LAKERS -at- TWOLVES - 4/9 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Atop The Western Conference... Two teams on entirely different ends of the standings -- one result. The TWolves have wrapped up the conference's worst record some time ago. L.A. wrapped up the top seed in the playoffs with the 97-88 win over the TWolves tonight.

The Lakers were sans Kobe and Bynum once again and Phil went to his deep bench lineups to keep the minutes low for others. Best news of all, they somehow made it out of a game against Minny without a major injury.

Between Pau and Mbenga, the Lakers centers scored 40 points and pulled down 19 boards in their combined 48 minutes. Six Lakers scored in double figures as they took care of business against the Timberwolves.

The Lakers dominated the first half, but faded in the second half. Not a lot to analyze in this game. Phil had the cruise-control lineups going quite a bit. The bench was able to get some quality run. The bottom line is they've got the top seed wrapped up and can rest or prep for the playoffs as needed. Only a few games left.

"It's about to start the real thing," Pau said.


Gasol -- -- Pau continues to put up the dominating numbers. What's nice about it is that many of these are the types of scores he'd be getting with Drew in the mix. He's working the high post and perimeter. He's hustling off the ball to get offensive boards and putbacks. He's out on the break. "I'm trying to get myself as ready as possible for the playoffs," Pau said. He still wants to play good minutes to keep sharpening his game, but you may see Phil go with more and more bench. The Stats: He scored 29 points on 11-17 shooting (7-8 from the line) to go with 15 boards (7 offensive), 4 blocks, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 34:23. He was a +6. The Action: First post touch, first Laker points on a turnaround. He hit a jumphook off low position in the middle of the lane. He kicked out to Shannon for a three. He attacked across the lane and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a short jumper but got it back. He was stripped not going up quickly under the hoop. Nice challenge and then he recovered the miss. He airballed a short jumper off an offensive board. He was blocked from behind. He worked across the lane and hit the hook. He dunked trailing the break with Fish. He tipped in a missed drive from Powell. He dove for a loose ball and was fouled, he made both. He swatted Love and controlled the board. He was hit on a wing jumper, he made one FT. He had 15 points on 5-8 shooting. Second Half: He got tapped on a hook. He attacked Darko with aggression for an easy score. He cleaned up a Shannon miss on the break. He kicked out to Shannon for three. He hit a jumphook in the lane. He hit Farmar on a skip pass for a three. He swished a face-up wing jumper from the right side. He was hammered on the break, he made both FTs. He missed a tip and wanted the foul. He dunked off the rebound tap by Shannon. Horrible cross-court pass, easily picked off. Another bad cross-court pass that was picked off, Phil was not happy. He blocked Brewer's drive. He faked right, swung left and hit the hook. He missed a turnaround.

Artest -- -- Unlike last night, Ron started this game with a more perimeter-oriented attack. Only late in the game when the team needed a go-to man out of a timeout did they work the ball to him down low and he drew a couple key FTs. Defensively, the great thing about Ron is he plays every single play. It doesn't matter who the opponent it. Tonight, he crashed into the sidelines to save a loose ball to Pau. Love the non-stop hustle. Phil reduced his run to keep the minutes down tonight. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-10 shooting (1-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He missed a wing three to start. He missed a corner three. He took a dribble to his right and hit the quick three. Great boxout on Darko to secure the board. He missed an open corner three. He drained a 20-footer off the dribble next time down. He drew a moving pick on the other end. He hit a fading sideline jumper off the dribble. Great effort to dive for a loose ball and save it from going out of bounds, he took out Joel and Stu's table. He had 7 points on 3-6 shooting (1-4 from three). Second Half: He airballed a pull-up jumper from the sideline. He banked a short jumper on the break. He missed a corner jumper. He missed a three with the clock low. He posted up out of a timeout and drew FTs with 2 minutes left, he made both.

