PISTONS -at- LAKERS - 11/17 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Fluidity... Teams of scavengers leave the protection of the city. Some don't return. They scrounge the outskirts for anything of use, but water is the one commodity that is most sought after. It's a problem as old as the city itself.

It hasn't been flowing, only trickling through the L.A. River recently. It may not be crystal clear, but once they filter it through sand and charcoal before boiling it, it's drinkable. Urban survival in the post apocalypse isn't always pretty.

Today, they find the water. Over the head of a little girl who watches from the perimeter gates, you spot them coming. Two tanker trucks kicking up dust and rolling toward you from the distance. As they pass through the gates, you read a message spray painted to the side of one tanker. It's DancingBarry:

The Horsemen were here. Led by the one called Death, they found what they needed most -- fluidity. How long it will last is anyone's guess, but it's a start.

More help is on the way. I will continue to track them.

The offense has run dry in the past two games. After the single-minded perimeter chucking the Lakers displayed recently, Phil made the team focus on passing and player movement. It was apparent tonight in the first three quarters as the Lakers led by as many as 28 points before taking the 106-93 win over the Pistons.

It also didn't hurt to have Kobe Bryant scorching defenders for a milestone 100th 40-point game of his career. Kobe mixed up his attack tonight, switching gears throughout the game between the post and face-up games as he faced a taller defender in Jerebko or a smaller one in Gordon. Eventually, the Pistons just threw everyone at him.

It didn't help. How do you put your signature on your 100th? In one play of fluid grace and hoop beauty, Kobe brought back memories of Michael Jordan. He lost a defender with a spin on the baseline, elevated, then spun away from the help defender while flipping the ball high over his head and into the hoop. Simply beautiful.

With Kobe collapsing the defense and the Lakers working the ball around and making the extra pass, fluidity returned to the triangle.

"I was pleased with the ball movement and effort in the first three quarters," Phil said. When it came to the fourth, the Lakers got lazy and hoisted up three after three and paid the price for it. The Pistons made it closer than it should have been, and Phil can use that to pound his point even further into their collective mind.

Hopefully, these struggles will soon be a thing of the past. Everyone is optimistic about the return of Pau Gasol for the next game.


Kobe -- -- Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant - only NBA ballers to have more than 100 40-point games in their careers. Kobe showed the full range of his arsenal tonight. His first shot of the game came up about a foot short, not a good sign if you're thinking about that strained groin. After missing his first four shots, however, he went 9-11 the rest of the first half, then 6-8 in the third. He was scorching defenders with an array of shots. The highlight of the night was the Jordan-esque spin in the air along the baseline to flip the ball in high over his head. The array of shots from Kobe tonight (turnarounds, step-backs, lefty jumphooks, a fastbreak hook across the lane, a lefty jumper, overpowering banks from the block) are what separates Kobe from others. He's simply an amazingly well-rounded offensive machine. Kobe's next milestone will be passing Kareem for second on the the Lakers all-time scoring list. The Stats: He scored 40 points on 17-29 shooting (1-3 from three, 5-5 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a +18. The Action: He airballed a 20-footer to start the game. He missed a three-footer in the paint. He was stripped turning in the post. He missed a 12-footer in early offense. He missed a short bank. He squeezed across the lane and hit a 12-footer. He missed a short jumphook with the left. He swished a turnaround from the post. He hit Lamar cutting from the weakside for a layup. He sank a pull-up 16-footer on his next attempt. He stripped his man to ignite the break. He attacked and ran into Kwame to draw FTs with 4.6 left in the quarter, he made both. He had 8 points on 3-8 shooting. He swished an 18-footer off the screen. He grabbed a board, missed, got it back and scored the layup. He filled the lane, took the pass, pulled the ball out over his shoulder and hooked in the layup. He gave a head-and-shoulder fake to lose Jerebko, then hit the wing jumper. He swished a step-back 21-footer and drew a foul, he made the FT. He sank the lefty jumphook hook after getting good position coming weak to strong. Some great D on Stuckey, hounding him, stripping him, before being called for a foul on the shotblock, he had to sit with 3 fouls with under 2 minutes left. He had 21 points on 9-15 shooting. Second Half: He scooped up a loose ball in the backcourt, put Wallace to sleep, then spun around him for a layup. He spun around his man and missed the reverse. He overpowered Gordon on the right block for an And-1 bank, he made the FT. He lobbed to Drew at the front of the rim for a dunk. He worked over Gordon in the high post and hit the And-1 turnaround, he made the FT. He spun around Gordon, spun in the air to fend off Kwame and flipped in the layup high over his head, a Jordan-esque type of circus shot. He sank a turnaround from the elbow. He hit a lefty jumper, spinning in the middle of the lane. He missed a tip of a Lamar miss. He had 14 points on 6-8 shooting in the third. He missed a backdoor lob, got it back and hit the short baseline jumper. He drew the double and hit Farmar for an open three. He missed a wing three. He missed another three. He missed a runner. He sank a long three to get to his 100th 40-point game.

Bynum -- -- He was ticked at Maxiell for drilling him in the back with a hard forearm on the boards and Drew let him know it as the two headed back down court. The result was a double tech and teammates separating the two. It's always nice when that fire inside Bynum shows (like the dunk and subsequent forearm to Shaq when Drew would a youngling). The Pistons ran Kwame, who is well familiar with Drew's game, more than usual to help on the post D. The Lakers made a better effort tonight at making the extra pass. When they built their huge lead, they weren't settling for threes. When they lost their lead, they got three happy. "We need to not let up. Everyone shut it down," Drew said of the fourth. Good job by Bynum on the offensive glass tonight. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-13 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 12 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 39:25 of action. He was a +22. The Action: He missed a turnaround jumper. He missed a drop-step bank on the left block. He pulled down an offensive board and it led to an Artest layup. He dunked off the screen-roll with LO. He drop-stepped on Kwame and drew FTs, he made one. He was blocked by Wallace, turning right into him. He took the repost from Fish and swished the jumphook in the middle of the lane. He missed at the rim over Wallace, got it back and put it in. He had 7 points on 3-7 shooting and 7 boards. Second Half: He scored a layup on the interior feed from LO. He roofed Wallace to help get a shotclock violation. He swished a 9-footer off an interior feed from LO. He drew FTs after gathering a high entry from Fish, he made both. Artest shaded his man baseline, Drew wasn't paying attention and it resulted in a dunk. Bynum dunked on the other end off the Kobe lob. He scored a layup off the screen-roll. He missed a turnaround, got it back and missed another in traffic.

Lamar -- -- Mr. Near Triple-Double was back on the floor. Lamar had triple 8's in limited time. In fact, most of his stats were from the first three quarters. The Lakers stressed ball movement in practice and Lamar was giving that. He was making the extra pass and was one of the guys finding Bynum tonight. Better flow in the offense from him. Hopefully, we see Lamar bringing that off the bench in the next game and Pau returning. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-8 shooting (1-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 8 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +18. The Action: He charged over Villanueva trying to attacking in early offense. He hit Bynum with a jump pass on the two-man game for a dunk. He was fouled in traffic and made one FT. He missed an early offense three from the top of the key. Nice cut from the weakside and he scored a layup off the Kobe post. He sank a wing three off a swing pass. He had 6 points, 6 boards and 4 assists. Second Half: Every Laker touched the ball on a sequence where Lamar ended up finally hitting Drew for the layup. He made an extra pass to Bynum for the short jumper. He was blocked on a drive. He pushed out the break, protected it well, stepped on the gas, switched hands in air and scored the layup with his right. He pressured Bynum into an offensive foul in the backcourt. A bullet pass from Kobe went right through his hands for a layup the other way. He missed a three. He missed on a drive to his left. He had 8 points, 8 boards and 7 assists after three quarters.

Artest -- -- Quiet game from Ron tonight, but I think most fans will take that. However, the team needed a bit more impact from him to start the fourth quarter and key that second unit. That unit floundered without much purpose and the Pistons started to get on a roll. The Lakers were coasting a bit, but no lead is ever safe. More importantly, you want to get Kobe and the rest of the starters rest. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-6 shooting (0-3 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 4 assists, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He grabbed a rebound with his left and put it back in with one motion while getting hit in the face, he missed the FT. He missed a three, got it back and weaved his way in the lane for a layup. He pushed the ball up court, Gordon flopped, Artest spun and scored a layup. He had 6 points on 3-4 shooting. Second Half: He missed a wing three. He hit Drew on the screen-roll for a layup. He was stripped in the post by Stuckey. He posted up Gordon, two FTs, he made one. He missed a jumper.

Fisher -- -- When he was making the extra pass, the offense looked much more fluid. Whether it was a repost or just swinging the ball instead of hoisting up the long jumper, the team benefited from the ball movement. The offense looked so much better with that kind of rhythm, instead of the kick and fire away like we've been seeing. Phil limited Fish's minutes and let others close out the second half. A lot more Shannon Brown in this one. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 0-3 shooting (0-1 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 1 board, 4 assists and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He missed a wing three. He missed a runner off the glass. A rare repost from Fish and Drew hit the jumphook. Second Half: He made a couple FTs. He got drilled on the perimeter for FTs, he stared at the ref who didn't make the call, he made both.

Brown -- -- Shannon had a couple highlight slams taken away. On one, he traveled after getting ahead of the pack. The other was a point-blank rejection of a huge dunk attempt. Ouch. Shannon gave the team some spark in the first half and Phil let him run a long stint, in place of Artest's and Kobe's minutes (when he got into foul trouble). Shannon closed out the second half. We'll see if this is more of a trend now. It certainly seemed to make a big impact in the first half. He did a good job getting his hands on a lot of balls defensively. Offensively, he was a bit too three happy in the fourth quarter. If Pau returns in the next one, the team should always have a post presence on the floor. This will help keep the game more controlled offensively, and should help Shannon and the second unit. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-12 shooting (1-5 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He pulled up on the break and hit a three. He missed a three from the top fo the key. He swiped the ball on the inbounds, spun and scored a layup. Nice trap with Fish to force a shotclock violation. He got tapped on a wing three at the end of the half. He was a +21 in the first half. Second Half: He missed a runner after a baseline attack. He sank a wing three, measuring it well. He missed a 20-footer. He tapped a ball over a defender, recovered it, then took three steps before dunking, turnover. He got rejected by Maxiell at the front of the rim trying to throw down. He missed a corner three. Bad pass, layup the other way. He drew three FTs getting hit on the arm, he made all three. He threw down after leaking out on a long outlet a few seconds later. He missed a wing three.

Vujacic -- -- After his horrible fourth quarter in the last game, Phil left Sasha on the bench for most of the night. He came in with under 5 minutes left in the fourth for Farmar. That was his only run. It was actually at a critical juncture with the Pistons on a roll. Sasha kept the guns in the holster. The Stats: He didn't shoot or score and had 1 board in 4:39. He was a -3. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Farmar -- -- He was the first guard off the bench tonight and played a very good first half. He wasn't settling, but attacked the paint and creating for others. Later in the fourth, when we had our issues, the offense started to get perimeter shot heavy. No more penetration, no focus of the offense. Even after the game, when asked, he didn't really seem to address what the problems of the second unit were. He seemed to suggest that they missed a few shots and would be okay when Kobe returned. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-9 shooting (1-5 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 20 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He gave up straight-line penetration on his first defensive stand. Excellent play on the break, he faded to the corner, took the pass from Kobe but immediately attacked baseline for the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He missed an open corner three. He curled off the pinch post and scored with his left. He no-looked a pass to Mbenga after cutting to the middle on the break and it led to an easy layup. He missed a baseline jumper. He blew past Bynum and scored a layup. He threw a kickout away. He hit Powell on the break for a layup. He had 7 points and 2 assists. Second Half: He missed a three. He missed another three. He sank a corner three when Kobe drew the double.

Powell -- -- When he played to his strengths offensively, he was fine. When he didn't, trouble. Basically, the Devean George rule needs to apply to him: If you're not able to take a jumper, pass. Don't try to create in the post or off the dribble. Look for spot-up, catch-and-shoot opportunities instead. Defensively, the team suffered again on the boards from his spot. The Stats: He scored 6 point son 3-7 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He swished an open 15-footer. He missed a tough layup in traffic on the break. He took the outlet, wisely gave it up, and got it back from Farmar for the layup. Second Half: He tried to attack off the dribble after facing up, he kicked it out of bounds (error Artest for giving it to him in the post). He missed an open 15-footer. He swished a 20-footer. He tried to power in a layup off the pinch post and was stuffed.

Mbenga -- -- This was the foul-prone Mbenga. The one we worried about when he started, but somehow was never a problem. Mbenga helped the Lakers get into the penalty with some quick fouls. A couple of them were against Kwame. Know your opponent, DJ. Just let Kwame try to do something and grab the miss or dropped pass. Pretty simple. Mbenga had some nice swats in the game. One was erased on a bad goaltend call. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 3 boards, 2 blocks and 4 fouls in 8:30. He was a -9. The Action: He scored a layup when Farmar found him on the break. He swatted Gordon at the rim. He fouled Kwame twice and Stuckey once in 4 minutes. Second Half: Great swat on Kwame's drive, but it was called for a goaltend (bad call). He missed a 16-footer.

Phil -- -- "Very good chance he will play," Phil said of Pau being ready for Thursday... Phil said the team worked on ball and player movement in practice... The Lakers trailed 9-7 after 6 minutes. Kobe was 0-4... Phil brought in Farmar as the first guard, then Brown for Lamar a minute later... Once Kobe got on track, so did the Lakers. After trailing by 7, they led 23-22 after the first. An 11-3 run to close the quarter... Phil started a Mbenga, Powell, Artest, Brown, Farmar lineup... Mbenga fouled 3 times and the Lakers were in the penalty for more than 7 minutes... Shannon Brown didn't come out after Phil put him in. He was a +21 in the first half...The Lakers won the second quarter 34-20... The Lakers led 57-42 on 54 percent shooting (25-46). The Pistons shot 40 percent (15-35). Lakers led 25-15 on the glass... "We did a much better getting the ball inside," Hamblen said... Kobe just took over against Gordon in the third. The Lakers led 88-63 after three. The game should have been over... The Mbenga, Powell, Artest, Brown, Farmar unit started the fourth and played like it was. Phil subbed in Bynum after a 9-0 Piston run. That second unit was jumper happy... Phil had to bring Kobe back in... The Lakers got way too three happy in the fourth quarter... The Pistons cut the lead to single digits with a couple minutes left... The Lakers shot 11 threes (not counting the one Brown was fouled on) in the fourth quarter. Too many... The Lakers shot 47 percent (4-20 from three, 18-22 from the line). They out rebounded the Pistons 44-32. The Lakers had 27 assists...

Game Flow -- LINK -- The Lakers got lazy in the fourth and the Pistons took advantage with a couple runs.

[Wilt]

First!
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¡Hala Madrid!

[Dylandogg]

hey, I was close

[mambajustkillsya]

3rd

wow hard to believe Kobe only has 100 40+ pt games.

[Isaiah]

great analysis

[danish87]

devean george rule
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"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it." - Jack Handey

[lakergreenmachine]

Great job DB as always, here's to a win over Chicago!
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"Moment of Silence For the Champions."

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB once again! Now lets hope Pau allows PJ to change his rotations up a bit so we don't have a massive collapse if he wants to give 3 starters a rest.

[Ray_Gonzoles]

Thanks for the recap DB.

Nice bounceback game for the Lakers, even with bringing the starters back in during the 4th to cement the game.

With the return of Pau, maybe the Lakers can get some proper substitiution patterns going.
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"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.

[lounger]

whew! what a relief! thanks DB!

[ShadyG]

[limchrc]

thanks

[ocho]

Only 4 teams in the league have been worse than us from the stripe this season. Gotta stop leaving free points there.
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14-5-3-12

[Rick12322]

awesome!

[Luca Brasi]

the team played amazing defense thru 3 quarters, then the 4th quarter happened.

however, it goes to show what kind of a defensive team we can be when we really get after it.
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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

[JTS1]

[ocho]

[JTS1]

[Klone_dd]

Kobe Kobe Kobe. He did a much better job mixing up his perimeter game with his post game. If his groin was hurting him, I can understand why he exclusively tried the post game in the 2 losses, but he seemed more fluid and energetic.

Drew with another 2x2. Everyone else was ok. I think they deferred to Kobe too much, but Kobe did have it going so I can't fault them. When he gets on a roll, his scoring prowess can demoralize a team. However, after he's done blowing out a team, the 2nd unit has got to show up better so that Kobe doesn't need to be re-inserted. The 2nd unit got disorganized and lacked structure. It should be their time to show Phil their understanding of the system, but instead shows a lack of discipline *cough*Farmar*cough*.

[DancingBarry]

[A Mad Chinaman]

Even after the game, when asked, he didn't really seem to address what the problems of the second unit were. He seemed to suggest that they missed a few shots and would be okay when Kobe returned.
Norm Nixon's reply when asked by Bill McDonald if he believed Jordan's comments - NO

"Later in the fourth, when we had our issues, the offense started to get perimeter shot heavy. No more penetration, no focus of the offense."
This is a direct indication of Farmar's leadership when he is guiding the 2nd team. When he is playing with the first team, his job is to not screw up the chemistry and flow of the offense that works better since Kobe/Bynum are constantly attracting doubleteams.

RonRon is the most puzzling with his low FT% - hmm, maybe he is partying too much?!?!

LO's FT% - how can one practice when your nights are mad-crazy with night music (?!?!) and tv papparazi stalking your every move?>?

[LakerSince72]