KINGS -at- LAKERS - 1/1 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Starting Off the New Year with a Bang... It's a festive mood in the city. The price of water is low today. The Horsemen have returned from Cow Town with plenty of beef. (Rumor has it Cow Town wants payback, but that doesn't seem to concern anyone at the moment.)

You stroll through the street merchants, who pitch their usual wares. You're looking for something unique, a gift for your little friend. You spot something stacked on a back shelf next to some flashlights.

As you finish up your exchange, the alarm sounds. People scatter in all directions. The Horsemen, slumped atop their rides as if they are suffering from a hangover, slowly make their way down the street.

You follow them to the gates. Your little friend, the street urchin, is already there. You climb up to take in the battle next to her. The Horsemen are quickly getting routed and it's not pretty. "Hey, I got you something for ya," you tell her.

You hand her two Roman candles -- maybe not the best gift for a minor, but your pop raised you on old school values, which mostly consisted of flammable items or toys covered in lead paint.

Cow Town is at the gate. You light the candles and stand back. She grins from ear to ear. "V is for Victory!" She yells, holding up the Roman candles in each hand like the shape of a "V" as the stars launch into the night sky with a "whoosh...whoosh...whoosh..."

At that moment the Horsemen rally. Death delivers a single, decisive blow. The Horsemen have won. "Happy New Year, kid," you say.

Confetti swirls through the air, purple and gold clippings and streamers landing all around you. Something is printed on the clippings. It's DancingBarry:

The Horsemen were here. They stumbled out of the gates, but didn't give up. With their backs to the wall, they clawed and scratched their way into the fight. Their opponent had a chance to go for the kill, but failed. The Hand of Death, however, did not let the Horsemen down.

I will continue to track them.

P.S. Happy New Year.

Bang! Kobe Bryant just dropped another team at the buzzer, swishing a sideline three to take a 109-108 last-second win over the Kings. The shot left his hands with a tenth of a second remaining right in front of the Kings bench. Nothing but net.

Kobephobia had already set in for the Kings. Ime Udoka choked two freethrows with 4 seconds left to set up the Mamba's chance to go for the kill. The Kings looked like they knew what was coming when he rose up wide open in front of their bench.

"I got a good clean look. I just had to knock it down," Kobe said.

NBA ballers across the league were quick with the Tweets:

Chris Paul: "Ohhhhh dip!!!...somebody tell me he didn't miss both freethrows...don't he kno that boi Kobe Bean is ova there...good luck to em." Followed shortly by: "What did I say???"

Jared Dudley: "OMG Kobe does it again!"

Quentin Richardson: "Amazing just happened again!! KB24 at the buzzer for 3!! Crazy!!

Kevin Durant: "Kobe just added another game winner to his Resume."

Phil went to a play call that has come up big several times already for clutch scores this season (usually on the right side of the floor). The Lakers have been killing teams on a backscreen, split-type of sequence where two Laker guards come together, one going to the hoop, one coming from it. A backscreen is set, and the bigman with the ball finds the open player.

"It looked like they wanted to zone it up. Pau found Kobe on the over-top pass," Phil said. "It was a little different than we drew it up."

The Kings have had victories snatched from them with just seconds left in the last two meetings. The franchise has had some spectacular chokes against the Lakers.

Tonight, the Kings led by as many as 20 in the first half. The Lakers sleepwalking on both ends. L.A. flipped the switch at the break and dug themselves out of a hole. DFish stopped chucking shots. Lamar brought the energy and once again killed an opponent in the third quarter.

After a poor first half, Kobe caught fire. He and Lamar combined for 28 points in the third.

"It was a tough game for us with the holidays and so forth, coming here and playing," Kobe said. The Lakers were lucky to shake off that holiday funk. If they are going to beat the Mavs on Sunday, they are going to have to play all 48 minutes, not just a half.


