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[trickster360cj]

If we can cut the turnovers down we will be good to go. Dwight has got to get better position in the post. We can't just throw it at the rim every time expecting him to catch it.

 

[girlslovewaffles]

There was more to this game than just a win or loss. It's about the methodology of this team and how it won't be enough to win it all.

We turned it over 14 times more... Were tied with 2 minutes left.

Sureeeeeeeee Sky is falling, sky is falling

The thing is, those turnovers were CAUSED by the Heat's defense. If we meet in the Finals, you can bet that those same turnovers are going to happen because it's the result of the Heat's strategy.

 

[mosk33toe]

Essential I follow you on the not panicking, but im looking at the big picture...

What's the point of making the playoffs when you aren't going to do anything while there?

Nothing the Lakers have done this season has made me think they will make any noise in the playoffs and I feel its due to the stubbornness of the coach.

Won't make defensive adjustments or offensive ones. The great thing about Phil Jackson was his adjustments, I remember in the playoffs the chess match he used to play with opposing coaches, now we have quotes like "we just didn't make enough shots" or "the other team just made shots"

I'm extremely frustrated with D'Antoni

 

[knightngale]

Go look at the West Standings.. Seeds 4-12 are all sliding backwards.

Stop panicking guys.

We had 14 more Turnovers. Lost by 9.

They put out the effort, and it fell apart in the last two minutes.

It does not matter what the seeding is or if they make the playoffs with this system, this version of gasol, no backup PG, and no backup SF.

We have been saying the same thing since preseason,"IF ONLY THESE MORONS CUT DOWN ON THEIR TURNOVERS." They have had better effort lately but they still mess up or come up short in the end. It is usually due to turnovers or defensive breakdowns.

It is not a good look if it takes the coaching staff a whole half to be able to adjust. Lebron took only 7 shots from outside the paint and only made 2. How do you not pack the damn paint? On a day when their 3 point shooters are missing so much they let dude go to the basket with no one to protect it there. Wade only took 3 shots outside of the paint and missed all of them. Either trap the damn pick n roll or sag off. Pack the paint and let other players beat you. The heat and other teams usually get wide open perimeter shots and wide open layups.

It seemed as if they had some weak *** game plan that backfired 2 seconds into the and then they were lost the rest of the half. They adjusted some in the second half but it was too late. I don't think they have any time of defensive game plan.

 

[essential1]

And this team isn't starting to play better, with more cohesion.. Get outta here.

You have at least 3 teams that don't have the ability or fortune to play even mediocre in the next 3 months (Blazers, Wolves are definites.. Take your pick between Warriors & Jazz)

They are 3-1/2 from 7th.

They are playing better. They can't get themselves to 7th by the All Star Break? Don't BS like they can't.

Especially when you have teams in front of the Lakers in more trouble than us.


Then they'll be a few back of 4th with a couple months to go.

Panic if you want, but you'll be doing it for no reason.

 

[acbboyz84]

Can we make an off season thread yet?

I think it's pretty clear we won't make the Finals playing like this. Even if the game is close. Dwight is going to choke at the free throw like he did tonight.

Smh man i thought we had a chance to win up until that airball.

Turn overs and Kobe bricks really put us in a hole too. Smh feel bad man

 

[thehealthinspector]

The thing is, those turnovers were CAUSED by the Heat's defense. If we meet in the Finals, you can bet that those same turnovers are going to happen because it's the result of the Heat's strategy.

if we can bet its going to happen, why was there such as disparity between TOs in the first and 2nd half?

did the heat play worse defense or did the lakers play better offense?

 

[00david00]

At least we're playing better

 

[MVP]

the time for panic has past, this squad even if they make the playoffs ain't doing a damn thing but getting bounced in the 1st rd unless they matchup with the Clips. 3 1/2 games out and these clowns can't even make it to .500 but it's ok we'll flip the magic switch and turn everything around. Other teams may be sliding but don't know if you've noticed we're 3-8 in our last 11 games, not exactly gaining ground. I ain't buying it.

Heat played a horrible game for the most part, Bron was just amazing out there; they maybe made 8 or 9 jumpers the whole night, we gave them everything in the paint. What use is having 7 footers if they don't even guard the paint or at least foul? And trying to force feed the post in the 1st half caused much of those turnovers, have no idea what the hell was going on out there. Ain't no silver lining in taking these Ls. Y'all are just in denial at this point.

