LAKERS -at- BOBCATS - 2/14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

St. Valentine's Day Massacre... The Lakers gave their fans a lump of coal for Christmas. For Valentine's, they gift wrapped a heart shaped box of fresh dog crap.

The Lakers can pretty much chalk up a couple losses to the Bobcats every year, who have won 8 of the last 10 games against L.A.

There's really no analysis that can serve of any use. When they come to play, they come to play. When they don't, opponents have their way.

Phil wasn't about to get into any analysis with the media, either. His post game comments were about 5 seconds long.

"I just have this to say. We're very disappointed with our performance tonight. We are embarrassed about what we did and that's it. Thank you," Phil said.

The Lakers lost all four quarters for the second game in a row on their way to the 109-89 blowout. In the two games, they've also combined for 5-35 shooting from three.

They stagger to the finish line of this road trip. One game left -- Cleveland -- a team the Lakers humiliated in their own massacre.


Kobe -- -- I guess if you to give a pass for poor play in this one, you can give one to Kobe for trying to play through an illness. As sick as he was, the team looked more ill. He took 20 shots to get his 20 points. Kobe seemed to grow more frustrated as the game went along, picking up some uncharacteristic fouls. Phil even sat him midway through the third quarter with Pau after the two had some lazy defense. That's when the wheels came off entirely. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 8-20 shooting (1-4 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 5 turnovers and 5 fouls. He was a -16. The Action: He pumped a man in the air and swished an elbow jumper over another defender. He missed a step-back fade. His off-mark lob to Bynum nearly went in the hoop. He sank a sideline jumper off the inbounds pass. He blew a lefty layup right at the rim. He missed a 22-footer. He tried to thread the needle, picked off for a layup the other way. He iso'd, saw Lamar open under the hoop and hit him with the jump pass for the score. He faced up and swished a sideline jumper. He missed a wing three next time down. He back-rimmed a point-blank layup. He missed a fading, turnaround chuck from the wing with 13 on the shotclock. He swished a wing three out of a timeout. Way short on a pull-up three next time down. He was blocked, got it back, then airballed a three, asking the ref for a foul. He had 9 points on 4-13 shooting and 4 turnovers. Second Half: He pumpfaked Wallace, attacked and drew FTs on a reach, he made one. Not close on a wide open wing three. He was called for an off-arm clearout when SJax actually bumped heads with Kobe. He slammed while on the break with Ron. He missed a pull-up jumper. He pushed a screener to give up an And-1 (Phil called a timeout and had something to say to him). He broke down the D off a herky-jerky dribble drive and shoveled it to Ron for a layup. Lazy D and his man blew past him to draw FTs at the rim. Back in, he iso'd and swished a pull-up jumper. He picked up back-to-back fouls, running into another screener again on one of those. He missed a long two. He was fouled on a putback attempt, he made both FTs. He posted up and swished a baseline turnaround. He got away with a travel and banked a layup.

Gasol -- -- Nazr Mohammed scored at will on Pau on his way to 16 points on 7-11 shooting. Kwame even got in on a few. Defensively, a forgetful game. The Bobcats saw little resistance and anything they started to throw up, eventually went in. It was a like a shootaround. Pau did look fairly active offensively and got his 17 points on an efficient 9 shots. Certainly can't put this loss on anyone's shoulders as it was a team affair...again. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 6-9 shooting (5-6 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -19. The Action: He swiped a kickout pass and pushed out the break. He sank the catch-and-shoot elbow jumper. He missed a putback attempt expecting a foul call. He wrapped an interior pass around a defender to get Ron a layup. He missed a tough turnaround fade. He scored a layup off the high-low from Drew. He backed his man down, attacked across the middle and finger rolled a layup. Not close on an open baseline jumper. Nazr hit a face-up jumper over him, so Pau did the same on the other end. Nazr missed an oop dunk and layup on back-to-back plays with Pau in no-man's land (Nazr should have had 20 points tonight with those two). He drew FTs when he got a cross-match with Lamar's man in the post, he made both. He drew FTs posting up SJax on his next touch, he made both. He had 12 points on 4-7 shooting and 7 boards. Second Half: Poor read trying to hit Bynum for a lob that was obviously not there, luckily Bynum recovered it. He poked a ball loose to Ron on the two-man D to ignite a break. He drained a sideline jumper off the kickout from Ron. After leaving his man open for a jumper, Pau then gave up the offensive rebound and then a reverse to the same man (Phil went for the hook). He faced up, attacked across the lane and drew FTs, he made one. His jumphook was goaltended.

Bynum -- -- "I was out there playing hard, man," a disgusted Bynum said afterward. He threw in a few "I don't know, man" comments and was asked if it was effort that resulted in the loss. "It seems to be," he said. Drew looked a bit irked at times in this game when he didn't get the post feed or when another player would fill the post. Kind of a shame he only got 6 shot attempts. He had one of the more beastly moves to overpower Kwame and slam. Not easy to move Kwame like that. Defensively, it looked like there was some more confusion and miscommunication out there on the two-man D. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-6 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards (3 offensive), 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He attacked on a rare kickout and hit the running jumper across the lane. He blew a point-bank layup after a strong move. He missed a jumphook in the middle of the lane. Nice Tri read to flash to the ball then hit Pau on the high-low for a layup. He destroyed Kwame for a slam at the front of the rim after backing him all the way under the hoop. He grabbed a Luke miss, kicked it back out, got it back and hit the soft baseline turnaround. He recovered an Artest missed layup, reset the offense, got it back and was hacked, he made both FTs. Second Half: He was hacked on good position off the center sprint, he made one FT. He blocked Kwame's jumper. Sloppy pass to Lamar and LO bobbled it out of bounds, unforced error.

Artest -- -- He and Kobe switched up defensively throughout the game on Wallace and Jackson. Neither seemed to give much respect to Wallace's perimeter game. At least SJax was held to 3-10 shooting. Artest's shooting stat line is probably a bit deceptive. On three of his misses in the paint, we got the ball back. One of his attempts from three was a last-second shotclock beater. And one of his makes was a toe-on-the-three-line jumper. He did move the ball well and set up others to help lead the team with 5 assists. Impact-wise, the Lakers could probably get by fine with this type of offensive performance from him if it was more consistent. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-11 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards (3 offensive), 5 assists, 1 steal and 3 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He missed a three in transition. He grabbed an offensive board, missed the putback but kept it alive. He scored a layup off the wrap-around pass from Pau. He missed a layup, but Drew recovered it. He sank a toe-on-the-three-line jumper on a kickout. Second Half: No close out on Wallace and he gave up a jumper. He scooped up a loose ball and hit Kobe on the break for a dunk. He stripped SJax to ignite another break on the next defensive stand. He attacked the hoop and missed a layup, got it back and was fouled on the putback attempt, he made both FTs. He posted up and kicked out to Pau for a layup. He scored a layup off the drive and dish from Kobe. He posted up Wallace in early offense and scored a layup. Not close on a layup in the post again. He was forced to chuck up a pressured three with the shotclock about to expire, he missed.

Fisher -- -- When our impact players aren't quite playing impact ball, Fish isn't going to make up that gap. Unless, I guess, it's a fourth quarter in the finals in Boston or Orlando. But Charlotte in February? Not going to happen. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-4 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 assists and 3 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He curled off the Pau weave play and took the handoff in for a layup. He attacked to his left and banked in a runner. He got lost on D and gave up an easy jumper to Livingston. He missed an open wing three. Second Half: He swished a baseline jumper off the split play.

Lamar -- -- The -22 on Lamar's watch is a pretty rare occurrence. He was coasting through this game. Just not the type of effort the team has been getting from him. And on a night when Kobe was ill and the team needed the bench to bring it (second night of back-to-back), LO came up very flat. Distracted with the new fragrance? Tired? Perhaps. Phil was calling out a lot players tonight, Lamar got in some of that for a half-ass job on transition D. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-9 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 block and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a -22. The Action: He was left alone under the hoop and Kobe hit him with a jump pass for the layup. Trotting back in transition and the Bobcats scored easily (Phil called a timeout to say something). He scored a layup off a bricked three by Kobe that Shannon tapped to him. Second Half: He missed an out of control drive. He was slapped and got no call on a layup set up by Blake. He missed a three from the top of the arc. He couldn't finish a layup on the break. He missed a jumphook. He missed a wing three. He sank a three on a Pau kickout.

Blake -- -- He continues to pass up shots that he should be taking. The stats are a bit misleading because two of his three attempts were percentage buster heaves from halfcourt at the buzzer. Take those away and he shot just once. That's not being a threat. I did like his passing particularly when the game opened up. It seemed he started to look more like a point in those situations. Of course, it could have just been garbage time. But the lack of tempo in our game probably hurts him. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-3 shooting from three to go with 3 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: He was just long on a half-court heave at the buzzer. He tried to thread a needle to Lamar with an outlet and it was easily picked off. He charged attacking the lane on the next possession. Second Half: He worked the Pau screen and hit Lamar for a layup. He fumbled away a sure breakaway unable to get the handle on a ball knocked to him. Back-to-back fouls trying to hold post position. He missed a corner three. He hit Ebanks for a lob on the break for FTs. He set up Caracter on the break for a dunk. He missed another half-court three attempt at the buzzer.

