Basketball (NBA, College, etc.)

Lakers get another double-digit beatdown, this time from the Spurs, 97-82. :shakehead:

bmwracer wrote:Lakers get another double-digit beatdown, this time from the Spurs, 97-82. :shakehead:

It's ok, they'll flip the switch on come playoffs...:beaten:

deseipher wrote:It's ok, they'll flip the switch on come playoffs...:beaten:

If the switch hasn't broken by then. :sweat:

Lakers finally win a game, beating the Hornets, 103-88.

bmwracer wrote:Lakers finally win a game, beating the Hornets, 103-88.

its really kind of sad to think that Lakers have finally win one like this, a beat up, victory of double digits to be considered on track and championship form,

quite honestly if they had it together and gel'd together as a caliber team, then this would be more of a common type of win, even against tough opponents they lost by big amounts like to the spurs, Heat, and Bucks?! at home too...

After watching a Dallas game(they lost it since no Nowitzki-injury)but fell to the competitive Spurs, those two teams can take out the Lakers on any given night even at Staples....in conclusion, I just don't think the Lakers will get far this championship run for a third one, Miami, Celtics, Orlando, Spurs, Mavericks, and a few other teams right now are playing much better. I do think Lakers are a good team, just not tough enough in many areas in their game. I think we often see the Kobe-shoot for low dismal percentages, 9-27, 30 pt performances, while other Lakers are watching, and playing horrendous type defenses. Still I do think Odom is playing decent, Gasol is playing subpar though, and Artest and Fisher are playing at levels that are really not good for much. It might help now they have a good bench, and Bynum's return might help their front-line, but I think the lack of any offense and any defense from Artest, and Kobe's selfish not trusting teammates again, will ultimately be this teams demise.
I do want this team to get a third championship, but so far despite their winning decent to good record, they are not playing like a championship caliber team that wants to have their 3rd in a row. I see many other NBA teams that could and will likely take it away from the Lakers this season. Unless the Lakers start playing much better than they have been the past 8 weeks, I really think they might not even make it to the second round, if they even get their act together to make it to the playoffs...
Not much else i can say about the other bottom dweller teams like Golden State, Sacramento, Phoenix Suns, and the under achieving Clippers, although Blake Griffin is the bright spot of that bad team.

Kobe scores 33 points, and shoots a good field goal percentage of over 50%, while they hang on to win it at Staples 102-98 to the lowly Philadelphia 76'ers. A win is a win, but they have to protect their double digit leads better than this. But still, a better output game from Artest is nice at 11 points, and Gasol has 19 pts, and Odom is playing good ball too. Derek has a 1 pt, 0-7 shooting night, and 1 free throw, another off-night for him, but still he is Lakers clutch-man in the playoffs and has a history of making big shots that got the some championships, with Kobe of course.

At 23-10, they still have a good record, but lots of heavy competition this year and still a lot to prove to protect their championship again.

Lakers getting their clock cleaned again at home, this time by the Grizz, 98-77, with four minutes to go. :shakehead:

What the heck is going on??? :crazy:

bmwracer wrote:Lakers getting their clock cleaned again at home, this time by the Grizz, 98-77, with four minutes to go. :shakehead:

What the heck is going on??? :crazy:

Spurs, Miami Heat, Dallas, NY Knicks, Celtics, going up, and

Lakers are going down...

It really doesn't look good for them and as I said,

probably an early 2nd round exit in the Playoffs, if they can even make it to the playoffs and get their act together.

^ LOL, it's a long, long time before the playoffs, so I'm not going to even speculate.

At the moment, they're playing lazy, tired, uninspired basketball and other teams are bringing their best shots. :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:^ LOL, it's a long, long time before the playoffs, so I'm not going to even speculate.

At the moment, they're playing lazy, tired, uninspired basketball and other teams are bringing their best shots. :sweat:

well, it really does seem like the Lakers are not playing hungry for a third Championship and are not playing like a team that deserves it.

Heat have a lot to prove now they they are now a so-called superteam, and LeBron's ego is now over inflated with each win, I am sure that last Laker loss at Staples fed into Lebron's ego that much more....They seem to just want the championship even more. Spurs out in the west, and Miami in the east, with Dallas, NY, Celtics lurking not too far either, those are the hot teams, and Lakers are definitely playing like the bottom dwellers, its just ugly basketball, and as you say uninspiring.

Yes it is a long way off, but if the Lakers keep this up, I'll probably think its another team's turn at the championship, I just hope its not the Heat.

qilver wrote:Yes it is a long way off, but if the Lakers keep this up, I'll probably think its another team's turn at the championship, I just hope its not the Heat.

I agree.

If not the Lakers, I'd like the Spurs to win it all again... They've always been a class act and organization. :victory:

bmwracer wrote:
I agree.

If not the Lakers, I'd like the Spurs to win it all again... They've always been a class act and organization. :victory:

You're right with that, even if your team doesn't win it all always good to see teams like the Spurs win, :applaud: Duncan is getting up there in age so there may not be many more chances for him then like this year.

I agree. If the Lakers don't win the championship this year I want to see San Antonio win it. During the past 12 years or so, the Spurs have been the model organization for how a team should play the game of basketball.

Celts beat Twolves, 96-93. It's going to be tough week with 5 games in 7 days, but so far 2-0.

mrsmith10 wrote:I agree. If the Lakers don't win the championship this year I want to see San Antonio win it. During the past 12 years or so, the Spurs have been the model organization for how a team should play the game of basketball.

Yup.

In some ways, they're classier than the Lakers: no egos, just unselfish, team ball... Like the Lakers of the 80's.

bmwracer wrote:
Yup.

In some ways, they're classier than the Lakers: no egos, just unselfish, team ball... Like the Lakers of the 80's.

There are a lot of deserving teams, and I agree Spurs are unselfish, and have an excellent organization and I really like how they play solid team defense and really move the ball around and they simply know how to win games, that is the main thing, and their record shows it.

It'd be nice if the Lakers can improve greatly and not play as pathetic as they have been lately, I think they have a lot of areas to improve on, and first is their lack of defense, especially interior defense...they give up way too many layups, and they need much better rebounding. I also noticed the turnovers, and too much Kobe-time, he needs to move the ball around more, and trust his team-mates, something he had trouble with in past seasons, when he just wanted to take it over, only to turn it over and shoot a bad percentage. I don't think injuries here are causing their downfall, its their overall game-play and lack of solid defense, they've been losing too many home games, and to lousy opponents they should be beating by double digits.

qilver wrote:It'd be nice if the Lakers can improve greatly and not play as pathetic as they have been lately, I think they have a lot of areas to improve on, and first is their lack of defense, especially interior defense...they give up way too many layups, and they need much better rebounding. I also noticed the turnovers, and too much Kobe-time, he needs to move the ball around more, and trust his team-mates, something he had trouble with in past seasons, when he just wanted to take it over, only to turn it over and shoot a bad percentage. I don't think injuries here are causing their downfall, its their overall game-play and lack of solid defense, they've been losing too many home games, and to lousy opponents they should be beating by double digits.

You said it. :victory:

It all starts with defense and the Lakers are exceedingly inconsistent in this area... :sweat:

Lakers finally find a team they can beat, crushing the Pistons, 108-83.

bmwracer wrote:Lakers finally find a team they can beat, crushing the Pistons, 108-83.

such a rare occurence from this Championship team, but hopefully not too rare.

They play Phoenix tonight, let's see if they can make a habit out of winning by a comfortable margin and avoid embarrassing losses in "should-win" type games.

Spurs lose their second straight, 105-103, to the Celts.