Bryant doubtful for game vs. Spurs

[Jose_TheGenius]

The San Antonio Spurs will clash with their conference rival Los Angeles Lakers for the first time this season tomorrow night but Los Angeles might be facing San Antonio without superstar Kobe Bryant.

Bryant is dealing with a sore left shin and the Lakers have lost to the Suns and squeaked by the Hornets without him.

Bryant doubtful for game vs. Spurs | April

[clovisnmspurfan]

Oh dear!

[Mr.MULLETINO]

that's a slap in the face. lol

[Uwe Blab]

I think a good old fashioned 30pt rout of the Lakers would be good for the soul.

[esparzar1]

Originally Posted by Uwe Blab

I think a good old fashioned 30pt rout of the Lakers would be good for the soul.

Oh hell yes!!!!

[Joeriffic13]

Mike Bresnahan ‏ @Mike_Bresnahan
Kobe is not playing tomorrow night vs San Antonio, Lakers Coach Mike Brown told reporters. That'll be 3 missed games with sore left shin.

[Jose_TheGenius]

let's postpone the game until he feels better!

[Mombear]

Originally Posted by Mr.MULLETINO

that's a slap in the face. lol

I hope that motivates the Spurs to win by more than 7 points.

[dark21horse]

Sore shin, huh? Maybe he should go to Eagle, Colorado so they can take a look at that thing.

[SilverSpur]

Latest from the LA Times..-

The sore left shin that has dogged Kobe Bryant the last two weeks continues to improve, but he will not play Wednesday against San Antonio. Bryant, who was originally kicked in the shin March 31, will miss a third consecutive game, Lakers Coach Mike Brown told reporters Tuesday. The Lakers are 1-1/2 games ahead of the Clippers and two ahead of the fast-charging Memphis Grizzlies for third place in the Western Conference.

Kobe Bryant to miss third consecutive game because of sore left shin - latimes.com

[SASBaller21]

Originally Posted by Mr.MULLETINO

that's a slap in the face. lol

[alh1020]

Heartbreak hotel. Now Mike Brown will hear Kobe's coaching from the bench all night long.

[NewSpur]

Well now maybe Pop will sit one of the big 3 tonight since it's the front end of a back to back.

[Rodny21a]

Originally Posted by NewSpur

Well now maybe Pop will sit one of the big 3 tonight since it's the front end of a back to back.

If Pop Sits any of the big three against the Lakers then that is just Pops Hubris in full swing.

First of all the Lakers are a poorly coached team on offense and Defense, despite of what you may have bee sold by the media. Furthermore they have zero depth... So why not take advantage of this by unleashing the full strength of your team..

so unless The Spurs severely under-perform this game or Pop has another mini coaching stroke this should be an easy win

Here is a video where a coach breaks down both LA teams glaring weaknesses...

[yt][/yt]

[WhiteChocolateJr]

Three quick notes for tonight's game:

-- If Kobe suits up tonight and DOES PLAY, guess how much weight Mike Brown has in the locker room? (A: Zilch)

-- If Kobe sits out and two things happen (1) the Lakers lose, and (2) the Clips beat OKC, guess how many more games Kobe sits for the last 7 games (regardless of injury)? (A: Zippo)

-- Watch Bynum closely. This is THE GAME where a malcontent will be exposed. Tensions will run high, and tempers will flare. How effective will Brown be at reigning in his young star's attitude if the Lakers find themselves facing a big deficit early on? (A: Not at all)

-----See y'all at the AT&T Center!

[katyspursfan]

Originally Posted by dark21horse

Sore shin, huh? Maybe he should go to Eagle, Colorado so they can take a look at that thing.

If the dude's hurt, no need to take shots.

[alh1020]

Originally Posted by WhiteChocolateJr

-- Watch Bynum closely. This is THE GAME where a malcontent will be exposed. Tensions will run high, and tempers will flare. ......

If Bynum blows a fuse and squares off with Blair, I predict DeJuan, with his non-existent anterior cruciate ligaments (ACLs) in his legs, will cut loose and do some dancing tonight.

[Jose_TheGenius]

Originally Posted by alh1020

If Bynum blows a fuse and squares off with Blair, I predict DeJuan, with his non-existent anterior cruciate ligaments (ACLs) in his legs, will cut loose and do some dancing tonight.

well if you put it that way:

i hope Pop puts SJax on Bynum to see where that goes

[alh1020]

SJax would lead in that dance too. There might be some schooling taking place tonight. I just hope Pop doesn't reciprocate and sit one of the Big 3 tonight.....Milsap might blow another gasket.

