Is There Something Magic in the Air

People have been doubting the Orlando Magic all season long. Believe me, I’m currently living out here and have heard it all.

Quite the opposite with the Lakers who have been favorites ever since they got blown out at the end of last year.

My fiance, Noelle, came to me before Game 1 of the Orlando/Cleveland series and told me she was sick of LeBron James. It’s LeBron this and LeBron that. All you ever hear these days is how great LeBron is. The media and the league have taken promoting LeBron way too far. ESPN finally got in line with what I have been feeling the past few days, which is it’s one thing to debate Kobe Bryant and LeBron; it’s a whole other thing to start talking him up as the best ever.

Sure he won MVP (something that was handed to him before the season started), and he took a horrible team to the Finals only to get swept by the Spurs. He is currently on the verge of not even making it to the Finals this year. I think we need to hold off on the G.O.A.T. accolades before he actually does something. Let him win a championship first. Better yet, let him finish his career before we start ranking him on the all-time list. Remember Grant Hill and Penny Hardaway got off to amazing starts as well, only to see their careers derailed by injury. You just never know.

But, I digress.

So, not only was my fiance sick of LeBron, she was also excited to see a Lakers/Magic Finals. Now, I knew Orlando would give the Cavs a lot more trouble than anyone — with the exception of Noelle and Charles Barkley — was giving them credit for, but to say that I saw them going up 3-1 or even moving on, I cannot admit that much.

Now that we are on our way to the Finals, I think it’s time to do two things: 1) Acknowledge my fiance’s foresight, and 2) warn the Lakers.

The Magic are a scary bunch and match up very well with our Lakers, even better than the Cavs. You hear it all the time that this league is all about match ups, which is why the Lakers were desperate for a tough power forward during the Shaquille O’Neal days to match up with the Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki’s of the West; the same reason Pau Gasol was brought in; and the reason why I worry a little about the Orlando Magic.

All year long, my “Best in the NBA” series has chronicled the strength of the top five teams in the league and the Magic held up surprisingly well, especially versus the other top teams in the league, often leading the way in a number of categories.

They have the best inside/outside game thanks to the Beast, Dwight Howard, and can surround him with four shooters at all times. Strangely enough, they are a very good defensive team as well, and it starts on the inside with the Defensive Player of the Year.

They have the size to match our bigs, although I think if Andrew Bynum can stay out of foul trouble that would put Rashard Lewis on Pau who can then go to work. I also realize that Lewis can then turn it around on Pau, just like he has been doing against Anderson Varejao and like he did versus Glenn “Big Baby” Davis.

I did want to acknowledge the Orlando Magic fans, who I have been very impressed with. They actually came to work with jerseys and people were talking about their team in the hallways. The local media — both TV and papers — have been all over the action. They even had a “Support the Magic” day at work and of course you know I wore my Lakers shirt. A guy stopped me in the hall and asked ‘why you wearing that shirt.’ I just smiled and told him I bleed purple and gold. Then I cut him off in the parking lot! Still, who knew Orlando could get into sports like this.

Keys to Beating the Magic

Efficient Offense — Run the offense, keep turnovers low, knock down shots. When the offense is running smooth, we can get back on defense. Against Orlando, misses and turnovers will lead to wide open threes in transition.

Focus on Defense – We know who we are, and a strong defensive team we are not. That does not mean that we cannot win games with our defense. The last two wins versus the Nuggets, we managed to play active, aggressive defense and force the Nuggets through stretches of poor shooting, which allowed us to go on big runs. However, playing great defense for 23 seconds and missing an assignment will lead to open threes for Orlando. Consistent D all game long is necessary or you will fall pray to their 3-point barrages.

3-Point Shooting – While we lost our best shooter, Vladimir Radmanovic, early on, the rest of our shooters have been struggling. Sasha Vujacic is in a huge slump and is only a fraction of The Machine we saw light it up last post-season, Derek Fisher’s shot has fallen off the deep end, and I am still not sure if Trevor Ariza’s hot shooting will continue. Meanwhile, the Magic have four shooters in the starting lineup to go along with a number of guys coming off the bench. They were the second best 3-point shooting team during the regular season, hitting 9.7 per game, while we were middle of the pack (14th) during the regular season with 6.8 makes per game. We still continually get beat by the 3-ball and ranked 20th in the league (7 per game) and the Magic only gave up 5.5 per game (second). While we won’t outscore them from the 3-point line, we can certainly keep a hand in their face and make things difficult.

