ROCKETS -at- LAKERS - 5/4 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Is It Preseason?... The Lakers played like it, falling 100-92. Just like that, they lost their home court advantage.

Heading into the game, you worried about the week-long layoff for the Lakers. Phil's Triangle, read-and-react teams have typically struggled with their execution when they've had long periods of time off. They barely explored their offensive options and rarely got penetration (via dribble or feeding the post).

"I don't know if we can play much worse," Phil said. He was particularly worried about the shooting before this game because of that layoff, and it was a factor. The Lakers struggled beyond the arc, hitting just 2-18 from three. They struggled from the line, making just 12-19.

"That was no surprise to us, to me at least," Phil said of the outcome. "It's not as bad as it seems. We're okay."

The Lakers one-two punch wasn't much of a combo. Kobe struggled to get going in the first half and ended up playing exactly the way the Rockets hoped. He stayed on the perimeter most of the night, shooting 31 times to get 32 points. Only when the game was out of reach did he really get into the paint.

Pau Gasol struggled with his shot, missing easy jumpers he usually knocks down. He barely got the ball in the post -- a frequent story in Laker losses this year. You don't feed Pau in the post, you pay the price.

"I thought we took tough shots," Phil said. "We fell into some of the things they wanted us to do."

The Rockets dominated the pace of the game. The Lakers never got into any sustained flow in their offense. The flavor of the game actually felt like they were on the road instead of at Staples. When they finally got their offense to click a bit in the third, their D failed to hold the line. The Rockets were able to answer every push the Lakers gave them.

The Lakers took a brief 1-point lead in the fourth. There was no collapse by the Rockets this time, as they countered with a key 9-0 run in the middle of that quarter when they ran a Lowry/Brooks backcourt. Phil had Brown/Vujacic out there defensively.

When asked if Yao felt like an underdog coming into this game, he said, "That's a word, 'underdog' that I just learned a couple of days ago. It's just like the NBA says, 'Where amazing happens.'"

The Lakers must take care of business in their next game. "Houston is certainly up for the challenge, so are we," Kobe said.


Kobe -- -- Kobe missed practice on Sunday and even skipped his pregame shootaround. Combine that with a week off and facing some solid D and Kobe was off to a bumpy start. He settled from the perimeter in the first half. The Lakers were on their heels early, and the offense struggled to find its rhythm. He picked it up in the second half, getting some better looks and working off screens a little more. Battier (and his help D) did a good job giving Kobe the jumpers and not the lane. When Artest was on Kobe, he blew past him a couple times. Kobe needs to get into the paint and into Yao's chest. Try to soften the D for his bigmen...and let them work the post, as well. Good job on the glass tonight by Kobe. He was soaring on a few of those boards. "We knew they were a tough team and coming to play," Kobe said. The Stats: He scored 32 points on 14-31 shooting (1-7 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 44 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He drained a wing jumper on our first possession. He missed a forced jumper with Battier on his hip. He missed a pull-up wing jumper. He posted up Battier, faced up and attacked past him for a layup. He stripped Yao on help D under the hoop. He missed a three at the top of the arc. He set up Pau for a jumper off the pick and pop. He missed a short bank he should have had. He was called for a goaltend, clean block on help D, Staples didn't like that call at all. He left Barry open for an easy three. He missed a pull-up wing jumper. He tried to step around Battier in the post to front him and was called for a foul (cheap one). He missed a wing three. He sank a pull-up from the elbow in transition. He missed a bank taking contact with no call. He missed a bank over Battier on the drive. He sank a 22-footer with a second left in the half. He had 8 points on 4-12 shooting (0-3 from three) and 6 boards. Second Half: He missed a baseline pull-up jumper. He blew past Artest and scored the And-1 over Yao and Scola, he missed the FT. He sank an open wing three off the Bynum pinch post. He sank a 22-footer, pulling up off the Bynum screen. He missed a three. He sank a 10-footer over Battier. He swished an 18-footer coming off screen. He drained a 16-footer over Yao off the two-man game with Pau. He missed a two-for-one wing three attempt. He kicked out to Farmar for three. He had 13 points on 6-9 shooting in the third. He hit the 18-footer, pulling up at the top of the key. He missed a short turnaround. He missed a turnaround with the shotclock low. He blew past Artest and hit the short floater. He settled and missed a three over Artest as the shotclock wound down. He missed a long jumper out of a timeout. With Yao out, he bricked a 15-footer over Battier instead of attacking. He missed a wing three. He drew FTs off the Pau screen, he made just one FT. He attacked again and drew FTs, he made both. Another attack and he scored a layup. Another attack, dunk.

