LAKERS -at- PACERS - 11/20 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Ariza Trade Game... The Lakers lost four straight in Indiana heading into this game. Despite that, the way they have been playing lately, you knew they were going to march in and out of Indiana with a W. The Lakers scored 30+ in every quarter -- a dominating 134-114 win.

Much of the talk going into this game was about trade...JO for Bynum and/or Lamar. A trade came into play, of course, as the Lakers made another deal for Ariza, sending Cook and Mo to Orlando. Both players found out just before the team was to board the bus to come to the game. "Everybody was a little down on the bus ride over here, but we can mourn after the game," Kobe said. Kobe and Phil talked with the guys before the game since many of them haven't gone through a trade before. Cook stopped by later and chatted with Kobe from behind the bench during the game. They've become a tight group, but the trade didn't rattle their play.

Back to the matchup on the court. The Lakers scored inside and out. Bynum went toe to toe with Jermaine O'Neal and owned the night. "He's looking damn good," Kobe said in the Times. "The important thing for him is to continue to work, keep his head down and continue to go."

Both Kobe and Fish had their perimeter games back...as did everyone else. They had eight players in double figures. The spread out minutes should help the team in the next game, where they will be joined by their new teammate.


Kobe -- -- Good to see Kobe feeling it from behind the arc, especially after his shot had been off in the last couple games. Defensively, I thought some of his rotations were slow in the first half and he didn't seem to fight to recover to his man. On the other end, he was quietly killing the Pacers with some efficient scoring and looking for teammates. We got to see a little more isolation, which plays to his strength. But we didn't overplay that hand. Ariza should be able to do some heavy lifting for Kobe (among others) on the defensive end. He can D-up players Kobe usually has to handle, and with Kobe's slimmed down frame, we needed that boost at the SF spot. That will only make Kobe more effective. The Stats: he scored 32 points on 8-16 shooting (5-9 from three, 11-11 from the line), he pulled down 6 boards, dished 4 assists and had 1 steal in 31 minutes. He was a +17. The Action: He tried to draw a foul and bricked a leaning jumper. He stepped through and hit a short shot in the lane. He sank a corner three. The offense stalled and he bricked a jumper. He missed a three. With the shotclock low, he went to the dribble, worked his way across the lane and hit a layup. He iso'd on the left side and drew FTs, he made both. He drained a wing three. He drew a foul away from the ball on a cut, he made both. He attacked off the dribble on iso from the wing, drew a foul and hit the And-1 reverse, he made the FT. He missed a jumper short. He drained a wing three. He stared down the three again and nailed it from the same spot. He ran his own offense, creating off the dribble, drawing all kinds of defenders, then kicking to DFish for the open jumper. He sank another quick, catch-and-shoot three from the same right wing shot. He missed a three, forcing it a bit that time. Kobe finished the half with 26 points on 8-13 shooting (5-7 from three), very efficient and balanced attack. Quick attack after a made basket and he drew FTs, he made both. Quick first step and he drew a perimeter foul on Granger, he made both FTs. He missed a three, then picked up a foul on a loose ball (cheap). Bad pass, hitting the rim on an oop to Bynum. He grabbed a board, pushed it up and made a nice feed to Farmar filling the lane on the break for a layup. He missed a three. He backed it out, attacked and drew FTs, he made both.

Lamar -- -- I didn't like the first half from LO. It was foul-prone and we were getting killed on the defensive glass, giving up a ton of second chances. He wasn't boxing out or battling like he usually does. He was late for rotations, and all that was costing us. He picked it up in the second half. Offensively, his speed was too much for Foster when ever the two got matched up. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 2-4 shooting, grabbed 7 boards, dished 3 assists with 3 turnovers in 28 minutes. He was just a +6 on the night. The Action: He passed on the jumper, attacked off the dribble down the middle of the lane, drew the D and fed Bynum for the dunk. Poor rotation and he picked up a foul getting dunked on by JO. He hurried a jumper and missed short. Cheap foul, Williams jumped into him and drew a foul on a jumper, that was LO's second foul with 4 minutes left in the first. He drew a foul on a layup, he made one. He took a kickout, sized up Foster and blew past him for a layup. He picked up his third foul challenging JO's long jumper and let out a loud four-letter word. He bricked a layup, falling down in the post. He stepped on the gas going to his right and drew FTs, he made both FTs. Good board, tapping it away from JO from behind (much better job than the first half), he then pushed it out and used his length around Foster for the layup. He pulled the ball out, then drew a foul with a quick first step on Foster, he made both FTs. He was called for a travel in the post. He posted up again and drew FTs on his next touch, he made one, then went over the back on his miss and had to sit with his fourth foul.

