LAKERS -at- MAGIC - 2/13 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Hitting the Wall... Sometimes you have to fight your way through that brick wall. Whether it's Dwight Howard or physical and mental fatigue, find a way to push through.

The Lakers lost all four quarters, each one scoring less than the last on their way to the 89-75 loss against the Orlando Magic -- the first road loss for L.A. on this 7-game trip.

The early game on the heels of the back-to-back didn't bode well as the hustle and offense ground to a halt. The Lakers came out flat and lacking focus, no where near the intensity of their other road wins on this trip.

Aside from some first-half scoring from Kobe, the perimeter shooting for the Lakers was horrible. That only made it worse for the Lakers trying to go after the interior via the post or drive. They shot 2-16 from three and just 7-15 from the line. Tired legs and not enough FT shooting from Pau or Kobe who had 1 attempt between the two. No Laker would get to the 20-point mark offensively.

"I told the players since they took part of the day off today, maybe tomorrow we can go after it in Charlotte to redeem ourselves against them," Phil said afterward.

Asked whether it was just bad shooting or fatigue, Phil said the shots were good looks and also brought up that freethrow stat. "But we could have a much better flow for the game. That's the thing we're unhappy about."

None of the players would admit to fatigue, which is the right answer. They're professions who need to push through that mentally...which has been their main problem all season and why the flat game was no surprise.

They'll need to get their second wind tomorrow. Five down. Charlotte up next.


Kobe -- -- With Orlando progressively packing the paint, room to attack was hard to find, especially with Howard clogging up the middle. Aside from some post possessions in the first half, Kobe largely stayed out of the paint. That doesn't mean he shouldn't have had a few more whistles. Some of the no calls were a bit on the ridiculous side, but he should have also worked to get into the interior via his post. The poor outside shooting made the drive tough. That's when they usually put him on the weakside and ball reverse to him in the post. "I was just too far away from the basket," Kobe said of the no FTs. Phil rested him to start the fourth, then pulled him early when we couldn't make up any ground. He played 33 minutes in total. This team has had a hard time making for Kobe's extra 10 points when he can't get there. Asked about what they need to do in the next one, "Just win a game in Charlotte. I don't think we've won there in five years," he said. When told it was three, "Whatever," he replied. Does seem like forever. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 8-18 shooting (1-4 from three, no FTs) to go with 4 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 33 minutes. He was a -16. The Action: He swished a corner three. He biffed a layup off the pinch post lob play. He missed a sideline three. He missed a pull-up from 10 feet out. He got into the lane, pumped and hit the short leaner. He attacked, turned his back on contact and missed the over-the-shoulder, flip-in attempt. Nice post entry to Drew who had sealed Howard for the dunk. He backed JRich down easily and scored a layup. He swished an elbow jumper flashing to the ball from the weakside. He faced up and drained a wing jumper with the shotclock low. He backed JRich down and hit the turnaround from 15 feet. He missed a step-back wing jumper. He over-dribbled into a crowd and was stripped. He was slapped, fouled, held with no call on a missed three at the buzzer, ridiculous. He had 13 points on 6-12 shooting. Second Half: He attacked baseline and hit a cutting Pau for a layup. Bad pass to Pau on the break, can't hit him 30 feet from the hoop on the fly. He forced up a pumping fade from the wing and missed. He missed a long wing jumper on iso after a timeout. He swished a tough baseline turnaround, spinning away from a double with the shotclock low. He was blocked/stripped by Hedo on iso. He had a man all over his back on a rebound with no call and dropped it out of bounds. He missed a wing three. He swished a pull-up in the lane. He bricked a turnaround badly.

