NBA Thread II

[mweb]

So after starting 8-12, Kobe ends up shooting 10-26. You do the math.

Lakers lose despite Bynum putting up 20 and 20 and the Lakers out-rebounding the Sixers by 25!

[Pedro Cerrano]

So after starting 8-12, Kobe ends up shooting 10-26. You do the math.

Lakers lose despite Bynum putting up 20 and 20 and the Lakers out-rebounding the Sixers by 25!

Bynum is the man. Kobe completely faded away in the 2nd half tonight and Artest and Fisher continue to be pretty much worthless. Gasol's 35% tonight didn't help. The Lakers are just a bad/weird road team. A game like tonight, statistically, they should have won but didn't. They disappear on the road for large chunks at a time and it's really frustrating.

[mweb]

Bynum is the man. Kobe completely faded away in the 2nd half tonight and Artest and Fisher continue to be pretty much worthless. Gasol's 35% tonight didn't help. The Lakers are just a bad/weird road team. A game like tonight, statistically, they should have won but didn't. They disappear on the road for large chunks at a time and it's really frustrating.

These are the types of games that annoy me about Kobe. It's ok if he fades away in the 2nd half sometimes, but since he got off to a hot start, or because he's in Philly, or just because he's Kobe, he feels he still has to keep chucking up shots despite the fact that he's making almost none of them. And of course I don't care for the hero ball down the stretch that he's often praised for.

And yes, Fish and Peace suck. No surprise there, though.

In fairness to Gasol's shooting %, some of his misses were on offensive tips.

[mweb]

So the Knicks may turn out to be ok thanks to Jeremy Lin.

And Billups may have suffered a serious injury. Too bad for him and the Clips.

[mweb]

More on the myth of Kobe being the closer:

And so when Sixer fans looked up at the scoreboard with three minutes' left and saw their team trailing by two, it was a tough piece of news to digest. The Lakers' size advantage wasn't going away, and they had a bucket in their back pocket.

Predictably, though, the Lakers never got the ball to a big in the paint again (other than Gasol getting an offensive rebound, then missing the putback). Regular readers of TrueHoop already know why: Because Kobe Bryant is on that team. I started taking notes with three minutes left and the Lakers up two. You'll read a lot about what mattered in this game. But to my eyes, nothing mattered as much as this:
2:50 Kobe miss.
2:44 Kobe offensive foul.
2:15 Kobe miss.
1:38 Kobe miss.
1:27 Kobe miss.
1:06 Kobe make.
0:31 Kobe miss.
0:05 Kobe miss.

The Sixers won. How could they not? One Laker missed more shots over that stretch than the Sixers even attempted. The Sixers outscored the Lakers so severely to close the game that by most definitions it wasn't even crunch time anymore at the end. (Silly but illustrative point: If the whole game had gone like the last three minutes, the Sixers would have won 144-32.)

Bryant's shots were tough, because in crunch time they almost always are, because:
While Coach Collins had been rotating defenders onto Bryant all night, down the stretch there would be no Holiday for Bryant. It was all Andre Iguodala, a candidate for "best wing defender in the world." (Take it away, John Hollinger: "Opposing small forwards have a PER of 8.2 against Iguodala, according to 82games.com. He turns the average opponent into Terrence Williams or Quincy Pondexter.") As Iguodala, listed as the same height and two pounds heavier, is at least as big as Bryant, the Lakers' size advantage was long gone. Iguodala, in fact, is longer, stronger, five years younger, more athletic, and quicker. The Lakers had a huge size advantage in general, but the Lakers focused their offense in the one place they were at a physical disadvantage.
Bryant predictably dominates the ball. This isn't an assessment of his character or anything else. It's a simple look at history. He shoots more than anyone in the history of crunch time. Sometimes they go in, usually they don't. But what you won't find are many examples of his passing. That's not to say he has never passed in crunch time. But we can count that stuff up, and when we do we find everybody else passes more and shoots less. That gives Coach Collins the confidence to send a second defender at Bryant, without fear of the open Laker making the Sixers pay. So not only was Bryant facing one of the best wing defenders in the world. Much of the time, he was facing another defender, too. He's good, but nobody's that good.

The Lakers' offense fell off a cliff at that point, which has happened throughout Bryant's career.

The whole point of which is not to conclude that Bryant is bad. Or that the Lakers are bad. Or anything else. The whole point of this is realize that Bryant is a other-worldly player who has issues trusting the ball to this teammates with the game on the line. The story has been that he is at his best with the game on the line, and once in a while it looks that way.

But the norm is that when the game is close at the end, that's when Bryant's flaw of self-reliance is at its worst. That's when the Lakers ignore all the weak points the defense presents, and instead attacking at the strongest point, in the name of feeding the most voracious shooter in crunch time history.

Flying solo, launching long 3s or tough 2-pointers with defenders draped all over you, ignoring open teammates ... it seldom works.

[Hallas]

Aaaaand the Jeremy Lin/Tim Tebow comparisons have now started. Let the flaming begin.

To me, their faith is about where the similarities end. Lin actually has traditional point guard skills (unlike Tebow and his lack of traditional QB skills) and he's either played with or outplayed top PGs during his little run.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Can't beat LA!

Tough week for SportsGuy (the real one).

[Birds of B'more]

Can't beat LA!

Tough week for SportsGuy (the real one).

He was on the money here though.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...-all-star-team

Kevin Love > LaMarcus Aldridge > Blake Griffin

But Griffin being in the big market and a staple on highlight reels is what wins All-Star votes.

[mweb]

The Lakers just got Linned!

[Birds of B'more]

Andrew Brandt
@adbrandt
Carmelo acquired by Knicks for 4 players and $65 million. Jeremy Lin acquired by Knicks for a ham sandwich.

Who is the bigger star in NY right now that came from nowhere, Jeremy Lin or Victor Cruz?

[Scrat1]

And it continues...

[Dr. FLK]

"With all the 'Linsanity' we took it personal a little bit today and came out with the victory," Williams said.

Maybe if Deron Williams took more things "personal", the Nets wouldn't suck so bad. I find it hilarious that this is the thing that made him angry. Does losing all the time upset him? Nope. Does it bother him that people forget the Nets are in the NBA? Nope. But an Asian getting attention? Now I'm mad!

[Pedro Cerrano]

Maybe if Deron Williams took more things "personal", the Nets wouldn't suck so bad. I find it hilarious that this is the thing that made him angry. Does losing all the time upset him? Nope. Does it bother him that people forget the Nets are in the NBA? Nope. But an Asian getting attention? Now I'm mad!

In fairness to DWill, he is playing amazing basketball this year.

[Dr. FLK]

In fairness to DWill, he is playing amazing basketball this year.

Sure he is. He's a great player. I just found his comments funny. You lose most of your games, and then you're surprised when you get no respect.

[Sports Guy]

Kyrie Irving is a beast.

BTW, no college has more current NBA All Star players than Duke....They have 4. I am surprised that's the most but I saw that stat the other day.

Kyrie soon to make it 5.