ROCKETS -at- LAKERS - 10/30 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Let the Games Begin... It's no surprise the league matched the Rockets and Lakers together for the opener. Last season, they played some insane ball: a 26-1 fourth-quarter run by the Rockets that the Lakers somehow survived; a double overtime game two days later; and a 53-point game from Kobe in which he nailed a clutch three with 11 seconds left to send the game to OT, only to lose.

With that in mind, you don't turn this game off or leave early because anything could happen. The Lakers were down double digits with more than a minute and half to go. They then went on a pressure-D 12-0 run to tie the game with 13 seconds left -- DFish with the clutch wing jumper. Coming off two straight airballs, Shane Battier hoists up and connects on a long three with 2.5 seconds left to give the Rockets 3-point lead and the win. Damn.

The Lakers played some solid D, showing, rotating and recovering all night. They held their turnovers to just 12, but the Rockets were able to turn those into 16 points. But, frankly, had Kobe not injured his wrist, the Lakers probably take this game despite not having LO. Kobe struggled from the line, missing 9 freethrows despite getting a career high in attempts. He should have dropped another 50, but finished with 45 points and 8 rebounds.

Glad to get the season started. After The Summer of Where's the Love and a preseason that had Laker fans sounding like someone stepping on a bag of marbles with all their gnashing of teeth, we finally get some real hoop. About time.


Kobe -- -- "I got the Laker uniform on, I'm a Laker and I'm ready to play and represent this organization the way that it should be represented," Kobe said at halftime. Phil moved Kobe back into his familiar role in the offense, no longer trying to facilitate. (Thank you!) Kobe set a career-high in freethrow attempts, unfortunately, with his injured wrist it clearly affected his shot, he went just 18-27 from the line (one miss was intentional with a second left). to get his 45 points, he shot 13-32 (1-3 from three). He also pulled down 8 boards, had 4 steals, dished 4 assists and had 5 turnovers in 43 minutes. He received some boo's by disgruntled fans at the start of the game, but that didn't last long. TNT played it up. "I turned to one of my coaches and said, 'Are those boos?' And one of them said, 'Yeah, those are boos,' " Jackson said. "I was surprised." Kobe missed his first jumper from 20 feet out. He missed a jumphook in the lane. He got the Lakers their first hoop, spinning away from Battier and scoring a layup three minutes into the game. He hit a 21-footer from the wing. He attacked Battier and drew FTs, making one FT. He missed a three. He missed a runner with his left. He stole a pass and was fouled on the breakaway by TMac, he made both FTs. He fed Ronny on the break for a dunk. He missed a wing jumper. He wrapped a pass around Yao to Kwame for a dunk. He slammed on the breaks as Battier tried to flop, he then changed direction and drew FTs in a crowd, he made both. He sank a wing jumper in transition. He sliced through the D off a Bynum pick and scored a layup to his left to end a 13-point quarter. He got tapped on another jumper. He had a ball stripped off him in transition and wanted the foul. He hit a baseline jumper. He was called for a carry. He was hammered on a jumpshot for FTs, he made one. He missed a baseline jumper, forcing it a little. He attacked the paint and drew FTs, he made one. He was stripped in the lane and it led to a dunk the other way. He missed another forced drive in the lane and it led to a three the other way. Working off Luke, he took the handoff on the baseline and reversed. He missed a good look at a drive to finish the first half. He had 19 points on 6-16 shooting. He missed an easy, open look at a 15-footer. He missed another from the same spot. He scored a layup off the pinch post from Ronny. He missed a wing pull-up. He drew a foul and made one FT. He swished a baseline jumper off a Kwame screen. He lost the handle trying to push the ball up in traffic in the backcourt. He swished from the wing on a jumper. He missed a long jumper with his heels on the three line next time down. He drew a foul on Bonzi and made just one FT again. He clanked a jumper on a bad sequence out of a timeout (he should have given the ball to the pinch post man and worked off that). He stalled the offense again, dribbling until 11 on the clock before giving it up. He got stripped by Bonzi on the next possession, and he was then called for a foul after a good hustle back and swat attempt (looked like he got a little of Bonzi's arm). He missed on a drive, we got it back, he attacked and drew Yao's fourth foul, he made just one FT yet again. He missed another drive, taking a lot of contact from Yao with no call. He sank an open pull-up from 18 feet out. He attacked on the break, spun and drew FTs, he missed again as the crowd tried to chant "Kobe, Kobe, Kobe", he made the next. He pushed out another steal and drew FTs (Vitti worked on his wrist in the timeout), he made just one. He drew another foul on the perimeter, he made both FTs finally. He manufactured more FTs attacking, he made both. He missed a three. He attacked to his right, took contact and banked in the And-1, he made one. He drained a three on the next possession after the Lakers pressured the Rockets into a turnover. He blew past Yao off a high screen and scored an easy layup to cut the lead to 2 with 25 seconds left. He picked up a loose ball that Luke deflected on the inbounds on the other end, pushed it up court, drew the D and hit his old buddy DFish for the open jumper to tie the game with 13 seconds left. Down by three with a couple seconds left, Kobe was fouled on the catch so he couldn't take a three, he had two FTs, he made the first and had to miss the second. He got the ball back off the missed FT and wanted the foul as it was knocked away as he tried to shoot it. That would have been interesting had he got it off. Glad to see Phil move Kobe back. We didn't get much quality time in the preseason to do what Phil wanted...and I still think it's a poor idea to take the game's best scorer and move him out of his sweet spots. The spacing tonight was a hundred times better with him in that role. Too bad he couldn't drain a few more FTs. Kobe on the move back to the wing: "It's just back in my comfort zone. I'm back in that striking position."

