LAKERS -at- BULLS - 12/10 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Bump in the Road... It might have been Phil's final game in Chicago. Who knows for sure? In any event, he didn't want to think about it before or after the game.

"Who knows if everybody's really in the last place they were? Who knows if they're going to be in the next place again? I have said this is the `Last Stand,' and let's hope it's not like Custer's Last Stand," Phil said.

Phil didn't want to dwell on it. Laker fans didn't want to think about the 10-point second quarter the team put up -- a reversal of fortune after holding the Bulls to 12 points in the first quarter.

But Phil brushed that aside, too. It was the fourth quarter of the 88-84 loss that he pondered.

"Too many mistakes," he said. "We just made too many turnovers in the fourth quarter even though we won that quarter."

The Lakers started that final quarter with four turnovers in the first five possessions. It brought flashbacks and cold sweats to those who recall the all-too-frequent horrors of the Lakers second unit last year during the regular season.

Combine the 19 turnovers with the Lakers inabilities from the perimeter and it's another low-scoring affair.

"We made one outside shot in the first half, and that's just not a professional response to this game," Phil said. When it was all through, the Bulls made 8-17 from three, the Lakers just 3-13.

Good thing the Lakers stole the first game of this roadtrip. Perhaps, this will be the only bump in the road.


Kobe -- -- Kobe passed John Havlicek for 11th on the all-time scorer's list. Next up is the Human Highlight Reel, Dominique Wilkins, in about a dozen games or so. Nothing came real easy in this. It seemed like the refs let a lot of contact go on Kobe, and it was surprising he didn't get a tech after one no call. He was clearly frustrated with them. Down the stretch he helped get the Bulls on their heels with penetration and looking for teammates. He needed to do that a little more consistently, I think, to help the Lakers keep their flow. Defensively, he put in a very good effort. There was a sequence where I double-taked while watching him on D. I thought he was Artest on a stand the way he played his man and his effort. He brought the two-way game tonight from the start. Good to see him that active on D. He only seems to bring it like that when a team has his attention, but perhaps he's going to step it up on this roadtrip. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 9-23 shooting (1-4 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 7 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He worked the two-man game with Lamar and bounced to him for a dunk. He kicked on the speed, blew past his man and threw down, forcing an early timeout. He cut behind his man, Pau fed him from the post and Kobe slammed. Kobe returned the favor a few seconds later over the top of the D and Pau scored the layup. He swiped a rebound from behind and hit a cutting Pau for a layup. He missed an early offense three. He missed a step-through bank (could have gone for the contact and FTs). He jumped the passing lane, pushed out the steal and missed a back-handed layup, Lamar slammed back in the miss. He took contact and missed a jumper expecting a whistle that never came. He drained an FT fade flashing to the ball. He attacked and threaded a pass to LO for FTs. He missed a wing jumper. He missed an off-balance fading bank in the paint. Second Half: He flashed to the ball and hit a short jumphook in the paint. He swished a turnaround from the wing. He swatted Boozer on help D. He drew a double and found Pau for a dunk. He swung through to draw FTs on a jumper, he made both. Good recovery from one side of the court to the next and his close out forced a travel. He missed a wing jumper. He attacked, took contact, no call and missed (LO slammed it back in). He missed a tough fade with the shotclock about to expire. The ball worked into the Pau post, Kobe cut down the lane, took the bullet pass from Pau and slammed (more running through the please). He was hit from behind on a layup with no call and nearly picked up the tech. He blew past his man and was hacked next time down for FTs, he made one. Iso chuck, FTs the other way for the Bulls on the miss. He had 15 points on 6-17 shooting after three quarters. He sank a corner three. He stalled the offense and missed a three. He probed in early offense, found and opening and scored a layup to tie for 11th on the all-time NBA scoring list. He attacked and threw it away. He found Pau in the lane for a short one. He attacked and hit Lamar with the interior feed for the score. He attacked with speed, spun and hit the one-hander to cut it to 4 with under 2 minutes left. He missed a good look at a three. He drew FTs with 11.9 left down by 4, he made just one, arggh. He missed a long wing three.

