LAKERS -at- GRIZZLIES - 12/22 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Third Time is the Charm... Tourists dance in nightclubs, mingle on the streets and get hustled by vendors. You walk these streets in search of answers. You're tired of opening doors and getting punched in the face. It happened at ClubHeat and ClubMagic. Now you've got a beat on a fat man who's played at both clubs. Maybe he has answers.

You head down a trash-filled alley and open the side door to one of these squalid clubs. Tambourines and maracas keep rhythm with some god-awful melody. You follow the sound of the maracas. It will lead you to him.

The fat man wore a ruffled, peach-colored tuxedo shirt and shook maracas with each hand. You wait for his fantastic set to finish, then follow him to a back room. He picks up a towel, then pushes play on an old cassette player. Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man" starts up. You watch as he rewinds to the beginning of the song.

"Melinda was mine till the time that I found her...holding Jim...loving him..." He wipes the sweat from his forehead and pours himself a drink. He takes a sip and stares distantly at the pictures on the wall. It's him watching someone else hold Larry when he's playing at ClubMagic. It's him at Larry's house in L.A. ... three times. It's him holding little Larry with some drama queen at ClubHeat.

"Don't know that I will, but until I can find me...a girl who'll stay and won't play games behind me, I'll be what I am...A solitary man...Solitary man."

He turns and is startled to see you. "I hear you might know something about little Larry O'Brien," you say.

"You've been misinformed, my friend," he replies with a smirk. He feeds the smirk another sip of adult beverage. "Never heard of him," he says.

Wrong answer. You grab a handful of his ruffles and slam him against the wall. His glass shatters on the floor, and you twist his hand back until it can't turn anymore. He's fragrant like old socks. The stench of sour bourbon seeps from his pores. "You want to keep playing the maracas? I suggest you wise up real quick. Can you dig it?"

"Yeah... Maybe I know someone who can tell you," his says through gritted teeth. "Last I heard, a certain green menace had him. I ... I don't know any more. I swear." This time you believe him. You let him go and he slumps to the floor.

I'll be what I am...A solitary man...Solitary man...Mmmmm hhmmmm. Solitary Man..."

As you leave the seedy club in search of this Green Menace, you get a text message. DancingBarry:

The Four Horsemen were here. They've struggled recently, losing battles in the last seconds, but this time they would not be denied. They imposed themselves in the final minutes and secured victory. Perhaps, this will help cure the illness that has plagued them. I will continue to follow them...

The Laker defense showed up in the second half. After giving up 57 points in the first half, they held Memphis to just 39 points -- including a 16-point fourth quarter. A late 20-5 rally in the final minutes allowed the Lakers to secure the 105-96 win. It was much closer than the score indicates.

Offensively, they played smarter. They saw Memphis front the post and they went to their counters, unlike in Miami. This resulted in several high-lows and helped cause the D to scramble. The way the Grizzlies were playing the high screens, ball movement was also essential. The Lakers keyed in on this in the second half and were able to find consistent scoring.

It wasn't pretty on either end, and some of the lineups were clunky. Kobe led the scoring and Pau came up huge in the final minute on a few plays. They will have to start tomorrow's game with the same sense of urgency they finished tonight's.

"We're just going to have to be much better on the screen-roll defense than we were today," Phil said of the upcoming game in New Orleans.


Kobe -- -- He was determined to get the W tonight. Late in the fourth, he told his teammates in the timeout to move the ball. The ball moves faster than players can rotate and with the defensive approach the Grizzlies took, quick ball movement would open up easy shots. Any time we would initiate the high-screen plays, the extra pass would lead to an open look of some kind. It was as predictable as, say, our own defense has been...and made for some consistant Laker offense. Defensively, Kobe gambled and over-played too much in the first half. He cleaned that up more in the second half and it helped make a difference. The Stats: He scored 36 points on 14-23 shooting (3-6 from three, 5-8 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, 5 turnovers and 1 foul in 38 minutes. The Action: He missed a two-footer posting up. He was blocked on a post up by the help D. He swished a step-back wing jumper. Quick first step on the weakside and Kobe blew past Mayo for an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He buried a wing jumper over Ross from the left side. He gambled and lost, it led to a foul on Pau. He missed a three with the shotclock low. He over-played his man and Pau saved him with a block. He was called for a carry at the end of the quarter. He over-played and it resulted in a dunk. He scored a layup off a bounce pass from Sasha at the end of the quarter. He hit a turnaround from the midpost. He swished a sideline three over his man. He pulled up on the next trip down and swished a three again, this time from the other side. Third time is rarely the charm for Kobe from three, he missed a three next time down (he usually puts up a much more difficult shot on the third one when they sit on his shot more). He was stripped twice in one offensive sequence. He missed a floater in the lane. He had 17 points on 7-12 shooting and 4 turnovers. Second Half: He sank an elbow jumper on his first touch. He posted up, spun to the middle and scored the easy one-hander. He drew FTs on the bustout after a Bynum block, he made one. He attacked, broke down the D and fed Bynum for the dunk. He missed a jumper (got knocked down), the picked up a tech after the Grizzlies dunked in transition. He sank a hanging jumper in the lane. He over-played and it resulted in a three on the weakside. He forced a hard bank and missed. He missed a three long. He traveled from the elbow trying to attack. Down by 3, he crossed-over Rudy Gay, got wrapped up but still powered in the And-1 layup, he missed the FT. Two-man D breakdown: Pau switched, Kobe didn't, no one rotated, dunk Darko. He was fouled attacking into the heart of the D, he made both FTs to cut it 3 with 3 minutes left. He backed down his man in the post and banked to take a lead with 2 minutes left. He took a kickout from Pau and hit the three with 1 second left on the clock. He was fouled with 8 seconds left and a 6-point lead, he made one. He stole the ball and threw down as the buzzer went off. Exclamation point.

