Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:28 am Post subject: LAKERS -at- PACERS - 1/27 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings
Aggression... The sun rises over the treetops and peeks through the jungle canopy. A rain-swollen river forced you to spend the night in a hammock made of bamboo. You didn't sleep well or for very long.
Another day, another opponent for the Horsemen. You have miles to make up and little time to get there. No rest for the weary.
You and companions risk the rushing river and make good time in your little boat despite being cautious. The river, however, is dishing out an equal portion of punishment. After broadsiding a rock, you change tactics. You can't be passive in the rapids. Rather than getting pushed around by the river, you aggressively attack it. It is only then that you feel as if you're in control.
Up ahead you see smoke and throttle up the engine to fight the current. At the riverbank is a smoldering encampment. It is deathly quiet.
As the boat slowly passes by you see a message written in charcoal upon the remains of a stone wall. DancingBarry:
The Horsemen were here. They are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. Each of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse brought the own flavor to the battle. Each carried the fight to their foe. Their opponent had no chance.
I will continue to track them...
Last year, the Lakers held a 15-point lead after three quarters in Indiana and squandered it until a tip-in finally beat them at the buzzer. Despite that, they were a better road team then with more determination and a whole lot more health.
Injuries have hindered their chemistry. Chemistry issues have lead to confusion. Confusion has plagued their teamwork on both ends.
Slowly, they've started to find their offensive game. They've been blending Kobe's attack with a two-headed post monster. Teams without enough size are paying the price.
This time, the Lakers would extend that fourth-quarter lead and turn the game into a 118-96 blowout.
Andrew Bynum dominated the interior with 27 points on 12-14 shooting. Pau chipped in with 21, and Kobe scored an efficient 29 on 15 shots.
"Tonight I got touches and was just in attack mode," Bynum said.
The game turned for the Lakers in the second half. Phil wanted the team to be more aggressive on both ends. When they took the fight to the Pacers they overwhelmed them, outscoring the team 59-40 in the second half.
Kobe -- -- For the second time on this trip, the Lakers have integrated both bigmen supremely well into the game. Could it be that Pau and Drew are learning to play together? And why am I discussing that in Kobe's spot? Clearly, Kobe is a huge part of whether the Bynum/Gasol unit will be successful. He is the key trigger man and first option on offense. That means not only letting the ball go through the post, but also looking for opportunities to set up his bigmen. The result has been not only good numbers for both Drew and Pau, but Kobe also becoming much more efficient...despite the injured hand. "When we get that kind of ball movement, plus him knocking down shots and other guys getting involved making the other team play defense is real tough," Shannon said of the balanced attack. Kobe and Bynum started this game 13-13. They finished a combined 22-29. Some superb passing from Kobe tonight, as well. He kept the turnovers down and set up a number of teammates for FTs that won't show up on the stat sheet. The Stats: He scored 29 points on 10-15 shooting (3-4 from three, 6-8 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 35 minutes. He was +15. The Action: He lobbed to Bynum over the top of the D for layup. He dribbled around Rush for a lefty layup. Nice effort for an on offensive board, it led to a Bynum score. He swished a pull-up 19-footer. He hit a toe-on-the-three line pull-up in transition. He probed in early offense and scored a layup. He drained another toe-on-the-three line jumper. He hit Pau for an open jumper. He had the ball thrown off his back on an inbounds by Granger, then Kobe fouled him with 2.6 left in the quarter. He set up Pau off the screen -roll for FTs. He missed an elbow jumper. He had 10 points on 5-6 shooting. Second Half: He drew FTs on an up-and-under, he made one. He attacked next time down and picked up Granger's fourth foul, he made both FTs. He drew a crowd and found an open Pau for the score. He sank a wing three in transition. He dribbled between his legs on a step-back and hit the three with the shotclock low. He pounded the dribble until he had to heave a tough wing fallaway, bad possession. He swished a fallaway from 15 feet out. Nice effort to tip an offensive board out and then save it back in to Pau who drew FTs. He stripped Price, then found LO for a layup. He probed behind Pau screens and drew FTs on the attack, he made both. He missed a short bank. He hit rim on a 75-footer to end the third quarter. He tied up Granger from behind. He reversed directions on his man, got into the paint and hit the short fade. He missed an awkward fallaway (looked like he stumbled into it). He faced up and got cracked by Jones for FTs (M-V-P chants), he made one. He faced up on the sideline, swung through and hit the three. He found Pau posting up in early offense for an And-1. He swatted Hibbert out of bounds, saving a dunk.
Gasol -- -- Part of the equation to get Drew working well with Pau is how the two bigman space the floor for each other. Pau is the guy who has to use that range of his to help keep the D honest and give Bynum room to work. What the team needs to see from him (and is getting more and more of) are those 15-foot shots. He also is mindful of making passes over the top of the D to find Bynum. Another key is to make sure Pau is always hitting the boards, even if he's away from the glass. It's a complicated job and the two haven't had a consistent number of games together to work on it. Pau started the game a little slow, but picked it up as it went along. Defensively, he had to deal with shooters and speed -- a tough combo at times. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 8-18 shooting (5-6 from the line) to go with 13 boards (5 offensive), 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 32:40. He was a +22. The Action: He hit Bynum with a pass over the D for a score. He missed a layup, but Drew cleaned it up. He hit Bynum with an interior feed for a layup. He missed an elbow jumper. He missed a short runner. He missed a short turnaround. He sank a 17-footer on a pick and pop with Kobe. He spun around Hibbert and dunked. He missed a 16-footer. He was hit on a layup with no call. He hit a jumphook over Murphy. He missed a two-footer. He dribbled into the lane with ease and hit a short turnaround. He was hammered on a layup off the screen-roll with Kobe, he made one FT. He missed a jumphook. Second Half: He hit a short jumphook off the Kobe dish. Good challenge on Murphy's three (finally), he leaked out and threw down an And-1 dunk on him on the other end, he made the FT. He missed a jumphook. He drew FTs when Kobe saved a ball to him under the hoop, he made both. He was blocked in the paint. He sealed in transition, took the pass from Kobe and scored the And-1, he made the FT. He blocked Hibbert from behind. He stole an entry pass. He cleaned up a Powell miss.
Bynum -- -- Beastly game from Bynum, making his first eight attempts. Last night the Lakers went to Pau again and again. As predicted, they worked the ball to Bynum against the Pacers, and he destroyed their interior. He faced both Murphy and Hibbert and employed a variety of post moves for scores. Teammates also made a concerted effort to deliver the ball to him. Again, however, 22 points of his offense was in the first half as the team didn't go after it as much in the second half. He simply overwhelmed the Pacers and even had the crowd buzzing on a couple of plays. Defensively, he had to deal with Murphy's range or Hibbert's length. Both players were able to put up some numbers. The Lakers, however, did deny dribble penetration well. Good job on the glass, too. It seemed like he was making the extra effort to go after boards -- that's what you want to see. "Last night I was more tired than tonight," Bynum said. Great game, superb efficiency. The Stats: He scored 27 points on 12-14 shooting (3-3 from the line) to go with 12 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 30:31. He was a +11. The Action: He scored on the lob from Kobe. He gathered and scored a deflected pass from Pau. He cleaned up a missed layup by Pau. He was fouled going up on a long pass from DFish to finish strong, he made both FTs. He scored another layup off an interior feed from Pau. He hit a short lefty jumphook on one end, but gave up a layup a few seconds later to Murphy. He took a tough pass from Farmar, up-faked and hit the layup. He spun on his man and hammered down a lob from Lamar. He iso'd on Hibbert and hit the short jumphook. He short-armed a 5-footer. He faced up from the elbow, attacked and scored a layup. He was hit on a slam with no call, should have been an And-1. He had 22 points on 10-12 shooting and 7 boards. Second Half: Finally a post up for Drew after several minutes, he faced up on Hibbert, jab stepped and powered past him for an And-1 throwdown (one of Bynum's better power moves all season), he made the FT. Another rare post touch, he attacked right and hit the short jumphook. Nice rebound, he then quarterbacked an outlet to Shannon for FTs on the other end.
Artest -- -- Ron struggled offensively and missed a number of really good looks. His minutes were limited, which will likely happen right now if he's not hitting his shot due to his health. Ron's going to have his hands full in the next couple of games. Unfortunately, he's struggling to get through games lately. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-6 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He scored a layup off the Bynum handoff to start the game (that would be it offensively). He missed a three. Nice hustle to save a ball to Fish who was fouled for three FTs. He attacked and dished to Bynum for the slam. He missed a corner three. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper over Granger (should have attacked him with 4 fouls). He was called for three seconds. He over-passed under the hoop and it was a three-second call on Bynum this time. He clanked a wide open three afte measuring it for a few beats.
Fisher -- -- Another game where the PG situation on the other side of the court wasn't testing the Laker D. The Laker guards faced little threat and that's usually a good thing. Offensively, DFish basically scored most of his points on a couple of perimeter jumpers in which he was fouled on. Seeing as how he has one of the lower shooting percentages on the team these days, got to love getting freebies on those. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-6 shooting (0-2 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 steal and 3 fouls in 25:28. He was a +14. The Action: He missed a long three. He missed a pull-up 15-footer in transition. He was fouled on a three with the shotclock low, he made all three. He missed a wing three next time down. He drew a moving screen call. Second Half: He muscled in a wing jumper for an And-1 after getting undercut, he made the FT. He missed a wing jumper next time down. He sank a wing jumper off the screens.
Lamar -- -- Lamar's touch around the rim wasn't pretty. He missed a lot of chippies, but on the perimeter he stroked a couple of very nice threes. The Lakers were struggling with the boards early in the game, but off the bench Lamar helped turn that around. The Lakers ended up with a 62-42 advantage on the glass. Pretty impressive. Lamar had 14 of those in just 27 minutes. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-10 shooting (2-3 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 14 boards (5 offensive), 1 assist, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 27 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He was fouled on a putback attempt, he made one FT. He hit Bynum on a backdoor alley-oop. He posted up Granger and drew FTs, he made one. He choked a layup off a great feed from Luke. Next time down, he lost the handle on a drive, turnover. He pulled down a miss by Pau and missed a layup. He tried to thread a needle and it was picked off for a layup the other way and Phil sat him briefly on that. He drained a three at the halftime buzzer. Second Half: He got a lucky bounce pass from Kobe and scored the layup. He stepped into a wing three, nothing but net. Next three he didn't step into and missed short. He took an offensive board and choked the layup. He sank a turnaround over Granger in the middle of the paint.
Brown -- -- He maintained the on-again-off-again January. Shannon couldn't connect on anything. He missed all five attempts beyond the arc, and like Artest, after Shannon made his first shot, he was firing blanks the rest of the game. He had a couple of bad chucks. With our bigs destroying the interior, he needs to make sure he runs the offense through the post. If the D collapses, that just means good looks for him. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 1-9 shooting (0-5 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: He drained an elbow jumper off the split play. He airballed a three in early offense. He drew FTs leaking out, he made both. Bad chuck from the wing without running the offense and he missed. Second Half: He missed a three with the shotclock low. He missed a runner getting hit on the head, then drew a tech. He drew FTs on the long outlet from Bynum, he made both. He missed a chuck from the corner, falling back. He stripped his man. He tucked the ball under his arm, attacked and missed.
Farmar -- -- He couldn't connect from three on several attempts, but played a decent overall game. Defensively, both of his fouls were in foul-to-give situations. He got his hands on a couple of passes and also forced a turnover on a deflection. He's at his best defensively when he can use his speed to get into the passing lanes or close out on shots. Phil wanted the team to play aggressive defensively and Farmar met the challenge. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-9 shooting (0-4 from three) to go with 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He missed a corner three. He missed a 19-footer. He attacked off the screen and banked a tough one over a couple defenders with the shotclock low. Second Half: He deflected a ball off Hibbert to create a turnover. He missed a wing three. He stepped out of bounds on a baseline probe in early offense. He missed a wing three. He jumped a passing lane, tipped the ball, and tracked it down to score a layup. He sank a pull-up 16-footer next time down. He stole a pass, missed a layup. He got it back and missed a three.
Luke -- -- He got some decent run, but very quiet minutes from Luke. With Ron's health, it might be time to give Luke some extended PT to help Ron recover. Shannon is also picking up the slack by taking SG minutes while Kobe slides to SF. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 2 boards in 9:44. He was a +4. The Action: He blew past Dunleavy and hit a runner. Second Half: Nice close out on Rush, he then stepped back in to save a defensive board.
Vujacic -- -- Short, but effective minutes. He moved the ball well to open teammates. He even had a pick on man D that he took for an And-1 the other way. That doesn't happen too often. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists and 1 steal in 3:40. He was a +6. The Action: He came in with 9 seconds left in the half to space the floor. He swung a kickout to LO for the three. Second Half: He attacked and kicked to Powell for the jumper. He picked Head, pushed it out and scored an And-1 with his left, he made the FT.
Powell -- -- He came in with under 6 minutes left, up by 15 points. I think he managed all his offensive boards on one furious and fruitless offensive sequence. That also hurt his shooting numbers. Just a whole bunch of unsuccessful tip-in attempts. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-6 shooting to go with 5 boards (4 offensive) and not fouls in 5:35. He was a +7. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed several tip attempts. He then missed one from a few feet away. He hit a 17-footer off the Sasha kickout.
Morrison -- -- He got in for brief garbage time and missed a couple of jumpers. Right now, Adam is one of the more valuable players in the league...because of his nicely sized ending contract. If the Lakers wanted to buy low and sell high, moving him could return a better fit for the team. Of course, the Laker salary is through the roof. If they can package him with Sasha, perhaps you see something done. If not, it would be hard to justify not letting his $10 million hit (after taxes) expire. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three) in 3:19. He was a +3. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed an elbow jumper. He missed an open corner three.
Phil -- -- The Lakers pushed out to an 18-8 lead, everyone finding Bynum for easy scores. The Pacers were forced into an early timeout... The Lakers were standing around on the defensive glass. That led to a number of second chances. Phil called a timeout after one tip-in. He then subbed in LO for Bynum... The Lakers led 31-29 after the first... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Luke, Shannon, Farmar unit... They played even all quarter. With 4 minutes left and the score tied, Phil went with the starters... The Lakers led 59-56 at the half on an LO buzzer-beating three. The Lakers shot 47 percent (24-51), the Pacers shot 44 percent (22-50). The Lakers made 1-9 from three. Everyone not named Kobe or Bynum shot 9-33... "I told them at halftime I was disappointed in the defense," Phil said. The coaches wanted the Lakers to force the action on both ends... The Lakers got into the bonus after just 4 minutes. The aggression got the Lakers a 73-63 lead... The Lakers had a 7-point lead when Bynum sat for LO... The Lakers led 92-78 heading into the fourth... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Kobe, Shannon, Farmar lineup... The team extended to as much as a 24-point lead...
Game Flow -- LINK -- The second half was a series of runs for the Lakers.
Last edited by DancingBarry on Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:43 am; edited 1 time in total
Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 90307 Location: Formerly Known As 24
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:39 am Post subject:
DancingBarry wrote:
Sorry for the delay. Didn't get to watch the game until a little after 8 tonight.
i'm amazed you get to it as fast as you do night after night. Much appreciated and enjoyed. Thanks as always.
Oh, you missed Powell's stats... _________________ “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel
Joined: 23 Jun 2005 Posts: 12825 Location: Somewhere watching a Laker game
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:49 am Post subject:
Thanks DB.
Drew looked 2007esque tonight. That dunk on Hibbert with his left hand was nice. I liked how both Kobe and Pau was setting him up. I hope we see more of that throughout the year. Sure, they are the 1st two options in the offense, but because they are also playmakers, they can keep Drew involved in the offense. It looks like Pau and Drew are figuring out how to play together. Good rebounds by Drew as well.
Props to our frontline trio: EACH notching a double double in the same game.
Interesting substitutions by Phil in this game, taking Bynum out when he was playing well. However, I can understand it because Bynum doesn't always give full effort, and this was an unusual situation where he was playing so well offensively that Phil might have thought that he would feel too much pressure to keep it up.
That said, at this point, he's a little better than Pau both defensively and offensively(given equal-sized defenders), so.as long as he keeps the same demeanor at all times, I don't see why he would have problems playing in any situation that Pau can.
Thanks for the recaps DB! _________________ "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.
it's great to see Bynum learning to play with Pau. he had a great game last night. _________________ "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."
hey DB, thanks as always. Just curious, have you ever considered binding all these together at the end of the year (that is, after we get our 16th banner ) at forming a book? If anything, it might just be neat to keep for yourself after all the hard work you put into every game.
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-- Part of the equation to get Drew working well with Pau is how the two bigman space the floor for each other. Pau is the guy who has to use that range of his to help keep the D honest and give Bynum room to work. What the team needs to see from him (and is getting more and more of) are those 15-foot shots. He also is mindful of making passes over the top of the D to find Bynum. Another key is to make sure Pau is always hitting the boards, even if he's away from the glass. It's a complicated job and the two haven't had a consistent number of games together to work on it. Pau started the game a little slow, but picked it up as it went along. Defensively, he had to deal with shooters and speed -- a tough combo at times. 
-- Beastly game from Bynum, making his first eight attempts. Last night the Lakers went to Pau again and again. As predicted, they worked the ball to Bynum against the Pacers, and he destroyed their interior. He faced both Murphy and Hibbert and employed a variety of post moves for scores. Teammates also made a concerted effort to deliver the ball to him. Again, however, 22 points of his offense was in the first half as the team didn't go after it as much in the second half. He simply overwhelmed the Pacers and even had the crowd buzzing on a couple of plays. Defensively, he had to deal with Murphy's range or Hibbert's length. Both players were able to put up some numbers. The Lakers, however, did deny dribble penetration well. Good job on the glass, too. It seemed like he was making the extra effort to go after boards -- that's what you want to see. "Last night I was more tired than tonight," Bynum said. Great game, superb efficiency. 
-- Ron struggled offensively and missed a number of really good looks. His minutes were limited, which will likely happen right now if he's not hitting his shot due to his health. Ron's going to have his hands full in the next couple of games. Unfortunately, he's struggling to get through games lately. 
-- Another game where the PG situation on the other side of the court wasn't testing the Laker D. The Laker guards faced little threat and that's usually a good thing. Offensively, DFish basically scored most of his points on a couple of perimeter jumpers in which he was fouled on. Seeing as how he has one of the lower shooting percentages on the team these days, got to love getting freebies on those. 
-- Lamar's touch around the rim wasn't pretty. He missed a lot of chippies, but on the perimeter he stroked a couple of very nice threes. The Lakers were struggling with the boards early in the game, but off the bench Lamar helped turn that around. The Lakers ended up with a 62-42 advantage on the glass. Pretty impressive. Lamar had 14 of those in just 27 minutes. 
-- He maintained the on-again-off-again January. Shannon couldn't connect on anything. He missed all five attempts beyond the arc, and like Artest, after Shannon made his first shot, he was firing blanks the rest of the game. He had a couple of bad chucks. With our bigs destroying the interior, he needs to make sure he runs the offense through the post. If the D collapses, that just means good looks for him. 
-- He couldn't connect from three on several attempts, but played a decent overall game. Defensively, both of his fouls were in foul-to-give situations. He got his hands on a couple of passes and also forced a turnover on a deflection. He's at his best defensively when he can use his speed to get into the passing lanes or close out on shots. Phil wanted the team to play aggressive defensively and Farmar met the challenge. 
-- He got some decent run, but very quiet minutes from Luke. With Ron's health, it might be time to give Luke some extended PT to help Ron recover. Shannon is also picking up the slack by taking SG minutes while Kobe slides to SF. 
-- Short, but effective minutes. He moved the ball well to open teammates. He even had a pick on man D that he took for an And-1 the other way. That doesn't happen too often. 
-- He came in with under 6 minutes left, up by 15 points. I think he managed all his offensive boards on one furious and fruitless offensive sequence. That also hurt his shooting numbers. Just a whole bunch of unsuccessful tip-in attempts. 
-- He got in for brief garbage time and missed a couple of jumpers. Right now, Adam is one of the more valuable players in the league...because of his nicely sized ending contract. If the Lakers wanted to buy low and sell high, moving him could return a better fit for the team. Of course, the Laker salary is through the roof. If they can package him with Sasha, perhaps you see something done. If not, it would be hard to justify not letting his $10 million hit (after taxes) expire. 
-- The Lakers pushed out to an 18-8 lead, everyone finding Bynum for easy scores. The Pacers were forced into an early timeout... The Lakers were standing around on the defensive glass. That led to a number of second chances. Phil called a timeout after one tip-in. He then subbed in LO for Bynum... The Lakers led 31-29 after the first... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Luke, Shannon, Farmar unit... They played even all quarter. With 4 minutes left and the score tied, Phil went with the starters... The Lakers led 59-56 at the half on an LO buzzer-beating three. The Lakers shot 47 percent (24-51), the Pacers shot 44 percent (22-50). The Lakers made 1-9 from three. Everyone not named Kobe or Bynum shot 9-33... "I told them at halftime I was disappointed in the defense," Phil said. The coaches wanted the Lakers to force the action on both ends... The Lakers got into the bonus after just 4 minutes. The aggression got the Lakers a 73-63 lead... The Lakers had a 7-point lead when Bynum sat for LO... The Lakers led 92-78 heading into the fourth... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Kobe, Shannon, Farmar lineup... The team extended to as much as a 24-point lead...
