LAKERS -at- GRIZZLIES - 11/30 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Memphis Blues... The Lakers have dropped three straight -- something they rarely do. Not exactly a tailspin, but the pressure is on to turn things around. Right now, teams are getting their licks in.

Tonight, it was Memphis's turn.

The soft Lakers defense couldn't lock down until they were desperate. Offensively, they played out of sync with too much Kobe and too little from others. The out-of-sync offense was on display in the final seconds.

Trailing by 7 points with a minute left, Ron and Kobe cut the lead to just 2 with 28 seconds left. The Lakers got the stop they needed when Pau came up with the ball in the paint on help D. Kobe opted to push the ball up court with 9 seconds left instead of possibly taking a timeout. He got caught in the paint, losing the handle, he said, on the way up and then had to throw a weak, off-the-mark kickout pass to the sideline to Ron. This allowed Gay to recover. Ron tried to sidestep him but was blocked at the buzzer anyway. Game over. Memphis wins 98-96.

They shouldn't have been in that situation, of course. They had to dig themselves out of yet another double digit deficit in the fourth quarter.

Between the second and third quarters, the Laker offense stalled, scoring just 38 points. Phil said they weren't playing "the right way."

"A lot of that has to do with getting the ball inside and making cuts and passing and movement," he said. "We did that with Pau and Steve Blake got a couple shots and things started going right for us again [in the fourth]."

It's been rare when Phil has lost three in a row with Pau in his lineup. It happened once last year on the long road to another ring.


Kobe -- -- Not thrilled at all with this one from Kobe. He was soft defensively and took the team out of rhythm offensively. The Lakers had a lead in the first half, but a poor second quarter by Kobe (bad decisions, no ball movement) and the team saw an 8-point swing to trail during that stretch. The offense got sidetracked badly and struggled to find its flow for the rest of the game (including a 16-point third quarter for the team). Just too much ball stopping, too little working of the offense. "You have to go away from him early," Phil said, "and then come back to him late a lot of times instead of going to him early and expecting it to come out because he's going to attack out there." At the half time, Shaw wanted the Lakers to start the ball away from Kobe when they initiated the offense instead of going right to him. What happens is guys stand around watching when you go straight to him. The defense gets to gear up for Kobe and the ball stops moving. No rhythm, no flow. Kobe needed to be more selective, however. There were stretches where he completely dominated the ball with no results on possession after possession. The size of Kobe's section of this report compared to others shows just how lopsided things got at times. The Stats: He scored 29 points on 9-25 shooting (1-6 from three, 10-12 from the line) to go with 7 boards (4 offensive), 5 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He swung through to draw three FTs in the Lakers first possession, he made two. He swiped a ball on the other end and missed a pull-up 16-footer. He missed an open 18-footer behind screens. He blew past Randolph on an iso mismatch for a layup. He was blocked at the rim after beating his man, he wanted a goaltend call. He spun backdoor on the next possession and finished a lob. He was swatted badly on iso by Gay. He attacked, head-faked under the hoop to get defenders in the air, took contact and flipped in the And-1 over his shoulder, he made the FT. He swished a baseline turnaround. No help on the screen-roll D. He swished a long three over Allen (looked like he was fouled, too, very close challenge). He probed off the Pau screen, stepped through and finished a floater with his left while taking some contact and no call. He spun around his man, attacked across the lane and drew FTs, he made one. He hit Ron for a three. He missed a tough rainbow turnaround early in the shotclock (should have reset the offense). Way off on a long three brick (which he unwisely tried to follow and his man leaked out for an easy dunk). He posted up and was called for a travel. He missed a tip in attempt. He manufactured FTs with a perimeter pumpfake and contact, he made both. He bricked on a wide open baseline jumper after losing his man with a fake. He airballed a layup, got it back (should have been a travel), then missed a behind-the-backboard attempt with the shotclock expiring. He was called for a charge on the next possession. He attacked, took all kinds of contact with no call and missed in the paint (Pau cleaned it up). He had 19 points on 6-16 shooting and 6 boards. Second Half: He was trying to draw a foul on an off-balance jumper and didn't get the call. He was called for a push-off on iso. He missed a challenged wing three. Nice effort to get an offensive board, he missed the putback attempt. He stalled the offense and missed a three. No challenge and his man scored a wide open jumper. He spun around his man in the post for a layup and scored his first hoop after 9 minutes. He sank a sideline catch and shoot three on the next possession. He looked possibly fouled on a three with no call, but the refs gave it back to the Lakers saying the shot was blocked. Quick spin off the pass to lose his man and he drew FTs at the rim, he made both. He drew FTs on practically a triple team, he made both. He missed a quick-fire three down 7. He drew a double team and hit Ron for three. Quick attack for a layup with 28 seconds left to cut the lead to 2.

