duncan228
05-11-2009, 01:47 PM
I used the headline that was in the newspaper for the thread title. They used a different one on line.
Lakers outrebounded, outhustled, outclassed (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/game-lakers-team-2402949-day-jackson)
Miller: Rockets beat the Lakers every which way possible.
Jeff Miller
The Orange County Register
HOUSTON Their opponents were trailing, reeling and suddenly hurting more than ever.
So the Lakers came out Sunday…and displayed the heart of a sixth-seed.
They were outrebounded by a team with no center, a team that started 6-foot-6 Chuck Hayes in the middle.
They were outhustled by a team that knows – absolutely knows now without Yao Ming – it has no chance of winning anything of consequence this postseason.
They were outclassed by a team that features Ron Artest, a player whose behavior once helped initiate an in-game riot.
Sadly, the Lakers were the Fakers again, a team still just posing as a wannabe champion.
With a chance to go up three games to one and avoid a return trip to Texas, the Lakers instead fell behind by 29 points and trailed by double figures for the final 43 minutes before smacking bottom, 99-87.
The loss and its aftermath were disturbing on many levels:
*Houston, already down Tracy McGrady and Dikembe Mutombo, lost Yao after Game 3 because of a foot injury. The Rockets played with 14 feet, 8 inches of center sitting on the bench.
*Coach Phil Jackson nearly predicted this embarrassment and still couldn’t prevent it, saying before the game he had warned his players about not being ready. Afterward, he called the result “not surprising.”
*Jackson also sounded content on a day when his players, with everything set up for them to win, never once even had a lead. “We did what we came here to do,” he said, “win one game.”
So it’s OK to not show up for the second game? That’s what the Lakers are about now? Giving half effort? That can’t be what Jackson meant, but that was his message.
The coach celebrated for, among those things, his serenity, wasn’t exactly on his game, either. During the formal postgame news conference, with more than a couple cameras rolling, Jackson shared an F-bomb with the world.
Outclassed, indeed.
We can only wonder: Would today’s Cleveland Cavaliers have lost a game like this? Would LeBron James permit his team to fall without a fight? Would Mike Brown resort to potty-mouthing?
We’re guessing no, no and, man, let’s hope not.
But these are the Lakers, who, sadly again, have a history of scattered attention spans and a tradition of flopping like dying fish.
There was Game 6 of the Finals last season (39-point loss). There was Game 7 in Phoenix in 2006 (the night Kobe Bryant kept passing). There was Game 6 against San Antonio in 2003 (28-point season-ending defeat at home).
“We blew a great opportunity,” Bryant said. “I’ve been on teams that made this dumb mistake before.”
Legend has it things are bigger in Texas. That was correct Sunday, when the Lakers served up one massive pile of refuse.
Putting the dis in discombobulate, they began their day with three missed shots and two turnovers and allowed Houston to score the game’s first nine points. At varying stages of the opening quarter, the score was 19-4, 22-7 and 26-9.
“They weren’t ready right off the bat,” Jackson said. “As a coach, you can only say so much, and then it’s up to the players.”
The dysfunctional first half was summed up by its final play. Going for the last shot, Bryant drove before passing to the corner to…Josh Powell?
Having entered the game 31 seconds earlier only so Lamar Odom couldn’t pick up his third foul, Powell had no option but to fire up a shot to beat the buzzer. Naturally, he missed.
The Lakers still had a chance to salvage their afternoon and make a glorious statement about their resiliency in the second half.
So this is how the third quarter began: Houston point guard Aaron Brooks – the smallest player in this series – received the inbounds pass and drove the length of the floor and through the Lakers for a layup.
How miserable was that? Not as miserable as this:
The third quarter ended with Brooks again beating the Lakers, this time on an out-of-bounds lob pass thrown by Artest from half court.
With .7 of a second to go, Brooks sneaked behind Jordan Farmar, who might or might not have been aware the Lakers played Sunday, to gather the pass and bank in a layup.
What will all this waste mean ultimately? Maybe nothing. On another Mother’s Day, in 2000, the Lakers similarly took off a playoff game in Phoenix, allowing 71 first-half points and being routed. A month later, that team was an NBA champion.
That team, though, was better than this one. This team would be wise to learn from Sunday and not repeat the misdeeds.
So, 90 minutes after the game, curbside at the Houston airport, someone interested in the events of the day was still smiling.
“I don’t think a lot of people,” Rockets forward Shane Battier said, “saw that coming.”
One guy did, and the Lakers pay him more than $10 million a year to coach their team.
