LAKERS -vs- BOBCATS - 10/23 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Will We Be Healthy for the Opener?... With Kobe on the sideline resting his knee next to his BFF Sasha, the Bobcats and Lakers stretched the limits of hoop ugliness. The two teams combined for 46 turnovers as the Lakers won their fifth straight while Bobcats lost their eighth straight, 88-77.

On the bright side, the Lakers tightened their defense with some sharper rotations, quick switches and a lot of strong-side zoning. The Bynum/Pau combo clogged the lanes and kept the Bobcats from getting anything easy in the halfcourt.

All thoughts are still on Kobe. "I've got a little bit of puffiness in the back of the knee, which was just from the trauma of landing the way I landed," Bryant said in the Times. "So we're just going to knock that out, make sure the swelling is out of there, which it should be soon, then I'm OK."

Phil on Kobe: "Tomorrow, if it's not any better at that time, then I think we have to do some diagnostic [test] and see what it is."

Hopefully, No. 24 will be out there and looking like himself.



Gasol -- -- Phil has limited his minutes considerably in the preseason, but Pau has played with the same consistency throughout these games. There haven't been wide swings in impact, just very steady, impressive ball minute after minute, game after game. He continues to run the PF spot very well, his versatility making the Bynum/Pau duo look like a force to be dealt with. Pau on the developing chemistry with Bynum: "We understand each other more every game. It's just a matter of playing together." Defensively, the two clogged the lane and took away penetration. Phil is using the PF to zone up and rotate quite a bit, and Pau is did an effective job at it tonight. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-7 shooting (3-5 from the line) to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 2 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 20 minutes. The Action: He scored a putback off an Ariza missed layup. With a host of players around him, he attacked May, faked left, went right and hit the And-1 turnaround, he made the FT. His jumper in the lane was blocked by Okafor. He dumped Nazr to the floor while powering up to draw a foul, he made both FTs. He swished a 16-footer straight away. Second Half: He faced up, swung through, attacked to his right and drew FTs, he missed both. Nice challenge under the hoop to save a sure layup. He took the post entry from Bynum, let the cutters clear out and hit a short turnaround. He hit a soft hook off the two-man game with Lamar. He missed a hook with his left.

Bynum -- -- Excellent job on the boards tonight in limited minutes. He was gobbling up everything in his general area. He didn't get as much isolated post opportunities as he should have. With Kobe out, he also didn't get any playmaking to set him up. In other words, he was very under-utilized on the offensive end. Defensively, he was active, if not dominant at times in the middle...swatting, challenging, negating post play and controlling the glass. I'd like to see Phil run Bynum extended minutes in the next game to check his conditioning. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-3 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. The Action: Great offensive board from behind, but he completely bricked the left-handed jumphook. He roofed a player forcing him to throw up a prayer on the other side of the rim, then he snagged the board. He was called for a travel after getting bumped with no call on a post move. He drew a foul on May working the offensive glass. He swatted a dribble penetration into the first row. He ran the pick and roll with Fish, grabbed the lobbed and crammed it down, very nice (that looked like Bynum of last year). Second Half: He posted up, let the cutters clear out and hit a short jumphook. Very nice, controlled shot block against Okafor's post move (definitely looked like he knew he was blocking it and made sure to grab the block quickly). He drew FTs away from the ball, he made both.

Radmanovic -- -- After hitting his first three, Vlad was clanking from distance the rest of the night. He still managed to scratch out a few points and generally played decent D. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-9 shooting (1-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 22 minutes. The Action: He buried a wing three in early offense. He hit an elbow jumper, working off the ball. He missed a wing three. He got tapped on a wing jumper set up out of a timeout. He hit a pull-up off the dribble from the wing. Second Half: He missed a wing three. He didn't go up strong and tried a jumphook which he bricked badly. He missed another long jumper on the next possession. He drew FTs on an attack down the lane, he made both. He missed a wide open sideline three.

Fisher -- -- While he spreads the floor for the bigs, his weaknesses get more exposed without Kobe in there and running across Ariza. The team misses the playmaking at the guard spot and DFish won't provide a lot of that. He did, however, team up for one of the plays of the game working the two-man game with Bynum. Those two are very effective when the opportunity arises. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-10 shooting (0-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 23 minutes. The Action: He attacked in transition and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a wing three in transition. He hit a pull-up baseline jumper out of a timeout. Horrible job running the break, he didn't give it up to LO in the middle, then tried to lob and had it deflected (again, transition point work is one of his weaknesses). He sank a deep wing jumper from the right side. Nice high pass to Bynum off the two-man game and Bynum threw down the lob. He missed a wing three. He missed an early offense three. He missed another early offense wing jumper. He hit a runner in traffic down the middle of the lane. Second Half: He missed a sideline three. He tried to post up Felton and was rejected.

Ariza -- -- One of the rare games that Ariza didn't get into double digits in the scoring column this preseason. He had to step in at the SG for Kobe. This took away from some of the good second-unit run he's been giving. Despite all the turnovers in this game, the team struggled to take advantage of them on those on the break. In fact, even though the Bobcats had 18 turnovers in the first half, we didn't scratch on the break that half. Ariza has been a big part of that fastbreak attack, but it finally developed in that second half and that's when we started to pull away. He went 1-2 from outside tonight, and he's now 7-16 from the perimeter this preseason. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-7 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 26 minutes. The Action: He got knocked out of bounds, but the turnover went to him (seemed like a foul). He bricked a layup, getting caught in air. He missed in transition again, but Pau cleaned it up. He took his eyes off a pass from Fish and dropped it out of bounds (this should have been a fastbreak score). He missed a wing jumper. He missed a runner (should have been a foul). He hit a tough running mid-range fade from the right side. Second Half: He busted out, took the long outlet and scored the layup. He drew the D and kicked to Farmar for the three. He jumped the passing lane at the top of the perimeter and instantly drew a clear-path foul, he made both FTs.

Lamar -- -- A tale of two halves for LO in this one. Really poor first stint for Lamar. He didn't impose himself, didn't get involved and ended up with three fouls, four turnovers and no points. He switched gears in the second half. While he nailed a couple threes in the half court set, he was also able to get out on the break more, which is where he is most effective. He had a lot of ball handling duties as a lead guard tonight. Defensively, some nice challenges and intimidations and he also did a good job on the glass. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-6 shooting (2-4 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 24 minutes. The Action: He missed a turnaround from the post. He had some words with Brown after the two got tangled up in the lane. Good steal, but then he threw the breakaway pass away. Second Half: He worked the two-man game with Pau and fed him for a score (more of that please). He hit Ariza with a football pass on the break for a layup. He sank a three from the top of the key when Farmar kicked it out to him. Next time down, he was feeling it and quickly siwshed the wing three. He missed a wing three a few minutes later. Beautiful flip pass back to Mbenga who was filling a lane behind him on the break, and Mbenga hammered it down. Again, out on the break, he took the pass from Karl, power dribbled and scored the And-1 going up strong, he made the FT.

Farmar -- -- More aggressive play from Farmar at the PG. He's attacking with regularity and using those hops of his to get up high and finish. The second unit was supposed to play the speed game last year, but it was nothing like what they have been able to do this preaseason. Having Lamar and Ariza out there with Farmar helps that immensely. Hopefully, they can maintain that up-tempo game. We will be throwing Sasha in the mix with them shortly. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-12 shooting (2-3 from three) to go with 5 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 25 minuets. The Action: He missed a runner off the pinch post. He missed a three. He attacked the middle of the lane, then powered over his man with his left for a score. Second Half: He swished a wing three on a kickout from Ariza. He attacked baseline and kicked to Lamar for an open three. He missed a pull-up wing jumper. The mustard came off the hotdog on a no-looker from the middle of the lane (looked like he could have finished it himself). With 5.7 left in the third quarter, he pushed the ball up court, pulled up at the three line and swished the three at the buzzer with defenders around him. He got stuffed on a layup attempt. Next time down, he got into Wallace's body on the break, then exploded up for the layup. He missed a runner on the break. He took the between-the-legs pass from Luke off the pinch post, attacked with speed took contact and scored (should have been an And-1). He couldn't finish a layup on the break after a reach by a defender. He missed a jumper. He hit Coby trailing a break for the throwdown.

