LAKERS -at- TWOLVES - 1/30 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

One By One, Knock Them Out... From Wizards and twisters to rusty Tin Men, you find yourself paying closer attention to your surroundings. So when you pass a narrow road paved in yellow bricks, you slam on the brakes. You recall the dream Lil' Larry O'Brien has been pushing in your thoughts. There were yellow stones like these.

You hop out and make a beeline for the beginning of the road. An iron gate is flanked by a man and a woman with white face paint and top hats. "The road awaits, my friend," the man says. "The road awaits."

The woman gestures to the road with an open palm, "Welcome to your first stop, the Outside Lookin' In..." she says and invites you to take a closer look. As you stroll down this first block of the road, the cold air begins to chill you to the bone. A flurry of snowflakes whips around you like a blinding white nightmare. It makes your head throb...or maybe that's the lump you took a few days ago. When it clears, you start to make out bodies lying scattered across the road. Not human bodies, but animals of some kind.

As you approach, these resemble that same pack of mangy wolves you saw roaming your streets not too long ago. They actually appear healthier, but they aren't moving. What happened here? You cautiously kneel down, lift up a limp paw and let it drop. They aren't dead, just knocked out cold.

Someone's been punching Timberwolves.

In the snow around you, there are horse hooves everywhere. The Four Horsemen. Just then a snowball drills you upside the head. A balled up purple and gold paper falls from the snowball to the ground. You open it up. DancingBarry:

The Four Horsemen were here. They stormed through their foe like General Patton through a blizzard on his way to Bastogne. They slowed for nothing and kept their opponent on their heels. As quickly as the Four Horsemen were here, they were gone.

I will continue to track them...

The Lakers opened their six-game road trip with their best offensive effort of the season, scorching frigid Minnesota on their way to a 132-119 win. Kobe, Drew and Pau combined for 77 points.

While Kobe scored 30 of those, it was Bynum's 27 points and 15 boards that stole the show once again. He played aggressive, hungry and was too big for any of the TWolves thrown at him.

"Andrew established the inside game for us," Phil said. The Lakers looked for Bynum, Pau and Kobe to all attack the post from the start. The points came fast and easy. Bynum just overwhelmed the TWolves.

"We're starting to expect it from him," Kobe said in the Times. "He's being aggressive, he's being assertive, he's finding his niche of where he can operate in the offense. I like it. I like it a lot." Yes, indeed, Bynum is back...and then some.

As the cliche goes, the Lakers need to take the roadie a game at a time...and one by one knock them out. When Kobe was asked what they have to do to keep it going? "Get the hell out of here and get to Memphis. Get ready to go. Man, it is freezing out here," he said.


Kobe -- -- "Defensively, when we needed to we made the right plays," Kobe said. When you have scoring quarters of 33, 31, 36 and 32, it appears there weren't a lot of those moments when the team felt they needed to get stops. Offensively, Kobe was aggressively looking to attack his man. He had a poor close to the first half with a series of misses and some stalling of the offense. With our inability to get stops, those misses allowed the TWolves to pull back close. He tightened it up in the second half. Phil was able to get him a little bit of rest in this game, which should pay off tomorro. Kobe tried playing without the bandage on his right palm tonight, but it started to bleed again late in the game. He'll probably have to keep it patched throughout the road trip. The Stats: He scored 30 points on 12-23 shooting (1-7 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 5 assists, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 35 minutes. The Action: He posted up Foye and hit the And-1 turnaround off the glass, he made the FT. He swished a pull-up jumper on the three line in transition. Foye scored on him, Kobe then went right back to the post and scored another And-1 turnaround on him, he made the FT. He up-faked Gomes, attacked and hit the leaner in the lane. He missed a heat-check three from a couple feet back. He missed an elbow jumper. He swished a 10-footer scooping up a loose ball. He missed a long jumper. He sealed Carney and scored a layup. He missed a three. He missed a wing jumper. He missed a baseline jumper. He stalled the offense and eventually airballed a three. He had 14 points on 6-13 shooting and 5 boards. Second Half: He drew FTs when Luke spotted him in the lane, he made both. He got backdoored for a layup. He gave up a wide open jumper to Foye. He bricked an early offense three, way short. He picked up a cheap foul on the other end. He up-faked Gomes and then hit the elbow jumper. He missed a fade on the baseline. He swished a wing three, pulling up in early offense. He missed a long three with a man on him on his next attempt. He blew past his man from the top of the key and scored a layup. He created space against Miller and went glass from about 17 feet out. He stepped past Gomes with ease and drew FTs, he made one (he was bleeding from his palm as he tried to shoot). He sank a sick, stepback jumper from 20 feet out with a man all over him and the shotclock low. He missed an early three, too long, on the next trip down. He swished a pretty baseline pull-up, fading to his left.

