LAKERS -at- NUGGETS - 11/13 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Out of Gas or Just Stupid?... That gasoline you bartered for yesterday wasn't enough. Damn this apocalypse and its lack of convenience stations. At the midpoint of the journey, the car sputtered to a halt. Thus, you spent the rest of the day wondering around scavenging. You siphoned what little gas you could from abandoned vehicles to get back home, but it left a bad taste in your mouth.

Pushing the car the last mile was fun. When you approach the city, the sentries see wave you in.

"Run out of gas?" one of the sentries asks.

"You're kidding, right?" you reply. Maybe he thought you were just working off some carbs. "A little help would be nice."

"I can't leave my post," the sentry responds.

You grumble about a lack of teamwork and slowly roll the car through the gates. As the car comes to stop at your parking place, you notice a full can of fuel waiting. That's when it hits you...you forgot to fill the tank with the gas you picked up the night before. Idiot. There's a note on the gas can from DB:

The Horsemen missed you. They stayed for half the battle, then were promptly served up as a main course. They high tailed it out of there.

They plan on staying home for a while. When they are ready, they will venture out again. And, I will continue to track them.

The offensive motor came sputtering to a halt in the second half, and it was ugly.

When a team sets a franchise record for fewest points in half, then clearly one needs to look at the offensive end as the culprit in such a loss. The Lakers scored just 23 points in the second half... They had just 2 assists in the second half... Kobe didn't score in the second half... Ron Artest played just 5 minutes in the second half...

"No one stepped up the second half and played ball," Jackson said.

Thanks, Phil, for stating the obvious.

The Lakers got thumped 105-79 by the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers, of course, were the team that sent the Nuggets packing last year on the way to the franchise's 15th title. The Nuggets were up for the game. The last time these two teams met in the preseason, 6 techs and 2 flagrants were passed out. That was nearly three weeks ago, the same time Pau announced he had a setback with his hamstring.

The Nuggets got their revenge...as much as one can in November, anyway. Running a back-to-back in Denver is never easy, especially when the team gets in at 5 a.m. Although they did get some decent rest with the blowout game the night before, some of the Lakers looked like they ran into a wall. Bynum said the altitude affected him (as well as the poor ball movement). He was still one of the more effective of the bunch.

"No excuses," Kobe said. "They beat the hell out of us."

The Lakers struggled to get their offense flowing. Kobe's post game was faltering and we didn't make adjustments. The offense was stagnating. If you're looking for more car metaphors...the wheels fell off...they couldn't change gears... It was simply awful.

"We ended up taking long shots and turning the ball over," Phil said, "and started playing the ballgame just like we didn't want to do it to start the third quarter."

Time to start another 6-game win streak.


Kobe -- -- This is one of those games where he needed to switch it up from the post. He missed his first several shots and had a hard time getting in a rhythm. He was missing some looks from the post he's been hitting lately. The Nuggets also started to front or three-quarter front him in the post. This caused the offense to bog down as we didn't run any counters. The flow was lost. Late in the third, Kobe finally tried to switch it up by going to the high screen-roll. (And this is where we miss Pau.) It lasted for about a possession before Kobe's game was over. The switch of gears never came and the offense went completely south. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-17 shooting (1-3 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 34 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He cut off Lamar and drew a foul in the paint, he made both FTs. He missed an early offense fallaway on the baseline. He airballed a baseline turnaround. He missed a three out of a timeout. He was stripped trying to split a double. He finally sank a top-of-the-key jumper for his first field goal. He sank a baseline catch-and-shoot. A rare moment when Kobe didn't know the shotclock and it expired as he passed off. He posted up and went glass from the left block. He swished a step-back wing jumper next time down. He had 10 points on 4-7 shooting in the first. He spun baseline drew a crowd and handed it off to LO for FTs. He drew a wing double and fed LO for the And-1. He stripped Smith to ignite a break. He spun and faded on Smith for a wing jumper, just impossible to defend that. He missed a sideline jumper. He was ticked on the no-call when he missed off the glass trying for the post step-through. He sank a wing three over Martin. He sank a swing-through 21-footer from the right wing. He forced up a 20 footer with a man on tight and missed. Out in transition, he spun around one-man who grabbed him, then took an elbow from Kenyon and finally got back to the line. (Wow, took all that for more FTs. He was in pain and gave Martin a stare.) He made both FTs. He had 19 points on 7-13 shooting. Second Half: He missed a step-back wing jumper. He missed a step-through layup. He missed a turnaround from the midpost. He missed a sideline three. He was stripped for a layup the other way. No flow to his game or the team's, and he was 0-4 in the third.

