda hot and cold, although he's hot right now.
Again the Lakers just need consistency; Dwight needs to keep on playing and get better, and Kobe needs to realize that sharing the ball and playing D wins games.
Kobe has always played D. It was the coach that had them in a different set-up and he's come to his senses that nash and MWP are getting torched. So this is an adjustment to team defense.
However, these weren't strong teams the Lakers beat. They have to start beating the Denvers, Golden States, Utah and Houston because those are the teams holding the 5-8 slots and every loss is a full game drop to that team.
I can see them going 2-4 their next 6 games and if that happens they will have likely slid back to 4 games out of the playoffs or so.
saw something yesterday about robert horry saying how kobe doesnt play THAT GOOD of defense.
also hmmmmmm kobe went 8-25 and no other laker took more then 11 shots, lakers lose......... theme?
Kobe's D in recent years has declined mostly in relation to his aging. As Jordan aged they used him more heavily on offense and let Pippen bulldog the other teams main scorer.
However, last night I heard an analyst say before the game something about how Kobe really gets up for these big games and I thought to myself "that's why they are going to lose". He took 4 shots in the paint the entire night. Lakers scrubs shot their brains out from 3-pt range or the game would have been a blowout....even still they lost by 9.
Main reason the Lakers lost was their bad defense let Miami shoot 48%....and only caused 6 TO's. Meanwhile, the Lakers had 20 TO's, Kobe had as many as the entire Heat squad.
P.S. Dwight missed too many FT's but then again he generated alot of that off the boards and finished with a 13-16 night needing only 7 shots. So of course....it's all his fault.
TO's, lack of putting the ball inside to Dwight (a testament to the Heat's great D) and Kobe having an "off" night, is why they lost that game.
Laker's D in spurts looked nice. They limited the Heat to 15pts. in the 2nd quarter. After the half they gave up almost 30. :hitsforehead:
Towards the end the Heat doubled Nash and the pick and roll was done.
Again the D is looking better. The OPPG average (for the last 3 games) even with the turnovers is still around 93pts.
It was really a great game for the majority of the time. Games like these show me that the Lakers still are a playoff caliber team, but it is turning out to be too little too late.
TO's, lack of putting the ball inside to Dwight (a testament to the Heat's great D) and Kobe having an "off" night, is why they lost that game.
Laker's D in spurts looked nice. They limited the Heat to 15pts. in the 2nd quarter. After the half they gave up almost 30. :hitsforehead:
Towards the end the Heat doubled Nash and the pick and roll was done.
Again the D is looking better. The OPPG average (for the last 3 games) even with the turnovers is still around 93pts.
It was really a great game for the majority of the time. Games like these show me that the Lakers still are a playoff caliber team, but it is turning out to be too little too late.
PPG is a meaningless stat that is largely impacted by tempo and you are conveniently referencing just 3 games which includes the previous 2 scrub team victories.
Heat shot 48.2% that's bad defense.
They let OKC shoot >50%.....
Lakers are #16 of 30 teams in opponents FG%. Not good.
(Lakers are #26 of 30 in opponents PPG.) Ouchie.
Lakers have no D and no bench. Maybe they can crawl into the playoffs but no one is scared of them.
Well I figured Toronto was a 'winnable' game for LA, guess not. Up next Chicago and Memphis, with OKC next weekend. Its not getting any easier....
No it isn't and in a VERY abnormal occurrence .500 is the 8th seed in the west when normally you need to be >.550
Houston goes on a 7 game skid and the Lakers are still 3 games behind them.
I'd LOVE to be a fly on the wall and hear some comments from Magic, Phil Jackson, Mr. Buss and some of the management as to what might go down with this team in terms of Dwight, trades etc.
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