LAKERS -at- GRIZZLIES - 1/8 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Wise Men Say...Get DFish the Ball!... with Elvises all over the Memphis arena celebrating the King's birthday, Derek Fisher took the opportunity to catch on fire. He hit on 10-11 shots on his way to a season-high 26 points as the Lakers easily dispatched the Grizzlies 117-101.

The Lakers scored 34 points on the break tonight, doing an excellent job of converting turnovers and steals to points. They even had some quick strikes off of made baskets with Laker bigs running the floor with speed.

The PG combo of DFish and Farmar combined for 16-19 shooting and 39 points. Six Lakers scored in double figures. Glad to see us take care of business in Memphis, but the team seems pumped for the next one.


Kobe -- -- Kobe was actively looking for steals on the defensive end. It seemed like he came out with an aggressive mindset tonight. That seemed to set the tone as we were pushing the tempo and getting easy transition buckets. Offensively, he missed a few easy looks and missed a few tough ones he probably shouldn't have taken, the result was a subpar shooting night. He was still effective, scoring-wise and able to get to the line. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 8-22 shooting, 1-4 from three (8-11 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 6 assists, 5 steals and 3 turnovers in 40 minutes. The Action: He swiped the ball on help D to ignite the break. He got a foul on the next possession. He missed a three on his first attempt. He drew a foul trying to throw down (you could see the lane clear a little when the D was concerned about the lob to Bynum), he made both FTs. He drilled an 19-footer over Miller. He missed another three. He attacked and missed (should have dumped it to Bynum). He kicked out to Fish for a three. He swung through and earned FTs against Gay, he made both. Great job stealing the pass at mid court, saving it back in bounds and it led to a Fish three. He drew more FTs on Gay (this time Gay was helping on Kobe), he made one FT. He missed a layup. He set up Bynum off the two-man game for a layup. He curled around the top, attacked and scored a layup. He drained a two-for-one three at the end of the quarter. He had 12 points in the first quarter. He got blocked on a drive and wanted the foul. He missed an open wing jumper. He swished a pull-up on the wing. He drew FTs off the dribble, he made one. He drew three FTs on Miller at the top of the three line, he made two. He missed a leaner trying to draw more FTs. He missed a fade at the half. Even though he didn't shoot great, he was still very effective in the first half, scoring 17 points on 4-12 shooting. He swished a wing face-up jumper. He missed a three. He backdoored his man and threw down the oop dunk from LO (very nice). He missed a tip in. He drained a squared up wing jumper over Miller. He then picked up his fourth foul with 2:13 left in the third and had to sit. He missed a good look at a wing jumper. He missed a fallaway. Unforced turnover with a carry out on the perimeter. He iso'd, then forced up a tough, twisting turnaround over a couple defenders and missed. He took a tricky outlet from Ariza and tossed it back to Kwame trailing the play for a dunk. He drained a pull-up jumper on iso over Miller. He missed a fade. Another turnover trying to attack in traffic (he got subbed out for Crit at that point).

Lamar -- -- LO was working that defensive glass well today. We needed it. Offensively, it was a very perimeter oriented game going up against Gasol. I would have like to see him try to attack Gasol with speed a little more. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-13 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 15 boards, 6 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 36 minutes. The Action: He swished an open elbow jumper. Nice challenge on guard penetration and we got the miss. He missed a couple point-blank layups (you could see that coming, don't know how he does it). He then knocked down a 19-footer. He passed up a two-footer for a three by Fish. He missed a layup on the break, got it back and scored. He hit a short one over Darko. Nice help D challenge to force a miss. He missed a baseline jumper. He traveled in the post on his first possession of the half. He hit Kobe going backdoor for an alley-oop. He missed a three. He missed a floater. He bounced in a stepback jumper from the elbow. He took an airball and quickly outlet to Ariza who leaked out and dunked. He missed a three.

