MAVS -at- LAKERS - 11/28 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

When Push Comes to Shove... You know Kobe always shoves back, especially against these Mavs. But, tonight, it started with Trevor Ariza.

Ariza ignited the Lakers in the second half and the team fed off it. They turned a sluggish performance into a battle of wills and a 114-107 victory, snapping the 5-game win streak by the Dallas Mavericks in the process.

If there has been a consistent nemesis this season, it's been defending the high screens in the middle of the floor. The Mavs exploited it from the top of the key again and again causing the Lakers problems. Both the bigmen and guards did a poor job in their respective duties. The bigmen were way too flatfooted, and the guards did a poor job trying to funnel the ballhandlers. Both defenders ended up in no-man's land with frequency...and the Mavs exploited it.

"We came out flat," said Ariza. "We didn't bring any energy."

Down by 12, the Lakers came to play midway through the third quarter. It started with some of that explosive energy from Ariza.

He crashed the glass for a putback jam on a miss by Pau. Next time down, he scooped up a loose ball and scored a layup forcing a Mav timeout. The Lakers weren't going to roll over.

With the sense of urgency elevated and the crowd buzzing, the Lakers finally locked in with 4 minutes left in the third quarter. Kobe dove for a loose ball to keep a possession alive. DFish, Lamar, Pau and Kobe all came up with big plays. Lamar stole a pass, pushed it up court and lobbed to Pau to turn out the lights on the Mavs. (Really the lights went out.) This 13-0 run flipped the game on its head -- the Lakers imposing their will on the Mavs from here through the fourth quarter.

"We just had to bring the intensity up defensively," Phil said.

After being dominated and outscored 35-2, the Laker bench helped start the fourth with a short run that put the Lakers in the driver's seat. It took a while, but the Lakers once again flexed their collective muscles to extend their record to 13-1.

"We have to be much more alert coming into ball games and being ready for ball games," Phil said.


Kobe -- -- He started off slow, especially defensively where he was sagged off his men and gave up a number of threes. Asked whether the Thanksgiving holiday had any effect, Kobe said, "I ate so much I could have played center tonight." When the intensity picked up in the third quarter, Kobe was in the middle of a Mav turkey shoot. You could see him going for the kill with the Mavs on their heels. Late in the game, any hopes of a Mav comeback were held at bay with a series of clutch scores by No. 24. "It's a work in progress," Kobe said of the team. "You aren't going to hold everybody to under 100. It's our key to be one of the top three defensive teams in the league. I think we're on pace for that, but the goal is to be at our best when the playoffs come around." The Stats: He scored 35 points on 14-26 shooting (1-4 from three, 6-6 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 40 minutes. The Action: He didn't draw iron on a face up wing jumper. He saw a lane, attacked and took a shove from behind on a layup attempt, he made both FTs. He back-rimmed a wing jumper. He missed a layup, but his bigmen cleaned it up. He took George to school in the post, stepping past him for a layup. He attacked in early offense, saw a seam, split defenders and hit a one-hand And-1 fading away from the hoop, he made the FT. He hit Vlad on the drive and dish for a three. He got hit on a jumper and airballed with no call. He got blocked from behind as he was elevating for a dunk. He rattled down a wing three off the kickout from Pau. He missed a wing three. He had 10 points on 3-9 shooting in the first quarter. He hit a lefty floater in the lane. He lobbed to Bynum for a score. He missed a wing jumper. He hit Fish for the corner three. He missed a corner three. He had 12 points on 4-12 shooting and 3 assists. Second Half: He sank a corner jumper with his toe on the three line. He went glass on a jumper from the wing. He threw a pass away trying to force it to Pau. He missed a wing jumper. He tapped an offensive board to Ariza for a layup. He posted up George, took contact with no call and swished the jumper. He dove for a loose ball to recover it and pass to a Laker. He iso'd against George, attacked to his left and hit the short jumper. With the crowd buzzing, he attacked to his left, pulled up and hit the 18-footer to force a timeout as we cut the lead to 2. He missed a long pull-up wing jumper at the end of the quarter (he wanted that one badly). He worked the two-man game with Bynum, probing, probing, then finally getting it to him for the dunk. He traveled in the post trying to avoid a double team. Short 3-minute rest off the bench, back in and he drained a wing jumper. Quick step on the baseline to get past his man and power up a layup. He back-rimmed a three. He swiped the ball from Dirk on the other end and was fouled on the breakaway, he made a tech, then made both of his FTs. He took contact on a jumper right in front of an official and missed with no call. He blocked Kidd under the hoop to save a layup. He posted up with 1:14 left and the shotclock low and swished a turnaround, waving his finger at the Mavs bench on the way down court. He took the handoff from Drew, stutter-stepped attacking from the right side of the lane, then hit the high teardrop over Dampier with 34 seconds, just too good. He wound the clock down, rose up and sank the 17-footer in our final possession.