Lamar -- -- Better numbers, but Phil wasn't happy with LO's game. "He didn't play with the attitude I like to see him play -- the lively, joyful attitude of play," Phil said. "He's like the grumpy old man out there." After a poor first half, Lamar made 5-6 shots in the second half. In the final minute, he pulled down a big offensive board, then drained the three to bury the TWolves for good. Lamar shot .370 from three in March. He's made 5-10 from three so far in April. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-13 shooting (1-3 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 12 boards (4 offensive), 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 28:43. He was a +2. The Action: He missed a corner three. He hit Pau down low for an wasy jumphook. He swished a 20-footer from the wing. He missed a three. He missed a frozen rope 6-footer with the shotclock low. Low position, he missed hit first attempt, got it back and drew FTs, he missed both. He missed a pull-up wing jumper. He grabbed a FT miss and missed a short baseline jumper. He had 2 points on 1-7 shooting. Second Half: He attacked in transition, spun and scored a layup. He missed a 17-footer off the dribble. Sloppy pass trying to thread the needle for a turnover. He attacked to his left and scored a layup, screaming for the And-1 call that should have come. He sank a pull-up 17-footer. Big offensive board to reset the shotclock in the final minute, then he buried the TWolves with a three. He scored a lob from Farmar in transition.

Fisher -- -- He didn't score or board or get his hand up on jumpers. A lot of donuts in the stat sheet, and Phil kept his minutes under 20. They need to make sure he gets his rest, too. DFish has got to have his legs for the playoff run. He shot .321 from three in March, his worst month of the season from beyond the arc. The last three months, his percentages from three have gotten progressively worse. Wouldn't mind seeing him sit out a game or two right now. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-5 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 turnover in 19:44. He had a +/- 0. The Action: He missed a chuck from 18 feet. He swiped a pass and outlet to Shannon for a breakaway dunk. He pressured Flynn into a turnover off the dribble. He swiped a pass at midcourt, pushed it up and no-looked to a trailing Pau for the dunk. He missed a wing jumper, moving in a foot off the three line. He missed a midrange wing jumper. He didn't score on 0-3 shooting, but had 3 assists. Second Half: Bad pass off the two-man game, dunk the other way. He missed a long three. No challenge on the threes and his man hit a couple on him. He missed an early offense three, his man hit a three on him on the other end.

Brown -- -- Shannon got the start tonight. In the 5 games he's started this season, he's averaging 13 points. The road trip hasn't been very kind to his injured hand. He was in pain last night and once again tonight. He was still able to connect on half of his threes and throw down a double pumping dunk. Shannon shot .361 from three in March, his best month of the season from beyond the arc. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-10 shooting (2-4 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 33:48. He was a +6. The Action: He missed a step-back wing jumper. He jab stepped and then hit a 19-footer. He took the outlet, double pumped while taking contact and dunked. He missed a sideline jumper. He swished a measured three off the Pau kickout. He drew FTs on a pull-up jumper from the sideline and made one. He missed a quick-fire three. He had 8 points on 3-6 shooting. Second Half: He missed a layup on the break. He missed a wide open sideline three. He sank a wing three on the Pau kickout. He was called for a charge on a pass off. Poor chuck from the wing off the bench and out of a timeout. He tapped an offensive board to Pau for the dunk.

Farmar -- -- Farmar led the team with a +9. He led the bench in scoring. Led the team in assists and steals. Just an excellent all-around performance with the extra time on the floor. He buried three shots from beyond the arc. Farmar is the team's best shooter from three, sinking them at a .374 clip (technically, Luke and Powell have better numbers, but only a few attempts). You wouldn't think of him as the best guy to spread the floor, but he has the stats. Since the beginning of 2010, he's shot .406 from three. Something to think about. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-9 shooting (3-6 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 5 assits, 3 steals and 1 foul in 28:16. The Action: He scored a lob from the wing pass from Luke. He missed a wing three, straight but long. He swiped the ball from behind a man on help D, then pushed it up to earn FTs (more of that, please), he made both. He missed a pull-up 21-footer. He swished a kickout three after tracking down an offensive board. He missed a layup on the break, arggh. He attacked baseline and hit Morrison for the easy score. He had 7 points on 2-5 shooting. Second Half: He hit a three on the skip pass from Pau. He drained a wing three to open the fourth-quarter scoring. He missed a three, just beating the shotclock. Great double on the post to steal the ball and then get fouled. He missed a three out of a timeout. He lobbed to Lamar for an easy hoop.