DFish -- -- Fish had his perimeter game back. He also mixed in a couple of attacks which he finished on. Hopefully, he can string a few of these together on the road. He and Farmar combined for 29 points on 12-15 shooting and 7 assists at the PG spot. The Stats: He scored 11 points on a perfect 5-5 shooting and had 3 assists without a turnover in 21 minutes. He was a +12. The Action: He sank a win 19-footer on his first attempt. He ballfaked and hit a jumper standing on the three line. He attacked from the wing and finger-rolled over JO. He hit a baseline jumper off a drive and dish from Kobe. He curled down the lane and scored a layup.

Bynum -- -- Bynum was in the spotlight...in the spotlight and on an island against JO. He survived the battle, making JO into a boat and using one of his arms to paddle off that island. Stu on JO: "Jermaine is going to see Andrew tomorrow night, and the Lakers aren't even going to be here." Pretty much. Jermaine had 14 points on 4-13 shooting with 3 boards. Several of those misses were Bynum rejecting his shot. Granted, JO is still trying to work his way back into game shape from his injury, but Bynum's added strength to go with his length helped a lot versus their match ups last year. Bynum led the Lakers with a +26, JO led the Pacers with a -24. That was some dominant, two-way play from Drew tonight. "We're watching him grow into a player that looks like he's going to be reckoned with," Phil said. The Stats: He scored 17 points on a perfect 6-6 shooting (5-6 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 4 blocks, 3 turnovers and 1 steal in 29 minutes. The Action: He dunked off the LO drive and dish on the first play. He left JO standing still with a quick spin and then he hit the baseline jumphook. Excellent job moving from weak to strong and sealing JO, he took the entry and got hammered, he made one FT. He stripped the ball from JO with some quick hands. He drew FTs when JO fouled him to save a dunk, he made both. He dunked off the interior feed from Farmar. He devoured JO's post attempt, blocking it and controlling it and getting out on the break. Vlad hit him with a long alley-oop pass and Bynum hammered it down. He swatted Daniels from behind. He forced Foster into an airball with a good challenge. He took a feed from Kobe, gathered himself and was fouled to save a dunk, he made both FTs. Bynum had 13 points on 4-4 shooting and 8 boards in the first half. He dunked off the interior feed from Luke. He threw a baseline pass away. He got rocked back by JO in the post, but still contested and forced a miss. He sank a rare 8 foot jumper in semi-transition, looked good. JO thought he'd go to work against Bynum, had his first shot rejected, got it back and Bynum winged his second shot, great D (Video). Bynum on the trade: "Mo was my best friend, so it kind of hurt me a little bit more than a lot of people on the team," he said. "I came out there and gave a little bit extra energy for him."

Radmanovic -- 8) -- Vlad got the start, which in the past during this early season, has usually led to him disappearing. Better game from him in that regard. He was a bit foul prone and someone needs to work with him on his reaches, because it's an instant foul anytime he does it. Very rare when he gets a steal. With the trade, we might see more of Vlad in the PF spot, giving a few minutes. When we signed Vlad, Cook's days were numbered. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-7 shooting (3-5 from three, 2-2 from the line), grabbed 7 boards and had 5 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: Weak corner entry sequence pass, but we gathered it on the other side of the lane to save Vlad a turnover. He drew a foul under the hoop and made both FTs. He sank a corner three off a swing pass from Fish. He missed a dunk attempt in semi-transition. Perfect lob pass from behind the three line to Bynum for the alley-oop. He missed a couple good looks at threes, short. He drained a wing three on the first shot of the half. He picked up his fourth foul on a reach and had to sit early in the third. He swished a corner three off a kickout from Luke.

