LAKERS -at- MAVS - 1/19 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Dead in Dallas... The NBA season is full of highs and lows. The Mavs know this -- winning 12 in a row at one point this season before dropping their last 6 straight. The Lakers haven't quite gone to either of those extremes, but they know how to kill a buzz after a nice win over the Thunder.

They had highs and lows in this game, leading by double digits in the first half and nearly that in the third quarter before falling 109-100 in Dallas.

"We thought we should have been up 15 points in the first half," Phil said. "We let them stay in the ball game."

Very poor team defense from the Lakers killed their game. They were exploited on the high screens. In the third quarter when the tables were turned, the Lakers switched repeatedly on those screens allowing the Mavs to pick them off in the midrange or from behind the arc when they gave them space -- which was too often.

"We were late. We fell asleep on the weakside. We just didn't do a good job," Kobe said. "...A lot of mistakes. A lot of mistakes. Just stupid stuff."

Jason Kidd scored a season-high 21 points on a variety of open set shots. Jason Terry and Shawn Marion both had 22 points off the bench. Phil said it was the other guys -- Marion and Terry off the bench -- that made the difference. Maybe, but the soft defense on a hot-shooting Kidd didn't help.

"We were just being lazy," Bynum said. "I’m quite sure if you look at the tape everybody is kind of stagnant and just staying still."

Yep. A very flat-footed effort. As a result, the Mavs shot 55 percent with just 6 turnovers. Hard to get a road win by giving that up.


Kobe -- -- Kobe got to the line for the first time in the game with 4:43 left. Prior to that he was getting frustrated with some of the no calls (the Lakers shot just 7 FTs). No doubt there should have been a few more trips to the line, some seemed obvious. Still, Kobe's first comments after the game were about the team's poor defense. As he often does, he mentioned "execution" again and again in regard to their work on that end of the floor. Their rotations and recovery were poor, Kobe included. Offensively, Kobe mixed in the passing game with the occasional scoring burst. Phil mentioned the Kobe-Kidd challenge going on in the third quarter. "Kobe wasn't getting calls going to the basket in the third quarter," Phil said. "Kidd was getting things going at the other end of the court." While Kobe was battling to try to get his, Kidd was basically shooting open set shots as Kobe and the bigmen switched on screens (then DFish and Shannon both gave up threes later in the quarter). No D, no W. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 10-18 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 10 assists, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 36 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He was stripped on the way up in the paint and couldn't finish. He grabbed a miss by Ron and banked. He attacked, took contact on the baseline and sank a fade as the shotclock went off. He sank an elbow jumper next time down. He whipped a pass to Blake who drained a wing three over the zone. He sank a pull-up elbow jumper with the shotclock low. He missed a long wing jumper out of a timeout. High-speed cross-over move to blow past Kidd in transition and set up Pau for the And-1. He had 8 points on 4-7 shooting and 5 assists. Second Half: He attacked baseline and whipped the pass to Drew for the layup. He missed a 30-footer trying to beat the shotclock. He was stripped on a drive (wanted the foul). He attacked, ball-faked along the way to freeze defenders, and scored a layup. He missed a FT jumper (totally held by Kidd with no call while trying to free himself up). He missed a turnaround over Kidd (forcing the issue now). He attacked next time down, thought he was fouled again as he hit a baseline jumper. He then tried to set up bigmen on drives, but turned the ball over twice on a couple drives. He drained a face-up 17-footer. He sank a wing jumper on his next touch. He missed a one-handed leaner. He kicked out to Lamar for a three. He hit Lamar on the screen-roll for a layup next time down. He finally got to the line on a drive, he made one FT. He missed a long pull-up jumper. He iso'd and banked. He hit a running hook.