Gasol -- -- Not very many post touches to start the game. He was efficient with his touches in the second half. Having to cover Dirk on those pick and pops with the Mavs guards isn't an easy task. You want to help the guards, but you're also worried about your man. Still, Pau did a horrible job in the first half. He wasn't hedging, he was allow guards to go around him easily. In the second half, it looked like Pau started to trust his teammates just a little more to pick up Dirk off those sequences. But he needs to watch those flat-footed defensive sequences against guards on the high screens. Some better anchoring at times from Pau. He got in on a couple blocks, but also changed a few shots. Glad to see more of that. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 7-12 shooting to go with 7 boards (4 offensive), 4 assists, 2 blocks and 1 foul in 39 minutes. The Action: He missed a turnaround jumper. Great no-look bounce pass to Bynum in the lane for a dunk. He crashed the glass and tipped in a missed shot. He hit Kobe for the three. He waited for teammates to clear out, attacked Dirk and hit the short jumphook over him. He missed a wing jumper. Good job running the floor to take a pass from Farmar and score at the first-quarter buzzer. He missed a short jumphook. He had 6 points on 3-6 shooting. Second Half: He missed a lefty jumphook. He hit Bynum on a high-low after flashing to the FT line to take the pass. He hit a baseline jumper off the kickout from Ariza. He dunked off the lob pass in transition from Lamar. He kept the ball alive on the rim after Fish missed, tapped it once, twice and in (great effort). He ball-faked and hit the elbow jumper.

Bynum -- -- "It's just going to be painful for a while, just something I'm going to have to deal with," Bynum said. He chipped a bone spur off his foot in the Nets game and was listed as day to day after an MRI and CT exam. "We're letting him monitor this a little bit," Phil said. "This is game-time decision." At game time, Drew was ready. The last time he met up with the Mavs, their bigmen were pushing him around. Tonight, that wasn't a problem. Dampier was a total non-factor. While Drew was the one doing damage on the glass and in the post. The Lakers gave him a lot of touches in the first half (ignoring Pau maybe a bit too much), but Bynum balled. He was in pain throughout, but it only showed during one stretch when he took some contact on his injury. Bynum and the Laker bigmen had trouble with the high screen-roll in the first half. They played it better in that third quarter and that helped tighten things down. Still, this will be an issue for the team. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 6-12 shooting (6-7 from the line) to go with 10 boards (6 offensive), 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 36 minutes. The Action: He rejected Wright badly. He got hammered from behind on the layup attempt, he made one FT. His shot was goaltended with no call. He took the no-looker from Pau in transition and threw down the And-1, he made the FT. He was fouled trying to throw down the oop from Fisher off the screen-roll, he made both FTs. He grabbed a pass at the FT line, attacked, extended and hit the runner (he limped down the court). He missed a face-up jumper. He grabbed a Lamar miss and couldn't hit the chippie. He grabbed a Pau miss and then missed a couple point-blank attempts before drawing the foul, he made both FTs. He scored off the Kobe lob pass. Good position and he hit the jumphook in the lane. He had 14 points on 4-10 shooting (6-7 from the line) to go with 8 boards. Second Half: He was stripped in the post. He scored the layup off the high-low from Pau. He dunked off the Kobe two-man game and was given a tech for hanging on the rim. He swatted a George three with a great close out on the sideline (more of that, please).

Radmanovic -- -- The coaches took issue with the weak Laker D on the high screens. Early in the second half, Vlad got lost on a screen and the Mavs hit an open jumper. Phil immediately called timeout and yanked him. The defensive intensity wasn't there from Vlad, so he got the very early hook. The game changed when Ariza took his spot. Phil doesn't want to take Ariza away from that second unit (and Ariza also said he likes his minutes there), but sometimes you are going to have to. On a regular basis, however, when Vlad isn't the answer, the Lakers need to look to more Sasha, more Lamar, too. You can't have Ariza playing 22-minute stints too often. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and no fouls in 17 minutes. The Action: He missed a wing three. He squared up and drained a wing three on the Kobe kickout. He missed a wing three with a man on. He hit the top of the backboard off an open corner three, yikes. Second Half: He was stripped trying to post up Kidd. He was yanked and yelled at shortly into the third quarter after weak high screen D.

Fisher -- -- Our guards were getting torched off the high screens. Part of it was them, part of it was the bigmen. Neither were playing with much intelligent effort in the first half. Thankfully, DFish was hitting from all over the court on the offensive end (well, he still bricked layups, of course). He was our lone consistent perimeter threat, which caused the Mavs problems. One stretch in the game, his offense forced a Mav timeout. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 8-14 shooting (3-5 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 31 minutes. The Action: He sank a long wing jumper on our first shot. He drew a charge on Green in transition. He probed off the Bynum screen, drew the D and threw it up high to Bynum for FTs. He bricked a layup trying to power up. He swished a wing three. Barea scored an easy layup around him, Fish bricked his layup attempt trying to go back at him. He hit the elbow jumper off the split play next time down. Left open in the corner and Kobe found him for the three. He telegraphed a pass to Vlad and it was turned over. He hit a teardrop in the lane. He hit a step-back 10-footer that forced a Mav timeout. He had 14 points on 6-9 shooting. Second Half: He swished a 19-footer out of a timeout. He missed a three in transition. Huge three in early offense to cut the Mavs lead down. He missed a three, got it back, missed a layup, but Pau tipped it in.

Lamar -- -- In a close game, you saw Pau, Bynum, Fisher, Kobe and ... Ariza all with starter minutes. Lamar was missing some chippies, but he was boarding, hustling and defensively active. Still, just 20 minutes for him. That's not the kind of minutes you want to see in a short rotation game. I think that at some point you are going to have to sneak a couple minutes per half for Lamar at the SF in place of Vlad's minutes. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-6 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 9 boards (2 offensive), 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 20 minutes. The Action: He missed a layup off a quick attack around Dirk. He lost the ball in the backcourt and gave up a dunk. He missed a layup in traffic. He contested a shot and threw the miss off Bass's legs. He missed a reverse taking a lot of contact. He missed a jumphook. He was 0-4 and didn't score in the first half. Second Half: One of the Plays of the Night: He swiped the pass from George, pushed out the dribble, attacked the lane and lobbed to Pau for the dunk to tie the game up. Good work banging off the ball in the post, he got the pass, faked left, went right and hit the long jumphook with his left. He missed a corner three.

Ariza -- -- You want him on the floor. You need him on the floor. The Lakers were in a street fight with punches thrown right and left. After getting knocked around in the first half, Ariza started knocking Maverick heads in the second half. He didn't score in the first half. Second half, he imposed his will. Too much energy and spark for the Mavs to contain, Ariza always mixing it up. Vlad lacked that sense of urgency, so Phil subbed him out early in the second half for Ariza. Ariza played all 22 minutes in the second half. That change and Ariza's energy seemed to lift the team and intensity. Phil wanted to put Trevor on Terry, but Kidd was covering Ariza, so a cross-match could have caused additional problems. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 7-12 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 5 boards (2 offensive), 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 31 minutes. The Action: He crashed the glass and recovered a Sasha miss. Second Half: He missed a wing three. He was blocked/stripped from behind on a drive by Kidd. He flushed down a miss by Pau. He scooped up a loose ball and scored a layup. He missed a jumper when the offense stalled. He scored a layup when Kobe poked a rebound to him. He choked a layup, rushing it, but we got it back. With the shotclock low, he attacked to his right, got stuck in traffic but still banked in a difficult layup. More control this time, hitting the up-and-under in the lane. He didn't hesitate on a catch-and-shoot jumper from the top of the key and sank it. Next time down, he was open on the sideline, rose up and swished the three. He clanked a wing three a couple minutes later. He missed a one-handed throwdown on a lob that he should have had.