Bynum -- -- Bynum missed a few of those chippies around the hoop tonight. He didn't have a lot of opportunities to finish with authority and that was the result. He did seem to do a better job coming weak to strong to establish good position in the paint. We'll see if that's a trend. Memphis was working on Bynum off the pick and roll. A lot of times he didn't get out to shooters. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-11 shooting to go with 9 boards, 1 assist, 1 block and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. The Action: He missed a reverse layup. He posted up Darko and drew his second foul with just 4 minutes into the game, he made both FTs. He banked getting out on the break with Fish. He took a foul to save an easy basket after getting tangled up with Lamar who was on the floor. He missed a two-footer. He deflected a return pass on the screen roll to force a turnover. He scored a layup off the two-man game with Kobe. He swatted dribble penetration. He bounced in a short one with good position coming weak to strong. He picked up his second foul contesting a shot and Phil sat him with a couple minutes left. He had 8 points in the first half. He missed in traffic getting stuck a little under the backboard. Looked like he got fouled on a reverse attempt he missed. Poor box out and Darko dunked off a putback. He missed a jumphook. He dropstepped and banked from the left block. He missed a short putback. He swished a quick turnaround jumper in the middle of the lane after coming weak to strong.

DFish -- -- Fish on Fire! Wow. He was in the zone, hitting everything he took...okay, he missed one of his 11 attempts. "Some night's it's like that," Fish said afterward. With his family in the crowd, he elevated his game. (Bring them on the road in the playoffs, please.) Our PG combo killed the Grizzlies with their perimeter game. Defensively, you want to give Conley the shot and play him for the drive. That plays to DFish's strengths. Anytime they cut to Fish on the bench, he looked intense and focussed until there were only a couple minutes left. The Stats: Fish scored his 26 points on 10-11 shooting, 5-5 from behind the arc and 1-1 from the line, he had 4 assists, 2 rebounds and did it all in three quarters and 29 minutes. The Action: He hit an awkward runner to start just inside the FT line. Next shot, he buried a wing three. He set up Bynum on the break for a layup. He swished a wing three on a kickout from Kobe. He drained a corner three when Kobe stole the ball at midcourt. He overpowered Conley for a layup. He had 13 points in the first quarter. He kicked out to Luke for a baseline jumper. He knocked down a wide open three in transition. Fish drained all four attempts from beyond the arc in the first half and had 16 points. He pulled up behind a Bynum screen and hit the And-1 jumper, he made the FT. He swished a long corner jumper. He swished a corner three when Luke threw a pass over his head to Fish right behind him (KCAL had been showing DFish's mom off and on throughout the night, they cut to her and she was on her feet for that one). He drained an 18-footer off the high pick. He drew a charge on help D on the other end. He had 26 points on 10-11 shooting after three quarters and Phil rested him the rest of the game. Nicely done.

Luke -- -- Luke got the start and for a while there he seemed to give Rudy Gay a little trouble defensively (as much trouble as Luke can give). Offensively, Luke seemed to find himself out on the break for easy scores quite a bit. The Stats: He finished with 10 points on 5-8 shooting to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 steal and no fouls in 27 minutes. The Action: He swished a 10-footer on the baseline, working off Bynum. He swatted Conley on iso D (didn't get credit for it). He hit a baseline jumper on a kickout from Fish. He missed a turnaround over a smaller man. Odd looking shot at the elbow and he barely hit rim (definitely looked uncertain). He finished a layup on the break. He stole a pass a few seconds later and scored around Gay on the break. He got a piece of a Rudy Gay shot at the other end. He leaked out on the break and scored an uncontested layup (wasn't a textbook finish...the bench seemed to like that). He took a pass from Fish, then tossed it back over his head to Fish as he set up in the corner for the three.

