Game Thread: Lakers @ Magic, 11/11/2015

[Retroram52]

We are only down by four with 6:30 to go. This game is very winnable.

 

[Retroram52]

Inside of 6:00 minutes and the lead is just two.

 

[Retroram52]

TOs are killing us again.

 

[Retroram52]

Recent article about Metta where he states that the reason the Lakers are losing is they have fish brains. I think he wanted to say shit-for-brains but wanted to not get fined.

 

[Retroram52]

Crap, the lead is back to six.

 

[Retroram52]

Well. We are fading fast.

 

[Retroram52]

Russell makes a sweet shot and the lead is three.

 

[Retroram52]

Crap. We are done. Lead is six with 25 seconds left.

 

[Retroram52]

Game over. 1-8. On we go to the next loss. I got to go as well.

 

[Black Adam]

good sign...

the Lakers CAN be competitive for the most part...

BAD sign...

STILL give up too many points in the paint and make too many turnovers...

 

[Retroram52]

Yep Cl67. Way too many TOs at the wrong time and points in the paint is also epidemic. Don't know if Hibbert is not playing as well as expected or isn't being played enough but those problems are obvious.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

Well, one positive we can say is that the Lakers aren't getting blown out as much as other seasons. The Lakers are just too sloppy with the basketball. It is just like Wesley Johnson said in the offseason, this team just doesn't play like a unit. I hope to see that improve as the season progresses.

 

[Retroram52]

Apparently Wesley Johnson's assessment wasn't disgruntled bullshit afterall but the truth. This assessment then lies at the feet of B. Scott as team confusion continues with largely different personnel. One sportswriter has speculated that the better coach is a player now on the roster and suggests if a coaching change occurs, Metta would be a way better coach but I suggest Thibs would be the better choice.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

You can go ahead and say it. Kobe was officially done last year. Everyone knows it but him. He has no lift or lateral quickness because his body is shot. That ain't coming back.

I like you Wild so I'm going to pretend you didn't utter such words of blasphemy. Seriously though I think Kobe is still capable of being one of the best in the league, but he won't do it shooting 25-30 times a game and he won't do it without a few days off here and there. He's not the same Kobe but he's still Kobe.

 

[trojanfan12]

Apparently Wesley Johnson's assessment wasn't disgruntled bullshit afterall but the truth. This assessment then lies at the feet of B. Scott as team confusion continues with largely different personnel. One sportswriter has speculated that the better coach is a player now on the roster and suggests if a coaching change occurs, Metta would be a way better coach but I suggest Thibs would be the better choice.

No, Wesley's assessment IS disgruntled bullshit. Maybe last years team wasn't playing as a unit, but that was last years team. That team was never going to play as a unit. It was a roster made up mostly of guys who were just trying to stay in the league. Everyone was out for themselves and trying to get another contract. In other words, it was a team made up of guys just like Wesley Johnson.

This years team has 7 or 8 new faces and has a very young core. They are learning to play as a unit and we are starting to see some improvement. It's not showing up in the win/loss record, but it is showing with more competitive games and better defense. Some of the defensive improvement from the first few games to the last few, can be attributed to a step down in the level of competition. But not 19 points worth. Dropping from give up 116 points to 97 points per game, is big.

 

[Retroram52]

Yea it is TJF12 and I suspect Johnson's assessment is somewhere between the truth and bullshit. The rest remains to be witnessed.

 

[trojanfan12]

Yea it is TJF12 and I suspect Johnson's assessment is somewhere between the truth and bullshit. The rest remains to be witnessed.

I don't think it was necessarily bullshit regarding last years team (the one he was actually on), it is if he was trying to apply it to this years team though.

End of the day, he isn't good enough to be making these kinds of comments. Especially when considering what an underachiever he has been throughout his career. It comes off as him making excuses for not fulfilling his potential. He may not have even been in the NBA last year if not for the Lakers taking him on.

 

[wildturkey]

I like you Wild so I'm going to pretend you didn't utter such words of blasphemy. Seriously though I think Kobe is still capable of being one of the best in the league, but he won't do it shooting 25-30 times a game and he won't do it without a few days off here and there. He's not the same Kobe but he's still Kobe.

It was hard for me to type it because I love me some Kobe but I can't fight reality. The best he can possibly be now is average once or twice in a two week span. His body is just too beat up. He and Peyton Manning have a lot in common right now

 

[trojanfan12]

It was hard for me to type it because I love me some Kobe but I can't fight reality. The best he can possibly be now is average once or twice in a two week span. His body is just too beat up. He and Peyton Manning have a lot in common right now

Yeah, I figured that if there was one guy who could "turn the clock back" for one season, it would be him. Doesn't look like that will happen, especially now that he has a back issue flaring up, which is a new injury.

He reminds me a bit of when Muhammad Ali fought Larry Holmes. He was old and had no business getting in the ring. But he dyed his hair to hide the gray, looked good in training, won the press conference and convinced a whole lot of people (myself included) that he had one more great fight in him.

As a huge Ali fan, it was really hard to watch when it became obvious right away that he just didn't have it anymore.

As much as I want to see Kobe finish the season on his feet, so that on some level he can go out on his own terms, part of me hopes that he just decides to hang them up during the season and let the kids take it from there.

 

[Retroram52]

Well, TJF12. Kobe may have to do that because his body is just not cooperating with his mind anymore. When he does play extended minutes, he can't play the next game. Kobe is a proud, stubborn, competitive guy. He has yet to acknowledge that his body is done and Father Time always wins. If he persists in his denial, he may end up injured again for the third year in a row and he will then have to acknowledge that his career has reached its end. It'll be sad, but sooner, rather later, Kobe will have to come to terms what we all have to admit and that is we are not 20-years old anymore.