I still cannot imagine the Magic winning a championship and although they swept us during the regular season, I think we have the advantage in three areas: 1) Phil Jackson and Kobe, 2) Jameer Nelson, the Laker Killer, is out, and 3) offensive rebounding. Dwight might be the best rebounder, but Pau and Lamar Odom can go to work on the offensive glass and abuse Rashard.

It will be a fun game tonight and Laker fans will be scouting out the next opponent.

Lakers vs Denver Game 4, Trapdoor

Kobe is Hungry, is Anyone Else?

Clearly, Kobe has been as focused as ever, especially versus Denver. The problem is, does anyone else on the Lakers want to win as bad?

What was most disappointing about Game 4 was our effort. You don’t get out-rebounded by 18, give up 20 offensive rebounds, only force six turnovers, and send a team to the line 49 times without coming out of it with some major concerns.

The rebounding alone goes to show that they wanted it more. They were the aggressors (free throws back me up), and they went out and took that game from us.

Should we — the fans — be concerned?

Or, was it just a case of one team desperate not to go down three games to one in a series? We saw what happens when Denver’s backs are to the wall, now my biggest concern is not Game 5, rather Game 6 and Game 7 (if there is one). We want to put their backs to the wall again, and winning tomorrow night will do just that. The next time we have a chance to put them away for good, will anyone, other than Kobe, step up to the challenge?

I am not yet ready to say that our guys are not hungry (we didn’t lose last year for nothing, I would hope). If we do not come out hyped in each of the next two games, we will without question see another Game 7.

So what have our guys done in the playoffs so far?

The Good

• Kobe Bryant is averaging 29.8 ppg on 46% shooting.
• Pau Gasol is averaging 18.3 ppg, 11.3 rpg, and nearly 2 bpg, on 57% from the field.
• Lamar Odom is averaging 11.1 ppg, 9.3 rpg on 57% shooting.
• Trevor Ariza is averaging 11 ppg, 2.6 apg, and has 27 made 3s and 25 steals in 16 games, while shooting 54% from the field and 50% from 3.
• Our 3-pt shooting has actually been very good: we have four guys shooting above 40% — Odom (11 makes, 45.8%), Ariza (27 makes, 50%), Brown (12 makes, 50%), Farmar (11 makes, 40.7%).

The Bad

• Andrew Bynum is averaging only 6.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg in 17 mpg and has more fouls (49) than field goals (41).
• Derek Fisher is averaging 6.9 ppg on a petrid 34% from the field and 23% from the 3-pt line, even though he is averaging 27 mpg.
• Sasha Vujacic is averaging only 14 mpg and scoring only 3.7 ppg on 27% shooting and 32% from the 3-pt line and has as many turnovers as assists (9).
• Our free throw shooting, outside of Kobe, is simply not good. Farmar (71%), Gasol (68%), Bynum (68%), Walton (67%), Odom (57%), Ariza (56%), Vujacic (1-2 in 218 minutes).

The Point Guards

I know my friends make fun of me for using ESPN’s PER rating because they think it’s a bunch of nerdy stats that says nothing about players. I beg to differ. A perfect example are the three Laker point guards who are mixed in the shuffle this postseason:  Fisher, Farmar, and Brown.

The quick run down on PER: Player Efficiency Rating is a measure of per-minute production standardized such that the league average is 15. In layman’s terms, all you have to know is that it factors a bunch of stats and spits out a number, and that 15.0 is the league average. So, if Ariza were to have a PER of 15.1 in the playoffs (which he actually is) then what it is saying is that he is playing like an average player. More examples: Kobe has a PER of 26.9, Gasol has a 21.3 PER, and LeBron’s PER is a blistering 40.9 (I’m sure ESPN’s John Hollinger, creator of PER, would probably tell us that is the best ever).

Fisher is truly struggling and only has a PER of 6.7; Farmar, who isn’t getting much playing time thanks to match ups and lack of confidence (honestly, can anyone else think of a better reason why Phil Jackson wouldn’t play him more?) has a PER of 14.8, and Brown has a solid PER of 13.1.

Also, the player’s assist percentage (estimate of the percentage of teammate field goals a player assisted while he was on the floor) is interesting. Farmar is tops with 24.4% (even higher then Kobe’s 22.1%), Fisher is at 12.6% (even Ariza is at 13.6%), while Brown is only at 8%.

