JAZZ -at- LAKERS - 11/4 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Standing O at Staples... This team is one Shane Battier long-range shot and a DFish toe on the three line away from being 3-0...against upper-tier competition...without LO.

Besides catching a team on the second night of a back to back, the common elements in the two wins were the team play, the impact of the bench and the team's overall intensity. "We're playing with a lot of effort and that's the key for us," Kobe said. "If we want to get to the next level, we have to bring the effort and intensity every single day."

The Laker bench, sparked by Bynum and Farmar, scored another 41 points on way to the 119-109 victory. The Lakers shot 55.8 percent for the game (despite going 3-16 from three). They outrebounded the Jazz 40-32. They throttled Utah in the second half, scoring 73 points. Ouch.

"We're a young team," Kobe said. "We don't want to get too overconfident about the situation. So me and Fish have to continue to crack the whip."



Kobe -- -- Great defensive rotations, intensity and effort throughout. He had a jump in his step during the game which he attributes to dropping the weight. "My legs feel like I'm 17 years old again," Kobe said when asked about a key fourth-quarter dunk rejection of AK47 at the front of the rim...that was your No. 3 NBA play of the night. Incredible play. This was the game we wanted to see from Kobe. After the kind of bipolar first two games, he dialed in the right mix -- inside, outside, passing and aggressive D. He finished with 33 points on 13-19 shooting, 5 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 5 turnovers. (Kobe went 7-7 in the second half.) Of course, it wasn't just Kobe out there. It was another team effort, and that factors into the kind of game Kobe will play. Kobe missed a jumper short on his first attempt. He splashed in a 20-footer from the wing. Great recovery on Brewer to strip the ball from behind and quickly pass it up court while he was falling out of bounds 9it led to a breakaway score). He threw a lob a bit too high to Drew on the weakside and it went out of bounds (good idea, just a little off). He jumped the passing lane to swipe a cross-court feed and he took it the distance for a layup. He swished a wing jumper with his heels on the three line. Back in after a rest, he missed a jumper short. He split the double and drew FTs, he made one. He banked from the left side in semi-transition. He drove the lane and dished to Vlad for FTs. He came up short again on a jumper. He blew a layup off a great feed by Fish. Next time down, he finished off the Tri cut and pass from Fish. He finished in semi-transition with his left when Kwame found him. He missed a pull-up jumper. He missed a three at the end of the half. Kobe went 6-12 in the first half for 13 points and 2 assists. He iso'd on Brewer, blew past him and scored a reverse. He smade a layup taking a feed from Vlad. He swished a long wing jumper. He went down hard diving for a loose ball to save it. He sank a three behind a Bynum handoff. He slapped down a pass, pushed it up and drew a foul on the bust out, he made one FT. He scored 10 points in the third on 4-4 shooting. He probed in early offense and drew FTs, he made both. He swished a 21-footer from the wing. He picked up his fourth foul trying to strip his man, he didn't like the call. Wow, Kobe gave AK a taste of his own medicine, swatting him on the dunk attempt with 6 minutes left (damn, that was nice). He worked the two-man game with Drew and the Jazz were forced to foul Bynum to prevent the dunk. He hit the pull-up jumper from the FT line. With the shotclock low on the next set, he iso'd at the top of the key, had the floor spread, spun in the lane to lose Brewer then hit the layup. He made two FTs. Excellent night and good job moving the ball and trusting his teammates.