Gasol -- -- If we are going to start Bynum, we need to get the ball to Pau in the post against Scola right away. The Lakers have to establish that inside-out game and get the ball to him early. When he gets the touches, the offense flows. When he doesn't, we struggle. When he doesn't get the ball in the post, his perimeter game and garbage-type points have to make up for the lack of touches. He struggled with that perimeter shot tonight, missing several easy ones he is usually money on. As a result, our two-man sequences were less effective than they normally are against the Rockets. And, Pau's overall game was ugly. Look for that to fall in place better in the next game. Defensively, he did a pretty good job on Yao. He moved his feet well to get around him for steals. The Lakers went single coverage quite a bit in this game against Yao. You might see some more doubles to mix things up. Pau had a chunk of skin scratched away near his eye on a reach by Scola early on. That could have been a lot worse than it was had Scola gotten Pau in the eye. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-14 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 13 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 44 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He missed an elbow jumper. He swiped a post entry to Pau, stepping around him. He stepped around Yao again to steal a ball and ignite the break. He grabbed a Kobe miss but was rejected by Yao. He sank a 17-footer off the two-man with Kobe. He picked up Yao's second foul receiving a post entry pass. He missed a throwdown at the end of the quarter. He missed a jumphook over Hayes, then was called for going over the back. His high-low pass was picked off. He gambled for a steal when the Rockets ball reversed and he gave up a dunk to Yao. He was fouled on a putback attempt off some rare Kobe dribble penetration, he made both FTs. He lost he ball trying to attack Yao off the dribble. He picked up a tripping foul trying to show on a screen. He had 4 points on 1-5 shooting and 5 boards. Second Half: He threw a lob pass away to start the half. He charged trailing the break when it looked like Kobe was trying to set up him or Bynum. He missed an open FT jumper. He tipped in a Kobe missed three. He missed an open 15-footer. He poked the ball loose from Yao. He dunked off the lob from Lamar as the two ran the two-man game (nice sequence). He took contact with no call and missed over Yao. He dunked over Yao who fell holding his knee off the contact with Kobe. He dunked after picking up a loose ball.

Bynum -- -- Bynum picked up a couple of fouls and had to sit early on as Phil protected him from foul trouble. He played just 13 minutes, scoring 10 tonight. If Phil won't run Lamar at SF, we are leaving an impact player in Bynum on the bench. Why run Powell if we are only going to play Bynum for two stints a game? The Lakers are short changing themselves. Phil said Bynum had a nice offensive game, but needed to work on the D end, especially on the screen rolls. If we are going to play Bynum just two stints a game, the Lakers might be better suited to have Bynum come off the bench for those minutes (although Bynum must fight for low position and not settle against those smaller defenders). Let the Pau/LO unit set the tone offensively. Bottom line in all of this, however, is getting your impact ballers on the court as much as possible. We aren't doing that in either of those schemes. Defensively, Bynum had his ups and downs. I thought he did a good job shading Yao with a partial front on a few sequences. The Rockets quickly swung the ball away from the post. When Yao gets the ball, the Lakers let Drew go iso on D. There were a couple doubles. When the double comes, Bynum needs to keep Yao contained and crowd him. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-10 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and 3 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He picked up a touch foul in the paint on the first defensive stand. He attacked Yao on his first touch and hit a jumphook after losing him with a pivot. He missed a 16-footer next time down, not getting set up. He picked up his second foul bumping Yao to the floor on the perimeter and sat with 9:43 in the first. He airballed a bad looking jumphook over Hayes (too far out of the low block). He posted up Yao, faced up and hit the short jumper. He missed a jumphook on the next possession. He grabbed a Kobe miss and hit the 10-footer. He had 6 points on 3-6 shooting in just 6 minutes. Second Half: He powered up for an easy layup when we got out in transition. He drained a quick 12-footer off the flash to the ball. He missed a 6-footer. He picked up his third foul trying to deny Brooks penetration. He missed an open 15-footer (Rockets in illegal D badly that possession). He let Yao get passed him basline for a dunk when a double was coming over.