Mihm -- -- He and Mbenga closed out the game on the floor together. I'm not sure both will be active often during the regular season for us to see this. I think if Mihm's good to go, he'll probably be the designated bigman while Mbenga fills an IR spot. Not a lot of quality action from Chris tonight, and he didn't control the boards as well as he has been. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 block, 3 turnovers and no fouls in 14 minutes. The Action: He faced up in the post on his first touch and was immediately stripped. Bad hands on an entry pass from Lamar and it resulted in a turnover. Up high for an offensive board, but then he lost it. Second Half: He went to the front of the rim and easily tipped in a Farmar missed jumper.

Luke -- -- He struggled finishing around the rim, but on the positive side he hit some nice elbow jumpers. Steady minutes from Luke. He needs to work on his touch around the glass right now because it's off. He also is struggling from three. So what else is new? But he did play effective minutes on both ends and that's a good sign. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-8 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 24 minutes. The Action: He tried to create off the dribble and coughed it up. He rushed and choked a reverse layup around Felton (just power those up, sheesh). He bricked a hanging three-footer. He got rejected at the front of the rim. He hit an elbow turnaround. Second Half: He came in for Pau, sliding Lamar to the PF and he drew some FTs, he made both. He scored a layup off a high pinch post out of the timeout. He was called for a charge trying to post up and attack to his left. He hit Farmar in stride with the between-the-legs pass for a layup. He swished a pull-up elbow jumper on the next possession. He attacked baseline and flipped in a layup. He measured a wing three and missed.

Mbenga -- -- He came in to start the fourth and managed to get in on a couple highlight plays. He also tried to hit jumpers and make some post moves without success. And, for whatever reason, he was handling the ball a lot mid court, which wasn't pretty. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting, had 1 rebound, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 12 minutes. The Action: Did not play. Second Half: After some good challenges on the defensive end, he trailed a break, took a flip pass from Lamar and threw down. He missed a jumphook. He volleyball spiked a shot attempt in the lane. He missed a short jumphook. He missed a 17-footer out of a timeout (PJax, what the?). He missed a 16-footer. He threw a pass away in the backcourt.

Sun -- -- He came in at the midway point of the second quarter and had a couple of stints this game. He looked a little more confident, but you can see he is putting a lot of pressure on himself and very aware of any mistake. The bench was pulling for him, standing up on a number of near scores. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 0-3 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 1 foul in 9 minutes. The Action: He was called for a blocking foul out on the perimeter. He missed a baseline jumper (but went up more confidently at least). Nice D on Felton, then he reached in to strip the ball off another Bobcat and force a turnover. Another confident looking jumper, and he got completely tapped on a three (down, in and rattled out). Second Half: He couldn't finish the And-1 on the break (Kobe and Sasha were on their feet hoping for the score), he made one FT. He was fouled again next time down trying to throw down (the bench up again), he made both FTs this time. He missed an open baseline jumper next time down.

Karl -- -- Finally, one of the bubble players had a strong game. Good job by Coby tonight with Dad in the crowd. And, with Kobe and Sasha not playing, he was able to get some early action in the first quarter against regular rotation players. He did a good job working within the offense and hitting creative shots in the lane. Coby knows how to change speed and change direction decently to get himself past defenders and that came to play tonight. "He's a better player than he was last year," George Karl said. "I'm just proud of him." The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-7 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 19 minutes. The Action: He swished a wing jumper off a screen after taking the in-bounds pass. He got tapped on a three. He curled to the strong side, then went up and under to lose his man and score. Second Half: He set up Lamar on the break for an And-1. He missed a long jumper, didn't look squared up. He attacked with speed off the pinch post, jack-knifed in the air and flipped in a layup between defenders. Great finish on the break, taking off from between the circles and flushing a dunk with both hands. He missed a three a step behind the line.

