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Mr. EiGhTy-OnE
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Joined: 03 Nov 2004
Posts: 8272
Location: San Diego, CA
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 Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:24 am Post subject: |
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thanks DB
im actually kind of suprised we won this game, we usually find ways to lose these type of games. the officiating was horrible. i hated all the tacky tack calls they were giving the nuggets. you could see how frustrated the ENTIRE laker team was with the refs. I hate when A.I. (and Vince Carter) snap their neck back, making it appear there is contact. its basically an offensive flop. Only L.O. charges into someone with Melo on the ground tying his shoes and a 5 on 4 situation. unbelievable. L.O. also needs to stop shooting 3's and drive. speaking of driving...how does he miss so many easy shots? i know the ones that rim out is because leftys have a natural spin, but sometimes he misses the rim completely from the paint. i usually dont bash him and i dont want him traded, but he needs to get his act together. to quote Jon Barry "sometimes you just wanna shake him"  When we were winning by 7+ points i was amused by A.I. scoring binge, but as the game got tighter I was less amused and proud of Ariza/Kobe for shutting him down in the end. Kobe's clutch J was big, Bynums block on Melo was huge. We should have given Luke a 1 year deal, he has become complacent with his big contract. too many unforced turovers. I hope we dont come out rusty against Gstate on sunday.
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Dr. Funkbot
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Joined: 24 Sep 2001
Posts: 8188
Location: Eagle Rock
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:16 am Post subject: |
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| Vadorojo wrote: | When I read the recap, I was surprised to see that Phil put Ariza on such a fast player as AI—was AI's fatigue keeping his speed down at that point?
Does Ariza really have the speed to keep up with Barbosa, Ginobli, etc.? Can he buy us 12+ minutes of solid, offense-disrupting defense on those kinds of players?
If so, we got the biggest steal for Mo + Cook I could have ever imagined.  |
Iverson was ON FIRE- it took trevor to extiguish him. AI was not tired- he plays 40 + minutes a game, he was Ariza'D. As I have been saying, this Ariza kid can BALL! So nice to have a guy who can play lock down perimeter D- he can take on the opposing team's best perimeter player, from AI to Mello- he can guard them all.
He also has a lot better handles than I thought, much better than Mo's- he is a good passer as well. His shot is ugly, but also as I have said before, we score enough points, D has been our biggest problem.
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Klone_dd
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Joined: 11 Mar 2002
Posts: 7330
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:20 am Post subject: |
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I didn't put much into the Minny win because, well, they suck out loud, but I'm really impressed with this win on a b2b road game against a team that the Lakers humiliated last week.
Great team effort all around. Ariza is proving he can definitely add something to the team. Fish hit some big shots. And Kobe once again proved he is the best closer in the league. He had to be getting angry in the 3rd as he watch AI torch his team. I had no doubt he was going to have a huge 4th.
With AI abusing JoFar, seemingly at will, how on earth did JoFar manage to get a +2? Very strange. |
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Rick12322
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Joined: 27 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:03 am Post subject: Re: LAKERS -at- NUGGETS - 12/5 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings |
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Thanks DB. When Farmar and Fish are getting abused by a player then there is no excuse for not bringing in Javaris. Besides, the 82 game seasons are long and debilitating to teams, therefore we should divvy up the minutes between our entire active roster. At least the guards.
It was good seeing Reza, he's smart, long, quick player who knows how to play off of the right people, and how to choke off passing lanes. He has pretty good handles taking it to the hoop. I couldn't believe that block at the top of the key, he came out of nowhere. I was surprised at how well he did vs. Iverson.
We were lucky Carmelo had a sub-par game, that Klieza didn't get too many open looks, Jr Smith and Craig never got rolling. Denver just wasn't clicking on all cylinders, but I'll take the win.
The last two days were a great opportunity for Chris to get into some kind of rhythm. We should divvy up minutes between all our centers when Kwame comes back. Like I said, it's a long debilitating season, the times are a changing. We need to have everyone contributing in fewer minutes to preserve their health and stamina throughout the long year.
Speaking of rhythm, LO showed us he can shoot midrange jumpers effectively, he's got a sweet looking stroke. Early in the game he was confident that he was doing the right thing, and the shot was falling. He should be able to do that all day. Later with the charges, they showed he made up his mind he was going to the hole, instead of taking a drive and read the D and make adjustments on the fly approach. He's got to be smarter than that. He's so locked into that one dimensional thinking, "I have to score more" that he's shut off his mind to anything else, when he should be relaxing his mind, reading and responding to the D on the fly. That's rhythm, and that's why he doesn't have it right now.
