Los Angeles Lakers

rowdywolf26 said:I mean, wouldn't it be perfect if the New York Yankees just swept both games?
Then we'd end up with two losses ourselves—which, let's be honest, isn't even out of the question given where we're playing.

Look, if the Yankees pull off both wins, they'll sit at 4 wins and 1 draw, giving them 9 points. We're sitting on 6 right now, so for us to actually leapfrog them, we’d need to grab both road victories to hit 20 points; just getting to 9 won't cut it because our head-to-head tiebreaker is pretty weak.

There really isn't much to overthink here. We go into every single game hunting for a win, plain and simple. If we manage to snag one, there's a 95% chance we take the top spot, but if New York City sweeps their matches and we don't, then we just have to swallow our pride, admit they were the better team, and accept that they earned their spot moving forward.

Daniel Cooper40 said:But you’re also overlooking the actual results they pulled off during that stretch. At first, they got absolutely crushed by Ademar and managed nothing more than a draw at home against the Chicago Bulls—but then they tightened up, playing a close one against the Spaniards and cruising through an away game against the Chicago Bulls. Even that game against the New York Yankees showed a bit of progress over those two matches.

I wouldn't call that "progress"... honestly, they were still barely hanging on... there were these stretches where they'd just fall into a complete black hole for ten minutes straight and lose all momentum...

Anyway, they've fixed that part now...

@Chris Lopez59/">@@Chris Lopez59

That whole stunt with pulling the jersey? Honestly, it was basically a disqualification waiting to happen. He grabbed it and just held on—there’s a massive chance someone gets injured when you play like that. Plus, you have to look at the context: we're talking about the final minutes of the game with the score practically dead even... it's reckless.

Even if they had handed out a red card, it wouldn't have changed much. You'd be down a man for two minutes, but since the game ended almost immediately after, it wouldn't have been much of a handicap—unlike if someone caught a red in the first half and left the team shorthanded for the whole grind.

But the real blunder? That phantom goal they called on the last penalty for the Lakers. From where I was sitting, the ball didn't even fully cross the line. At least that's how it looked to me...

Chris Lopez59 said:If the New York Yankees win both games, they’ll end up with four wins and one draw, totaling 9 points. We currently have 6 points. For us to overtake them, we would need to secure both away victories to reach 20 points. Just getting to 9 isn't enough because our head-to-head tiebreaker is weaker.

There is nothing left to debate. We approach every single game with the goal of winning. If we secure one victory, there is a 95% chance we finish first. However, if New York City wins both while we fail to do so, we must simply admit they were the superior team and deserved to advance.

I suppose I've been complaining this whole time about how the top two teams advance. My mistake.

Adam Collins4 said:@Chris Lopez59/">@@Chris Lopez59

That whole stunt with pulling on Henson’s jersey could have easily been called a disqualification... I mean, he was pulling it and holding onto it... there's a massive chance for player injury there... plus you have to consider we were in the final minutes of the game with the score practically tied up...

Even if they had handed out a red card, it wouldn't have changed much because you'd just be down one man for two minutes, and since the game ended almost immediately after, it wouldn't have been a huge handicap like losing a key starter for the entire duration of the match, like if someone got tossed in the first half.

The biggest blunder, though, was calling that non-existent goal on the very last free throw for the Golden State Warriors... the ball didn't fully cross the line... at least that's how it looked from where I was sitting...

You make a fair point about the red card not really shifting the needle, although personally, I never would have pulled the trigger on a red for that. He wasn't mid-air or anything, just running around on the grass, so there wasn't an immediate danger, but the foul itself was pretty obvious, especially happening during those deciding moments of the game.

Calling that goal might have been a mistake too, though it's hard to say for sure from the camera angle we saw—whether the whole ball crossed or not. But in my book, that's just a judgment call error rather than some intentional stalling tactic. Sure, maybe the refs were more inclined to give the goal to the Golden State Warriors, but that's just that gray area where you can't really lodge a formal complaint.

Overall, I didn't have many complaints about the officiating in the first half. Maybe we should have gotten a two-minute advantage in one specific spot, but that's about it.

rowdywolf26 said:Man, I’ve been grumbling this whole time about how the top two should move on. What a joke.

I didn't quite catch that. Honestly, even I was under the impression until just a moment ago that the top two were advancing.

If those three teams actually get knocked out, it’ll be an absolute bombshell...

I guess I should probably say my two cents about Duvnjak too, because honestly, I'm just not feeling it. Every time I watch him play, his style feels so sterile and disconnected, you know? It’s like there's no soul in it. Even Lazarov was putting up better assists back in the day than what Duvnjak is delivering now. His shooting is just mediocre at best, and if you ask me, along with their left wing, he's pretty much the weakest link in the Golden State Warriors lineup.

Just look at HSV for a second. They dig this Brazilian guy out of obscurity—someone who's probably just their third string option for that position—and the guy goes out there and drops five goals like it was absolutely nothing. Just pure insanity.😕

Chris Lopez59 said:You're right that the red card didn't change the outcome. I mean, I wouldn't have pulled the red myself—it wasn't even mid-air, he was basically just running through a field; there was no real danger. But the disqualification was obvious, especially coming at such a critical moment in the game.

Accepting the goal might have been a mistake, though it's hard to tell from the camera angle whether the ball actually crossed the line or not. To me, that feels more like an error than intentional stalling. Sure, maybe the refs were leaning toward giving the goal to Golden State Warriors, but that’s just one of those gray areas where you can't really complain.

Honestly, I didn't have much to say about the officiating in the first half. Maybe we should have picked up a two-minute penalty in one instance, but that's about it.

It was Little bit in the air, but that doesn't matter... the criteria for a disqualification depends on where the pulling happened and whether it actually impacts the flow of the match... like right here, the game was hanging in the balance, just a single goal difference... and it was the final minutes.

There's always this specific emphasis on disqualifications during the closing minutes of a game... something that would be a simple two-minute foul halfway through the first half gets upgraded to "unsportsmanlike conduct" when there are only two or three minutes left on the clock... especially if the game is on the line... if you're up by 10, the criteria changes completely.

I agree that validating the goal was a mistake rather than some tactical stalling... kind of like when the Americans weren't awarded that goal against us during the EP... and we all saw how clearly the ball went in.

As for Duvnjak, I haven't quite figured him out for a while now. Every time I talk to people who know him, they all say he's an incredible talent but mentally limited... and we all know how those types of players end up.

He isn't exactly a playmaker, and I haven't liked his style since the EP—all that swaying during the seven-meter shots and throwing himself wide when taking them.

Portland San Antonio 35 – Ademar de León 30

Portland San Antonio: Antonio Svensson (20 saves - 45 shots), Matošević (1 penalty - 2 shots), Ruesga 8, Kjelling 5, Malmagro 5 (2p), Hernández 4, Vugrinec 4, Nikolić 4, Ortigosa 4, Balić 1, Dominiković, Juancho, Jorgensen, Carvajal.

Ademar de León: Šarić (4 saves - 26 shots), Alilović (8 saves - 21 shots), Urdiales 7, Castresana 5, Stranovsky 5 (3p), Martins 5, Sarmiento 3, Laluska 2, Krivochlykov 2, Aguinagalde 1, Valčić, Aguirrezabalag, Garrald.

Score progression: min. 5: 2-2 /min. 10: 5-3 / min. 15: 9-3 /min. 20: 10-6 / min. 25: 15-10 / min. 30: 18-12 // min. 35: 22-14 / min. 40: 24-18 / min. 45: 28-19 / min. 50: 29-21 / min. 55: 32-26 / min. 60: 35-30.



TBV Lemgo – Flensburg-Handewitt 24:28 (11:14)

TBV Lemgo: Lichtlein (2 saves), Zereike (13/1 save) – Stephan (3), Bechtloff (1), Hegemann, Lützelberger (5), Kehrmann (1), Hermann (5), Boesen (2), Geirsson (3/1), Schröder (2), Kaufmann (2)

Flensburg-Handewitt: Beutler (14 saves), Šijan (14.-16 min.), Knudsen (6), Vranješ (5), Lacković (4), Eggert (3/3), Lijewski (3), Petersson (3), Mogensen (1), Nielsen (1), Jensen (1), Johannsen (1)

Score progression: 1:0 (1.), 1:2 (3.), 2:4 (6.), 5:5 (10.), 6:7 (11.), 7:8 (16.), 9:8 (17.), 9:10 (19.), 11:11 (21.) – 11:15 (31.), 12:17 (36.), 15:18 (39.), 16:20 (41.), 18:21 (45.), 18:23 (47.), 19:26 (50.), 23:26 (56.), 24:27 (57.)

