LAKERS -at- NETS - 2/5 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Gasoline... A road game against the Nets. On paper, it's nothing. Even though we faced them in the Finals a dynasty ago and clocked them, it's still not a game anyone circles on their calendars.

The buzz on LakersGround, however, has been non-stop since Mitch Kupchak found his magic wand and amazed Laker fans everywhere with his version of The Prestige.

Maybe Mitch isn't a magician. Maybe he's like The Escapist, an obscure superhero conjured from the mind of Michael Chabon in a novel that won the Pultizer. The Escapist could get out of any situation. Mitch has done that with consistency, whether it was turning Kareem Rush into a pick that we drafted Ronny Turiaf with; or going to the lottery and making it count with the elusive, dominant big man in Andrew Bynum; or turning Brian Cook (and his contract) and Mo Evans into Trevor Ariza; or, finally, his greatest escape yet...Pau Gasol for Kwame and young talent.

This offseason, the Lakers went from the brink of implosion with Kobe to a team people are fearing. Credit The Escapist.

The Lakers had been on fire and just when it looked like our season was about to be stamped out with a long road trip and an injured lineup, The Escapist throws Gasoline on the flames...or Gasol, as the case may be.

So Laker fans everywhere tuned in to see just what this 7-foot all star baller could bring to the table, to steal a glimpse of how he might fit into the scheme of things. You can bet the rest of the league was watching to.

Gasol delivered...scoring 24 points on 10-15 shooting to go with 12 boards and 4 assists in 35 minutes. I don't know what's scarier, those numbers or the fact that we won by 15 points with Kobe only scoring 6 points. Other Lakers feasted: DFish with 28 points, Lamar with 14 points and 15 boards, Vlad with 16 points.

The 6 points by Kobe were partly from Kobe starting out a little passive trying to work Pau into the game, but they were also because he later dislocated an MP joint in the little finger of his shooting hand. Lakers fans apparently can have any good news without some bad these days.



Kobe -- -- First time in 93 games he didn't get into double figures, and it was his lowest scoring game since 1998. He was going to have x-rays after the game. "I don't know where that finger is at, but it's not on my hand," Kobe said. The injury happened midway through the second quarter and Kobe returned shortly later with his shooting hand taped. Nothing looked great from that point forward and he struggled to score. He was icing his hand down during the game and said it felt numb. Hopefully, he can play through this and we can continue a successful roadtrip. As far as how he and Gasol looked...they fit together well, real well. We've barely even tapped into it, but the two-man game between those two gave us some glimpses of a lethal combination. Pau's jumper, mobility and length make for a deadly weapon that Kobe can set up for easy scores. The attention that these two attract will only make things easier for others. "It makes defenses shift continuously," Kobe said, smiling despite the injury. The Stats: Kobe scored 6 points on 3-13 shooting to go with 8 assists, 7 turnovers, 5 boards, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 3 fouls in 40 minutes. The Action: He swatted Williams from behind. He posted up Kidd, collapsed the D and kicked to Fish for the three. Kidd stole the ball from him, Kobe tracked him down and rejected his dunk attempt. He hit Vlad under the hoop for a layup. He missed a 18-footer on his first attempt, eight minutes into the game. He cut backdoor, took the lob pass from Fish and scored the alley-oop. He tapped an offensive board to Farmar who then hit a jumper. He lost the dribble, dove after it and tied up Jefferson, he lost the jumpball. Kobe went to the locker room with 5:47 left with the dislocated joint on his shooting hand. He got it taped up and returned to the game. He took a couple shots during a timeout to see how it felt. He was short on a long jumper. He was short again on a face up wing jumper. He started favoring his left hand on rebounds, dribbles and passes. He spun on the baseline to split a double team, he missed the layup with his left but Mbenga cleaned it up. He had 2 points on 1-5 shooting in the first half. He traveled trying to force a jumper. He missed a pull-up jumper at the elbow. He split a double, drew a third defender and kicked to Vlad for three. He charged on a pass off to Pau. He overpassed on the break and turned it over. He finally hit a 20-footer with 6:22 left in the third, his second make of the game. He hit Fish from across court for a three. He missed a face-up jumper out of a timeout. He attacked and kicked to Fish for the three from the same wing spot as before. He missed a jumper, Lamar kept it alive and Luke lobbed to Kobe for the easy score. He had 6 points on 3-10 shooting and 6 assists when he sat with an 8-point lead at the end of the third. He had the ball stripped off him for a turnover. He missed a long three. He forced up a turnaround next time down and missed. He stripped Carter and it led to FTs for Lamar in transition. He worked off the Gasol screen for one of the first times, then hit Pau with the bounce pass for the layup. He traveled trying to pass before he decided to dribble (he wanted to hit his new big man again). He missed a runner trying to beat the shotclock. He hit Pau off the two-man game for a short jumper in the lane.

