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[KingJ2002]

I'm having a hard time understanding this. Kobe's still playing well, but he's Oldbe now and can't keep this up for the duration of the season, Pau's sitting out there in no man's land and it's clearly irritating him that he's being asked to be a stretch four, Dwight can't shoot free throws for shit and will always be a liability in the fourth quarter, Nash doesn't play defense, and the bench is too inconsistent. MWP is pretty nice overall, but that's about it.

Please don't speak as if the Lakers were coming in hopeless this season.

Please don't speak as if their starting lineup is not one of the best starting units ever assembled

Please don't speak as if their bench didn't improve as well

As a team... these great players... all of them... just can't find their groove together...

the high turnovers show that.
the confusion on the defense shows that.

the bi-polar performance shows it as well... from all stars one night... to mitch getting ready to bring out the TNT the other night.

It's frustrating watching this team.

...

Conspiracy Theory:
I wonder if Orlando got this win as part of the trade deal.

 

[shira]

They will move him next year and likely fire D'antoni as well. The writing is on the wall the secret is who bites in Pau's expiring.

Bargs and Jose
for
Metta and Pau

 

[linsivvi]

Yeah, like I said. I'll give em 1 post-Nash month and make my judgment then.

The one positive thing is that Mike Brown clearly had no idea how to use Nash (How can a coach not know how to use Nash though), so Nash didn't look too hot in the few games he played. This will definitely change when he comes back. So even though I don't like Antoni, this is the thing I can see working in favor for us.

Meanwhile, let the haters hate, they deserve it after the moves the Lakers made in the off season, and the chicken littles chicken.

 

[BobLoblaw]

Please don't speak as if the Lakers were coming in hopeless this season.

I never claimed they were hopeless. They've just proven themselves to be overrated at this point compared to the top 5 teams in the west, which they aren't a part of.

Please don't speak as if their starting lineup is not one of the best starting units ever assembled

It isn't when compared to other starting line ups. Dwight is great, but all of that greatness is offset by his inability to shoot free throws. Kobe is older and we can't expect his production to remain consistent throughout the entire season into the playoffs. Nash is old and can't play defense. Pau has looked out of place for the last two seasons and so far, he hasn't shown any improvement at all. MWP is a great all around player and I don't have any objections to him or what he brings.

Please don't speak as if their bench didn't improve as well

Their bench has gone from being shit to slightly better than shit. Hill and Jamison are pretty solid, but Meeks is inconsistent, Blake is awful, and Duhon bring practically nothing.

As a team... these great players... all of them... just can't find their groove together...

I wouldn't use the word great when describing any player other than Kobe, Dwight, and maybe MWP at this point. Everyone else ranges from good (at times) to awful. If this team can't find their "groove," then it's not up to us to make excuses for them. It's up to them to get their shit together, which they haven't shown the ability to do at this point. It's not too early for us to judge them based on what we've seen in both the pre-season and the regular season. They don't appear to have the will to make whatever adjustments they have to to win. It's that simple. Yes, they've had a lot of bad cards dealt to them (new coach, new system, no Nash, etc.), but these are supposed to be professionals, and if they can't do things as basic as shoot free throws or block out, or run basic defensive schemes, then I (and may others) reserve the right to criticize them as much as I want.

 

[iamshadowlark]

So did the fountain of youth and the 3pt wells run dry?

 

[Emwitus]

So did the fountain of youth and the 3pt wells run dry?

Kobe remembered he can kome, Nash is injured and dwight was a sideways move from bynum. I stand by my prediction that lakers exit in the first round.

 

[KingJ2002]

I never claimed they were hopeless. They've just proven themselves to be overrated at this point compared to the top 5 teams in the west, which they aren't a part of.

I wouldn't call the Lakers overrated... after all Steve Nash is not in the lineup nor is steve blake.

isn't when compared to other starting line ups. Dwight is great, but all of that greatness is offset by his inability to shoot free throws. Kobe is older and we can't expect his production to remain consistent throughout the entire season into the playoffs. Nash is old and can't play defense. Pau has looked out of place for the last two seasons and so far, he hasn't shown any improvement at all. MWP is a great all around player and I don't have any objections to him or what he brings.

The Lakers don't need to be the greatest defensive team to be title contenders. They just need to stay efficient on the offense while maintaining solid defense... even if it's middle of the road. Pau plays soft and it hurts the lakers... the 4 is the lakers weak-point on defense due to this issue with Pau... Jamison has been doing a great job rebounding but he's not a great defender either.

bench has gone from being shit to slightly better than shit. Hill and Jamison are pretty solid, but Meeks is inconsistent, Blake is awful, and Duhon bring practically nothing.

