Smack / May 3, 2007 / 1:41 am

Show you how to do this, son

By Dime Magazine

Anyone rooting for the underdog should hope that the Golden State Warriors watched the Spurs/Nuggets game last night. Message for Baron, Stephen, J-Rich and Nellie: That’s how you close out a game and a series. The Spurs stuck to their style the entire time, even when Denver had the lead or was threatening; they took smart shots and they rode the hot hand … In this case, that hot hand belonged to Michael Finley. The man was on another planet: eight threes, one miss, 26 points. Following the Robert Horry e-mail during Game 4, Austin’s obligatory “The Spurs are kicking ass” e-mail read like this last night: “Mike Finley. BONG-BONG-BONG-BONG…(goes unconscious)…BONG-BONG-BONG-BONG” … As usual, Tim Duncan had it working when it mattered most; he finished with 23 points, 12 boards and 5 dimes, fouling out Nene and playing some superb D. On one play TD switched off on Allen Iverson and kept A.I. in front of his until the help came … Marcus Camby did have a sick defensive stat line with 19 boards and 5 blocks. He only scored 4 points, but that’s not his job. Carmelo, meanwhile, was invisible in the fourth quarter. He and Iverson combined to shoot 14-for-42 from the floor and scored 21 points apiece … George Karl stuck to his promise to bury J.R. Smith on the bench, so much so that Anthony Carter was getting burn. “He must really hate DerMarr Johnson,” Christian noted … When Carmelo checked out in the fourth quarter, color commentator Mike Fratello said the Spurs crowd was giving him an ovation for playing well throughout the series. Or maybe they recognized that Denver was conceding the game at that point. As if Matt Bonner being on the court wasn’t indication enough … Multiple times, Suns/Lakers looked over, especially midway through the fourth when Phoenix was knocking on a 20-piecing and Shawn Marion caught back-to-back oops from Steve Nash that had Phil Jackson’s eyes glazing over. But then Kobe (34 pts, 1 ast, 6 turnovers) woke up from a lackadaisical fourth quarter (narrowly avoiding 10,000,000 “Kobe disappeared just like last year” stories from the press) to hit a few treys and keep L.A. in the mix. Phoenix just had too many weapons in the end, though, and closed it out. Next up: San Antonio … Marion put up 26 points and 10 boards, Amare had 27 and 16, and Nash went for 17 and 10 dimes (with 7 turnovers). Lamar Odom had 33 points for L.A. … What was up with Jordan Farmar giving Phil some lip heading into a timeout? Take a seat and shut your trap, kid. All you need to know is that your job is to pass to #24 … Not quite the same effect when Ronny Turiaf throws down a monster dunk, swings on the rim a little, flexes, then starts fixing his hair … When it was all but over, Steve Kerr kept saying the Lakers need to take a chance in the offseason on a big-name player who’s “maybe overpaid” and “has been hurt.” He said this more than once, but never gave a name. Was he talking about Grant Hill? Jermaine O’Neal? Pau Gasol? (EDIT: it was actually Doug Collins, not Kerr. Our bad.) … In case you want a little better feel for who you’re working with here, check out Who’s In Our Five? straight from the Dime headquarters … One name who popped up a few times on those lists is Brandon Roy, who almost swept the Rookie of the Year voting yesterday. Andrea Bargnani was the only other guy to get a first-place vote. Rudy Gay finished third, followed by Adam Morrison, Randy Foye and LaMarcus Aldridge … We’re out like ‘Melo, A.I. and Kobe …

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11 Responses to “Show you how to do this, son”

  1. May 3rd, 2007 at 4:36 am

    kowtz says:

    J.O. or PAU for LAMAR? hmmm….

    I seriously doubt Hill, as LA is overloaded with SF’s…

    I also doubt Indiana is willing to part with JO for LAMAR… can you imagine Pacer’s front line of Mike D., Lamar O., and Troy M. …

    Also doubt griz would take that, as they would surely give out PAU for a post player… unless they plan to fill LAMAR on the gap BAttier left…

    I’m out like a Laker Fan (and I am)

  2. May 3rd, 2007 at 8:49 am

    jay says:

    lakers need KG…period!!! do not care how they get him or who they give up but that is a priority numero uno!!!

  3. May 3rd, 2007 at 9:23 am

    Bron says:

    and to think, the lakers could of had J-Kidd for lol bynum lmao another savvy $$$ choice by the lakers. The other day Kobe was asked if he misses playing with shaq (ya kno, since hes won a whole 4 playoff games since shaq left and shaq already won another championship makin kobe seem like that beyounce song) and ya kno what kobes answer was? “Do I miss playing with him? I wouldn’t say I miss playing with him but I think that sometimes I get a little nostalgic and think about the “team” we had”
    then it goes on about how he misses all the veterans. So do you consider that a cop out answer or could he really just care less about losing? I kno if i went from a dynasty team to a “I have to score 80 just to stay with with 5 points of them” team, I’d miss my big man.

  4. May 3rd, 2007 at 9:36 am

    Buck says:

    That would be too damn scary. Kobe and KG on the same team!! Seeing as how my Mavs are in da Western Conference, I can only pray that never happens.

  5. May 3rd, 2007 at 10:35 am

    dagwaller says:

    As much as anyone would want KG, I don’t see them getting him without giving up a ton. JO’s salary is huge, plus they’d have to give up their post players to get him. I suppose Pau would be a good fit, but he’d command a lot in a trade, too. Seems to me that a free agent would be best.

