Official Los Angeles Lakers Thread

[podstock]

Originally posted by stalking_WOLF_21
NOW WHO'S THE best lakers had all there players in last night the t-wolves were with out wally if you know what i mean

hahahahaha

ain't no bragging when you haven't made it out of the 1st round in your existence.

7 straight seasons in the playoffs

7 straight times getting booted home

we'll see you guys in the playoffs - if you beat us then, you can gloat

[stalking_WOLF_21]

we will for sure you want to make a card cash bet for who ever gets farther plmk

[podstock]

how about 50 cc?

I bet the Lakers will go farther than the Wolves

[minew_m]

I'd take you on too if you can get some more cc!

[podstock]

lol....smart money bets on Lakers

nothing is ever guaranteed, but when all the Lakers and all the Wolves are healthy (there's still about 1 month left before playoffs start April 17th)...who is the better team?

LAKERS

and the answer will always remain that way, until the Wolves PROVE differently

[minew_m]

Originally posted by podstock
lol....smart money bets on Lakers

nothing is ever guaranteed, but when all the Lakers and all the Wolves are healthy (there's still about 1 month left before playoffs start April 17th)...who is the better team?

LAKERS

and the answer will always remain that way, until the Wolves PROVE differently

Exactly! I'd rather bet on a team that's won 3 out of the last 4 Championships over a team that hasn't even won a playoff series.

[stalking_WOLF_21]

yeah i'll do that t-wolves all the way and the underdog will win the lakers can't move with four popes out there

[podstock]

ok, it's official:

Lakers will go further in the playoffs than the wolves

50 cc bet b/t me and Stalking _wolf_21

[podstock]

3/13/04 update: Lakers 88-81 over the lowly Bulls

this was a close game all the way until the final minute, and it shouldn't have been that way

but the Lakers had 20 turnovers, shot 38% FG, and in general played a very poor game

the good thing is, they were playing the Bulls, which means you can play semi-crap and still win. The Lakers first win at Chicago in over 3 years (that's right, 3 years!)

Kobe was the player of the game, with 35 points, 8 boards and 3 assists

Shaq had an average game, hampered by foul trouble in the 3rd quarter, and had 16 points with 15 rebounds -- now that's what I like to see!!! 15 boards shows that Shaq is active!

Malone played GREAT!!!, with 10 points, 13 boards and 7 assists in almost 40 minutes of play. This is his second game back after missing about 39 games, and he was in condition to play 40 minutes!!!

Payton really doesn't fit into the offense, but still scored 10 points, had 4 boards and 2 assists.

We need Payton more for his defense than anything else, and if he is smart, he'll shut his mouth and play defense. If he really wants the ring, he'll shut up about not having the ball enough

Lakers didn't get much out of their reserves, who scored a total of 15 points. Don't expect much out of the reserves once the playoffs roll around.

The Bulls had 5 players in double figures, lead by Eddie Curry's 16 points and 7 boards, and Kirk Heinrichs 15 points and 12 assists.

Tyson Chandler played well with 10 points and 15 boards, but he missed all 9 of his free throws. Boy, I thought Shaq sucked shooting foul shots, then I watched Chandler shoot them

the Bulls are relying on the talents of their big men Chandler and Curry, both of whom are barely 21 or so years old, and have already played 3 years. These guys are millionaires several times over, but haven't improved their game much (heck, Chandler is now a reserve!)

The only reason the Lakers won tonight is that they played the Bulls. Against the Kings, the Lakers would've lost by over 20. Not good defense, terrible shooting.

Lakers end their 4-game road trip with a disappointing 2-2 record. Had Shaq not been kicked out of the Utah game, the Lakers would've won it. The only game the Lakers stunk was the Minnesota game, but the Wolves played well, to their credit.

Lakers now have 9 straight home games, and with 16-17 games left, only have 4 more on the road.

Sacramento, San Antonio and Dallas play the majority of the remaining games on the road.

Lakers still in 4th place, 2 games ahead of Dallas, and 1 game behind San Antonio

San Antonio plays at Sacramento tomorrow, so that will most likely be SA's 23rd loss, same as the Lakers

Dallas plays at LA Clippers, so that's most likely a win

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3/15/04 update: 113-110 in OT, as Kobe single-handedly shuts down T-Mac in the 4th quarter (5 points scored) and puts in a team record tying 24 points on absolutely clutch mid-range jumpers, 3-point shots, and penetrating lay-ups.

just an amazing game, that was amazing due to the magnificence that is Kobe.

