LAKERS -at- KINGS - 4/7 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Slaughterhouse... You pull up at the side of the road checking your map. You realize you must be in the right place as the scent of foul manure wafts into your car. You spot a sign, "Cow Town Farms," and you know you're here.

Up ahead, wooden fencing fragments are strewn across the road like shrapnel from an explosion. Through the gaping hole in the fence is a single set of hoof prints. You follow them onto the farm, through trampled pasture and into a bovine nightmare. This place wasn't meant to look like a slaughterhouse, but that's what you find.

You sidestep dead cow after dead cow. It's a massacre. At the junction of cattle mutilations and hoof prints, you find a box labeled "Calf Calm." You pick it up and shake it, something inside. You thumb it open as you continue to read the prints in the dirt.

You follow the single track of hooves a few more steps and stop. Here they meet up with some very familiar sets of hoof prints. The single set seems to have left its mark on top of the others. It came late to this party. Then you realize what this means.

The Fourth Horsemen is closer. He's about to join the rest of the riders. You stand up and smile, then look down in your hands at a syringe from the box and a note from inside. It's DancingBarry:

Three of the Four Horsemen were here. They took their revenge for a previous loss to this opponent. They were nearly victims of a stampede in the first few minutes, but the Horsemen were the ones who did the trampling.

I will continue to follow them...

P.S. If any cows look a little ticked maybe try some of the stuff in the box.

The Lakers gave up 29 points in the first 6 minutes, but buckled down from that point on. The second unit pushed back with several runs on their way to a 120-104 blowout over the Kings.

With Arco packed with Laker fans, they got to see notable performances from Luke Walton, Shannon Brown and a nasty throwdown by Sasha to punctuate the victory. Kobe, LO and Pau also did their thing, but the bench showed strong.

The Lakers extended their record to 62-16, while the Kings fell to a very opposite looking 16-61. Gone are the rabid crowds and cow bells of years past. "It's changed a lot," Kobe said. "There's nothing but Laker fans now. It's basically a home game for us."

Ouch.


Kobe -- -- Again, Kobe seemed a little more aggressive at getting to the rim on the road versus at home. That helped him get to the line, where he missed a few again -- a sure sign that he's got some kind of shooting issues. His perimeter shot wasn't effective, but it was at least masked by the number of drives he had and his short midrange work. He picked up a quick foul to start the game on a perimeter challenge, then seemed to play a little cautious defensively. Good to see another of those games where we actually do keep Kobe sidelined for the entire fourth quarter. Phil thinks Kobe has been trying to coast a bit. "My issue with the players and the team is they're not working hard enough. They're saving steps," Phil said in the Times. "When you do that, you try to get by without having to exert yourself enough to win games the right way. Kobe's one of those people that was doing that. Some of it is measuring out what it's going to take to win a ballgame, and I understand that. This is a veteran who's been through a lot of seasons. We just have to shorten his minutes to keep his legs lively." The Stats: He scored 22 points on 8-16 shooting (1-5 from three, 5-8 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He put Garcia in the popcorn machine and stepped through for a layup. He missed a wing three. He missed another three. He missed a fading wing jumper looking for a foul. He attacked in early offense and drew FTs, he made both. He attacked a double team and hit Trevor cutting for a dunk. He missed a fling over his shoulder in the paint. He sank a 22-foot catch and shoot. He attacked down the middle of the lane and drew FTs, he made both. He missed an elbow pull-up jumper. He blew past his man from the wing and reversed. He drew FTs on a pull-up J next trip down, he made one. He probed across the lane and swished a 12-footer from the right side. He scored 13 points on 4-9 shooting (5-6 FTs). Second Half: He pushed out a loose ball and hit the elbow pull-up. He swished a pull-up three in transition. He went behind his back to Pau on the slip screen for a layup. He scored a layup in transition, posting up under the hoop. Quick first step and he drew FTs, he missed both. He missed a sideline three. He attacked hard to his left and made a layup, he then yelled at the refs for the no call. He chucked a three in transition and missed awkwardly, looked like a foul. He sat for the fourth.

Gasol -- -- Pau is so skilled that the variety of scoring he does in any given game looks easy. Some of those shots aren't quite that easy, but they're money for him. He led the team in scoring tonight showing that versatility: running the floor, lefty/righty post shots off a variety of moves, and the perimeter jumpers. His finesse game makes the offense click. We just need to make sure we don't go away from it when we struggle for points. He's the 5th ranked player in terms of field goal percentage (.566), so he needs to demand the ball when he's not getting it. Phil wanted Pau to throttle up the offensive rebounding this year and it looks like Pau will finish with a career high 3.2 offensive boards per game (5th also in the NBA). That number is almost a full board more per game that last year. His 18.8 points per game this season is exactly the same as his career average. The Stats: He scored 26 points on 11-16 shooting (4-6 from the line) to go with 12 boards, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He took contact and missed a short one in the paint. He hit a short lefty jumphook on the quick spin. He sealed, took the entry in transition, missed, but tipped it back in. He was stripped in the post. He missed a hook from the right block. He drew FTs trying to clean up a Kobe miss, he made both. He hit a turnaround in the paint. Luke pulled down an offensive board then fed Pau under the hoop for a layup. Luke threaded a pass through the zone to Pau for a layup. He had 12 points on 5-8 shooting and 7 boards. Second Half: He was rejected on a slow jumphook. He faced up next time down and hit the baseline jumper. He scored a layup off the slip screen while working with Kobe on the baseline. He backed his man down one way, turned over the other shoulder and hit the jumphook. He drop-stepped Hawes and scored with his left. He scored a layup when he and Powell worked the offensive glass. He hit a lefty hook over a double team (so nice). Good job running the floor and Luke spotted him for FTs, he made both. Luke backhanded a pass to Pau in transition again for more FTs, Pau missed both. He was blocked on a corner sequence play. Phil then sat him with 5:15 left for the first time in the half.

Lamar -- -- On his way to his 10,000th point, Lamar had some especially good minutes with the second unit in the first half. For a stretch there, he imposed him will on the Kings and helped the Lakers dig out of a hole. He was aggressive on the attack and also trying to organize the offense for that unit. When Bynum returns, which LO will we see? I think it will be this aggressive one. He's going to bring it for the playoffs. And if he does, what will Phil do to his minutes when Bynum is back? You can't limit your impact players' minutes to the extent we did for Lamar when we had all our bigs healthy. He'll end the season playing about 8 minutes less per game than last season. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-7 shooting (3-3 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He swatted Hawes in transtiion. He took the Pau pinch-post handoff for an easy layup. He swished a pull-up 16-footer from the left side. He took the high entry pass from Luke and scored a layup. He scored an And-1 layup on the dive cut in early offense, he made the FT. He dribbled through traffic and drew FTs at the rim, he made one. He hit a face-up jumper off the glass from the low post. He bricked a rightly layup he should have had when Kobe set him up. He scored 13 points on 5-6 shooting to go with 7 boards. Second Half: He wheeled around the top of the lane to his left and scored a layup.

Ariza -- -- He was too quick with the trigger on his perimeter jumper. A lot of misses came very early in the shotclock. Typically, you'd rather run the offense through your impact players first before settling for a jumper from Ariza. Glad to see he has confidence, but we need to make sure we value possessions a bit more going into the playoffs. He still managed to score well despite some of that. The Laker SF spot combined for 25 points, 9 assists, 6 boards and 3 steals. Defensively, we saw the Cobra strike for one of his steals and dunks. After getting burned in the first quarter we tightened things up. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-13 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 offensive boards, 2 steals, 1 block and 1 foul in 22 minutes. The Action: He missed an early offense sideline jumper. He drained a 16-footer working the two-man game at the elbow. He hit a floater in early offense. He drew FTs getting out in transition on the next possession, he made both. Horrible decision to take an long jumper on the break, he barely hit rim. Excellent cut (instead of settling) when Kobe attacked a double team and Ariza took the pass for a two-hand flush. He had 8 points on 3-5 shooting. Second Half: He probed the soft D slowly, no one stopped him so he scored a layup. He blocked a jumper, then got blocked himself on the other end in transition. He cut weak to strong, took the pass and flipped in a layup over a defender. He bricked an early offense three straight away. He lunged on help D to swipe the ball and take it the distance for the dunk. He was blocked on a drive. He missed a layup in traffic.

Fisher -- -- Fish looked like he didn't have his legs on a few of his jumpers. With the strong second-unit play, Phil was able to keep Fisher's minutes down. Good to see. Shannon Brown actually outplayed Fish tonight. He brought more energy and spark than Fish, which matched what the Kings were bringing. Hopefully, we can get a few more games of low minutes for the old man. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-6 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and no fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He missed a three. He drained a sideline three in transition. He missed a wing three. Second Half: He fed Kobe posting up in transition for the easy score. Horrible angle on D out of a timeout and Udrih had a straight line to the rim to draw FTs. He missed a 16-footer trying to create. He missed a sideline three (legs didn't look good on that one). Great strip under the hoop on a big to save a hoop. He missed an open baseline jumper.

Luke -- -- Great game from Luke and Phil gave him some extended run at the SF. He never got caught settling for threes and was looking to probe or create for others throughout. He ended up leading the Lakers with 9 assists without a turnover. He even had several passes that led to FTs for teammates that didn't count in that stat. "The strength of the bench is always playing as a unit and not as individuals," Luke said, "and for a while there we were getting too individual on the court. So, tonight we did a much better job of moving, making passes and making everyone get easier shots." He did just that all game, some superb passes. He also was able to manufacture points at the line. At the end of the night, he had a +32, 15 points higher than any other Laker. Can't wait to see him out there with Drew. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-4 shooting (5-6 from the line) to go with 3 boards (2 offensive), 9 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a +32. The Action: He missed a FT jumper. He found Lamar backdoor with a lob. Horrible D, nailed to the floor, letting his man get a straight line to the hoop for a layup. He hit his fallaway on the baseline. He pulled down an offensive board then hit Pau for a layup as Luke fell out of bounds. He no-looked the zone off and threaded a pass to Pau for a layup. He was fouled in transition and made one FT. He drew FTs crashing the offensive boards, he made both. He swiped a pass and hit Brown leaking out for the dunk. He drew FTs on BJax in the post, he made both. He had 7 points and 6 assists and was a +15 in that stint. Second Half: He drained a wing jumper in transition. He grabbed an offensive board, surveyed the floor, then hit the short baseline jumper. He set up Pau on the fly for FTs with a nice feed in transition. He dumped off another pass to Pau in transition next time down for more FTs. He threaded the needle to Powell for a layup. He then hit Brown with a long outlet for a layup.

Farmar -- -- Looking at the stats, you might think Farmar had a horrible game. It wasn't as bad as the 1-8 shows. He did (and continues to) struggle trying to finish around the rim. The second unit took it to the Kings, however. Farmar orchestrated some better offensive sets and seemed to be thinking the game a little better. He had a decent first stint. It looked like he started feeling himself a bit during the end of his stint and Phil sat him for Shannon Brown. Still, those were much better minutes. In the fourth, the second unit took control of the game when the starters had lost some of the lead. The Kings PGs weren't as much of a factor as they had been in previous games. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-8 shooting (1-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards (2 offensive), 3 assists, 2 steals and no fouls in 15 minutes. He was a +12. The Action: He missed a runner at the first quarter buzzer. He swiped a pass in transition, missed a layup, had it tapped back to him and he missed an easy one, but drew FTs where he made one. He sank an open three behind the Pau screen next time down. He missed a layup on the drive next time down. Second Half: He missed a three off the Luke kickout. He stripped BJax in the paint. He was blocked or lost the handle on a reverse. He swung the ball to Sasha for the open three. He missed a wing three. He attacked baseline and was swatted again, shotclock violation. He waved Powell out of the post for Luke (nice job organizing the offense).

Vujacic -- -- Sasha ended up getting the play of the game in final minute. He cut down the lane, took a pass from Mbenga and posterized a couple defenders with a throwdown. Are you kidding me? That was nasty. The bench was going crazy. Kobe was still grinning a couple minutes later. Reminded me of the Luke jam over Ronny. "That was a first," Luke said. "We're going to have fun with that one for a while." Good game from Sasha. He mixed in a few jumpers with his poster job. He seemed to have some pretty good hands on D, too. His one foul he also got his money's worth. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-7 shooting (2-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a +12. The Action: He airballed a corner three on his first attempt, nice. He bricked another three on the next trip down. Second Half: He took his time with a wide open wing three and drained it. He swatted a shot off Greene, should have been Laker ball. He took the pitch out from Powell and rattled in the sideline jumper. He swished a leaning sideline three. Feeling it, he back-rimmed a quick jumper next time down (that was one of those high-speed shots he tends to miss). He attacked and drew FTs on a spin move, he made both. He cut down the lane off the ball, Mbenga fed him and Sasha crammed over a couple of players. Wow.

Powell -- -- Powell was beasting it up on the glass like we haven't seen for a while. Not sure where that went to, but he looked much more effective on the boards tonight than he has recently. Also a good job using his strength before he took his shots in the post. That left him with a couple layups. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting to go with 8 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +17. The Action: He missed a step-back jumper. Excellent seal in transition under the hoop, he then opened up to take the pass and score an easy layup. He backed his man under the hoop and hit the short lefty jumphook layup. Second Half: He kept an offensive board alive for Pau to score. He pitched out to Sasha for the sideline jumper. He missed a baseline jumper. He had a layup goaltended when Luke threaded the needle to him. He made like Kwame on the break and fumbled a pass out of bounds.

Mbenga -- -- He came in for the final two minutes of the first half, then later got some run in garbage time. This may be the most run he gets for a while. His best play of the day was hitting Sasha on the cut for The Dunk. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-3 shooting, had 1 board, 1 assist and 1 foul in 8 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He clanked a jumphook badly. He missed a jumper off the glass. He missed a FT jumper.

Brown -- -- Excellent first-half stint to close the half in what would usually be DFish's minutes. He gave the team some spark, particularly on the defensive end where he had a couple steals. He showed very quick hands and feet. I still think he can be a smaller version of last year's Ariza for this team. He just needs to get more run to get used to the system and build chemistry with teammates. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-7 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 2 boards, 2 steals and no fouls in 11 minutes. He was +16. The Action: He missed a baseline pull-up jumper. He drained a sideline three over the zone. He stripped Udrih, who tried to spin in the lane, for a steal. Bad angle defensively and he gave up a layup to Udrih off the ball. He dunked off the Luke steal. He missed a layup in transition (should have dunked it), but he tracked it down and pulled it back out. He stripped another man, leaked out and scored the layup with a second left in the half. He had 7 points on 3-5 shooting and 2 steals. He was a +16 in that stint. Second Half: He missed a 17-footer. He scored a layup when Luke outlet to him and Brown attacked a couple defenders.

Morrison -- -- He came in with a couple minutes left for Luke. He rarely ever seems to force the issue or look for his shot on offense. The Stats: He didn't shoot or score or anything else in 3 minutes. The Action: Didn't play in the first half. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Phil -- -- Some very soft D by the Lakers to start the game and they quickly trailed 29-17 midway through the first quarter when the timeout came... The Lakers decided to play a little D and the Kings started to miss jumpers even when we didn't and they cut the lead with a 8-0 run before the second unit came in... They trailed 37-31 after the first quarter... Phil started a Powell, Lamar, Luke, Sasha, Farmar lineup. Luke and Lamar led that unit and cut the lead to 4 by getting in the paint... Phil swapped out Lamar for Pau... Those second units went on a 10-0 run to pull ahead briefly... He then went to a Pau, Powell, Luke, Kobe, Brown lineup... Phil then changed to a Mbenga, Lamar, Luke, Kobe, Brown lineup for the final couple minutes. Some very different rotations... The Lakers went on a 17-2 run to close the half... The Lakers won the second quarter 40-18... The Lakers led 71-55 at the half. They shot 18-21 from the line, the Kings 4-4. They made 25-47 (53 percent) to the Kings 47 percent. The Lakers had just 2 turnovers, meanwhile they scored 12 points off the 6 King turnovers... The coaches told them they needed to tighten up the D (a lot of open jumpers)... The starters traded hoops with the Kings all quarter, then faded near the end of the third. Phil leaving them in the whole quarter. A 10-2 run for the Kings to cut the Laker lead to 96-86... Phil started the Pau, Powell, Luke, Sasha, Farmar lineup to open the fourth. They went on a 7-0 run to set the tone for the fourth... Despite the Kings trying to push tempo, the Laker won the fastbreak 30-12... The Lakers had 8 total turnovers, keeping that number low again. The Kings scored just 4 points off those. Meanwhile, the Lakers scored 23 points off the 13 King turnovers...

Game Flow -- LINK -- A couple huge runs, 21-4 and 18-4, with different combinations of second units.

[doven]

1st

thanks DB!

[Tek9Designs]

Thanks DB!

[DrumR]

?make it?

[DrumR]

one day... lol Shannon Brown is earning Farmars mins IMO

[Ray_Gonzoles]

Thanks for the recap DB.
Lakers got revenge for their earler loss at Sactown.
Great to see the second unit playing some team ball.
Sasha's dunk was a riot. Laker players on the bench were laughing it up.
Shannon Brown is a keeper, should be resigned 2-3 year contract.
Now for Thursday, maybe Bynum will be back.
Go Lakers!
_________________
"Just show up ready to work, ready to play, Have your big boy pants on, leave your diaper at home." Kobe Bryant
Anything less than a championship is a failure. Period.

[chubby_1_kenobi]

DB, why are you so lenient on Farmar?
_________________
Eighth grade key phrases are crucial tools for this type of subterfuge: "team player", "make teammates better", "ballhog", "selfish", "court vision": all dripping with sanctimony and defamation.

[DancingBarry]

I've been cracking on Farmar pretty hard for weeks. I think he did a much better job organizing the offense in this game and helping the second unit click. His 1-8 looks worse than the impact on the game was, too. So, with the second unit dominating, some better sequences from him mentally and a blowout win...hard to

[mhan00]

i once said that luke was the slowest player i've ever seen outside of rick smits; i think i'll have to change that evaluation. adam morrison looks like he moves at about half of luke's speed out there. that knee must still not be 100%, or even 80%.

great game for the lakers. good to see them not sleep on a team for once, and great to see the bench give the kings the business. hopefully that will translate over to the playoffs.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Whooooaaah! The fourth horseman approaches! And the wind begins to howl....

As always thanks for the recaps and the great story DB!

This game was absolutely backwards in a way, with the starters floundering and the second unit blowing the Kings away. What a turnaround!

What was the biggest change in the bench from the Clips game to tonight? Was it inserting Odom more? Shannon Brown adding some lightning? Was it Walton facilitating better? Or Farmar thinking with a better team concept tonight? Or PJ reorganizing his sub patterns? Or was it this team smelling blood, knowing Bynum is back any game now?

Hard for me to put a finger on it, but I definitely like what I saw from the bench tonight! I hope THIS bench sticks around for a while!

[fsc401]

Thx

[dna.]

Great write-up DB, I pretty much agree with every evaluation for each player... on the topic of Farmar, I'm with you - he didn't shoot so well but he did make good decisions, and the shots he took were mostly good ones that just didn't fall.

Pretty much all the Lakers did well, but I especially loved Shannon out there. I don't know how much run he'll get in the playoffs so I guess I'll have to hope we keep him and wait till next year to see how he develops. Same with Adam - we haven't given him a chance to see what he has to offer in our system so hopefully we can see next season.

Other than that, bring on Big Drew and the playoffs!

[lngtimlkr]

thanks and just wanted to echo what a lot should be talking about after this one, luke walton. played like he did earlier in his career when he made really good decisions. he should have had a double double, he made that many good passes. hopefully the bench will build off it, so the starters go into the postseason with some fresh legs.

[ecksor]

Thanks! hopefully that fourth horseman comes back soon
_________________
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

[Addicus]

Farmar needs to work on the pull up J. That would be sick with his speed and allow to score a lot easier.
_________________
Stop crying and start doing.

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/addicusbrown

[limchrc]

thanks, nice win.

[prisma8slg]

calf calm

thanks DB

Sasha
_________________
"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."

[Sage_10]

I agree with PJ. I think Kobe has been coasting a lot this season. Thanks DB!
_________________
"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[BigE32]

Thanks, DB. I really thought that our bench played well. I also noticed how LO started the 2nd quarter with the bench mob and was very aggressive. I love the minutes that Brown gave us last night. I just appreciate the fact that he gives an effort on both ends of the floor. Powell was very good on the boards and thought did a lot of little things that were very positive. Luke played a very solid game and it was good to see Sasha hit some perimeter shots b/c we need that scoring punch off the bench. What can you say about Sasha's dunk? I had to rewind my TIVO to make sure I wasn't seeing things. LOL.

PS- The scent of foul manure-

[Burgundy]

DB - WAaaayy too lenient on Farmar.

He was awful, again. Did you see this LA Times article:

[url]=http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-lakersweb9-2009apr08,0,7767756.story[/url]

The opening says it all:

[Dr. Laker]

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

props to luke and shannon for getting the fellas rolling.



the machine serving up a facial?
_________________
"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[wmason]

Did you somehow speed up the rocking out emoticon? The head bobbing seems a lot faster for some reason.....