LAKERS -at- HORNETS - 1/9 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Squashed Bugs... "We're a deep, athletic team," Kobe said after the game. They looked it tonight with a crushing 109-80 win on the second night of a back to back over the rested Hornets.

Phil made a point about not collapsing the D heading into this one. They didn't want Peja to kill them like last time. So, they made Chris Paul a scorer and stayed home on the shooters. Paul got his, but had only a handful of assists.

After we lost to the Celtics, I mentioned on this board that the response I wanted to see from these guys was to go out and deliver a series of beatdowns. I like the response so far.

Andrew Bynum probably had one of his better back-to-the-basket games we have seen, playing just three quarters but finishing with 17 points, 9 boards, 4 assists and 3 blocks. When that becomes more consistent, we will get that inside-out balance that makes for a more lethal team. Still, we've looked pretty lethal of late. Just got to keep improving.

"We're not playing for this," Kobe said. "We're playing for the end result. The key for us is to continue to work hard and take it step by step."


Kobe -- -- Very good all-around game, disecting the Hornets D with focus. He didn't dominate the shooting, taking just 16 shots while leading both teams in assists. Quite a role reversal with Chris Paul. Kobe was looking for Farmar quite a bit it seemed. Not sure if that was by design, but he hit Farmar for a number of attempts from downtown. Defensively, he left Mo Peterson with a 0, had no fouls himself and had another 3 steals. The Stats: He scored a team-high 19 points (2-4 from three, just 1-2 from the line) to go with 7 assists, 7 boards, 3 steals and just 1 turnover in 33 minutes. The Action: He hit Bynum off the pick and roll for a layup. He pulled up in transition and hit the wing jumper. He hit a layup attacking to his right. He drained a long jumper from the sideline on iso. He missed an open wing jumper. He swatted Chandler on one end, and missed a layup on the other (LO cleaned it up). He swished an 8-footer from the right side. He attacked and kicked to Luke in the corner for three. He posted up, drew the double and kicked to Farmar for the three. He missed a jumper, but Bynum cleaned it up. He missed a pull-up jumper over a double team at the end of the quarter. He swiped a post entry bounce pass. He drew FTs on the perimeter, he made one. He had 9 points on 4-8 shooting at the half. He sank a three on his first attempt of the half. He hit Luke for the open three. He missed a three over tight D. He missed a wide open 16-footer on the right side. His man gambled, Kobe then attacked down the middle of the lane, Chandler was afraid to leave Bynum and Kobe scored the layup. He hit a three straight away and wanted the foul. Awkward flat-footed set shot with a man on him and he bricked. He missed a long three, then waited in the backcourt to swipe the pass, he surveyed the floor and hit Ronny for the And-1. He drained a wing jumper against the zone on the next trip down. He hit Farmar with a series of passes (four, I think) for three-pointers and Farmar canned a couple.

Lamar -- -- Some really poor rotations and help D early on, but then he tightened it up. He and West were going at it in the post. West still scored 19 points, but on 7-17 shooting. Reasonable job. Offensively, Lamar stayed on the perimeter. This sometimes caused problems in the offense when he had too many non-shooters on one side of the floor. He settled for jumpers mostly. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-9 shooting (1-3 from three) and 5 boards, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 3 fouls in 33 minutes. The Action: He scored a layup off a post feed from Luke. He pulled down the board and hit Fish in transition for a jumper. He missed a drive. He cleaned up a missed layup by Kobe on the break. He missed a layup off the weakside attack. He picked up a couple fouls trying to get physical with West. He swatted Paul on the break but no one else got back with him and Luke to help out. He missed a three but got it right back. He powered a layup in over Chandler. He missed another long jumper. He attacked the baseline after a series of quick passes around the perimeter and he scored the layup. Good D with West banging on him in the post, Lamar held ground and we got the miss. He missed a wide open three, the Hornets just leaving him on the perimeter. He banked in a three trying to beat the shotclock. He switched on Paul and deflected a pass to ignite a Laker breakaway.