Luke -- -- Somehow between him and Kwame, Luke managed to knock a ball into the wrong basket jabbing at a loose ball that Kwame had just deflected, uggggh -- maybe you could blame it on Kwame's bad hands. Sure wish we had those two points back now, don't ya? Luke had a clutch pass deflection off a trap late in the game that gave the Lakers the chance to tie. He also saw Battier hit that huge three despite a pretty decent challenge from Luke after hedging in the lane a little to cut off TMac. Luke scored 8 points on 3-8 shooting (2-4 from the line), he had 5 boards and 4 assists in 39 minutes. He had to match up defensively with TMac quite a bit until late in the game. He missed a baseline jumphook. He missed a 10-footer. He posted up and banked from the left side. Good hustle diving for an offensive board to help regain possession. Great interior feed from under the hoop to Turiaf for an And-1. He hit a turnaround in the post. He posted up and drew a foul on TMac, he made one. Great job running the break off a turnover, slowing down and letting Kwame fill the lane for the dunk. He threw away a drive and it resulted in a hoop the other way. He attacked from the wing and hit a floater out of a timeout. Nice tie-up of Yao under the hoop to save a basket. He missed a jumper. Sneaky handles in traffic to get in the paint and draw a foul, unfortunately he passed off so no FTs. He drew a foul getting the post entry, he made one FT. He got tapped on a big three with 3:30 left. Great baseline trap, knocking a ball loose with 24 seconds left down by 2.

DFish -- -- Excellent game from DFish. The Lakers show-and-recover defensive schemes are something that helps him a lot...and something that Phil could never get Shaq to do. (I recall Phil saying the screen-roll D "befuddled" Shaq.) Fish gave the team everything they were hoping when the signed him. He scored 17 points on 6-9 shooting and had 4 steals. The big shot late in the game providing some poise at the guard spot we haven't had in crunch time. Early in the game, Fish stripped Yao under the hoop to save a basket. He missed a three. He attacked in transition and drew FTs, he made both. Fish scored on a drive out of a timeout. He sank a corner three in transition. He swished a pull-up jumper from the wing on his next touch. He swished another pull-up from 17 feet out with the shotclock low. He got blocked on a drive. He attacked to his strong side and drew FTs, he made both. Nice help D to strip a man and ignite a break. He hit an elbow jumper on the break. Great screen roll with Turiaf and Fish hit him with a bounce pass for a dunk. He missed a corner three. Superb help D rotation to come from the weakside and strip the entry away from Yao. Kobe found Fish all alone on the right side, DFish pulled up down by two and drained the clutch jumper (his toe on the three line) to give the Lakers a 1-point lead with 13 seconds left. Wish that was a three. Wish Battier missed his.

Turiaf -- 8) -- Ronny had his minutes limited by foul trouble, which led to some strange lineups with both LO and Vlad out. We saw Mihm, Cook and Luke all get minutes at the PF spot behind him. Ronny was his usual active self, very strong in the team D sequences and quick to get up and down the court. He scored 8 points on 3-5 shooting, grabbed 5 boards and had a block and a steal in just 24 minutes. He missed a pull-up jumper from the wing. He took an interior feed, some contact, but still banked the And-1, he missed the FT. He charged trying to attack Battier off the dribble, not wise. He deflected a pass by Scola and took off with Kobe, who gave it back to Ronny and he finished with a dunk. He rejected a shot to stop a Rocket break. Nice help D challenge on Yao, but he picked up the foul. He picked up his third foul challenging a shot under the hoop and had to sit back down. He missed a 16-footer. Horrible pass into a defender out on the perimeter and then he fouled Battier who busted out on the break. He had to sit at the 8:17 mark of the third with the Rockets up 5. He took the screen-roll feed and dunked over Yao who was late to challenge. He drew FTs on a turnaround, he made both.