It bothers me that Sasha, who was great for us last year and even closed out games because of his defense and shooting, and Fisher are getting so much playing time when their PER are the two lowest on the team. I understand that Farmar has his problems on defense, but at least he is knocking down shots and creating others for his teammates. I love Fish, and he will continue to get the minutes vs Chauncey Billups, but I would like to see more PT for Farmar come Finals; whether it is against Mo Williams or Rafer Alston.

Kobe Bryant

Finally, no article is complete without a complete breakdown of the games greatest closer.

vs Utah

27.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 5.6 apg, 1.2 3pg, 2.4 spg, 0.4 bpg, 3.8 tpg, 47% fg, 35% 3-pt, 90% ft, 21 fga, 3.4 3pa, 7.8 fta

vs Houston

24.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.8 apg, 1.6 3pg, 2.2 spg, 1.8 bpg, 1.4 tpg, 42% fg, 36% 3-pt, 87% ft, 21 fga, 4.4 3pa, 6.0 fta

vs Denver

36.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 4.3 apg, 2.0 3pg, 1.0 spg, 0.5 bpg, 1.3 tpg, 46% fg, 36% 3-pt, 92% ft, 25 fga, 5.5 3pa, 13.3 fta

Wins

31.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.5 apg, 1.7 3pg, 1.9 spg, 0.9 bpg, 2.6 tpg, 50% fg, 46% 3-pt, 89% ft, 22 fga, 3.7 3pa, 8.8 fta

Losses

27.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 4.3 apg, 1.3 3pg, 1.8 spg, 0.7 bpg, 1.5 tpg, 39% fg, 24% 3-pt, 89% ft, 24 fga, 5.7 3pa, 7.7 fta

Home

29.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.8 apg, 1.4 3pg, 1.8 spg, 0.8 bpg, 2.9 tpg, 49% fg, 37% 3-pt, 88% ft, 21 fga, 3.9 3pa, 8.1 fta

Away

30.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 4.0 apg, 1.7 3pg, 2.0 spg, 0.9 bpg, 1.3 tpg, 42% fg, 33% 3-pt, 87% ft, 24 fga, 5.1 3pa, 8.7 fta

Lakers Play D in 4th Quarter

It finally happened. We have been waiting for it.

A big playoff win that we can contribute to our defense, rather than our offense, and it happened when it matters most — the fourth quarter.

• The Denver Nuggets were held to just 39% shooting in Game 3.
• Chauncey Billups shot only 5-15 from the field.
• J.R. Smith shot only 4-15 from the field.
• Nuggets were 5-27 from the three point line.
• Carmelo Anthony, after scoring 14 first quarter points, was held to only three points in the second half and 4-13 overall. Trevor Ariza and Luke Walton played excellent defense keeping him out of the paint (he was 1-7 from the three point line, and he’s now only one for his last 13 from three).
• No play was bigger than Ariza’s steal with 36 seconds remaining in a two point game, which lead to Melo picking up his sixth foul and sealed the deal — again.

What a fourth quarter for the Lakers.

• Lakers outscored the Nuggets 32-18.
• We hit 9-15 shots; the Nuggets only hit 5-22.
• We hit 3-5 from the three point line; the Nuggets were 1-8.
• We may have missed 14 free throws in the game, but were 11-14 in the fourth; Denver was 7-8.
• Meanwhile, the Lakers finally went to Pau Gasol early and often: 8 pts, 4 reb, and 1 blk in the fourth, which opened things up for Ariza.
• Speaking of Ariza, he had a remarkable fourth quarter: 12 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 2 threes, 1 stl, 1 blk.
• Kobe Bryant had 13 pts, 1 ast, 1 three, on 3-5 from the field and 5-7 from the free throw line (4-4 in the final 22 seconds).

One last thing, I hate to gripe about the refs, but what a horrible job they did all game, and it’s not just the Lakers that can complain. I thought they were bad throughout, but especially in that third quarter. 1) The push in the back by Dahntay Jones on Kobe would have been a flagrant if he fell, possibly a flagrant two, only he stayed on his feet. 2) Then Nene mugged Derek Fisher for a loose ball, only to dive on Gasol’s back in a scramble that ended up in a jump ball instead of free throws. 3) That bogus four-point-play by Chauncey Billups. I mean come on now. Kobe gets hit harder in the lay up lines before the game. You know things are bad when teams combine to shoot 76 free throws. This can’t happen again.

Dessert or Disaster?