Gasol -- -- Returning to Memphis, Pau got a semi-warm welcome from his former fans. They played a highlight reel of some of his great plays and the fans gave him some respect...then it was down to business and he was now the opponent. Gasol imposed his will on his former team in the final minute. He had a score, a key offensive rebound that set up a Kobe three and a blocked shot all in the final minute of action. "I was lucky to find him," Pau said of the key kickout to Kobe for three. To complicate his return home to Memphis, Pau also had to battle Marc Gasol. "It's a pretty amazing experience," Pau said of playing against his brother at the highest level. Some smarter offensive execution by the team. There were a few nice triangle sequences by Pau with Memphis fronting our post and helping. It seems the Lakers might have worked on their counters a little after struggling with this against the Heat. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-10 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 6 assists, 2 blocks and 1 foul. The Action: He flashed to the FT line, took a pass and fed Bynum on the high-low for a layup (Tri read they need to do more of). He swished a top-of-the-key jumper. He scored a layup over his brother on the corner sequence (again, fronting D, this is another Tri counter for it). He missed a wide open wing jumper. He back-rimmed a short jumper in the middle of the lane (should have attacked). He was blocked at the front of the rim. He took the bounce pass from Luke and reverse jammed. He drew a clear-out foul on his bro's drive. He was fronted, took the high entry on the seal and drew FTs, he made one. Nice help D block to save Kobe. He was blocked on a turnaround. He gave up an And-1 to Gay off the high screen. Second Half: He posted up Darko, spun and sealed for a layup. Luke drew Pau's man, fed Pau, who drew Bynum's man and Pau threw it up to the rim for Bynum to dunk. He hit Bynum again (after running the pick and pop with Luke). He attacked off the two-man game with Kobe and scored a layup. He drew FTs attacking his bro on the wing, he made both. He faced up on the left wing, attacked to the middle of the lane and hit the runner to take a 3-point lead with just over 1 minute left. Great effort on the offensive glass to pull down an offensive board and feed Kobe for a three with 34 seconds left. He blocked Gay's drive.

Bynum -- -- Foul trouble once again forced Bynum from the court. He hasn't been a foul-prone player this season until the last several games when he seems to have gone into a funk. Even though he's still far from playing a complete game, Bynum did benefit tonight from some better team triangle execution. The fronting Memphis defense paid the price as the Lakers went to their counters and were able to set him up off high-low's. If you are being fronted, you can go to the corner sequence or flash Pau to the FT line to set up the high-low. You can also get Bynum set up off the two-man games when initiated by others. When Bynum's man has to rotate and another smaller player has to go to Bynum, throw it up to the rim for him. All of this was in play tonight and the Lakers actually took advantage of some of it. So, they were able to effectively take advantage of Bynum without him having to create from the post. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-8 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 21 minutes. The Action: He was fronted, sealed his man, took the high-low from Pau and scored a layup (textbook counter to fronting D). He traveled on the attack. He dunked off the interior feed from Luke. He led with an elbow in the post and picked up a charge. He picked up his third foul a minute into the second quarter on the perimeter, done for the half after 8 minutes. Second Half: No close out on Gasol and he gave up a jumper. He cut and Kobe found him in the lane for FTs, he made one. Next time, he did close out on Gasol and drew a travel violation. He rejected Mayo to ignite the breakaway (it led to Kobe FTs). He missed a jumphook short and wanted the foul. He dunked off the drive and dish from Kobe. He dunked off the high-low sequence with Pau. He dunked off the two-man game with Luke and Pau. He hit a jumphook off the two-man game with Ariza. Sloppy rotation and he fouled a man not stopping in time.

