LAKERS -at- JAZZ - 11/30 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Roadkill... In the first three quarters, the Jazz scored 30 points, 40 points and 32 points. You can't blame offensive execution when the D failed to show up. Yeah, the 20 turnovers hurt and led to problems, but the Jazz got into the paint at will. When they weren't hitting layups, they were getting their misses, pulling down 19 offensive boards on their way to the 120-96 beating.

The Jazz had 52 points in the paint in the first half...without Boozer or Okur playing. Deron Williams dropped a career high 35 points and AK went for the triple-double, scoring 20, with 11 boards, 11 assists, 6 steals and 4 blocks. Wow.

Lamar was horrible on both ends again. And, once again, Phil gave it to him twice during timeouts. The yelling at him didn't do much. "He didn't approach the game mentally the way I wanted him to play it," Phil said much more calmly afterward. "I thought that was unfortunate, because there were a number of situations where Lamar was in position to help us out, and he seemed just not to be focused."

On a side note, Jazz fans booing DFish is about as low class a move as there is. Congrats, Jazz fans, you've stooped to a new low.


Kobe -- -- Kobe was his consistent self offensively. He even had a streak during the game where he was pulling us back into striking range. The problem on the defensive end made that a moot effort. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 10-19 shooting (3-5 from three, 5-6 from the line), he had 4 boards (could have used more), 3 assists and 2 turnovers. He was a -20. The Action: He got a runner to crawl over the rim to start. He missed a long wing jumper. He spun past his man and flipped in a layup around the help defender. He rose up like he was about to shoot, then hit Ronny under the hoop with the pass for a layup behind the zone. He missed an easy layup. He missed a pull-up 18-footer. He attacked and kicked out to Ronny for the open jumper. He missed a layup at the front of the rim and wanted the foul. He couldn't connect on the long alley-oop finish. He sank a long wing jumper. He sank a three from a step further out on his next attempt. He missed a short left-handed hook. He then went on a run. He drew three FTs when AK hit him on the sideline, he made all three. He swished a three on the next trip down. He hit another three from the other wing on the next possession. He got the traditional three-point play on the next trip, cutting off Bynum, taking the baseline bounce pass, getting contact, twisting and finishing the And-1 at the front of the rim, he made the FT. After a Lamar turnover, Kobe got the ball back and drew FTs, he made one. He missed a turnaround off a spin to get some space. He scored 22 points on 7-13 shooting and had 2 assists in the first half. He dunked when Fish picked up a loose ball and fed him on the bust out. He iso'd and hit a baseline stepback jumper. He wanted the foul on a three attempt that he bricked. He stole the ball and flipped it over his shoulder right to Farmar heading down court for the layup. He worked off the high pick and roll and dunked easily down the right side of the lane. He scored 6 points in the third. He missed a three and sat during most of the fourth.

Lamar -- -- Phil called a timeout early in the third and yelled for a second time at Lamar. This time for not cutting in the offense and hanging out on the perimeter. Lamar should be a Tri savvy vet, who knows this offense. Unfortunately, it's that kind of playing and lack of natural understanding of working off the ball that hurts the team and Lamar. He just isn't applying the focus that the offense demands. Strategically, he didn't take advantage of posting up on AK in the first quarter, and only briefly in the second quarter. That is a mistake. In the past, we have caused all kinds of problems for the Jazz by taking it to AK and even getting him in foul trouble in that match up. Defensively, Lamar was a wreck. He was the worse kind of Invisible Man, because he wasn't even doing the little things that he prides himself on. At the end of the night, the stats do tell a story. Prior to the game, Phil said of Lamar's D on Melo: "Lamar was a punk against him, actually...He was getting toasted." The Stats: He finished with 7 points on 3-5 shooting, just 4 boards, 1 assists, 4 turnovers and 1 block in 29 minutes. He was a -29. The Action: He missed a short jumphook in the lane, good look though. Great save on the offensive end, after tipping a miss to himself, he flipped it back in bounds under the hoop to Ronny for FTs. He rejected AK from behind. He finally posted up AK and drew a foul on a help defender, he made one FT. He tipped in a miss by Farmar on dribble penetration. He collapsed the D in the post again and it eventually led to a Luke layup. He telegraphed a perimeter pass, then got dunked on. He worked the give and go with Bynum for a layup. Milsap spinned around him for an easy layup. He threw another pass away. He had 5 points on 2-3 shooting and 4 boards in the first half. He swished a wing jumper over Collins. He tried to take AK off the dribble and had it picked (post him up). Three-second violation out of a timeout that Phil called to specifically yell at Lamar...that ain't good. He was benched shortly later. He missed a three late in the game.

