LA Lakers Jan 31 7:30 PM

tv: tv20 - note this is not on TNT.

Game Preview from ESPN


After snapping their longest losing streak of the season in their last game, the Los Angeles Lakers (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=lal) hope to end a similarly frustrating stretch in Detroit.
The short-handed Lakers open a nine-game road trip Thursday, trying to avoid a ninth consecutive road loss to the Central Division-leading Pistons.

Los Angeles (28-15) will travel a total of 8,173 miles on this road swing, which spans 14 days and will take the team into the All-Star break.

"You go on the road, it's going to be a hostile environment, the home teams inevitably are going to go on runs," Kobe Bryant (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3118) told the Lakers' official Web site. "The important thing for us is to keep our poise and just execute."

The trip begins in a city where the Lakers have not won since Jan. 8, 2002, having lost eight in a row at Detroit by an average of 15.8 points. That skid includes three defeats in the 2004 NBA finals.

Bryant has struggled against the Pistons (32-13), averaging 21.4 points in 20 regular-season games against them -- his lowest average versus any opponent. He's been held below 20 points in three straight games against Detroit, and limited to an average of 20.3 points in 12 career games -- including playoffs -- at The Palace of Auburn Hills

Read more.. ESPN - Los Angeles vs. Detroit Preview, January 31, 2008 (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=280131008)

Thanks Max!

Thanks Max!

Trying out something new.

I didn't realize Kobe had done so badly (if 20 PPG is bad) against the Pistons. Rip will be all in pride of PA mode.

:lalala:

Even though they are short handed, Phil has been able to get the best out of his bench and you never know when Farmar, Sasha, or Turiaf will really get off because they have been thrown into these situations before and can keep the Lakers competitive until Kobe decides its time to take over. Odom is injured too, but will probably play. He is good in the paint, but tends to get passive like Tay and defers to Kobe when he is in.

This is a game that we can get outhustled in if Flip leaves the starters in to long especially in the third, so we need to match youth vs youth in some instances, and not let the game get away from us like we did here in LA in November.

Unfortunately for us here in SoCal I believe they will blaclkout NBA league pass and we will get the game on the local LA TV feed on an hour delay:noidea::angrysoapbox:

Wow Dre, that would suck if they delay it.

I'm looking forward to this game. Lakers are still good competition. Also, I like to watch the closeups of PJ to see if he has been visiting MaryJane before the games like I suspected him of doing in the 03/04 Finals. ;)

Question is: is it game "worthy" for Sheed?

Question is: is it game "worthy" for Sheed?

I think so. This is the kind of game he likes. All the starters should come out of the gate strong after getting called out in the media and by the coach for their 1st quarter play in the last game.

Question is can the bench sustain the lead in the 2nd and later part of the 3rd quarter.

Chat is open!!!

http://www.pistonsforum.com/misc.php?do=flashchat

Keep your eyes on Javaris Crittenton. Most likely the Lakers will match him up against Stuckey.

The Lakers picked him behind our Stuckey pick.

So we can get an idea of what Joe passed on.

Crittenton is only 20.

:hoops:

Can't get the game yet, but the boxscore shows that the Pistons did not get to the FT line in the first qtr, but Kobe lived there and was 7-7??? WTF !! Who's reffing this one Steve Javie??

We're getting ripped off. 22 free throws to 2? The calls were very bad. It wasn't Laker agressiveness, it was our defensive agressiveness. Jack Niess made it personal.

inb4"everyonewhowantstaytobetradedisamoron"

LOL as soon as Kwame got the ball he was like WTF and threw it to the first guy he saw

Trade illmatic to the Bobcats forum! :D

LA DRE, watch out for game spoilers!

Very proud of Flip for having the guts to put in the Zoo Crew when all hope looked lost against the Lakers and the refs.

yep only tay played extended minutes, but he had to be there.

Very proud of Flip for having the guts to put in the Zoo Crew when all hope looked lost against the Lakers and the refs.

Absolutely. Shocked the hell outta me, but that was a good call. Good job, Flip.

Nice game by AJ.

9 rebounds in 13 minutes and a nice job shot in the lane. I think he might be on his way. He needs to get his fouls down so he can get more minutes.

:hoops:

That game was SWEET

except for the calls.

but SWEET.

Afflalo? Yes please! Stuckey? HELL YES. Amir? Oh you'd better believe it.

Good job by Flip. It's no coincidence that when he goes with what is working, including the bench, good things happen. I am surprised Tay's number was not called on the last play, but he got the ball back and capitalized anyways.

Now that's a win! No more excuses, no more reluctant mediocrity and no more refs. Break out the defibrillator, they've got a rotation! Great job Flip.

Why did it seem like DET played with a football? They couldn't even catch the thing.

This is the first time I saw the Stuckey I was reading about in the pre-season. AA can ball. Hayes helped.

Amir just needs the little things. Protect the ball after rebounds, hold his defensive position, move his feet and not his hands. I am impressed they let him handle the ball/feed the post on O. It's only going to help him.

The refs were atrocious. Flip has such a meek demeanor. I wish he could lay into the refs more forcefully/support his players. I would have punted the ball into the stands after the 3rd T if I were he. Thankfully though, Kobe was able to vent his frustrations whenever he felt the need. Perhaps you find getting a foul called in your favor every time you move annoying?

I didn't see the game, have it on DVR though.

When i saw the score, i was expecting 40+ minutes for all the starter (after i got over the shock we actually won a close game).

And i was pleasantly surprised. These are the wins that are great b/c we played a ROTATION.

:)

I'm going to watch it later, although that 3rd quarter looked painful.

Amir? Oh you'd better believe it.

You ain't seen nothing yet.

:hoops:

Wow, thats 4 games in a row with Flip coaching very well, getting our bench ready for the playoffs. And 4 wins in a row. So far, playing the youth has not lost us a game.
The best part? Tight game to start the 4th, and our whole bench is in, save Afflalo, who had already played most of the 3rd quarter. Now, I don't know if this was planned, or if Rip, due to a bruised leg suffered in the first half, had to come out of the game there. Either way, it was great, four subs with Rip in there to help with some of the scoring.