Kobe -- -- Dude is throwing some serious knock-out punches. I see Kobe standing with arms raised like a heavy-weight fighter who has just K.O.'d another opponent. I'm sure the media will find ways to talk themselves out of voting Kobe for MVP. It's no contest at this point of the season, but that's the way it goes with Kobe. He's dropping huge games, all with a bandaged index finger on his shooting hand, but whatever. He's a polarizing figure whose legacy is unfolding before everyone's eyes. Some find it easier to turn away. The Lakers have been killing teams off backscreen plays in the final seconds of games. Kobe rocked Rodriguez on that screen and popped over to the sideline to take the pass from Pau and swish the game winner. After a very poor first half, Kobe sank 10-16 shots in the second half. He was on fire at the end of the third quarter and kept the pressure on in the fourth. He scored 27 points in the second half. How about that effort trying to chase down a missed three of his, getting up ended and soaring over a man to the floor in the corner? A scary moment, but he landed surprisingly well. Kobe played all but 46 seconds in this game. And the one rest he got, it seemed like Phil was crazy to take him out because his guns were smoking. Can't wait until Artest gets back. The Stats: He scored 39 points on 13-27 shooting (5-7 from three, 8-11 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 47:14. With minutes like that, he was a +1, of course. The Action: He missed a top-of-the-key jumper long on his first attempt. He swished a wide open elbow jumper off the split play. Horrible pass right to a King, not sure what he was looking at, layup the other way. He airballed a turnaround in the paint. He attacked the lane and dumped it off to Bynum for the dunk. He missed a wing jumper. He missed a runner trying to create in a crowd. He attacked left and banked high off the glass for an And-1, he made the FT. He missed a 20-footer. He missed a slow developing runner. He sank a pull-up three in transition. He missed a sideline jumper. He attacked the lane and drew FTs, he made both. He drew FTs on a two-for-one drive, he made both. He had 12 points on 3-11 shooting. Second Half: He swished a corner three off the Pau kickout. He pulled up and bricked a three on the next possession, transition points the other way (despite a great looking block attempt by Kobe). He missed a runner with his left. He threw a pass away trying to hit Bynum under the hoop. He missed an awkward leaping jumper from the wing. He sank a pull-up 18-footer. He sank a deep three when his man sagged off him. He attacked across the lane and swished a fallaway. He attacked across the lane to his left and drew FTs, he made one. He swished a pull-up from the wing. He popped out to the wing and took a kickout for a three. He lost the ball on a drive next time down. He missed a lefty runner. He scored 16 points on 6-10 shooting in the third. He hit Bynum on the screen-roll for a dunk. He missed a pull-up 17-footer. He drained a wing jumper to tie it up. As Joel is saying, "he's dancing," Kobe pulled up and swished a 17-footer. He drained a pull-up elbow jumper next time down. He was hit by Greene on a 22-footer, he made both. He iso'd with the shotclock low and drew FTs on the perimeter, he missed both. Then, he missed a three when we got the FT miss. He didn't take another shot during the final 2:28 until he rose up and swished the three from the left side, his heels near the sideline and a tenth of a second on the clock when it left his fingers.

Gasol -- -- Lost in the fireworks was some clutch play in crunch time by Pau. The Lakers got him the ball for a key And-1 off the glass with a minute left. They ran the offense through him a few times down the stretch. Good things usually happened. Good to see the one-two punch of Kobe/Pau mixing up combinations before the KO punch. The Kings had no answer for Pau all game. The Lakers guards were killing the team in the first half. They should have gone to the interior a lot more than they were. In fact, on most of the timeouts Phil was taking, he was calling for the ball in the post. Again and again. DFish had to be benched for Farmar and Brown, who did a better job not chucking. Great job on the glass again. Pau had his motor going tonight. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-12 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 16 boards (5 offensive), 4 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 40:30. He was a +7. The Action: He dunked following up a Lamar missed drive. He swished a face-up jumper from the left side. He pushed up the dribble, change directions at full speed and scored with his left. He was fouled on a post move and made both FTs. He faked a pass and hit a turnaround. He fumbled theball, dunk the other way. He missed a short turnaround. He was called for a travel when he attacked and didn't hit anything afte taking contact and got the ball back (ref should have let that go). He tipped in a Kobe miss. He backed his man down with ease, spun and scored an And-1 reverse, he missed the FT. He had 14 points on 6-9 shooting and 11 boards (5 offensive). Second Half: He kicked out to Kobe for a three. He missed a jumphook with his left. He hit Shannon off the baseline cut for a layup. He got tapped on a lefty jumphook. He missed a drive, looking for a foul, but LO cleaned it up. Great challenge on the other end to get a miss. He backed Hawes down and powered up an And-1 off the glass while yelling with 1:14 left, he made the FT.

