LAKERS -at- CELTICS - 11/23 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Ghost of Rivalries Past... With the Celtics reinvigorated with their offseason blockbuster trades, they finally become relevant again...in a big way. Heading into the game, memories of these two teams fierce battles are brought back to the surface. Unfortunately, the Lakers are a ways still from stepping up to the challenge.

You don't want to have to come into Boston these days with the success of your roadtrip on the line. But with the loss against the Bucks, the Lakers had to do just that. Again, Lamar Odom was missing in action, scoring just 4 points. The team game was also mostly MIA and they fell 107-94.

Poor play on both ends, particularly some of the defensive rotations for the Lakers tonight. When the Lakers finally got their offense going, they couldn't get a stop. They got some quality play from Vlad Radmanovic and Jordan Farmar, but again...with Lamar Odom not lifting his weight, we lose what should be one of our impact players.

The Lakers seem to get three happy when their offensive execution suffers. They went 10-30 from beyond the arc -- I hope that's the most three attempts we see all season. The Lakers scored just 35 points in the first half.



Kobe -- -- Not the well-rounded, in-synch-with-the-offense kind of game you'd like to see. Consequently, he was shooting shots with a lot higher degree of difficulty than you'd like to see. Still, you know he's going to take it to the opponent. He was very aggressive early on, but not real effective. Defensively, a good effort hounding Allen, who shot 5-15. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 9-21 shooting (3-7 from three, 7-9 from the line), he had 4 boards, 3 assists and 2 turnovers in 28 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He missed a long jumper, stalling the offense with the dribble. He hit a fade from the elbow. He missed a three. He missed a pull-up jumper. He missed a drive. He missed a bank next time down. He overpowered Rondo for an easy layup. He hit a baseline turnaround. He got hit on a turnaround and drew FTs, he made both. He forced up a reverse that looked like he was going to pass and he missed. Out of a timeout, he attacked the paint, got caught in the air and turned it over. He had 8 points on a poor 3-9 shooting in the first half. After the coaches remarked about too much one on one in the first half, Kobe first attempt of the second half is a forced fading wing jumper he missed badly. He seemed to get into a better groove after that. He worked off the ball, cut backdoor on his man and scored a reverse. He drained a wing three. He missed a pull-up three way short next trip down. He attacked and kicked out to Fish for a three. He drew FTs on a pull-up jumper, he made both. Herky-jerky move off the handoff to lose his defender, he rose up over KG and hit the baseline jumper. He forced a three and somehow drew a foul on Allen, he made two of the FTs. He swished a long three to end a Celts 8-0 run. He stayed tight on Allen's drive on D and Ronny swatted it. He missed a tough baseline fallaway. He faced up from his wing spot and banked easily (more please). He forced up a fallaway and missed. He sank a three off a Bynum kickout to cut the lead to 12 with 5 minutes left, he wanted the And-1. He missed a three that could have cut the lead to 6. He drew a foul on Allen on a trap at the wing, he made one FT. He found Vlad for a three. He turned it over trying to throw another kickout, he wanted the foul. He missed a 35-footer.

Lamar -- -- Again, he just was completely ineffective. Unlike the last game, he didn't try to get into the post. There were four all stars on the floor and it was very clear that Lamar wasn't at that level. Not even close in this one. What else can you say? The "preseason" is over for him. The injury lay off may have had some affect on his play and reading the floor, but he's certainly playing healthy. The Lakers aren't doing anything specific to feature him in the offense right now. They may have to start going out of their way to set up some sequences for him to jumpstart how he sees the offense. He seems to have forgotten some of the places he was able to get points from, the little rub plays with Kobe, etc. that they would pull out a few times a game to get him scores. At the end of the day, we need him to step up on the road. He's a vet. He's supposed to give us impact ball and he did not. The Stats: He scored just 4 points on 2-7 shooting (0-2 from three, no freethrows), he had 5 boards, 2 assists, 4 turnovers and 2 steals in 32 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: Bad choice on a backdoor lob, forcing it. Another bad pass that was deflected for a turnover. He missed a runner, but got it back. He bricked a three and then gave up a layup off of it. He bricked a one-hander, then fouled trying to get it back, giving up FTs. He ballfaked on the attack and banked in a runner, his first points with 2:48 left in the first half. He missed a layup off an attack to start the half. Lamar threw the ball off of Pierce's back to inbounds and attack, it eventually led to a score as the D scrambled. Stupid perimeter reach with the shotclock low and he fouled. He tried to iso and attack, he turned the ball over. He attacked again and traveled. He bricked a three with a couple minutes left. Off the dribble he got his second basket of the game wtih 1:33 left in the fourth. Wow.