Farmar -- -- Barea was torching him early on, getting easy dribble penetration without once being forced to a take a jumper. Terry took it to us as well. In the first half, Farmar and company gave the Lakers nothing. Our funnel scheme was often broken down by some very weak funneling by the guards. Farmar was on the hip of his man sometimes without even aid of a screen. He and Pau looked horrible at times. In the second half, the bench came to play. Terry still had his way with us, but we challenged shots a little better and cut down on so many easy dribble penetration sequences. I liked the response from Farmar and the bench in the second half. They knew they were getting out-played and they brought much more intensity and focus to the table. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 rebound, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and no fouls in 17 minutes. The Action: With 3 seconds left he quickly took the in-bounds pass and found Gasol for a layup just before the first quarter ended. He missed a pumping heave from three to beat the shotclock. He was swatted on a drive. Good challenge to force Terry into a brick and clear-out foul in transition. Second Half: He exploded after the ball on the perimeter, knocking it from Terry, then taking it the distance for the slam. He blocked a Terry jumper. He crossed over, elevated at the wing and hit off the glass. Bad read on a split and Kidd hit a wide open three (he didn't switch). He missed a pull-up wing jumper.

Vujacic -- -- Not a lot of action for Sasha in this game. With Kobe needed for extended duty, that cut Sasha's minutes down. Phil can slide Kobe to the SF and bring Sasha in sooner and still maintain a shooter on the floor. That will help with the defensive activity against a team like the Mavs. Still, when we have to play Josh Howard in this match up at some point, we are going to need to either go sooner to Ariza or slide Kobe to the SF and Sasha to the SG earlier (Lamar also plays Howard great defensively). The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-4 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 assist, 1 steal and no fouls in 8 minutes. The Action: He missed a wing three. He swiped a pass in the backcourt and tried to take it to Bass, missing a layup attempt. He drained a baseline jumper off the in-bounds pass. He forced a baseline jumper against a couple defenders off the dribble and missed. Second Half: He drew FTs when he was hit by Kidd on a catch-and-shoot at the elbow, he made both.

Phil -- -- The Lakers started off slow, but went on a 12-2 run to lead 14-10 before the Mavs called a timeout... The Lakers extended to a 20-10 lead before their D started giving up a series of open looks. (Kobe wasn't recovering and four threes were hit by his men.)... The Lakers led 30-27 after the first... Down by 37-34, Phil went to a Bynum, Gasol, Ariza, Kobe, Farmar lineup... The Mavs outscored the Lakers by 5 points in the final minute of the half and led 57-51. They outscored the Lakers 30-21 in the second quarter... The Mavs bench outscored the Laker bench 35-2 in the first half. They shot 16-23 to the Laker bench's 1-11. The Mavs shot 58.5 percent to the Lakers 36.5 percent. The Lakers had just 3 turnovers, the Mavs 8... Phil called an early timeout in the third as the Lakers again struggled with their high-screen D and the Mavs pulled out to a 9-point lead. He took Vlad out for Ariza... The Mavs stretched it to a 12-point lead, but scores by Ariza, Fish and Kobe cut it down to 2 and forced a Mav timeout... The Lakers led 80-78 to start the fourth after an intense close-out of the third quarter... The Lakers forced a Mav timeout when Ariza hit back-to-back jumpers to extend to a 103-93 lead... The Lakers had a 9-point lead with under 3 minutes left. Kobe closed out with a series of scores to answer some threes by the Mavs... The Lakers won the battle on the offensive glass 17-8. After a poor shooting first half, we finished the game shooting 49 percent. (The Mavs still shot 51 percent.)... "They played a good ball game, but we were better tonight," Phil said...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Check out the 13-0 run late in the third and the 8-2 run to start the fourth. That was both the starters and the bench picking up their intensity.

[Prometheus8]

ha! first
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"Every time he got an offensive rebound, it was deflating," Hornets coach Monty Williams said ... "I thought Bynum decided the series. He was that good."

