LAKERS -at- HORNETS - 12/2 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Big Easy... You toss and turn, wishing someone would wake you from this nightmare -- your beloved Four Horsemen have been trashed once again. Finally you snap to, breaking the binds of your subconscious.

You absorb your surroundings. It's New Orleans, the Big Easy. You're smack in the middle of French Creole, jazz and nightlife. A somber funeral procession staggers your way. You wonder -- no fear -- whom the victim in the casket might be. Not the Mamba?

As the dirge-playing march moves past, you sigh in relief. They carry a fallen opponent from tonight's battle.

You are grateful for a moment, then begin to wonder...how did you get here anyway? Weren't you comatose in some hospital? Is is a dream within a dream like Inception?

You hear a voice from the sky and realize that it just might be. DancingBarry:

"The Four Horsemen were here. Each put his stamp on the battle. For a brief moment, all is right in your world. You'll take it.

I will continue to track them..."

Nothing has come easy for the Lakers of late. For a night, at least, their well-documented struggles were pushed aside with a 103-88 stomping of the New Orleans Hornets.

With his team faltering, Phil made a change in the starting line up. He slid Lamar Odom back to the bench and Andrew Bynum back as the starting bigman in the middle.

Just like that, they looked more like the Lakers their fans know. They dominated the interior with their size, worked the ball inside-out and made easy work of the Hornets, who are no slouch at home despite their recent problems.

"The ball moved," Phil said. "We had 14 for 19 positive experiences from the post in the first half." Phil had reminded his team that they were an inside-out ball club. They came out and played that way for a half, pushing out to a large lead while shooting a season-high 68 percent in the first two quarters.

"I'm not sure Andrew is ready for it, but this team -- it's the right thing to do because this team is small and we can overwhelm them with size," Phil said.

For Odom, the move didn't slow him down a bit as he scored 24 points -- the most production from a bench player in several years.


Kobe -- -- The worry for many Laker fans was that Kobe would go to the other extreme in this game -- passing too much and not making himself a scoring threat. Kobe, however, found a good balance. He did struggle with some foul issues which limited his time and he also had 7 turnovers. Several of those turnovers came off ball handling (two carry calls, one double dribble after he lost grip). Some struggles from the freethrow line, too. Very good mix to the Lakers attack despite his challenges in this game. "We had a shot selection that was good," Phil said. "The ball moved." The Stats: He scored 20 points on 8-14 shooting (0-3 from three, 4-7 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, 7 turnovers and 5 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He missed a long wing jumper. He sank a wing jumper off one dribble. He threw a post entry out of bounds. He swished a face-up elbow jumper. He stepped through at the elbow and handed it off to Bynum for the dunk. He swished a wing turnaround jumper. He hit Blake cutting off him for a layup. He airballed a turnaround trying to work for the last shot of the quarter (forced that one a bit). Way short on a step-through. Head and shoulder fake to get some space and he hit the wing jumper. He kicked to Ron for a jumper. After jumping the lane to steal a pass, he lost the handle trying to pull the ball up (he's done this a number of times since the finger problem), he was then called for a double dribble getting caught in the paint. He was called for an offensive foul (after getting contact with no call and retaliating). Next time down they called it, he barely hit rim on the first FT, he made the second. He drew FTs on a jumper on the next trip down, he made both. He hit Pau on a bounce-pass off the two-man sequence for FTs. He was called for a carry trying to split a double team. Next time down, he was bumped with no call and whistled for another carry (back-to-back, wow). He missed a 40-foot heave at the buzzer. He had 11 points on 4-8 shooting, 3 assists and 6 turnovers. Second Half: He blew past Ariza for a layup. He lobbed to Drew for the dunk in early offense. He posted up in early offense and scored easily. He drained a face-up baseline jumper. He missed a corner jumper. He was called for his fourth foul trying to go weak to strong and post up (weak call). He bricked a corner three. He wheeled around a double team, attacked past another reaching defender and finished an And-1 layup over a fourth, he missed the FT. He was undercut on a turnaround jumper and drew FTs, he made just one.

Gasol -- -- For the first time this season, Pau got to start at PF across his bigman. The two will certainly have to work out the kinks in the chemistry, but taking the load off Pau's shoulders should make a difference...especially if the Lakers use their size advantage. They went away from Pau a bit too much in the second half -- his first real positive impact from there was near the end of the third quarter -- but the Lakers did a good job in the first half. The inside-out game suits this team. The size advantage over opponents has to be featured and taken advantage of. They headed back in the right direction with this game. The Lakers also dominated the glass with a 44-24 margin. Pau led all players on both the offensive and defensive boards. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-5 shooting (5-6 from the line) to go with 12 boards (4 offensive), 5 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He dunked off the two-man game with Fish. He blocked Okafor's turnaround. Poor idea trying to go low with an interior feed to Bynum when he could have tossed it up to the rim for him. He drew FTs going at Okafor in the post, he made both. He sank a face-up wing jumper. He hit a high arching hook over Mbenga (he knew a regular one might be swatted). He drew the double and hit Shannon for the three. He reset the offense on a Laker miss and it led to a layup for Lamar. He drew a double and kicked out to Fish for the jumper. He drew FTs working the two-man game with Kobe, he made both. Second Half: He hit a cutting Artest from the post for a couple FTs. He blocked Jack out of bounds. Weak seal and his man stole the post entry pass. Blake set him up for FTs on the screen roll, he made one. He missed a high-arching turnaround.