On offense, we have a couple players that are becoming famous for making inline passes. Luke is one of them. when I say inline, I mean the defender is practically sitting there in the passing lane, and our guys have a bad habit of making these telegraphed soft over the top or to the side passes that have no chance of getting through. that's just ridiculous, the passer and or receiver needs to step to one side or the other to improve the angle of the pass, or ball fake, fake and drive, unless there's an obvious clear path to the basket for the receiver. There's no excuse for these Pro players repeatedly committing these types of errors. |
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lakerjoshua
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Joined: 28 Nov 2007
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:15 am Post subject: |
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| thanks db |
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Mr. EiGhTy-OnE
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Joined: 03 Nov 2004
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Location: San Diego, CA
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:30 am Post subject: Re: LAKERS -at- NUGGETS - 12/5 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings |
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| Rick12322 wrote: |
We were lucky Carmelo had a sub-par game, that Klieza didn't get too many open looks, Jr Smith and Craig never got rolling. Denver just wasn't clicking on all cylinders, but I'll take the win.
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very true. if J.R. hits half of his shots, we would have lost. very fortunate.
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Alpha
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:31 am Post subject: |
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Thanks DB!
As for AI cooling off... I'd also throw in that if I were a Denver fan I'd fault Karl as well. After 3 hot quarters from AI he recognizes that PJ is throwing double teams at him and tells the team (iirc) to be ready because AI's going to have to pass.... then AI replies that they better make the play. Looked like AI was less aggressive after that "pep" talk by Karl. |
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Omar Little
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:44 am Post subject: Re: LAKERS -at- NUGGETS - 12/5 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings |
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| Mr. EiGhTy-OnE wrote: | | Rick12322 wrote: |
We were lucky Carmelo had a sub-par game, that Klieza didn't get too many open looks, Jr Smith and Craig never got rolling. Denver just wasn't clicking on all cylinders, but I'll take the win.
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very true. if J.R. hits half of his shots, we would have lost. very fortunate. |
That's because Iverson carried them, but took them out of their rhythm. This is why some of us really hate seeing Kobe taking 30 shots like he's had to in the past. When he, or Iverson, are hot, they carry the team. The problem is that when they cool off, the rest of the team is lethargic and not in rhythm.
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Dr. Laker
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Joined: 12 Apr 2002
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:48 am Post subject: |
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Good job.
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maddprophet
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Location: Hotlanta
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:57 am Post subject: |
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no one mentioned it, but i thought there was some solid defense being played by vlad on melo. he had a few staels and definately wasn't a liability.
and that 3rd quarter was very nice to see. without kobe, and l.o getting his 4th, the rest of the guys really held it together in lue of the onslaught by ai. to get out of there tied was huge.
overall great win. hopefully the time off between our next 2 games allows kwame to get back with the team, and for us to get healthy overall.
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LakerSanity
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Joined: 30 Nov 2006
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Location: Long Beach, California
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:12 am Post subject: Re: LAKERS -at- NUGGETS - 12/5 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings |
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| 24 wrote: | | Mr. EiGhTy-OnE wrote: | | Rick12322 wrote: |
We were lucky Carmelo had a sub-par game, that Klieza didn't get too many open looks, Jr Smith and Craig never got rolling. Denver just wasn't clicking on all cylinders, but I'll take the win.
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very true. if J.R. hits half of his shots, we would have lost. very fortunate. |
That's because Iverson carried them, but took them out of their rhythm. This is why some of us really hate seeing Kobe taking 30 shots like he's had to in the past. When he, or Iverson, are hot, they carry the team. The problem is that when they cool off, the rest of the team is lethargic and not in rhythm. |
Exactly... good observation, totally what happened to the Nugs.
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Jeffs
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:34 am Post subject: Re: LAKERS -at- NUGGETS - 12/5 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings |
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| LakerSanity wrote: | | 24 wrote: | | Mr. EiGhTy-OnE wrote: | | Rick12322 wrote: |
We were lucky Carmelo had a sub-par game, that Klieza didn't get too many open looks, Jr Smith and Craig never got rolling. Denver just wasn't clicking on all cylinders, but I'll take the win.
