LAKERS -at- HORNETS - 4/24 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

A Three-Game Series... Perhaps Phil put it best...

"We punked out on the court tonight," he said. "We gave them 20 second-chance points."

Nothing like getting beat at your own game.

We've seen this act before in this series. The Pau/Lamar combo playing small. Kobe snoozing on D in the first half before picking it up later. The Lakers not matching the intensity or focus of an opponent whose backs are against the wall.

While Chris Paul came up with a triple-double, it was an underwhelming performance by the Laker impact ballers. The Hornets out-worked the team to a 93-88 win to even up the series 2-2.

This series is very reminiscent of that Houston series a couple years ago. The Lakers are facing a scrappy opponent down one of their bigmen and fighting for their lives. Only problem right now is Kobe Bryant's health.

Late in the game he tripped and came up limping. Afterwards, there was talk of an MRI, x-rays, crutches. He played on it, but when you sprain one of your wheels, you usually can. It's the swelling later that becomes the real issue.

This is Kobe Bryant, of course. He'll do whatever it takes to stay on the court.

"It's going to take a lot to stop me to play," Bryant said. "We'll make sure we stay on top of it."

In the first half, Ron Artest led the Lakers with 16 points. On the other end, Trevor Ariza lit up Kobe for 16 of his own to counter that. Kobe would go scoreless while setting up teammates for several scores. Late in the half, he and Chris Paul had a couple of exchanges that had Kobe irked heading into the locker room.

Out of the gates in the second half, he quickly tallied double-digit points and seemed to return to himself. The Pau/Lamar duo, however, floundered for most of the half. They resorted to playing small, not attacking the rim and struggling to help secure the defensive glass.

Still, despite their various issues they were down by 2 heading into the fourth. While the coaches urged their bigmen to attack instead of settle for jumpers, Shannon Brown combined poor shot selection and turnover-prone ball to balloon the Hornet lead to 8 points.

They would chip away, but the margin for error grew smaller and smaller as the game went along. A dropped pass on one end, and jumper for Jack in the lane when no one stayed on him and the Lakers sealed their fate for good.

The Lakers took back home court advantage on the roadtrip. Now, they have to keep it.


Kobe -- -- What's to say? He didn't play with the right intensity on the defensive end in the first half. Ariza took advantage and scorched him. The Lakers didn't use Kobe on Paul, but they would switch on a few plays off the screen-rolls during the course of the game. He and Chris Paul got into it in the first half with Paul picking up a tech (and Kobe promptly missing it). Kobe would go scoreless on 0-7 shooting in the first half but also had 7 assists. He would bring it in the third, scoring 14 points and finally moving his feet on D. As close as this game was, it would have been nice to get the goaltend call that the Hornets got away with on a Kobe drive and the body check in air by DJ on Kobe that the refs didn't give him FTs on. That's 4 points that make a big difference. "I think momentum changed, there was a goaltending that wasn't called that was a 4-point play at the end of the first half," Phil would say about that on no call. Despite that, Kobe has to lead with intensity. He showed the guys that in Game 2. He didn't on the defensive end in the first half of this game. That seemed to set the tone for the entire team. Ariza would out-score him by 2 points in this game. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 5-18 shooting (0-3 from three, 7-9 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 8 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed a wing three to start. He outlet to Fisher for a layup. He kicked out to Ron for a three. He attacked and kicked to Pau for the jumper. He missed a floater in early offense. He drew a double in the post and found Artest in the lane for a score. Ariza worked for a dunk, layup, a jumper and dunk for a teammate out of a timeout against Kobe to erase a Laker lead. He missed a tough fading wing jumper. He was caught in the air and threw a pass away. He didn't score but had 4 assists in the first quarter (Ariza had 12 points). He missed a long wing turnaround (Ariza swished a jumper over him on the other end). He missed a long wing pull-up jumper in transition, poor shot selection. He attacked and kicked to Ron for the three. He missed a challenged shot in traffic. His drive was swatted coming off the glass and he wanted the goaltend call. He watched Paul blow past him for a layup. He missed a tech FT. He didn't score on 0-7 shooting but had 7 assists at the half. Ariza had 16 points. Second Half: He hit a runner down the lane for his first score. He was mugged from behind on the break by Paul (the refs debated a flagrant), he made both FTs. He missed a wing three on the next possession. He crashed the defensive glass to help his bigs (more of that please) and drew FTs, he made both. He iso'd on Belinelli and banked before the double came. He sank a fade off the pinch post. He forced Ariza into an airball on an iso fallaway. He blew past Ariza and hit a running hook over Mbenga. Poor shot selection taking a long fading corner jumper (attack, we're in the bonus). He attacked down the lane and was hammered by Mbenga with no call on the missed layup (well, right idea anyway). He was held in the backcourt by Ariza with 6 seconds left for FTs, he made both. He had 14 points on 4-7 shooting in the third. He probed and hit a mid-range pull-up. He attacked the paint and drew contact at the rim for FTs, he made one. He missed a tough runner on a drive, should have gone glass. He settled for a three when his man flew by and then missed badly. He turned an ankle with a stumble and fell into his man to give up FTs.

