BUCKS -at- LAKERS - 1/11 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Your One-Two Punch... With Kobe suffering from the viral infection, he still managed to drop 37 points and 7 assists. Meanwhile Andrew Bynum took it to the No. 1 pick in his draft class, lighting Andrew Bogut up for 25 points on 10-13 shooting, 17 boards, 3 blocks and just 1 foul. The Lakers extended their win streak to five with the 110-105 win over the Bucks.

What? Your upset that it wasn't another total blowout? Better than dropping a game down the stretch like we did last time we met up with the Bucks.

"That one game we had at their place, that was enough motivation for me to come out and perform," Kobe said.


Kobe -- -- As mentioned, he had a viral infection to deal with while playing. That often spells trouble for an opponent. Kobe looked like he was feeling it, but got caught taking some tough shots that took him and maybe the team out of rhythm in the first half. In the second half, he mixed it together much better. He set up a number of teammates as well as creating for himself. He drew a lot of attention and used that to the team's advantage. He had to play through a little foul trouble in this one, doing a good job in the third after picking up his fourth early on. The Stats: He scored 37 points on 12-25 shooting (5-9 from three, 8-8 from the line) to go with 7 assists with just 1 turnover and 5 boards in 37 minutes. The Action: He missed a fade. He missed a fallaway and bank on the same possession. He found Fish on a kickout for three. He sank a long three from the top of the arc. He sank a wing three on his next touch. Out of a timeout, he drained his third three...looked like a FT. He missed the heatcheck three next time down. He missed a stepback from the wing. He drew FTs out on the break with LO, he made both. He posted up and scored an And-1 layup off a long continuation play, he made the FT. He missed a wing jumper. He blew past his man with a quick first step and reversed with ease. He had 16 points on 5-11 shooting in the first quarter. He drained a three on an inbounds. He picked up his second foul (both going for steals). He pumpfaked Redd, got contact and no call on a missed bank. He airballed a pull-up jumper with a man holding onto his arm, blown call. On the other end, he then picked up his third foul and had to sit with 3 minutes left. He had 19 points on 6-14 shooting (4-5 from three, 3-3 from the line) in the first half. He missed a wing jumper. He picked up his fourth foul with just over a minute into the second half. He lost the ball on a drive. He missed a three from the left side. He hit Luke for a three. He posted up, spun, hung and hit on the baseline. He hit Luke off the rub screen for a layup. He attacked and kicked to Luke for the open three. He was wide open for the lob, but we over threw the pass. He drew three FTs from the left wing and made all three. He pulled down an offensive board, saw Ariza cutting behind him and threw the pass over his head to Ariza for the reverse dunk (you could see that play developing). He hit Farmar in transition for the corner three. He swished a quick turnaround in the lane. Great job drawing the D's attention on the baseline, then lobbing to Drew for the alley-oop. He missed a three short. He spun to lose his man, attacked and drew the foul at the rim, he made both FTs. He got a soft bounce on a tough fading wing jumper. He swished a 17-foot fade off a busted play. He sank a turnaround from the right side on the next possession. He was open in semi-transition, called or it and sank a three. He missed a three.

Bynum -- -- "He's playing at such a level now that he's got to start," Phil said prior to the game. The quesiton of starting or not starting doesn't even seem relevant any more. Is he elevating his game once again? Because it sure looks like it. He's mixing in the post scoring now with the the lobs and putbacks. Bynum even helped carry the team and was the focal point of the offense when both Kobe and LO had to sit late in the first half with fouls. He's earning the trust and needs to continue getting touches in the post throughout the game. "I don't care what he's using for motivation," Stu said, "...this is why the Lakers are in a very good position." Stu said Drew is relaxed and now is showing the arsenal he uses in practice...but still has the sky hook he hasn't brought out. Defensively, he anchored the D well, challenging a number of shots, blocking others and gobbling up boards with consistency. New career high in boards tonight. Bogut struggled to give the Bucks any kind of post presence against Bynum. The Stats: He scored his 25 points on 10-13 shooting (5-8 from the line) to go with 17 rebounds (6 offensive), 2 assists, 3 blocks and just 1 foul in 37 minutes. The Action: Bogut fouled him on the first possession of the game as Bynum posted him up. He picked up another foul on his second touch, this time against Simmons, he made both FTs. He missed a short jumphook. He slipped the screen with Kobe, who went to LO, who quickly lobbed Bynum for the alley-oop (second or third time they've run that sequence). He swatted Bogut, then got pushed from behind on the break with no call. He attacked the middle of the paint and hit a jumphook with 4 seconds left in the first quarter. He threw down a Turiaf missed bank shot. He missed a short two-footer taking contact with no call. He took the long outlet and dunked over Bogut. He drew FTs on Bogut while trying to repost (me like), he made both FTs. He gave up a missed FT rebound and it led to more FTs. He cleaned up a loose ball from Coby with a layup. He blocked Yi from behind on a dunk and it led to a dunk by Turiaf on the break. He was mugged under the hoop on a feed from Ronny, he made one. He got back to the line working the two-man game with Fish at the end of the half, he missed both short. He had 15 points on 5-7 shooting (5-8 from the line) to go with 9 rebounds. Nice challenge, then he rebounded the miss. He got Staples buzzing after facing up on Bogut with a help defender pinching, Bynum attacked to his right, spun back to the middle going left and hit in the middle of the lane (quick and graceful). Getting out on the break, he cleaned up a missed oop to Kobe with a throwdown after getting the board. He set a pick for Farmar, trailed the play and cleaned it up with the putback layup. Kobe found him cutting down the lane with a high lob, Bynum crammed down the oop with authority, getting Staples to its feet. He faced up, spun and hit the baseline jumphook. He missed a short jumper in the lane.