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very true. if J.R. hits half of his shots, we would have lost. very fortunate. |
That's because Iverson carried them, but took them out of their rhythm. This is why some of us really hate seeing Kobe taking 30 shots like he's had to in the past. When he, or Iverson, are hot, they carry the team. The problem is that when they cool off, the rest of the team is lethargic and not in rhythm. |
Exactly... good observation, totally what happened to the Nugs. |
Honestly, I'm not so sure. The Nuggets were doing just fine for 3 quarters while AI was hot. It's unfair to blame him for some of his teammates' cold shooting. Smith got several WIDE OPEN shots that he missed.
What happened is that AI ran out of steam and no one could pick up the slack. The rest of the Nuggets had an off night collectively, and it showed. Carmelo actually got his average 26, but the rest of the Nuggets were ice cold. I mean, Camby had 20 boards and no points? With 20 rebounds, couldn't he accidentally knock a shot in or something? 
Honestly, I don't know about you guys, but I don't have a problem with Kobe taking 30 shots if he makes 20 of them, as AI did. Same goes for any player on the team. If they're knocking shots down at a 67% clip, I have no problem with them shooting to their heart's content. AI is the last guy I would blame for the Nuggets' loss... he was very efficient from the floor, and had 8 assists to boot. The defense and poor shooting of the role-players is to blame, and it's unfair to put that on AI.
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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 |
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glassbullet31
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:40 am Post subject: |
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| DancingBarry wrote: | | rscogold wrote: | | how would Ariza do versus Nash? |
Only one way to find out. Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing him at the 2 or 3 and disrupting passing lanes with Nash out there. Either way, we've got more options for him and Barbosa. |
exactly. I feel like we do a decent job on nash usually, he doesn't usually go over his averages against us. its barbosa that constantly torches us, so id like to see ariza guard barbosa.
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lakerjoshua
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Joined: 28 Nov 2007
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:08 am Post subject: |
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| anyone notice how the nuggets seem to get distracted and defeated once the lakers go on a small run? Maybe a chemistry issue? seems like all we gotta do is beat up on them for a few minutes and they give up. |
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Tanlentueux
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Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Posts: 7169
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 1:07 pm Post subject: Re: LAKERS -at- NUGGETS - 12/5 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings |
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| DancingBarry wrote: | The Firemen... With AI lighting up our point guards -- and by lighting up, we're talking 49 points after three quarters -- Phil made a key change to start the fourth quarter. Enter newly acquired Trevor Ariza, exit AI's dominating attack. The defensive switch changed how the Nuggets attacked and changed the complexion of the game.
Ariza took over where Kobe could not because of foul trouble. When we were finally in the clear, Phil handed the baton to Kobe and he kept the clamps on AI. Iverson finished with 2 points in the final quarter, and Kobe, Vlad and DFish closed out the Nuggets on the offensive end to take the 111-107 road win.
Taking the second night of a back-to-back in the Mile High City where the Nuggets play very well is no easy task, especially with our current injuries. Andrew Bynum, back from the flu which had thrown off his equilibrium in the prior game, anchored the defensive end...coming up huge on a couple plays down the stretch. Vlad found his stroke from three again. Kobe weathered a painful shoulder injury that had you holding your breath and he led the team to victory. "It's a little achy, but that being said it's not something that is going to linger or cause serious damage if I continue to play on it," Kobe said. "So, at that point you just got to suck it up." He's sick. He's in pain. But he battles like few others.
Getting that flexible defender in Ariza to come off the bench and help Kobe is something I've been nagging about here for a long time. Mo Evans couldn't give you the defense and heavy lifting that the team needs. Ariza elevates our defensive options on the bench. Nice to have another fireman to put out the flames when Kobe can't.
