The late Chick Hearn, longtime voice of the Lakers, must be going crazy in hoop heaven.
Of his many phrases that describe any element of play for a given moment, the most apt for the Lakers as they head into today’s showdown with the Rockets would be- ‘defense on vacation’, ‘my grandmother could guard him, and she can’t go to her left’, or ‘they couldn’t beat the Sisters of Mercy’.
One night the Lakers win by 40 and look to have the series all wrapped up, but the next game they lose by 15.
Yes, a lot of credit does go to a feisty, undermanned Houston Rocket team. Despite playing without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady with Ron Artest underperforming on offense, coach Adelman has his team competing for the right to advance to the Western Conference Finals. They will face the Denver Nuggets with a win today at the Staples Center.
Phil Jackson- "There's Nothing to Worry About"
Ah, the Staples Center, this is the place where the Lakers better hope their alarm clock works.
What has emerged as issues to look for after Game 6 action include:
-Lamar Odom is in no position to carry the team on his sore back.
-Derek Fisher has got to improve his offensive punch, especially since the solid defense by Chuck Hayes on Pau Gasol and Shane Battier on Kobe Bryant force the Lakers to expand their normal scoring distribution. In that regard Trevor Ariza defended Artest well, but shot poorly so hopefully his touch will return this afternoon.
-Speaking of returns, Jerry Buss’ return on investment, at least overall in this series, on Andrew Bynum is pretty anemic. The young center’s 14-point, six-rebound effort in Game 5 was followed up by exactly zero points in nearly 20 minutes of play, though he did get seven rebounds in Friday’s contest.
-Walton has been scoreless in 7 of the last 8 quarters, but Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown have been a bright spot coming off the bench and performing well on both sides of the floor. Certainly Vujacic should be counted on to add some offense.
-But as the saying goes DEFENSE wins championships. In that realm Los Angeles needs to thwart the penetrating Mr.Brooks from being a playmaking machine that he has become in this series and overall the Lakers have to contest perimeter shots a lot better.
While almost no one predicted this series to go the distance, the Lakers don’t seem overly concerned about having to play a seventh game.
“Personally, I enjoy Game 7′s , “said Bryant. “It doesn’t make me nervous one bit”.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Coach Jackson said after the game. “..The last game (at home) we beat them by whatever. We play a different game on our home court. It’s pretty obvious now to see”.
We shall see.
Lakers will win today…and win vs Denver
We’ll be celebrating in Houston today as we “Beat LA” to take on the Nuggets
Phil’s right “what, me worry?”
Phil will have this same smile after today’s game. Lakers win easily.
“Houston,we have a problem”
Calvin, sadly the problem with Houston was simply not enough bodies, especially in the post. The way Los Angeles played in the paint yesterday it may not have mattered, but it would have made for more interesting competition if the Rockets were at full strength with McGrady, Mutombo and Yao.
see ‘what, me worry?”
Lakers will also get past Denver.