Our bench stayed in until about 5 minutes left, and the starters managed to finish the deal. A triple by Tay with 4 seconds left put us up one. An Odom miss after we denied the ultra hot shooting Kobe the ball did the rest.

I see some complaints about the bench not being played even more, but hey, they played a whole lot. A whole lot in the 2nd, and a whole lot in the 4th. And the subbing started early, in both halves. I love this rotation.

Tay ended up with 22 points. A lot of that was going in to the rack. Rip hit a lot of shots, especially early where he could not miss at all. Billups and Sheed did some scoring. Dyess got very little, but he did manage to put in a couple of shots off rebounds.

The starters played good D to start this one, but they were settling for outside shots as LA got off to a quick, but short lived lead. Flip called a timeout, and bam, a 10-0 run with us going inside more. Nice adjustment, but the Pistons have got to learn that just because CB takes a 3, which is part of his game, it does not mean everyone else has to play follow the leader.

Stuckey scored a very spectacular 10 points. Did he have a miss? A turn even? All I can remember is good defensive plays, and the WOW. A pull up made in the lane. A drive in and dunk. A drive in from the right for a made contested layup. A drive in the middle finishing with a nifty double clutcher. A drive from the left resulting in two made free throws.

Afflalo had a pair of 3's, and two made free throws, the first two for the Pistons tonight, amongst his 10 points. He Also made some nice passes on fast breaks.

Amir made one post up bucket, but it was just against Radmanovic. No big deal. A fast break dunk off a pass from Afflalo. Nine rebounds last they mentioned. He was in during quite a run we had in the 2nd, where we went up 17 points. What happened to that lead. I don't know for sure, but I can tell you there were a ton of whistles all the sudden, taking a free flowing game down to a total grinding halt.

Maxiell was part of the literal explosion of energy from the bench, as was Hayes. But neither could hit a shot. (Hayes did hit one, and Maxiell did make both free throws the one time.)
In case anyone wonders why Sheed did not make hay inside tonight, like in Indiana: Kwame Brown does not play for Indiana.

Afflalo guarded Kobe a lot in this one. A learning experience for sure. Kobe did score on him. But hey, Kobe lit up Prince something fierce in the 4th quarter, in crunch time. Kobe was on fire, and the refs were in mother hen mode. Good win considering all that.

If anyone can imagine just how delighted I am watching both Afflalo and Stuckey (yeah, especially Stuckey) light up the score board tonight, and watching JMAX and Amir come in as a tandem to start the 4th and provide the energy they did, well, I hope you join me in realizing this: The Pistons will win it all this season, staying on the path they are on right now. Now just imagine how happy we are all going to be when that happens.

One more thing, if memory serves, we were down a few points when the the bench came in in the 2nd half, and they walked off with us up a point. I will double check that next time I watch.

GO PISTONS!!!!!

:cool:hey, let's trade Tay while he's worth something, eh?:pound:

Let me get this out of the way - this ref crew sucked. Particularly old man Jack Nies.

Now, on to the good stuff. This was a good, bordering on great gut check game.

Tayshaun - he's got his share of faults, but he's been pretty clutch as of late. His D was decent, but his offense came together at the right time these last two games. He was terrific at the end game tonight.

Chauncey - He was the PG tonight. He didn't really try to take over as much, but this was actually a fairly efficient game for him.

Rip - He got the wrong end of the foul calls a lot, and he was cooking early. That Odom knee knocked him off his axis a little bit though. His D on Kobe was good.

Sheed/Dice - Not much, really. I really didn't feel that Rasheed was into the game all that much, but he did get a jumper with about 4 minutes left that helped get us the W. His D will always be constant, however. Dice grabbed a couple key rebounds and putbacks as well.

Stuckey - He's out of the struggle tunnel now. He's rounding into form, and CB got a lot of rest as a result. Good game by the rook.

Affllalo - Really took it to Kobe. He's looking a lot more confident out there. He's hitting his shots as well, including 3's. That, and his D will get him more time as the season goes on. Good game.

Amir - Energy. He's got a lot of it. He's rounding into form very nicely, and as long as he gets PT, he will continue to improve. He's already capable of energizing his teammates, and his hustle/rebounding have been big. If he can cut down on the fouls, he'll get a lot more PT. I think Flip would've kept him in 'til halftime if he hadn't picked up his 2nd foul.

Maxiell - Better game than he's had the last few. Good hustle.

Jarvis - Decent game. He only got 11 minutes, so there isn't much of a sample size.

Good win. One of the best this season, definitely. Except for maybe a bit of lethargic play, I don't have a thing to complain about. That has something to do with the fact that we won in spite of the refs, but slso because I loved that Flip pulled his starters in favor of the bench in the fourth against a good Lakers team. That was a big part of us getting the win. Good job Flip.

Anyone notice how badly Sheed was running when he came back in the game the last time? He was stiff as hell.

I would have liked to have seen CB come in with about 6 to go in the 4th to play the 2 with Rip @ 3 and Stuckey the 1.

If anyone can imagine just how delighted I am watching both Afflalo and Stuckey (yeah, especially Stuckey) light up the score board tonight, and watching JMAX and Amir come in as a tandem to start the 4th and provide the energy they did, well, I hope you join me in realizing this: The Pistons will win it all this season, staying on the path they are on right now. Now just imagine how happy we are all going to be when that happens.



A lot of things will have click at the right time for it to happen, but I agree with you that this current roster may have enough talent to win the 2008 NBA Championship.

Last two games, our starters have averaged about 32 minutes per game, in tight games. This is the way its suppose to be.

A lot of things will have click at the right time for it to happen, but I agree with you that this current roster may have enough talent to win the 2008 NBA Championship.

I am not sure how they would go about doing it, but I think they need a PG to help out when teams pressure them. I think that is probably their biggest weakness.

A lot of things will have click at the right time for it to happen, but I agree with you that this current roster may have enough talent to win the 2008 NBA Championship.

for 'ship, everyone has to play better than usually.

for 'ship, everyone has to play better than usually.