Meeks inconsistency comes from the coaching inconsistency and lack of minutes... he's clearly a under-utilized shooter. Jamison is getting back into the swing of things and Hill always brings his energy for rebounds and cleaning up the boards... Sure our bench is stuffed with weak PG's but i believe the lakers have great backups at the 2, 4, and 5... and that to me says... decent.

wouldn't use the word great when describing any player other than Kobe, Dwight, and maybe MWP at this point. Everyone else ranges from good (at times) to awful. If this team can't find their "groove," then it's not up to us to make excuses for them. It's up to them to get their shit together, which they haven't shown the ability to do at this point. It's not too early for us to judge them based on what we've seen in both the pre-season and the regular season. They don't appear to have the will to make whatever adjustments they have to to win. It's that simple. Yes, they've had a lot of bad cards dealt to them (new coach, new system, no Nash, etc.), but these are supposed to be professionals, and if they can't do things as basic as shoot free throws or block out, or run basic defensive schemes, then I (and may others) reserve the right to criticize them as much as I want.

I don't know what's going on in that Locker room... on paper... this is a great team... but something is off and it's effecting the lakers performance.

I'll reserve my judgement until Steve Nash arrives.

 

[Pkaz01]

wait

wait.

the Magic won?

bwahahahaha

I just woke up and this is the exact same thing i said 40 pts in the 4th? Oh lawd

 

[AlphaSnake]

The Magic won?

Holy shit. Hahahaha

 

[THRILLH0]

This is just the setup for Nash stealing a third MVP from Kobe.

 

[linsivvi]

"Put your big boy pants on."

LOL. That phase is going to get some use.

Full quote:

"Put your big boy pants on. Just adjust," he said. "You can't whine about it. I'm 34 years old. I'm running screen-and-rolls out there. Steve [Nash] is out and my [tail] is running up and down the court more than I have my entire career. You have to adjust to it. I stay after practice and work on my ball-handling, my screen and roll."

 

[SamuraiX-]

Like we don't already have enough chucking, guard-type variants on this team as it is.

 

[Nori Chan]

it's like knux and samurai are the same person....


I've never seen them in the sane room before...

 

[Branduil]

I blame Mike Brown.

 

[Westlo]

lmao @ losing to the Magic.

So where are the people who love to say,

"Where are the Lakers haters now!?!?"

 

[Branduil]

Mark Cuban will bludgeon David Stern to death with a large trout will wearing a ballerina costume before he lets Lamar Odom within 10 feet of the organization.

 

[Zeus Molecules]

Conspiracy Theory:
I wonder if Orlando got this win as part of the trade deal.

Arguably that would.be the highest value piece they got for dwight ....

And makes what Philly got look even worse since a win cant be injury prone and stupid.

 

[aznpxdd]

Mark Cuban will bludgeon David Stern to death with a large trout will wearing a ballerina costume before he lets Lamar Odom within 10 feet of the organization.

You know you want that Fish & Odom 1 2 punch.

Dat championship experience.

 

[bjb]

"Let Dwight be Dwight. If he wants to walk off the court, it's cool," said Davis, who overlapped with Howard only last season in Orlando. "No hard feelings. He lost. I'd feel bad, too. I wouldn't want to shake nobody's hand. We weren't even really thinking about him. We just wanted to get this win. I didn't talk to him. I'm here to play basketball. I'm not here to be buddies."

I love it. What an embarrassing loss for the Lakers.

 

[Blackace]

Speaking of Cuban anyone post his comments about the fine?

"My opinion is, if it wasn't a Thursday night TV game, nothing would have happened," Cuban said, according to The Dallas Morning News. "But the league as a whole gets all of our money from TV. And you never know what the inflection point is between your customer thinking they have a good deal and a bad deal.

"And if someone tunes in and doesn't see the main guys playing and tunes right back out and at the end of the year, if our TV partner says, if you'd have been .002 higher, we'd have hit our marker."

Cuban, who always has an eye on business, complementing his desire to put the best possible product on the court, understands what Popovich did . . . but he actually thinks the Spurs got off a little light when it came to the fine.

"Pop's the best coach in the league. I understand why he did it," Cuban said. "I might even take the fine if it was us. But I understand why the league did it. And it maybe should have been higher because the amount at stake is enormous.

"Rest your starters for the long haul? One game earlier, one game later? Sure. Rest them when you've got our biggest customer at stake, that's a whole different animal. I'm not saying the Mavs would do the same thing. But I'd realize it's a fine-able offense and for me, it'd probably be 10 times as much."

 

[iamshadowlark]

Speaking of Cuban anyone post his comments about the fine?

