CAVS -at- LAKERS - 1/28 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Taking On Water... The Lakers lost a 9-point fourth quarter lead, fading down the stretch like the team we've seen from seasons past. They had the game in their hands, even had a chance to take a one-point lead with 10 seconds left and the ball in Kobe's hands under the hoop...but we couldn't pull it out and fell 98-95.

Down by three, Phil went to a lineup with Luke, Lamar and Turiaf on the floor. He also went to the same high hand-off-to-Kobe play we usually seem to go to. The ball ended up slowly returning to Luke off a Kobe double. LeBron caught up to it enough on recovery that Luke hesitated to chuck it up. He overpassed and we didn't get a shot off. Poor lineup without enough shooters. Poor play call. Poor results.

The Cavs had no Varejao and no Z in the last 6 minutes the game...and we still couldn't close the deal.

The Lakers are stumbling into this tough stretch of road ball in February. We're not exactly weathering the storm, sinking rapidly in the standings by the game. Even Staples appeared as if it sprung a leak as water dripped from the rafters delaying the game.


Kobe -- -- He was hitting the boards early and often throughout the game and played an extremely efficient, well-rounded first half. In the second half, he went 4-15 and had some poor possessions late in the game. Phil sat him for a brief rest in crunch time after Kobe had made a few bad decisions. Late in the game, there was a key sequence where we were down by one and stole the inbounds pass. Kobe got the ball, quickly turned and missed a bank under the hoop. He got it back and lost it, falling to the floor. He wanted the foul. Had he scored or gotten to the line, we take a 1-point lead with 10-seconds left. That's a whole different ball game. Prior to that, LeBron was outplaying Kobe in the battle of the stars down the stretch, both players struggled from the line. The Stats: He scored 33 points on 10-21 shooting (0-1 from three, 13-18 from the line) to go with 12 boards, 6 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 43 minutes. The Action: He hit a fade from the right side one his first attempt. He created off the dribble and whipped a pass under the hoop to Kwame for the dunk. He attacked and pulled up on the baseline for a jumper. He stipped Z to save a hoop. He blew past Lebron to his left and made a layup. He attacked again to his left around LeBron, he hung and banked. He spotted Farmar with a long bounce pass on the break for a layup. He attacked with speed and flushed over Gooden. He froze his man with a hesitation move, attacked and scored the layup. He was tripped with 3 seconds left and earned FTs since the Cavs took a foul a couple seconds earlier, he made only one FT. Excellent first half with 13 points on 6-6 shooting, 7 boards and 5 assists, leading the Lakers in all three of those categories. He missed his first shot of the game, a jumper with his left from 10 feet. He forced a pass to LO, getting caught in the air and it became a turnover. He got hit on a turnaround in the middle of the lane, he made just one FT again. He spun, took all kinds of contact without a call and hit an elbow fade. He overpowered Hughes with ease for a layup. He missed a layup and wanted the foul, he then picked up a tech. He drew FTs on a fade on the next trip down, he made both. He missed a wing jumper. He missed a layup in traffic and wanted a foul. He drained a wing jumper with his toe on the three line. He missed a three. He posted up LeBron, spun and drew FTs, he made both. He had 24 points on 9-14 shooting to go with 9 boards after three quarters. He pulled down an offensive board off a missed Kwame FT, he then drew a foul going back up to bank, he made both FTs. He drew more FTs, pushing out the break and getting hit in traffic, he made both. He got tapped on a running bank. He had the ball poked free, he scrambled for the loose ball, attacked after getting it and drew FTs, he made both. He whipped a pass to Ronny from the top of the arc and it drew FTs. He stalled the offense and missed a tough fade. Z fouled out with 6 minutes left going over the back of Kobe, he made one FT. He missed another tough fade. Back in after a brief rest late in the fourth, he attacked, missed a good chance at an And-1, then missed both FTs with 3:44...killer misses down by 4. He sank a baseline jumper off an inbounds pass, looked like it should have been an And-1. Wow, poor decision, spinning into a man while being doubled and he charged with just over a minute left. LeBron hit a jumper over him with 20 seconds left to give the Cavs a three-point lead. He had the ball in his hands after the Cavs blew an inbounds pass, he went up quickly with a man challenging and missed, he pulled it back down and lost it, he wanted the foul that never came (could have taken a 1-point lead with 10 seconds left, instead we now had to foul the Cavs). He took the handoff on the last play, went across the top of the three line with a double team trailing him, and tried to hit Luke with a return pass. The play developed way too slowly.

