LAKERS -at- WARRIORS - 1/7 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Using Your Head... Walking down the street, you rub the welt from that stupid thing you did yesterday. Thinking back on your stupidity, you laugh. Trying to knock a hornet's nest off your home with a stick? Bad move. Damn bugs attacked, stung you smack on the forehead.

As you turn the corner you run into that deranged group of glazed-eyed, zombied street performers you saw a few days back. There's that white-headed monkey with the organ grinder. There's the mime. The thin man playing the saw. There's the clown, the juggler and puppeteer.

This tired act act again, eh? You begin to stroll past them when the organ grinder begins to churn out his psychotic music, faster and faster...faster and faster. You don't like his menacing pace. The monkey leaps from the ground onto your head and pulls at your hair. You pry him off and chuck him at the mime. The thin man charges you with his saw. You duck his blade and toss him into a wall. Just as you turn to face the others, the juggler tosses his lone ball, it hits you hard like a rock square in the forehead, right smack on the hornet welt ... Lights out.

You see Little Larry O'Brien again standing on yellow stones amid a raging battle, the wounded falling at his feet. Hands reach for him and are struck down. Bold rushes are made toward him and collapse just short. He doesn't seem to flinch or fear the raging fight around him. Something pokes you. You look down and see the blood on your hands. You're poked again, and that's when you wake up back on the street. The man with the cloudy eye stands over you, poking with his cane. "You alright, son?"

"Damn, why they got to keep getting me in the head?"

"Maybe 'cause you need to think more, son," says the man. "You want to survive The Association, you've got to think." You stagger to your feet and notice the street is empty. You see the organ grinder's equipment smashed to pieces. The mime's striped shirt ripped to shreds. The puppeteer's dolls trampled on the pavement. "What happened?"

The old man reaches into the pocket of his tattered coat again and pulls out a crumpled postcard with a picture of a crooked street. "You want to know? DB will tell, ya." You read:

"Three of the Four Horsemen were here. The one called Famine was not in the battle. Death, Pestilence and Destruction cleaned the streets. They were confused at times. They struggled to control the fight, but the smaller warriors fell in their wake.

I will continue to follow them...

The Lakers size overwhelmed the Warriors as Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum dominated the interior. It wasn't pretty, but they took the 114-107 road win.

The Lakers gave up an early 17-point lead and managed to do it in about 4 minutes. The Hoop IQ has suffered in the past two games. Things that made Laker fans cringe: 1. Playing to the Warriors pace. 2. Shooting threes when your bigmen don't get touches. 3. Attacking when your name is DFish. 4. Not attacking when your name is Kobe and your defender's name is Belinelli. 5. Transition D.

Anytime we needed a lift, Pau Gasol seemed to be there. Gasol scored 33 points and pulled down 18 boards, tying his career high on the glass. He was mixing it up all night. "I told him before the game I wanted him to go for 40," Bryant said in the Times. "I called him a lazy bum after the game."

Bynum dropped 18 and 11 on the Warriors. Trevor Ariza was a subtle difference-maker. He matched up well with the athletic Warriors and had his jumper going.


Kobe -- -- Wow. The past 6 quarters of ball and only one freethrow. And it's not like Kobe isn't attacking. This is your MVP, not some rookie. He's being treated like a lost tourist taking a shortcut down a dark alley...in the bad part of town. He's like Robby Benson in "One on One." What is up? Yes, he did settle for some jumpers and bad threes. But Kobe had a clear advantage against Belinelli (and anyone else in a Warrior uniform) and when he did attack, he was getting mugged with no call. Again and again. He shot one more freethrow than Sun Yue. Ridiculous. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 9-20 shooting (2-5 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 39 minutes. The Action: He had a basket erased with an offensive foul (totally bogus, no idea what the ref called). He lost Belinelli with a behind-the-back dribble and then hit the lefty floater (contact, no call). He couldn't finish a lob, came down with it, backed it out and swished the three. He lost his man with a hesitation move and scored an And-1 between defenders, he made the FT. He attacked and was dumped to the floor with no call. He posterized Ronny with a left-handed dunk, then gave him some good-natured teasing. That was all in his first stint. Only one play in his second stint: He was blocked on a step-through. He had 10 points on 4-6 shooting. Second Half: He missed a jumper after taking contact. He sank a three from the wing. He missed a long three. He beat his man and was fouled with no call, losing the ball. He attacked Belinelli again, uncontested dunk. He settled for a three against Belinelli and missed (attack, he can't cover you at all). He missed an early offense three. He missed a jumper at the third quarter buzzer. Back in, he settled for a jumper and missed. He cut behind the entry pass to Pau, took the bounce pass and dunked taking contact with no call. He attacked Belinelli, easy layup. He blew past his man, took a ton of contact and no call scoring the layup. He cut, more contact, no call, but he got it back and reset the offense to take down some clock (some good hoop IQ). He attacked off that, more contact, no call he missed.

