WIZARDS -at- LAKERS -- 12/17 -- Thoughts and :-(( ratings

[DancingBarry]

Arenas Goes for 60... The Lakers put together a 46-point fourth quarter and managed to scratch and claw their way back in the game in the last minute to take it to overtime. Brian Cook tied the game up with 5.7 seconds left with a huge clutch three. Unfortunately, the team still had no answer for Arenas or the Wizards defensively in the overtime, and he dropped an opponent high against the Lakers since they've been in Staples.

From the opening tip, the Lakers defense never showed up. They trailed by as many as 17 points. Arenas chewed up our guards, the Wizards got whatever they wanted offensively. We did a poor job in trying to double or take the ball out of Arenas's hands. And, in OT we left Kobe on Arenas when he had 5 fouls and Kobe got lit.

The Lakers fouled a ton (and were whistled for some weak ones, as well), sending the Wizards to the FT line again and again -- at the end of the night they had made 47-60.
Wow. Those are crazy numbers. Arenas nearly had half of those. We only forced 9 turnovers in the game. Arenas, Butler and Jamison scored 112 points combined. Wow.

Offensively, we had enough points for a win. The Lakers were three-happy in this one, some of those missed three's led to transition scores. But Kobe hit his first seven threes, so you can't complain about that, and the team actually had a good percentage (19-44) on their way to a team record for threes...but you don't want those kind of numbers on the attempts. "That's a team that packs in the defense," Phil said, "and gives you the over the top and tries to eliminate penetration on the move. We found a way to that penetration late in the game and had our way with it."

The Lakers showed some amazing resilience again to come back in the last minute. Props for that never-say-die attitude. Also, great to see Vlad bust out of his shell in this one, after coming off a pretty good game against the Rockets. The Lakers need to find away to survive on this road trip.


Kobe -- -- Kobe really seemed in cruise control a lot in this game, which is amazing considering the 45 points, 8 boards and 10 assists (or is that 10 boards, 8 assists like I thought I heard on the broadcast). He shot an efficient 15-24 from the floor (7-11 from three, 8-10 from the line). He made his first 7 three-point attempts of the game. Defensively, although he got a stop on Arenas in the last shot of regulation, once Kobe picked up his fifth foul in overtime he got completely torched. Stu was harping on it nearly every possession and he was right. They should have switched defenders. And, they should have trapped like teams do to Kobe. "You tip your hat and say, 'See you next time,' " Kobe said. "First of all, he shot 27 free throws. We as a team shot 30. Think about that...But him individually, it's funny. He doesn't seem to have much of a conscience. I really don't think he does. Some of the shots he took tonight, you miss those, and they're just terrible shots. Awful. You make them and they're unbelievable shots. I don't get a chance to play him much, so I haven't gotten used to that mentality of just chucking it up there. He made some big ones, but I'll be ready next time." Early on, Kobe was called for a carry on the baseline. He deflected a pass off Stevenson for a turnover. He posted up at the wing, then attacked, hung and drew FTs, he made both. He passed up on a three and missed a tougher stepback jumper with a man on him. He collapsed the D twice in the post and it led to threes by Vlad on the other side of the court. He sank a wide open three quickly into the set when the Wizards overplayed others in the backcourt. He faced up on the baseline and knocked down a jumper on the next possession. He rattled in his third straight jumper, this one from the right wing. He missed his next atttempt. Quick aggressive attack again, crossing over and drawing contract for FTs, he made one. He jacked up a wing three early in the offense and drained it. He swished a wing three off Kwame screen trying to go two-for-one. He had 16 points on 5-8 shooting in the first half. He hit an elbow jumper after letting arenas fly by. He swished a wide open wing three when Kwame got his own miss back. He sank another wing three on his next attempt when Kwame drew the D and kicked it back out. He missed a windmill reverse after beating his man badly and was ticked that he didn't get a foul call for getting popped in the head. He drew three FTs getting Arenas caught on the swing through behind the arc, he made two. Wow, he faced up and hit a 33-foot heat-check three like a free threw, his seventh make behind the arc in a row. Nice recovery after he overplayed the passing lane, he stretched out and snagged the backdoor pass. He got absolutely tapped on his eighth attempt, as it rattled out. He drew a charge on Butler the next time down. He worked the two-man game with Bynum and hit him with a bounce pass for a dunk. He missed his next three, a few feet behind the line. He hit Luke in the corner for a three. He got picked dribbling into a crowd, but swatted Gilbert from behind on the break. He fouled Arenas on a jumper for an And-1 late in the fourth. Then Kobe started getting more dribble penetration. He had a rare trip to the rim and he drew a foul, making both. He attacked the paint and scored a layup with ease. He attacked again and scored an easy reverse layup. He missed a runner in the last minute, but we tied up the ball. Kobe then attacked off the jumpball and hit an And-1 layup with 24 seconds left, he made the FT to cut the lead to 2. After a defensive board on a FT, he pushed the ball up and worked the two-man with Cook and Cook drilled the three to tie the game up. He got Arenas to brick on a shot at the buzzer as he stepped back and missed from about 20 feet. He picked up his fifth foul with 4 minutes left in the OT. Arenas drained a three over Kobe. Gilbert beat him off the dribble for an easy layup. Arenas backdoored Kobe for an And-1 on the next possession. Arenas pulled up and drained an uncontested three over Kobe. Kobe attacked, took contact with no call and banked in a layup. He dunked attacking off the dribble when the Wizards were protecting against the three. Unfortunately, we couldn't stop the bleeding on the defensive end.

