Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 11:42 pm Post subject: LAKERS -at- JAZZ - 2/10 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings
A Sense of Urgency... It's a short trip. Back on the river, past the mangroves whose leaves are covered in salt crystals. You've been here once before, you realize. As the vegetation dies off and the temperature dips, the river opens into a great lake. The boat bottoms out on the salt-encrusted beaches.
Here you find a trail of hoof prints -- the Horsemen. You follow the tracks as they wind their way up a bluff. From here, you can see the battle raging below.
They move in unison, in a rhythm like you've rarely seen them, covering for each other as their opponent tries to attack from various angles. They turn these attacks into mistakes, and those mistakes into counterstrikes.
Without their wounded warriors, they fight with a sense of urgency. It is this sense of urgency that bonds them together. It is this sense of urgency that they've struggled to maintain in previous losses. This is why they now win. Their opponent is overwhelmed and retreats.
As you head back to the boat, someone has written in the salty sand. DancingBarry:
The Horsemen were here. In this hostile environment, against a foe who has been slaying opponents night after night, the undermanned Horsemen dug in once more. They imposed their will.
I will continue to track them...
That Denver game didn't sit well with the Lakers. To a man, you could see it on their faces. Since then they have buckled down and hammered teams despite not having Kobe and Bynum. They have played with a sense of urgency.
With more mobility defensively and a better overall effort from top to bottom on the roster, the Lakers locked down their third straight team. They crushed one of the hottest teams in the NBA, keeping yet another opponent from cracking the 90-point mark. The 9-game win streak by the Jazz was snapped in their own building with the 96-81 Laker win.
"Sometimes when you lose a guy or two, your focus is there as a team," Lamar said. No one has looked more focused than him. Lamar scored a team-high 25 points on 7-9 shooting. Pau Gasol added 22 points and pulled down 19 boards while blocking 5 shots.
"We're going back to the old Pat Riley motto and theme -- defense and rebounds win rings," James Worthy said after the game.
The Lakers tightened the screws on the Jazz, turning tough D into quick counterstrikes. Some of the Lakers defensive rotations were a thing of beauty. The Jazz tried to cycle through their various options, and the Laker help D was ready for them again and again. If you like watching help D rotations, rewatch this game. Check out the end of the first quarter when the Lakers went on a 12-0 run. Great defense led to offense.
The Laker coaches expected the Jazz to rally in the second half behind some Jerry Sloan fire and brimstone. The Lakers held them to 16 points in the third quarter.
"We took a little spirit out of them in the third quarter," Phil said, also noting that the Jazz played last night and came in late. The Jazz didn't help themselves at the line, either, shooting a miserable 13-25.
The Jazz snapped the Laker win streak back in December. In that game, the Lakers scored nearly the same amount then as this one, but Kobe had an IV (along with the finger) and played very sluggish on both ends (really, one of his worst defensive games of the year). Bynum also watched Boozer sinking midrange jumpers off little pressure. Lamar gave very little impact on either end. Farmar was an entirely different player.
They were a completely different team tonight. Now they can rest up for the stretch run to the playoffs.
Gasol -- -- The team ran the offense through him with a lot of consistency in this game, but Pau really set the tone defensively. In the first quarter there was a stretch where he had blocks and steals that led to points the other way on the break. He'd get a stop on one end and be in the mix on the break on the other. Defense-to-offense hustle Karl Malone would be proud of. He help D was superb, but he also kept the Jazz to one-and-out possessions by securing the defensive glass. Just a great job as a defensive anchor tonight. He was very disruptive. Offensively, his midrange game was on. That makes life so much easier. He was doing a good job drawing attention in the post and finding teammates until the fourth quarter. He had a series of turnovers on passes that helped the Jazz stay alive. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 10-15 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 19 boards (4 offensive), 4 assists, 1 steal, 5 blocks, 6 turnovers and 4 fouls in 41 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He scored a layup off the two-man game with Lamar. He missed a lefty jumphook. He drew the double and hit Shannon under the hoop for the layup. He sank a wing jumper. He missed a runner in the middle of the lane. He stole a pass, pushed up the break in the middle of teh floor and hit Shannon for the dunk. He bolted down floor filling the lane, the pass went to Shannon, who lobbed to Pau and he tapped it in. He blocked a drive and it led to a three at the end of the buzzer. He spun quickly and couldn't finish the layup around AK. He took an offensive board and was blocked on the dunk by AK. He let Okur fly by, pushed it in closer and swished the jumper at the shotclock. He missed an open bank. He cleaned up a Fish blocked drive easily. Second Half: He swished a turnaround jumper. His pass was swiped out of a timeout. He swatted Okur and was called for a bogus foul. He swished a wing jumper over the zone. He drew a double and fed Shannon for a dunk. He was hit on a turnaround jumper, he made both FTs. Two sloppy passes trying to hit Luke to start the fourth, both turnovers. He swatted AK. Another Pau pass was picked off. He sank a turnaround in the lane off the inbounds. He posted up AK and went glass with his left. He was picked clean in the post. He blocked a jumper in the lane.
Artest -- -- Ron and Luke were a combined 1-12 at the SF. The Lakers got nothing from the perimeter by those two. Pretty amazing win when you consider that they still blew out the Jazz. Those missed Jazz FTs made up for our SF woes on offense. One thing Ron did consistently well is make post entry passes and keep AK from roaming for blocks. Defensively, AK was able to get open a little for jumpers (some of that was on other defenders, too). Ron also spent a little time on Matthews. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-7 shooting (0-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls. He was a -5. The Action: He missed a sideline three. He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a wing jumper. He was called for an offensive foul trying to post up, looked like he was being held. He sealed his man and took an offensive board, it led to a Sasha score. He was tied up in crowd and lost a jumpball to Williams. He missed another wing jumper. He posted up Milsap, spun and scored a layup. Second Half: He missed a wing three over the zone. He posted up AK and quickly threw up a layup when the pass came as AK was holding up his other arm, he made one FT. He missed a wing three off the scissors cuts.
Lamar -- -- Lamar played like a stud. He was a monster -- an efficient, destructive monster that wrecked all in its sight. Speed and length at the PF or C spots kills the Jazz. If you want to exploit their soft spots, you go after the size advantage in the post or you get their bigmen to try to move their feet defensively. Lamar once again came out of the gates like a race horse. He seemed to take on the Kobe role in this game. He got the Jazz on their heels to start. Late in the game when the Lakers were struggling, he came in and settled them down by manufacturing some points to cool a Jazz run in the fourth. When Lamar is attacking teams by playing to his strengths, he is a beast. The Pau/Lamar lineup has looked very good defensively. "That's one of our stronger lineups with those two guys in the game," Phil said. LO was named to the U.S. national team. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 7-9 shooting (11-12 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a +19. The Action: He set up Pau off the two-man game for a layup. He sank a 16-footer left alone near the FT line. He grabbed a missed jumper, attacked and flipped in an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He had Okur switch on him so attacked down the lane for the And-1 dunk, he made the FT. He threw a pass away. He missed a long pull-up jumper. He grabbed a missed jumper and hit the And-1 putback, he made the FT. He pushed out the break with speed and it led to a Pau score. He had 11 points in the first quarter. He got good position off the dribble and hit the short jumphook. Wow, cheap foul call as Lamar was standing straight up and Boozer airballed an awkward runner. Second Half: He was stripped in the lane. He was called for a travel next time down. He posted up Milsap, overpowered him and banked in the And-1, he made the FT. He attacked with speed again past Milsap and drew FTs, he made both. He blew past Boozer in early offense and drew more FTs, he made one. Back in the game and he immediately drew more FTs, he made both. He sank a face-up wing jumper over AK. He swiped a lob pass. He attacked left, but couldn't finish in a crowd. He saw a lane, attacked and drew FTs on a dunk attempt, he made both.