Gasol -- -- Phil said Pau got disconcerted with the refs and the no calls. he had just 2 FTs until the last second of the game. The Bulls were certainly able to get away with a lot in the paint -- strips that were fouls, bumps as he was shooting. He started off very aggressive but faded as the ball didn't work its way in the post with much consistency. Too bad because he looked more like the fresh, aggressive Pau of the first few weeks of the season. This is a game where the Lakers missing Bynum comes to play in more than one way. Boozer can't D-up Bynum and will have to defend Pau. Either way, the team gets more easier points by having their length back around the rim and in the paint. Those easy buckets were few and far between in the second quarter. When Pau sat, the Lakers lead was quickly erased. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 9-15 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go wtih 8 boards, 4 assists, 4 bocks, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 45 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He sank a face-up wing jumper. He airballed a baseline fallaway. He then swished an elbow jumper off the inbounds a few seconds later. He dunked when Noah went for a steal and came up empty. He swatted Noah badly from behind. Great bounce pass to Kobe cutting down the lane for the slam. Kobe hit Pau for a layup as the bigman ran down the middle of the lane on the next possession. He missed an elbow jumper, Kobe got it back and fed Pau cutting for the layup. He sank a face-up 15-footer. He missed an open 18-footer next time down. He was hacked with no call and given a turnover for it. He missed a jumphook. He missed another jumphook (contact and no call). He led the Lakers with 12 points on 6-11 shooting. Second Half: He dunked when Kobe drew a double and fed him. He missed a fallaway instead of trying to go up strong. Just after Stu says "a rare touch for Mr. Gasol," Pau whipped a pass to a cutting Kobe for a dunk (more please). He tapped an offensive board out to Lamar who then scored. He blocked two shots, but couldn't get the third. Another rare touch and he drew FTs in the post (his first of the game), he made both. He had 4 points on 1-2 shooting in the third. Very poor outlet to give it right back to the Bulls after getting a stop. He swished a turnaround in the post after freezing Noah with a head fake. Kobe spotted him for a short one in the paint. He hit Barnes for a layup under the hoop. He was fouled on an offensive board and made one FT.

Lamar -- -- Some great hustle plays by Lamar, including a couple of putback dunks off some Kobe drives. He outplayed Boozer, who in the past has usually been Pau's man. After a good third quarter, Lamar was quiet, however, in the fourth. Much bigger difference in his effectiveness in this game versus the last where he suffered from foul issues. Let's do the math here. Lamar played 35 minutes, Pau 45. That leaves 16 minutes at the PF/C spots that we are filling with SFs or a rookie. This is why Pau is playing 8-10 more minutes than he should be. The results wouldn't be any better if we had Powell instead of Caracter. The same collapses happened last year. Phil might want to opt for a a couple more minutes for Lamar at the C spot, though. Sure would be nice if Drew would play the warm body role for those few minutes right now. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-12 shooting (0-1 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 8 boards (3 offensive), 3 assists, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 35 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He dunked when Kobe set him up off the screen-roll. He missed a hard bank in the paint. He missed a 17-footer. He attacked to his right in transition and drew FTs (should have tried to finish with his right for an And-1), he made both FTs. He whipped a pass to Pau who sealed Noah and Pau dunked. He backed his man down and hit a tricky jumphook. He followed Kobe on the break and threw down a follow slam. He was hit on a layup attempt when Kobe spotted him under the hoop, he made one FT. He threw a pass out of bounds trying to hit Artest in the post. He swatted Boozer from behind on a nice recovery. He blocked Rose's reverse. He had 9 points on 3-5 shooting, 5 boards and 2 blocks. Second Half: He missed a wing three. He missed an easy jumphook after recovering a fumbled pass. He couldn't stretch out and finish a drive past Boozer. He slammed back in a Kobe missed drive. He grabbed a tipped out board and scored a layup. He drew contact off the pinch post attack and drew FTs on Boozer, he made one. He attacked, drew contact and hit the layup. He had 7 points on 3-6 shooting in the third. Kobe attacked and found him for a layup.