Bynum -- -- Some better action from Bynum in this game. The Lakers ran a little two-man game with him, which we haven't seen much of. Bynum as fighting for low position and backing his men down to get closer looks around the hoop. That makes a huge difference in his post game and the results were there. Defensively, again the Lakers struggle a bit when you've got a perimeter shooting bigman on the other end. That two-man D with a shooting C is a continuing weakness. Still, the Laker held the Kings to 44 points in the second half. The real soft spot just seemed to be overall effort from the team on the defensive end, despite Hawes's new career high of 30 points. If they Lakers played that same defensive intensity in the first half, they would have likely blown out the Kings. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 7-12 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He hit Kobe on the split play for a layup. He airballed a jumphook or it slipped out of his hands and he was called for a travel when he got it back. He missed a jumphook on the baseline. He dunked off the Kobe drive and dish. He went after a DFish miss, grabbed it and dunked (good job pursuing the board). He missed a short jumphook. He got dunked on after trying to close out on his man and letting him run on by. He sank a FT jumper. He worked the pivot and powered in a layup on iso. He worked an up-and-under through a double team for a layup with his left. He had 10 points on 5-7 shooting and 1 board. Second Half: He missed an easy reverse dunk, uggh. He tipped an offensive board to LO for a score. He was called for a moving pick. He missed a FT jumper. He backed Hawes down with ease and hit the short jumphook. Hawes hit a three over him. He dunked off the screen-roll with Kobe. Looked like he was hit on a screen-roll, missing a sure layup or dunk. He backed his man down out of a timeout, drop stepped and drew FTs, he made both.

Lamar -- -- The triple-tower lineup was again effective, a +5 in this game. When Lamar is working in the paint and active, he just causes a lot of problems for opponents. When he coasts, he does the opponent a favor. He turned it on in that third quarter and was destroying the Kings for a stretch by himself. He scored 12 of his 20 points in the third. That Lamar makes the Lakers very tough to beat. Still, the Lakers problems in this game seemed to be more of an issue of attitude. "I think our problem is keeping our defensive intensity throughout the whole game," Lamar said afterward. "I think once we do that, I think the offense will take care of itself." The Lakers have been hanging their hat on the defensive end with Artest all season. Now we see the ridiculous numbers from opponents like that 64-point first half. Artest has a lot to do with our attitude and skill on D, but the team needs to look at themselves as set the tone early...with or without Ron. Lamar is very right about that intensity. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-11 shooting (2-3 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 10 boards (3 offensive), 3 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 35:37. He was a +6. The Action: He attacked with speed and missed, but Pau slammed it back in. He swatted a shot off the backboard. He overthrew a lob to Bynum, then got burned for a lob on the other end. He missed a wing three. He stripped a drive off Nocioni. He attacked and drew FTs, he made one. He swished a three a couple steps behind the line (bad shot selection, but we'll take it). Second Half: He dunked with ease off the Kobe screen. He rattled in a three trailing the break. He threw a jump pass out of bounds with no pressure on him, uggh. He cut off a Kobe post up and scored an And-1 layup while ducking a double team, he made the FT. He cleaned up a Pau miss with a putback score. He attacked down the lane and drew FTs on a two-for-one sequence, he made both. He handed off to Brown for a layup. He gave up a putback score off a missed FT, uggh. He took a bullet feed in transition, spun and dunked. He cleaned up a Pau miss with a layup.