DFish -- -- DFish had the worst +/- on the team, but I wouldn't read much into that. He played fairly solid. He missed a lot of threes, but at least a couple were trying to beat the shotclock. The Stats: He had 13 points on 4-8 shooting (1-5 from three, 4-4 from the line), had 2 boards and 1 assist in 23 minutes. He was a -21. The Action: Easy layup off the Bynum handoff for his first score. He drew a foul on a long jumper, his toe on the three line, he made both FTs. He missed an open three. He drew a foul on KG, attacking in transition, he made both FTs. He hit a baseline jumper. He airballed a three trying to beat the shotclock. He sank a wing jumper coming off the screens. He missed a three, short. He missed a three against the shotclock. Good look, spotting Kobe backdooring his man and it led to a layup. He stepped into a kickout and hit the three. Poor decision, forcing the dribble on the break into traffic and he charged (there were four Celtics around him).

Turiaf -- -- Defensively, he had some moments, challenging KG well on a few plays. He still isn't as active as he had been, but he looked better. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting, grabbed 4 boards, dished 3 assists and blocked 2 shots in 23 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: Nice challenge on Perkins at the rim to force the miss. He powered in a layup over KG off an inbounds pass. Good challenge on a KG turnaround and he forced an airball. He missed a fade. He swished a 19-footer from the wing. He barely hit rim on his next attempt. Late reaction to step out on Allen and we gave up an open jumper. Good help D when Kobe was hounding Allen on the drive, Ronny came over and rejected the layup. He couldn't finish around KG's defensive challenge.

Bynum -- -- Bynum got into foul trouble and had to sit early a couple of times at the start of each half. They were very aggressive getting the ball to him out of the gates, but Bynum couldn't deliver. Defensively, Phil got on him for letting Perkins get loose. A lot of that was Bynum trying to help others and paying the price. Either way, he didn't protect the paint well. The Stats: He scored just 4 points on 2-7 shooting, he grabbed 9 boards, dished 3 assists, had 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 1 steal in 26:38 of action. He was a -1. The Action: A lot of action for Bynum early, as mentioned. He got tapped on a jumphook on the first possession. He fouled Pierce on the screen-roll. He missed a turnaround jumper. He rejected dribble penetration and controlled it. He was called for a travel. He missed a layup too hard off the glass. He picked up his second foul trying to recover to his man under the hoop. He had to sit 6 minutes into the game. He handed off to Luke, got it back and powered up a layup. He crashed the glass, pulled down the LO miss, pumpfaked and drew contact with no call and powered up a dunk. He picked up his fourth foul just 3:20 into the second half, he had to sit. He was stripped out of bounds spinning on Pierce. He blocked Pierce's reverse from behind. He blew a behind-the-back pass from Farmar that he knew he should have had but wasn't ready for it. He missed a putback jumper attempt.

Luke -- -- Nothing really worth mentioning about this game. He didn't play horrible, but he had little to no impact on the game. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting, had 3 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals in 19 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He dropped a pass out of bounds. In the post, he spun, took contact with no call and scored. He found Bynum with an interior feed for a score. Good D, he drew an offensive foul on Pierce intercepting a pass. He missed a three. He hit a wing jumper after pulling down an offensive board. He airballed a couple feet away from the hoop. He missed a turnaround next time down. He clanked a 13-footer short. He had the ball stolen from him on the break.