Brown -- -- Shannon started off hitting early, but faded as the game went along. Still, if you look at who led the Lakers in the +/- it was Shannon with +20. Despite his shooting issues, his defense was rock solid and he never let Brewer get away from him for easy layups or dunks out of the Jazz system. He also played some strong D on Williams when they matched up. When Brewer tried to double off him to help on Pau, Shannon made him pay a couple of times with good off-the-ball movement. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-15 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 3 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 37 minutes. The Action: He drained a wing three on a kickout from Fisher. He sank a face-up 17-footer over Brewer. He missed a wing jumper. His man left to double, Shannon cut baseline, took the pass from Pau and scored a layup. He hit the side of the backboard on a corner three. He filled the lane on the break with Pau and dunked. He quickly lobbed to Pau on the break for a score. He missed a three. He missed a fading wing jumper. He stripped a man, then lost it pushing up the dribble. He clanked an awkward one-hander a few seconds later in transition. Second Half: He couldn't connect on a short bank off a curl cut. He missed a three when his man left him (cut on those). Next time Pau drew a double, Shannon cut and dunked (that's what I'm talking about). He missed a step-back fade in the lane. He clanked a wing jumper. He was swatted badly in a crowd.
Fisher -- -- DFish's 1000th career game. One more than Kobe. One thing you might have noticed was a lot of switches where Derek was caught on bigger players in a mismatch. The Lakers weren't going to give up layups (or open threes to Okur) if they could help it. All those quick hit cuts and screens require attention. The first goal is to take away anything that leads to an easy layup. The Lakers tightened up their rotations even more in the second half and locked down in that third quarter. Offensively, Fish didn't force up much and once again avoided getting stuck behind the three line. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-6 shooting (2-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He attacked and kicked to Shannon for three. He missed a wing jumper not squaring up well. He attacked and was swatted, but Pau cleaned it up. He lost a dribble out of bounds. Second Half: He made a tech FT. He missed a toe-on-the-three-line jumper. He got into the middle of the lane and hit Pau for a jumper against the zone. He curled off a screen with speed and attacked the lane for FTs, he made one. He stepped in front of AK and drew a charge. He was stripped on a drive. He was hit on a runner with no call and bricked. He dodged a charge while twisting in air and flipped in a layup. He iso'd and swished a high-arching jumper as the buzzer went off.
Farmar -- -- On fire from beyond the arc! Farmar was the third weapon tonight, draining jumpers and attacking the paint. Just a sensational game from him and he did it in a hostile environment. He's come on strong the past few weeks. Tonight, he was the best guard on the floor. Better even than All Star Deron Williams. Right time to bring one of his best games of the season. "We've been playing really good basketball," Farmar said, "playing together, really, really executing, paying attention to details on both ends of the floor." Huge difference in Farmar's game in Utah vs. in December when he had a number miscues. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-11 shooting (4-4 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He lost Price and hit a wing jumper. He sank a wing three at the end of the first quarter. He missed a drive. He swished a wing three off the pinch post with Sasha. He hit Mbenga on the break for a dunk. He probed into the lane and flipped in a layup. Second Half: He swished a wing three off the inside-out sequence. He was blocked by AK, should have pump-faked that pass from Pau. He was blocked on a jumper. He was called for a charge on a drive (not sure about that call). He drained a big wing three with the shotclock low. He curled around a screen, took the pass and spun it in with his left. He missed an 18-footer.
Luke -- -- There was really only one player in this game who played horrible. Luke couldn't buy a shot no matter how often he tried in his brief minutes. During the start of the fourth, we tried to get him the ball in a mismatch and the offense went to hell. Painful minutes tonight. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-5 shooting to go with 1 steal in 6 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a wing jumper. He missed another wing jumper. Second Half: He missed a step-back jumper. He didn't come to the ball and it was picked off for a dunk (lazy pass by Farmar, too, but Luke should have gone after it). He bricked another post-up attempt.
Vujacic -- -- Wow. Wow! I don't even know who we were watching out there. Was that Trevor Ariza? Who was that guy getting steals and igniting the break? Was that Kobe wrapping a pass around a defender after getting penetration and setting up Pau for a dunk? Late in the game, he even managed to cause a little Rage Against the Machine, so that how you know it was Sasha. He got under Price's skin to draw a T, then went and hit the tech on him without saying a word. Sasha was making things happen and it wasn't with his shot. It was everywhere else on the court. Maybe it's the defensive focus this team has had. Maybe it was just one of those games, but Sasha was balling. Superb job off the bench without relying on his shot (or hitting his FTs) to make an impact. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He pushed up the break and hit Farmar for the three at the first-quarter buzzer. He missed a three. He pushed up the break, drew the D and fed Pau for the dunk. He swiped a pass with a good read. He stripped his man on the perimeter, yanked the ball away from him as he pushed out the break and gave a behind-the-back bounce pass to Mbenga for the dunk. He airballed a fallaway trying to beat the shotclock. He missed a three, got it back and hit a step-back baseline jumper creating off the dribble. He opened up and swiped a bounce pass, it led to a dunk the other way. Second Half: He was upset for a holding call against Korver and Lamar had to talk him down. He stripped Korver and was fouled for FTs, he missed both, wow. He drew a tech on Price, hit it, let Price yap some more without saying a thing...Priceless.
Powell -- -- Josh took just one shot and made it. Usually, 11 minutes is enough time for him to get off five or six attempts. He played poised on the road and hustled in the paint. They didn't allow the offensive boards to get away from them when Powell was out there. Solid minutes. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-1 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards and 1 foul in 11 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: After getting an offensive board, he swished a sideline jumper with his toe on the three line. He roofed a man. He took an offensive board and was hammered, he made both FTs. Second Half: Nothing to report.
Mbenga -- -- He came in for Pau with a 13-point lead and the team extended their lead. Got to like that. DJ did miss a couple of jumpers, but he also hustled on the break and was rewarded for a couple of dunks. Excellent hustle. He just needs to be a little less quick with the trigger on those jumpers. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting to go with 1 foul in 4 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He dunked trailing the Sasha break and taking a bounce pass. He missed a wing jumper. He missed another next time down. He busted out on the break and took the pass from Farmar for another dunk. Second Half: Nothing to report.
Phil -- -- The Lakers just mowed through three worthy opponents, including two of the more difficult places to win on the road. They did it without Bynum and Kobe and they did it with D... The Lakers got out to a 17-12 start midway through the quarter... He brought in Farmar and Luke for Fisher and Artest up by 1 with 3 minutes left... Great close by this unit, and the Lakers led 31-18 with after the first quarter... Phil started Pau and Shannon with the bench in the second... He went to a Mbgena, Powell, Sasha, Shannon, Farmar unit. That is a deep bench unit on the road... He brought back in Ron for Shannon... The Lakers led 48-32 with 5 minutes left in the half when Phil brought back in the starters... The Lakers led 56-41 at the half. The Lakers shot 48 percent (24-40), the Jazz shot 42.5 percent (17-40). The Lakers shot 5-5 from the line, the Jazz shot 7-15. The Laker bench had 20 points to 11 from the Jazz... The coaches warned the Lakers that the Jazz were going to come out scratching and clawing... Phil called a timeout after 3 minutes, not liking the offensive execution, but still up 14... The Jazz went to a zone briefly before the Lakers exploited it... Phil brought in Sasha for Ron with 4:30 left when Korver came in. (Sasha is The Korver Stopper.)... The Lakers won the third 20-16 (Jazz shot just 6-18 in the quarter) and L.A. led 76-57 heading into the fourth... Phil started a Pau, Artest, Luke, Sasha, Farmar unit... The Lakers had 4 turnovers to start the fourth quarter and the lead was trimmed to 16. They tried to hard to get the ball to Luke... Phil sat Pau and Luke for Shannon and Ron up by 14... He had a Powell, Lamar, Artest, Shannon, Farmar unit going... It took the Lakers 5 minutes to get their first FG in the fourth... Phil sat Powell and Shannon for Pau and Fish... The offense came easier with Pau back in this time... The Lakers turned 17 Jazz turnovers into 20 points. Defense into offense... The Jazz shot just 2-13 from three and 13-25 from the line...
They move in unison, in a rhythm like you've rarely seen them, covering for each other as their opponent tries to attack from various angles. They turn these attacks into mistakes, and those mistakes into counterstrikes.
These last 3 games have showed the Lakers heart as Champions.
Thanks again DB! Hope you can do a recap from the All Star Game. _________________ "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: 17 Jun 2003 Posts: 6292 Location: Central Coast
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 12:28 am Post subject:
Pretty amazing, three straight wins against Portland, Spurs, Jazz with no Kobe or Bynum. Thanks DB. _________________ LAKERS 2019-2020: NBA World Champions!
Great write up DB. Like I said before on Luke - his body has failed him. We all know he knows the game but I truly believe he is to the point where he can no longer will his body to do what he wants it to. He'll be a great coach one day though.
Sasha plays so much better when he isn't trying to be Ray Allen. He isn't bad as a lead guard in the triangle for some weird reason and this isn't the first time I've said this. His anticipation on defense showed he has still been preparing to play and that is always a positive for someone playing as terrible as he has for as long as he has. Very professional on his part.
LO is a beast and Pau needs to play defense like this all the time. When he actually challenges shots the whole dynamic of the Lakers defense changes.
Ron didn't do much offensively, but his man didn't either! _________________ Stop crying and start doing.
Joined: 12 Mar 2006 Posts: 3732 Location: The other side
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 1:46 am Post subject:
Sasha was making things happen and it wasn't with his shot. It was everywhere else on the court. Maybe it's the defensive focus this team has had. Maybe it was just one of those games, but Sasha was balling.
If you watched Sasha, you could say that this is definitely not just "one of those games". He has not been consistent with his shot, but he has shown this year a true committment to play D. Sometimes he tries too hard and gets stupid fouls. Sometimes hes hustle brings up the RAtM. Somehow I feel he has been playing smarter this year. _________________ .
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
Maybe this will help the Lakers (whose names don't start with Kobe) acquired the mindset of what it takes to win - along with showing Kobe that the ability to excel is there.
Since many of the NBA pundits believe that the Cavs or Magic have a deeper bench (they do at this time, if we are just looking at past performances), maybe these games will show the league that there is still a legimate question on who has the deeper bench.
winning without Kobe has to put more doubt into the minds of our opponents. _________________ "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."
Thanks as always, DB. LO and Pau were so effective on both ends of the floor. LO's aggressiveness led to the most free throws I've seen him shoot in a very long time. The best thing was that he only missed one. JF is playing at a very high level right now. It's the best I've seen him play in a couple of years. I don't know if it's because the Trade Deadline is a week away, but he's seriously balling. He really hit a big three in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 82-67. It barely hit the net. He was feeling it from the land of three. I really thought everyone made a positive contribution last night with the exception of Luke. Every time he shot the ball, I cringed quite honestly. I was telling my wife how we were up double digits for a majority of the evening despite the fact that Ron struggled offensively. He did other things but he struggled with his offensive game. I loved the last couple of minutes of that first quarter. That was a great stretch and it was because we were playing so well on the defensive end. Great effort from the guys and an excellent road win against a team who had won ten in a row at home and thirteen out of fourteen, now it's 13 out of 15.
Super impressive 3-game run. Gotta love the defensive activity - quick hands, sliding feet, crisp rotations - and Pau and LO windexing like crazy.
And look a Rise of the Machine! It seems like he now understands that it's not how many minutes you play, but the way you play them. It didn't take him long to pester Price. Now that's efficiency!
I really like how confident JoFar is playing. ShanWow may run hot and cold, but over the past month or so, JoFar has been consistently solid. Props to him.
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:36 am Post subject: Re: LAKERS -at- JAZZ - 2/10 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings
DancingBarry wrote:
Luke -- -- There was really only one player in this game who played horrible. Luke couldn't buy a shot no matter how often he tried in his brief minutes. During the start of the fourth, we tried to get him the ball in a mismatch and the offense went to hell. Painful minutes tonight. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-5 shooting to go with 1 steal in 6 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a wing jumper. He missed another wing jumper. Second Half: He missed a step-back jumper. He didn't come to the ball and it was picked off for a dunk (lazy pass by Farmar, too, but Luke should have gone after it). He bricked another post-up attempt.
What's interesting about Luke is that when he's playing with 4 quality players, he's useful because he moves the ball to the right people on offense, and keeps the triangle intact.
When he's playing with back-ups, he suddenly thinks he's a scorer. When Luke goes into "I'm a scorer" mode, I would argue that he he's one of the Top 10 worst players in the NBA.
Maybe Top 5.
I nearly pulled a muscle from cringing as I watched the Lakers stubbornly force the ball into Luke because of a "mismatch," while he fumbled the ball away or missed the easy shot.
Let me tell you something.
Luke Walton NEVER has a mismatch.
If he's being guarded by Earl Boykins, he doesn't have a mismatch.
I would rather the Lakers dump the ball into the post to Josh Powell and watch another one of his terrible jump hooks than watch Walton struggle to get a 5 foot shot off against a guy 6 inches shorter, then miss.
Sigh. I don't know what to say about Luke. It doesn't seem like he works on his game at all. He doesn't hustle, his shot is poor. I've not heard of him as working his rear off on his game. He's super slow, injury prone, can't jump more than an inch, can't play defense, can't shoot, doesn't improve his game, and has a long, horrible contract.
So his quality right now is what? Except turnovers that is?
Sigh. I don't know what to say about Luke. It doesn't seem like he works on his game at all. He doesn't hustle, his shot is poor. I've not heard of him as working his rear off on his game. He's super slow, injury prone, can't jump more than an inch, can't play defense, can't shoot, doesn't improve his game, and has a long, horrible contract.
So his quality right now is what? Except turnovers that is?
It's funny, I've never heard anywhere that Luke works on his game either. I have heard that:
1) Two summers ago his Dad (Bill) kicked him out of his house because he was partying too much in San Diego.
2) That he's "well-received" by the ladies around town.
3) That he has a BBQ restaurant where he spends a lot of time.
It's one thing to be limited athletically, but you would think that he would try to make up for it by shooting jumper after jumper so he could be a reliable shooting threat.
DURING HIS CONTRACT YEAR HE WAS.
Before then, and since then he hasn't been.
That leads me to believe he only worked at it during his contract year.
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-- Ron and Luke were a combined 1-12 at the SF. The Lakers got nothing from the perimeter by those two. Pretty amazing win when you consider that they still blew out the Jazz. Those missed Jazz FTs made up for our SF woes on offense. One thing Ron did consistently well is make post entry passes and keep AK from roaming for blocks. Defensively, AK was able to get open a little for jumpers (some of that was on other defenders, too). Ron also spent a little time on Matthews. 
-- Shannon started off hitting early, but faded as the game went along. Still, if you look at who led the Lakers in the +/- it was Shannon with +20. Despite his shooting issues, his defense was rock solid and he never let Brewer get away from him for easy layups or dunks out of the Jazz system. He also played some strong D on Williams when they matched up. When Brewer tried to double off him to help on Pau, Shannon made him pay a couple of times with good off-the-ball movement. 
