LAKERS -at- SIXERS - 12/3 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

A New Day... Two kids stand on your lawn. "He's dead," says one as he munches on a handful of Hot Cheetos. "No, he's not, he's still breathing," says the other.

You become conscious and open your eyes. The kids scream and jump back. "I told you he wasn't dead," one says. "Well, he still doesn't look alright," says the other.

You groan and grab the welt on the back of your head. Around you rests the shattered remains of one of your two lawn gnomes.

"Hey, mister. You alright?" ask the kid with the Cheetos.

"Yeah, super." You sit up and feebly try to connect a couple pieces of lawn gnome together. "Either of you see what happened?"

They shake their heads.

A minute later, you plop down on your couch with a bag of ice to your head and a remote in your other hand. You absentmindedly flip through the channels still thinking about a broken lawn gnome and the woman who can predict earthquakes. None of it makes sense. Suddenly, there's nothing but static on the TV screen. You change stations as words scroll horizontally across every channel. It's that damn DancingBarry again:

"The Four Horsemen showed up in Philly. This is where the One on the pale horse is from. Years ago, he was just a kid here at Lower Merion, not the man-beast who unleashed fury in China this summer. He is Death, collector of souls, and he played with an edge to his game tonight. The Philly crowd hates him and let it be known. But Death has his fans, and they were the last standing.

He was seething the past 24 hours. He didn't care about scoring his 22,000 point in the 2nd quarter with 2.2 points left in the 2nd loss of the season on the 2nd day of December. He cared about the execution. That's what Death does. Perhaps, he played a little too angry tonight, but he was hungry for a "W" and ready to feast on the Sixers and their local fare."

"I'll tell you how mad I was, I didn't even go get a cheesesteak," Kobe said. Instead, he ordered one for post game. "I was expecting to be in a much better mood after the game, so it's already on its way."

The Laker defense was improved -- hard not to -- but there was still too much ball-watching and too many layups. The breakdowns in transition continue to disrupt their ability to make teams work. The second chances, again, were too frequent.

"Can't give up second shots," Ariza said. "We've got to box out, do a better job boxing out and everbody get in there to rebound."

The Lakers offense is still a nightmare of its own for opponents. The team shot 58 percent for the game. Kobe had 32 in the 114-102 win over the Sixers.

Elton Brand had just 3 points on 1-7 shooting. The Sixers are struggling at times to mix his game with their own, and our length also bothered him. He's not exactly fitting in like Pau Gasol did for L.A.


Kobe -- -- He was determined to score. On occasion, it resulted in a forced shot, but he still effectively carved up the Sixer defenders. His masterful handles were on display more than once in this game to get into the heart of the D. After a few made baskets he was giving Philly fan the death stare. Defensively, he again had some issues. There was some poor ball-watching and lack of rotations at times, and then there were some very good sequences. The defense breaks down when everyone is not rotating or covering for others. Sometimes, tonight, he and the team looked like they were resting instead of hustling. Normally, I'd chalk it up to the second night of a back-to-back, but it's been a bit of a trend on that end of the floor lately. The Stats: He scored 32 points on 12-20 shooting (1-3 from three, 7-7 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 37 minutes. The Action: No rotation, he parked in the lane and let Vlad cover two men, the Sixers hit a three on the first defensive stand. He missed a step-back 22-footer. He attacked the lane, hung and drew contact for FTs, he made both. He swished a baseline fade. He attacked, spun to his left across the lane and hit a runner with his left. He grabbed a rebound and pushed it out to Pau for a dunk. Good rotation to box out Dalembert and draw a foul. He canned a long wing jumper and fell to the floor. He back-rimmed a three. He scooped up a loose ball, pounded the dribble down court and scored the layup. He posted up, faced the hoop and hit the wing jumper. He had 12 points on 5-7 shooting in the first quarter. Back in, he took off on the dribble down the middle of the lane, took contact and hit the And-1 layup over defenders, he made the FT. He hit a pull-up wing jumper in early offense. He got back-doored for a layup. He forced a three, missed, layup the other way (just a very poor decision on that shot). He missed a runner off the glass. He had 17 points on 7-11 shooting. Second Half: He forced up a long jumper with a man on and airballed. Thaddeus Young flopped trying to draw a foul and Kobe just stared down at him while dribbling on the sideline. Fish was wide open next to him and Kobe threw it out of bounds. He threw another pass away, resulted in freethrows the other way. He missed a reverse layup, but Bynum cleaned it up. He yanked down a defensive board and was pushed, he made both FTs. He attacked the lane, drew defenders like a white-jersey magnet and dropped the pass off to Pau for a dunk. He jumped the passing lane, knocked a ball in the backcourt, tracked it down and sank a corner three on the one-man break (then stared at the crowd like Reggie Miller to Spike Lee after hitting a shot). He forced and missed a long fadeaway (Phil then sat him). Back in, he ballwatched and gave up a dunk off an offensive board. He split a double to lose two defenders, was fouled by two more with no call and still made the layup. He attacked from the wing, hung and banked in a tough shot in the paint. He attacked and was tripped for FTs, he made both. He attacked to his right, went between his legs, spun to the left to lose a man, and flipped in a layup over the help defender. He crossed over Iguodala badly then hit the long wing jumper.