Gasol -- -- He was misfiring on some easy ones against Dirk early, but soon picked up steam scoring 17 points on 8-12 shooting in the first half. The Lakers should have gone to him a bit more in the second half. He only shot 4 times in that half (yes, he also needed to be more aggressive). Defensively, he had some flat-footed moments with the smaller players, but put up a pretty good fight against Dirk, blocking his shot a couple of times on iso D. Pau scored the 13,000th point of his career in the second quarter. One of the fastest to get to that mark. He's just been a consistent offensive player through the years (averaging anywhere from 18.3 to 18.8 with L.A.) The Stats: He scored 23 points on 11-16 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 4 assists, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: He missed a jumphook on the first possession, then fouled going over the back. He sank a face-up 17-footer as the shotclock went off. He was late on a bounce pass to Drew that would have set up a dunk, turnover instead. He missed a lefty jumphook (second easy one he couldn't finish). He slipped the screen, took the pass from Kobe and lobbed to Drew for the dunk (perfect execution). He stretched out under the hoop after grabbing a baseline pass and flipped in a shot over Chandler. Not close on his lefty jumphook. He was hit (so obvious) and missed a jumper expecting the whistle that never came, wow. He finally got a jumphook to bounce in after backing Haywood down. He spotted Lamar wide open on a cut for a dunk. He tipped in a missed layup by Blake. He swished an elbow jumper flashing to the ball. He took the repost, attacked baseline, spun back and scored the layup over Dirk. He swatted Dirk on one end and set up Drew on the other for a dunk. He scored a layup on a mismatch next time down (his 13,000th point). He scored an And-1 layup off the drive and dish from Kobe, he made the FT. Second Half: He blocked Dirk without leaving the floor. He attacked Dirk on iso on the other end, spun left and banked the lefty jumphook. He missed a 17-footer. He faked one way on a jump stop, then hit the jumphook pivoting the other way. He cleaned up a Lamar missed shot in the post.

Bynum -- -- He hyper-extended his right elbow trying to block a shot coming down on Pau in the third quarter. He was in pain for a while, but played through it. Phil said he wasn't concerned. "Kind of like a funny, crazy bone" thing, Phil said. The Mavs did a decent job against Drew by settling for some of the midrange shots. Drew needs to close a little tighter on those instead of staying as far back as he was on the screen-roll D. Pretty good first half from Bynum, but like the rest of the team he faded a bit in the second. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-6 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He slammed the lob from Pau. He missed a lefty jumphook. He drew FTs after losing his man on an up and under, he made both. He overpowered Haywood and scored the turnaround over him. He swatted Haywood on the other end. He got caught on a swing through by Dirk to give up FTs. He took an interior feed from Pau for a dunk. Second Half: He scored a layup off the drive and dish from Kobe. Kobe had to chuck from 30 feet out to beat the shotclock, Drew battled for the board and it led to a hoop for a teammate. Wow, quick three-second call on Drew in the post. He was blocked on a post up attempt.

Artest -- -- Apparently Ron shoots well if the kickout passes are thrown around shin level. He buried both threes doing that tonight and missed everything else. Actually, he didn't do too much else this game. Which might have been why Phil went to Luke a little earlier than usual. This would have been one of those games where Barnes got extended run and closed the game. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-7 shooting (2-6 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and no fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He sank a corner three off a low pass for the Lakers first score. He missed a three on the other side on a kickout. He stripped his man to ignite a break. He missed a quick fire sideline three. He missed a step-back jumper. He missed a wide open sideline three. Second Half: He probed the lane and lost the dribble. He swished a three off another low kickout pass. He missed a corner three, dunk the other way.

Fisher -- -- The perimeter D by both he and Kobe (along with their bigmen) got exploited badly on the screens. We seem to typically let both Terry and Kidd fire at will against us. That happened again tonight. We got collapsed badly on it. Did the Mavs even have a single post score in this game? All their penetration was established off the screens. Despite Fish's good shooting, Phil went with Blake in the close because our defense was a step slow and several steps late. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-6 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 block and no fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He missed an elbow jumper. He sank a wing jumper on the break. He stripped Dirk to save Pau. He drained a wing jumper off the pinch post with Kobe. He pulled the trigger on a quick-fire three in semi-transition and knocked it down. He missed a runner. He got backdoored for a layup. Second Half: He stripped his man to force a shotclock violation. He sank a wing jumper on the Kobe kickout.