Bynum -- -- With the Lakers floundering, Phil shook things up by inserting Bynum back into the starting lineup. Phil did try to match Bynum up with West to start, which almost seems to defeat the purpose. But the Lakers would mix things up throughout the game. The team ran the ball through the post. Bynum got more touches and made the most of them with a season high 18 points. "We wanted to come out and execute on offense the right way," Bynum said. "We did that in the first half." Note that both he and Phil highlighted the Lakers going away from the post too much in the second half. They team got a lead and got a little lazy with it. The Lakers dominated the interior on both ends. Bynum established that presence in the paint defending the post of the Hornets (what post game, right?), defending dribble penetration and establishing a post game on the other end. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 8-12 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He sank a turnaround in the paint, going to his left. He missed a jumphook from three feet out, great position. He was called for three seconds. He dunked when Kobe stepped through on his man to collapse the D and set him up. Ron collapsed the D on a drive and hit Bynum for a layup. Nice challenge to force some dribble penetration into a miss. He missed a soft flip over Mbenga, got it back and hit the three-footer. Second Half: He was called for a travel trying to back Okafor down. He slammed a lob from Kobe. He hit the lefty jumphook from the left block. He missed a lefty jumphook. He scored a layup off the interior feed from Lamar. He couldn't quite finish a jam over DJ on iso (that probably goes down in another week). He was selected to shoot the FTs that Barnes earned before being tossed, he made both. He swished a flat-footed 14-footer from the right side.

Artest -- -- He and Trevor went head to head for some stretches -- not exactly a marquee match up. Both were very quiet and pretty much non-factors. Not a good night for Ariza, who had as many turnovers and fouls as points and seemed generally frustrated. Ariza might have also reminded some fans about how weak his man defense was, giving up easy penetration on iso D on a few stands (Ariza made his defensive impact off the ball in the passing lanes). Neither player is lighting it up. Ariza is shooting .368 from the floor and .254 from three this season. Ron is shooting better, going .392 from the floor and .342 from three. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-4 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a +12. The Action: He bricked an 18-footer off the dribble (Pau was wide open for a similar shot, and, yes, I'd prefer Pau at that range.) He threw a pass into Bynum's shins. Ariza blew past him to set up a layup. He sealed Paul under the hoop and Lamar found him for the easy layup. Next possession, he went behind his back to lose Ariza, collapse the D and set up Drew for a layup. He missed a three over the zone. He drained a toe-on-the-three-line jumper off the Kobe kickout. He drew an offensive foul on Ariza who tried to shed him with a bump. Second Half: He kicked to Lamar for a jumper. He cut weak to strong around a screen and drew FTs on the pass, he made both.

Fisher -- -- One of DFish's more complete games of the season. Of course, everyone thought he might be killed by Chris Paul after Parker seemed to have his way with Fish early on in the last game. DFish did a very respectable job and the screen-roll D was much better. Some nice screen-roll work from Fish offensively in the game, as well. You don't see him run that too much, but he set up a couple of his bigs for easy layups and looked more like a point that we usually see. As a result of his good ball movement, he led the team with 8 assists (a season high and one more than CP3). This is what Blake needs to do more of since he's much more versed in the classic two-man game than Fish is. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-6 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 8 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +21. The Action: Great bullet feed back to Pau off the two-man game for a dunk (more please). He sank a 20-footer off the high pinch post. He sank a long three with the shotclock low. He swished a long jumper, heels on the three line, on the kickout from Pau. He drew a moving screen call to get a stop. Second Half: He missed a three straight away to start the half. Nice hustle in transition to get a steal under the hoop (and save a bucket). Poor chuck from 18 feet out in transition with no one else down court, he missed. He scooped up a loose ball and scored the uncontested layup. He deflected a pass to steal it, but threw it back to Paul for a layup as Fish fell out of bounds. He set up Lamar for a layup off the screen-roll.