[Mombear]

No Gary Neal tonight for Spurs against Lakers. Stomach bug

[SleepyAdamII]

Well didn't see this coming

[Jose_TheGenius]

per @24writer
But Green did admit without Kobe, the defensive game plan changes, "Our defensive schemes change just a little bit." #Spurs #Lakers

the few plays i saw in the beginning and close to the end were overload schemes to the ball (leaving wide open 3's). it seems Pop went for a scheme more likely for Kobe actually playing than him not playing.

i'm disappointed we didn't go straight up man defense which would tire their guys out more. i'm more shocked we saw Blair on Bynum over Blair on Gasol. if Pop puts Blair on Dirk, i don't know why he wouldn't put him on Gasol.

[ibanezsr]

Originally Posted by Jose_TheGenius

per @24writer
But Green did admit without Kobe, the defensive game plan changes, "Our defensive schemes change just a little bit." #Spurs #Lakers

the few plays i saw in the beginning and close to the end were overload schemes to the ball (leaving wide open 3's). it seems Pop went for a scheme more likely for Kobe actually playing than him not playing.

i'm disappointed we didn't go straight up man defense which would tire their guys out more. i'm more shocked we saw Blair on Bynum over Blair on Gasol. if Pop puts Blair on Dirk, i don't know why he wouldn't put him on Gasol.

I will never understand why Pop goes with Blair starting against the Lakers (or any lengthy team for that matter). It makes no sense. It only gives Bynum a ton of confidence to start the game with seeing Blair is going to guard him. Same thing will happen with Blair on Gasol. Blair should be at the end of the bench vs. the Lakers. Granted nothing would have helped this game but I am pretty sick of seeing Blair vs. starting centers. Call it a day already Pop. It's bad enough that we have to see him defend the bigs but why give him the ball in the post vs. the Bigs? Nothing good hardly ever happens when he posts up... yet they keep going to him. Sweet jump shot off the side of the back board tonight Blair.... haha... Stick to your game kid...

[alh1020]

Originally Posted by alh1020

SJax would lead in that dance too. There might be some schooling taking place tonight. I just hope Pop doesn't reciprocate and sit one of the Big 3 tonight.....Milsap might blow another gasket.

I think its time for me to eat my words. It looks like we got schooled tonight with Bynum being the teacher. Like Pop said after the game, you don't have to look at a stat sheet to know we got beat tonight. Thank God Danny Green helped to make the ending a little more respectable. Other than that, sad effort by our team tonight.

[Jose_TheGenius]

Originally Posted by ibanezsr

I will never understand why Pop goes with Blair starting against the Lakers (or any lengthy team for that matter). It makes no sense. It only gives Bynum a ton of confidence to start the game with seeing Blair is going to guard him. Same thing will happen with Blair on Gasol. Blair should be at the end of the bench vs. the Lakers. Granted nothing would have helped this game but I am pretty sick of seeing Blair vs. starting centers. Call it a day already Pop. It's bad enough that we have to see him defend the bigs but why give him the ball in the post vs. the Bigs? Nothing good hardly ever happens when he posts up... yet they keep going to him. Sweet jump shot off the side of the back board tonight Blair.... haha... Stick to your game kid...

i'm not totally against Blair starting vs. the Lakers. the problem is just putting him on Bynum. here's one of the few problems with doing that:

- Bynum can easily look over Blair and shoot over him
- as much as Blair boxes out Bynum, Blair needs to jump a long distance to outrebound Bynum
- Duncan doesn't play Gasol's shot, he plays the drive. with Duncan giving Pau the shot, that puts the burden of Blair rebounding over Bynum (if you put Duncan on Andrew, then you have Duncan boxing out and getting the ball over Bynum).

the scheme just didn't work n the end. once they overplayed the ball to help vs. Bynum, you had easy shooters and our defense scrambling. with 2 small guys on a 7 footer, the help wouldn't do much good anyway unless the ball didn't go his way.

playing straight up man with this crew would've helped. you then have Bynum having to score vs. Duncan and spending some legs and not having them rest on offense while they're wide open (ala Artest). if Kobe was playing, you would not see anyone help off of anyone.

[Rzarector7]

OUCH..... We were the ones who got routed.

[Rodny21a]

Spurs Starting unit and Tony and Tim specifically didn't bring it tonight. Perhaps it was being cold. Perhaps it was not getting up for a Kobeless Lakers Team. Blair starting didn't help things and not pressuring the ball certainly didn't help things. Sessions can be forced to be inefficient with pressure and Parker was pressure less. Pop didn't make good adjustments... (how often did Leonard get put on Sessions?) I do hope this opens up Pop's eyes... but I have doubts...