Gasol -- -- All Star Pau Gasol bounced back offensively from his poor outing last time out. The Laker team seems impossible to cover when you've got Pau, Bynum and Kobe all able to overwhelm their defenders. Defensively, another weak effort. He's got to make it more difficult for opponents in the paint. Jefferson generally had his way with Pau, and anyone who attacked the paint saw very little shot altering from Pau. He needs to find his D again at some point. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 6-11 shooting (9-12 from the line) to go with 9 boards (4 offensive), 3 assists, 1 block and 5 fouls in 39 minutes. The Action: He posted up and hit Luke for the open jumper. He missed a wing jumper. He swished an elbow jumper on a drive and kick from Luke. He worked the post and scored a layup attacking to his left. He missed a 7-footer in the lane. He posted up, spun baseline and was fouled by Love, he made one FT. He trailed the break and dunked off a pass from Ariza. Good hands to snag an offensive board that Ariza kept alive, then Pau dunked it in behind his head. He gave up a layup to Jefferson. He missed a jumphook in the middle of the lane. Second Half: He whipped a no-looker off the dribble to Luke for the layup. He crashed the glass in transition and was fouled after pulling down the DFish missed three, he made both FTs. Nice throwdown attempt in transition and he drew FTs, he made both. He drew FTs when Bynum tipped a board to him, he made one. He was fouled on a turnaround jumper in the lane, he made both FTs. He dunked off the bounce pass from Sasha. He missed a turnaround off the glass. He iso'd on Love and fouled him out with 7 minutes left, he made one FT. He backed Jefferson down, missed a short one, fought for it and scored the putback. He gave up an And-1 to Jefferson.

Bynum -- -- Jefferson couldn't handle Bynum defensively early on, so the TWolves switched up to protect him. Bynum went to work on the other defenders. Again, he was very aggressive in getting position and attacking quickly -- things he had not been doing well the first couple months. He has been running the floor with some speed and it's paying off. Phil limited his minutes when we had a big lead, otherwise Bynum probably is looking at a 34-18 type of game. Defensively, our interior D suffered whenever he wasn't there. Our rotations, again, were very weak when Bynum went to help...no one covered for him. Phil on the difference in Bynum lately: "I think he's really confident," he said. "He's got a good base. He feels really energetic out there. He looks like he's playing with more energy. His footwork is good. We're getting him the ball in good position. A variety of things." Bynum said that Kareem has helped him with most with timing on blocking shots, being patient on the block and his footwork. The Stats: He scored 27 points on 10-15 shooting (7-8 from the line) to go with 15 boards (7 offensive), 1 assist, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. The Action: He attacked Jefferson on his first attempt and scored an And-1 jumper hanging at the front of the rim, he missed the FT. Next time down, he posted up deep, took the entry, faked right and scored the jumphook left. He got tapped on a good third attempt, but kept the board alive. He got early low position, spun, caught Jefferson with an elbow and scored. He sealed Jefferson, took an entry and then drilled Jefferson with a forearm when he was fouled on a reach, he made both FTs. He faced up in the lane, took some contact then hit the soft jumper from 8 feet out. He posted up Love and drew FTs on the jumphook, he made both. He missed a bank after pulling down a Farmar miss. He hit Kobe with interior feed when Kobe had his man sealed for an easy score. Beastly effort, he took an offensive board from behind Love, then he went to work, overpowering Love for the And-1 layup, he made the FT. Sweet score, taking an early offense post entry, he felt his man leaning, Bynum went the other direction and hung to hit a soft 10-foot bank. Jefferson tried to jumphook over him and Bynum spiked it. He had 17 points on 6-8 shooting and 9 boards in the first half. Second Half: He grabbed a pass from Luke, up-faked his man, attacked and scored the layup. Excellent challenge on Jefferson's move to force a miss under the hoop, he then busted out with speed in transition and was fouled on a layup attempt (great change of ends), he made both FTs. Excellent job roofing Love from behind on help D. He took the high entry pass from Kobe (not an easy one), stepped back and hit the 13-footer in the lane. He missed an elbow turnaround jumper. He tipped an offensive board to Pau who was fouled for FTs. He was totally hacked with no call while trying to power up. He missed, again taking a foul with no call (he yelled at the ref). He had 23 points on 13 attempts after three quarters. Back in after a 9-minute rest, he took the post feed and overpowered Jefferson for the layup. He altered and controlled the rebound when Fish gave up penetration. He and Lamar worked the two-man game and Drew threw down the lob.