Gasol -- -- The Lakers gave up 12 offensive boards, Pau had just 2 defensive rebounds. The Lakers can't lose second-chance points like that. Effort, passion, intensity. They will bring it. Pau has to, as well. Unlike the previous game where Pau opened the fourth and set the tone the right way...he and the team did the opposite. Passive start to the fourth and Phil sat him for Bynum after a couple minutes. The Laker bigs didn't impose their size. Both he and Drew picked up two fouls each in the first quarter. That limited their effectiveness early on as they looked to avoid getting that third. But that shouldn't trickle down to the defensive glass throughout the game. The offensive glass was tougher to come by because of long shots and not enough consistent penetration by the team. The Lakers needed to feed their bigs more, of course, but that's not an excuse for this game. Chris Paul can't outrebound you with 9 more boards. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-11 shooting (4-7 from the line) to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 4 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks and 5 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He missed a running hook. He sank a lefty jumphook off the left box. He missed an easy one in the paint. He drained a wide open baseline jumper on a kickout. He poked a ball loose from the post. He was hit on a turnaround jumper, he made both FTs. He faked a handoff, moved into the middle of the paint and hit the turnaround. He had 8 points and 2 assists in the first quarter. He was rejected on a soft layup attempt. Second Half: He drew FTs cutting under the hoop to take a pass from Fish, he made both. He lobbed to Drew for a dunk. He rejected Landry. He missed a long jumper off a kickout. He sank a turnaround from the left block. He drew FTs cutting weak to strong to set up in the post, he made one. He had 12 points and 2 boards after three quarters. He blocked the ball off Belinelli to get a key stop. He butter-fingered a pass from Kobe on a drive, then fouled, not like Pau to do that, even on tough feeds. On the next possession, he attacked across the lane, reversed directions and put in an And-1 off a pump, he missed the FT but it came right back to him to reset the offense. Pau couldn't score on a drive, taking all kinds of contact again with no call. He and Bynum set up a double screen, Pau slipped it, took the inbounds from Kobe and dunked with barely a second off the clock to cut it to 2 with 8 seconds left.

