LAKERS -at- BLAZERS - 4/8 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Four Straight... The Lakers once again rolled out the red carpet for another opponent to have their night in the spotlight. Layup, dunk, layup, dunk, one after another, went off like flashbulbs on that red carpet as the Lakers watched the Blazers put on a show for their fans.

When the night was finally over, the Portland Trailblazers ran them off the court 93-86. It wasn't even that close.

The Lakers dropped their fourth-straight game, another uninspired performance. This was probably some of the worst transition D the Lakers have played all season. In the halfcourt, they also gave up a number of lob dunks, as well.

The Blazers are playing to possibly avoid the Lakers in the playoffs. The Lakers are barely playing. At one point, Phil benched several starters early in the third quarter.

If there is any silver lining in a game like this, it's that the second unit got some extended run. They've needed to fine tune their game and minutes can help that. They were able to chip away at a large Portland lead before the starters came back. They did it on the defensive end and scored on the counterstrike.

The Lakers cut the lead to 7 with a couple minutes remaining, which is familiar territory against the Blazers who have lost late-game leads against L.A. However, the Lakers gave up an offensive board and three to seal the deal for good.

Every team the Lakers are "battling" for home court advantage -- Boston, Miami, Dallas -- all made up a game on them tonight.


Kobe -- -- Kobe caught fire from three in the first half, hitting from behind the arc on four-straight shots. That helped save the game from an early blowout. But the Lakers quickly squandered all that work away to start the fourth quarter. Phil eventually sat Kobe early in the third quarter, before bringing him back later in the fourth. Very lackluster D by Kobe. He's really put the hustle part of his game in cruise control. He's got to continue to rotate, challenge shots and get back in transition. A lot of that has been missing in action. He missed all three FTs he took in the first half. The refs didn't send him back to the line in the second half. Kobe picked up a weak T along the way (hopefully, the Lakers could get that reversed). He led the team with a team-low -25. The Stats: He scored 24 points on 10-25 shooting (4-8 from three, 0-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -25. The Action: He up-faked, moved in closer and hit the short pull-up in the lane. He missed a wing three. He hit a short pumping baseline jumper. He passed up an open 16-footer, moved in for the shorter challenged one and couldn't finish. He fumbled a dribble away for a layup on the other end. He had 4 points on 2-4 shooting. Back in, he bricked a short turnaround. Next time down, he forced up a fallaway in the paint and missed, poor shot selection (but he also wanted the foul). Third straight miscue in a row, this one a moving screen. Good position in the low post and he drew a foul on the turnaround, he missed both FTs. He blew past Matthews and slammed in an And-1, he missed his third straight FT. He swished an early offense three, open behind the Bynum screen. He swished another three off good Laker ball movement on the next possession. He sank his third straight three next time down as the ball moved quickly around again. He sank his fourth straight, a heatcheck from about 29 feet. He missed a fifth attempt at the end of the half. He had 18 points on 7-13 shooting (4-6 from three). Second Half: He couldn't finish a layup on a baseline drive. He missed a pull-up, 21-footer in early offense (layup the other way). He attacked and scored a layup. He missed a wing jumper. He missed a fade in the lane. He stalled the offense and Pau was caught for 3 seconds. He had 2 points on 1-5 shooting in the third (Phil sat him early in the quarter). He missed a wing jumper. He then ball-watched on the other end, not covering anyone to give up a big three. He was called for 3 seconds and then picked up a tech bouncing the ball (looked like he might have been more upset that he didn't get the ball sooner versus the call. Perhaps, they can get that reversed). He missed a baseline fade. Not close on a wing three. He attacked, stretched out and dunked, looking for a foul that didn't come. He attacked, stepped through and scored a layup. He swung through from three and didn't get the call, he was steamed. He attacked and couldn't finish a layup.

