What? The Lakers haven't played them in a couple of months. Lakers just went 7-2 on a 9 game road trip. Best team in the league without bynum....just imagine when he comes back
I think he's talking about Ralph Sampson's slop shot from 15'. Come to think of it, you weren't even a twinkle in your daddy's eye then.
Joined: 01 Apr 2002 Posts: 2202 Location: Under the stairs 889 eGriz Bucks
GRZFTBL wrote:
SwiLLSaysKobe4MVP wrote:
AG2 wrote:
Lakers looked good against Houston didnt' they?
I know the Celtics did.
What? The Lakers haven't played them in a couple of months. Lakers just went 7-2 on a 9 game road trip. Best team in the league without bynum....just imagine when he comes back
I think he's talking about Ralph Sampson's slop shot from 15'. Come to think of it, you weren't even a twinkle in your daddy's eye then.
if thats the case... weak!
"Don't come here and complain about what you get for free."
~ACG (eGrizzer)
"We can't come in and 'play a good game'. It's not acceptable. Only thing that's acceptable is, you gotta win."
~WSU coach, Ron McBride
Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 163 Location: The Zoo 583 eGriz Bucks
Quote:
PHOENIX (AP) - Kobe Bryant spoiled Shaquille O'Neal's debut with Phoenix. The Suns believe with the big guy just getting started, there are better days ahead.
Bryant, despite his dislocated right pinkie, scored 41 points to help the Lakers to an intense 130-124 victory over Phoenix on Wednesday night.
Lakers newcomer Pau Gasol added 29, including a breakaway dunk that put Los Angeles up 123-117 with 1:15 to play. Lamar Odom added 22 for the Lakers, who won their sixth in a row to move into a tie with Phoenix atop the Pacific Division.
O'Neal scored nine of his 15 points in the final quarter and grabbed nine rebounds in 29 minutes against his old team in his first game in nearly a month.
"I'm in better shape than I thought I was," he said, "the adrenaline factor and just being out there with the guys."
O'Neal came to the Suns a week ago in an unexpected trade that sent Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Miami. O'Neal played for the Lakers from 1996-2004.
"He did seem to get stronger as the game went on, which is incredible," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I did really think he'd run out of steam sometime in the second half, and he really didn't. Him not being used to anything that we do - 124 points - I didn't think we could put that many up, just starting out."
Amare Stoudemire had 37 points and 15 rebounds for Phoenix, while Steve Nash added 26 points and eight assists, and Leandro Barbosa and Grant Hill each had 17 points.
"I think everyone was excited for the game and to lose is difficult," Nash said, "but I think if you take a step back it's encouraging. I thought Shaquille was great, and I think the possibilities are very exciting."
The Lakers improved to 3-1 against the Suns, clinching the season series and knocking Phoenix out of a virtual tie with New Orleans for the best record in the West.
"The really important part of this is the season series," Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson said. "We now have an advantage if this is going to be a tight race as it's been. That's all you get out of a game like that: momentum, obviously, and some confidence for our team."
Bryant moved past David Robinson into 27th on the NBA's career scoring list.
"It was a familiar energy in the building," he said. "It felt like a playoff-type of environment. It was fun to be a part of."
O'Neal's debut came against the team he led to three NBA titles, and the visitors were in control most of the way.
Los Angeles, which routed Atlanta on Tuesday night at home, led by as many as 13 in the first half and was up 65-57 at the break.
Phoenix finally caught up when O'Neal forced a turnover, then scored on a short hook inside to make it 87-87 with 2:31 left in the period. Gasol's hook shot at the buzzer gave Los Angeles a 95-91 lead entering the fourth.
After Bryant's layup made it 105-97, rookie D.J. Strawberry twice passed to Barbosa for breakaway layups, then drew an offensive foul against Bryant. Stoudemire followed with a three-point play and Phoenix led for the first time since the early minutes 107-106 with 7:26 remaining.
The Lakers came back, though, and Gasol's three-point play with 5:43 left capped a 9-2 spurt to put Los Angeles ahead 115-108 5:43 from the end. But O'Neal scored the next six points, the last two on a goaltending call against Bryant, to cut it to 115-114. O'Neal sprinted to the defensive end of the floor after the two points.
Bryant scored inside to put Los Angeles up 117-114 with 4:04 to play. Moments later, O'Neal slammed teammate Raja Bell in the head with an elbow, forcing the Suns guard out of the game. O'Neal made one of two free throws to cut the lead to 117-115 with 3:40 to go.
Bryant's 19-footer made it to 119-115 with 2:50 to go, but Nash's two free throws, on Derrick Fisher's fifth foul, cut the lead to 119-117 with 1:49 remaining.
Odom got free for a layup, Gasol got his breakaway, and it was over.
Notes
O'Neal dived out of bounds for a loose ball late in the third, taking referee David Guthrie down in the process. ... Stoudemire had 11 rebounds in the first half. ... Lakers coach Phil Jackson used 10 players in the first half. ... O'Neal's previous three teams (Orlando, the Lakers and Miami) were 3-0 in his debuts. ... Phoenix is home against Atlantic Division leader Boston on Friday night and Central Division leader Detroit on Sunday.
Team Leaders as of 2/21/08
PPG Kobe Bryant 28.1
RPG Andrew Bynum 10.2
APG Kobe Bryant 5.2
STL/G Trevor Ariza 0.9
FG% Andrew Bynum .636
3PM Kobe Bryant 94
FT% Derek Fisher .877
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Lake Show looked good last night. Don't watch too much NBA anymore but was curious about this game.
The Lakers bench is huge (as in good), deeper than I would have imagined. Shaq looked decent, better than I thought he would. I'm sure he was pumped up for this game.
Joined: 06 Nov 2006 Posts: 926 Location: Great Falls 1660 eGriz Bucks
With so much interest in the recent trades involving Pau Gasol, Shaquille O'Neal and Jason Kidd, Bryant said the Jazz's climb up the Western Conference standings had caught his attention. The Jazz came into Friday trailing the Lakers by two games.
"All the media hype, obviously, it's easy to overlook a team like Utah because they're in Utah,'' Bryant said. "But the reality is they play great basketball, and so we as a basketball team understand how tough they are. I'm sure everybody else does as well."
I'm just saying they're pretty hot right now...hopefully they can keep it up.
Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 163 Location: The Zoo 583 eGriz Bucks
Quote:
Kobe Bryant established the tone for this season from opening night: He's going for his fourth championship instead of his third consecutive NBA scoring title.
Bryant got 11 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and the Los Angeles Lakers held Portland to 36 percent field goal shooting, beating the Trail Blazers 96-83 Tuesday night for their ninth straight victory. The 10-time All-Star added nine rebounds and seven assists.
"The real value of a super player is that he makes other players better," coach Phil Jackson said. "You can see the apparent emphasis of Kobe's game to get other people involved and make the rest of his team better."
Second-year backup point guard Jordan Farmar tied a career high with 21 points for the Lakers, who lead the Western Conference by one game over San Antonio and Phoenix and are 40-17, just two wins behind last season's total with 25 games to play. Pau Gasol had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
"We have, in my estimation, the best bench in the league," Bryant said. "Guys come in and do an extremely good job of playing, moving the basketball, knocking down shots and just playing extremely well."
The Lakers have won nine championships in Los Angeles, finishing with the best record in the West the first seven times they won it all. The last two times they captured the title, they were second in the conference in 2001 and tied for second in 2002. The Lakers were the best in the West in seven other seasons without winning a title, losing four times in the finals. So winning a conference title doesn't necessarily guarantee a ring.
"I have not mentioned it to them. I've just talked about home-court advantage and what we want to do in terms of getting ourselves in position to compete in the playoffs," Jackson said.
"It's all about what team you're going to match up well against, then start to analyze the teams that are going to be in your bracket and see what your chances are. I think almost every team in our conference that's going to make the playoffs in the bottom ranking is going to say, 'We've got a good chance against the team above us."'
LaMarcus Aldridge led Portland with 24 points and Joel Pryzbilla tied a season high with 16 rebounds.
The Trail Blazers converted their first 21 free throws before Martell Webster missed both attempts with 1:33 remaining. But the undermanned Blazers shot under 40 percent from the field for the 10th time this season and the sixth time in their last 16 games. Coach Nate McMillan was ejected with 3:05 to play after arguing about a foul.