I think one of the worse problems about this is the conflicting messages from leadership. The fact that Silver had previously told pop he was legit for doing the same thing last year gives SA a case. I don't think their should have been nothing more than a warning.

 

[Blackace]

I think one of the worse problems about this is the conflicting messages from leadership. The fact that Silver had previously told pop he was legit for doing the same thing last year gives SA a case. I don't think their should have been nothing more than a warning.

Did he rest them during a national broadcasted game?

Don't remember..

 

[iamshadowlark]

Did he rest them during a national broadcasted game?

Don't remember..

I think it may have been a NBATV thing, I remember them talking about it, but naw it wasn't ESPN/TNT.

 

[Future PhaZe]

Lakers are weird

 

[Smokey]

So basically the Rockets are a better team than the Lakers.

Cool

 

[h3ro]

 

[Puddles]

I love it. What an embarrassing loss for the Lakers.

Why would you shake the hand of anyone who used the hack-a-_____ defense?

It's so cowardly, so anti-competitive, such a disgrace to the game of basketball and to the entire history of competitive sports. James Naismith would have punched Davis and the entire Magic roster and coaching staff in the dicks if he had been there last night.

Honestly, if Stern cares so much about his tv deals, he needs to ban this shit mid-season (fuck waiting until summer) and start fining the fuck out of any team who uses that tactic. It's just embarrassing.

In an ideal world, all the girls in the city would point and laugh at anyone who used the hack-a-_______ defense, and anyone who did it would never get laid. Heck, ideally, anyone who used it would be cursed, and his man parts would shrivel up and fall off, but that might be too much to ask for.

TL;DR: I wouldn't shake his hand, and no one who respects the game should do so either after the defecation he and the Magic placed on Naismith's grave last night.

 

[h3ro]

Why would you shake the hand of anyone who used the hack-a-_____ defense?

It's so cowardly, so anti-competitive, such a disgrace to the game of basketball and to the entire history of competitive sports. James Naismith would have punched Davis and the entire Magic roster and coaching staff in the dicks if he had been there last night.

Honestly, if Stern cares so much about his tv deals, he needs to ban this shit mid-season (fuck waiting until summer) and start fining the fuck out of any team who uses that tactic. It's just embarrassing.

In an ideal world, all the girls in the city would point and laugh at anyone who used the hack-a-_______ defense, and anyone who did it would never get laid. Heck, ideally, anyone who used it would be cursed, and his man parts would shrivel up and fall off, but that might be too much to ask for.

TL;DR: I wouldn't shake his hand, and no one who respects the game should do so either after the defecation he and the Magic placed on Naismith's grave last night.

 

[ph33nix]

TL;DR: I wouldn't shake his hand, and no one who respects the game should do so either after the defecation he and the Magic placed on Naismith's grave last night.

You want to know what would piss Naismith off even more and is actually more embarrassing? A professional basketball "superstar" who can't hit free throws.

 

[Zeus Molecules]

You want to know what would piss Naismith off even more and is actually more embarrassing? A professional basketball "superstar" who can't hit free throws.

Exactly... Stop crying

 

[GaimeGuy]

Why would you shake the hand of anyone who used the hack-a-_____ defense?

It's so cowardly, so anti-competitive, such a disgrace to the game of basketball and to the entire history of competitive sports. James Naismith would have punched Davis and the entire Magic roster and coaching staff in the dicks if he had been there last night.

Honestly, if Stern cares so much about his tv deals, he needs to ban this shit mid-season (fuck waiting until summer) and start fining the fuck out of any team who uses that tactic. It's just embarrassing.

In an ideal world, all the girls in the city would point and laugh at anyone who used the hack-a-_______ defense, and anyone who did it would never get laid. Heck, ideally, anyone who used it would be cursed, and his man parts would shrivel up and fall off, but that might be too much to ask for.

TL;DR: I wouldn't shake his hand, and no one who respects the game should do so either after the defecation he and the Magic placed on Naismith's grave last night.

You know what's a disgrace to the game of basketball?

Not being able to shoot free throws, while getting paid 8 figures a year as a "professional" at the highest level of competitive play.

That's a disgrace.

 

[ph33nix]

Exactly... Stop crying

It's Puddles...

"That's who he is, that's what he does!"

 

[ph33nix]

I guess we should take out intentional fouls at the end of games too. "You already lost, play within the time confines of the game and suck it up losers!"

 

[Knux-Future]

So basically no one won this trade.

I mean we have like the best record and our piece won't ever suit up for us.. Lol

 

[darkside31337]

Why would you shake the hand of anyone who used the hack-a-_____ defense?