Gasol -- -- If it wasn't for Bynum fouling out, Phil might not have brought Pau back late in this game. He didn't seem too thrilled with his one-two punch. He had some "discussions" with Pau throughout the game. Not sure whether it was about transition D or just doing a better job to impose his game. Pau guarded Wallace defensively for parts of the game and had others on him with some of the cross matching going on. The Lakers did a pretty poor job of exposing it. Pau was also an instant double when he got the ball. That should make things smooth for the offense, but the Lakers weren't executing at a high level. For his part, Pau did get on the offensive glass to use his size to some advantage. Offensively, though, a pretty stale game from Pau. They missed about 10 points from his game. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-11 shooting to go with 13 boards (6 offensive), 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He choked a layup in the post. He reached on a Wallace drive and fouled. He sealed Batum and scored the easy slam. He scored a putback off an Artest brick. He missed a jumphook. He grabbed a Shannon miss and scored the layup. He had 6 points on 3-5 shooting and had 7 boards in the first. He hit Lamar cutting for a layup. Second Half: He missed a 21-foooter in early offense, not good shot selection. Looked like he was fouled on a putback attempt. He couldn't tip in a missed Barnes FT on a couple attempts. He hit a turnaround in the post. He missed a baseline turnaround but Barnes tipped it in. He was blindsided on one end and poked a ball loose in the post to get it back on the other.

Bynum -- -- His Portland breakfast or something didn't sit too well with him and Drew missed the morning shootaround. Thanks, Portland. That seemed to take the bounce from his step on the boards and fighting for low position. He picked up most of his fouls in the second half and eventually fouled out. He landed hard on the floor trying to attack the rim trailing the break when Wallace tried to step in for a charge. Wallace is lucky Drew missed landed on him or his chest might have been crushed. Bynum is lucky to avoid anything more than a bump and a bruise. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go wtih 6 boards, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 6 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He stretched out and slammed down an interior lob from Fish with one hand. He was called for a phantom foul on a challenge. He swatted Wallace's shot in the paint. He missed a long turnaround jumper, need to get better position. He was stripped in the paint (wanted the call) on the spin and it led to a dunk the other way. He gave up a backdoor lob. He swatted Batum's drive. He had 1 board and 2 points in 18 minutes. Second Half: He picked up several fouls and had to sit after 5 minutes. He was wrapped up on a corner sequence (more please) for FTs, he made one. He swiped a pass on a double team. He blocked Miller's drive. Nice effort to keep an offensive board alive and save it back inbounds. He went down hard, trailing in transition and landing on his rear, fouling out.

Artest -- -- Ron hit a couple of late threes that made things sort of interesting. Sort of, kind of. He seemed to be playing with a chip on his shoulder when he and Wallace battled late in the game. The two picked up a double tech and Ron a few fouls. Ron had a variety of small defenders throughout the game. He tried to take advantage. In that statline, the poor shooting numbers should be taken into consideration with the offensive boards. A lot of work by Artest at tipping at misses or trying to grab misses and score in traffic. At the end of the night, he was a couple boards shy of a double-double. The Blazers are going to make him or Fish try to beat them. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 4-14 shooting (2-3 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 8 boards (6 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He fumbled away a defensive board and it led to second-chance points. Low position on Wallace and he powered in a layup. He threw an entry pass away. Not close on an open baseline jumper. He didn't hit rim on a turnaround. He overpowered Roy under the hoop and was fouled on a putback attempt, he made one. Another foul on Roy as Ron grabbed an offensive board and he drew FTs, he made both. He missed an open, foot-on-the-line jumper. He missed a long jumper. He had 5 points on 1-6 shooting. Second Half: He was blocked out a couple putback attempts. He shoved Wallace on the boards and the two picked up techs. He missed a tip in and fouled Wallace in the backcourt. He gave up FTs to Wallace right after a Laker three as he got called for a shove. He sank a step-back three from the corner. He sank another one from the other side to cut it to 9 with 3:44 left. He missed a three from the top of the arc. He was blocked on a drive, Lamar airballed a three, it bounced around and Ron one-handed it in the hoop for an And-1, he made the FT.

