Marc Stein of ESPN.com: “I gotta challenge my old friend Ric Bucher on his Twitter suggestion earlier this week that LeBron James has to have the lead on Kevin Durant in the MVP race at the season’s midpoint because LeBron’s D is so much better. Buch is certainly entitled to cast his vote any way he wants, like the other 125-ish folks who are handed ballots at season’s end, but here’s my counter: If that’s standard, LeBron might as well be named MVP before the season starts, because he’s going to be the best two-way player in the league for years to come. MVP, to me, is the prize that goes to the guy who had the best season. And halfway through, if only fractionally, it’s Durant.”
Phillip Barnett of Forum Blue and Gold: “They benefited from a few missed calls from the refs (both Durant and Westbrook got clobbered on the head on field goal attempts), they shot an abysmal 55 percent from the free throw line and lucked out with Durant and Westbrook missing a lot of shots that they normally knocked down, but even with all of that, it was still a huge win and a well played game from the Lakers. The Lakers now have one more home game before they hit the road for their Grammy trip. New Orleans is up next with their first three road games coming against Phoenix, Minnesota and Detroit. This is definitely a win they can build on, and in a perfect world, they will.”
Perk tweets: “I hope my lil homie get well soon @RajonRondo. Im only a phone call away. Luv bro”
KD on if the Lakers are turning something around: “Who knows? And who really cares about them? It’s all about us. We’re focusing on us. They got a good win.”
Darnell Mayberry: “I would have liked to have seen Durant stay on Bryant in the home stretch. Kobe hit one jumper on Durant and had two assists while Durant checked him before Thabo returned. But maybe KD’s length could have had an impact on Kobe. Not only did Thabo not far any better (and maybe even worse), but the Thunder didn’t have any scorers to turn to after Brooks replaced Kevin Martin with Sefolosha. Westbrook and Durant couldn’t buy a bucket, combining to go 4-for-12 in the fourth, and no one else on the court for the Thunder was a threat.”
KD got referenced sort of on Saturday Night Live.
Russell Westbrook took his shirt game to another level yesterday.
Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLA: “The sellout crowd roared with approval, then stuck around a little longer than usual, as if the Lakers’ beleaguered fans weren’t quite sure what to make of this modest two-game winning streak just yet. Is this it? Is it safe to jump back on board with the Lakers again? Have they finally found something to build on? A direction? An identity? Or is this just another glimmer of false, frustrating hope?”
T.J. Simers of the LA Times: “The Lakers could be leaving Detroit next Sunday on a six-game winning streak, within two games of .500 and maybe D’Antoni showing signs of life. I wouldn’t want to miss that. “Time to hit that button,” said Kobe, who has found renewed hope in the team’s play the last two games after calling for changes. “I think we’ve found our identity.” Kobe went eight for 12, which sounds like the first half, and never attempted a three-pointer. I worry now I might find myself in the coming games urging Kobe to shoot more. Never saw that coming. But many of the players pointed to their gabfest in Memphis, leading to Sunday’s locker-room love fest after knocking off the team with the best record in the league.”
The alternative All-Star Game.
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “Just don’t fall into the trap of thinking that Bryant won’t be able to sustain his role as the facilitator, because doing so would be ignoring who he is — how he’s built. He who initiates D’Antoni’s offense has the control, and Bryant has seized it. It took him a while to find the pulse of this Lakers team, but now that he’s found it and placed his finger there, it’s not coming off.”
Kind of amazing: I could barely find anyone writing anything about the Thunder today after that game. Not that I’m surprised that it was all Laker talk, but even in the Laker-centric columns, there was barely a mention of the Thunder other than mentioning them as the team the Lakers beat.
Lets go.... http://dailythunder.com/2013/01/thunder-player-power-rankings-tripped-out/
The Bulls in their prime would have been fun to watch against today's Heat. MJ and Pippen vs James and Wade. They're actually built pretty similarly.
@okcjim I don't think the Bulls would have had any problem with them. If Pippin couldn't handle Lebron, Rodman could have.
@TaoMaas @okcjim Ya'll seriously telling me that Scottie Pippen couldn't guard Lebron James?
@<--A Benz can make me dance @[censored] @TaoMaas
Dick Bavetta looked really old in those old highlights haha.
@okcjim @<--A Benz can make me dance @[censored] @TaoMaas Heat have shooters at every position on the floor, at all times. Our problems was we couldnt help rotate on Lebron because we'd just get torched from all their shooters.
@<--A Benz can make me dance @[censored] @TaoMaas
Lebron would get his on Pippen although Pippen would give him some problems, The bigger matchip would be MJ destroying Wade and Rodman shutting down Bosh. You take away 2 of the 3 only really good players the Heat have and they don't scare you at all.
@<--A Benz can make me dance @[censored] @TaoMaas @okcjim I don't think that this Heat team is an elite team with respect to championship teams. IMO, they would be the 8th best champion of the last 10.
@[censored] @<--A Benz can make me dance @TaoMaas @okcjim Rodman's job was ONLY to Rebound. He'd be able to out rebound bosh or Haslem. He'd OWN the boards. I want Scottie on the perimeter on Lebron because we already know his footwork will be on point.
@okcjim @FF_pickups @TaoMaas This made my day.
@<--A Benz can make me dance @TaoMaas @okcjim Rodman would probably be a better choice in James.