DFish -- -- Going up against the team he left in unique fashion, DFish struggled with his shooting in the first half, missing every shot he took. In the second half, he was able to make a couple hoops and get to the line. Offensively, he is making some great reads in the Triangle. It really helps to have that third Tri-experienced Vet to keep the offense flowing. I can't stress enough how much of an impact that makes over the guards we had last year. DFish shot 3-11 but 13-14 from the line (a few late freebies) for 19 points with 3 boards, 5 assists with 3 turnovers and 1 steal. He attacked in transition and drew FTs, he made both. He slapped the ball from Boozer in the post. Great bounce pass on the break to Ronny in the middle of the lane and it resulted in a dunk. He winged a three-shooter trying to contest and gave up three FTs. He airballed trying to beat the shotclock. He blew a layup and wanted the foul. He missed a baseline jumper. He faced up at the elbow, attacked and drew FTs, he made both. Excellent Tri cut to receive the pass, then he hit Kobe cutting for a score. He bricked a jumper next time down. He missed a two-for-one three. DFish went 0-7 in the first half and had 4 points. He curled to his left, used his body well to seal the defender and finished the layup. He drew a charge on Williams on the other end. Strong attack in transition and he finished an And-1 over Okur, (he shot and missed a tech FT), then he made the foul FT. He dished to Kwame on the break for a dunk. He got a good look at the elbow jumper in transition and hit it. He faked a three, attacked and hit the floor hard off contact from Boozer, he made both FTs. He drew another foul on Boozer drawing contact. He shot 3-3 in the third quarter for 9 points in the third. He missed a baseline jumper in the fourth. He sank a bunch of late FTs.

Turiaf -- -- Strong game from Ronny, mixing it up and playing aggressive D. He had some foul issues (5), which limited his time to 24 minutes. He scored 10 points on 5-6 shooting, grabbed 4 boards and dished 2 assists with 1 turnover. He sank an open baseline jumper quickly on our first possession. He tried to finish strong over AK and drew a foul in transition, he missed both FTs. Running the floor well again, he took a feed in the lane from Fish and dunked. He shotfaked, then drew a foul on Boozer. Great save off a long outlet back to Kobe. He scored at the rim off an interior feed from Luke. Excellent pass back to Fish in the lane, but Fish couldn't finish it. He had 6 points on 3-3 shooting in the first half. Superb extra interior pass to Kwame for a dunk. Nice drop pass to Luke down the lane and it drew a foul. He put in a Luke airball in the paint while still in the air. He picked up two fouls, one contesting penetration, the other with a poor screen and he had to sit 4 minutes into the second half. He faced up out of the post and drained a baseline jumper. He beat Boozer to the spot and took a charge. Great challenge on Okur's drive to get the miss and secure the board. He missed a jumper, but Bynum cleaned it up.

Kwame -- -- Defensively, he was active and moving. Offensively, he was an adventure in the post. He had some foul issues in the first half, but Bynum simply outplayed him in the second half and Phil milked it. Kwame finished with 6 points on 3-6 shooting, grabbed 5 boards, was credited with 4 blocks and dished 3 assists with 3 turnovers in 21 minutes. He dunked off the pinch post sequence with Luke. He cleared out trying to post up and was called for the foul. He charged with a strong move in the post and had to sit midway through the first quarter. He hit Kobe in the lane for a layup. Excellent challenge on Williams to force a miss. He dunked off an interior feed from Ronny. He busted out with Fish and threw down the breakaway dunk. He missed with his left, then blew an uncontested dunk trying to throw it down with one hand, arrrgh. Good contest on AK to get a piece of it.

Luke -- -- Luke made the Jazz defense work and led the team with 6 assists to go with 10 points on 4-8 shooting. He also had 6 boards in his 35 minutes. Defensively, he held his own against AK, which is a pretty good match up for him. Early on Luke had a nice double on Boozer in the post to strip the ball from him. Sweet bounce pass between OKur's legs off the two-man game to Kwame for a dunk. He missed a three trying to beat the shotclock. He scored an And-1 layup out on the break, he made the FT. Great drive and kick to Ronny for the easy score. He lost the ball in the post for a turnover. He spun on AK, faded and hit in the lane. Luke had 5 points and 4 assists in the first half. He drew a foul trying to finish around Ak, he made one FT. He poked a ball loose on an attack by AK and it resulted in a dunk the other way for Kwame. He missed a layup and a putback after cutting off Kwame (looked like he got hit in the eye), but Ronny cleaned it up. He picked up a foul contesting a long AK jumper (don't need to contest those quite that hard with AK). He lost a couple defenders with a spin, then hit a hook. He hit Drew off the two-man game for a score. Great clock recognition, Luke turned with 3 on the clock and swished a 21-footer with 2 minutes left.

Bynum -- -- He was a load in the fourth quarter, scoring over the Jazz or controlling the glass. The foul trouble limited his minutes, but he was an impact player in the time he was out there. He scored 15 points on 6-7 shooting (3-3 from the line), grabbed 9 boards and dished 2 assists in 19 minutes. He led the Lakers with a +14. There was some definite fire out there in his belly. "I hear a knock about my work ethic or not showing passion in the game," Bynum said. "So, I'm going to go out there and play a lot harder than in the past." I swear, Bynum is one of the most frank assessors of his game sometimes. I don't know if it's a humilty he has or an understanding that he has a lot to learn, but he rarely beats around the bush when asked about his game...and nothing could be more ideal in a student. Bynum came in early for Kwame, who picked up fouls. He fought for a high inbounds lob, gathered the ball and himself, then dunked it. He was called for an off-the-ball foul pushing over a screener. Good challenge on Boozer to force a miss. Good show and recover twice on one sequence and it distracted the passer into throwing a pass that Kobe picked off. He got blocked (or fouled from behind) as he spun to dunk and went to the floor. He was called for a touch foul on a Boozer jumper. He got the easy assist handing off to Kobe for a three. He lost a post entry pass. He worked the two-man game, got the pass back, avoided the charge and banked. He got out of position on a FT miss and we didn't get the board. Huge dunk running the floor as Farmar flipped it back to him in the lane. Up high to yank down the defensive board, then he quickly outlet to Farmar to ignite the break. Wow, he just exploded around a Kobe rub screen in the post and scored a layup (they must have run that before because they were both on the same page with excellent timing. Show me that again, please). Good challenge on Okur to force a miss. He and Kobe worked the two-man game and Bynum was fouled from behind on the dunk attempt, he made both. Next time down, Luke makes an extra pass from the corner to Bynum, who is pushed from behind but still reaches up to finish it, he then showed some of that fire we've been want to see after the make, throwing a couple punches in the air, he finished the And-1 with a FT make...that was your No. 9 NBA TV play of the night. He picked up his fifth foul on the other end with 4:49 left, challenging guard penetration. Just too big for the Jazz, Bynum snatches an offensive board from behind Boozer then put it back in, that will kill a team late in the game. He fouled out with 55 seconds left, contesting under the hoop and got a huge ovation for his game. "This is going to be the next great bigman in the game," said Norm Nixon afterward. "PJ had the faith in leaving me out there," Bynum said.

Farmar -- -- The "Impact Farmar" that we saw in the preseason finally came out. He had a decent game in the last one, but this was the kind of impact ball that Farmar had going in the preseason and which will be vital to this team's success. "It's hard to guard us when we let the ball swing and we move before the pass," Jordan said of their offensive execution. It's also hard to guard Farmar when he's pushing the break or exploding around picks into the lane. Not only does he look steady and trustworthy with the ball in his hands, but in these kind of games you expect good things to happen when he has the ball. Farmar was in the heart of a key rally to end the third and start the fourth (Video). He scored 12 points on 5-8 shooting (1-4 from three) and dished 4 assists wtihout a turnover in just 17 minutes. Feisty D helping in the post to force a turnover. Quick push out after a made basket and it resulted in FTs for Mihm on the break. He hit a short baseline jumper from Mihm in transition. He missed a corner three. He missed an open wing three. He sank a three with 1.9 seconds left in the third. Great job pushing up the break, he got in the lane, and flipped it back to Bynum for the dunk. He pressured his man into a bad pass on the perimeter. He exploded off the pinch post and scored a layup with his left. On the next sequence, he pushed the ball up off a Jazz miss, pushed on the gas, exploded to the rim and finished the And-1, going to the floor hard, he made the FT. On one play and in just about one fluid motion, he scooped up a poor pass by Ronny and hit a fading elbow jumper with the shotclock low. He got his three blocked, went after it, and jumped out of bounds to save it back to Luke.

Radmanovic -- -- Some quality minutes from Vlad. Not the impact he had in the last game, but enough punch from the bench to help the cause. He scored 9 points on 2-6 shooting (4-4 from the line), grabbed 2 boards and had 2 assists in 25 minutes. He played both SF and PF in his minutes tonight and will surely plant Cook on the end of the bench as soon as LO returns. He got drilled on a jumper off the pinch post and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a three. He swished a three of a kickout from Kobe. He drew FTs off Kobe's drive and dish, he made both. He missed a pull-up jumper. Good challenge on Deron and he recovered on his man to knock the rebound away. Vlad had 7 points on 1-3 shooting in the first half. Nice entry to a cutting Kobe and it led to a layup. Vlad took Boozer off the dribble and scored at the rim (show me that again against those bigger players). He missed a three straight away. He missed a floater, then fouled going for the board.

Evans -- -- Not much in this game from Mo. He was active defensively which was nice, but he seemed a bit of a drag on the offense. Aggressive D on the perimeter that resulted in a steal and breakaway dunk for his only score. He missed a long jumper from the left side.

Mihm -- -- Phil got Chris some minutes as our foul situation demanded it. Chris was essentially a warm body. He scored 1 points on 0-2 shooting and grabbed 1 board in 7 minutes. He charged lowering his shoulder while going weak to strong. He drew FTs running the break well, he made one. He missed an off-balance bank. He missed a hook with his left. Good job avoiding a charge in transition and he found Farmar for the short jumper.

Cook -- -- Cook scored 2 points to go with his 2 turnovers (both costly) and 2 fouls in 6 minutes. He missed a three. He made a long two from the side with his toe on the three line. Went over the back for a foul. He lost the ball on the perimeter to Milsap and it resulted in a dunk the other way. He lost the handle driving into traffic, stupid play and it resulted in a layup on the other end. For the third straight game, Cook led the Laker with the worst +/-, this time with -4.

Phil -- 8) -- He's got the guys playing active and intense. They are rotating on D, helping and recovering and hitting the defensive glass... Making Mihm active in this game helped our depth at C after both Kwame and Bynum picked up two fouls each in short stints. Phil's done a good job using the IR to match up. If Mihm is on the IR in this one, we may have to go to Cook at C with the foul troubles we had. That wouldn't be good... The Lakers had a jump in their step on the defensive end and were cutting and active offensively out of the gate. A bit too many turnovers (8) in the first quarter, but they shot 63% to the Jazz 37%. They led 25-21... The Lakers had to call yet another timeout not executing our inbounds plays well... Both Kobe and DFish struggled from the perimeter in the second quarter and the Lakers trailed 51-46. Shooting 30% in the second quarter, the Lakers lowered their shooting percentage to 43.6% to the Jazz's 44.7% for the half. Both teams had 11 turnovers. The Lakers had just 1 offensive board at halftime... Even though Bynum started picking up fouls in that fourth quarter run, Phil left him in. Good decision as it kept the Lakers momentum going and the game was in hand by the time Bynum fouled out... The Lakers won the battle of the break 25-11. "There was good energy. They pushed the ball back at the Jazz," Phil said...

[AndrewBynum17]

thanks

[SweetP]

Thanks DB!

That was a great game to watch, must make the writing up fun too?
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“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[BK]

A great win by the Lakers

Thank you DB for the awesome summary once again. Hoping to see more smiley faces this week.

[KOBE 2.0]

Thanks,

Looks like Cook will be out of the rotation once Odom returns why does Cook look so lost DB? it can't be because hes getting small minutes I think the bad commitment in practice and the bad performance under the small portion of minutes hes playing under is gonna eventually put him as a 13-14th man off the bench.

[limchrc]

Thanks for the recap. It was a nice feeling to get another "W" from a contending team.