 

[thehealthinspector]

 3 1/2 games out and these clowns can't even make it to .500 but it's ok we'll flip the magic switch and turn everything around.

none of us who are optimistic about tonights game are expecting a magic switch flip

we're expecting improvement as the season goes on, and for some of us, thats what we saw tonight

if you think improvement is only shown in games that are won, go ahead, but some of us are fine seeing improvement in every game win or loss

EVERY single person in this thread knows that the lakers arent a championship team as they are, they have to improve and get better to become one

OR are people here satisfied with some victories from sporadic lakers who constantly find themselves in double digit holes throughout games where they have to constantly go on runs jut to have "some" chance of winning???  i know im not

lakers could have easily had themselves another OKC massacre tonight but they didnt

 

[MVP]

What pinpoint improvements are you guys seeing because tonight would not be the example to go to? Still with too many careless turnovers, no defensive resistance in the paint or in transition, missed FTs, health, not being able to close out tight games, all glaring problems that have plagued us since the preseason up to this point. Only improvement if you can even call it that is more guys are in uniform and we don't have to trot out Sacre, Duhon, Twan, Morris and Clark as a 2nd unit.

We're a mediocre ball club at best who's "improving" but still losing games to good teams, bad teams, all kinds of teams. The core issues that the Lakers have problems with continue to fester, even in the wins, but alas I'm sleep; surely it'll turn around and hopefully translate into victories soon.

 

[gaseousfashion]

7-2 the next 9 games to get back to .500

All-Star game needs to hurry up and come.

 

[knightngale]

if we can bet its going to happen, why was there such as disparity between TOs in the first and 2nd half?

did the heat play worse defense or did the lakers play better offense?

They still had turnovers or near turnover plays after they were tied 90-90. It was partly the Heat defense and also partly the Lakers not running anything and relying on Nash. Nash was atrocious today. Flabby n sick status. He has to play like prime Nash when the Lakers are putting rec league caliber players out there like Duhon and Morris to back him up.

Why is Meeks in the doghouse now? Morris and Duhon are laying eggs out there. Might as well give him a chance again. I am pretty sure dude was hustling even when the rest of the team was not. The only bad thing he was doing was jacking up questionable shots and that is because D'antoni himself wants him to do that. Then he benches him?

 

[WhatisLove]

Surprised no one had a problem with lebronze dunking at the end when they could/should have just run the clock out.

Pau pushed him in the back AFTER he was already driving in. But they weren't going to foul him when he got the ball in, and he just took off to the basket.

I had a problem with it.

 

[pmatic]

I like Meeks, but if he isn't scoring he's borderline useless. He legitimately tries on defense, but is a turnstile nonetheless.

At least Morris will keep opposing players in front of him (save for CP3 :x).

 

[thehealthinspector]

They still had turnovers or near turnover plays after they were tied 90-90.

those last couple of minutes were more about being forced into tough shots instead of the passing lane turnovers in the first quarter that lead to breakaway dunks

lakers missed some tough shots and the heat made some.... like rays shot that barely got over a completely outstretched dwight

also, people are saying the heat were missing open shots, some random guy on the lakers missed 17 makeable shots going 8/25 instead his avg of 47%

 

[girlslovewaffles]

Surprised no one had a problem with lebronze dunking at the end when they could/should have just run the clock out.

Pau pushed him in the back AFTER he was already driving in. But they weren't going to foul him when he got the ball in, and he just took off to the basket.

I had a problem with it.

Yeah I was surprised at how poised the Lakers were. If I were Dwight, I would've dropped the hammer on that clown and knocked him the **** out.

Even the announcers were okay with it, not even a word from them about the dunk being unsportsmanlike. That dunk pissed me off too.

 

[knightngale]

Surprised no one had a problem with lebronze dunking at the end when they could/should have just run the clock out.

Pau pushed him in the back AFTER he was already driving in. But they weren't going to foul him when he got the ball in, and he just took off to the basket.

I had a problem with it.

It did not go unnoticed by me. What do you expect though? Lebron has no class and never will. It is not worth it to try and foul Stern's illegitimate son and risk them giving Dwight or Gasol a 2 year suspension for a flagrant 1. The Lakers are an older team and know they have other problems to worry about then ***** *** lebron dunking at the end of a game.

 

[kobeoverbron]

I'm happy with the game. With our horrible plays and defensive sets, I think we did a good job putting ourselves
in the position to win it. With all the turnovers and missed shots, we're tied with a few minutes left with the freakin
Heat!

I liked what I saw and it was a good sign for me. We will make the Playoffs and we will make the 4th spot. I trust
in that.

 

[knightngale]

I'm happy with the game. With our horrible plays and defensive sets, I think we did a good job putting ourselves
in the position to win it. With all the turnovers and missed shots, we're tied with a few minutes left with the freakin
Heat!

I liked what I saw and it was a good sign for me. We will make the Playoffs and we will make the 4th spot. I trust
in that.

You have to keep in perspective that the Heat are not playing as well as they did last year and have been losing to some garbage teams lately. This should have been a win if it wasnt for lack of time adjustments and dumb gameplan.