Kwame -- -- Weak game by Kwame against his former team. He just never seemed to get it together on either end, and he watched Bynum play the meaningful overtime minutes. Kwame scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting, grabbed 6 boards and had 1 steal. He did a nice job passing at times, going for 5 assists with just 1 turnover in 25 minutes. Nice extra pass to Vlad for a layup in the lane. He swiped a pass under the hoop. He kept an offensive board alive and it led to Kobe FTs. He attacked and missed a layup, not close. He dunked off dribble penetration from Luke. He overpassed in the lane and turned the ball over. Poor post move and he was blocked. He drew FTs on an over-the-back foul, he made one and got back his own board (it led to a Kobe three). Poor box out and he gave up an offensive board. He bricked another post move, but got his miss back and it led to another Kobe three. He fumbled away a Kobe pass in the paint.

Smush -- -- Uggh. Well, he had no answer, of course, for Arenas. He certainly didn't have that same energy level as the previous night and consequently, Phil went to Farmar and Sasha in key spots. Just a few too many instances of getting caught in no man's land and not hustling to D-up some place. Smush scored 9 points on a poor 4-14 shooting in 26 minutes. He had 3 assists with 3 turnovers. He drained a wing catch and shoot. He pulled up off the dribble and hit the jumper from the elbow. He missed a corner three and it led to a transition dunk. He missed a wide open three. He lost the handle off the dribble for a turnover. He swung the ball off a Kobe post kickout to Vlad for a corner three. He fumbled the ball away in the lane. He attacked and threw up a wild shot against the bottom of the board and it led to points the other way. He missed an open wing jumper. He attacked the lane and threw up a brick. Poor clock recognition, heaving up a shot from half court with a few seconds left. He missed a wing jumper to start the second half. He missed another wide open look at a three. He attacked, took a little contact and banked a runner from the right side of the lane. He busted out on the break and scored an And-1 layup, he made the FT.

Walton -- -- On the bright side, Luke went for a career-high 11 assists. On the bad side, you saw a couple turnovers by Luke off the dribble that led to points the other way. Luke has had career assist numbers in the last two games, and has combined for 20 assists. No ball hogging here. He nearly had the triple-double. He scored 15 points on 5-12 shooting, grabbed 8 boards and had the 11 assists with 3 turnovers in 42:38 before fouling out. He also led the Lakers with 2 steals. He missed a one-hander but tapped out his miss. He posted up and siwshed his fade against Butler. He forced up a brick from behind the glass trying to post Caron up. He pushed out the rebound quickly and hit Vlad in the middle of the floor for a layup. He missed a baseline jumper. He attacked off a timeout and fed Kwame for the dunk. He missed a wide open three. He planted himself under the hoop against the zone, took a feed from Farmar and dunked. Sweet looking spin and face up to bury a baseline jumper in the post. Bad angle defending Jamison at the PF and he had to foul. He took his first break then after 18 minutes. He passed on the three, attacked aggressively from the wing and drew a foul, he made both FTs. One of the rare times Luke has been picked off the dribble, the Wizards turned him twice and stole it the second time leading to a breakaway. He back-rimmed a shot off a spin move. He picked up his fourth foul with 3:19 in the third. He missed a corner three, Kobe got it back and fed him again and he hit a rainbow three on his next attempt (he was 1-3 from the arc). He whipped a pass to Vlad under the hoop off a set play for a dunk. He attacked off the dribble on the next possession and scored a layup to cut the lead to 4 with 44 seconds left. He got stripped again by Butler at the top of the arc and it led to FTs on the other end to start the OT. Luke attacked the paint and hit Bynum off a jumpstep under the hoop for a dunk. Luke drew FTs in OT on an attack, he made both (he is now up to 76 percent from the line, impressive after the very poor start he had). He airballed a runner in the lane, then fouled out on the perimeter on the D end trying to get to a pass. Luke is playing our Boris Diaw this year offensively. Luke led the Lakers with a +13.

