Lakers @ Bobcats Game Thread - 3/31 - 4:00 p.m. PST

lbruce89

lbruce89

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[table][tr][td]Bobcats' Last Five Games[/td] [/tr][tr][td] Fri, Mar 20[/td] [td]at Toronto[/td] [td]W
[/td] [/tr][tr][td] Sat, Mar 21[/td] [td]Indiana[/td] [td]L
[/td] [/tr][tr][td] Wed, Mar 25[/td] [td]at Washington[/td] [td]L
[/td] [/tr][tr][td] Fri, Mar 27[/td] [td]at Philadelphia[/td] [td]W
[/td] [/tr][tr][td] Sat, Mar 28[/td] [td]New York[/td] [td]W
[/td] [/tr][/table]

[table][tr][td] Lakers' Last Five Games[/td] [/tr][tr][td] Sat, Mar 21
[/td] [td]Chicago[/td] [td]W[/td] [/tr][tr][td] Tue, Mar 24
[/td] [td]at Oklahoma City[/td] [td]W
[/td] [/tr][tr][td] Thu, Mar 26[/td] [td]at Detroithttp://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/okc[/td] [td]W
[/td] [/tr][tr][td] Fri, Mar 27[/td] [td]at New Jersey[/td] [td]W
[/td] [/tr][tr][td] Sun, Mar 29[/td] [td]at http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/njnAtlanta[/td] [td]L
[/td] [/tr][/table]

we should win this one by at least 10

let's go
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[h1]Los Angeles (58-15) at Charlotte (33-40)[/h1]

  • Game info: 7:00 pm EDT Tue Mar 31, 2009
  • TV: KCAL, FSOK

The Los Angeles Lakers already have clinched the No. 1 seed in theWestern Conference, but they didn't look like an elite team in their last game.

That has been a familiar sight for the Charlotte Bobcats, who haveroutinely kept Los Angeles from playing its best.

The Lakers look to bounce back from their worst offensive performance of the season and avoid their sixth loss in seven games against the Bobcats when theclubs meet Tuesday night in Charlotte.

Los Angeles (58-15) has been the West's most dominant team all season, riding MVP candidate Kobe Bryant and fellow All-Star Pau Gasol to the top of the conference and the second-best record in theNBA.

The Lakers, though, haven't had any answers for the Bobcats (33-40) in recent years. Though Charlotte hasn't finished a season with a winning recordsince joining the league as an expansion team in 2004, it's won five of the last six meetings with Los Angeles, a perennial contender.

With a 5-4 all-time record against the Lakers, the Bobcats are one of only two teams - alongside Boston - with a winning record against them since theymoved to Los Angeles in 1960.

In the first matchup this season, Charlotte won 117-110 in double overtime Jan. 27 in Los Angeles. It was the third time in five meetings the teams haveneeded overtime, and the Bobcats have won all three.

After that most recent loss, Lakers coach Phil Jackson couldn't explain why Charlotte has had his team's number.

"You know, it's the way the roll of the dice goes, and this was one of those games," he said.

Charlotte forward Boris Diaw had 23 points, nine rebounds and nineassists in that January win, and point guard Raymond Felton added 21points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.

Bryant had 38 points before fouling out late in the first overtime. He's averaging 35.3 points in eight career games against the Bobcats but has onlywon three.

Bryant was nursing a stomach ailment and struggled through the Lakers' last game, an 86-76 loss at Atlanta on Sunday. Los Angeles was held to aseason-low point total and 35.0 percent shooting for its second-lowest mark of 2008-09.

Gasol had 21 points and 11 rebounds while going 7-for-10 from the field, but the other starters combined to shoot 29.1 percent (16-for-55) as the Lakersfell to 4-1 on their season-high seven-game road trip.

Bryant scored 17 points and went 7-for-19 from the field after getting limited to 14 points and 5-for-19 shooting in a win at New Jersey on Friday night.Bryant, averaging 27.2 points, isn't expected to miss any time with the stomach problem, but it's unclear if it will affect his game Tuesday.

"My stomach's OK now," Bryant said after Sunday's game. "When my medicine wears off, it's going to be interesting."

The Bobcats, two games behind eighth-place Chicago in their chase for the first postseason berth in team history, can reach a franchise-record win totalwith a victory over the Lakers. They've matched their previous best of 33, set in 2006-07, by winning five of their last seven.

Gerald Wallace had 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in a96-85 victory over New York on Saturday.

Wallace is averaging 20.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists while shooting 59.7 percent from the field over his last 12 games. He credits first-yearBobcats coach Larry Brown for his recent success.

"I'm learning every day and I'm getting a whole lot better," Wallace said. "I see a lot of the things (Brown) was complaining andfussing about and going off on me about at the beginning of training camp. I'm starting to see the effects they've had on me as a player. Every day Ilearn something new from him."

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hopefully, if they dont start getting minutes now theyll be useless in the playoffs, we gotta atleast see what they can do
 
I dont expect a win for Lakers lol. Phil should put the starters in rest and let the bench play. Let's go Lakers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
damn.

Ima miss the whole game.

SMH once I get a job they erase the time delay they use to have on KCAL 9

FML
 
With a 5-4 all-time record against the Lakers, the Bobcats are one of only two teams - alongside Boston - with a winning record against them since they movedto Los Angeles in 1960.

i know its only 9 games but thats still crazy
 
I wonder what we do tonight. Do we play hard and go for the win, or rest guys and get beat down AGAIN by the Bobcats.
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So I no idea what'll happen. But I know Bynum may be back Sunday.
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no rest for the starters, man up and play like a championship team. what you can't last 35 min or less , individually, on the court right now? why wouldyou want to lose to charlotte 3 times in a row....
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last thing the NBA needs is an inferior product on the floor. then again Father Phil does have his parental decisions to make for the good of the team.
 
