SPURS -at- LAKERS -- 3/30 -- Thoughts and :-(( ratings
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tw-lakbfan
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 10:10 am    Post subject:

Cook and Smush are defensive liabilities. And so often at the start of 3rd qtrs, they're two of the biggest turnover machines.
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Klone_dd
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 10:38 am    Post subject:

The Lakers hung tough for 2-1/2 quarters, but then it all fell apart under a flurry of 3's and turnovers.

NKPOG = Luke. Great energy and playmaking off the bench. Also, Sasha probably played his best game in a month.

Everybody else was just flat. Kobe forcing, Lamar missing, Kwame rushing. And then there were the two sieves - Cookie and Smushie. You'd figure that with 3 days to prepare, Smushie would see that it's best to let Mr. Longoria shoot jumpers than penetrate for layups. There's really no need to pressure him beyond the 3 line. It just makes it easier for Tony to blow past you.

As for Cookie, he better start shooting 60% from the field because he has been giving up more points than he's scoring himself. I hope in the offseason that he bulks up and learns to play better position defense and box out better. Larry Bird could probably jump as high as Cookie, but Bird had such knowledge and fundamentals that he was still a very good team defender and rebounder.

Kobe's poor shooting vs SA is nothing new. But all those turnovers? Sheesh.
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Mr. EiGhTy-OnE
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 10:39 am    Post subject:

thanks DB. stupid me recorded FSN instead of TNT and missed my first game this season.

should we be mad that we had 3 days to prepare and still loss or should we blame it on having 3 days off and we were just rusty and out of sync?
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angel
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 10:43 am    Post subject:

The Lakers are clearly not an elite team.
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Shapecity
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:24 pm    Post subject:

The 3 pointer by Horry really killed the comeback. The Lakers were down by 10, and had an opportunity to cut the lead to 8. They missed, and Horry nailed a 3 at the other end to push the Spurs lead to 13. It took the fans out of the game and put the game out of reach.
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DaggerInTheHeart
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:37 pm    Post subject:

angel wrote:
The Lakers are clearly not an elite team.


Thanks for telling us we did not know that
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twoface723
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:46 pm    Post subject:

This was one of the worse games Smush played this season. And the game waso boring; it was torturing.
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A Mad Chinaman
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 4:47 pm    Post subject:

dewit8 wrote:
The problem is, Phil needs to give Cook a longer leash, not a shorter one. Cook hit two 3's in the 3rd, and gets pulled for the rest of the game for Walton? Yes, Cook was struggling defensively, but is Walton going to do any better against a guy who's 6 inches taller than him?
Cook needs a SHORTER LEASH because he was making stupid passes, consistently being beaten, lost on the defensive rotations and not consistently making his 3s (his only true asset). As a starter, he presently doesn't have the skills to be effective. He would be a good "change of pace" player coming off the bench and stretching the defense with his shooting. It appears to be too much for him mentally to more than 1 or 2 things at a time (shoot, defend, rotate, good passes, rebound, block out, etc.)

Glad Sasha (and he's only 21) is around when Smush is not doing his job (note: i recognize that in the Spurs game there was no Smush or Sasha in the end).
BShaw's comment (http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2006/03/talking_with_br.html): "Sasha has a unique ability to irritate the hell out of other guards and get under their skin . . . Last year, he was the worst defensive player we had on the team, and now he's actually one of the better defensive players. He's always up pressuring up the floor . . . whoever we play he irritates the hell out of other guards, so that works in our favor.

Regarding Kobe's role, recognizing that the vast majority of games he will win games, he's a "2" (shooting guard) who is supposed to shoot (unlike Steve Nash). BShaw (http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2006/03/talking_with_br.html) says it right when "You want to have someone that's always in attack mode, and he has that. And that's what makes him great. When you're in the foxhole with somebody, you want somebody to have your back that has that type of mentality."

Unfortunately Cookie and Smush (though talented players in selected areas of their game) might not be the best players for a Phil Jackson team where the following is the ground rules (as stated by BShaw http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2006/03/talking_with_br.html - "He allows players to figure things out for themselves and challenges you mentally every single day. He's not going to baby you, so if you're not mentally tough you're not going to be able to handle the system. And I like that because it makes you mature and it makes you responsible for your actions out on the floor.") When Smush is "floating" (Tony Parker's words) and Cookie is mentally "gone" - it hasn't dawn upon them to work their ass in other areas of their game or at least put in more energy or go into "attack mode!" (they've obviously seen that a lot from Kobe)

DB - regarding a bad mismatches Cookie had during the Spurs game - ugh, TD wasn't his man - everybody else he should have been on equal grounds. However, bad passing and "D" (while getting lost) were his major sins. This is why Cookie is a better fit for the Suns - all he has to do is run and shoot, no thinking.
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