LAKERS -at- BUCKS - 11/21 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Four-Game Streak Snapped... The Lakers couldn't impose their game on the Bucks. Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar, injured Ronny Turiaf and even Kobe for three quarters all had games they'd rather forget. The Lakers fell 110-103, going down with a fizzle in the fourth quarter of an otherwise close game.

Lamar was terrible. He's getting paid to give us impact ball, instead he gave us a Butterball on the eve of Thanksgiving. Thanks, but no thanks.

"That's why we lost," LO said in the L.A. Times. "It's the truth. Write that. I'm going to say it was one of the worst games I've played. It'll be hard to sleep. I played like trash. Anything else?"

Nope.


Kobe -- -- There were moments in the first quarter where it didn't even seem like he was on the court, he was so passive. Dare I say, it was Lamar-esque minutes? Sorry, but that's how it felt for the opening quarter. More stretches in the second quarter and then he struggled in the fourth (1-5 shooting). I would have liked to see him go at Redd, making him work early and often. They couldn't hide Redd defensively with LO as the SF, so we should have attacked. Despite all that, Kobe still managed to get his...too bad it didn't get us a W. The Stats: He scored 27 points on 7-18 shooting (2-8 from three, 11-11 from the line), had 4 assists, 3 boards and 1 steal in 42:43 of action. He was a -8. The Action: He whipped a pass to Vlad under the hoop and it drew FTs. He tapped a long outlet to the middle of the court right to LO for the score. He missed a fallaway. He drew FTs on Redd on an iso, he made both. He dunked when he LO busted out on a loose ball and threw it ahead. He was short on a three. He missed an open three. Back in after a long break, he attacked the paint and no-looked to Ronny who hit a turnaround. He lost his man on a pivot in the mid post and banked. Kobe had just 6 points on 2-5 shooting in a very passive first half. He hit a wing jumper on our first attempt of the half. He got tapped on a runner. He got fouled when he was surprised to find a pass that went through Drew's hands, he still finished the And-1 and made the FT. He iso'd and drew a crowd, attacked and fed Bynum who planted himself under the hoop for the dunk. He tracked Mo Williams down on a three-on-one, challenged him to force a pass and the Lakers got a turnover. He stalled the offense on the dribble, was called for a weak carry, then got a tech. He swiped a pass at the top of the key, pushed it up and 360'd on Yi in the air and drew a foul, he made both FTs (he was going to baptise Yi on a dunk if he wasn't fouled). Redd lost Kobe for a three on one end, then Kobe tried to attack into a crowd on the other and missed. Out of a timeout on the next trip, he stepped out behind a pick and hit a three. He was whistled for a couple fouls on Redd, giving up FTs late in the third. He ripped the net on a three with 5 seconds left in the third. Nice play with 3 seconds left, we threw the long pass to Mihm, who bounced to Kobe, who had to be fouled with 1.8 seconds in the quarter, he made both FTs. He had 21 points on 6-11 shooting after the 15-point third. He missed a three, short. He drew a push-off foul from Redd who tried to clear space on the drive. He got tapped on a wide open three. He missed a turnaround on the baseline. He pumpfaked and drew FTs to get his first points of the fourth with 2:33 left. He missed a three with a minute left. He missed another three. He made a couple late FTs. He dunked with 12 seconds left. He missed a long jumper.