Gasol -- -- I can't tell you how cool it is to add that name to my Thoughts and Ratings template. This is going to be fun. "I'm a little bit nervous, a little bit tense because everything is new," Gasol said before the game. His first two scores as a Laker were dunks. That will help the nerves. He did pick up some early foul trouble that limited his first half minutes. Running at the C spot, there was instant chemistry on the offense. His low-post/high-post offensive skills, the passing, the shooting, the length and mobility -- it all fits. And it will only get better. He shot 7-8 in the second half after getting warmed up, scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter. Defensively was where the chemistry needed a little more work. We weren't on the same page at times on the two-man game. It's just going to take some time before they get used to each other. The Stats: Pau scored 24 points on an efficient 10-15 shooting (4-4 from the line, so nice to have a big that can hit his FTs), he grabbed 12 boards (6 offensive), dished 4 assists, had 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 35 minutes. The Action: He tipped the jumpball forward to LO and it resulted in a quick-strike score for Vlad. He drew a touch foul, facing up ready to attack from the left side. He popped out to contest Kidd's jumper and force a brick. He couldn't finish over a help defender off a corner entry. He stole an offensive board from Kidd off a miss by Fish, Gasol missed, got it back and dunked for his first score as a Laker. He cut weakside, but had the pass knocked off him for a turnover. He fed Vlad off the baseline cut, LO crashed the boards to get the miss, then dished to Pau who dunked over everyone for his second Laker score. He missed a 15-footer on the baseline. His man slipped a screen and it led to a foul on LO trying to help. He got called for a charge, attacking across the lane and had to sit with his second foul midway through the first quarter. He had 4 points and 3 boards in 5 minutes. Back in to start the second, he missed a turnaround on the baseline. He faced up from the wing, spotted Luke open across the floor and hit him for the short baseline jumper. On the other end, he stepped in front of Jefferson to deny a drive. Kobe collapsed the D, kicked to Vlad, who quickly hit Pau under the hoop for the layup (should have been an And-1). He challenged a reverse by Jefferson and we got the miss. He sealed his man on a switch and drew a foul on the post entry. He picked up his third foul on a reach and had to sit with 5:13 in the half. Second half, he worked the two-man game with Fish, popping out for the pass, then attacking off the dribble from the wing and using his length to score the And-1 reverse, he hit the FT. He took a foul off the elbow attack, should have been FTs. He grabbed a miss by Vlad and drew FTs, he made both. He was fronted, took the pass from Vlad and quickly spun and scored the easy layup. He missed a short jumper in the lane. He had 13 points and 7 boards after three quarters. He was fronted again, took the entry pass and quickly scored the layup. He took the post entry, Kobe gave him a little rub screen and Pau curled around it and flipped in the layup (like they had been running it for years). He erased guard penetration and we controlled the block (must have hit the rim because he didn't get credit for it). Big play to snag a loose ball off a Kobe miss, he then flipped it in over his head while getting fouled, he made the FT. Next time down, he took the post entry, drew the double as Fish cut and threw a no-looker over his head to Fish for the reverse. He and Kobe worked the two-man game in semi-transition, Pau rolled to the hoop, took the return feed and scored the easy layup over a defender (so sweet using his mobilty and length on that finish). He set a screen for Kobe, rolled, took the pass and then hit the midrange jumper in the lane. He pulled down a missed FT by Lamar, then hit him for an attack and throwdown. Nice challenge to force a miss by Carter on a drive.

Lamar -- -- Great game by Lamar. He played both the PF and C spots in this game as we had some serious foul issues and were facing a team without much size. He was aggressive on both ends and was hitting the boards hard. Again, when he's aggressive, his FTAs go up. He led all players with 13 attempts from the line, giving Lamar a very efficient scoring line. He and Gasol combined for 10 offensive boards. The rebounding is going to be ridiculous when Drew is out there with them. The real question for Lamar will be how he adjusts to splitting time at that SF spot when Drew returns. The Stats: He scored 14 points on just 2-4 shooting (10-13 from the line) to go with 15 boards (4 offensive), 5 assists, 1 turnover and just 1 foul in 40 minutes. The Action: He got rejected attacking off the pinch post. He blew a throwdown off a quick baseline attack, his elbow drilled Jefferson on the way down, sending him to the locker room. Aggressive crash of the glass to pull down an offensive board, he then fed Gasol for the dunk. Excellent job stepping in front of Carter to draw a charge. He took the pass from Vlad, attacked with speed and drew FTs, he made both. He drained a 19-footer from the wing. He attacked to his right, took contact and drew more FTs, he made one. He pushed out the break and no-looked to Vlad under the hoop in transition for a dunk. He challenged a dunk and forced a miss. He pulled down a miss by Fish, went up strong, drew the FTs and made one. He had 6 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists in the first half. He traveled not beind decisive on whether to attack or take a three. He challenged a Carter drive and forced a miss. He posted up Nachbar and drew FTs on the post entry, he made both. Sensational job using his length to tip out consecutive Laker misses to keep the possession alive twice and it eventually led to a score. He scooped up the ball when Kobe stripped Carter, he then pushed it out and drew the foul on Nachbar, he made the FTs. He was fouled and made one FT. He attacked off a pass from Pau and threw down the And-1 dunk, making the FT.