Bynum -- -- Drew did his thing. He was the only Laker able to grab some boards consistently on both ends, despite getting in the mix on his share of being pulled away from the hoop. He made the effort but was strapped with some early fouls that forced him to be careful at times. He would be the lone Laker with a positive in the +/- with a +3. Wish we had more of those very low post touches for him this game or dribble penetration to set him up as the Hornet D collapses. Look for the team to feature him more in the next one and try to get the Hornet bigs on their heels and in foul trouble. Physically, he looked fine, no real signs of anything lingering from his knee issues in the last game. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-8 shooting (5-6 from the line) to go with 9 boards (4 offensive), 1 steal, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He missed a turnaround in the lane. He swatted Landry's drive from behind. On the other end, he grabbed a Kobe miss and was fouled trying to power up, he made both FTs. He was called for a moving screen. He picked up his second foul, caught in bad position and late to react to Landry. He had 2 points and 4 boards in his 8 minutes. He hit a jumphook off the right block. He rejected Ariza's drive. He was wrapped up from behind when his man went for a steal, he made both FTs. He had 6 points, 5 boards and 2 blocks. Second Half: He swatted a shot but no one recovered it. He slammed down a lob from Pau. He missed a fallaway from 10 feet. He deflected a pass to force a turnover. He was called for a hook away from the ball. He took contact on a short jumper with no call and missed. He sank the wing jumper off the Blake kickout. He was fouled with no call on a screen-roll to miss a layup. He was fouled on a drop-step move, he made one FT. He walled off Paul on the sideline to force a turnover.

Artest -- -- Let's get to the good stuff first. Ron helped carry the team in the first half, scoring all 16 of his points. He was hitting threes, posting up, scoring on the break -- just an excellent job while Kobe was shooting blanks. As good as Ariza was going against Kobe, Ron matched that in a much more efficient effort if you are tracking any Ariza vs. Artest stuff. Defensively, he kept Belinelli from getting going again (Marco shot 3-11). On one of the final possessions of the game, however, Phil had Ron on Jack. Paul attacked Kobe who switched and that sucked him into a little ball-watching and Jack slipped into the lane to bail him out for a killer make. "Jarrett Jack saved me," Paul said. "I was about to take one of the worst shots I took in the game." Bummer. Too bad he had a pass available with a couple seconds left. The Lakers really lost the game earlier in the quarter and were trying to dig their way out of that hole. No room for error when you are doing that. That was the error that buried them. Wish we would have had Blake in there on Jack. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 7-10 shooting (2-4 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed a fading wing jumper. He swished a wide open wing three on a kickout. He posted up Belinelli and was pulled down to the floor for FTs, he missed both. He swiped a pass on the other end and pushed out for a layup (he wanted the And-1). He sank a short turnaround cutting off the Kobe double team to take a pass in the lane. He was stripped on a drive. Low position under the hoop after flashing weak to strong against Belinelli and he scored an easy layup. He tied up Paul for a jumpball on the other end and won it (while hitting Paul in the head). He missed a three straight away. He had 9 points on 4-6 shooting and 2 steals in the first quarter. He posted up Belinelli, overpowered him on the attack and hit off the glass. He scored a layup on the bustout off a Bynum swat. He drained a wing three on a Kobe kickout. He had 16 points on 7-9 shooting. Second Half: He missed a three with 3 minutes left, his first shot of the half. Nice challenge on Green in transition to help get a key stop. He ball-watched as Paul attacked Kobe, Jack got a little space in the lane, took the pass and hit the big jumper with 9 seconds left.

Fisher -- -- Again, Fisher was the main defensive man on Paul in this game. He gave a scrappy effort. In fact on a key make for the Hornets, Paul wanted to get Kobe switched on him because of Kobe's ankle versus taking on Fish who had some very good efforts there down the stretch. Still, Paul went for 27 points and 15 assists. We let him be a scorer and passer once again. The results? Another loss. Team D has to tighten up and Fish needs to do a more consistent job of quickly recovering when the bigs help. He did well with it at times as the game went along, but you've got to keep coming at Paul so the bigs can recover to their men instead of switch. The team probably could have trapped more, too. Offensively, it seemed like both Kobe and Fish were trying to step up for the MIA bigs during a couple stretches. Both took and missed threes in a key sequence. Fish had his jumper working. We missed some of that driving and dishing from our guards to set up our bigs. It was probably too much to get two games in a row like that from Fish. One of his assists, however, was off a great inbounds pass from the sideline to a cutting Pau to get a score with barely a second off the clock. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-7 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He leaked out off a challenge, took the outlet and reversed in transition. He swished a long wing jumper. Second Half: He missed a wing three. He swished a long wing jumper standing on the three line with a man on him. He took the ball from Paul on a trap, but gave it right back on the other end by fumbling the dribble away for a Hornet layup, uggh. He drew FTs when hit on the perimeter, he made both. Great iso D on Paul to force him into a brick. He missed a sideline three. He attacked off the high pinch post and scored a layup out of a timeout. He whipped a pass from the sideline to a cutting Pau for a dunk out of a timeout with 8 seconds left, barely a second came off the clock. He missed a running three at the buzzer.

