The Optimistic Thread! (TRD's FREEDOM THREAD!)

bruddahmanmatt wrote:Made three FGs in the 4th and still won a game.

Brooklyn and their fans could complain about that citing all the free throws we got, but they're the ones who put us in position to get those free throws by hacking Dwight all 4th. That over the back foul called on I believe Lopez for going over Pau, that's not free throws probably had they not done the hack-a-Dwight. So yes, I'm very optimistic when we have a 4th that bad offensively and still find a way to win with defense and getting to the line.

bruddahmanmatt wrote:Made three FGs in the 4th and still won a game.

UGGGGGG--------LLLLLLLLY

bruddahmanmatt wrote:Made three FGs in the 4th and still won a game.

If we made more of our FTs, the game wouldn't even be so close. No wonder everyone on the Lakers bench was joking around the whole game.

16 in the 3rd. 17 in the 4th. 33 second half points for brooklyn. Clearly the lakers talked about D at halftime and made a strong effort for the remaining 24 minutes. This game showed us that we can play a D'Antoni high paced game, and a slow grind it out games as well if we need to. Seeing it relaxed me a bit. Anyone noticed a trend of dwight getting healthier and defense getting better? Past 2 games have been blowouts, so we really didn't care. But in the close ones we've buckled down on D. I think we'll be fine defensively.

We went 5-1 on our 6 game homestand. Even though we lost this last game, we're still witnessing progress. Nash will get back and the offense will run a lot better. It's not going to take long. We'll be fine...

What he ^ said

Kobe had another great game, Meeks finally broke out of his slump, and we're still playing without Nash so we haven't seen this team at 100% yet.

No freak accident at Memphis.

Pau got benched.

Jamison & the whole 2nd unit played with great energy and were actually effective.

Jamison hitting shots
Meeks still aggressive with his limited minutes

Pau should get traded

Jamison finally had a good game, that is it, not other positives. Kobe had 30, but he shot 7-23, that's not positive.

Our bench was very good. If they can play like this and if we can involve Pau and Dwight, we will be good. I know, those are big ifs.

Jamison finally getting a good game in and Meeks starting to knock down some shots. D'Antoni sending a message to Pau by benching him in the fourth quarter? It'd be nice if it works.

D'Antoni benching Pau was a welcome surprise. He said in the post-game interview that if guys can't keep up with the pace he'll find someone who can.

This is the first game we've seen D'Antoni break the rotations that were in place under Mike Brown/Bickerstaff. I think we're going to see guys playing more minutes who fit his style of basketball. More Jamison at the 4, Meeks getting minutes, and most likely less Pau if he continues to play like a female.

I really hope Nash isn't out for too much longer because we really need him in there to get a fair assessment of where this team can go before any major trades are made.

D'Antoni showed he's not afraid to mess with lineups and rotations when guys aren't producing. I like that.

bench is playing better, i guess that's something. not a whole lot, but something.

- Bench
- We actually cut the lead down to 3 and 5 several times in 2nd half but just couldn't get over the hump so we're fighting back, we rarely did that under Brown.

Jamison and Meeks are playing better recently. Nice to see.

Our bench unit actually outplayed and outscored Grizz bench unit 30-23 in this game, this is with we have the best starting lineup in the league.

antawn!!!

Yup, silver lining from the last two losses is that both Jamison and Meeks look like they're finally ready to contribute. We'll put it all together eventually.

Off topic but I'm really enjoying Big Shot Rob sitting in with Worthy.

"Tough times don't last, but tough men do." -Horry