Radmanovic -- -- In the last game against Houston, we saw Vlad play an extended stint with the starters for the first time this season...meaning he played well enough for Phil to keep him out there. Tonight, he dropped a Laker career-high 27 points, looking aggressive from the perimeter, making teams pay when he was left alone or with a little day light. Do we miss Lamar's D? Of course. Was it the reason we lost tonight? No, but having LO out there, though, would have helped for sure. Cook had played the bulk of the minutes at PF in the last game, but with Vlad's offense clicking and having more mobility than Cook to cover Jamision, Phil gave him the extended run. Good to see him really put it together. With LO out, it would be an ideal time for him to get back to his old self. Vlad scored his 27 in 38:32 of action, shooting 11-16 from the floor (5-9 from three). He had just 3 boards (clearly we miss that from LO), but he did have 2 blocks and 1 steal. Jamison hit a jumpook on him in his first possession. Vlad missed a three on the other end. He took an interior feed from Kwame and scored a layup. He sagged off Jamison and gave up a three. He attacked down the lane and couldn't finish a layup. He missed a three the next time down. Luke fed him in transition and Vlad finished the layup down the lane. Good help D to contest Butler and tap out a board. He rattled in a corner three off a series of passes started from Kobe in the post. He drained another three, again initiated off a Kobe post up on the opposite side of the court. He played the entire first quarter before sitting. Back in the game, he took a feed from Kobe behind a Farmar screen and drained a wing three. He faked the pinch post hand off and pulled up at the FT line and knocked down the jumper (that's about the third time he's done that this season, he should go to it once or twice a game). Quick attack in the offense, catching his man off guard and Vlad drove for a layup. He took a swing pass and drained yet another three. Nice block under the hoop to prevent a score. He swished a three off a weave to start the fourth quarter. He drained a quick-release three from the wing in transition to cut the lead to 6. Another quick strike off a back screen out of a timeout and Vlad dunked after he was left open under the hoop. He missed a corner three in OT that everyone in Staples thought was going to drop. He attacked the paint off the dribble and tried to hit Bynum, the ball got knocked away, but Vlad came up with it and hit a short jumphook. He missed a three on a kickout and his man scored when Vlad fell down and no one covered for him. He fouled out late when we were trailing.

Bynum -- -- Up and down game from Drew. I thought his play in the early parts of the game was pretty weak. He had some nice moments later in the game. Arenas was too big of a challenge for him when he got dribble penetration, and the refs where giving Gilbert the whistle anytime there was slightest contact...no matter who initiated it. Bynum had 14 points on 3-5 shooting and an impressive 8-11 from the line (to lead the Lakers in that area). He grabbed 5 boards and had 1 block in his 21:42 of run. He was called for three seconds on his first touch when he couldn't go up right away. Aggressive attack in the post, missing his first, but he grabbed the board quickly and drew a foul, he made one. Great reaction to swat Hayes in the lane on help D, he then ran the post sprint and drew a foul. He posted up, the offense stopped moving and he forced up a tough jumper and missed. Poor job on the D end, going up early and missing an easy defensive board and it led to a Wizards three. He dunked off the two-man game with Kobe. Weak call against Bynum after swatting Arenas at the rim (I guess who know which way the refs are going to call a game when that block is turned into FTAs). He threw down an And-1 off the screen roll with Farmar, he made the FT. Nice contest under the hoop to get a stop (possibly a block he didn't get credit for). Good seal, he took the post entry pass and drew FTs, he made one. He drew a foul off an airball by Sasha in the lane, he made one FT. Good contest, then he helped get possession battling for the board. He drew a foul when Kobe whipped a pass to him under the hoop, he made both FTs. He posted up, spun and drew contact on a jumper, he made both FTs. Nice long stint there and Phil finally pulled him for Kwame with under 5 minutes left. He started the OT and won the jumpball. He took a feed from Luke who drew the D and Bynum dunked. Good contest to get a miss by Arenas. Vlad's interior pass got deflected but Bynum helped fight and keep it alive, going to the floor and Vlad scored off the loose ball. He was a hair late to get to Arenas on a couple dribble penetrations and gave up FTs and an And-1 in OT.

