LAKERS -at- PISTONS - 3/26 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Villains on the Road... A Pontiac Bonneville pulls to a stop in front of you. The driver door opens and the song "Tough Guy" from the Beastie Boys escapes first, blasting from the speakers, "...Too Many Elbows To Report, Now You're Poking Me In The Eye, Bill Laimbeer..." The noise is followed by the Pontiac's 6-11 driver, whose weasely face looks like it needs to be punched.

He walks straight up to you and invades your personal space. "Back off," you tell him, putting your hand on his shoulder. He goes flying to the ground like he's just been viciously assaulted. "Come on, dude, I barely touch you."

He scoops up some dirt from the road and pretends to rub his hands together, then suddenly flings it toward your face. You're blinded for a second, but catch a glimpse of him pulling a pipe from his jacket. Too late. The first swing hits you in the side and you stumble backward. He's got the momentum and the advantage. You're on your heels and could use a little help. It's not coming.

He swings, you duck, he misses. You grab his arm and the two of you tango over to his car. You slam him against the hood, the pipe goes flying. "You're scratching my car!" he screams. He then scratches you in the face with his fingernails and tries to pull your hair with his other hand. Damn, who is this guy?

Enough is enough. You've got a long road to travel and a schedule to keep. You can play his game, too. You lift him up by the groin and try to heave him over the car, he lands on the hood with a crash. That'll leave a scratch. "Okay, I give. I give," he yells. He pulls a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket. "This is for you," he says.

When you reach out to take it, he tries to clock you with a cheap shot, which you block. "I had to try," he says. You grab the paper from his hand...then punch him in the face. And then do it again. When he's out cold, you pat him down and pull out his wallet to find his name. Bill Laimbeer, like the lyrics in the song. He looks 20 years younger than he should be according to his date of birth. What year are you in now? You read the paper, you took from him. DancingBarry, of course:

Three of the Four Horsemen were here. The battle's momentum shifted from one extreme to the next. The Death Riders were badly routed early on, but the Horsemen took the fight to their opponent once again, and this time they took the life from their foe.

I will continue to follow them...

This was a game of runs, of pushing and shoving, momentum shifts. At the end of the night, the Laker starters dominated the undermanned Pistons 92-77. How dominating were the Lakers starters? In the first and third quarters, they locked down the Pistons for 12 and 13 points.

After a great opening quarter, holding the Pistons to a Laker opponent low in points, the Lakers then returned the favor in the second quarter. They had their worst offensive quarter of the year with just 14 points. The Pistons had a 17-0 run during one point. In the third quarter, the Lakers out did that with a 20-0 run of their own.

"These guys got pride. They're professionals," Lamar said. "You start feeling yourself and take some bad shots and allow a team to get into it. It happens, but the main thing is we won."

The Lakers snapped another streak. They had lost their last 9 games in Detroit. Without Sheed, AI or Hamilton, tonight the Lakers took care of business like they should. Still, the second unit didn't look steady.

"I shortened the rotation a bit in the second half, so that we didn't have so many guys who were in there that are not starters," Phil said. Without Bynum, the Lakers lose that impact player depth and may have to do this more to prevent the ship from sinking."

...Worthy on the post-game show commenting about the Bad Boys and Bill Laimbeer: "We didn't hate these guys, but we hated Bill."