Lamar -- -- Our impact ballers have to play impact ball. Lamar was playing small in this game. Not rebounding and settling for long shots at times. The coaches had to tell their bigmen to attack in the fourth quarter instead of settling for jumpers. He only had one basket all night and a team low -8. Can't put the blame soley on him for that +/-, but he did very little to prevent it, either. Where were the defensive boards and push outs? Where were the tip in attempts? What happened to collapsing the D and finding teammates? Worse was the lack of rotations in a couple of sequences. Teammates are relying on you to cover their backs and rotate. If you aren't scoring, why are you standing and watching? He did have a better final few minutes of the game (nice job tying up a man on the floor and hitting a couple clutch FTs), but the other 22 or so minutes weren't impact ball. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 1-7 shooting (0-3 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He flashed across the lane, took the pass and hit the floater. He was short on a turnaround and wanted the foul. He was undercut on a jumphook in the lane for FTs, he made both. He missed a wing three. His lob pass to Drew was picked off. He missed a drive badly. He missed another three. He missed a halfcourt heave. He had 4 points on 1-6 shooting and 2 boards. Second Half: He didn't rotate and Paul hit a wide open three, just stood and watched the play develop. He attacked and missed a layup. He grabbed a miss and was stripped in the paint. He tied up Landry down by 4 with 45 seconds left (LO won it but Ariza beat Kobe to the ball). Quick attack on Landry and he was bumped for FTs with 33 seconds left still down 4, he made both clutch ones.

Blake -- -- Sure wish Phil would have trusted Blake to play some D down the stretch instead of both Artest and Shannon Brown over him on the Hornet guards. Had Blake been on Jack instead of Artest, perhaps, they get that key stop late in the game...Jack's only points. The non-Kobe guards, in general, played some respectable D. This is also a game where Blake was hitting his three. He's streaky but when he's hitting, give him some extra run. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-3 shooting from three to go with 2 boards, 2 assists and 1 foul in 14 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He missed a flat three from the top of the arc. He sank an iso three with the shotclock winding down. Second Half: He attacked and kicked to Drew for the jumper. He sank a corner three off a cross-court pass.

Barnes -- -- The Lakers never got their counterstrike going. That's where Barnes gets a lot of his easy hoops. But that was also a sign of our inability to control our own glass or consistently force turnovers. Barnes had a to take a couple of shots trying to beat the shotclock and missed both. He had more fouls than anything else. Of course, Phil doesn't seem to trust him either in the close along with Blake. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go wtih 1 assist and 3 fouls in 12 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He drew an illegal screen call on Landry. He missed a wing three with the shotclock low. He missed a wing jumper.

Brown -- -- What can Brown do for you? Well, he can make your team hoop IQ drop considerably. Just a very poor start to the fourth quarter as we didn't play to our strengths while Shannon jacked jumpers or turned the ball over. Classic Shannon mistakes. We even had a timeout and made a point that the team needed to get the ball to the bigs to attack. Out of that timeout, Shannon hoisted up a quick-fire three. Phil yanked him. He would later bring him back for Kobe and Artest late in the game. Those first 5 minutes of the fourth are so key to success. The Hornets left Paul in during that stretch while Kobe rested. We aren't going to win a Shannon Brown vs. Chris Paul battle. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-6 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 turnover and no fouls in 13 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He probed off the screen, got into the lane and hit the teardrop. He missed a three from the top of the arc. He pushed the ball up, no one stopped him so he went all the way for a layup. Second Half: He swished an elbow jumper to start the fourth. He missed a fading corner jumper with the shotclock low. Unforced error with a mishandle to give up FTs the other way. He forced up a long three after a timeout and Phil immediately went to Kobe.

