LAKERS -at- SIXERS - 12/17 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Building Toward June... If you play defense, you can win ugly. The Lakers won a championship game that way this summer.

They slugged their way through three quarters before good things began to happen. The trio of Odom, Barnes and Blake combined for all 25 points and 6 assists during the first 7 minutes of the fourth quarter. Lamar lead all scorers with 28 points as the Lakers won ugly 93-81 in Philly.

"Our bench got some things going and changed the tempo of the ball game," Phil said.

Give the "W" to those three guys, but especially Blake and Barnes -- the two key free agent additions for the Lakers. This was one of those games where despite how good LO played, the lack of adequate bench support could have cost the Lakers.

The help last year would have been Farmar, Vujacic or Walton. Barnes allows Kobe to avoid SF minutes (whether as a backup to Artest or when Ron flounders) unlike last season. That lessens the need for backup SG minutes and partly why Sasha was no longer needed. Blake, of course, actually gives Phil a reason to leave Fisher on the bench when the need arises.

The bench won the key first few minutes of the fourth and won the ball game.

"We started to talk, play defense and do everything as a team," Lamar said of their fourth quarter turnaround.

Blake set the table to create a series of three-point plays for Lamar and Barnes. They quickly seized the lead again in the first few minutes of the fourth. He capped that off with his own corner three off a sweet ball-fake that confused his defender. Those plays turned the game around in a hurry. The 15/10 double-double from Barnes speaks for itself.

"We got the win, but we're building toward June," Barnes said, saying the team had to continue to work on practicing good habits.

At one point tonight, Michael Vick entered the arena and the crowd began to buzz. Suddenly the Sixers went on a run to lead by 7. (Guess he's a touchdown worth of points for the Sixers, too.) It seemed to give the Sixers a brief bit of life, but Phil thought it might have sucked the wind out of the Sixers sails shortly after. Lamar said they all noticed when he came in. "Only a few people can do that, especially when Kobe is playing," Lamar said.


Kobe -- -- Usually, Kobe has double digits in a few minutes of action. Tonight, he looked like the rest of the world. His right pinky finger got hit early in the game and started to swell up. It was noticeable after a turnover late in the first quarter. This was the previously dislocated finger, and x-rays afterward were negative. Typically, he works things out and finds a way to adjust. Perhaps, we will see more post action or lefty action in the next game. Perhaps, the swelling will go down and he'll be fine. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-11 shooting (0-3 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 36 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed a three, wide right. Long outlet to DFish who leaked out for a layup. He missed an easy And-1 layup on the break, he made both FTs. He airballed a long pumping three out of a timeout, horrible possession. He coughed up the ball, unforced error, dunk the other way. He missed a finger roll on a drive down the middle of the lane. No hand up or close out and he gave up a three. He fumbled away an outlet pass, turnover. He crossed over and sank the pull-up from 15 feet for his first hoop 1:30 left in the half. He hit Lamar on a backscreen lob out of a timeout for a score. On the next play, Lamar set a back screen for Kobe who cut off the Pau post for a layup. He had 6 points on 2-5 shooting. Second Half: He missed a pull-up three in early offense (transition FTs the other way for the Sixers). He made a tech FT. He missed a long fallaway. He iso'd, attacked across the lane, hung and banked. Nice D on Iguodala's turnaround to force a miss. Kobe missed a leaner on the other end. After stealing a ball at midcourt, he got bodychecked on a missed layup with no call. He swiped an inbounds pass. He traveled on the perimeter. He missed a long wing jumper with the clock low.

Gasol -- -- A tricky game for our post players with the doubles that were sent to the post and the crowded spaces in the paint. Pau had 4 turnovers, and a turnover in this one usually meant points on the other end. Phil called a timeout to bark out Pau at one point for not getting back in transition (he was complaining about a no call). It also looked like he might have sat Pau early in the fourth for a weak finish or two. Hard to say as that could have been a different sub pattern to get Drew in there (Bynum, by the way, only went 13 minutes in the game). Either way, it seemed like both Pau and Bynum tried to finish stronger around the rim as the game went along. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 6-14 shooting (7-9 from the line) to go with 13 boards (6 offensive), 3 assists, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 41 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He missed a short jumphook. He spun baseline to lose his man badly for a reverse. He hit a jumphook in the middle of the paint. He missed a putback attempt. He threw away a pass on the break trying to hit Kobe instead of finishing (Kobe seemed to expect Gasol to take it). He missed a running hook and didn't get back in transition to give up a layup (Phil called a timeout to bark at him). He was fouled on an offensive rebound and made both FTs. He sank an easy turnaround right in the middle of the paint. He was fouled on a double team for more FTs, he made both. Sweet face-up swing through like Kobe to bank in an And-1, he made the FT. He found Kobe cutting of the Lamar screen for a layup. He missed a fallaway in the post. He had 13 points on 4-8 shooting and 7 boards in the half. Second Half: Poor kickout pass and it was swiped easily. He was blocked on a layup attempt (dunk the other way). He didn't go up strong and was blocked from behind (Phil sat him with 6 minutes left in the third). He missed a layup off an offensive board. He missed a short one in the lane. He attacked across the lane and hit the running hook. He blocked a shot on the other end. He drew FTs backing his man down, he made both. He was held after getting low position, more FTs, he missed both. More low position and he practically threw the hook down and in.

