Got in on another Laker Loss :)

[Q_FBE]

Not even the blatent favoritism of Joey Crawford could deny the determined Grizzlies in Memphis tonight. The Grizz stayed with it and defended Kobe very well. Mike Conley was the star with his work tonight. Hasheem Thabeet and Zach Randolph had their moments with Pau Gasol and Shannon Brownie knocked in some treys but it was not enough. Grizz win by two and send the Fakers on a three game losing streak.

This is fun rooting against the Fakers. With a Beat LA, the Q peaces out.

[GreenFaith1819]

A Laker loss (3 in a row) and a convincing Celtics win on the road?

A great night

[hpantazo]

we have now officially passed the lakers in the standings, and that is all that matters, so I'm celebrating for now 

[housecall]

 I guess Pau is still in a slump only scored 15pts aganist his brother...6pts less than his seasons average.Could it be they're starting to play a few tougher teams on the schedule is showing what his real numbers will be closer to?If the Celtics had played the bottom feeders of the east 14out17 times in the beginning Pierce would probably have a higher average.Even though their offense doesn't depend on  one or two players to score a lot night n night out he could easily be averaging in the mid-twenties if their schedule was as soft as the Lakers.Im glad they didn't play all the bottom teams at the start because you get a better sense of where your team is and what they will need to correct sooner by having a well balanced schedule.

[LakersFan_33]

we have now officially passed the lakers in the standings, and that is all that matters, so I'm celebrating for now 

Congrats on locking home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Lakers are definitely in a bad slump - They are getting passed around the league like a drunk Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. at a party. Happens every year.

Given that the only effective players have been Kobe and Barnes, I foresee another loss tonight against Houston. Lakers will stabilize once Bynum/Ratliff come back.

[BballTim]

we have now officially passed the lakers in the standings, and that is all that matters, so I'm celebrating for now 

Congrats on locking home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Lakers are definitely in a bad slump - They are getting passed around the league like a drunk **** at a party. Happens every year.

Given that the only effective players have been Kobe and Barnes, I foresee another loss tonight against Houston. Lakers will stabilize once Bynum/Ratliff come back.

  Hanging your hopes on a healthy Bynum is bad enough, but Bynum and Theo? Yikes!

  And, just curious, but what are the Lakers boards like when the Celts slump? Were they full of comments like "once KG and PP are healthy they'll be tough to beat in the playoffs"?

[Dybdal]

Here's a topic i think is worth debating from a Celticsblog standpoint when looking at the MEM/LA game.

Tony Allen, our old defensive stopper that got national praise from defending Kobe Bryant at very croucial times during 2008 played a total of 4½ minutes of basketball in a game where Kobe Bryant was looking to be the main offensive weapon and was abusing X. Henry all night.

In a game where the MEM coach said "we won without playing defense tonight" in such a game Tony Allen plays 4½ minutes of basketball.

I'm kinda shocked.. i would think these kinds of games were what they brought in Tony Allen for regardless of his bone headed behavior on offense.

Remember the game against Memphis? T. Allen had RayRay on lockdown all night chasing around screens, no one else has actualy been able to do that all season, now i know that isnt a messuring stick for how good defense he plays on others since he knows our system in and out.. but still! im shocked 4½ minutes? he must really have f'cked up his chances in Memphis to get so few minutes in a game tailor made for him

[housecall]

Here's a topic i think is worth debating from a Celticsblog standpoint when looking at the MEM/LA game.

Tony Allen, our old defensive stopper that got national praise from defending Kobe Bryant at very croucial times during 2008 played a total of 4½ minutes of basketball in a game where Kobe Bryant was looking to be the main offensive weapon and was abusing X. Henry all night.

In a game where the MEM coach said "we won without playing defense tonight" in such a game Tony Allen plays 4½ minutes of basketball.

I'm kinda shocked.. i would think these kinds of games were what they brought in Tony Allen for regardless of his bone headed behavior on offense.

Remember the game against Memphis? T. Allen had RayRay on lockdown all night chasing around screens, no one else has actualy been able to do that all season, now i know that isnt a messuring stick for how good defense he plays on others since he knows our system in and out.. but still! im shocked 4½ minutes? he must really have f'cked up his chances in Memphis to get so few minutes in a game tailor made for him

While watching this game i was wondering almost the same thing,where the blank is TA.Believe it or not OJ Mayo did a decent job on Kobe and late in the game when it was Kobe time,he basically closed out on Kobe to cause him to pass the shot off to Ron Artest,who got his shot partially block'd by Rudy Gay.If Artest had hit the three the Lakers would have won the game by 1.But my thoughts went back to,whats going on with TA?

[Megatron]

Here's a topic i think is worth debating from a Celticsblog standpoint when looking at the MEM/LA game.

Tony Allen, our old defensive stopper that got national praise from defending Kobe Bryant at very croucial times during 2008 played a total of 4½ minutes of basketball in a game where Kobe Bryant was looking to be the main offensive weapon and was abusing X. Henry all night.

In a game where the MEM coach said "we won without playing defense tonight" in such a game Tony Allen plays 4½ minutes of basketball.

I'm kinda shocked.. i would think these kinds of games were what they brought in Tony Allen for regardless of his bone headed behavior on offense.

Remember the game against Memphis? T. Allen had RayRay on lockdown all night chasing around screens, no one else has actualy been able to do that all season, now i know that isnt a messuring stick for how good defense he plays on others since he knows our system in and out.. but still! im shocked 4½ minutes? he must really have f'cked up his chances in Memphis to get so few minutes in a game tailor made for him

While watching this game i was wondering almost the same thing,where the blank is TA.Believe it or not OJ Mayo did a decent job on Kobe and late in the game when it was Kobe time,he basically closed out on Kobe to cause him to pass the shot off to Ron Artest,who got his shot partially block'd by Rudy Gay.If Artest had hit the three the Lakers would have won the game by 1.But my thoughts went back to,whats going on with TA?

