Real Deal

TIME: 3:30 PM EST TV: ABC

TIME: 1:00 PM EST TV: ABC

Genius move by McMillan to play Bayless in the five, forcing Nash to defend him. It's always Nash's inability to defend other guards that gets the Suns in trouble, and it may just kill them this series. Now that Roy is back, it's even worse. Gentry will need a lot out of Grant Hill this series, and the Suns are just going to have to out-shoot their opponents with no regard to defense.

Good thing for the Hawks that Bogut isn't playing. They would probably lose this series, to be honest.

The more everyone else's roles increased on offense, the less defense they played. Less rebounding, less physical play, less everything. Kobe hoisting up his usual will get the job done, because teams will double him, Gasol and Bynum will attack the offensive glass, and it prevents the Thunder from doubling our bigs. OKC went to the line so many times because the Lakers were pathetic on help defense, and it has a lot to do with tired legs and an increased role on offense. Hell, the bigs were fighting so hard in the first, they were already breathing hard before the quarter ended...and by the time the third quarter came around, the "should-be aggressive" Gasol had taken just seven shot attempts, and he took just three in the third. Fact is, it's easy to shut down the Lakers if Kobe is passive. Take the lanes, double the post, and force Fisher, Farmar, Brown and Artest into shots they can't make. Gasol is not a first option, and the offense shouldn't be ran through him...but some Lakers fans like to think so.

GOT WORKED. Don't try and blame the referees. We couldn't stop penetration, we couldn't keep the bigs off the boards, we couldn't stop the three, couldn't keep the ball in our hands. Oklahoma City laughed in our faces, showed that we are not as good as we think we are, and proved that anyone who doubted them are ignorant to the game of basketball. Real talk, no sarcasm: Kobe led the team in assists, took just 10 shots (same as Gasol, same as Bynum so far, less than Odom), hit 50% of them. Gasol played 30 minutes, pulled down just four rebounds, shot 1-3 in the third quarter (most crucial quarter in this game), and had just three assists after getting three times the amount of touches he usually gets. Next time you guys have a new gameplan that involves big men getting more shots than Bryant, look at our championship seasons: Kobe shot 22+ FGA per game in every championship playoff run minus the 2000 playoffs (where he shot 18 a game). We keep it up, we lose the series. If Kobe isn't aggressive for most of the game, the bigs see doubles, they wear out quicker, and it leads to lack of defense, rebounding, and ability to score late in the game. Basic basketball. Nothing more to say, is there? Hope some of you enjoyed the game. On to Game 5. Kobe will be his usual self from this point on.

Not really. Kobe's lack of aggression is the reason for the loss. Hopefully, the message was sent.

Get out of the topic and stop acting like a five-year old. We all know why you're in here. Just because one Lakers fan and you have obvious problems doesn't mean you can act this way.

He's 3-6 right now, and we won the first two games with Bryant shooting bad. We need him to be aggressive.

We need the aggressive Kobe in the second half. This BS about feeding our bigs isn't going to work. With Kobe shooting less, more attention is dealt in the paint by the Thunder, and it shuts down our inside game. No-brainer that some don't get in Lakerland.

Hahaha, the commentators are talking about how the Thunder fans are upset at all the whistles for the Lakers, yet the Thunder have about 20-21 free throw attempts in the first half.

LOL, well, Kobe isn't chucking...

I don't think so. There were rumors of us shopping pretty much everyone (notably Asomugha), but I can't really believe it. Fargas isn't with us anymore, so I don't see why we would shop McFadden. We have him, Michael Bush and Marcel Reece...so if we were going to put him on the block, I'd hope we'd find our way to another rusher.

Go back to last season, first round, against Utah. GM3 vs. Jazz: 18 PTS (5-24 FG), 7 REB, 6 AST, 2 STL, 2 TO (Lakers lose 88-86) GM4 vs. Jazz: 38 PTS (16-24 FG), 6 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 3 TO (Lakers win 108-94) And now this season... GM3 vs. Thunder: 24 PTS (10-29 FG), 4 REB, 8 AST, 2 STL, 3 TO (Lakers lose 101-96) GM4 vs. Thunder: ? You could be right.

I feel like Bruce Campbell was a late first-rounder, maybe early second...and I think Jared Veldheer was a bit underrated because he came from a small school...seems like he could really be a monster, especially after what he was doing in pre-draft workouts. Either way, yes...very unusual with Al Davis sitting in the big chair. Maybe he had the flu this week, and just didn't have a hand in who we picked, lol.

Just poor shot selection to close out the game by Charlotte. I can see MJ itching to play, haha.

Honestly, I'm really happy with our draft now. While I wasn't disappointed in who we selected in the first three rounds, I really wanted us to grab a QB after we took Bruce Campbell. With this trade, I think we have hit on all of our needs, picked up some steals in the draft, and it's one of the rare times I've been satisfied with our draft.

Oakland isn't doing too bad in the draft. They are picking a ton of beastly athletic players, though...can't be surprised. We need a QB, though. Pike is still there. We have to pick one up, unless we're going to trade for one (and I doubt it).

Jameer is talking trash to the Bobcat fans. "YEAH, we are beating your 7th seeded team by two. WHAT NOW?"

Thanks for watching the games.

The Bobcats remind me so much of the Thunder, as the underdog, with a loud and excited crowd and underrated defense. Wow, the fans are so damn loud. Hear them on that Jackson steal and dunk?

TIME: 9:30 PM EST TV: ESPN

TIME: 4:30 PM EST TV: TNT

San Antonio is the most dangerous team for us, in my opinion. Utah isn't going to have a problem winning games without Okur. I said that somewhere earlier, I'm sure (probably in the topic that mentioned his injury). Boozer and Millsap provide the frontcourt with enough scoring to get the job done, and it's not like Denver has a Dwight Howard or Yao Ming at the center position.

25-30 FGA for Kobe in 2009-10, minus the playoffs...bold is over 46% FG. vs. Miami: 12-25 (.480), 33 PTS vs. Phoenix: 14-26 (.538), 34 PTS vs. OKC: 14-26 (.538), 40 PTS vs. Sacramento: 10-26 (.385), 30 PTS vs. Chicago: 15-26 (.577), 42 PTS vs. LA Clippers: 11-26 (.423), 33 PTS vs. Sacramento: 13-27 (.481), 39 PTS vs. Golden State: 13-27 (.481), 44 PTS vs. Memphis: 16-28 (.571), 44 PTS vs. Milwaukee: 13-28 (.464), 39 PTS vs. Miami: 15-28 (.536), 39 PTS vs. Detroit: 17-29 (.586), 40 PTS vs. Atlanta: 15-29 (.517), 41 PTS vs. Memphis: 19-30 (.633), 41 PTS vs. Orlando: 12-30 (.400), 34 PTS vs. LA Clippers: 10-30 (.333), 33 PTS vs. Sacramento: 16-30 (.533), 38 PTS vs. Houston: 15-30 (.500), 41 PTS Discuss Kobe's "chucking" during games.