Farmar -- -- He's killing teams right now. Consistently. Not only that, he's playing like a floor general. In the last game, he found the weakspots (looked for the mismatches in the post, in addition to attacking). Tonight, more of him imposing his game on the opponents. It seems like he comes into games, gets warmed up with Kobe out there, then throttles it up after a few minutes. He had a career high in assists in the last game...tonight was a career high in points. Impact ball. That is so huge for this team. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-10 shooting (3-5 from three, 1-3 from the line), had 4 assists and 2 steals in 22 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He swiped a Tinsley pass, then hit the pull-up wing jumper in transition. Bad pass in transition trying to hit Mihm in the lane. He drained a catch-and-shoot wing three. He lost his man in the post with an up-and-under move, drew JO, then dished to Bynum for the dunk. He missed a three, short. Filling the lane out on the break with speed, he took the feed from Kobe and scored the reverse. He pulled down the offensive board, attacked and hit Luke for the And-1. He faced up in the corner with the shotclock low, he rose up, hit the three and drew a foul, he missed the FT to blow a the rare four-point play. He ran the clock down, attacked to his right and hit the wing jumper with just a couple seconds left in the third quarter. He swished a wide open sideline three (just looking automatic now). He hit Luke for an open jumper. He attacked on the weakside and teardropped high over JO. He missed a runner off the glass. He missed a three. He attacked from the side and drew FTs, he made one. He deflected a pass, then threw a lob pass to high to Crit.

Luke -- -- Good game from Luke again off the bench. He's seemed to find his stride again, which is good. The trade definitely has potential to impact Luke's role. He and Cook were close as they both came in the league together and shared a lot of time off the court. So, that friendship will be gone. But Luke will also see some reduced minutes against those tougher defensive matchups. Ariza/Luke is kind of like the George/Fox duo on the defensive end. Fox struggled against the more athletic players, just like Luke, so he needed an athletic counterpart. George didn't have the Tri-savvy game, which will probably be the case with Ariza...but he could match athleticism and take on heavy defensive lifting. Vlad will find minutes as the best shooter of the bunch. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-7 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-3 from the line), pulled down 5 boards, dished 4 assists without a turnover in 27 minutes. He was a +18. The Action: He missed an opportunity for a backdoor lob to Kobe that was there. He stepped into a post kickout from Ronny and swished a wing three. He dropped a sure defensive board out of bounds. Slow motion in the post, he got contact on his man and hit his fade in the lane. He attacked on the baseline, drew the D and dished to Bynum for the dunk. Good challenge on Dunleavy to force a brick. He ballfaked to Bynum in the middle of the lane, attacked and drew FTs, he made one. He missed a baseline turnaround. He missed a three, Farmar got it, Luke cut, got it back and And-1 dunked over a defender, he made the FT. He attacked and kicked to Vlad for a three. He found Farmar after drawing the D and Farmar hit the open three. He hit a wing jumper. He missed a sideline jumper.

Mihm -- -- He really looked lost on both ends a lot tonight. Just off a step and out of synch. Not sure what the deal was but his focus was off. He picked it up later in the game. Somehow, he managed to not get double figures. Still, between him and Bynum we got 26 points, 14 boards and 5 blocks at the C spot. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-7 shooting, grabbed 4 boards, dished 3 assists and blocked 1 shot. He was a -6. The Action: He missed a left-handed hook short. He gave up an And-1 to Harrison. He had his shot goaltended out of the timeout. He got hit with no call on a jumphook and missed badly. He hit a FT jumper out of the offense. He airballed a crazy looking turnaround. He drew FTs in the lane, he made one. He hit Sasha with the baseline bouncepass for a layup. He swished a 17-footer from the right side. He hammered down a one-handed oop from Coby on the break.