Lamar -- -- It's been a sensational start to the season for Lamar. It seems there is little doubt that the Team USA experience was a contributing factor. Lamar doesn't take personal credit, however. "Everything we do has a team concept behind it, and playing with two players that are so awesome -- that opens the game up for me," Lamar said. His versatility complements Kobe and Pau's games. When teams try to double, Lamar can finish around the rim. When teams overplay to defend the two-man game and Lamar can create points off the attention they draw. Throw in guard skills and a post game and this turns into a nightmare game for his opponent. The most impressive sequences tonight were the Blake/Odom two-man game that led to back-to-back And-1 layups early in the fourth. More, please. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 11-18 shooting (1-2 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 42 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He missed a pull-up from 16 feet. Horribly slow outlet and it was picked off for a layup. He attacked off the high screen and scored a layup with speed. He scored a layup trailing the break when Blake found him. He got tapped on a short jumphook from the left block. He attacked to his right in early offense and drew FTs, he made one. He posted up and hit the easy jumphook in the middle of the paint. His man flopped in the post and Lamar drew FTs getting sandwiched when the pass came, he made both. Another early offense post up to draw a foul, but no FTs this time. He clanked an open 12-footer. He put in a lob pass off the backscreen out of a timeout. Second Half: He missed an open baseline jumper. He scored a reverse set up by a Kobe double that went to Ron, then Fish first before finding him open. He missed a layup on a drive left. He missed an open three. He tipped in a Blake missed jumper getting to the front of the rim. He missed a pull-up jumper when the offense stalled. He took the pass from Blake, stretched out and scored an Add-1 layup at the front of the rim, he made the FT. Blake found him again next time down with a bounce pass for an And-1 bank, he made the FT. He took the pass from Kobe off the screen and hit a cutting Barnes for the layup. He drained a wing three off the handoff from Blake. He slammed off the interior feed from Barnes. He scored a reverse along the baseline.

Artest -- -- He seemed to fall asleep on the bench after getting subbed out midway through the first quarter. After some good D to start the game, he came back in cold and gave up a couple dunks. Phil immediately yanked him in that second stint. Granted it was a long rest, but his game seemed to lack life on both ends and Barnes was putting in one of his best games. Offensively, Ron had some reasonable minutes, but the D was sagging off him at times, too, and clogging the paint. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-4 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: His baseline pass was picked off. He dropped a guard on a drive in the paint and earned FTs, he made both for the Lakers first score at the 9:32 mark of the first quarter. He missed a three trailing the break. He lost his man in the post and scored a layup. He stripped Brand on help D. He was blocked on a reverse. Young dunked on him on a drive. He got backdoored and gave up another dunk. Second Half: He got hit on a drive with no call, but still muscled it up for a score in a crowd. He looked at the refs and retreated on D and immediately stole the ball at midcourt.

Fisher -- -- He stunk it up in the first quarter. Bad offense, turning into easy points for the Sixers the other way. He was better in the second half and started to hit some shots. But the Laker guard shooting was abismal to start the game and seemed to be the reason why the team struggled. Late in the game, Phil brought Fish back to replace Blake. Perhaps, he wanted to get some more muscle in there defensively, but Blake was playing great. Fish didn't need to clock the extra minutes. The Lakers were playing with Fish's head after. Yes, actually playing with it. While DFish was answering questions after the game, Phil came by and placed an apple on his head. A few seconds later, Kobe came by buffed DFish's head to a nice shine. During that, Fish was trying to make a point about how the Sasha trade seemed to momentarily disrupt the team. "We made a move and lost Sasha and so those type of things are going to impact our team," he said. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-10 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He missed a sideline jumper in early offense. He missed a wide open three. He scored a layup leaking out on the break. He missed an easy looking layup. He practically handed the ball to the defense on a post entry, dunk the other way. His three was blocked for a layup on the next possession. He hit the floor to recover a loose ball. Second Half: He finally hit a jumper working off the Pau screen. He switched onto Iguodala and swiped the pass to him. He drained a long corner jumper off a kickout. Not close on a pull-up jumper when his man didn't fly by like he had hoped. He bricked a short jumper in the lane. He swished the wing jumper off the Pau screen. He stripped a bigman, then knocked the loose ball off him.