Kobe --  -- He pushed out the break at the end of the third and went down hard on his left shoulder. He didn't get off the floor for a long time, in immense pain. Lakers fans held their breath. Kobe went to the locker room and returned midway through the second quarter with, thankfully, only a contusion. Kobe came back, but struggled with foul trouble that had him sitting out almost the entire third quarter. His shot struggled at first, then he found his groove and sliced up the Denver D in crunch time, while dogging AI on the defensive end. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 10-19 shooting (0-3 from three, 5-6 from the line), he pulled down 8 boards, passed out 5 assists, had 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 31 minutes. The Action: He sank a turnaround from the midpost on our first possession. He missed a layup. He sank an open 16-footer from the elbow. He rose up, drew a whistle and then sank the And-1 20-footer, he made the FT. He swiped a pass to prevent a break, then hit Vlad for three. He took a bounce pass in the middle of the D, rose up and hit the 10-footer. He swished a 21-footer from the wing off the screen. Then he got hurt, as mentioned, and was pulled out. Back in later, he missed a three, we got it back and he fed Vlad for the open corner three. He spun away from the double and banked from about 16 feet out. He missed with his left on a drive down the lane. Wise decision to pass on a three in transition, he attacked baseline, drew the D and shoveled a pass to LO for the dunk. He picked up his third foul challenging AI and he had to sit with 34 seconds left and 13 points in the first half. He picked up his fourth just seconds into the third quarter on the offensive end and he had to sit. Back in to start the fourth, he attacked the wing and scored a layup. Defensively, he gave up a lob dunk to Melo trying to front him. He missed a wing jumper. He clanked a bank way short. He crossed over Smith, just missed the running bank after taking contact and a foul, he then made both FTs. He missed a long three with the shotclock low. He pulled down an offensive board, spun the opposite direction and got hammered to the floor for FTs, he made both. He missed a fallaway. He attacked, drew the D and found Vlad in the corner for the three. He gave up penetration to AI and it resulted in an And-1. He got a piece of an AI three attempt on the next stand. From beyond the three line at the right wing, he lobbed up high to Bynum, perfect pass for a throwdown by Drew. He took the jumpball from LO on the defensive end, pushed it up, changed speed on the attack and scored the And-1, he got tapped on the FT. He attacked off the dribble at the top of the key, got into the lane and flipped in a layup. Key possession next time down, up by two, he worked off the high screen, pulled up in the left corner away from Camby and buried the baseline jumper with 35 seconds left. The Lakers controlled the game with that make.
Lamar --  -- With Kobe's minutes limited, we needed a better effort from Lamar. His midrange game was on and that helped a lot ... however, that seemed to translate to him taking more long-range shots, which the coaching staff want him to avoid. He scrapped and put together a decent game (should have hit a few more FTs) despite having some foul issues of his own. He had several offensive fouls being more aggressive than last night. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-15 shooting (1-5 from three, a poor 2-6 from the line), he grabbed 7 boards, dished 4 assists wtih 4 turnovers and had 5 fouls. He was a +9. The Action: He sank a 17-footer from the right wing. He cleaned up a miss by Mihm with a putback. He hit a baseline jumper on his next attempt. He drew FTs in semi-transition attacking with DFish, he made one. He threw a pass away against the zone. He was called for a charge attacking baseline (Camby faked it). He picked up his second charge, attacking down the middle of the lane, he could have easily dumped it off for Bynum. He drew FTs going after an offensive board, he missed both. He rattled in a wing three in semi-transition. He missed a three on the next possession. He dunked when Kobe attacked baseline, drew the D and fed him. He missed long on an attack to his left. He hit a baseline jumper off the Mihm handoff. He missed a wing three. He drew FTs attacking and made one. He finished the break with his right hand at full speed. He missed a runner and was called for a foul with his off hand, he had to sit in the third with his fourth foul. He missed a baseline jumper. He missed an open three way short. Out of a timeout, the offense stalled and LO tried to create off the dribble, missing in the lane. He stalled the offense in the post and got a shotclock violation. He and Fish hit the floor to tie up Smith and LO won the jumpball, which turned into an And-1 breakaway for Kobe. Good save of a defensive board back in to Fish for late FTs.
DFish --   -- Poor D on both AI and Carter. He was lit like a Christmas tree. It was painful. At least he pushed back a bit on the offensive end, scoring 20 points of his own. That didn't even out the carnage, but it helped. The Stats: He scored his 20 on 6-11 shooting (1-3 from three, 7-8 from the line), he had 5 assists with just 1 turnover and 5 boards in 33 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He missed an open three. He missed a jumper from the left side. He missed a long wing jumper. He probed in semi-transition, gave it up to LO and we got FTs. He sank a 16-footer straight away. He swished a baseline jumper over the zone. He missed a three, Luke got it back and gave it to him and he hit the next one. He missed an open wing jumper. He swished a wing jumper. He and LO teamed up for a clear path foul when Lo made a telegraph pass and Fish didn't come to it, Fish then fouled AI on an And-1, that was a big sequence. He was fouled on a jumper with his toes on the three line, he made both FTs. He sank a pull-up from the FT line. He drew FTs on Smith in transition and made both. He swished a 17-footer, losing AI on the pull-up. He got the inbounds with 16 seconds left and was fouled, he swished both clutch FTs. He was fouled again with 8 seconds left and made one.
