Perhaps I spoke too soon. The Rockets looked like a formidable opponent in their 100-92 win over the Lakers. As I had feared, the two polar opposite figures in the NBA, took a crap on the Lakers last night. To begin, if there is a quicker player in the NBA than Aaron Brooks , I haven't seen him. Brooks (no, not you mom) looks like he's 3 steps quicker than anyone on the Lakers. And what's worse? He can shoot. Phil threw a ton of different bodies at him-- even going so far as to resurrect Farmar from the depths of the bench-- to no avail. As for Yao Zedong, he is a warrior. I have to give him props. Seeing him go into the tunnel and then, in that deep, resonant Chinese accent, tell his trainers "I must go back," gave me goosebumps. He is a scary, scary player. Not only is he 7'13'', but he can shoot the 17 footer, and he shoots 100% from the free throw line. Look for him to continue to give the Lake Show fits throughout the series.
As for our Lakers, that was a shitshow. Phil didn't coach, Kobe shot too much, Pau didn't get enough touches, our role players didn't make shots, and I didn't brush my teeth cause it ended at 1:30 AM. A team as talented as the Lakers can probably win with one or two quarters of settling for mid-long range jump shots, but after that it becomes Phil's responsibility to make sure the Lakers attack the basket. Sure, Kobe was sick, but seeing him settle for jumpers all game gave me pharyngitis--something my girlfriend couldn't do two weeks ago when she had it. We (read: Kobe and Pau) have got to attack Yao and get him in foul trouble. That's our only chance of slowing the China Problem down. Last night, we looked like the soft, scared Lakers from last year. I'm not so worried about Artest shooting 50% from the three point line, I'm pretty confident that was a fluke (although with his new do' he is by far the coolest looking dude on the court). My new prediction: Lakers in 6.
As for our puppies I only have one observation. This team has something that no Dodger team has had in recent memory, something that is absolutely vital in successful teams, SWAGGER. Anytime a team goes 1-10 with runners in scoring position, hits into a triple play, and still manages to put 7 runs on the board and win by 5, you know they're special. This team KNOWS they're gonna win-- at least at this point in the season-- and it shows in the way they carry themselves. All the credit in the world goes to Joe Torre.
p.s. I finished college today
on point Bizzle. pau and lamar have to get going if we're gonna win this, and i'm wondering if yao needs to get benched for that to happen. he played 40 min. last night, a lot for a yao. that really was great seeing and hearing him in the tunnel. i've always had a soft spot for the guy, especially for putting up with all TMac's melancholia, but i like him even more now, and putting him into foul trouble - which the nba will doubtless do to get its bron-kobe matchup - will make me cringe a little. this is a good series, couldnt be any different than the first round. like kenny said at halftime - in far too many words and thingamajig squiggles - the rockets really man up. no spacing. no sweeping lamar layups. i dont think i even saw any kobe layups. Kobe really got shut down by The No Stat All-Star in teh first half. CWebb and Kenny were attributing his first half struggles to the swineflu or whatever he has, but i saw differently. battier really gave him a tough time, tho kobe found his stroke in the second half. it WAS good to see farmar, and it was especially satisfying to see him hit that corner three at the end of half one to make it a 3 point game. shame it was his only shot. i really wanted to see shannon brown hit that double pump dunk from outside the corner of the key too. that woulda been super ill. oh well. on to game two. time to get rolling. we need a point guard. or else we need pau and lamar to play like the semi-stars they are.
ReplyDeleteYou two nailed some key points. Phil did not do one ounce of coaching and Ron Artest is trying a little too hard to be like Dennis Rodman. I will say however there was not nearly enough shit talking about Lamar Odom. Lucky for him I'm not giving after game lashings in the locker room as he would still be crying right now from the new asshole i would've ripped him. How many years can that guy suck for? The worst part about it is how he teases us constantly, gives us hope, and makes us actually think he's worth the 10 million he's getting paid every year. Oh, and don't get me started on sitting Andrew Bynum in the 4th... Thanks Phil and we know that every time we loose an important game it's because "we couldn't of played any worse." Before sounding too much like Bill Plaschke I'm out of here. I leave you with one closing note. Game 2 is a do or die situation. Laker's win game 2 and we take the series. If we loose, we'll just have to add Houston to the Detroit, San Antonio, and Boston list. Do or die suckers!
ReplyDelete---Scooter