Farmar -- -- Farmar bounced back from his poor game against the Bucks. Nice to see him put in a couple of quality games on the road during this trip. He had some success inside and out against the Celts. He never really got the break going (in fact, we only had 2 buckets in transition), but that is more of a critique on our D, which didn't create the easy opportunities. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-8 shooting (3-6 from three), had 3 assists, 1 boards and 2 turnovers in 25 minutes. The Action: He missed a hurried three at the buzzer. Tight D and he forced a travel on his man. He drained a catch-and-shoot wing three. He missed a three, but got it back. He bricked a three. He traveled in transition, changing directions before putting the ball down. He hit Bynum in the chest with a behind-the-back pass in traffic and it went out of bounds. Next time down, he attacked strong to his left, didn't give it up and scored the layup. He took House off the dribble to his right on the next possession and scored easily. He bricked a three. He swished a big three off the two-man with Vlad to cut the lead to 9 with just under 5 minutes left. He sank a three out of a timeout.

Radmanovic -- -- Excellent game from Vlad. He got moved back to the bench, but put in a quality effort and was rewarded with starter minutes. he again looked comfortable out there offensively. None of the second-guessing this time last year...and the healthy shooting hand sure makes a different, doesn't it? The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-12 shooting (3-6 from three), he had 4 boards and 0 turnovers in 29 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: Stupid touch foul under the hoop when should have conceded the dunk instead of giving up the And-1. He missed a wing three. Pierce faced up and stepped around Vlad for a layup. He snagged a ball LO threw off KG's legs before going out of bounds and he swished the wing three (he seems to like those odd miscues). He drained a three from the top of the key. He missed a wing three in transition. Nice crash on the glass in traffic to tip in a Luke miss. He swished a pull-up jumper straight away. He got Pierce out of position, took the inbounds and scored an And-1, while not even jumping, he made the FT. He posted up Posey in transition and banked easily. Good hustle to close on an open Allen and we got a miss. He missed a jumper over KG. He swished a sideline three. He missed another three.

Mihm -- -- A miserable game from Chris. He wasn't a threat offensively and a negative factor on D. Bynum was in foul trouble and Mihm continued his road struggles. The Stats: He didn't score in 14 minutes, he had 5 boards, 2 assists and 4 fouls. He was a -19. The Action: He got swatted by KG. He missed a long jumphook. Poor call as he handed the ball off and Ray Allen ran right into him and Mihm was charged for the foul, absurd. He bricked with his left taking a pass down the middle of the lane. He was blocked at the rim on a short jumper.

Vujacic -- -- Okay minutes from Sasha. He missed a three that might have made things interesting in the fourth. In fact, he couldn't connect on any of his attempts beyond the arc. Phil, obviously, wasn't ready to bring in Ariza and our offense sputtered in the first half. The Stats: He finished with 6 points on 2-5 shooting (0-3 from three). He was a +1. The Action: He pulled up on a one-man break and got fouled on the jumper, he made both FTs. He tied up Pierce for a jumpball. He airballed a three. He pumpfaked a couple of help defenders past him, then stepped in and hit the wing jumper. To start the fourth, he cut off of Luke and scored a layup with his left. He missed a corner three that might have forced a Celtic timeout.


Phil -- -- No Ariza yet... The Lakers were out-classed early. The Celtics ran out to a 23-10 lead before Phil called a timeout. He brought in Vlad, Luke and Farmar... The Lakers trailed 25-16 after the first, shooting just 5-20... The second unit chipped it to within 5 before getting out-scored badly on another Celtic run. We trailed by 13 when Phil brought back the entire first unit midway through the second quarter... The Lakers trailed 53-35 at halftime. Again, they were clanking badly from three, going 1-13 for the half. They shot 33 percent to the Celts 50 percent... The coaches were irked about the level of one on one versus team play within the system... Midway through the third, the Lakers cannot get any stops. They had cut the lead to 12, but couldn't defend. As soon as the offense started to fail, the Celts pulled out to a 22-point lead. The Lakers trailed 84-66 after three... Phil told Bynum that Perkins was killing him. "Just stop him. Just stop him once," he said in the timeout, according to Ireland... The Lakers shot 10-30 from beyond the arc. They got outrebounded 42-37. The Celtics had 31 assists...

