LAKERS -at- SUNS - 10/29 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

1,100... Phil Jackson recorded his 1,100th career victory tonight. He did it faster than any other coach.

"It's just a number, but it's kind of overwhelming," he said. "It took 20 years to do it. Well, almost."

During those 20 or so years, Phil has tried to take the road less traveled. In the book "Mindgames: Phil Jackson's Long Strange Journey" written nearly a decade ago, he talked about the grind and the importance of introducing new things to his players along the way:

"You get on the treadmill of pro basketball. You just keep running on the treadmill and you can't get off. It's something that can be generated from a season to one year to ten years to twenty years. You look at some of these guys, they've been around the game for thirty years. And they just stay in that same pattern. But you should try to make the pattern just a little bit better. Sometimes I think you have to jump off the treadmill, step back a little ways from it, relook it, and rethink it."

The Lakers got Jackson the win tonight against the Suns in a rematch of the Western Conference Finals. Both teams have new faces to integrate into their systems, but the results were still the same -- the Lakers won 114-106.

Unable to handle the Lakers post game, the Suns got into their zone defense once again. With no answer for Pau, they wanted the Lakers to settle for threes. The Lakers did and beat them at that, too.

The Lakers struggled to get separation from the Suns, pulling out to little leads throughout the night and then giving them up.

"If you relax for one second they're going to take advantage of it," said Pau, who nearly had a triple-double. "They run and gun. They have some very good shooters."

Despite some soft transition D, weak rotations, poor effort on the defensive glass and some slowness in closing out to shooters, the Lakers still beat the Suns. The second unit once again got the momentum going heading into the fourth quarter.

"This is the team to beat," Hubie Brown said, "but Bynum must be healthy."


Kobe -- -- It seems like he's looking a little more like himself by the game. Thankfully, the Lakers don't have to completely lean on him (despite not having Bynum), and Phil can keep Kobe's minutes at a great pace. He played just 34 tonight. More of those chippies and midrange shots that looked rusty in the preseason are starting to drop for him. Even though he's not his sharpest on D, he's looking a little spry on the defensive glass. He had all 7 of his rebounds in the first half tonight. He did have a moment or two of ball-watching. He also had two or three possessions where his shot selection was poor. Kobe said he was sick of all the "how's the knee?" questions. After the game, ESPN asked him just that as a joke. "It's peachy," he grinned. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 9-19 shooting (2-5 from three, 5-5 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 3 assists, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 34 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He swished a step-back elbow jumper to start the game. He crossed over and missed the pull-up wing jumper. He was called for a charge on a pass off. He missed a 19-footer, fading. He reversed on the break when Pau found him. He cut off Lamar, spun and scored the layup. He missed a forced fallaway. He got tapped on a 12-footer in transition. He lost his man on a pull-up and hit from 19 feet. He ball-watched and gave up a putback. Bad three attempt from about 30 feet out with 11 on the clock. He made a tech FT. He was hit on a wing jumper with no call. He back-rimmed a pull-up jumper in the lane. He sank a quick wing three out of a timeout. He scored 12 points on 5-12 shooting and had 7 boards in the half. Second Half: He sank a wing three on a kickout from Lamar. He bricked a three next time down and wanted the foul (then he gave up a layup on the other end). He sank a step-back wing jumper on iso. He kicked out to Ron for an open three. He attacked left and drew FTs, he made both. He curled off a Lamar screen, took the Pau pass and scored a layup. He blew past Hill and drew FTs at the rim, he made both. He missed an early offense three trying to go for the kill with 3 minutes left. He missed a fallaway with the shotclock about to expire. He worked the two-man game and hit the wing jumper after running clock.

Gasol -- -- Pau has been asked to take over some of the load on the offensive end with Kobe not at full strength. In the first game, he led the team in scoring. Tonight, he led them in assists. Quietly Pau was a couple of boards and one assist from a triple-double. He led the team with a +15 and with some words, gathering his team to start the fourth quarter and telling them to be aggressive. He was abusing Lopez on iso. There was a stretch where he was automatic from the perimeter. Then he went to his hooks, working the post with ease. "He's running it like he's playing by himself in the post," Hubie Brown said. Pau took some knee-to-knee contact in the final minute, looked in pain but walked it off. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 10-17 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 9 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and no fouls in 40 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He faced up and swished a 14-footer. He swatted Lopez out of bounds. He swiped a bad lob pass. He hit Kobe for the reverse on the break. He sank a 15-footer straight away. He missed the short face-up wing jumper. He scored an And-1 putback layup off of Blake dribble penetration (his FT was erased by a lane violation). He swished a step-back baseline jumper. He iso'd, spun and hit the turnaround just inside the elbow. He swished a long baseline jumper off a Blake kickout. He sank a 16-footer. He scored 14 points on 7-9 shooting and had 4 boards. Second Half: He spun and banked on Lopez to start the half. He missed a fallaway in the paint. He missed a face-up jumper from the left side. He was stripped on a drive (looked like he was hacked). He sank a lefty jumphook. Quick attack across the lane for the easy jumphook. He was stripped in the paint. He short-armed a jumper in the lane. He saved a bad pass to Barnes for a corner three. He whipped a pass to Kobe on the curl for a layup. He was blocked by Hedo in the paint. He hit Lamar who sealed a help defender for a layup. He was hacked in the post, he made one FT.

Lamar -- -- Lamar was beasting again tonight. He's just playing at a much higher level at the start of this season. He killed on the boards tonight, worked the post a little against Hedo, showed some mid-range and also hit a three. After it was all said and done, he finished with 18 and 17. He and Artest killed the Suns on the offensive glass in crunch time. Ireland asked Lamar why he had so many rebounds? "I'm a great rebounder," Lamar joked. Ask a stupid question... The Stats: He scored 18 points on 8-12 shooting (1-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 17 boards (3 offensive), 5 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 40 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He posted up and went glass with the jumphook. He missed an up-and-under, got it back and missed the layup. Another easy post up over Hedo and he scored the layup. He cleaned up a missed layup by Barnes. He drained a wing three on a kickout. Nice challenge to prevent a Hill layup on help D. He had 9 points and 11 boards in the half. Second Half: Kobe found him in the middle of the zone for a layup. He drew FTs when Fish spotted him in the paint, he made one. He sank a 17-footer over Hedo. He missed an open 17-footer. He sealed a help defender on the weakside when Kobe and Pau worked the two-man game strong side, Lamar was rewarded with a layup. He cleaned up a miss next time down with a putback layup, forcing a Suns timeout with the back-breaker.

Artest -- -- When Ron is knocking down threes, the Lakers don't have to worry about proper execution against the Suns zone. He sank three beyond the arc in the third quarter. When he squared up properly, he looked good. Late in the game, Ron had a couple of offensive boards on one offensive sequence that really seemed to be the dagger. He reset the offense and the Lakers ran clock. Defensively, Ron had 3 steals, including a sweet one to strip Nash on a cross-over early on and score an And-1 a the other end. Ron's lack of speed in transition D, though, did hurt the Lakers in a few instances. The team as a whole was slow, but Ron doesn't get up and down the court with a lot of speed. Some poor rotations and close-outs, which is rare for him. Ron's raffle of his championship ring is off to an amazing start ($120,000+ raised in a day). Wouldn't surprise me if he somehow managed to get seven figures raised for his cause. Ron wants to get $2 million. Well done, sir. Well done. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-14 shooting (3-8 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 4 offensive boards, 3 steals, 1 turnover and no fouls in 37 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He stripped Nash on iso on a cross-over, pushed it out and scored an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He missed a sideline three. Bad Tri sequence bringing his man to Kobe's space while Kobe attacked, the bad spacing resulted in a turnover on the pass in traffic. He cleaned up a Kobe miss on the break. He swiped the ball from Warrick on the perimeter. He was called for a lane violation to erase a Pau FT. He missed a fading three (square up, Ron). Second Half: He missed an early offense wing three. He sank a corner three over the zone. He swished a three from the other side over the zone. He missed a wide open three on his next look. He hit another corner three on a Kobe kickout. He missed a layup in traffic. He missed a step-back three, just couldn't get squared up. He missed a wing three, but was slow changing ends off the miss, forcing a transition foul by a teammate. He missed an iso wing jumper. He tapped out a missed three by Kobe in early offense. Another offensive board on the same offensive set and he reset the offense again. He saved a bad outlet by the Suns and quickly threw it back in to a Laker. He posted up, his man went for the steal, missed, Artest went for the layup and was hit with no call, but LO cleaned it up.

Fisher -- -- He and Artest were the only starters with a negative in the +/- stat. Fish had some troubles with Nash like anyone else, but did a solid job. The team got caught on a lot of switches, which led to Fish with some mismatches defensively against bigger SFs. Nash had just 8 points on 3-9 shooting and 9 assists. Take that when you can get it. Offensively, Fish likes to get a little more aggressive than he normally does when he faces Nash. Seems like he wants to make sure Nash works defensively. I would really like to have seen more Blake against Nash to be able to take advantage of some of Nash's weak D. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-9 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go wtih 3 boards, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper. He swished an 18-footer on a kickout. He was blocked on a jumper with the shotclock expiring. Complete brick layup in transition, ugly. He missed a wing pull-up in early offense. He attacked from the elbow and made a layup. He swished a two-for-one three from the wing. Second Half: Great feed spotting Lamar when Fish ran a two-man game with Pau, it led to FTs. He swiped a Nash pass. Nash doubled off the cutting Fisher and Pau hit Fisher, who threw in the open reverse over his head. He was wrapped up in the backcourt for FTs, he made both. He missed a long sideline jumper.

Blake -- -- The second unit will destroy teams when Bynum returns. They're just about doing that now while resting Kobe. Blake makes the offense work. Despite some wide open misses by Blake, he still had a +10 on the night. He had his usual assortment of great passes, he sank a couple of threes and kept the offense flowing. Last year, it seemed like just about every game where Pau would be out there with the second unit and not get the ball. Blake is working it to Pau in the post and off the two-man game. The team chemistry and hoop IQ is so much better. The team is playing to its strengths more instead of ignoring them. Defensively, Blake ran into a red hot Dragic, who was hitting some tough shots. He cooled down later. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-8 shooting (2-5 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 assists and 3 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He swished a corner three. He missed a wing three. He attacked at the end of the quarter, missed on a nice step-through move, but Pau cleaned it up. He attacked and kicked out Pau for the wide open jumper. He attacked and missed a tough, hanging one-hander, but he got it back and fired to Barnes cutting which led to a score. Second Half: He sank the wing three off the two-man game with Pau. He missed a two-for-one three attempt. He missed an open wing jumper. He missed a wide open wing three.

Barnes -- -- Barnes led the bench in scoring, hitting three times from beyond the arc. He sank the three as either a last resort shot for the offense or on scrambled plays. When he had time, he attacked off the three line and moved the ball well. Just a lot of quality garbage work, nothing ball dominant, as usual. Some of his shots seemed to suck the wind out of the arena tonight, almost as if you could feel the entire crowd slump. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-8 shooting (3-4 from three) to go with 5 boards, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He missed a 13-footer in the lane. He missed a corner three. He sank a corner three in transition. He attacked off the three line, switched hands and scored a layup with his left. He missed a layup after Blake hit him cutting, but Lamar cleaned it up. Second Half: He drained an open wing three with the shotclock low. He sank a corner three on a save by Pau. He got caught in traffic and lost the ball. Wow, cheap tech as he was called for a foul and ran the ball over to the ref to hand it to him.

Brown -- -- The team didn't need the heroics in the fourth like the last game. Brown gave them just enough scoring while Kobe sat. This allowed Phil to run Kobe just 34 minutes. If Brown can consistently give the Lakers some scoring punch off the bench, how huge will that be? How many miles will that save Kobe's odometer to finally have a strong enough bench? How much more rested can the starters get heading into the post season and another long run? Keep it up, Shannon. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-8 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal and 3 fouls in 15 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He missed a baseline pull-up. He kicked out to Barnes in transition for a three. He got back-doored for a layup. He missed a corner three. He took the outlet, attacked two defenders, split them and scored a layup. He missed a baseline jumper next time down. Second Half: Bad pass by the Suns on an inbounds, Shannon pounced on it for an uncontested dunk, taking off at the circle in the lane for the finish. He crashed the glass and one-handed back in a Blake miss. He sank a wing jumper off the Ratliff handoff. He missed a tough, long wing jumper.

Ratliff -- -- Some different sub patters for Phil tonight with Ratliff. His first half sub pattern was better than the second half. Phil ran Pau all through the first and 5 minutes into the next quarter. He brought in Theo, then a minute later, Kobe. So, only a minute with both Pau/Kobe off the court, and Theo was across Lamar in that stint. In the fourth, however, Phil had all three of Kobe, Pau and Lamar on the bench. I would think that's not how you'd want to run it with Theo. When Bynum gets back, however, that unit would thrive better, especially with LO in there as he would be at PF. The Stats: He didn't score or shoot and had 1 assist and 1 block in 8 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He rejected Hedo's attempt to throwdown on him. Second Half: He gave up open looks at three, not stepping out to the three line against the perimeter-oriented Suns.

Phil -- -- Congrats to Phil on another milestone... Both teams traded runs through the first quarter before the Lakers made their first sub of Blake and Barnes for Lamar and Fisher... Phil subbed out Kobe with a minute left for Shannon after Kobe ball-watched on D and took a bad three on the other end. Looked like his usual sub pattern, though... The Lakers led 28-27 after the first. There were 11 lead changes. Phil commented between quarters that it was entertaining... Phil started a Pau, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit to open the second quarter... Phil sat Pau at the 7-minute mark of the second quarter for Ratliff. He brought Kobe in for Barnes a minute later. The Lakers forced a timeout after pulling out to a 5-point lead... Phoenix reeled the Lakers in and Phil called a timeout. The Lakers closed the half on an 8-2 run... The Lakers led 57-50 at the half. The Lakers shot 49 percent (25-51), the Suns shot 48 percent (21-44). The Suns bench had 21 points, the Lakers bench 10... The coaches wanted the Lakers to tighten up the transition D and quit giving up layups. They also wanted the Lakers to not let up against the Suns second unit... Phil was getting ticked at the soft Laker D to start the second half... The Suns tied it up midway through the third... With under 3 minutes up by 2, Phil brought in Barnes and Blake for Fish and Artest. He subbed out Kobe for Brown a minute later. The second unit went on a run... The Lakers led 87-79 heading into the fourth... Phil started a Pau, Artest, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit... The Killer Bees pushed lead to 13 and forced a Sun timeout. Phil sat Pau for Ratliff at this timeout a couple minutes into the fourth. The Suns went on a 6-0 run... Finally Phil brought back in Kobe, Pau and Lamar with 6:42 left up by 6. (Don't like keeping all three of those out of the game at the same time.)... After Kobe missed an early offense three trying to go for the kill, Phil called a timeout to try to set up a better dagger. Turns out misses and offensive rebounds provided the eventual Suns demise... The Lakers never lost a quarter tonight... Very similar stats across the board for both teams. The Lakers, however, beat the Suns at their own game from three. They made 44 percent (12-27), the Suns made 37 percent (9-24)...

[Icy_wiz]

Great as always
_________________
“We were wonderful traveling companions but in the end no more than lonely lumps of metal in their own separate orbits.”
Sputnik Sweetheart

[Paillard]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

[DancingBarry]

[lounger]

I'm ecstatic over our second unit. Blake is a real floor general. Ball movement is just so much better with him. Barnes' hustle also pays off. We get offensive rebounds and a great spark when he's in there with Blake. Lamar was a beast, Pau was great with 9 assists. He plus Kobe were efficient. Hopefully, more games will help the team gel and improve chemistry. It'd be great to dominate teams so we'd see our rookies get some PT along with Sasha.

Thanks DB!

[Rodman28]

Thanx.
_________________
*On Thin Ice*

I guess I am kind of injury prone.- Andrew Bynum

These young guys are playing checkers. I'm out there playing chess.- Kobe Bryant

[LakerDynasty6.0]

Thanks DB!

[TooCool]

Thanks a ton DB. I (and I'm sure many others) really do appreciate your thoughts.

This team is looking really good. The only thing I'm quite surprised is that Sasha isn't getting any playing time. I personally liked his new aggressive attitude during the Pre-Season. Oh well, as long as we're winning.
_________________

[Mation]

Thanks DB!