 

[thehealthinspector]

one last point id like to make before i go to sleep

even though i was hoping for a W, i was prepared for a massacre tonight, similar to the one in OKC, even with the improvements ive seen over the last couple of games

i think that had that massacre occurred, people would have just shaken their heads and said "yeah, thats the team that we're used to seeing this season"

but it didnt happen..... even though it seemed like it would during the first few minutes with all those turnovers leading to breakaways

what we saw tonight was more indicative of the way the lakers have played the previous games instead of the sporadic way theyve played all season

they lost, we get it, but they played better as a team

 

[daddyrabbit251]

Nash and Mike D got exposed tonight. If u have athleticism on the wings all u gotta do is send a trap on our P&R. Nash isn't able to get by ANYONE and it forces him to make tough, long passes out of the double team.... Sigh

Pau played decent, but him and Dwight can't coexist... No gonna happen. I'd love to see him come off the bench as a 5 but we can trade him for more valuable pieces. People say JSmooth but we need some athleticism and quickness on the wings. A guy to get into the paint for us b/c just like last yr, KOBE IS STILL THE ONLY PERSON THAT CAN CONSISTENTLY CREATE HIS OWN SHOT...

Team is molding tho, and looking better defensively. The last 2mins was blah, but hey it's better overall

 

[geoff2005]

Nash and Mike D got exposed tonight. If u have athleticism on the wings all u gotta do is send a trap on our P&R. Nash isn't able to get by ANYONE and it forces him to make tough, long passes out of the double team.... Sigh

Pau played decent, but him and Dwight can't coexist... No gonna happen. I'd love to see him come off the bench as a 5 but we can trade him for more valuable pieces. People say JSmooth but we need some athleticism and quickness on the wings. A guy to get into the paint for us b/c just like last yr, KOBE IS STILL THE ONLY PERSON THAT CAN CONSISTENTLY CREATE HIS OWN SHOT...

Team is molding tho, and looking better defensively. The last 2mins was blah, but hey it's better overall

if mitch can i still say pau for gay. sure our pf position wont be has strong but our SF will be stronger. not like pau been making a difference for being BIG.


I personally dont see us passing 1st round unless we play like golden state. wolves or blazers

 

[nycknicks105]

Some of you guys aren't looking at the bigger picture here.

Lakers will probably squeak into the playoffs, but at what cost? They'll face a young athletic team and this game will happen all over again.

The LTP is the coaching and the brand of basketball that you guys are playing.

Here is a laundry list of problems that will continue to happen unless something is done soon.

1. MDA isnt the guy for the personnel LA has at the moment.
2. Lakers defense is horrible. Not much explanation. I guess this should be problem 1b.
3. Gasol seems to always resemble a deer in headlights every time he steps on the court. Never seen that kind of body language from him EVER. Not even in his rookie year.
4. Nash is wearing down and age is catching up to this guy. He can still run the PnR, but he wont be able to sustain any momentum going forward unless pressure is off of him.
5. Something is wrong with Dwight. IDK if it's an injury or what, but something is off.
6. Lakers bench is nonexistent.
7. Jodie Meeks is heavily misused. Dude is lights out. Wish we had him on the Knicks. He'd avg 10 ppt for us

There are more issues that I wont mention, because most of you know what they are. But why not think about the future with this ball club? Nash is old, Kobe wont be around forever and who knows where Dwight is going (I think he'll stay). Not to mention, you guys are pretty screwed cap wise.

I've said this before and so have some other people. The Lakers were never a team that "rebuild". They always "reloaded". We can say the Lakers are under new management now and things might not be the same, but what is expected at the present moment? If this teams keeps this "Jim Krause" esque vibe going, the Lakers will struggle for a long time after Kobe leaves. Plain and simple.

You guys need to stop thinking about the playoffs too.

Someone cue that Jim Mora Playoffs gif. Because that's what this organization and the fans need to worry about. I understand you guys are used to greatness and winning, trust me. Im from NYC and I have to see it from Yankee fans all the time. But you gotta be realistic at some point and know what's up.

...Lakers are just trying to win a game

And it's not like losing these games are a surprise. You guys know how brutal this month was going to be for you guys. We talked about it a few weeks ago.

 

[cruzair13]

the heat literally had like 20 points outside the paint...

play a zone... a zone is effective if they know how to rotate from their man..

cmon pau you leave someone wide open every time...

MAN AND BALL AT ALL TIMES....

they teach this to second grade ymca rec kids...

if the lakers don't play defense and not SLOW the game down...
they'll lose and lose.

watching the team run in the first quarter was atrocious... 15 turnovers...

and

questionable ref calls, that scumbag with the gelled hair, 2-3 calls on laker balls but awarded them to the heat.
and the ticky tack fouls called against them.

there was a segment where jamison got hit, and the next possession, same exact amount of contact jamison got called for the foul.

and the bull dog layup by lebron on pau, NO CONTACT AT ALL.

heated.