I guess there isn’t too much to be said about the first two games. Everything the Lakers knew going in to this series was exactly what they got. Denver is tough, gritty, and not going anywhere soon. In a season where the Lakers were kings, Portland and Houston were seen as the up and comers and the future of the wild west, Denver has done a bit of soul searching and created their own niche. They have what has become a rarity in this era of the NBA, they’ve got a pair of shiny family jewels…I guess the best way to say it is that they have Rocky Mountain Oysters. As for the Lakers, in the first two games, they seem to let their own pair ascend.

I’m not jumping off the wagon, don’t get me wrong… I just think it’s time to be honest. I think the Lakers need to get away from this complacency and get hungry. They need to get better with every game and so far it has been 1 step forward and then 2 steps back. Lucky for them, they have had enough talent on the team to make it by. Going into Denver for games 3 and 4, it’s time to show what the Lakers are really made of.  So I guess the question that begs to be asked is:

What is the Lakers identity?

To use an analogy, it’s like in high school where the nerdy kids find their identity and move forward in life, motivated and better prepared for the obstacles thrown at them. They may not be the most popular and they may not get the girls, but you better believe they are going somewhere (or at least plotting for revenge). The Lakers, on the other hand, are like the popular HS quarterback that has never heard no, never has to figure out who they were because everyone else wanted to be like them. Surrounded by a bunch of people that say yes, they have taken the easy road through their adolescence without soul searching. They flash a smile and it seems like they can get out of any problem (yes, even with the ladies). So what happens when HS is over? What happens when the regular season ends and the playoffs begin? Where does the popular kid go? Well, that depends on what kind of story it is.

The Lakers have become a bit of a spectacle as of late. A team that is equally revered and loathed. They have been called everything from “sexy” to “pitiful”. Even though they beat Utah 4-1, all they heard was the critics commenting on their blown leads. Moving on to the rickety Rockets series, the Lakers were pushed against the wall and for the first time, they didn’t have backup. Their popularity taken away, no friends to come to their defense, and dumped by their girlfriends; it was literally a moment when push came to shove. The Lakers showed enough character though. They stepped up to the challenge and did what they had to do to get by 4-3, only to arrive in Denver completely lost.

This is where we pick up on the story. As a viewer, if we had to guess what the ending was going to be…what would it be? Are they the popular kid that is ill prepared for the real world? Or are we the popular kid that gets redemption and finds a happy ending?

I couldn’t tell you. I wish I could, but the Lakers have worked that Hollywood magic and weaved a story that reads more like a mystery thriller than a drama. All I know is that games 3 and 4 are where we will find out who we are for better, or worse.

Game 1 a Good Sign of Things to Come

We got ourselves in trouble early on because of some horrific shooting and defensive lapses that allowed a number of uncontested layups. We missed our first six shots and only hit five of our first 14 shots and we saw ourselves fall behind 20-10.

It did not help that Carmelo Anthony was on fire. I thought Trevor Ariza played pretty good defense; Melo just brought his ‘A’ game.

We did a great job of erasing a 13 point deficit to pull ahead by one at halftime thanks to Derek Fisher’s three — his first made basket of the half.

• The first quarter for the Nuggets consisted of Melo going for 16 points on a scorching 7-8 from the field. Overall, Denver shot 64%, had 11 assists, and scored 18 points in the paint.
• Nene had 14 points and Kenyon Martin had 11.
• The Nuggets shot 53%.
• They shot 21 free throws.

What the Lakers did well in the first half:

• We grabbed nine offensive rebounds.
• Our guys hit only three fewer free throws even though the Nuggs attempted ten more.
• Kobe Bryant had 18 points on 7-17 from the field.
• Fisher and Shannon Brown held Chauncey Billups to only five first half points on 1-5 shooting.
• Our bench outscored the Nuggets bench 20-3.

In the second half, we went on an 11-2 run to go up 72-68, thanks, in part, to our 14-4 offensive rebounding edge leading to a 14-3 lead in second chance points.

Carmelo continued his onslaught, scoring 10 more points in the third quarter.

I was concerned when we then allowed the Nuggets to go on a 13-4 run of their own that gave them an 81-76 lead early in the fourth.

Their biggest lead in the fourth quarter was seven, but we pulled it out in the end thanks to Kobe’s 18 fourth quarter points, Fisher’s timely three, a big block and a charge taken by Pau Gasol and Ariza’s game winning steal — although give credit to Phil Jackson for putting the taller Lamar Odom on in-bounder Anthony Carter. There is a reason why the Zen Master is as successful as he is.

