LAKERS -at- CLIPPERS - 10/29 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

(Note: I may double post in here and at the blog...here.)

The Storm is Here... As KCAL 9 says in its Laker previews, "The Storm is Here." If you don't lockdown your house, the Lakers will. After an even first quarter, the Lakers held the Clippers to 30 points in the next two quarters and destroyed their second opponent, 117-79.

The Clippers provide a different challenge to the Lakers. They want to play up-tempo. They have some smaller, mobile PFs to deal with. And they have a great PG in Baron Davis. It was different, but none of that mattered.

The Laker bench came in and imposed their will on the Clippers bench. Our starters then crushed them to start the second half.

An overlooked subplot to this game was a battle between home-grown L.A. point guards, Baron Davis and Jordan Farmar. Both showed some flash, but Baron was overwhelmed by Farmar's team. When they went head to head, Farmar definitely held his own, and at the end of the night, he had the better statline, as well. "We ran into a brick wall," BDiddy said. He seemed a bit surprised by what they saw from the Lakers.

"If we play actively and aggressively with a lot of energy, the sky's the limit for us," Farmar said afterward.

The sky is the limit with this team. The Clippers haven't been beaten this badly by the Lakers since they moved to L.A.

The storm is, indeed, here. May it last all season.


Kobe -- -- During the Showtime Era, I always knew my favorite players on that team would have a tough time getting their stats. With blowouts, the minutes would often be cut short. I can only hope Kobe gets a taste of that kind of success this season. He's had reduced minutes in his first two games. Every bit of that he can get, will help reduce the effects of a long summer. Kobe was getting no love early in the game and was stripped multiple times without seeing the freethrow line. Nothing he's not used to (the no-calls on fouls), but it was frustrating him. Four of his five turnovers came in the first quarter, and that was part of the reason the score was close. Once that was cleaned up, the game was over. The Stats: He had 16 points on 5-12 shooting (0-2 from three, 6-7 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, 5 turnovers and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. The Action: He hit Fish for the wide open three on a drive and kick. Nice defensive board work, tipping it away from a big. He was stripped posting up. He attacked and found Vlad for three. He crossed over in early offense and scored a layup. He missed a rushed three from the wing. He was stripped again in the post by Mobley. He had the ball taken away for an And-1 the other way. He drained a wing jumper out of a timeout. He sank another jumper from a couple steps further out. Nice attack, but he couldnt finish over Kaman. He made a tech FT. He was stripped again on a drive, ticked off that he hasn't gotten a foul call (fourth first-quarter turnover for Kobe). He was stripped again in the post after a long break (he was quietly steaming at this point). He missed a four-footer in the post. He had 7 points on 3-6 shooting and 5 turnovers. Second Half: He created with the clock low and hit a runner going to his left. He attacked, got sandwiched and drew FTs, he made one. He missed a short one in the lane, Drew got it back, fed him and Kobe was fouled. He missed a turnaround. He forced a three and didn't draw iron. He spun to his right, stepped through a double team and somehow flipped the ball up and in (great escape). He grabbed a Pau miss and was fouled while trying to toss it in over his head, he made both FTs. He missed a sideline jumper. He curled and attacked down the lane to draw FTs, he made both.

Gasol -- -- Again, he had to go up against Tim Thomas, a smaller, mobile shooter. Thomas picked up a couple early fouls on help D and had to sit after a few minutes, but it didn't matter. Pau had one of his weakest shooting games of October, but got to the line to help his efficiency. While the scoring was so-so, the rebounding and passing was top notch (minus a brief minute where he assumed others were getting boards). Pau is made for the Triangle offense, but he has also been doing a good job in transition, filling the lane for his guards. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 3-10 shooting (7-7 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 6 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 33 minutes. The Action: He scored easily with his length attacking to his right over Thomas. He posted up, brought Kaman over and gave Bynum a pass for a dunk (it was deflected, but it looked like a pass and not his shot blocked). He missed a running layup, but Bynum cleaned it up. He attacked and kicked out to Fish for a jumper. He missed a baseline jumper. He attacked and got blocked on the layup. He swished an elbow jumper when Farmar drew the D. He had 4 points on 2-5 shooting, 6 boards and 3 assists. Second Half: He drew FTs on a behind-the-back feed from Kobe and made both. He missed a turnaround. He scored an And-1 in transition off a great bounce pass from DFish, he made the FT. He hit Vlad with a touch pass for a three. He missed a layup. He drew FTs running the floor after Sasha spotted him with a bounce pass, he made both. He faced up on Skinner, quick first step to get past him and he drew more FTs, he made both. Skinner tried to return the favor and charged into Gasol.