Luke -- -- Luke was a +9 in his minutes out there. Offensively, he was moving the ball well, but again he's a liability on the perimeter. Once again making a case that Lamar could see minutes at the SF and probably do fine for some stints. Opponents are also able to hide smaller players on Luke or Vlad and while we try to go to them in the post, they aren't always a sure thing. It would be much more difficult for opponents to do that against LO. I think Vlad may have a better grasp of our defensive system than Luke. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-6 shooting to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 19 minutes. The Action: Nice bounce pass to Pau to set up a reverse jam. He doubled off the cutter, his man scored easily (Bynum didn't have a chance to rotate). He hit Bynum in the lane for a dunk. Nice wing cut, he took a pass from Fish to score the layup. He missed a drive, but got it back and reset the offense. Second Half: He posted up Gay, hooked him and scored with his left. He had Mayo on him, took the post feed and scored easily. He blocked Mayo's jumper, then got blocked badly from behind by Mayo on the break.

Fisher -- -- The stat for to look at for Fish is the 41 minutes of action. These minutes will add up. I thought Sasha did a decent job defensively, but they will be in the crosshairs in the next one. "It's a process for us surviving on the court and flourishing actually," Phil said of the minutes right now. The most the Lakers seemed to get killed tonight by the Memphis PGs was when they left them in our scheme or on rotations. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-7 shooting (1-4 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 41 minutes. The Action: He disrupted a 3-on-1 break to help get a stop. He swished a fading baseline jumper to beat the shotclock buzzer. He missed an early offense three. He missed a point-blank layup. He hit the wing jumper off the Mihm screen. He attacked from the high post and drew FTs on the runner, he made both. Second Half: He made a tech FT. Good hustle in the passing lane to knock down a pass and force a turnover. He missed a three with the shotclock low. He threw a pass into Bynum's legs, turnover. He sank a big sideline three off the Kobe/Pau two-man game. He missed a three with 1:22 left (ball stopped in his hands). He was hammered from behind on a long defensive board to earn FTs with 31 seconds left, he made only one to give the Lakers a 4-point lead.

Lamar -- -- Frustrating game for LO, but he was aggressive and that's the key for him. At the end of the night, he led the team with a +18 in 26 minutes of action. He was getting no love from the officials and eventually picked up a tech. He was fouled on a number of shots, but got nothing. (It's sad when he goes 4-6 from the line and I feel it's a good FT shooting night. Still, he earned a few more trips than he actually got.) Defensively, he and other Lakers seem to get crossed up quite a bit on our rotations and switches. It happened in the last game...and again in this one for some bad breakdowns. They just aren't on the same page too often. "He was aggressive. He was decisive on what he wanted to do and that was good," Phil said. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-12 shooting (0-1 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 6 boards (3 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. The Action: Quick attack in transition to draw FTs against Darko, he made one. Change of pace, quick first step and he drew FTs attacking to his right, he made both. Great throwdown when his man went for the steal and Marc Gasol came over to help. He missed a reverse layup. He threw an entry pass out of bounds trying to find Mihm who was fronted. Second Half: He missed an And-1 layup (he didn't get the call), so he came up with nothing. Out of control on an attack and he didn't draw iron on the jumphook. He attacked, got blocked, got it back and reversed. He attacked and missed, looking for another foul. He attacked again next time down and this time drew the whistle (finally), after all of that, he made just one FT. Horrible D, not switching on Vlad's man, letting him go right past him for a layup. He missed a layup attacking. He attacked again, no call and he yelled at the refs, this time picking up a tech. He drained a sideline jumper on the in-bounds. He missed a three next time down. He picked up a defensive three tech. He dunked, trailing Trevor's one-man steal/breakaway. He attacked, took contact and bricked a layup trying to draw a foul in the final minute (not getting it earlier, wasn't going to get the call now).