Brown -- -- The coaches don't want their players to take the first shot given them. They restated this at halftime. This has been Shannon's M.O. in his bad games and was a major source of sucking the life from the team again. Sasha used to get tossed in the doghouse for games like this. If Sasha was here, Phil probably would have benched Shannon. This is nothing that hasn't been said a dozen times already, but he's got to use his head. The Stats: He scored 4 points on on 2-9 shooting (0-4 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He didn't run the offense out of a timeout and stepped on the baseline trying to create. Next time down, he compounded errors by hoisting up a 22-footer with a man on and 14 on the shotclock (Farmar-esque sequence). He settled for a missed three instead of cutting to clear out his man for a mismatch for Pau. He tapped a missed three to Lamar for a layup. He crossed over nicely, attacked and missed a reverse. He knocked a sure defensive board away from Pau, it led to a score (not sure what that was about). He missed a wing three out of a timeout. Not close on a wide open three. He finally hit a wing jumper off the hand off. Another quick sideline chuck and brick on his next touch. He got tapped on a wide open sideline three on a kickout, probably the best attempt he's taken of the game. He swiped a pass and dunked with 24 seconds left.

Walton -- -- Aside from one youth-league looking fallaway bank brick, Luke shot well. Some sloppy offensive execution with some passes or receiving passes. Can't blame him for the loss despite that. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-4 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 11 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: His pass to Lamar was easily picked off in the lane. He clanked a fallaway turnaround (Bynum was irked that Luke filled the post instead of letting him on that play). He swished a wide open 16-footer in early offense. Second Half: He sank an open 18-footer. Lazy job grabbing a pass, it was knocked away and stolen. He sank a sideline three on a kickout.

Caracter -- -- The best part of this game was the 5 minutes that we got of garbage time. Both Caracter and Ebanks were in for some good run and suddenly the interest-level for Laker fans was improved. He showed a nice face-up jumper and a strong finish on the break. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting to go with 3 boards and no fouls in 5 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He sank a face-up, step-back wing jumper. He missed a layup set up by Blake. He slammed when Blake hit him on the break.

Ebanks -- -- Nice to see an SF out there getting up and down the court with some speed. We miss Barnes' up-tempo play and Devin moves. Ebanks also seems to have a knack for getting to the line. Length, athleticism and activity are generally a good combination for that. That came to play in his minutes tonight. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 2 offensive boards, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 5 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He was fouled on a lob getting down court ahead of the pack, he made both. He drew more FTs crashing the offensive glass, he made one. He missed a three.

Phil -- -- Phil was ticked after this game. His quote above sounded like a parent apologizing for his kid's poor behavior or a bad report card... He sat Artest for Brown up by 3 with 4 minutes left when Ron picked up his second foul. Things went south from there... Tied 20-20, Phil sat Kobe for Luke, Pau for Lamar, and Fish for Blake... They trailed 24-22 after the first, not a good last 4 minutes... Phil started a Pau, Lamar, Luke, Brown, Blake unit... Shannon picked up his second foul and Kobe replaced him a minute and a half into the quarter... Turnover-prone ball to start the quarter and the Bobcats started to pull away... Phil sat Blake for Fisher with 8:21 left, Pau for Bynum, Luke for Ron... They trimmed it down before trailing again, this time by 11... They chipped a few points off the lead in the final couple minutes getting some stops... They trailed 49-43 at the half. The Lakers shot 44 percent (18-41, 1-7 from three, 6-6 from the line) with 10 turnovers. The Bobcats shot 41 percent (19-46, 3-11 from three, 8-9 from the line). The Bobcats had a 17-6 advantage in bench scoring... The coaches wanted more team play on both ends... Phil sat Kobe and Pau down 7 with 5:27 left. Both had lazy defensive plays on back-to-back stands. They would lose the game right here... They trailed by 14 just a minute and a half later and Phil called a timeout... Phil sat Fish for Blake with just under 4 minutes out of that timeout. The subsequent offensive possession was hideous... They trailed by 15 when Phil brought Kobe back in for Ron... The Lakers trailed 78-60 heading into the fourth quarter... Phil started a Pau, Lamar, Kobe, Shannon, Blake unit... They were in the penalty within a minute... They extended their defense trying to create something. It didn't... Down 25 halfway through the quarter, Phil finally pulled the plug...

[OscarWang]

First

Sigh, I had to get it for this game...

Go Lakers. On to the next one!
_________________
"Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise."