Bynum -- -- "We're coming out there with a focus," Bynum said of the Laker approach before the game. "Just going out there and playing great defense." Bynum said he wants the Lakers to break the record for most games in a row of keeping teams under 80 points (I believe he said the record was six). He looked a little looser tonight, but his intensity was still there. He showed emotion several times this game, once after a travel call and once after Luke got called for a foul that saved Kaman from another Bynum block. Excellent all-around game from Drew. He imposed himself on both ends. Again, his anchoring of the D now seems to be much more consistent. His presence is felt every minute he's on the floor. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-7 shooting (4-6 from the line) to go with 9 boards (3 offensive), 1 steal, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 25 minutes. The Action: He blocked Kaman's first shot, packing him under the hoop. He swished a 16-footer, popping out of the Tri on the weakside and taking the feed from Pau. He grabbed a high-low interior pass from Gasol and went up strong to throw down. Nice follow on a Gasol miss, he drew a foul crashing and made both FTs. He saved another sure hoop, swatting Kaman's shot off Baron's pass. He was camped in the lane for a tech on D. He dunked off the interior lob pass from Farmar. He missed an 18-footer in transition (pretty sure that range isn't quite in the skill set yet). He lost the ball on a post move, missing wildly (Phil had a couple words for him at the timeout). He took the interior feed and drew FTs on the dunk attempt, he made both. He had 10 points on 3-6 shooting, 3 boards and 2 blocks. Second Half: He recovered a pass on the baseline, looked over his shoulder and noticed no one was covering the hoop, he attacked and dunked. He erased a Thomas drive on help D. He altered another one from Thornton next time down. He was called for a travel, shuffling his feet apparently on a pivot. He was tripped and hacked on a post move and drew FTs, he missed both. He blindsided Thomas, stripped the ball from him as they bumped heads, sending Thomas to the floor, he ignited the break, then grimaced for the next minute.

Radmanovic -- -- Quality minutes again from Vlad. His rotations have been excellent, and his D in the past two games against uber-athletic SFs in Outlaw and Thornton has been very good. It helps when guys have your back, but Vlad has been getting their backs, too. That's what this defensive scheme is all about. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-4 shooting (2-3 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 18 minutes. The Action: He missed a three from the wing. He swished a corner rainbow three off the Kobe kickout. He drew a charge on Thornton, recovering and staying in control. Second Half: He missed an early offense three. Nice challenge on Thornton to force a missed jumper. He was called for a clear-out foul trying to score with his left and fend off a player with his right. He drained a wide open sideline three off a Pau touch-pass.

Fisher -- -- He was spotting up and knocking down threes as well as making some nice passes in this game. Baron's not an easy cover, but Fish didn't get out-played. The Laker guards, combined, owned the night at the PG spot. DFish and Farmar combined for 30 points on 11-19 shooting and 9 assists. Huge numbers at the 1 spot. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-11 shooting (3-6 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 22 minutes. The Action: He knocked down a wide open three off a Kobe drive and kick. He sank a wide open baseline jumper off a Gasol kickout. He missed two jumpers in a row. He drew FTs attacking Baron in transition, he made both. He missed a layup, attacking a big. He drained a transition three on a kickout from Luke. He answered a Ricky Davis three with a two-for-one three in early offense (unfortunately, he fouled Baron to give the Clips a two-for-one opportunity of their own). He missed a corner three. He went to the floor to recover a ball to prevent that Clipper two-for-one. He had 13 points on 4-8 shooting (3-5 from three) to lead the team. Second Half: Sweet bounce pass to Pau from the sideline for an And-1 in transition. He missed an open three. He swished a rainbow runner from over the corner of the backboard. He missed a layup.

