BOBCATS -at- LAKERS - 10/20 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

High Screen-Roll D... The Lakers showed some of the better defensive rotations on the high screen and roll than we've seen in a while. The bigmen showed, rotated and recovered all night long to thwart the Bobcats bread and butter play. The result, a 113-93 stomping and just 38 percent shooting from the Cats.

The Laker "PG" spot, manned by Fisher, Farmar, Crittenton and Vujacic, combined for 35 points on 13-21 shooting, 8 boards and 3 assists. Luke led all players with 10 assists and Bynum led all with 3 blocks.

The team was still a bit sloppy with the turnovers, but the passing has been fluid and contageous. The Lakers had 35 assists with 21 turnovers. Again they shot a high percentage, going 57 percent from the floor (9-16 from three).

Adam Morrison went down screaming with a knee sprain. His buddy Turiaf took a hard fall in the game, but got back up...thankfully. Health isn't on the side of the Bobcats this season. Hopefully, the Lakers can somehow dodge that injury bug.

With the win, the Lakers will take on the Clippers tomorrow.


Kobe -- -- I'm not sure if he set the tone defensively, with Wallace going off for quite a few points on Kobe...but Kobe certainly started us off well with a massive rejection in the post on help D. Still, Kobe seems to me to be saving his defensive effort. He's not extending himself yet and his intensity isn't what it usually is on that end of the floor. Offensively, he was looking for teammates and never had to really had to break a sweat. He finished with 6 points on 2-5 shooting, 4 assists with 4 turnovers and 2 steals in 21 minutes. He sank a wing three in semi transition on his first attempt. Bad feed going behind the back on the two-man game for a turnover. He airballed a 20-footer with his left hand up against the shot clock. He then sat for Mo. He had 3 points on 1-2 shooting and 3 turnovers in limited first-half action. Wallace hit a three on him, so Kobe answered with a three on the other end. He then knocked a ball off Wallace on the D end. He found Sasha on a drive and kick for a three. He missed a scoop in transition and wanted the foul. Strong attack down the middle of the lane to shovel a feed to Kwame for the And-1. He set up Kwame again with an interior feed for FTs. He threw one off the top of the backboard falling out of bounds looking for a call. He hit Ronny with a drive and dish for FTs.

DFish -- -- Another strong first quarter start for DFish. He played just 9 minutes, but scored 13 points on 4-6 shooting (2-2 from three). He also had a couple of And-1 finishes in the paint in this one. He missed a layup on the break, however, to start. He missed another layup shortly later. Then he cut down the middle, cut the defender off and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He threw a bad pass on the two-man game for a turnover. He swished a kickout from Luke for a three. Nice work drawing the moving pick on the perimeter (we definitely missed that last season). He made an illegal D FT. He sank an open three off the extra pass from Luke. He scooped up the long board, attacked the middle of the lane, took contact and scored the And-1, he made the FT. Fish had 13 of the Lakers first 22 points.

Turiaf -- -- Another steady game from Ronny. He continued to show that range on his jumper, something he said he worked on in the offseason. He started at PF in both halves. He and Kobe seem to be the two guys starting consistently. Ronny scored 10 points on 4-7 shooting, grabbed 4 boards, dished an assist, had 2 steals and a block in 23 minutes. He also had just 2 fouls in that time. After securing an offensive board, he threw up an awkward shot expecting the whistle and missed on his first attempt. Nice recognition of Mihm trailing a break, Ronny hit him with the pass and Mihm scored an easy one. He pumped then got his legs taken out on a long baseline jumper, which he swished, he made the And-1 FT. He drained a 12-footer from the right side off a busted sequence. He tried to find Kobe again on that standard Tri alley-oop that they look for off the entry pass, but had his pass deflected. He missed a turnaround jumper from about 8-feet out. Great jump out on the pick to double and force a turnover, he was rewarded with a breakaway where he pumped and dunked. After a weakside shotblock with Sasha in there, too, Ronny took a tough tumble on the other end tripping over a falling defender after he was fouled...ouch, that could have been bad (he made one FT). He sank a 20-footer from the wing.

Mihm -- -- His minutes are being limited so that he can go a long stint while his ankle is loose and then rest. Same with Kwame. So, this time Mihm got the start and Kwame started the second half. Chris scored 6 points on 3-7 shooting, grabbed 5 boards and blocked 1 shot in 11 minutes. Good job on the boards in that quarter. He missed an open jumper trailing the break. He scored easily on the corner sequence in the Tri after a couple quick perimeter passes while he was sealing his man. He missed a jumphook. He trailed the break, took a feed from Ronny and hit at the front of the rim. He took a beauty pass out of the post from Luke and dunked easily. He missed a 15-footer. Sweet block on JRich in transition. He got hit on the arm with no call going for a jumphook. Good quarter. His timing seems a little better by the game.