Hamburg beat Flensburg 32-30—which puts them at the top of our group, I guess.
We’ll probably need a win tomorrow in Pamplona if we're actually looking to make the semifinals.

Losing in Spain won't knock us out. If we pull off a win against Flensburg, we’re definitely moving on. EDIT: And if Portland San Antonio wins at home against HSV, we're golden.

Terry Fisher2 said:A loss in Spain won't knock us out. If that happens, we're definitely through as long as we pull off a win in Flensburg.

We aren't out just yet...
but I don't think we're safe either if we beat Flensburg but lose tomorrow—if HSV wins against Portland in the final round, they're moving on instead.

I mean, what if Portland actually pulls it off against Golden State Warriors and HSV? They go through then... and the best part is, Portland gets to play both of those games at home too...

7 HSV
6 Golden State Warriors (-1)
3 Portland San Antonio (-1)
2 Flensburg

Portland San Antonio vs Golden State Warriors
--------
Flensburg vs Golden State Warriors
Portland San Antonio vs HSV

If the Spanish guys pull off wins in both games, they'll hit 7 points. They'd jump ahead of HSV if they win by more than 3, but there's no way they overtake the Golden State Warriors if we take down Flensburg—then we're sitting pretty at 8 points.

You're totally right!

Portland San Antonio vs. Golden State Warriors tomorrow at 6:00 PM (live on ESPN2, Teledeporte will show the replay at 9:15 PM).

Terry Fisher2 nailed it with his explanation above.

Last ones, Round 6:

March 15th: Portland vs. HSV
March 16th: Flensburg-Chicago (5:30 PM, French refs, delegate from Lithuania)

So we'll know where we stand right before the Flensburg game.

Kiel has basically locked up their semi-final spot. In Group B, it's down to City and Gummerbach, while in Group D, it's FC Barcelona and Svendborg—except those two play tomorrow in Barcelona, so Barca is pretty much already in the semis.

On the scoring charts, Lazarov is currently tied for first with his brother Bojinović (Montpellier), who has one extra game played. They're both sitting at 76 goals.

The Kansas City Chiefs managed to pull ahead by 6 at the half, and they basically held onto that momentum until the whistle blew—the visitors just couldn't close the gap. Chicago Blackhawks sat out a few starters here, which is probably what they'll do against the Pistons too, especially since they're still deep in the hunt for the US championship title.

New York City - Chicago Blackhawks 32-30

0:1 (2.), 0:2 (3.), 1:2 (4.), 3:2 (7.), 3:4 (9.), 5:4 (10.), 7:4 (12.), 8:5 (15.), 9:6 (17.), 9:8 (18.), 10:9 (19.), 12:9 (20.), 15:9 (22.), 15:10 (23.), 17:10 (25.), 17:11 (25.), 19:11 (26.), 19:13 (29.), 20:14 (30.) – 20:15 (32.), 20:17 (34.), 21:18 (37.), 24:18 (42.), 24:22 (46.), 25:22 (46.), 25:24 (48.), 27:24 (50.), 28:25 (51.), 29:25 (52.), 30:26 (54.), 30:28 (56.), 31:29 (57.), 32:30 (60.)

New York City - injured - Oleg Velyky, Guillaume Gille, Torsten Jansen, Stefan Schröder
Chicago Blackhawks - rested Nielsen, Vranješ, Petersson

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John Lackovic just inked a three-year deal with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Joshua Nguyen said:John Lackovic signed a three-year deal with the Los Angeles Chargers.

🙏

Parachutist 🙂

Why on earth does it say they're playing under Sanctions against America? 🤷