Evans -- -- Generally, a poor game from Mo...though I might have liked to see him on Arenas there in OT. Evans was a poor 1-5 on the night (0-3 from three) for 4 points in 17 minutes. He missed a wing three on his first attempt. His man luckily bricked a layup when Mo got beat backdoor. He drained a pull-up wing jumper. He bricked a wing three, but recovered on the break to swat a shot off the backboard (again, though an instance of a missed three causing problems on the other end). He nearly broke the backboard with a shot attempt in the middle of the lane. He bricked another three. He drew a foul, cutting off of Luke in the post, he made both FTs.

Cook -- -- Clutch. The Lakers worked the two-man game with Cook and Kobe at the end of the game. Cook faked his man, stepped to his right and drained a three to tie the game up with 5.7 seconds left. Great shot to give us a chance to win in OT...too bad we weren't trailing by two at that point. Phil was mixing up the PF rotations and brought Cook in late in each half. With Vlad playing well and Jamison a different player than Howard in the previous game, Cook saw limited action from Phil. He played just 11 minutes in this one and scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting and grabbed 6 boards in that limited time. He also had 1 steal, 1 block and 3 fouls. with 5:37 left in the first half, he got his first stint. He back-rimmed a turnaround jumper. He got called for a T, I guess giving Arenas a small shove after a foul. He forced a turnover at the end of the half knocking a ball loose on the perimeter. Back in the game around the same time in the fourth, he fouled Jamison on a post move. He blocked a shot on D and it ignited the break. He missed a jumper from the top of the key. He threw a pass away in the backcourt to Kobe, thinking he was going one way, while Kobe cut the other. He had that big three as described above...it was his first score of the game. Nice time to do it. In OT, he faked the three and took a baseline jumper and sank it with 1 minute left.

Farmar -- -- Farmar had most of his points in the fourth quarter, giving the Lakers a little spark in some key moments. Defensively, he was pretty much like everyone else. Jordan finished with 13 points on 5-9 shooting (3-6 from three) and had 4 assists with 1 turnover in 19 minutes. He had a poor shot attempt at the end of the first quarter buzzer that wasn't close trying to beat the buzzer. Good recognition of Luke under the hoop against the zone and Farmar whipped it to him for a dunk. Nice little screen after dishing the ball to Kobe and it freed up Vlad for a three. He stepped back and swished a wing three. On the next offensive set, he threw a great long bounce pass off the screen roll to Bynum who scored an And-1 throwdown. He had two perimeter fouls late in the third, giving up FTs, the second one was at midcourt...so not needed. He missed a wide open three from the wing. He threw a lob that hit the front of the rim, trying to get Evans on the break. He hit a pull-up jumper off a Luke steal. He sank a corner three. Big sequence here on his next two makes: He sank another corner three when Kobe collapsed the D. He pushed out the break, challenged Butler one on one, used his body well in air and scored a tough layup over him with his left (he cut the lead to 6 with 5 minutes left). He missed an open three from the same corner on another Kobe kickout. Fans boo'd the Sasha for Farmar sub late in the fourth...rare that you see that happen.

Turiaf -- -- Wow, virtually no notes on Ronny in this one. He came in at the center position midway through the second, which would normally have been Kwame's shift. Phil didn't like the game Kwame had put together at that point. Apparently, he didn't see anything from Turiaf and kept him on the bench most of the night. He played 3:14 and had 2 fouls in that time. Both Turiaf and Cook's minutes were reduced most likely because of the match up at PF and that Vlad had a hot hand going.

Sasha -- -- Sasha must have a sign on him that reads "Break Glass in case of Emergency" because that's the only time Phil seems to be calling Sasha's number. Sasha had 6 points on 2-7 shooting, 3 boards and 3 fouls in 13:35 of action. He got yelled at by Phil for getting a late start to get back in transition D after we gave up a layup. He missed a wing three over the zone on his first attempt. He airballed a runner but Bynum grabbed it and drew a foul. He bricked another three, got back his own board and clanked a midrange jumper trying to build a house on one possession. Back in, late in the game and he swished a wing three, then gave up a silly perimeter foul for FTs. Getting some extended run in OT, Sasha drained his first shot, a wing three to give the Lakers a 1-point lead with 2:13 left. He missed his next three attempt short trying to beat the shotclock on a kickout from Kobe.