What to watch for the rest of the way

• I am concerned at the number of free throws the Nuggets got (35-24). I hate to harp on the reffing, but you may as well do it after a win, rather than after a loss. It really felt like the refs were reffing the game differently, depending on who had the ball. On one end, touch fouls were constantly called, while on the other end, the whistles were put away. A classic case of touch fouls versus no calls, and the Lakers were on the short end of the stick. I am not saying we did not foul, because the Nuggets were aggressive and driving on us, but we drove as well and the Nuggets did as much reaching, but they were allowed a little more leeway.
• It was encouraging to see we hit 11 threes by eight different players, outscoring them by nine points at the three point line.
• While Kobe got to the line 13 times and can hopefully keep putting pressure on their defense, the Nuggets were able to get our bigs in foul trouble – Lamar had three early, Pau had four, and Andrew Bynum had five fouls.
• We continued with our rebounding dominance versus this team, out-rebounding them 46-37, and 17-7 on the offensive boards. With our size and continued success, I see no reason to believe this won’t continue.
• Our bench had 27 points (20 in the first half), while they Nuggets got 16, but only two players scored off the bench, and we held J.R. Smith to eight points on 2-7 from the field.
• Kobe (40 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 threes, 1 block) and Melo (39 points on 14-20 from the field, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 threes, and 1 block) will continue to dominate on the offensive end because neither team has an answer for the other. However, I expect Kobe to continue to defend Melo in the fourth quarters of close games.
• Our three bigs (Pau, LO, Drew) outplayed Denver’s three bigs (KMart, Nene, and Chris Andersen) and I expect more from our guys the rest of the series, as long as they stay out of foul trouble. Our guys had 26 points and 28 rebounds to go with six blocks and three steals, while their guys scored 37 points, but grabbed only 18 rebounds to go with five blocks and four steals.
• I expect us to shoot better than 41% the rest of the way. We won despite allowing Denver to shoot 49%.
• The key to our success this postseason:  Offense. We are 8-0 when scoring 100+ and only 1-4 when we score under. Everything starts and ends with our offense. When we struggle to shoot, we struggle to execute, we force up bad shots, and we do not play as hard on defense and have lapses.

Panic Room

Since the beginning of the playoffs, I found myself with a funny feeling in my stomach. It was a feeling of uncertaintly, one that I had sadly grown accustomed to. Only, this was the feeling I had for the 3 years Post-Shaq…and yeah, in the finals last year. Except now, we were supposed to be ready. But, as was made crystal clear in our 2nd round matchup against the depleted Houston Rockets, we might not be there yet.

As Dr Kobe diagnoses it, it seems to be “bipolar disorder”. It makes complete sense after I looked up a definition of bipolar disorder on webMD :

The dramatic mood swings of bipolar disorder do not follow a set pattern. A person may experience the same mood state several times — for weeks, months, even years at a time — before suddenly having the opposite mood. Also, the severity of mood phases can differ from person to person. -webMD

I don’t know if Kobe’s been giving commencement addresses at med school graduations, but wherever he got his honorary degree, it sure seems he’s doing the school proud.

To sum up the Doc: we’ve got Jekyll/Hyde syndrome. It doesn’t take a genius to see that the Lakers have been the epitome of inconsistency. One day we are a team to be reckoned; full of, spirit, scoring, passion, and pride… you name it we got it. Other days, once we take off that gold or white uniform and don our purple, we turn to an ugly monster: inconsistent, apathetic, submissive and undeserving.

We are lucky to be out of the 2nd round and now everyone knows we are not as invincible as we were at the beginning of this shindig. Maybe the more important thing is: we know that we aren’t invincible. According to all the polls on ESPN and all of their “esteemed” writers we have also taken on a new role…. the underdog. That’s a  role we haven’t played in a while. But maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

So what’s it going to take to get back to the finals and actually win this time?  We know our bigs need to play big, we know our bench needs to return to their “mob” mentality, we know Kobe needs to be Kobe, and, last but not least, we need to take some of that medication that Dr. Kobe prescribed to us, you know… some lithium, multi-vitamins, or whatever it takes for us to return to greatness.  Because the way we are playing right now, a championship is about as likely an economic recovery.

Keys to a Lakers Game One Victory

So, the Lakers move on to face the white hot Denver Nuggets for the chance to compete for a championship.

It wasn’t easy. Those pesky Rockets kept fighting and gave us a run for the money.

Win in four or win in seven, it does not matter. Win by 40 or lose by two, it does not matter.

The only focus for our boys now is the Nuggets and how to slow down their offense.

I debated this series with my friends from Cali, Karim and Randall, and while one was telling me the Nuggets can slow down Kobe Bryant, the other was spouting wisdom. 