Ariza -- -- Some scrappy up and down energy play from Ariza. I love seeing a guy jump passing lanes like he does. In fact, the more anchoring and rotating we get on D from others, the more we can gamble in those lanes. He and Kobe combined for 8 steals, much of that resulted in quick strikes and even a clear path foul. A little shaky on some offensive possessions in this game. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-8 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 23 minutes. The Action: He deflected a pass to Farmar who dunked. He jumped off his man to help on another under the basket and swatted to save a hoop. He took a bounce pass from Farmar in the lane, went up, pulled it down and brought it back up to finish the layup. He missed an awkward runner. He missed a 17-footer. Good move to get around his man, then he blew the easy layup. He bobbled the pass, then attacked and charged. Great jump of the passing lane, using that long reach to steal the ball and dunked on the other end. He dunked off the cut behind Kwame in semi-transition. He missed a tough runner trying to beat the shotclock. He hustled to a loose ball with speed, got fouled from behind and drew FTs on the clear-path foul, he made one. He leaked out, took the long pass and dunked with both hands.

Kwame -- -- Didn't seem like much of a game from Kwame, even though he had some efficient scoring. The first half it seemed like he slept through. He started getting more involved in the second half and got out on the break a little bit. He need to do a better job anchoring the D at times. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-5 shooting, had 4 boards, 2 assists and 2 fouls in 19 minutes. The Action: Quiet first stint. He bobbled an interior feed from Kobe, then chucked it out to Farmar for the open three. He scored a layup off an interior feed from Ronny. He gave up an offensive board putback and added the And-1 foul. Nice no-looker to Ariza cutting behind him for a dunk. He dunked when Kobe quick-timed a pass to Kwame trailing the break. He dunked getting out after a quick strike when his man scored on him on the other end. He fumbled away a ball after attacking off the dribble. He missed an up and under, but tapped it back in.

Turiaf -- -- A bit foul-prone in his minutes tonight, and he didn't do a good job on the boards. Seemed to be caught out of position again in that regard. The Stats: He had 4 points on 1-3 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with just 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal and 4 fouls in 12 minutes. The Action: He gave up an And-1 dunk to Gasol. He swished a 19-footer. He picked up his second on a drive by Gasol. He hit Kwame with an interior feed for the layup. Good hustle after his man scored, Ronny beat him down court on the other end and drew FTs (nice to see our bigs run the floor like that), he made both FTs. He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a freethrow jumper.

Farmar -- -- Great fourth quarter from Farmar. I mentioned in the last Thoughts and Ratings that I thought he needed to get into that midrange a little more. That's what it looked like he did tonight. He had a well-rounded offensive effort because of it. When he can work off the screens to get some space and penetration, he can get some very good looks in the paint with those hops of his on the pull-up jumpers. Good to see that "impact ball" Farmar back again. Hopefully, he can string a few together. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-8 shooting, had 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in 20 minutes. Most of his damage came in the fourth quarter. The Action: He missed a 21-footer at the end of the first. He threw down a two-hand jam on the break. Bad pass on the break trying to hook up with Ariza. He missed a three. He attacked the baseline and fed Ariza with a bounce pass in traffic for a layup. He pulled up from the top of the key off the two-man game with Kwame and hit (that's what I'm talking about). He attacked the paint, pulled up and hit the 8-foot fade (midrange game again). He drained a wide open three next time down the court when Kwame kicked out. He pushed out the break with speed, jumpstepped between defenders looking like a purple and gold bowling ball and reversed in traffic. He worked off the Kwame screen, pulled up in the lane again and hit the midranger. He snuck up behind Gay in transition D and poked the ball loose. He blocked Conley's jumper.

Vujacic -- -- A brief, few second appearance. The Stats: No stats. The Action: He was a last possession sub in the first half to help spread the floor.

Crittenton -- -- A couple of brief stints. He looked fairly aggressive, but wasn't very productive. The Stats: He didn't score on 2 attempts, he had 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 6 minutes. The Action: He came into the game for Kobe a minute into the second quarter. He was called for a charge working off the pinch post (weak call). He missed an open wing jumper. He came up short off a spin move on the break. He swiped the ball from Darko from behind. He was called for an over-the-back foul trying to get an offensive board.