Whats wrong with TA?

Hes a terrible offensive player, it wont matter how good your defense is, in a close game, you better be able to score or your going to lose the game, hence the celtics last year, couldnt score during the 4th quarter because we had a useless perkins, teams wouldnt let Rondo drive, they would guard Ray closely, and KG and PP were tired.

Thank god we have shaq, instant 2 points or a foul.

[Scalablob990]

we have now officially passed the lakers in the standings, and that is all that matters, so I'm celebrating for now 

Congrats on locking home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Lakers are definitely in a bad slump - They are getting passed around the league like a drunk **** at a party. Happens every year.

Given that the only effective players have been Kobe and Barnes, I foresee another loss tonight against Houston. Lakers will stabilize once Bynum/Ratliff come back.

Still an automatic for them to go to the finals. SA is playing over their heads right now, just like the hornets were. The Lakers could be the #8 seed in the west and I would still put $ on them winning the west.

[Sizzlack]

we have now officially passed the lakers in the standings, and that is all that matters, so I'm celebrating for now 

Congrats on locking home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Lakers are definitely in a bad slump - They are getting passed around the league like a drunk **** at a party. Happens every year.

Given that the only effective players have been Kobe and Barnes, I foresee another loss tonight against Houston. Lakers will stabilize once Bynum/Ratliff come back.

Still an automatic for them to go to the finals. SA is playing over their heads right now, just like the hornets were. The Lakers could be the #8 seed in the west and I would still put $ on them winning the west.

Quote for truth.

[Megatron]

I think most of us feel the same way, we wont mind Lakers losing during the regular season, but we WANT to meet them in the finals.

[LakersFan_33]

we have now officially passed the lakers in the standings, and that is all that matters, so I'm celebrating for now 

Congrats on locking home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Lakers are definitely in a bad slump - They are getting passed around the league like a drunk **** at a party. Happens every year.

Given that the only effective players have been Kobe and Barnes, I foresee another loss tonight against Houston. Lakers will stabilize once Bynum/Ratliff come back.

  Hanging your hopes on a healthy Bynum is bad enough, but Bynum and Theo? Yikes!

  And, just curious, but what are the Lakers boards like when the Celts slump? Were they full of comments like "once KG and PP are healthy they'll be tough to beat in the playoffs"?

Bynum and Ratliff are currently the only players to back up Gasol and Odom. I'm sure you know Bynum intimately by now from last year (regarding rebounds), so why not expect him to contribute to this team once he gets back? Theo is a very serviceable reserve.

Sure, Lakers forums were talking sh1t about Celtics last year. I don't think anyone is saying much of anything right now, and probably won't, even when the Celtics have their inevitable slump. Not sure the guys over there really care anymore.

[BballTim]

we have now officially passed the lakers in the standings, and that is all that matters, so I'm celebrating for now 

Congrats on locking home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Lakers are definitely in a bad slump - They are getting passed around the league like a drunk **** at a party. Happens every year.

Given that the only effective players have been Kobe and Barnes, I foresee another loss tonight against Houston. Lakers will stabilize once Bynum/Ratliff come back.

  Hanging your hopes on a healthy Bynum is bad enough, but Bynum and Theo? Yikes!

  And, just curious, but what are the Lakers boards like when the Celts slump? Were they full of comments like "once KG and PP are healthy they'll be tough to beat in the playoffs"?

Bynum and Ratliff are currently the only players to back up Gasol and Odom. I'm sure you know Bynum intimately by now from last year (regarding rebounds), so why not expect him to contribute to this team once he gets back? Theo is a very serviceable reserve.

Sure, Lakers forums were talking sh1t about Celtics last year. I don't think anyone is saying much of anything right now, and probably won't, even when the Celtics have their inevitable slump. Not sure the guys over there really care anymore.

  Bynum didn't do a lot of rebounding against the Celts in the Finals. He did have one big game, 21 points and 7 blocks, but the Lakers lost at home that night. Sure, he can contribute when he comes back, but it's not like you can count on his being healthy for any length of time.

[housecall]

we have now officially passed the lakers in the standings, and that is all that matters, so I'm celebrating for now 

Congrats on locking home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Lakers are definitely in a bad slump - They are getting passed around the league like a drunk **** at a party. Happens every year.

Given that the only effective players have been Kobe and Barnes, I foresee another loss tonight against Houston. Lakers will stabilize once Bynum/Ratliff come back.

  Hanging your hopes on a healthy Bynum is bad enough, but Bynum and Theo? Yikes!

  And, just curious, but what are the Lakers boards like when the Celts slump? Were they full of comments like "once KG and PP are healthy they'll be tough to beat in the playoffs"?

Bynum and Ratliff are currently the only players to back up Gasol and Odom. I'm sure you know Bynum intimately by now from last year (regarding rebounds), so why not expect him to contribute to this team once he gets back? Theo is a very serviceable reserve.

Sure, Lakers forums were talking sh1t about Celtics last year. I don't think anyone is saying much of anything right now, and probably won't, even when the Celtics have their inevitable slump. Not sure the guys over there really care anymore.

  Bynum didn't do a lot of rebounding against the Celts in the Finals. He did have one big game, 21 points and 7 blocks, but the Lakers lost at home that night. Sure, he can contribute when he comes back, but it's not like you can count on his being healthy for any length of time.

TP...I agree you can't count on Bynum because he has spent more time out than on the court during his short career,and how old is Theo Ratliff now,47?Most teams are shaking in their sneakers with the thoughts of Theo returning.lol