Phil -- -- The Lakers won the first 5 minutes 14-6 and forced a timeout... The Hornets attacked Kobe with Ariza out of the timeout for several scores to erase the lead... Bynum picked up his second foul and had to sit for Lamar with 4 minutes left up by 1... Up by 3, Phil brought in Shannon for Kobe... Pau picked up his second foul with 1:48 left in the first. Phil left him in to close the quarter without any issues. Phil also played Fish and Artest the entire quarter... The Lakers led 25-22 after the first quarter... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit. They extended the lead... Phil brought back in Kobe with a 5-point lead... He brought in Ron for Barnes after 5 minutes... Phil went with the starters midway through the quarter up by 3... Phil called a timeout with a couple minutes left... A 12-0 run for the Hornets to end the half... The Lakers trailed 49-45. They shot 45 percent (17-38, 3-9 from three, 8-11 from the line). The Hornets shot 52.5 percent (21-40, 0-5 from three, 7-8 from the line). Kobe didn't score, nor play any D. The trio of Bynum, Pau and Kobe all had 2 fouls (Pau and Bynum managed to avoid picking up a foul in the second quarter)... Coaches thought the team fell asleep defensively and didn't move the ball late in the half. They wanted the team to "finish what they started."... The Lakers were in the bonus after 4 minutes... The Lakers cut it to 1 to force a Hornet timeout a minute later. (Kobe had 8 straight points.)... Drew picked up with fourth foul with 1:13 left and Phil sat him for Lamar... The Lakers trailed 69-67 heading into the fourth... Phil started a Pau, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit. Paul remained in, Kobe rested... Phil sat Pau after 2 minutes. Very passive game from Pau to start the fourth. Hornets also had an 11-6 advantage on the offensive glass at this point... Coaches were tired of the bigs taking jumpers. So Shannon took that to mean he should shoot the jumpers instead of pounding the ball inside, I guess... Phil sat Shannon for Kobe, down 8... They trimmed it to 4 off Blake and Kobe hitting and a timeout came... Some mo', but Phil went with a Pau, Lamar, Artest, Kobe, Fisher unit out of the timeout. A lot of subs. They'd have to keep up the intensity... He sat Ron for Shannon a couple seconds later to match up. He swapped them again shortly later... He sat Lamar for Bynum with 2:29 left. On the offensive end, Fish and Kobe missed threes, settling... Phil called a timeout... He brought in Lamar for Bynum... Kobe twisted an ankle and Phil subbed in Shannon down by 4 and called a timeout with 1:32 left. Phil brought Kobe back in. Kobe limped back on the court, not wanting to leave in the first place... Pau scored an And-1. Phil sat Kobe for defensive purposes and Pau missed the FT, but we got it back. Kobe on the sideline. We would miss, but get a jumpball and Phil subbed Kobe back in (he was then beat to the jumpball by Ariza, who would give it back shortly later)... The Hornets called timeout down 88-86. Phil could opt to sit Kobe or keep him in on the D end, if desired, off that timeout. He kept Kobe in on Ariza. Paul got Kobe to switch, attacked and Kobe was on him, but Paul would luckily find Jack for a make at the shotclock buzzer.... With 9.3 left down 4 Phil brought in Bynum for Lamar. They suckered the Hornet bigs into watching Kobe as Pau slipped to the front of the rim, took the pass and dunked with barely anytime running off the clock. Great play call to cut it to 2, but FTs would put the Hornets up 4 again and Kobe would miss a three... The Lakers were out-rebounded 39-32... We'll be back in New Orleans...

