LAKERS -at- MAVS - 5/8 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The End of a Run... "Our goal is to keep them off the three-point line and make them two-point shooters," Phil had said before the game. The Mavs went off for an NBA record-tying 11 threes in the first half. They would tie the complete game record with 20 threes in the 122-86 blowout. So much for keeping them off the three line.

Jason Terry and Peja Stojakovic combined for 15-16 three shooting. Incredible. The Mavs collapsed the defense and these two worked on their form while hitting wide open three after three.

"I don't ever think I've seen a team play to that level," Phil said of the Mavs.

On the other end, the Mavs sagged in the paint, doubling our threats and leaving DFish and others wide open to try to beat them. They didn't.

One team had balance, the other did not. One team could pack the paint and take away strengths, the other team paid the price. When the Lakers got confused defensively, it became a real simple game for the Mavs.

There would be no heroics, no comeback victory...just an all around butt kicking. The Lakers grew frustrated and took flagrants and ejections.

Tough way for Phil to go out, getting swept and having it handed to him in the final game. He knew this would be a difficult season with a team that went to three straight finals, winning the past two.

"The thrill of trying to chase the three-peat is always an exciting thing," Phil said. "But, yes, I knew it was a big challenge for this team to three-peat. We had gone to the Finals and to go back twice and win it after losing in '08 puts a lot of strain on a basketball club from all angles -- personalities, spiritually, physically, emotionally. Getting charged up for game after game, assault after assault when you go in to play teams. So it was a challenge bigger than we could meet this year."

He has had a great run with the Lakers. He couldn't get the bookend three-peat, but 5 rings, 7 Finals appearances...well done.

Wish we could have had a better send off for him. He coached 1,973 NBA games. He said the championship in '09 after rebuilding the team was his most gratifying of his Laker tenure.

"In all my hopes and aspirations are this is the final game that I will coach," Phil said. Now he will disappear from the scene.

Like the saying goes, old soldiers never die, they just fade away.


Kobe -- -- Kobe came out attacking, carrying the team early as the only force. As soon as the D started to ignore others like DFish and just sent the doubles, he had to give up the ball. The Mavs were allwed to play him with two defenders and close lanes without paying a price. If we could do that with Dirk and not pay a price, he would have issues, too. The Mavs were able to space the floor, we weren't. Pretty simple. I think you will see the Lakers looking at that specific issue in the offseason. The Lakers were unable to play to their strengths in this game because of the horrid three shooting all series. You can't shoot 20 percent from three in a series and not have issues. And on the other end of the court? "They just made three after three after three," Kobe said. I think they still may be making threes right now. "In this series our schemes were simple," Terry said of their D. Yep. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-18 shooting (0-5 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 5 turnovers and 1 foul in 35 minutes. He was a -31. The Action: He was fouled on a jumper on the first possession for FTs, he made one. He picked up a cheap perimeter touch foul on the other end. He worked across the lane and banked. He missed a three, taking contact and no call. He attacked in early offense and hit a pull up in the lane. He attacked off the high screen and hit the runner. He threw a pass away while caught in the air, layup the other way. He sank a long sideline jumper. He attacked and sank a pull-up in the lane. He hit Pau on the screen-roll for FTs. He missed a long three, got it back from Pau, attacked and banked. He had 13 points on 6-8 shooting in the first. He settled for a jumper and missed (looked like he had a lane, he wanted the foul). He missed a tough leaning jumper. He sank a turnaround over Barea on a ball reverse. He settled and missed a three on iso. He missed a fading baseline jumper over a double team. He was blocked from behind on a drive into the paint. He had 15 points on 7-13 shooting and 3 turnovers. Second Half: He missed a three in transition. He took contact and missed a drive with no call. He was angry on a no-call when the pass got knocked from him. He missed a tough runner with the shotclock low. He missed a three, got it back, attacked and drew FTs on a hard foul. He threw a pass away off the double team. He grabbed a board and missed a tough fallaway.

Gasol -- -- "I felt there were a couple players that felt daunted by the energy of the game," Phil said. "Their game was depressed." He didn't name names, but you know one of those names. He said he was going to ask them in team meetings why they played this way. He said he could speculate, but would not. Pau has been a dud all post season. Had he played this way the past three years, we wouldn't have sniffed the Finals. Just a total flame out. You can't get just 2 or 3 points a quarter from him. That's all they Lakers saw throughout these playoffs. When Pau had his few brief moments in this game, the Lakers were all but out of it. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-10 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards (6 offensive), 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 3 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -25. The Action: He missed a lefty hook in the paint. He missed a face-up jumper. He got backdoored for a dunk. He was hit on the screen-roll from Kobe for FTs, he made both. He blocked Chandler. He had 2 points in the first quarter. He choked a lefty jumphook off good position. He sank an open baseline jumper after Kobe drew a double and kicked out. He missed a tip in. He had 4 points on 1-5 shooting and 3 rebounds. Second Half: He fouled Chandler, unable to box him out to get a stop. He hit an open baseline jumper off the Artest kickout. He hit a running hook off the screen-roll. Missed on several attempts before finally getting the tip.

Bynum -- -- He was ejected for clobbering Barea with a forearm to the chest, no play on the ball at all. This was right after Lamar got ejected. Clear frustration foul from Drew. He had to deal with the Mavs guards running wild on the Laker D, then the double and triple teams swarming the post on the other end. No perimeter balance took out our strengths. Drew had 3 turnovers in the process. Poor screen-roll D and rotations killed us on that end. I thought he should have given Barea a hard foul earlier in the series (not a cheap one, just a hard one). There's a way to do it and a way not to. "That's not something you want to see in the game of basketball...ever," Kobe said. Drew shouldn't have had the individual meltdown to go along with the team meltdown. I'm sure he knows that, but he had played with fire all playoffs and went down with a little fire. The Stats: He had 6 points on 2-7 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a -28. The Action: Power spin past Chandler for a layup on his first shot. He attacked down the lane for FTs, he made both. Low position and he hit the easy jumphook. He missed a short one in the lane. He lost he ball across the lane, then missed a fading jumper. He choked an open 2-footer over a smaller man. He swatted Kidd out of bounds. He threw a pass away in the paint. He had 6 points on 2-6 shooting, 5 boards and 3 turnovers. Second Half: He missed a pull-up jumper off the screen-roll. He threw a kickout away. He was ejected for dumping Barea on a drive.

Artest -- -- Back in the starting lineup after his suspension, we had him chasing Barea defensively at times. That wasn't a good idea. Hard to blame Ron for having difficulty with it. That's just too much speed for him to handle. Offensively, he had a nice stretch to open the second half, helping chip away at the Mavs lead with several scores. Then he had the dud of the game. After busting out on a steal and was blocked by the rim on a layup. That would have cut the lead to 17, but with no D on Terry it wouldn't have mattered. Terry came in and hit a couple threes right after that to end that. Not a good series from Ron, especially considering the ejection for the late-game Barea foul that cost us in game three. Still, at that point we were down 0-2 as a team, losing home court. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-7 shooting (1-3 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He bricked a wing jumper off the high screen. He missed a challenged three with the shotclock low, layup the other way. He attacked down the lane and scored a layup. Second Half: He sank an open three from the top of the arc on the first possession. He attacked, spun and drew FTs on Marion, he made one. He stripped a man on help D. He posted up Marion, attacked across the lane and muscled in an And-1, he made the FT. He blew a breakaway dunk/layup, hitting the front of the rim. He missed an open three. He kicked to Pau for an easy jumper. He swiped the ball from Marion. He made a couple FTs.