Lamar -- -- Like it was said in previous recaps, moving Lamar to the bench is more for the benefit of Pau and the team than anything that Lamar wasn't doing. He has been balling all season. He didn't skip a beat from the bench tonight. In fact, he put in a personal best as a non-starter with the 24 points. He was attacking open lanes with speed, swishing jumpers and getting putback scores. He had opponents on their heels and gave the Lakers a classic change of gears pick-me-up with his energy. All of the things you like to see. The Lakers got 48 minutes of impact ball at the PF/C spots tonight...finally. Lamar also had the highlight play of the game, going around his back with the ball as he picked up his dribble, finger rolling the ball up to the rim then slamming it back in on the break. "I kind of took off too far," Lamar said of the play. Looked pretty anyway. The Stats: He scored 24 points on 10-15 shooting (1-3 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +20. The Action: He hit Artest sealing a defender for a layup. Quick blow by in transition to score an easy layup past his man. He swished a step-back midrange jumper. He missed a three next time down. He attacked an open lane on the break and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. Great cut from the weakside and Pau found him for FTs, he made both. He had 11 points on 4-5 shooting in the half. Second Half: He got tapped on a wing three. He scored a layup over DJ while working the two-man game with Fisher. He swished a wing catch and shoot. He backed up West and swished the three straight away at the end of the third (this has been one of our better plays this season closing quarters). He sealed his man for a corner entry, drew the D and hit Bynum for the score. He missed a long corner jumper. He scored a layup attacking off the drive and dish from Blake. He hit Barnes filling the lane for a layup. He scored an easy layup off the Barnes miss. After getting hit on the break on a layup with no call, Lamar had the highlight of the game...he went around his back to himself, flipped up a finger roll at the rim and slammed it back down.

Blake -- -- Blake teamed up with Lamar on a number of sequences throughout the game. With Kobe resting for a good chunk of time when these two are on the court, both of them will be needed to get that dribble penetration that helps collapse the D and the ball moving. Of course, the other way to get penetration is via the pass to the post, which Blake does with regularity. The 1 assist mark in his stat sheet is a bit deceptive since he instigated a lot more action that led to FTs or the pass before the assist. It was pointed out during the game how Blake needed to move his man away from the post so that the bigman has a chance to work. In the second half, he did a better job of that all-important spacing. Defensively, a bit of a so-so game from Blake. He fouled jump shooters a couple of times and was in foul trouble. He tried to deny the ball to Paul and body him up when they matched up. Not an easy task for our PGs (or any of them, really). The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He cut off the Kobe double team and scored a layup when Kobe hit him. He got an offensive foul call on Paul who pushed off while Blake was denying him the ball. Nice look to Barnes under the hoop to draw a foul. Instead of firing an open three on a kickout, he fired a chest pass into Lamar who was under the hoop for a layup. He had to sit at the 9-minute mark with 3 fouls. Second Half: Hockey assist on the corner entry to hit Lamar, who collapsed the D and fed Drew for the score. He lost the handle while trying to get it past the halfcourt line before a violation. He drew the D on dribble penetration and fed Lamar who attacked for the layup. He sank a baseline jumper with the shotclock low. He missed a corner jumper. He set up Pau for FTs off the screen roll. He missed an open corner three.

Barnes -- -- Matt Barnes ejected from the game? Ha. Barnes just ejected everyone else from the Matt Barnes show. After a battle on the offensive glass with 43 seconds left that drew a tech, he then said something to the ref and got tossed. Love the effort up by that much, that late in the game. Again, he and Artest combined for decent numbers at the SF -- 11 points on 4-9 shooting, 12 boards and 5 assists. Neither ran the offense particularly well, but they were both effective enough and strong on the boards. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 7 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He hit the side of the backboard on a corner three. He swished an open three from the other corner off the swing pass from Fish. Second Half: He charged trying to attack and not running the offense. He scored a layup getting out on the break with Lamar and Blake. He missed a corner three. He swatted a corner jumper. He was blocked trying to power up under the hoop (he was then called for an away-from-the-ball foul for FTs). With 43 seconds left, he picked up a tech on a battle for an offensive board, then was tossed.

Brown -- -- One of the noticeable differences in Shannon's shot this year is his patience. He tries to take his time, square up and get his mechanics right before shooting. This is why those inside-out, catch-and-shoot sequences are important. He sank a couple threes tonight showing that steady form. He's improved at shooting off the dribble, but the more he can step into his shot, the better. Kobe got into a little foul trouble in the second half tonight and Shannon had to come in early. Neither Kobe nor Shannon were firing away at the clip they were yesterday. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-5 shooting (2-3 from three) to go with 2 boards, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He ran into a crowd and lost the ball. He sank a wing three on the kickout from Pau. He missed an 18-footer just beating the shotclock. He got dribble penetration and the hockey assist on a kickout that went to Barnes for the three. Second Half: He missed a long three with the shotclock low. Good form on the catch-and-shoot three from the wing and he sank it. He missed a quick-fire corner jumper.