Ariza -- -- Too many over-plays and failed gambles in this one. Not as bad as Kobe was early on, but the defensive miscues still caused issues. Offensively, he didn't have a lot of garbage points, but he was able to come up with a couple key plays in crunch time, including a steal that led to a Lamar dunk. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-4 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go wtih 5 boards (3 offensive), 4 assists, 2 steals and 4 fouls in 29 minutes. The Action: He gave up an And-1 not paying attention to DFish's funnel (Fish was pissed). He attacked and kicked to Sasha for three. He missed an early offense three fading to his left. He overplayed his man and gave up a Dunk. He went for a steal on an in-bounds pass and gave up a dunk. Second Half: He fouled Warrick after he and Sasha let Warrick step through their double team. He finger-rolled in traffic for a score. Excellent hustle to track down a long miss and reset the offense. He missed a jumphook over Mayo instead of trying to power in a layup. He swiped the ball on a trap with Kobe, pushed it out and fed Lamar for the dunk. Mayo hit a three over him with 1 minute left to tie it up. He attempted to run down the clock after taking an outlet from Lamar, he was fouled with 22 seconds left for FTs up by 4, he made both clutch ones.

Vujacic -- -- Pretty good D on smaller, quicker guys like Lowry. They weren't really the focal point of the Memphis attack, but Sasha still was able to hold his own and be disruptive at times. I'll take that anytime I can get it at the Laker PG spot. Same sort of rotations from Phil with Sasha and DFish. Offensively, he just took 1 shot and sank it. It would be nice if Sasha could eek out more PT with some good minutes. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 from three to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 foul in 13 minutes. The Action: He slapped a ball loose and Kobe scooped it up. He drained the open wing three off the kickout from Ariza. Cheap foul when it looked like he stripped Mayo from behind. Same defensive stand and Sasha swiped the ball from Mayo when he and Mihm had him trapped. Second Half: He reached in on Marc Gasol's attack to swipe the ball from him.

Mihm -- -- With Bynum in foul trouble, Phil dusted off Mihm in the first half. He's not the anchor of either Pau or Bynum, but he managed to hold down the fort okay. He was a -3 in his short minutes. If the Lakers make a trade for a PG, it would seem that Mihm with his ending year contract and serviceable bigman game might be something they would use. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 6 minutes. The Action: He slipped the screen, took the pass, hung past another defender and reversed. He wiped out DFish's man with a screen to open him up for a jumper. He had a layup stripped away. Second Half: He did not play.

Radmanovic -- -- He came in midway through the second at the PF spot and later returned to play at that position. He ended up leading all Lakers with a -10, but he didn't play that bad. He was in on some strange lineups that looked like they might fail. Memphis did go a little on the small side, but still. Bynum, Vlad, Ariza, Sasha, DFish? The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting from three to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and 1 foul in 12 minutes. The Action: He drained a wing three on his first attempt. Second Half: He missed a corner three, forcing it a bit. He gave up an And-1 to Connely on iso.

Phil -- -- The Lakers look like they have too much going on in their heads as a team. Too often these days the players are rarely on the same page. It seems like there is either not enough in their heads or too much. With the triangle and the defensive schemes, it feels like the latter. Confusion... The Grizzlies ran on the Lakers at every chance to start the game. Bynum played 7 minutes before picking up his second foul. The Lakers were tied 25-25 after the first... The teams traded hoops for most of the second quarter. Phil got fed up with it and called timeout with under 5 minutes left. We blew the execution on the offensive play out of the timeoutand gave up an uncontested dunk on the defensive end. Memphis pulled out to their biggest lead. Way to respond out of the timeout... The Grizzlies pulled out after that timeout to lead 57-49 at the half. The coaches were disgusted with the effort and hustle. They didn't like that Memphis controlled the tempo... The Lakers won the first 3 minutes with a 9-2 run to tie it up... The Lakers trailed 74-73 when Phil went to Sasha and Ariza... The Lakers trailed 80-77 heading into the fourth quarter... Phil called a 20-second timeout to settle down LO who picked up a tech after another no call... With 8 minutes left, Phil had a Bynum, Vlad, Ariza, Sasha, DFish lineup in there... We finally brought back Pau after a long rest with 4 minutes left, down by 6 at this point... The Lakers reeled them in shortly later and then took control with some big plays in the final minute... The Lakers shot 54 pecent, the Grizzlies 46 percent. We sank 19-27 from the line, decent enough, and won the battle of the paint 54-36...

Game Flow -- LINK -- A 20-5 run the moment Phil subbed in Pau and Lamar for the final 4 minutes. Pau's got to play more than 5 minutes in that fourth.

[PakaLOLO]

Thxs

[City_Dawg]

DB, you are a scribe for the ages, always appreciate it.

(bleep) green menace......
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*sighs*

!...

[limchrc]

Thanks.

[Mation]

Thanks DB!

Good to see us whittle down the Grizzlies numbers in the second half. Hopefully we can carry the same defensive execution and somehow elevate it against a better team in the Hornets. Some real clutch play by Kobe and Gasol in the final quarter. I know Kobe relishes matchups. He'll want to play well against Posey in this next one.

[mike_dee23]

[MedRomLaker]

Neil Diamond , loving that intro, LOL feel's like the dirty south thanks for the cap DB, great to finally get a win after two heart breakers.
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11/9/12 the day the brown was flushed down!!!!!!

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

[USCandLakers]

[8750]

thanks, DB... you write like an offensive mike d'antoni's team and a defensive thibodeaux's team...
it's evident that once again our coach doesn't possess this team... i don't know about his relationships with some players, but what i see is always slow rotations, horrible d againt p&r, no boxing out, opponents wide open three point shooters...
odom is definitely a huge problem, but i still don't think that trading him is a solution: with bynum so unreliable, lamar is the only alternative to something very dystonic as the gasol-bynum duo, ...

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

happy for the win.
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[ShowtimeDynasty_24/7]

Got back from the game last night. First off let me say that the game was very live especially in the 4th quarter. Not a good game by the Lakers, but it was a good game. Here are some of my points...

Derek Fisher- He looked good in both facets of the game. He didn't do too much, but who was very active on defense and hit some big shots in the 2nd half.

Kobe Bryant- Classic Kobe performance. He willed the team to win. You could tell that Kobe was about to go off on in the 2nd half when he came out at halftime. He was determined. The 3 point shot that put us over the top was amazing. And the dunk at the game did seem like a lot of built up emotion and just put the exclamation point on the win.

Luke Walton- He moved the ball around very well on offense. On defense early he was getting lit up by Gay, but he settled down.

Pau Gasol- He was a little emotional to be back in Memphis. The guys cheered when he was introduced. He had a great game in the 1st half, but he also missed a lot of easy shots. Defensively early Darko was getting the best of him, but he rebounded quickly and finished out the game well.

Andrew Bynum- Got into early foul trouble with some bad fouls. Was not at all a presence in the 1st half. In the 2nd half I believe Phil told the team force the ball to Bynum in the low post. Everytime the team looked for him and Bynum was able to do work. Memphis had no answer for him. He had a great 2nd half.

Lamar Odom- He moved the ball well and attacked the goal very well. He had some questionable shots but there were a lot of non calls on Lamar last night. He was obviously upset as evident by the tech that was called on him. Kobe had to go over and calm him down at one point.

Vladimir Radmanovic- He had one or two 3 point shots from what I can remember. I think he got more playing time that the past few games. However he was visually down on himself for some reason. Its like his confidence is gone. He didn't clap much after a big play. At one point Phil actually got up from his chair and sat by Vlad to talk to him.

Sasha Vujacic- I think he had a decent game. Knocked down some good shots. He was also very good defensively. He needs to play more. I think he could play some point, too.

Trevor Ariza- He played very well defensively. He did make a lot of gambles which did make him look bad. When he was put on OJ he denied him the ball. He used his length to cause some turnovers as well. On offense he was around the rim and got some rebounds. He will be nice though, I think he could be another Rudy Gay.


Defensively we were very active, but we still need to improve. The 3 point shot was open all night and if Memphis hit maybe one or two more of their missed shots then we could very well be talking about a Laker lost. Good effort by the guys in the 2nd half, but not a great performance. Lets hope they can improve and do better tonight.

[Rick12322]

The Lakers won on effort alone, inspite of one of 2 things: playing a failed defensive system, or not understanding it.

[Sage_10]

Glad we got a "W" against a crappy team for a change.
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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

[frijolero01]

vintage kobe bryant last night

[wolfpaclaker]

Very happy to see that 2nd half intensity and defensive game return.

Some important things seemed to be the way we were setting up Drew in the 3rd Q and the patience we showed on offense. We weren't shooting the ball as quickly from outside. That's the perception I got. Don't know if it's true.

Another thing it seems the Lakers almost always play their best D in games when Kobe, Ariza and Lamar are out there together. They seem to really be able to play this system better with long moblile players. It seems to work best when you have those 3 out there together.

Also thought the man recognition was better in the 2nd half. Guys seemed to account more for their man when opponents were initiating their offense. This is a key part of the defense. Sure, they may want to have them play strong side zone and force players baseline, but you still want to start off with being able to stay infront of your man to begin with. The breakdowns almost always happen when someone goes for a steal/gamble leaving their man, or when someone just flat out gets blown by on the ball.

If we can just gamble less and take some pride in our man defense, those two things will make a world of difference IMO. When our perimeter guys do not allow teams to just blow by them on the ball and at the same time the guys in the back aren't going for unneccesary steals, this team's defense is at it's best. Because then we're actually forcing our opponents to beat a set defense, as opposed to just waiting for us to make a mistake defensively.

[Klone_dd]

[mike_dee23]