Fisher -- -- The Mavs were able to sag off Fish without paying a price. They weren't even covering him. Look at the stretch to start the second half when the Lakers were finally getting stops. The Lakers couldn't take advantage of that with scores because of Fish. The D dared him to shoot, took the ball out of others hands and Fish didn't come through. Phil said this was a key stretch and you could see exactly where the problem was. Artest was able to score and be productive. Fish was a total liability. The other end of the floor was just as awful. The way Terry was hitting threes, I'm surprised we didn't see the old ABA money ball out there on a couple of them. That was like a three shooting contest. He was defended like it was a three-shooting contest as players sagged off and were late to recover. Just horrible defense and defensive scheming, despite the coaches intention to run the Mavs off the three line. "We just made too many mistakes defensively," Kobe said of their team D. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-8 shooting (0-2 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He iso'd on Marion and drew FTs on the drive, he made both. He missed a three after the repost kickout from Drew. He sank a toe-one-the-three-line jumper on a Bynum kickout. He missed a jumper when his man fell. He bricked a baseline jumper over the zone. He missed a layup pushing out the break. He stopped a 4-on-1 break and drew FTs on the push out, he made one. He had 5 points on 1-5 shooting and 5 boards. Second Half: He missed a sideline jumper. He missed a toe-on-the-line jumper left open on a kickout. He attacked, was hit and missed a layup. He left Terry to give up another open three.

Lamar -- -- He was ejected in the fourth for taking some frustration out on Dirk on a screen. Not sure what kind of trash talking was going on out there with the Mavs or fans or if it was straight up frustration with the blowout and having taken some harsh words from Phil early on, but Lamar was clearly upset. Phil had benched him earlier in the game for not moving the ball well and a lazy pass that Peja stole for a layup. Wish we could have seen more of that big lineup which controlled the pace quite a bit in the last game, but we never saw it. We certainly could not have done worse. Lamar minutes and impact on the game were considerably reduced. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-5 shooting (2-5 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He airballed an elbow jumper at the end of the quarter and wanted the foul. Phil had words with him about moving the ball against the zone. A lazy, telegraphed perimeter pass and Peja stole it for a layup the other way and Phil benched him. He pushed out a rebound and scored a layup. He had 2 points on 1-2 shooting in 8 minutes. Second Half: He attacked baseline and reversed. He scored an And-1 in the post against a double team, he missed the FT. He was called for a double-dribble. He drew FTs on a drive and dish from Blake, he made one. He hit Barnes for a layup. He attacked right and scored a layup. He attacked with aggression and drew FTs, he had some words on that play. He then picked up a flagrant in transition D, shoving Dirk who was setting a screen.

Blake -- -- He got sucked into the paint or on help to give up a couple shots to Terry, as well. I think there were two or three quality challenges on Terry in this game. Kobe had one, Blake the others. He was just that wide open. The Lakers would have been better off had Blake played the majority of minutes instead of Fish in this one. I doubt it would have made a difference. Phil made that sub a little early in the second half when Fish was killing us and any comeback attempt. The Mavs bench got 75 points from three players. They did it against the starters and the Lakers second unit. It didn't matter who was out there. As a team, the Lakers defensive schemes and ability to execute those were...well, words can't describe it. It looked like a shooter like Chuck Person designed it...and defended it. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting from three to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal and no fouls in 14 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: He missed a wide open wing three. He sank a tough catch-and-shoot three over the zone. Second Half: He sagged and gave up an open three to Terry. He attacked and hit Lamar for FTs. Nice close on Terry and he traveled on the three attempt, not taking it. He missed a corner three. He missed an open wing three.

Barnes -- -- The Laker offense was so out of sync that will effect Matt's game. They need to be clicking from the inside to allow him to cut off that or hit threes. Defensively, I might have preferred to see him out there a little more because he was hustling. No telling on whether he will get a better offer from another team this offseason. He might. The Lakers clearly needed some perimeter shooting in this series. They also needed better off-ball cutting. Unfortunately, they didn't get any of the first from Matt or enough of the latter. They have young Ebanks behind him. Both have athleticism, but neither will be relied on for that perimeter shooting. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-7 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go wtih 5 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 12 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: He clanked a wing three. He was blocked on a reverse off a nice off-ball cut. Second Half: He cut backdoor, took a pass and scored a layup. He hit Shannon on the next possession for a layup. He grabbed a Blake miss and scored an And-1 putback, he made the FT. He stole the ball and scored a layup on the break. He tipped in a Shannon miss. He missed a wing three.

