Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 12:42 am Post subject: MAGIC -at- LAKERS - 1/18 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings
The Prestige... You hunker down beneath a trash-bag raincoat and pull a shift on the city walls with your little friend, who is always there. The rain and wind whips around both of you. If someone were to attack, this might be an excellent time. Sure enough, just moments later, it happens.
An explosion. A cloud of smoke. And they appear. The Magicians have returned to the city.
It's been months since Little Larry O'Brien was in play. The bitter images of their defeat would surely be on their minds tonight. You shoot off a flare. It arcs into the air and lights up the night sky as it slowly floats beneath its parachute.
The Magicians go into their routine, covering a phone booth with a black curtain. They all climb in, except for the biggest Magician. Before he can raise his wand, the Horsemen arrive and disrupt the performance.
With a flash of smoke, he disappears. At the same moment, the others stumble out of the phone booth and pick up the fight. The Horsemen are momentarily confused.
The Magicians have caught them off guard with their awkwardly timed disappearing acts. It does not last long. The Horseman called Famine leads a pack of Death Riders on a renewed counter attack. It is swift and decisive.
The flare fizzles out and slowly floats on its parachute back to the ground near your feet. There is a note attached. It's DancingBarry pulling off The Prestige. How'd he do that? You read the note:
The Horsemen were here. They rallied after becoming momentarily disoriented. They have seen this act before. With victory behind them, they pack their bags. The road awaits.
I will continue to track them.
Last season, Phil repeatedly mentioned the idea that it was very hard to get back to the Finals after once losing there. From the start of that season, he kept that thought in the heads of Laker players. They came out on a mission. They went after the team that knocked them out of the Finals and beat them ... twice.
At the midway point of this season, the Magic had plenty of demons to exorcise against the Lakers. Psychologically, this is a game where you try to erase all those bad memories of L.A. hoisting Little Larry O'Brien into the air on the Orlando Magic floor.
There were stretches of this game where, according to their coach, they played some of their best ball of the season. And on the heels of that high praise, they got drubbed.
After the Lakers scored just 12 points in the third quarter -- at one point trailing by 9 as the Magic put together a 20-2 run -- they pounded the Magic for 34 in the fourth. The Lakers went on their own 21-1 run keyed by Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown.
Farmar had 9 points in that fourth and was a one-man rally early on in the quarter. Shannon, also, scored 9 in the fourth on his way to a career-high 22 points in 22 minutes.
Stats of the night: Just 5 turnovers by Laker players... Laker bench: 42 points, 18 boards, 7 assists. Magic bench: 15 points, 12 boards, 4 assists.
The 98-92 victory gives the Lakers a 32-9 record at the halfway point. The Lakers now set out on a stretch of 8 road games in 11 nights.
Kobe -- -- Phil said Kobe was feeling better, but hadn't practiced. Kobe, however, said that he once again banged his finger on a wrap-around pass to Mbenga in the second quarter. "That kind of altered things a little bit," he said in the Times. "It wasn't quite there." That's putting it mildly. He was dead from outside. His shooting in the third (0-9) hurt the team badly. The team was clicking when he was moving the ball. When he couldn't hit his jumper, they bogged down badly. He did look smoother running-wise with the back issues, but that shooting hand with the big thing of white tape was just not working. Without his perimeter game, they have to be more mindful to feed the post or use him as a decoy to attract a crowd and set up teammates. He got a lift from his bench tonight. That may be harder to pull off on the road. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-19 shooting (0-3 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 7 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 44 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He attacked off the Bynum kickout and returned the ball to him for a dunk. He was blocked under the hoop. He missed a baseline turnaround on iso. He froze his man with a hesitation dribble and scored a layup. He missed a layup, looked fouled. He spun to lose his man, attacked and kicked to Lamar for the three. He attacked and lobbed to Bynum for the dunk. He was called for a travel. He missed a runner across the lane. He sank a pull-up 17-footer in transition. He missed a three out of a timeout. He had 4 points on 2-7 shooting and 5 assists. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper, not going up straight. He was hit on a pull-up jumper by Howard, he made both FTs. He airballed a baseline jumper. He missed a pull-up three in transition. He missed an 18-footer. He attacked from the wing and scored a layup. He didn't draw iron on a wide open 20-footer, uggh. He got tapped on a drive to his left. He had 2 points on 0-9 shooting in the third. He missed a corner three with the clock low. He missed a drive on the baseline, but his bigs cleaned it up. He posted up, slithered through the D with great footwork and scored the layup. Quick first step past Barnes to draw FTs, he made one. He attacked, hung, took contact with no call, missing the layup. He was stripped on a bounce pass from Pau and yelled at the refs.