Fisher -- -- Somehow, he seemed to make himself the first option to start the game and cranked up several shots in the first few minutes. That has never been a good thing for the Lakers this season. While he was chucking at a high rate, he was giving up points at an equally high rate on the other end. I doubt you will ever see a more deceptive +7 than Fisher's. He was absolutely horrible. Phil, once again, sat him and let Farmar and Brown go out there to close the game. Their defense was much better and by just shooting at a less rapid rate than Fish was, they were better offensively. The only thing DFish did well was hit the offensive board, but for some reason, this usually resulted in him hoisting up another shot, no matter how hard or impossible. This was a train-wreck first half for Derek. In the second half, he didn't take a shot and Phil limited his opportunity to do so. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 1-10 shooting (1-4 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 3 offensive boards, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 foul in 24 minutes. The Action: He gave up a layup getting lost on the perimter. He missed a jumper on the next play. He missed another early-offense jumper. He bricked a wide open corner three on the next possession. He pushed out in transition and drew FTs on a runner, he made both. He missed an open wing three. He finally sank a three on a Bynum kickout, but he gave it back up on the other end with an And-1. He missed a reverse, got it back and missed a three. He missed a layup, got it back and was blocked trying to throw it back up (just pull it out, geez), three the other way in transition. He got crossed over badly and his man scored an And-1. Up high for an offensive board and he drew FTs, he made one. He drew a moving screen call. He missed a wide open three at the buzzer. He was 1-10 for 6 points. Second Half: He deflected a pass and drew a loose ball foul to get the possession.

Brown -- -- Shannon got tapped on a corner three that would have given the Lakers a 1-point lead with 10 seconds left. The sucker rattled in and out. He had hit a couple of clutch freethrows with 44 seconds left, but he just missed his own heroics on that kickout. Some so-so moments on D. He was mismatched with the larger Casspi on a few sequences and the Kings tried to expose that, but aside from a couple of fouls, they never really did. With Artest out, Phil slid Kobe up to SF or Lamar to SF. That resulted in some extra minutes for Shannon and Sasha. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-6 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 fouls. He was a -8. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He reversed off the Lamar handoff on the baseline. He airballed a three not running the offense. He missed a drive, got it back and reset the offense, dumping it into Pau, who sent it back to him for the layup. Back-to-back fouls against Casspi, when the Kings tried to expose that mismatch. He sagged off Hawes on a switch, Hawes took a kickout and hit the three on him. He attacked across the lane and was tripped with 44 seconds left down by 2, he made both clutch ones. His corner three rattled in and out, heartbreak as Chick would say, with 10 seconds left.

Farmar -- -- Phil went with Farmar and Brown again in crunch time. Farmar took DFish's minutes. Fish was simply so bad that anything was an improvement. To Farmar's credit, he hustled on D and ran the offense. That's what he needs to do when he's out there with the big guns. I don't know if Phil has more trust in him or not, but these minutes aren't hurting him. They also aren't making a strong case for some much needed help at the PG spot. Farmar on Kobe's shot: "We just started laughing. Once the shot goes up, he gets a good look, you know it's going in," Farmar said. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He traveled on a drive across the lane. He bricked a wing three. He missed a wide open baseline jumper. Farmar's man blew past him to set up a big for a layup on the other end. Second Half: He sank a wing jumper off the Bynum pinch post. He missed a wing three with 4:41 left. He deflected a perimeter pass to help get a shotclock violation.

Vujacic -- -- Probably the play of the game for Sasha was being the decoy on the backscreen play at the buzzer. The Kings had to switch or Pau hits Sasha under the hoop for a layup to tie. If they double Kobe, someone will be wide open. As it turns out, they switched and Kobe was still wide open after rocking Rodriguez with the backscreen. The Stats: He scored 1 point on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 turnover and 2 fouls in 11 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He missed an open corner three. He made a tech FT. His post entry pass was picked. He missed a wing jumper. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Powell -- -- Add another 4-plus minutes to Powell stretch of non-rebounding lately. At least he didn't get 5 or 6 shots off in that time. Phil ran him briefly in the first half trying to steal some minutes at various spots with Artest out. The Stats: He didn't have any stats in 4:21. He was a -5. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Morrison -- -- Serviceable minutes from Adam. He got a nice bounce on his one made jumper. He had a couple nice challenges defensively. Again, he seemed to have the ball gravitate toward him with the shotclock low and he had to hoist a three on one possession. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board in 5:38. He was a +1. The Action: He got a wing jumper to bounce in off the Pau screen. Second Half: He missed a wing three with the shotclock low.