Luke --  -- Luke had the team-low -10 on the night. Credit a bunch of that to Vlad who was lighting things up when he was in and Luke was out. Still, Luke had some soft moments in this game, including a late turnover and a couple crunch time FT bricks. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-8 shooting (0-1 from three, 0-2 from the line), he had 3 boards, 3 assists with 3 turnovers, 2 steals and 4 fouls in 25 minutes. The Action: He swished an elbow jumper. He missed a pull-up runner. He posted up AI, burned him and scored around the help defender. He got tapped on the post up over Kleiza. He ballfaked and hit the elbow jumper. Wow, good effort getting back on D and he deflected a pass to prevent a sure hoop on a two-on-one...we scored an And-1 on the other end. He got tapped on an open three straight away. He missed an odd looking runner in the lane. He put back in an offensive board that Mihm kept alive. He turned the ball over in the lane, fouled and sat with his fourth foul early in the third. He got the ball swiped from him on the perimeter for a dunk the other way. He drew FTs on a bustout getting hit from behind, he missed both with 5 minutes left.
Mihm --  -- After the long minutes the night before, Chris played 22 in this one. I'm not sure how his ankle will respond to all that PT, but I hope it's not too much. He got the start again, with Bynum coming off the bench. He struggled to make the Nuggets pay during the zone during one stretch, and he also gave up a board that got him benched. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-7 shooting, grabbed 6 boards, blocked 2 shots, had 1 steal, 1 assist and 3 fouls. He was a -9. The Action: He swatted a shot on help D on one end, missed a short one on the other, but Lamar cleaned it up. He swished a 10-foot jumphook in the lane. He missed a jumphook with his left. He missed a jumphook, coming up short against the zone. He missed another jumper short against the zone. He hit an And-1 when Lamar found him in transition, he missed the FT. He kept an offensive board alive and Luke scored it. He drew FTs on the jumphook attempt, he made both. He rejected AI under the hoop and it ignited a break.
Bynum --  -- Although, he didn't put up the stat line...in fact, not many stats at all...he still played a strong game despite the illness. The one stat he did put up was a team-leading +13. His defense was superb at times. He challenged shots, had some steals and came up with several big plays down the stretch. "I actually still feel terrible," said Bynum. "But I wanted to go out there and give us some defensive support." The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting, he grabbed just 2 boards, dished 3 assists, had 2 steals and swatted 3 shots. The Action: He rejected Smith, who was trying to throw down over him. After taking a lob pass, he kicked out to Vlad who hit the three. He challenged Martin who missed, then he stripped the ball from him. Good challenge on Smith, he then controlled the board. With just over 2 minutes left, Kobe threw a long, high lob to Bynum under the hoop and he jammed it in, he wanted the And-1, too, getting pushed from behind (that was your No. 5 NBA play of the night). Huge help D rejection on Melo with a minute and a half left, that was a key stop (and your No. 9 NBA TV play of the night). Looked like he got a piece of another Melo drive to make it come up short, great challenge again.
Farmar --  -- Farmar was getting killed by AI. Abused. He bit on head fakes for fouls, gave up good looks on jumpers. AI just had his way with him. Offensively, he had a few good plays, but not an impact game at all. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-6 shooting (2-4 from three), had 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He picked up a touch foul on the perimeter on AI, then got caught in the air for his second foul in just a minute of action. He missed a wide open three. He airballed a long three trying to beat the buzzer. He attacked and kicked out to Vlad in the corner for the three. He no-looked to LO on the break for a score. He stole a pass from Melo, then choked the layup on the other end. He picked up another foul biting on the AI head fake. He sank a three over the zone. He loaded up and fired the corner three, sinking it over a man. He got tapped on a teardrop. He fell asleep on a pass by Luke that bounced off his hands on a possession out of a timeout. Ouch.