Gasol -- -- The Lakers need to establish that low post game. The offense flows when the D collapses from there and guys cut to their spots. The offense flows with balance. There just wasn't much of that tonight. Pau played more big minutes, but his fourth quarter execution was much better. He didn't seemed as gassed as in the last couple games. Up until the fourth, he really wasn't that big of a factor offensively. But in the final quarter, he had 7 points and a couple of assists to Blake for threes. Defensively, he had a tough time anchoring until some key stops late. They controlled the interior fine in this game, not giving up many offensive boards and hold both his brother and Randolph to respectable numbers. That two-man game, screen-roll D just played too loose. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-13 shooting (5-5 from the line) to go with 14 boards (5 offensive), 4 assists, 1 steal, 4 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 45 minutes. The Action: He ball-faked to ditch a help defender and hit an elbow jumper. He slipped a screen, missed the floater, got it back and sank the short jumphook. He faced up, attacked across the lane and was hacked, he made both of the FTs. He missed a short one in the paint. He missed a wide open baseline jumper. He missed a fade across the lane. He missed a tip, got it back and finished. He had 8 points on 3-9 shooting and 8 boards in 21 minutes. Second Half: He wanted a foul on a tip in that he missed. He missed a turnaround fade, screaming for a call. He swatted Randolph. He found Lamar in the paint when he drew a double and it led to an easy score. He found Blake for a three. He swished a baseline fallaway. Quick spin baseline and he drew FTs on a reverse, he made one. He faced up on Thabeet, attacked across the lane and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT.

Lamar -- -- Very good defensive game from Lamar. Zach Randolph has given him fits over the years, but tonight the Lakers held him to 4-13 shooting. That has been a tough match up, but you'll take those numbers every game. It's also hard to do when you know you can't get into foul trouble. Offensively, Lamar was too passive early on. He did, however, have a great breakaway dunk, soaring through defenders in transition to throw down for his only points of the half. In the second half, his aggression level was much better and the results followed. Just make your FTs, Lamar. He left two at the line that could have made all the difference. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-7 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 40 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He missed a long jumper on a kickout. He set up Barnes for FTs on an interior feed. Poor rotation, not closing out to the corner and he gave up an uncontested three. He grabbed a rebound, pushed it out and soard in for a dunk off two long strides (pretty). He had 2 points on 1-2 shooting and 4 boards. Second Half: He missed a tough leaning runner. He got tapped on a three. He tipped in a Kobe miss. He found Ron under the hoop in early offense for a layup. Easy jumphook generated for him off the Pau post feed. He swiped a post entry pass. He drew FTs on the drive down the lane, he missed both, ouch. He pushed out a board and hit Shannon for a layup. He missed an elbow jumper. He blocked Gay under the hoop. Quick attack from the elbow and he drew FTs, he made both.

Artest -- -- He should have never asked for more "action" like he did after the Lakers last win. Since then, just a bunch of losses and Ron in the spotlight. This game, he got blocked on a potential game winning opportunity. As mentioned, it was a poor pass with Rudy Gay, who had 6 blocks in the game, recovering to him. Everyone will overlook the big three he hit with a minute to go, of course, and frankly, a much better offensive game from Ron that we've seen recently. He still had some bad reads within the triangle that mucked things up and a few turnovers. Defensively, he and Barnes had the Rudy Gay assignment for the most part and held him to respectable numbers, 14 points on 15 shots. They also spent time as our backup PFs. Ron would probably be good at fencing with the way he moves his feet and leads with is arm on the defensive attack. His quick hands and some of the angles he took certainly caused Gay to think on a couple shots. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-11 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: He missed a long wing jumper. He attacked off the three line, spun between defenders and flipped in a layup. He sank a toe-on-the-three-line jumper. He drained a wing three on a Kobe kickout. DC had his man sealed, Lamar tried to find him, but Ron cut right into the action and Ron's man knocked the pass way for a layup the other way. He attacked into traffic and was swatted. He was called for a travel in the post. Second Half: He missed a corner three. He sealed his man, Lamar found him and he scored a layup. He was stripped on the perimeter. He missed a three from the sideline. He attacked baseline and threw it away. He was stripped in the paint out of a timeout. Offensive foul trying box out. He drained a wing three with a minute left on a Kobe kickout. He was blocked at the buzzer on a three when Kobe couldn't hit him cleanly.