Fisher -- -- This veteran version of DFish suits him well. How huge has he been? With Kobe struggling, Fish went for a season-high 28 points. Take out Kwame and insert a threat like Pau and the looks are only going to get better for Fish. When he's got that jumper going, he's been deadly. Keep it up DFish! The Stats: He scored 28 points on 9-18 shooting (4-7 from three, 6-6 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 fouls in 33 minutes. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper. He swished a wide open three. He missed a layup under the hoop, but Gasol cleaned it up. He drained a three on a kickout from Kobe. He attacked the lane, took contact but still threw it in. He missed a wing three. He hit Kobe back door with the lob pass. He missed an open baseline jumper. He missed a long pull-up jumper trying to create with the shotclock low. He scored a layup off the bounce pass from Vlad. He swished a baseline jumper. He swiped the pass, pushed it out against Kidd and drew FTs on a reach, he made both. He got hit on a jumper and airballed badly. He answered a Kidd three with a three of his own when Kobe kicked out to him at the right wing. He missed a bank, forcing it. He drained a quick three off a Kobe kickout in early offense. He attacked off the dribble and delivered a shot to Kidd below the belt while drawing the foul, he made both FTs. He had 22 points (4-6 from three) after three quarters. He fed Pau, cut baseline and took the return feed for an easy reverse. He worked off the Gasol screen as his man gave him a lane and Pau's man stayed with him and Fish finger rolled the easy layup. He was fouled and made both FTs. He missed a long three against the shotclock, that would have given him a new career high.

Radmanovic -- -- The second excellent offensive game in a row from Vlad. He's hitting some good looks, sure, but he's also driving and passing...generally playing smart on that end. Defensively, he had his issues, but the team as a whole tightened down to hold the Nets to 19 in the fourth. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-10 shooting (2-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals and 5 fouls in 33 minutes. The Action: He hit a pull-up jumper at the FT line off the opening jumpball. He missed a reverse but LO/Gasol worked together to clean it up. He missed a left-handed hook. He cut baseline under the hoop, took the pass from Kobe and scored a layup. Nachbar was lighting him up for several scores around this time. He got tapped on a short bank. He dunked in transition when Lamar spotted him open. Sweet passing sequence next time down as Vlad took the pitch out from Kobe and then quickly hit Pau for the layup under the hoop. He swished a three, then recovered to deflect an outlet pass to his man for a turnover. He hit Fish with a bounce pass for a layup in transition. He made the extra pass off an open three to Mbenga cutting for a dunk. He sank a corner three off a drive and kick by Kobe. He took the kickout from Pau, attacked off the dribble and flipped in the layup. He got blocked under the hoop bur Gasol got the miss and drew FTs. He hit Pau for a layup when he was fronted by his man. He picked up his fourth late in the third and had to sit (he was ticked at that call). Nice reach to save a hoop with a strip on help D. He was fouled and made a couple FTs.

Luke -- -- Not a great game from Luke, and I thought Phil left him in there a little to long at one point. Luke played a lot of PF in this game with our foul issues. He never looked comfortable on the offensive end. Defensively, he was better, especially after Nachbar got off to a good start against Vlad. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 15 minutes. The Action: He missed an open three on his first attempt. Good challenge on Nachbar to force a brick. He missed a long baseline jumper. He hit a short baseline jumper. Good read, quickly hitting Kobe with the lob pass after LO tapped out the board. Nice defensive close, running across court to get the challenge and miss. He couldn't power in a layup over Nachbar on the post up. He was called for a charge, spinning in the post. Luke was ticked at Nachbar for holding him and trying to flop and had some words for him. He threw the high entry pass to Pau who was being fronted and he scored a layup. He ballfaked to Gasol, his man bit and Luke attacked and scored on a 4-footer. He attacked off the dribble, choked the easy one, then fouled. Bad attack and he kicked out to Kobe who forced up a three.