Radmanovic --  -- Stu said Vlad was knocking down threes like he hadn't seen him before the game. He was ready to come out firing and killed the Nuggets in a 9-minute stretch with 17 points in the first half, then with a key late three and steal in the fourth. "It was one of those nights where every shot was falling in," Vlad said afterward. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 7-12 shooting (6-9 from three, 1-2 from the line) with 5 boards, 1 assist and 2 steals in 24 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He swished an open corner three. He took the pitch out from Bynum and hit the short jumper. He sank a corner three like it was a freethrow. Next time down, he pulled up on the break and splashed another corner three. He was blocked from behind under the hoop. Farmar kicked out to him in that same corner he sank two other threes and he drained it again. He crashed the boards, pulled down a Kobe miss and fed it back out, then ran over to that same right corner, got it back and drilled another three. He moved over to the wing and missed a three next time down. He had 17 points on 8 shots in that 9 minutes. He missed a corner three. He missed another three. AI fell with theatrics and drew a phantom foul on Vlad. He missed a long wing jumper trying to create off the dribble. In for Luke with under 4 minutes left, he drained a corner three from the left side when Kobe found him. Huge play on the D end, stepping in front of his man to swipe the pass, then pushing up the break and drawing FTs against AI, he made one FT to tie the game.
Ariza --  -- He came in late in the third and played mostly with a lineup of Bynum, Vlad, Fish and Farmar. They held things down. Then Phil moved him onto AI for 7 minutes to start the fourth quarter, which changed how the Nuggets attacked after depending on AI for so much of the game. AI went from 49 points in three quarters, to 2 points in the fourth. Ariza's length and speed a valuable weapon, and his defensive flexibility can make this team a stronger. He can D-up a guy like KG (as he did just before traded here), then he can also go on a waterbug like AI -- a nice upgrade off the bench from Mo and Cook. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 0-1 shooting, 3-4 from the line, grabbed 4 boards, dished 2 assists and had 1 block in 12 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: In for LO late in the third, he grabbed a long rebound, pushed it up in traffic and drew FTs, he made both. He drew more FTs on the perimeter, he made one. He missed a jumper from the top of the key. He winged a jumper with a great jumpout on a rotation. He charged on the baseline taking the handoff. He fouled going after a loose ball he knocked free. Good effort to pull down an offensive board and kick it back out. He challenged AI off the dribble and forced a miss on a drive. He then led the cheers on the bench for his new teammates to close out the Nuggets.
Vujacic --  -- Sasha and Melo exchanged a few laughs prior to the game. No hard feelings over the neck grab by Melo in the bizarro world Sasha game where we blew out the Nuggets at Staples. Tonight, no such heroics for Sasha, unless you're in to missed shots and poor D. AI took it to Sasha like the other guards. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting, had 2 assists and 1 turnover in 11 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He missed a three. He sank a tech FT. He missed a baseline jumper. He was tapped on a quick three. He drained a baseline jumper off a Fisher kickout. In defensively on AI and he fouls him for FTs. He didn't recognize the shotclock and passed up a jumper, getting the violation.
Crittenton --  -- He came in with 35 seconds left in the quarter for Farmar on the defensive end. Then was subbed out five seconds later as we went back on offense. Glad to see Phil finding those minutes ...er seconds... for him.
Phil --    -- You got to think the Nuggets were plenty hungry. We blew them out badly and Melo got tossed just last week. The Lakers, tired, injured, sick and on the second night of the back-to-back have to go up to the thin air of Denver. Tough situation. It then gets made tougher by foul trouble to several starters. Despite all that, we go in there and get the job done... The Lakers pulled out to a 20-10 lead, then the Denver zone started to confound us as zones do. Phil brought in Bynum, Farmar and Vlad with the scored tied at 22-22. The Lakers led 29-24... AI was 11-13 from the floor going against Fish and Farmar before we put Kobe on him for the first time, just briefly. AI finished the half with 33 points on 12-15 shooting... Vlad got hot in the second quarter. He finally missed a three after scoring 17 points in 9 minutes and Phil sat him. Arggh. Milk that hot hand for all it's worth... The Lakers led by just 4 after a strong offensive quarter. They played poorly in the last minute and saw their lead trimmed. They led 62-58. The Lakers had 21 assists in the first half... Barely into the third quarter, Kobe picks up his fourth foul and had to sit... The team somehow survived Kobe in foul trouble all quarter, holding the score to 88-88... Phil started a Bynum, LO, Ariza, Kobe, Farmar lineup with Ariza on AI to start the fourth. The switch changed the Nuggets attack and put out the AI fire. He later put Kobe on AI to close out the game... The NBA is going to mic up coaches and film at halftime in the locker rooms. Phil is none to pleased about it. "I wasn't at the league meetings with the coaches this year, and I'm very disappointed in my comrades for rolling over on this so easily. But I know (NBA commissioner) David Stern must have had a lot of input in this and been very adamant about partnership and all that." He added: "We do things in private. It's an inner sanctum. For people to be in the inner sanctum, where emotions are high ...it's big brother, it's very big brother. It's very intimidating."...