Kwame -- -- Last season, Kwame played some excellent D at times against the Rockets, including getting some clutch stops. The key for any defender against Yao is to make sure you do as much as possible to push him away from the hoop before he gets the ball. Then, you try to crowd him and sit on his shot defensively. Kwame did a reasonable job on that. Yao still got his average from last season, though. Kwame got 4 points on 2-3 shooting, grabbed 8 boards (4 on the offensive end) and he missed all 4 FTAs. Off to a lovely start improving upon last season's horrid FT shooting. He crashed the boards and got the Lakers a second possession on our first set after he had tried to hit Luke with an interior pass. He caught Yao napping and attacked off the dribble to draw FTs, he missed both. He faced up to attack without letting a cutter clear out from behind him and he was stripped, poor Tri read. He dunked on a great interior feed from Kobe. He drew Yao's second foul trying to dunk on him, he missed both but got it back. He poked a post entry free to ignite the break, then he filled the lane and finished with a dunk when Luke found him. He helped force a turnover with some pressure D in the backcourt. He got tapped on a jumphook. He picked up two quick and cheap fouls to start the second half.

Bynum -- -- The last time Bynum played the Rockets he got taken to school. He had 5 fouls in 6 minutes and threw up three bricks during that short time. He came in late in the first quarter against Yao, m missed a lefty hook in the post and picked up two quick fouls trying to defend Yao. After that, he seemed to settle into the game and play some decent D. He scored just 4 points on 2-6 shooting, grabbed 4 boards, dished 2 assists and had 3 steals with 1 block in 19 minutes. He took an offensive board from Mutombo and dunked. On the floor again late in the third, he posted up, missed, overpowered the Rockets for the offensive board and scored. He missed a turnaround from about 12 feet out. Nice challenge to force a brick on dribble penetration. Nice trap off the screen and he deflected a pass that Farmar gobbled up and dunked. He missed a 15-footer. He rejected Bonzi's penetration and tied him up for the jumpball. He played a long stint with some solid D before Phil finally sat him late.

Mihm -- -- For the first time in a long time, Chris Mihm tallied some stats in a regular season game. He even spent some time at PF in this game and gave the Rockets a bit of trouble in that role. He played just 8 minutes and scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting and grabbed 2 offensive boards. Phil brought Mihm in midway into the third quarter. He missed a turnaround. He hit an And-1 turnaround over Scola in the lane, he made the FT. He was fouled on an offensive board, he missed both FTs. He missed a tip crashing the glass. He drew a foul on Scola crashing the offensive glass again. Scola was a non-factor.

Farmar -- -- If you were to look for maybe another area where we could have won this game, it might be with Farmar. He didn't have that spark off the bench that we needed in the first half, and the Lakers suffered because of it. Farmar scored just 4 points on 2-5 shooting and dished just 1 assist. He missed a 21-footer on his first attempt. His entry pass was deflected for a steal. He missed a wing jumper. He didn't switch and gave up a dunk to TMac. He scooped up a pass deflected by Bynum and dunked with both hands at the other end. He missed an open jumper from the top of the key. He attacked with under a minute left and powered in a layup over his man. Wow, he was called for a phantom touch foul on the other end, thankfully his man missed a couple FTs. Hopefully, he brings more in the next one.

Evans -- -- Cold Mo. He went 0-3 in 14 minutes and played generally soft D. He missed a turnaround jumper over a smaller man. He saved an offensive board throwing it off a Rocket. Nice job pulling down a missed FT on the offensive end and he was tied up after he hit the ground hard, he won the tip. He missed a three. Wish we had more of a defensive player in Mo's minutes. Both Luke and Kobe could have benefited.

Cook -- -- He went 0-2 and didn't do much in his 9 minutes. Glad to see Phil mix up that PF spot tonight with other players. Good D closing out on a smaller player, staying with him on the drive, then eventually deflecting a pass to force a turnover all on one sequence. He missed a post up. He missed a three-footer in the lane. Yao spun on him and then dunked, horrible D by Cook...can't believe Yao beat a PF with a speed move.