Lamar -- -- Uggh. Inside and out, he just played poorly. He couldn't even get much going in transition. He seems pretty angry, let's hope he brings his A game in Boston. The Stats: He scored 8 points on a poor 3-11 shooting (0-3 from three...not even close on any of them, 2-4 from the line), he had 7 baords, 4 assists wtih 4 turnovers and 2 steals. He was a team-low -11 in 40 minutes. The Action: He attacked baseline and drew FTs on Yi, he made one. He missed a long three trying to beat the shotclock. He scored on a breakaway when Kobe tapped a long outlet to him. He lost the ball in the post. He posted up Mason and scored easily in the lane. He tracked down a loose ball and tossed it ahead to Kobe for the uncontested dunk. Horrible decision, afraid to use his right on a short two-foot hook at the front of the rim and he forced a pass into traffic for a turnover. Good challenge on Redd to force a brick on iso D. He missed a layup on the break. He bricked a long jumper badly. He traveled in the post with a weak effort. He bricked a post-up and wanted the foul. Good work on the defensive glass tapping a rebound away when Kobe was matched up with Bogut. He sank a jumper from the top of the key. He missed a reverse, not taking his time and concentrating. He got swatted on an iso drive. He attacked, fell and drew a foul on the next possession, he made one FT. He left his man to try for a steal and got burned for a three. He tried to get it back with a three and bricked badly. Another big miss of a wide open three with 2 minutes left. Quick outlet to Luke for a breakaway score. Yuck.

DFish -- -- Reasonable game from Fish. Defensively, we had to deal with Mo Williams causing a few problems, but that wasn't the reason we lost. Offensively, he brought a little punch with another good effort on that end. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 4-7 shooting (2-3 from three, 4-4 from the line), had 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 steal in 30 minutes. He had a +4. The Action: He missed a wide open three. He attacked Bell and got a whistle (he's doing a decent job drawing the calls on his attacks so far this year), he made both FTs. He missed a pull-up jumper. He attacked off the dribble the entire way down the floor and drew FTs, he made both FTs. He drained a corner three as the shotclock buzzer went off. After Williams scored a layup on one end, Fisher pushed right back off the make and hit a layup on the other. He traveled on the wing in transition. He swished a baseline 15-footer. He missed a bank. He sank a corner three off a kickout from Vlad. He hit the floor to get a loose rebound, tied up Redd, then won the jumpball.

Radmanovic -- 8) -- Active defensively and making some smart reads at times in the offense. All that is good to see. He's starting to show a little deeper knowledge of our offensive sets and is giving us some consistent minutes right now. He played some PF in this game with the Bucks going small and Ronny not himself. Vlad ended up leading the Lakers with a +14. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 3-6 shooting (2-5 from three, 5-6 FTs), grabbed 2 board and had 2 assists. The Action: Bad lob pass on the first possession trying to find Bynum. Good recovery on Yi to force an airball. He couldn't finish an And-1 off a whip pass from Kobe, he made one FT. He hammered down a reverse dunk with authority after taking the handoff from Bynum. Good D in the backcourt forcing a turnover on the inbounds. He then drew Yi's second foul getting the inbounds, pumpfaking and drawing contact, he made both FTs. Excellent Tri read with Drew being fronted strongside, Vlad cut weakside to the FT line and executed the high-low to Bynum for a layup. Nice return pass to Bynum in the lane and it drew FTs. He missed a three. He sank a catch and shoot three from the top of the key. He missed a three. He jumped the passing lane on help and drew FTs on the bustout, he made both. He attacked and hit Fish for a three. Big three to answer a Simmons three and cut the lead to 4 with 4 minutes left. He tried to trap in the corner and the refs called a phantom foul with 36 seconds left.

