LAKERS -at- NUGGETS - 12/5 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Firemen... With AI lighting up our point guards -- and by lighting up, we're talking 49 points after three quarters -- Phil made a key change to start the fourth quarter. Enter newly acquired Trevor Ariza, exit AI's dominating attack. The defensive switch changed how the Nuggets attacked and changed the complexion of the game.

Ariza took over where Kobe could not because of foul trouble. When we were finally in the clear, Phil handed the baton to Kobe and he kept the clamps on AI. Iverson finished with 2 points in the final quarter, and Kobe, Vlad and DFish closed out the Nuggets on the offensive end to take the 111-107 road win.

Taking the second night of a back-to-back in the Mile High City where the Nuggets play very well is no easy task, especially with our current injuries. Andrew Bynum, back from the flu which had thrown off his equilibrium in the prior game, anchored the defensive end...coming up huge on a couple plays down the stretch. Vlad found his stroke from three again. Kobe weathered a painful shoulder injury that had you holding your breath and he led the team to victory. "It's a little achy, but that being said it's not something that is going to linger or cause serious damage if I continue to play on it," Kobe said. "So, at that point you just got to suck it up." He's sick. He's in pain. But he battles like few others.

Getting that flexible defender in Ariza to come off the bench and help Kobe is something I've been nagging about here for a long time. Mo Evans couldn't give you the defense and heavy lifting that the team needs. Ariza elevates our defensive options on the bench. Nice to have another fireman to put out the flames when Kobe can't.


Kobe -- -- He pushed out the break at the end of the third and went down hard on his left shoulder. He didn't get off the floor for a long time, in immense pain. Lakers fans held their breath. Kobe went to the locker room and returned midway through the second quarter with, thankfully, only a contusion. Kobe came back, but struggled with foul trouble that had him sitting out almost the entire third quarter. His shot struggled at first, then he found his groove and sliced up the Denver D in crunch time, while dogging AI on the defensive end. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 10-19 shooting (0-3 from three, 5-6 from the line), he pulled down 8 boards, passed out 5 assists, had 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 31 minutes. The Action: He sank a turnaround from the midpost on our first possession. He missed a layup. He sank an open 16-footer from the elbow. He rose up, drew a whistle and then sank the And-1 20-footer, he made the FT. He swiped a pass to prevent a break, then hit Vlad for three. He took a bounce pass in the middle of the D, rose up and hit the 10-footer. He swished a 21-footer from the wing off the screen. Then he got hurt, as mentioned, and was pulled out. Back in later, he missed a three, we got it back and he fed Vlad for the open corner three. He spun away from the double and banked from about 16 feet out. He missed with his left on a drive down the lane. Wise decision to pass on a three in transition, he attacked baseline, drew the D and shoveled a pass to LO for the dunk. He picked up his third foul challenging AI and he had to sit with 34 seconds left and 13 points in the first half. He picked up his fourth just seconds into the third quarter on the offensive end and he had to sit. Back in to start the fourth, he attacked the wing and scored a layup. Defensively, he gave up a lob dunk to Melo trying to front him. He missed a wing jumper. He clanked a bank way short. He crossed over Smith, just missed the running bank after taking contact and a foul, he then made both FTs. He missed a long three with the shotclock low. He pulled down an offensive board, spun the opposite direction and got hammered to the floor for FTs, he made both. He missed a fallaway. He attacked, drew the D and found Vlad in the corner for the three. He gave up penetration to AI and it resulted in an And-1. He got a piece of an AI three attempt on the next stand. From beyond the three line at the right wing, he lobbed up high to Bynum, perfect pass for a throwdown by Drew. He took the jumpball from LO on the defensive end, pushed it up, changed speed on the attack and scored the And-1, he got tapped on the FT. He attacked off the dribble at the top of the key, got into the lane and flipped in a layup. Key possession next time down, up by two, he worked off the high screen, pulled up in the left corner away from Camby and buried the baseline jumper with 35 seconds left. The Lakers controlled the game with that make.

