A Merry X-mas NBA Showdown Extravaganza! Lakers vs Cavs, Kobe vs Shaq/Lebron...

Originally posted by teeohh:

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

Originally posted by phatbutskinny:
wow never seen this out of la fans, this is embarassing. reminds me of eagles fans

Except LA fans throw foam fingers.

did they go very far? i don't think they could go very far

That was a well-deserved and overdue beatdown. We've been playing like that for several games now, and we've always been able to go on a run and break the other team. I subscribe to the theory that a team has to get punched in the mouth before they can gain mental toughness, and after the ECF's last year, the Cavs earned their stripes in that regard. We weren't going to "break" them...we had to play a full game. Very lethargic effort tonight. Not unusual for December/January, but still very frustrating to watch.

As for the Kobe/LeBron matchup...what a role reversal. One of the biggest reasons that I think that Kobe's a better player than LeBron is that LeBron doesn't function well off of the ball, which causes his stats to skyrocket, but limits the opportunities that others get...while Kobe's able to score and create in the context of an offense that allows others to thrive.

LeBron was fantastic off of the ball tonight, which allowed Mo Williams and Co. to utilize some aspects of their game that are often neglected...namely playmaking. I don't think LeBron ended up with a mindblowing statline, but he played GREAT ball. Made some really good reads off of the back screens/pin downs that Van Gundy pointed out. He outplayed Kobe by a MASSIVE margin.

As for Kobe...he had a LeBron type of game. Forget the FG%...it was largely the decisions he was making, especially over-penetrating. Yeah, maybe he didn't get some calls going his way, but on most of those he should have been shooting from the mid range anyway. As a result, NO ONE else got going on offense. This is what I'm always praising him for...his ability to get other guys good looks. Tonight it was just the opposite, he did what I get on LeBron for all of the time. Even if he hit a couple more shots to make his FG% more respectable, it wouldn't have mattered one bit. A perfect example of how deceiving a 35/9/8 can be.

As for the Cavs, I was impressed. The took full advantage of the Laker lethargy. That's the most I've seen LeBron off of the ball, and it really worked. They should continue doing that. And when you combine that with the aforementioned "punch in the mouth", I'm now intrigued by their prospects. I'll be watching their games much more closely from now on.

Hopefully, this is a productive loss for the Lakers. We needed a wake up call.

Lebron went Colorado on the Kobe

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
That was a well-deserved and overdue beatdown. We've been playing like that for several games now, and we've always been able to go on a run and break the other team. I subscribe to the theory that a team has to get punched in the mouth before they can gain mental toughness, and after the ECF's last year, the Cavs earned their stripes in that regard. We weren't going to "break" them...we had to play a full game. Very lethargic effort tonight. Not unusual for December/January, but still very frustrating to watch.

As for the Kobe/LeBron matchup...what a role reversal. One of the biggest reasons that I think that Kobe's a better player than LeBron is that LeBron doesn't function well off of the ball, which causes his stats to skyrocket, but limits the opportunities that others get...while Kobe's able to score and create in the context of an offense that allows others to thrive.

LeBron was fantastic off of the ball tonight, which allowed Mo Williams and Co. to utilize some aspects of their game that are often neglected...namely playmaking. I don't think LeBron ended up with a mindblowing statline, but he played GREAT ball. Made some really good reads off of the back screens/pin downs that Van Gundy pointed out. He outplayed Kobe by a MASSIVE margin.

As for Kobe...he had a LeBron type of game. Forget the FG%...it was largely the decisions he was making, especially over-penetrating. Yeah, maybe he didn't get some calls going his way, but on most of those he should have been shooting from the mid range anyway. As a result, NO ONE else got going on offense. This is what I'm always praising him for...his ability to get other guys good looks. Tonight it was just the opposite, he did what I get on LeBron for all of the time. Even if he hit a couple more shots to make his FG% more respectable, it wouldn't have mattered one bit. A perfect example of how deceiving a 35/9/8 can be.

As for the Cavs, I was impressed. The took full advantage of the Laker lethargy. That's the most I've seen LeBron off of the ball, and it really worked. They should continue doing that. And when you combine that with the aforementioned "punch in the mouth", I'm now intrigued by their prospects. I'll be watching their games much more closely from now on.

Hopefully, this is a productive loss for the Lakers. We needed a wake up call.

Hopefully we don't lay an egg in Sacto tomorrow night

I am getting kind of use to Holiday disasters with the Lakers.

f**k Derek Fisher.

Originally posted by crzy:
f**k Derek Fisher.

f**k Stephen Curry.

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

Originally posted by crzy:
f**k Derek Fisher.

f**k Stephen Curry.

lol

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

Originally posted by jrg:

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

Originally posted by jrg:
A thread for this game?

Why not? It's Christmas, dude. I gave the WZ this thread. Don't be a scrooge because your boys lost.

Lol, I'm no scrooge..just didn't expect a thread for this. But whatever ya want

I was hoping to attract the phantom Cavs fan, evil.

I'm here and around but haven't posted much at all lately. Missed the game yesterday , was too caught up in everything else going around and playing with Brendan's new toys.

Shocked we won, and am not a believer that we can win it all this year at this point. We are not playing at the same level we were last year at this time but there is still a s**tload of games to go so there is still room to improve and look like a serious contender.

Wasn't going to come bragging since I missed the game. But am fcuking ecstatic we won a big game in Laker land. See you in a little over 3 weeks!