Bynum -- -- He started out with such a dominant rebounding first quarter, I thought he'd get 20 boards in this game. He pulled down 10 rebounds in the first quarter, but had just 3 the rest of the game. There was a tangible difference when he as anchoring the D versus Mihm, but Bynum got into some foul trouble which limited his minutes. Bynum was getting hit without calls on a number of plays and let the refs know it. Finally, he got hacked from behind, yelled as he was getting the whistle and was called for a tech. This was in crunch time. Not good. Lesson learned. "I hope so," Phil said after. The Stats: Bynum scored 16 points on 5-10 shooting (impressive 6-7 from the line), 13 boards (4 offensive) and had 1 block in just 26:45 of action. He was a +3. The Action: He handed off to Vlad cutting baseline for a reverse jam. He missed a turnaround in the lane. He challenged Mason under the hoop to force a miss. He drew a foul trying to finish under the hoop, he made both FTs. He scored a layup off the high-low sequence with Vlad. He looked a little slow getting up and down the court midway through the first quarter, but picked it up. He got to the line working the two-man game with Vlad, he made both FTs. He missed a jumphook, but got it back with a good effort, he then had the ball tossed back to him on the wing and he bricked a 15-footer he shouldn't have taken. He picked up a cheap foul blocking Redd in the lane. Excellent first quarter, keeping the Bucks one and done. He drew a foul on Bogut taking the post entry. He traveled on his next possession when Voskul pulled the chair on him. Good effort on a tip, but he couldn't get it to drop. He got hacked with no call and missed. He had 6 points (1-6 FG, 4-4 FT) and 11 boards at the half. He planted himself under the hoop when Kobe went to work, waited and Kobe hit him for a dunk after drawing the D. He beat his man down court, Kobe found him and he dunked (he wanted the And-1). He picked up his fourth foul on a cheap one in the post and had to sit with 4 minutes left in the third. Back in down by 5 with 6 minutes left. He challenged Bogut well to get a miss. On the other end, he cleaned up a Kobe miss and dunked it back in, should have been an And-1 and he yelled at the ref. He got fouled on the next trip down and screamed at the ref again because of the slightly late whistle and was called for a tech, he then made just one FT (so a net of zero). He posted up and scored the And-1 on a short hook, he made the FT.

Turiaf -- -- Ronny is not himself, but is going anyway despite the injury. He's going to have his hands full in the next game. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-2 shooting, 2-2 from the line and had 1 board in only 8 minutes of action. He was a +2. The Action: He posted up and drew a foul, he made both FTs. He hit a turnaround after a fade out of the lane. He missed a baseline jumper against the zone.

Luke -- -- He turned his back to Simmons who was under the hoop out of bounds making the inbounds pass, so Simmons threw it off Luke, got it back and scored the layup. Luke was our only guy off the bench to get double digits. Again, another decent game. Phil put him in late when we needed some stops or steals. Those will likely be Ariza minutes, if we are in need of some D. We certainly missed some of those energy minutes that Mo brings. The Stats: He scored 12 points on an efficient 5-7 shooting (2-2 from three), 2 boards, 2 assists and 1 steal in 17:30. He had a -9. The Action: Superb touch threading the needle on a bounce pass in transition to Farmar for the reverse. He swished a toe-on-the-three-line jumper when Farmar attacked baseline and hit Luke in the corner. He posted up Bell and hit a turnaround. He swiped a ball, pushed out the break and drew FTs for Farmar. He hit a jumper standing on the three line. After Simmons hit over Luke on one end, Luke took him off the dribble and scored with his left on the other end. He airballed a wide open three on the break, ouch, that's not good. He missed a turnaround. He scored on a bustout, protecting the ball and hitting the layup with under a minute left to cut the lead to 4. He was fouled on an attack down the lane, he made the FTs to cut the lead to 4 again.

Farmar -- -- We missed the impact minutes he had been giving us lately. More so tonight with LO playing so poorly. He gives us another good game and we probably take this. He's young, so consistency will be an issue. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-8 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line), dished 4 assists, had 3 turnovers and 2 steals in 17:40 of action. He was a -11. The Action: He scored a reverse when Luke hit him on the break with a bouncepass just beyond a defender. Farmar returned the favor, hitting Luke in the corner for an open three. He missed a runner at the buzzer and wanted the foul. He missed a pull-up in the lane. He got called for a foul away from the play for a turnover. He snagged an entry pass on one end then attacked, sliced down the lane and scored the layup. He got hacked on a bustout with Luke, he made both FTs. He missed a corner three. He got tapped on a wing three. He missed an open baseline jumper. He traveled in the paint, uncertain what he was going to do. A rare step in and taking of the charge from Farmar (with his speed, he's got to do more of that). He swiped the ball working with Mihm on D, then he fed Mihm for FTs on the breakaway. He charged off the dribble. He missed a tip.