Fisher -- -- Phil slid Fisher onto Matthews to start this game, instead of Batum. Hard to say whether that really worked or not with how poorly the Lakers were playing, but Fisher didn't seem to be quite in the spotlight and crosshairs as he was in the last game. Phil made an interesting sub early in the third quarter in this game. He sat both Artest and Fisher for Barnes and Blake. This is a substitution that he may have to make more than once in the playoffs. It would be nice if Barnes and Blake responded. Earlier in the season, they did. Fish's stats are a little deceptive. He sank two threes with the game out of reach in the last 12 seconds of the game. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-6 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He swished an open wing jumper coming off the screens. He lobbed to Drew for the slam. Nice post entry to Artest for a layup as Fisher came off the screen. Second Half: He missed an open three to start the half. He missed a layup, transition layup the other way for the Blazers. He got tapped on a long three. He sank a late three. He swished another three with a second left.

Lamar -- -- Aside from some sloppy turnovers, Lamar at least seemed to bring some energy and life to the game. That was a rare commodity for the Lakers tonight. All of our bigs seemed to get caught sleeping at one time or another on a lob pass behind them. Lamar was involved in those, too. It wasn't as if they were being challenged on a drive, it was their late, flat-footed reaction to the plays that hurt. Clearly, the Blazers lob clinic will be closely reviewed by the Laker staff and players should they meet. Some tighter D on the passer would help a lot, too. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-11 shooting (2-6 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 14 boards (3 offensive), 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He back-rimmed a fade. Poor outlet pass, not close to Shannon leaking out and it was picked off (Blazers nearly scored off it at the end of the quarter, play was reviewed and wiped off). He scored a layup off the dive cut and Pau pass. He swatted dribble penetration and gathered it, then pushed out and scored a layup on the other end. He iso'd at the top of the key, changed directions and drew FTs going to his right, he made one. He fumbled a dribble away trying to push out a steal and it led to a Blazer three. He scored a putback on the Artest miss. Slow reaction and a man went right past him for a lob dunk. He had 7 points on 3-4 shooting and 6 boards. Second Half: He sank a wing three. He hit Shannon on the fly with a perfect outlet for a layup at the end of the third. He was called for a clear out trying to push up the rebound. Another offensive foul on a moving screen. He missed a fading three. He drained a three from the top of the arc. He missed a sideline three next time down. He missed a fade after grabbing a board. He airballed a sideline three. He missed another three.

Blake -- -- Good to see the second unit get some extended run. Not that Blake did a lot with it. He struggled with his shot. He fed the post at times and hit Barnes cutting for FTs once, but his passing wasn't really an effective part of the game. That's something the bench needs to work out. What go-to plays do they have in the halfcourt? Seems like nothing. They need to find a few sequences where they can scratch some points consistently. It's a very random offensive attack. Anytime either Shannon or Blake shoot the ball right now, I think everyone expects that they will likely miss. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 turnover and no fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He sank a baseline jumper after gathering a deflected pass. He missed a corner three trying to beat the shotclock. Second Half: He missed an open midrange jumper. He threw a bounce pass away. He missed a corner three, better arch.

Barnes -- -- Really poor first-half stint, as brief as it was. He had two turnovers and didn't help on D on another sequence. He was quickly benched. In the second half, however, Phil gave Ron an early hook for Matt as the Lakers came out cold. Barnes worked his way for some garbage points and got up and down the floor quickly. I mentioned in Blake's write ups about the Lakers lack of go-to plays. Barnes getting into transition, cutting into the lane or working for garbage points are really one of the few things that work. But it's nothing set or really worked for. Some of it happens out of the confines of the TRi, but it's just mostly opportunistic. If other parts of the Lakers offense was more in sync, these garbage points would really put the team over the top. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-3 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards (2 offensive), 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 18 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He was called for a travel. He was called for an off-ball offensive foul. No helping the helper and Bynum's man scored a putback. Second Half: He attacked the paint off a cut and drew FTs, he made one. He was hit while finishing a layup at high speed on a rare Laker breakaway. He cleaned up a Shannon layup miss on the break. Nice crash to tip in a missed Pau shot.