[E=MC²]

Lakers gave away two games to make things interesting on the Championship DVD. Sweep they think would have been oh so boring.

[mhan00]

shannon is an absolute idiot. i knew coming out of that timeout when the kcal 9 reporter said the laker coaches made it a point to go inside that he would jack up a shot. sure enough, there it was! dumb turnovers trying to be fancy with the ball and quick shots that brick, that's shannon!

that was a bad breakdown by artest there, you could see he knew it too when he walked to the bench. he was pissed at himself. he played such a great game though that you have to give him a break there.

pau and lamar have been USELESS on the glass. where the hell have the double digit rebounders gone? ridiculous. pau at least contributed offensively (albeit with a kwame moment in the clutch that he kinda made up for with a nice move later), lamar did NOTHING. he was late or just didn't bother to rotate more than a few times this game, even in the fourth. pau at least moved his feet on defense, though he was worthless on the glass because he would NEVER GO AFTER THE (bleep) BALL. sigh.

kobe killed us in the first half. much better job in the second half, but not enough.

play blake more (bleep)! he moves his feet on defense, he rarely makes a dumb decision on offense, and he's one of the few guys capable of throwing an entry pass when there is some pressure on the ball.

tough loss. early on, i thought we would win this one going away, but the lack of effort from every player on the court not named artest or 'drew killed us.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB. What a bunch of wet noodles tonight.

[A Mad Chinaman]

Thanks for the info, DB

It is interesting noting the differences between your great breakdowns, compared to what Sir Charles and Kenny the Jet were saying.

If Pau is a Top 5 power forward, how are the Hornets' bigs are digging out Pau from his position and/or being active? If he is not doing anything in the paint, maybe he should hang out at the 3pt line and let Kobe or RonRon post up

Shannon is Shannon - thinks he has handles while losing the ball, thinks he has a good outside shot while throwing up bricks

[limchrc]

Thanks. Let's win the next 2 games.

[hoopschick29]

The beginning of the 4th quarter is when I really started to get frustrated with Pau. He's out there on the floor with the B's. Give them credit, they passed him the ball in the post. Matt did it twice. And Pau dribble-dribble-dribble then passes it back to Matt for a long contested jumper. HE WOULDN'T SHOOT!!! And then Phil had to pull him.

Pau is not present. I don't know where he is, but his head is somewhere else.
_________________
So glad we gave you your flowers while you were here, Kobe.

[RVCdesigns]

Losses happen, but this game was strange even though the Lakers came back. Thanks DB.

[Gallofa]

Time to wake up.

Thanks, DB!

[Klone_dd]

Just when you thought the team had figured out their problems, they resurface again. Bigs playing small, Kobe lax on D, neglecting what was their strong points. Now we're in a battle and Kobe's injured.

Well, no one said that 3-peating was easy.

[revgen]

I don't care what team you're playing. It's tough to win 2 consecutive games on the road in a playoff series. Which is why you always should take care of business at home. I thought we did a good job hanging in there last night despite the mistakes.
_________________
I Recommend VLC Player: http://www.videolan.org/

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[Addicus]

[DancingBarry]

[Sister Golden Hair]

Pau's play has been baffling. His mind just seems to be elsewhere. I imagine maybe that knee he tweaked is causing him all kinds of discomfort. I'm willing to give him some benefit of the doubt. But he looks hale to me, so I'm thinking the problem is mostly mental. Who knows the reason, but he simply has not been playing commensurate with his ability or his team's needs. He's been a bust and the most awful thing to see is not simply his coming up short -- that happens to the best of them -- but it's been ghastly to see him refuse to compete.

I'm thinking the coaches are as puzzled as the fans.

It's got to be something going on in his personal life. This guy has come up big the last two runs, against the best of the best. So it makes no sense for him to shrink now.

It's gotta be something personal that is just creating emotional havoc for him.

SGH

[tw-lakbfan]