Turiaf -- -- It sounded as if they were planning on not running him in this game, but because of the trade and Kwame's injury, he was a much-needed warm body. He definitely struggled to bring his same activity. We missed that on the defensive glass as the Pacers were getting a ton of second chances. Light action from Ronny toniht. The Stats: He scored just 1 point on 0-3 shooting, 1-2 from the line, grabbed 4 boards and dished a team-high 5 assists in 17 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He drew FTs on a long jumper, he made one. He missed a short jumphook, got it back and forced up a bad shot. He picked up his third foul of the first half and didn't know where it came from. He missed a turnaround.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha seized his opportunity as the backup to Kobe tonight and was aggressive offensively. The Ariza trade will likely have Phil toggling between Sasha and Ariza at the backup SG minutes depending on the need for D versus the need for perimeter shooting. Sasha probably gets a good chunk of the SG minutes with Ariza learning the offense. Crit will also have a chance, too. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 3-6 shooting (6-7 from the line) and grabbed 2 boards in 18 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: In for Kobe, with a minute left in the first quarter. He attacked off the weave a little early at the end of the first quarter and he drew FTs, he made one. He took and made the illegal D FT. He missed a baseline jumper. He sank a top-of-the key jumper next time down. He missed a three. He curled around the screens, took a pass and was mugged (or made it seem that way) going to the rim, he made the FTs. He sank a baseline jumper. He drew FTs and made both. He reversed out of the offense when Mihm hit him with the baseline bouncepass.

Crittenton -- -- Crit may now have an opportunity to sneak in a little playing time with the trade. The rookie mistakes in practice or the game will keep the leash tight. He had a few minutes tonight, but didn't look to push the action and didn't take a shot. The Stats: He played 5:38 and had 1 steal. He was a -4. The Action: He got in with 5 minutes left and a 20+ point lead. He swiped an inbounds pass, pushed it up and hit Karl with a behind-the-back pass and it drew FTs.

Karl -- -- Coby got a little run tonight. He will likely join Kwame on the IR again. Losing a player on the roster may help him get a little more PT even if Ariza plays the same spot. It could pull Coby off the IR more and free up minutes in games like tonight's. The Stats: He had 2 points on 0-1 shooting, 2-2 FTs, dished 2 assists and had 1 foul in 3:23 of action. He was a +1. The Action: He came in for Turiaf in garbage time. He got blocked trying to create in the lane, but got it back. He found Mihm for an oop on the break. He scored his points of FTs on a breakaway with Crit.

Evans/Cook=Ariza -- -- I've been harping here for a year and half or so about the need for the Lakers to get a defender who can switch at the 2/3 spots. Ariza elevates our D. He'll be able to take some heavy lifting from Kobe in that regard. He'll provide relief defensively for Luke, Vlad and Lamar. Although Mo is a better perimeter offensive player, we really needed a skillset off the bench that could get the job done defensively. There will be issues offensively and the offense will have to be careful with its sequences to not expose those weaknesses. In the end, the impact will be to get rid of some redundant parts and shore up one of our weaknesses. It's not the ideal fit, but it will help. And if you look at tonight's offensive attack, the offense can click at a high level, but can the D consistently? And that is where you hope the impact will come in.

Phil -- -- Both Smush and Cook got into it with Phil last year. Both are gone... Phil on the team and the trade: "I talked to them beforehand and said, 'This is part of the NBA, this is part of the business of games. You have to be professional about this and go out and do what you have to do on the floor.' "... Phil started Bynum and Vlad. I thought he might go with Mihm, but he used him off the bench. Maybe that affected Mihm's game. It wasn't a negative for Bynum. Perhaps there is a subtle message to the Pacers by starting both LO/Bynum... Both teams went to the line a ton in the first quarter. The Lakers led 37-35... Phil called a timeout after we gave up more second chance points off a missed FT. The Pacers had a 13-0 advantage in second chance points to that point... The Lakers led 71-63 at half, but gave up a 22-0 advantage on second-chance points on 12 offensive boards (Lakers had 2 offensive boards). That is absurd. Phil would have plenty of ammo at the half. The Lakers shot 61 percent in the first half... Rambis said they were yelling about the second-chance opportunities in every huddle... Up by 24 and Phil brough Kobe back in with 7:43 left. He sat him with over 5 minutes left... The Lakers shot 58.3 percent, 52 percent (13-25 from three) and had just 13 turnovers. They held the Pacers to 40.8 percent shooting (6-27 from three)... The past couple games, the Lakers have really looked for the corner sequence in the Triangle. This has help to establish our post game. Glad to finally see it again...