Phil -- -- The team looked primed to blowout the Grizzlies. The Lakers jumped out to 7-0 lead in the first minute of action... The Lakers went on a run late in the first to push out to a 31-19 lead behind some scoring from Fish. They ended with a 39-23 quarter. They had a 10-0 advantage on points off turnovers... The Lakers did a poor job closing out the half and Memphis went on a 13-2 run to cut the lead in half, 61-47... They shot 52 percent to the Grizzlies 41 percent. They had a 15-6 advantage on points off turnovers... Coaches felt they had Memphis on the ropes but didn't knock them out. Stu talked about the Lakers pulling the plug on a team when they are on the deathbed... The came out the half strong and pulled out to a 23-point lead in the first 3 minutes. (I guess those slow starts to quarters in the last game weren't going to happen in this one)... They opted for playing poorly at the end of quarters instead. The Laker floundered again at the end of the third, giving up a chunk of lead. They finished the third with an 87-71 lead... The Laker bigmen did a good job running the floor tonight, especially after makes. The breakaways were frequent and often for the team as a whole... Phil on the Hornets: "We have to maintain defensive posture against this team. Not collapse defensively and get broken down."...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Lamar led all Lakers with a +19. The Lakers took command with a 20-6 run late in the first.

[LakerSanity]

Yaaaayyy... I can go to sleep now. Thanks DB.

PS - I am sorry we put so much pressure on you to get these done although, of course, they are greatly appreciated. Like 24 said, nothing else like it on the web... and that's saying a lot.
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[George W Buss]

@ the waving banana for Sasha

[mike_dee23]

I have to imagine Jackson is a little peeved the Lakers didn't win by 30. They should've.



Congrats on the new gig, boss...

You are now the man to take the site to the next level. There should be raffles. Laker ticket giveaways. A feature that's called "Mike_Dee23's Post of the Day"...

just kidding.
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MTFBWYA

[10scott10]

hey DB, it was a 20 to 6 six run, not a 20 to 16 run.

great work other than the typo.

[DancingBarry]

[KOBE 2.0]

[Bas]

Thanks DB. Great work as usual.

[DazedAndConfused]

DB you really need to get paid for this

[Vadorojo]

Thanks DB. I couldn't watch this game, so I was particularly eager to read the recap.

On a side note, what are your opinions of Kobe's shooting? If you haven't noticed, LakersGround has erupted with all kinds of "Kobe declining" or "Kobe's lost his shooting touch" kind of threads, but you watch the games more closely than any of us, so what do you think? Thanks.

[Andre2K]

[Jeffs]

[Downunder]

[DancingBarry]

[Mation]

Thanks DB.

I would like to see this "depth-perception" that Kobe and Fish were talking about earlier. Fish really seemed to enjoy the arena and it also helped to have his mom/family watching as well.

Just watched the Sports Science on FSN where Farmar talks about the
"center of gravity" in terms of hops. He sure showed it in game-time
action with the two-handed smash!

Tomorrow's game will be a good gauge of where this team is going. Please put Ariza on Peja and cool-down his shooting. Don't think we can stop Chris Paul, but we should limit the other starters.

[Sister Golden Hair]

DB, dare I say it? It was a "Fisher-King" type ballgame.

SGH

[Ray_Gonzoles]

One win in the books, one game to go. We need to get W's in both games on the short road trip.

[Omar Little]

Thanks db. Keep up this level of posting and we might have to make you owner of lg.
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“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel

[JUST-MING]

I would've dumbed it, "Fisher is like a fine wine...(he got better with age)"

[Sage_10]

Good stuff DB!
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[prisma8slg]

thanks DB. glad to see us take care of a 'bad team.'
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"I define success by championships, by winning..." Kobe Bryant

"I've seen it all. Sasha dunked on somebody," Kobe Bryant said. "I'm ready to retire now."

[limchrc]

Thanks for the recap. Nice to get the win.

[targetman]

Tierre Brown, Chucky Atkins, Smush Parker, Shammond Williams









Derek Freakin Fisher!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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[LongtimeLakerLover]

Thanks EIC!

It was a much more entertaining game than the Philly game. I love the blowouts, man. It goes to show how far this team mentally has come. Great job!
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[limchrc]