Caracter -- -- He came in for Lamar with a minute left -- the DJ Mbenga/Josh Powell minutes. When Barnes got ejected and Bynum was chosen for the FTs Barnes had earned, Caracter got to spend a short stint as the SF. Bynum actually looked like he was the wing on the offense and hit a jumper out of it. The Stats: No stats. He was a -2. The Action: Nothing to report.

Phil -- -- According to Ireland, Phil told the team just before tipoff, "We are an inside-out team." He then started Bynum and they started to play like it again... The Lakers trailed 16-12 after 7 minutes when a timeout came... Phil sat Pau for LO at that break... The Lakers led 22-18 a couple minutes later. Drew sat after that 10-minute stint with 6 points. Phil brought in Pau, Blake and Barnes at that sub... The Lakers led 26-23 after the first... Phil started a Pau, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit... They opened the quarter with a 7-2 run that forced a timeout... He had to sit Blake for Fish after 3 minutes with foul trouble... Phil brought back in Kobe and Artest at the 6-minute mark up by 15... With 4:48 left, he sat Pau for Bynum... With 1:30 left, he brought back Pau for Lamar. Very good stagger substitutions in this game. No wholesale lineup changes... The Lakers led 59-41 at the half. They shot 67.6 percent (23-34). The Hornets shot 39.5 percent (15-38. The Lakers had a 22-7 advantage on the glass and 15 assists. Got to like that... Coaches liked the inside-out play. Pau, Lamar and Bynum were 11-14 in the half... The Lakers pushed out to a 24-point lead with an 8-2 run to start the half and forced a timeout... Up 22 with 6 minutes in the quarter, Phil had to sit Kobe for Shannon when Kobe picked up his fourth... Phil sat Bynum after 8 minutes for Lamar up by 17... The Lakers stretched the lead back to 83-60 heading into the fourth... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit... Midway through the fourth, he brought back Kobe for Brown up by 19... With Barnes ejected and the Hornets selecting Bynum to shoot FTs in the final minute, Phil had a Bynum, Pau, Caracter, Brown, Blake unit out there... The Lakers shot 59 percent for the game...

[LuciusAllen]

Thanks DB. And ... Whew.

[E=MC²]

Thanks, very good win for the team. Start of a long streak of wins hopefully.

[heatseeker08]

Thanks DB! We needed to win this one badly.
_________________
Ron Artest: "SAY QUEENSBRIDGE"

[Vicky T]

For old time's sake, do some bonus ratings for Ariza and Mbenga plz
_________________
Macho Men:
http://tinyurl.com/2ajhhov

[limchrc]

thanks

[Remembering Showtime]

The difference tonight and the reason we finally won a game comes down to one thing and one thing only. PASSING. They swung the ball to the open man, and NO ONE forced contested shots. Simple really.

[RVCdesigns]

Thanks DB.

[thurloly]

[Klone_dd]

Finally a team that I recognize. Dominant in the paint which opens things up for the perimeter shooters. I thought they did a terrific job on CP3 who had a modest game at best. Bynum challenged almost every shot against him in the middle and outside too. His P&R defense was very active and alive.

Putting him back in the starting lineup is hopefully the spark the team needs.

[Murdock]

After getting their asses kicked by the evil robeasts.. the missing lion (Bynum) has returned.. and the Lakers have formed into Voltron again..

The juggernaut has returned...

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB.

Okafor went 12/13 for 26 points against the Heat earlier this year. Somehow he didn't look so dominant tonight. Welcome back to the starting lineup Big Drew.

[A Mad Chinaman]

[Rick12322]

Did anyone notice NO getting called for fouling Kobe and Pau? I mean, against Milwaukee, Miami and SA, there was total carnage on them with hardly a call and now in this game they got the calls with ease. Can anyone explain that?

[wolfpaclaker]

[GoldenThroat]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB. Very encouraging to see the Lakers turn this around with some basketball played the right way.

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[KingKobe20]

Good win but were not outta water quite yet.
Lamar is a an All-Star this season and he should be the 6th Man of the Year as well.
Andrew with 18 and Pau with a quiet double double with 11 and 12.

Two Days off and coming back to L.A for a game against Philly.


P.S
I wish CP3 was a Laker.
Rondo dropped 24 assists in a game earlier this season and Chris Paul would probably average 24 assists a game with Kobe, Pau,DREW, L.O,Ron, and the Killa B's as his teammates.
_________________
"Tryin' to get that Kobe number, One Over Jordan"
-Kanye

aka ILLWiLL20

R.I.P PHIL

[jonnybravo]

[DancingBarry]

Just an FYI - I'm not sure if I will be able to cover Friday's game. Got some schedule conflicts. If I do, it will probably be a couple hours late.

[A Mad Chinaman]

[Bynum4MVP]