Lamar -- -- He was attacking early in the game, some of it was quick strikes in semi-transition before the D could pack it in. Then, he faded for most of the game. Shame we don't have an interior presence right now...especially when the Cavs lost their bigmen. It looked like we tried to set up Lamar for one play in the post against a smaller man, but we couldn't connect on the pass. Lamar also missed a drive to his right late in the game. Lamar didn't score in the fourth. The Stats: He had 14 points on 5-9 shooting (0-2 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 4 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 39 minutes. The Action: Second possession of the game, he flashes weak to strong, takes a pass in the lane and hits a layup (those are the kinds of plays we have to make an effort to purposely set up for him). He scored a layup off an inbounds, getting free under the hoop. He attacked to his left from the right wing and drew FTs (floor was spread well to give him room), he missed both FTs, however. He dunked off an interior feed from Luke. He spun at the wing to lose a defender and then scooped in a layup over Gooden. He missed a face up from the post. He overpassed not taking an elbow jumper and hoisted up a three a few seconds later (passed up the easier one for the three). After that initial flurry to start, he quieted down again, finishing the half with 8 points on 4-6 shooting. He iso'd on Z, attacked to his right and drew FTs, he made both. Poor possession, going behind his back wildly to Kwame for a turnover. He took a handoff in the lane, dodged one man and scored over another. He was fouled intentionally when Varejao sprained his ankle, LO knocked down both FTs. He posted up and hit Ronny at the front of the rim for the layup. He had 14 points on 5-8 shooting, 9 boards and 3 assists after three quarters. He missed a layup attacking to his right and trying to stretch around a man with under a minute left.

DFish -- -- Poor game from Fish. He seems like he's either off or on. Today from the first couple releases, you could see he wasn't dialed in. He missed a three late in the game that could have changed the nature of the last possession. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-11 shooting (0-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards and 1 assist in 31 minutes. The Action: He missed an open three. He missed a drive to his right. He missed another open three. He swished a baseline jumper after returning from a rest. He airballed a three on his next attempt. He took contact with no call and missed a layup. Poor possession, trying to go early, but he forced a jumper right into his man after not creating enough separation and was blocked. Rough first half, scoring just 2 points on 1-7 shooting. He got hit on a baseline jumper, he made both FTs. He sank a stepback wing jumper with a man on him. He missed a three. He was 2-9 (0-4 from three) heading into the fourth. He ball-faked to lose a defender, then swished the wing jumper with a toe on the three line. He missed a three out of a timeout, trying to tie up the game.

Luke -- -- He didn't get a shot off and tried to get it back to Kobe on the last possession...yeah, he should have tried to toss it up there, but come on...he was put in a bad spot. When he got the ball back on a slow return feed from Kobe, LeBron was on top of him. That's a bad position to put Luke in when you need to create a three, not exactly Hedo Turkoglu here like in the prior game. He should have shot it anyway and might had a hair of room to do it, but could have been blocked. Are you really expecting Luke to hit a three with a man on top of him and the game on the line? The fault goes to the play we set up out of a timeout...we created a poor option with the game on the line. Prior to that Luke had been playing one of his better games in a long while with some good D and coming up with a huge steal and dunk, a key play in crunch time that changed the game from possibly going down by 6 or 7 to trailing by just 2 instead. He was in on a number of key plays, most of the good...except for that last one he should have chucked up there...and a missed FT in crunch time. The Stats: He had 9 points on 4-8 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 4 steals, 1 turnover and no fouls in 33 minutes. The Action: He missed off the glass, but Kwame cleaned it up. He took a long outlet, then dumped it to LO for the dunk. He missed a baseline turnaround. Lazy pass on the perimeter, tossing it past Kobe and it was picked off for an easy score. He overpowered his man in the post, but couldn't convert. He missed a corner three. He swished a wing jumper out of a timeout. He swiped the ball back from Varejao to save a possession. He had 2 points on 1-5 shooting, 3 boards, 2 assists and 1 steal at the half. He powered in a layup over LeBron with his left. He sank a long baseline turnaround over LeBron. Nice read on D anticipating a return pass and getting a piece of it to get a stop. Great D again, stripping LeBron under the hoop as he spun, it ignited the break. He pulled down an offensive board and it led to a Farmar three. He missed a chance to hit Ronny wide open under the hoop. Another great defensive play against LeBron on iso, he poked the ball loose, took the outlet and dunked wtih 3:22 left in the game to cut the lead to 2. He attacked from the wing with aggression, took a foul and just missed the And-1, he made one FT with 1:30 left. Didn't get the shot off with the game on the line.