[Tanlentueux]

muchas gracias amigo !!!! merci beaucoup mon ami !!!!

[Exick]

[Kobe2Clark]

[D Nice]

This was great, as usual. Thanks a BUNCH, because I slept through the game . I'll watch it on my broadband league pass tomorrow though.

[Mation]

Thanks DB.

Huge dependency on this recap; first game I couldn't watch. I should really get league pass...

I guess the second-chance points, from the offensive rebounds, is what escalated the Pacers final score. I wondered why our opponent's score was higher than usual.

Good to see Fish and Kobe shooting well again. Also Fish with no turnovers! Over these past few games, Bynum has looked impressive from the free-throw line.

[Crazy Like Ron Artest]

When I say make some you say noise.

Make some........!!!!



Oh hell yeah, I'm loving this.
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Crazy yes......Nostrodamus no way because my predictions fail!!!!!

[Socks]

Bynum and Farmar - just absolute joys to watch right now. Having so much fun watching them grow.

Worried about Mihm if we have to be without Kwame for awhile. If he's not an effective backup at both the 4 and 5 we're very thin. I'd rather not depend that much on a guy who is playing now after over a year - especially if PJ wants to keep LO solely at the 3. We need another big...

[Al-Mbarak8]

Im proud to say that , not only we have the best bench in the nba , we have the best young talents also (excluding portland)

Thanks for the wrap up DB
_________________
LG.net Lurker for 3 years , finally got my account approved..

It's just life. Everybody goes through it. It doesn't matter whether you're a banker, politician or an athlete. God has a different movie script for all of us.
-Lamar Odom

[Sister Golden Hair]

I was gnashing my teeth about Odom's game throughout. There were things that Odom was doing which reminded me why so many people often want to ship him out. One thing that I hate to see, for example, are Odom's lazy close-outs where he rushes a shooter out of control and ends up crashing into him long after the ball is gone. Just kills me because it's just not smart. Odom is long enough to bother most shooters without the over-reach. You just want to make the jump-shooter aware of you; you don't necesdsarily want to block his shot (because that is rarely the result on a close-out).

Also, I hate it when Lamar puts his head down and tries to drive through traffic. Automatic offensive foul. I'm starting to think Lamar is not as good a ball-handler as advertised. (Yes, he can take the ball full court. But if pressured, he tends to mis-handle it.) When he sets his mind on driving to the hole, it's like he puts blinders on. Either he's not reading the floor before putting his head down (literally) or he's not instinctive enough to react on the fly. Either way, that flaw accounts for numerous cheap fouls which often screws up his flow because of foul trouble.

I disagree with Stu that Lamar does whatever the team needs to win. I think that's a nice way to excuse his inconsistent production and his lack of aggressiveness. I wasn't a big Farmar fan when he was picked last year, but when I see farmar with the ball, I get a much better feeling that when I see Lamar contemplating another kamikaze run to the hoop. The court awareness between the two (and the level of aggressive focus) is palpable. Farmar gets it. Lamar, 8 years into his career, still does not. That's troublesome.

I'll cut him some slack because he's still not 100% (but am cognizant that this inconsistency has been his career profile). One good thing I've notived: he's using his right hand more this season. It took 8 years (or so), but It's nice to see him (finally) develop his off-hand.

Sorry for the snark. But Lamar is talented enough to be a top 10 player, but he seemingly doesn't want to be.

He's an enigma. For someone making his salary, he needs more consistency in his goverall game.

SGH

P.S. One last note regarding Farmar. For years, even during the chamopionship years under Phil, the lakers had only one true assassin on the squad: Kobe. Horry had ice in his veins, but it was situational. Kobe wanted to rip your throat out from the opening tip.

With Farmar on the team, Kobe now has company. And if Bynum keeps improving at the rate he's going, there will be a third musketeer of cold-blooded, methodical players who simply will carve you up all game long.