Turiaf -- -- In one minute and out the next in this game. He was foul prone and it severely limited his minutes, as well as forcing us into some smaller lineups. Poor game from Ronny after heading back to the bench with Gasol starting. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting, didn't get a rebound, had 1 steal, 1 block and 4 fouls in just 8 minutes. The Action: He rejected Nachbar badly at the rim (very nice). He picked up his second foul on a reach and had to sit at the end of the first quarter. He missed a wing jumper, then fouled trying to get back in transition. He had to sit again. He came back in for Pau at the end of the third and quickly picked up a foul.

Farmar -- -- DFish had it going, so that limited Farmar's minutes. Jordan had a solid first half, but faded a little in the second half. I'd like to see him Pau work that two-man game. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-8 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 16 minutes. The Action: He missed an open three, long on his first attempt. He drained a 20-foot fallaway over Kidd just before the shotclock went off. Kobe tapped an offensive board to Farmar, he faked a pass back and then drilled the 17-footer. He created off the dribble, pulled up at the elbow and knocked down the jumper at the end of the quarter. He deflected a couple of passes and forced the Nets into a shotclock violation. He missed a corner three. He threw a pass out of bounds, looked like he could have just took it the distance for a score instead of kicking out. He missed a fade at the third-quarter buzzer. He missed a layup in transition with his left. He missed a three.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha was cold from the perimeter. He also had his hands full defensively at times having to D-up against some very athletic players. Surprisingly, that two-guard spot in our lineup just couldn't score tonight. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-6 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 1 steal and 1 foul in 16 minutes. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper on his first attempt. He missed another baseline jumper. He missed a wing jumper. He missed a wing jumper to start the fourth. He missed a wide open three, got it back and didn't hesitate take and drill the next attempt from three. He drew a clear-out foul on Jefferson who tried to post him up. Jefferson blew past him for a dunk.

Mbenga -- -- Aside from getting posterized by Carter, Mbenga gave the Lakers a solid 3 minutes of action. I actually would have preferred to see him a little more vs. having LO at C and Luke at PF. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting to go with 1 Mboard and no fouls in 3 minutes. The Action: He bricked an easy layup off a pass from LO. Vlad found him cutting and this time Mbenga dunked. He cleaned up a missed Kobe layup with a putback.

Phil -- -- Getting Gasol integrated into the flow of things will be more of a challenge on the D end then the offensive end. The C spot will be easy to pick up in the Tri, as it generally boils down to some basics. Defensively, we just need to establish some rules and guys need to learn the kinds of things that Gasol will and won't do... The Lakers looked to get Gasol involved early. Kobe was a bit more passive in the process, taking his first shot after 8 minutes... We went to a LO/Walton center/power forward combo to close out the first quarter as foul trouble took our bigs out and Phil could get away with a smaller lineup instead of bringing in Mbenga... The Lakers led by 1 point when Kobe had to go to the locker room and Pau had to sit with three fouls midway through the second quarter. We ended up tied 47-47 despite those issues, which included just 2 points from Kobe in the half on 1-5 shooting... The coaches emphasized hitting the glass better in the second half, even though they kept the Nets to just 3 offensive rebounds. (The Nets got to the offensive glass 7 times in the second half)... Phil called a timeout midway through the third after the Nets got a couple easy scores working the high screen and roll. Gasol was involved in those and we weren't on the same page... The Lakers led 75-71 after three quarters... The offense stalled midway through the fourth with Luke, Farmar and Sasha out there... Both Kobe and Pau led the Lakers with +20s...

Game Flow -- LINK -- The Lakers closed out the Nets with a 21-9 run in the fourth. That run happened exactly when Phil put Luke, Sasha and Farmar on the bench for Lamar, Fish and Vlad.

[moonriver24]

so, we still picked up a win with out-of-line Kobe and no shows from centers?
Gasol, fish, snowboardman and Odom
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Kobe's Top 5 Dunks, 81 points, MJ last gm @Staples

[thegreatest]

This was the first of Kobe's finger issues, correct?
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"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships."
- Michael Jordan

[AceFresh]

Thanks DB

[Lakersneuron]

subtle message to LG with bump DancingBarry? Gasol brought rings to LA and Fish has more consistent impact playing history than anyone other than Kobe.

I find it amusing that the rest falls in line with LG tropes though. For example, Phil left Luke in for too long, Sasha wasn't hitting his shots, and while Vlad made some shots, was space cadet on defense.

[RVCdesigns]

[Balki Bartokomous]

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"Now we're so happy we do the dance of joy."

[md8]

Glad to see us winning still, with Kobe yet to do anything this season.