Luke -- -- Phil gave Luke some extended run in order to rest Ron tonight. The Lakers need to get Luke's post game in gear. It's looked poor since his return. It's not much of a weapon, for sure, but he'll need it when defenders try to throw a smaller player on him in order to sick their best defender on Kobe. He won't get much action, but the team will need to squeeze every ounce out of their bench come playoff time. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-3 shooting, 0-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 18:50. He was a +3. The Action: He lobbed to Farmar from the wing for the easy hoop. He missed a three with the shotclock low. Poor entry pass to Powell, for a turnover. Second Half: He missed a jumphook over Sessions. He missed a turnaround.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha reviewed the tape from his game last night and saw that he wasn't mixing his game up. He was firing from beyond the arc, instead of letting guys fly by and moving in closer. He tried to mix his game up better in this one. For probably the first time ever, we saw him come off a screen and get the ball in a situation he normally fires, but this time he passed it off to Powell. Powell then made the extra pass to Mbenga for the And-1. That very well might have been the best passing sequence the bench has shown in months. Three deep bench players working the offense for an And-1. That's the kind of play that would make Tex proud. Show it to me again, please. Of course, Sasha then airballed his next two attempts. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-6 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists and 1 steal in 14:12. He was a +3. The Action: He tracked down a loose ball and hit the quick baseline jumper with the shotclock low. He swished a fading wing jumper. He set up Powell for a charge on the break. Out on the break, he took contact and hit the And-1 layup before getting dumped to the floor, he made the FT. He had 7 points on 3-3 shooting. Second Half: Nice pass off the screen to Powell, who then hit Mbenga for the And-1 (Sasha almost always shoots that, great play). He airballed a three next time down. He attacked off the three line and airballed a drive. He missed a wing three.

Powell -- -- Anytime we can get a +7 while Powell is on the floor is a minor cause for celebration. We rarely survive the minutes without one of Pau/Lamar on the floor. Tonight, Phil ran extended minutes with both of our impact bigs on the bench. Nice to get away with that...even if it is just the TWolves. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-4 shooting to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 19:17. He was a +7. The Action: He was swatted in the paint. He bricked a horrible turnaround in the post. He attacked off the dribble and missed, but Pau cleaned it up. Second Half: He got tapped on a baseline jumper. Great feed off the Sasha pass to hit Mbenga for the And-1.

Mbenga -- -- Mbenga is Mballing. Career high in points for Mbenga and just some great general all-around effort on both ends. Phil gave him some extra run on the second night of the back-to-back and even long run with Powell and the team handled their business. "I've even contemplated playing him with Pau because he's playing that well at this time," Phil said. He's crashing the offensive glass well and protecting the rim with some presence. There are times when I actually want to see opponents take it to the rim with Mbenga back there on anchoring. Nevermind the scoring...but I will take two-way ball from a bench player any day. He's getting layups and putbacks by putting himself in the right place at the right time the past couple games. Love it. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-7 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 2 offensive boards, 2 swats and 2 fouls in 13:37. He was a +3. The Action: Great swat on help D, bouncing up quickly at the last second to reject it. He then turned and swished an elbow jumper on the other end. He put back in a missed Farmar three. Second Half: He missed a 17-footer. He cleaned up a miss by Luke with a layup. He scored an And-1 layup off Powell feed, he made the FT. He hit a running hook off the two-man with Sasha. He missed a short jumper. He swatted Gomes at the rim.

Morrison -- -- Brief run for Stache tonight. He scored when Farmar set him up in the paint. Not much else to report. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting in 2:16. He was a +6. The Action: He missed an open wing jumper. He sank a 2-footer off the feed from Farmar. Second Half: He did not play.