I'm more shocked about farmar because he's showing some jets that I frankly didn't think he had. The only year I watched him play at UCLA was that run to the final four when he looked slow of foot. I guess those ankle injuries were really slowing him down. But now, he looks like he has a pretty live frame and speedy wheels. I've been thinking of how the lakers stack up against teams like Phx and SA and, not wanting to get too excited just yet, but at the rate Bynum and Farmar are improving, I like the way they allow the lakers to match up with some of the elite teams. I'm not saying they'll win, but they will be more than competitive. And with Kobe in the fold, you never know. I really want to see where this squad is around the all-star break.

I have a very good feeling about this squad, even with its flaws.

P.P.S. One last thing: it seems to me that Lakers are being modeled on the Spurs. Think about it.

[A Mad Chinaman]

Reading your recap is almost good as watching the game - amazing, I didn't have a chance to see it, yet after reading your breakdown, I know a lot about the game.

QUESTION DB:
I heard on the radio (could be Money, Joe McDonald - forgot who), but the concern he had was that two defensive-minded coaches didn't like Araza cuz he didn't play defensive to the extent that they wanted him to. What do you think?

Thw "2 for 1" while getting rid of Cookie in exchange of somebody who potentially can play "Artiest-like" defense (in a lessor fashion) and getting $3M cap relief bodes well for the long-term success of the Lakers. Plus, if they don't like Ariza - he's in the last year of his contract that will provide relief for next season for a greater possibility of getting a greater impact player

[Vadorojo]

As always, thanks for the write-up, DB!

[KOBE 2.0]

Interesting DB, a few days ago I suggested we trade for a defensive role-player I mentioned Greg Buckner and we end up with a defensive swing-man. just a thought

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[KOBE 2.0]

I never thought about getting Ariza cause I thought Orlando was way to high on him, Otis even talked about Ariza being part of the core we really got a steal with this one.

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB

[limchrc]

Thanks for the recap.

[20,000]

What a sad day when DB will no longer do stat reviews for Cook and Cold Mo.

OK, I am over it.

A very good game against the Pacers, but not a good gauge for what this team still needs. Are we set at the PG? Do we need another PF? DB, you know people; are there talks going on for another move?

Given your break downs and your obvious attention to team details, what kind of move do you think the Lakers should make next? Is the next move a no-move, and things should stay as is?

I am guessing Friday's game against Boston will show us where our weaknesses are.

Kobe can defend Allen. Odom has done well in the past against KG. Will Ariza get the Pierce assignment? Or will it be Turiaf-KG, Odom-Pierce, Kobe-Allen?

I am not afraid of their PG or C positions, or their bench, but I may be looking too far ahead. Up next, Milwaukee, who I have not been paying any attention to. Any matchup problems for us there?
_________________
Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[Dennis_D]

encina1, got tired of questions about your avatar?

I think the big issue for the Celtics game is how Turiaf is doing. He was one of the few disappointments last night.
_________________
<-- My avatar is Margaret Nolan from one of the Carry On films. She was the girl who got painted gold in "Goldfinger". Thanks to CaliRyderX for identifying her.

[LakerJam]

Excellent recap, DB - and along the lines of excellence you've come to spoil us with.

Thrilled about the Ariza trade, especially since our young guys have handled their business with professionalism despite losing a friend off the team.

I hope we're not too tired tonight in Milwaukee. Fortunately, they played last night, too.

[20,000]

[20,000]

[Rick12322]

Thanks DB.. Like the new subtitles.

Looks like Sasha's going to be getting some more minutes at the 2. If he can keep playing like he's been playing, I don't mind.

The last couple of games Bynum had to play too many minutes, he's not ready for that many minutes. Chris Mihm better get his act together quick.

We are still a brick shy in the PF department. Radman just doesn't have enough in the back pocket, and Ronny's ankle's probably going to bother him all year. that is unless we can get a PF so Ronny can recover properly.

Trevor Ariza is going to give us much needed help vs. stud SF's, but the kinks he'll throw on the other end of the floor could be nasty. It's going to take a while for him to settle into the system. I'm not sure what to expect. Regarding his skill set, he's young and with our coaching staff I believe there is hope for improvement. If we can just mold all that athleticism into a finely tuned machine. I still feel we need an upgrade at PF.

With all those concerns in mind, if Mihm can't get his act together, if Ronny doesn't get well soon, I can see a possible drought coming, one reminiscent of last year.

[Dr. Laker]