Dahntay Jones cannot guard Kobe.

In four games this year, #24 has averaged 31 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.3 apg 1.25 spg on 48% from the field and got to the line 9.8 times per game. This shows me two things:  1) Jones still cannot guard him, and 2) Kobe puts a lot of pressure on Denver’s bigs, hopefully keeping them off the floor with fouls.

First off, Denver was so scared and desperate versus Kobe last year that they put Linas Kleiza on him because no one else could come close to staying with him. Jones is Raja Bell, minus the 3-ball and maybe half the defensive prowess and know how. Raja was smart and had the refs respect (a la Bruce Bowen, circa 2003), which is why he got away with a lot and was effective. Jones is not there. He gets in foul trouble, is a liability offensively — so, again Kobe does not have to work hard on defense and can roam and wreck havoc — and does not even have much size. Whereas Shane Battier has four inches on him, but still had the lateral quickness, which allowed him to effectively get a hand in Kobe’s face.

One thing I really need to admit before we go any further is that I do not give Chauncey Billups nearly enough credit as he is clearly worlds better than I ever want to admit (and realize I am saying this now, before the series has begun).

Of course, having said that, he is not the quick point guard who breaks down our perimeter defense, gets in the paint and either scores or gets open shots for others — granted he can do all of that. I realize that he is a previous Finals MVP winner, while Aaron Brooks simply had a couple of nice games versus us, but we all know the Lakers weakness, and I am not sure if Chauncey can exploit it. However, one thing he will be able to do is run the pick and role effective.

He is a bigger guard, one that I think Derek Fisher can do okay against, and one whom I think Shannon Brown will be used a lot against. The only downside to that is that Jordan Farmar was just starting to pick his game up and give us something we need, which is dribble penetration.

As for the Nuggs bigs, I tend to side with my buddy Randall. They are a joke. Since when was Nene a tough dude? He gets in foul trouble so often, he has Camby wondering how on earth a guy can get hurt so often.

Kenyon Martin is tough as nails, I’ll give you that. I will assume that we go with Andrew Bynum in the starting line up for Game One, which means if Pau Gasol had trouble against Houston’s 6′6 center (Chuck Hayes), how will he fair versus KMart? But, he too gets in foul trouble, and is as volatile as Carmelo Anthony.

Speaking of Melo, he is the key to me. Get under his skin early, allow him to take himself out of the series (not hard to do, seeing Karim and I witnessed a couple of his meltdowns first hand at STAPLES Center vs the Clippers).

I also like Trevor Ariza on him. It is a similar match up with Ron Artest (strength and size wise) and at first glance it would appear like a mismatch seeing Melo is ten times more effective on the offensive end than Artest. However, I am willing to give Ariza the benefit of the doubt, because I think his length might disrupt what he wants to do when he puts the ball on the floor, plus he can get a hand up on shots. When Melo’s shot is on and he’s getting to the line he is one of the toughest covers in the league.

But I think between Ariza, maybe a little of Lamar Odom, plus I think even Luke Walton will have some success and don’t laugh or snear at me when I say that, he was real physical with Artest last series.

You will also like to know that Melo is only 18-8 in his career versus the Lake Show. We are 3-1 vs them this year, 7-0 last year (including a sweep in the first round), 1-3 in 06-07, 2-1 in 05-06, 2-2 in 04-05, 3-1 in 03-04. We have won 10 of the last 11 versus them.

I guess overall, I am just not that high on the Nuggets and am not that concerned. Granted, I can say this because I am a fan. I would hope after the Lakers failed to take the Rockets serious after Yao Ming went down, that we would now know better and look at the Nuggets match up as if it were the San Antonio Spurs at full strength!!!

Everyone is high on the Nuggets and Cavaliers because they dominated…but who exactly? I have been saying the Hornets were a bigger mess than the Jazz and Dirk Nowitzki’s supporting cast (Josh Howard, Jason Kidd, and Jason Terry) were disappointing. On the East Coast, LeBron beat a horrible Pistons team that had given up well before the playoffs and a Hawks team that was lucky to beat the Miami Wades and really lack the fire power to compete in the playoffs.

Hopefully, both teams are in for a rude awakening as the Lakers and Magic have already been tested, and are hopefully more prepared for what lies ahead.

I know no one likes to admit it, but the Celtics, last year, went through hell and came out of it on top after three grueling matches in the first three rounds. They had seen everything and were surprised by nothing by the teim they met the Lakers in the Finals, while our boys were not tested and made it there fairly easily.