Bynum -- -- Bynum got to go to work in the post a little more than usual and answered the call. He had only a couple of attempts being set up by others, but most of his damage was done by Drew working his post game against Chandler or grabbing boards. The jumphook, with both hands, was on display. He also set up teammates several times for scores. Defensively, he was put into the pick and roll a lot tonight. He did a good job showing and recovering in addition to challenging shots and grabbing boards. The Stats: He scored 17 points on an efficient 8-10 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 4 assists, 3 blocks and 3 fouls in 28 minutes. He didn't play in the fourth. The Action: He scored a layup off the pick and roll with Kobe. Great position, he took an entry and quickly hit the jumphook over Chandler. He smothered West forcing a turnover. Working on the right block he faked one way and banked the jumphook off the glass going the other way (that's the shot he needs to master). He missed a baseline jumphook. He took away a missed shot behind Chandler, went back up and hit the jumphook over him. He posted up on the left block and hit a pretty left-handed jumphook on the baseline. Sweet pass with a little something on it to Luke from the high post as he cut down the lane and Luke dunked. He got blocked from behind in the paint not exploding up. He picked up his second foul with a minute left in the half. He had 10 points on 5-7 shooting in the first half. Chandler didn't have any offensive boards in the first half. He scored a layup off an offensive board and interior feed from Luke. He took an offensive board away from Chandler, poking it free from behind him, then he dunked. He switched on Paul and swatted him on his drive. Good position on the offensive glass, drawing a foul and getting the possession back. Another nice feed to Luke cutting down the lane for the score. Luke fed Bynum on the screen-roll for FTs on the next trip down, Bynum made one. He took a power dribble into the paint and hit a long jumphook with a soft touch. He had 17 points, 9 boards and 4 assists after three quarters.

DFish -- -- He and Paul got a little physical tonight. They picked up double techs and Fisher got popped in the mouth. DFish had his hands full and wound up in some foul trouble. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-6 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 23 minutes. The Action: He sank a wing jumper in transition. He swished another jumper from the same spot on a kickout from Drew. He missed a heave at the halftime buzzer. He missed a three short. He hit a baseline jumper from the right side and wanted the foul. He then sat with his fourth foul late in the third.

Luke -- -- Stat of the night might be Peja's 9 points on 4-11 shooting. Much better job by Luke and the team making a concerted effort to not let Peja get going. We also tried to make Peja play a little D, but that wasn't too successful. In the end, Luke outplayed Peja on both ends. Can't ask for more. The Stats: Luke scored 14 points on 6-13 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 assists and 3 fouls in 24 minutes. The Action: First possession of the game went to Luke to work on Peja in the post, he set up LO for a layup. He got a soft roll on a jumper in the lane to drop a couple possessions later. He missed an open wing jumper. He missed a short one over Peja out of a timeout. He missed a layup in the post. He sank a corner three on a kickout from Kobe. He cut off Bynum in the high post, took the pass in the lane and dunked with both hands. He missed a runner in the lane. He bricked an open three. Good job defensively in the first half on Peja, the coaches warned him to stay with Peja in the third where he went off on us the last time and Luke responded. He bricked a three. He didn't hesitate on the next trip down and swished the open three. He pulled down the Kobe miss then fed Bynum for the layup. He hit the floater over West on a drive. Bad idea to rotate off Peja to West on the perimeter (you could hear the bench yell "no!"), Peja got the ball and hit the three. Another good cut off Bynum, Luke took the pass and flipped in a layup around Peja. All kinds of contact on his shot, he airballed and got no call.