It's so cowardly, so anti-competitive, such a disgrace to the game of basketball and to the entire history of competitive sports. James Naismith would have punched Davis and the entire Magic roster and coaching staff in the dicks if he had been there last night.

Honestly, if Stern cares so much about his tv deals, he needs to ban this shit mid-season (fuck waiting until summer) and start fining the fuck out of any team who uses that tactic. It's just embarrassing.

In an ideal world, all the girls in the city would point and laugh at anyone who used the hack-a-_______ defense, and anyone who did it would never get laid. Heck, ideally, anyone who used it would be cursed, and his man parts would shrivel up and fall off, but that might be too much to ask for.

TL;DR: I wouldn't shake his hand, and no one who respects the game should do so either after the defecation he and the Magic placed on Naismith's grave last night.

You know theres a really easy way for Dwight to stop hack-a-Dwight.

Just make the free throws.

 

[BobLoblaw]

You know what's a disgrace to the game of basketball?

Not being able to shoot free throws, while getting paid 8 figures a year as a "professional" at the highest level of competitive play.

That's a disgrace.

This. I mean it's really pathetic. Free throws NEVER change. Whether you're in high school, college, or the NBA, they don't change. You learn knew plays, new offensive schemes, new defensive rotations and stuff like that, but a free throw has always been a free throw, and as long as Howard shoots like shit, he's gonna keep being sent to the line to embarrass himself and his team.

 

[KingKong]

You know theres a really easy way for Dwight to stop hack-a-Dwight.

Just make the free throws.

or don't play him when a team does it. Not like Howard/Jamison can stop anyone from scoring anyway

 

[darkside31337]

or don't play him when a team does it. Not like Howard/Jamison can stop anyone from scoring anyway

Yeah thats true too.

Lakers gave up 31 points to Orlando in the final 6 minutes of the game last night. Just fucking mind boggling really and a much bigger problem then Dwight not hitting free throws.

 

[GaimeGuy]

LOL @ letting a team score 31 points on you in 6 minutes

 

[Adam Blade]

Bohaha.

 

[KingGondo]

There's a decent amount of pressure on OKC on Friday.

Usually we're just expected to be competitive against the Lakers, but now we're expected to win convincingly.

 

[CherryWoodFuton]

I think that was the first Puddles NBA Gaf post that didnt mention Lebron James

 

[Future PhaZe]

Does Orlando not realize that they are supposed to be tanking

 

[darkside31337]

Does Orlando not realize that they are supposed to be tanking

Obviously not. They have a lot of guys on the team who aren't very talented but play their asses off on a nightly basis. It's not a great tanking formula.

 

[Red Blaster]

lulz Afflalo will go back to not giving a shit tonight as we get shellacked by Top 3 western conference point guard Stephen Curry

 

[darkside31337]

lulz Afflalo will go back to not giving a shit tonight as we get shellacked by Top 3 western conference point guard Stephen Curry

Yeah I said a lot of guys.

Afflalo ain't one of them.

 

[LegendofJoe]

Yeah, Hennigan isn't going to keep that team together much longer. Anyone not on a rookie deal is likely going to be up for sale when the 15th of this month rolls around.

 

[darkside31337]

Yeah, Hennigan isn't going to keep that team together much longer. Anyone not on a rookie deal is likely going to be up for sale when the 15th of this month rolls around.

Meh I think Jameer isn't getting moved. And it'll be tough to move some of these deals. Hopefully somebody wants Big Baby!

Redick is a total lock to get shipped at some point. He's the biggest draw ticket wise though, the ladies love them some JJ, so he might not get moved till the deadline.

 

[Cloudy]

Lakers margin of loss commpared to FTs missed...

Dallas 8 (19 fts missed)
Portland 10 (6 fts missed)
Clippers 10 (8 fts missed)
@ Utah 9 (14 fts missed)
San Antonio 2 (8 fts missed)
Sacramento 16 (12 fts missed)
@ Memphis 8 (4 fts missed)
Indiana 2 (20 fts missed)
Orlando 10 (14 fts missed)

We are literally giving games away, folks. Even in games where the fts missed aren't as much or much more than the final margin, those games could have played out differently if we were within striking distance.

 

[ph33nix]

Hey Puddles!

http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/8705003/lebron-james-chosen-si-sportsman-year

MIAMI -- When LeBron James learned he was Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year, the Miami Heat star was surprised.

Not because he thought his achievements in 2012 weren't worthy, but because he figured what happened in 2010 was still holding him back.

Apparently, that's no longer the case. The magazine announced its annual choice Monday, with James becoming the first NBA player to win the award since Heat teammate Dwyane Wade in 2006.