Phil -- -- Two halves and two different Laker teams out there tonight. They dominated the first half, but gave up 31 points to the TWolves in the third quarter and squandered a large lead.... The Lakers trailed 8-6 and Phil called a quick timeout after 4 minutes... First sub of the night was Farmar for DFish... Phil sat Ron for Luke with 3 minutes left in the first.. Sasha for Shannon, Mbenga for Pau with a minute left... The Lakers led 21-17 after the first quarter...Phil started a deep bench unit of Mbenga, Powell, Luke, Sasha, Farmar... They extended the lead to 10 before Phil brought back a Pau, Powell, Artest, Sasha, Fisher unit... Up 10 still and Phil sat Ron for Ammo... Dominating 31-17 second quarter... The Lakers led 52-34 at the half. The Lakers shot 43.5 percent (20-46). The TWolves shot 39.5 percent (17-43). Lakers had 5 turnovers, the TWolves 9... The TWolves went on a 9-0 run to start the second half. They trimmed the lead to 8 by winning the first 5 minutes. Well done, L.A... The Lakers led 74-65 heading into the fourth... Phil started a Mbenga, Powell, Luke, Sasha, Farmar unit. This is a blowout lineup. Phil let them run forever. The lead as cut to 6 with 5:36 left before he made his substitutions... He brought back in the starters with Farmar instead of Fisher out of that timeout... The lead was trimmed a hoop, but the team was able to hold on and finally shut the door in the final minute... Both teams got to the offensive glass. The Lakers won that battle 17-15... The Lakers held the TWolves to just 2 points on the break...

[ocho]

We clinched the top seed in the West? I thought we stunk?
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14-5-3-12

[DancingBarry]

No Horsemen tonight. Most painful game of the season for me. I won't go into the details...

[DancingBarry]

[LakerLanny]

4 Airballs in the last two games for Sasha.

Time to get Pau, LO and Ron some rest too before the playoffs start. Just feed The Beast (Mbenga) and ride the Congo Train to the finish.
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Love, Laker Lanny

[DancingBarry]

[ocho]

[Vicky T]

[LakerLanny]

[City_Dawg]

Thaks DB.

I liked what I saw from Powell and DJ. Go out there and mix it up. If you miss shots so be it, but give your team SOMETHING.
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*sighs*

!...

[KBryantisclutch]

[night89]

It's amazing what a little bulking up does for Pau's game. He's arguably the best big in the game right now. It really does make me wonder what a 350-lb full of muscles Bynum can do(and the funny thing is, he still probably wouldn't weigh as much as Shaq, at least at Shaq's initial return.)

I also think that this is his best chance to not get traded. I mean, no one will even talk about trading him, if say, he averaged 30 and 17.

[ocho]

[DancingBarry]

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB. Hope the troubles have all... passed.

[Shaber]

[thurloly]

I saw DACOS beasting lol.

[Sister Golden Hair]

I've thought PJ should play Mbenga more -- a lot more -- since last season. Mbenga 's motor never stops, and he intimidates the gnats who try to get to the rim. I love watching Mbenga play. And for all those people who joke about his itchy trigger finger, it seems to me he makes his little jumper more often than not, and if people look for him, he can finish reliably because he goes up so strong. I've thought PJ should have started Mbenga these last few games, and let LO come off the bench so that he can transition back to his normal role once Bynum comes back and the play-offs start. I just like Mbenga's energy and feel that PJ has treated him like he's too much of a scrub. I simply disagree. I think PJ has missed the boat on Mbenga for awhile now, and I'm glad to see he's finally -- FINALLY -- seeing the light. I'm not saying Mbenga is a world beater, but let's just say that I'm really, really glad he plays for the lakers and not, say, Denver or Portland.

SGH

[Texas_Pete]

[limchrc]

Thanks, nice win.

[Nudizl_Forshizl]

[Sister Golden Hair]

[Sister Golden Hair]

[waterman40]

[Rick12322]