Mihm -- -- I'm flashing back to his first season when he would be MIA on the road. He's not anchoring the D at all...nor did he give us any activity on the glass tonight. The Stats: He scored 1 points on 0-2 shooting, making 1-2 from the line, he had 2 boards and was a -10 in 15:36 of run. The Action: He traveled in transition, tripping over his own feet. He missed a turnaround after he getting an extra possession with a good offensive board. He got swatted, showing the ball to Bogut at the front of the rim. Weak challenge on penetration and Williams scored a layup right over him. He was fouled tying to throwdown on the break and he made one FT.

Vujacic -- -- Well, he essentially robbed Crit of minutes with a weak outing. He made his only shot, but he had some poor mistakes on D. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting and grabbed 2 boards in 14 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: Wow, difficult attempt coming off the double screen, catching, turning from about 21 feet out and hitting the fade on his first attempt. That was his highlight. He overplayed Ivey in the backcourt and gave up a layup. He completely missed Kobe cutting backdoor for what would have been a sure layup. Poor perimeter D and he gave up an open jumper.

Phil -- -- "I think Redd got Kobe a little bit distracted out there," Phil said. "He didn't play as much of a team game as I'd like to have seen him play. But, you know, it was a good head-on-head battle for two players. It came out pretty even." Kobe did try to go back at Redd when Redd would hit. I think maybe if we had Kobe on the attack a little more early on, we wouldn't have gotten sucked into some of that. More proactive instead of reactive. But in the end, I don't think that was the problem... The Lakers got the Bucks into the penalty with 8 minutes left in the first quarter... Phil went with Lamar at center against a small Buck lineup late in the first half (he would repeat this late in the game)... The Lakers were 0-8 from three before Fisher hit a corner three with under two minutes in the half... The Lakers hit 18-20 FTs in the first half. They won the break 8-0, but they ended up with the 1-9 from behind the arc. The coaches didn't want them to shoot threes too early in the shotclock and work for better shots. They led 47-46... The Lakers had a 5-point lead heading into the fourth. Usually, we win games with our bench in the first 6 minutes of the quarter. Didn't happen... Down by 5, Phil subbed in Vlad, Bynum and Fish to get the starters back in with 6 minutes left. We couldn't chip away...

[DancingBarry]

Sorry for the delay posting this. I was out all evening.

[George W Buss]

Finally!!!!
I've been waiting for this.
Thanks, DB!

Hopefully Odom can play his best in the next game.
We desperately need him to beat the Celtics.

[24KaratGold]

Injuries hurt us again (or lack of players): With Kwame out, Bynum has to take the starting role, which hurts the bench. With Cook and Mo gone, Vlad has to start (this is also because of Turiaf's injury), and Sasha and Kobe have to play more. Hopefully when we get Ariza in it will help our bench
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Double rings > Double rainbow

[KOBE 2.0]

Thanks.

[George W Buss]

[limchrc]

Thanks for recap. Hope we will bounce back the next game.

[Al-Mbarak8]

[AllorNothing]

I couldn't believe how stupid the Lakers played the Bucks.
KObe and Lamar were dumb in the stretch. Both of them were launching ill advised 3s near the end when we only need two points to close the gap with a few minutes left.

[Alpha]

thanks for your dedication and hard work DB... have a great thanksgiving with the family!

[Tanlentueux]

thanks DB

[Chrome Hearts]

Ronny's energy been MIA the last two games. Hopefully it's just him shaking off the rust from his injury.

Lakers need his spark off the bench.

As usual, great job DB.
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RIP mamba

[BigE32]

Thanks, DB. Very disappointing fourth quarter. LO and Mihm were very ineffective tonight. That was a game we could have and probably should have won. Turiaf is definitely feeling the effects of spraining his ankle. I hope he gets better soon. Happy Thanksgiving!

[kobe_somebody_odom]

This was by far the worst game of the season.... the offense looked bad.

