CLIPPERS -at- LAKERS - 4/12 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings

[DancingBarry]

Choking Down the Stretch... Kobe had 50 points with 8:46 left and the Lakers had a 10-point lead. They had a 17-point lead earlier. The headline on NBA.com read "Kobe has 50 Points and Counting." Then the wheels fell off.

Kobe remained at 50. The team played soft defense. They went scoreless for half the quarter as the Clippers went on a 26-8 run. And the Lakers walked off their home court with yet another loss, failing to close out a game.

The question now is whether the team will fail to close out the season, as well.

The Lakers had little answer for Brand, who scored 32, and Maggette, who dropped 39 -- a new career high. The turning point in the game came when Maggette pulled out his American Express Teflon Card with the Membership Rewards and flashed it to the refs; he was soon racking up the frequent freethrow shooter miles like superstar. Maggette attempted a career high 24 freethrows, making 17, in the Lakers 118-110 loss.


Kobe -- -- So, I turn to Mrs. DB and tell her Kobe's got 50 with 8:46 left to go. That's a lot of time, I say. He's making it look easy. And...that was that. Kobe and the Lakers came to a screeching halt. The Clippers were covering him aggressively. He hadn't sat out all game. And, it all caught up and no one else on the team picked up any slack. He finished with 50 points on 17-33 shooting, going 15-15 from the line and pulling down 9 boards. Let's get to the action: He upfaked Mobley out of position, then attacked baseline and dunked. He took a feed from Luke, who caused a turnover, and Kobe dunked. He posted up and banked out of a timeout. He missed a baseline turnaround. He got stripped in front of the ref, easy foul call with no call, and he got a T. He attacked, spun to his left to lose his man and finished with his left around Brand. He hit a turnaround from the elbow. He attacked and fed Turiaf for FTs. He missed an elbow pull-up J to start the second quarter. Amazing turnaround jumper, swishing despite having a steep angle behind the backboard, he was fouled on the shot and made the FT. Phil had him defending the point at part of the game. He missed a bank after losing Cassell with a behind-the-back dribble. He drew a foul on a turnaround and made both FTs. He missed a jumper out of a timeout, but Luke got it and found Kobe, who took contact with no call and scored a layup. He hit a baseline jumper. He missed on a drive and wanted the foul, yelling at Crawford again. He dunked when Farmar swiped the ball from his man. He rattled down a turnaround from 10 feet away. He hit a two-for-one baseline jumper. He had 25 points at the half. He drew FTs on a turnaround, made both. He swished a baseline jumper. He drew more FTs after stealing a pass, he made both. He stole another pass and drew a foul. He got hit on a jumper for FTs, he made both. He missed a baseline turnaround. He attacked off the two-man game with Ronny and scored a layup. He pulled up and hit a three with just a couple other Lakers down court. He missed a long three on his next attempt. He drew a perimeter foul, made both FTs. He swished an 18-footer in semi-transition. He missed a turnaround. He attacked on a two-for-one and drew FTs, he made both. He had 44 points after the 19-point third. He sank a wing jumper, standing on the three line. He swished a pull-up from 19 feet. He missed a three. He attacked, drew the D and kicked it to Sasha for the three. He attacked and drew FTs, making both. At the 8:45 mark, he had 50 points, but then started missing against the overplaying D. He airballed a long jumper. He missed another. And another. He missed a three. A little help, please...

Lamar -- -- Oh, LO, LO! Wherefore art thou, LO? The Lakers needed a big game from him and after an aggressive couple of minutes to start, he faded into his happy place. He scored just 9 points on 4-11 shooting (1-4 from three), grabbed 7 boards, dished just 2 assists with 3 turnovers and gave the Clippers nothing to worry about most of the night. He blew past Brand to his right for an easy layup early on. He attacked Brand again in transition and scored another easy layup. He hit a wing jumper. He missed a three on a kickout. Next time down, he drilled a three from the top of the key. He missed a three to tie with more than two minutes left. He missed another corner three. That's it. That's his notes.

Luke -- -- You could see Maggette sizing up Luke a few times and driving. It's a bad match up for us. He gave the Clips a one-two punch that we couldn't counter. Maggette is good, but not one-two punch good in any fashion. While Luke struggled with him defensively and even struggled with his own shot, he still managed to cause a lot of problems for the Clippers. He scored just 3 points on 1-6 shooting (1-4 from three, 0-2 from the line), but he had 8 assists with just 1 turnover and 8 boards. He posted up, drew FTs and missed both. He caused a turnover in the backcourt then hit Kobe for a dunk. He grabbed a defensive board, pushed out and hit Mo, who scored with his left. He gave up the uncontested score to Kobe for a dunk. He sank a corner three. He stole an inbounds pass an it led to a runner by Smush. He missed a three.