Phil -- -- Phil had some really good moments in this one, especially down the stretch of regulation with some play calls, and he had some really poor moments...Regarding leaving Kobe on Arenas even though he had fouls, Phil said, "Yes, we thought we'd take him off, but he wanted him and he thought that it was the best matchup out there, so I let him have his way. We thought that nobody else had really stepped in and found a way to defend him at all." The Lakers definitely could use a good utility defender who can play the 1-2 (and maybe the 3) spots in the offense... The Lakers got the Wizards in the penalty with 8 minutes left in the second quarter. The Wizards, however, were the ones who got to the FT line again and again... Phil ran Luke at PF at one point to match up with the Wizards, giving Luke a long 18-minute first stint. He then brought Vlad and Turiaf back in, then slid Vlad to SF shortly later bringing Cook in for his first stint with 5 minutes left in the first half. So, he gave Kobe his first rest and went with a Turiaf, Cook, Vlad, Evans, Smush lineup. Problem with this lineup is that it lacks someone who can create for others. We fell behind by our biggest margin of the first half, trailing by 12, before Phil went back to the starters. The trailed by 10 at the half after Kobe sank a couple of threes... The Wizards scored 59 points on 51 percent shooting to the Lakers 49 points on 44 percent shooting in the first half. We also had 8 turnovers to the Wizards 4, and lost the points in the paint battle 22-8... The Wizards got into the penalty 6 minutes into the third, we didn't take advantage, settling for numerous threes throughout the third quarter... Phil went to a Farmar, Sasha, Evans, Vlad, Bynum lineup to start the fourth... The Lakers trailed by 14 with 8:29 when Kobe came back in the game. Phil went with a Bynum, Cook, Luke, Kobe, Farmar lineup midway through the fourth... Phil had others guarding Arenas earlier quite a bit, but went to Kobe on Arenas in the fourth... Nice backscreen play out of a timeout to free up Vlad under the hoop with the ball in Luke's hands at the top of the key and we got a dunk out of it with just over a minute left... Trailing by 5 with 39 seconds left, the Lakers called a timeout. Kobe missed a runner, we tied up the loose ball then Kobe scored an And-1 on an attack to cut the lead to 2 with 24 seconds left... The Wizards called a timeout to organize themselves. Phil only had one timeout left, so he used the opportunity to set up our next offensive sequence. So, we didn't call a timeout off a missed FT. Kobe pushed the ball up and he worked the two-man game with Cook. We got a three by Cook to tie it up with 5.7 seconds left... Phil put Bynum to start the OT to try to control the tip. Bynum won it. He left him in as Bynum had some decent moments, but took him out later once we started to fall behind... He brought Mo in for Luke when Luke fouled out... "I think once we had to start fouling to get back into the game, the referees thought that we were just going to foul the rest of the game because I have never seen a disparity like that in a free-throw situation," Phil said. "Sometimes it just gets contagious and we just couldn't get a stop on that."...

[TooCool]

Good post DB. All I can do is shake my head after this game... If Arenas gets 27 Attempts on the road... Wade is definitely getting 50 attempts at home on Christmas day. Ugh. I'm sick all over.
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[Siguy]

My night isn't over till I've read a DB recap and can put the game behind me.

[venicebeach]

Thnaks DB. For Christmas I'll prepare to see the NBA record for single game free trows broke by Wade.

[Mike@LG]

Didn't see the game. Almost glad I didn't. Nothing ticks me off more than PGs blowing up.

Though, I'm surprised no one decked Arenas. A good hard foul or two.
_________________
Resident Car Nut.

https://lakersdraft.substack.com/

I am not an economic advisor nor do I advise economic strategies or plans.

[- Sean -]

This team sometimes looks like they just don't give a (bleep) on the defensive end. It's just effort. You'll see someone like Smush not even challenge when his man is clearly pulling up for a jumper. He'll just stand there and watch. If we're lucky, the guy misses. Whether an opponents shot goes in or not needs to be reliant on more than his ability to knock down an open jumper at a given point in a particular game...defense must be a factor.

...Or you'll see them play good D for about 20 seconds...the guy w/ the ball doesn't have enough time to do anything more than to take one dribble or so and then fire...at that point, you'll see Luke (or someone else) just (bleep) stand there w/ out closing out.