Ariza -- -- Ariza seemed like a difference maker in this game. Just a lot of little things, garbage plays, hustle plays, rebounding...that all adds up. He led the bench in scoring and rebounding. There were some ugly offensive sequences where he got caught on the perimeter with other non-shooters that stalled the ball. But there was also that occasional great play, like slashing off Bynum in the Tri and taking the handoff to the rim. The more time he gets, the more he will find his sweet spots and avoid those dead ones. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-6 shooting, grabbed 7 boards (2 offensive), had 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and no fouls in 24 minutes. The Action: Nice offensive board, but he didn't have time to score at the end of the first quarter. He missed a long jumper with the offense stalled. He tapped in a missed jumper by Ronny. He drew FTs on a bustout with Farmar, he made both. He scored a layup when Farmar hit him under the hoop. He got hit in the eye hard and went to the bench. He cut off Drew, took the handoff with speed to get past Peja and he scored the layup. He missed a reverse. He tracked down a long outlet, then used his length well and dunked on the breakaway. He swatted Pargo to get a shotclock violation. He jumped a passing lane, pushed up to Crit, who threw an oop back to Ariza, and he tapped it back to Karl for the layup.

Turiaf -- -- A little better job tonight of helping gain possession under the hoop. He and Kwame seemed to be banging bodies down low. Serviceable minutes from Ronny. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-3 shooting, grabbed 4 boards and had 1 steal in 15 minutes. The Action: He missed a 17-footer. He hit a wing jumper on a kickout from Crit. He stripped the ball from a rebounder and fed Kwame for the And-1. He took the pass from Kobe and scored the And-1 under the hoop, he made the FT. Nice D with Kwame on the other end forcing Ely into a travel.

Kwame -- -- He's taking one of those warm-up strokes before shooting his freethrows...seems like his stroke looked a bit smoother because of it. Much better job at finishing those freebies. One wonders what will happen if he gets confidence from the line and whether that will result in more aggressiveness from the floor. He's certainly looked aggressive of late. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 2-5 shooting (5-7 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 steals, 1 block and 1 foul in 20 minutes. The Action: He bricked badly off the glass on a jumphook. He swatted his man, controlled it and ignited the break. Good D on Chandler, smothering his turnaround and controlling the miss. He got hacked with no call, we stole the ball back, Kwame got it again and scored the And-1, he hit the FT. He hit a jumphook off the jumpstep in the lane. He took a feed from Lamar and was hacked under the hoop, he made one. He missed an elbow jumper with the offense stalled. He attacked off the dribble from the elbow and drew FTs. He drew a charge on Pargo. Quick spin and he drew FTs, he made both. He stripped his mas in the post.

Farmar -- -- A lot of attempts from three tonight, but he connected on half of them. Kobe was really looking for him. He didn't do as good a job in those early fourth quarter minutes as in the last game. The offense seemed to go stagnant for stretches. The Stats: He finished with 9 points on 3-8 shooting (3-6 from three), 4 assists without a turnover, and 3 boards in 22 minutes. The Action: He buried a wide open three from the top of the key off a Kobe kickout. He missed an open three. He missed a jumper from the top of the key working off a screen. He got into the lane and spotted Ariza with a bounce pass for a layup. He gave the ref a "what was that look?" after he got hit on a drive with no call. He drained a wing three from Kobe. He missed an open three off another kickout from Kobe. One more time from Kobe and Farmar sank the corner three. He missed the next three off the Kobe kickout.

Crittenton -- -- Some good minutes available for Crit tonight. He was in the thick of things a couple of times. He played better in his first stint. Kobe was in his ear trying to teach when he could. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 15 minutes. The Action: In for Kobe 3 minutes into the second quarter. He found Ronny for the open jumper. He pumpfaked Pargo in the air and swished the wing jumper. He pushed out the break and scooped the layup in around Paul. Back in for Kobe in the middle of the second half. He wasn't as aggressive as he should have been with this lineup. Later, he charged into Pargo on the break, should have pulled up for the bank.

Karl -- -- He got his contract guaranteed. Good for him. Now he needs to use the rest of the season to grow into a role off the bench. He got a few minutes tonight in the blowout and managed to get a couple of hoops. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-3 shooting and grabbed 1 board in 3 minutes of play. The Action: He came in to spread the floor with 11 seconds left in the first on a final possession of the first quarter. He came back in with 3 minutes left. He sank a long wing three. He got tapped on the wing jumper next trip down. He scored a layup when Ariza tapped a pass to him on the break.

