Basketball/NBA

[Abaddon]

Kobe misses 4th straight game, easy win without him. Big games from Shannon, Lamar & Andrew.

[IrvDizzle]

Lakers showing their depth. I wonder how Kobe will play coming back. I hope this is a 2001 moment, where Kobe sat on the bench and watched LA beat SA (back when SA was still a title threat), came back and assimilated himself in to the lineup so well they ended off the season on a 10 game win streak and then rolled off 12 straight in the playoffs en route to 15-1 and their second title.

[diegomessi]

what do the standings in the NBA look like? and when do playoffs start (i try and watch the playoffs of every american sport)

[IrvDizzle]

Antwan Jamison to the Cavs. Big deal for the Cavs, puts them distinctly above everyone in the East. but every day Kobe rests, he gets better for the playoffs. It's still LA's title to lose.

DM, the standings are as such

[diegomessi]

thanks


antwoin jamison.... did he play for unc?

[yusuf]

wow and the rockets have shipped T mac to the kings for kevin martin, stupid deal for the kings but i guess they did not believe martin will reach the potential he showed a couple years ago. this now leaves the heat as the only real competitor for amare.

[IrvDizzle]

some great deals today. huuuuuuuuge pickup for the Rockets. Knicks and Bulls clear a lot of cap space. makes the offseason even more interesting.

right now it's Melo v LeBron and after that its Boston v LA. I'm getting five hours of sleep tonight.

[IrvDizzle]

Melo and LeBron having an epic match. too bad Chauncey couldn't PASS THE FREAKING BALL to Melo. OT up next. then Boston v LA after. I would be STOKED if LA beats Boston w/o Kobe.

[Abaddon]

Derek Fisher on defense is a disgrace to civilization.

[Abaddon]

Fisher single-handedly lost us this game, when he checked back in at the 3:00 mark in the 4th I knew it was over. Sorry Fish, you got a lot of merits but you're done. Badly.

Aside from D-Fish, once again had to watch Pau running from the ball in crunch time. Pussy.

[IrvDizzle]

stayed up until 1.30 to watch that game ... grrrrrrrrrrrr ... I hate the fact that LA tried to package Vujacic with their expiring contract deal for Hinrich.

[Abaddon]

Nice debut for Jamison, 0-for-12 in a bad loss to the Bobcats

Irv, I know you got a LOT of respect for Fish and all, but I wanna hear it from you... he's done right? Right now he is, literally, the biggest liability on defense in the entire league. He's worse than Nash.

[Abaddon]

I sense this is a difficult subject for you Irv

[diegomessi]

can i ask a question?

where will lebronJames be next season?

[IrvDizzle]

I thought long and hard about this all day yesterday. and it boils down to, what do we need Fish for?

First, we need him to play defense. Against guards like CP3, Chauncey, Deron, Westbrook, Mo Williams, Ray Allen, Jameer Nelson, Tony Parker, and Brandon Roy Fish needs to play strong defense so that Kobe can be roamer and conserve energy for the fourth Q. Can he do that? He can certainly defend against those guards in the low post, but really, those guards are pick'n'roll/slashing experts. Everyone knows that you play the high pick'n'roll screen against the Lakers because we've always had problems defending it. So in terms of defending, he cannot offer what we need. Now, can Shannon Brown or Jordan Farmar do better? Brown certainly has quickness, but I see them as more pickpockets or passing lane raiders ... rather than one on one defenders. I've seen Shannon fight through screens and try harass the guard in the pick n roll, much like Fish does. I think Fish remains the best option,defensively, but that doesn't say much.

Second, offense. but that's broken in to two pieces. During the reg season we need consistency. Someone to take pressure off of Pau and Kobe in the triangle. Shannon Brown has done a fantastic job doing that recently. Jordan Farmar not so much. The second part is the playoffs. He has hit soooooo many big shots during his career and this the aspect that would make me overlook all of Fish's shortcomings. With Fish, that big shot will more often than not go in no matter how poorly he is playing. This is one reason why Kobe trusts him more than any other player in the league. This is the reason why, in the fourth Q in the playoffs, Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar remain on the bench. This is the point that it all comes down to. Defense and consistent offensive performance aside, can Fish still hit the game winning shot? I think the answer for that is yes, and what Phil will do is ride Fish until the end of this season. Farmar, Morrison, and Fish come off the books at the end of the year, and I'm sure LA can make an offer to a free agent PG who can play defense. Vujacic also becomes an expiring contract.

So for this year, in terms of consistency and defense, I think Fish was done two/three years ago. But because he is a legitimate late game threat, Fish had to stay this year. Will he be back next year? I think LA will offer him the vet minimum, but I don't think he'll get anything close to $5m a year. Guys like Ridnour, Felton, and Randy Foye would be a great addition to Shannon Brown in the backcourt. I think Fish will hit some key late-game shots that will have me jumping up and down, but that's what Fish has come down to, he's the guard version of Big Shot Rob. Rob did nothing all season, but come playoff time he was hitting huge shots. That's what Fish has become. Fish couldn't be traded this season, despite his expiring contract (along with Morrison, and Farmar) would have had Chicago giving us Hinrich, Tyrus Thomas and willingly taking Vujacic. It's such a complicated situation, and that's even without discussing his relationship with Kobe.