I believe the Lakers will learn from the last series and will be a better team for it.

I expect better play from Bynum, a good series from Odom who should be a match up problem for any of their bigs, and a lot of minutes from Brown who has the body to go up against Billups and has shown some offensive firepower to go with it.

This will not be as physical a series as I have heard some “experts” try to make it out to be. You will see up and down games and while the Nuggets are much improved (or at least more interested) on defense this year, they are still an offensive oriented team first.

I expect both teams to try to create turnovers with pressure defense and get out and run.

If this is a battle of offensives, and as such, I expect the better, more effecient offense to come out on top, as long as we can execute.

My guess:  Lakers execute on offense and play enough defense to win in six (nothing like silencing a home crowd by winning a series on the opponents home floor).

Purple and Gold Nuggets (no pun intended)

• Quarter by quarter:  The Lakers outscored the Nuggets in the first quarter 27.5 to 20.5; in the second quarter, the Nuggets outscored the Lakers 29.75 to 24.75; the Lakers had the edge in the third quarter 26.5 to 22.25; and were about even, 22.25 to 22 in favor of the Nuggets. We come out of the gates real fast to start the game adn the second half, but have to be weary of the second quarter let downs. This is an important quarter because this is the battle of the second units, with our bench needing to prove they are up to the challenge of keeping up with J.R. Smith and company.
• So far, our bench has been outscored 146-108 in four games versus the Nuggets. Our low was seven points, while our high was 40. The Nuggets bench outscored ours 47-7 in the only game we lost.
• Two of the three wins we shot a worse percentage, but out rebounded them in both games, by 15 in one game and five in the other (we grabbed more rebounds in every game against them this year, and had a 200-173 edge overall, or 50-43.25 per game).
• The three point shooting has been horrendous for both teams, who are each hovering around only five made threes per game vs each other. The Lakers are shooting only 23%; the Nuggets only 25%.
• The biggest advantage we have by far is our offensive rebounding edge. We are grabbing 17 per game to their 9.5. This has allowed us to average over 10 more field goal attempts per game (88-77.8) all while shooting more free throws (34-28.8).
• We are grabbing nine steals to their 7.3, which we use to start up our fast breaks. However, they are leading in fast break points per game at 12.25 to 10.5.
• We have a slight edge in turnovers per game at 13.5 to 15.8.
• We are averaging 100.8 ppg and are holding them to only 94.8 ppg.
• Our Big Three (Pau/Andrew/Lamar) are averaging 39.8 ppg, 30.6 rpg, 7.3 apg, so as I said before, the Nuggets front line, even with Chris “Birdman” Andersen, does not scare me.
• Pau Gasol versus the Nuggets is averaging 18.3 ppg, 12.3 rpg, 3 apg (including 27/19/3 in the last game).
• Lamar Odom is averaging 10.5 ppg, 9 rpg, 2 apg.
• Andrew Bynum is averaging 11 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2.3 apg (including 16/7 in his first game back from injury).
• Trevor Ariza is averaging 5.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.5 apg on only 22% shooting.
• Derek Fisher is averaging 7.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3 apg on only 38% from the field and 31% from three.

Lakers Comments after the last practice before Game 7

Kobe

• “As players, you have to respond. If you’re to be the NBA champion, you’ve got to be able to respond to situations like this.”
• “This is the ultimate challenge. It’s single-elimination time. We’re ready to go.”
• “I don’t watch [TV], but I know who’s criticizing.”
• “We didn’t play as hard as we should have, obviously. That’s something we need to address.”
• “We’re continuing to evolve, (but) I think in the second half of (Game 6) we picked up our defensive intensity and saw kind of what we’re capable of in playing as hard as we did.”
• “First quarter is pretty important.”
• “We didn’t take care of business. But that’s water under the bridge right now, there is nothing we can do about it. Nothing, just come out and play.”

Phil

• “We count on him[Fisher]. We believe in him.”
• “The guys have to look for him[Bynum]…He’s a great target, he’s got a big body. If he asks for the ball and guys rotate off him, we’ve got to get him the basketball. He’s open in certain situations.”
• “Your psyche gets involved in this as a coach. That’s why I meditate.”
• “Wooden said it best, Be quick but don’t hurry.”
• “He[Kobe] has to work too hard to get shots off, that’s not an option that I’m going to consider.  If he can stand back and watch Pau do some work, some scoring, not have to carry the load, yeah, he can play more minutes.”
• “The guys on our team believe that we know what we have to do to get this accomplished. We came out in the third quarter (of Game 6) and got the game back in hand, but we lost it by a series of misplays that weren’t related to anything that Houston did but what we didn’t do. We were able to match the energy level in that third quarter, but we couldn’t sustain our mind set, how we’re going to play against them and what we’re going to do, so that’s what we have to do (on Sunday)”

Odom

• “I have confidence in our team. We have confidence in each other. Our effort will be better Sunday. It has to be.”
• “Home court of course is big…And right now in this series, playing well in the first quarter is even bigger. You can’t give up (17-1) leads. Not on the road. It just can’t happen.”