Brown -- -- Good to see another three fall again. Still, a lot of garbage going up toward the hoop by Shannon. Not much better on the defensive end, either. He also had a couple plays where he didn't give the ball to a team and instead missed a shot of his own, when an easier shot may have been had. Phil ran Shannon briefly at point tonight along side Kobe. As bad as he's been playing, it might be better for him to run some minutes here. With Kobe on the floor, he might be more careful to avoid some of the indulgent shots he's taking. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-10 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 1 board and 1 foul in 20 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He got caught flat-footed and gave up a layup on iso. He missed a baseline jumper with the shotclock low. He sank an open wing three, measuring it. He hesitated on a kickout until he was soundly challenged and he bricked the three as the shtoclock went off. He sank a top-of-the-key jumper behind a Bynum screen. Second Half: Poor D on the inbounds pass, giving up a layup. He missed a 15-footer. Wild reverse layup on the break, didn't hit anything. He didn't give up the ball on the break and biffed a layup. He grabbed an outlet from Lamar to score a layup in transition. Classic Shannon, he didn't feed the Lamar post against Fernandez and instead ended up hoisting and missing a perimeter jumper.

Phil -- -- Wallace vs. Pau, Fisher vs. Matthews to start on the defensive end. Phil learned his lesson with the Fisher/Batum match up. The Blazers put Batum on Pau, which we didn't effectively take advantage of... The Blazers took a 3-point lead off an 11-4 run. Phil called a timeout trailing 17-14. Blazers just scoring layup after layup in early offense... Phil sat Fisher and Kobe for Blake and Brown and Artest for Pau... He called another timeout a few seconds later after a poor offensive possession and giving up a layup... He sat Bynum for Pau a minute later... The Lakers were tied 21-21 after the first quarter. The Blazers had a 10-0 advantage on the break in the first... After a couple minutes in the second, Phil sat Blake for Kobe, Pau for Bynum and went with the Bynum, Lamar, Barnes, Kobe, Brown lineup... As the Blazers built momentum, Phil sat Brown for Fisher and Artest for Barnes. A 15-0 run and the Lakers were down 41-31... Kobe brought some Portland rain with 4 straight threes to help the Lakers cut the lead in half... The Lakers trailed 53-47 at the half. They shot 51 percent (19-37, 5-9 from three, 4-9 from the line). The Blazers shot 55 percent (22-40, 4-7 from three, 5-6 from the line). Portland had a 16-0 advantage on the break and 11 points off 10 Laker turnovers. Just 3 turnovers for the Blazers, not points for the Lakers off those... Too many fastbreak points, too many lobs in halfcourt... Lakers coaches mentioned the usual "play with more energy" thing. Hopefully, Lakers would respond... Nope. More transition layups for the Blazers to start the third and an 8-0 run extended to a 14-point lead. So much for Kobe's offensive burst to end the half. Phil called a timeout after just 2:34 of action (or non-action)... He benched Artest for Barnes out of that and Blake for Fisher... The lead ballooned to 20... Phil sat Kobe for Brown midway through the quarter. Early benching... A good run by the bench and Bynum and the Lakers cut the lead in half to close the third... The Blazers led 74-62 heading into the fourth... Phil started the same Bynum, Lamar, Killer B's unit. They got stops, but couldn't score... Down 13, Phil brought in Artest for Lamar and Kobe for Barnes with 8:47 left... They cut the lead to 9 with just 3:44 left on back-to-back threes by Ron... They'd get it as low as 7. Even got a miss, but didn't secure the board and the Blazers got a three. The lead went from 10 to a chance for the Lakers to cut the lead to 5 or 4... The Lakers shot 39.5 percent. They had a 21-7 advantage on the offensive glass. They had 17 turnovers, Blazers just 9... Lakers made just 7-14 from the line...

[BLP711]

Thanks always DB!!

[driver]

I don't really think the bench got an "extended run". When you look at their minutes, it was all the same really. It was just how Phil played them (started way earlier in the 3rd). Now if they DID get an extended run, particularly during that comeback stretch, who knows. We definitely know they didn't touch the floor during the final minutes.