From the 1st quarter to the 3rd quarter, it was all Orlando, as the Lakers just could not stop a team with the 2nd worst record from scoring at will

The Magic score 27, 23, 23 in the 1st-3rd quarters, and were up by 19 points with about 7 minutes left in the 3rd. They were up by 15 points at the start of the 3rd.....

and that's when Kobe went Jordanesque on T-Mac and the Magic, as he made 8-12 shots, and defended T-Mac in the 4th. Kobe scored 24, T-Mac got 5.

Every Lakers possession was in Kobe's hand; as he made shots from the right side, left side, layups, 3-pointers, bank shots, left handed shots.........

Kobe ended up with 38 points (1 point in the 1st half, as he deferred to the other Lakers, kept passing the ball to them, who missed their shots left and right) with 3 boards and 4 assists, on 13-26 shooting and 10-13 foul shots. Kobe played T-Mac all 4th quarter, including the last 2 minutes of regular session and all of OT with 5 fouls.

Shaq had a TREMENDOUS GAME- 27 points and 23 boards. Shaq shot 9-18 foul shots. This is what Shaq should be doing 80% of the time. How can the most dominant big man NOT be able to get around 20 rebounds a game?!?!?

Karl had 9 points on 3-9 shooting, and made only 3-9 foul shots. He was given a wide open shot at the end of regular session with a pass by Kobe, who was triple-teamed. Karl had a wide open 17-20 footer, passed it up....drove the lane, was absolutely hacked by T-Mac (would've been his 6th foul), and no foul was called. In retrospect, Karl should've shot the ball

Gary Payton had a quiet night, with 9 points, 9 boards, and 1 lousy assists (of course, when your teammates are missing shots, you're not going to get assists. But he hit game winning 3-pointer with 1 minute and 22 seconds left to play

Kareem Rush looks like he's back to a shooting slump, going 0-4 without a point

Luke Walton played 8 minutes, got 2 boards and 1 assists

Fisher played well, with 11 points on 5-8 shooting and took a tremendous charge that helped the Lakers comeback late in the 4th quarter when Lakers were down by 4

Fox's shooting is coming back, as he went 2-3. Fox is basically used b/c he's a physical defensive player, and is a great outlet passer and knows the triangle well. but, other than playing about 8 minutes of 1st quarter and 8 minutes of 3rd quarter, he really isn't used any other time.

George us used in the 2nd and 4th quarters for his defense, and he did make 1-3 shooting and got 3 points in 3 minutes of play.

Bryon Russell only played 6 minutes, but got 7 points

As for the Magic, they were led by, who else, T-Mac, who scored 37 points, but only got 5 of them in the crucial 4th quarter when Kobe clamped down on him. with 1.2 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter, he made a nifty 3-pointer that was just tenths of a second late and the game went into OT. T-Mac also got 7 boards and 10 assists

T-Mac was awesome, and has 62, 40 and 37 points in the last 3 games, tying Kobe for 139 points in a 3-game period, behind Wilt and Jordan for most points within a 3-game period. But, when the Magic needed him the most, he didn't respond. Kobe guarded him, and guarded him well.

Juwuan Howard played well, with 29 points on 12-18 shots, 9 boards and 2 assists. Lakers power forwards will have trouble defending Webber, Duncan and KG, lots of trouble..........they just could not slow down Howard.

Stevenson had a good game with 18 points on 8-16 shooting, 6 boards and 4 assists....

but this game showed why Kobe is better than T-Mac

In the 4th quarter, Kobe controlled the whole game, offensively and defensively. A total complete player. Absolutely unstoppable unless he is double-teamed by 2 athletes in the mode of Andrei Kirilenkov of the Utah Jazz (a 6'11 forward with very long arms and very athletic)

With the Spurs losing by 17 at Golden St (no Duncan, out again with a knee / thigh bruise)...Lakers are now in 3rd place. Should they both end up with same record, Lakers would be ahead of them b/c they won the season series.

With the Timberwolves playing some tough road games in the coming weeks, 2nd place is very very reachable!