Phil -- -- Lamar started at SF again. Phil said Ron would need to run some contact practice before getting in a game... Trailing 15-12 out of a timeout, Phil had the ball go right into Pau. (Kobe and DFish were a combined 1-8 at this point)... Phil went to Farmar and Ammo for Bynum and Fisher with 3 minutes left... Out of another timeout, Phil again had them get the ball to Pau in the post... The Lakers trailed 28-23. Pau/Bynum were 6-7, Kobe/DFish 2-12... Phil started a Bynum, Powell, Kobe, Brown, Farmar unit... The Kings put together a 12-0 run... DFish/Kobe/Farmar were a combined 2-15 at this point... Phil wento a Bynum, Pau, Kobe, Sasha, Brown unit... The Lakers fell behind 52-32... The Lakers guards were a combined 4-25 in the first half. Pau/Bynum were a combined 11-16... The Lakers trailed 64-49. While the Lakers shot 37 percent (17-46), the Kings shot 61 percent (27-44). The Kings had a 30-22 points-in-the-paint advantage... After back-to-back hoops by Lamar, the Lakers cut the lead to 9 points forcing a timeout just 2 minutes in... Lead trimmed to 4 on another LO And-1 score and LO layup... Phil called a timeout with the Laker offense sputtering and trailing again by 8. Back to Pau in a straight sideline Tri sequence... Phil sat Bynum for Morrison and DFish for Sasha... Phil subbed out a hot Kobe with a minute left in the third for Brown. Then brought Kobe back after a few seconds... The Lakers trailed 86-79 going into the fourth. They kept the Kings to 7-17 shooting in the third... Phil started a Bynum, LO, Kobe, Brown, Farmar lineup... The Lakers trailed by 8 and Phil swapped LO for Pau. Out of the timeout, a post up for Drew... The Lakers cut it to 93-91 forcing a timeout... Phil went with Pau, Lamar, Kobe, Brown, Farmar with Bynum on occasion in crunch time. Changing out LO/Bynum/Farmar. Sometimes the big lineup, sometimes a more mobile unit... After Udoka choked both FTs with 4 seconds left, Phil called a timeout trailing by 2... He brought in Sasha for Shannon. Kobe got free while setting a backscreen screen for Sasha (a play they have run at least three times this season for clutch scores. Both Fish and Kobe have scored off that same sequence). Wide open jumper for Kobe... "We got the momentum swung there in the third quarter," Phil said afterward.

Game Flow -- LINK -- That combo of 28 points from Kobe and Lamar in the third, combined with their increased defensive intensity in the second half helped the Lakers dig out of a 20-point hole. The Lakers had two 10-0 runs in the second half.

[Texas_Pete]

1st - Thanks DB!

[Ray_Gonzoles]

Thanks again for the recaps DB!

I can only say one word - MAMBA.
_________________
"Just show up ready to work, ready to play, Have your big boy pants on, leave your diaper at home." Kobe Bryant
Anything less than a championship is a failure. Period.

[Vishnu]

3rd

[JTS1]

i'll take a top 5...
_________________
'How many kids can say growing up that they'll turn pro and play for their favorite team in the world and spend your entire career there? IT'S BEEN A DREAM!'-Kobe Bryant 11.29.15

[limchrc]

Thanks, glad we won.

[fsc401]

For some reason I find your comments on Derick very funny

[jonnybravo]

[Wilt]

Man, I am a complete loser.

I was watching the game, but was very tired since I only got 2 hours of sleep last night. I managed to do about 47 minutes of the game, and then just fell asleep, but was still able to hear the game in a half-dream state. I woke up an hour later and thought that it would have been a nice ending to the game if Kobe had hit a game winning three, since I thought I had a dream. So I go my DVR and find out it actually happened.
_________________
¡Hala Madrid!

[chilake24]

thanks,love the players tweets

[mhan00]

[DancingBarry]

[Wilt]

Yes, we've run that play many times. It's not a bad play, but I wish we had more plays in these situations. Basically, we either hope the defense doubles the cutter, leaving the screener. Or if they don't double, the cutter has a good chance of being open. And we have the other action on the weak side to keep the defense busy and make it hard for them to collapse on the cut.

I remember we ran it once a few years ago when we were down three with little time to go on the clock. Instead of passing it to the screener, we passed it to the cutter (Rick Fox) and he scored an uncontested layup. The game was basically over. It was one of the weirdest WTF? moments.
_________________
¡Hala Madrid!