Game Flow -- LINK -- A 15-5 Laker run in crunch time.
Highlights -- LINK -- Some big plays down the stretch. Kobe escaping from the corner then spotting Bynum and the Bynum block are superb. |
thanks DB. I've done a great job as always. i think that all member of this forum should celebrate you sometimes. I mean you have to pick a date and we will call that "the DB date". How about that? |
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Addicus
Star Player
Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 9642
Location: Dave's Pimp Palace
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 1:43 pm Post subject: |
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You know the one person who was really effected by the altitude was Luke. He was just sucking wind by the middle of the 3rd. It was really hard for him to get back on defense. He was trying but laboring the whole time. I remember saying to myself he needs to get in better shape before realizing where they were playing.
It made me think his inability to workout this summer is really holding his game back.
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Mr. EiGhTy-OnE
Star Player
Joined: 03 Nov 2004
Posts: 8272
Location: San Diego, CA
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 1:58 pm Post subject: Re: LAKERS -at- NUGGETS - 12/5 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings |
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| Tanlentueux wrote: | | DancingBarry wrote: | | The Firemen... |
thanks DB. I've done a great job as always. i think that all member of this forum should celebrate you sometimes. I mean you have to pick a date and we will call that "the DB date". How about that? |
please try to refrain from quoting the whole Thoughts and Ratings. DB has it copyrighted.
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MBLakerfan
Starting Rotation
Joined: 02 Aug 2007
Posts: 721
Location: Hermosa Beach
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:16 pm Post subject: |
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Is it really copyrighted?
Whats the deal with Bynum only getting two rebounds in 25 min?
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LakerSanity
Moderator
Joined: 30 Nov 2006
Posts: 33474
Location: Long Beach, California
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:26 pm Post subject: Re: LAKERS -at- NUGGETS - 12/5 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings |
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| Jeffs wrote: | | Honestly, I'm not so sure. The Nuggets were doing just fine for 3 quarters while AI was hot. It's unfair to blame him for some of his teammates' cold shooting. Smith got several WIDE OPEN shots that he missed. |
He got those wide open shots later in the game... but still, zero points from Camby? Melo had an off night where most of his shot attempts occured in the 4th quarter. You really had no other contributions from the get go because Iverson was hogging it - which is fine of course so long as he keeps making them, but TERRIBLE for the team when he doesn't.
| Quote: | | What happened is that AI ran out of steam and no one could pick up the slack. The rest of the Nuggets had an off night collectively, and it showed. Carmelo actually got his average 26, but the rest of the Nuggets were ice cold. I mean, Camby had 20 boards and no points? With 20 rebounds, couldn't he accidentally knock a shot in or something? |
You could say ran out of steam or defended better, doesn't matter.. but the point is, thanks to 24, is that this is what happens MOST of the time. A player is hot through three quarters and what usually happens is either a)the player runs out of steam from being a one man show the entire game OR b) the defense changes, forcing the player to either miss tough shots believing he is still on fire or pass the ball to teammates who are completely out of rythm and will miss because they have been bystanders the entire game.