Lamar -- -- Lamar had a sleep-walk first half, unable to score despite having a couple looks right at the front of the rim. He picked it up in the second half, but wasn't much of a threat. He struggled a bit with fouls, but still led the Lakers with minutes. Lamar had one of his worst games against this team earlier in the season and took credit for the loss then. The Stats: He finished with 8 points on 2-7 shooting (4-5 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and 5 fouls in 39 minutes. The Action: He missed a jumphook on a drive. He hit Luke under the hoop for a layup. He hit Bynum coming off the slip screen two-man game with Kobe for a dunk. Quick pushout on the break and it drew FTs for Kobe. He got blocked trying to dunk. He choked another layup (man, too many of those) and then he made a stupid third foul and had to sit. He didn't score on 0-3 shooting in the first half. He dunked when Luke set him up on a drive and dish. He drew FTs on Bogut (looked like a charge by Lamar), he made one FT. He sank a couple FTs after getting fouled on a reverse. He crashed the glass, pulled down the board and scored the And-1, he made the FT. He got blocked on a jumphook. He picked up his fifth foul giving up an And-1 to Redd. Good hands knocking down a pass. He missed a runner.

DFish -- -- He never got on track, but kept letting if fly. Farmar ended up closing out the game. The Stats: He shot just 3-13 (1-5 from three) for 7 points to go with 1 assist, 1 turnover and 2 boards in 25 minutes. The Action: He swished a 22-footer in early offense. He drew a moving pick foul on the other end fight to get to his man. He tied up Williams on a trap. He missed an open three. He didn't hit rim from the middle of the lane and it resulted in a shotclock violation. He swished a three on a kickout from Kobe. He missed an open three. He found Bynum on a long pass for a dunk. He missed a runner, stripped the rebounder and it went to Ronny for the And-1. He missed a wing jumper. He missed a three, settling on the break. He had 5 points on 2-8 shooting (1-4 from three) in the first half. He missed a quick three from the wing. He moved in closer and swished the elbow jumper. He missed another three. He missed a short pull-up jumper.

Luke -- -- Good game from Luke. Defensively, he caused some problems for Simmons, who struggled. Offensively, he hit most of his shots and kept the ball moving. He started to put a little "ugly" on an otherwise good game with a couple late turnovers on the offensive end. The Stats: He finished with 10 points on 4-6 shooting (1-1 from three, 1-2 from the line), he had 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 32 minutes. The Action: He airballed a turnaround. He scored a layup when his man left him and LO found him. He missed a layup on the break, but Ronny cleaned it up. Nice help D block to help save a hoop. He finished the half with 2 points on 1-3 shooting. He swished a wing jumper off a kickout from Kobe. He attacked, drew the D and dished to LO for the dunk. Great D on Simmons, smothering him and forcing a brick. He gave Kobe a rub screen at the elbow, then cut, took the pass and powered up a layup. He swished an open three on a kickout from Kobe. He charged on a drive and kick. He drew FTs away from the ball and made one.

Ariza -- -- There were a couple plays tonight that got Staples going. One was the post move by Bynum, the other big one was the sequence where Kobe teamed up with Ariza for a reverse dunk (your NBA No. 5 play of the night). Just more scrappy play from Ariza, he's always moving off the ball, he's always hustling. That always pays off. The Stats: He had 5 points on 1-4 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 turnovers in 19 minutes. The Action: He missed a layup. He jumped the passing lane, stole the ball and ignited a break. He drew FTs on Redd working in the middle of the lane, he made one, got back his miss and went back to the line after drawing a foul again...he made both this time. He had 2 steals, 2 boards and 3 points in his first stint. Later came the play mentioned above: He was open for a wing three, he bricked badly, Kobe got it back, Ariza cut behind the play, Kobe threw a pass over his head and Ariza reverse dunked with both hands over his head.