Lamar -- -- Quiet first half from Lamar, but he picked it up a little in the second half. He got in on some of the prettier sequences of the second half. The second unit dominated tonight. He had a +20. The highest of the bench players. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting, grabbed 4 boards (2 offensive), dished 3 assists, gave up no turnovers and had 2 fouls in 23 minutes. The Action: He followed up a Kobe miss with a putback. He missed a corner jumper. Second Half: He hit a jumphook in early offense off some good Laker ball movement. He worked the pinch post with Pau and flipped a reverse off the glass. He missed a fading jumper. He went on a dribble exhibition along the baseline after pulling down a Sasha miss, then he flipped a pass behind his back to Mihm for the score (he held his hand behind his back all the way back down the court).

Ariza -- -- In the halfcourt, he gets to spot up for good looks, cut off screens and work off others who draw attention (including crashing the boards). He's enjoying this and being productive. But note how all of those things are off-the-ball type of work. He doesn't need to pound the dribble and iso. He doesn't need to handle the ball in the post. That's what makes him efficient and effective. A good fit with the other guys around him. With Farmar and Odom, he gets to go to a speed game and run the court. This time last year, we had Mo Evans and Brian Cook still on the team. A full offseason and preseason has elevated his game and team chemistry. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-7 shooting (2-3 from three, 1-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 20 minutes. The Action: He couldn't finish the alley-oop dunk at the end of the quarter, we got it back, he spotted up in the corner and swished the three at the buzzer. He got fouled going up for a score, he missed both FTs. He swiped the ball under the hoop, then charged on the other end to give it back. He threw down, cutting along the baseline in transition and Farmar hit him in stride with a bounce pass. He crashed the offensive glass to pull down a board, it led to a Laker score. He popped out behind a screen and swished the wing three. He had 8 points on 3-4 shooting and 4 boards in 11 minutes. Second Half: He missed a pull-up baseline jumper. He missed a three with the shotclock low, but got it back. He worked off the dribble, pulled up at the elbow and hit the 17-footer (looked very confident shooting that, wasn't the case last year). He was fouled on a lob from Farmar in transition, he made one FT. Nice weakside rotation to force a turnover on Kaman.

Farmar -- -- As mentioned in the DFish write-up, our point guards put up huge numbers combined. With bigs behind them and the zone help, they maintained control of the dribble penetration. Farmar had a few minutes against Baron Davis defensively and held his own on the D end. Nice to see against a strong guard. More impact minutes from Farmar tonight. He's more aggressive, but his decision making also seems to be better for it. He's not settling for threes and is willing to probe or get into that mid-range area more. He and Ariza have developed that chemistry and the Walton/Farmar passing also showed up again. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-8 shooting (2-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 3 turnovers and no fouls in 26 minutes. The Action: He attacked the paint, drew contact with no call and airballed the layup. He pulled up between defenders on the wing and went glass with the jumper (very nice mid-range play). Beautiful read in transition, pulling the D and leading Ariza with a bounce pass for a dunk. He passed up the open three, probed the lane and lobbed to Bynum for the dunk. He worked off the Bynum pick and hit a three over Baron. He swung it to Ariza who popped out free at the wing for a three. He had 5 points on 2-3 shooting and 4 assists in the first half. Second Half: He drew FTs when he stopped with the dribble and Baron ran up his back, he made one. He took a defensive board away from Hart by out-jumping him from behind (impressive). He threw a pass away. He swished a three off an inside-out from Pau. He scored a layup off Sasha's steal and behind-the-back pass. He got up for a alley-oop from Luke and flushed with both hands (remember when people were doubting Farmar's vertical when we drafted him?). He scored a layup off a great bounce pass from Luke down the middle of the lane. He missed a drive, but Mihm tipped it in.

Vujacic -- -- He's been going nuts with the behind-the-back passes. Must be an upgrade to the Machine. He started the second quarter for Kobe, picking up Ricky Davis. He still looks sketchy to me when he's handling the ball, but he's actually been effective with it -- even giving the crowd some highlights. Defensively, he showed some excellent anticipation on the weakside of the court and turned that into a couple steals tonight. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting (1-2 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, no turnovers and 1 foul in 17 minutes. The Action: He split the defenders with a dribble and flipped in a left hander in the lane. He missed a tech FT. He missed an open corner three. He drained a quick-release wing three on the Ariza swing pass. Second Half: Nice rotations, he pulled down the board, pushed up the break and hit Gasol for FTs. He swiped a pass, went behind his back to Farmar, who then lobbed to Ariza who was fouled. He swiped another pass (jumping the passing lane as we doubled aggressively), again he hit Farmar in stride with the behind-the-back pass and Farmar scored the layup. He missed a layup on the attack, but Lamar grabbed it and hit Mihm. He airballed a fade trying to beat the clock.