Luke -- -- Strong game from Luke. He made the TWolves pay whenever they decided to leave him. He never hesitated to take the shot. He brought the ball up court a bit more than usual, working out of the guard spot. Although it didn't look real pretty, he never had any issues. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-7 shooting (1-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 2 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He swished a catch-and-shoot jumper standing on the three line when Pau kicked out to him. He was stripped on an attack, then his man scored an And-1 the other way. He crashed the glass and scored a reverse. Second Half: He scored a layup off the no-looker from Pau. He threaded a pass to Kobe in the lane to manufacture FTs. He got swatted in the post. He sank the wing three on the kickout from Kobe forcing a timeout. He drew FTs bringing the ball up court, he made both.

Fisher -- -- He seemed to have a little bit of difficulty with Telfair. Some very soft D and again our bigs had to deal with a decent amount of dribble penetration, which ends up hurting on the glass or fouls. Offensively, he kept his game to the perimeter, looking to be the sniper. He was missing for the most part until a couple of threes late in the game to help improve what was an ugly stat sheet. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-11 shooting (2-8 from three) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 29 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He pushed out the rebound, pulled up and swished the 20-footer to start the game. Telfair started lighting him up for scores or assists. He gave up an offensive board to Telfair, it led to a hoop. He missed a three. He was stripped at the end of the half and was looking for the foul. Second Half: He hit the DFish Special with a toe on the three line after popping out behind the screens. He missed a three in transition. Some more easy looks for Telfair. He missed an open corner three. He fumbled the ball then missed a long chuck from the wing. He was called for a phantom foul and FTs in transition. He missed a three on a kickout from Pau. He missed a wide open corner three. He swished the sideline three on the Kobe kickout. He swished a wing three on a kickout.

Lamar -- -- Efficient offensive game from Lamar, but not a strong defensive effort. He was the victim of a couple of the weaker fouls in the game and did block 3 shots, but he and Pau could not hold down the middle. We also missed Lamar's defensive boarding. Offensively, he sank a couple jumpers, but struggled from the line. He's got to improve the freethrow shooting. He shoot .608 for the season, well below his career average of .704. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-4 shooting (1-2 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 23 minutes. The Action: He drained a corner three on his first attempt as the Lakers worked the ball around the perimeter when Kobe drew a double. He didn't box out, but tied up Jefferson on a shotblock after giving up the board. He grabbed a rebound, attacked strong to his left and banked in an And-1, he missed the FT. He missed an early offense three. Second Half: He sank an 18-footer when his defender sagged off. He stripped a man under the basket with a reach to save a sure hoop. He drew FTs on a quick counter attack on the break, he made both. Nice challenge and board, but he threw the outlet away. He attacked and kicked to Ariza for the three. He was fouled on a dunk attempt and made one FT. Bogus foul as Miller attacked in transition, used his off-arm against Lamar and then missed off LO's good challenge, but it resulted in FTs when a late whistle came. He pulled down a miss by Fish and chucked it off a man to regain possession. He worked the two-man game with Drew and lobbed to him for the dunk (more please).