Brown -- -- Shannon pretty much had empty points. The game was over when he was scoring. Frankly, had he shot with this kind of productiveness while we were in the heat of the battle, that kind of thing could have made a huge difference. The floor would have spread. Kobe and our bigs would have had room to go to work. If Shannon doesn't take his player option, I imagine the Lakers won't bring him back. He started the season playing well for several weeks, then faded and never understood how to play to his strengths within the offense. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-10 shooting (3-5 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals and 2 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -20. The Action: He swiped a pass in transition D. He drew FTs on the break with an inside-out dribble, he made both. Second Half: He swished a wing three on a kickout. He missed a three over the zone (Peja hit one in transition off that). He scored a layup when Barnes found him under the hoop. He ball stopped, iso'd and airballed to start the fourth, well done. He swished a corner three. He swished a wing three. He missed a heatcheck three. He attacked and scored an And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He missed a turnaround.

Walton -- -- A Luke sighting in garbage time. And, yeah, that's what I remembered. He bricked a couple threes and had a couple turnovers on bad passes. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-2 three shooting to go with 1 board and 2 turnovers in 4 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He threw a pass away on his first touch. He bricked a three in transition. He threw an interior pass away. He missed a wing three.

Smith -- -- Brief garbage time run today. The Joe Smith Era in L.A. is over. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting to go with 1 board in 5 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Johnson -- -- He got some garbage time run and couldn't scratch on a few shot attempts. Wish he could have gotten time on the other end of a blowout. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-3 shooting (0-1 from the line) to go with 1 board and 1 foul in 5 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed a top of the key jumper. He missed a wing jumper. He missed a three at the buzzer.

Phil -- -- His kids flew in for Phil's final game even though Phil wasn't talking or looking at it like that. But down 0-3, this was the end of the road. His players made sure of it, too... Before the game, he told them to stay in the moment. Play hard, but don't let emotion lose your focus... The Lakers and Mavs traded hoops, but the Mavs were packing the paint on D... Out of the first timeout, the Lakers settled for a missed three when the post was doubled. The Mavs got a lob dunk on the other end... The Lakers were down 19-17 when Phil went with Shannon for Artest, sliding Kobe to SF... He sat Fisher for Blake and Kobe for Barnes down 2... The Lakers trailed 27-23 after the first. They went 0-5 from three, the Mavs went 4-7 (they were just getting started). Bynum and Pau each had 2 points in the first... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit... Phil had some words for Lamar, then sat him after a lazy perimeter pass that was stolen by the speedy defender, Peja... A Bynum, Pau, Kobe, Brown, Blake unit now... The Lakers fell down by 10 as the Mavs bombed threes... Multiple timeouts from Phil and subs, but the Mavs were still getting open, easy looks by collapsing the Laker D off screens and hitting everything. The Lakers trailed by 18 with the Mavs making 9-12 from three... The lead continued to balloon, Mavs fans going nuts. Terry, Peja and Barea combined for 40 points off the bench... The Mavs shot 7-8 from three in the second quarter... The Lakers trailed 63-39. They shot 37 percent (14-38, 1-8 from three, 10-12 from the line). The Mavs shot 59.5 percent (25-42, 11-15 from three, 2-3 from the line). Terry had 20 points on 6-7 shooting from three, Peja had 12 points on 3-3 shooting from three... The Lakers chipped away at the lead, but the Mavs were leaving Fish wide open to double the threats. When Terry came in, we left him wide open to give up two straight threes and trail big again... Phil sat Fisher for Blake and Bynum for Lamar down by 25 with 6 minutes left... Phil sat Artest for Shannon to cover Barea... The Lakers trailed 86-62 heading into the fourth... He started a Bynum, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit... Lamar got ejected and he brought back in Artest for Lamar and Kobe for Barnes... Drew ejected for dumping Barea on a drive... Garbage time for to close out the game shortly after that... The Mavs would shoot 60 percent for the game. Ridiculous number. They would make 20-32 from three (62.5 percent). Even worse... Tough way to close out Phil's career. "The greatest coach in the history of our game," is how he was described by his opposing coach tonight... Phil was fined $35K before the game for some ref comments. "As Richard Nixon says, 'you won't be able to kick this guy around any more'" Phil said...