EDIT:
One more thing to add, I agree that Barnes/Blake should be used more in the playoffs. It shows, those guys are team players. I'd say their lack of response is due to a great confidence drop. Maybe if they played some more, like, actually >20 mins (PHIL???), we'd see that response. Phil really has to pull out the hook a bit more on starters.

[mhan00]

Sigh, another ugly game where most of the team had no interest in being there. Can't believe we let batum and Wallace get away with guarding pau. The blazers just swarmed him when he caught the ball, daring everyone else to shoot, and to compound things, he did a very poor, (bleep) job of reading the defense and making the proper pass or just spin away from the double for a hook.

Kobe played awful on defense and missed a shocking number of shots that are normally money for him.

Drew gets a pass since he was sick and he's been our only consistent player lately.

Just ugly for everyone else. We need to hit a damn jumper once in a while; our offense looks like pure (bleep). Can't wait for the playoffs to start; I just hope we don't lose too much ground in terms of seeding before then. We can win anywhere, but why push it?

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[E=MC²]

Lakers will show up against OKC, but lets hope both Miami and Chicago lose on Sunday. If Chicago loses, SA will rest their players vs. the Lakers likely.

[link]

[E=MC²]

[link]

[revgen]

Phil made a mistake putting Drew on Aldridge. Aldridge has a J but Wallace doesn't. Drew is most effective when he plays closer to the paint on defense. Since Pau operated closer to the basket, he had to be the shotblocker. Bad idea.
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[angrypuppy]

Thanks DB.

This game summary must have taken a bit of effort, much more effort than the Laker team exerted last night.

[lakerfn4lfe]

I don't know whether to be concerned by this blowout and four consecutive losses or expect them to turn on the switch as they usually do in the playoffs. In this case, it's not an injury that's contributing to the loss, it's a lack of hustle and focus.

Lately, they don't look like a championship team, heck they don't even look like a decent playoff team.

Even though they look old, disinterested, and bound for a fishing trip for the summer they should have an easier first round against New Orleans that allows them to get their playoff footing. If the seeds were to follow form, Dallas would get by Portland (which wouldn't be easy) and when they play the Lakers in the second round it could be a matchup that works well for us. But as we know with the 2011 version of the Lakers nothing comes easy.

DB (guru or gurus) how do you feel about the team right now?
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LeBron is going to get 48 minutes of Hell in next year's Finals. Artest-Barnes tag team.

[Rick12322]

Thanks, DB. Someone has to do the dirty work.

I just don't know what to think about this team, are they really this dumb?
They've had these struggles before on defense, then they learned how rotate, switch, and communicate. Now it's like they forgot. Offensively, they are awful. Are the defenses really that much better now? Or are they getting away with more fouling? It's like they are running through a buzz saw.

[ChefLinda]

I've pretty much stopped watching the second halves of these games because you can see the writing on the wall. Sorry you have suffer through it for the rest of us, DB. So many sad smilies, so little time...

But you know, it reminds me of how we closed out last year. Except this year we have a healthy Kobe and healthy Bynum (anti-jinx spray) so I'm not really worried. They'll step it up when the time comes. The only part I hate is thinking about is a game 7 on an eastern court.

[RVCdesigns]

Missed the game, glad I did, thanks DB.

[lakerfn4lfe]

When the best player on your team (Kobe) goes from being a world class defender to not showing up, it will put your team in a bind. In the past 20 games we have been relying more and more on Andrew to carry us defensively, but when he is under the weather with the flu, why don't the other players show up? I kind of understand Pau having an off game or two from his knee injury, but that means Kobe, Ron, Derek and the bench have to give extra effort.

The Laker's were a helping team for a short time, but it has become a team of individuals in search of stats.
_________________
LeBron is going to get 48 minutes of Hell in next year's Finals. Artest-Barnes tag team.

[DancingBarry]

At some point here they will hit the reset button. it's just a matter of motivation. Whether that happens before the playoffs, hard to say. Pride isn't much of a motivator for them.