- Kobe Bryant

[A Mad Chinaman]

Wow, Nazr Mohammed scored at will on Pau. DB's description provides additional evidence that Pau needs some rest and his ability to defend either mobile small centers or larger powerful ones such as Dwight Howard. If he not putting up offensive numbers while beaten on defense . . . . .

as stated, this is game is not on Pau's shoulder, but if Kobe is sick - who else is suppose to step up, Artest!?!?!

[forzaCOREA]

i really love ebank's style and game, i love his game face too doesn't matter what the score is he means business.. sigh.. phil give the kid a chance. and character could use some run.. at least he will contest every shot and put his big body to some use on the d-end.

[Nobody]

Well after being 1st in the league in 3-point shooting for the first month of the season and being in the top 5 for some time, that aspect of the game sure seems to have taken a serious dump... 5-35 in two games. Wow. I'm speechless. There is not a single player on this team I'm confident will make an open 3-pointer. Which is pretty sad in today's league.

[magic_bryant]

Posted these thoughts at another board, a bit scattered IMO, but whatever, I'm not here for your entertainment

[Shaber]

[Nobody]

[angrypuppy]

Thanks DB.

What a surprise, another bad game by the guards though Kobe wasn't the exception this time. I'll give a pass to Kobe because he was obviously ill... he simply couldn't will himself into quality shots or smart decisions. He had nothing last night... he should have just checked himself out of the game after that second straight airball. He just wasn't Air Kobe, he was Flu Kobe.

You know how a kid has to be taught to keep his head up when he dribbles, so he can see the floor? Someone has to teach Shannon that it's ok to survey the floor when he gets the ball. He's not looking at the floor, but rather locks his gaze onto the rim. You can't make good decisions when you can't read the floor. He remains an uberathlete and streaky shooter who just lacks the judgement to ever be a starter.

Blake continues to frustrate me with his overpassing. He'd get a good look and yet pass, taking time off the shot clock and making the Lakers that much easier to defend. I used to think that the counter-intuitive solution was to give him more minutes, as perhaps he'd get his mojo back. I just wish you could fuse Blake's passing ability and floor vision with Shannon's scorer's mentality and finishing ability... we'd have one helluva guard. As it stands now we have two not ready for prime time players.

I know I'm overlooking Gasol. Similar to the Orlando loss, he simply contented himself to being a background figure rather than our second scoring option. Again, if Pau doesn't have the stones perhaps Phil should phase out Pau as the second option in favor of Bynum. While Bynum still looks stiff, slowed and less athletic, at least he's out there trying. You can even see how he's gingerly treating his knees, refusing to spin or apply any torque force on those knee joints. It's probably mental, but he gets an A for at least working his ass off instead of capitulating like the rest of the team.

On a positive note, at least we've seen some life on this team during the Grammy road trip. I'd like to see smarter guard play, more Bynum scoring and less Paussive play.

[angrypuppy]

[jmark]

Matt B. was sorely missed last night. I personally thought The Cats got away with alot and we got called for everything. The TO's killed us and they are a very good fast break time.

[Rick12322]

thanks, DB

magic_Bryant, very interesting comments, especially the one about Blake acting like he's forbidden from scoring. That would throw anyone's rhythm off and judging by his play I hold Phil responsible for not telling him and the team that he's expected to shoot those open looks. I've been noticing him pass up 1, maybe 2 shots a game that usually lead to failed possessions.

I'm beyond frustrated that Phil hasn't played Ebanks. almost everytime we lose it's to athletic guards or sf's, both positions that Ebanks can play. I guess the only question is does he know the offense? Heck, Shannon certainly hasn't shown that he knows it, all he knows are ball reversals on the perimeter, he never hits flashes to the high post and rarely makes a post entry pass. At least he runs simple pinch post plays once in a while.

In a game like this where neither Ron nor Kobe could defend Wallace, why not put Derek Caracter on him? Derek could have made him work in the post, and has the size strength and quickness to defend him. Heck, even put Bynum on Wallace, Bynum could keep him from penetrating and recover to bother or block his shot. Then put Caracter on Kwame since Pau apparently couldn't handle that.

Instead, Phil trots out the same tired old farts and lets the young kids run them into the ground. It's frustrating.

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[magic_bryant]

My comments regarding Blake weren't pointed at Phil, rather Blake himself. He just doesn't have confidence in his abilities as a scorer, so he overpasses and overpasses and overpasses.
_________________
Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass."

[Purp and Yellow]

magic is tough.. we can get them next time if we make some corrections and play hard.

[jetnet22]

But make no mistake, it was still a blast........................

[magic_bryant]