[Dr. Laker]

[Banzai]

nice win..but I do not like the trend that I'm seeing....down 15 to Goldenstate..down 20 to Sacramento..I'm afraid to even know how Sunday will turn out against the Mavs...

[Burgundy]

I realize it's a tad unfair to put the blame on one player for a the 20 point deficit in the first half, but GOOD GOD, Fisher made a pretty good case, didn't he?

Do you realize that some of the stuff Fish is doing is what gets guys like Sasha, Farmar, & Brown benched?

It's getting dangerous because Fish, absurdly, seems to be trying to shoot himself out of his shooting slump at the team's expense. Does he really think his scoring is that valuable to the team?

I know Fish is the "winner" who hit the shot to force OT against Orlando (and by the way, the reason he needed to make that shot is because he missed EVERY OTHER FREAKING SHOT HE TOOK during regulation), but let's be honest, is Farmar really worse than Fish when you remove sentimentality?

[davidse]

great job as always.


i dont' know, it just seems to me that kobe is in a type of zone as far as clutch shots are concerned.

he was never this good at that, and right now, he kind of gives off a vibe that he's going to make any clutch shot he gets.

as great a clutch player as he was, i would say that kobe has vastly improved on that, and i can't quite put my finger on the cause, but he seems to have taken the whole pressure shots thing to a brand new level for him, and possibly anybody else before him.

i could be wrong, i could be a little premature, but the vibe is so strong that i have to share it and it'll be very interesting to watch this in the future.

the best player in the game is improving, and that's down right scary.



btw - about phil, hate to sound like a broken record, i absolutly love him as a head coach in general, but once again i was disappointed - this time with his decision to sit kobe - even for a few seconds - at the end of the third when he was in a crazy zone.
you DO NOT sit kobe bryant when he's in that type of mood.
whatever it may cost you in the fourth quarter in terms of resting him then, or a drop off in his abiltiy - you'll more than get by letting him flow with his zone.

there never was a more deadly zone in the history of basketball than kobe bryant in the zone, and when that happens - you don't mess with it.
and phil jackson of all people should know that.

[Klone_dd]

^Disagree. Phil shouldn't be playing Kobe 47 minutes of a game in January. Momentum had swung in the Lakers direction in the 3rd. The D much improved and Kobe was the only one hitting from the perimeter. Save his legs for another 4th Q push. So, hot or not, Phil should've sat Kobe with a little over a minute left in the 3rd to give him the additional rest of the quarter break.

I usually don't care about the Kobe vs MJ comparisons because I didn't watch season after season of MJ's games, but I will say that it would be hard to believe MJ was any better than Kobe at this point.

Memo to DB: In your Sasha writeup, if Sasha was free for a layup, he would've only tied the game, not won it.

[davidse]

[magic_bryant]

You're both wrong. Phil took him out for just the right amount of time to give the rest to hit a walk-off three-point dagger. I was thinking the same thing as davidse when watching it, that you may have just killed the swag. Thought the same things against the GSW.

I was wrong.

Phil knows what he is doing.

Just as he does with the Fish situation. Phil sees the Ron Harper writingbon the wall very clearly. When we were all calling for Fisher's head last May, Phil stuck with him. Fish pointed to the confidence he has in Fish as a huge reason he was able to stick those go ahead jumpers bs Orlando. Phil's belief in the human spirit got the last ounce out of Fish.

Won't be surprised to see a move for a PG be made within the next few weeks. Perhaps It wasn't coincedence that as soon as Farmsr shows the ability to close against GS, Nate comes back with the green light. The rumors were there a year ago, and Mitch has shown a penchant for not letting up on getting the guys he wants, even if it's a few years late.
_________________
Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass."

[jodeke]

Kobe's buzzer beater
Jordan's shot

Kobe's shot brought back memories of Jordan pushing Bryon Russel for a winner against Utah. Kobe chest bumped Sergio Rodriguez to clear space, at the very least, a moving screen. I was surprised Westphal didn't complain. Jordan shouldered and pushed Russel. However it went down there was a feeling he was going to make the shot. We can't keep winning like that. I think we're going to see more Jordan and Shannon in games to come. Fish will still start, Phil won't mess with team chemistry. Derek's minutes are going to shaved. It's can only help. Shannon and Jordan need time together, they're not doing that badly.
_________________
Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.