Ariza -- -- The bump to his melon may have turned him into money from the perimeter. All three of his makes were from distance. Unfortunatley, he couldn't finish anything around the rim. Good to see the Cobra back on the court after losing him in the last one. He seemed to be his usual active self. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-7 shooting (2-2 from three) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and no fouls in 25 minutes. The Action: He missed a layup on a steep angle under the hoop. He fed Pau in transition for a dunk. Great effort keeping a board alive and Pau dunked it in. Second Half: He missed a layup. He swished a 21-footer from the wing, beating the third-quarter buzzer. He spotted up at the wing and drained the three on a kickout from LO. He took contact on a layup attempt with no call and missed. He cut, took a pass, drew the D and set up LO for FTs. He sank a sideline three, never hesitated. Sensational help D on the other end to recover to Lamar's man and reject the shot at the rim. He missed a layup again.

Farmar -- -- Farmar looked like the better choice out there defensively at the PG spot. He wasn't able to maintain that fourth quarter lead and Phil eventually went back to Fish. Farmar led the team with 3 turnovers. He's got to try to keep that area cleaner on the road. He did look relatively comfortable out there besides that. He needs to string together a few good games on this trip to help regain some trust from Phil. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-10 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He got blocked on a layup on the break, didn't finish it strong. He missed an open three straight away. He missed an open corner three next time down. He was called for a phantom foul on a block in transition. Low lob pass, turnover and score the other way. He swished an open three next time down. He put on a burst of speed to his right and banked over a help defender. He ball-watched and his man hit a three. He got it back on the other end working the two-man game. He let his man fly by, moved in a couple feet (could have been more) and missed the open jumper. He swiped a pass, attacked and then threw it away. Second Half: He got swatted on a drive. He filled the lane on the break, took the pass, hung and scored the layup. Good anticipation beating Foye to the spot by moving his feet and he drew the charge (that's how you use your speed on D, Jordan). He threw a pass away, dunk in transition.

Vujacic -- -- A more well-rounded game from Sasha. He had a couple nice passes to set guys up. He played some decent D, although Miller on occasion got the best of him. Sasha chucked up a few threes, but didn't go crazy. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting (all threes), he had 3 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 foul in 13 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He missed a long three on his first attempt. He gave up an offensive board and putback to Miller. He got several bounces on the rim before his three finally dropped in. Second Half: He swiped the outlet, gave it up, got it back and quickly missed a sideline three. He took an in-bounds pass, drew Pau's man, then bounced it to him for the dunk.

Radmanovic -- -- Vlad got a token appearance in this game. He made one good play in the backcourt, but not much else. Luke played a strong game, so the minutes would have been slim anyway. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting to go with 1 steal in 5 minutes. The Action: He pulled up in transition with his toes on the three line and then missed the shot. He bricked a drive off the glass. He swiped a pass in the backcourt and dunked on his man. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Powell -- -- He came in for Pau with a few minutes left in the half. Not a very good stint for him. He seemed out of sync within the offense. I do like seeing Phil get him a few minutes in the first half, though. Hopefully, he can bring a little better production next time. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting, he grabbed 1 offensive board, had 1 turnover and 1 foul in 4 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He bricked a turnaround. Bad pass, layup the other way. Poor close out and his man blew past him with ease. Second Half: Did not play in the second half.

Phil -- -- The game plan was to go inside with Bynum, Pau and Kobe... The Lakers got into the bonus in just under 3 and half minutes. They didn't take advantage of it early on... The Lakers led by 8 early, but the trailed with 3 minutes left in the quarter. DFish was getting burned on Telfair... The Lakers led 33-31 after the first quarter. They made 14-24 in the quarter, but gave up 5 offensive boards... Some dumb passes by the Lakers right to TWolves... The Lakers led by 6 when Phil brought in Vlad and Fisher for Farmar and Ariza. They extended the lead, but then gave it away. (Kobe missing several shots in the final minutes.)... The Lakers led 64-60 at the half. Too many silly turnovers and second-chance points given up. The Lakers shot 51 percent (26-51), the TWolves 44.9 percent (22-49). The Lakers shot 4-12 from three, the TWolves 3-9... The coaches were irked with the Laker passing, which resulted in easy hoops the other way... The Lakers started the second half strong, pulling out to a 16-point lead after the first 5 minutes... The bench started to give up the lead, but bounced back to lead 100-85 heading into the fourth... The second unit with Pau pulled out a 20-point lead, but quickly gave up an 8-0 run in about a minute and the lead was back to 12. Phil called a timeout... Phil must have been playing for the back-to-back by leaving Bynum on the bench in the fourth until the 3:27 mark. We led by 9 when Bynum returned. After the game, Phil said that's what he was doing... The two teams combined for 59-70 shooting from the freethrow line and 35 offensive boards. "There wasn't a whole lot of defense out there," Phil said...