Fisher -- -- Conley scored 28 points on 10-13 shooting. Some of this was DFish getting out of position and stuck in no man's land because of bad decisions. Some of it just getting burned. Some was poor help D. All of that was a perfect storm of suckage that Conley abused. The Conely/Henry backcourt shot 16-24. The DFish/Kobe combo shot 13-31. Fish actually shot well in this one, sinking several from the perimeter. There was some back-and-forth where he and Conley were scoring, but it was mostly one-sided. Not a lot of love from the officials for Fish tonight, either, and he had a minor bit of foul trouble. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-6 shooting to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He hit Kobe backdoor for a layup. He drained a wing jumper off the split play. He drained a 20-footer facing up on the pinch post on the next possesion. He stripped Gay, then threw away the outlet. Second Half: He drained a pull-up jumper from the left wing. Bad decision to help on Ron's man who had him under control and he gave up an open three to his man. He attacked on the other end and powered in a layup. Another open score for his man on the D end, then Fish charged in the post on the other end. He got rejected on a drive. Caught in no man's land and he gave up an open three.

Blake -- -- He led the team with a +6 tonight. That was a result of better offensive execution and Blake hitting some threes out of it. Phil specifically mentioned Blake above when talking about the team needing to play the game the right way. He really is one of the better players on this team in feeding the post. Good things happen because of it. Defensively, he was better in the first half than the second, shutting down his man. The Laker guards weren't getting a lot of support off the screen-roll D and as a result Blake was also in on a few sequences that were too easy for Memphis. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-5 shooting (all threes) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and 4 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He swished a wing three on a kickout. Some good D on iso to get a couple of stops. Second Half: He missed a three straight away. He sank a corner three on the kickout from Pau. He sank another three, this one from the wing. He barely hit rim on a wing three on a kickout a couple minutes later.

Barnes -- -- He has been the consistent role player off the bench this season. Tonight, he was never comfortable out there. He made a number of miscues and even had a sequence of compounding errors, which we rarely see from him or the bench. Just too many turnovers and fouls. No quick strikes in offense. He did find a couple gaps to cut into and score some points. That's what kept a bad game, from being worse. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 1-3 shooting (0-2 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He drew FTs on a hack away from the hoop, he made both. He double teamed off a cutter and gave up a layup. He drew FTs on an interior feed from Lamar, he made both. He was called for a charge on a baseline drive. Second Half: Hook call off an offensive board, turnover. He fumbled the ball out of bounds, unforced turnover on the next trip down. He curled into the lane and scored a layup off the pass. He missed a three, fading a bit as he shot. His man sagged off to deny the post and Barnes missed a three trailing by 5.

Brown -- -- "We're not moving the ball to get movement on offense, we're not stopping nobody or rebounding the ball on defense," Shannon said. They did a better job rebounding tonight, giving up just 5 offensive boards, but they only forced the Grizzlies into 6 turnovers. Shannon struggled a little in the first half, but brought the team some life in the fourth quarter, including about a 40-foot three to beat the shotclock. Better game for Shannon. Hopefully, he can carry that fourth quarter over into the next one and build off it again. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-8 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 block and 1 foul in 16 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He got winged on a three and didn't hit rim with the shotclock low. He attacked from the sideline and scored a layup stretching out with his left. He missed a corner three. He knocked a ball loose from Gay under the hoop. Second Half: He bricked a wide open wing three. He missed a layup in transition. He sliced across the lane in transition and scored a layup. Down 9 with 4 minutes left, Fish got swatted badly to midcourt, Shannon ran it down, set up and drilled the 40-foot three at the shotclock buzzer. He scooped up a loose ball on the other end, pushed out against two defenders and hit a tough, off-balance runner after taking contact to cut the lead to 4 in just 30 seconds.

Caracter -- -- He came in early for Pau in the first quarter and got the Randolph assignment while Lamar took Thabeet. He had some subs later to steal a little more rest for Pau, but again Phil left it at that. That -4 of his is a little deceptive. There was a stretch where Kobe played awful when DC was on the floor and the Lakers lost ground. The Stats: He didn't shoot, grabbed 1 board and had 1 foul in 3 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Phil -- -- His first sub was DC for Pau and Barnes for Ron with 4 minutes left in the first... He brought in Blake for Lamar a minute later, super-small lineup... He then sat Caracter for Pau, just a 2-minute break, and brought in Shannon... They were tied 27-27 after the first... Phil started the Pau, Lamar, Barnes, Brown and Blake lineup... He brought in Kobe for Lamar after a couple minutes... With 7 minutes left, he had his starters back in up by 4... A minute later, Caracter for Pau with Lakers up by 6... Kobe played horribly during that stretch and the lead was lost. Phil brought back in Pau for DC... Kobe's bad stretch continued for the remainder of the quarter and the Lakers struggled. No ball movement, poor shot selection by Kobe to lose the momentum... The Lakers trailed 51-49 at the half. The Lakers shot 44 percent (17-39). The Grizzlies shot 50 percent (21-42). Just 7 assists for the Lakers in the half... Shaw wanted the ball started on the weakside, away from Kobe, to help the ball movement... The Grizzlies extended their lead to 11 on a 10-0 run early in the third. Phil let them get outplayed in one of those situations where another coach might have called a timeout. He made a point of the lack of energy to start the third after the game... The Lakers trailed 66-57 with 5 minutes left in the third when the automatic timeout came. Fish had picked up his fourth foul and Blake came in then... Phil sat Artest for Barnes with under 3 minutes left... Down 7 with 1:35 left in the third, he sat Kobe for Shannon... The Grizzlies had just 3 turnovers in the game after nearly three quarters... The Lakers trailed 70-65 heading into the fourth... Phil started a Pau, Artest, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit. They gave up two straight threes to trail by 11 again after a minute and Phil called a timeout... Down 7 with 7 minutes to go, Phil sat Shannon for Kobe... He sat Blake for Fish with 6 minutes left, down 6... Phil sat Barnes for Shannon with 5 minutes left... Phil sat Shannon for Artest with under 3 minutes left after a couple big plays from Shannon... No timeout after Pau got a stop and hit Kobe in the final 10 seconds... The Grizzlies had just 6 turnovers in the game. The Lakers had just 16 assists...

[LA-SPORTS-GUY]

first?
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"It's personal now."
-- Kobe Bryant on the Lakers-Kings rivalry, after Rick Fox and Doug Christie brawled Oct. 25

[Fleur-de-Lis]

Bynum can't return soon enough.
_________________
Winning recipe: Effort, Intensity, Focus, Composure, Patience, Execution, Attention to detail, Discipline & Persistence

[revgen]

[DancingBarry]

Not proper execution by DB tripping over his keys on that one. But yeah, the team for the most part exsuckuted tonight.

[Fleur-de-Lis]

[babyskyhook]

Thanks DB.

Totally agree about Kobe and the imbalance tonight.


And loved the "perfect storm of suckage" line about Fish and Conley.

[RVCdesigns]

Thanks DB. I thank you for doing this at times frustrating summaries of Laker games.

[Shaber]

I just wonder what would be the thing that would make Lakers actually committ to playiing D from the very start of the game?

At times like this I just hate Kobe - remember how he set the tone for team USA at olympics? Why does he not do the same for Lakers? Lakers need a vocal leader forcing them play D. Ron could be that guy but he is more of following Kobe's attitude (I mean switching D on sometimes).
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.

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

[Arizona]

[Vadorojo]

[venturalakersfan]

Thanks DB.
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RIP mom. 11-21-1933 to 6-14-2023.

[lounger]

Thanks DB!

Lakers failed as a team again today. But it's funny how many here jump on Artest for missing the last shot and not give Rudy Gay credit for his defense on that sequence.

Sometimes, it's not just about the guy on offense. Credit the guy who played defense on him.

[Klone_dd]

Poor game all around by everyone. I don't know what positives to accentuate. Is it the dog days already? Kinda early for that.

Really surprised that RonRon is struggling so badly on the offensive end. I thought by now he'd have the offense down pat. At least he shouldn't be mucking it up so much.

[AceFresh]

[davidse]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB.

Even though the past three games have been a perfect storm of suckage, your recaps remain the best.

[slaker]

Thanks DB, painful to read though...

I really hate that Phil is playing these games...

He points out Blake for "playing the right way" but rewards that by pulling him???

He calls TO's to yell at Ron for not "playing the right way" but doesn't have the balls to do it to Kobe...

It takes Shaw to try to push a solution but Phil does what???

Maybe it's time for Phil to retire after all...

[jodeke]

[Tanlentueux]

[Laker's Fan]

I call BS on LA for playing the "tired" card this early after both Pau and Kobe took the summer off. What I see out there is a lazy team trying to win on talent and a coach coasting right there with them. Bynum's absence reduces the talent edge but that is a red herring.

The real issue is this team's commitment to work night in and night out. Their season starts after the ASG. The killer B's have looked good b/c they are putting in work (Blake is a newbie and Barnes/Brown are playing for a contract). Ron hasn't kept his game tight, Pau is pacing himself, Kobe is doing his Center Field D - Center Stage O routine, Bynum is busy playing Xbox. Odom was on a Team USA high but looks like he's ready to sLOw down. Most critique for Fisher is actually a critique for Jackson b/c we all know he can't guard speed and is more dependable in May than he is in November. Jackson needs to work rotations that aren't a function of his brownie point system. (Walton, Sasha, Ratliff, Ebanks & Caracter are marginal at this point so they get omitted.)

Jackson once said talent aside, the toughest thing to winning 70 games is keeping a mental focus; an ambition to be great. Maybe they have the chops to get serious closer to April and still take the trophy. But unless something wakes them up, this regular season is going to be very uneven.
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Austin Reaves keeps his game tight, like Kobe Bryant on game night.

[axs]

Thanks, missed the game due to classes.