Smush -- -- You're probably not going to get much more from Smush. Maybe a little more defensive effort and a few less stupid fouls, but he gave you 19 points and 8 assists. Plus, he was the only one hitting anything late in the game. Smush scored his 19 on 7-12 shooting (3-5 from three and 2-2 from the line). He missed a three. He hit Bynum in the lane for a dunk. He split the double and banked a runner off the glass. He missed a jumper. Smush got taken out of the play on a pick and ended up getting a pass served up to him from Cassell like Worthy back in UNC and he took it the distance for a score. He cleared Hart out of the lane with a ballfake and banked. He scored again off the glass over Kaman when Luke stole the inbounds. He set up Bynum for a dunk off the pick and roll. He airballed a floater. He fouled a couple of times 90 and 45 feet from the hoop to give up FTs. He attacked and drew FTs, making both. Out of a timeout he hit a wing three off a high pinch post. He missed an open three at the end of the third. Back in after a lengthy break, horrible pass to Turiaf that was picked off and scored on the other end. He let Cassell beat him off the dribble for a layup (Kobe spiked the ball, pissed). He rattled in a three out of a timeout on the next play. He sank another three out of a timeout with a minute left to cut the lead to five.

Bynum -- -- A lot of action early. Then a lot of sitting. Then, he starts the second half, dunks and gets sent back to the bench. A lot more rest. Then Phil goes to him in the crunch. Strange rotations and usage of Bynum. He scored 9 points on 3-7 shooting, 3-6 from the line and had 2 boards in just 16 minutes of action. Good seal on Kaman and he drew FTs, but missed both. He took a feed in the lane and finished strong with the throwdown over Kaman (that's how you do it). Excellent seal, he called for the pass to go to the corner in the Tri and then in to him, he got it and faded on a short jumper instead of powering up (that's not how you do it). He took the post feed, went up and under with two defenders on him and powered in a bank. He missed a face up jumper. Off the center sprint, he drew a foul on Brand, he made both FTs. Wow, another strong finish from Bynum, dunking off the pick and roll with defenders on him. After sitting for a long stretch, Phil brought him back in. He got blocked on a jumper trying to beat the shotclock. He missed a jumphook way short. He drew a foul, delivering a Malone-esque knee to Maggette while trying to finish, he made one FT.

Evans -- 8) -- Pretty good game from him again. We need to recognize when Hot Mo is on the court versus Cold Mo. Maybe he could change jerseys or something, so the players will recognize which one is out there and they can start milking the Hot Mo and avoiding Cold Mo. Tonight, he was the Lakers third scorer with 11 points on just 5-6 shooting, also pulling down 5 boards in 24 minutes. Should have got him some more looks in this one. On to the action: Nice help D to contest and force a miss in the lane. He took the defensive board on one end, then cleaned up a Kobe miss with a putback board and dunk on the other. He took the feed in transition from Luke, cut to his right and scored with his left. He pulled up on the break and hit a 15-footer. He swished a corner three off a series of swing passes. Next time down, he faked the three, moved in a couple dribbles and hit the midrange jumper.

Turiaf -- -- Good energy, but Brand was pretty much shooting over Ronny at will. We had to send doubles and it was collapsing the D to open up others. Ronny scored 6 points on 2-7 shooting, pulled down 6 boards, dished 4 assists and blocked 2 shots. He dropped the Kobe pass, got it back and drew a foul, he made one FT. He got swatted on a transition layup. He sank a wing jumper. He missed an elbow jumper. He took a drive and dish from Farmar for the easy dunk. Mobley had dunked on Farmar in the first half and held his jersey up to the crowd, so Ronny returned the favor to him after swatting a Mobley shot in the second half. He made one of two FTs late in the game. He missed a corner three.

Radmanovic -- -- Wearing the purple shoulder pad undershirt, Vlad got his first run in since the run down the slopes. He faked the three, attacked and kicked to Ronny for a wing jumper. His only highlight.

Cook -- -- Now you see him, no you don't. He played 2 minutes, did nothing.

Farmar -- -- Some good energy and a good stint from Farmar, but apparently not good enough to bring back for any extended run later. He faked the jumper, penetrated, drew the D and dished to Ronny for the dunk. He swiped the ball from his man and quickly outlet for a Kobe breakaway dunk. He picked up a couple of rookie calls on D and sat at the end of the half. He played just 4:49 and had 2 assists and didn't take a shot.

Vujacic -- -- In for the first time in the fourth, he played 5:40. He scooped up a loose ball but bricked off the glass in a crowd. He swished an open three on a kickout from Kobe. He let Cassell cruise past him for a layup. He should have drawn a charge on Maggette in transition, instead it went as an And-1. He scored 3 points and had 2 fouls.

Phil -- -- Prior to the game, Phil said both he and Kobe were "desperate for this kind of win"... Poor FT shooting by the Lakers in the first quarter. Very soft defensively in the quarter, as the Clippers took just about anything they wanted to start... The Lakers went on a run late first, early second and the tables turned. Phil then went to a Kobe, Evans, Walton, Vlad, Turiaf lineup. Lots of Laker energy and the Clips had to take a timeout... Kobe single-handedly put the Lakers in the bonus just 1:48 into the second half. Seemed like the Clippers ended up taking more FTs in the quarter... The Clippers went on a run in the fourth. Phil had Sasha in and Bynum after a long stretch sitting out. Phil pulled Sasha for Smush and the run continued... Did Phil play Kobe into the ground? Or, did he think he could get some extra rest for Kobe with a TNT game and some lengthy breaks? After Kobe hit the 50 mark with 8:46 left, he faded a bit and no one else stepped in the vacuum. Although the Clippers were throwing everything at him, we failed to score for a long stretch. Still, 48 minutes from Kobe tonight... The Lakers gave up 118 points on 48 percent shooting to the Clippers. 118 points. Ouch...

[magic_bryant]

In the biggest of moments, LO always comes up small. Nothing new here.

L-O!! BASK-ET-BALL!!

:roll:
_________________
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."

[LakerLanny]

[George W Buss]

[RYZ]

Thanks, DB.

At this point in the season, my ire tends not to be easily raised re: Phil's substitutions, as by now, I've usually come to accept. Nevertheless, I really think Farmar's conspicuous absence in the second half in favor of Sasha was critical. Like you (in your wry manner) said "apparently not good enough..."

It's nights like these when I just don't buy the idea that Phil is always coaching to win, even this late in the season with the playoffs still at stake. I mean, unless he honest-to-goodness just forgot about the guy, I flat-out can't imagine why he would have gone to Sasha at the top of the fourth and then back to Smush down the stretch if he was really intent on winning this game at all costs. If anything, go back to that big lineup he used before Farmar in the second quarter, with Kobe and evans in the backcourt.

Phil angling for the Mavs?

[mike_dee23]

Is it just me, or does Radman have the face and body of an ugly woman? He and Mike Miller can dress in drag and roll with Eddie Murphy.

[DJ Qube]

[Siguy]

This is one of the most painful losses of the year.

If we miss the playoffs, we'll know it was because of this game.

Kobe played great, then finally they started throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him and the Lakers freaked out. We got two straight open threes off Kobe's double team in the third but then in the fourth we suddenly couldn't make those passes anymore. Guys weren't in position and when they were, no one made a shot.

Not to mention we turned the ball over in a ton of lazy pass situations.

Frankly, Bynum deserves special scorn in this one. I know he played irregular minutes, but his entry into the fourth quarter was a turning point in the game. He was absolutely brutalized by Brand (worse even than Ronny), and on offense he was even worse. His lack of energy and rebounding made the absence of Ronny horribly painful and it was when he was in the game that we seemed to completely collapse.

Sigh. I think we may really miss the playoffs after this one.

[A Mad Chinaman]

The disturbing pattern of the Lakers falling behind in the first quarter, gets a little worse, the Lakers battle to come back then fade away at the finish showed its ugly head again.

The good thing is that the Lakers were severly pressuring Hart to make it difficult to start their offense - what happen to that strategy since it was working, despite the counters that Dunleavy put in.

When Smush gets beaten by a 37 years old oft-injuried guard with the greatest of ease, wassup with that! The one good (?!?!?!?!) thing is that Smush is happy because he got his points and the Lakers lost.

Luke got abused by Corey, but he still was working his a... and forced Corey to guard him on the other end of the court. Tufiaff got punished by Brand, but still provided invaulable energy.

Car 54 (LO), Where Are You?

This was a hard game to watch and endure.

Which Lakers is going to step up?
LO - Smush - Cook - Jordan - Sasha - Luke - MO - Bynum - Anybody?

