Postgame Thread: Kings at Lakers

There’s a few positives to take from this game, and a few negatives. When it’s all said and done, they are the defending champs for a reason, they can kick their game into a higher gear whenever they want. Kings can’t.

I will say Donte could have helped and done a better job on players like Odom and even Kobe.

Just ridiculous.

Landry missing both of his free throws when we were down 9 with 5 minutes left killed us.

it’s a good thing Kings don’t play for a few days

Dudes ankles are going to need the rest

For our first game against a good team (and perhaps the best team), I think we did alright and probably would have beaten 20 other teams tonight.

but it sounds like everything I gathered from the Box Score was just about right. We had a great game except for three point and free throw shooting as well as three point defense. The funny thing is, if the Kings shoot for average on either of those shooting categories, and hold the Lakers to average three point shooting, the Kings win.

but has anyone noticed the lack of highlights that kingsflix has been putting up? It seemed like they put up a lot more kings plays last year.

We did out rebound them especially on the offensive glass where they were leading the league. But, we couldn’t defend the 3 where they had been averaging 10 per game at a 45% clip. But, all in all I like the way we battled in the 1st half. I just think we ran out of gas in the 3rd and of course it didn’t help that Tyreke got hurt and into foul trouble.

The fact that we had to use Luther so much to defend the ball handlers, does not bode well for our backcourt. I know it’s only one game, but I couldn’t help thinking as I watched, that I wish we had made an attempt to pick up another defensive SG with our cap space or even kept Marcus Landry.

Especially, when we had to play Cisco at the 3 to keep a 3pt shooter on the floor. After all the preseason hype about how big we have gotten, we end up playing a 6-3 backcourt and a 6-7 200lb small forward.

But, all and all, I don’t believe many of us really believed we would win. but, DeMarcus did surprise me by the way he was able to attack Gasol and how he stayed out of foul trouble. I thought it was incouraging that Cisco played well again. And, didn’t take any guff from Kobe. And, Beno continues to shine and might be the best bargain GP ever signed.

On the sad side, I’m really concerned with Landry taking so many long 2’s. And, I’m really worried about the SF spot. With Cisco playing so many minutes at the 3, it really hurts our depth at the 2 which is his natural position. And using JT at the 3, has really hurt our offense.

ARCO was definitely louder than usual. Playoff type atmosphere the first half.

And there were about 3 cowbells where I was sitting. Props to the guy who kept shaking it, he didn’t stop all night.

Wish I could have seen the game

All I can say is that there was over 50% Laker fans there and I am not even joking.

What a disgrace.

I especially loved that Tyreke absolutely refused to give up, even when most of the fans had left. Reminded me of his game against San Antonio last year where he hit back to back threes in the fourth quarter. Might have been Portland.

The Lakers just had more game winners. When we looked close to making a run Artest would hit a big shot. And then finally Derek Fisher closed the door. They executed better, and they should. They are the better team.

But seriously, what is up with Luther Head? He had success driving, and his defense on Kobe was great, but his shot was killing me.

What i hated the most were the Fakers fans being very disresoectful during the National Anthem..We had several in our section and it took me a while to cool down and not turn around and punch one in the face..Trash talk all you want but that is the National Anthem that i fought proudly for

JT gets ten rebounds in twelve minutes and nary a mention? If the Brockness Monster did that last year we would have fifteen posts about what a beast he is so far. I think it is time for JT to move back into the starting lineup and have Landry coming off the bench. I cant stand the fact that Landry in the last four games is averaging 3.8 rebounds a game in 30 minutes, and at his best he plays adequate man defense. I think Houston knew what they were doing bringing him off the bench, and JT’s hustle, size, and defense are more valuable playing with the starters, in my opinion. While different match ups in different games will always determine how many total minutes someone plays, and definitely who plays the last few minutes of the game, I do think we would be better served defensively with JT starting, and Carl would be much more effective off the bench, where his one distinct skill of scoring can be highlighted, and his mediocre rebounding, poor passing, and adequate defense can be minimized.

My friend was at the game and got his cowbell taken… unacceptable.

The way Luther Head played Kobe at the end was great. Obviously Tyreke was in foul trouble so Head had to and I thought Head just did really good.

I’ll have more thoughts later. For now though, I must comment that Luther Head looks remarkably similar to Crabman:

Free throw percentage:

Lakers: 82%
Kings: 60%

Free throws made:

Lakers: 23

Kings: 14

Yes, that’s only a difference of 9 points and the Kings lost by 12. Add a made 3 pointer and you have a wash. The Lakers also made a laughable number of dish-dunks that the post players seemed clueless to defend every time. That the Lakers won by 12 in the second of a back-to-back and without Andrew Bynum makes this loss slightly less rationable.

-Luther Head is a chucker. Dude, when you’ve misssed three threes in a row, STOP SHOOTING THEM UNTIL YOU GET YOUR STROKE BACK.

-It is never a good idea to go 6+ minutes without a made field goal, or to miss 13 in a row. Against the defending champs, it is a disaster.

-Tyreke needs to stop being lazy on defense.

-Practice today needs to be held at the freethrow line. Everybody makes 20 in a row or nobody goes home.

-Our guys were getting mugged in the paint and the refs swallowed their whilstles.

-Seeing Derek Fisher get hit in the nose and almost crying on camera brought back fond memories of watching that team’s last game the year they didn’t make the playoffs. Good times.

-They can say there’s no rivalry all they want, but these wins mean something to them given the way they celebrate once they’ve won.

-At some point I’d like to see what a Dalembert-Cousins duo could do. Just for fun.

-Was I the only one hoping Garcia would plant a fist in Kobe’s smug face?

-L*ker fans in Arco and national broadcasts of these games in almost unbearable. Mark Jackson could have been reading a script that Kobe wrote most of the game.