Gasol -- -- With Rashard on him as the opposing PF, the Lakers needed to go after that in the post. They did a spotty job of that at best. When they ignored it, the offense went into a nose dive. With Kobe misfiring, Pau was the key to the offense down the stretch. His perimeter game was back in form, which helps against Howard. (That is going to be key, not just playing across from Bynum, but also to stretch out the floor on the two-man game, which the Lakers will need to go to against some of these teams on the road.) In the fourth, Pau came up with several scores and some nice passing sequences. Defensively, he dug in and held the line against Howard. When he got close to a score in the second half, Pau had fouls to give. (He had a couple fouls in the first half, but played clean until he needed to start taking them later). The Stats: He scored 17 points on 8-14 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 10 boards (3 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls. He was a +7. The Action: He got tapped on a bank over Rashard. He was sloppy on a close out on Rashard and clipped him for a foul. He sank an elbow jumper, getting a nice bounce. He felt Rashard cutting him off to the middle so he spun baseline and scored a layup. He missed a baseline jumper. Great footwork on the sideline to draw a charge on Carter on the screen-roll. He didn't roll on the screen and Kobe's pass was picked off. He hit a jumphook off the Artest miss. He was blocked on a three attempt at the buzzer. Nothing in the second quarter. He had 6 points on 3-6 shooting and 5 boards. Second Half: He hit a high arching turnaround jumper. He was blocked from behind trying to get a shot off before the shotclock expired. He swished a jumper off the two-man game with Kobe. He had 4 points on 2-3 shooting in the third. He missed a jumphook. He missed a tip in. He drew a charge on Howard (clear-out by Howard with his off arm). He faced up and hit a wing jumper on Howard. He scored an And-1 layup, cutting to the front of the rim and taking a pass from Lamar, he made the FT. He faced up on Howard and hit a cutting Brown for a layup. He nearly lost the ball on his way up, got it back and hit the short jumphook.
Bynum -- -- Bynum had flu-like symptoms and hurled at halftime. Nice. After getting an early second whistle on a phantom foul, he was forced to the bench. When he returned, he played very cautious defensively, expecting to get the next foul at any moment. That resulted in a number of easy looks for Howard. The refs are clearly in his head when it comes to playing the Magic. The Lakers opted to go with a more mobile unit down the stretch. Bynum did a decent job on the boards in his limited time. He was better in the first half in that regard and had some aggressive boarding in some defensive stands. He was certainly playing at double-double pace tonight. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-7 shooting to go with 8 boards, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He attacked from the elbow to get past Howard for a layup. He slammed off the Kobe drive and dish. He was whistled for a phantom second foul on Barnes's baseline drive and he had to sit after 4 minutes. He dunked back in a Farmar miss. He airballed a jumphook. He dunked off the Kobe drive and oop. He tried to lob to Pau spinning backdoor (looked like Pau was held), turnover. He had 8 points on 4-5 shooting and 6 boards. Second Half: He swatted Carter's jumper on a switch. He missed a turnaround trying to create on iso, bad sequence. He rejected Barnes's dunk attempt. His jumphook was swatted, looked like a goaltend.
Artest -- -- Ron's time was limited severely as Phil opted to go with Luke and Kobe at the SF after Ron's first stint of each half. I'm not sure if this is related to Ron's foot issues, but it seems like it might be with how Phil has been playing him lately. He was giving Carter all he could handle and more to start the game. He had some very good post possessions then and even knocked down a three. All of his scoring took place in the first half. Carter was a non-factor all night. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-7 shooting (1-1 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists and no fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He was way short on a wing 17-footer. He posted up and kicked to Fish for three. He sealed Carter and scored a layup. He drained an open wing three, measuring it for a second or two. He faced up on VC, quick first step to get by him and he scored an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He posted up, was blocked and it went to Pau for the score. He sent Carter to the bench after a post up (hurt his shoulder), Ron made both FTs. He had 10 points on 3-5 shooting. Second Half: He missed a fading wing three. He missed a difficult drive attempt.
Fisher -- -- He was a team-low -15 (Farmar was a +21). After hitting his first three shots and helping the Lakers to a strong opening quarter, he clanked the rest of the game. The veteran leadership, again, seemed to fail the Lakers in the third quarter. Pau went just 2-3 in the quarter while Kobe and DFish combined for 0-12 shooting. Kobe took most of those, but I'm bringing up the vet leadership issue here because that is the role Fish is supposed to play. Teams need that savvy guard who makes the right decisions and runs the offense to its strengths when things aren't going well. Fish didn't do that. Instead of organizing the offense to feature our bigs, the team ended up with jumper after jumper. At this stage of his career, there should be fewer of these games and more of those savvy vet ones. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-7 shooting (2-3 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 1 assist, 3 steals and 3 fouls. The Action: He stole a pass in the backcourt then hit a three. He swished a three off the Artest kickout. He grabbed a rebound, took a burst of speed to the hole around VC and scored a layup. Nice extra pass on the wing to Artest for the three. He attacked from the corner and drew FTs, he missed both. He was hit on the arm after stealing the ball and pushing it up, but didn't get the call on the layup. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper. He missed a wing three. He bricked a wing jumper badly. He was 0-3 in the third. He was fouled intentionally and made both.
Lamar -- -- He was beasting on the boards. To start the fourth, he had a couple key tip-ins of misses by guards that helped the Lakers turn the game around. He was the garbage man in the second half. The offense wasn't run through him, but made plays and scored. On D he was manning that glass and keeping the Magic off of it. In the third, the Lakers just looked so lifeless on the defensive glass until he started locking it down. His first stint of the game was a bit sluggish and he wasn't taking good shots. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-11 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 16 boards (6 offensive), 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He missed a 6-footer getting sandwiched between players. He drained a corner three on a Kobe kickout. Looked like he rejected Barnes at the rim, but was called for the foul. He missed a wing three. Bad three attempt in early offense and he missed (Lamar can get those anytime, look for a better shot first). What's this...a lazy rebound attempt by Lamar and it gave up a second chance (probably the only one of the night). No challenge on his man, giving up a three. He had 3 points on 1-4 shooting, 7 boards and 3 assists. Second Half: He sank a turnaround 15-footer. He missed a tip-in at the end of the third. He tipped in a Kobe miss and a Farmar miss, both got dribble penetration. Nice tip-out of a defensive board to ignite a break. He was way off on a jumphook. Great look to Pau cutting under the hoop for the And-1 at the rim (big hoop).
Brown -- -- With the news leaking out that he was going to be in the dunk contest, Shannon went out and dropped a new career high. The Lakers needed it with our starting backcourt clanking bricks all night. He was aggressive on his first stint, hitting a couple jumpers and scoring a drive and that forced a Magic timeout. He played just 6 minutes in that stretch, but scored 11 points. In the second half, when he and Farmar came in, the Lakers went on a run. The defense was rotating much faster and challenging more shots. With Kobe and DFish a combined 0-12 in the third, it would be hard not to improve on that offensively. Shannon ended up getting a string of FTs down the stretch. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 8-12 shooting (1-4 from three, 5-8 from the line) to go with 2 steals and no fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +18. The Action: He missed an open three from the top of the arc. He overplayed and used a bad angle in the corner to give up a dunk. He probed off the screen and hit a short runner. He sank a wing jumper. He drained an 18-footer off the Lamar screen. He was hit in mid flight getting ready to throw down on Howard, he made both FTs. He buried a wing three off the Farmar kickout. He had 11 points on 4-5 shooting in 6 minutes. Second Half: He sank a pull-up 17-footer off the pinch post. He stole a ball in the backcourt but missed a three. He missed a wing three. He swished a step-back 18-footer. Nice challenge on Rashard's three to get a miss. He missed a wing three. He cut behind Nelson ball-watching, took the pass from Pau and scored a lefty layup with a couple minutes left (that's how you mix it up instead of staying behind the three line for kickouts). He was fouled intentionally, he made one FT. He scored a hanging layup beating the full-court press. He was fouled intentionally again, he missed both with 25 seconds left. He was fouled again with 19 seconds left, he made both this time.
Farmar -- -- Heck of a game by Farmar. He ripped the Magic apart in the second half. The Lakers went on a 21-1 run between quarters. His hustle, dribble penetration and shooting made a huge difference versus DFish's misfiring. He helped to completely turn the tables and get momentum back. One of his best games of the season despite the stats not really reflecting that with huge numbers. When the Lakers needed a momentum-changer, he was one of the key players to give the team life. He also didn't make any mistakes offensively. Keeping those turnovers down when the team gets on the road will be big. I thought Phil should have left him in to close out this game. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-10 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 assist, 1 steal and no fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +21. The Action: Great shot selection flashing from the weakside and pulling up at the elbow for the 15-footer. He missed a floater, but Bynum stuffed it back in. He missed a turnaround in the post, got it back on the other side and clanked a baseline jumper. He kicked out to Shannon for a three. Second Half: He missed a wide open wing three. He drained a pull-up three with the tempo throttled up. He hit a step-back sideline jumper with the shotclock low. He pushed out the break and elevated around Redick for a layup. He swiped a pass on the next defensive stand and drew FTs, he made both. Nice help D on a lob to Howard to help deflect it away. He missed a wing three off the high screen from Pau.
Luke -- -- Quiet minutes from Luke. With Phil limiting Ron's playing time, Luke got a little run. Most of the back up SF minutes were taken by Kobe. The team was getting great play from Shannon at SG. The Stats:The Action: He missed a turnaround over VC. Second Half: Nothing to report.
Mbenga -- -- He came in with 1:26 left in the half when both Pau and Bynum had 2 fouls each. The Lakers were a -4 in that brief stint. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting. The Action: He missed a 16-footer. Second Half: He did not play.
Phil -- -- The Lakers looked to both Bynum and Gasol in the post early on. They led 11-4 forcing a Magic timeout. (Both Gasol and Bynum picked up a foul each after the first 4 minutes.)... The Lakers extended the lead until the Magic went on a 7-0 run... The Lakers led by 6 when Farmar came in for DFish with 3 minutes left... The Lakers led 33-25 after the first. They were 4-5 from behind the arc. Both teams shot over 60 percent in the first quarter... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Kobe, Shannon, Farmar unit... Phil sat Kobe for Luke after 5 minutes with a 10-point lead... Phil went to a Bynum, Pau, Luke, Kobe, Fisher unit... The Lakers led 52-47 at the half. They shot 50 percent (21-42, 5-9 from three, 5-7 from the line). The Magic shot 51 percent (21-41, 3-12 from three, 2-5 from the line). The Magic had 5 turnovers, the Lakers 4... The Lakers trailed 57-56 midway through the third quarter. Not doing a good job getting the ball to Pau low. A 14-0 run for the Magic... Phil brought in Lamar for Bynum trailing 61-58... It was extended to a 20-2 run. A lot of standing around defensively... They were down 67-58 when Shannon and Farmar came in for Fisher and Artest... The Lakers scored just 12 points in the third quarter. They trailed 68-64 going into the fourth... "Poor shots, no penetration," Phil said of the third... Phil started the Pau, LO, Kobe, Shannon, Farmar unit that closed the third... They took the lead back 71-68 with a 7-0 run to start the quarter, forcing a Magic timeout... Phil sat Kobe for Luke out of the timeout... Farmar bringing energy and scoring off the bench to get the Magic on their heels... With a 79-68 lead, Phil brought back in Kobe for Luke... With 4:38 left and leading 83-75, Phil brought in Fisher for Farmar... Lakers closed out... The Lakers shot 43 percent, the Magic 44 percent. The Magic shot 11-32 from three, the Lakers 6-18... The Lakers had just 5 turnovers on the game. Stellar job...
Game Flow -- LINK -- Farmar and Brown combined for 18 points in the fourth quarter. Lamar had 7 boards. Bench getting it done.
Great game tonight. _________________ "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."
Great win tonight - slow start in the 3rd quarter had most fans worried, but Jordan and Shannon stepped up to help
regain the lead. Great to see them being more aggressive and contributing positively.
Now on to the road trip. _________________ "Just show up ready to work, ready to play, Have your big boy pants on, leave your diaper at home." Kobe Bryant
Anything less than a championship is a failure. Period.
Joined: 14 Jul 2006 Posts: 46882 Location: Coming soon and striking at your borders.
Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 1:23 am Post subject:
Thanks DB
I agree with your assessment with the vet leadership. Lakers can have wonky games from Fish/Kobe at home and still prevail. But that needs to change on the road. Hopefully they are a bit more deliberate in the attack.
Also, Kobe's hand is probably gonna be a factor for the rest of the season. _________________ *sighs*
Joined: 12 Mar 2006 Posts: 3732 Location: The other side
Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 2:00 am Post subject:
Quote:
Stats of the night: Just 5 turnovers by Laker players... Laker bench: 42 points, 18 boards, 7 assists. Magic bench: 15 points, 12 boards, 4 assists.
Finally the bench is providing an impact. I hope they keep it up. I wonder if Phil's rotations have anything to do with that? After all, it was DNP for Powell, Sasha and Ammo today... Powell especially has been more like a detriment lately.
Drew has been torched now first by Duncan and this time by Howard. Not a good thing. Big and strong centers have got their own against him. Hopefully he can improve his man to man D soon. _________________ .
Lakers depth chart
PG Johnson / Goodrich
SG Bryant / West / Scott
SF Baylor / Worthy / Cooper
PF Mikkelsen / Hairston / McAdoo / Gasol
C Chamberlain / Abdul-Jabbar / O'Neal / Mikan
Joined: 23 Jun 2005 Posts: 12825 Location: Somewhere watching a Laker game
Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 3:00 am Post subject:
Thanks DB. I missed this game live (well most of it). Watching the replay.
Dribble penetration. If either of our guards could just penetrate the defense and either kick it out to the shooters - or more importantly to the post, this should really help our sometimes offensive glitches. One example was when Kobe went into the lane and drew like 3 defenders (including D12). All he did was drop it off to Drew - big time dunk.
When Drew got early ticky tack fouls, they went to Artest in the post for an easy deuce. This is will be key v. any team as most teams don't have a good to great post defender at the three. Hope to see more of that as the year wears along.
D12 was a good prelude to the Bynum/Shaq sequel. Here's hoping the refs let Bynum play - they way Shaq was able to last game.
This was the first time I've seen Dwight so afraid of the lob being made "against" him that he had no choice but to stay home, and with good reasons, he knows he can't block Drew.
thanks DB. it was great to see the bench backcourt show up, especially when the starting backcourt wasn't doing so hot. _________________ "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."
The Magic shouldn't be much of a challenge should we meet them again in the finals... I thought they were quite a bit more formidable last season. We had our way with them whenever we fed either Andrew or Pau. In fact, I'd expect Howard to be in early foul trouble 7 out of 10 times whenever we launch a low post attack in the first quarter. The officiating crew was treating Dwight like a sacred cow last night.
I am a first time poster and wanted to share Dancing Barry that no game is complete without reading your report. I have read it for years and appreciate your insight and honesty in telling it like it is. Isn't it interesting that the TWO veterans on the team, the guys that should know the offense better than everyone else are the two guys that kept clanging their shots. I am AMAZED at the defenders that Fisher has on this website. Thank you again for your hard work. You are much appreciated!!!
If Kobe was gonna lay an egg, I'm glad he laid it at home before the trip. Kudos to LO for the terrific rebounding effort and to Farmar and Brown for manning the back court so effectively. Hopefully this will give them confidence on the road. I'm not really worried about Kobe because he usually comes through on the road. And I'm glad Pau got his timing back for the trip.
i usually want to throw something at farmar during a game, not last night. he was a difference maker.
that was the optimum showing of a different tempo completely disrupting the opposition. the magic forgot that dwight was even on the team during the lakers' run in the 4th. the lakers sworming around the magic like a million gnats had the magic completely discomboberated. (is that even a word, lol?)
add to lo's great hustle...he was another impact player last night, sb was just solid, congrats on the career night...and pau was sweet. _________________ 'How many kids can say growing up that they'll turn pro and play for their favorite team in the world and spend your entire career there? IT'S BEEN A DREAM!'-Kobe Bryant 11.29.15
Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 90307 Location: Formerly Known As 24
Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 11:15 am Post subject:
JTS1 wrote:
nice writeup db!
i usually want to throw something at farmar during a game, not last night. he was a difference maker.
that was the optimum showing of a different tempo completely disrupting the opposition. the magic forgot that dwight was even on the team during the lakers' run in the 4th. the lakers sworming around the magic like a million gnats had the magic completely discomboberated. (is that even a word,?)
I think you were looking for discombobulated... and swarming... _________________ “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel
The Magic shouldn't be much of a challenge should we meet them again in the finals... I thought they were quite a bit more formidable last season. We had our way with them whenever we fed either Andrew or Pau. In fact, I'd expect Howard to be in early foul trouble 7 out of 10 times whenever we launch a low post attack in the first quarter. The officiating crew was treating Dwight like a sacred cow last night.
I think the Magic miss Hedo a lot. And, even though he was just a rook last year, they miss Courtney Lee.
It always seems a bit weird to me when Phil blames a poor defensive game on the lack of offensive rhythm. But it's probably true sometimes, and I think that Orlando has the same issue. They were a better defensive team last year, and Hedo contributed to that -- not really because of his defensive skills, but because he helped keep his team in rhythm and spaced properly on offense.
i usually want to throw something at farmar during a game, not last night. he was a difference maker.
that was the optimum showing of a different tempo completely disrupting the opposition. the magic forgot that dwight was even on the team during the lakers' run in the 4th. the lakers sworming around the magic like a million gnats had the magic completely discomboberated. (is that even a word,?)
I think you were looking for discombobulated... and swarming...
thank you...better than spell check! _________________ 'How many kids can say growing up that they'll turn pro and play for their favorite team in the world and spend your entire career there? IT'S BEEN A DREAM!'-Kobe Bryant 11.29.15
I am a first time poster and wanted to share Dancing Barry that no game is complete without reading your report. I have read it for years and appreciate your insight and honesty in telling it like it is. Isn't it interesting that the TWO veterans on the team, the guys that should know the offense better than everyone else are the two guys that kept clanging their shots. I am AMAZED at the defenders that Fisher has on this website. Thank you again for your hard work. You are much appreciated!!!
Thanks, IndianaGuy.
Not sure what happens sometimes, but they've had games like that even last season. Seems to happen every now and then. Frustrates Pau.
Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 90307 Location: Formerly Known As 24
Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:48 pm Post subject:
10_24 wrote:
thanks DB
hey! No infringing on the two four trademark! _________________ “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel
and what about fox and kobe b? _________________ 'How many kids can say growing up that they'll turn pro and play for their favorite team in the world and spend your entire career there? IT'S BEEN A DREAM!'-Kobe Bryant 11.29.15
Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 90307 Location: Formerly Known As 24
Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:24 pm Post subject:
JTS1 wrote:
24 wrote:
10_24 wrote:
thanks DB
hey! No infringing on the two four trademark!
and what about fox and kobe b?
Well, once I said OK to norm Nixon... _________________ “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel
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-- Phil said Kobe was feeling better, but hadn't practiced. Kobe, however, said that he once again banged his finger on a wrap-around pass to Mbenga in the second quarter. "That kind of altered things a little bit," he said in the Times. "It wasn't quite there." That's putting it mildly. He was dead from outside. His shooting in the third (0-9) hurt the team badly. The team was clicking when he was moving the ball. When he couldn't hit his jumper, they bogged down badly. He did look smoother running-wise with the back issues, but that shooting hand with the big thing of white tape was just not working. Without his perimeter game, they have to be more mindful to feed the post or use him as a decoy to attract a crowd and set up teammates. He got a lift from his bench tonight. That may be harder to pull off on the road. 
-- With Rashard on him as the opposing PF, the Lakers needed to go after that in the post. They did a spotty job of that at best. When they ignored it, the offense went into a nose dive. With Kobe misfiring, Pau was the key to the offense down the stretch. His perimeter game was back in form, which helps against Howard. (That is going to be key, not just playing across from Bynum, but also to stretch out the floor on the two-man game, which the Lakers will need to go to against some of these teams on the road.) In the fourth, Pau came up with several scores and some nice passing sequences. Defensively, he dug in and held the line against Howard. When he got close to a score in the second half, Pau had fouls to give. (He had a couple fouls in the first half, but played clean until he needed to start taking them later). 
-- Bynum had flu-like symptoms and hurled at halftime. Nice. After getting an early second whistle on a phantom foul, he was forced to the bench. When he returned, he played very cautious defensively, expecting to get the next foul at any moment. That resulted in a number of easy looks for Howard. The refs are clearly in his head when it comes to playing the Magic. The Lakers opted to go with a more mobile unit down the stretch. Bynum did a decent job on the boards in his limited time. He was better in the first half in that regard and had some aggressive boarding in some defensive stands. He was certainly playing at double-double pace tonight. 
-- Ron's time was limited severely as Phil opted to go with Luke and Kobe at the SF after Ron's first stint of each half. I'm not sure if this is related to Ron's foot issues, but it seems like it might be with how Phil has been playing him lately. He was giving Carter all he could handle and more to start the game. He had some very good post possessions then and even knocked down a three. All of his scoring took place in the first half. Carter was a non-factor all night. 
-- He was a team-low -15 (Farmar was a +21). After hitting his first three shots and helping the Lakers to a strong opening quarter, he clanked the rest of the game. The veteran leadership, again, seemed to fail the Lakers in the third quarter. Pau went just 2-3 in the quarter while Kobe and DFish combined for 0-12 shooting. Kobe took most of those, but I'm bringing up the vet leadership issue here because that is the role Fish is supposed to play. Teams need that savvy guard who makes the right decisions and runs the offense to its strengths when things aren't going well. Fish didn't do that. Instead of organizing the offense to feature our bigs, the team ended up with jumper after jumper. At this stage of his career, there should be fewer of these games and more of those savvy vet ones. 
-- He was beasting on the boards. To start the fourth, he had a couple key tip-ins of misses by guards that helped the Lakers turn the game around. He was the garbage man in the second half. The offense wasn't run through him, but made plays and scored. On D he was manning that glass and keeping the Magic off of it. In the third, the Lakers just looked so lifeless on the defensive glass until he started locking it down. His first stint of the game was a bit sluggish and he wasn't taking good shots. 
-- With the news leaking out that he was going to be in the dunk contest, Shannon went out and dropped a new career high. The Lakers needed it with our starting backcourt clanking bricks all night. He was aggressive on his first stint, hitting a couple jumpers and scoring a drive and that forced a Magic timeout. He played just 6 minutes in that stretch, but scored 11 points. In the second half, when he and Farmar came in, the Lakers went on a run. The defense was rotating much faster and challenging more shots. With Kobe and DFish a combined 0-12 in the third, it would be hard not to improve on that offensively. Shannon ended up getting a string of FTs down the stretch. 
-- Quiet minutes from Luke. With Phil limiting Ron's playing time, Luke got a little run. Most of the back up SF minutes were taken by Kobe. The team was getting great play from Shannon at SG. 
-- He came in with 1:26 left in the half when both Pau and Bynum had 2 fouls each. The Lakers were a -4 in that brief stint. 
-- The Lakers looked to both Bynum and Gasol in the post early on. They led 11-4 forcing a Magic timeout. (Both Gasol and Bynum picked up a foul each after the first 4 minutes.)... The Lakers extended the lead until the Magic went on a 7-0 run... The Lakers led by 6 when Farmar came in for DFish with 3 minutes left... The Lakers led 33-25 after the first. They were 4-5 from behind the arc. Both teams shot over 60 percent in the first quarter... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Kobe, Shannon, Farmar unit... Phil sat Kobe for Luke after 5 minutes with a 10-point lead... Phil went to a Bynum, Pau, Luke, Kobe, Fisher unit... The Lakers led 52-47 at the half. They shot 50 percent (21-42, 5-9 from three, 5-7 from the line). The Magic shot 51 percent (21-41, 3-12 from three, 2-5 from the line). The Magic had 5 turnovers, the Lakers 4... The Lakers trailed 57-56 midway through the third quarter. Not doing a good job getting the ball to Pau low. A 14-0 run for the Magic... Phil brought in Lamar for Bynum trailing 61-58... It was extended to a 20-2 run. A lot of standing around defensively... They were down 67-58 when Shannon and Farmar came in for Fisher and Artest... The Lakers scored just 12 points in the third quarter. They trailed 68-64 going into the fourth... "Poor shots, no penetration," Phil said of the third... Phil started the Pau, LO, Kobe, Shannon, Farmar unit that closed the third... They took the lead back 71-68 with a 7-0 run to start the quarter, forcing a Magic timeout... Phil sat Kobe for Luke out of the timeout... Farmar bringing energy and scoring off the bench to get the Magic on their heels... With a 79-68 lead, Phil brought back in Kobe for Luke... With 4:38 left and leading 83-75, Phil brought in Fisher for Farmar... Lakers closed out... The Lakers shot 43 percent, the Magic 44 percent. The Magic shot 11-32 from three, the Lakers 6-18... The Lakers had just 5 turnovers on the game. Stellar job...