Gasol -- -- The Lakers got out-rebounded by 12, Pau just had 4 and no offensive boards. Granted he spent some time on Anderson who plays on the perimeter, but the numbers were low regardless. "That says something to me about the hustle and the effort they were making," Phil said. "Not getting second shots is something we do really well." Pau was certainly flat-footed on the glass on both ends. One of the signs you see from him when he's not bringing it. Offensively, the Lakers didn't take advantage of the interior enough with Howard in foul trouble. Phil was irked at our lack of focus on the mismatches. That probably cost Pau a few opportunities against the smaller defenders. Still, with all the poor shooting from outside, he could have worked for some garbage points. Instead, it was Howard who got a few of those off him. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-12 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He missed a 21-footer straight away. He finished a lob from Fish in early offense. He missed a turnaround in the lane. Looked like his layup was goaltended by Howard. He couldn't slam in a lob from Fish. He drew a charge on Howard, who tried spinning right through Pau (Howard's second of the first quarter). Not close on a short jumphook, looked like it slipped from his hand. He attacked from the elbow and hit a short runner. He blocked a shot at the rim. No call on a swing-through move that should have been a whistle for FTs, instead he bricked. Horrible bounce pass to Drew, should have gone high, instead a guard easily picked it off. He scored 7 points on 3-9 shooting to go with 3 boards. Second Half: He sank a pumping turnaround on the baseline. He missed a jumphook. He scored a layup cutting off the Kobe drive and dish. He sagged off his man for no reason and gave up a three. He gave up a lob to Howard at the end of the quarter, completely out of position with Arenas 35 feet from the hoop, out of bounds when he made the pass. Nothing to report in the fourth.

Bynum -- -- Laker fans collectively held their breath when Bynum stepped on a foot while hitting a bank. He hobbled back down floor and grabbed his left knee. The Lakers got a deadball, questioned him, but left him in. "It was quick, the pain went away," Bynum said, confident that he was fine. You can exhale now. They didn't put bodies on Howard enough in the second half. Bynum pointed out they needed to get a body on him on those screen-roll, team D situations. "You can't let him do that. You've got to make him work for his baskets," he said of the large number of dunks he got in the second half. One of the few things that were worth watching in this game was that Bynum vs. Howard match up. Drew played him well in the first half. Phil didn't like the position that he gave Howard in the second half, but said others didn't help properly on those situations, either. Good job by Bynum on the offensive glass. He was giving Howard some issues there. Jerry West dodged the Bynum for Melo trade talk when asked. "I don't work in basketball anymore," he said. He answered the question very politically, saying Bynum was very important to what the Lakers do, but also asked whether or not he will be a big star. Pretty much gave out both of the main arguments at once. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 8-15 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards (6 offensive), 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block and 1 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: He missed an easy lefty jumphook after losing Howard in the post. He dunked off the tapped offensive board from Ron. He bricked a 7-footer. He slammed off the DFish drive and lob. He stripped Howard on the other end. He grabbed a DFish miss over Howard and put it back in. He tipped in a Kobe miss behind Howard. He swatted and controlled Howard's jumphook on iso D. He sealed Howard under the hoop, took the post entry and dunked. He gave up dribble penetration while still sagging back on the screen-roll to protect the paint, this forced a help defender to help him and led to a three (Phil called timeout to bark at him). He had 11 points on 5-8 shooting and 7 boards (5 offensive). Second Half: He missed a 6-footer in the lane. He scored an easy lefty layup over Howard in the post. He pivoted around Howard and reversed nicely. He tapped away a lob pass in transition, then hustled to save it from going out of bounds. He missed a face-up wing jumper, way short. He tweaked his knee as he banked in a jumper off the drive and dish from Blake (looked like he stepped on a foot). He missed a jumphook. He missed a baseline turnaround next time down.

Artest -- -- He still doesn't seem to be aware of where his opportunities exist and don't exist with Pau and Bynum on the floor. Very difficult for him to work in there, especially with Howard on the floor. Instead of Luke starting the second and fourth quarters, this is when Ron should get some PT along side with Lamar who spaces the floor. When he and Fish briefly hit their shots in the second half, the Lakers pulled even with the Magic and forced a timeout. Phil would go with some more of Kobe at the SF to try to space the floor, but we still couldn't make an impact. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-6 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He tapped an offensive board to Bynum for a dunk. He missed a sideline three. He blocked JRich's jumper to get a shotclock violation. He hit Lamar off the backscreen wing lob play for a score out of a timeout. He missed a corner three at the end of the first. Second Half: He sank a fade working off the low post. He missed an open sideline three. He blocked JRich on help D in the paint. He tried attacking into the paint with both Pau and Bynum down there, no space and he was called for a travel. He attacked and kicked out to Fish for a three. He drained a three from the top of the key. He missed a step-back three from the sideline.