I think everyone just needs to play to their capability. That hasn't happened the last 2 years in the ECF.

I think everyone just needs to play to their capability. That hasn't happened the last 2 years in the ECF.

Agreed. I was sad but not angry when they lost in finals to Spurs, cuz they still had given everything they had.

Game summary

NBA - Los Angeles Lakers/Detroit Pistons Recap Thursday January 31, 2008 - Yahoo! Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylt=Au8u12HZ6mi3MsO7u.EeVcY5nYcB?gid=200801 3108)

I can believe nobody mentioned Kobe's triple-double.

39 points

10 rebounds

11 turnovers


HA HA.

You guys are so funny. If we win by 15, people are miserable. When we're down by 2 with 16.5 seconds to go, regardless of the youngins playing, people are so depressed.

A Tay 3 pointer later, and it's ecstasy.

I don't think I have ever seen this much jubilation over a one point regular season win over a team that arguably is not better than the Pistons, on our homecourt no less.

Anyway, I'm happy for everyone that is happy. Gutty win, and very inspired play from Afflalo, Stuckey, Tay, CB and Rip.

Just gotta keep it all in perspective. Nothing is going to come easy.

We got 20 pts from our backup backcourt. :) I can't wait until those 2 develop a great chemistry together. Only saw the 2nd half but man it was a very good game. Nice to see Tay step up on a night where the All-Stars we're just OK. When Tay plays like he did we're a very difficult team to beat. Sometimes he just can't accept the "Glue" guy role. %%%%%%%% was left at home in the closet tonight.

You guys are so funny. If we win by 15, people are miserable. When we're down by 2 with 16.5 seconds to go, regardless of the youngins playing, people are so depressed.

A Tay 3 pointer later, and it's ecstasy.

I don't think I have ever seen this much jubilation over a one point regular season win over a team that arguably is not better than the Pistons, on our homecourt no less.

Anyway, I'm happy for everyone that is happy. Gutty win, and very inspired play from Afflalo, Stuckey, Tay, CB and Rip.

Just gotta keep it all in perspective. Nothing is going to come easy.

I'm calling described attitude as "mini-bandwagon jumping". And constant trade demans from fans are normal: isn't logical to trade away worthless players and also trade away good players, cuz they still have some trade value?

Anyway, I'm happy for everyone that is happy.
And I'm happy that you're happy for everyone that is happy.:grouphug:

you always ask for optimistic spirit. the guys are giving it. :)You guys are so funny. If we win by 15, people are miserable. When we're down by 2 with 16.5 seconds to go, regardless of the youngins playing, people are so depressed.

A Tay 3 pointer later, and it's ecstasy.

I don't think I have ever seen this much jubilation over a one point regular season win over a team that arguably is not better than the Pistons, on our homecourt no less.

Anyway, I'm happy for everyone that is happy. Gutty win, and very inspired play from Afflalo, Stuckey, Tay, CB and Rip.

Just gotta keep it all in perspective. Nothing is going to come easy.

I'm a little bummed out because I had a Tivo malfunction and missed the entire 2nd half... but did manage to catch the last minute. Sounds like I missed some good bball.

I was pretty frustrated with the refs and needed a timeout anyway. Oh well. So I will only see 81.5 games this year.

Sorry, yet another star went off on us and our coaching staff was helpless. Is this going to be the story again in the playoffs?

Our half court offense was lethargic. They got up into us and we couldn't execute. Most of our points/lead came off of turnovers early on.

How bad was that last Sheed 3 that followed a series of poor offensive sets down the stretch? Meanwhile, Kobe was having his way on the other side. Tay's rebound and shot were lucky outs. Is this the formula to go all the way...??

This Laker team without Bynum is not great defensively.

We really seem to lack a big body down low expecially for a 7 game series.

Trade illmatic to the Bobcats forum! :D

LA DRE, watch out for game spoilers!

Thanks for the alert microscoe...I ignored the site and chat until I had watched the game in it's entirety.... it was a nail biter to say the least and for while it apppeared that I would I have to face a couple of local Laker fans (like my mother in law) with my tail between my legs :)

Good win and lot of positive comments already posted so I will state obvious first. What if we had actually lost this game? :confused: Believe me we were heading that way as once again we let a team hang around that was supposedly limping :crutch:across country into the palace to almost beat our completely healthy team (save Rip). Tay's three ball avoided an almost certain defeat and left the local Laker announcers speechless. :tape2:

That 17 point lead disappeared when Sheed missed a 3 ball from the left and the Lakers rolled off a 15-5 run to close out the qtr and trail only by 5 at the half. All of the points off TO went for not as the Pistons slowed it down at the end and continued their funky play with the starters into the third qtr and allowed the Lakers to take the lead and quiet the Piston faithful.


THANK GOODNESS for our bench in the second half. (and beginning of the 2nd qtr). We would have lost this game if Flip had chose to go with Max and Hayes only. Excellent idea by Flip to leave Stuckey in there for extended minutes in the 4th, because CB was actually holding the ball to long in that 3rd. I loved Sheeds aggressive defense in the second Qtr, but he played with reckless abandon tossing up to many 3 balls in the second half.

I know our starters are our bread and butter, but we could have lost this game on the three techs on CB, Rip and Dice. The refs were bad though. They must have thought this was the TNT televised game . Lakers with 22 FTA in the first half to the Pistons 2?? :confused: It was almost even in the second half, but the Pistons could have exploited it more if they gone to the hoop in that third as they got in the bonus with 8 mins left and didn't capitalize on it.

Like I said before the game, we would need the our youth to win this game, because their guys would try to outhustled our "old me" and Kobe and his band of meery men almost did. :nod:

Just wanted give the obligatory negative spend that would been spewed out if we had loss this one...I can sleep ezy tonight...thanks Tay....ok you too Flip....:)

^

To expand on this a little

MICHAEL ROSENBERG: Prince is the hero, but he isn't a defensive stopper (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080131/SPORTS03/80131086/1051)

Harsh critique of Tay in the paper. I haven't watched the game yet. Watching SAS/PHO right now, but it is unnerving how one player almost beat us again.

