Lakers (14-11) at Celtics (14-10) 2/9

[BASS_THUMPER]

while sippin and readin my screen


reggie miller voice is startin to irritate me


reggie...let me holla at ya sista...

[Who]

we really need young legs at the 4 and 5 to box out and rebound

Doc should have played Bass and Wilcox in overtime.

Why, they were worse than O'Neal and KG were for the game

Fresh legs.  KG and JO were spent.  Bass and Wilcox at least were fresh and they're younger.  Can expect them to make a hustle play or hit a jumpshot.

Bass can't defend or rebound Gasol or Bynum. More likely to hurt the C's than help them.

Wilcox would have been a fine alternative though -- alternative to JO, not KG, because then the spacing would have gotten even worse with JO, Wilcox and Rondo out there together.

[Tgro]

That was our worst game since we won 9 out of 10. I think other than the 1st quarter, we looked bad. We just kept slowing the game down. When we run and push we do so much better. Setting offenses with 10 seconds left on the shot clock and settling for Rondo jumpers, That's just not going to get it done. KG looked tired. Pierce had a hard time getting going. And Gasol just killed us. He was the difference.

As much as it hurts (and it does), I'm still believing we'll be a challenger at the end. Danny has to pull the trigger on a move though. We had no inside game tonight at all.  

[Inside-Out]

Need to get Wilcox more than 12-13 minutes in a game like this.  KG and JO were spent.

[Swoopz]

KG....trade him..please

And Pierce...he bricked so many shots at the end. Ray and Pietrus missed a bunch of 3s, trade them. Rondo disappeared, and Bass barely played in the 4th, probably because he's terrible.

[Change]

I still don't see the issue with Rondo being out there. The only thing going wrong right now is our lack of rebounding.

Because he kills our spacing and teams double off him daring him to shot. It makes life in our halfcourt so difficult. He might give us easy shots in transition, but it's no coincidence that we usually struggle closing out games and he'll never have the ball in his hands.

exactly.  can anybody tell me something Rondo did at all at the end of that game?

Rondo absolutely DISAPPEARS at the end of close games. 

why is he even on the floor end of games? I know Doc will never take him, but he should consider it. Rondo hurts this team offensively No way around it. Spacing is nonexistent.

[celticinorlando]

The Lakers are not an average or bad team.

They are 15-11 while playing against a strength of schedule that has thus far been the 2nd hardest in the league and played only half their games at home. They have also already played a back to back to back.

This was a tough loss to a contending team.

The lakers play with 3 guys on offense..they get nothing out of fisher and artest on offense. their bench is awful. this is a below average laker team. they are NOWHERE near contending for anything

[PosImpos]

The Lakers are not an average or bad team.

They are 15-11 while playing against a strength of schedule that has thus far been the 2nd hardest in the league and played only half their games at home. They have also already played a back to back to back.

This was a tough loss to a contending team.

The Lakers are better than the Celtics, but they aren't that much better.

Both teams are very good defensively but below average offensively.  The Lakers have better top options, and actually should have a much easier time scoring in close, tightly-defended games because of their enormous front court.  They lack depth, though, which the Celtics have. 

I would put the Lakers' ceiling for the season (barring a major move at the deadline) at the WCF, though I think it's more likely they lose in the 2nd round again.  The Celtics are a 1st or 2nd round out, depending on who they draw in the first round.

[greensquirrel]

PP and KG 13-41. This won't cut it in big games.

[celticinorlando]

KG....trade him..please

And Pierce...he bricked so many shots at the end. Ray and Pietrus missed a bunch of 3s, trade them. Rondo disappeared, and Bass barely played in the 4th, probably because he's terrible.

trade him because we aren't bringing him back next year. get something out of him now.

[PosImpos]

we really need young legs at the 4 and 5 to box out and rebound

Doc should have played Bass and Wilcox in overtime.

Why, they were worse than O'Neal and KG were for the game

Fresh legs.  KG and JO were spent.  Bass and Wilcox at least were fresh and they're younger.  Can expect them to make a hustle play or hit a jumpshot.

Bass can't defend or rebound Gasol or Bynum. More likely to hurt the C's than help them.

Wilcox would have been a fine alternative though -- alternative to JO, not KG, because then the spacing would have gotten even worse with JO, Wilcox and Rondo out there together.

You're right about defense, but Doc could have tried doing some offense / defense subbing there at the end.  Those bricked shots by KG were painful and didn't need to happen, because KG shouldn't have been in on those plays to take them.

[European NBA fan]

The Lakers bigs are a handful for any team. And I would have preferred that we used our younger bigs to wear them down more so that JO and KG still had legs in the end. But neither Wilcox or Bass were really any match for Bynum/Gasol.
 
Exciting game.

[GreenFaith1819]

Seriously, did Rondo do ANYTHING at all at the end of that game / overtime?

You wonder why people question his ability to be a franchise player.

C'mon man...Rondo isn't the ONLY reason BOS lost.

We know you don't like Rondo. Your Sig says it without you posting.

Place some blame on our Bigs not boxing out, too...

Greenfaith, I do like Rondo.  Seriously.  I love what he does, most of the time, for the first 3 quarters.  What I can't stand is how he disappears in the 4th quarter in close games.  He has so much talent, so many tools at his disposal, yet he turns back into "role player Rondo" at the end of close games, especially against tough opponents.  He defers to the Big 3 and stops making big plays or running the offense.  It's maddening because I know he's capable of more.

Agreed, mostly.

While I do place equal blame on our Bigs, it was frustrating for me to watch Kobe lay off of him.

Rondo needs to have the confidence to take that J.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

i knew we wasn't gonna win once the game went to OT

Exactly. Living near L.A., I watch a lot of Lakers games, and I can't count how many times I've seen teams have a legit chance against L.A., but they let it go to OT and then the Lakers win, almost every time. If Boston gives up even one less offensive rebound in the fourth quarter, Cs win.

[PosImpos]

PP and KG 13-41. This won't cut it in big games.

almost all jumpshots, dude.  when you take a ton of jumpshots against a good defense, more often than not your percentages are going to suck.