Official: Lakers @ Thunder Game 3 1st Round 4/22 6:30PM PST Game On TNT HD: Lakers Up 2-0

[noreasonabledoubt]

Got outrebounded by 14, everybody looks scared to take it in cause theyll get blocked.
Kobe - 28/76 = 37%, 4th qrt. - 8/22 = 36%....... step your game up Kobe

 

[darth dnzy]

--Hats off to Durant, Westbrook and the rest of the Thunder. Congrats on their first postseason win ever.
--Kobe is DONE for the season. Take your finger, knee, ankle and the L and get ready for next season. We aint repeating with Kobe in this shape.

--Series will go 7 games if we lose Saturday.

 

[infyrno23]

Not worried at all....
Hats off to the Thunder, them boys battled the entire game... their run just happen to come at the right time.

I will say this.... the Freethrow difference killed us badly. we shot better from the field then the Thunder but they shot 22 more FT's than us.
Im not saying its the refs fault, because i dont remember us driving to the whole and being aggressive, but thats gotta change.... and im sure it will be more even come game 4

Lakers in 5

 

[fro b giant]

I will say this, Kobe will be ok once his injuries heal (not till next year) but he is just going to have to play through them this year. Like Phil said, if his shot is not falling he needs to do what is best for the team and become the facilitator. Going man to man with Durant is not going to get it done. Kobe has always had issue with longer defenders in the latter stages of his career.

As far as the game last night, Kobe was a main reason we lost that game. When he got hot in the 3rd I was worried because I knew the ball would rarely see the post again, which was fine if he was making shots but he was not. Once Durant was covering Kobe and shots were being missed that was when the game turned. Durant got hot with Kobe guarding him because he was comfortable. Once he hit like 3 shots in a row with Kobe on him the job Artest did on Durant was Null. With a shooter you HAVE to make him uncomfortable ALL game you cannot give him any kind of rhythm, if you allow him to get going and he is a true shooter he is going to eat you alive. So once Artest came back into the game it was too late Kobe had damaged what Artest did all game. Durant was already hot and rode it to the end.

The way to beat the Thunder is to SLOW the game down, which means EVERY possession MUST touch the post at some point. The ball too many times got stuck in a players hands for too long and then before you knew it there was a few seconds on the shot clock to do something with it.

I don't worry too much about the Lakers because I know even though Kobe wants to score he will do what will get the results...eventually just like he did last night. There were about 7 wasted possessions at the end of that game where Kobe had his hand on the ball and tried to force the issue getting blocked and turning the ball over, once he realized Durant was besting him by making him shoot he started to pass (he hit Fish for a 3 and Artest for two long 2's). It was too late by that time. Kobe will do what he needs to do for the Lakers to win, if he doesn't he's a fool. If he does he gets all the praise, nobody will even say that Kobe couldn't score so he had to distribute, and even if they do it's about winning ball games.

 

[frenchblue23]

Originally Posted by HANNSUM

injury is all part of the game. injury is what makes players slow in the future. nagging injuries are even more annoying.
even though they're 100% healed, they're not going to be as fast. especially when you're past 30.

see tmac, vc, grant hill, you name it .

and ppl are saying kobe can't make buckets cuz of his finger.

his finger is fine when he can chuck up 30 shots..

it's just that kobe isn't as fast, so he cannot create extra space to get a good shot. and his fadaways ain't cutting it.

kobe won't admit though, cuz that's who he is . but he knows it. and i know it

that's the truth and try to accept it.

Oh shut up! 

How many games has Kobe missed compared to T-Mac, VC, and Grant Hill.   Humor me, please.

And your opinions are better taken from a dumpster, because it's all garbage that comes out of your mouth. 

As far as last night's game, Kobe did force a lot of 3's in the final minutes, and for that, it affected the outcome. 
No one other than Kobe is capable (mentally) of taking the ball inside and drawing a foul.  Odom was living in the perimeter as well.

Game was in their hands, and they gave it away to the young Thunder.  They are so athletic and quick, it should be illegal.

This series is just getting started.

 

[gza73]

FOR ALL THE HATERS!


http://dimemag.com/2010/04/kobe-bryant-haters-limited-edition-t-shirt/

 

[bangdak]

Some of you guys are just hilarious.





Nasty, we all know Thabo isnt a great shooter. he's a defender.



Kobe done? yes, injuries are going to decline him a bit, but this guy is far from done. he'll evaluate his game to keep up with his age. sure he wont be as effective, and more of a liability on defense, but done?

Good win, i really hope this series goes down to 7.

 

[fro b giant]

Originally Posted by GZA73

FOR ALL THE HATERS!


http://dimemag.com/2010/04/kobe-bryant-haters-limited-edition-t-shirt/

I think this might be more accurate:

 

[frenchblue23]

Okay, how is it that Kobe and the Lakers lose, and everything talking about his decline, and how he's terrible...