"...one of the most valuable players in the league…"– Phil Jackson about Ron Artest in 2005

[chilake24]

damn, second

[MedRomLaker]

Thanks for the cap DB, da RZA really changed this game around, without his energy in the 3rd I think we could have lost this one. Also no sick intro of death today?
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11/9/12 the day the brown was flushed down!!!!!!

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

[20,000]

No elegant description of the 4 horsemen?

If they are pestilence and famine and whatnot, is Sasha rash? You know, that annoying itch that just won't go away?
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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.'

[Amara D'Antona]

[DancingBarry]

[Tony Almeida]

Thanks, DB.

"We came out flat," said Ariza. "We didn't bring any energy."

"We have to be much more alert coming into ball games and being ready for ball games," Phil said.

Phil normally has his teams peaking towards the end of the year, and it's only November, but, is the team developing a light switch mentality, or, does the team simply need more time to establish better consistency within any given game?

The team is good, very good. I don't expect them to hold every team under 100, and I don't expect them to play with energy 48 minutes a game, every game. But, picking and choosing when to bring it on both ends isn't a great habit to develop, especially for a young team.

[DancingBarry]

[KingKobe]

Was I the only one who heard Ariza say we gotta get the (k)nicks out of our system? It's kinks, Trevor. Kinks.

Or was it a fruedian slip about a certian wayward franchise from Ariza's past?
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*Warning: The preceding post may have contained sarcasm and/or irony.

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

[lakerjoshua]

Tonight I almost cried, then cheered for a quarter and a half Thanks for the recap:)

[guitargodhoracegrant]

he hasnt been with teh knicks in forever. some people say "nicks" as it is interchangable where it fits.
_________________
anyone here in lakerland like the following musicians: Yngwie Malmsteen, Symphony X, Dream Theater, Angra, Vinnie Moore, Adagio, Tony MacAlpine, Steve Vai, George Bellas, Planet X, Pagan's Mind. if so, shout me a holla?!

[LakerSanity]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB!! Good to see 13-1; good to see Kobe and Ariza both put fire in this team.

[KingKobe20]

Ariza is like a Nat at a Barbeque!!!!
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"Tryin' to get that Kobe number, One Over Jordan"
-Kanye

aka ILLWiLL20

R.I.P PHIL

[tradition32834]

as always a good read. thanks DB really appreciate your hard work

[8750]

thanks, DB
my biggest concern with this team is the total defensive dystonia between our pg and our bigmen... we can relieve this huge problem only with kobe and ariza together working on the passing lanes...

[limchrc]

Thanks. Nice win.

[Nobody]

Anyone knows what happened between Kobe and the Mavs bench?

Anyway, a gret writeup as usual.

And a nice win. I just woke up now after going to bed at 7:30 in the morning. I feel like a zombie but it was worth it.

[Dr. Laker]

Good job, as usual.
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

DALLAS SHOULD JUST FORFEIT WHENEVER THEY GET A DOUBLE DIGIT LEAD AGAINST US.
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[jodeke]

Great recap DB. Our depth once again forged a win. Ariza and LO came through. Farmar in spurts but when needed.
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Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

[doven]

another 7 point win

[Klone_dd]

Asked whether the Thanksgiving holiday had any effect, Kobe said, "I ate so much I could have played center tonight." I wonder who that was aimed at...

Almost an exact replay of the game @ Dallas. Mavs shoot high % thru 3Qs, build double digit lead midway in the 3rd, then the Lakers turn it up and blitz them in the 4th. I can live with that even though it's a little nerve-racking.

Nice game by Bynum. He obviously got the message that he can't let Damp bully him around. Pau was subtle, but still outstanding.

Ariza had major, dare I say Kobe-esque, impact. He hit as many difficult shots as he missed bunnies. The guy belongs on the court, but I'm not sure if he'd pace himself if he was a starter and not bring the mad energy the Lakers sometimes needs.

Kobe's dive to get the loose ball was the inspiring point of the game. From that point on, the Lakers rolled. When you see your Olympic superstar MVP lay out like that, you gotta shake off the lethargy and ball.

[City_Dawg]