Impressed with Barnes today. Always hustles and I like the quick movements with his passing. He finds those seams to get offensive boards, cuts to easy layups, or breaking down the defense to outlet to an open shot. Heady plays.

Man, that knee-to-knee for Gasol was a little too close. Break it open bench so Pau can rest and watch.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[circlefong]

Matt and Steve are working so well. Matt on offensive lay-up and rebounds, Steve is organizing the offensive. They are both good on 3 pointers, but .... I hope they will get better on their 2 pointers.

Sasha and the rookies are still not on stage. Not sure what Phil is thinking. ...

[Hammett]

Thanks as always for taking the time to put together these recaps.
_________________
Lakers. Built different.

[wolfpaclaker]

Thanks in advance for all the game recaps, DB. This is the staple of the Lounge ... so proud to come here and be a member knowing we can read updates like this.

Missed the 2nd half - had to step out and then came home and passed out.

One thing I've noticed with Blake, Barnes ..... We are a lot quicker and space the floor really well. We fill in the Triangle spots very quick when these guys are out there and even though the offense is in it's early stages of development, they look like they will be a load for many teams. Factor in as you said that either Drew/Gasol will be at Center, Lamar at PF and Brown at SG or maybe even Artest.

An area I would like to see improvement in is defense. We seem to be allowing teams to set up their offense rather easily. Last year we had a lot of disruption going on from our guys to not let teams set up easily. First 2 games, that is something I see we're not doing. Contrast that to Boston and Miami - they are doing that at very well already. Although our offensive structure is so much better it's not even funny.

[sone212]

[golakersgo121]

When I first suggested in May that Blakie might be our guy in the free agency - I simply considered that he'd be the best fit for amount of money we can offer.

However - despite watching him for a long time - I didn't anticipate that his transition into the championship team rotation would be so seemless due to his high IQ.

All I can say - wow!

Barnes is pretty much what I expected - however, he is, most likely, one season rental. Shannon has improved and looks much better with better ball distributor in Blake on the floor; that makes him a goner next summer too.

But with regular rotation Of Drew, Pau, Lamar, Ron, Barnes, Kobe, Shannon, Fish and Blakie (with spot minutes for Theo, Sasha, Luke and rookies) - I am ready to roll
_________________
Major bullets dodged: DH12 - twice, LMA, Melo - twice, PG-13, DeMar DeRozan. Hit jackpot with DH-12 at the right time

[Dr. Laker]

[Bynum4MVP]

[LakerSanity]

I agree with Wolf, I am concerned about our D. As DB rightly noted, we were sluggish at times on defense. Our rotations were slow and our transition D was subpar. At times, it seemed our starters just got back on D and ran through the motions. Not a lot of defensive intensity there.

I think part of the problem is Kobe. He knows he's limited right now. I mean, did you really see Kobe get in a defensive stance last night and lock in? He usually does that at least once a game, especially when the game gets close in the later stages. However, we didn't see it last night.

I think the defensive ship will be righted when Kobe becomes "real" Kobe again and Bynum comes back, but it is something I'd like to see improvement on as soon as possible.

IMO, believe it or not, I think this team has soooo much more room to grow over the course of this season. Blake and Barnes have been a revelation. I can only hope Brown keeps this up as well.
_________________
LakersGround's Terms of Service

Twitter: @DeleteThisPost

[Gallofa]

Thanks DB!

[Marty]

Thanks, DB! I missed the 3/4 of the game due to timezone difference. Your writeup is one of the threads I read here in the morning.

[dmlakerfan01]

Ya, Kobe has been weak on D so far. But even the other starters have been sorta going through the motions. Just not the time to be active I guess.

[Andre2K]

If I were a female, I would get orgasms just by reading Odom's stat line, dude knows how to fill it up!
_________________
My Dream Starting 5 next Season

Pg Lonzo
Sg Kawhi
Sf Ingram
Pf Lebron
C Dedmon

Bench: Caruso, Hart, Bullock, Kuzma, McGee etc

[limchrc]

thanks

[RVCdesigns]

Thanks DB. Steve Blake FTW.