Yet, Lebron and the Cavs lay an egg in Chicago last night, but no one wants to talk about that right?

 

[brandon3000]

Originally Posted by FrenchBlue23

Okay, how is it that Kobe and the Lakers lose, and everything talking about his decline, and how he's terrible...

Yet, Lebron and the Cavs lay an egg in Chicago last night, but no one wants to talk about that right?

stay on topic dude. Both games were good and the Thunder and bulls both put on for their home crowds. I watched Kobe get hot and then cold in the 4th taking questionable shots. I watched Lebron miss 5 FT that could have won us the game. the bottom line is both these guys are superstars and you and everyone should give credit where its due and respect the Thunder coming out and beating LA.


but anyways did anyone hear about Stern addressing Phil's comments? Phil was being kind of a jerk in his interviews saying "I can't here you its so loud in here!" to Craig Sager after Kobe had silenced the crowd with Three 3-pointers and proceeded to complain about the refs after the game. Anyways Stern said..

"I wish I had it to do all over again, and starting 20 years ago, I'd be suspending Phil and Pat Riley for all the games they play in the media, because you guys know that our referees go out there and they knock themselves out and do the best job they can. We have coaches who will do whatever it takes to try to work them publicly," Stern said. "What that does is erode fan confidence, and then we get some of the situations that we have. So, our coaches should be quiet because this is a good business that makes them good livings and supports a lot of families, and if they don't like it, they should go get a job someplace else."





I think with the refs its a catch 22.. theres always gonna be things that weren't seen and one team (and their fans) will always gripe about the job they did. What do u guys thiunk tho.

 

[2g00d4u]

My thoughts:

The Lakers have the bigger line up right? So they should be going into the post a lot right? You gotta give the Thunder defense tons of credit. Their big men are playing aggressive and physical with Gasol, Bynum, etc and theyre always shading them so the guards cant really drop the ball in there without it getting stolen. Their rotations are also excellent and every shot was usually contested. Yeah, they kept jacking up shots, but again, you gotta give the Thunder D credit. They block off the paint forcing the Lakers to shoot jump shots all day. Every Laker fan knows were a terrible shooting team. This series is looking like the Celtics-Lakers series again, as in how well the opponent shut down the Lakers offense, which by the way is damn atrocious.

Like I said before the series started, the Lakers size doesnt matter much at all. The Lakers got out-rebounded by 14! I mean, how does Westbrook have more rebounds than Bynum and Odom?? These dudes just straight up out played the Lakers and this really questions me whether this team has that hunger to win another chip.

They let a 10+ lead slip away

. That first quarter was so promising and leading up to the third quarter, I thought the Lakers would hang on just enough for the win. I believe the Lakers really lost it when Kobe made that bad pass to James Harden, which then led to Durant's dunk and a 4 point lead. That totally killed any Laker momentum and swung the momentum to the Thunder.

Fisher... this dude always does something great then %+%!* up or %+%!* up and then does something great. Same could be said for Kobe.. at least for last nights game.

I want to call out the refs too. Dont get me wrong. This lost was all on the Lakers, but the refs made some questionable calls (like that Fisher "foul" that lead to Westbrook's 3 point play). There was barely any contact and the refs couldve easily called those type of fouls on the Thunder considering how aggressive they were playing on defense.

Series isnt over yet. I still believe Lakers will pull this one out. They need to get their !@%!% out of their heads and play smarter. Jesus..

 

[fro b giant]

Harden will not score that much in future games and Durant will not get that many rebounds in future games.

Fish looks like he has hit a groove, he has played well (shooting well) in Games 1 and 3 and game 4 will tell me if it's a trend.

Odom is really bothering me, I get the feeling he thinks he cannot get to the bucket for some reason. maybe it'e because Green in quick and can keep up with him.

Kobe is bugging me with all of the posting up he's doing. Leave the post area (for the most part) to Pau and Bynum, let them get it going and stop calling for the ball every time down. If you're gonna pass fine but stop posting up all game.

I wonder if the Thunder are going to try and stick with the Durant on Kobe method all game or just switch it up at times. I wonder how the Lakers will adjust to this, I think last night was the first time Kobe has been guarded for any stretch by Durant. Although I could be wrong.

Not worried at all, this young Thunder team, although good, is too young and inexperienced to keep up with the Lakers. I don't see them winning another game. Lakers took their best shot, I don't think they can keep this up, but only time will tell.

On to game 4!

 

[menacin methods]

Originally Posted by Fro B Giant


Odom is really bothering me, I get the feeling he thinks he cannot get to the bucket for some reason. maybe it'e because Green in quick and can keep up with him.

Odom

 

[al3xis]

Originally Posted by FrenchBlue23

Okay, how is it that Kobe and the Lakers lose, and everything talking about his decline, and how he's terrible...

Yet, Lebron and the Cavs lay an egg in Chicago last night, but no one wants to talk about that right?

Maybe cause one guy slapped 39, 10 and 8 in the box score and the other went 10-29? Just a guess.

 

[frenchblue23]

Originally Posted by Al3xis

Originally Posted by FrenchBlue23

Okay, how is it that Kobe and the Lakers lose, and everything talking about his decline, and how he's terrible...

Yet, Lebron and the Cavs lay an egg in Chicago last night, but no one wants to talk about that right?

Maybe cause one guy slapped 39, 10 and 8 in the box score and the other went 10-29? Just a guess.

Okay, but my point is, Kobe is damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't. 

 

[bigmike23]

 

[noreasonabledoubt]

Its all relative, just one game everybody, the sky is still up there. We're playing a team with one of the top defenses, won 50 games, and have the scoring champ on their team. Cavs are playing the bulls who barely got to 50% and struggle scoring.

 

[kiddin like jason]

I'm sure it's been mentioned, but Kev blocking Kobe's shot and then blowing by him after Kobe reached was great. Quite symbolic, too.

Edit:

 

[i nasmatic i]

Originally Posted by DatZNasty

I was there, environment was crazy loud. I got some videos uploading I'll post after I get off work. Everybody got free blue shirts.

SHould be noted Durant did the best job on Kobe in the 4th, but Kobe takes terrible shots so it's always hard to know how much credit to give the defender.

Craig Sager has crazy swag. I've never seen him in person, but dude has a straight diddy bop when he walks. $!!* is hilarious.

I think Kobe really likes James Harden. A lot of plays he was talking to him, like helping him during dead ball situations even explaining possessions and calls to him, and was always slapping him on the butt and seemed generally cordial to him the whole time out there, even rose his hand when he fouled him instead of *****ing. He might be angling to bring dude home (he's from LA), when his rookie contract is up

The way Kobe is "defending" Thabo when he is in the game is flat out disrepectful. Thabo is at the 3pt line corner and Kobe was in the paint, started to run out then just said *#%* it and stayed in the paint and turned his back to dude and starred at the rim to get the board. Thabo bricked horrendously.

Those Westbrook dunks all made the building explode, especially the one on Odom.

Artest could foul out in 1 possession.

Phil should impose a FINE every time somebody shoots a long jumper without the ball touching Bynum or Gasol first. We can't do NOTHING with those dudes.

Kobe and James also share the same agent. He's cordial to Iguodala for the same reason.

 

[datznasty]

Didn't know that Nas. I still think Kobe would like James as a teammate and was angling some.

And to dude arguing, that last Fisher foul was a good call. I actually got it on video (they let you bring any camera you want in there btw, I saw a dude with a vhs cam, some dslr's, some mini's). Fisher stuck his hand in and grabbed Russ's left arm. More than anything, it was a late call which has been pissing me off this whole postseason. Amazing Russ made that one too considering he missed that exact shot at least 6 or 7 times, and even more amazing was that 3 he hit late. And he did the guns tucked in gesture right in front of David Stern

The Thunder Girls came out and danced to "Baby Got Back,"

I mean, obviously females dancing at games is always going to be borderline inappropriate and misogynistic and too sexual, but they took that @*%! to another level. I was trying to find Stern in the crowd because I bet he wasn;t happy, I'm talking parents covering their kid's eye provacative. I didn't catch it on cam though because I didn't even expect they were going to come out dancing like that. I got them dancing to "How Low" on cam though but that was your typical cheerleader-y jumping around, twirling, and kicking with some hip hop moves

The Thunder Mascot, Rumble, he's a buffalo (makes sense, I can look out the window some days and see some right across the way though they're not out there now plus you can't have a cloud running around), was about to get ejected by Joey Crawford. How they do their little entertainment peices during breaks, play was about to resume and he was still on the court standing on the edge like right behind Joey pumping the crowd up even until after ball was in play then he scurried off. Sounds crazy, but Steve Javie did it one time.

I like the idea of KD on Kobe in stretches and sometimes on Fisher, just because it creates a cross match. Then if you push theball in transition, Artest can't find KD in time because he has to guard whoever was guarding him.

We have too many "official" game threads of the same game

 

[xsalvioutlawx]

“Kobe Bryant is the best player in the world and some of those shots he missed just because he missed. Maybe two or three of the shots I made him miss,

 

[brandon3000]

Originally Posted by Bigmike23

 

[datznasty]

Can we start a new topic for tonight's game? I'm going to be there again btw unless someone bites on my price I just threw out there on CL. I got luxury Club suite seats too, gourmet buffet and drinks, lounges, couches, Riverwind Casino, all of that. Suddity! I hope we get free shirts again tonight too