Lamar -- -- With Kobe's minutes limited, we needed a better effort from Lamar. His midrange game was on and that helped a lot ... however, that seemed to translate to him taking more long-range shots, which the coaching staff want him to avoid. He scrapped and put together a decent game (should have hit a few more FTs) despite having some foul issues of his own. He had several offensive fouls being more aggressive than last night. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-15 shooting (1-5 from three, a poor 2-6 from the line), he grabbed 7 boards, dished 4 assists wtih 4 turnovers and had 5 fouls. He was a +9. The Action: He sank a 17-footer from the right wing. He cleaned up a miss by Mihm with a putback. He hit a baseline jumper on his next attempt. He drew FTs in semi-transition attacking with DFish, he made one. He threw a pass away against the zone. He was called for a charge attacking baseline (Camby faked it). He picked up his second charge, attacking down the middle of the lane, he could have easily dumped it off for Bynum. He drew FTs going after an offensive board, he missed both. He rattled in a wing three in semi-transition. He missed a three on the next possession. He dunked when Kobe attacked baseline, drew the D and fed him. He missed long on an attack to his left. He hit a baseline jumper off the Mihm handoff. He missed a wing three. He drew FTs attacking and made one. He finished the break with his right hand at full speed. He missed a runner and was called for a foul with his off hand, he had to sit in the third with his fourth foul. He missed a baseline jumper. He missed an open three way short. Out of a timeout, the offense stalled and LO tried to create off the dribble, missing in the lane. He stalled the offense in the post and got a shotclock violation. He and Fish hit the floor to tie up Smith and LO won the jumpball, which turned into an And-1 breakaway for Kobe. Good save of a defensive board back in to Fish for late FTs.

DFish -- -- Poor D on both AI and Carter. He was lit like a Christmas tree. It was painful. At least he pushed back a bit on the offensive end, scoring 20 points of his own. That didn't even out the carnage, but it helped. The Stats: He scored his 20 on 6-11 shooting (1-3 from three, 7-8 from the line), he had 5 assists with just 1 turnover and 5 boards in 33 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He missed an open three. He missed a jumper from the left side. He missed a long wing jumper. He probed in semi-transition, gave it up to LO and we got FTs. He sank a 16-footer straight away. He swished a baseline jumper over the zone. He missed a three, Luke got it back and gave it to him and he hit the next one. He missed an open wing jumper. He swished a wing jumper. He and LO teamed up for a clear path foul when Lo made a telegraph pass and Fish didn't come to it, Fish then fouled AI on an And-1, that was a big sequence. He was fouled on a jumper with his toes on the three line, he made both FTs. He sank a pull-up from the FT line. He drew FTs on Smith in transition and made both. He swished a 17-footer, losing AI on the pull-up. He got the inbounds with 16 seconds left and was fouled, he swished both clutch FTs. He was fouled again with 8 seconds left and made one.

Luke -- -- Luke had the team-low -10 on the night. Credit a bunch of that to Vlad who was lighting things up when he was in and Luke was out. Still, Luke had some soft moments in this game, including a late turnover and a couple crunch time FT bricks. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-8 shooting (0-1 from three, 0-2 from the line), he had 3 boards, 3 assists with 3 turnovers, 2 steals and 4 fouls in 25 minutes. The Action: He swished an elbow jumper. He missed a pull-up runner. He posted up AI, burned him and scored around the help defender. He got tapped on the post up over Kleiza. He ballfaked and hit the elbow jumper. Wow, good effort getting back on D and he deflected a pass to prevent a sure hoop on a two-on-one...we scored an And-1 on the other end. He got tapped on an open three straight away. He missed an odd looking runner in the lane. He put back in an offensive board that Mihm kept alive. He turned the ball over in the lane, fouled and sat with his fourth foul early in the third. He got the ball swiped from him on the perimeter for a dunk the other way. He drew FTs on a bustout getting hit from behind, he missed both with 5 minutes left.

Mihm -- -- After the long minutes the night before, Chris played 22 in this one. I'm not sure how his ankle will respond to all that PT, but I hope it's not too much. He got the start again, with Bynum coming off the bench. He struggled to make the Nuggets pay during the zone during one stretch, and he also gave up a board that got him benched. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-7 shooting, grabbed 6 boards, blocked 2 shots, had 1 steal, 1 assist and 3 fouls. He was a -9. The Action: He swatted a shot on help D on one end, missed a short one on the other, but Lamar cleaned it up. He swished a 10-foot jumphook in the lane. He missed a jumphook with his left. He missed a jumphook, coming up short against the zone. He missed another jumper short against the zone. He hit an And-1 when Lamar found him in transition, he missed the FT. He kept an offensive board alive and Luke scored it. He drew FTs on the jumphook attempt, he made both. He rejected AI under the hoop and it ignited a break.