Bynum -- -- He definitely looks rusty, but that's why he needs to get minutes. He did get up pretty good to try to finish one dunk. The power game isn't there yet, and his finese skills are off the mark. Defensively, he had some excellent challenges, though he didn't get credit for blocking a shot. He also towered above others on some boards. Hopefully, Phil can get him some more minutes. The 13 tonight meant Pau went 41 (with some time across Bynum at the PF). The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-5 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 13 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: Good challenge to save a layup. He missed a jumphook from the right block. He airballed a face-up 9-footer, yikes. Nice challenge to force a miss, but he didn't get back in the mix afterward and the team gave up an easy layup. Second Half: He was doubled in the post and threw it away. Soft finish attempt on jumphook off the two-man game instead of trying to power up. Better job on the next two-man feed from Kobe, drawing a foul on the throw down attempt, he made one FT. He couldn't finish a putback attempt.

Blake -- -- He turned the game around. Blake opened the fourth quarter of this game with a series of 3-point plays that quickly regained the lead and had the Sixers in the hole. He set up others with multiple three-point plays and made a corner three himself. He was grinning on his way to the bench after he hit the corner three because he had just ball-faked his way to some space out of a Tri sequence. Love the chemistry from him in this game. In that last play, he saw the opportunity develop for him before the pass even came. Those two-man game sequences to Lamar for the And-1's were also developing chemistry. Once they find something like that, I hope we see more of it. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-5 shooting (1-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 5 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 18 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: He missed a corner three. He waited for LO to fill the lane and hit him for the layup. He missed a wing three. Great job cutting his man off on a drive to draw a charge. Second Half: He missed an open three. He missed a wing jumper. He attacked and set up Lamar for an And-1 layup. Nice close on the other end to force his man into hitting the side of the backboard. On the offensive end on the next possession, he set up Lamar for another And-1 off the two-man game. He attacked the lane in transition and kicked out to Barnes for the corner three. He earned a couple FTs on the perimeter getting contact near the sideline, he made both. He let his man get low position and gave up a three. Brilliant ball fake as Kobe whipped a pass to him in the corner when Lamar slipped a screen, Blake faked the pass to Lamar, shed his man, then sank the corner three forcing a timeout (Phil sat him for Fish out of that, uggh).

Barnes -- -- Hard to say which part of Barnes's game I liked best -- the defensive boards or the off-ball movement in the offense. Both were excellent. He knows how to find the seams in the Triangle, especially on those weakside cuts. "There's some times we ask him why didn't space it out, but you can see why he doesn't,' Phil said. "It's because his cuts are rewarded and he does a good job with them." Barnes has always been good with his timing off ball, even before the Lakers. He sees opportunities when the defense over commits or gets too lax and exploits it. Defensively, the Lakers were having some issues controlling the glass, but Barnes was skying or fighting for boards to give the bigmen help. In an "ugly" game, winning those battles wins games. Same with the playoffs. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-8 shooting (1-2 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He threw a pass away. Kobe set him up for FTs on the break, he made both. He banked a floater after curling from the weakside to take a pass. He stripped his man from behind and scored the layup on the counter attack. His three-pointer was blocked. Great D forcing Iguodala to an airball. Second Half: He was blocked on a layup, got it right back and scored the quick layup. Savvy play, attacking quickly off the pinch post to draw contact, he just threw the ball up not even close up drew FTs, he made both. He stepped back and swished a corner three off the Blake kickout. Superb dive from the weakside as Kobe/Lamar ran the two-man game, LO hit Barnes for the layup. He took the Pau pass in the paint, drew the D and fed Lamar for the dunk. He couldn't finish a reverse on the break and wanted the foul call. He stripped a man on help D.

Brown -- -- This was Shannon's third game of the season where he failed to scratch offensively -- the second of this roadtrip. He forced some action early in the fourth and was really the only thing not working at that stage. Phil shortened up Shannon's stint because of it. They could have used one of his scoring games with how Kobe was struggling. The Laker guards shot a combined 8-30 on the night. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-4 shooting to go with 1 assist and 1 foul in 12 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He hit Barnes for a layup on the break. He missed a wing jumper. Second Half: He missed an off-balance drive in the paint to start the fourth. He forced a bad shot in transition, creating nothing for himself but shooting it anyway. He missed a pull-up wing jumper.