Phil -- -- The team has been jumping on people early in the last couple games. And better still, they've done a sound job of holding those leads... The Lakers got off to a 16-4 start. They maintained that lead and finished the first quarter 32-19. They made 15-24 shots in the quarter... With Kobe on the bench and a Farmar/Crit backcourt the Lakers pulled out to a 19-point lead in the middle of the second quarter... The team didn't close out the second quarter and the Hornets went on a run to cut the lead to 11. The Lakers had 20 points from the bench in the first half and shot 52 percent... The team was out of fouls after 4 minutes into the third. They gave up a few trips to the line but survived it decently. They extended their lead to 84-68 going into the fourth... The Lakers offense had trouble getting it going with the second unit to start that quarter. A lot of late shotclock sequences. The Kwame, LO, Ariza, Crit, Farmar lineup seemed to lack someone taking control. Phil put Kobe and Ronny back in and we pulled out to our biggest lead... Dominating stats: The Lakers shot 55 percent on the night, but held the Hornets to 37 percent. We also had 5 more steals, 6 more blocks, 5 more boards and 4 less turnovers... The Lakers have won 10 of their last 12...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Look at the number of runs we had compared to the short runs the Hornets came up with. And again, no Lakers with a negative on the plus or minus.

[brock]

First. ha ha

[osj]

Hi, DB...great read as always!

One small typo: you have Luke listed as shooting 6-113 (.005)...his shooting's not THAT bad!

[najim]

Chris Paul had the worse +/- of the game with a -26!!

I was shocked he only had 5 assists with the amount he dominated the ball, but that may be a function of his teammates bricking shots as much as anything else. I definitely think the difference here was the Defense on Peja... the Lakers score of 109 was about average, it was holding the Hornets to a meager 80 (and they struggled to manage that), which I think really turned the game around.

[osj]

[LakerSanity]

Thanks DB. Given all the circumstances, the standings, and the stats, this was the most impressive win of the season IMO.
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[KlevrhandL]

Nice breakdown man. Thanks

[lakerjoshua]

Thanx DB. Great game all around. Great recap.

[Sister Golden Hair]

Ariza can flat-out play the game. Very intelligent player. Great hustle. unselfish. I bet the other guys love playing with him.

SGH

[LakerFan1972]

DB. Good read.

[Wolverine]

[Wolverine]

[George W Buss]

Thanks, DB!

I like the on Kwame the most. If he can keep this up or even improve it, this team can achieve a lot of things

[Vadorojo]

[Dr. Laker]

Thx, DB!
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[DancingBarry]

Dang ... too many typos. Thanks for catching them. The kids were little maniacs tonight running around tonight while I was trying to do this. I blame them.

[Vadorojo]

If anything, I attribute a few typos here and there to the fact that the Lakers are playing so spectacularly well that you can't help but make a typo or two as you dance about with happy, DancingBarry glee. What's a little typo compared to a 29-point destruction of a Western conference contender?

[jodeke]

I wonder what Byron was feeling. He got smacked down by his old team.
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[DancingBarry]

Byron has always been complimentary to the Lakers. He secretly want to coach them, me thinks.

That was a heck of a smackdown, though. Guys just looked so focussed out there on both ends.

[Sparhawk6]

Although Fish did not have a great game, I do like the fire he showed against a clearly more talented counterpart.

Smush would have laughed it off and played his typical matador defense.

[DancingBarry]

[stillmatic]

Thank you, as always, DB!

[KOBE 2.0]

[Siguy]

A big, big win. We faced up against a team that's widely considered as good or better than us and that's fighting for the same piece of the pie, a team taht killed us early in the year, and we really took the wood to them. We smacked them around.

It's worth noting that New Orleans is apparently a really bad host city right now, because how else can you explain that team having a worse home record than road record?

[Downunder]

Funny seeing Kwame motivated for that next contract.

If he can get some of those jump-stop hooks going off the bench it's gonna be hard for any team to stop him and Bynomite in the paint.