Lamar -- -- Anytime the Lakers get three players with 20+ points, they should win that game. While the Mavs have their sixth man in Jason Terry, whom we never seem to be able to guard, the Lakers have LO. Lamar dropped a 20-10 game, a lot of it came as the ship was sinking. We just couldn't get stops. Our bigs were confused on the screen-roll D and often mucking things up, Lamar included. When they switched, Lamar played soft on the perimeter, as well. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 8-14 shooting (2-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He swished an open wing jumper. He slammed back in a missed Luke runner. He missed a bank cutting off ball and wanted the foul. He dunked cutting of Pau in the post. After grabbing an offensive board, he bricked a turnaround (he rushed it when he had plenty of time at the end of the half). Second Half: He posted up out of a timeout and missed a bank, but Pau cleaned it up. He hit backboard on a 60-foot heave at the buzzer. He banked a one-hander over Dirk. He missed a layup probing to his right. He missed a fade trying to create in the lane. He sagged off his man and gave up a three. He sank an And-1 three off the Kobe kickout, he made the FT. He scored a layup on the screen-roll with Kobe next time down. He pushed out the steal, attacked and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He stepped out of bounds trying to attack on iso. He sank a three on a kickout.

Blake -- -- Better game again from Blake on both ends of the floor. He was one of the few that seemed to put in the right effort defensively. He's done that consistently this year. It's the other end where you want to see him getting more engaged and aggressive. He did that in this game and Phil let him close the fourth while Fish sat. While he was still moving the ball and hitting open men, he also stopped passing up shots or drives and got more assertive. We saw a couple things from him we rarely see. One was some nice off-the-ball cuts to the paint within the triangle. Another was Blake just creating for himself. Since the coaches have brought up his flat play, he's started to show a pulse again. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-4 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He sank a wing three at the end of the quarter. His pass was deflected for a score the other way. He faced up his man, faked and swished the baseline jumper (more please). Rare cut weak to strong out of the triangle, he took the pass and missed a layup (but Pau cleaned up the penetration). Second Half: He attacked from the corner off a screen and hit the running hook.

Brown -- -- He kind of sucked the life out of the team in the second half. Where Farmar used to consistently hurt the Lakers was on compounding mistakes. A turnover on one possession, followed by a brick on the next. When you've got impact ballers on the court with you, it's in the best interest of the team to pick your spots and get your impact ballers the ball. Shannon had three straight possessions where we got nothing, meanwhile the Mavs hit threes (including a bad one on him) and quickly got separation. His defense was good in the first half, but like just about everyone else in the second half he made no impact on that end. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 offensive board, 1 steal and 1 turnover in 17 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He choked a layup on a lob from Blake, wow (three the other way). He crashed the glass and grabbed the Luke brick and scored the layup. Second Half: He missed an early offense baseline chuck, not a good possession. He double-dribbled next time down. He barely hit rim on a three on the next possession (three straight trips he has done something wrong). He fumbled away a defensive board.

Walton -- -- Matt Barnes, help! Luke was aggressively bricking. Ugly game from him and it sure made you miss Barnes for his garbage points and off-the-ball cutting. He had back-to-back misses from three when the Lakers were in the midst of losing complete control of the game (not quite the execution Phil was hoping for, I'm sure). The Stats: He didn't score on 0-5 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He missed a runner that Lamar slammed back in. He picked up two quick fouls in 90 seconds. He barely hit rim on an open 16-foot pull-up. Second Half: He missed an early offense three. He bricked another three next time down, layup the other way, uggh. He missed a wide open FT jumper.

Caracter -- -- Phil emptied the bench for a possession and DC managed to get a couple garbage points. The Stats: He had 2 points on 1-1 shooting and 1 offensive board in 30 seconds of action. He was a +2. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He cleaned up a missed jumper by Luke.

Ebanks -- -- He came in for a final possession. The Stats: No stats. The Action: Nothing to report.