Phil -- -- The Lakers held the Sixers to an 0-10 shooting start and no points after 5 minutes when a timeout came (the Sixers went 0-11 before they scored). Unfortunately, the Lakers led only 8-0 with some of their own offensive struggles. This seemed to be a sign of things to come... He sat Artest for Barnes after 8 minutes... The Lakers trailed 15-14 a few minutes later... Phil sat Fish for Blake and Lamar for Bynum... The Sixers outscored the Lakers 21-10 after their timeout midway through the quarter... The Lakers trailed 21-18 after the first... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit... He sat Bynum at the 6:39 mark, up 29-23... He sat Kobe for Shannon and Barnes for Artest shortly later with the same score... Laker guards were a combined 1-15 at this point... Up just 29-28 off a couple of miscues by Pau, Phil called a timeout and barked at him. On one Pau didn't get back in transition, choosing to complain to the refs and his man scored a layup... Phil sat Blake for Fisher with 4:50 left. Fish had been horrible in his first stint... Artest got dunked on by Young twice and Phil sat him for Barnes a minute later... Great sequence here by the coach. He called a 20-second timeout with 1:30 left in the half to set up a backscreen lob for Lamar. On the next sequence, Lamar set a backscreen for Kobe and Pau hit him for a layup. Nicely used 20... The Lakers led 44-39 at the half. The Lakers shot 40.5 percent (15-37, 0-8 from three, 14-15 from the line). The Sixers shot 37 percent (17-46, 2-12 from three, 3-3 from the line). The Sixers had 15 points off turnovers... The coaches summed up the first half as "sloppy"... Phil didn't like a soft finish attempt that Pau got blocked on and sat him midway through the third for Bynum... He then sat Lamar for Pau a minute and half later down 55-53... He brought in Blake and Barnes up 56-55 with 2 minutes left in the third... He brought back in Lamar for Bynum with a minute left... The Lakers trailed 62-58 heading into the fourth... Phil started Pau, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake... After a couple forced possessions by Shannon, Phil benched him after 3 minutes... The Lakers put together an 11-0 run that forced a timeout as they led 71-64... The Lakers were in the bonus with 7:30 left... With an 81-68 lead, Phil brought in Fish for Blake who had been setting the table and just hit a huge corner three... Up 15, he sat Kobe for Brown with the game in hand... The Lakers gave up 24 points off 14 turnovers... The Lakers shot a poor 3-15 from three, but and excellent 24-28 from the line... They held the Sixers to 37.5 percent shooting and just 3-21 from three...

[TheLakerFeeling]

First!

[limchrc]

thanks

[Dr. Laker]

Good job, DB!
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[Vicky T]

what? Did PJ really put an apple on Fisher's head?
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[BLP711]

Thanks DB

[Mel Rose]

Thanks. Missed most of the game due to xmas craziness, so your recap fills the gaps.
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[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB. I never thought I would see such a "defensive" game against a bottom dweller like the 6ers, but with team light switch you never know sometimes. Loving the swagger that LO is playing with. When he returns to the bench and joins the Killer B's this team go to the next level.

[E=MC²]

Thanks DB and keep up the defensive mindset Lakers!

[Rick12322]

Thanks DB, you da man! It was ugly but I'll take it!

Lov'n Blake's tenacious D and disciplined play, he and Barnes are a real treat.

I think LO's play shot up to another level from his offseason boxing workouts the past two seasons. He's so light on his feet, super fit.

[taim]

this was an interesting game for Ron. typically he will get pulled out because he isn't into the game offensively. i thought he actually played fairly well on that side of the court. there were, however, about 2 or 3 plays where thaddeus young just took it to him and easily scored. it was because of the lack of fire on D that Phil pulled him.

[Freakout]

Even though Drew is clearly rusty offensively, he looks surprisingly good defensively. If you go back to past seasons his defense is normally the last thing to get back on track. He doesn't seem cautious over his knee either as you can see from his rebounding in traffic, as well as already trying to dunk on people. I'm happy to see that the mind is willing but the body needs to catch up.

[wolfpaclaker]

[City_Dawg]

[DancingBarry]

[wolfpaclaker]

[babyskyhook]

[babyskyhook]

[DancingBarry]

[babyskyhook]

[babyskyhook]

And DB-

thanks for the write up. FRom what I saw, it was definitely winning ugly.

BU the type of win a championship team getsw and a good reinforcement of a lesson these guys learned the last two years (and especially last year):

Their defense will win games for them on nights when their offense is off.

That's the mentality they have to get back to as the schedule gets tougher, and it seems like they're getting back in that mode.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks Again DB!

Very encouraging game from several players, particularly LO, Blake, Barnes and I'd say Bynum too. I also like how Pau has found a bit of a second wind just knowing he's not going to be banging away against 5's all night long.

[GoldenThroat]

Your section on Kobe made me crack up, DB, just because of the expectations that we have of the guy. To paraphrase...

Normally when he hurts a finger on his shooting hand, he just plays left handed and he's good to go. Maybe we'll see that next game.

That just struck me as funny, and I do the same thing regarding him.

[DancingBarry]

[City_Dawg]