Saturday, December 25, 2004
Kobe -1, Shaq 0, Wade 5
Just finished watching the game in the NBA this year. That obviously being Shaq's return to LA. The Lakers had it. They, typically, blew it. Heat win 104-102 in overtime.
I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the way this team manages to lose games. It's enough to make any Laker fan want to rip their hair out and peel their skin off. It's fucking ridiculous! Consider the following:
- Kobe scores a season high 42 points
- Shaquille fouls out with over 2 minutes to play in the 4th quarter
- Shaq's 24 point, 11 rebound performance is matched by Lamar Odom
- The Lakers hit 14 three pointers (even though they heaved up 36!)
... and they lost. Why?
- Dwayne Wade. The guy's a superstar beyond a shadow of a doubt and proved today that he can carry this team without Shaq. With regularity? Who knows.
- From the time Shaq fouled out of the game, Kobe didn't score a single point. Not one fucking point!
- Within the final 45 seconds of the 4th quarter, the Lakers got a shot clock violation, turning the ball over. Why? Because Kobe, like he had all game, was too busy playing a one-on-one game and ran too much time off the clock.
- Miami scored 100 points first. For some reason, the Lakers just don't win when that happens. This game was over when Miami went up 100-96. I know LA had a last second shot to try tie/win the game, but I knew in my gut it was over when the Heat hit the century.
Is it all bad for LA? No. The had a strong effort today, especially from Chris Mihm. I love this guy's hustle. He's one of the best garbage players in the league and if it weren't for his strong play this year, the Lakers would be below .500. He's no Shaq, but he helps a lot. Also, LA was without suspended scorer Caron Butler. You wouldn't have known from watching the game. His absence was almost imperceptible. Guess who I'd put on the trading block if I were LA?
The Heat deserve credit for the win, but still, I have to count this one as another -- another -- poor loss for the Lakers. Thing is, this team is capable of being so much better than they currently are and often have been able to hang with, if not outplay, some of their tougher competition. The problem is that they lack a killer instinct. We've seen them collapse (and I mean absolutely fold) twice after building big time leads against the league-leading Phoenix Suns. They follow up a blowout victory over a tough Sacramento team last week with losses at home to Washington and Memphis. Ack! And they even lost to Chicago earlier this season! Ack! Then comes this afternoon where they had a slim lead over Miami when Shaq fouled out of the game and were unable to put the final nail in the coffin to seal the victory. The Heat are no slouch. This win for them was their 11th straight. I think that right there is what pisses me off so much. They're one of the league's elite clubs and LA can beat them.
Yeah. My patience with this club is diminishing rapidly. I know that half of the team wasn't even in town last year and that the chemistry is still coming together, but c'mon. Progress better begin Tuesday against Toronto. I'm still predicting between 46-48 wins for this season with a playoff seeding between 6-8. I'd love to see them make some trades, though. A couple guys on the block who I think would be stellar grabs right now are Nene in Denver and Eric Snow in Cleveland.
Get Nene and you have a solid, talented inside force that sures up your interior defense in a hurry. Get Snow and you have a veteran point guard capable of running an offense and making sure the ball gets to Kobe and Odom, not to mention a player that outclasses Chucky Atkins.
So Shaq vs. Kobe I is over. Know what? Their still won't be a single NBA topic that gets more press than this, even now that it's over. Not the running Suns, not the shocking Sonics, not LeBron's excellent season, not the Pacers suspension fiasco, the first round of the playoffs, nothing. It's still about about the drama with Kobe. March 17th is the next "important" game in the NBA. It's when Kobe and the Lakers travel to Miami.
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I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the way this team manages to lose games. It's enough to make any Laker fan want to rip their hair out and peel their skin off. It's fucking ridiculous! Consider the following:
- Kobe scores a season high 42 points
- Shaquille fouls out with over 2 minutes to play in the 4th quarter
- Shaq's 24 point, 11 rebound performance is matched by Lamar Odom
- The Lakers hit 14 three pointers (even though they heaved up 36!)
... and they lost. Why?
- Dwayne Wade. The guy's a superstar beyond a shadow of a doubt and proved today that he can carry this team without Shaq. With regularity? Who knows.
- From the time Shaq fouled out of the game, Kobe didn't score a single point. Not one fucking point!
- Within the final 45 seconds of the 4th quarter, the Lakers got a shot clock violation, turning the ball over. Why? Because Kobe, like he had all game, was too busy playing a one-on-one game and ran too much time off the clock.
- Miami scored 100 points first. For some reason, the Lakers just don't win when that happens. This game was over when Miami went up 100-96. I know LA had a last second shot to try tie/win the game, but I knew in my gut it was over when the Heat hit the century.
Is it all bad for LA? No. The had a strong effort today, especially from Chris Mihm. I love this guy's hustle. He's one of the best garbage players in the league and if it weren't for his strong play this year, the Lakers would be below .500. He's no Shaq, but he helps a lot. Also, LA was without suspended scorer Caron Butler. You wouldn't have known from watching the game. His absence was almost imperceptible. Guess who I'd put on the trading block if I were LA?
The Heat deserve credit for the win, but still, I have to count this one as another -- another -- poor loss for the Lakers. Thing is, this team is capable of being so much better than they currently are and often have been able to hang with, if not outplay, some of their tougher competition. The problem is that they lack a killer instinct. We've seen them collapse (and I mean absolutely fold) twice after building big time leads against the league-leading Phoenix Suns. They follow up a blowout victory over a tough Sacramento team last week with losses at home to Washington and Memphis. Ack! And they even lost to Chicago earlier this season! Ack! Then comes this afternoon where they had a slim lead over Miami when Shaq fouled out of the game and were unable to put the final nail in the coffin to seal the victory. The Heat are no slouch. This win for them was their 11th straight. I think that right there is what pisses me off so much. They're one of the league's elite clubs and LA can beat them.
Yeah. My patience with this club is diminishing rapidly. I know that half of the team wasn't even in town last year and that the chemistry is still coming together, but c'mon. Progress better begin Tuesday against Toronto. I'm still predicting between 46-48 wins for this season with a playoff seeding between 6-8. I'd love to see them make some trades, though. A couple guys on the block who I think would be stellar grabs right now are Nene in Denver and Eric Snow in Cleveland.
Get Nene and you have a solid, talented inside force that sures up your interior defense in a hurry. Get Snow and you have a veteran point guard capable of running an offense and making sure the ball gets to Kobe and Odom, not to mention a player that outclasses Chucky Atkins.
So Shaq vs. Kobe I is over. Know what? Their still won't be a single NBA topic that gets more press than this, even now that it's over. Not the running Suns, not the shocking Sonics, not LeBron's excellent season, not the Pacers suspension fiasco, the first round of the playoffs, nothing. It's still about about the drama with Kobe. March 17th is the next "important" game in the NBA. It's when Kobe and the Lakers travel to Miami.
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