Luke -- -- Phil has talked about trying to figure out what role Luke will be in. All hints have been a bench role. And as mentioned, Luke played team-high minutes in the last game coming off the bench. And while not scoring well he picked apart the zone smartly and certainly helped lead that unit. Tonight, Luke got the starting job and it came with a tricky defensive match up against JRich. He held his own and led the Lakers with 10 assists in just 21 minutes...that's working the system. He also scored 5 points on 2-4 shooting. He hit Mihm nicely for a layup off the Tri corner sequence. He attacked and kicked out to Fish for a three. He missed a runner long. He hit Fish for a three with an extra pass from the corner. Sweet post up on Morrison, Luke collapsed the D, then whipped a bullet feed to Mihm under the hoop for a dunk. Although he didn't score in the first half, Luke led the team with 6 assists. He picked up his 7th assist on the first sequence of the half, taking a pinch post entry and hitting Sasha with a between-the-legs pass. He cut strong off Kwame and took a great return feed for a layup. Another superb attack off the dribble, drawing the D with a spin then looking for the cutter, this time Kwame for the dunk. He had a drive stripped and thrown off his legs. He swished an open three of a kickout from Sasha, who scooped up a ball that Kobe lost. Morrison's knee went out on him charging out to challenge Luke and he was screaming in pain on the floor (he had to be carried off, not good). Luke seemed puzzled as to what happened.

Bynum -- -- After a strong offensive game in the last one, Bynum agreed with Phil that he needed to do a better job on the team D aspects. He definitely had his head moving quite a bit more on D in this game and gave the Lakers a defensive presence in the middle. In 20 minutes, Bynum scored 8 points on 4-5 shooting, he grabbed 8 boards, dished 3 assists and, probably most importantly, blocked 3 shots. He biffed a return feed from Vlad that would have resulted in a dunk. Nice contest on Morrison's drive and it resulted in an air ball (not sure if Drew got a piece of it). Out of a timeout, the Lakers called his number, he tried to go up and under Okafor, then shot over him, missed, but quickly went after it and tapped in his own miss (very nice hustle). He faced up on Wallace and drew a foul. Great anticipation, he popped out with that long wingspan of his and swatted a JRich shot in the lane to ignite the break. Strong challenge on Okafor on the next sequence and it forced a brick. He got his man on his hip, Critt took a good angle then threw it over the D, Bynum gathered and dunked over a help defender. Nice little two-man sequence with Cook, kicking it back to him for the open jumper. He found Cook again, this time for a long two. He had 4 points (2-3), 4 boards, 3 assists and 2 blocks in the first half. His man tried to reach in the high post, Bynum read the overplay, quickly put the ball to the floor, took a couple long strides and scored the layup. Another good challenge on penetration to force an airball (he got stripped from behind from a man who was still partially out of bounds and he got a turnover and foul challenging again). He dunked when Critt broke down the D and went behind his back to Bynum. I'm liking the chemistry between those two.

Farmar -- 8) -- Farmar is playing some strong ball in his stints. I don't know what kind of plus/minus he'll have this season, but he seems to be igniting the team quite a bit. He played 17 minutes and scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting. He came in for Fish late in the first quarter as the team was fading. Good clock recognition, he attacked to his left and banked a runner to end the quarter getting our only score in the last few minutes. He changed gears in transition, went to his left and scored with his left. Farmar stripped his man on D, then pushed the ball ahead to Mo who was fouled. Aggressive attacks into the lane on one offensive set, he got his man in the air and drew FTs, he made one. He missed a layup in transition (thought he should have given it back to Mo). He pulled up from the wing next time down and drained the 15-footer. He missed a three. Good 9-minute stint with 7 points on 3-5 shooting and strong D. He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a long three against the clock.

Radmanovic -- -- Three of the four games from Vlad have been quality efforts. Vlad led the team in scoring with 14 points on 6-10 shooting in 23 minutes. He looks much more comfortable out there than last year with that hand injury. Ten shots is a big difference from the one he took in the last outing. Vlad also had 4 boards and 3 assists. He got swatted on his first attempt and taken to the rim by Wallace or Morrison. So, it wasn't a good start. He then clanked a pull-up three in transition. He sank a fade in the post against a smaller McInnis. Feeling it, he pulled up and hit a wing jumper with his heels on the three line next time down. Good D smothering Carrol's drive and forcing an airball. He tracked down a long outlet and quickly drained the three. He swished an inbounds jumper with the shotclock going off. He had 9 points on 4-6 shooting at the half. He sank a three off the high pinch post with Kwame. He airballed his next attempt. He missed a post up over Anderson, but tipped it back in. Phil has been using him extensively at the SF spot this preseason vs. a lot more PF last season. Perhaps, that will be a trend, but the team's health could dictate what happens there.