Bynum -- -- The Lakers didn't take advantage of Drew's size like we should have. He ran a 14-minute stint to start the game, got the ball then and was effective. After getting his first rest, he came back in the game for his second stint and didn't seem to get the ball much from then on. No one was collapsing the D or drawing his man and giving him high entry passes. So, you didn't see any of those points playing off others that we've been getting for him. Almost all of Drew's points were him fighting for boards or creating on his own. This was on one of the flaws in the Laker's game. Another was our poor uses of triangle counters. When the Nuggets started to deny the post entry passes by fronting, there was no one running our counters. Typically our PF spot will flash to the FT line to set up the high-low, or we can flash Bynum weak to strong to get good position and the ball. Drew did a good job with what he had, but the team game wasn't there. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 8-13 shooting (3-3 from the line) to go with 15 boards (4 offensive), 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a -22. The Action: He hit a jumphook over Nene in the middle of the lane. He spun backdoor and finished the lob from LO. He got lost on D and gave up a dunk. He split a double and missed a layup. He missed on an attack with his left down the lane. He easly scored over Andersen with his left on the left block. He outsized the Nuggets to pull down an offensive board and draw a foul, he made both FTs. Excellent job on the glass on both ends in the quarter. He had 8 points and 6 boards in the first. He attacked to his right on a long dribble and scored the layup. He had 10 points, 8 boards at the half. Second Half: Nice challenge on Melo to force a miss. He fought for a Kobe miss, grabbed it and hit a 6-footer. He was blocked from behind. He cleaned up a Lamar miss (who was hit with no call at the front of the rim). He faced up and hit an And-1 baseline jumper over Martin, he made the FT. He was blocked after getting knocked off balance. He took Andersen off the dribble from the FT line, head faked, then dunked.

Lamar -- -- Even though he got to the line the most, he sure didn't seem to be getting a lot of love. There were some very weak calls or non-calls against him. Occasionally, that seems to have an affect on his game. When he did get to the line, he started out well then missed his next four straight. Can't keep clanking like that, LO. He's done a good job cutting off the Kobe doubles lately. As Lamar hangs on the perimeter because Drew and Kobe are working the post, he definitely needs to stay conscious of not letting the D sag off him. Lamar had to fight off some first half foul trouble. Without Pau in the game our defensive board drops off badly when Powell is filling the spot. Powell, however, already picked up his fouls, so we had to go small. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-11 shooting (1-3 from three, 3-7 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -23. The Action: He swished a wing three on his first attempt. He fumbled a dribble out of bounds. He lobbed to Bynum backdoor for the score. He cleaned up a Bynum miss with a putback layup. He missed a long three trying to beat the shotclock. He got hacked when Kobe set him up under the hoop, he made both FTs. He sank an And-1 jumphook off the glass, cutting off the Kobe double, he made the FT. He attacked Nene off the dribble and drew FTs, he missed both short. He dunked off the drive and dish from Ron. He missed a FT jumper. He fouled Afflalo on a three, picking up his third foul with 4:36 left and had to sit. He had 12 points on 4-7 shooting and 5 boards. Second Half: He missed a three to start the half. Wow, he missed a shot, got it back and was absolutely mugged by Martin over the back and they called a jumpball (if that wasn't on the offensive end, no way they call it that way, so stupid). He attacked to his right and scored a layup. He was hacked on a layup with no call, Drew cleaned it up. Great D on Melo, anticipating his shot and forcing a bricked jumper. He attacked and finally got the whistle for FTs, he then missed both.