Bynum -- -- Although, he didn't put up the stat line...in fact, not many stats at all...he still played a strong game despite the illness. The one stat he did put up was a team-leading +13. His defense was superb at times. He challenged shots, had some steals and came up with several big plays down the stretch. "I actually still feel terrible," said Bynum. "But I wanted to go out there and give us some defensive support." The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting, he grabbed just 2 boards, dished 3 assists, had 2 steals and swatted 3 shots. The Action: He rejected Smith, who was trying to throw down over him. After taking a lob pass, he kicked out to Vlad who hit the three. He challenged Martin who missed, then he stripped the ball from him. Good challenge on Smith, he then controlled the board. With just over 2 minutes left, Kobe threw a long, high lob to Bynum under the hoop and he jammed it in, he wanted the And-1, too, getting pushed from behind (that was your No. 5 NBA play of the night). Huge help D rejection on Melo with a minute and a half left, that was a key stop (and your No. 9 NBA TV play of the night). Looked like he got a piece of another Melo drive to make it come up short, great challenge again.

Farmar -- -- Farmar was getting killed by AI. Abused. He bit on head fakes for fouls, gave up good looks on jumpers. AI just had his way with him. Offensively, he had a few good plays, but not an impact game at all. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-6 shooting (2-4 from three), had 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He picked up a touch foul on the perimeter on AI, then got caught in the air for his second foul in just a minute of action. He missed a wide open three. He airballed a long three trying to beat the buzzer. He attacked and kicked out to Vlad in the corner for the three. He no-looked to LO on the break for a score. He stole a pass from Melo, then choked the layup on the other end. He picked up another foul biting on the AI head fake. He sank a three over the zone. He loaded up and fired the corner three, sinking it over a man. He got tapped on a teardrop. He fell asleep on a pass by Luke that bounced off his hands on a possession out of a timeout. Ouch.

Radmanovic -- -- Stu said Vlad was knocking down threes like he hadn't seen him before the game. He was ready to come out firing and killed the Nuggets in a 9-minute stretch with 17 points in the first half, then with a key late three and steal in the fourth. "It was one of those nights where every shot was falling in," Vlad said afterward. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 7-12 shooting (6-9 from three, 1-2 from the line) with 5 boards, 1 assist and 2 steals in 24 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He swished an open corner three. He took the pitch out from Bynum and hit the short jumper. He sank a corner three like it was a freethrow. Next time down, he pulled up on the break and splashed another corner three. He was blocked from behind under the hoop. Farmar kicked out to him in that same corner he sank two other threes and he drained it again. He crashed the boards, pulled down a Kobe miss and fed it back out, then ran over to that same right corner, got it back and drilled another three. He moved over to the wing and missed a three next time down. He had 17 points on 8 shots in that 9 minutes. He missed a corner three. He missed another three. AI fell with theatrics and drew a phantom foul on Vlad. He missed a long wing jumper trying to create off the dribble. In for Luke with under 4 minutes left, he drained a corner three from the left side when Kobe found him. Huge play on the D end, stepping in front of his man to swipe the pass, then pushing up the break and drawing FTs against AI, he made one FT to tie the game.

Ariza -- -- He came in late in the third and played mostly with a lineup of Bynum, Vlad, Fish and Farmar. They held things down. Then Phil moved him onto AI for 7 minutes to start the fourth quarter, which changed how the Nuggets attacked after depending on AI for so much of the game. AI went from 49 points in three quarters, to 2 points in the fourth. Ariza's length and speed a valuable weapon, and his defensive flexibility can make this team a stronger. He can D-up a guy like KG (as he did just before traded here), then he can also go on a waterbug like AI -- a nice upgrade off the bench from Mo and Cook. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 0-1 shooting, 3-4 from the line, grabbed 4 boards, dished 2 assists and had 1 block in 12 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: In for LO late in the third, he grabbed a long rebound, pushed it up in traffic and drew FTs, he made both. He drew more FTs on the perimeter, he made one. He missed a jumper from the top of the key. He winged a jumper with a great jumpout on a rotation. He charged on the baseline taking the handoff. He fouled going after a loose ball he knocked free. Good effort to pull down an offensive board and kick it back out. He challenged AI off the dribble and forced a miss on a drive. He then led the cheers on the bench for his new teammates to close out the Nuggets.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha and Melo exchanged a few laughs prior to the game. No hard feelings over the neck grab by Melo in the bizarro world Sasha game where we blew out the Nuggets at Staples. Tonight, no such heroics for Sasha, unless you're in to missed shots and poor D. AI took it to Sasha like the other guards. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting, had 2 assists and 1 turnover in 11 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He missed a three. He sank a tech FT. He missed a baseline jumper. He was tapped on a quick three. He drained a baseline jumper off a Fisher kickout. In defensively on AI and he fouls him for FTs. He didn't recognize the shotclock and passed up a jumper, getting the violation.

