LAKERS -at- WIZARDS - 12/14 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Return of the Four Horsemen... The rhythmic rumble heard at Verizon Center wasn't from the street artists beating plastic bucket drums outside the doors or from the constant flow of Metro trains that run below the building. It was the sound of thundering hooves, the return of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

They are Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death -- Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Kobe Bryant. They are the keepers of Little Larry O'Brien. When on the court together, these four have yet to relinquish the title of champions.

Bynum made his season debut in the Lakers 103-89 domination of the Washington Wizards. He wasn't sharp or particularly overpowering, but his presence was felt in many ways: from the reduction of Pau's minutes to improved second unit play to a stronger presence on interior defense. Just having him back will go a long way to getting the Lakers on track.

It was an eventful trip to D.C. The Lakers met with the President again, reminding them that they are NBA Champions. "They got more stimulus put in their package," Worthy said in the postgame. That sounds like either politics or a sex scandal. D.C. does both.

Rumors also leaked out today that the Lakers have traded little-used Sasha Vujacic and a 2011 first-round pick for Joe Smith and more than $9 million in salary savings.

Asked whether a Joe Smith could help the Lakers, Phil Jackson replied, "John Doe could with the way we're playing."


Kobe -- -- Back to seeing Kobe sitting during the fourth. More of that, please. Kobe made sure it happened with a dominant stretch of ball to close the third. He set up teammates then scored 12 straight during that stint. It looked like he was aggressively trying to pick up fouls on Nick Young early on but wasn't getting any love. Finally, he settled in and chalked up a series of three-point plays. That's the kind of light minutes you want to see on the front of the back-to-back. The Laker ball movement was fluid throughout the game. A lot less reliance on Kobe to generate the offense. Good to see more balance. The Stats: He scored 24 points on 7-13 shooting (4-6 from three, 6-10 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He barely grazed rim on a long three in transition. Surrounded by defenders in the paint, he hit a step-through one-hander in the crowd. He spun baseline and drew contact under the hoop for FTs, he made one. He missed a tough fallaway trying to back his man down. He attacked Young and drew FTs, he made both. He drained a pull-up three in transition. He airballed a long pull-up jumper expecting a foul call that never came. He over-passed and the shotclock expired when Ron caught it. He was blocked in the post after taking contact. He picked up a couple of fouls with 2:30 left and had to sit with three. He had 8 points on 2-6 shooting and 3 boards. Second Half: He was blocked at the rim on a drive. He iso'd on Arenas, faced up, backed down and banked the short one. He missed a three. He cut backdoor on his man, Fish lobbed and Kobe threw down a huge two-handed jam. He swung through on the sideline and drew three FTs, he missed all three (he's never done that in his career, I'm sure of it). He scooped up a loose ball, pushed it out and hit Lamar for the score. He attacked, spun and fed Pau for FTs next time down. He sank a corner three on the behind-the-back pass from Lamar. He swished a three from the other corner. Getting fouled by Young after up-faking him from three, he went back to the line, this time making all three FTs (that's more like it). He pulled up and swished a wing three next time down.

Gasol -- -- He's back. Both Bynum and the Pau Gasol we saw earlier in the season. There seems little coincidence that both returned on the same night. Phil said it was a coincidence, however. Perhaps he chalked it up to better offensive execution or the weaker opponent. The heavy lifting and huge minutes that Pau was bringing were running him into the ground. With Bynum back, Pau can start transitioning into the PF spot, banging against smaller defenders and dominating. Pau was playing triple-double ball tonight as the offense worked through the post with frequency. Teammates thrived off it and he picked apart the defense with the pass. Some excellent off-ball movement and screens by teammates to make the offense run smoothly. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-11 shooting (4-6 from the line) to go with 9 boards (5 offensive), 7 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +19. The Action: He sank a baseline turnaround for the Lakers first score. He found Ron breaking free under the hoop for an And-1 layup against the zone. He hit Barnes curling down the lane for a layup. He surveyed the floor, defenders converged and he found Lamar under the hoop for the And-1 layup. He dunked when the Wizards fell asleep on an inbounds pass. He took the entry pass over the top of the D and hit Lamar for the And-1 layup. Sweet up and under for a layup. He handed off to a cutting Shannon for a reverse. He drew FTs working the post, he made both. He lost the handle under the hoop. At the end of the half, he swished a baseline jumper expecting a foul call. Second Half: He drained an elbow jumper to start the half. He missed a 9-footer, open in the lane, first miss of the game. He missed a lefty jumphook. He grabbed Ron's missed three then hit him cutting for the layup. He took the inbounds and wrapped a pass around a defender back to Artest on the give-and-go for a layup. He drew FTs when Kobe hit him on the drive and dish, he made one. He drew FTs on an offensive board, he made one. He swished a wide open FT jumper off the Blake/Bynum two-man game. He got tapped on a short one at the rim set up by Blake.