Artest -- -- Ron didn't take a shot in the first half. In the second half, he picked up where he left off in the last one. He may have had one shot where he wasn't off balance (his layup), but hard to say. Defensively, he was making some things happen in the fourth quarter again. One of those steals looked like it should have been a clear-path foul, which would have brought the Lakers into striking distance a lot earlier in the quarter. The refs overturned the call, then called a 3-second violation on the Lakers a few seconds later. A Bulls score and the Lakers were back in a hole again. That was a bad break and momentum killer for the Lakers. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-6 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: Quiet first half, not shooting or doing anything noteworthy on D. Second Half: He stripped the ball from Deng to force a turnover. He missed a 19-footer, his first attempt of the game with 4:38 left in the third. He swatted Gibson, took it the distance and scored the layup. He missed a baseline fade. Looked like his layup was goaltended with no call. He swiped a perimeter pass and was held from behind, clear-path foul but the refs erased it (not sure what a clear-path foul is if that wasn't...). He missed a long wing jumper.

Fisher -- -- Derrick vs. Derek. Tough match up for our Derek. Or most anyone, really. You're going to give up some points. What hurts are the times when DFish would sag off to double the post. Let it go, please. Our guys can handle their business. What also hurt was a play late in the game where Rose was able to split defenders on a screen-roll. Contain him, make him give up the ball to a guy like Noah who is Rodman like on offense (and on the boards). That gives the D time to recover on its rotations. Just don't get split. Cut those little mistakes down and you live with the rest of it, which was really pretty solid from Fish defensively. Not a lot of room for error, however, when the team can only scrap 84 points. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-8 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He missed a FT jumper to start the game. He lost the handle for a moment, his man recovered as Fish shot and he bricked the 15-footer badly. He then stole it back from Rose at midcourt. He missed a pumping jumper in the lane. He missed a long baseline jumper. He dug out a tough pass and hit a hook over Rose under the hoop. Sloppy outlet pass, right out of bounds (that cost the Lakers the final shot of the half and 2 points, uggh). Second Half: He stripped Rose in transition to stop a break. He sagged to double when it wasn't needed and Rose hit a three. Fish went back at him on the other end and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a three with the shotclock low. He drained a corner three with 48 seconds left to cut it to 3. He missed a three from the top of the arc.

Blake -- -- Farmar-esque game from Blake for the second unit. He wasn't effective at all. He also had his post entry pass stolen to start the fourth quarter. At one point Phil opted for a Kobe/Shannon backcourt which we rarely see. Blake gets into a mode where he's unsure whether to be aggressive or not and it seems to throw things off, not just for him but the team. It's still December. Hopefully, that gets worked out over the course of the season as the chemistry develops. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 14 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He traveled on a handoff from Pau, indecisive on whether to attack or pass. Nice close on Korver to force an airball. He swished a wing three on a kickout from Luke. He missed a hanging-one hander. He knocked two balls loose to help maintain possession on one offensive stand. He missed a midrange pull-up from the left side. Second Half: He attacked and hit Barnes on the drive and dish for a layup. His post entry was deflected, turnover to start the foruth. He drew a clear-out foul to get a stop.

Barnes -- -- Poor game from Barnes until late in the action. He turned the ball over 3 times. For a guy who isn't a ball-dominant player and doesn't touch it much, that's not what you want to see. The most painful turnover was probably getting his outlet picked off right after Pau had his stolen early in the fourth quarter. He followed that up with another turnover. Defensively, he also sagged off Korver too much, giving up some painful makes. Still Barnes was able to scrap for points around the hoop and second chances to help keep the Lakers in the thick of things. He was the only effective bench player, despite his several miscues. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-7 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 7 boards (4 offensive), 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He swatted a man from behind. He missed a corner three. Second Half: He hit a floater after cutting weak to strong. He scored a layup when Blake attacked and hit him cutting baseline. Horrible outlet, turnover to give it right back after Pau had just done the same thing. Another turnover, FTs in transition the other way. No box out and Korver grabbed a missed three. Nice effort to tap in a missed Artest three, but he sagged off Korver on the other end to give up a three. He missed a corner three. Pau found him alone under the hoop for a layup. Great effort to get an offensive board and somehow muscle it back in with 14 seconds left.