Phil -- -- This game seemed very much like that Clipper loss where the Lakers pulled out to a couple of decent sized leads, then faded badly... The Lakers opened up a small 13-8 lead when the break came midway through the first quarter (got the ball into their bigs well)... Up 3, Phil sat Pau for Lamar with more than 4 minutes left... They forced a timeout with 1:40 left when they extended the lead to 8 (Bynum in the post, Fish on the perimeter)... He sat Ron and Fisher for Shannon and Blake at that timeout... The Lakers led 31-23 after the first quarter... Phil started a Pau, Lamar, Luke, Brown, Blake unit... They extended to 45-35 when a timeout came. Phil couldn't stick with momentum and brought in Kobe, Artest and Fish for Luke, Shannon and Blake. Not quite wholesale changes, but still could have kept Blake or Brown out their longer... Phil quickly called a timeout a few possessions later after the D gave up a couple of threes. The unit came in flatfooted defensively (seems to always happen in that quarter when he doesn't stagger his substitutions)... The lead was lost and the Lakers trailed 50-49 (the Mavs made 5-6 from three in the second quarter)... The Lakers led 56-52 at the half. The Lakers shot 25-45 (55.6 percent). The Mavs made 20-38 (52.6 percent)... The coaches didn't like the easy shots the Mavs got. That wouldn't change... The Lakers were losing a Kobe vs. Kidd shootout (Kobe seemingly fouled a number of times without a single FT, Kidd had 13 points on open jumpers)... Down 70-69, Phil sat Bynum and Artest for Lamar and Luke with 3:30 left... Phil called a timeout down by 3 a couple possessions later. He brought in Blake and Brown for Kobe and Fish... The lead quickly ballooned to 82-71 a minute later. Phil called a timeout with 31 seconds left in the third... He went to Lamar in the post (instead of three straight possessions of Shannon Brown garbage) and the Lakers scored... The Lakers had 7 of their 10 turnovers in the third. Ouch... The Lakers trailed 82-73 (the Lakers had a 9-point lead at one point in the third)... The Bynum, Lamar, Luke, Brown, Blake unit dug the hole deeper before Phil called a timeout in the fourth... He sat Luke for Kobe... He let Blake close instead of Fish (who can't cover Terry)... The Lakers gave up 55 percent shooting to the Mavs, including 12-26 from three. They forced the Mavs into just 6 turnovers...

[mhan00]

ugly loss, considering we dominated the first half of this game and just ignored our strengths for whole stretches at a time.

[Sister Golden Hair]

This team has become unwatchable. Seriously. It's become a fairly regular refrain through the P-Jax era that his vet teams tend to sleepwalk through chunks of the season. But there are simply better ways of spending one's time than watching millionaire's struggle with "matching the opponent's energy."

I know they've been to the finals 3 straight years yadda yadda yadda. But that's no excuse for letting a dinosaur like J-Kidd shoot wide open threes all night long. Nor is it an excuse for turning the ball over repeatedly, and often out of sheer sloppiness.

I don't get it. I thought players like Kobe and Fish had a lot of pride. But they seem content to go through the motions until they play a "significant" opponent. But what should disturb them and the fan-base is that the Lakers have laid eggs even in the marquee match-up games this season.

The coaching is not without fault. either. Jackson's decision to overwork Pau early in the season (while Bynum was out) recalls what he did with Horry, Shaw and company back during the season when Shaq sat out a big chunk of the season. The result was that those players ran on fumes for the latter half of the year, and the team never did get back in synch. And they disintegrated in the play-offs. Seems like some guys were always run-down while others were trying to get into game-shape. They were never on the same page.

I'm sure this team will make a run at another ring, but to do it in such an ugly fashion takes all the joy out of watching. There is an aesthetic element involved in basketball, and right now (and for much of the season), these guys have been winning (and losing) ugly. And it's been torture. This is the first season that I as a fan have turned games off, sometimes at the half, because I could see that the effort wasn't there and it was a waste of time to watch. I didn't even bother watching the Miami game because I knew ahead of time the team was going to come out flat and lay an egg. It's like they were too cool to care.

And the more I see Kobe and Fish completely ignore the defensive side of the ball, the more I lose respect for them. No one's asking either of them to shadow Russell Westbrook for 48 minutes. But leaving Jason Kidd wide open time after time after time is just stupid AND lazy. Jason Kidd always kills the lakers preciseley because they spend the first half of games against the Mavs leaving him wide open so that he gets a nice comfortable rhythm on his jumper. Then they spend the rest of the game paying for it.

This team goes through the "dog-days" syndrome every year, it seems, but for some reason it has become almost completely unwatchable to me.