Good read with the tinker bell:

Observer NBA writer Rick Bonnell's conversation with Bell about what makes Kobe Kobe:

Q: How would you explain to someone who knows nothing about basketball what makes Kobe transcendent?

"That he can do anything. Some guys are really, really good at one thing. Or two or three things. So you might say, 'Let him take that jump shot (to guard against the drive).'

"He's good at everything and he has this knack for being right on the spot with (crucial) plays. He could go 2-for-30 and in the last two minutes of a game, if he has the ball, his percentages go up to 75 percent."

Q: So what are the guiding principles of guarding him?

"You've got to keep him off the free throw line, try to make him shoot 18 foot-plus jumpers with a hand in his face. Try to make him work to get the ball - don't let him get it where he wants it."

Q: And where, in particular, does he want the ball?

"He's great, so his sweet spot is all over the place. But you want to try to make him catch it beyond the 3-point line by a couple of steps so he's got to use more effort to get a good look up. Still, he likes to catch it anywhere - he just likes the ball, so anywhere is a danger spot for him."

Q: What's his pet move?

"His pull-up jumper, particularly when guys are underneath him, pawing at the ball (trying to get a steal). He likes to square you up and he goes into either a jab(-step) jumper or one hard dribble and it's pretty much unguardable."

Q: Any effective way to deny him the ball?

"Now that he's got guys around him (Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom), maybe if (you) completely deny him, someone else will take the onus on himself. But he's good enough in their system that even if you deny it, he'll find a way to counter it with a backdoor (pass). You do want to deny him, but there's no way you're going to keep him from catching it, period."

Q: Gerald Wallace says it's imperative to make him work hard defensively, to try to wear him down. Thoughts?

"You want to make him work, but he's one of the best defenders in the league. I've made him work, and seen other guys make him work at (the defensive) end, and he's still ended up with 50. So I don't know that there's a whole lot to that."

Q: Ever get frustrated guarding such a versatile scorer?

"Not anymore. When I first started (guarding) him, I wanted to stop everybody on every play. It got a bit discouraging. But after you've been around the league, you realize there's no way you can stop guys completely. You have to have a short memory. Strap in and be ready, because it's really a possession-at-a-time thing with him."

Q: What's he like when he's frustrated?

"I've seen him get angry, get heated, but mostly that's because he's ultra-competitive. There have been very few times I've seen him really lose his composure to a point where he can't help his team win a game."

Q: Is he better or worse when angry?

"Depends on what kind of anger; if he's angry at who he's playing against, better. If he's angry at an official, or something else has him off a bit, that could work into his opponent's hands."
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/bobcats/story/633020.html
Click to expand...
 
Originally Posted by Kidskillz858

Good read with the tinker bell:

Observer NBA writer Rick Bonnell's conversation with Bell about what makes Kobe Kobe:

Q: How would you explain to someone who knows nothing about basketball what makes Kobe transcendent?

"That he can do anything. Some guys are really, really good at one thing. Or two or three things. So you might say, 'Let him take that jump shot (to guard against the drive).'

"He's good at everything and he has this knack for being right on the spot with (crucial) plays. He could go 2-for-30 and in the last two minutes of a game, if he has the ball, his percentages go up to 75 percent."

Q: So what are the guiding principles of guarding him?

"You've got to keep him off the free throw line, try to make him shoot 18 foot-plus jumpers with a hand in his face. Try to make him work to get the ball - don't let him get it where he wants it."

Q: And where, in particular, does he want the ball?

"He's great, so his sweet spot is all over the place. But you want to try to make him catch it beyond the 3-point line by a couple of steps so he's got to use more effort to get a good look up. Still, he likes to catch it anywhere - he just likes the ball, so anywhere is a danger spot for him."

Q: What's his pet move?

"His pull-up jumper, particularly when guys are underneath him, pawing at the ball (trying to get a steal). He likes to square you up and he goes into either a jab(-step) jumper or one hard dribble and it's pretty much unguardable."

Q: Any effective way to deny him the ball?

"Now that he's got guys around him (Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom), maybe if (you) completely deny him, someone else will take the onus on himself. But he's good enough in their system that even if you deny it, he'll find a way to counter it with a backdoor (pass). You do want to deny him, but there's no way you're going to keep him from catching it, period."

Q: Gerald Wallace says it's imperative to make him work hard defensively, to try to wear him down. Thoughts?

"You want to make him work, but he's one of the best defenders in the league. I've made him work, and seen other guys make him work at (the defensive) end, and he's still ended up with 50. So I don't know that there's a whole lot to that."

Q: Ever get frustrated guarding such a versatile scorer?

"Not anymore. When I first started (guarding) him, I wanted to stop everybody on every play. It got a bit discouraging. But after you've been around the league, you realize there's no way you can stop guys completely. You have to have a short memory. Strap in and be ready, because it's really a possession-at-a-time thing with him."

Q: What's he like when he's frustrated?

"I've seen him get angry, get heated, but mostly that's because he's ultra-competitive. There have been very few times I've seen him really lose his composure to a point where he can't help his team win a game."

Q: Is he better or worse when angry?

"Depends on what kind of anger; if he's angry at who he's playing against, better. If he's angry at an official, or something else has him off a bit, that could work into his opponent's hands."
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/bobcats/story/633020.html

maybe if tinkerbell was never a Sun i could be a fan dude seems like a cool guy thnx for the article.
 
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