Fisher -- -- When he was able to get penetration and lob to his bigs, good things happened. Not enough of that throughout the game from the Lakers as a team. Sure makes life easier for some bigs when your PGs can playmake. Fish struggled from the perimeter in the first half, but did manage to hit a couple in the second half. Of course, after his two makes in a row, Phil sat him. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-7 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 4 assists and no fouls in 27 minutes. The Action: He attacked and lobbed to Pau in early offense. He attacked baseline, drew Howard and lobbed to Bynum for the slam. He missed an elbow jumper. He missed a baseline jumper off the pitch out. He dove to the floor to grab a loose ball on D. He drew a moving screen on Howard (his third foul), he and Fish had some apparently humorous words over Fish getting the call. He missed an open baseline jumper. He didn't score on 0-4 shooting. Second Half: He missed a wide open three with the Magic packing the lane. He swished a wing three (changed to a two) on a kickout from Ron. He hit a wing jumper off the screen.

Lamar -- -- He shot 10 of the Lakers 15 FTs. That showed his aggressiveness. Of course, he only made 5 of those. Like others, he didn't use fatigue as an excuse, and he really didn't seem to suffer much from it except for maybe that poor FT shooting. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-11 shooting (0-1 from three, 5-10 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He was blocked on a drive on his first touch. He scored an easy layup off the wing lob out of the timeout. He tried to cram an And-1 dunk on the break, but couldn't finish, he then missed both FTs to get nothing. He missed a layup on the drive. He scored an easy layup under the hoop on the post entry. He sank a baseline jumper. He attacked and bullied his way to a finger roll overpowering his man (he wanted the foul). He had 8 points on 4-6 shooting in 12 minutes. Second Half: He missed a long fading three on an inbounds pass. He missed a tough drive with the shotclock low. He swiped a pass, pushed it out and drew FTs, he made one. Another quick attack to his right and he drew more FTs, he made both. He faced up and swished a baseline jumper out of a timeout. He was rejected out of bounds by Howard. He missed an 18-footer. He was fouled in the lane and missed both.

Blake -- -- The Lakers needed perimeter shooting, neither Blake nor Brown could provide it off the bench. He missed both of his threes (probably should have had three FTs on one of them). He should have worked to get penetration more off screens. Whenever we could draw Howard, it usually meant good things for the offense. Defensively, he was pretty solid. None of the Magic PGs did much of anything in this game. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-2 shooting from three to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He scooped up a loose ball and went between his legs to Lamar trailing the break who missed an And-1 dunk. Great help D to stand in for a charge and force a turnover on the pass. He missed a three on the break. Second Half: He attacked and set up Drew for the easy score. He was hit on a corner three with no call and missed. Indecisive on whether to double or stay with his man, he was called for three seconds.

Brown -- -- "I just missed shots," Shannon said. You think? He took too many, too. Awful first half shot selection. The kind of poor, early offense chucks that he needs to avoid. That definitely sucked the life out of the team and also didn't allow us to take advantage of post opportunities with Howard's foul issues. Sure seems hard to find a balance between him and Blake on shooting too little and shooting too much. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-11 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He lost the handle on a drive, unforced turnover. He swished a wing jumper off the pinch post with Pau. He poked the ball from Hedo from behind. He missed a three on the break, got it back and chucked another miss, uggh. He snagged a wing pass on the other end, pushed it out and was blocked. He missed a scoop in the lane badly with his left. Another forced chuck from the wing in early offense, not close. He deflected a kickout off of JRich. He scored 2 points on 1-6 shooting. Second Half: He charged in transition. He missed a wing three. He attacked baseline and hit the teardrop. He missed a windmill dunk, he should have had. He let Arenas get around him too easily and didn't stay with the play. He mnissed another jumper. He tipped in an Ebanks miss.

Walton -- -- Not much from Luke. In a game where the Lakers lacked energy, they sure could have used Barnes against his old team. If Phil is going to use Luke, I'd like to see him go to Luke a little earlier in the rotations, to play with the starters. This would help free up Artest to get into the post more with the second units, especially when both Kobe and Pau are sitting. The Stats: He didn't shoot or score and had 1 turnover in 9 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He overpassed in the lane, turnover, dunk the other way. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Caracter -- -- He got some action when Phil decided to pack it in late after getting blown out. DC couldn't hit a layup or his FTs. Still wouldn't have helped the Lakers crack 80. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting (0-2 from the line) and had 1 board in 3 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He did not play in the half. Second Half: He was fouled on an odd-man advantage in transition, he missed both FTs. He missed a reverse.

Ebanks -- -- Should have got some PT in NY, but Phil threw him in the mix for a minute of garbage time tonight. Just enough time to miss a jumper. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting in 1 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He did not play in the half. Second Half: He missed an open baseline jumper.