Turiaf -- -- He was the only guy off the bench to have a positive +/-, with a +3. Limited action tonight. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-3 shooting to go with 3 boards (all offensive), 1 block and 1 foul in 9 minutes. The Action: He missed a bank. He picked up a loose ball a dunked in the And-1, he made the FT. Good follow on Luke's missed layup on the break and Ronny got the dunk. He hit Bynum under the hoop for FTs.

Kwame -- -- Thankfully, Bynum dominated tonight. Just a massive difference when Kwame and Bynum were in the game. Kwame was a -13, Bynum a +18. The Stats: He didn't score on two attempts, he grabbed 1 board, had 1 steal, 2 turnovers and didn't foul in 11 minutes. The Action: He got stripped under the hoop. His man tried to steal the entry, Kwame attacked and was fouled, he missed both FTs. Wow, great spin to lose his man, then he bricked the layup. He backrimmed an open layup. Good steal, but then he decided to pushout on the dribble and pass ... turnover.

Farmar -- -- Good job picking up for DFish who struggled with his shot. Farmar played a strong fourth quarter (although he missed some easy freebies late). He was giving up some layups and open looks early on D. He tightened it up a little after that. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-8 shooting (3-5 from three, just 2-6 from the line) to go with 3 assists, 1 board, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 23 minutes. The Action: Smart play, using the foul to give with 1.7 seconds left in the first quarter. He scored a layup working around Kwame in the post. He missed a three. He sank the wide open wing three out of a timeout. He missed a layup on the break. He drew a blocking foul on the next breakaway. He had 5 points on 2-4 shooting in the first half. He missed a three from the sideline. Out on the break and Kobe hit him from the same spot and Farmar canned the three. He attacked off the pick, missed the layup, but the dribble penetration allowed Bynum to clean up the miss. He was called for a carry trying to turn the corner. He drew a rare charge at the top of the key. He sank a wide open corner three against the zone when no one covered him. He picked up a couple late FTs, made one. He swatted his man from behind with 22 seconds left with the Tacos in play. He got fouled again with 16 seconds left, the crowd not happy with 99 points on the board and wanting Tacos (Farmar made one FT). He got fouled again with an 8-point lead and 10 seconds left after just losing Tacos and the crowd was steamed at the Bucks for the meaningless fouls, Farmar missed both FTs.

Crittenton -- -- Ugly stint from Crit in the first half and Phil then kept him on the bench in favor of Coby. You're going to have some good and some bad with him, but you need to find him some PT to help him develop. The Stats: He shot 0-2, had 1 assist with 2 turnovers in 5 minutes. The Action: He missed a layup getting to the front of the hoop on the break. He missed a jumper from the corner. He got stripped and gave up a layup the other way. He was called for a travel the next time down. Bad stretch of ball from Crit there.

Karl -- -- He got some late first half run when Kobe picked up foul trouble and Crit stunk in his stint. The Stats: He plaed 3 minutes and grabbed a couple boards. The Action: Nice no-looker to Luke on the break, but Luke choked the layup.

Phil -- -- The Lakers went on a 9-0 run on three straight threes late in the first to pull out a lead. They finished the quarter with a 29-22 lead... The Lakers led by 7 when Kobe went to the bench. When he came back the lead was at 3... Both Kobe and Lamar picked up their third fouls with 3 minutes left in the half. The Lakers sent the Bucks to the line again and again. Phil ran a Bynum, Turiaf, Luke, Coby and Fish lineup to close the half, and they ran the offense through Bynum and survived, leading 54-50... The Lakers shot just 39 percent to the Bucks 43 percent and still led at half. The difference was the 6-11 from three we shot and just 4 turnovers... The coaches wanted to get LO going as he had 0 points on 0-3 shooting in the first half. Total MIA... Kobe picked up his fourth quickly into the second half. Phil left him in and Kobe played until late in the quarter until sitting without getting another foul... With Kobe and Bynum out, the Bucks chipped away at our 13-point lead again to bring it back to 78-74 going into the fourth... The Lakers were trading hoops with the Bucks midway through the quarter and Phil took a timeout with a 12-point lead to get them to tighten it up. We didn't respond defensively, but still held the lead until the last few seconds when Farmar couldn't convert some FTs... Phil on Bynum: "I thought he got tired in the third quarter," Phil said. It looked like it on a couple sequences. He pulled him when Bogut sat and gave him a rest. Phil said the 37 minutes is more than he wanted to play him, but the team was suffering when he wasn't in there... After the poor shooting first half, the Lakers finished the game shooting 46 percent...

[LakerSanity]

That was fast DB, good and efficient. Thanks for another good write-up. I think it was nice to have a closer game, because sometimes blow outs I feel can make a team "too" comfortable. Also, for some reason, the Bucks play us tough... it's wierd. Good win and great game by Kobynum.
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[Siguy]

Great recap.