Ariza -- -- He matched up with Artest. Artest was a +19 when he was on the floor tonight, Ariza a -10. Defensively, Artest could sag of Ariza in this one without paying a price. Ariza missed all four of his threes (and made everything else he took). Hopefully, Trevor can drain some of those looks in the next game. The Rockets tried to put Scola or Landry on Ariza on occasion to match up Artest elsewhere. They generally got away with this. Our best counter seemed to come when Ariza would cut off the post to get some speed going to the rim. They may want to explore that a little more on those mismatches (this could also cause our post defenders to help a little and open up some post scoring). I wouldn't mind Ariza taking a page from Sasha's book in this series and get into Artest's head. If not, let LO do it.The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-8 shooting (0-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: After getting flatfooted on a reach, he gave up baseline to Artest and a dunk (Phil called timeout on that). He tried to bounce a pass to Pau on the break, when Pau was probably looking lob, turnover. He scored a layup on the long outlet. He got tapped on a wing three. He attacked off the three line and got body contact on Yao for FTs, he made both. He attacked baseline and fed LO with a bounce pass for a layup. He pushed out the break and dunked on the return feed from Sasha. He missed a corner three. He cut off Pau's handoff, spun on Landry on the baseline and scored the layup. He went into the stands trying to swipe a ball. He fumbled away a dribble trying to attack off the three line into a crowd. He had 8 points on 3-5 shooting and 4 boards. Second Half: He poked a ball loose from Yao. He swiped the ball from Artest, pushed it out and scored the layup over Battier. He swatted Scola on a close out. He missed a wing three. He missed another open wing three.

Fisher -- -- Aaron Brooks took advantage of Fish and our D to give the Rockets some key scores. Going into this game, this was a matchup that most Laker fans cringed about. DFish struggles with the speedy guards, not exactly a news flash. The D behind him needs to be prepared for this or the Lakers will get milked by it in key moments of the game. Phil has other options in a speedy Farmar, more Brown or even a lengthy Ariza. Offensively, Fish struggled from beyond the arc. Talk about rusty, he airballed two of his threes. He never hit a three, but sank a few in the midrange area. Anything in the paint was usually a disaster waiting to happen, of course. Fish had the worst +/- of the night. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-10 shooting (0-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He bricked a point-blank layup after losing his man. He swished an open wing jumper off the pinch post with Pau. He airballed a wing three. He missed trying to power up in the post over Brooks (with Yao coming over). He attacked and threw a pass away for a layup the other way. He swiped a pass, pushed it out and was practically tackled on the breakaway for FTs, he made both. He swished a wing jumper after moving in on a fly by. Second Half: He was bumped by Yao with no call and threw the pass away. He sank a fading 15-footer working the two-man with Bynum. He gave up a series of layups to Brooks, Laker bigmen not erasing Fish's mistakes. He missed an open corner three. He airballed a three.

Lamar -- -- The freethrow shooting this year has been so poor that you knew it was going to have ramifications in the playoffs. It just a fundamental flaw in Lamar's game this season that he hasn't been able to fix. He went 1-6 from the line. You can't do that in a close battle. Lamar had just 1 defensive board tonight. The Lakers need him to get on that defensive glass and push the tempo. We never saw that. I'd like to see the ball in his hands more against the Rocket PFs. That rarely happened in the half court sets. I'd also like to see him at SF against Artest, too, as we go big. You've got to play Lamar as much as possible, including finding minutes at other positions. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-8 shooting (1-6 from the line) to go with 5 boards (4 offensive), 3 steals, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: In for Bynum, he picked up a handcheck foul on his first defensive stand. He missed a wing pull-up jumper. He drew FTs busting out in transition. He missed a jumphook in the post. He hit a runner attacking off the pinch post. He scored a layup off the interior feed from Ariza. He picked up his second foul with 9:23 in the second quarter trying to rotate to Landry under the hoop and Phil sat him. Nice close out on Battier to help force a shotclock violation. He had 4 points on 2-4 shooting and 2 rebounds in 15 minutes. Second Half: Finally in with over 2 minutes left in the third, he attacked and missed a runner badly. He attacked with speed and drew FTs from Artest, he made just one. He pulled down a Kobe miss and scored the layup. He worked the two-man game with Pau and lobbed to him for a dunk. He drew FTs on Yao after pulling down a miss by Pau, he missed both FTs with 7:07 left. He missed a 16-footer next time down. He had a dunk taken away when the ref said he stepped on the sideline after stealing the ball, looked close, not sure LO's heel came down on the line, though. He grabbed an Ariza missed three and scored the jumphook.