Mihm -- -- Like I said, when he's getting to the front of the rim for tip-ins again and again, he's back. Great to see the old Mihm. Phil has talked about the Minute Men, while Chris was the Point-A-Minute-Man off the bench tonight. If he can string together some more minutes like these, it wouldn't surprise me to see him work his way into some brief first-half stints. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-7 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 2 offensive boards, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 9 minutes. The Action: Did not play in the first half. Second Half: He knocked down a FT jumper, flashing from the weakside. He scored a layup off the behind-the-back pass from Lamar. Nice idea but poor execution leading Sasha too much no a no-look bounce pass on the weakside. He drew FTs in transition off the pass from Lamar, he made both. He tapped in a Luke missed three. He tipped in a Farmar missed layup off a drive. He missed a wing jumper. He missed a turnaround jumper.

Luke -- -- He came in for Trevor with a couple minutes left in the first half. This would be Vlad's minutes with the starters. He later returned for some extended run. He's played solid since his return. Not as much responsibility, but he's been hitting a variety of shots that weren't falling for him last season. He and Famar showed some chemistry in the past and that seems to be developing again as Luke has been taking advantage of Farmar's off-the-ball work. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 9 minutes. The Action: He probed, brought it out and hit the short jumphook. He hit Fish on the break for a three (thought he and Kobe had a two-on-one for a layup there if he wanted it). Second Half: He hit a baseline jumper. He hit Farmar with a high lob for a big throwdown. He missed a corner three. Wow, pretty anticipation of a Farmar cut through traffic and Luke hit him with a bounce pass for a layup.

Powell -- -- In for the final half of the fourth quarter, he played with his usual energy. Not a lot of action, but he mixed it up briefly. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-1 shooting, 2-2 from the line, to go with 1 board and no fouls in 6 minutes. The Action: Did not play in the first half. Second Half: He hustled for an airball and was fouled under the hoop, he made both FTs. He trailed the break, Farmar found him and he threw down a soaring dunk.

Phil -- -- Lockdown D again. Great way to start the season. Some of the guys are starting to take pride in it. That's essential to a championship team... He brought Lamar in for Pau again midway through the first again... The strong-side zones had a couple issues early on, an illegal D and a triple team when both Bynum and Lamar were zoning... The Lakers had 6 first-quarter turnovers, but led 30-27... Phil barked at the refs about what should have been a shooting foul for Ariza instead of bringing the ball out of bounds. The refs changed their call, but Ariza missed both FTs... The Pau, Lamar, Ariza, Sasha, Farmar lineup went on a quick 9-0 run at the 8-minute mark to force a Clipper timeout. This would extend to a 17-0 run... Phil lit into his guys after they watched a couple offensive boards go to Clippers. Looked like we assumed another Laker was going to pull down the rebound... The Lakers cut down on the turnovers (just 2) in that second quarter and tightened up their D. The Laker second unit outplayed the Clippers and pulled the team ahead, winning the quarter 29-17. We led 59-44 at the half. The bench had 22 points on 9-13 shooting... The coaches liked the D. They wanted Kobe to get rid of the ball quicker... The Lakers locked down and took the Clippers out of their game in the third. They allowed just 6 points in the first 10 minutes of the half and won the third quarter 26-13 to lead by 28 points... The game was over at that point. Every Laker scored tonight... The Clippers were held to 38.5 percent shooting and we scored 26 points off their 18 turnovers... We out-rebounded them 51-32. Ouch. Forcing them to shoot bad shots will help that stat...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Check out the 17-0 run in the second quarter. That's where the game was taken to the Clips. The 23-4 run in the third quarter was the deathblow.

[k9cane]

This team is looking scary good. But it's early- but I cant help but be intrigued by what we've seen thus far

It's a fun team, that has great chemistry and really seems to enjoy playing with one another

[George W Buss]

Amazing game

[DancingBarry]

[Tony Almeida]

Thanks, DB. As always, great read.