Gasol -- -- Pau can hurt teams so many ways on the offensive end. For the second game in a row, we saw him push out a break as the center. This is in addition to his usual good job running the floor. Then when the game slows down, he goes to his crafty post work or money jumper. Defensively, he did a decent job. He got in on some swats and altered other shots. On the glass there were times when he would slap at the ball too much. I think he realized that because he was determined to secure a final rebound with bnoth hands late in the game. Also, some good perimeter close outs by Pau. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 8-12 shooting (6-8 from the line) to go with 13 boards (5 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 36 minutes. The Action: He was stripped from the blindside (should have been a foul). Running the floor, he took the outlet from Kobe and dunked. Good help D challenge to save a layup. He missed a layup getting challenged by Ratliff. He dunked off the extra pass from Lamar. Pau swiped the ball, pushed out the break (again how sweet is this at the C spot?) and then he hit Trevor with the pass for the dunk. He swatted Williams' three attempt. He got stripped in the post. He hit a 17-footer straight away. He blocked Brand's jumper on one end and hit the baseline jumper on the other. He posted up, spun to the middle and banked the jumphook in. He posted up Brand again, spun the opposite way this time and was fouled on the attempt with his left, he made one FT. He choked a putback trying to dunk it in with no one around. Second Half: He took the pass over the fronting Brand and dunked. He got stripped under the hoop by Bynum cleaned it up. He swatted Ivey, then knocked the ball off a Sixer. He dunked off the drive and dish from Kobe. He missed a layup, missed the tip and then was stripped. He hit the jumphook off the interior feed from Ariza. He had 17 points on 8-12 shooting and 10 boards after three quarters. He missed another putback jam, but drew FTs on a late whistle (good call, got hit on the arm), he made both FTs. He was pushed from behind while receiving a post entry, he made one of the FTs with 3 minutes left. He was fouled for more FTs.

Bynum -- -- I think he's going to develop much better if he plays more minutes with the second unit like he has been. He gets the ball more and gets to work the post. The result was another good scoring night. He did get pushed out of the block quite a bit, but he continued to get the ball. Some of his turnovers were a result of him trying to work too far from the hoop. Defensively, you can't like the 1 defensive board in 30 minutes. "Some of the guards out-rebounded Andrew tonight," Phil said. Keep "your own man in check" is what Bynum suggested prior to this game as what they needed to do defensively. He did that fine, but he needs to help control that defensive glass when he's out there. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-11 shooting (4-5 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 4 assists, 1 block, 5 turnovers and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. The Action: He missed a runner on the first shot of the game. He missed a short jumphook. He was called for a foul on a swat of dribble penetration. He threw down an And-1 dunk off shovel pass from Ariza, he made the FT. Good job running the floor and Farmar found him for the soaring dunk. He got stripped by Brand for a dunk the other way. Second Half: He rushed a jumphook and missed. He attacked strong from the wing to his left and scored a layup. He tipped a Kobe miss high off the glass, bounced up and quickly threw it down with both hands as it came back down. He threw an outlet away, giving up a layup. He was hit on a layup with no call. He grabbed a loose ball and powered up an And-1, slapping the ball and screaming after the score, he made the FT. He was stripped trying to attack off the dribble 20 feet from the hoop. He worked the screen-roll with Ariza for an And-1, he made the FT. Finally some low position, he drop-stepped and drew FTs, he made one. He dunked off the lob pass from Farmar. He threw a pass away on a careless possession trying to hit Ariza.

Radmanovic -- -- He took the eyewear off tonight and was back in Impaler mode on offense. In fact, I thought Phil should have extended his first stint a little more because he was on fire. But Phil effectively ended that after subbing him out. Vlad didn't score again. He so streaky that sometimes you just have to ride those runs a little longer. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-8 shooting (3-5 from three) to go with 4 boards, 2 steals and 1 foul in 19 minutes. The Action: He missed a reverse on a post up (better than a long fade like he usually does against a smaller man). He sank a three for the Lakers first make. He hit a baseline jumper for the Lakers second score. He sank a wing three on his next attempt. He missed a wing three. Turnover in the lane, could have hit Bynum for a dunk, but it looked like the ball got deflected, blocked or stripped. He drained a wing three next time down. He was 4-7 for 11 points after 8 minutes before Phil sat him. Back in after a long rest and he missed a three. Second Half: Good pass to Pau who was fronted without help and Pau dunked.

Fisher -- -- Defensively, I sure would like to see another option at the PG sometime. Farmar and Fish aren't exactly making things difficult for opponents. At least they are rebounding. Offensively, Fish has been better of late with reeling back the crazy drives and early offense jumpers. I think that's helped the offense click. There were still a couple sequences where the ball either died with him or where he missed passes in the lane to people. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 5 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. The Action: Miller picked up fouls on both Laker bigmen with dribble penetration in the first few minutes. He got backdoored for a layup. He swished a wing jumper standing on the three line. Horrible telegraphed pass on the perimeter and it was picked off for a dunk the other way (not a veteran play). Second Half: He missed a post up to Bynum and backdoor to Kobe and hoisted up a jumper instead, missing. He missed a pull-up jumper on the wing. The ball died in his hands in the post and he missed a turnaround. He sank an early offense wing jumper. He drained the sideline three with the shotclock going off. Back in and he took a hard moving pick from Dalembert, drew the offensive foul, but DFish was in pain (still it was a stop). He forced a jumper, missed, layup the other way.

Lamar -- -- First off, where was the rebounding? The team missed it from both Lamar and Bynum. That means there were plenty of boards up for grabs for anyone else who wanted them. He did have some nice positioning in our zone and effective work there. And the energy and tone of the game changed when he and Ariza replaced the starters. In fact, Lamar had a +16 to lead teh Lakers and Ariza was second with a +12. Still, he played a little too small tonight. Offensively, Lamar was aggressive enough. The Lakers took control in the third when the second unit came out. This time, LO and company didn't give anything back. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-8 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. The Action: He was open in the corner for three, but made the extra pass to Pau under the hoop for the dunk. He missed a wing jumper. He challenged a shot on D to get a miss, then hurried to court, took a pass and drew FTs while avoiding a charge, he made both. Nice work on the weakside zone, covering two players and deflecting a pass. He posted up and threw a pass away. He posted up again next time down and hit the short jumphook. He didn't draw iron on a 17-footer. He hit a baseline jumper. Second Half: Strong attack off the right side pinch post and he drew FTs, he made one. He swished a FT jumper flashing to the ball. He missed a three. He rushed a runner when there was no one near him and missed. Weak foul in the backcourt (we were in the penalty 3 minutes into the fourth). He missed the short jumper over a smaller man in the post.

Ariza -- -- "It was nobody's fault, but our own," Ariza said again about the loss against Indy. It still had a bitter taste a day and a "W" later. Ariza did his thing again on both ends. As mentioned, the game once again changed in our favor when he and the second unit came to play in the third quarter. His passing lately has been fun to watch, and he was tied with several Lakers with a team-high in assists. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-4 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. The Action: With Kobe bugging his man on the ball, Ariza jumped the lane on his man and swiped the pass. He caused a loose ball that Farmar picked up. He dunked when Pau pushed out the dribble and hit him with the pass. He attacked the lane, drew Bynum's man and slipped a pass to him for the And-1 dunk. He attacked off the three line, tilted sideways in the air and banked in the And-1 along the baseline, he made the FT. Second Half: He was stripped in the lane, turned into FTs the other way. Defying a little gravity, Trevor hung in the air to grab a missed three and hammered it down with both hands. He missed a corner three. He set up Bynum for an And-1 off the two-man game.

Farmar -- -- He seemed to coast a little too much for me in this game. Maybe he was worried about the turnovers from the previous game. Finally, he seemed to get engaged and the offense clicked much better. Defensively, if he's not getting a steal of some kind, he's been offering little resistance. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-4 shooting (1-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 18 minutes. The Action: He ran to a spot on the three line and quickly sank the three in early offense. He scooped up a loose ball, pushed it out in a hurry and drew FTs, he made one. He missed a three. He took the outlet and hit Bynum trailing the break for the monster jam. Second Half: With DB yelling, "come on, Farmar. Are you in this game?" Jordan attacked off the dribble and flipped in a layup 3 minutes into the fourth quarter. He banked a jumper off the pinch post with Bynum. He worked the two-man game with Bynum and lobbed to him for the dunk. Soft D and his man hit a three on him the other way. Phil then subbed him out for DFish.

Vujacic -- -- The Machine was in sleep mode. How does the Machine not shoot in 11 minutes? That defies explanation. The Stats: He didn't score, didn't shoot, had 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 11 minutes. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He pulled up on the dribble aling the baseline and threw a pass away. He got backdoored and had to foul.

Phil -- -- The Lakers opened up with the same defensive intensity as they closed the game. The Lakers trailed 17-7 after 4 minutes. The Lakers cut it to 17-14 with a 7-0 run... Phil sat Vlad after scoring 11 points in 8 minutes (he was on fire)... The Lakers led 31-25 after the first quarter... The second unit continued to push the lead, pulling out to a 43-29 lead.... The Lakers had a 15-point lead until a series of turnovers cut it back down to 9. Phil called a timeout... The Lakers led 61-51 at the half. They shot 24-40 for 60 percent with 16 assists. The Sixers shot 23-45 for 51 percent. The Sixers had 9 second-chance points and 36 points in the paint... The coaches again stressed the need for the Lakers to get back in transition on D... The starters came out soft to start the second half. Phil called a timeout after 3 minutes, not liking the execution on either end... The Lakers still looked sluggish out of the timeout. The Sixers cut the lead to 5... With a 9-point lead, they went to the Ariza/Lamar duo. They doubled the lead to as many as 18 and led 85-69 going into the fourth... No fourth quarter melt down. The team never overwhelmed the Sixers, but they kep the lead intact... Better job from the line, hitting 22-27, 81.5 percent. Still gave up 12 offensive boards and 16 turnovers... Phil wants better communication on D. "Too many layups, too many points in the paint," he said. The Lakers gave up 54 points in the paint...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Again, check out the third quarter push by the second unit to get the lead. This time, they kept the opponent in check with a 29-point fourth quarter.

[Critical Beatdown]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB!! Good to see The Four Horsemen have returned!

[Critical Beatdown]

Most teams seem to have no answer for us bringing in a fresh LO and Ariza to team with Kobe and Pau, especially on those nights when Farmar is rocking too.
_________________
!
Per 100 possessions, we're winning 118-102 with LO on the floor, and losing 109-111 without him. (updated: 4/1/09; source: 82games.com)

[Arizona]

Still don't like the 1st unit, the way they play, and their slow starts. Fish and Vlad are horrible on defense, and the bigs get IGNORED big time. Sad. No wonder Bynum wants to play with the second unit.

btw great job with the Four Horsemen analogy again, DB. Love it!
_________________
“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

[Critical Beatdown]

We shouldn't forget that The Four Horsemen have a Ghost Rider.
_________________
!
Per 100 possessions, we're winning 118-102 with LO on the floor, and losing 109-111 without him. (updated: 4/1/09; source: 82games.com)

[AllorNothing]

I am thinking the first units slow start and poor defense is really rubbing on the second unit.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

[Critical Beatdown]

Mojo Ariza!!!!
_________________
!
Per 100 possessions, we're winning 118-102 with LO on the floor, and losing 109-111 without him. (updated: 4/1/09; source: 82games.com)

[Arizona]

[brian313]

[limchrc]

Thanks. Glad we ware back in our winning mode.

[Sage_10]

Thanks DB!
_________________
"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[prisma8slg]

[Rick12322]

Good recap DB. I agree with everything you said. Last night I noticed the Lakers weren't talking on D, they can't be because they look like 5 zombies out there with their communications cut off.

The Lakers on D are like level 1 chess players who only see the first move, as soon as a pick is set, they initiate the help and pretty much stop functioning at that point.

[Magic'sSon]

DB,

I too thought that Phil should've gave RadMan a lil longer run than he got in the 1st quarter. It seems at times that Phil just makes subs for subs sake. No justification in some of those cases...IMHO. If he just had to put Odom in, he should've benched Bynum.

[Rick12322]

I should add that Farmar is a disgrace to the intelligent athletic freak race. It's obvious the only thing he cares about is his offense. I bet he never studies game tape for defensive purposes, his production on Defense is pathetic and a disgrace to the Laker uniform.

And I'm not happy with Kobe's D either, sure, he can get up for games where he has to defend a star, but he goes for too many suicide steals, stands by the paint and watches too many 3 pt. shooters have career nights. he's the leader and he's setting the tone for our pathetic failed rotations. No wonder Farmar does the same thing!

I like Radmanovic and I want him to succeed, but the reality is there's really only one thing stopping him from being a starter in this league, lack of good basketball instincts.

Pau looked soft as tissue paper, Bynum looked like he was conserving energy, (he better not be, that's a terrible habit).

Lamar Odom, I think he's been grossly underrated around here. The fact of the matter is he's a far better matchup against fast teams at PF than Pau, he runs the floor extremely well and actually levels off guards better than our guards and actually rotates on Defense and rebounds well. Pau runs the floor well for a guy his size but as you'd expect he's not as agile as LO.

[Arizona]

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

[king255]

Those "too many layups" lines by Phil are getting to be a bit tiresome. How does Phil expect us to shut down Brand and the paint at the same time? A guy like Brand, as we should all know by now, will knock down that jumper without hesitation, if you gave him any separation at all. Sure, he's struggling a bit this season, but even KG or Dwight couldn't hold him down like we did yesterday.

Until Phil starts putting more responsibilities on the guards and tell them, "hey guys, our bigs can't be everywhere at once," or just take the 35 year old anti-guard out of the lineup, it's just going to be the same old song.

[Klone_dd]

Defensively the team has reverted to being lax and unfocused. They seem to be looking to double and trap way too much which causes them to be in scramble mode too often. A lot more gambling for steals and highlight plays rather than being in lockdown mode. For all this talk about defense being the mindset this season, they've been like a sieve lately.

Holding Brand to 3 pts is great, but then allowing the other Sixers to go for 99 and shoot 52%? What's up with that? A win is still a win. At this stage, however, it's consistent improvement that should be the goal. The last few games has been really lacking.

[Scherm]

This group seems to want to learn from their mistakes, and you could see a resolve not to let the Indiana game lead to a back-to-back letdown.

It was a nice win. Defense can afford to tighten up again but these guys seem to want to improve.

[Andre2K]

[mefor3]

What happened to our D?

[Critical Beatdown]