I wish we could've blown them out, but we didn't get any scoring besides our two guys (reminds me a lot of the old Shaq & Kobe games to be honest).

Farmar pissed everyone in the arena off with all those missed freethrows. Kid's shooting 65% from the line this year. That's terrible for a point guard. If he wants to be in at the end of close games (which this wasn't), he's gonna have to work on that.

Here's how great Bynum is: He had 25 and 15 and I wasn't excited. It seemed normal and I was even a little miffed we didn't get him 30.

When is Rad coming back? How about Sasha? Critt has a lot of potential, but that second unit is dying without three point shooters to stretch the floor. We need those guys back.

[KOBE 2.0]

Whoop Whoop Horayy

[LakerSanity]

I remember the mark for Kobe/Shaq was 60 pts per game... if they scored a combined 60 points, we had a great shot at winning. I wonder what the standard for Kobe/Bynum will become.... tonight was 62.
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[Exick]

Well, it may have been a blowout if not for the fact that the Bucks got all butt-hurt about tacos and Jordan gagging on a few free ones.
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Game recognize game, Granddad. - Riley Freeman, The Boondocks

[LakerLanny]

Spot on as usual DB.

The first time Bynum breaks out a long sky hook in Staples and makes it, the place is going to go nuts.

When drafted he was the youngest player to ever play in the NBA, props to him for not just sitting on the millions and instead actually developing his body and game in the pros.

Simply a brilliant draft pick and notice Jimmy Buss isn't gloating or saying I told ya so.
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Love, Laker Lanny

[Orestes]

[jd2k]

Critt just doesn't seem comfortable out there. Everything looks forced from him. With Farmar and Critt on the floor, the offense just looks out of sync.

[DancingBarry]

[Exick]

[KingKobe20]

I missed the first three quarters spending some quality time playing with the son Rock Band on the PS3.
Fatherhood is getting sweeter as the years rkeep rollin on. Back in the day before my son to get me away from the Lakers game you would have to set a bomb under neath the coach to pull me away from the t.v screen

All I needed to see was the finishing touches anyways. Good ball movement from what I seen in the 4th.

How the hect did Mo WIlliams end up with 28. I mean I know this guy has been killing the Lakers ever since he has been in the league but jeesshhh?????Somebody put a hand up.

Lamar a bucket away from a decent double double . Bynum with 25 and 17 A straight up beast.

Kobe finnally got out of his slump of under 30 points a game. Dropped 37. Too me it don't matter if Kobe averages 22 points . Hey as long as we get the win.


Great win!!!

[lakerhead]

thanks DB

i think lamar has trouble with yi and charlie v with their size and agility he doesn't exactly have as much of a mismatch against those 2 than what he would usually have

[Mation]

Thanks DB.

Looks like Kobe can get a good night's rest after this five-game win streak. He surely deserves it. The Bucks always seem to rough it out till the end. I'm glad we got this win and am looking forward to Sunday's game against the Grizzlies. Bogut over Bynum in the draft. The gods love the Lakers.

Can see why a lot of people liked Mo Williams during the off-season. Wasn't too impressed with Yi though.

Come on Vlad, Sasha and Mihm, get healthy.

[Dr. Laker]

[Vadorojo]

[Vadorojo]

How discourteous of me! I have forgotten the most important part of the post:

Thanks, DB.

[limchrc]

Nice recap. Nice win... glad we got a win against them as payback from our last encounter.

[Drifts]

Bynum gobbled up the Bucks. I love Bynum....and oh, Kobe too.
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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."

[TooCool]

Thanks as usual DB! Gooooooooooooooooooo Lakers!
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[limchrc]

Btw, seems like Bynum has a lot of dunks this game. Or is it just me...

[Downunder]

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB!

This team is starting to make me a believer. It's to the level that I don't just root for the Lakers with my heart no more - I'm seeing tangible evidence that if we remain healthy, we will give anybody hell in the playoffs.

We have balanced - quick striking offense, Bynum is turning into a defensive anchor for us, everyone is contributing so much that Kobe doing less is a double edged sword for other teams. Less wear and tear on him because we don't need 35 from him to win no more - this will extend his prime. Secondly, the more we remain balanced, they can't send that 3rd defender on the weakside on him which will make him become the finisher he was before he went into his shooting funk.

Semi OT prediction: I know the Big Aristotle is watching Bynumite turn into a monster out there. He will be back for Criami 2-3 games before they play us - so that he doesn't get embarrassed!

[venicebeach]

Thanks, great job DB. Let's GO LAKERSSSS!!!

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

BYNUM:25 POINTS, 17 REBOUNDS, 1 "F" WORD

DB: in honor of Bynum, you should have named this "DBs F'ing Thoughts and Ratings"
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu