As many of you well know, a Laker defeat brings pure joy to my life, and doubly so when it’s a playoff loss. Last night’s game was an absolute joy to watch—for the most great basketball, bench players stepping up (see Frye, Channing and Dudley, Jared), great play by both team’s star players (although Nash didn’t shoot well, he still made plays). You can’t ask for too much more from playoff basketball.
I am very interested to see how Game 5 plays out, particularly how Kobe plays. Is he going to trust his teammates, pound the ball inside, and play a controlled game? Or is he going to try and take over? If he decides to go with option one, the Lakers win. If he goes with option two, the outcome is a little less certain. As great as Kobe is, I still question his judgment at times—a lot of times Kobe tries to do too much. While there are times where he needs to take over, more often than not he needs to let the game come to him; it’s a fine line and I don’t know how well Kobe understands that. Jordan learned it later in his career, Magic and Bird knew it.
And it shouldn’t matter whether the Suns are running that zone or not, the Lakers still have the advantage inside, especially because Amar’e only tries hard on one end of the court. One Republic’s “Stop and Stare” best summarizes his defense: “Stop and Stare/ I think I’m moving but I go nowhere.” It’s such a shame because Amar’e is so gifted athletically that he could be an absolute freak on defense if he wanted to.
I really think Game 5 decides who wins this series: if the Lakers win, I think Phoenix will take Game 6 at home but Lakers win in 7. Lets be honest; Kobe is too good to let that happen. However, if Phoenix takes Game 5 (a long shot by all means, but they do have the momentum), then they take Game 6. Their crowd is amazing and their whole team plays infinitely better at home.
Surprisingly, Pau Gasol may have summed it up best (I can’t believe I just said that). He said that if Phoenix outrebounds LA as bad as last game (51-36), they aren’t going to win. As simple as that seems, he is (shockingly) right. Rebounds and defense are the two biggest indicators of hustle and hard work, and whoever executes those two areas best wins. Simple as that.
I am very interested to see how Game 5 plays out, particularly how Kobe plays. Is he going to trust his teammates, pound the ball inside, and play a controlled game? Or is he going to try and take over? If he decides to go with option one, the Lakers win. If he goes with option two, the outcome is a little less certain. As great as Kobe is, I still question his judgment at times—a lot of times Kobe tries to do too much. While there are times where he needs to take over, more often than not he needs to let the game come to him; it’s a fine line and I don’t know how well Kobe understands that. Jordan learned it later in his career, Magic and Bird knew it.
And it shouldn’t matter whether the Suns are running that zone or not, the Lakers still have the advantage inside, especially because Amar’e only tries hard on one end of the court. One Republic’s “Stop and Stare” best summarizes his defense: “Stop and Stare/ I think I’m moving but I go nowhere.” It’s such a shame because Amar’e is so gifted athletically that he could be an absolute freak on defense if he wanted to.
I really think Game 5 decides who wins this series: if the Lakers win, I think Phoenix will take Game 6 at home but Lakers win in 7. Lets be honest; Kobe is too good to let that happen. However, if Phoenix takes Game 5 (a long shot by all means, but they do have the momentum), then they take Game 6. Their crowd is amazing and their whole team plays infinitely better at home.
Surprisingly, Pau Gasol may have summed it up best (I can’t believe I just said that). He said that if Phoenix outrebounds LA as bad as last game (51-36), they aren’t going to win. As simple as that seems, he is (shockingly) right. Rebounds and defense are the two biggest indicators of hustle and hard work, and whoever executes those two areas best wins. Simple as that.
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