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melo is over rated!
Lakers defense stifling Nuggets forward Anthony
By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register
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DENVER — After the eighth of his 17 missed shots Saturday, Carmelo Anthony laughed about it all the way back up the court for some reason. That was late in the second quarter, when there was still time for Denver to catch a break and beat the Lakers in Game 3 of this playoff series. By late in the third quarter, Anthony had sped to the other end of the emotional spectrum, ranting at referee Bill Kennedy and drawing a technical foul after getting the ball stolen by Derek Fisher.
Anthony, who turns 24 in a month, vented further by saying the whole team quit and said in response to a question about trusting Nuggets coach George Karl: "I don't really know what it is, but when it comes to that (trust), I think it's a fragile area. But I'm not about to sit here and go back and forth and point fingers and say `George this, George that.' I'm not going to do that. As a whole, I just think we gave up. I have every right to feel like that."
Karl said of Anthony's comments that "keeping our composure and a maturity to it is probably the best way to go." On the bright side for Karl, Anthony left it at that — not talking to reporters Sunday or turning to the 100,043 people listed as friends on his MySpace page (O.J. Mayo among them) to whine more.
This is the place the Lakers — who have now beaten Denver in all three regular-season meetings and all three playoff meetings, with Game 4 and a sweep scenario looming tonight — have sent the baffled Nuggets. Lakers coach Phil Jackson looked around at the motivational pieces of paper taped up all over the Nuggets weight room Sunday — 150 sheets with "I BELIEVE" printed on them, Jackson estimated — and understood that's what the Nuggets needed, saying: "If you have doubt …"
The playoffs are often about matchups, and Denver knew it was in for some trouble given that the Lakers have perhaps the best group of passers in the NBA and the Nuggets have perhaps the worst team defenders in the NBA. It's just that Denver had no reason to believe that Anthony wouldn't score with relative ease, too.
Anthony was a 49.2 percent field-goal shooter in the regular season. He is shooting 35.3 percent from the field in this series — when he also has five assists against nine turnovers, unable to create easy scores for teammates.
Neither Vladimir Radmanovic nor Luke Walton is a particularly feared defender, but Anthony has still been bottled up. The Lakers liked the way their defense came on late in the regular season, and Kobe Bryant is thrilled with how the Lakers have swarmed to help Radmanovic or Walton in this series.
"It takes more than one guy to guard Carmelo," Bryant said. "That's why he hasn't been able to get to the basket as cleanly as he would like, because we're all stacking up the side and we're all coming to help him out."
Jackson has succeeded with his defensive approach using Radmanovic and Walton — not resorting to Lamar Odom, who has struggled against Anthony's power in the past, or Bryant, who has struggled against Anthony's size in the past.
At the other end, Radmanovic and Walton have combined for 22.6 points per game in the series — to Anthony's 23. Radmanovic's 32 percent shooting has been offset by Walton's 73.1 percent shooting.
Jackson has been huddling with Radmanovic, whose starting job is not in jeopardy, to offer support while Walton has been on fire. But Bryant praised Radmanovic's understanding of defensive positioning. Both he and Walton have been wise to keep it simple against Anthony.
"You can't just let him just raise up and shoot, because he's such a great rhythm shooter," Walton said. "So you've got to try to jam him a little bit, get your body into him. But at the same time, he's so strong, when you have your body on him, he uses that to his advantage. So that's when you really have to count on your help-side (defense) being there."
Contact the writer: [email protected]
melo is over rated!
Miller column: Lakers finding every way to win
JEFF MILLER
Register columnist
[email protected]
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DENVER — Right now, the Lakers have chemistry, a whole bunch of feel-good and, most importantly, a series lead that might be surmountable only via chair lift.
Thankfully for the Nuggets, there are a few of those idling around here. And they have one more chance Monday night to prove they can stand up to something other than a middle-aged man in a referee's outfit.
The road back from down 3-0 is a long one, particularly against a Lakers team this sure of itself, a team succeeding in part, Lamar Odom explained Sunday, because "we all love each other so much."
The Lakers sure do act like it, sharing the ball — 92 assists in this series compared to 54 for Denver — and the points (five players in double figures and two more with nine in Game 3).
But to understand how cohesive and unselfish this team has become, especially since the arrival of Pau Gasol, consider the action the team's new center took Saturday — during a timeout, no less.
Gasol, all 7-foot of him, stood atop a folding chair on the bench so he could see over his teammates at what Coach Phil Jackson was drawing.
Understand, he was in the game at the time. This is the Lakers' starting center, OK, a man making nearly $14 million this season and even more valuable than that to the team's potential future success.
Displaced by the likes of Ira Newble, Gasol gladly and without a word took to climbing on the Pepsi Center furniture.
"Yeah, I guess I've earned a better spot than that," he said. "But the guys not in the game were really into it at that point for some reason. I didn't want to push anyone out of the huddle. Guys like Mr. (DJ) Mbenga had me boxed out."