Lamar -- -- The right place at the right time. Lamar has done a great job working off the ball early this season. He's not remaining stagnant out behind the arc. Instead, he's actively engaged in the offense. As a result, he's making teams pay. There were several sequences where the ball worked from player to player and Lamar was the recipient for the easy score or FTs and sometimes both. One part of his game that always looks good is when he pushes out rebounds. He had massive throwdown on a Wizard defenders in the second half tonight that had the crowd buzzing. Lamar played the most minutes of any Laker and led in the +/-. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 6-8 shooting (0-1 from three, 6-7 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +23. The Action: He dunked when DFish found him in the middle of the zone. He scored an And-1 layup when Pau hit him from the post, he made the FT. He up-faked under the hoop and drew FTs when his man was put in the popcorn machine, he made both. He scored an And-1, when Pau quickly bounced to him under the hoop, he made the FT. He was called for a carry as he got ready to pass on the break. He had 10 points on 3-3 shooting and 5 boards. Second Half: He pulled down a Kobe miss and his shot was goaltended. He grabbed an offensive rebound and choked the easy And-1 layup, he made one FT. Trailing the break, he took the Kobe pass and scored the layup. He went behind his back to Kobe in the corner for a three. He missed a layup after a great set up by Blake. He swiped a pass on one end, pushed it up on the other, stared at the defender, then threw it down in his face for an And-1 that had the arena buzzing, he made the FT. He missed a wide open three on a kickout.

Artest -- -- He manned up Arenas defensively, which allowed Kobe to take an easier match up to start the game. Like some of the heavy lifting that Bynum will do for Pau, Ron does a lot of that for Kobe defensively. Phil is giving Ron the tougher assignment. Not an ideal match up for him, but it reduces the wear and tear on No. 24. Arenas would score just 11 on 4-8 shooting. On the offensive end, there seemed to be a frequent theme: Pau found Ron moving off the ball for several scores. Getting some easy ones instead of relying on long-range or off-balance jumpers will help Ron get on track. Barnes is able to find those opportunities with some consistency. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-8 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He posted up Arenas on the cross-match and drew a foul on the help defender, he made one FT. He set a weakside screen, continued to the hoop and Pau hit him for the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He missed a drive down the lane. His corner etnry was swiped. Second Half: He missed a turnaround in the post. Great job filling the lane on the break and he scored the layup. He missed a three, Pau got it back, Ron cut and Pau found him for the wide open layup (nice job moving off the ball). He scored another layup after inbounding to Pau, curling around him and taking the return feed. He swiped a pass in transition D and pushed out the break. He missed a face-up jumper with the clock low.

Fisher -- -- The fly by. Fish moved in off the three line quite a bit in this game, letting defenders rush out and getting into that midrange area instead with more success. Easier night defensively for Fish with speedy John Wall sidelined. His replacement, Kirk Hinrich, scored just 7 on 3-10 shooting. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-7 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He missed a reverse on a baseline attack. He missed a three on a kickout getting fouled with no call. He didn't settle for a three against the zone, attacked baseline and hit LO for a dunk. He missed a challenged wing jumper. He moved in off the three line and hit the 18-footer. He set Bynum up for FTs off the bounce pass. He let Arenas fly by, moved in and hit the baseline jumper. Second Half: He scooped up the loose ball, pushed out the break and hit Artest filling the lane for a layup (probably the smoothest those two have every looked on the break together). Perfect lob to Kobe going backdoor on the weakside for the slam. He let a man fly by, moved in closer and hit the jumper. He missed a wing three.