Brown -- -- A fairly quiet game from Brown. He didn't get any open looks from three and nearly had a great dunk on the break, but not the same spark we saw through most of the last series. He looked like he was just trying to get a feel for the Rockets and the flow of the game. I'd actually like to see Brown in at SG a little when the Rockets go small...unless the Lakers finally want to mix things up and throw LO at the SF (sliding Kobe to SG) and causing all kinds of issues for that small lineup. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 2-2 from the line, had 1 board, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 10 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He charged over Lowry in transition. He tripped and gave up an open jumper to Lowry. He was quick to get a ball from Yao when Pau poked it loose. He shot out of the backcourt with a loose ball and just missed a pumping And-1 dunk while getting hit on the head, he made both FTs (Laker took a 77-76 lead).

Farmar -- -- With the speedy Rocket guards, it was expected that Farmar would get some burn in this series. Down by 7 with DFish giving up a series of layups, Phil went to Farmar late in the third quarter. The Lakers cut the lead to 3. Phil then sat Farmar for Brown going against Lowry to start the fourth. That was it for Farmar's stint, just 3 minutes. DFish could not stick with the Rockets speed and our defense behind him was a step late to anchor (or worried about picking up fouls). Perhaps, we will see more Farmar earlier in the next one. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting (1-1 from three) in 3 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He drained a corner three off a Kobe kickout at the end of the third.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha cracked Battier on the head after tipping out an offensive board. It was one of those accidental plays, but blood streaked down Battier's face like he was in a heavy weight fight. He was in Wafer's head during the rest of the game. Feisty game from Sasha on D. It seemed like he was walking a thin line defensively. Things could go horribly wrong or turn out well in a split second. Surprisingly, he took Wafer out of this game. That's a first this season. Phil had Sasha in against the a speedy backcourt in the middle of the fourth, that wasn't a good match up for us. Offensively, Sasha missed some wide open looks. He's got to connect on those. Plain and simple. The Rockets are packing it in, we need three shooters to spread the floor effectively. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 14 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He missed an open baseline jumper off the inbounds. He got Wafer to travel in one of those plays you expect Sasha to pick up a foul 40 feet from the hoop. He curled from the weakside to lose Wafer and scored a layup. He tipped a ball into the backcourt on the next defensive possession. He tipped out an offensive board and clubbed Battier on his follow through, opening up a massive cut above the eye on Battier. He missed an open corner three. He traveled getting contact on the curl. Second Half: He drew an offensive foul on Wafer away from the ball. He swiped a ball in the backcourt to regain possession. He gave up an And-1 jumper to Artest on a rotation. Brooks hit a jumper on iso over him. He missed a three.

Powell -- -- Powell got some run in the first half when Bynum and Lamar had foul trouble. The team has to keep its impact players out there. He was a -8 in that 5-minute stint. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 1 board and 1 foul. He was a -8. The Action: He missed a face up wing jumper. He swished a 15-footer off the pass from DFish. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Phil -- -- Phil started Bynum, but a couple minutes later had to go with Lamar when Drew picked up two fouls... The Lakers offense looked sluggish. A lot of standing around and little passing. They trailed 19-12 by the time Brown and Sasha came in during our first rotations. "I didn't like the start of the game," Phil said. "I didn't like our poise, our control."... The Lakers trailed 21-18 after the first. They shot just 8-24 (0-5 from three)... Phil started the second quarter with the Pau, Lamar, Ariza, Sasha, Brown lineup... Lamar picked up his second foul with 9:23 left in the half and Phil went to Powell. Just one impact player on the floor now... Phil went to a Bynum, Powell, Ariza, Kobe, Fisher lineup. The Rockets extended their lead to 8... The Lakers trailed 43-40 in a sluggish first half. The pace was slow, favoring the Rockets. The Lakers were 0-7 from three, the Rockets 3-10. Kobe and Pau were a combined 5-17 shooting. The Lakers shot 17-43 (39.5 percent), the Rockets shot 17-40 (42.5 percent)... The Rockets scored the first three baskets to start the half and the Lakers trailed by 9... The Lakers went on an 8-0 run, getting out in transition off a couple of Ariza steals and the Rockets called timeout, leading 49-48... The Rockets countered with a 10-2 run... Phil subbed out Fish for Farmar to get some speed on both ends. Fish had given up a series of layups to Brooks. Farmar helped cut the lead down to 3, 70-67 going into the fourth... He subbed out Farmar after that stint... Phil wasn't happy with giving up 27 points and how we used Pau during the third... The Rockets went with a Lowry/Brooks combo to go against a Brown/Sasha duo. They went on a 9-0 run. No Bynum in the fourth quarter... Just 18 assists from the Lakers on the night...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Every Laker rally seemed to be met with an immediate Rocket rally. That fourth quarter 9-0 run was a killer.