DFish -- -- Fish was getting boo's by Jazz fans. Low class, even for them. Not sure how he really felt about that, but he didn't play a good game on either end. No matter what was going on his head, he's got his hands full and then some with Williams. Deron got whatever he wanted and the new career high. The Stats: He scored just 3 points on 1-8 shooting (1-5 from three), he had 2 steals and 2 assists in 20 minutes. He was a -21. The Action: He dove to the floor to recover a loose ball on the first possession. He got swatted on a layup attempt. Williams blew past him for an And-1. He threw it up high for Drew and he dunked. He hit a sideline three on one end, then drew a charge on the other. He missed a runner in the lane. He missed a wide open three. He gave up penetration and another layup. He bricked another three. He missed a running three at the buzzer (four straight possessions, four straight misses). He scored just 3 points on 1-8 shooting (1-5 from three) in the first half. He didn't shoot or do much anything in the second half, either.

Turiaf -- -- As I mentioned the last game, he looks like he's back to himself. For him to put in as much activity on the second night of a back to back is a good sign. He's got to be feeling decent. We still could have used a much better job on the boards, but that goes for just about everyone. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-7 shooting (4-5 from the line), grabbed 3 boards, had 3 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 blocks in 25 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He scored a layup against the zone when Kobe hit him with a jump pass. He forced a jumper with a man on him after working off the pitch out from Bynum and Ronny missed badly. He drew FTs when Lamar saved a ball back in bounds to him under the hoop, he made one. He swished a baseline jumper off a Kobe kickout. He had 5 points on 2-3 shooting in the first half. He swatted Brewer in the paint. He swatted Brewer again. He dunked on the bustout with Luke after Farmar stole the ball. He teamed up with Luke who got dribble penetration and found him for the And-1 off the glass, Ronny made the FT. He had 5 points in the third quarter. He missed a wing jumper. Long outlet to Farmar busting out and it led to a layup. He drew FTs attacking late in the game.

Bynum -- -- As badly as we rebounded, Bynum still got his 10 boards. A little help would have been nice. Defensively, he was under siege. The flood gates were open. The perimeter breached. The barbarians were at the gate. Bynum didn't anchor. The Jazz require you to make a lot of decisions defensively and the entire team was at fault, but the bigs also have to step up. This game seemed impossible to anchor, but you'd have hoped for a better effort there. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-5 shooting, grabbed 10 boards, dished 2 assists, blocked 2 shots and had 2 fouls in 26 minutes. he was a -28. The Action: He drew a foul taking a pass in the lane off the two-man game with Kobe, he made both FTs. He got swatted by AK going up weak under the hoop. He took the post entry, powered an up-and-under And-1 in (that was imposing himself on the defender, just overwhelmed the D...that's what he will be able to do with more frequency as he gets stronger), he made the FT. He drew FTs crashing the offensive glass off a DFish drive, he made one. He was hit on the arm with no call on a shot. Great feed to Kobe cutting baseline to get him an And-1. He took the post entry from Lamar, drew a crowd and fed back to him for a layup. He blocked AK under the hoop. He missed a layup at the front of the rim. He dunked after Fish found him with a high entry. He had 8 points on 2-5 shooting (4-5 FTs), 4 boards and 2 assists in the first half. He didn't get a shot in the second half.

Luke -- -- Luke looked more like himself in the past couple of games. That's still no without its flaws. Defensively, he had issues tonight as usual. He did manage a couple steals and was moving the ball well and setting others up on the offensive end. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-7 shooting, dished 6 assists, grabbed 3 boards, had 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: Harpring scored a layup easily around Luke in the post. Luke scored a layup under the hoop when Famar spotted him. He had 2 points and 2 turnovers in the first half. He missed a layup that he should have had off a baseline drive. He hit Turiaf on the break for a dunk. He missed a runner in the lane. He attacked the lane and hit Ronny for the And-1. He kicked out to Farmar in the corner for the three. He attacked in the post, missed, got it back and scored. He picked up a tech after giving up FTs on the offensive glass. He then gave up an offensive board to the Jazz. He missed a three, long. Nice reach to swipe a pass at midcourt, he then scored an uncontested dunk. Poor D on the next stand, Harpring just walked right around him on the wing and drew FTs.

Farmar -- -- His 21st birthday today and he matched that with 21 points, a new career high. He also had career highs in FGAs. So, while Deron went off for a career high of his own, Farmar got a little of that back. Some sloppy play with turnovers which negated some of the effectiveness he had on that end. The Stats: He scored 21 on 8-13 shooting (3-7 from three, 2-2 from the line), 3 boards, 3 assists with 4 turnovers, 1 steal and 1 block in 26 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He sank a wing jumper, pulling up off the dribble on his first possession. He swished a baseline jumper working the two-man game with LO. Williams went around him for an easy layup. He had 4 points on 2-3 shooting in 6 minutes in the first half. He drained a wing three off the weakside. He swished a sideline three as the shotclock went off. He busted out when Kobe stole the ball, took the pass and scored a layup over AK. The Jazz called a timeout to regroup and then on their first play back, Farmar swiped the ball and ignited a breakaway score. He ballfaked to lose the defender and missed a wide open three. Next time down, he drained the three from the corner. He got sucked in too far on help D and his man hit a three. He was fouled on the other end trying to flag down a pass, he made both FTs. He missed a three straight away, not getting a good rhythm. Farmar had 13 points in the third quarter. They ran the high back screen lob to Farmar to start the fourth, and he scored the layup. He threw the ball away and it led to a three on the other end. He drew a couple fouls with some aggressiveness, both with and without the ball. He then lost the ball in the paint again. He missed an iso three. Ronny hit him with the long outlet and Farmar scored the layup.

Radmanovic -- -- If ever a +/- stat didn't tell a story, it was Vlad's team leading +5. He epitomized the soft play of the team. Perhaps, the snow was calling. AK dramatically outplayed Vlad, Luke and Lamar combined. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting, grabbed 3 boards and had 2 steals in 19 minutes. The Action: He got run over from behind on the defensive glass and was given the foul...wow that's about as bad a call as they come. He swished a sideline three in semi-transition. Stupid, back-court reach that gave up freethrows. He stole the ball on one end, then bricked on the other. He missed a wing three. He gave up a jumper on one end, but got it back with a quick layup on the other.

Mihm -- -- He's playing worthless ball. He's barely a warm body in some of these games. He didn't do much in this one. The Stats: He didn't score, didn't shoot, didn't anchor, didn't defend in 9:39 of action. He was a -1. The Action: He got overpowered in the post for an easy score. Horrible pick and roll D and he gave up a dunk.

Ariza -- -- Got in for garbage time again. Could have definitely used his D in this game. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-1 shooting, 2-2 from the line in 4 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: In the game, he deflected a pass off a Jazz player for a turnover. Good challenge on a breakaway and he forced a miss. He drew a foul, changing directions and drawing contact, he made both FTs. He had an outlet deflected and it turned into a Jazz dunk. He jab stepped and missed an 18-footer.

Vujacic -- -- The bizarro world Sasha has returned to his home planet, leaving us with our old friend. Sasha gave us next to nothing...on either end...and played 19 minutes. A familiar story. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-6 shooting (0-3 from three). He was a -10. The Action: He airballed a corner jumper on his first attempt. Williams went right around him off the dribble for a score. Williams curled easily around him for another layup. He attacked under the hoop and drew FTs throwing the ball off the underside of the rim, he made both. He fouled a jumpshooter, kind of a weak call, but Sasha gets some of those, too. He bricked an open three. Back in, he attacked himself right out of bounds off the dribble. He missed an open three. He scored a layup on an uncontested bustout. He bricked another wing three.

Crittenton -- -- Some more run for Crit. Unfortunately, this time was on the ugly end of a blowout. He didn't do much but make AK look good on a couple sequences. Decent D on Deron, though, when they matched up. The Stats: He didn't score on 2 attempts. He had a couple boards, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 7:22 of action. He was a -6. The Action: He got in with 7 minutes left, trailing by 18 points. He got called for a hold away from the ball. Good D smothering Williams. More good D, he picked Williams who tried to cross over, but then Javaris got swatted trying to go around his back and score over AK. He telegraphed a pass and it was picked off.

Phil -- -- The very vocal approach Phil is taking with Lamar on the sideline is interesting. He's really in his face and rightly so... The Jazz were beating the Lakers to the loose balls and extra chances early. A lot of weak turnovers and they trailed 30-22 after the first quarter... The Lakers were giving up layup after layup. Didn't matter who it was, although Williams was tearing the soft D apart. But every score by the Jazz was a layup or dunk. They had a 70-51 lead. Absolutely no D... The Jazz shot 58 percent in the first half and had 12 more boards than the Lakers. The Jazz had 52 points in the paint, compared to the Lakers 18 in the first half... Rambis said he hadn't seen the Lakers do such a poor job of stopping the ball all season... Twice, Lamar stood on the perimeter when there were huge gaps to cut. The second time resulted in a turnover. Phil called a timeout and yelled at him. Unfortunately, Phil has to do that when Lamar isn't engaged in the offense. Out of the timeout, Lamar gets a three second violation. Ouch. That ain't good... Phil subbed in Vlad, Farmar and Luke for Fish, Lamar and Bynum after a few minutes into the third. Very soft game from everyone... Phil: "One of my coaches said we were as soft as Dairy Queen ice cream."...

[alwayslakers08]

this team is just disappointing even when they win by 30, haha
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"THIS IS OUR TURN, THIS IS OUR CHANCE, THIS IS OUR SEASON...THIS IS OUR CHAMPIONSHIP!" - Kobe Bean Bryant

GO LAKERS

[KOBE 2.0]

Great write-up after the horrible loss.

you put a better effort then the Lakers did the whole night.

[AllorNothing]

Can Ariza guard PGs like Deron?

[uberzev]

[chazz]

Great read again D-Barry...Do you think LO will soon be coming off the bench for the Lakers???

[AllorNothing]

We need a defensive stopper especially on the perimeter. I see guys like Bowen and Marion guarding the other teams best perimeter player. I just hope Ariza can be 1/2 of good.

[Jeffs]

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[Christopher C]

[jsi106]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[TEEGUNN]

One really has to wonder about the validity of the +/- stat.

Anyway, great write-up as usual, DB. Two guys showed up to play tonight for us (Bryant and Farmar). Every guy showed up to play for the Jazz, obviously. Embarrassing effort awarded with a much deserved embarrasing loss.
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"Why do you think bad things happen, anyway???" "So we have something good to look forward to."

Jake Speed, 1986

[TooCool]

Thanks DB.

Horrible effort by the Lakers.
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[Sage_10]

Horrible game.
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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

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

EVERY TIME WE THINK THIS TEAM HAS TURNED THE CORNER, THIS HAPPENS.
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[20,000]

Two things:

One, DB, Bynum doesn't get some sort of emoticon?

Two, the refs were horrible, from what I saw. Yes, the Jazz owned the interior, but where were all the 3 second calls? The Jazz were allowed to camp out in the paint, build an addition, move their families in, and retire down there. If the refs had done some of their job it would have made them think twice about just sitting down there without moving.

EDIT: I should note I could only stand watching some of the first half, so if those calls were made later then ignore my post.
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Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[Rick12322]

Thanks for the recap DB, it's my fault they lost. The last three games I decided to record have all been losses.

[patmcfar8]

Thanks DB! I often think some of your best work is after an excruciating loss. I don't know how you do it. I had actually Tivo'd the game and was going to watch it today, but I had a bad feeling so I took a quick glance at LG... and this saved me a couple of hours of my life.

[elroy65]

They (the Jazz) stepped on the collective balls of our beloved, bufuddled Lakers, and ground them into the hardwood.
Booing Fisher was classless by those fans (Although us Laker fans should be booing at his effort last night)
I have followed Lamar since he went to URI.
He may be a cool fella, but his game is soft as all hell. He can't be counted on to play smart consistantly, not under Phil anyway.
He will never realize his start potential, I fear.
He really should be traded, so the team chemistry doesn't continue to be stunted by his presence.

[Kobe2Clark]

[LakersInFour]

Eh. Second night of a back to back, on the road, against a top team in the WC, with an all star PG who is one of the best in the league. After a roller-coaster victory in which we had to really turn it up to dig ourselves out of a hole ...

Honestly? I didn't expect a W last night.
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"It’s like going to the Getty and standing in front of Van Gogh’s Irises while some schmuck next to you critiques individual brush strokes. Just shut up already. The more you talk, the more you embarrass yourself."

[golakersgo121]

Thanks, DB. I couldn't watch the game because of other commitments and your recap, as usual, helped.

How was officiating in Utah? It is usually horrible home cooking (I ma not trying to justify the loss, just curious).
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Major bullets dodged: DH12 - twice, LMA, Melo - twice, PG-13, DeMar DeRozan. Hit jackpot with DH-12 at the right time

[hi_ma]

Agree with most. Yea AB was under seige wasnt anything he could do about it. LO is a bad player
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The lakers will get prince.