Farmar

• “We have to go inside to Pau and Andrew and let them play, no matter if they miss three or four. We have to get [Houston] in foul trouble.”

Gasol

• “We’ve just got to come out [today], do what we need to do.”
• “I don’t watch TV. It’s a waste of time. People need to talk about what they need to talk about..”
• “We need to make sure we control Brooks.”
• “[We need] to control both sides of the floor.”
• “Game 7, playing at home, it’s something you deserve and earned in case of getting to this position.”

The Roller Coaster Ride That is the 2009 Lakers

So, what a difference a day makes, huh?

Down 29 Sunday in Houston; two nights later in LA, win by 40.

Everything seemed to go right last night, from the get go.

We got up by 20+ point a number of games versus Utah. The difference, when I had the thought, “Okay good, now we need to keep it going,” the guys actually listened.

We exploded to a 25 point halftime lead, won the third quarter by 15 points, and saw our “scrubs” keep it going in the fourth to give us a 40 point victory.

Now, understand that I am a Lakers fan currently living in Orlando. I am still trying to adjust to being a sports fan on the east coast.

(My Uncle from Cali sent me an email the other day saying he was in the Carolinas last week for Games 1 and 2. He said halftime at midnight and no box scores the next day…what’s up with that? I told him welcome to my world. One night, I’m up until 2am rooting on my team. Five hours later I am waking up for work. On non-game nights, I still stay up late writing articles. And you know what, I wouldn’t have it any other way!)

Anyway, being in Orlando, of course the talk of the town was about the giant meltdown last night in BeanTown. For anyone that cares, I am also an official Celtics Hater, so obviously I was rooting for the boys in blue to pull off the upset. And with about five minutes left, it looked they had the game locked up.

Then the enormous collapse. The Lakers know all about blowing big leads versus the Celtics, but last night was truly horrific. In the final 5:39, the Magic had six jump shots and two turnovers, that resulted in no field goals and only three made free throws.

The second time this postseason the Magic have blown a 14 point fourth quarter lead (once in round one vs Phili).

It made me wonder, is it better to get blown away, or blow a big fourth quarter lead?

The Lakers were down by 29 in Game 4 after coming out sluggish in the first quarter. The 99-87 score was not indicative of the dominance of the Rockets in the first three quarters.

The question wasn’t could we beat the Rockets, rather, did we want to.

The guys afterwards were ripped and questioned:  Did they have the heart, the drive, the will, the toughness to win the big one?

Meanwhile, the Magic were up by 10, 85-75, with about five minutes remaining in Boston, with the chance to go up three games to two heading back home. Then, they got outscored 17-3.

There were a dozen articles in the local paper and every one revolved around one question:  Could the Magic even beat the Celtics, or were the defending champs too resilient?

It made me wonder, would I rather my team’s heart questioned, or question whether my team was even good enough to win?

I think my answer is the former.

As much as I hate to see the Lakers put up a pathetic effort like they did in Game 4 on Sunday night, a fourth quarter collapse brings up the kind of troubling questions you don’t want to ask about your team.

My hope for the future is that our guys enjoyed the sweet taste of a big 40 point victory enough to want to keep the good times rolling. Why win a game by 10 points when you can win by 20? How about 30? Shoot, now that we know we can win by 40, I hope we strive for that kind of dominance every night.

Fortunately, I know the Lakers can win on the road — that is why I called this series to finish in 6 games, in Houston — however, if I know the Lakers (and their love for the dramatic), and I can only imagine how motivated the Rockets will be (nothing to lose, ultimate underdog, chance to prove they are better than last night, backs against the wall in a do-or-die situation), I know tomorrow nights game will be anything but a blow out.

It should be close all throughout, with our boys pulling out an exciting fourth quarter victory and a second round match up with the white hot Nuggets.

I know a wins a win, but nothing beats a 40 point victory, unless it’s followed up a couple of nights later by any kind of victory on the road to close a team out.

Laker Pride!