Phil -- -- The Lakers got progressively worse offensively as the game went along... Down 17-15, Phil brought in Lamar for Pau with under 5 minutes left in the first... The Lakers were up 24-21 when Blake and Brown came in for Fish and Kobe... The Lakers trailed 24-21 after the first... Phil started a Pau, Lamar, Luke, Brown, Blake linup... They pulled out to a 31-30 lead in some up and down ball... Howard returned and Phil sat Pau for Bynum and Luke for Kobe... He sat Brown for Fisher and Lamar for Pau with 4 minutes left... When Bynum didn't protect the paint off the two-man game and Blake had to come over to help, resulting in a three to Blake's man, Phil quickly called a timeout to yell at Bynum for the lapse on the two-man D... The Lakers trailed 45-41 at the half. They shot 39.6 percent (19-48, 1-8 from three, 2-5 from the line). Fish/Brown shot a combined 1-10 (only the four impact players of the Lakers did well). The Magic shot 45 percent (18-40, 5-11 from three, 4-4 from the line)... A couple of perimeter jumpers (finally) by Fish and Artest and the Lakers pulled within 2 points to force a Magic timeout with 3:30 left... Phil sat Bynum for Lamar... Phil sat Fish and Artest for Brown and Blake with 2 minutes left... The refs reviewed a lob at the end of the quarter, but couldn't overrule the pass where Arenas stepped out of bounds, just the score off it... The Lakers trailed 67-60 heading into the fourth... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Luke, Brown, Blake lineup. He wanted the team to win the first 3 minutes, instead they fell back by 12 and would never recover... Phil sat Luke and Bynum for Kobe and Pau... They fell back by 15... Down 15, Phil sat Kobe for Fisher. Shortly later, he sat Pau for Caracter, garbage time... Just 3 FT attemps from the starters. Yikes...

[HBA]

first

[HBA]

DB,

I am mystified at this ridiculous notion that this teams strenght is its bigs. The reason that is the case is because our guards are garbage, save for one.

The problem is, that one guard happens to be a top 10 all time player. A legend. And his abilities and skill set put all three bigs to shame BY HIMSELF. So, the question is, why must he subjugate his game for other lesser players who don't play defense.

All we've been hearing about all season is that ball movement and Kobe shooting is causing poor defense. The fact is, poor defense is caused by this overrated frontcourt.

The only difference between this game and the Boston game in LA was that Kobe decided to try and will his team to a victory that game. The fact is, our defense is pathetic and if Kobe was allowed to go at their guards all game, who knows how JRich and company end up playing.

[HBA]

OH and DB one other thing, you talk about Kobe giong to the post and I agree. Problem there is that if Kobe is there the bigs aren't and then they pout, and don't play D and Pau gets his feelings hurt and all that jazz.

You know....FEED THE BIGS man. FEED THE BIGS. I'm surprised you havent heard about that one yet.

[parsons777]

Opinions are like ....

Fact: Our Bigs help make us a very good defensive team
- LAL has the 4th best FG% D in the league, holding opponents to 40%
- We do this while allowing a league low FTA against of 19.8 per game
- Among the other top 6 defensive FG% teams, no one allows under 24 FTA against
Conclusion/Opinion: Our team D on average is very good and in significant part that is because we have very good Bigs.

[pillzmayn]

While we lose to orlando, Boston beat the Heat.
_________________
"You always have to be on edge. You always have to take every practice, every game, like it is your last." - Kobe Bryant

Buck Foston

[Rick12322]

[Rick12322]

Thanks DB. The team was tired, I thought that was pretty obvious. It's all good, they won't have double back to backs in the playoffs and Orando won't be there anyways. I think Boston's going to be there and the battle is going to be epic.

[HBA]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[20,000]

THE SKY IS FALLING THE SKY IS FALLING!

THE LAKERS WILL NEVER WIN ANYTHING AND IT WAS A MIRACLE THEY WON THE LAST TWO CHAMPIONSHIPS! THIS TEAM IS A JOKE! ALL PLAYERS SUCK AND SHOULD BE TRADED FOR RICKY RUBIO AND KEVIN LOVE!!!
_________________
Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[Sage_10]

[RVCdesigns]

Thanks DB.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB.

[firstSpartan37]

Thanks DB....

I thought the lakers where going to lay an egg at charlotte......

Somehow I think its going to be worse in charlotte....

[limchrc]

thanks

[Purp and Yellow]

great thanks for sharing!