[Jeffs]

I think this is the first DB Recap that I wasn't look forward to in a very, very long time.

I just wish that I could forget this game and stop discussing it with everyone else here. Bleh, I wish I wasn't so addicted to LG!

Still though, it's nice that with all the inconsistencies of this young Laker squad, we can still count on DB having his recap up after each game. Thanks again, DB!
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Jeffs

I feel like I just watched someone TRULY give 100%. Not the BS I'm-gonna-give-a-110%-just-like-everyone-else-says platitudes, but someone that went until he just....broke. - GT

[LakerSanity]

So LO, I see you are struggling, but if you can't give me...

1. scoring, give me assists (nope, he had 2)
2. assists, give me low TOs (nope, had 4) and high FG% (nope, was 2-7)
3. low TOs and high fg%, give me good rebounding (nope, only had 5)
4. rebounding, give me good defense (nope, Pierce had 20 points, 6 rebounds, and a season high 9 assists... plus give Bynum's 4 fouls all to LO)
5. all of the above, give me at least high energy instead of sitting around the perimeter (nope)

DB, have you ever seen LO play this poorly for any game, no less stretch of games? I said I'd give him time to adjust (until December), but my patience is really wearing thin. When Luke Walton and Vladrad BOTH outplay you, a guy with superstar talent, you got problems.
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[Jeffs]

LS pretty much hit the ball on the head with #5.

If Lamar was struggling because of injuries, I could live with that. It'd be frustrating, but I could give him some time to get into game shape. Injuries are just a part of the game.

However, Lamar wasn't even trying to contribute out there. He just sat on the three point line all game and didn't even try to get into scoring position. His effort wasn't there on defense either, as Pierce got into the lane all game long (when he wasn't getting wide open threes, that is). What was most telling was when Pierce got a steal from LO and took it all the way without LO really challenging the shot or, at the very least, fouling him. He was just content letting Pierce drive the length of the floor and get an easy 2. Sad.
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Jeffs

I feel like I just watched someone TRULY give 100%. Not the BS I'm-gonna-give-a-110%-just-like-everyone-else-says platitudes, but someone that went until he just....broke. - GT

[DancingBarry]

LS - He's done the Invisible Man routine before, sure.

They (I mean Phil) need to start running some specific sequences to get LO thinking the game, IMO. He's not seeing it right now. We're missing some offensive sequences we used to run for him. He's not engaging the offense mentally...which has always been a problem...but it's especially so right now.

[LakerSanity]

I mean LO has played the invisible man before and done it well. For long stretches of games in a row? Not as often. But to not just be invisible, but to actually harm the team with a lack of rebounding (which has never been a problem before), TOs, and even worse D than ever before? I just have never seen LO play this poorly for this long of a stretch as a Laker before.

I am beginning to wonder if LO's motivation to play basketball and his GENERAL skill level have BOTH disgressed. First time in LO's career as a Laker, that even if we don't have success because of him, any success we have now is coming IN SPITE of him. I had low expectations for him, but I never saw this coming. A player of LO's talent scoring only 4 points in 31 minutes, following a performance where he called himself "a bum." No wonder the man is ashamed of himself, I would be too.
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[DancingBarry]

He seemed pretty pumped to make a difference this season...the star on his head seemed to suggest that. I just think he's more lost than he usually is. He's never been a natural in this offense and toggling him between the 3 and the 4, he's not making the adjustments. They need to do a little hand holding for him. Jumpstart his triangle brain. Get him seeing the game again.

[LakerSanity]

Sorry to be redundant, but for me, a guy who has always stuck up for LO to get this riled up, I think says a lot about how disappointing he has been. Maybe you are right DB, that he just needs a little more time, coaching, and some effort from the coaching staff to get him involved early and from the outset. This team has improved a lot, but it won't go anywhere if what should have been our number 2 player (even at the same standard he was at the last two years) ends up becoming a complete afterthought to our opponents.

I said I'd give him until December, and I will, I just am shocked and extremely disappointed by what I have seen from him thus far. I mean, I didn't even have that high of standards to begin with.

Argh, sorry if I am coming off as a piss and moan. I am just looking for answers, because I think the guy could and SHOULD be so much more. I'll end it with that, enough complaining from me.
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[DancingBarry]

[Jeffs]

[DancingBarry]

His rebounding is going to go down if he's playing a larger portion of his minutes at the 3...especially against some of the more perimeter-oriented 3's. Defensively, it's always going to be a mix. Some people he can handle, some people will give him some trouble. Do I wish he'd do a bit more when he's struggling on aspects of his game? Of course. Do I wish he was balling like he was in those couple of games where he was killing people with garbage points and second efforts? Hell, yeah.

This is what I don't like, though:

[KingKobe20]

I mean I feel that alot of people are really pulling the trigger way too early on Phil and Lamar and ext.

I mean yes Lamar has to shake this funk off and be consistent. Phil is still the greatest coach ever just with a young team.
I mean for crying out loud lets not discredit the Celtics even though i hate them . They do have a nucleus of KG,Ray,and the Truth

[TooCool]

Horrible Game. Had this game been on wednesday, they don't deserve turkey at all on Thanksgiving.
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[tcup]

[KOBE 2.0]

DB, please tell me Odom is gonna get it together or is it time to do something? I can't take the pain of Kobe not having a dependable 2nd star next to him

[Al-Mbarak8]

Sad , sad day..
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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

[Drifts]

sad, only Kobe, Farmar, Radman and Fish showed up.

but it's one regular season game.

Go Lakers. Go Lamar...I mean go away.
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"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."

[Drifts]

regarding Odom...I think, right now, he needs consecutive games at home to jump start his game...and

and I think he plays better at the 4, at least he knows what to do at that position. I know this debate has been rehashed over and over the past 3 years or so, and I've always believed he should be better at the 3 spot, at least on paper he should be. Given his physical attributes, his size over other SFs and being relatively smaller compared to bigger PFs, he is perfect at the 3 spot...but in reality, that's not the case. He looks dumb at the 3 spot. At the 4 spot, at least he looks like he is serviceable.
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"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...
i have the same doubt, also when we win... this team is very good when all the planets line up, but hasn't the character to win when things become complicated... it seems to me more and more than when we have a bad game, the only chance to win is leaving the equal opportunities and letting kobe play his game... when you find yourself in an emergency, then you have to find an emergency solution...

[Chick-N-Stew]

The Lakers looked tired/slow to me and Boston played better D than I expected.

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

im not too discouraged by the loss. im still mad about losing to the bucks. if we cant knock off the teams we are suppose to, we are going NOWHERE fast. i am discouraged by phil though. that lineup of farmar, sasha,vlad, luke, bynum killed us to start the 2nd qtr. who did he expect to guard Pierce? Also, his reluctance to play younger players is getting old too? why trade for Ariza if he's not going to use him. He could have at least put him in for 10 minutes, for defensive purposes at the least. He couldnt have done any worse than L.O.
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[Vadorojo]

Thanks for the recap, DB. I'm sure it must be harder to write about the losses, but I'm almost more interested to read about our shortcomings so that I know where we need to improve. Thanks for sticking with it.

[Sage_10]

In retrospect, I'm glad the game wasn't televised.
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"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[hoopschick29]

When Lamar gets hurt, it's like he forgets how to play basketball. It's literally like he's starting all over again from scratch. He's inconsistent anyway, but when he's working himself back from injury, he sucks out loud.

We can no longer afford Lamar. He's always coming back from something. And because of that, he's always spending crucial parts of the season sucking and looking like he doesn't know how to play.

Lamar needs someone to hold his hand ALL THE TIME. But he's a veteran on a team full of children. WE JUST DON'T HAVE THE TIME.

We need to move on.

***btw DB, thanks for the write up, as usual.
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So glad we gave you your flowers while you were here, Kobe.

[limchrc]

Thanks for recap. Hope will get the win next time around.