Bynum -- -- Good to see 17. Bynum's number, but also number of minutes he played tonight in his first game of the season. Size matters. With 6 minutes into the first quarter, Phil subbed in Bynum for Pau. His first play of impact was a block on help D. He would have several other good challenges. Great to finally have that second impact 7-footer back in action and erasing mistakes of others. But there was also a point early on where both Pau and Lamar had foul trouble and had to sit. That might have been a disaster on any other night. Defensively, he seemed to anticipate the action fairly well. He played the screen-roll D a little soft at times and will have to improve that. He's using a new brace we haven't seen before that he laces up. It's not as big and bulky as other braces and he seems to move well in it. On the offensive end, both his timing and balance seemed a little off. He still caused all kinds of issues when he got that ball. Thus, the 8 freethrows in limited action. Both newcomers Blake and Barnes looked for him on a couple of plays. It will be interesting to see how they look with Drew. I would think Blake, for sure, will be able to make Bynum a lot more effective than our bench guys were able to last year. Bynum said he needs to get a couple more practices in, but felt good otherwise. "I came out, got a little winded but that's to be expected," he said. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 1-5 shooting (5-8 from the line) to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and no fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He swatted Armstrong on help D. He sealed his man and drew a foul on the post entry pass, he made both FTs. He drew FTs on another post entry pass, he missed both. Early low position and he banked easily from the right block. He attacked across the lane, took contact with no call and airballed the layup. He swatted Young's penetration out of bounds. He drew FTs when Barnes attacked and fed him under the hoop, he made both. He drew FTs when Fish set him up on the bounce pass, he made one. Second Half: He grabbed an offensive board and was smothered, missing the putback. Nice close out on Young to force a tough jumper. He missed an off-balance turnaround from the right block. He grabbed an offensive board off Shannon's miss, saw him cutting with speed and bounced to Shannon for the layup. He was stripped trying to create with the shotclock about to expire. He couldn't finish a lob dunk from Blake, landing a little awkwardly.

Blake -- -- No points and just a single assist is a bit of a deceptive statline from Blake. In fact, Blake was robbed of a couple of highlight type plays when Lamar and Pau were unable to finish. He also threw a lob up to Bynum that didn't connect. Phil didn't want Blake to run that with Bynum yet...not until Drew is back into game shape. The common element in all three of those plays that ultimately netted the Lakers nothing was Blake trying to set up his bigmen off the dribble. Typically, I would thing that would have been two layups and a dunk. Love having someone else besides Kobe able to make that happen. Feisty game defensively from Blake. He doesn't quit and works hard every play. Intelligent effort defensively makes for a tough playoff team down the line...when the Lakers get it together. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-3 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: Smart foul, wrapping up a man to prevent a breakaway score that was about to occur behind him. He stripped Young on iso D. Give him the hockey assist on a quick post entry over the top of the D that Pau turned into an And-1 for Lamar (the key was Blake's fast read when the ball came to him, the D never caught up). Second Half: He missed a corner jumper. He ran the two-man game with Bynum and found Pau for the wide open FT jumper with 0.7 left in the third. Sweet cross-over to lose his man and set up Lamar, but LO couldn't finish the highlight play (Pau had just robbed Blake of another assist on a play or two earlier). He missed a three on a kickout with a second left on the shotclock. He missed a three straight away.

Barnes -- -- He couldn't connect from three and got tagged with a few fouls, but he still played a scrappy game setting up teammates and hitting the boards. With Bynum back to go along with Artest, Barnes and Kobe, the team becomes a lot tougher. Bynum hands out some of the more painful fouls on this team with his strength and size. Barnes has been the guy so far this season who has delivered the harder fouls. Artest is just a brick wall that punishes you on contact. Kobe is the alpha dog. It's just one more layer of toughness that teams have to go through now. Should be interesting to see how different they look now. The Killer B's are also now going to be able to run with two impact bigmen for most of their minutes. Look out. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-5 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards (2 offensive), 3 assists, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He fumbled away a defensive board, giving up an And-1. He attacked and hit Bynum for FTs. He got hit on a layup with no call and couldn't finish. He curled around the double screen, took the pass from the Pau post and scored the easy layup. He missed a corner three. He hit Pau on an inbounds for a dunk. He clobbered Arenas trying to block him on help D. Second Half: He missed a corner three on a kickout. He missed an open wing three on a kickout. He drew FTs out on the break and filling the lane, he made both.