But on a day boomed from the start, this whole franchise wasn’t worth an F-bombing dime.
Lakers outrebounded, outhustled, outclassed (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/game-lakers-team-2402949-day-jackson)
Miller: Rockets beat the Lakers every which way possible.
Jeff Miller
The Orange County Register
HOUSTON Their opponents were trailing, reeling and suddenly hurting more than ever.
So the Lakers came out Sunday…and displayed the heart of a sixth-seed.
They were outrebounded by a team with no center, a team that started 6-foot-6 Chuck Hayes in the middle.
They were outhustled by a team that knows – absolutely knows now without Yao Ming – it has no chance of winning anything of consequence this postseason.
They were outclassed by a team that features Ron Artest, a player whose behavior once helped initiate an in-game riot.
Sadly, the Lakers were the Fakers again, a team still just posing as a wannabe champion.
With a chance to go up three games to one and avoid a return trip to Texas, the Lakers instead fell behind by 29 points and trailed by double figures for the final 43 minutes before smacking bottom, 99-87.
The loss and its aftermath were disturbing on many levels:
*Houston, already down Tracy McGrady and Dikembe Mutombo, lost Yao after Game 3 because of a foot injury. The Rockets played with 14 feet, 8 inches of center sitting on the bench.
*Coach Phil Jackson nearly predicted this embarrassment and still couldn’t prevent it, saying before the game he had warned his players about not being ready. Afterward, he called the result “not surprising.”
*Jackson also sounded content on a day when his players, with everything set up for them to win, never once even had a lead. “We did what we came here to do,” he said, “win one game.”
So it’s OK to not show up for the second game? That’s what the Lakers are about now? Giving half effort? That can’t be what Jackson meant, but that was his message.
The coach celebrated for, among those things, his serenity, wasn’t exactly on his game, either. During the formal postgame news conference, with more than a couple cameras rolling, Jackson shared an F-bomb with the world.
Outclassed, indeed.
We can only wonder: Would today’s Cleveland Cavaliers have lost a game like this? Would LeBron James permit his team to fall without a fight? Would Mike Brown resort to potty-mouthing?
We’re guessing no, no and, man, let’s hope not.
But these are the Lakers, who, sadly again, have a history of scattered attention spans and a tradition of flopping like dying fish.
There was Game 6 of the Finals last season (39-point loss). There was Game 7 in Phoenix in 2006 (the night Kobe Bryant kept passing). There was Game 6 against San Antonio in 2003 (28-point season-ending defeat at home).
“We blew a great opportunity,” Bryant said. “I’ve been on teams that made this dumb mistake before.”
Legend has it things are bigger in Texas. That was correct Sunday, when the Lakers served up one massive pile of refuse.
Putting the dis in discombobulate, they began their day with three missed shots and two turnovers and allowed Houston to score the game’s first nine points. At varying stages of the opening quarter, the score was 19-4, 22-7 and 26-9.
“They weren’t ready right off the bat,” Jackson said. “As a coach, you can only say so much, and then it’s up to the players.”
The dysfunctional first half was summed up by its final play. Going for the last shot, Bryant drove before passing to the corner to…Josh Powell?
Having entered the game 31 seconds earlier only so Lamar Odom couldn’t pick up his third foul, Powell had no option but to fire up a shot to beat the buzzer. Naturally, he missed.
The Lakers still had a chance to salvage their afternoon and make a glorious statement about their resiliency in the second half.
So this is how the third quarter began: Houston point guard Aaron Brooks – the smallest player in this series – received the inbounds pass and drove the length of the floor and through the Lakers for a layup.
How miserable was that? Not as miserable as this:
The third quarter ended with Brooks again beating the Lakers, this time on an out-of-bounds lob pass thrown by Artest from half court.
With .7 of a second to go, Brooks sneaked behind Jordan Farmar, who might or might not have been aware the Lakers played Sunday, to gather the pass and bank in a layup.
What will all this waste mean ultimately? Maybe nothing. On another Mother’s Day, in 2000, the Lakers similarly took off a playoff game in Phoenix, allowing 71 first-half points and being routed. A month later, that team was an NBA champion.
That team, though, was better than this one. This team would be wise to learn from Sunday and not repeat the misdeeds.
So, 90 minutes after the game, curbside at the Houston airport, someone interested in the events of the day was still smiling.
“I don’t think a lot of people,” Rockets forward Shane Battier said, “saw that coming.”
One guy did, and the Lakers pay him more than $10 million a year to coach their team.
But on a day boomed from the start, this whole franchise wasn’t worth an F-bombing dime.