L.A. Lakers 08-09 Season (official thread)

[OCBucksFan]

Well, at this point, I am going to say that the Eastern Conference defense is better than the western conference best. No change from last year, I expect the Lakers to go on a run, but right now Bynum and Gasol are getting eaten by Kwame, same old Lakers.

[OregonBuckeye]

Originally Posted by OCBucksFan

Well, at this point, I am going to say that the Eastern Conference defense is better than the western conference best. No change from last year, I expect the Lakers to go on a run, but right now Bynum and Gasol are getting eaten by Kwame, same old Lakers.

Damn, don't jump off the ledge yet. Still 70+ games left in the season.

[OCBucksFan]

Originally Posted by OregonBuckeye

Damn, don't jump off the ledge yet. Still 70+ games left in the season.

Trust me, I am a huge Lakers fan, but there's certain games I look and can evaluate the difference from this year and last, Spurs, Celtics, Pistons, and Cavs are the 4 teams I look at right now. The got swept by the Celtics, Pistons and Cavs last year, so I expect to see a different playstyle, but I don't see it this year. The Lakers are trying for dumb shots, they got defensive pressure and started making stupid shots. The Spurs will let me know if they can win the West, but unless this team makes a drastic change before Christmas, they are still soft.

[OCBucksFan]

Yeh, I hate to say it, but unless they actually show me a difference on Christmas day, I am still of the opinion they are a soft team. The issue is when they get real defensive pressure, they fold, it's the same as the last three years, they just have better scorers. Now, this doesn't mean they can't change, but Phil needs to change his philosophy. We have won the first 7 games by being bigger, but tonight, someone went small and just started shooting.

The reality is this: The Lakers need to learn to be physical without fouling, when they try to be physical, they foul.

Tonight, we saw a team coming off a back-to-back, with a huge change in their players, and yet, the team came out and "expected' to win.

Now, I am going to be realistic, watch and see what happens when they play the Celtics, but right now, can you honestly tell me you see a big enough difference from last year that would make you say "These guys will win it all?"

[BUCKYLE]

[schwab]

[schwab]

LAKERS: Lakers Gameday | 11/14/08 | Lakers 95, Pistons 106

Iverson, Pistons hand Lakers 106-95 loss

LOS ANGELES(AP) Rasheed Wallace had 25 points and 13 rebounds, Allen Iverson added 25 points and the Detroit Pistons handed the Los Angeles Lakers their first loss of the season, 106-95 Friday night.
Kobe Bryant scored 29 points for the Lakers, but went 12-of-30 from the floor.
The Lakers, who won their first seven and were outscoring opponents by an average of 18 points, had been the only team in the NBA without a defeat.
The Pistons have dominated the Lakers recently, going 8-2. Their defense on Bryant has been a key, with Detroit holding him to 20 or fewer points in five of the last nine meetings. He had 17 through the first three quarters in the latest loss, when the Pistons built a big lead.
The Pistons beat the Lakers in Los Angeles despite playing back to back games - Detroit won at Golden State the previous night.
Both Bryant and Iverson moved up on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Bryant has 21,817 points and jumped into 21st ahead of Larry Bird (21,791) and Gary Payton (21,813). Iverson (23,156) passed Elgin Baylor (23,149) to jump to No. 19.
Iverson was playing his fifth game since being traded from Denver to Detroit, and the Pistons are 3-2 since his arrival.

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[BengalsAndBucks]

Originally Posted by OCBucksFan

Yeh, I hate to say it, but unless they actually show me a difference on Christmas day, I am still of the opinion they are a soft team. The issue is when they get real defensive pressure, they fold, it's the same as the last three years, they just have better scorers. Now, this doesn't mean they can't change, but Phil needs to change his philosophy. We have won the first 7 games by being bigger, but tonight, someone went small and just started shooting.

The reality is this: The Lakers need to learn to be physical without fouling, when they try to be physical, they foul.

Tonight, we saw a team coming off a back-to-back, with a huge change in their players, and yet, the team came out and "expected' to win.