[Murdock]

[iLoveLAL]

thanks for the post db
kinda bummed the lakers lost, but i saw it coming

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks again DB.

[Arbitrary]

[jack13]

I feel bad for Phil actually
_________________
"These young guys are playing checkers. I'm out there playing chess." Kobe Bryant

[ChefLinda]

Thanks for another season of thoroughly insightful and entertaining Thoughts & Ratings!

[RVCdesigns]

Thanks DB.

[Arbitrary]

[Klone_dd]

Disappointing end to a great run in Phil's 2nd stint.

Kudos to DB for his year-long analysis. Always precise, effective and spot on.

[City_Dawg]

And so it ends not with a bang, but a whimper...again.

Funny that this run basically began with embarrassment and ended with embarrassment. Life is really funny that way. Such a crappy week in laker ball. Just a week ago it seemed as if the Lakers may have turned the corner but they ran into a team that could exploit weaknesses better than the Hornets.

That said, thanks DB once again for all your hard work on these write ups. We know how much you have to do to bring us that good 'ol timey analysis. Good show old boy.

The Lakeshow will return.
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*sighs*

!...

[lounger]

Thanks DB. Not the ending we wanted for Phil andbthe Lakers but reality is just that... Reality.

Off to an early break. Hopefully we won't have any more threads like that of waiting on Lamar's re-signing... Not to say that wasn't fun.

[chickensandwich]

[Lakersneuron]

Thanks for the season DB!!! Hopefully we can keep your writing into June next year

Much respect to Phil.

[tw-lakbfan]

Thanks DB.

Good job.

Bad ending for the Lakers, Phil.

[John O]

Thanks DB!

And much love to Phil for all the great memories he helped create for the Lakeshow. I'll never forget that crazy 7th game WCF 4th quarter comeback against the Blazers! Just one among many others. Live long and well Mr. Phil Jackson! Thank you!

[markjay]

Thanks for another great season, DB! Sad that it ended so early.

[richsmith]

Thanks so much for each and every one of your write-ups. By far the best thing about this site, and I know they're the reason I keep coming by.

[angrypuppy]

Thanks DB.

It looks like the Four Horsemen were riding mavericks. When forced to dismount they lacked the legs to complete the journey.

[LoveLA]

The Lakers is just old and bored. Beside Koby and Bynum who both showed determination to win. The rest of the Lakers were hesitant with open shot. There weren't any fires in their play. They don't go after lose ball like they used to be. The confidence in making shots were missing. No swagger.
I'm so dissappointed in Steve Blake. It was his chance to get the ring but he showed nothing.

[BigE32]

Thanks for everything, DB. Although I'm obviously with the result of today's game, I'm very thankful for what these guys have accomplished over the past few years. Any fan from any other team would love to see their team have the success that ours did over the past four years.

[KobeJaws]

Thanks DB.

Can't wait for the draft, and then summer league (if there is one next year).

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB for sticking to these T&R's through the bad times as well as the good. You are the best.

[Addicus]

Great job DB. Luckily for all of us, players, coaches, owners and fans - life goes on. Now we get to reevaluate, regroup, rebuild and recoup Little Larry O'Brien next year. Thanks for the great job you do with these write ups. It is wonderful to have such a great writer not be a sensationalist and remain level headed and clear with his prose. You are like a burgeoning Chick Hearn of the game breakdown.

I would like to comment on Phil's comments on how hard it is to repeatedly get up the energy to play in big games season after season. I have felt all year that the way we beat Boston last year could be damning to our chances this year to win it all. That was an extremely emotional ride that drained me as a fan, so how hard was it as a player to over come that feeling of great jubilation, rejoice and revenge.

Thank you Lakers for the great awesomeness of the last two seasons. You helped carry me through a pretty crappy time in my life and I appreciate it.
_________________
Stop crying and start doing.

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/addicusbrown

[Freddie Buckets]

Thanks for a great season, DB.

We will be back next year.