The Blazers have lost eight of their last nine and 15 of 22 following a 17-1 surge. As a result, they are only one game over .500 (29-28) in the tightly bunched West, where the top nine teams are separated by just 6 1/2 games. Portland is in 10th place, 4 1/2 games behind Denver and 5 1/2 behind Golden State for the eighth and final seed.
"We did some good things the first half of the season, but that's the first half," McMillan said. "The second half is going to be a huge challenge for us to try and win games going down the stretch and get our team to play well as a unit. It's a long season, and part of what we're doing here is trying to teach these guys how to get through an 82-game schedule playing at this level and with this type of intensity, mentally and physically."
Travis Outlaw, who led the Blazers in scoring in each of their previous four games while averaging 23 points, had 18 against the Lakers in his first start of the season. All-Star forward Brandon Roy, who aggravated a sprained right ankle in the third quarter of Sunday's 112-102 loss against Boston, was back in Portland getting an MRI exam.
The Lakers erased a 15-point first-quarter deficit and took a 67-65 lead into the fourth on Ronny Turiaf's 3-point play. They pulled away with a 14-2 run capped by Farmar, whose 3-pointer and layup gave them an 81-71 lead with 5:54 left. Portland got as close as 84-79, but the Lakers closed it out with a 12-4 spurt.
Jackson believes the return of Derek Fisher has made Farmar a better and more confident player.
"I think he's really encouraged Jordan to play well and hasn't made it competitive to that it's a battle out there between the two of them," Jackson said. "I think Derek really values the fact that he can share the time with Jordan and give him some instruction and information and continually help him know the league and the players."
Notes: A win Thursday against lowly Miami would give the Lakers their 21st double-digit winning streak in franchise history and their 17th since moving from Minneapolis to Los Angeles - including an NBA-record 33-game run in 1971-72. .. Portland was outscored 23-14 in the third quarter, the seventh time in eight games it had fewer than 20 points in that period. ... The Lakers and Blazers, who faced each other for the first time this season, have a rematch on Friday at Portland after the Blazers spend another night at Staples Center playing the Clippers. They have lost eight straight to the Clippers in Los Angeles. ... Lakers F Vladimir Radmanovic missed his second game with a right calf strain.
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Joined: 01 Apr 2002 Posts: 2202 Location: Under the stairs 889 eGriz Bucks
Gotta love it when you have Lamar Odom as your third option.
Pau is keeping defenses honest. His game can come from outside or inside. Without a problem.
When Bynum returns and regains game shape, the Lakers may very well have the best big man tandem in the league. Both 7-footers. And we can't forget Mihm and Mbenga. Also 7-footers. I doubt the latter two make the active roster any time this season.
"Don't come here and complain about what you get for free."
~ACG (eGrizzer)
"We can't come in and 'play a good game'. It's not acceptable. Only thing that's acceptable is, you gotta win."
~WSU coach, Ron McBride
got 10 in a row. and did you see that incredible play in the 3rd quarter?
kobe no look pass to walton, who was about 40 feet downcourt, then walton behind the back to odom streaking down the middle of the floor and finishes with big slam. that'll be on the highlight reel for years. the whol play took about 1.2 seconds. bing, bang, boom.
Quote:
Extra time
The Lakers or Phil Jackson have been in the NBA Finals every leap year since 1980:
1980 Lakers 1996 Bulls
1984 Lakers 2000 Lakers
1988 Lakers 2004 Lakers
1992 Bulls
Los Angeles Times
Joined: 01 Apr 2002 Posts: 2202 Location: Under the stairs 889 eGriz Bucks
getgrizzy wrote:
and did you see that incredible play in the 3rd quarter?
kobe no look pass to walton, who was about 40 feet downcourt, then walton behind the back to odom streaking down the middle of the floor and finishes with big slam. that'll be on the highlight reel for years. the whol play took about 1.2 seconds. bing, bang, boom.
just to add to 'awesome' factor... Kobe was chasing down a loose ball, saw Walton streaking downcourt in his peripheral and talent did the rest...
"Don't come here and complain about what you get for free."
~ACG (eGrizzer)
"We can't come in and 'play a good game'. It's not acceptable. Only thing that's acceptable is, you gotta win."
~WSU coach, Ron McBride
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