Lakers pop weary Spurs: Cold shooters, bad at udes lead to loss (MySA)

[Cherry]

i would love to see Manu chew EVERYONE out and become that locker room vocal leader

me too

Sometimes, I wish Pop would ask him to take 25 shots in one game.

It´s time IMO

[Tradition]

Phil Jackson has done wonders with this franchise and erased all doubts about him being the greatest coach in league history. Kobe has also been something else this year. This team is growing and gaining confidence in each other with odom and kwame both being out. The Spurs are still a force to respect in the west but a few moves wouldnt hurt. This is a damn good Laker squad who is going to be a to eliminate come playoff time.

[Mr. Body]

Kupchak must be getting some accolades after some time of criticism for putting this roster together. Bynum was a great pick, and Farmar looks pretty good.

[Tradition]

Kupchak must be getting some accolades after some time of criticism for putting this roster together. Bynum was a great pick, and Farmar looks pretty good.

Kupchak has really redeemed himself as a nice gm to have on this squad. Bynum,Farmar,Turiaf,aquiring Maurice Evans, etc he has really made smart moves. I know the shaq trade landed Miami a le but for future reasons it was a smart move and it got us Odom and eventually got us Kwame. I do believe the Lakers will be back as an elite team VERY soon but this year I just dont see it. I do see us making noise in the playoffs and being quite tough to beat in a series though. Just want us to get healthy and begin to really gell.

[Medvedenko]

Yes, a great game...I'm happy we won. Still, the spurs are dangerous and beat themselves as much as get beat by the other team. Still though, I'm happy with the W. Kobe is playing injured and that's allright with me considering he's slowing the game down and picking his spots. Oh, and the crams on Duncan were sweet. Question, why doesn't Duncan play defense on these plays. He just stands there with his hands up, especially with the Turiaf nail....

[VaSpursFan]

Yes, a great game...I'm happy we won. Still, the spurs are dangerous and beat themselves as much as get beat by the other team. Still though, I'm happy with the W. Kobe is playing injured and that's allright with me considering he's slowing the game down and picking his spots. Oh, and the crams on Duncan were sweet. Question, why doesn't Duncan play defense on these plays. He just stands there with his hands up, especially with the Turiaf nail....

he doesn't want to foul...but how many times do you get crammed on before you say eff it, i'm gonna put the next person that comes in this lane on their back. truth told, since lebron posterized duncan earlier this season, he's been getting flushed on left and right.

[Sportcamper]

Ronny Turiaf had the play of the game Wednesday at AT&T Center, a six-foot jump hook over his Childhood NBA idol, Tim Duncan, that put the Lakers ahead, 98-93, with 9.9 seconds left...

"Tim Duncan's my idol," Turiaf said, “I just saw him play so many times on TV and stuff, when I was just a little kid... For me to be able to go out there and score over him “even though he is older now”, was kind of special...

[nkdlunch]

yes Duncan should go for the hard foul once in a while.

When is the last time he has had 5 fouls????

[Medvedenko]

What's worse, getting dunked on while standing looking quite apathetic, or getting dunked on trying to challenge the shot.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Phil Jackson has done wonders with this franchise and erased all doubts about him being the greatest coach in league history. Kobe has also been something else this year. This team is growing and gaining confidence in each other with odom and kwame both being out. The Spurs are still a force to respect in the west but a few moves wouldnt hurt. This is a damn good Laker squad who is going to be a to eliminate come playoff time.

I don't know if the Lakers playing well less than halfway thorugh the season proves Phil Jackson is the "greatest coach in league history". I'd think you'd point to nine championships if you're going to be making that argument.

I still think the Lakers are in the lower half of the West. They could get past the first round though. Probably good enough to win the East.

[SoCal Lakeshow]

For me to be able to go out there and score over him “even though he is older now”, was kind of special...

[Tradition]

I don't know if the Lakers playing well less than halfway thorugh the season proves Phil Jackson is the "greatest coach in league history". I'd think you'd point to nine championships if you're going to be making that argument.

I still think the Lakers are in the lower half of the West. They could get past the first round though. Probably good enough to win the East.

Look at how much this team has dramatically improved over the last year and a half. They went from average to getting on the verge of being a major force again.

[judaspriestess]

Spurs are playing very soft. Charmin soft. Maybe tinkering with the lineup all the time is tinkering with their energy.

[JPB]

[QUOTE=Sportcamper]
"Tim Duncan's my idol," Turiaf said, “I just saw him play so many times on TV and stuff, when I was just a little kid... For me to be able to go out there and score over him “even though he is older now”, was kind of special...

A little kid ... Turiaf is 24. Duncan is just 6 years older than him.

[spurschick]

It's time for a team

[JPB]

It's time for a team

Yes, this or that :

[wildbill2u]

Son of a . The guy just doesn't have a clue. Not a single ing clue.