Kobe -- -- A variety of offensive work from Kobe in this game. Inside, outside, in between, off the dribble, on the break...just a well-rounded showing. The Pistons threw some good defenders at him, but Kobe chucked them back. He had a lot of change of speed and change of direction going on in his offensive attack. That had the defenders unprepared quite a bit. Once again, Kobe got to the line for a good number of attempts. He's been attacking with much more frequency than at home. This seems to be done with some intent and purpose. The Stats: He scored 30 points on 10-18 shooting (1-3 shooting, 9-10 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 7 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +27. The Action: He pumpfaked his man into the air and drew FTs on the first possession of the game, he made one. He curled to the ball, attacked the lane and stuffed with his left. He bricked on a drive drawing contact but no call. He posted up next time down, more foul-worthy contact as he powered in a layup. He drained a pull-up 19-footer. He missed a runner off the glass. He drained a wing three. He missed a pull-up baseline jumper over Prince. He busted out, took the outlet and scored a layup. He lost a backcourt pass right out of bounds (typical when it rains, it pours play). He had 12 points on 5-9 shooting and 4 assists. Second Half: He bricked a turnaround badly, didn't hit rim. He up-faked and banked in an And-1 from the elbow, he made the FT. He sealed his man under the rim and scored a layup. He took contact, no call and missed a leaner. He swiped a pass, attacked, took contact again and this time got the call, he made both FTs (he came up limping, but took his time at the line). Sweet cross-over in transition to lose his man and he drew FTs at the rim, he made both. He airballed a prayer trying to beat the third quarter buzzer. With a change of direction dribble between his legs, he lost a defender, attacked down the middle of the lane and scored a layup. Next time down, he hit a pull-up at the elbow. He put Prince to sleep with the shotclock low, then quickly attacked baseline for FTs, he made both. He missed a wing three. He swiped a pass on the other end. He posted up, turned into the lane and powered in an And-1, he went to the line with "M-V-P" chants from the Laker faithful and made the FT.

Gasol -- -- He certainly couldn't keep the second unit afloat. Even when they played better in the second half, Pau still had a couple of turnovers. He led the team in that category with 5. He looked to shoot over Kwame, instead of try to create around him. The first time we played the Pistons this year, we had issues with their perimeter game. It pulled our bigmen away from the hoop and opened the lane for penetration. There was no Sheed to rain threes, so the Lakers were able to clog the lane and hold them to just 77 points. It would have been nice to see both teams healthy as this could have been a measuring stick game to see how much the team has grown in their defensive scheme since that game. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-10 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 3 assists, 5 turnovers and 2 fouls in 41 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He drained a face-up 19-footer. Soft outlet and it was picked off. He took the post entry over a fronting defender and scored a layup. He missed a leaning elbow jumper. He took the entry, got contact and hit the turnaround off the glass. He missed a turnaround in the lane. He overpassed, right out of bounds instead of taking the FT jumper. He swished a face-up 16-footer. He had 8 points on 4-6 shooting and 7 boards. Second Half: Bad turnaround jumper attempt from about 17 feet out and he missed. He drained a baseline jumper on a kickout from Lamar. He got to the line on a loose ball foul on the defensive end, he made both FTs. He was blocked at the rim. He traveled on a pick and pop. He was called for a three-second violation. He attacked and set up Powell for a dunk.

Lamar -- -- Lamar looked every bit of that near triple-double he put up. He was aggressive with his shot, aggressive in transition and also played some strong D. "Just letting the game come to me, but still being aggressive," he said. Both he and Kobe led the Lakers with a +27, and they really did look like the two most effective players out there. Lamar kept pushing the tempo or creating for others like a point. Defensively, he matched up with Kwame, but did a lot of switching and helping. Thankfully, he stayed out of foul trouble, too. Phil let him run with that second unit in the second half...and that may have been the key to not getting chewed apart again. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-10 shooting (1-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 7 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 40 miniutes. He was a +27. The Action: He shoved Kwame in the post for an early foul. He swished a wing jumper. He cut down the lane as Kobe coughed up the ball, caught it in stride and scored the layup. His pass to Pau was picked off under the hoop. He hit a leaning step-back J from the wing on a quick attempt after getting a pass. He attacked and kicked to Fish for a three. He attacked to his right, stretched back in front of the defender with his left and flipped it in. He had 8 points on 4-4 shooting. Second Half: Quick attack off the high pinch post and he drew FTs at the rim, he made one. He missed a long wing pull-up jumper. Great help D when Trevor was fronting, he stole the entry pass and threw it off a Piston. He was blocked by Kwame on a throwdown attempt (should have been a foul as LO got body slammed and Kwame wasn't going straight up). He kicked out to Pau for a baseline jumper. Great bounce pass to Kobe under the hoop who sealed his man for a layup. Sensational one-handed catch and pass to Ariza on the break at full speed for the dunk. He missed a tip-in attempt. He was picked from behind pushing the ball up. He knocked down a pass, pushed up the break and hit Farmar for the score. He drained an open corner three with the shotclock low. He missed a baseline jumper.

Ariza -- -- He was reluctant to shoot from the perimeter early on and later shoot blanks. But his play around the rim was especially effective. We put him in the post on a couple possessions and he is continuing to look very capable there with that combination of althleticism and length. He also continues to be a threat in transition, whether dunking or passing. He played the uptempo game well tonight. Defensively, he matched up with Prince, although the Lakers did a lot of switching. Prince was a -37 and hit just 3-13. On some of those switches you would see Ariza rotate to a bigman, then end up covering a PG. When you have that combination of Kobe, Trevor and LO out there, their rotations and switches can really be effective. The Pistons didn't have the big guns to deal with it. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-8 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +16. The Action: He posted up, attacked to his right and scored the easy layup. He swiped a pass on one end, then bricked a reverse on the other. Nice pass to Fish filling the lane on the break for the And-1 layup. He thwarted a breakaway by drawing a charge on the pass off. He overpassed on the drive and threw it away. He took a pass in the lane, squeezed between defenders and scored at the front of the rim. He swiped an entry pass. He fumbled a Kobe pass out of a timeout for a turnover. Second Half: He flushed back down a DFish miss with both hands. He threw down on the next possession, busting out with LO, taking the one-handed pass from LO in stride and dunking again. He missed a three. He missed a three off the kickout. He missed another three.

Fisher -- -- He seemed either spot on with his jumper or totally off. He had a couple airballs. Defensively, we did fine against Stuckey. This kept the Pistons out of the paint to start the game. Will Bynum changed the game against the Laker guards. It started against Farmar and continued against Fisher. He got into the paint and scored or collapsed the D for open shooters. The Lakers had a lot of transition action, not DFish's strength, but he did have a couple nice plays in there. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-13 shooting (3-7 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists and no fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +19. The Action: He drew a moving screen foul on the perimeter. He airballed a three from the wing. He missed a wing jumper off the screens. He filled the lane next to Ariza, took the pass and scored and And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He bricked a layup at high speed and wondered where the call was. His layup was swatted. He missed a corner three. He missed a wing jumper badly. He swished a wing thre on the next trip down when LO kicked out. Second Half: He sank a corner jumper with his toe on the three line. He sank a wing three in early offense next time down. He pushed out the break and airballed a three (just didn't get set up). He missed another three in transition the next time down. On his third attempt in a row, he finally connected for the three. He drew FTs next time down off the dribble, he made both.

Luke -- -- Luke hasn't won in Detroit since entering the league. He finally got that monkey off his back, but his back will likely be feeling it tomorrow. He hit the floor a couple of times, once getting decked by Kwame on a layup and falling to the floor hard. He was non-existant in his first stint. He made some nice plays in the his second stint and Phil later gave him some extra run. Luke didn't find himself with any open jumpers in this game, which is not a bad thing. Glad to see him finally get the W in Detroit. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-2 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He missed his step-back turnaround from about 17 feet out, poor idea. He got body slammed by Kwame on a drive and hit the floor hard, bouncing, he went to the line and made both FTs. Great pick and roll bounce pass to Mbenga for the dunk. He attacked and fell out of bounds with the ball. He powered up for a layup in early offense.