Another one of their favorite things to do is foul..hear the whistle...yet give up the basket resulting in an and 1. After hearing the whistle, they need to make sure the guy they just fouled isn't going to convert the basket. The sound of a whistle doesn't mean you freeze.

The number of clean looks they give up is ridiculous.

The only defenses that give up higher FG percentages are Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Portland, Seattle, and Memphis. All (bleep) teams.

Fortunately, their offense has manged to carry them through many of their defensive struggles. If they want to be anything more than a first round exit team, they need to start acting like they give a (bleep) about what's happening on more than one end of the floor. Until then, they may be fun to watch...and even rack up a bunch of W's...but they won't be a serious threat in the playoffs.

[A Mad Chinaman]

DB
Did Evans guard Arenas at all during this game and what were the results?

Did Phil share why they didn't try to "wall" Arenas' drives to help defense?

Were the Wizzards cross-switching during the game - Kobe was guarding Arenas, but somebody else was guarding Kobe?

Your comment on Smush's attitude on the bench - sort of understandable since his PT is declining

[- Sean -]

BTW, they can play a lot better defense. When these guys play smart and bust their asses...it pays off. Look at Smush in the 2nd half of that Rocket game... Dude was working...and the team benefited. If all of them leave it in the floor like that nightly, this team can do some damage in the postseason.

[Texas_Pete]

DB, great job, but this one for some reason didn't hurt that bad. We had 30 FT attemps, but they had 60 and scored 47 points from FTs?

Last night I saw why so many people are pining for Bynum to start. He made things happen and Farmar/Bynum combo is looking "confident" out there -- future looks bright. My main man Kwame didn't have any fire in his gut last night for some reason. With his history with Arenas, I would have thought he would have sent him into the 5th row with a hip check but instead Arenas had his way inside the paint with Bynum not in there.

Wolf, Venturas, and whoever else was right -- start Bynum and bring Kwame off the bench. I think Bynum has earned his spot back.

[jmark]

[prisma8slg]

[AirKobe8]

[hoopschick29]

[bluestorm1990]

Can't really be mad about the lost we were without Odom. Its difficult for any team to win without one of their 2 best players.

[hoopschick29]

[limchrc]

Too bad... we came up a bit short. Hope we can play better defense on our next game and get the W as well.

[kups]

[LakerLanny]

All I can say is, the major difference in watching a regular season game in one sport (NFL - Mighty Bolts vs Chiefs) vs another (NBA - Lakers vs Wizards) was the intensity and effort of the players.

The NBA season is way, way too long. Thus in about 40 of the 82 games, you get a defensive "effort" like what we witnessed last night. Thankfully, I spent most of my time last night watching the sport where the players actually try.
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Love, Laker Lanny

[LakersPimp]

The lakers played well enough to win...but the wizards played a great game...they made their shots and free throws...im not disappointed at all. Lanny how could u say the lakers didnt try....they were down by 17 with like 5 minutes left in the game....

[LakerLanny]

[Klone_dd]

It's rare that we see someone out-Kobe the Lakers, but props to Gil for an amazing game in front of his friends and family.

The Lakers certainly played a passive game. It is beginning to be an unsettling trend of late for the team to come out lackadaisical and passive in the first quarter and then turn on the jets in the 3rd and 4th. There's no consistent 48-minute effort yet.

The Good = Vlad. Way to break through.
The Bad = Smushie. Way to sleep at the wheel.
The Ugly = Lakers' defense.

[Mike@LG]

[Freakout]

As I said at the end of the third quarter,

[Mike@LG]

It's not so much that we need a PG that can handle 35mpg...

Just need a fireblanket out there to ice down the PGs that go on fire.

Precisely why I hate the Lakers don't have that ability.
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Resident Car Nut.

https://lakersdraft.substack.com/

I am not an economic advisor nor do I advise economic strategies or plans.

[magic_bryant]

Kwame needs traded for anyon e that can a fill a need. I'd try to trade him for an upgrade at 1, 3, or 5. And I'm a Kwame jocker.

But dude is only useful against the Rockets and Spurs now.

Things that I was worried about before the season - shot-blocking, athletic defenders, needed help on the glass, etc - are really showing themselves. Which is why I find it so apalling that the team can be so damned content to watch the ending Ks walk for nothing, Cook getting a $3 million contract extension when you just signed Vlad for the MLE, extending Sasha, picking up Shammond over DeShawn Stevenson or even keeping Devin Green, etc.

Need to try and trade Cook+Shammond for an athletic defender at 1-3.
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Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass."