Surely, the Lakers learned their lesson. There was no way they could repeat another Game 4 performance. They won Game 5 by 40 points and laughed off their previous game as something that would never happen again. Think again.
The Lakers failed to close out the Houston Rockets in Game 6 and lost 95-80.
The most infuriating part of all this? The Lake Show started this game off exactly like they did the last time they were in Houston. They had no emotion, heart, intensity, desire, blah blah blah they didn't have it. It was completely inexcusable, and another sign that this team is not championship ready.
The score was 17-1 with 6:35 left in the 1st quarter. For a team that averages well over 100 points a game, the Lakers could only muster 15 pts. in the 1st.
The passion and energy only started after the Lakers came out of halftime and realized that they were actually in a playoff game. The score was 52-36 at the half, and the Lakers surged to cut the game within 2 by outscoring the Rockets by 16 pts in the first 6 minutes. The score was 52-54 with 5:58 remaining, but then the red flood gates opened again.
Carl Landry made a freakin' reverse lay up. Shane Battier got by Kobe and made a lay-up. Aaron Brooks was draining 3's that he was not making in L.A. This was all because the Lakers gave them confidence to make those shots by disappearing in the 1st. The Rockets knew they could make those shots. They had the crowd, the momentum, and the desire to win.
The Lakers bigs were embarrassed as well. Luis Scola had 18 pts in the 1st half and totally outplayed Pau Gasol to the point that he was relegated to the bench for most of the half. Any hope for Andrew Bynum to continue his solid play from Game 5 quickly dissipated as he scored as many points as I did. Lamar Odom grabbed some boards and played with some fire, but his back is clearly hurting him. He didn't handle the ball as much as he should've, so he wasn't noticeable.The Lakers shooting was awful, and most of that can be attributed to Kobe's wild shots. Once again, he became Showbe. You know, when he tries to take over the world and try to prove all the naysayers wrong. "HE CAN'T GUARD ME!" "I'M SHOOTING OVER TRIPLE TEAMS!" "EVERYONE STAND AND WATCH WHILE I DRAIN THIS CONTESTED THREE I HAVE NO BUSINESS TAKING!"
Whenever he takes more shots than his jersey number, the Lakers do not have a desirable record. The ball becomes stagnant, and the fact that he scored 32 doesn't mean jack if he's going to miss 16 shots on 11-27 shooting. He needs to understand that the more he shoots, the more he feeds into the Rockets game plan. Hasn't he learned anything from the teams that have successfully contained him in past NBA Finals? The Celtics in '07 and the Pistons in '04 used a very similar defensive strategy? I call it the triangle defense, and it has proven to contain and jar the Lakers offense. Kobe, start trusting your teammates and move the ball more, or your best chance to win an NBA Title in the post-Shaq era will blow up in your face.
Back to the game...Phil made a mistake by not putting Kobe in until 6:56 LEFT IN THE GAME! Imagine that, you have "the best closer in the game," and in a close-out game, he is relegated to the bench in the biggest game of the year. Phil's substitutions were bad, but the blame can't be put on him. He can't go out on the court and slap Pau half way to Spain. He can't install pogo sticks on Bynum's immovable legs of steel. Fisher was properly benched in the 2nd and 4th quarter.
As for my prediction in Game 6. I guess the smart money is on the Lakers. After all, they're at home, and Kobe Bryant surely wouldn't let his team succumb to the lowly Rockets without their two best players.
I SHOULD GO with the team that plays like they give a damn. I SHOULD GO with the team that actually wants to be there. I SHOULD GO with the team that inspires and plays all out no matter what the score. I SHOULD GO with the Houston Rockets, but I'm not.
The Lakers SHOULD win Game 7, but The Lakers are hoping it's not a should've, would've, could've kind of season.
Another Jakked up performance everybody. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.
Another Jakked up performance everybody. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.
5 comments:
Of course it's Phil's fault. It is his job to motivate the players. It is his job to quit starting Derek Fisher and allowing the Rockets to jump out to huge leads. It is his job to stop playing Sasha aka the worst guard in basketbal and Fluke Walton in the 4th quarter. It was laughable watching Fluke play the first 5 minutes of the 4th while Kobe sat on the bench.
Oh yeah, GO ROCKETS!
90% mental 10% physical. I remembered hearing that all the time from coaches. MJ is a good example after he learned that going for 100 every night wasn't cutting it. The Lakers need to re-group and play with their heads, make the extra pass on offense and comunicate on the defensive end and defend on the pick and roll. I still have hope. But hope is running out.
James.
Fluke Walton...I love it.
The Laker guards are the difference in this series.It starts with Fisher and Kobe and ends with Sasha(i agree with James) is the absolute worst player in the world.The only guard playing well is Farmar.Let him play 40 minutes.The Lakers will win game 7 because they have to , not because they want to.
The Lakers are arguably the best team in this years playoffs, trailing them are the Cavs, Magic, Celtics, and Nuggets. The yellow and purple now have all the right pieces, they just need to make them fit. The series with the Rockets was a bit sloppy as evident by being taken to a seventh game. Nonetheless the Lakers remain a dominant team and will more than likely find themselves in the NBA Finals come June. As for the Magic, they're doing a fabulous job by removing the former champs from the title hunt. Van Gundy is doing great things but motivating his players and really giving them the needed attention ( i dont know if i can say the same for phil). Either way the play offs have been, great thus far, GO MAGIC!
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