Sorry, yet another star went off on us and our coaching staff was helpless. Is this going to be the story again in the playoffs?

Our half court offense was lethargic. They got up into us and we couldn't execute. Most of our points/lead came off of turnovers early on.

How bad was that last Sheed 3 that followed a series of poor offensive sets down the stretch? Meanwhile, Kobe was having his way on the other side. Tay's rebound and shot were lucky outs. Is this the formula to go all the way...??

This Laker team without Bynum is not great defensively.




We really seem to lack a big body down low expecially for a 7 game series.

Stars are stars cuz, you can make the best plans against of them but they can always overcome. Kobe is on of those players who can take over regardless of opponents and ther plans. So this is useless whining but rest of your critics holds ground.

Btw, lakers fans expected a bad loss( a blowout) and were pleasantry suprised when things didn't go so.

You may not belive that most of them were convinced that they lost this game because of...refs.

HOOPSWORLD | NBA News, Rumors and Information (http://www.hoopsworld.com/Blogs/CourtsideBlog.asp?GAME_ID=21736&LEAGUE_CODE=NBA)


The Lakers finished the game with 35 free throw attempts, more than double Detroit's total of 16. After the game, Flip Saunders addressed the officiating, and specifically referee Jack Nies. "I told our guys at halftime, if you piss Jack off early, he's going to be on you the rest of the game," said Saunders. "He's a guy that will control the game."

Chauncey Billups was also frustrated with some of the calls, but he choose his words carefully in the locker room so as to avoid any potential fines. One topic he did spend a lot of time talking about was the play of the bench, who brought the Pistons back into the game with their play in the fourth quarter. "Our bench won us the game. Tay hit the shot but our bench really won us the game," he said.

Sorry, yet another star went off on us and our coaching staff was helpless. Is this going to be the story again in the playoffs?

Our half court offense was lethargic. They got up into us and we couldn't execute. Most of our points/lead came off of turnovers early on.

How bad was that last Sheed 3 that followed a series of poor offensive sets down the stretch? Meanwhile, Kobe was having his way on the other side. Tay's rebound and shot were lucky outs. Is this the formula to go all the way...??

This Laker team without Bynum is not great defensively.

We really seem to lack a big body down low expecially for a 7 game series.
Agree with you here Lapiston, Kobe almost beat us by himself because ...he can. But his role players know how to keep it close. Thank goodness their 3 point shooting was off and they had 22 TO's.

We had 17 steals...anybody know what the Piston record is for steals in a game?

The Laker coaching staff told their team that they just needed to cut down on their turnovers from the first half. They were right. The Lakers were very effective against our half-court offense. They had trouble with Stuckey on the second team. The Lakers fans rightly thought that they had the game won. They outplayed us the entire second half, really, except for that quick spurt by the second team.

Down the stretch we had a poor turnover type lean in shot by Billips, an outside jumper by a hurting Rip and that Sheed 3 ball. Sheed was blocked on a broken play and we did have a Billips layup. Not good sequences against a Bynum-less team.

Yes, Kobe is Kobe but we have stopped him before. What I worry about is not tonight but the pattern of the last two playoffs that seems to pop up here and there again. Do we ever stop up a player when they start to go off on us? Can we? Can we score consistently enough when it really counts...?

The Laker coaching staff told their team that they just needed to cut down on their turnovers from the first half. They were right. The Lakers were very effective against our half-court offense. They had trouble with Stuckey on the second team. The Lakers fans rightly thought that they had the game won. They outplayed us the entire second half, really, except for that quick spurt by the second team.

Down the stretch we had a poor turnover type lean in shot by Billips, an outside jumper by a hurting Rip and that Sheed 3 ball. Sheed was blocked on a broken play and we did have a Billips layup. Not good sequences against a Bynum-less team.

Yes, Kobe is Kobe but we have stopped him before. What I worry about is not tonight but the pattern of the last two playoffs that seems to pop up here and there again. Do we ever stop up a player when they start to go off on us? Can we? Can we score consistently enough when it really counts...?

What in this world are absolutely sure? I mean, besides taxes and death.

What in this world are absolutely sure? I mean, besides taxes and death.

That everyone makes at least one rationalization a week.

:hoops:

Did anyone notice the that the final score Lakers 89 and Pistons 90 were the two years that the Bad Boys won the championships and in 89, who did they beat but the Lakers.

:hoops:

Was this Stuckys breakout game? Best one I have seen from him anyway. We could really use guys who attack the rack like Stucky and Afflalo.

Anyone notice when the Pistons were agressive the whistles were good? When the bench came in with all that energy, bunch of virtual unknowns, they were getting a good whistle against Kobe and co. Then the starters came back with energy and the calls were fair. It should not be like that. All calls should be the same.

Was this Stuckys breakout game? Best one I have seen from him anyway. We could really use guys who attack the rack like Stucky and Afflalo.

Anyone notice when the Pistons were agressive the whistles were good? When the bench came in with all that energy, bunch of virtual unknowns, they were getting a good whistle against Kobe and co. Then the starters came back with energy and the calls were fair. It should not be like that. All calls should be the same.

Yeah the starters were too busy complaining so the refs ignored their crying only waiting to hear the key word that would result in a tech....

Stuckey played a game with no TO's and no fouls!!! And I don't think he got blocked on any layup attempts either... 4-5 shooting from the outside, a dunk and a couple of drives.... 16 minutes of solid play that should get him above 20 minutes consistently soon,.. we hope.....Good games from Amir and Afflalo too.

^

To expand on this a little

MICHAEL ROSENBERG: Prince is the hero, but he isn't a defensive stopper (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080131/SPORTS03/80131086/1051)

Harsh critique of Tay in the paper.

I think this guy is an absolute moron. Let's see, Tay is no longer a defensive stopper because Rip played in position and guarded the opposing shooting guard. Something he's done pretty much every game since the Finals meeting. Sure.

Anyway...

Wow, great game. Lots of intensity, lots of energy, and Kobe doing what Kobe does. Some fairly dubious calls against the Pistons, but come on Dyess, what are you complaining about? That must have been an aggregate thing.

This was maybe the bench's best game. And I think it's at least partly because they came into a game that already had a high level of energy. It's got to be a lot easier coming in off the bench into an intense game than coming in the other night after the world's most boring first quarter. Starter intensity brings more energy and intensity from the bench.

Sheed didn't score much and shot badly, but he was embarrassingly good on the defensive end in the first half. It was like a cat toying with mice.

Keep your eyes on Javaris Crittenton. Most likely the Lakers will match him up against Stuckey.

The Lakers picked him behind our Stuckey pick.

So we can get an idea of what Joe passed on.

Crittenton is only 20.

:hoops: jARVIS wHO? Great stat line: DNPCD!!!:pound:

jARVIS wHO? Great stat line: DNPCD!!!:pound:

His name is not Jarvis, its Javaris.


Javaris Cortez Crittenton (born December 31 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_31), 1987 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987)) is an American (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) professional basketball (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball) player at point guard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_guard) for the Los Angeles Lakers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Lakers). He was previously the starting point guard for the Georgia Tech (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Institute_of_Technology) men's basketball (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball) team.

Pro Career

On January 4 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_4), 2008 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008), Crittenton scored his career high 19 points against the Philadelphia 76ers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_76ers), which was the most by a player that game.




NBA Draft Positional Rankings

6
Vote (javascript:clickVote(1,73502,'62a5f957f505c72d43d 2ceae372807f3'))
by user KDuffy15 (http://www.armchairgm.com/User:KDuffy15)
Point Guards

2. Javaris Crittenton (http://nbadraft.net/admincp/profiles/javariscrittenton.html) 6’5’’ 199 Georgia Tech Strengths: Size, athleticism, ability to get to the basket and make plays. Weaknesses: Jumpshot can be inconsistent; can be turnover prone.

Best Passer: Javaris Crittenton
Best Rebounder: Javaris Crittenton

Five Years from now… PG Everyone Regrets Passing Up: Javaris Crittenton Crittenton could fall behind Law, Stuckey, and even Pruitt in this draft. If so, teams will regret it because Crittenton is the most talented PG in the draft. He may need a year or so of seasoning, but this dynamic freshman will be a standout at the next level.


I have seen both of them play in the NBA a number of times and I don't know who will be better Crittenton or Stuckey but Crittenton is going to be one heck of a player, you can bet your stash on it.

If you are going to criticize a player, you might want to learn what his name is first.

Javaris Crittenton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javaris_Crittenton)

NBA Draft Positional Rankings - ArmchairGM - Sports Wiki Database (http://www.armchairgm.com/NBA_Draft_Positional_Rankings)
:hoops:

By the way, how bad was Odom's "game winner"??? He was wide open and missed long by about 2 feet. I can't even call it a choke because it was such a weird miss. I'm guessing 75% of the posters on this forum could have caught a piece of the rim from there.

By the way, how bad was Odom's "game winner"??? He was wide open and missed long by about 2 feet. I can't even call it a choke because it was such a weird miss. I'm guessing 75% of the posters on this forum could have caught a piece of the rim from there.

Well, not quite wide open. I think it was Rip who had a hand in his face on the release, and he was barely inside the three point line, and it was an odd angle.

Ah hell...

CHOKER!!!

Chauncey Billups B: Solid game, but it was not very good.

Rip Hamilton B: Great job first half on both sides, but he slowed down the second half

Antonio McDyess B-: Very little offense, but he crashed the boards well.

Tayshaun Prince A+: Very agressive. Taking it inside, crashing the boards...and hitting gamewinners.

Rasheed Wallace C-: A big baseline jumper late in the fourth keeps him from a D. Sheed was having a bad game today.

Jason Maxiell C: I used to think that he should not try to dunk the ball every time because the defenders would give him so much room, but I was wrong. Just take it in and dunk on them! A lot of jumpers for Maxiell today.

Aaron Afflalo A-: Nailed his open shots and he never quit when he was guarding the best.

Rodney Stuckey A: He was the spark off the bench. He cut through the defense and he also did a good job of handling the offense with 3 assists and 0 TO's

Amir Johnson A-: He dominated the boards while he was in there. Another big spark.

Jarvis Hayes B-: Hit some nice shots.

Primoz/Hermann/Lindsey/Flip M./Samb: Incomplete

Flip Saunders A: Early in the game he called good Timeouts and he had a very good rotation.

Overall: B+

jARVIS wHO? Great stat line: DNPCD!!!:pound:

Afflalo as well looks better than him.

I think Rosenberg is right on. Vlad Rad was blowing past Prince with a bad wheel. I can understand having difficulty with the Kobe's of the world, but Prince has gotten burned by too many B level players lately.

HOOPSWORLD | NBA News, Rumors and Information (http://www.hoopsworld.com/Blogs/CourtsideBlog.asp?GAME_ID=21736&LEAGUE_CODE=NBA) Chauncey Billups was also frustrated with some of the calls, but he choose his words carefully in the locker room so as to avoid any potential fines. One topic he did spend a lot of time talking about was the play of the bench, who brought the Pistons back into the game with their play in the fourth quarter. "Our bench won us the game. Tay hit the shot but our bench really won us the game," he said.

Spoken like a true leader. Gotta luv it. No bench = No win.

Kudos to FlipSr for coaching like Daly. Search till you uncover an answer.

way to go tay...the game winner....and then feeling that means: Take that Kobe!

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-01/35074603.jpghttp://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-01/35074604.jpg

By the way, how bad was Odom's "game winner"??? He was wide open and missed long by about 2 feet. I can't even call it a choke because it was such a weird miss. I'm guessing 75% of the posters on this forum could have caught a piece of the rim from there.

A quote the LA Times

Trip starts with a heartbreaker (http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers1feb01,1,7719780.story)

They again demonstrated an inability to execute in the final seconds, although at least they got off a shot, unlike Sunday's nine-second meltdown against Cleveland.