-- DFish's 1000th career game. One more than Kobe. One thing you might have noticed was a lot of switches where Derek was caught on bigger players in a mismatch. The Lakers weren't going to give up layups (or open threes to Okur) if they could help it. All those quick hit cuts and screens require attention. The first goal is to take away anything that leads to an easy layup. The Lakers tightened up their rotations even more in the second half and locked down in that third quarter. Offensively, Fish didn't force up much and once again avoided getting stuck behind the three line. 
-- There was really only one player in this game who played horrible. Luke couldn't buy a shot no matter how often he tried in his brief minutes. During the start of the fourth, we tried to get him the ball in a mismatch and the offense went to hell. Painful minutes tonight. 
-- Wow. Wow! I don't even know who we were watching out there. Was that Trevor Ariza? Who was that guy getting steals and igniting the break? Was that Kobe wrapping a pass around a defender after getting penetration and setting up Pau for a dunk? Late in the game, he even managed to cause a little Rage Against the Machine, so that how you know it was Sasha. He got under Price's skin to draw a T, then went and hit the tech on him without saying a word. Sasha was making things happen and it wasn't with his shot. It was everywhere else on the court. Maybe it's the defensive focus this team has had. Maybe it was just one of those games, but Sasha was balling. Superb job off the bench without relying on his shot (or hitting his FTs) to make an impact. 
-- Josh took just one shot and made it. Usually, 11 minutes is enough time for him to get off five or six attempts. He played poised on the road and hustled in the paint. They didn't allow the offensive boards to get away from them when Powell was out there. Solid minutes. 
-- He came in for Pau with a 13-point lead and the team extended their lead. Got to like that. DJ did miss a couple of jumpers, but he also hustled on the break and was rewarded for a couple of dunks. Excellent hustle. He just needs to be a little less quick with the trigger on those jumpers. 
-- The Lakers just mowed through three worthy opponents, including two of the more difficult places to win on the road. They did it without Bynum and Kobe and they did it with D... The Lakers got out to a 17-12 start midway through the quarter... He brought in Farmar and Luke for Fisher and Artest up by 1 with 3 minutes left... Great close by this unit, and the Lakers led 31-18 with after the first quarter... Phil started Pau and Shannon with the bench in the second... He went to a Mbgena, Powell, Sasha, Shannon, Farmar unit. That is a deep bench unit on the road... He brought back in Ron for Shannon... The Lakers led 48-32 with 5 minutes left in the half when Phil brought back in the starters... The Lakers led 56-41 at the half. The Lakers shot 48 percent (24-40), the Jazz shot 42.5 percent (17-40). The Lakers shot 5-5 from the line, the Jazz shot 7-15. The Laker bench had 20 points to 11 from the Jazz... The coaches warned the Lakers that the Jazz were going to come out scratching and clawing... Phil called a timeout after 3 minutes, not liking the offensive execution, but still up 14... The Jazz went to a zone briefly before the Lakers exploited it... Phil brought in Sasha for Ron with 4:30 left when Korver came in. (Sasha is The Korver Stopper.)... The Lakers won the third 20-16 (Jazz shot just 6-18 in the quarter) and L.A. led 76-57 heading into the fourth... Phil started a Pau, Artest, Luke, Sasha, Farmar unit... The Lakers had 4 turnovers to start the fourth quarter and the lead was trimmed to 16. They tried to hard to get the ball to Luke... Phil sat Pau and Luke for Shannon and Ron up by 14... He had a Powell, Lamar, Artest, Shannon, Farmar unit going... It took the Lakers 5 minutes to get their first FG in the fourth... Phil sat Powell and Shannon for Pau and Fish... The offense came easier with Pau back in this time... The Lakers turned 17 Jazz turnovers into 20 points. Defense into offense... The Jazz shot just 2-13 from three and 13-25 from the line...
Luke
at Rage Against the Machine
Thanks as always DB!