Phil -- -- Sasha has been cleared to play in the next game. Hopefully, he will get some run. It will be interesting to see how Phil tries to throw him in the mix... We started a Bynum, Pau, Vlad, Ariza, Fisher lineup with Kobe on the sideline... Phil continues to zone up strong side, sending the PF usually to take away the dribble penetration. The Bobcats didn't get their first score until 4 minutes into the game as this was effective. The half court defense tonight to start the game was very, very good. The Bobcats ended up getting most of their early scores in transition... He brought in LO for Pau... A lot of turnovers by both teams in the quarter. The Lakers led 18-14 after one... The second quarter was more of the same. The two teams combined for 34 first half turnovers (Lakers 16, Cats 18). Wow. The halftime score was 36-30. The Bobcats shot 27 percent, the Lakers 41 percent... Lamar came in for Vlad midway through the third quarter... The Lakers had a 15-0 run midway through the quarter, then let the Bobcats go on an 8-0 run... With a 30-point third, the Lakers led 66-55 heading into the fourth... "We've been outrageous with the basketball," Phil said between quarters. They switched balls at halftime as the players said the other was slippery... The Lakers controlled the fourth quarter and got some good run for the end of the bench... We got out-rebounded 47-42. Combining 8 blocks with 13 steals, we should have had more than 11 fastbreak points. At least it came alive in the second half...

[Arizona]

First?

Great timing! There's a first time for everything I guess! Nice write-up as usual, DB. Ugly first half, much better second half all round. Guess maybe it was that 'slippery ball'.
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“I’m just a basketball player, you know? Just put me where you need me.” -Lamar Odom

“You’ve got to play with pride and guts.” -LO

[10scott10]

the first half was so painful to watch

[LakerSanity]

With Bynum, we're really starting to see his defensive impact. You see him in the lane, making sure he avoids those 3 second calls, moving all over the place to make sure a potential penetrating perimeter figure sees him there and knows he's there waiting. You could just see sometimes the perimeter players getting by their defender and then stopping realizing they'd have to deal with Bynum or Pau. That's what I am talking about.

DB, was it just me or did our defense this game look very celtic's-like? That defensive scheme I saw, almost all night, looked nothing like the defense we played last year. I saw people moving into spots and rotating not based on one on one matchups, but rather in almost a matchup zone. It wasn't always effective, only because there is sometimes still some confusion (and we still need more effort a lot of the time), but I was REALLY impressed.... especially with the active feet and movement on D by both Bynum/Gasol when they were in the game (either together or apart). That just did not look like our normal D from last year.

I Heart Farmar.
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[10scott10]

[lakersfreak]

DB
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[Tanlentueux]

thanks !

[PakaLOLO]

Sun did seem a little more confident this game. I was on my feet too routing for him.

I dont think they had there backdoor lop this game. I was hoping to see it.

Thxs
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[AllorNothing]

[Mation]

Thanks DB!

Wow, tough preseason for the Bobcats.

Great sign of chemistry between Fish and Bynum on that alley-oop. Walton and Farmar also have a similar connection with the behind the legs pass to a slashing Farmar.

Really looking forward to Sasha's debut in the preseason tomorrow.

Didn't realize Ariza was 7-16 from the perimeter. The more he gets comfortable with the second unit, the more he'll feel comfortable with those type of shots. Don't think he'll be needing much of those though.

Good game from Karl too. That was quite a monsterous throw-down in the second half.

Funny stuff seeing Mbenga mbring up the ball.

[KingKobe]

I think the twin towers really are getting better each game. Bynum comes along a little more each day, and it helps the two play even better together.

In other thoughts, regarding Sun, I think a couple things, good and bad, are starting to show. On the bad side, he's not mentally ready to play in this league. And he needs a bit of time to grow more confident in his handle and his shot before he can be an effective weapon for us.

But on the plus side, despite still being too skinny for NBA basketball and coming off of his illness, I have to say he moves pretty well for a lanky 6'9. I'm not gonna go far enough on a limb to say its quite AK47 like, but he's done okay staying in front of point guards, which at his height is fairly impressive. I think I can see now what Mitch saw in the guy.

He still feels shaky with his handle, and needs to keep practicing his jumpshot before he can really show any of the playmaking skills we was supposed to have. And he'll need to put on quite a bit of lean muscle before he can really make an impact on defense, but putting on muscle just takes time, dribbling and shooting are skills that can improve (they're not that bad now) but when it comes to having quick feet at 6'9, you either have it or you don't and I think Yue is one of the very few that do. He could make an interesting player a year or so down the line.
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*Warning: The preceding post may have contained sarcasm and/or irony.

"We're all surrounded by idiots." - Kobe Bryant

[LAL4K3RS]

I hate the name the Twin Towers. Just to many uses of the same catch phrase. I would rather use something more impressive for how tall the ENTIRE team is with Odom playing SF, Mihm, Dbenga and so forth.

This team resembles a Mountain range. Not just a couple of peaks...I am talking a freakin full out Himalayains

Either that or for more of a Cali interp: The Redwoods. Tall and long branches. This team is going to have so many blocked shots it will look like Redwoods in gale force winds.

Anyway, I figure there are a ton of possible names but rather than look at just our 2 bigs, why not call out the entire team. Should be interesting to see them grow more cohesive over the coming weeks. The Defense is going to look amazing this year.

[Sage_10]

I have to admit the team did play excellent D but their offensive execution wasn't the best I've seen.
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[LakerJam]

[limchrc]

Thanks.

[RCS926]

Ugly game to watch, but the defense was fantastic all around...

[doven]

I feel happy for Yue and Coby

[wolfpaclaker]

Want to toot my own horn about Coby Karl. Told you guys he wasn't nearly as bad as most were declaring after a few games. He's fine as 3rd string SG, no problems on my part giving him that position.

AB and Pau look better.

Loved the 2nd half when Lamar stepped up his game.

Hope Kobe's ok.

In all fairness, the Lakers have played pretty poor teams so far minus Utah, in preseason. I want to see Lakers bigs (Bynum and Pau) fare well against the elites, and I want to see the 2nd unit play well against them too. Then we'll know the Lakers are ready.

[Freakout]

I came away frustrated. I can't help but get extremely pissed when I see the perimeter guys ignore Andrew and Pau.

In the first half there was one time down the floor where Andrew had Emeka sealed high on his hip. The ball should have went to the corner for a easy baseline feed inside to Andrew for a dunk. Instead yet again Radmanovic reversed the freaking ball which left me furious.

In the 3rd when Phil replaced Pau for Lamar, I swear they flat out ignored Andrew offensively for what seemed to be a solid 4 minute stretch. Often just jacking up quick shots before their center could even get down the floor.

I'm of the belief that if you want your big's to give sustained effort defensively you sure better reward them by at least letting them touch the ball offensively.

The chemistry has improved between Andrew and Pau but if they don't get the touches, in a freaking preseason game, then the team just wasted a chance to let these guys continue to build upon that chemistry.

I just don't understand Phil. Use to be the ball had darn better work inside out. Now he seems content with all the perimeter shooting. I swear he has changed his philosophy.

I'm glad Lamar finally woke up in the second half. He must have heard Collins questioning him on the broadcast. On the second unit there is no excuse for him to play passive offensively. Glad he stepped it up.

[Freakout]

[edwood94]

[Texas_Pete]

[Klone_dd]

I like the defensive wrinkle Phil has added. A quasi-zone so that the offense can't the the forest because of the trees.

It was a really ugly game, more like the 1st game of preseason rather than the next-to-last one.

[Arizona]

Yes, the bigs are definitely getting ignored. I particularly noticed it on the first few sequences when Ariza did his Kobe impersonation without the production. Most of the time the bigs hardly got across half court before they had jacked up the shot or Ariza had gone one on five. Ugly.
_________________
“I’m just a basketball player, you know? Just put me where you need me.” -Lamar Odom

“You’ve got to play with pride and guts.” -LO

[Gimme_the_rock]