Even if his teammates were bad from the get go, so Iverson was "forced" to take over (which I don't think was anywhere near the case), the fact that they were bystanders the night never gave them the opportunity to get out of their cold shooting and work themselves into the game. Therefore, by the time Iverson starting passing and the rest of the nuggets started shooting in the 4th quarter, they were using crunch time to try to get back into the flow of the game - that's a recipe for failure. The only way to avoid that kind of scenario is to play such good defense, that you create a cushion that the oppossing team can't come back from during those times when that player doesn't come through. The nuggets obviously played terrible D last night, and that was their failure.
| Quote: | | Honestly, I don't know about you guys, but I don't have a problem with Kobe taking 30 shots if he makes 20 of them, as AI did. Same goes for any player on the team. If they're knocking shots down at a 67% clip, I have no problem with them shooting to their heart's content. AI is the last guy I would blame for the Nuggets' loss... he was very efficient from the floor, and had 8 assists to boot. The defense and poor shooting of the role-players is to blame, and it's unfair to put that on AI. |
The only reason I have a problem with a player "ball hogging" EVEN IF they are hot is because it takes the rest of the players out of the game. That means that the team becomes SOLELY reliant on that hot player to win the game.... if that hot player faulters WHAT-SO-EVER, as Iverson did at the end of the game last night, no one else is prepared to step in to win. That's not even to mention the fact that long-term it creates bad team work because teammates will begin to just watch the ball. This is exactly what happens with Kobe and what happened last night with Iverson, and most of his career in Philly.
Team ball alwyas gives you a higher shot of winning than a hot player winning the game by himself, especially because sometimes that hot player goes cold and you don't know when that will happen.
I am not blaming AI for the loss, I am blaming Karl for two reasons - he should have got the players more involved in the 3rd quarter just to keep them warm and to give Iverson some rest, so to then dominate even more in the third. The larger reason though is that the only way they could have won that game last night is if they played great D. The only time any team which relies so heavily on one player winning games for them (as the Nugs did last night with Iverson, the Lakers sometimes do with Kobe, and the Cavs ALWAYS do with LeBron) is if that team plays GREAT defensive - it is impossible for one player to outscore another team with minimal help UNLESS you keep that other team's scoring down with good D (this was the Cavs formula for playoff success last year). It becomes even more impossible if the other team is playing good D or forces those other players to step up late in games that they haven't contributed in.
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Mation
Star Player
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 3614
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks DB.
Yes, Ariza with some clutch minutes. This break is only going to help as he gets some good practices in.
Kobe and Bynum in the fourth was a sight to see. Offensive and defensive saviors for the huge win! Also enjoyed Rad torching the net with those three-bombs. |
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Vadorojo
Star Player
Joined: 17 Nov 2007
Posts: 1507
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:54 pm Post subject: |
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Something I just noticed about the game, and which made me happy:
The Lakers played 11 players.
The Nuggets played 8.
The Nuggets have been struck by a PG injury plague, but we've got Kwame and Turiaf sitting out ourselves. Our 11 guys just pulled out the victory together! |
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10scott10
Star Player
Joined: 17 May 2006
Posts: 7428
Location: Making the games you play
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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| MBLakerfan wrote: | Is it really copyrighted?
Whats the deal with Bynum only getting two rebounds in 25 min? |
first question: no, the guy was joking, it just kinda stretches the page to constantly quote his analysis
and regarding bynum, he was still sick. i think i saw somewhere that he also had to get an IV earlier in the day in denver before the game.
i also heard why bynbum didn't play on tuesday. unlike kobe, the flu was messing up bynum equilibrium and he was having trouble keeping his balance. |
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24KaratGold
Franchise Player
Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 17350
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:16 pm Post subject: |
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I missed the first quarter and a half. Did both teams run out of timeouts in the second quarter or something, because after every timeout, there would a tech free throw
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Brand New
Star Player
Joined: 05 Oct 2007
Posts: 1342
Location: Los Angeles
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| Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:08 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks DB.
I think that this was a great win for us, I even have to say this road win my be our best for a long time to come.I had my doubts on Farmar the guy was getting abuse by AI, I think we need to give him more minutes against PG's like AI, Paul and Nash so he could now how to deal with the top PG's in this league.Also Bynum didn't score much but man, his presence was met in the defensive end the guy had that sick block on Melo.After Kobe got injured he didn't play the same but in the forth quarter he played good making good shoots.As for Bynum I think he was still kind of sick because If you watched earlier games he was always asking for the ball and this time he didn't really ask for the ball that much.As for Sasha hes been playing good basketball as of lately. |
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jd2k
LG Multimedia Team
Joined: 30 Nov 2007
Posts: 973
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| Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 2:44 am Post subject: |
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Bynum's blocks and dunk in HD.
Bynum's Big Plays |
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