Crittenton -- -- Good to see Critt getting a little more aggressive again. He's going to give a lot of guys trouble once he gets comfortable in this league...and man, he sure looks comfortable already sometimes. He played 13 minutes and scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting. He also had 3 boards and 2 assists. He and Cook smothered Felton on a drive and took the ball away. Bynum had his man fronting on his hip, Critt took the ball into the corner then threw the high entry and Bynum dunked. He attacked easily past his man and threw a no-look, behind-the-backer to Bynum for the jam. He swished a 19-footer after surveying the floor in semi-transition. He faced up, gave a little head and shoulder fake, then drained the 20-footer right over his man. He attacked, had guys reaching all over, shortened his dribble and drew a foul (as I've mentioned, he can get anywhere with his handle). Next play, yep, he split the double off the screen roll, ball-faked a third defender and laid it in (so sweet). He lost the grip hammering a jam next time down, otherwise that would have been a thunderous dunk. He missed a pull-up from the top of the key. Glad he made a strong debut at Staples. "He's going to be very special," Norm Nixon said after the game.

Kwame -- -- Well, if you look past the horrific 2-7 from the line, quality stint from Kwame tonight in the third. He played the whole quarter and scored 8 points on 3-3 shooting to go with 3 boards and 3 assists. He should have had 11 points. Superb whip pass from the post to a cutting Luke for the layup. He dunked off an attack and dish by Luke. Good help D on Wallace to pick up a charge when he was a little OC. Kobe set Kwame up and he scored an And-1 layup with his left, but missed the FT. Good help challenge on Morrison to force a brick in the paint. Kwame muscled Brezec to the floor on a post up then laid the ball in over him (looked like he said something to him, too). He took an interior feed from Kobe and was hammered, he missed both FTs. He drew another foul in the post, he made one, thankfully.

Evans -- -- Hot Mo again. Wonder what the ratio of Hot Mo to Cold Mo will be. He scored 13 points on 5-7 shooting, pulled down 3 boards, dished 3 assists and had a steal in 19 minutes. He swished a 15-footer off the inbounds. He busted out off a Farmar steal and drew FTs, he made both. Great help D rotation and he stripped the ball under the hoop. He banked over his man in a busted transition sequence. He pulled up with the clock low and drained a wing three. Mo had 9 points on 3-3 shooting in the first half. He missed a half-court heave at the buzzer for one of his misses. He missed a three. He hit a pull up at the FT line. He scored a tricky lay in on the baseline over a defender after a cut and feed from Cook.

Cook -- -- A much more balanced, two-way game from Cook. He played some solid team D, rebounded well and showed some good passing on the offensive end...all elements we definitely need him to do a lot more of. He finished with 7 points on 3-6 shooting, 6 boards and 5 assists in 20 minutes. He airballed a post-up attempt. He helped smother Felton with Critt on a drive and took the ball away. He worked the two-man sequence with Bynum, giving it up and getting it back for the jumper. He took another feed from Bynum and hit the 22-footer. Excellent rotation and recovery and he then forced Okafor into a brick in the post. Good first stint from Cook. His D was solid, really for the first time all preseason. Good look to Evans who cut on the baseline and it resulted in a layup. He scored an easy layup himself next time off the weakside pinch post. He drew FTs on a drive from the post, he made one. He got swatted on a jumper, then reached in the backcourt.

Vujacic -- -- Excellent game again, and with the defensive scheme which helps negate Sasha's weaknesses, he was nothing but a positive impact. He didn't play in the first half, but got the start in the second half at the PG. He drained a pull-up jumper off the between-the-legs pass from Luke. He swished a kickout three from Kobe on his next attempt. Nice hustle after a loose ball, he then found Luke for the three. Excellent cut behind the play to take a feed from Kwame under the hoop, he then pivoted and scored around the defender. Superb read on the other end to step into the lane, steal the ball and get fouled on the break, he made both FTs. "He's played exceptional ball," Phil said after the game. Sasha scored 9 points on a perfect 3-3 from the floor (1-1 from three) and 2-2 from the line in 11 minutes.

Karl -- -- He pretty much stunk it up out there. He threw a poor perimeter pass as soon as he entered the game, then got dunked on. He tripped in the backcourt on the next inbounds and gave it up again. Yikes. He hacked Davidson and was credited for a nice block. He clanked a 19-footer from the wing. Weak debut at Staples.