Kwame -- -- There was a brief, but costly stint for Kwame midway through the fourth where he gave up a 4-point sequence to the Cavs. He was benched a few seconds later. After that sequence, he was benched and the fans cheered. He didn't make any of his freethrows in this game. Uggh. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting (0-3 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 2 assists and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. The Action: Nice follow on a miss from Luke to tip it in. He dunked when Kobe broke down the D and found him under the hoop. He missed a baseline hook. He took a pass while cutting down the lane, absorbed the contact and hit the And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He kicked out and Sasha drained the three. He had 6 points on 3-5 shooting, 4 boards and 2 assists in the half. He popped out with the reach to strip the ball from a guard. He drew FTs when Farmar tapped an offensive board to him, he bricked both, but Kobe got the second miss. He got caught in the air on a pumpfake on the perimeter, giving up an And-1, he didn't secure the missed FT and Z scored again (4-point sequence on Kwame). He was subbed out.

Turiaf -- -- Some tough play down the stretch for us. Wish we could have given him a chance to try to post up with the smaller Cav lineups out there late in the game. He did take advantage with a key offensive board and score with 13 seconds left. The Stats: He had 8 points on 2-6 shooting (4-6 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 block and 2 fouls in 18 minutes. The Action: He was fouled trying to finish under the hoop at the end of the first quarter and made one FT. He missed a turnaround in the post. He missed a jumper short. He had 1 point on 0-3 shooting and 1 block in 5 minutes in the first half. He caught a pass from Lamar and finished while still in the air. Nice catch on a hot pass from Kobe down the middle of the lane and he drew FTs, making both. He drew FTs again on the next trip down when Kwame found him with an interior feed, he made one. He missed a layup in traffic, got it back and was tied up. He fouled LeBron on a switch, but LeBron missed both. He jumped out on a guard to force a tough jumper and we got the miss. He grabbed a DFish miss and scored a layup with 13 seconds left.

Farmar -- -- Up and down game from Farmar. He had a big three late in the game (and hit both from distance that he took), but again, he had some careless possessions and costly turnovers late. He needs to clean that up down the stretch. It's definitely hurting us. Soft fourth quarter execution is too hard to overcome these days. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-5 shooting (2-2 from three) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 22 minutes. The Action: He drained a three on a kickout from Lamar. He scored a reverse on the break when Kobe found him with a long bounce pass. He missed a tough catch and shoot, not getting squared up completely. He missed a layup off a drive. He had 5 points on 2-4 shooting in 9 minutes in the first half. He tipped an offensive board to Kwame and it drew FTs. He drained a wing three, popping up quickly off the high wing screen. He was called or carry. He threw a pass away on the next possession.

Radmanovic -- -- He came in midway through the second quarter for the first time in a long time. If he had a game under his belt, maybe Phil puts him in for Luke in that final possession. But, he wasn't a very good option at this stage in his return. Vlad only had just a few minutes in this one. The Stats: He went 0-2 with 1 turnover and 1 foul in 5 minutes. The Action: He got tapped on a wing jumper on his first attempt. He missed a three.

Vujacic -- -- Good minutes from Sasha. I was surprised they didn't have him in the game on the last possession when we were looking for a three. Or, even with Fish struggling. Get your shooters out there, Phil. Sasha was hitting and was the forgotten man in crunch time. The Stats: He scored 9 points off the bench on 4-5 shooting (1-1 from three) and 1 foul in 19 minutes. The Action: He sank an open three off a kickout from Kwame on his first attempt. He airballed a pull-up jumper. He got his money's worth on a foul reaching on LeBron, hitting him in the nose. He sank a wing jumper with his toe on the line. He took a pass in transition, took a dribble to his left to get space and hit the wing jumper. He swished a catch and shoot from the corner with his toe on the three line.

Phil -- -- Down by three with 9 seconds left, Phil called a timeout. We never got a shot off. The Cavs doubled Kobe, the pass was slow in returning to Luke, LeBron was on top of him and Luke tried to pass it off but the clock expired. Ball game. These high handoff sequences to Kobe never seem to amount to anything at the end of games. I can't recall the last one that worked... The game was delayed for a while late in the first by a leaky something from the rafters. It turned out to be some wet clothing left on the rafters by workers. Nice... Phil told Sasha to go see what the opposing coach was drawing up to players on a brief deadball. Sasha poked his head in and looked at the play and then relayed it. Lol... With Kobe off the floor midway through the second quarter, the offense stalled. The Cavs extended the lead a couple baskets when he returned. We trailed 49-40 at the half and were outscored 25-14 in that second quarter. We shot just 2-7 from the line in the first half, again giving away points... The Lakers came out with better energy at the half than the previous games and tied up the Cavs in the first few minutes of the third. We went on a 15-2 run. Glad to see us on that end of an opening third quarter run... You could see the Laker energy start to fade with 4 minutes left in the third and Phil went to Farmar and Sasha for Luke and Fish... The Lakers picked up their third illegal D call of the game at the end of the third... The Lakers shot 10-17 in the third and outscored the Cavs 31-20... Phil went to a Kwame, Ronny, Kobe, Sasha, Farmar match up briefly.. With Varejao down, Z then fouled out with 6 minutes left in the game. The Lakers bigs needed to take advantage. We called a timeout shortly later when we settled for a bad jumper and gave up a couple easy scores. Phil sat Kobe midway through the fourth with the Cavs on a big run... We drew up a three for Fish, he missed. But Ronny scored with 13 seconds left... With 9 seconds left, we went to the poor play call/lineup as mentioned. Where were our shooters, Phil?...