[KOBEhastheMAGIC]

Bottom line we played well tonight, even defensively. The blame for this loss goes 100% on the refs. Everytime we got a legit stop they called a foul.

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB
_________________
"I define success by championships, by winning..." Kobe Bryant

"I've seen it all. Sasha dunked on somebody," Kobe Bryant said. "I'm ready to retire now."

[lakerfanNC]

[lakerfanNC]

[Sage_10]

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

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

WHY?

-why does lamar continue to settle for 3s with a torn labrum?
-why does phil expect luke to be able to handle maggette?
-why do we still get no love from the refs?(too many no calls / touch fouls)
-why do the refs treat maggette like he is MJ?
-why has management failed to give Kobe some help?
-why does smush continue to get playing time? (airballing a floater?)
-why does it seem like phil pulls turiaf in crucial situations?
-why do i continue to watch? (its painful)


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

[Laker7]

[DJ Qube]

[mike_dee23]

[SoCalHoopsFan]

Instead of blaming Luke, the refs or anyone else, why not focus on the obvious - the Lakers are a terrible defensive team. Defense is about good team discipline, team discipline starts with the coaching staff and the stars. This goes on Phil and Kobe.

While I'm at it, has anyone noticed that while Kobe has been "enjoying" his scoring surge, the triangle offense has been pretty much tossed out the window? People comment on Bynum taking too long to make decisions, ever watch how long Kobe has the ball before doing something with it?

There are no defined roles on this team, they play poor defense, and the youngsters all seem to have stood pat or regressed. Neither the refs nor Luke have anything to do with those disturbing trends.

Phil has either lost interest and therefore done a poor job, or he's sabotaging the season to force personnel changes that management is reluctant to make. If that's the case, I hope it's bye, bye Phil. He is, apparently, the wrong coach for this young team.

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

[karlmalonefan]

I can't believe no one is mentioning Phil's choice of lineup down the stretch. When he took LO out, why did he bring in Sasha? ONly thing that guy can do is brick point blank layups and foul. And that's all he did. I couldn't believe how Phil sat on his hands with that lineup. Why didn't he play FArmar instead??? Why did he play Luke on Maggette all game? When Evans had that great first half, he should have played most of the second half to guard Maggette. Luke isn't athletic enough to stay with Mags. I don't believe Phil was even trying to win that game. The only reason I can think of for him to put Sasha in at all is that he's looking to the playoffs and trying to get players ready/confidence going in but when he allows them to blow a huge lead like that it doesn't instill any confidence in the team at all. The win was more important than his damned 'tweaking'. Sitting on your hands and making them play through it works with a veteran, mentally tough team. He should know by now it doesn't work with this D-League team. He may just miss out on the playoffs altogether and it would serve him right. Oh, and if he's maneuvering for the Mavericks, he's obviously fine with getting swept in the first round.

I was pissed at only one person last night when they lost that game and his name is Phil Jackson. Unbelievable. Thank God this season is almost over, I'm sick of this (bleep).
_________________
Welcome to OverreactionGround.net, where a single possession can make you the savior of mankind or a total moron. -Ozendorph

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

^ ive said all season long that luke needs to come off the bench when we play teams an elite SF (maggette, melo, lebron, howard etc) yet phil continues to start luke and bring mo off the bench sparingly.
_________________
"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[Klone_dd]

Another in the disturbing trend of: (1) not being able to execute in the 4th, and (2) LO not providing any offensive punch in the 4th.

Kobe looked extremely quick and determined. His 50 was strangely effortless, but obviously took a lot out of him by the 4th. In some respects, I think he got lulled into being in the zone so much that he started forcing some tough, unnecessary shots. That's when it would've been nice for his teammates to step up to carry the LOad.

Smushie played well. Yeah, he's gonna get beat every once in a while, but on the whole, he pressured the ball well and supplied the deep ball.

Luke vs Mags is a horrible matchup. Mags just rams the ball down his throat and barrels into fouls. The turning point was when Mags hit the 3's to close out the 2nd Q. Didn't expect that from him.

Very frustrating game. One of those that you tell the family to get away from you because you're about to Hulk-ify. Me smash things!!

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

heres something to ponder....

imagine how much better Kobe would be if he just had to worry about himself on the court and didnt have to tell the 4 other players on the court where to be. i know that its something a leader should do, but cmon he shouldnt have to hold these guys hands and tell them where to be every single play. imagine Kobe with proper spacing and 4 guys who know what the hell they are doing!
_________________
"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu