JAZZ -at- LAKERS - 4/2 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

They Ride Again... It's been days since you've last spotted them. Down the street, there they are -- The Horsemen. Emerging from the thick pale fog that has blanketed the city for days, they take shape and seemingly come to life for the first time in a long time.

They thunder past you, raising dust, debris and hell. They trample whatever is in their path. The Horsemen are taking the fight to their opponent with some purpose tonight.

As the dust clears, the street is littered with crushed vinyl records. Black LPs someone must have left in the wrong place at the wrong time. You look at the smashed titles and recognize the names of Jazz artists.

You pick up the lone CD in the bunch. No label, just the scribbled words of DancingBarry:

"The Horsemen were here. Their movements were fluid, with purpose and precision. Those who had to step up, did, in order to carry those who struggled. These are the Horsemen we know.

I will continue to track them..."

Is it as simple as hitting shots? Or is it playing as a team, with purpose, intelligent effort and moving the ball?

In Atlanta, Lamar and DFish were among the key Lakers missing in action. The team has survived DFish's poor performances all season, but with their starting center still injured, Lamar has got to ball.

The Lakers opened the game with a dominating first quarter. The ball moved on offense; they locked down on defense. Lamar and DFish combined for 18 points on 8-8 shooting in that quarter. When that happens, they had better crush teams.

They led by as many as 19 points before the Jazz started to reel them in behind Deron Williams. Kobe, fresh off his contract extension, struggled with his shot, and separation from the Jazz wouldn't come until Lamar throttled them in the fourth.

With a series of three-point plays and dunks, Lamar helped carry the team to a 106-92 win. LO and DFish combined for 40 points on 16-21 shooting. (How often will that ever happen?) Pau Gasol worked the hub of the Triangle to a near triple-double.

The Jazz don't have an answer for Pau. They don't have an answer for a speedy Lamar. Both dominated, but Lamar's +30 was the clear difference maker. "This is a team we like to see him do well against," Phil said.

When he plays well, the Lakers generally do, too.


Kobe -- -- Clearly a contract player. After signing his deal earlier in the day, Kobe put up a dud. While he couldn't hit anything, he still brought the lunch box and went to work. He manufactured 15 points from the line to make up for the poor shooting. He started the game 3-6, then went 2-17 the remainder of the way. Just a poor shooting game, but he was still able to find production. It was a long time coming, but the Kobe extension was finally inked. "It's huge honor for me to be a part of this organization for such a long time. You don't see that to often," Kobe said afterward. Mitch said, "When we look towards our team in the future, we are fairly set with the core of our team for the next four or five years." The Stats: He scored 25 points on 5-23 shooting (0-4 from three, 15-18 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 5 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +20. The Action: He hit Lamar with a lob for the first score. He swiped the ball on one end, missed an elbow jumper on the other. He swished a long wing jumper, toe on the three line. He spun baseline and swished the pull-up jumper. He missed an early offense turnaround jumper. He stripped Boozer, Pau got it and Kobe scored a layup on the break. He got tapped on a bank. He blew past Korver and missed an easy And-1 layup, he made both FTs. Quick no-looker to LO under the hoop for a layup. He missed a 19-footer after Pau was late spotting him open. He got tapped on a wing three. He had 8 points on 3-8 shooting. He missed a wing three. He missed a very short bank in the post, should have had it. He missed a layup off a lob pass, almost never misses those. He posted up, spun and was hammered, he made both FTs. He missed a three short. He sank a hanging, double-clutch elbow jumper. He missed a long three at the buzzer. He had 12 points on a poor 4-15 shooting. Second Half: He missed a 17-footer to start the half. He attacked in transition and drew FTs at the rim, he made both. He missed a hanging bank, should have passed it off for a layup. He swung through from the three line to earn three FTs, he made just one. He missed a wild, spinning bank (Phil called a timeout). He attacked from the post and drew FTs, he made one. He drew the D and zipped a pass to Pau for the FTs. Kobe was 0-4 in the third. He bricked a fallaway badly. Okur cleared out on Kobe, foul Kobe, bogus FTs. He missed a turnaround to beat the shotclock. He drew FTs in transition, he made both. Quick spin off the post and he powered up an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He spun, attacked and missed, but LO slammed it back in. He attacked from the wing and manufactured more FTs, he took a long walk after getting smacked on his hand, he made both.