These Lakers certainly are a dynamic group, even relying on props when necessary. As a result, so far in this series, they've made the Nuggets look like something less than a 50-win team, doing so in a variety of colors.
They've won playing at their pace and at the Nuggets' pace.
They've won playing at their place and now at the Nuggets' place.
They've won with Kobe Bryant scoring 49 points and with Bryant scoring 22 points.
They've won with Gasol starring (36 points, 16 rebounds in Game 1) and with Gasol supporting (18 points, 10 rebounds in Game 2).
On Saturday, they won despite Derek Fisher somehow having zero assists in 32 minutes and Gasol strangely not grabbing his second rebound until the fourth quarter.
They won twice at Staples Center with offense and once here with defense. In Game 3, seven Lakers had steals.
"A lot of weapons," Gasol said. "We have so many guys who can do good things. We have a third, fourth and even fifth option. We trust each other. When we're having success on the court, we know there's a good chance we'll win at the end."
And when Luke Walton is finishing with more field goals than Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony, the Lakers have to be in a good place.
That's what happened in Game 3, the good place turning out to be an 18-point victory.
"The big thing is we have shot-makers," Odom said. "We have Pau and Kobe as the stars, but then we have a bunch of guys who can make shots and make plays. That's how our offense is built. That's how this team is built."
The Nuggets have three players who have been All-Stars compared to two for the Lakers.
The Nuggets are the ones with the former league MVP and the one-time Defensive Player of the Year.
The Nuggets had two players in the top four in scoring this season, twice as many as the Lakers had.
Yet, here everyone sits today, Lakers up 3-0.
During the regular season, these teams were separated by only seven games. The gap between a No. 1 seed and a No. 8 is supposed to be greater than that. So far in the postseason, that gap has been.
"They have so much talent, but they don't play that much as a team," Gasol said. "I'm sure they're disappointed right now. It is frustrating, believe me."
He knows about facing the sour end of 3-0. Before this season, that's all Gasol knew.
He made the playoffs with Memphis three times, and the Grizzlies were swept from each in round one.
"It's not a great atmosphere," Gasol said. "It's not pleasant."
But it's the reality Denver faces, along with a Lakers team featuring much diversity, and not just because their rotation includes a Spaniard, a Slovenian, a Serbian and a guy from Arkansas.
No, what we're talking about is the Lakers' ability to win in a lot of ways. It's only fitting that afterward, they can discuss it in a lot of languages.
they beat the NUGGETS!! nuggets=
Darko > Melo
Keep em' coming Lakeshow. These stupid hokeys get riled up over the dumbest .
I know, this is funny. I even have fake ass lakers fans chipping in. 80% of the discussions in this forum is based on Articles and news. They're just a bunch of jealous es. We can be happy and we are! End Of Story!
You are a fake ass lakers fan.
America, eatin' my lunch from a single bowl in my parents basement, where I'm livin'. Happy Birthday, I'm forty-three.
Don't want to waste those precious calories...chewin'. Jesus come move my jaw for me, help me get my sloppy food down my throat.
Patton: Defense Makes Difference
Gregg Patton
Download story podcast
12:20 AM PDT on Tuesday, April 29, 2008
By GREGG PATTON
The Press-Enterprise
DENVER - There was a scene at the end of those old "Superman" television shows when the bad guy would empty his pistol at the Man of Steel's impermeable chest, then, in a comical twist, would throw the useless gun at him.
Monday night at the Pepsi Center, the out-of-ammo Denver Nuggets heaved their ineffective regular-season-style game at the Lakers with similar results.
At least it was a compe ive contest for the first time, as the Lakers got sucked into joining the Nuggets in their run-and-gun game.
Nevertheless, this first-round Western Conference series came to a predictable end, the Lakers finishing the 4-0 sweep with a 107-101 victory, the first time they had to sweat down the stretch.
"I think it showed a lot of character for us to pull that one out," said forward Luke Walton, who nailed a critical three-point shot from the corner to give the Lakers a 100-96 cushion in the last couple of minutes. "It wasn't a life-or-death game for us, but (sweeping) was something we wanted to do."
The game sure didn't feel much like playoff basketball, at least not at first. Not with the Lakers in nonchalant command of the series, with a game or two to give, and the Nuggets still not playing much defense.
Of course, the Lakers didn't have as much use for defense themselves Monday. The pace of the game, for the most part, was played at wheels-coming-off speed. It may be instructive to remember that the Lakers still have the best freelancing, ad-libbing player in the NBA.
Kobe Bryant thrived, enjoying the chance to fly to the basket, or dump spinning assists to Pau Gasol, and even DJ Mbenga in the first half, and taking control as a 1-on-1 machine in the closing minutes.
In any case, it went down to the wire, neither team getting more than five points ahead the first 11 minutes of the fourth quarter. And at long last, by necessity, postseason basketball showed up. The two teams milked the clock, got physical and let defense take over down the stretch. Of course, that's the Lakers comfort zone.