    Rashard Lewis, Grant Hill, and Vince Carter all kind of play the same position as Kobe. They all do the same things with the ball that he does. If the Lakers were going to spend top dollar on a free agent, you’d think that they would pick someone a little better suited for their team. Mo Williams would be good, just because he’s a good ball-handler (although not as good of a passer as Chauncey) and a good shooter, but still second tier compared to Billups.

    I think that the Lakers should go after Chauncey. He fits in with the triangle pretty well (passes AND is a good shooter, but doesn’t NEED the ball), plus he plays defense. Plus, he wouldn’t be too overpriced, since he’s getting up there in age.

  6. May 3rd, 2007 at 10:47 am

    independent j says:

    i think that was doug collins compulsively repeating the “need to get an overpaid or previously injured star” line. not steve kerr. i say that because the 1) the announcer repeated this without any new information…a true collins staple (finishing quarters is the best!), and 2) it was an excellent point - not that steve kerr doesn’t make excellent points, instead it is that dougie never does and thus i was surprised by the salience of this musing.

    Sad to see my lakers out in the first round…keeping the faith but anxious what’s next. trade everyone and everything but bynum and bryant to get KG…probably still not possible although McHale’s done worse.

  7. May 3rd, 2007 at 11:54 am

    Mike says:

    I believe that Kobe is the best player on the planet.
    No one else can do what he can do when he’s on.
    But I gotta admit that he lost the game for the Lakers yesterday.
    I mean if he made at least one-third of the shots he took during mid-third to mid-fourth, I’d say the Lakers could have pulled it out.
    I can’t remember MJ having an off-shooting night on an elimination game. Ever.

  8. May 3rd, 2007 at 12:15 pm

    dank says:

    guys, it was Doug Collins at last night’s game along with Kevin Harlan. Not Steve Kerr.

    well, yeap the suffering is finally over for me as a Lakers fan, but as much as everyone thinks this team needs a change, or as Doug Collins said “the Lakers need to take a chance in the offseason on a big-name player who’s “maybe overpaid” and “has been hurt.” ” (suggesting Gasol or Lewis or JO) i think the Lakers are fine the way they are. its amazing that they were able to beat phoenix for one game. Lamar with his torn labrum, and Kwame with his 2 bad ankles and bad back, Kobe with a stiff back (which might be a literary injury, for his carrying of the team after their downhill finish). the team went 26 W’s and 13 L’s before the injuries. Luke Walton was Most Improved til he went down. then the injuries not only affected those players and their contributions to the team, but everyone else as well. Smush, Brian Cook, Vujacic, Evans (who was off to a great start). all those guys did not have the confidence needed to win a game, they just sat around waiting for Kobe to take charge, he did like 6 or 7 games, but the best player in the world can only do so much, then he hits a limit too. I think the lakers should trade away smush, cook and radmanovic, cus all of them had problems with Phil. I think they need to teach Bynum to work harder and be more disciplined. the kid is 5 months older than me, and yet it seems he has no respect for anybody on that team. he’s stubborn as shit. he should feel lucky he has the privilege to play with Lamar, Kobe and under Phil’s coaching as well as being trained by the great Kareem. the other problem with the lakers was on the defensive end. no stops at all. a good defensive PG, or maybe Farmar maturing into that role next year could help greatly. get rid of the cancers on the team, and start fresh with everyone else.

    oh yea, and the suns aren’t winning shit. good defense kills them. see game 3 of this series.

  9. May 3rd, 2007 at 1:12 pm

    dagwaller says:

    Good points, dank. Since my post, I read that they don’t have a ton of cap space, either, so I think that the Lakers are kind of screwed, but when everyone was healthy, they were a top 6 in the NBA team this year. I definitely think that they need another player, though, but they’re closer to needing better role players vs. needing more stars than a lot of people give them credit for.

    Maybe the answer’s in the draft? Who do you Lakers-people see them drafting?

  10. May 3rd, 2007 at 8:27 pm

    Bron says:

    well thanks to the triangle, very few guys have a high enough basketball IQ to handle it. That leaves most 4 year guys (alando tucker, acie law) or smart underclassmen (conley, green)…

  11. May 4th, 2007 at 11:27 pm

    K-Dizzle says:

    I ain’t gonna lie, dagwaller. As a Lakers fan for over 20 years, it’s never looked this dark…even with Kobe. Kobe now knows how kevin Garnett feels. Garnett and Marbury shoulda been the next Stockton to Malone, but Stephon wanted to be the man sooooo. Anyways, back to reality. Lakers have only the mid level exception, which is about 5 mill and the draft pick is gonna be in the late teens only cuz we limped so badly into the playoffs. We shoulda pulled a boston/ philly and thrown some games. Damn! Even phoenix gets atlanta’s pick if it’s outta the top 3. That’s nasty. Imagine who phoenix can get in the top ten. I feel sick. Back to my team, it hurts to even say that, we need to draft a good defensive point guard, which doesn’t exist comin outta college…so that leaves us having to go for size. Damn! They might have to package the pick with Radmanovic, Odom, or Bynum and some cap room for a stud. Why the he-ll we even sign Radmanovic anyways when we already got Brian Cook. they the exact same player. nobody comin out of college where the Lakers pick can help us and the dudes we can get we already have those types. The only one who can help us now………JERRY WEST

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