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Word is Faried is close to returning and can probably go in game 1Lawson is playing great and appears to be completely over the foot injury. With Iggy covering Curry most of the game, this series should be 5 games tops, even without Faried.Denver really needs a full throttle Lawson. I think the Nuggets have a bit more depth which will probably put them over the top. Klay can't have any nights off and they need to get quality minutes from Bogut.
He would be wrong. At Sportsbook, the Spurs are -1600 and the Lakers are +1000.That means your $50 would return $500 instead of the $200 you would win from me. I'm not in the business of getting over on people, so if you want to cancel our bet, that's fine. You aren't getting fair odds at all.
Nah. A bets a bet. I had no idea what the Vegas odds were when I made the bet, and it would be BS for me to back out now. We're good.
Pessimistic Laker fan here. I think SA wins in 5 or 6. Assuming Nash won't play much, if at all, I don't see the Lakers having enough offense to win a series. I think SA played a bit of possum last Sunday. Getting Ginobli back helps, even if he's just 60%, Parker will play better, the Lakers are maxed out already, probably playing a bit over their heads the last 2 games. I don't think you can count on 20+ from Blake.
Better ball movement, more players are involved, less hero ball, Gasol and Howard being more involved offensively, etc. That is worse? Okay.timschochet said:
This is just poor analysis altogether. They're the 7th seed alright, but heading into last night they could have very easily been out of the playoffs altogether. That's the very definition of "borderline playoff team".
I'd prefer to see points per possession since I assume the more frontcourt-centric offense shot a lot of free throws, but Gunz has pretty much got you dead to rights here.
LA averaged 19 makes on 28 FTA per game this year (67.8%). The last two nights, they've shot 23/34 (67.6%) and 20/31 (64.5%).
And yet they won both games, thanks to Gasol and Howard both being beasts on the glass, which is probably easier to do with a natural-flowing offense, as opposed to Bryant just launching up shots at will and the bigs having less opportunities to get rebounds cause the offense is discombobulated thanks to it being a one-man show.
They won because San Antonio and Houston played terribly.
They've scored under their season average in all 3 games without Bryant this year. I think your argument is better made on the defensive side of the court.
Of course. It's always like that when the Lakers win when Bryant doesn't play (and their record is well over .500 over the years in games he has missed).
I certainly do not think that is the case over the long haul (although I think this Lakers team still would have made the playoffs if Bryant missed the entire season), but in the short run, they just might be. Chemistry was clearly a huge problem with this team all year, and the fact that the team seems to jell more and play more as a team without him in there, despite their remaining many faults, makes them look a tad more formidable. Plus, Dwight Howard looks a lot more relaxed and comfortable out there without having the team's self-proclaimed leader yipping at him non-stop about this or that. Granted, Howard is somewhat of a mental midget (by NBA toughness standards), but if they are gonna commit to him long term, having him in his best state of mind and environment should be key, and seeing how he can do now that he is the unquestioned best player out there for them is important.
I don't know about chemistry, but the defense has definitely looked better without him in there for the 3 games he's missed - and I think the defense had something to do with why "San Antonio and Houston played terribly." Guys were working their balls off to rotate, close out, box out, rebound, etc. It looked like there was real clarity on what the assignments were - though there were still a few too many breakdowns last night.
"To dream the impossible dreeeeam..."I don't know about chemistry, but the defense has definitely looked better without him in there for the 3 games he's missed - and I think the defense had something to do with why "San Antonio and Houston played terribly." Guys were working their balls off to rotate, close out, box out, rebound, etc. It looked like there was real clarity on what the assignments were - though there were still a few too many breakdowns last night.
Maybe in the long run, Kobe will see how the team operates without him and will make adjustments to his game when he returns.
Definitely. Howard looked like his DPOTY self. I could almost see the "oh ####" thought bubble over Harden's head on a couple of his mad forays down the smokestack once he realized Howard was waiting for him.
The Nuggets have the perimeter defenders to make life hell for Curry and Klay. Barnes has the athleticism to offset the defense, but he's still a rookie. That means David Lee and Bogut will need to shoulder more of the offense in this series for the Dubs to be successful. The Dubs will need Lee to get 20+ ppg and 5 ast+ and Bogut will need to chip in his 10 ppg and 3-4 ast as well. The Nuggets are soft inside so hopefully we can take advantage of it.Kev4029 said:Lawson is playing great and appears to be completely over the foot injury. With Iggy covering Curry most of the game, this series should be 5 games tops, even without Faried.Gr00vus said:No. 16 said:
Meh, in the 2 games Kobe has missed, Pau is a combined 10-34 (29%) from the field. He was 43/68 (63%) in the 5 games prior playing with Kobe.
When I saw him previously, he was coasting through games, now he seems like a leader trying his hardest to get Howard pumped. Also, he got a triple double including 20 boards in a huge game, not exactly a "meh" performance.
I'm on board with this. The Laker offense without Bryant hasn't really looked better to me, other than this bizarre Steve Blake hot streak. More passing sure, but much less explosive. The defense on the other hand sure looks like it went from one of the worst to very good. I still maintain that Kobe has been one of the worst defenders in the league for a while. He seriously isn't even trying. I don't have any stats to back it up, but he's flunking the eye test.I don't know about chemistry, but the defense has definitely looked better without him in there for the 3 games he's missed - and I think the defense had something to do with why "San Antonio and Houston played terribly." Guys were working their balls off to rotate, close out, box out, rebound, etc. It looked like there was real clarity on what the assignments were - though there were still a few too many breakdowns last night. Maybe in the long run, Kobe will see how the team operates without him and will make adjustments to his game when he returns.
Is this where we pretend that rebounding does not matter and doesn't do a thing as far as helping a team win? I mean, if field goal percentage is all that matters, then Kobe Bryant sucked total ### in the only NBA Finals Game 7 he has ever played.
With Kobe and Nash out, the Lakers' backcourt defense takes a significant step forward, despite the fact that their replacements are nothing special on that end.I'm on board with this. The Laker offense without Bryant hasn't really looked better to me, other than this bizarre Steve Blake hot streak. More passing sure, but much less explosive.The defense on the other hand sure looks like it went from one of the worst to very good. I still maintain that Kobe has been one of the worst defenders in the league for a while. He seriously isn't even trying. I don't have any stats to back it up, but he's flunking the eye test.I don't know about chemistry, but the defense has definitely looked better without him in there for the 3 games he's missed - and I think the defense had something to do with why "San Antonio and Houston played terribly." Guys were working their balls off to rotate, close out, box out, rebound, etc. It looked like there was real clarity on what the assignments were - though there were still a few too many breakdowns last night. Maybe in the long run, Kobe will see how the team operates without him and will make adjustments to his game when he returns.
Mine as well. I was starting to think he wasn't going to do it as some FU to ESPN for suspending him. He's basically a full two months late with the colum.
This has blown up on the Raptors boards but it really shouldn't surprise anyone as Colangelo is a horrible, horrible GM when it comes to player evaluation. He's probably still going to get an extension.
If he had actually hit on one or two draft picks or signings, I might have given him the benefit of the doubt here. But he is basically 0 for everything so far in his tenure in Toronto.
Oh he has been terrible. But not giving up Valanciunas and a lottery pick for Harden at the time is completely defensible.
I was low on Harden coming into this year and high on Jonas, and still would have done that deal, if that's all OKC was asking for. TOR's GM makes some pretty odd decisions for someone as invested in analytics as he is.
We don't know that they asked for a lottery pick as well. I would think they asked for Val and Davis or Derozan or both. If they asked for Val and a lottery pick, I would agree with you. Harden for Val and Derozan, or even Val, Derozan, and Davis however, is a no brainer.
You might be right but the guy shot like 30% from the FT line - so right now he's a much bigger liability on offense than any of those guys are. That could change of course but who knows? Drummond has more upside but I would pick Favors over him right now if drafting a team for the long term.
The problem with this, is that me, you and all the morons going irrate on message boards had NO IDEA about Valanciunas. None. Zero. They may have seen a couple international games from an 18-19 year old big. Hardly enough to form an opinion. Meanwhile, we didn't hear a single bad thing said about the pick when it happened and there have been plenty of reports saying he would have been the #2 pick last year if he was eligible.
Exactly. I'm thankful Harden is on the Rockets but even the most enthusiastic homer would tell you no one expected him to be this good. 20 points a few assist and a few boards with room to grow? Yes. 26 / 6 / and 5 with no decent shooters to pass to but Parsons and Delfino? I don't even think Morey expected that.
That's a fair point. Its not how I would manage a franchise but I guess it is defensible. I do really like Valanciunas and his play in the last two months of the season makes me think he's got multiple All star games in his future.
Harden WAS the 3rd pick in his draft and had proven to be, at worst, a Joe Johnson player with upside much higher. Obviously that floor is higher now but I don't think that his upside has changed much, if any.
To each his own. I was pretty low (and completely wrong) on Harden becoming the Man. I thought he would have had a significant decrease in his efficiency and have an upside of Joe Johnson and downside of Ben Gordan. Those guys get big money and don't exactly lead you to championships. I'd much rather have the big who is going to give you 16-20/10 and a couple blocks (which I think Valanciunas will get to in a few years) than a less than efficient wing.
Well, I'd love to see Gasol go off. Howard is still a piece of garbage.