"When it was time, we clamped down," said forward Lamar Odom, proving once again that a little bit of defense can go a long way against Denver.
If there was a lesson to be learned out of these mostly non-compe ive four games, it was the obvious one. Here's a quote for you: "Offense is for show. Defense wins championships."
It was uttered by Allen Iverson, Denver's All-Star guard, after Game 3, and don't fall off your chair.
Iverson has been around 12 years without a championship, and he should know about offense vs. defense. The closest he ever got to a le was in 2001 with a hard-nosed Philadelphia team that lost to the Lakers in five games in the Finals.
For most of his career, Iverson has been the quintessential, high-scoring offensive showman. At 6 feet (or so), his defensive game is limited mostly to overplaying the passing lanes and gambling for steals.
He and fellow gunner Carmelo Anthony are the entertaining faces of the franchise, teaming up as the league's best 1-2 scoring tandem. Defense is an afterthought, and because of that, so are the Nuggets now.
Picking on the defenseless Nuggets or not, the 4-0 sweep was a notable achievement. The Lakers remain the only undefeated team in the postseason.
The only downside is that the Lakers now may have to wait around for a while before they can play again. If Houston beats Utah tonight, the Lakers may not start playing again until next week.
Walton said it was "always good to have a chance for your body to heal," but that's a player's point of view. Coach Phil Jackson doesn't put aching body parts in buckets of ice after the games.
He's not a big fan of long layoffs.
"Two days rest is plenty," he said before the game. "By the third day, you'd like to play a game, to keep the rhythm of your team together."
Of course, sweeping and then sitting around waiting is not the end of the world.
Better than the alternative, as the vanishing Denver Nuggets can attest.
Reach Gregg Patton at 951-368-9597 or [email protected]
Yeah, well at least we swept them unlike you guys.they beat the NUGGETS!! nuggets=
So? What does that mean? The Lakers swept an inferor team that is falling apart at the seams.
Thank Memphis for your good fortune.
we? did you get signed to the roster? youre not part of the team fool.
and you swept them....so..........??
come talk to me when the lakers have won a championship within the last couple of years, , even 5 years......
you won ONE playoff series, against a MUCH inferior team. Whoopty Doo!!
win something that matters......
No wonder the Lamers won:
Yeah.Anthony, who turns 24 in a month, vented further by saying the whole team quit.
Really impressive.
god you are dense. lakers were raping the spurs during the shaq years. spurs are default champs if you want to go there. come talk to me when you have nearly as many rings as the lakers franchise does. try repeating before you talk . you need to go kill yourself you are so en stupid.we? did you get signed to the roster? youre not part of the team fool.
and you swept them....so..........??
come talk to me when the lakers have won a championship within the last couple of years, , even 5 years......
you won ONE playoff series, against a MUCH inferior team. Whoopty Doo!!
win something that matters......
If you're going to talk and discredit the Lakers you guys didn't do any better against them so why talk ?
What does that have to do with what I said? Trying to change the subject? Doing a little filibustering?
Face it. The Lakers are in the 2nd round because they were gift wrapped Pau Gasol. Congrats and all, but don't act like the Lakers are gods among men.
Why 5 years? Why not last 7 years..how bout 10 years...
ohhhhhh i know why you said 5 years...smart move
I never did. Find that post and show me? Utah is a damn tough match up. Regular season games are one thing but 7 game series are another. Just look at Boston and Detroit. We beat the Nuggets but there are still gaping holes in our defense and the ability to stop penetration. Denver is not a very good team but sweeping is not an easy task either. Saying "so what" or whatever is going to elicit a negative response. What did you expect? If you're going to talk at least have done as well if not better when talking . As I recall you guys never swept them.
Funny how Spurs fans hate on the Gasol trade. Now Kobe has one former all start next to him, but its ok for the spurs to have several.
I'm not hating on the trade. Actually, I like the Lakers. I root for them when they're not playing the Spurs.
but why say it was a gift...if you root for the Lakers..why cant you just say that played really good against a crappy nugs team.
1st of all, they played really well, not really good. And you made my point. The played well against a CRAPPY team. Besides, when the Spurs swept the Cavs in the finals last year, how many people resorted to the "Spurs are boring" argument? How many people said the Cavs shouldn't have been there, blah blah blah?
My problem is some, NOT ALL, Laker fans blowing hard acting like sweeping an imploding 8th seed is the greatest accomplishment since the 3-peat.
2nd, I say it was a gift because it was a gift. What did the Lakers give up to get him?
Seriously -- Ding?
so when the lakers win the Jazz..you'll say..The Lakers only won the Jazz because they were gift wrapped Pau Gasol?
Then when they win the championship, you'll say The Lakers only won the championship because they were gift wrapped Pau Gasol?
Would they be in the running for a le if they hadn't landed Pau? How were they doing before the trade?
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