Crittenton -- -- He came in with 35 seconds left in the quarter for Farmar on the defensive end. Then was subbed out five seconds later as we went back on offense. Glad to see Phil finding those minutes ...er seconds... for him.

Phil -- -- You got to think the Nuggets were plenty hungry. We blew them out badly and Melo got tossed just last week. The Lakers, tired, injured, sick and on the second night of the back-to-back have to go up to the thin air of Denver. Tough situation. It then gets made tougher by foul trouble to several starters. Despite all that, we go in there and get the job done... The Lakers pulled out to a 20-10 lead, then the Denver zone started to confound us as zones do. Phil brought in Bynum, Farmar and Vlad with the scored tied at 22-22. The Lakers led 29-24... AI was 11-13 from the floor going against Fish and Farmar before we put Kobe on him for the first time, just briefly. AI finished the half with 33 points on 12-15 shooting... Vlad got hot in the second quarter. He finally missed a three after scoring 17 points in 9 minutes and Phil sat him. Arggh. Milk that hot hand for all it's worth... The Lakers led by just 4 after a strong offensive quarter. They played poorly in the last minute and saw their lead trimmed. They led 62-58. The Lakers had 21 assists in the first half... Barely into the third quarter, Kobe picks up his fourth foul and had to sit... The team somehow survived Kobe in foul trouble all quarter, holding the score to 88-88... Phil started a Bynum, LO, Ariza, Kobe, Farmar lineup with Ariza on AI to start the fourth. The switch changed the Nuggets attack and put out the AI fire. He later put Kobe on AI to close out the game... The NBA is going to mic up coaches and film at halftime in the locker rooms. Phil is none to pleased about it. "I wasn't at the league meetings with the coaches this year, and I'm very disappointed in my comrades for rolling over on this so easily. But I know (NBA commissioner) David Stern must have had a lot of input in this and been very adamant about partnership and all that." He added: "We do things in private. It's an inner sanctum. For people to be in the inner sanctum, where emotions are high ...it's big brother, it's very big brother. It's very intimidating."...

Game Flow -- LINK -- A 15-5 Laker run in crunch time.

Highlights -- LINK -- Some big plays down the stretch. Kobe escaping from the corner then spotting Bynum and the Bynum block are superb.

[AndrewBynum17]

thanks DB, lots of buzz going around, Kidd might be coming to LA!
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www.andrewbynum.com

[A Mad Chinaman]

Thanks DB!

Considering that LO was 6 out of 10 from inside the 3 point line, 1 out of 5 from beyond the 3 point line and the coaching staff's instructions to shoot less 3 point shots - do you think that PJ taking LO immediately out of the game - do you think that the staff was sending a definitive signal to LO to NOT SHOOT 3s?!?!

Why do you think that PJ took out Vlad when he was hot, DFish stated that PJ had other reasons that dealt with the overall game plan?

[Siguy]

Great as always DB.

The Ariza defensive switch was very interesting but also problematic. Our offense totally shut down in the clutch with him in the game. With all that zone defense they play, having a guy out there who couldn't shoot at all was a big problem.

Still, great to have a guy with a speciality.

Oh, and Bynum's block on melo? WOW! This is what he needs to work on. When he's not scoring, he's got to be getting us boards and defense. Once he becomes an anchor, he becomes invaluable even when his hook shots aren'g going in.

[Crazy Like Ron Artest]

DB, can I just ask you how exactly do you watch games and get into them?

I suppose you take quick notes after each play because I can't think that your memory is that good lol but then again combined with little notes and a decent memory...I suppose it's doable.

I rememember I tried taking notes once, it really wasn't easy and it spoiled the game for me. Couldn't do it.

Props.
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Crazy yes......Nostrodamus no way because my predictions fail!!!!!

[rscogold]

how would Ariza do versus Nash?
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'04-'07: Kobe's prime, Lakers decline.

[lakersfreak]

DB
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Forget carbon, reduce your government footprint

[Vadorojo]

Wow ... great read. I was so happy when I saw the in the thread title!

