LAKERS -at- CLIPPERS - 4/4 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings

[DancingBarry]

Sleepwalking Through the First Half... This game was all about effort and intensity. The Lakers played a pathetic first half before flipping the switch in the second half and battling back. Unfortunately, they were digging themselves out of too big a hole and Kobe was chucking bricks instead of throwing daggers. They fell 90-82.

The Lakers trailed by just 1 point with 5 minutes left, but struggled once again down the stretch. Our lack of ball movement combined with Kobe's consistent missing killed us late in the fourth. Props to Ronny Turiaf and Jordan Farmar for bringing effort throughout the game. The rest of the bench didn't show.

The scoring for the Clippers by the quarter tell almost all of the story. They scored 28 and 29 in the first two, only to be held to 18 and 15 in the next two. Unfortunately, we only scored 13 points ourselves in the fourth. You can't win too many games doing that.

The team gave you all the effort and hustle anyone has been asking of them defensively in the second half. Ticks you off when they play as lazy as they did in the first half. "You've just got to let it all hang out this late in the season," Kobe said.


Kobe -- -- The haters were booing early on Kobe's touches. They were lucky he was stone cold in this game. We get any kind of semi-decent fourth quarter from him and we win. Sure, he didn't get a couple calls he should have, but he was still missing some looks he normally hits with consistency. He was very mortal in this one. He finished with 29 points on a poor 13-34 shooting (0-3 from three, just 3-4 from the line), he tied for team high on the boards with 7, he dished 3 assists with 4 turnovers, he had 2 steals and 2 blocks in a team-high 44:42 of run. He swished a pull-up jumper from 18 feet, getting good lift from his legs early. He missed a turnaround from a similar spot. He attacked the lane and finger rolled. He missed a reverse, a baseline jumper and a fading jumper at the front of the rim. He posted up Ross, spun and scored. Nice steal and toss back in bounds and it led to a dunk for Ronny. He attacked at the end of the quarter and threaded the needle to Luke who scored a layup at the buzzer. After a rest, he came back in and sank an And-1 bank (he made the FT), then a wing jumper and a short fade. He missed on a drive. He missed a sideline jumper. He power stepped into the lane and hit a 10-footer. He drained a 20-foot wing jumper on his next attempt. He got stripped by Mobley as he turned to shoot. He scored 17 points on 8-17 shooting, just getting to the line once in the first half. He got stripped getting triple teamed. He hit a wing jumper standing on the three line. He kicked it to Smush for a three. He missed his next jumper short. He lost the handle out of bounds. He attacked, took contact and missed with no call. He overpowered Mobley in the post and scored at the front of the rim. He attacked, drew contact and FTs, he made one. He overpowered Mobley on a ball-reverse post up out of a timeout for a score. He missed a top-of-the-key jumper. He missed a reverse at the end of the third. He missed three straight shots to start the fourth, before driving and dishing to Ronny for a dunk and our first score. He spun on the baseline in a crowd and reversed with his left. He sank a long wing jumper against the shotclock. He missed a wild shot in the lane and wanted the foul. He got tapped on a corner jumper. He missed a good look at another jumper. He forced another jumper in a crowd in the lane and bricked. He ballwatched and his man scored a putback. He missed a late three attempt, looked like he was fouled with no call. "We've just got to get going," Kobe said. "We understand the sense of urgency we have to play with."

Lamar -- -- Good game by LO. He needed a few more shots in this game. We finally called his number out of a timeout late in the game after a dry spell and got a score. He finished with 21 points on an efficient 8-11 shooting (1-3 from three, 4-6 from the line), he grabbed just 5 boards and dished 5 assists in 43 minutes. He knocked down a corner three. He drained a 21-footer from the wing. He attacked the paint and gave Bynum an interior feed for a score. He cleaned up a loose ball under the hoop with a score. He picked up a cheap second foul against Thomas shooting a fade and wound up in a little early foul trouble. He attacked off the dribble, took contact from Kaman and banked the And-1 in, he missed the FT. He drew a foul on Brand on the offensive boards, he made one FT. He scored 10 points on 4-5 shooting in the first half. Nice spurt by LO: He scored an And-1 in transition off a pass from Smush; he drained a wing jumper; he attacked in transition, extended and scooped in a layup. He missed on a drive to his left. He missed a three. He attacked off a Kobe screen and scored a layup. He attacked again and drew FTs, making both.

Luke -- -- Man, Luke had a couple huge threes late in the game that he couldn't connect on that would have made a big difference. Seemed like pretty much an average game from him with 13 points on 5-8 shooting (1-4 from threE), 4 boards and 5 assists. His D in the second half helped spark the team a few times. The first half D was forgettable. He was getting lit by Maggette early. He took an interior feed from Kobe and scored a layup at the end of the quarter. He attacked Maggette off the dribble, drew a foul and made both FTs. He swished a wing jumper over Kaman. He knocked a pass going to Brand loose and drew a foul after stealing it. He swiped the ball in congestion and midcourt and scored a breakaway layup. He busted out, took the outlet and scored an And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He sank a confident looking wing three. He got absolutely tapped on a huge three with 1:25 left. He back-rimmed another three with a minute left.

