LAKERS -at- SUNS - 3/1 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Mental Mistakes... Losing to Denver when you're tired is one thing. Losing to Phoenix because of low hoop IQ is another thing. The Lakers left the "mental" out of "fundamental" and lost 118-111.

The Lakers played into the Suns hands in the first half. Even Kobe Bryant, who put up 49 points, didn't seem to figure it out until late in the first half. By then, the Lakers were traling by double digits. Against the Suns, you need to attack the paint. Score layups and draw fouls for freethrows, which slow the game down. Get Shaq on the bench with foul trouble in the process and expose his weak pick and roll defense.

Instead, they settled for jumpers, long rebounds and transition scores the other way. Defensively, they had some amazingly bad transition defense -- it looked like they thought it was a halfcourt game at times. In halfcourt D, they were flat-footed and a step slow.

Despite all that, they opened the second half on a run to take a 4-point lead. The wheels fell off when Lamar was called for his fourth foul and had to sit. He later returned and quickly picked up a fifth foul. Phil gambled. He left him in and on the very next offensive sequence, Lamar fouled out with 8:31 left on one of the more bogus fouls seen all year. Lamar was going into the post and the refs quickly whistled an off-the-ball phantom foul. (Shaq would foul out in about 3 offensive sets if they called the game like that.)

They missed Lamar's activity and rebounding (particularly on a couple of missed freethrows by the Suns that they were able to score on). The Suns shot 42 freethrows to the Lakers 20. "You're always going to have a discrepancy like that on the road and we know that," Phil said, "but you try to avoid that and stay out of foul trouble."

Defensively, the Lakers had their transition D issues, but they also didn't know how they wanted to defend Shaq in the first half. The doubles were coming outside the paint before he made a move. They needed to funnel Shaq to the middle and send the doubles when he went to the dribble. To start the second half, they did this and quickly erased the Suns lead. (If the Lakers had Bynum, who has that combination of length and strength, they would likely have let him go straight up against Shaq and that would have caused all kinds of issues for the Suns.)

"We made too many mental mistakes," Kobe summed up the game afterward.


Kobe -- -- No attacking the paint or posting up to start the game. He was methodically settling for long jumpers again and again. When he did finally attack the paint, he caused problems. In the second half, his mixed attack caused the Suns all kinds of problems. It wasn't until very late that he started to really attack the Shaq to manufacture points from the line. Eventually, Shaq fouled out, but he had already cause a lot of damage. The best way to prevent that is to go at him early and often. The Lakers didn't do that. Some very soft D and poor rotations at times by Kobe in the first half. He and the team tightened it up a bit more in the second half. He got popped in the mouth and bent a tooth back. "Feels like Roger Rabbit or something," he said. The Stats: He scored 49 points on 18-38 shooting (3-9 from three, 10-10 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 40 minutes. The Action: He made a 22-footer on his first attempt. He missed another long jumper. He hit a wing jumper. He missed a 20-footer. He missed a bank, taking contact on the break with no call. He had the toe on the three line, stepping back to hit from the corner. He missed a left handed floater, short. He drained a wing jumper over Shaq. He missed a fading jumper off the screen. He grabbed a Mbenga airball and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He missed a 21-footer. Finally, he decided to attack the paint again (second time) and he scores a layup. He drew FTs off the DFish drive and miss, he made both. He missed a jumper. He dunked off the outlet pass. He attacked the paint and hit the short 4-footer. He scored 19 points on 8-17 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 5 boards (3 offensive). Second Half: He blocked Barbosa's jumper. He came weak to strong and hit the 10-footer. He attacked and banked the runner. He swished a step-back jumper. He drained a wing three on his next attempt. He missed a three, got it back and scored a layup. He attacked the paint, hitting JRich in the chops with the ball on the drive, then he took contact on Shaq and scored the And-1, he made the FT. He asked for the ball, then swished the wing three. He missed a transition three. He had 17 points in the first half of the third. He settled for a long jumper with Hill all over him, he missed, layup the other way. He missed a short runner taking contact with no call. He quickly picked up his second and third fouls in about 5 seconds on one stand (one of Kobe's teeth got knocked back a little, might have been a fracture). He attacked and missed over Shaq, wondering where the foul was. He attacked, drew the D and hit Pau for the dunk. He whipped another pass to Pau in transition for a layup. He drained a wing three. He settled for a long three on the next trip and missed (arrgh, that was about a 30-footer). He drew FTs on a drive and made both. He blew past his man shading on the screen and threw down with both hands. He got tapped on a pull-up at the elbow. He missed a hurried three, sensing the game slipping away with just under 5 minutes. He attacked, got contact in the lane on Shaq and drew FTs (should have done this from the first possession of the game), he made both. He attacked Shaq again, more FTs (Shaq's fifth), he made both to cut the lead to 4 with 2:48 left. He missed a left-hander in the lane. He turned the corner and dunked. He lost the handle on a drive that would have been a dunk. He was blocked on a jumper. He stole a pass in the backcourt and it led to a Laker score. He missed a three from the wing.

Gasol -- -- I wish Pau would have dug in just a little more against Shaq. Obviously, he's got the weight mismatch that will cause problems, but there were a few sequences where just a little more resistance from Pau would have allowed help defenders to close in. Also, he needed to front Shaq at times when he got the too deep and didn't have the ball yet. The team played Shaq better in the second half and that made some difference. (Shaq was 7-8 in the first half and 5-10 in the second half on the better D.) Offensively, Pau was efficient and took the open jumpers that Shaq let him have. It would have been nice for us to try to clear more space for Pau and let him iso more on Shaq. His speed, length and crafty skills can also get fouls on Shaq. Just another way to expose Shaq that the Lakers didn't tap into. "We came out kind of flat today. Kind of waiting and seeing out there instead of being the aggresssor," Pau said. The Stats: He scored 30 points on 12-18 shooting (6-6 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 1 assist, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 40 minutes. The Action: He missed a 14-footer. He swished a wing jumper. He swished a FT jumper. He missed a wing jumper. He drew FTs when Luke set him up, he made both. He missed an elbow jumper. He scored a layup off the Farmar feed. He hit the elbow jumper. He scored a layup on the break. He missed a short one, that a teammate cleaned up. He hooked in a missed Ariza lob. He faced up on Shaq, blew past him and drew FTs when hit by a help defender, he made both. He picked up his second foul when Shaq backed him down, he sat midway through the second for the first time. He let Shaq get in front of the rim without fronting him and he gave up the easy layup. He posted up, backed his man down and went glass easily with his left. He scored 18 points on 7-11 shooting to go with 2 boards. Shaq had 19 points on 7-8 shooting. Second Half: He hit a 17-footer straight away. He pulled the chair on Shaq and got him to fall and miss. He dunked off the Kobe drive and dish. He scored a layup in transition (should have been an And-1). He backed his man down and scored the easy jumphook. He missed a turnaround. Shaq plowed down Gasol, foul Pau...weak. He airballed a 7-footer, looked like the ball slipped out of his hands. They finally called the charge on Shaq in the same offensive play as before, and Shaq fouled out. He drew FTs, getting hammered by Barnes, he made both. He scored a layup off the Ariza missed three.

Lamar -- -- Wow. He got completely taken out of this game by the refs. "There were a couple really bad calls against Lamar," Phil said, agreeing with just about everyone. The fourth foul in the third quarter helped the wheels fall of a Laker run (Powell made a couple key mistakes). The foul early in the fourth might have been the nail in the Laker coffin. Kobe said they should "send the refs a bouquet of flowers." The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting to go with 6 boards (5 offensive), 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 6 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed a 5-footer. He hit a floater after taking contact from Shaq with no call. Great save of an offensive board to Luke who hit the jumper. He sealed his man and scored a layup. Looked like a clean block from behind, but he was called for a foul. He picked up his third shortly later. He had 4 points on 2-4 shooting and 4 boards. Second Half: He stripped Shaq with a double team (on the dribble), he was blocked by Hill on the break. He picked up Shaq in transition and stripped Shaq in post when he turned on him. He got called for a foul in transition D and had to sit midway through the fourth. Back in and he picked up his fifth foul quickly on a soft challenge from behind in transition. Phil left him in. He was then called for an offensive foul away from the ball on the next play, and he fouled out with 8:31.

Luke -- -- Seemed like there were a lot of "almost" good plays from Luke in this game. Things like an offensive board in a crowd, then having it stripped off him and other missed second-chance opportunities. He stole the ball once, then threw it back inbounds to a Suns player for a score. It was like you were saying "nice...noo!" in the same breath. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting (0-1 from three), 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He sank an 18-footer. He missed an open baseline jumper. He missed a three, LO saved it back to him and he swished a wing jumper. He threaded a pass between defenders to Pau for FTs. Out of a timeout, he threw a pass away, layup the other way. Second Half: He missed a baseline jumper (had LO wide open under the hoop). He stole the ball, then threw it to the Suns for an easy hoop. He stripped Shaq, double on the dribble and reaching. He missed a turnaround.

Fisher -- -- This was one of DFish's poorer games in a while. Some of his decision-making and execution was very weak. "He took some shots out of frustration because he hadn't had any a couple times," Phil said. He was never in sync and he needs to let others get the dribble penetration while he serves as a floor spacer. He didn't seem content in that position. Our PG spot really hurt us today. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-7 shooting (1-5 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 30 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: Good hustle for a defensive board and he drew a foul. He had a lob pass stolen. He attacked the paint and missed a floater, but Kobe cleaned it up. Not sure why he heaved up an early offense corner three (worst shot selection you can have against this team). He sank a three from the top of the key when Ariza deflected an inbounds pass at the end of the half. Second Half: He missed a three in transition. He tried to create into the lane, blocked, layup the other way. Wow, he attacked and threw the ball 20-feet from the nearest Laker...horrible pass in crunch time. He missed a quick-fire three from the wing. He missed a three.

Ariza -- -- Better game from Ariza. He still had some issues, but this was more of the scrappy type of game that we need from him. His transition D was lacking. He needs to be cautious against teams like this and get out of the corners, get back on his man or help on others. He had some nice steals in this game, and we even saw one of those picks to push out for a dunk. Been a while since we've seen that (he does have to be more careful these days without Bynum behind him to erase mistakes). The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-8 shooting (3-5 from three) The Action: He picked off a perimeter pass and started the break. He found LO in the paint for a layup. He hit Pau on the break for a layup. He couldn't finish a late lob pass from Farmar. Finally someone attacking the lane and Ariza drew a foul on Shaq, he made one FT. He deflected an inbounds pass and DFish hit a three off of it. Second Half: He missed a three. Too much space for Barnes and he gave up a three. He tried to create off the dribble and lost the ball out of bounds (should have been Laker ball). He missed a three, two-for-one possession. He banged down a corner three to start the fourth. He drained a sideline three on his next attempt. He was blocked on a drive. He didn't box out Shaq at the FT line and let him get his own miss and dunk it. He picked Barnes and dunked. He missed a corner three.

Farmar -- -- Our PG play was dismal in this game. Farmar made another key mistake with a bad pass on the break. People say he's not good for this system, but he still doesn't show good hoop IQ even in traditional PG situations. His mistakes and poor play happen within and without the offense. Rambis had some words for him when he returned to the bench. His minutes were limited, but the second unit did have a good stint in this game, unlike the last one. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-3 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 13 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He whipped a pass to Pau for a layup. He tried to split a double and was stripped. He missed a long three trying to beat the clock. He missed another three. Second Half: Barbosa went right at Farmar as soon as he entered, foul Farmar. He attacked the lane and kicked out to Powell for the jumper. He threw the pass away on a break.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha has got to hit those open threes. A couple of his misses were wide open. He seemed to at least try to slow himself down a little on one of those, but he still is generally rushing things. Defensively, he was flat-footed and typically had issues anytime there was some speed thrown at him. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-6 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 4 boards and 2 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He missed a wing jumper. He sank a wing three off the screens. Weak transition D on several occasions, including giving up a foul at the end of the half. Second Half: He missed a wide open three, way long (needs to take more time on those). He did take his time next time and back-rimmed the open three. He drilled a three off the high screen with Pau. He airballed a quick jumper he had to heave up to try to beat the shotclock on an inbounds.

Powell -- -- When Lamar went out with his fourth foul midway through the third quarter, the wheels fell off the Lakers game. He had a couple errors on the boards that led to 4 points for the Suns in that stretch. His minutes with the second unit a little later were better, but we missed LO's impact out there. Aside from those errors, he didn't play particularly bad. The Stats: He The Action: He slammed back in a miss by Pau. He drew FTs when Kobe worked the high screen with Pau and fed him down low, he made both. Second Half: Poor box out and Barnes tipped in a FT miss. He gave up FTs by going over the back. He hit a wing jumper off the drive and kick from Farmar. He blocked Shaq on help D.

Mbenga -- -- Down by 12, he came in for Pau. Pretty lousy first stint for Mbenga on both ends. Some especially poor passing that cost the team in his short stint. Later, he did a better job just setting picks and not having to touch the ball. He did do a good job deflecting some passes and creating some Suns turnovers. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting, had 3 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 7 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He delfected an entry pass. He threw a no-look kickout right out of bounds. He threw an inbounds pass away, the Suns turned it into a three. He airballed a FT jumper. He got lost off a screen and gave up an And-1 dunk, he then sat. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Phil -- -- The team was completely off on both ends to start this game. They didn't seem like they knew the best way to approach the Suns and just went through the motions... The Lakers started flat-footed and indecisive on D and trailed 17-12... The Lakers trailed by 7 when they brought in Farmar and Ariza at the end of the first. They ended up down 34-26 after the first. Really poor D. A lot of pointless doubling of Shaq when he was out of the paint and not going to the dribble... Phil was irked at the 12 second chance points. He didn't like the Lakers rotations... The second unit looked like the wanted to get the ball into Pau in the post, but they did a weak job of getting it done. Rambis had words for both Farmar and Sasha when they left the court about something... Phil wanted the team to settle down and slow the tempo... Such weak defense in transition throughout the first half. The Lakers played into that by settling for so many jumpers instead of attacking the paint for layups or FTs which stop the action... The Lakers trailed 66-56 at the half. They allowed the Suns to shoot 59 percent and get 8 offensive rebounds. Deadly combination, stat-wise... The Lakers won the first 5 minutes of the second half, Kobe getting off and they led 72-70.. Much better execution on both ends... Phil called a timeout when Kobe got hit in the chops on a defensive foul, hurting one of his teeth. Phil regretted this later. The Suns went on a 13-0 run to take back the lead... Some amazingly bad transition D by the Lakers. They gave up uncontested layups by letting the Suns run out on them. Like the team thought they were playing halfcourt ball... They trailed 91-81 to start the fourth. The Lakers quickly started the quarter with an 11-3 run... Some mental mistakes on the FT line. The Lakers let Shaq grab his own rebound off a FT miss and dunk... The Suns ended up shooting 56 percent for the game. They scored 21 points off 15 Laker turnovers. The Lakers shot 48 percent and made 19-20 FTs... The Suns had 64 points in the paint... The Lakers won the second half 55-52. Should have come out of the gates with some intelligent effort...

[10scott10]

Lamar got really screwed in this game with BS calls, and he really could have helped


EDIT: first

[doven]

We still have the best record.

[LakerJohn]

No big deal.

[lakerboy]

i guess the best news is that we have only 2 games (and both @home) in the next 7 days

[tw-lakbfan]

[Qsmiff]

11 points combined from 3 starters....Yikes!! Sasha's playing himself to Memphis or Charlotte.......Luke to the downtown YMCA......as bad as Ear Jordan has been playing he had the nerve to get mouthy with the coaches when he got pulled......at least get Brown a few minutes.........OK I feel better now ......thanks for the recap as always DB

[zalltime]

ahh whatever guys well all live its just a game. we have more games coming up well do fine. relax, take it easy. comee onm..

[prisma8slg]

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

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

[DancingBarry]

I'm pretty sure the focus and intensity will be there in the playoffs. The only concern I have with a loss like this is if it costs you home court advantage. Otherwise, these guys are going to be fine. When Bynum gets back, if we still have our health, our bench problems will be a lot fewer, too.

[DocK36]

Watching Luke these couple of games and some of the other teams are catching on to him quick, they're playing him to pass and giving him the wide open look and he's been bricking it. Also the dude is so slow, every game there are at least a couple a lose balls and rebounds that other guys just simply out quick him to the ball.
_________________
Ringo "You retired too?"
Doc "Not me, I'm in my prime."

[ErMonnezza]

great recap, as usual

I agree that not attacking the paint and giving them too many transition points was the key.
and for them who think we don't need bynum......we missed his presence inside on both side of the ball.

then ,IMO, this team hasn't in his DNA a strong defensive effort day in day out, I mean they CAN defend strong but is not automatic: vs the celtics we played as strong as them but often vs softer opponents our defense was poor to embarassing.....

I'm sure in the playoffs the music will be different.....

[City_Dawg]

Seems like our boys haven't been playing too well since ASB. Besides the Atlanta game and the first PHX, lakers haven't looked too good.

Lets get back on the right track.
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*sighs*

!...

[Arizona]

Very disappointing to sit through that in person.
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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

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB!

Mental toughness and IQ is sorely needed on this team. No way would someone tell me that Kobe and Pau go off for 79 points on the road and we lose. No one stepped up with them. No one. Where is the fight? I'm starting to lose faith in Ariza, Sasha, and Farmar. LO got screwed tonight - but he needs to be more mentally strong and adapt to the BS calls. Hopefully when Drew returns - LO can go back to anchoring the 2nd unit and we can get back on track.

And as others have said, why not P&R Shaq to death? If any team knows that's his kryptonite it's PJ and Kobe... Maybe they're saving it for the playoffs?

[SladeRider]

I think it might be time to remove Luke from the starting lineup and put in Sasha, people might not like that idea but Sasha was most effective when he was out there with Fish, Kobe, Lamar and Pau last season and I feel if he had Kobe and the rest taking attention away from him, he would be more open and be hitting a much higher number of shots.

As that is said though, it sounds like this game wsa won and lost with the refs and esspecially the calls they gave to Lamar, if he was truely screwed with a couple calls, then there isn't anything to do but moan because we know by now that the officiating in the NBA isn't going to change anytime soon and they always favour the home teams, which is why HCA is important.
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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

[mhan00]

[lngtimlkr]

thanks as usual for the recap. with the bench struggling recently, it seems to conicide with the group settling for 3 pointers once again. farmar and ariza took 11 shots with 7 of the 11 from beyond the arc. long shots, long rebounds and a team like the suns feeds off open floor situations. really poor start though and that's the biggest reason behind this loss. never got into their own game, dictating the tempo to a team that doesn't want to defend half court sets. hopefully a wake up call with 22 to play.

[KingKobe20]

No need to panic guys, Phoenix played very well tonight.

They had plenty of reasons to come out with this motivation, we beat them three times this season already they didn't want to get swept for the season series.
Same thing for the Boston and Detroit game. The Pistons didn't want to get swept for the season series.

48-12 NBA Best STILL and were coming home to Staples Center to play the Grizzlies and Wolves.

We still gotta alot of reasons to hold our heads up high fellas. Let's move on
_________________
"Tryin' to get that Kobe number, One Over Jordan"
-Kanye

aka ILLWiLL20

R.I.P PHIL

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

its troubling to think boston just blew out denver and phoenix w/o KG
_________________
"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[8750]

thanks, DB
while our intensity will surely be back, i'm very concerned by our defensive strategy and our coach's attitude... we can't always try to double team in the paint and let the shooters wide open, especially because players like fisher, walton, farmar, odom himself are very slow in help&recover... we don't have any defense on the weak side... our coach has a plan, maybe a good plan, but then he's totally unable to make countermoves during the game... never playing any p&r against shaq was one of these situations when our coach is too lazy to change his formula... btw, his rigid approach is definitely not zen at all...

[AceFresh]

[ecksor]

Thanks, DB
_________________
We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire... Give us the tools and we will finish the job.
- Winston Churchill

Who is my avatar? Kharunisia

[BT]

One of those games that proves the +/- stat is BS++

[A Mad Chinaman]

Suns played with desperation of trying to just make it to the playoffs and not being embarassed again on home court that is being nationally televised. The Lakers don't have the same level of urgency and the home crowd to kick them into the necessary gears to win.

Their blatant mental mistakes (as described by DB of the various times the proper defensive balance, coverage and communication - along with blocking out) on national television provides additional folder for Phil to use at the next practice on what they need to work on - if their intention is to win a "Ring."

Despite the bad calls, LO has to understand that one has to play through these things if he wants to be playing in "crunch time" during the playoffs. As Phil "exhorted" to him while he was going to the bench - he has to play a really "clean" game during these times. Otherwise, the name that the L.A. Times gave to him - Lamor NOdom - will be very accurate.

I agree with DB that they should have tried ISO Pau on Shaq, but with the Lakers' outside shooting being dismal (i.e. Luke, DFish, LO, Jordan Farmar, Powell) - they wouldn't have respect these shooters. Understand that LO/Lamor NOdom's stats are He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting to go with 6 boards (5 offensive), 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 6 fouls in 23 minutes. It would have been nice to have a third scorer from the Lakers.

DB - could the Lakers still be recovering from traveling to Denver?