Now, I am going to be realistic, watch and see what happens when they play the Celtics, but right now, can you honestly tell me you see a big enough difference from last year that would make you say "These guys will win it all?"

I completely agree with all of this. It was truly awful watching the Lakers on offense last night. The Pistons were doing a phenomanal job on defense, and the Laker's couldnt adjust. Meanwhile, our defense was terrible against them, up until about 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter when we started getting a little feisty, and even then we were committing stupid fouls.

The one thing I will say though is that we only lost by 11 on a night when the Pistons couldn't miss and the Laker's, especially Fisher and Vlad, couldn't hit for the life of them. Fisher and Vlad hit a couple more shots between them and it is a much closer ball game, not to mention what that might have done to open up the lane for Kobe.

We didn't look good last night, at all. But I think that we have a good opportunity to learn from this game and improve.

[schwab]

LAKERS: Lakers Gameday | 11/18/08 | Lakers 116, Bulls 109

Gasol scores 24 of his 34 points in first half as Lakers rebound from 1st loss

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Losing a game didn't sit well with the Los Angeles Lakers. They took out their anger on the Chicago Bulls.
Pau Gasol scored 24 of his season-high 34 points in the first half, and the Lakers rebounded from their first setback of the season with a 116-109 victory over the Bulls on Tuesday night. His previous season high was 22 points.
Kobe Bryant added 21 points, five rebounds and six assists and Andrew Bynum had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers (8-1), who had three full days to contemplate a 106-95 loss to the Detroit Pistons.
Jordan Farmar scored 12 points and Lamar Odom had 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists before fouling out with 8:30 remaining.
Derrick Rose led Chicago (5-6) with 25 points and nine assists. Ben Gordon added 23 points and Aaron Gray had 11 for the Bulls, who are winless in four road games.

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[schwab]

Looking good!

Heading to bed!

Link of tonight's win coming sometime tomorrow.

Holla.

[fourteenandoh]

y'all whooped us good.

[schwab]

LAKERS: Lakers Gameday | 11/20/08 | Lakers 105, Suns 92

PHOENIX (AP)-- Kobe Bryant scored 24 points and Vladimir Radmanovic made all five of his 3-pointers to lead the Los Angeles Lakers past the Phoenix Suns, 105-92 on Thursday night.
Bryant shot only 8-of-23, but the Lakers overwhelmed Phoenix with their depth. Six players reached double figures as Los Angeles improved its record to a league-best 9-1.

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[schwab]

NBA.com Nuggets no match for Lakers

Nuggets no match for Lakers
Posted Nov 22 2008 1:10AM

LOS ANGELES(AP) Kobe Bryant scored 11 of his 29 points in the third quarter before sitting out the fourth, Andrew Bynum had 13 points and 13 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets 104-90 on Friday night. The defending Western Conference champion Lakers (10-1) are off to their best start through 11 games since the 2001-02 championship season, when they won 16 of their first 17. All of their victories have been decided by seven or more points - which was their winning margin against four teams.

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[JXC]

BEAT MICHIGAN!!!!!!

[schwab]

LAKERS: Lakers Gameday | 11/23/08 | Lakers 118, Kings 108

Lakers outlast Kings 118-108 to go 11-1

LOS ANGELES(AP) Kobe Bryant scored 24 points, Andrew Bynum had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers improved the NBA's best record to 11-1 with a 118-108 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.
All five Lakers starters reached double figures in points by the third quarter, and eight players finished with 10 or more as the defending Western Conference champions won for the fourth straight time since losing to Detroit at home.
Vladimir Radmanovic, wearing red tinted goggles after getting poked in his right eye during Friday night's win against Denver, made his first two attempts from 3-point range and finished with 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting.
John Salmons led Sacramento with 24 points and reserve Bobby Brown added 21. Kevin Martin was sidelined for the eighth consecutive game with a sprained left ankle and Mikki Moore missed his fourth straight because of a sprained right ankle.

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