[Vishnu]

first

thanks DB. I'd imagine that these are harder to write after losses.

[dna.]

DB

Lakers

[A Mad Chinaman]

People say that the playoffs start once you lose on your home court - well, the playoffs have started for the Lakers.

DFish
Since foot speed isn't his forte, what defensive schemes can they use to funnel Brooks to help?

Ariza
Should they put him on Brooks and Lawry since he has the length to not have to faceguard these small guards yet still block their shots - along with having the strength to stay with Kyle. What lineup do you think will work with Ariza on Brooks or Lawry?

LO
What shooters to the Lakers need to have on the court for him (along with Kobe) to have space to drive to the hole?

Houston's Defense
With Yao in the middle, what offensive sets can the Lakers used to get the ball moving from side to side, hence forcing Yao to move his feet even more. If Yao is going to play 40+ minutes, we need to make him pay for playing that many minutes.

Baseline Defense
The Lakers' "bigs" need to seal the baseline so that Brooks/Lawry can't have consistent access to go baseline to score or pass - especially since neither of them is Tony Parker.

Lakers still will win, but they need to be much sharper in their passes and execution of their offensive/defensive sets

[Ray_Gonzoles]

Thanks DB. It' not so much lack of defense that cost the Lakers this game, more the long layoff and with that, shots not falling. The team had wide open looks all game, just not falling. When shots aren't falling.... well you know the result.
_________________
"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.

[ReaListik]

I think ultimately what it's gonna take to win this series is both Pau and Kobe playing at the top of their games on offense, and Odom stepping up like he did against Utah. Bynum needs to stop hanging out around the perimeter and pretending like he's Dirk Nowitzki shooting those jumpers, back it down and get position to score down low. Defensively the more you can answer Aaron Brooks speed with Shannon Brown/Jordan Farmar the better, I think that's another assignment that was blown.

Offensively I think the layoff affected the team's energy level as well as their shooting accuracy more than most would admit. Anytime you should that horrendously from both the 3-Point line and you can't make free throws you're going to lose the game. I felt better after seeing Phil's reaction in his interview with his demeanor and the conviction he had in his answers. If Kobe can get to the line more than 3 times and Gasol can knock down the open looks that he normally knocks down then that alone should make a big difference in the right direction.

This team, for whatever reason, has the need to feel like their backs are up against the wall in order for them to play hard and win. Tonight I really believe there was just a lot of rust that needed to come off. Look for game 2 to be a very tough fought game in which the Lakers pull away late in the 4th quarter.
_________________
"We are the goodest." - Shaq ESPN interview

[8750]

thanks, DB
losing game 1 is not a drama... the real problem is that we played their game at their rhythm without any countermoves... our team was not ready, mentally and technically... and i don't understand why everyone knew before the game that fisher can't defend brooks, and our coach went 32 minutes with fisher defending brooks...

[Qsmiff]

The Lakers and Phil seemed to get caught being over confident...Rockets came out scratching and clawing...the Lakers took a stroll thru the meadow--- along with a defeat. Phil continues to "out-genius' himself by refusing to play his five best players at one time. Lakers have to attack the basket and Yao...we didn't attack even when Yao was on the bench. Hopefully they come out with some urgency on Wednesday

[sec 110]

Feed the post. Stop the ball on D. Almost every loss has me saying the same thing...

[lafan4life78]

I guess we must accept the fact that sasha is going to hit 25% of his shots this postseason

[limchrc]

Let's get the next 4.

[J.C. Smith]

Agree with everything said in there today. We need to get Gasol some post looks, and we need to find Bynum and Odom some more minutes. I don't understand the Powell substitution. Yeah, Odom and Bynum both had two fouls, but if you are only playing Andrew 15 minutes anyway, who cares? I thought Bynum played pretty well when he was out there.

[tw-lakbfan]

Was Phil too old that he lost his mine?