Brown -- -- The Farmar/Sasha backcourt of the recent years can now be seen in New Jersey. It's replacement, Blake/Brown, makes the team much tougher to beat. The improved Brown has provided the backup SG impact that Sasha wasn't able to give the past couple of years. He showed more of that tonight by leading the bench in scoring as well as providing some active D. The savings the Lakers make on this trade not only affects the bottom line this year, but that makes spending this summer on possible deals for both Brown and Barnes much easier to stomach. And since they also traded another pick away, the Lakers need to make sure they keep some of their youth and that's what Shannon is. He's the athleticism. He's the young talent that improves the team from within. Got to make sure they keep that this summer. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-13 shooting (2-6 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He missed a wing three. He choked a short runner right at the rim. He drained a wing three on the kickout from Lamar. He missed a corner three. He sank a wing jumper next time down. Quick attack after flashing weak to strong and he drew FTs, he made both. Quick cut off Pau, he took the handoff, stretched out and hit the reverse. He drained a long three on a kickout from Ron on the next possession. Second Half: He was fouled with no call on a drive. On the inbounds from that last play, he swished a baseline jumper. He missed a wing three. Bynum got that miss back, Shannon cut at high speed, took the return pass and scored the layup. He stripped Young on a drive. He missed a long three with the shotclock about to expire.

Vujacic -- -- Farewell, Machine. Au revoir, Sick Jumpers of Death. Goodbye, Rage Against the Machine. There were moments in his Laker career where Sasha had a similar kind of mojo as Kurt Rambis did with fans back in the 80s. Sasha's peak in that regard was in his last contract year. The Lakers re-signed him back then with him some extra dollars per year in order to keep the contract to fewer years. This moment was almost inevitable at that point. They will save more than $9 million with the trade for Joe Smith (part of the reason this trade goes down now vs. later). They trade a draft pick in the process. It was either that or cash to make this trade possible. The youth on this team is in Bynum, Brown and developing either Ebanks or Caracter (or both). Sasha only played 9 minutes this month and was out of the rotation. He should always have one warm spot with Laker fans -- hitting both freethrows for the final score to shut the door on the Celtics in Game 7 with the championship on the line -- that's something most fans won't ever forget. The Stats: DNP Coach's Decision. The Action: He did not play in this game.

Walton -- -- With Pau and Lamar both in foul trouble, Luke got the call for minutes at PF. Could have gone with Caracter or bring in Barnes while sliding up Artest. We aren't quite done with the SF minutes at the PF spot. I would think these will likely be Joe Smith's minutes in the future. Our rebounding suffers badly as it did with Luke out there at PF tonight. If the Lakers could have traded Luke instead of Sasha, they wouldn't have hesitated. Luke's contract is not moveable. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 turnover and no fouls in 9 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He choked an easy reverse (his touch around the paint this year is horrible...not that it's been great, but it's especially bad). No help D box out and Bynum's man got an easy putback when Luke didn't help the helper. Second Half: He gave up a missed FT rebound.

Caracter -- -- He came in with a couple minutes left to run garbage time. These are the minutes that will help him develop confidence. The addition of Joe Smith and Bynum's return will likely mean Caracter is on the inactive roster in a couple of weeks or goes to the D League. They may make that move until Ratliff is back. Otherwise, who runs the third string C spot in garbage time? Joe Smith will likely need some practice time with the team to get up to speed. So, you'd expect Caracter to stick for a bit longer. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-1 shooting (2-2 from the line) in 2 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He drew FTs on the post entry pass, he made both. He missed a fade in the lane.