But this time, after Odom's shot from the right side sailed over the rim, Kobe Bryant turned to the Lakers' bench with his palms raised up and a confused, if not angry, look on his face.

He wanted the shot. It didn't happen. Lakers lose, regardless.

"It's a tough loss," Bryant said. "It felt like we had the game, just didn't complete plays down the stretch. But still, I'm encouraged. If we play this hard, we'll be fine on this trip."

They again demonstrated an inability to execute in the final seconds, although at least they got off a shot, unlike Sunday's nine-second meltdown against Cleveland.

But this time, after Odom's shot from the right side sailed over the rim, Kobe Bryant turned to the Lakers' bench with his palms raised up and a confused, if not angry, look on his face.

He wanted the shot. It didn't happen. Lakers lose, regardless.

"It's a tough loss," Bryant said. "It felt like we had the game, just didn't complete plays down the stretch. But still, I'm encouraged. If we play this hard, we'll be fine on this trip."

Code for "Man, am I pissed."

Rosenberg is a moron. Most of the Freep sports writers are.
I talked to 'Horn about the game today and he said the real bullet we missed is Fisher wide open, but not seen by Odom.

I think this guy is an absolute moron. Let's see, Tay is no longer a defensive stopper because Rip played in position and guarded the opposing shooting guard. Something he's done pretty much every game since the Finals meeting. Sure.

Anyway...

Wow, great game. Lots of intensity, lots of energy, and Kobe doing what Kobe does. Some fairly dubious calls against the Pistons, but come on Dyess, what are you complaining about? That must have been an aggregate thing.

This was maybe the bench's best game. And I think it's at least partly because they came into a game that already had a high level of energy. It's got to be a lot easier coming in off the bench into an intense game than coming in the other night after the world's most boring first quarter. Starter intensity brings more energy and intensity from the bench.

Sheed didn't score much and shot badly, but he was embarrassingly good on the defensive end in the first half. It was like a cat toying with mice.

Yeah, and during the regular season in 04, we did use a 2nd defender on Kobe extensively. Billups. Not Tay. Too bad some of these reporters don't bother watching the games.

His name is not Jarvis, its Javaris.





I have seen both of them play in the NBA a number of times and I don't know who will be better Crittenton or Stuckey but Crittenton is going to be one heck of a player, you can bet your stash on it.

If you are going to criticize a player, you might want to learn what his name is first.

Javaris Crittenton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javaris_Crittenton)

NBA Draft Positional Rankings - ArmchairGM - Sports Wiki Database (http://www.armchairgm.com/NBA_Draft_Positional_Rankings)
:hoops:That is why I 'sarcasticly' spelled it wrong...and BTW, get a life!! Who the hell are u...his freekin MOM!!??

HOOPSWORLD | NBA News, Rumors and Information (http://www.hoopsworld.com/Blogs/CourtsideBlog.asp?GAME_ID=21736&LEAGUE_CODE=NBA)

Jack Nies is a notorious Lakers fan and Superstar biased. Its hard to imagine how he has kept his job.

get a life!!


Get a Life is a television sitcom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situation_comedy) that was broadcast in the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) on the Fox Network (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Broadcasting_Company) from September 23 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_23), 1990 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_in_television) to March 8 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_8), 1992 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_in_television). The show starred Chris Elliott (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Elliott) as a 30-year-old paperboy named Chris Peterson. Peterson lived in an apartment above his parents' garage (Elliot's parents were played by Elinor Donahue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Donahue) and his real life father, comedian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedian) Bob Elliott (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Elliott_%28comedian%29)). The opening credits depicted Chris Peterson delivering newspapers on his bike to the show's theme song (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theme_song), "Stand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_%28R.E.M._song%29)" by R.E.M. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.E.M._%28band%29)
The show was a creation of Elliott; his friend Adam Resnick (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Resnick), who, like Elliott, had been a writer for David Letterman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Letterman)'s Late Night with David Letterman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Night_with_David_Letterman) TV show; and David Mirkin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Mirkin), former writer and producer for Newhart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newhart) and occasional writer and producer for The Simpsons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons). Notable writers of the series included Charlie Kaufman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Kaufman), screenwriter of Being John Malkovich (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being_John_Malkovich); and Bob Odenkirk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Odenkirk), co-creator of Mr. Show (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Show).


The show was unconventional for a prime time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_time) sitcom, and many times the storylines of the episodes were surreal. For example, Elliott's character actually dies in twelve episodes. The causes of death included being crushed by a giant boulder, old age, tonsillitis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonsillitis), stab wounds, gunshot wounds, falling from an airplane, strangulation, getting run over by cars, choking on cereal, and simply exploding. For this reason, it was a struggle for Elliott and Mirkin to get the show on the air. Many of the executives at the Fox Network hated the show and thought it was too disturbing and that Elliott's character was too insane.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_a_Life_%28TV_series%29#_note-0)
Get a life - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_a_life)

:hoops:

Rosenberg is a moron. Most of the Freep sports writers are.
I talked to 'Horn about the game today and he said the real bullet we missed is Fisher wide open, but not seen by Odom.

You are right in more ways than one. Even with the most recent addition of Gasol, the key to the Laker's is Fisher. He is such a class act and the most dangerous type of player because of his clutch plays. This is one unique fellow who can quickly step up, not because of he may be hot for the moment, but through the ability to zone-in on the team's energy level that has brought them the potential of winning the game.

Jackson blew the last play for them and there should have been only two people shooting the ball....Fisher or Kobe. It would have been an easy setup for them. One quick inlet pass to a big, who uses a camouflaged look to Kobe and then a kick out to Fisher...who would have hit that shot.

To be honest with you, the starting five did not deserve to win that game. We still have an attitude problem with the somehow deserved right that the entire starting five thinks is a conspiracy theory against them. This attitude will not bring them out of the Eastern finals.

I don't think for a minute that JD doesn't know this. On the other hand, I am grateful for the full acknowledgment that no one on the piston team reads this forum, since this would only reinforce them further to complain that they get no respect and in this area they need no further help.

My simple answer for their solution is...gentlement, show some of your own class and play beyond it!

Feed from it and shut your mouths; or let Ford Motor Company buy you out, which is one way of shirking your own responsibility levels.

These comments are right on the money


The other thing that I noticed is that maybe, just maybe, Flip Saunders isn’t as bad of an in-game coach as people make him out to be. If we’re going to rip him when he fails, we have to praise him when he succeeds. And in the final minute, the Pistons ran a brilliant offensive set that led to not one but two WIDE open three tries.

Then they had a defense in place that forced an air ball on the Lakers final possession. Credit the players for executing it (particularly Chauncey Billups), but let’s give a little bit of run to Flip. He was, after all, coaching against Phil Jackson. Amazing that Flip could win such a match-up.


But he did.

:hoops:

Get a life - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_a_life)

:hoops::pound::pound::pound:touche!!!!!

These comments are right on the money



But he did.

:hoops:

I would argue that IS one of the problems with Flip. Not only to we always take 3's in clutch situations (even when we don't need them!, and when they are not falling), but a majority if not all our plays in clutch time are jump shots.

I don't remember the last time we ran a play going to the basket unless it's Chauncey just deciding on the fly to drive. We actually use to run alot more post-ups for Prince than we do now (granted he was struggling).

Easy baskets are crucial in the PO's. 3-pointers are not exactly high %, esp the stupid ones Chauncey takes at times.

I would argue that IS one of the problems with Flip. Not only to we always take 3's in clutch situations (even when we don't need them!, and when they are not falling), but a majority if not all our plays in clutch time are jump shots.

I don't remember the last time we ran a play going to the basket unless it's Chauncey just deciding on the fly to drive. We actually use to run alot more post-ups for Prince than we do now (granted he was struggling).

Easy baskets are crucial in the PO's. 3-pointers are not exactly high %, esp the stupid ones Chauncey takes at times.
Watch some more NBA games when the Pistons aren't playing. At the end of the game it's always going to be a jumper for the game winner, or an offensive rebound. The only times that doesn't happen is if you have Kobe, Lebron or Wade on your team. Now I'm sure if we had one of those 3, the Pistons would get more points going to the basket too.

While I can't stand Flip's stupid, "Guys need to make shots" philosophy of basketball, it's 100% true in the last few mins of a tight game. The Spurs are champions because they've always had perimeter players who can knock down J's late in the 4th qtr, Manu is one of the best, and Fisher did the same for the Lakers back in the day. To be a champion, a guy has to be able to hit a long J, often times with a hand in his face.

These comments are right on the money



But he did.

:hoops:

If Tay doesn't grab that board or hit that shot then everyone would be killing Flip for calling for a 3 in a 2 point game.

If Tay doesn't grab that board or hit that shot then everyone would be killing Flip for calling for a 3 in a 2 point game.

I prefer if Sheed had closed out on Horry in 2005 we would have won two championships in a row.

:hoops:

if Sheed had closed out on Horry in 2005 we would have won two championships in a row.



I agree with you on this one!

in 2005 we would have won two championships in a row.

Speaking of jumpshots in pressure situations, the play Larry Brown drew up for the Pistons in that game, with Detroit down one and several seconds to go on our home court, was Rip Hamilton isolating for a jump shot in the mid-post guarded by Tony Parker (a guard known for playing awful defense in the postseason, and a midget with no hops to boot).

Rip choked.

Watch some more NBA games when the Pistons aren't playing. At the end of the game it's always going to be a jumper for the game winner, or an offensive rebound. The only times that doesn't happen is if you have Kobe, Lebron or Wade on your team. Now I'm sure if we had one of those 3, the Pistons would get more points going to the basket too.

While I can't stand Flip's stupid, "Guys need to make shots" philosophy of basketball, it's 100% true in the last few mins of a tight game. The Spurs are champions because they've always had perimeter players who can knock down J's late in the 4th qtr, Manu is one of the best, and Fisher did the same for the Lakers back in the day. To be a champion, a guy has to be able to hit a long J, often times with a hand in his face.

I agree that it is important to make jump shots but to an extent.

The Spurs are champions b/c Tony Parker and Manu Ginobbli are fantastic at slashing and able to get to the hole. They didn't win championships shooting jump shots. They won b/c they have an amazing low post player, and slashing guards that can also set up three point shooters effectively.

I've watched enough NBA games to know that you can't jump shoot your way to a title. The Pistons have proved that over the past 2 years.

edited to add;

While i do have a problem with the jump shots at the end of the game, what really irks is the 3-pointers. I can accept a mid-range by Rip or a post-up fade way for Sheed a lot easier than a play call for Sheed to take a three (which he never makes anyway in the clutch, yet we keep going to it)

I prefer if Sheed had closed out on Horry in 2005 we would have won two championships in a row.

:hoops:
I think if could have been 3 rings in a row as LB would have been retained despite the Cavs and NY papers tampering and I think we would have gotten by the fake Heat team and Mavs that year.:nod:

Watch some more NBA games when the Pistons aren't playing. At the end of the game it's always going to be a jumper for the game winner, or an offensive rebound. The only times that doesn't happen is if you have Kobe, Lebron or Wade on your team. Now I'm sure if we had one of those 3, the Pistons would get more points going to the basket too.



Agree here...case in point last night in game between the knicks and the Trailblazers. the Knicks had literally 5 chances to win that game in regulation, as they blew a six point lead with less than 90 seconds as Jamal Crawford came down and shot 5 straight long jumpers/bricks instead of driving or passing to Zack for a possible and one sitution. Yep you guessed it, they lost in OT as Crawford continued shooting before Nate robinson decided to take a few higher percentage shots by penetrating. Yeah Zeke trusts Crawford to take that shot, but if you are off, find somebody else....or a decoy.

Maybe I can settle this.

In the playoffs last year, in the 4th quarter or overtime, with less than 5 minutes left and neither team ahead by more than 5 points...

Here is how Ginobili got er done.

64% of his FGA's were jumpshots and he shot an eFG of 21%. Nasty.
35% were in the paint and he shot 50%.
So, overall, just 31.8% FG% in crunch time.
He drew fouls 21% of the time.
Did he drive and kick? Not really. 2 assists and 5 turnovers.

Here is what Parker did.

58% of his FGA's were jumpshots and he shot an eFG of 64%!
42% were in the paint and he shot 60%
He also drew fouls 20% of the time.
3 assists 2 for 3-pointers and 1 for a dunk) and 0 turnovers.


In last year's playoffs, Parker was the man in crunch time. Great balance between draining jumpers and driving. He wasn't really getting fouled a ton, but he was converting when he got inside.


Duncan? He was good too.
57% of his crunch-time hoops were in the paint and he shot 50% of them while getting fouled 26% of the time.


What about the Pistons?

Sheed was a horror show.
He took 26 crunch time shots in the playoffs last year. Unfortunately for us, 93% of them were jump shots and he hit an eFG of .269. Zero offensive rebounds in 32 chances. He did get fouled a lot (I'm assuming he was in the post for those...30% foul drawing).

What about Mr. Big Shot?

Chauncey lived up to his nickname.
78% jumpers at a .571 clip.
22% inside at .500.
18% foul drawing.
13 total crunch time shot attempts


Other Pistons:
Rip shot .583 on 14 attempts/ got fouled 1 time
Prince was 1 for 7 = .167
Webber was 5 for 5 = one hundred percent baby
McDyess was 1 for 2
Delfino was 0 for 1
Hunter was 0 for 1


After looking at all of this, my conclusion is that Sheed is not very clutch, yet he takes a disproportionate number of the shots in crunch time.

69 total FGA's during crunchtime in the playoffs last year for us and Sheed took over 33% of them... and of course bricked most of them. A 7 footer on the 3-point line... of course you're going to be open dude. All that talk about saving his body from the banging of the regular season? Well, habits are hard to shake in crunch time.

Agree here...case in point last night in game between the knicks and the Trailblazers. the Knicks had literally 5 chances to win that game in regulation, as they blew a six point lead with less than 90 seconds as Jamal Crawford came down and shot 5 straight long jumpers/bricks instead of driving or passing to Zack for a possible and one sitution. Yep you guessed it, they lost in OT as Crawford continued shooting before Nate robinson decided to take a few higher percentage shots by penetrating. Yeah Zeke trusts Crawford to take that shot, but if you are off, find somebody else....or a decoy.
Recall, it was the JUMPER from Outlaw that sent the game into overtime, as the Knicks cut off Roy's driving lane (as most defenses will do to guys not named Kobe, Lebron or DWade) and he had to kick it to Outlaw- who's been pretty clutch for those guys this season. Reality of the matter is that to win a close ball game a player has to be able to hit a clutch jumper or 2 or 3 down the stretch to win close ball game, even a contested J - with a hand in the face.

I just want to add one more player to the "clutch" analysis.

Lebron James.

I didn't know this would be the case, but after looking at his numbers in the playoffs last year, I have to conclude that LJ was the clutchest of them all. But even Lebron took mostly jump shots.

Shooting:
72% of his crunch time shots were jumpers... and 85% of those were self-created (i.e. not assisted). He shot .577 on those shots. Incredible average since his average on jump shots this season is only .388. We got bamboozled by a hot shooting Lebron.

Driving:
He got into the paint 28% of the time and shot .600 from there.

Getting fouled:
He got fouled 20% of the time, which is in line with other crunch time starts, including Chauncey. He only made 16 out of 25 free throws.

Passing:
But the real key is his assist to turnover ratio of "undefined". I'm assuming that a great number of his assists were after he started driving. He had 14 assists and 0 turnovers in crunchtime.

All in all, he took an incredible number of crunchtime shots, 54. Pavlovich and Hughes each got off 13 shots. Ilgauskas 11. And it looks like they made the right decision calling Lebron's number over and over.

I think if could have been 3 rings in a row as LB would have been retained despite the Cavs and NY papers tampering and I think we would have gotten by the fake Heat team and Mavs that year.:nod:


????? The Pistons lost in 2005 with LB at the helm.

Somebody please define "clutch" for me.

I understand "choke" perfectly well, but the idea that players become better than usual during key moments seems suspicious as all hell. I believe that they react to the defensive schemes that are played, and no more.

????? The Pistons lost in 2005 with LB at the helm.
Yeah but I was taking into consideration you and buddha's previous post that if Sheed had done his job defensively in game 5. against Horry.....we would have won that one and the next with LB

If LB had left McDyess in the game with 4 fouls in Game 7 instead of benching him in favor of smallball (to finish the game with 4 fouls) at a point when we were up what? 8, 9 points?, we would have won the series, too.

There's plenty of blame to go around and LB himself certainly isn't blameless.

That said, I'd take Brown over Saunders any day of the week and twice on game days.

Yeah but I was taking into consideration you and buddha's previous post that if Sheed had done his job defensively in game 5. against Horry.....we would have won that one and the next with LB

Yeah, there are lots of teams thinking "what-if", though....

Somebody please define "clutch" for me.


Doing well under pressure.

OK, define "well" then. :sssh:

Does it mean "better than normal" or simply "not worse than normal", maybe adjusted for the higher level of defense being played against? As I said, "choke" is understandable; Karl Malone choked repeatedly. Michael Jordan and Larry Bird weren't known to choke, but neither is, say, Mo Evans.

Is Mo Evans clutch?

I would say that if the player is great anyway, then clutch means that they maintain that awesomeness under pressure.

So, Lindsey wouldn't be considered clutch if he maintained his 20% 3-point percentage.


The reason that it is harder under pressure is that the defense is usually set and they are trying to stop the biggest scoring threat. That is why Lebron was so good last year. He shot way more efficiently that his average, and he also found open teammates without turning it over. The only thing that wasn't clutch were his free throws. 16 of 25 is pretty poor.