LAKERS -at- WIZARDS - 2/3 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Active Early... And by early, I don't mean the 9 a.m. game time for us West Coast fans. The Lakers picked up where they left off in the fourth quarter against Toronto, pushing out to an early 30-15 lead against the Wizards. The ball movement was quick and with purpose, the Triangle was clicking, Kobe was explosive...and that was all she wrote. They cruised to a 103-91 win.

Pau Gasol was on the sidelines and in some huddles, but not suited up. We didn't need him today, but it would have been an easy game to work him into. Laker fans in D.C. already had their "Pau" signs out, ready to represent. Wonder how often he's seen that on road games?

Gasol will get his first action in the next game. I love how the Pistons-Mavs game is going on and the announcers are still talking about this trade, even showing the new Laker lineup. They didn't say it, but the pick up of Gasol could have a similar affect to how the Rasheed trade impacted Detroit.

Kobe had an impressive 30 points on 10-15 shooting, continuing his tour de force on the road. The Lakers also got some scoring punch from Vlad, who dropped 15 points on 6-9 shooting in his best game since returning from the injury.


Kobe -- -- He continued to torch his opponents and carry this team. The offense is going through him, and he's aggressive, but it's not stagnating at all. The Lakers are at their best when they get that mix. After piling up the minutes in the previous two games, nice to see Kobe get that reduced in this one. The Stats: He scored 30 opints on 10-15 shooting (2-5 from three and 8-11 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in just 35 minutes. The Action: He was fouled on a floater in the lane, he made both FTs. He sank a one-foot jumper from the corner. He turned the corner with intent off the dribble, attacked the baseline and threw down. He posted up, stepped through a late double and drew FTs, he made both. He took the interior feed from Ronny and threw down with both hands. He missed a fade. He took contact on Young on a jumper, he made both FTs. He hit a wing jumper with his toe on the three line. With the clock running low, he faced up and swished a long three. He stepped around Caron and easily scored a layup. He had 19 points on 6-8 shooting in the first quarter. He sat to start the second and came back in after 6 minutes of rest. He swished a face-up jumper over Caron from the wing. He deflected a pass on help D for a turnover. He missed a three. Kobe blew past Butler with a quick first, second and third step, then scored the And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He got Young in the air on a pumpfake, then drew the foul on the jumper, he made both FTs. He had 25 on 8-11 shooting in the first half. Good D, but it didn't matter, he drained a fallaway from the wing with the shotclock low. He missed a three. The Wizards started sending instant doubles when he touched the ball (didn't matter where on the floor). He drew the double on the low post and threw it up high to Ronny who gathered and scored. Bad pass trying to force it to Fish and it was picked off easily. Kobe only took two shots in the third quarter and scored just 2 points. Back in, he spun away from the double and hit the fading three at the top of the key as his leg kicked out to balance correct. He spun and missed a jumper. He escaped a double team on the sideline and drew a foul getting ready to dunk, he missed both FTs.

Lamar -- -- Lamar was firing from the perimeter early and got into a little bit of a groove after some early misses. He kept it to midrange jumpers and the occasional play at the rim. He was active on both ends throughout the game, and did a nice job on some close outs on D. Jamison had 21, but on 21 shots. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 7-11 shooting to go with 7 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and just 1 foul in 38 minutes. The Action: He clanked a baseline jumper to start the game. He blocked Haywood from behind to save a hoop. He clanked another wing jumper short, got it back and fed a cutting Turiaf for FTs. He popped out and quickly drained the 18-footer from the wing. He missed a turnaround with the shotclock low. He missed in the post but Mbenga cleaned it up. He swished a fade at the FT line. He sealed his man, took the entry pass and scored the easy layup. He hit a short jumper in the lane. He sat after a long 18-minute stint with 8 points on 4-8 shooting. He attacked the lane and found Ronny for the dunk. Nice give-and-go to Vlad out of the offense and Lamar threw down. He sank a top-of-the-key jumper with the shotclock low. We cleared out for Lamar at the end of the third, he attacked and kicked to Sasha for the three. He scooped up a loose ball and powered in the layup.