Gasol -- -- "Having me and Andrew there, you've got to take advantage of it," Pau said. You tell those three-chuckers, Pau. Massive numbers from the Spaniard -- 33 points and 18 boards (tied his career high). That's sick. He was destroying them, just killed the Warriors on the offensive glass. Anytime we needed a hoop we should have gone to him. There were stretches when we did and he dominated. Pau had a number of clutch plays on both ends to close this game, including a huge score in the post with a minute left. We needed to feed him more in the yesterday against the Hornets. "He didn't have an opportunity last night to do what he likes to do," Phil said. You tell those three-chuckers, Phil. The Stats: He scored 33 points on 12-21 shooting (9-9 from the line) to go with 18 boards (8 offensive), 1 assist, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 39 minutes. The Action: He missed a 17-footer on his first attempt. He hit a floater off the drive and kick from Fish. He drew FTs on a reverse layup attempt, he made both. He Missed a layup with his left. He missed a couple shots in the post and wanted the foul. He up-faked and then dunked. He missed a jumphook after a great ball-fake and spin to lose his man. He missed with his left, got it back, missed again, and tipped it in on his third attempt. He didn't see the ball again and sat for a while. After blowing a 17-point lead, we finally got a touch for Pau again in the post and he scored a layup. Again in the post, he lost his man and threw down over another (should have been an And-1). Third time in a row, he lost Wright with a swing through and slammed down the And-1 over Ronny, he made the FT. Next possession, he was rooted out for FTs, he made both. He had 17 points on 6-13 shooting and 8 boards. Second Half: He missed a jumphook short. He grabbed the Fish missed layup and powered in a score. He threw a pass away. He cleaned up a DFish drive wtih a putback, (looked fouled, too). He got the ball in the paint, was mugged, missed, but tapped it back in (or someone did). He grabbed an offensive board, reset the offense, slipped a screen and swished a short jumper. He spun at the freethrow line, attacked and drew FTs at the rim, he made both. He hit a jumphook when a ball was knocked right to him out of Kobe's hands. He backed down Biedrins with a minute left, turned to the middle of the lane and scored a huge basket to keep the Warriors at bay. On the other end, he got the stop and tapped out the defensive board. He was intentionally fouled with 35 seconds left, he made both. He challenged a drive and forced the miss.

Bynum -- -- With LO out, we need Bynum to step up. He did that and then some tonight. He was beasting it up. But before you get your hopes up, remember that this is a smaller team he's going against. Ronny had dominant games against the Warriors (one of the reasons they signed him). But this was what Drew needed. He needed a team to impose his size on and to play some power ball against. Thankfully, the Lakers fed the post in this game. Let's hope he continues to play with that kind of aggression and builds off this game. Pau and Drew combined for 51 points and 29 boards on 19-33 shooting. That's taking it to an opponent. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-12 shooting (4-5 from the line) to go with 11 boards (4 offensive), 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. The Action: He hit a jumphook from the right block for our first make. He was blocked on a post move, looked like he had his man beat. He swished an elbow jumper wide open next time down. Lousy D on the screen roll giving up a dunk. He took contact and lost the ball with no call. He rejected Belinelli with ease. He swished a turnaround jumper over Ronny. He missed a jumphook in the lane. He swatted Maggette's drive. He drained an open freethrow jumper. He had 8 points and 6 boards. Second Half: He drop-stepped his man, powered up and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a two-footer off an offensive board. He sealed his man and threw down the reverse dunk. He missed a short one in the post, got it back and dunked. He was blocked on a drive. He backed his man down and drew FTs, he made one. He was called for a charge on a post move, it was a flop. He hammered down a huge And-1 dunk off a Powell tip, he made the FT.

Radmanovic -- -- It seemed pretty apparent that Space Cadet was in the uni early on tonight. Eventually, Vlad got benched after just 13 minutes. It wasn't a great match up against Maggette. Vlad gave up 10 points to him in his first stint. After some mental errors in his second stint that's when Phil pulled the plug. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-3 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 2 turnovers in 13 minutes. The Action: He missed a wing jumper. He fumbled away an outlet pass. He bricked a three, not completely set. Second Half: He threw a pass away, dunk Warriors. He missed a three. He tapped an offensive board to no one and it went out of bounds. He doubled off a cutter, layup Maggette. That got him benched.

Fisher -- -- Someone's Driver's License needs to be suspended, revoked, burned. Uggh. There was a stretch where DFish was avoiding the forays into the paint for bricked layups. But he's been back at it lately. Again and again. Pull up for the short jumpers DFish. He's money on those, but isn't playing to his strengths. On the good side, he was passing the ball pretty well, including a nice drive and dish to Pau and a good job pulling up on the break to hit Powell who was trailing. Defensively, not pretty. When players push the pace and we don't have anyone behind him, it usually results in a score. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-10 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 8 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 38 minutes. The Action: Poor lob to Bynum on the first play, turnover (good, poor execution). He set up Pau on the drive for a score. He sank the pull-up 15-footer on the drive (that's what he needs to do instead of attack all the way). He missed a 17-footer. He got in the paint and hit the 8-footer (he gave up a layup immediately on the other end). He swished a long three off the Sasha kickout. He swiped the ball from the post on the other end with a reach. He missed a drive badly off the glass. Nice job pulling up on the break and letting Powell fill the lane for a dunk. Second Half: He missed an elbow jumper. He was swatted badly on the layup attempt. He bricked another layup. He missed an early offense three. He stepped back, then attacked and was fouled on the layup attempt, he made both FTs. He attacked, missed badly, but Pau cleaned it up.

Ariza -- -- Little-known facts about Trevor Ariza: President Roosevelt said: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself -- and Trevor Ariza."... Trevor Ariza doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants... Trevor Ariza can kill two stones with one bird... Trevor Ariza was once in a knife fight, and the knife lost... On a serious note, how good was Ariza tonight? The Lakers don't survive without his two-way game. He was draining jumpers, grabbing boards and playing his usual effective D. Corey Maggette had 19 points, but he did most of his damage against Vlad and Powell. Once we threw Ariza on him that bleeding stopped. Maggette torched Vlad early for 10 points and you kept waiting for the sub to come because you knew Ariza was going to lay down the law. With the small lineups the Warriors ran we saw Trevor at both the SF and PF spots tonight. He was only credited with 1 steal, but he caused several turnovers. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 6-10 shooting (0-1 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 9 boards (2 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls. The Action: He forced a turnover with some good D, but then threw the in-bounds pass away. He sank a 19-footer from the wing. He sank a baseline jumper, turning and drilling it in one motion. He threw down the alley-oop from Sasha. He missed a corner three. He swished a 20-footer next time down. He knocked an entry pass away, then off a Warrior for a turnover. He clanked a pull-up 20-footer, heat check. He missed a layup on the drive. He had 8 points on 4-7 shooting and 5 boards. Second Half: He missed a layup in transition and drew FTs when he got it back, he made one. He swished a baseline jumper. He swished another one from the same spot a minute later. He stole a ball after we missed and it led to a Pau score. He snagged a pass and was fouled for FTs, he made both. Good D on Maggette and we got a shotclock violation. He was fouled intentionally, he made both.

Vujacic -- -- He needs to find that mid-range game a little more. He's money from 15-18 feet but we rarely see it. He had a lot of room to move in closer throughout the game, but kept behind that line a little too much. When the shot isn't falling move in a little, Sasha. He did a good job moving the ball in the offense and had some of the better passes of the game, including a nice lob to Ariza. Defensively, mixed results (bad foul of a three-shooter, excellent steal on a weakside read in crunch time). He did have some very good transition D sequences. One of the few who did. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 3-12 shooting (2-8 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 1 board, 6 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 29 minutes. The Action: Excellent challenge in transition D to force a miss. He missed a wing jumper. Sweet backdoor lob pass from about 35 feet away to Ariza for the dunk. He dropped a kickout pass, then missed the three never getting set. He worked off the Pau screen and swished the elbow jumper. He missed a layup. He bricked a drive badly out of a timeout, dunk the other way. He missed a three. Second Half: He missed back-to-back threes, the second was a quick shot in transition. He sank a three on an inside-out sequence with Bynum. He fouled Crawford on an off-balance chuck from three. He tied up a man in transition D. Great read coming weakside to steal a pass, he pushed it out, stopped and drained a wing three. He missed a long three. He bricked another three, despite having a man open. He was intentionally fouled with 41 seconds left, he made both. He was fouled again, he made both.

Powell -- -- How many times did we see him covered by Maggette and we didn't post him up? Yet, at the other end, the ball consistently went to Maggette again and again. I hate it when we don't exploit mismatches and get exploited by them instead. Very difficult game for Powell. I was actually surprised by some of the defensive stops and lateral speed he showed at times. Pretty impressive considering some of our SFs look about as fast. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-2 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 14 minutes. The Action: Two great defensive stands against Belinelli, challenging a shot well twice and showing good lateral footspeed. Quality box out and he was held on the defensive glass for FTs, he made both. He pulled down a Bynum miss and it led to a Fish three. He missed a turnaround. He filled the lane and Fish found him for the massive throwdown. We finally went to Powell in the post against Maggette and Maggette flopped to draw the charge. Second Half: He tipped an offensive rebound to Bynum for an And-1 throwdown. He was stripped on the turnaround.

Sun Yue -- -- He came in midway through the second quarter and the Warriors went on a run. He had a travel and a missed three, but I really don't think that run had much to do with Sun. In fact, he was one of the few guys back in transition D. We finally saw his shotblocking skills on one of those defensive sequences. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 from three and had 1 block and 1 turnover in 3 minutes. The Action: He was called for a travel on a drive and dish. He swatted a layup in transition, but no one got back to grab it and the Warriors scored. He missed a corner three, good hustle back in transition. Second Half: He did not play.

Phil -- -- The Lakers started out a little sluggish. Kobe let others get established, then started to take over. That's when they got some separation at the end of the first quarter to lead 28-20... They had an 15-0 run between quarters that forced a timeout after leading 34-20... Phil went to a Bynum, Ariza, Kobe, Sasha, Fish lineup. The Warriors were running SFs at the PF... The Lakers 17-point lead was cut to 7 and Phil called a timeout... Phil went back to a Bynum, Pau, Kobe, Sasha, Fish lineup. The Warriors pulled even, before the Lakers went to Pau in the post to finish the half with a 56-51 lead... The Warriors were able to push the tempo, even off of made baskets and FTs. The Lakers D was slow to respond. The Warriors had a 20-7 advantage on the break... The coaches warned the players about letting the crowd get into the game... The Lakers trailed 67-61 after 5 minutes. Vlad was benched quickly... They finished the quarter, trailing 80-77. Good things happened when we got the ball to our bigmen. Good things didn't when we chucked from three... The Lakers shot 29 percent in the third quarter, the Warriors 65 percent... We started the fourth with a Pau, Powell, Ariza, Sasha, Fisher lineup. The Lakers got into the Bonus with 10:23 left in the fourth (we didn't take advantage of it...and the refs made sure)... We went to a Pau, Ariza, Kobe, Sasha, Fisher lineup with 8:33 left, down by 4... Big run 19-4 run in the middle of the fourth... Late in the game, Pau came through with some big plays...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Check out the 19-4 run in the fourth. Trevor was a +21.

[lakersfreak]

DB

12:16 test
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Forget carbon, reduce your government footprint

[lakersfreak]

[DancingBarry]

[fsc401]

Nice job

[mugwump]

Ariza is so fast, he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.

BTW, I think this is one of Dancing B's best write-ups, with some clear and concise player and game observations.

[MedRomLaker]

dood great cap today, it was cracking me up, db you got them jokes.
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11/9/12 the day the brown was flushed down!!!!!!

4/30/14 the day the ant left the building!!!!!!

[limchrc]

Thanks. Glad we got the W.

[Downunder]

Word is........ Ariza is working on a new move.

Stare the ball into the hoop

[Laker7]

Ariza has a night light on in his bedroom....because the dark is afraid of Ariza.

Ariza does not do pushups. He pushed the world down.

Ariza's calendar goes from March 31st to April 2nd.....because nobody fools with Ariza.

Death once had a near-Ariza experience.

Ariza was once charged with three attempted murders in Boulder County but the judge dismissed the charges because Ariza does not attempt anything. He just does it.

The real reason newborn babies cry is because they just entered a world with Ariza.
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[Addicus]

I was wondering what the hold up was, then I read about Ariza. Great read.
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I was unable to watch the game live. I watched it around 11 on dvr. I saw 3 of the funniest things ever in one game.
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1. Sasha drove for a lay up, the lane was packed, he picked up his dribble and tried his best MJ impression. Once he was 3/4's under the backboard he realized he was screwed and just threw the ball up. It hit the backboard so hard I thought it was gonna pop.

2. Fish went in for a layup and Anthony ???? from LSU just swatted it like your dad used to swat you when you were 8. Hilarious.

3. When Sasha fouled (if getting kicked by an out of control shooter is fouling) Crawford KCAL panned to Phil. He was looking at someone (Sasha or ref) and you could see him mouth - 'What the F is wrong with you?'. He was subtle about it with his body language. No animation or anything. I think he was talking to the ref because Sasha was crying on the opposite side of the court.
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Stop crying and start doing.

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/addicusbrown

[IPK]

[IPK]

[mugwump]

Ariza trains only on Jupiter -- Earth's gravitational pull is simply not enough.

[Downunder]

Intel's new processor is called Ariza

[ElginBaylor]

Robby Benson in One on One. Classic.
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Not a legend

[Futuristic]

Very nice. And the gameflow is awesome. You really put a lot to these analysis.

[Comrades]

wow!! that was looong!! but i like it!!
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"To GOD be the Glory!"

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB! love the Ariza facts
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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."

[BleedP&G]

I have been on this site since the days of Just the Stats Ma'am and have been an avid reader of your ratings posts. I don't think I have ever left a comment, but had to drop one here. That was one of the better sports analysis that I have had the pleasure of reading. Well done sir. I know we all deeply appreciate your efforts.

A few other things -

1. The loss of our facilitators (Luke, Lamar, and Farm) was evident in this game. It seems Lamar was able to hold the fort down but now it has come unraveled. There were a few offensive sequences where I actually thought the play had been whistled dead. No one was moving what so ever.

2. Some one should really edit together a video of all the no calls and tick tack fouls from the last few games and put it on YouTube. It would at least bring some added visibility to what has become a rather disgusting bias. In keeping with the Little Larry theme, this has been some bush league officiating, laughable, ha.

3. Unlike many people, I was glad to see Sun getting some burn during a moderately meaningful section of the game. Not because I am a particularly big fan of his, but because I have a feeling he will have to log some real minutes later in the season. If the Lakers don't feel that he will be able to deliver this season, they need to get some sort of serviceable back-up pg. Fish is logging way too many minutes and it is going to come back to bite us.

4. Ariza's house has no doors, he just walks through the walls.

[angrypuppy]

[Rick12322]

Very colorful report. Ronnie's spirit is crushed by not being a Laker, how sad. I wonder if he's asking himself whether the money was worth it.

I'm loving the Cobra, but he scares me. I hope he can stay healthy, he's a risky high fly act.

Bynum looked good, it's amazing what you can do when you get opportunities.

I like it when Pau gets angry, some players might be bad when angry, but Pau usually steps it up. I like using him at the end of the game this way because he's punishing teams for over-committing on Kobe.

What happened to Sasha's jumper?

Love the "drivers license" analogy for Fish, we should revoke Sasha's driving privileges as well.

Kobe is the most maligned player in the NBA organization. Why can't these crooks go to jail for committing grand theft in front of 18,000 paying fans?

I like Josh Powell, he's going to fill in nicely for Rony.

This was a bad matchup for Radmanovic. It figures when we need him most his shot is gone. It will probably be on vacation until Luke comes back, at which point it will sit on the bench unused again.

[Sage_10]

Nice recap. Thanks DB
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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

[mefor3]

as PJ would say, they sucked the life out of this win...very frustrating to see all those 3 point attemps when you have the two towers dominating in front of you...and it's not the first game this happens

and can someone tell the refs kobe is the MVP?!

[Klone_dd]