We played some clutch basketball and pulled out a tough W on the road—good, good stuff for such a young team. We know we can play, the test of the year is finding consistency.

I'm so glad Phil used Ariza so well. I hope he's starting to feel comfortable as a Laker.

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[Vadorojo]

When I read the recap, I was surprised to see that Phil put Ariza on such a fast player as AI—was AI's fatigue keeping his speed down at that point?

Does Ariza really have the speed to keep up with Barbosa, Ginobli, etc.? Can he buy us 12+ minutes of solid, offense-disrupting defense on those kinds of players?

If so, we got the biggest steal for Mo + Cook I could have ever imagined.

[DancingBarry]

AI has a great motor. Fatigue didn't have much to do with it, IMO. The taller athletic guys give him a little more trouble than the normal guards. He went 1-4 in that fourth. So, having to deal with Ariza and Kobe made him less agressive. You could see it the last time we played them at Staples when Kobe was on him, he'd throttle things back...when someone else was on him, his eyes would get big and he'd attack.

With Ariza on him, he also spent part of the beginning of the fourth trying to get the ball to Melo when Kobe was on him. So we made them try something new and that also threw them out of sync.

[dino]

great read db...

andrew was obviously still not 100% but that slam from kobe's feed and those blocks in the 4th were amazing...

add kobe being clutch in the last 2 minutes...

[Vadorojo]

Thanks, DB. Having Kobe paired with Ariza gives us a nice combo to shut down SG-SFs. Hopefully, both of them can keep the intensity up!

[jmark]

Nice win. Glad I stayed up and watched it all.
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"I appreciate all those who have supported me. Thank you for believing in me. My family and I are going to need your support and prayers now more than ever." Kobe

[KingKobe20]

YEEEEEEESSSSSSS SSSUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that is what I call a win!! Just got home from work and automatically turn on the tivo to see our beloved Lakers take out the super cocky,arrogant Denver Nuggets. Super sweet win against Allen Iverson's 51 point and the Nuggets.
Everyone stepped up which really brought a huge smile to all of us at Lg I am pretty sure. Really am getting sick of these stupid unethical fans who were cheering when Kobe went down. So glad that the city of Denver and jerk off fans took home a loss
GREAT WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KingKobe20]

YEEEEEEESSSSSSS SSSUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that is what I call a win!! Just got home from work and automatically turn on the tivo to see our beloved Lakers take out the super cocky,arrogant Denver Nuggets. Super sweet win against Allen Iverson's 51 pointS and the Nuggets.
Everyone stepped up which really brought a huge smile to all of us at Lg I am pretty sure.I'm really getting sick of these stupid unethical fans who were cheering when Kobe went down. So glad that the city of Denver and there jerk fans took home a loss
GREAT WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[20,000]

Well what a crappy night I had. On top of the other crap that happened, I wake up this morning and realize I missed a Lakers' win? Damn!

Well, at least they won.
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Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[Sage_10]

Good read DB!
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"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[Al-Mbarak8]

Thanks db! great game , ariza for president !!
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LG.net Lurker for 3 years , finally got my account approved..

It's just life. Everybody goes through it. It doesn't matter whether you're a banker, politician or an athlete. God has a different movie script for all of us.
-Lamar Odom

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB.
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"I define success by championships, by winning..." Kobe Bryant

"I've seen it all. Sasha dunked on somebody," Kobe Bryant said. "I'm ready to retire now."

[LongtimeLakerLover]

Thanks DB.

Hey, nice touch to throw in the game flow and highlights. Very nice for someone like me who couldn't watch the game.

I was glad to hear the guys weathered the storm of injuries and illnesses, not to mention the shoulder injury. Yikes! Good win.
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I love LA........WE LOVE IT!

[20,000]

By the way, how ironic is it? A big star goes for a lot of points and loses. A big star goes for an adequate amount of points, but the team wins. Whoda thunk it would be the Lakers winning with that description?
_________________
Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[limchrc]

Thanks for the recap. I did not know that Ariza is fast enough to guard small guys like AI.

[BigE32]

Thanks, DB. Like you said, we won despite injuries, illness, and on a back to back. The Nuggets were 8-2 at home this year until last night. The thing I really liked was how we won the game despite being down with three minutes left to play. That should be a nice confidence builder for our young team. Now we have a few days to rest and hopefully feel better. AI was unbelievable last night and we still pulled it out. Nice road win.