@<--A Benz can make me dance @FF_pickups @TaoMaas http://youtu.be/N9vFHYVXtRk
@<--A Benz can make me dance @TaoMaas @okcjim Pip would do as good a job as just about anyone but with today's rules even the best perimeter defenders need to be a part of a solid unit in order to truly shut down an elite offensive player.
@FF_pickups @<--A Benz can make me dance @TaoMaas @okcjim just the length of his arms alone.
@<--A Benz can make me dance @TaoMaas @okcjim he couldn't guard lbj, no way
@<--A Benz can make me dance @TaoMaas @okcjim People underestimate how amazing of a defender Scottie Pippen was. He'd be the best guy that I could ever think of to guard LeBron. And KD for that matter.
@okcjim Pippen would be the perfect defender for lebron
@BallSoHard @okcjim Pippen would give him the business.
*stronger
@<--A Benz can make me dance @BallSoHard @okcjim what? Lebron is bigger, stronget and faster
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmfdINmLntkUdEtkb0JQVVBtMTFUSzhZTTRFZDBMMmc#gid=0
@kennygee90 what the hell is this, kenny
@BallSoHard Can someone direct him to a lakers blog?
@<--A Benz can make me dance @Tronchaser @BallSoHard check sbnation.com
they should have one
@Tronchaser @<--A Benz can make me dance @BallSoHard Ive been looking for the Kings blog this entire year....
Someone help.
@<--A Benz can make me dance @BallSoHard This isn't the Laker blog??? I've been on the wrong site the whole time! ARG!!!!
j/k
@BallSoHard @kennygee90 nba post up statistics of all players...Kobe and Durant are 1 and 2 respectively in fg% in post up situations
@kennygee90 Kenny, you may have used up your luck card this week with the Lakers beating OKC... No Ravens win for you man. Sorry bud.
@Tronchaser hope your wrong
Didn't we switch everything in the finals? How would we play Martin if we play the Heat in the Finals?
@BallSoHard They didn't run a ton of pick and roll. They posted up LeBron. We are going to have to play KD on LeBron and pray that he doesn't get in foul trouble or we are going to lose, imo.
@FF_pickups we won't play kd on lebron, there's no way. If Martin is on the floor and we're switching, you better believe they run a pnr to get martin on lebron.
Lamb and Orton recalled from Tulsa.
@OBoy Jones III We talkin' 'bout practice!
@Tronchaser @OBoy Jones III Not a game?
@Tronchaser @OBoy Jones IIILet's see if Lamb can play defense in practice.
I'd rather trade Martin and a pick for KG. We could have a crunch time 5 of Westbrook-Sef-KD-Ibaka-Garnett. Nobody is scoring on that team and we can easily score.
@FF_pickups I'd love to do that if they make KG available.
@OBoy Jones III @FF_pickups It's brooks though he would bench ibaka and start perkins/garnett
@FF_pickups KEVIN GARNETT?
I will officially go to the Kings if we even Blink at that man and his contract.
@<--A Benz can make me dance @FF_pickups lol go to the kings then...see how like losing
@<--A Benz can make me dance It's not that bad. It's 3 years, 35 million. He's got a PER of 18 and he's one of the 5 most important defensive pieces in the world. Look at the Celtic's defensive splits with him on and off the court.
@<--A Benz can make me dance How many Celtics games have you seen them win 79-75. That's largely due to KG. Even without KMart, we are going to be able to score a lot more than 79 points, I can assure you.
@FF_pickups @OBoy Jones III @<--A Benz can make me dance Okay I got you.
Lets trade for KG and hope to not have a sub for KD or Russ. Perk will come off the bench for KG and Collison for Ibaka.
Makes sense....
@OBoy Jones III @<--A Benz can make me dance Let me say this again, we are 24-0 when the other team shoots under 43.5%. Our team wins by defense, not offense. We should be looking to bolster the defense and rebounding in a trade, not the 8th man in the rotation.
@<--A Benz can make me dance @FF_pickups yeah it could be better. But it could get better for 4 million dollars or less. We don't need to trade for Kobe to come off of our bench.
@OBoy Jones III @<--A Benz can make me dance If I were Brooks, I wouldn't go trying to win 65 games. I would give these starters more rest and let the backups try to get better. But in the playoffs, you can play a 7 man rotation easily.
@OBoy Jones III @<--A Benz can make me dance @FF_pickups depth meaning our bench right?
LOL
@<--A Benz can make me dance Obviously, we can improve on our bench but that's not going to stop us from winning in the playoffs.
@<--A Benz can make me dance @FF_pickups are*
@<--A Benz can make me dance @FF_pickups we're the 2nd best team in the nba, we don't have problems, we have concerns. Defense and depth our probably our top concerns
@FF_pickups @<--A Benz can make me dance So wait a minute...
you're saying our bench isnt a problem. I just want to make sure we're clear on that?
@<--A Benz can make me dance We have the number one offense in the NBA. Scoring isn't a problem. We are 24-0 when the other team shoots less than 43.5% this year. 24-0. KG makes that happen every game.
http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/teamstats
@FF_pickups @<--A Benz can make me dance The trade doesnt solve the problem we have...Off the bench scoring.
@<--A Benz can make me dance "We dont need different players. We need better plays!"
I am not saying we *need* to do that trade, I am just saying that it would make us a better team. We might be able to win it as is but If we could put that guy out there, with his defense and he's still got a great jumper, nobody is beating us.
@FF_pickups @<--A Benz can make me dance We dont need different players. We need better plays!