Being tired is not enough of an excuse for disrespecting the opposition, and playing lazy, uninspired ball time and time again.

I'm a die hard Laker fan, but if even I'm revolted by watching them sleepwalk, what must the casual fan think?

Hopefully they'll pull it together by the start of the play-offs. But for the time being, they need to look in the mirror and ask whether they are doing justice to the fans and the game itself.

I actually do think that the "as long as they win in the end" mentality is wrong. I like watching beautiful basketball as well. Winning should be a function of teamwork, movement, effort, grace, will. These guys seem to think it's enough that they get to the finish line first no matter how torturous and ugly they make the journey by lack of focus and effort.

I dunno. Seems like someone is getting cheated in that equation.

SGH

[babyskyhook]

Thanks DB. Props to Andrew for his honesty about their laziness tonight.

[babyskyhook]

SGH^^^


Ultimately, I think it's about the fact that these guys (on a mental/emotional level) don't care about the reg season and (on a physical level) are pacing themselves and conserving their bodies.

They have played almost an extra season's worth of games by going to three straight Finals, except with that extra season of games at 2-3 times reg season intensity.


They are mentally tired. Bored. Sleepwalking. Whatever term you want to put on it.

There is nothing in the reg season to get their pulse moving except games with Boston. Last year played out the same way.

They feel they have nothing to prove until the payoffs start, so they're going to coast along until then, as the want to pace themselves.


And that is what their coach wants them to do. He knows he's got a veteran team. Last thing he wants to do is burn them out and have nothing left in the playoffs. He (and the players) are focused solely on mid-April, no matter what they say in the media to make it look like they remotely care about the season.

It's going to be an ugly ride, just like last year, but as long as it ends like last year did, with a parade in June , then it's all good- no matter how frustrating it is now.

[babyskyhook]

PS to Phil- Free Ebanks!!!

[Nobody]

I cringe every time Luke decides to fling the ball towards the hoop... I'd say when he shoots, but when you shoot the ball you try to score, while Luke is probably just trying to hit the rim. The guy is shooting 30%.. yes 30%... on the season. I mean, I think most of us could give the Lakers what he's been giving them for a lot less money... hell, I'll do it for food and shelter. Meanwhile he's laughing himself to sleep everyday. 3 more years, 15 more million dollars... *barf*

[babyskyhook]

[Klone_dd]

We all know the Lakers have a lightswitch mentality, meaning they believe they can turn on the championship mindset at any point. As we've seen a lot this season, they can also turn that lightswitch off very quickly by playing some lazy, uninspired ball and getting blown out in the process.

I'd be curious to find out what the Mavs scored in the paint. I don't think many. They mostly had open, uncontested midrange and 3's, which means slow rotations, no challenges and lack of interest.

Sorry, Kobe, but if you don't provide some energy defensively, the team follows your lead. Offensively, you did well with getting people involved with the 10 dimes. Defensively, your lax attitude got people uninvolved.

Pau was aggressive in the 1st half, passive the 2nd. Shanwow, it seemed, tried to take over the game himself in the 3rd. He did, but for the Mavs.

1-2 in this tough week so far isn't showing any championship mettle, just more boredom, overconfidence and laziness.

[limchrc]

thanks

[revgen]

Dallas killed us on jumpshots. Some were contested, and some weren't, but I have a hard time believing that they could beat us in a 7 game series shooting jumpers like they did. Just my 2 cents.
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[Bynum4MVP]

[Rick12322]

Thanks DB.

The team has a fundamental problem, their star player is old and breaking down. He's conserving what's left of his knee for offense while letting the defense suffer. Derek Fisher is just not athletic enough to keep up with todays athletes. He's in great shape for an old player and he does a lot of little things, uses his body well and is a smart player, but the lack of athleticism is a real problem.

It doens't help the game was fixed for the home team, either. Calling 3 seconds on Bynum when he was in there for 1 or 2 seconds was such a joke. Shawn Marion was camping in the paint for about 10 seconds on the other end, and even Phil pointed that out to the refs but they wouldn't call it.

Kobe, Pau, LO and now Bynum not getting calls, or lately Bynum getting dissed with phantom calls are all very telling about what the league thinks of us going to a potential 4th championship this year. I think the league would like it because of ratings, but with an ugly CBA around the corner, and David Stern knowing his job is entirely in the hands of loser owners who've played him like a puppet, you just know they aren't going to put up with us going back for 4 trips in a row. You know it by the obvious treatment of our players, it's beyond doubt they're not honest mistakes, but calculated manipulations.


I will be shocked if this team gets out of the West this year.

[A Mad Chinaman]

thanks DB!

With the team mainly consisting of players over 30, with ample playoff experience resulting in three consecutive LONG seasons and a long season - it is understandable of their various lapses.

The problem is that when one practices mistakes, these mistakes will rear its ugly head during crunch time. It is one thing when a team on a certain night beats you, it is another when one is consistently beating itself.

With the normal DFish defense, Pau is soft, Kobe is old (ha?!?!), Artest appearance and other issues - one would think that these games should provide Shannon and Blake (Barnes and Ratliff, when they return) experience to know how to produce during crunch time. Their indecisions are telling while additing Luke's corner threes that lead to opposing team's fastbreaks.

What is sad is that the Mavs are not even a very athletic team, though they had a lot more to prove in this game than the Lakers

[RVCdesigns]

Thank you DB, I expect to get flamed but I really thought the Lakers put in a great effort but lost it in the 2nd half as well as Dallas hitting clutch shot after clutch shot. I thought Dallas gave it 200% effort tonight. Stuff happens, lets move along. I will be very disappointed if in fact the Lakers lose in the playoffs. And we can all review these games where the Lakers dont match their opponents intensity.

[Burgundy]

I have to agree with SGH, this team has become pretty hard to watch, though, I think there's more to it then just lack of effort.

I also don't think it's a matter of simply not getting any calls (as has been mentioned several times).

But I definitely think the refereeing (or at least the focus on the refereeing) is a huge reason why this team is slipping.

For some reason, the Lakers havent't figured out that the referees reward effort and toughness, right or wrong (unless your name is Kobe - in which case, you're not going to get any calls either way).

The Lakers, as a team, are expecting the calls a championship team would think they would be getting, but they're just not coming.

What was so impressive about that Game 7 win against the Celtics, is the Lakers didn't get any calls until the 4th Quarter. Does everyone remember how that game started? For the first three quarters, the Lakers, literally, could not buy a call. I watched Rasheed Wallace, LITERALLY, tackle Kobe at the knees while going for a loose ball, without a call. Everyone makes fun of Kobe for his 6 for 24 shooting, but no one ever factors how much he was getting hacked to death on some of shots without a whistle.

But you know what was awesome? The Lakers never complained, and never stopped giving everything they had. Kobe (to a fault) kept stubbornly driving and getting hammered, FORCING the refs to give him a call. Finally, FINALLY in the 4th quarter it payed off and he started getting to the line, but that was after 3 quarters of essentially getting attacked by a chainsaw with no love from the officials.

This season, the Lakers don't get calls early, and they whine and moan, and let it distract them (do you really think all the whining is making the refs inclined to give them more calls?). They get frustrated and start going through the motions.

I have a hunch, if the team stopped complaining, and just played through it, they might:

A) Get some calls.
B) Get some wins.

[nslander32]

[mhan00]

Since everyone seems to be melting down about the loss, I thought I'd post some of the positives I liked in the game:

1. Kobe's continued balance on the offensive end. He's been doing a pretty good job of balancing the shots while keeping his teammates involved. He's just picking apart defenses lately.

2. Pau Gasol's resurgent post game. First game in a while I've seen Pau effectively use his hook shots and spin moves to generate easy looks for himself down low. Granted, it was against Dirk Nowitzki, perhaps the worst post defender ever, but still an encouraging sign.

3. Steve Blake making an appearance. Finally. This game was more what I remember Steve for when he played for other teams. Still not as aggressive as I would like, but it's good to see him maybe start to break out of his slump. Arguably the only perimeter player last night who bothered to play any defense at all.

[unleasHell]

I'm getting very tired of watching the Lakers lose...
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[shansen008]

[shansen008]