Karl -- -- In midway through the second quarter. He challenged one shot, then was subbed back out for a different match up very shortly later. Welcome to the NBA.

Phil -- -- Phil was doing some lineup juggling all game long. When guys made a mistake defensively, he was generally quick with the hook... Phil put Kobe back in his scorer role to start the game. Thank you. Glad to see Mr. Confusion gone and Mr. Bryant back. "I talked a little bit about the turnover factor, trying to eliminate the turnovers that have hurt us in training camp," Jackson said. "He thought that wouldn't be a problem, but I said, 'Let's give this a try and see if we can't be more stable."... The Lakers held the Rockets with a strong defensive quarter in the first and led 25-16... Phil ran Luke a little at the PF spot... The second unit played weakly in the second quarter -- Bynum had some fouls, Farmar couldn't hit. The bench had just 2 points at the half and we were tied 43-43... Phil went to a Kwame/Mihm lineup for the first time this preseason after some horrible D by Cook and Ronny in foul trouble... A ferocious rally by the Lakers with pressure D under a couple minutes left and they cut the lead to 2 with a 10-0 run... The Lakers looked less confused offensively, although there were some moments when the offense stalled. They had just 12 turnovers to go with 18 assists. Unfortunately, the Rockets capitalized wtih 16 points off those turnvoers... The team probably lost the game at the line, shooting 27-45, 60 percent...

[KOBE 2.0]

Bad bench performance cost us the game IMO not Free throws.

[PLATNUM]

Thanks for the speedy summary, DB. Wish this coulda been a Smiley instead of the damned sad face. Ehh... Lakers played some poor offense and still had a shot WITHOUT LO. They looked lost at times on offense and I believe the facilitator Kobe crap in pre-season threw everyone off for tonight. A few more made FT's and crisper Offense sets and this is a W, easy.

Did anyone notice if Mihm got an ovation as he entered? Or was it a substitution out of a timeout? Also.... did anyone else get the feeling Kobe was getting a bit choked up when talking about wearing the Lakers uni during his halftime interview? HE WANTS TO STAY!
_________________
"Dread it, run from it... destiny arrives all the same."

[DancingBarry]

Platinum - Mihm did get a good cheer when he was announced entering the game.

Kobe 2.0 - When Kobe leaves about 5 or 6 points on the line that he almost always has...that you can normally count on...yeah that cost us. Then when it's compounded with a guy like Kwame going 0-4, you are just giving the Rockets stops -- you pay the price for that in close games... We can still blame the loss on Luke and Kwame's own basket. That was absurd, and two points the Rockets said thank you for and took the W by two. Ouch.

[KOBE 2.0]

That tip-in by Luke on the Rockets court was embarrassing. my dad was laughing it off and all I did was shook my head in disbelief.

It was a good comeback though but still a frustrating game to watch.

[A Mad Chinaman]

As the sun rises on a Lakers game, the sun sets with another great DB analysis.

DB
Do you agree with Magic and Doug that a decision is needed to confirm Kobe's status to eliminate unnecessary obstacles to providing the mental toughness to win close games - despite the last minute rush?

What was the injury to Vlad since I didn't even see him on the bench on the TNT broadcast?

Since it is clear that on a night where firepower was greatly needed, the game showed that Cookie's weaknesses on defense far outweights his strengths as a shooter - what do you think the Lakers should do with Cookie?

With TMac taking Mo to the laundry time and time again - since he is quicker that allows him to drive past Mo - do you agree that Mo can't guard the elite SFs?

[PLATNUM]

Cook and possibly Mo should get the Jumaine Jones treatment. Maybe throw Sasha in there for good measure. Although Cook should be first to go.
_________________
"Dread it, run from it... destiny arrives all the same."

[DancingBarry]

It would be nice if we could get a decision. But if that decision is we are trading one of the best players ever...I wouldn't rush into that, for sure. I'm not sure how much it will affect things with his on the court play. Kobe's always going to bring it when the games count, as he showed tonight (thankfully he was moved back to the wing). And other guys just need to worry about themselves.

Vlad was sick, I believe.

Trade Cook if you can. He's an end of the bench guy and probably be better off on a run and gun type of team.

Mo's D is average or below average. Honestly, with his athleticism and quick ups, he should be a better defender than he is. Needs to go to school on that end of the floor.

[J.C. Smith]

@A Mad Chinamen: Radmanovic isn't injured, but he has the flu.