Farmar -- -- Will Bynum came off the bench and turned the Piston game around. Farmar couldn't keep him out of the paint (neither did anyone else in that second quarter). As a result, Bynum had a career night with 25 points and 11 assists. They couldn't stop the bleeding in the first half. In the second half, the Lakers had an 8-point lead when Farmar entered. They had dug themselves out of a hole, but the second unit didn't give it up. They didn't play great, but were better than the first half when Phil benched them all. Offensively, Farmar's jumper looked way off. He didn't do much orchestrating of the offense. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 15 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He probed, was funneled to the hoop to no one and scored the layup. He missed a layup on the lob attempt, should have had it. He missed a wing three. Second Half: He airballed a pull-up jumper off the two-man game. He hit a bank on the break with Lamar. He missed a three when Sasha stole the ball in the backcourt.

Vujacic -- -- Asked what changed in the second half, "Bench Mob stepped up," Sasha replied. In a way, yes. It's more like they didn't suck the life from the team like their first stint. The starters dominated the game. In the first half, the bench failed badly. In the second half, they held serve. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 steal and 1 foul in 13 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He missed an open corner three. Second Half: He sank a wing three with the shotclock low. He missed a catch-and-shoot off the screens from about 22 feet out. He stole the ball in the backcourt.

Powell -- -- Short minutes from Powell. Lamar was playing an strong foul-free game that allowed Phil to run him longer. We didn't run much, if any, of the pick and pop that plays to Powell's strengths as a shooting bigman. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting to go with 2 boards, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 5 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He was blocked on an interior feed from Luke. He missed a leaning jumper. Second Half: He traveled after grabbing an offensive board and trying to put it back in. He slammed off the Pau drive and dish.

Brown -- -- He came in with a couple minutes left. Garbage time at that point. Not much to evaluate tonight. The Stats: He didn't score or shoot in 2 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Mbenga -- -- I'm not sure what was drawn up in the timeouts, but Mbenga took two jumpers out of them tonight. The second one was a horrible shot. He's definitely an option on those plays and this isn't the first time we've seen him take a jumper out of a timeout. The second one, he forced. Defensively, he was active but didn't get his swat on. Some nice communication out their on some of the defensive sequences. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting and had 2 fouls in 7 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He missed a jumper out of a timeout. Second Half: He airballed a 17-footer out of a timeout. He dunked off the two-man game with Luke.

Phil -- -- The Lakers led 11-6, keeping the Pistons out of the paint defensively to start the game... The Lakers took the opening quarter 25-12. The second-unit gave up three layups late in the quarter, but prior to that all the Detroit shots were from outside. The fewest points the Lakers have given up all quarter as the Pistons shot 6-21... We started the second quarter with the standard Pau, Powell, Luke, Sasha, Farmar unit. They were foul-prone and scoreless to start the quarter, and they were outscored 12-0 in the first 3 minutes before a timeout came... Phil benched the entire unit to go with his starters and Mbenga. Out of the timeout, Mbenga missed a jumper. And the run was extended to 17-0 before Ariza scored with 6:40 left in the quarter... The Lakers trailed 42-39 at the half, getting outscored 30-14 in the second quarter. The Three Horsemen were 13-19 from the field... The coaches said the bench killed them and they needed more from them. They mentioned the issues with Will Bynum breaking down the D... The Lakers were outscored to start the second half and trailed by 10. Phil called a timeout after 3 minutes. He told the team to quit settling offensively... The Pistons were out of fouls just 3 minutes into the third. The Lakers got to the line 6 minutes later, but it would help stretch their run a little... The Lakers closed the third quarter on a 20-0 run. They kept the Pistons from getting penetration and good looks and scored in transition on the other end... They had a 70-55 lead to start the fourth. Phil went with a Pau, Lamar, Luke, Sasha, Farmar lineup... They were outscored 7-2 in the first three minutes of the fourth. Phil subbed out Gasol for Mbenga. Then brought in Kobe shortly later to keep anything crazy from happening... The Pistons were held to 39.5 percent shooting. The Lakers shot 45.5 percent...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Some very big swings on huge runs. The 20-0 Laker run in the third took the game over. Fish had 10 points, Kobe 9, but LO was a boarding, assisting machine in that third.