Game Flow -- LINK -- The Lakers took control to start the third quarter.

[Exick]

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Game recognize game, Granddad. - Riley Freeman, The Boondocks

[DancingBarry]

[City_Dawg]

Thanks DB.
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*sighs*

!...

[SpunkieLakerCat]

[SweetP]

[DancingBarry]

[Qsmiff]

Loving the saga of the Death Riders great work DB!
If Andrew keeps up this level of play he will change the entire complexion of the of the team, he's making a move to be #2 option on the team and I bet no one is happier than Kobe, because #24 knows that that type of play leads to rings in June. Someone needs to tell Jordan that a mid-range game will get him more minutes on the floor. Our defense still mystifies me- why in the world was Fish doubling Andrew's man when half of our defensive problems start with Fish not covering his own man...collectively we just don't play smart at times. Trevor's developing offensive game is going to be very valuable also.

[Dr. Laker]

Nice job DB
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB!

My only gripe about tonight was that Powell only got 4 minutes of burn tonight. PJ needs to invest in this guy if LO doesn't have a long term future in P&G. I think Powell could be a solid backup PF on this team.

Loved seeing Drew continuing his dominant play as of late. He's looking like Shaq with a jumper!

[lakersfreak]

DB
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Forget carbon, reduce your government footprint

[MedRomLaker]

[IPK]

[Mation]

Many thanks DB!

After the 2 OT Charlotte write-up, you've got this 132 point game. Whew. Your keyboard must be smoking by now.

[ChefLinda]

[Sage_10]

Not loving the defensive effort. I know the T-pups have been playing well since the new year but still, Lakers have to improve their D.
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"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[limchrc]

Thanks. Love to see high gear offense, but would also like to see our defense clamp down better. Still a nice win.

[Rick12322]

Thanks' for the recap DB.

It's good to see Phil dividing up the minutes between Bynum and Pau, they each got around 30. That's why, IMO he brought Powell in to end the half, and that's why he left Pau in as along as he did when he was getting lit up. Pau needs some rest to get his legs back.

I wonder if Derek got the message, "NO DRIVING ALLOWED?"

[froesel]

Thank DB for the fantastic evaluation of the game. I only wish they will start playing defense. Giving up 119 points is ridiculous. I only hope they play better D against Cleveland and Boston because I know at least Boston will play a defensive game against us.
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Win or lose, for better or worse, always a Laker fan.

[Luca Brasi]

we put up points like the '82 lakers tonight.

i think i'm starting to resign myself to the fact that we might never become a "great" defensive team, but as long as we're good enough and can get "key" stops down the stretch, with our lethal offensive, we'll win it all this year.
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"i was born down in the valley where the sun refused to shine, but i'm climbin' up to the highlands, goin' to make that mountain mine" ~ Lakers, 2011

[StuLantz#1]

Always happy about a win, but the Laker D (and a lot of stretches where they couldn't grab a rebound) was ridiculously frustrating as a fan. It's surprising to note Minnesota actually didn't shoot that well from the field--and I'm primarily concerned with FG% allowed--because it seemed like LA just couldn't stop anyone. It was probably accentuated by all the offensive boards they gave up, but I once again noted a lot of lazy play.

The Lakers are clearly going through a stretch where they're looking for Bynum more, but there's such an obvious difference between his activity fighting for position down low lately. On a side note, based on the moments in between game action it looks like Bynum is pretty friendly with a lot of Twolves.

Also, when people talk about this team the thing I always hear is they have an incredible offense, and they're so deep. Not that those things aren't important, but those are things I associate more with non championship teams like the former Blazers, the Mavs, Suns, Kings, etc. Someone threw out the Eddie Jones analogy again the other day about clearing a big talent to focus scoring on less guys while stockpiling championship level role players. We have some talent on this team that would be hard to part with, and even though some do offer things to the team, I find myself hoping more and more a move goes down (though I doubt it will).

[DancingBarry]

[Killakobe81]

[Killakobe81]

We lose talent in the scenario but we get great role players who can play defense are winners and much smarter than the guys we lose