Turner -- -- He had 3 turnovers, 3 fouls and missed his two attempts. He managed to hit a FT. Poor 5 minutes. He can play better than that. He got called for an illegal back pick. He bobbled away a Luke feed. He cleared out trying to go up strong. He missed a jumphook. He airballed another jumper. He was hacked on a setup from Critt, he made one FT.

Patterson -- -- He played 7 minutes and had a couple of steals. He didn't score. Good weakside read to take away the post entry pass. He missed a jumper on his only attempt. Nice reach to slap a ball loose.

E. Brown -- -- He played 3 minutes and threw away a pass from the post.

Phil -- -- Last season, we went to a triple overtime game and lost against the Cats. We got killed on the high screen and roll in that game. Phil had the guys ready for this one. They looked so much better defensively against that... He went to the starting lineup of Mihm, Turiaf, Walton, Kobe and Fish. They started out strong, but faded. The bench couldn't stop the Bobcats who went on a 15-2 run to end the first quarter. The Lakers trailed 25-24 after one... Phil kicked the Fox Sports camera out of the huddle during a 20-second timeout... After the Lakers built a 20-point lead, Phil emptied the bench and the Cats cut the lead to just 9 on a 16-2 run to end the half... The Lakers had 17 assists and 12 turnovers in the first half... They had another dominating third quarter (38-24), pulling out to a 23-point lead again... The Lakers finished with 21 turnovers, but had an impressive 35 assists. Phil stressed tightening up the turnovers after the game... The tempo has been fast at times this preseason, with the Lakers taking a good deal more of the quick-strike type of shots. If you looked at any of the video that came out of the open practice, the Lakers were running a lot of fastbreak drills...

[DancingBarry]

Sheesh. I hate these preseason games when there are a ton of players. That took forever.

[REPPIN 818]

I scrolled down quickly to see how long it was, and I'm sorry but the Tomato made me laugh pretty good.

[Siguy]

Man I love these recap threads. Such good reads. This site wouldn't be the same without them.

Only tuned into the end of the game, but it was wonderful to see the Lakers in HD on a local broadcast. Quite nice. Crittenton is sick. That kid ... man, I don't want to get too excited about him because it's only preseason and he's only a rookie and I remember a time in my life when I thought Devean George looked great and I remember a time when I thought Kareem Rush was going to push Kobe to the SF position, but man, this kid looks special. Way more special than anyone we've drafted since Kobe.

[Shaber]

Phil will seriously be challenged this year - who is going to be on the rotational 12? Nice win! The team plays well together. Hope that cools the turmoil down and increases the trade value of our third-option-players. Or perhaps they continue to play well and develop and we may forget all the trade talk... :dreaming:

[KOBE 2.0]

DB, does it seem like Elton Brown and Turner just don't seem interested in making the team? I couldn't believe my eyes when Brown had that bad turnover late in the 4th. and Turner is hideous on the court.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Appreciate the effort, DB. Thanks.

[D Nice]

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[AboveTheRim]

Thanks for all the info.

[A Mad Chinaman]

[AllorNothing]

I remember last year our passing was contagious also in the early season then all of them sudden nobody could score except Kobe after that. Most likely it was probably do to early injuries.

[J.C. Smith]

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned, is that Bynum has led both teams in rebounding in all four pre-season games.

[Annihilator]

[LakersInFour]

[AirKobe8]

Sasha has been playing very well in limited minutes every game this pre-season. Could this be the year?
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[J.C. Smith]

[targetman]

[Rick12322]

Thanks DB, love your reports!

[lakerfanSB]

Great report. It is tought to admit but Cookie is becoming much better inside. Last game, he was doing it with his offense and passing. This game he added some solid defense.

[LakerFan1972]

DB, Great job as always.

[manlisten]

[LongtimeLakerLover]

Stellar as always DB. I have missed these!

Bynum seems stronger to me. Nice to see his hustle and effort. Roni - love him. Critt - I like the chemistry between him and Bynum too. I notice that Critt looks for him and gets the ball inside. Good to see. Mihm looked good - I liked him starting because there is a calmness and poise about him, along with all his hustle and heart. Sasha - he looks like a different player, and I'm not talking about his hair. Rad is shooting well and Fish, well Fish is just solid and I love him. Dude, people were trying to figure out if Fish was a good pickup. No question, man. He is heart, hustle and brains. I'm so glad we have him, I can't even tell you. Even Cook is getting into the swing of things. I'm pretty happy with this last game and look forward to seeing them play the Clips tonight. Some real good positives for this team. Hopefully we can avoid injury and work Odom in and get something good going. You never know....
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I love LA........WE LOVE IT!

[Sage_10]

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