PISTONS -at- LAKERS - 11/14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Perfect Season Denied... Reality check. The Lakers won't go 82-0. The Lakers dropped their first game of the season, 106-95, to the Allen Iverson-led Pistons. You knew it had to happen sometime...didn't you? Time to start another win streak.

The Lakers perimeter game abandoned them. With no one able to stretch the floor, Detroit packed the paint, making life difficult all around for the Laker offense. With Kobe having another rough night from outside, he struggled to find room to operate inside.

Defensively, the Lakers had issues with the high screens. At times, the Pistons were able to spread the floor for themselves, Rasheed hitting threes with our bigmen not recovering to him in a timely fashion. The Pistons got the lead by attacking from the top of the arc in this manner instead of from the sides where the Lakers overload the defense.

So, neither end was clicking and the veteran Pistons were able to take the first game from the Lakers this season.

Kwame Brown received a small chorus of boo's whenever he touched the ball early in the game. He played a solid all-around game for the Pistons giving a double-double (banking in a freethrow, however, at one point). Asked about the booing, "They boo'd me when I was here," Kwame said. He added that at least now he understands it.

"Kwame and Sheed can play their bigs straight up," Tayshaun Prince said afterward. This will help the Pistons defend the perimeter. However, the Lakers didn't attack Sheed enough with Pau or give the ball to Bynum much against Kwame. Not to mention they barely used Lamar. They also had a lot of good looks that they just didn't knock down.

Phil thought they got the ball inside okay, but didn't move the ball around the floor well afterward. Our shooters in the starting lineup -- Kobe, Fish and Vlad -- went a combined 17-52. Meanwhile, Bynum and Gasol went 9-18. Get the bigmen a few more shots. Credit Detroit for a smart two-way game, but the Lakers didn't bring their A game, either.



Kobe -- -- Kobe surpassed Larry Bird for 23rd and Gary Payton for 22nd on the all-time scoring list in this game. That, and a couple of dunks, will be the only thing to remember from Kobe's game tonight. His perimeter shot was horribly off until the final few minutes. Combine that with no one else hitting and Kobe struggled against the tighter interior defense. The Stats: He scored 29 points on 12-30 shooting (2-7 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 6 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 39 minutes. The Action: He set up Drew off the two-man game for a layup. He missed a 19-footer. He scored an And-1 on an up-and-under in the lane, he made the FT. He hit Bynum on another slip screen for a layup. He stepped around Hamilton and dunked with both hands. He missed a wing jumper. Gasol lobbed from the high wing to Kobe on the weakside, the ball just hanging in the air, so did Kobe and he was able to somehow one-hand it in on an incredible play (Kobe reached the top of the backboard square to get the pass). He missed a stepback jumperover a double team. He threw a pass away at the end of the quarter and Iverson scored at the buzzer on the other end. He posted up and hit the short 8-footer. He let Maxiell step around him on the weakside and it led to a dunk (you have to stay in front of the man under the hoop on our zone scheme). He missed a runner off the glass, then fouled. He missed a wide open elbow jumper. He grabbed a loose ball and drew FTs in the middle of the lane, he made both. He missed a wing jumper short. He over-dribbled through and around traffic and turned it over for points the other way. He attacked to his right, rose up and went glass at the buzzer over Kwame. He scored 13 points on 5-13 shooting. Second Half: He missed a runner. He missed an open pull-up jumper. He swished a short pull-up in transition. He missed another short runner off the glass and wanted the foul. He nailed Prince to the ground on a nasty cross-over then dunked with his left. He missed a three, way short. He got caught in the air off a simple screen roll and threw the ball away. He swiped a pass, pushed out the break and fed LO for a layup. He clanked a pull-up elbow jumper. He missed a wing three out of a timeout. He missed a bank from the left side. He swished a wing three, finally. You knew he'd size it up again, and he swished a long three a couple possession later. He missed a third attempt a few seconds later. He rejected Hamilton's shot badly. He nearly lost a dribble, recovered it and scored an And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He missed a wing three. He spit a double, rose up and threw down over the help D. He poked a ball free and dunked on the bustout. He hit the floor with a minute left down by 11 to recover a ball in the backcourt. He missed a three badly.

Gasol -- -- Rasheed knocked down a number of wide open threes. Some of these were initiated off the high screen-roll from the top of the arc. That made things tough on the team. On the other end, Pau struggled against Kwame's man D. He probably should have just faced up and shot over him. We also should have gone to Pau more against Rasheed. Pau can score on that match-up. In fact, he had some real easy ones tonight. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-11 shooting (3-5 from the line) to go with 10 boards (5 offensive), 6 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls. The Action: He missed an easy hook over Wallace. He sank an open jumper off the kickout from Drew. He was fouled in the lane and made one FT. He threw a high arching oop to Kobe who somehow put it in. He hit a jumphook over Wallace in the post. He posted up, spun left, went right and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He took a pass while trailing the break and fed LO on the other side of the hoop for the layup. He hit LO on a high-low next time down for another layup. He missed a chippie at the front of the rim, but Ariza cleaned it up. He tipped in a DFish missed layup. He had 10 points on 4-6 shooting and 5 boards. Second Half: He missed a 15-footer. He got blocked by Kwame on a turnaround. He charged trying to beat Kwame off the dribble. He scored a layup on a lob from Kobe. He was fouled on a layup and made one FT. He scored an up-and-under layup.

Bynum -- -- Some very good sequences on the offensive boards from Drew. He was just too big for the Pistons. Offensively, we were able to also set him up with a few high entry feeds. We rarely looked for him to create or attack in the post. So, that size wasn't utilized very much offensively. Defensively, this was a tougher game to anchor as the Pistons moved the ball well. He still managed to get in on some big rejections and a few good alterations. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-7 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards (6 offensive), 4 assists, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 31 minutes. The Action: He slipped the screen and split a couple Pistons as he scored a layup. He traveled in the post. He drew the D and kicked to Gasol for a jumper. He missed a jumphook, got it back and missed a jumper. Great job battling on the offensive glass for a couple of boards, then Kobe fed him on a slip screen lob and Bynum scored the layup. He pulled down another offensive board from right behind Kwame and it led to points for Pau. He had 4 offensive boards in the first quarter. Little impact in his second quarter minutes. Second Half: He yanked an offensive board away from a couple Pistons and scored. He swatted Wallace in the lane. Kwame scored an And-1 layup over him (foul him if you are going to foul him, Drew). He let Prince step around him on the baseline when he was being funneled to him (bad angle and flat-footed by Bynum). He rejected Hamilton's layup out of bounds. He drew FTs on the baseline attack from LO, he made both. He couldn't finish off a Kobe pass under the hoop.

Radmanovic -- -- Vlad couldn't hit anything from the outside. We needed a shooter and he failed. Defensively, I thought he did a reasonable job, but he's got to hit his shot. Someone send out an A.P.B. on the Impaler. We need him back. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-6 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 15 minutes. The Action: He missed a 19-footer. He missed a wing jumper. He fumbled a pass on the curl out of bounds. He missed a wing jumper next time down. Decent defense on Prince when he was out there. Second Half: He missed a wing three. He finally scored on a short hook in the lane.

Fisher -- -- AI was scoring on him early and DFish was responding with a series of missed shots on the other end. It was a badly lopsided first half. In the second half, Fish started to find his shot and was able to at least sink a few, but we couldn't dig out of the hole. Our lack of perimeter shooting killed us. We probably could have done a better job working the ball around for better shots or going back into the post. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-16 shooting (1-5 from three) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 5 fouls in 34 minutes. The Action: He missed a 19-footer in early offense on our first attempt of the game. He missed an elbow jumper on the break, got it back and bricked a three. Next time down he got rejected badly in the lane. He missed a floater. He attacked, missed a layup, missed it again, then Pau tipped it in. He drew a charge on Hamilton on the other end (Hamilton's third foul). He was 0-7 in the first half, second-most shot attempts behind only Kobe. AI had 14 points on 6-9 shooting. Second Half: He made his first attempt on the baseline, left open. He drew a moving pick on Kwame. He sank the wing jumper off the pinch post with Pau. He hit a pull-up on the baseline creating over AI with the shotclock low. He missed a 16-footer in early offense. He missed a three. He missed a wide open three, got it back and sank his next one. He missed a three, way short. He airballed a three.

Lamar -- -- "We got beat in every aspect of the game tonight," Lamar said. He was clearly frustrated in the post-game interviews and looked frustrated late in the game, too. He only played 20 minutes on the night. He's an impact player. We only got half a game from him with those minutes. That's leaving a lot of talent on the bench. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-5 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block and 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 20 minutes. The Action: He swished a wing jumper off the pinch post. He attacked Kwame from the three line and drew FTs in the lane, he missed both. He posted up, drew the D and hit Sasha for the three. He took the interior feed from Pau and scored a layup. He overpowered Prince on a high-low entry pass from Pau and scored a layup. He was 3-3 for 6 points in 11 minutes. Second Half: He scored a layup after Kobe pushed out the break. Horrible entry pass to Pau, not even close, turnover. He posted up Prince and hit the And-1 jumphook, he made the FT. He attacked from the baseline and fed Drew for FTs. He gave up a few FTs with backcourt fouls in the fourth.

Ariza -- -- Late in the game and down big, Phil went to Ariza at the PF. This was to help with the Laker pressure defense, and with Prince at PF, we could get away with it easier. I wouldn't mind seeing Ariza defending AI in this one. Fisher wasn't giving us anything. Ariza gave his typical effort and scratched double figures again. He got stuck with ball with with the shotclock low on his first two attempts. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-9 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 30 minutes. The Action: He airballed a heave to beat the shotclock. He airballed a three trying to beat the shotclock again. He beat everyone down court and threw down the lob from Farmar. He swished a pull-up 16-footer off the Gasol screen out of a timeout. He knocked the ball loose on the perimeter and tracked it down. He drew an offensive foul on Stuckey who lowered his shoulder. He pulled down a Kobe miss, fed Gasol and then dunked back in Gasol's miss. Second Half: He bricked a layup badly off the glass. He attacked down the lane, hung and scored the layup. He swiped a weakside skip pass and hit Farmar for a layup. He scored a reverse off the no-look from Pau.

Farmar -- -- It looked like he tried to lift the team at one point, but he couldn't spark anything, missing a few key shots. It's been a while since he has put together a full game. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-7 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 1 turnover with 3 fouls in 14 minutes. The Action: He picked up an off-the-ball foul on the break, wow. He blew past AI on the baseline and scored the reverse. He lobbed to Ariza in transition on the next play. He missed off the glass in the lane. He missed a three, but hustled back in transition to force a turnover. Second Half: He completely missed Bynum on the screen-roll, opting for a bad pass to LO instead. He hit a turnaround from the FT line. He missed an open three next time down. He scored a bust-out layup when Ariza swiped a pass. He missed a baseline pull-up jumper.

Vujacic -- -- With the Lakers struggling to find their shot, Sasha got a few more minutes in this game. We saw Kobe finally slide over to the SF to make room. Sasha never got many open looks. He was also fouling in our pressure D, which really sucked the wind out of the sails. He had 5 fouls in the fourth quarter. Can't give up that many freebies when you are trying to come from behind. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-4 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and 5 fouls in 16 minutes. The Action: He missed an 18-footer. He drained a three on the kickout from Lamar. Second Half: He missed a three at the end of the third. He smothered Stuckey in the backcourt to tie him up for a jumpball. He drew FTs on an offensive board. He missed a heave from the corner. He fouled a couple Pistons.

Phil -- -- The Pistons had their way with us from beginning to end... The Pistons started off 6-6, AI torching DFish early on... Out of a timeout, the Lakers caused a shotclock violation on the Pistons. The Lakers tied the game up on a 10-0 run, took the lead by making it a 12-0 run. Then, they faded again... Very poor start from the Lakers on both ends, trailing 23-16. The Lakers shot 7-22 in the quarter (very poor perimeter shooting), the Pistons shot 11-19... The offense picked up, but the Lakers were giving up a number of wide open threes. A lot of these were initiated off attacks from the middle of the court... The Lakers lost the second quarter 30-28 and trailed 53-44 at the half. The Pistons shot 56 percent for the half, including 4-9 from three. the Lakers shot 41 percent and went 1-5 from three... "We have to contain their ball penetration, especially from the top," Hamblen said. He specifically pointed to that high screen... Phil went to Trevor earlier in the second half. (Still no Lamar at the SF despite how well he matches up with Prince.)... Looking at the shot chart, the Lakers were 6-29 on anything 10 feet or more from the hoop at this point in the game... The Lakers trailed 77-62 going into the fourth quarter... The Lakers sent the Pistons the freethrow line a ton in the fourth quarter. Nearly impossible to make a comeback giving them freebies... "Iverson broke our defense down and we weren't very effective on the other end of the floor," Phil said... Pistons shot 51 percent in the game to the Lakers 42 percent. Lakers out-rebounded them 16-7 on the offensive glass. The Lakers had just 11 turnovers to the Pistons 18. The Pistons made 18 more FTs...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Unlike previous games, the Lakers never recovered from the run by the Pistons at the end of the first quarter and start of the second.

[sjih]

=/

We'll get them next time

[Vishnu]

thanks...

[SladeRider]

I still stand by that I would of loved the Lakers to of signed Posey in the summer.

I think Posey being in there would make such a big difference, mainly because he can hit shots, unlike Vlad at times.
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"This is a comptitive city. We're used to winning titles, not just winning games and being in the first round. We want to win championships. Now's the time.", "do something, and do it now."
- Kobe Bryant

[DancingBarry]

[Mation]

Wish our frontcourt had more touches in this one.

Hope we practice and make defensive adjustments to the high screen-and-roll. Teams are going to try and emulate what the Pistons did tonight.

[Tony Almeida]

Thanks, DB.

I couldn't help but think of Murphy's Law tonight.

When I saw Kwamay Brown bank in a free throw...and rattle in the second, I knew it just was not the Lakers night. And of course there was Sheed's heave and bank triple.

[Arizona]

If you add in the true numbers for our 'bigs' and include LO (not sure why you didn't-he was 5-5 and he is one of our bigs), the bigs shot 14-23, an even better percentage and even more reason to go to them. I didn't get to see the game but it doesn't sound like I missed much, outside of the guards jacking up bricks. I did see the first quarter and all I saw were quick shots off of offensive rebounds instead of resetting the offense. Tonight sucked big time. My DVR receiver died and won't get a replacement til Wednesday. Yeah, I'm pissed.
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“I’m just a basketball player, you know? Just put me where you need me.” -Lamar Odom

“You’ve got to play with pride and guts.” -LO

[Klone_dd]

Revenge of the Kwame. Seriously, when Sheed banks in a 3 and Kwame banks in a FT, those are bad omens. That plus Kobe's midrange game deserting him = pure ugliness.

Certainly, not enough touches for the bigs as they were totally under-utilized.

I don't think the Pistons' d was great. Kobe certainly had great looks from the FT line extended. He was just off.

Vlad was absolutely horrible. Ugh.

[MedRomLaker]

Dood arizona your lucky your dvr died out, it would hurt you to see this game. In fact that's probably why it broke, it couldn't handle the trashing and gave out lol.

Thanks DB great cap, this game is like a prostate examination: painfully embarrassing.

edit: quick Q db, where did the high-low action we saw in the preseaon go? I think that could have helped us loads seeing some of that pau drew action.
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11/9/12 the day the brown was flushed down!!!!!!

4/30/14 the day the ant left the building!!!!!!

[AussieLakerFan]

Lakers laid an egg tonight. No doubt about it. This falls squarly on Kobe and Fish for there poor shot selection and not forcing the ball inside enough to where we had been having efficient scoring.

However, they were hindered in the 4th quarter by being pinged repeatedly for soft perimeter fouls. 15 fouls in total, in the penalty at the 7:13 mark. Allowed Detroit to shoot 26 free throws in the fourth quarter alone. Detroit only hit three field goals in the fourth quarter. Lakers hit 12 and only took 6 free throws.

[SladeRider]

[oaktown_dimond]

i didn't catch the game.

was drew playing like he has for the most part this year?

meaning - NOT playing like he did last year?

what's up with him? i don't get it. it's fine if he doesn't trust his knee but it's like he's lost his fire. he doesn't need to worry about the knee when it comes to doing what he did great last year - namely throwin' mofos to the hardwood to get to the basket.

doesn't he "want it" anymore?

[dna.]

Thanks DB.

Offense like tonight beats few (quality) teams in this league.

Bring on the next game and put this one behind us.

[KingKobe20]

I can't wait until March 26 when we can get our Revenge

[limchrc]

Thanks. Time to get back on the winning track.

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB! I appreciate your efforts.

Our bigs didn't play big and our backcourt had a poor floor game. Bad job of blocking out, no crisp passes were made, no inside outside game to speak of, and poor shot selection. Last night proved to me that we can get to the big dance - and I expect that we will - but without a strong inside game we could be in trouble again. No way should Sheed outplay Pau like that and to top it off Kwame almost had a double double?

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

BENCH VLAD, START ARIZA

i knew we obviously wouldnt go 82-0, but i was hoping maybe 41-0 at staples. i wouldnt have minded losing at the palace, but we have to protect our house. oh well
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[Killakobe81]

[Killakobe81]

[golakersgo121]

Thanks, DB.

I don't see any big problems arising from the last night game.

Yes, we lost. But we lost (mostly) due to the Pisstons hitting from the outside. And, as TA pointed out - we have lost a game where Sheed banked in a 3 from 30' out with Gasol all over him and shot clock down; Kwame laying two bricks from the FT line that found their way into the net - clearly: it wasn't our night. Add to it that neither Fish or Vlad or Kobe hit ANYTHING from the outside to stretch opponent's defense a little bit...

Our boys have to realize - the system ain't broken. Defense gotta stay the way it was. No layups and dunks. If we get beat - it has to be from the outside...
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Major bullets dodged: DH12 - twice, LMA, Melo - twice, PG-13, DeMar DeRozan. Hit jackpot with DH-12 at the right time

[lakerfanfor40years]

The Pistons played much better than at anytime this season, and the Lakers were just horrible, on O, D, and hustle.. very upsetting.

[lakerfanfor40years]

[Freakout]

Not happy with the coaching.

Bynum started the game out like a man on a mission then he goes to the bench for what seemed to be 9 straight minutes. Once he came back in he just didn't seem to have the same intensity that he started the game with.

They have also turned Andrew into a token big. He is to hesitant because you can tell his thought process is look for the cutters first and foremost.

I know it is early but if they keep playing this way offensively they are not winning a title this year. I'm just amazed that despite our weak offense in the Finals where we became strictly a jump shooting team that Phil seems fine with the guys playing the exact same style offensively that made us look like a bunch of soft babies.

[City_Dawg]