[Laker7]

The sad thing is we could play this way last year and still get the 7th or 8th seed. Much more of this and we will not even make the playoffs this year.


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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[Dr. Laker]

Bad closeout. Horrible sign.

No one stepping up.

Thanks, DB.
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[oldschool32]

One of Rad or Sasha should have been in the game at the end. I know Luke had no business in there. Phil has to quit this love affair with his favorite players.
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"It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up."-The Greatest

[VujacicFan]

I agree that Sasha should have been out there. He has proven he can hit the clutch threes.

[Siguy]

I know he was trying hard, but Kwame's four point swing to the Cavs was so deadly...

We put him in to guard Big Z, he gets Big Z trapped in the corner, pointlessly fouls him, then lets the freethrow sail past his fingertips. That killed us.

Phil I've already ranted against for his boneheaded last play. Just makes me sick. I've been to our Cavs games every year and we always lose the same (bleep) way! Are we ever gonna beat these guys!?

[20,000]

Bad coaching lately.

Odom, Kwame, Luke, and Vlad have not proven to be of any use. Mihm was a charity signing.

Missed free throws and all those dumb three-second calls killed the team.

Is this just a mini-slump, or a bad sign of things to come?
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Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[Crazy Like Ron Artest]

Db's emoticon says it all Reppin. Goodbye for a week.
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Crazy yes......Nostrodamus no way because my predictions fail!!!!!

[Sage_10]

Got to give it to the Cavs, they played good D.
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"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[LakerSanity]

DB... I have to ask, because I respect your opinion. Do you think Kobe's game is regressing? There are many other elements to blame for this loss, but the question still stands. It seems like when he has wanted to take his game into another gear in the 4th, he hasn't been able to... the shot attempts are there, but the production is not. This isn't the first game it has happened either.

Clearly he hasn't lost much, but I have began to wonder whether or not the reason he seems to be playing a more balanced game has something to do with the fact he is more limited in the kind of game he can play. For example, I think his first step or his ability to get to the rim has definitely regressed. The largest thing though, again, is that I can't remember the last time he just took over a game in the 4th.
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[prisma8slg]

thanks DB.

disappointing loss
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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."

[Thedo]

Although it's obvious we miss Bynum's post presence, the last couple of games pretty much slipped through our hands.

Too many TO's, missed free throws, and inconsistent play leading to stagnant scoring (3rd quarters have been killing us, except for today).

Could this be a sign of fatigue? Luckily, ASB is coming up. However, so is a 9 game road trip...

Come on Lakers, step up and play smarter!

[stopthiZ8]

[stopthiZ8]

[LakerSanity]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[kobester]

[LakerSanity]

[KBryantisclutch]

This was really a tough one, especially after what happened to us in Cleveland. I was pretty upset today. What a wild fourth quarter though. From up 9 to down 4 to up 1 on that free throw by luke to down 3. . .but still had a chance to win after stealing the inbounds pass.
Yes Lebron had a great finish, and I'm glad he got swept in the Finals. The guy is great, but he got swept in the Finals.

[Sister Golden Hair]

[JUST-MING]

[Sister Golden Hair]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[8750]

thanks, DB
in these last three seasons i remember almost ten times when we came off a time out in clutch and made terrible failures... as always under pressure our coach is totally unable to devise a plan... turiaf and odom on the floor when we need a fast three pointer, while farmar, vujacic and radmanovic watch from the bench is really absurd...

[mike_dee23]

You know, I'm a big Sasha booster, most of the time it's just because I like the scrubby players. But his play since Bynum's gone down has been excellent. He shows up every night, plays inspired defense and IS NOT AFRAID TO SHOOT. Maybe it's time he gets MAJOR minutes over Luke. Sasha should have definitely been in the game at the end. There was no reason PJax should have had him on the bench.
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MTFBWYA