Minor note --

[lakersfreak]

DB
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Forget carbon, reduce your government footprint

[Vadorojo]

Beautiful. Dominant. Victory.
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"I like looking at a guy's face when he realizes that even his best moves aren't going to work on me all night. They look depressed." - Ron Artest

[Jeffs]

The rest of the league is on notice. These Lakers are just too big, too fast, too deep, and too damn good. I'm pleasantly surprised with the first two games... I expected to win both, but not by these margins. I'm not anointing them the champs after two games against two teams that missed the playoffs last year, but they have been down right scary thus far.

Even if a team's starting unit plays the starters even, the bench is so good that we'll absolutely blow other second units out of the water. Farmar/Vujacic/Ariza/Odom/Gasol(or Bynum) is better than a couple of starting units in the league. The Lakers' 9 man rotation (leaving Mihm out since I think the Lakers will go with a 3man PF/C rotation in close games) has 9 starting-caliber players on it, and as Kenny and Chuck said last night, they have two good players at EVERY position.
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Jeffs

I feel like I just watched someone TRULY give 100%. Not the BS I'm-gonna-give-a-110%-just-like-everyone-else-says platitudes, but someone that went until he just....broke. - GT

[4 Pointer]

I'm excited but remain skeptical of our defense until we play a top tier team.

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[resgraph27]

Wow... talk about a team playing in sync... this is a TEAM, a unit sharing the same mind. CONSISTENTLY, too!

Loved it when Ariza missed the dunk, and had the presence of mind to spot up for that three.. he didn't let the miss faze him, and was ready when Kobe drove and kicked it out to him.

I like seeing Andrew's passion after those calls.

Lamar seemed loose... REAL loose. Too loose? He's havin' fun. That passing between him and Powell had me crackin' up! (Showing my rookie stripes here; what does it mean when you say he's "plus 20"?)

Farmar continues to impress, seems like he gets better every game. With this much poise against BDiddy, can't wait to see the rematch between him and Deron.

[DancingBarry]

[J.C. Smith]

This team looks fantastic on both ends of the floor. It's scary that everyones minutes are way down, and we're blowing teams out of the building so far. Should keep us fresh for the playoffs if this continues.

[dawglaker]

i still think Ariza n kobe should start in the back court
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"I didn't mean to walk in the shower with him. Yeah, I walked in the shower. I'm not a homosexual, but Kobe - he had no clothes on." - Ron Artest

[KingKobe]

I liked the game flow tonight. At first the clippers thought they could hang with us no problem, then they realized it might be harder then they thought, then much harder, and then it was about 20 minutes of being humiliated. Now we just gotta do something like that to the Celtics.

On the defense, the first quarter showed that there are still some kinks to work out on defense. Not that you'd know it from the score, but like any new system being put in place it needs a little time. Like Phil said, stacking the strong side does leave us open for weakside kick outs for 3s. And guys like Rad, Kobe and Fish have to be ready to close if they're on the weak side. That said, if cross court kick outs and 3 are the scouting report the opponant has to go by, then I like our chances.

It was also good to see Phil throw some man D in there as well (I think during the second), good to give the other team different looks on defense. The entire defensive scheme should get better as the season goes on. And of course, the triangle was a little sloppy tonight IMO, but I never expect the triangle to start really clicking until 15 or so games into the season.

As far as Bynum goes, I won't be happy with 2.5 blocks per game. I think it's not a stretch at all to think he can average 3 a game. And I gotta give play of the game to Odom. That trick handle and behind the back would of been impressive for a 6' guard, but at 6'10 LO is in a league of his own with those moves.
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*Warning: The preceding post may have contained sarcasm and/or irony.

"We're all surrounded by idiots." - Kobe Bryant

[Vadorojo]

[City_Dawg]

[DancingBarry]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB!!! The Clips made it close briefly, but it's looking like a lot of teams will not be able to stay with the Lakers for 48 minutes no matter how hard they try.

Only 2 games, but talk about going 10 deep!!! Let's see if both the under 80 and blowout streaks continue against Denver!

[CBaller8]

[DancingBarry]

Can you guys imagine this being your season opener? Lose by nearly 40. Having fans cheering for the other team? Toughest job in the NBA must be in Clipper marketing.

Heisler:

[DancingBarry]

[Jeffs]

[osj]

Throughout the last two years, I have repeatedly tried to remind LGers of how good Mihm can be, especially on offense. I'm happy for him that it looks like he may really be back.