[ocho]

awesome writeup as always DB.

it's what i've been saying all summer. the team's not that bad. in fact we have the ability to be quite good. we've beaten two top west teams and almost beat three. without LO. amidst lots of public drama.

kobe's D has been stellar and the team as a whole is playing great.

and i'm very glad we hung on to andrew bynum. how far has this kid come? taking it to TWO allstar bigs and dominating for stretches.

great game and a great win. i love watching this team.
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14-5-3-12

[DrakeFZX3]

Love the recap DB! Great game as well.

[jbjb]

[George W Buss]

[LakerSanity]

Great wrap up DB.... I am equally impressed with Bynum. I am also glad to see that fans are being reminded of how good Luke was last year before he was injured. With a lot of these Lakers, I think many had very short memories.
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[DancingBarry]

[jbjb]

[A Mad Chinaman]

Again the sun rises on the Lakers game and sets with another great DB review!!

Example of Teamwork
When Jordan was on a fastbreak with Kobe and Bynum on the wings, the ball went to Bynum for a dunk

Bynum teaming up with Kobe for a nice play resulting in a dunk

Kobe and DFish applying great pressure on the permeter (albeit they had fouls to give) that provided just additional evidence of the intensity.

Kobe is moving off a series of cuts/screens trusting that the other players will be able to get him the ball in his "sweet spots."

When DFish waved him off to take the ball on the opposite of the court that resulted in a score.


DB
Do you think that it is DB's plan to utilize a larger bench to maintain the high level of energy - ala Warriors/Mavs/etc.?

[wolfpaclaker]

This is not one bit suprising to me.

Balanced game on offense, high energy/intensity on offense .. Lakers win.

Now I want them to play like this when they get down. 5, 10, 15, 20 ... doesn't matter. This is how we need to play.

Kobe 2 games in a row takes less than 20 shots. Plays superb defense. 1st team all-defense caliber. Very happy.

Bynum and Farmar were the keys to the game going from a close one in the Jazz' favor to the Lakers taking it easily in the end. The 4th qtr/late 3rd is what the future will be like. Add in a Crittenton, and you have the Lakers impact players of the longterm.

I am very happy this team. The questions I still pose is will they play this way even when down. That is the key to becoming consistently good. Doesn't matter what the score is, you play hard on defense + share the ball on offense. All the contenders do just that.

[Magic'sSon]

Thanks DB...appreciate ya!!!

[DancingBarry]

[Mation]

Thanks DB! Man, I really wish we could've gotten that win from Houston.
From these two games, I think we deserved it.

Really want to see us against the Hornets--as they are not coming off a back-to-back. A good test and gauge of where this team is/could be at.

Liked some of these quotes after the game:

[KOBEhastheMAGIC]

[KOBE 2.0]

I don't think Crittenton is part of the long-term plan In fact I think the Lakers are gonna try to package him during this season to see what they can get.

[DancingBarry]

Here's popcorn's Game Flow for this one:

http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20071104&game=UTHLAL

[TooCool]

Thanks again DB. Great game tonight. Bynum looked great during the Pre-Season. I'm glad it's carried over to the regular season.
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[Tanlentueux]

thank you very much sir. good job done as usual. take care.

[jmark]

Young guys are making some mistakes but you gotta love the effort. D is much improved. Block by Kobe was !
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"I appreciate all those who have supported me. Thank you for believing in me. My family and I are going to need your support and prayers now more than ever." Kobe

[melo061]

I don't think there are many bigs in the league who have the hands Andrew has. It is so refreshing to see a big who can actually catch risky and bullet passes and finish . Outside of Shaq, i don't think there's another center with his hands.

Kwame had a little period in the game where the Swats kept on rolling. Loved that, hope it continues. Luke is simply a majestic offensive player, team's smartest player. Still, his man defense needs work but team defense as solid as usual.

Question, does Kobe still think he is in fiba? He thinks he can get away with the tough perimeter defense and found himself getting calls for touchy falls.
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Perfect music.