Smush -- -- Poor game from Smush, epitomizing the many issues the team had in the first half. His court awareness and effort in the first half was severely lacking. He lost focus on the offensive end on a few sequences and defensively, he got caught being indecisive or out of position a number of times. Phil went to the full assortment of PGs looking for an answer tonight. Smush scored 6 points on 2-3 shooting, had 1 assist with 3 turnovers, and 3 steals in 24 minutes. He attacked in transition, spun on Hart to lose him and finger rolled. He attacked, spun and drew FTs, he made one. He traveled, again taking an extra step making the first pass in the offensive set (Phil looked disgusted). After a long break, he came back in and immediately got lit up by Hart, one jumper he helped down low, the other two were poor effort and poor court awareness of where his man was. He then threw a lazy pass at the end of the quarter, didn't hustle back and it resulted in a Clipper score at the buzzer. He had 3 turnovers and 3 points in the first half. In the second half, he turned it up a bit. He stole the ball from Brand. He hit a three on a Kobe kickout. He stripped Mobley in the post and it ignited the break. He hit Lamar with a jump pass in transition for an And-1.

Bynum -- -- Bynum's game was essentially him missing jumphooks and Kaman making his on the other end. With Kwame out, Bynum got the start and played 29 minutes. He scored just 6 points on 3-9 shooting, grabbed 7 boards (4 offensive) and blocked 1 shot. He missed a jumphook on his first attempt. He missed another jumphook short. He gathered an interior feed from Lamar and scored off the glass. He fumbled what would have been a Laker team rebound out of bounds. He missed another jumphook short. Meanwhile, Kaman was dropping them right and left on Bynum. He swatted dribble penetration out of bounds. He grabbed back-to-back offensive boards, then finally tipped in the Kobe miss, good effort on that possession. He was 2-8 for 4 points with 6 boards in the first half. He took a pass in the lane, elevated and powered a layup in. Kaman hit another jumphook over him.

Turiaf -- -- Ronny is the kind of guy you want in the fox hole next to you. He gives everything he's got and when he's seemingly outnumbered or outsized by guys like Yao or Kaman. When you think he's going to be in trouble, he winds up rejecting them badly, turning the tables on them and lighting a little fire in the team. Intensity, heart and effort...every game...every second. Some great hustle and effort in the fourth on the defensive end. There was one contest on a drive where Ronny was backpedalling with speed while swiping at the ball with both hands Ronny before challenging the shot all in a fraction of a second. He scored just 4 points on 2-6 shooting, he grabbed 6 boards, blocked 2 shots and was called for 4 fouls in 20 minutes. After getting blocked on three straight shots and falling to the floor to cheers from Clipper fans in a battle under the hoop, the Lakers stole the ball back and hit Ronny for the dunk, to cheers from Laker fans. He went 1-4 in that one sequence in about 10 seconds. He blocked Kaman who tried to shoot over him to get a shotclock violation. He rejected Kaman out of bounds and it forced a shotclock violation on the inbounds. Kobe attacked, dished and Ronny threw it down. He got tapped on a turnaround on the baseline. He popped out behind his man and drew a charge on Maggette.

Evans -- -- He swished a corner three on a kickout from LO in the fourth. That was his only hoop in three tries. He had a couple offensive boards in 12 minutes. Very quiet game and still dealing with knee issues.

Cook -- -- He missed a corner three. He back-rimmed a point-blank layup. And argued with some coaches. Next.

Shammond -- -- He bricked his only jumper. The cold shooting still continues. He played just 3:18.

Farmar -- -- Phil seems to be working Farmar in more during crunch time. Good D on Ewing and quick help rotations while he was out there. He later spent some time on Hart. Offensively, he was a complete non-factor. In fact, he and Ewing pretty much let everyone else play 4-4 when they were up against each other. Neither did a thing for the 9 minutes they were matched up. Farmar didn't score on 0-1 shooting, he grabbed 2 boards, dished 1 assist and blocked a shot in 16:31 of run. He ballwatched for a second and Hart cut behind him for a layup. Great recovery after nearly getting beat on another ballwatch, this time he blocked the shot off of Hart. He missed a wing jumper, but got it back, then lost the dribble.

Vujacic -- -- A total negative factor off the bench. Phil tried to see if Sasha could spark them, but in 8 minutes he went 0-2 and committed 4 fouls. He threw a pass in the back court no Laker hustled back and it resulted in a Clipper score. He missed a jumper. Contact and no foul call on a jumper in the fourth, should have gotten to the line. Meanwhile he was fouling players right and left on the other end.