Fisher -- -- Quiet game from Fish. We didn't need his perimeter shooting with Vlad and others getting it done. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-6 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 28 minutes. The Action: He missed a wing jumper. He swished one from the other side on his next attempt behind the screens. He missed a long wing three, short. Fish picked up an offensive foul away from the ball and then got a T. He swished a corner three over Jamison. He drew a charge on Butler's drive. He missed a wing jumper. He missed an open wing three.

Turiaf -- -- Good effort from Ronny anchoring the D at times. He was able to stay out of foul trouble after picking up his second foul late in the first quarter. We still miss that rebounding presence out there, and Ronny had just 3 boards. Hopefully that changes with Pau's addition. Hard to say how often the Gasol/Turiaf combo will end up on the floor together. If it does happen, expect Ronny to be the PF which is more complicated to learn. There's a chance we see it whenever LO gets a rest. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-11 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 5 assists, 1 block and 3 fouls in 33 minutes. The Action: He sank an elbow jumper on his first attempt. He faked the jumper and hit Vlad under the hoop for a layup. He erased Daniels drive with authority. He cut as Lamar gathered a rebound, Ronny took the pass and was fouled under the hoop, he made one FT. He hit Kobe with a quick interior feed for a dunk. He picked up his second foul trying to deny a tip-in with 3:35 left in the first quarter. He faced up, bounced off his man and hit the jumphook in the lane. He got tied up from behind by Butler, he won that jumpball easily. He sank a 19-footer straight away. Way short on a midranger in the lane. He was grabbed after he was about to throw down off the two-man game with Fish, he made both FTs. He missed a jumper, but got it back, he then reset the offense and ended up with a dunk as LO drove and dished. He went up high for the return pass from Kobe, gathered it and scored the layup. He was blocked on a jumper. He missed an elbow jumper. He missed a jumphook.

Radmanovic -- -- "Some nights the rim is a little bigger than other nights," Vlad said afterward. When he gets in one of his zones, he's automatic. Some of our blowout wins this year have coincided with Vlad giving us that extra scoring punch. Anytime we can get that, it opens things up on the floor and makes the game real simple. And, even though he had it going, he still mixed in a lot of quick passing to keep the offense flowing. Vlad was also effective on the glass, even drawing a couple fouls crashing the offensive boards.The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-9 shooting (3-4 from three) to go with 7 boards, 4 assists, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 32 minutes. The Action: He scored a layup when Ronny spotted him under the hoop. Good position on the offensive glass and he drew a push foul to get us back the possession. He sank a pull-up off the dribble from 17 feet. He overpassed from under the hoop, but Sasha hit the three anyway. Sasha returned the favor on the next offensive stand and Vlad hit the 21-footer. He sank an open three near the end of the second quarter, than gave FTs to Caron on the other end. He sank a corner three on quick Laker ball movement. He biffed a layup. He crashed the glass and got us another possession drawing the foul. He flashed to the FT line to take a pass from Lamar, who cut then cut behind his man, Vlad quickly bounced it back to him and LO threw down. He swished another three on an inside-out sequence with quick passing. He missed a three trying to beat the shotclock next time down. He had 15 points on 6-8 shooting after three. Not close on a layup attempt when Ronny found him.

Farmar -- -- Not a good game from Farmar, but thankfully, we didn't need it. He couldn't do much well on either end. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-6 shooting (0-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 23 minutes. The Action: He slipped trying to pull-up for a three at the first quarter buzzer and missed. He missed a three from the wing. He attacked the mismatch and hit a fade in the lane over Jamison. He missed a wide open three. He was way short on a pull-up jumper. He got his legs taken out on a backdoor lob and hit the floor, he made both FTs. He traveled after taking contact with no call. He got caught in the air and his man blew past him for a layup. He missed a finger roll.

Luke -- -- In for Ronny late in the first as we went small. He played limited minutes as Vlad had it going. He looked less aggressive, but more in control. I didn't get to mention in the last report how Luke's game will be affected by Gasol. When Bynum gets back, that will limit Luke's minutes. LO will be pushed to the starting SF, Luke to the bench...and from there he will be competing with Vlad and Ariza for minutes. In the near future, he will get plenty of run as Vlad isn't very consistent and we need warm bodies. Luke has usually had good chemistry with our bigmen. At the beginning of the year, he was especially effective at finding both Ronny and Bynum when they got a bit of daylight under the hoop. Gasol needs less daylight to still be effective. I expect Luke will find him in good position moving off the ball with some consistency. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting to go with 2 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 14 minutes. The Action: He swished a wing jumper on his first attempt. He sank another long wing jumper off the rare Sasha pinch post. He missed an open jumper a few seconds later. He missed a pull-up jumper in the lane.

Vujacic -- -- Excellent minutes again on the offensive end. Not quite the impact of his previous good games, but still, three of his last four games have been outstanding. He led the bench in scoring again. The Stats: Sasha had 12 points on 5-8 shooting (2-4 from the line) to go with 3 assists, 1 board, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 23 minutes. The Action: He didn't draw iron on a step-back jumper trying to go two-for-one. He drained a corner three on a kickout from Vlad. He hit Vlad next time down for a jumper. He missed a three on a kickout. He buried a three when we cleared out for Lamar at the end of the quarter and Sasha's man tried to help. He scored a reverse layup off the handoff from Ronny to start the fourth. He sank a baseline jumper in early offense. He threw a bullet pass to Mbenga for a dunk. He lost his man on the fly by, moved in closer and sank the wing jumper. He missed a difficult fading jumper from the corner.

Karl -- -- He came in the game midway through the fourth. He tried to create off the dribble and drew a clear out foul. He sat back down a few seconds later.

Mbenga -- -- Another strong effort off the bench, giving us 6 points, 6 boards and 2 blocks in just 14 minutes. He looked like he belonged on the floor. He's easily been one of the better 10-day contract signings we've had. His role will diminish a bit now with Gasol, but the way he has been playing, Phil could move Ronny to a few more PF minutes if he wanted and give DJ some occasional spot duty at C. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-3 shooting to go with 6 boards, 2 blocks, 1 assist and 3 fouls in 14 minutes. The Action: Nice anticipation, coming over to contest and secure a shot on help D. He cleaned up a miss by LO with an easy putback. He had 5 boards in that first stint. DJ swatted a three, busted out, got it back and dunked on the breakaway. He fouled Haywood on a reach. He dunked off a great feed from the perimeter by Sasha.

Phil -- -- A third of the way through the road trip and the Lakers are 2-1. They continue to win at that pace and we'll be very happy... We slid Lamar over to the C spot and Vlad to the PF when Ronny picked up his second foul of the first quarter. We did it just for a couple possessions... The Lakers were quick with the passes and Kobe picked up where he left off in the last game. We bolted out to a 30-15 first quarter lead... The second unit held strong, giving Kobe extended rest. When he came back we extended our lead to 63-41 to close the first half... The Lakers shot 66 percent to the Wizards 36 percent... Not much to say at halftime other then keep up the intensity and don't give up the lead... The Lakers led 86-62 heading into the fourth, then cruised the rest of the way. This game was never close...

[SweetP]

Thanks. Oooh, I'm first, don't think that has ever happened before.

Didn't get to see a single bit of the game, could only get the audio on-line but the Lakers just seemed to cruise in this one. Not bad so far for a long road trip. Could have easily been 3-0 and with Gasol joining in on Tues I expect a couple of nice pumped-up wins.
_________________
“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[Shaber]

Great win. Thanks, DB!

[waiipor]

many thanks

[Klone_dd]

Efficient Kobe = Danger for opposing teams. He's been doing it on such a variety of moves lately. His victims don't know what to stop first. Then with all the rapid ball movement and the team hitting their open jumpers, this game was in the fridge by halftime.

Nice to see LO actually make shots beyond 8 ft, and Vlad contributing. DJ looks like a nice fit. He's very active, shows on the p&r quickly and recovers well.

[yanyon]

i did get to watch the game.... but i still need to get the game breakdowns of each player.. thanks DB..

[Bas]

Im hoping they actually go ahead and sign DJ the rest of the season. He's impressed me.

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

hopefully we will have some thoughts and ratings about gasol on tuesday.


that turn around 3 point dagger kobe hit over jamison and young
_________________
"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[BigE32]

Another nice road win. Kobe was aggressive to start the game and we never looked back. Very impressive to lead from start to finish on the road. Great job of making the extra pass to someone who had a better look. Vlad had his stroke from beyond the arc which was really nice to see. Good minutes from Sasha as well as Mbenga. I liked how LO was really looking for his shot to start the second quarter. Kobe sat nearly a full six minutes to start the second half, which was encouraging because he's logged some heavy minutes to start the road trip. I'm sure Gasol will be getting a crash course on the Triangle today and tomorrow to get him ready for Tuesday's game against the Nets. Thanks, DB, and I hope everyone enjoys the Super Bowl.

[PakaLOLO]

thanks
_________________
I speak Emoji

[marloveslakers24]

thanks DB.

[VujacicFan]

Great performance by Kobe and Sasha.

[Vadorojo]

Another great team game be the Lakers. We looked calm, cool and in control for the entire 48 minutes. With Kobe as efficient as he has been these past 2 games, our offense is brutal ... with the addition of Gasol, we've seriously got a potent offensive punch.

I like what I see from Mbenga. I hope we sign him for the rest of the year.
_________________
"I like looking at a guy's face when he realizes that even his best moves aren't going to work on me all night. They look depressed." - Ron Artest

[Tanlentueux]

DB for President !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have my vote man !

[Sister Golden Hair]

I thought the defense was excellent for the most part. Sasha continues to play with effort. Today's game from Vlad was what I've been expecting from him. Having a consistent threat on the circle helps spread the flor out for Kobe. And when they collapse around Kobe, Vlad and Sasha are out there ready to hurl three-point daggers.

I thought Mbenga played with good effort and focus. He did things (like catch and finish and move his feet for rebounds) that Kwame, frankly, never did consistently. I like Mbenga a lot, and the team should consider signing him for the duration of the season.

What else can one say? The team is playing excellent ball. Kobe is definitely walking on air. Odom seems more relaxed. I think the biggest revelation in recent games has been Ronny. The dude challenges everything, can hit the elbow jumper consistently, dives to the rack intelligently, and is an unselfish passer. Ronny is definitely a keeper and will be the fulcrum of that second unit once everyone is healthy.

SGH

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB. our offense has looked so fluid the past few games.
_________________
"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."

[stopthiZ8]

[lakersfreak]

[ishi331]

If this was at home, we woulda had our dacos.

[TooCool]

Thanks DB! I only caught the 1st half of the game... fell asleep during halftime. I woke up at the end of the 3rd quarter to hear Stu announce the score or something. Then fell back asleep. Thanks for the recap
_________________

[SP_Fever]

good game by Mbenga, with the boards and blocks. he looks to get into the right places for scores and rebounds in the offensive end, and hustles on defence. good game overall by the whole team, really

[DancingBarry]

[Laker7]

I liked a whole lot of what I saw from the Lakers today. Two things really made me happy:

1. Pau sitting on the sidelines with Brian Shaw as BShaw diagramed triangle plays and explained them as they were executed. I think this was great and not only will help Pau understand the offense but it builds a relationships with one of our coaches.

2. As DJ and SGH posted, DJ really looked like he belonged out there. There were a couple of sequences where I think he was playing against Haywood and basically held his own. I don't think that Haywood is all that good but he is at least as good as any backup in the NBA.
_________________
Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[ValisJason]

[DancingBarry]