I will still give Odom until game 20 to have 3-4 straight good games. After that, I will agree with the overall trade Odom sentiment.

1) Odom was real bad
2) Kobe got balled on by Redd
3) Farmar dissapeared
4) Phil subbed Bynum back too late

Only positive was A-bomb. 16/13 in 26 minutes is good. I still think he could have came back earlier in the 4th.

We upset Boston on Friday

[maddprophet]

anyone notice redd shuffles his feet everytime he faces up a defender?

i can't tell you how many times he turned and faces kobe on the perimeter, and changed his pivot foot. sometime he changed it twice or more before dribbling.

just something he gets away with everytime that drove me nuts all night.

not to mention he rode kobe everywhere, but that stuff does fly from time to time, but man he travels alot.

on another note, i have league pass, so i got the bucks announcers, and they were giving props to the lakers d throughout the first 3 1/2 quarters. over and over again, praising how we get after it on defense. been a long time since i heard that. but good to hear from a non biased 3rd party.
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Spark the ism, my expertism, is lyracism, my flow will take you over like I was hypnotism...so where's the lighter, to start the cypher....

[Rick12322]

[Rick12322]

Thanks DB, love the recap, hate the loss. Hopefully we can write this off to just an aberration. But, like I said after we played the Pacers, I smell a bad stretch coming up for us. With Kwame down, Turiaf not 100%, LO playing brain dead ball, and now even the loss of Mo and Cook causing tremors on our once highly successful second unit, we've got a tough road ahead while we wait for healthy players to return and for Trevor to start making an impact.

We need a legit PF, and we have too many SF's. We need one more trade to get us back on the right path.

[oldschool32]

[golakersgo121]

[golakersgo121]

[rbtronnie5]

[wolfpaclaker]

Was a bit dissapointed that we lost this game despite a lead in the 4th, but the 2nd unit just wasn't playing the way it has been and Lamar was poor. Kobe played really well for 3 qtrs, but then was off in the 4th.

IMO the defense was solid up until late in the game when their legs probably gave out. The Lakers have played a lot of games in the last 8 days. It was going to eventually wear on them.

Still, I feel this Lakers team is giving lots of effort. Milwaukee deserves credit. They made so many tough perimeter shots IMO. You keep thinking that eventually they'll start to miss those 3's or perimeter shots, but Redd + Williams and their other guys just made very low percentage shots throughout the game.

Bynum + Fisher were the standouts in the starting lineup. Fisher was excellent, too bad he didn't get more PT. I thought Phil gave Jordan a bit too much PT in this one and at the same time it is a mistake to play Mihm at backup C right now IMO. They should go with Ronny, unless the opposing C is much bigger than him, and a good low post scorer.

We blew a lead in the 4th, but I'm ok with how this team is playing so far. must take into account that part of the reason the bench was weaker is that our most effecienct bench scorers (Bynum + Radmanovic) are starting because of the injuries to Kwame and Turiaf. Then with the Mo Evans trade, we lacked a swingman off the bench (which Ariza should fullfill).

I think Phil is probably better off starting Mihm and Turiaf. If he must play Mihm, then the 1st unit is probably better at hiding him. Plus, Bynum is far more effective for the 2nd unit. Especially against Boston, I think Turiaf should definitely be starting in that game with the likes of KG.

Vs. Boston
Bynum, Turiaf, Odom, Kobe and Fisher 1st unit
Mihm, Radmanovic, Walton, Vujacic and Farmar 2nd unit

[big E]

I was so pissed at Lamar launching those threes towards the end. It's obvious Radman has got it going this year-we should've milked him......

[Brand New]

Lamar Odom is crap, man even Radmanovic is playing better than Odom, we need to do something about him.

[In the paint]

This was a back to back game on the road. The perimeter shots were not falling, but the Lakers managed to control most of the game. They lost it becasue the Bucks were able to knock down perimeter shots in the 4th quarter while the Lakers, in particular Kobe Lamar could not do the same. See their respective shot charts,