Phil -- -- "We were able to mount a little rally out there," Phil said. "We didn't finish it well." Nothing new... Not one of Bynum, Cook, Evans, Sasha or Shammond hustled back when Sasha threw the ball away into the backcourt. The Clippers saved it and scored a layup. Disgusting lack of effort... The Lakers had just 7 assists to go with 11 turnovers in the first half. They gave up 18 points off of turnovers... Coaches got on the Lakers for the lack of effort in the first half. They seemed to show some pride in the second half... In the second half, the Lakers had 10 assists with 6 turnovers... The Clippers had 11 blocked shots... "Kobe's taking a lot of shots, probably too many tonight. It's a situation where we've got to move the ball," Phil said...

[A Mad Chinaman]

With the Kobe playing against 5 Clippers, he's not getting much space to operate to do his magic, why isn't he getting the fouls that DWade gets. (Of course, with the other Lakers playing so bad - the team is not giving the refs any reasons to give Kobe the benefit of the doubt).

What is the deal with Cook agueing with the coaches?

[KingKobe20]

I can't stand CLipper fans. I know I sound like a certified hater right now but seriously i don't care. F the Clippers and there fans. I guess this hate comes from a couple of my bandwagon buddies i unfortunetly associate with. They where die hard Laker fans during the 2000-2002 run now they are Clipper fans after the Shaq trade. Stating that Shaq is the only reason why they jumped ship. The know squat and there nothing that tees me off more than Laker fans one day then Clipper the next. They all could go to ........Well i will keep it PG . But you get the point

[Mation]

Thanks DB,

Odom sure shows up for games against the crosstown rivals.

[CrookedRain]

[Sage_10]

_________________
"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[20,000]

For a while it was Kobe against the Clippers, and Kobe did a better job than the rest of the Lakers did.

Pathetic.

The play that epitomized the entire game for me was in the fourth quarter, Lakers down by two. Shot clock going down, the ball is passed to Odom. He is wide open for a three....

...but he hesitates and passes the ball to Sasha in the corner who is not ready for it, who is completely covered, and has to chuck something to beat the shot clock.

Sasha misses everything, it's a shot clock violation, Clippers go down and extend the lead to 4. Right after that, Evans makes his three to get it down to 1, but Odom's bonehead play was the nail in the coffin.

I hate saying that cause I am an Odom fan, but what are we gonna do with him?

I know there are still some games left and if we make a run in the playoffs everything can change, but even with all the injuries we should be better than this. What are the chances the team tries to make a big trade this summer in order to contend?
_________________
Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

phil- i cant believe he started the 2nd qtr with no kobe or lamar and waited until the clippers had a 17 point lead that we never recovered from. also, why the hell did he sub Bynum in for Lamar with 447 to go in the 4th? and taking out Mo for Luke after Mo just hit a big 3 to make it a 1 point game. playoffs are around the corner, he should have his rotations set already. i also question smush not being out there for stretches (he wasnt that bad tonight, except for the turnover at the half)

luke-bricking 2 three pointers in the end was the nail in our coffin. why the hell was he taking those shots? we didnt need a 3 and he wasnt that open, they were forced. again, if phil leaves mo in, that doesnt happen

refs- these non calls on kobe's behalf are becoming criminal. we always criticize Kobe for not taking it to the hole more, but if you get pummeled in the paint nightly with no reward, would you?

HAS THIS TEAM QUIT?
_________________
"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[karlmalonefan]

[Klone_dd]

If this was early in the season, I wouldn't be so worried, figuring that the guys will get it together later.

Now, I am really worried. It's too late in the year for all the lack of focus and indecision, especially in late game crunch time. Just like vs the Nugs, the Lakers failed to execute or run any decent sets to get quality shots. Right now, Kobe, Lamar & Ronny are the only guys bringing the effort. Everyone else is lost.

Two starters - Smush & Bynum - 5/12 for 12 points. Both were abused on the defensive end.

Jason Hart goes for 14, more than doubling our 4 PG's - Smush, JoFar, Sasha & Shamu - who combined for 6 points and 2 assists.

And what was that lineup to start the 2nd? Shamu, Sasha, Evans, Cook, Bynum? The Lakers went from down 6 to down 17 in 3 minutes. To me, that was the ballgame.

[karlmalonefan]

[karlmalonefan]

[20,000]

[karlmalonefan]

[20,000]

[karlmalonefan]

Hey, I'm one of LO's biggest fans and I was disappointed that he didn't take that shot. I think he was feeling fatigued and maybe thought Sasha would have a better chance of hitting it with fresher legs. I don't know, but I agree totally that he should have taken that open shot. Too many of the other players (everyone except kobe, basically) are not taking open shots and I think that's screwing up our offensive rhythm. That's one of the bad side effects of Kobe's scoring binges. They are so fun to watch, but it makes the team get into bad habits.

It's all good, man. Don't worry about it. Just disagreeing with ya, that's all.
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[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

[karlmalonefan]

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

[DancingBarry]

[karlmalonefan]