WMC 12/13: Mercy kill. (0-4)

Lakeshow24 wrote:Wow, what a surprise! Can we keep this up over the Grammy trip?

gotta beat the Hornets errrrrr Pelicans first.

we need to sweep the next 7 games. they're all against lesser opponents with the exception of brooklyn. C's don't have rondo.

we can be 1 game above .500 going into miami.

let's salvage this season!!

since there's always something to whine about: jvg was right--dwight needs to quit slipping screens. he'll get more open runs to the rim if he actually takes out the ballhandler's man. pau does a much better job of this.

but i don't care; the lakers got their first real quality win of the season.

Im a little worried we might see a repeat of the 2011 season...like we put an incredible amount of energy into a long winning streak to get a high seed in the playoffs but it wore Kobe and the rest of the guys out like crazy. They got hurt in the process and were unable to recover quickly and we got whacked in the playoffs against a Dallas team whom we owned in the regular season. I like that Nash and Kobe are playing less minutes, Im not sure Steve Blake returning is the answer to lessening their minutes, hopefully we pick up Delonte West or make a trade for another PG/SG combo guard guy. THe first 2 minutes to start the 4th today was huge with Kobe and Nash rested and Meeks gave us 5 points and a stop in the other end. It buys us time. Hope we shore up the backcourt position because we need one more playmaker out in the perimeter who can take some shots late in the clock and can help you get stops. That would be a huge shot in the arm for this team.

Weezy wrote:Rock, it would be a miracle if we even makes the playoffs, just to make it would be almost a saving of the season and a saving from a huge embarrassment and one of the biggest disappointments in the history of sports. So I would say you're getting a little ahead of yourself and worrying about the wrong thing. I would welcome a guaranteed first round exit right now, missing the playoffs with this roster will be a horrible look for the Lakers franchise and Kobe's career.

I think we can do it. Our January schedule was quite brutal though (Except Toronto I guess but they've been dynamite over last 30 days as well). Right now our guys are healthy, our big 4 have played only 16 games and their chemistry is getting better. Pau is getting better. We might get SOME help on the way with that Disabled players exception and a soft schedule coming up, lots of .500 teams and we've beaten them up last few weeks

^JVG was right on point. We'll start winning. Will we make the PO's? I said we wouldn't, but I hope I am wrong. Our longest winning streak was 5 games. I would like to see a long winning streak. 9-10 games, maybe? Just start beating up on the less inferior competition coming up on the Grammy trip.

If we don't make the playoffs , it will be because of too many home bad losses .

Dallas
Indiana
Orlando
Utah
Philly
Denver

two bad road losses :

Cleveland
Toronto

27-17 good for the 5th seed

No doubt biggest win of the season thus far.

Rooscooter wrote:Not sure it's a "Statement Game"..... it seems we'd have to be "relevant" to OKC for it to me anything significant from their standpoint.

From our vantage point it's sure nice to see some "team" with our team....

i'm not mr. sunshine and daisies (i'm pretty sure the lakers are missing the playoffs), but the lakers are most definitely still on everyone's--including okc's--radar. they wanted this game; you could see it.

I just pray these guys dont have a let down against teams below .500 anymore, can't afford to and Tues game is no guarantee either, almost lost to Pelicans last time and they've been alot better since Gordons return.

Houston and portland gotta start losing some more... hou has two tough teams. Denver and Utah lets hope they get whoooped by them...

Maybe injuries do lead to fumbilitis? I dont see Pau fumbling passes anymore. Hes catching it clean and finishing it. Maybe thats what Dwight's problem too

i say if we play like the last 2 games we will make the playoffs. i don t care what so many here have to say about not making the playoffs. once again if we play like the last 2 games we will make it regardless how pessimistic so much fans here in the forum. so keep it up lakers . i still believe

It's a slim shot since we don't know if the team is for real (they've teased us far too often this season to make too much of these last two games), but if they go something like 8-2 over the next 10 games there is a good chance they will be tied with Houston in the loss column.

Yes beating the top team after losing 10 out of 12 is a statement game. Especially when you did it by executing a solid team game plan for the 2nd game in a row.

"business as usual"? Have you watched this team? Losing is business as usual.

Rooscooter wrote:
Maybe I wasn't expansive enough.... for OKC losing the game had little significance. No tie breakers were involved.... playoff seeding isn't really involved and other than "grudge factor" it wasn't that meaningful to them. For us it's a little bit different. We hadn't beaten a decent team let alone a good one for a while so if beating a top team is a "statement" then I guess it could be seen that way.

For this group I hope that isn't their mentality however..... they should be thinking it was business as usual to beat OKC on your home floor..... 100M and 5 All stars shouldn't be making "Statement Wins" in January....

eh, i guess. i think the heart of your comments was about motivation, and i think okc was plenty motivated for this game. kobe still has a vendetta for phx, for pete's sake.

that was a high quality win against a team that was, imo, as motivated as the lakers.

the issue is whether the lakers can repeat that performance another 30 times. this i doubt.

JoelMyersScrotalSack wrote:It's a slim shot since we don't know if the team is for real (they've teased us far too often this season to make too much of these last two games), but if they go something like 8-2 over the next 10 games there is a good chance they will be tied with Houston in the loss column.

That is why the game against the Pelicans has a good chance of being a big let-down. in fact it's very likely that the Lakers will have a hangover from there much needed win against a top-dog that they come out so sluggish that they will be down by more then 16 points, I have seen that script before many many times.

abeer3 wrote:

Rooscooter wrote:
Maybe I wasn't expansive enough.... for OKC losing the game had little significance. No tie breakers were involved.... playoff seeding isn't really involved and other than "grudge factor" it wasn't that meaningful to them. For us it's a little bit different. We hadn't beaten a decent team let alone a good one for a while so if beating a top team is a "statement" then I guess it could be seen that way.

For this group I hope that isn't their mentality however..... they should be thinking it was business as usual to beat OKC on your home floor..... 100M and 5 All stars shouldn't be making "Statement Wins" in January....

eh, i guess. i think the heart of your comments was about motivation, and i think okc was plenty motivated for this game. kobe still has a vendetta for phx, for pete's sake.

that was a high quality win against a team that was, imo, as motivated as the lakers.

the issue is whether the lakers can repeat that performance another 30 times. this i doubt.

From accounts, OKC was also intent on not being used as a springboard for the Lakers to come together. They wanted to keep us down.

gcclaker wrote:From accounts, OKC was also intent on not being used as a springboard for the Lakers to come together. They wanted to keep us down.

The Thunder are good enough not to care about other teams coming together. this was just another game for them, it was the Lakers who used the game as a measure stick.... but to me, it's absurd to calculate this game as a off-set for a amazing run, the Hawks/Wizards/Celtics/Wolves/ also win against the Thunder and those teams still suck.

Anyone watching the game last night could see they wanted this win. They've wanted to beat the Lakers every game since they were bounced from the playoffs.

The Thunder wanted this game badly.

Did they want it AS BADLY? Of course not, that's why they lost.