Artest -- -- According to Ric Bucher, Phil said before the game that "If Ron can play this game and stay out of foul trouble, this probably goes our way." The game quickly went south in the third quarter and got worse when Ron picked up his third, fourth and fifth fouls in the first 5 minutes. It wasn't fouls defending Melo, however, that caused the problem. Three of Artest's fouls were on the offensive end. Some were cheapies. Melo had struggled in the first half with just 7 points and 3 fouls limiting his time. So, all in all, it wasn't much of a match up with all the whistles flying. When Artest was on the floor, he led the team with assists and threes. The ball seemed to find its way to his hands with the shotclock low a number of times. Despite that he managed to bail out the offense a few times. "That was a tough game to swallow," Artest tweeted after the game. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-11 shooting (3-6 from three) to go with 3 boards, 6 assists, 2 turnovers and 5 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He swished a sideline three on an inside-out sequence. He missed a layup trying to flip it over his head underneath the hoop. He stripped Melo, busted out, took the outlet and scored the layup. He missed a three when his man sagged off him to deny a post pass. He lost Melo for a second and gave up a dunk on the cut. He missed a wing jumper. He missed a jumper trying to create off the dribble when the offense stalled. He was called for an offensive foul trying to back his man down. He attacked with speed to his left, drew the D and handed it off to LO for the dunk. He drained a wing three on a catch and shoot. He pulled down an offensive board, then hit Kobe for three. He swished a wing three on a busted offensive sequence with the shotclock expiring. He missed a corner three at the halftime buzzer. He had 11 points on 4-9 shooting (3-5 from three), 6 assists and 3 boards. Second Half: He was called for a clear-out foul when Melo flopped. He hit rim on a halfcourt attempt trying to beat the shotclock. He missed a putback attempt. He picked up his fifth foul just 5 minutes into the second half and had to sit.

Fisher -- -- In both back-to-back games this season, DFish has gone 0-5 and hasn't scored. Even though this is an early trend, it's something to keep an eye out. Can his older legs handle these types of situations? So far, it's not looked good. He moved the ball relatively well in the first quarter and didn't look for his shot. But you could see him second guessing a shot or two later in the game after missing. Defensively, DFish was fairly solid. He caused turnovers and Billups went 1-8. The Lakers problems, however, was the horrible second half of offense and DFish didn't do anything to help. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-5 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He drew a charge on Billups in the backcourt. He missed a long wing jumper in early offense. He barely hit rim on a long three. He then drew Melo's third foul in transition D. He missed a 15-footer. Nice help D strip on the final defensive stand of the half. Second Half: He missed a corner three. He missed a sideline jumper. Slow entry pass to Bynum and it was picked off.

Luke -- -- When Artest suddenly picked up a bunch of fouls at the start of the third, Phil brought in Luke. The team was struggling badly at that point. Luke couldn't even help the offense find a rhythm. He ended up dislocating a finger. It happened right in front of a ref with no call and Luke looked more disgusted at the no call than the crooked finger that had to get popped back in. Vitti went to work and Luke returned to the game, but it will probably be an issue for a couple of weeks. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 6 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed a baseline jumper, got it back and scored. He was blocked on a runner. Dislocating his finger, he called timeout to have it popped back in. He tried to hit Bynum instead of taking the three, turnover, three the other way.

Brown -- -- He was the first guard off the bench tonight as Phil likes to go bigger against the stronger Billups. With the offense out of rhythm, so was Shannon's game. He backed up DFish's 0-5 with a 1-8 of his own. He really needs the system clicking to be effective. When we aren't working the triangle, Shannon's game reverts to what made him into a journeyman before he found a home here. Again, here's another situation where Pau's game allows the Lakers to get into sync and others feed off. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-8 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -21. The Action: He missed a layup on a drive to his left. He threw down in transition when Farmar tracked down a loose ball and found him. Second Half: He missed a 20-footer not running the offense. He was called for a charge attacking off the three line. He missed a sideline three. He missed a fading jumper. He missed a layup, but got it back. He missed a reverse. He swiped a ball from the post man. He missed a three.

Vujacic -- -- Phil used Sasha in the first half to make up for our lack of size when LO and Powell had foul troubles. In the second hald, he just threw him out there because nothing else was going right. Ugly minutes on both ends for Sasha. Like Shannon, he needs a certain flow to the game and the offense to run smoothly to get him good looks. If he's trying to create for himself like we saw in one sequence, forget it. Defensively, you can forget that, too. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-4 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and 1 fouls in 10 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: Smith abused him with a change of direction for a layup. He gave up a touch foul on the sideline for FTs. Second Half: His jumper wedged into the rim and backboard for a jumpball. He missed a wing jumper. He tried to create off the dribble and missed a jumper badly.

Farmar -- -- He matched up with Lawson to provide some speed on D. Fisher, Brown and Sasha combined for a ridiculous 1-17. You probably could have put Farmar into any role in this game and done better. Not counting Farmar, the rest of the bench shot a pitiful 4-25. He matched their point production himself. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-6 shooting (2-5 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist and 2 turnovers in 13 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He missed a long three trying to beat the shotclock. He swished a wing jumper off the pinch post. He recovered a loose ball and fed Shannon for a dunk. Nice job saving a tough pass from Shannon on the break. Second Half: He threw a pass into Morrison's shoes to start the fourth. He sank a three in early offense. He came up short on a three on the next trip down. He swished a wing three from the right side.

Powell -- -- The last game I mentioned how our rebounding hurts when he's in the game. Powell didn't pull down a defensive board tonight. Just a very poor job at boxing out and fighting for boards on some sequences. When he came in the game for his first stint, he almost single-handedly put the Lakers in the penalty with his fouls. Have I mentioned we missed Pau in this game? The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting to go with 1 offensive board and 4 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He didn't hit rim on an elbow jumper. He was called for three quick fouls in a minute and had to sit. Second Half: He missed an elbow jumper. He hit a lefty jumphook in the post. He missed a running hook with his left.

Mbenga -- -- When Twitter lights up with NBA players tweeting about a dunk, someone usually got posterized. Tonight, it was Mbenga. Little Ty Lawson threw down on poor DJ in garbage time and had the crowd buzzing. Mbenga swatted him shortly later, but he already made the wrong end of the highlight reel. The Stats: He didn't score and didn't shoot. He grabbed 2 boards, blocked 1 shot and had 2 fouls in 11 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He gave up an And-1 to Nene in the post. Second Half: He got posterized by Ty Lawson trying to block his dunk. He rejected Lawson's layup shortly later.

Morrison -- -- I had a bad feeling prior to the second half that we would see Morrison tonight. That would mean a blowout and, unfortunately, I didn't see the Lakers as the team able to pull that off. Sure enough, Phil dusted Ammo off to cover Melo to start the fourth. The game was already out of hand. Adam, however, actually looked worse on the other end of the court where he threw up a couple of airballs. He fit right in. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting (0-2 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 steal and 1 foul in 12 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He let Melo get past him in transition for a dunk. He airballed a corner three. He hit the front of the rim on the next possession trying to hit a three from up top. He airballed a step-back jumper. He sank a wing 18-footer. He was fouled trying to score off the glass, he missed both FTs.

Phil -- -- The Lakers got off to an 8-0 start to keep the crowd from any early hysterics. The Nuggets caught them midway through the quarter... The Lakers led 28-26 after one. Bynum imposing his size for 8 points, Kobe a little slow to start but had 10 points... Phil went with a Bynum, Powell, Kobe, Brown, Farmar lineup to start the second... Kobe got his first rest as Phil ran a Mbenga, Lamar, Artest, Brown, Farmar lineup... Trailing by 3, Phil brought back in Bynum and Fish for Mbenga and Farmar... The starters were back in with 5:40 left, down 46-41... Lamar had to sit with 3 fouls, Powell already had 3, so Phil brought in Sasha and went with Ron at PF with 4:36 left. Melo was out with 3 fouls, too, so he could go small at SF... He called a 20-second timeout after Kobe was grabbed and elbowed in transition and needed a few more seconds... The Lakers trailed 58-56 at the half. Aside from 9 more FTAs for the Nuggets, very similar stats from both teams. The Lakers made 21-44 (47.7 percent), the Nuggets 19-42 (45.2 percent). The Nuggets had a 21-4 advantage in bench points... The coaches stressed that the team needed to play defense without fouling. The refs didn't oblige... The Nuggets went on a 10-0 run to start the half, Phil didn't call timeout... Both Artest and LO had 4 fouls each after just 4 minutes... The Lakers trailed 75-62 at the first timeout midway through the third... The Lakers shot 4-20 and were outscored 29-8 in the third... Phil started a Bynum, Powell, Morrison, Brown, Farmar lineup trailing 87-64... Phil brought in Mbenga shortly lated and let the reserves finish... The Lakers almost doubled their third quarter's production with 15 points in the fourth...

Game Flow -- LINK -- One thing you rarely see from the Lakers. They had few runs in this game and had none in the third in response to the 10-0 and 17-4 stretches the Nuggets went on. The entire quarter was nearly a Denver run.

[SoCaLjAy]

Thanks DB! Down night but we will rebound!

[Ray_Gonzoles]

Thanks again for the recaps DB!

Wow, most thougbt this would be a tough game, but after the 1st half it's like the Lakers lost all of their energy.

The 3rd quarter was a disaster offensively, and clearing the bench for the 4th quarter was Phil waving the white flag.

Hopefully Pau will return soon.
_________________
"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.

[mhan00]

that was the ugliest game i've seen in recent memory. lakers couldn't seem to get a fair shake from the refs in the 2nd half (first half too, courtesy of mister stafford), but the horrid, horrible, awful offense didn't help matters. i lost count of the number of shots the lakers had that just rimmed out. painful to watch to the bitter end.

[limchrc]

thanks, hope we win our next game.

[lakergreenmachine]

Thanks DB, great job as always. It was a tough game but we will rebound no doubt! Here's to a win over Houston!
_________________
"Moment of Silence For the Champions."

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks for the recap DB!

I agree, it looks like the Lakers were running on fumes and got throttled.

Going on that wheels analogy; the whole team couldn't gain any traction... Fish played like an old retread, even Kobe looked a bit bald tonight. The whole team looked... um.... tired?

Altitude can play tricks on a high-octane offense. Hope they crank it up against the Rockets.

[JUST-MING]

Thanks DB. .

[Sage_10]

Basically, the Lakers looked the same way Phoenix did last night.
_________________
"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[mandywwm]

it's just regular season and just one game,we will be fine.7-2 without gasol,i like it.

[Rick12322]

Thanks, Db.

The team looked tired.

The refs weren't just bad, they chose to be completely one-sided and dishonest.

Tired team + bad refs= blowout.

[Worthy#42]

Thanks recape. Next game must win!

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

i dont know about u guys but i dont get as mad this year when we lose like last year. i still wish phil would have called a timeout in the 3rd qtr before it got outta hand
_________________
"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[Freakout]

We ended up taking long shots and turning the ball over," Phil said, "and started playing the ballgame just like we didn't want to do it to start the third quarter."

I know I was cussing at the TV to start the 3rd. Kobe especially should know better by now but I've gotten use to a few stinkers every season.

[hoopschick29]

That was the worst showing we've had in very long time. They took it on the chin and it's time to move on. One of the perks of an 82 game season is that there's little time to bemoan bad losses.
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So glad we gave you your flowers while you were here, Kobe.

[japanesebeef1]

These must be the nights you least feel like writing your column. Thanks for your faithfulness!

[LakersMD]

Flush this game and move on.

[City_Dawg]

Didn't the same thing happen last year when the lakers played the Nugs on a back-to-back after getting in Denver like 4 am in the morning?

Deja-vu.

Thanks DB. Usually i'd be bummed about a game like this, but Modern Warfare 2 cures all ills
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*sighs*

!...

[calistrtballr]

phil needs to punish melo down low with artest in the post

[A Mad Chinaman]

Hopefully this is a game to remind that the team needs to play well every night since they have a big "X" on their back with every team gunning for them, especially ones that have payback in mind.

Re: DFish - yep, his PT in "back-to-back" game is one thing that the coaches should monitor. It will be interesting to see how Farmar (in a contract year), Sasha (to prove that he is worth the monies in his new contract) and Shannon (his trial to see if he is the Lakers' future starting PG).

Mychal stated before the game that this early "back-to-back" games should affect the Lakers as much as these type of games will affect them later on in the season - I guess not (sadly). Hopefully LO won't fall asleep as much since he is not able to work in the post as much - since he is definitely not better than Kobe or Drew. It would be nice to see him at the pinch post where he is more of a threat in the paint - especially since many people have stated how high LO's basketball IQ is, or not.

[golakersgo121]

[LakersMDGurl]