NBA 2012-2013

I'm not saying they're season is over, but if it is, they can at least look forward to a fresh start next season just as long as everyone will be healthy, Gasol is traded, and they have the entire summer and a full training camp to get ready (start of this season was just a mess with Howard coming off of back surgery, Nash missing many games, a new coach's system to learn, chemistry problems, etc.).

The season is over. This team has major major fundamental issues. It's unbelievable how mismanaged this team is, it's ridiculously frustrating. As far as I'm concerned, D'Antoni has to go, his system does not work with this team at all and if he is back next season, Laker fans will be pissed.
 
IMO, Kobe and Dwight simply cannot play with each other. They both want to be "the man" of the team, but obviously Kobe gets the honour because he's been there for 17 years and it's Dwight's 1st year. Unless Kobe gives up his #1 spot to Dwight (like D.Wade did with LeBron), this team won't be successful as long as Kobe's here. Sadly that will most probably never happen because Kobe is a stubborn bastard and will never give up his spot. :rolleyes:

It's such a shame how hopeful everyone was before the season started and it's already a disaster halfway through. :(
 
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I think it's even deeper than that: nothing seems to be working on that team. No chemistry, no consistency (aside from Kobe), no system, no coaching, and?worst of all?no hope.

So, when does the 2013/2014 season start? :lol:
 
I think it's even deeper than that: nothing seems to be working on that team. No chemistry, no consistency (aside from Kobe), no system, no coaching, and?worst of all?no hope.

So, when does the 2013/2014 season start? :lol:

Oh yeah it's deeper than that, this issue stinks all the way to the front office. I'm curious as to whether Dwight leaves and signs with someone else this summer...
 
Fucking great win that was! :thumbsup:

Kobe pretty much took Nash's role of distributing the ball (14a plus 9r for an almost triple double and only 2 assists for Nash :blink:). Howard was great on both ends of the court and Gasol was nice and aggressive. :D

It also looks like Kobe and Dwight settled their differences with Kobe letting Dwight handle most of the offense by feeding him the ball a lot more (they also embraced and looked happy together, not to sound gay :p).

If they continue playing more like this with Kobe being more of a facilitator and letting his teammates score more (5 guys scored double figure points: 14, 15, 15, 17, 17), they'll make a nice run to the playoffs. :)
 
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Wow! Another great win for the Lakers over OKC!!! :w00t:

Another near triple-double for Kobe with 14 assists two games in a row! Kobe: see what happens when you pass the ball to your teammates instead of wasting their talent by chucking endless difficult shots? ;)

Howard didn't have a great game because of foul trouble and his poor free throw shooting (he still managed to get 8p and 10r with his limited playing time :D).

Nash had a decent scoring game because he's a great shooter and I think if Kobe takes the role of the main facilitator, Nash would have less pressure on him for making plays and can focus only on scoring, which he's really good at. :D

Kobe was always a skillful passer, but never had a team around him like he does now so he can really exploit this ability and show everyone who says he doesn't pass that he can and can well.

If Kobe continues to focus on passing more instead of scoring and the Lakers keep winning he will definitely deserve to be in the MVP race. Currently IMO LeBron is the best player in the league and he's the favourite to win MVP, but if Kobe continues this kind of play, I will consider him better than LeBron simply because Kobe can pass almost as well, but LeBron isn't as good a scorer and doesn't have that same killer instinct to close out games that Kobe has. :D

If they continue like this they can easily make the playoffs (they need to go 25-13 from now to comfortably make the 8th seed, as long as Portland and Houston stay around or below their current percentages) and I think everybody would like to see them face San Antonio or OKC in the first round (possibly the best first round match-up ever)! :w00t:
 
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Kobe Challenges Dwight To Play Through Shoulder Injury
Feb 06, 2013 10:43 AM EST

Kobe Bryant challenged Dwight Howard to return to the Los Angeles Lakers' lineup following their win over the Nets.

The Lakers lost Pau Gasol to injury in the game and Bryant thinks Howard can play through the injury.

"He's probably worried about the damage in his shoulder," Bryant said. "I don't think he's ever had to play through injuries in his career. I think it's a new experience for him."

Bryant has postponed surgeries until the offseason and played through pain several times throughout his career.

"When I was growing up, going through high school and middle school, unfortunately but fortunately I dealt with injuries," Bryant said. "Not injuries that were debilitating but injuries you have to play through where you have to manage the pain. When you go through those things you learn your body and what you can push through.

"But Dwight has never been hurt. The [back injury last season] was debilitating and he couldn't play. When you have an injury that hurts you but you can play through it that's something you have to balance out and manage and he's never really had to do that."

It's good that Kobe is challenging Dwight like this, but he needs to realize that he doesn't get hit nearly as much as Dwight does. Almost every time Howard has the ball in the paint it's guaranteed that a defender will try to foul him and since he's so big and strong, they have to foul him hard so he can't get a shot up and have a chance at a 3-point play and to do this they have to whack his arms with all their strength and that's exactly what happened when he first injured it and every time he re-injured it.

It's a lot easier for Kobe to play through pain simply because he isn't getting hit by any defenders, while Dwight get's hit almost every time he has the ball.
 
Great double-header last night. LeBron and the Heat making a statement vs. the Thunder proving that they are the clear favourites for the 2013 'ship and even though the Lakers got blown out by the Clips, it was a fun game to watch because I got to see one of my favourite players (Chauncey "Mr. Big Shot" Billips) coming back and filling it up from 3-point range.

Bring on All-Star weekend! :D
 
Lakers still in deep freeze

Last Updated: 12:00 AM, February 19, 2013
Posted: 11:58 PM, February 18, 2013

Relations between Kobe Bryant and his Lakers teammate Dwight Howard were beyond icy during the weekend?s All-Star game in Houston ? with Howard mocking Bryant behind his back in the locker room, sources exclusively tell Page Six. Amid other reports that the Lakers? chilly on-court chemistry was spilling into the locker room, we?re told that Howard ?grabbed Kobe?s uniform, put it on, and imitated him in front of all the other players on the West team. He was joking and berating Kobe? to fellow NBA stars, including the Clippers? Chris Paul and Blake Griffin and Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant. The source added Bryant later arrived in the locker room, ?said hello to everyone on the team except Howard, grabbed his stuff and moved as far away from Howard as he could.? Despite a recent clear-the-air meeting in Memphis, relations haven?t thawed. At the game, Bryant said, ?It doesn?t matter? what his team does with Howard as the trade deadline approaches. Reps for Bryant and Howard didn?t get back to us last night.

Damn...if it's really that bad between them then I don't think there's very much chance that Howard will remain with the Lakers, unless some miracle happens where they get along and start winning and go strong into the playoffs. Sadly that won't happen because even though they had some good moments together, it was mostly bad because Kobe is the leader and Dwight wants to be the leader; he simply cannot play second fiddle after being the leader his entire career prior. I'm sure he was excited about the opportunity to play with Kobe and the Lakers when he was traded and thought it would work, but now he's realized it simply cannot work. When he requested a trade from Orlando, his top destination was Brooklyn and not the Lakers because a when he and Kobe talked over the summer Kobe reportedly said he wanted Howard to be the 3rd option behind himself and Gasol and that he wanted him to be their "Tyson Chandler". I'm sure Howard tried to play second fiddle to Kobe but soon realized he simply couldn't; for him to be affective on defense he has to be affective on offense and for him to play well on offense he has to get the ball a lot and that would never happen with Kobe (although Kobe had a nice stretch of distributing the ball, it isn't consistent). Another option for Howard is simply waiting for Kobe to retire, but that could be in 2 years or more and I don't think Dwight can wait that long or Kobe can give up his spot as top dog and let Howard run the team (like D.Wade did with LeBron), but that will never happen. Wherever Dwight ends up, be it getting traded in a couple of days at the deadline or in free agency in the summer, I am with him all the way and will instantly make wherever he goes my #1 team.
 
Great win for the Lakers last night (Dwight played great :D)...over the Celtics too as an honour to the late Dr. Jerry Buss who bought the Lakers to beat the Celtics and went through many battles with them in the 80's.
 
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Wow, what a great comeback from the Lakers who started off poorly being down 25. They went on an amazing 20-0 run to win the game (108-102) and I have to say I don't think I've ever been as excited watching a basketball game; it was just so great watching them scoring and defending so well during that stretch. Some people might not be impressed because "it's just the Hornets" but they must be a pretty decent team if they can mount a 25 point lead on the Lakers. Huge games from Kobe (42p-12a-7r) and Dwight (20p-15r-4b; who was also in foul trouble and didn't play almost the entire 2nd quarter) to get a much needed win to propel themselves into the playoffs. Currently, the 6th, 7th, and 8th spots are occupied by teams that are on a bit of a downward spiral (Warriors, Rockets, and Jazz respectively) and I think the Lakers have the ability to overtake all 3 teams for the 6th spot (they won't catch Denver at the 5th spot). If the top 3 teams stay where they are (they most probably will) the Lakers will play the Spurs if they end up 8th, the Thunder if they end up 7th, and the Clippers if they end up 6th. Either way, that is gonna be one hell of an exciting first round for the Lakers (I think they would have most trouble playing OKC because of their home court advantage).
 
The Lakers have to nail that 6th spot because then the pressure would be on the Clippers to win the series. Facing OKC or San Antonio would be a much swifter playoff exit, I'd say. This team hasn't played the way a lot of us expected before the season began, and all I really want is to maintain that LA is our town. :lol:
 
Either way it will be the best first round of the playoffs ever! A top 3 team in the West going up against Kobe, Dwight, and Nash in playoff mode. :D
 
Another thrilling finish for the Lakeshow (Kobe was just unbelievable)!!! :w00t:

It was against my hometown Raptors too...sorry but the Lakers needed the win more. :D
 
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:thumbsup: Now they are officially in the playoff picture (they were tied for 8th spot with Utah, but overtook them with today's win). Lakers keep winning...Jazz (9th), Rockets (7th), and Warriors (6th) keep losing...fantastic! :D

Can't wait for Tuesday for Dwight's return to Orlando! :w00t:
 
Huge game from Dwight in his return to Orlando (39p-16r-3b). :D
 
kobehurt3.gif


That's such a foul it's not even funny. If it was called, Kobe would've went to the free-throw line and tied the game with a chance to win (it was a pretty ugly game for the Lakers). Looks like Nash and Howard will have to step their games up (especially Nash) to keep up their winning ways so they can make the playoffs because Kobe is out indefinitely with a severely-sprained ankle (hopefully Gasol can come back ASAP to help out also).
 
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Looks like the ref swallowed the whistle...
 
Amazing win that was (more than makes up for the previous game). :thumbsup:

Big performances from Howard (20p-12r-4a-4b + foul trouble), World Peace (19p-7r-3a), Blake (18p-7a-6r-4s), Jamison (17p-7r), and Nash (15p-9a-4r) who all stepped up in the absence of Kobe (he only played in the 1st quarter and didn't score) against the 2nd best team in the East. Great way to end the road trip and now they're heading back to LA to prepare for what should be a couple of easy back-to-back wins at home against the Kings (Sunday) and Suns (Monday). :)

Edit: What a beautiful play to finish off the game:


CHECKMATE! :D
 
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