Phil -- -- Phil opted to start his usual lineup and bring Bynum off the bench. He said they aren't committing to anything as far as whether he returns as a starter or not... Phil brought Bynum in for Pau 6 minutes into the game... Lamar picked up his second foul a minute later and Pau was back... Pau picked up his second foul a minute later. Phil subbed him out for Luke. Good thing they have Bynum back... With 2:33 left, Phil went with Blake and Barnes for Artest and Fisher tied 17-17... He brought in Shannon for Kobe shortly later... The Lakers trailed 24-22 after the first... Phil started a Pau, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit... A 10-0 Laker run to open the second quarter. Nice seeing the Killer B's with two impact bigmen at the same time... They extended the lead to 43-30 after 6 minutes, good rest for Kobe during that stint. Phil left Lamar out there and brought in Bynum, Artest, Kobe and Fisher in one sub... He brought in Pau shortly later. Wholesale changes not working very smoothly again... A few seconds later with the score 48-40, he sat Kobe who had 3 fouls for Shannon... Up by 13, he sat Lamar for Luke with 50 seconds left... The Lakers led 57-46 at the half. The Lakers shot 55 percent. The Wizards shot 40 percent... The Lakers coaches were irked about the 17 points Young got in the first half. They would contain him better in the second half... On a series of excellent passes to set up scores, the Lakers pushed out to an 80-64 lead with 4 minutes left in the third... Phil subbed out Pau for Bynum at that juncture... Kobe started to torch the Wizards, and Joel said Shannon Brown had a smile on his face when Phil called his number to sub out Kobe, who had scored 12 straight points and just swished a three... With 1:20 left and up 21, Phil went with a Bynum, Pau, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit... The Lakers led 92-70 heading into the fourth. Phil started Lamar for Bynum and went with the same otherwise. The Wizards opened with an 8-0 run in 3 minutes... The Lakers got on track and traded hoops for a while. Just 11 points in the fourth, but they kept things from getting dangerous by holding the Wizards to just 19...

[Icy_wiz]

Thanks as Always
First
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“We were wonderful traveling companions but in the end no more than lonely lumps of metal in their own separate orbits.”
Sputnik Sweetheart

[ctb619]

The is back.
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[lakerjoshua]

First......page

The HORSEMEN ARE BACK!

[Dr. Laker]

Good 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".

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

To the return of the Horsemen!

So great to see Drew come back, then see the real Pau come back as well.

With Sasha gone, does Ebanks gain a few seconds playing time?

I also hope the Sasha trade somehow allows us to keep the killer B's intact for a while.

Joe Smith? I remember when he was highly sought. Back in the '90s... If he even plays at all this season it's frosting.

This team looks like it might start rolling out W's again soon; we'll see how they look against Indy.

Thanks again DB!

[City_Dawg]

The Return of the Four Horsemen...

(bleep) just got serious.

Thanks DB.
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*sighs*

!...

[Mel Rose]

Good to see the return of the horsemen! Thanks, DB.
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Insert something smart here.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB. Nice little Sasha tribute.

[jrod88]

[Tris]

Best stat of the game:

Pau Gasol: 30:40 minutes

Down from 40+

[Omar Little]

I was scheduled to be first, but I'm lazy, and despite being cleared by Kevin Ding, I held off for a little while.
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“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel

[All Net]

Nice

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB. love seeing the return of the Four Horseman intro.

glad to see Sasha got the dancing tomato as a farewell. I'll miss seeing him irritate players on other teams but will not miss him fouling someone 3 seconds after he gets in the game.
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"I define success by championships, by winning..." Kobe Bryant

"I've seen it all. Sasha dunked on somebody," Kobe Bryant said. "I'm ready to retire now."

[limchrc]

thanks

[taim]

Glad to see you gave Blake some props. He really did have a much better game then his stats indicated.

[Sister Golden Hair]

I always liked Sasha, despite the inconsistency. Hopefully, he'll get more chances to play in NJ (although it's bad luck for him that Jordan is already there -- they didn't seem to mesh well as teammates). Not sure why he wasn't able to remain an effective shooter. he was a killer that one year, and I always thought that he'd get back to that level. Ah, the mysteries of the human psyche.

For what it's worth, Sasha has been around this team for several years, and I can't help but think that his teammates will miss him.

He'll always be a laker in my book.

[ABynum17]

It seems like this team is still having trouble making some free throws. Here's a key for them to try: go into every game looking to be perfect from the line.

Well, that's all I'm going to say because if I say more, it'll just get more confusing.

[RVCdesigns]

Thanks for the memories Shasha

[f123456]

[spam removed]