[Sage_10]

Terrible game by this team. I swear it seems as if they aren't interested in these games.
_________________
"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[BigE32]

Thanks, DB. I must admit that I've had a bad feeling about this team for a while now. I really hope that I'm not correct.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB. Good analysis.

Tough game.

Time for playoff basketball, Lakers.

[Doggy Dogg]

Phil should slap himself about this game. Fish and Pau played too many mins. Andrew, Brown and even (cant believe I am saying this) Farmer didnt play enough. Anyone but Fisher i guess, he looked terrible last night.

We were a Jump shooting team all game long. Pau couldnt do ishh in the post all game. Andrew got some baskets in the paint but we need him to play better.

Sasha and Ariza were trying but we need to hit some jumpers. Jordan made his only shot and Phil decided thats nt acceptable, yanked him out and didnt play him again. Nice one Phil

Expect a much effort from everyone in game 2. Oh and some people need to STFU about the refs. Why no remember to whine when the refs make mistake that benefit the Lakers? They made bad calls in the 4th. I saw that too, but maybe if the Lakers havnt shot 2/18 from the 3 and Lamar 1/6 fts things could have turned better.
_________________
DancingBarry wrote:
Note to LeBron: You block Machine's shot, Machine hit three on you instead. Machine not witness...

[J.C. Smith]

[ChefLinda]

Thanks, DB.

We were massively rusty. I had a bad feeling in the first quarter that things might go this way. Now we get to deal with a little adversity and build some character for later on down the line.

[msufan23]

I know Farmar had a good game but im glad phil had him in for just the three mins. The key to getting someone out of a slump is to get them in a good spot to succed and to build confindince from there. He played good has somthing to build on now.

The real problem I have is his 3 min came out of Browns mins. The fact that Fisher is above the law makes zero sense. shot 3-10 no big deal, lose your man in the half court no big deal, let your guy blow by you no big deal. Your Fisher your older and have more exp so you play 30 no matter what.

[Laker's Fan]

Went to the game. I want my money back.

Bryant didn't have his mojo. Pau was pathetic. If Phil insists on using Fisher on Brooks, who can get to the cup at will on D-Fish, we loose the series.
_________________
Austin Reaves keeps his game tight, like Kobe Bryant on game night.

[Burgundy]

Phil needs to go with a Kobe/Ariza/Odom/Pau/Bynum lineup. Those are the Lakers five best players right now. If he continues to leave Fish on Brooks, there's a good chance the Lakers lose this series. Phil needs to play the Ariza on Brooks card sooner than later...

By the way, two points on the officiating...

1) Rockets shot TEN MORE free throws last night than the Lakers (the Lakers were at home! - Kobe didn't drive as much, but Pau was hacked to smithereens under the basket. So was Odom).

2) Conspiracy theories aside, the fourth quarter officiating was...curious to say the least. Momentum is a funny thing...

Exibit A) After the Lakers went up by one, Sasha got called for an absurdly ticky-tack foul to give Ron Artest a three point play. Battier was giving Kobe that kind of contact THE WHOLE FREAKING GAME...so how come Sasha got rung up? That three point play gave momentum right back to the Rockets.

Exibit B) Lamar Odom's steal and dunk being negated because the official INCORRECTLY called him out of bounds killed the momentum for the Lakers. What bothers me is that the official appeared to be all set to call that, even before Lamar almost stepped out. On something that microscopic, you're really going to give the ROAD TEAM the benefit of the doubt?

[Scherm]

I'd like to see the Lakers push the ball quicky up the court after scores and on every rebound, because their bigs can outrun the Rockets. Yao would be wheezing by the third quarter if they pushed the tempo. The bench is deep enough that the Lakers could keep up a fast pace throughout the game. The Rockets are trying to muck up the game with a slow pace and even when they are scoring, there's no reason the Lakers can't push the ball up instead of walking it up.

[noJINX]

the Rockets have confidence now. It seems so elementary: get in the PAINT. So what about FrankYaoenstein, he'll foul out and he's tired. Put someone fast on Brooks, we have to stop that little f#@$er.

[busettis]

I like your analysis DB. However I must say that I feared this was going to happen. We lost because we were rusty. We did not match intensity and the ball didn't go in. Trevor usually makes those downtowns as does Fish .. We will get them in game 2 and the REAL GOOD game will be the first in Houston. Artest cannot get that much freedom and think he's the player he's not...

Go LAKERS !!!!