Gasol -- -- One assist short of the triple-double. Great all-around game from Pau. The Jazz can't handle his post game and were sending help. Pau just picked it apart. It's games like this where his well-rounded skill set is fun to watch. Prior to his arrival here, the Lakers struggled with finding the balance in their game. Plug him into the hub of the offense and the triangle clicks. Just make sure he gets the ball. Defensively, he had his moments and somehow managed to not foul all game. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 4-8 shooting (6-10 from the line) to go with 16 boards, 9 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 42 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He missed an easy jumphook over Boozer. He hit Fish cutting for a layup. He was hacked under the hoop off the interior feed from Lamar, he made one FT. He scooped up a loose ball and dunked. He sank a high arching fallaway. He had 5 points, 6 boards and 4 assists in the first. Sleepy second quarter with no points or shots. Second Half: He missed a long jumphook. He was hit a 15-footer, he made both. He posted up Boozer and drew FTs across the lane, he made one. He drew FTs off a poor pass by Lamar, Pau changing directions at the last second, he made one. He got hit in the face but spotted Powell for a layup. He scored a layup off the extra feed from DFish against the zone. He missed an open 15-footer. He missed an And-1 layup at the rim off the Kobe feed, he made one FT. He sank a wing jumper on a kickout from Ron. He swatted a shot, but Shannon coughed it back up. He had 14 points, 14 boards and 7 assists after three quarters. Horrible pass right to the Jazz. He drew a charge on Milsap on iso D. He drew a clear-out foul on Milsap on help D. He no-looked to Lamar on the baseline for a dunk.

Artest -- -- Phil slid Ron onto Deron Williams late in the half after Williams had smoked the Lakers PGs. Ron managed to put a little water on the fire. Kobe and Ron may have to be called upon from time to time in the post season to do that. Nice to see Ron have a little effect there. That's not an easy job. If he can D-up the point for some stretches, that would be a nice situation to go big with a healthy Bynum/Pau/Lamar. Ron would just take over the Fish role, hit threes, play off others, miss layups, etc. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-9 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 foul in 31:26. He was a +11. The Action: Quick swing pass to Fish for the three on a kickout. He missed a wing three. He pressured his man to step out of bounds. He posted up out of the timeout and hit the hook. He swiped the ball on the wing, threw a pass around a defender to ignite the break. Nice close out to challenge a jumper. Great box out on Milsap to get the board. Good hustle to regain possession in the corner. He short armed a corner three. He scored an And-1 layup setting up camp under the hoop, he made the FT. He missed a pull-up three. He fought for a missed jumper and powered up an And-1, then kissed the guns, he made the FT. He missed a long pull-up jumper when the offense got scrambled. He missed a layup off a cut, but LO cleaned it up. He had 8 points on 3-8 shooting, 5 boards and 2 steals. Second Half: He got tapped on a wing jumper against the shotclock. He attacked and hit Pau for a jumper.

Lamar -- -- "He was very focused," Kobe said. Lamar's +30 was the result of that focus. Good thing this LO showed up, too. He dominated early and late. He set the tone in the first quarter with 11 points, then dominated the fourth to give the Lakers some separation when they needed it most. "We really moved the ball today, everyone touched it. It created energy for our defense," Lamar said. When the ball is moving, Lamar is usually involved and playing at a high level. When it's not, he tends to sleep walk. Just a huge difference to the Lakers fortunes when Lamar is balling (and DFish is hitting). The Stats: He scored 26 points on 11-14 shooting (3-4 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 33 minutes. The Action: He scored on a lob from Kobe to start the game. He grabbed the board, pushed it up with speed, had it deflected but still scored the layup. He went glass off the pass from Fish trailing the break. Quick interior feed to Pau for FTs. He swished a three off the pinch post with Pau. He lost the ball, it bounced to Kobe, Kobe quickly no-looked back to Lamar and he scored the layup. He had 11 points on 5-5 shooting in the first. He choked a layup off a cut down the lane, should have had that. He missed a wing pull-up. He cleaned up a missed layup by Ron. He had 13 points on 6-8 shooting and 6 boards, a +19 in the first half. Second Half: He sat after 4 minutes, picking up his fourth foul. He was picked in the lane. He swished a wing three. He grabbed a Shannon bricked three and banked in an And-1, he made the FT. He drained a step-back wing three. He whipped a pass too fast for Pau to handle, but it went right to Shannon for three. Putback slam off a Kobe miss. He dunked off the great no-looker from Pau cutting off the post. He missed a heat-check three.

Fisher -- -- It just makes such a huge difference when he's hitting shots. The D can't leave him without paying the price. Others are more effective. The team is less reliant on others to do extra heavy lifting. In the first half, Fish helped the Lakers to a big lead despite Kobe having a cold shooting night. Of course, Deron Williams punished the Lakers guards on the other end. That's nothing new, but at least Fish managed to get some of that back and do it in an efficient manner. Great to see after teams leaving him wide open so much lately. Somehow these outings have to become more frequent as the Lakers try to elevate their game. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-7 shooting (2-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and 2 fouls in 32:18. He was a +16. The Action: He drained a wing three when left alone. He swished a 19-footer off some good ball movement again. He hit Lamar trailing the break for the score. He scored a layup high off the glass on the give-and-go with Pau. Good first stint for Fish with 7 points on 3-3 shooting. He swished an open wing three on the kickout. He missed a two-for-one chuck from behind the arc. He had 10 points on 4-5 shooting. Second Half: He stripped the ball off Williams. He tied up Miles for a jumpball. He missed an early offense chuck. He sank a quick runner off the glass over a bigman. He was hit on a wing jumper, he made both FTs. He had 4 points in the third and Phil started him for the fourth. Rare we see that.

Brown -- -- Phil called a timeout to admonish his vet guards, Kobe and DFish, for their poor shot selection and not controlling the pace. Shannon is suffering from the same illness. He needs to covet possessions and play off others. Avoid the early offense quick chucks. Avoid pushing tempo when under duress defensively. Too much of that today. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-11 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He was blocked on a reverse. He swished a catch-and-shoot sideline three. He missed a fading 20-footer in early offense (horrible shot selection). Second Half: He was swatted on a drive. He sank a 21-footer. He tried to push out a dribble in traffic, turnover. He clanked a three at the end of the quarter. He swatted a shot out of bounds. He bricked a long three badly. He swished a three off an errant pass that went right to him. He missed a wing three.

Farmar -- -- "Don't be tentative out there," Phil said he has told Farmar lately. The problem with aggressive Farmar is the decision-making. You want him to try to use his speed and get into the open spaces. However, his mental game too often gets the best of him. Defensively, the lack of focus there usually hurts the team. Tonight, Deron Williams went off and helped push the Jazz back into the game against our soft D. Deron had 18 points in the first half. After Ron helped cool him off, he had just 2 in the second half. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 15:21. He was a -4. The Action: He swished an open sideline three in transition. He lost the ball, dunk the other way for Deron. He charged in transition. Poor stint with 3 fouls, 2 turnovers and the Jazz taking back some mo'. Second Half: He gave up layup in the post. He missed a wing three. He missed a long three against the shotclock. He lobbed to Powell for a dunk in transition.

Vujacic -- -- He got out of the dog house long enough for some garbage time. The Lakers had the game in hand and a 19-point lead when Phil subbed him in. These were the only minutes for Sasha after his squabble with the coaches. He didn't even get to play the "Korver Stopper" role that Phil usually assigns him against the Jazz. The Stats: He had 3 points on 3-4 from the line to go with 2 boards and 1 foul in 3 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He did not play. Second Half: He attacked from the wing and drew FTs, he made one. He was fouled again on an inbounds and made both FTs.

Powell -- -- Powell had the team worst -14. Basically, this just meant that one of Pau/Lamar weren't in the game and our impact bigman ball drops off considerably. Powell played a reasonable game, made a nice pass, had some good hustle plays. The Lakers just struggle when it comes to those bench rotations now that LO is not coming off it. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 18 minutes. The Action: He was swatted in traffic. Sweet bullet feed from the high post to Ron under the hoop for an And-1. He missed a short pull-up wing jumper. Second Half: He scored a layup off the Pau feed. He swiped the ball in the backcourt. He threw down an oop on the break. He couldn't power in a challenged layup attempt.

Mbenga -- -- He came in for Pau with the game secure late in the fourth. He swished one of his jumpers, challenged some shots well and held down the tacos. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting. He was a -3. The Action: He did not play. Second Half: He swished a face-up 17-footer. He swatted a transition layup. No box out and he gave up a putback on a missed FT.

Phil -- -- Before the game, Phil said the team wasn't playing with the sense of urgency, and that he couldn't push the stick far enough up their collective rears to get it going yet... The Lakers led 13-8, getting good ball movement and role players scoring with efficiency... They extended the lead to 25-10 before the Lakers first turnover finally came... Phil subbed out Artest for Shannon to cover Korver (note no Sasha, who almost always gets that match up)... Phil then slid Shannon to PG and brought Ron back in... The Lakers got 18 points from Lamar and Fish on 8-8 shooting... The Lakers extended to as much as a 19-point lead in the first quarter before finishing 33-16... Jazz shot 6-20 (30 percent) in that quarter... Phil started a Powell, Lamar, Ron, Shannon, Farmar unit... He sat Lamar for Pau with a 19-point lead... Phil went back to his starters with Powell when the lead was cut to 12 midway through the quarter. It was cut to 9 a minute later... After a timeout, Phil sat Powell for LO... Phil moved Ron over to cover Deron. That seemed to slow him down after a huge quarter... The Lakers were outscored 29-21 in the quarter... The Lakers led 54-45 at the half. The Lakers shot 47 percent (21-45, 5-12 from three, 7-8 from the line). The Jazz shot 43 percent (17-40, 4-11 from three, 7-10 from the line). Just 3 turnovers for the Lakers. Deron had 18 points in the half... The Lakers were in the bonus with just under 3 minutes into the quarter... Phil sat Lamar with 4 minutes into the quarter for Powell. Four fouls for Lamar... After Kobe and DFish chucked up wild, early offense shots in one sequence, Phil called a timeout to yell at his vet guards. Wow. About time. "I didn't like the pace we were playing the game at," Phil said. "Just a reminder that they are falling a bit out of character and to just get back in character...When we have the ball in offense, it needs to be thoughtfully used in a way in which we exploit the defense."... He sat Ron for Farmar up 12. After that didn't work, Phil went back with Shannon instead... Kobe and Pau missed a number of FTs... Phil brought back in Ron for Kobe... The Lakers had just 6 turnovers after three quarters and led 75-67 going into the fourth... Phil started a Pau, Lamar, Kobe, Shannon, Fisher lineup... Out of a timeout, near shotclock violation by the Lakers... The Lakers led by 14 when Phil subbed out Fish for Farmar with 7:30 left. Long run for Fish... Up by 19, Phil called for Sasha... The Lakers had just 9 turnovers. They shot 29-37 from the line, the Jazz a poor 12-21...

[adtz]

thanks DB

[City_Dawg]

Thanks DB.

LO put his focus cap on tonight. Good win for the guys. Hopefully they can build upon it going forward.
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*sighs*

!...

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB!

Time for the Lakers to start a win streak!

[lounger]

Thanks DB. The Korver stopper finally bought the coaching staff breakfast.

[Ray_Gonzoles]

Thanks for the recaps DB!

A statement game. Seems the Lakers are only interested in the games against Western Conference Playoff teams.
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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.

[jack13]

Thanks DB and welcome back!
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"These young guys are playing checkers. I'm out there playing chess." Kobe Bryant

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks again DB

[thurloly]

It is good to see you back and writing like good old times, DB.

[limchrc]

Thanks, nice win.

[mhan00]

good to see derek fisher finally hit some open shots. he had a couple of layups too, which actually looked pretty good and weren't just him heaving the ball at the basket. kinda pathetic that ron artest was needed to guard deron williams, though, but fish certainly wasn't the only pg in the first half who got torched be deron.

[Freakout]

This team really has Utah's number.

[Tanlentueux]

[Laker7]

DB is the LG MVP (Most Valuable Poster). REALLY missed your T&R's.

Continue to get better!
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[32]

Thanks DB. Welcome back!

[ssiknick833]

Thanks DB.
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[Lakersneuron]

Thanks DB!

and

[tw-lakbfan]

Welcome back, DB.

All Lakers need to get more focused like Odom tonight.

[RVCdesigns]

Thank you DB. Awesome game by Lamar and Fisher.

[lohs123]

Thanks

[squidward]

The Lakers did wonderful despite Kobe putting up a bad shooting game (still managed to score however). If they play like this collectively and Kobe puts up better shooting games, I see us in the Finals easily.