Comments on: Kobe needs to start kicking the Lakers a– right now http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/03/kobe-needs-to-start-kicking-the-lakers-a-right-now/ Basketball - NBC Sports Sat, 18 May 2013 18:39:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: borderline1988 http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/03/kobe-needs-to-start-kicking-the-lakers-a-right-now/comment-page-1/#comment-31401 Mon, 03 Jan 2011 22:18:31 +0000 http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=13138#comment-31401 Couldn’t agree with you more.
You think the Lakers would’ve won the NBA championship last year if the last 2 games were played in Boston rather than LA?
I think Doc Rivers realizes that, which is why the Celtics are going all out for the #1 seed (they do not seem to be taking any games easy). The Lakers better realize that homecourt advantage is huge in the playoffs against any of the championship contending teams.
A 3rd or 4th seed in the West basically means the Lakers will most likely be relinquishing homecourt advantage for 3 out of the 4 playoff series (on the way to the finals). I don’t care how well the Lakers are playing – I’d bet against them winning the NBA championship.

]]> By: leearmon http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/03/kobe-needs-to-start-kicking-the-lakers-a-right-now/comment-page-1/#comment-31390 Mon, 03 Jan 2011 17:51:30 +0000 http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=13138#comment-31390 hnirobert3 is exactly right. Of course the Lakers will be in the postseason. And probably make it to atleast the conference finals. But the regular season does mean something when it comes to late April and July. Homecourt advantage. Do I think the Lakers can win in Dallas and San Antonio, sure, but do I think they will have a much tougher task away from Staples, especially with the Spurs? Absolutely. And this is just to go the Finals. Im sure the Lakers would much rather deal with the Celtics and Heat in LA than on the road, which is why Kobe and the Lakers need to get their acts together right now. However im not certain Kobe needs to become the ultimate taskmaster again. Yes he needs to let his guys know they’d better get back on track, but how he does it is almost as important as whether he does it or not. Kobe is the leader of this team, so he must lead by his words and his actions, which means he needs to get back to running the offense as designed and limit his shots, especially his bad, contested shots.

]]> By: hnirobert3 http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/03/kobe-needs-to-start-kicking-the-lakers-a-right-now/comment-page-1/#comment-31386 Mon, 03 Jan 2011 16:15:04 +0000 http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=13138#comment-31386 The regular season literally means nothing in terms of who’s good and who’s not. We know the Lakers are good and we know they’re going to be in the playoffs. What we saw last year with game 7 being in LA is that the one thing the elite teams need to do during the regular season is play for home court advantage.

]]> By: thestudiokida http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/03/kobe-needs-to-start-kicking-the-lakers-a-right-now/comment-page-1/#comment-31385 Mon, 03 Jan 2011 15:46:04 +0000 http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=13138#comment-31385 I’ll never count out the Lakers. We all counted the Celtics out last year after they went 27-27 over the last several months of the season.

Great teams are great in the playoffs. Also, isn’t it better or the Lakers to have issues early…with time to fix it? The Heat certainly didn’t lose anything by going 9-8.

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