So what is going to say? "Our defensive stalwarts didn't come through. Tim Duncan mailed this one in on defense. He got his points, but with only 2 fouls in the 4th gave up numerous uncontested shots and even fell asleep in the paint, leaving a wide-open man behind him.

And Bruce was terrible shooting and his failure to be on the court was simply a terrible lapse of focus that he normally doesnt have.

16 turnovers with 14 coming from the BIG THREE don't help either."

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Manu summed up the problems perfectly. Meanwhile, Pop is trumpeting out the latest talking point to his lap dog SA media.

[itzsoweezee]

this guy's an idiot. bowen played good defense on kobe, especially in the fourth. kobe was just making ridiculous shots early in the game.

[Rick Von Braun]

wow...a bunch of stats here. great and all, but i have played organized basketball and i watch basketball games for the eye of a player.

gino is up .6 over the PRIOR year. but if you look at the trend from when he entered the league, he's up 1.82 3pt attempts per game and it's steadily risen almost every year in the league. to me, that screams falling in love with the 3. numbers don't lie and this substiantes my position.

Your are correct, numbers don't lie, your understanding and interpretation of them is wrong though. The 1.82 increase from his first year is easily explainable by the reduced playing time in his first year. If you normalize the numbers by playing time and you get:

06-07 0.14 3PTatt/min .424 3PT%
05-06 0.12 3PTatt/min .382 3PT%
04-05 0.12 3PTatt/min .376 3PT%
03-04 0.11 3PTatt/min .359 3PT%
02-03 0.10 3PTatt/min .345 3PT%

A consistent small increase, but hardly a jump or "falling in love" increase. Perhaphs more importantly, with his higher shooting percentage, I fail to understand why you don't want him to shoot more threes. He will produce more points with less possesions... isn't this the ideal?

i don't really care about the stats speak regarding his effficiency.

So, why bring the effective argument in the first place in your original post?

Gino would be super effective to me if he would start pump faking the 3 and taking a couple of dribbles in and taking the 15 to 17 footer.

The above are your comments.

all i know is that when you're on the court and you either shot the 3 or drive to the basket, defenses can guard you with relative ease because you're predicatable.

Count how many players in the league combine the 3PT shooting percentage and the ability to finish at the rim or earn a trip to the charity stripe that Manu Ginobili has? You would be very surprised. He is a ing nightmare for opposing coaches.

and the argument about a 33% 3 point shooter is better than a 50% 2 point shooter is ludicrous. why would you not go with the shot with the better odds? i'll take the 50% option every time rather than go for the high risk/high reward 3. i would love if the team shot all layups because i know a high percentage of them would go in versus the whole team shooting fool's gold 3's.

I see, so you would rather take a 50% chance of a 2PT vs a 40% chance of a 3PT all the time, because it is still a higher percentage shot, right? If you answer yes, I am glad you are not running the team.

What you fail to understand, is that .424 3PT% shooter is always a good option. Manu is 13th in the league in 3PT%. Please count how many players in the league (that qualify) shoot above 62% 2PT... I'll give you hint... zero.

For someone that praises himself as a basketball player, with a good "feeling" for the game, you fail to understand some basic notions of the game. If the opposing team is clogging the lanes (as in playoff basketball), what do you do? There are two ways to break this in the half court:

- ball movement
- exterior shooting

You are new to this board, but I've been firmly entrenched in the camp of ball movement with purpose since the Lakers swept the Spurs in the WCF back in 2001, specially after the 4th quarters' debacles that year. You will find no argument with me there. Pop has been reluctant to do this, and only after PJ joined the team, we have seen a little bit more of movement.

In Pop's mind, exterior shooting is the only option remaining. Talk to the coach.

all i want gino to do is to develop another dimension of his game to make him harder to guard and less predictable.

Yes, we all want all the Spurs' players to do better. I wish Gino could grab more rebounds, be stronger physically, could jump higher, reduce the number of turnovers, etc. etc. My point is that Manu Ginobili is the least of the Spurs problems at this time.

Perhaphs more importantly, although I cannot provide you with the source of the data (NDA), Manu has a significant statistical increase in the 10-18ft jumpers taken this year. I believe this is done on purpose and it is an intentional decision by both the Spurs coaching staff and Manu to make him more durable. By simply watching the Spurs' game this year in comparison to previous year, you'll see this increase quite clearly. The results of this change have been neutral to slightly negative, but more data (time) is required.

Don't worry, Manu is doing already exactly what you propose, albeit probably at a lesser pace that you want.

let's keep this to basketball rather than regurgitate a bunch of stats talk that has no bearing on one's performance on a basketball court.

You may not like stats, but every single professional NBA basketball team uses them heavily, with increase usage in recent years as we get better data. I urge you to trust me on this, I know many collegues that work or consult for NBA teams.

[SoCal Lakeshow]

this guy's an idiot. bowen played good defense on kobe, especially in the fourth. kobe was just making ridiculous shots early in the game.

Kobe was going to the basket at will.