[Dr. Laker]

1st
_________________
On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[Luca Brasi]

2nd damn. if i hadn't take the extra time to complimented you DB. arghhh.

don't know what the fuss is but it feels good

btw good write up as always.
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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

[20,000]

Stupid 2nd quarter
_________________
Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[20,000]

Beautiful opening description. One of your best
_________________
Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[Luca Brasi]

following up on what big game james said about laimbeer, i would also add, i don't normally condone urinating on another person, but i would make an exception for bill, he deserves a golden shower or two.
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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

[Ray_Gonzoles]

As always, thanks for the recap DB.
After the 2nd quarter meltdown by the Lakers, glad they got it together for the W.
_________________
"Just show up ready to work, ready to play, Have your big boy pants on, leave your diaper at home." Kobe Bryant
Anything less than a championship is a failure. Period.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Got 4 more opening stories for this road trip? Cause I think you're going to have to use them!

Great to finally see this squad beat the Pistons in Auburn Hills, and great to see the Lakers adjust in the second half when the second unit came out a second time.

New Jersey next! Go Lakers

[fsc401]

quick question.

How do you write your opening statments?

[Critical Beatdown]

Bill!
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!
Per 100 possessions, we're winning 118-102 with LO on the floor, and losing 109-111 without him. (updated: 4/1/09; source: 82games.com)

[DancingBarry]

[ocho]

[ecksor]

It'd be nice for them to break the streak of no team ever going 7-0 on a single road trip..

BTW, thank for the writeup, DB!
_________________
We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire... Give us the tools and we will finish the job.
- Winston Churchill

Who is my avatar? Kharunisia

[Sage_10]

Thanks DB!
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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

[BigE32]

Thanks, DB. I know they were shorthanded, but it's still nice to get a W in Auburn Hills b/c we had lost our last nine games there.

[20,000]

[20,000]

I am curious, is there some way to see someone's total +/- for the entire year running? I'd be curious what Farmar's is.
_________________
Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[limchrc]

Nice win, thanks for the recap.

[LakersDa1]

Thats one streak for sure out of our way, before the championship ring

we need to beat Blazers at Portland... i think thats our last season

game... Should be a doozzie!!

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB

[Klone_dd]

The starters treated the Pistons like ugly stepchildren, offensively and defensively.

The bench treated the Pistons like rock stars. Pretty atrocious and certainly not a matter of, as Sasha said of the 2nd half, the bench mob stepping up.

Perhaps LO is the key to the 2nd unit rather than Pau. In the 2nd Q, Pau with the bench mob were a -12. In the 4th Q, LO (with Pau) and the bench mob were a -5. Still negative, but not so much. LO with the 2nd unit = less decision making for JoFar plus a more open court game and a more mobile defensive unit.

[Brandon98]

LOL just watched the replay.



Joel and Stu's commentary on Sharpe's freethrow is absolutely hillarious.






(And of course, awesome job DB!)

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

-2nd quarter was inexcusable! 17-0 run? without rip,sheed,ai
-another player with career highs against us (bynum:points and assists)
-refs were horrible (kwame hacks lamar / no call, sasha get taken out of the air / no free throws, bavetta needs to retire)
-one hell of a third qtr
-trev's back2back dunks
-luke is starting to grow on me
-i wish dj would have laid kwame out when he took look outta the air
-pau seems like he's auditioning for a spanish soap opera with his theatrics when he doesnt get a call. came close to 3 secs in the key when he stayed down on sasha's big 3.
-kobe locking down stuckey until he travelled (remember when he did that to d-wade?)
-lamar is in a good groove from the outside
-kobe/lebron co-mvps. its the only fair way
-down with the palace, rose garden next! (curse wise)


end of the 2nd qtr, kwame bobbling the ball as time expired. deja vu?

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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[DancingBarry]

[SP_Fever]

BYNUM WITH THE BREAKOUT GAME!!!! Will Bynum, that is