@DB: It was definitely nice to see Kobe being aggressive out there. But even when he is aggressive, he needs to hit the open man. The two one one breaks when he keeps it to himself or when he drives in to triple teams he has to give the ball up. His defense was solid though, which is a nice sign.

[PLATNUM]

So does that Kwame to Luke play count as Luke's very first NBA alley-oop? Sadly it was for the other team and even 'sadder' is the fact that it wasn't much of an alley oop at all, but probably as close as Luke will ever get to one.
_________________
"Dread it, run from it... destiny arrives all the same."

[jbjb]

A free throw line at Staples should be renamed "The Shaquille O'Neal Memorial Stripe", in honor of all the rallies that died there.

[Drifts]

27 FTs....gotta love the refs...they call it fair all the time
_________________
"Now, if life is coffee, then the jobs, money & position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold & contain life, but the quality of life doesn't change. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it."

[8750]

thanks, DB.... it's always wonderful reading you, especially now that this forum is more and more crowded with senseless threads and posts...
i don't know if we should thank phil for getting rid of kobe the facilitator, or blame him for wasting preseason's games trying something absurd like kobe as facilitator...

[Mation]

Thanks DB for the great analysis and summary.

Didn't realize Fish had 17 points until I checked the stats.
Loved his contributions for the game.

I was surprised with the lack of production from our second
unit. Hopefully they can watch video of the game and improve
as needed.

Liked that LO was working from the sidelines. Reminding Kwame
about his form on the free-throws and just doing as much as
possible to motivate the guys on the court.

Suns are on a back-to-back so maybe we can take advantage.

[A Mad Chinaman]

[DancingBarry]

[dirka dirka]

You have to admit the Team defense tonight was greatly improved from a season ago..and this is with runnin walton double time in place of Odom.

I honestly think we need to give this team a little bit of time to gel with more regular rotations and with important players on the court (Odom). Nothing is won in October!

[George W Buss]

I think the addition of Fish is really huge.
During the 3rd quarter when Kobe was playing by himself, everybody was just watching him play, but not Fish! I remember seeing once when the ball went to Fish's hand, he dribbled the ball away from Kobe and pass it to Luke! Fish is as senior as Kobe and hence he's not afraid to do that, and I believe this kind of mentality is very important if this team wants to grow.
He is also calm enough to play through dry spells calmly. This aspect is definitely missing last year.
He is also very very familiar with the triangle and I hope that he can be the facilitator with Kobe and Odom play in the wing concentrating on scoring. That will help stabilize the team. Luke can then be the back-up facilitator.
Another impact that he gives is definitely clutchness!

[CLIPPERFAN714]

I hope management noticed that you need 2 superstars to win not just one.
If Lamar was there.....do you think the outcoe would have been different?

How crucial was that tip in blooper onLuke & Kwame! That was horrible.

Couldn't believe that Kobe was getting booed.

Looking at that box score...he carried half the load with 45pts, next closes player was Fisher with 17 and eveyone else was in single digits!
Wasn't that typical last year?

Tough loss guys

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB

[20,000]

My take:

- get rid of Cook as soon as possible. Even if that means putting him in the stands selling hot dogs. He cannot defend and putting him on Yao was a joke!
- that fluke tip in by Luke turned out to be costly, no?
- Kobe got to the line numerous times, but he also drove a lot more, got hacked a lot more, and should have gone to the line a lot more.
- speaking of Kobe and free throws, all those misses really hurt.
- with all those Rockets turnovers, this game should not have been that close. What does that say about the Lakers that even with all those turnovers we could not win?
- what does it say about this Lakers' season that Kobe had to already score 40+ points to even keep us in the game?

Finally, for all those people jeering Kobe for not putting any effort into the game, please stop! That was all pre-season! Why would he want to expend himself for meaningless games? Now that the season has started, look at his production. Look at his defense.

OK, one last finally. I don't understand why commentators and the media don't give Kobe even more credit? Who else in this league has to do what Kobe has to do? Kobe, on this team, is expected to be the leading scorer (Yao, Wade, others can do that), the leading passer (Nash, Kidd), and the leading defender (Bowen, Duncan)? All those other players I mentioned in parantheses do one or two of them, but not all three like Kobe is expected to.
_________________
Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[Rick12322]

Thanks for the recap DB. Why do you think the team stopped running the offense? It looked like the bypolar Kobe only offense out there.

[Rick12322]

[ocho]

DB- what do you think of houston? i wasn't that impressed with them. they didn't seem like the team that many are hyping as elite now. they played well for stretches but they barely squeaked by our squad and that's with us not playing very well and kobe having a bad night.

[airkewld]