Brown -- -- He now averages 10.5 points per game against the Bulls. The Law of Averages caught up with Shannon. He went from 21 points in the first game against the Bulls to 0 in this second one. That drops him right to 10.8 points per game on his season averages. Had Shannon gotten his 10 points in this game, the Lakers probably take the win. He had an extremely poor first half which helped hold the Lakers to barely scratching the double-digit mark in points that quarter. He was one of the reasons the Lakers couldn't separate from the Bulls. He bricked or turned the ball over and the Lakers offense came to a halt. Shannon led the team with a -11. As bad as he played, he actually took some minutes from Blake in the fourth. Our backup guard duo was just not getting it done. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-4 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: Good foul to save a dunk on help D. He airballed a pull-up wing jumper trying to iso at the end of the quarter. He attacked and threw a pass away. He came up empty on a drive to the hoop. He clanked a wide open FT jumper. Second Half: He missed a three, but stopped a two-on-one break.

Vujacic -- -- Someone woke him up and stuck him in the game for a possession, forcing DB to fill this out or face the wrath of Sasha fans. The Stats: No stats. The Action: Brief appearance for one offensive set. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Walton -- -- Phil put him in the to start the second quarter which turned into a disaster. Can't wait until we get our length back and we don't have to play SFs at the PF spot. The Stats: He didn't shoot and had 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 turnover in 5 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: Nice steal, taking a backdoor bounce pass away. He set up Blake for a three on a kickout. He threw a lob out of bounds trying to hit Shannon backdoor. Second Half: He did not play in the half.

Caracter -- -- He came in for a couple minutes and the Laker 10-point lead was quickly erased. As mentioned before, Phil really needs to steal his minutes for Caracter when things are going well, not when things are going bad. That ends up being the straw that broke the camel's back. The Laker offense was floundering the first 7 minutes of the second quarter before Phil made the sub of Pau for Caracter. As soon as Pau sat, the dam broke and no one else had any rhythm to stop it. The Stats: He didn't shoot and had 1 assist is 2 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: Lamar tried to find him sealing, but he couldn't come up with the pass, turnover. Second Half: He did not play in the half.

Phil -- -- Phil said he tried not to think about whether this would be his last time Chicago as a coach... The Lakers forced a timeout with a 12-4 start (back-to-back dunks for Kobe and Pau)... The first subs were Ron and DFish for Barnes and Brown with 2 minutes left, up 18-8... He brought in Shannon for Kobe in the final minute... Brief sub of Sasha for Pau with 28 seconds left... The Lakers led 22-12 after the first quarter... Phil started a Pau, Luke, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit... Midway through the quarter, Phil sat Barnes and Luke for Kobe and LO, up by 10... Phil sat Pau for Caracter up by 10 with 5 minutes left. The lead was cut to 2 just a minute and half later... Phil called a timeout with 2:43 left up by 2. He brought back in the starters... Horrible second quarter, the Lakers scored just 10 points with 9 turnovers... The Lakers trailed 36-32 at the half. The Lakers shot 37.8 percent (14-37, 1-2 from three, 3-4 from the line). The Bulls shot 35 percent (15-43, 4-9 from three, 2-4 from the line). Everyone not named Lamar or Pau shot 5-21. The Laker bench was outscored 11-3... Shaw wasn't pleased with the sloppy offense in the second quarter. He wanted more ball movement... The Lakers got into the bonus with 7:43 left in the third quarter. (They would not take advantage)... Up by 1, Phil brought in Barnes for Artest... Phil sat Fish for Blake, then Brown for a frustrated Kobe. The Lakers were down by 10... The Lakers trailed 66-58 to start the fourth... Phil started a Pau, Artest, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit. They started the fourth with 4 turnovers in 5 possessions, including two bad outlet passes... Down by 8 after 3 minutes and Phil sat Blake for Kobe... Phil got up to bark at the refs after a clear-path foul was erased and then Pau was called for a 3-second call... The Lakers cut it to 6 with 2 minutes left and forced a timeout... They cut it to 3 with 48 seconds left, but couldn't get a stop. Phil called a timeout down by 5. They got a putback score off a missed three... Down by 4 with 15 seconds left, another timeout. Kobe couldn't sink both of his FTs out of that timeout... The Bulls made 8-17 from three, the Lakers just 3 of 13. Ultimately, that was the difference...

[coopscohen]

That 2nd quarter was brutal
_________________
To Be a Work in Progress, You Must Work to Progress -

[thurloly]

Thanks Dancingbaby!

[Klone_dd]

I thought the non-breakaway call shifted the momentum. It amounted to a 4 point switch. TO's were also a big factor. Generally, the D was ok, but the offense certainly got bogged down.

2nd unit really falters without a post hub. Caracter doesn't command any attention, leaving the perimeter guys to create shots and when they aren't hitting from deep or miss transition opps, it can get ugly.

[DancingBarry]

[mhan00]

they compounded their error with a quick 3 second call i thought was bogus on gasol right after that clear path foul. and then they let a LOT of contact go on both pau and kobe inside and they missed some pretty obvious ball out of bounds calls as well. just a brutal night from a reffing standpoint.

[thurloly]

[mhan00]

'drew needs to suck it up. he should have been on the floor tonight to spell pau for a few minutes each half. i refuse to believe that however rusty he is that he would have done worse than caracter's -8 in 2.5 minutes.

[lounger]

Is the defense really designed to always double on the inside? Lakers almost always get killed by shooters.. if not, it's opposing guard's dribble penetration.

[Burgundy]

I wonder how Andrew VAGINum felt watching this game...Kevin Ding had a great tweet:

"Gasol logs another 45 minutes in a losing effort. But it appeared that Bynum enjoyed sitting in his locker listening to music pregame. "

http://twitter.com/kevinding

I thought him playing through the knee injury during the Finals was a turning point for him. Turns out he's still just as much of a puss as Kwame Brown.

Here's the crazy part: he's babying his knee and dragging his feet coming back because he's afraid to get hurt again, but we all know he's going to go down with another injury in March or April and not be around for the playoffs (AGAIN).

All these defenders saying, "We just need him for the playoffs!" aren't seeing the big picture:

Bynum is going to get hurt again, anyway. We need him NOW so Gasol doesn't get run into the ground before the season is half over.

[IPK]

[IPK]

May want to ease up on Bynum, a bit. He's still a Laker.
_________________
Our tribute to Phil, the man behind LG

[Nobody]

I'm not even too stressed out about this loss. Kind of saw it coming. Loved the first quarter and some of the play in the third, otherwise a forgettable game, especially on the offensive end.

Plus swarming of the paint has really backfired on this team a couple of times now... I don't get it why the entire teams starts to move inside, seriously.

Meh, get the next one and hope that Gasol doesn't injure himself from all the minutes he's logging.

[Bynum4MVP]

[Rick12322]

Thanks for the writeup DB, always informative and insightful.

The Laker's lost momentum right about the middle of the first quarter when they failed to extend their lead by shooting clankers.

The Laker's shooting was so off, and they made some knee jerk sloppy passes. In fact I've been noticing this a lot lately, in the triangle you've got essentially non-pg's out there making passes to each other, and the passes are seldom crisp and on target. They almost need to do some passing drills, it's important to hit players in the right spot so they can shoot in rhythm, that was one of the great things about Magic Johnson, he put a lot of effort into hitting players in their sweet spots.

There was no excuse for the lopsided officiating and it did have a lot to do with changing momentum. It's more of Stern's shameless 'equalization' manipulations.

Ron Artest has completely lost faith in his shooting abilities. I think his frustration over understanding the triangle is kind of messing with his mind. he played great defense, he just needs to relax, square up and shoot with the confidence that when he's wide open, and there are no passing lanes leading directly to a higher percentage shot, that then it's the right thing to do and the consequences of the shot are not his responsibility. he needs that freedom and confidence from team and coaches to get over this slump.

[ocho]

[mhan00]

[Rick12322]

[Rick12322]

[DancingBarry]

[ABynum17]

Artest seems to be shooting the ball without any conviction whatsoever. I don't think it's so much the triangle as much as it's mental. I mean, he's just missing wide open shots.

IMO, he needs to adopt the "determined" attitude and see if that works.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB

Frustrating loss. Hopefully we'll have an answer for the Nets.

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB. I could have sworn I saw a P&R play between Kobe and... LO!! It worked for a dunk IIRC. That play could potentially be more lethal than the Kobe/Pau P&R because LO is a much better ball handler than Pau is.

[revgen]

[All Net]

That 2nd quarter was just terrible to watch.