NUGGETS -at- LAKERS - 11/21 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

Devastation… An empty swing sways slowly in the breeze. Weeds grow unchecked in the sidewalks and streets. Dust and utter silence call this place home. What happened here? Where are we?

You brush the dirt off a fallen sign. It reads “Nuggetville.” The population number has been crudely crossed off several times. The number diminishes until it reads just “1″. Who knows what happened to that poor soul? Who knows what happened to this wasteland?

A piece of paper blows up against your leg. You pick it up. It’s written by some hack with the odd pen name of DancingBarry. It describes the events that have wreaked such horror and carnage upon poor Nuggetville:

“The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were here. Once again, their names: Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death…or Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Kobe Bryant. They were followed on pale horses by eight Death Riders. I will track them.Nuggetville had no answer… They had no answer…”I can have a little fun with it, can’t I? Is there really anything to analyze here?The Lakers won their ninth straight against the Nuggets and are 23-2 at home versus them in the past 25 games. They have delivered a series of beatdowns to the Nuggets. Sweeping them from the playoffs and picking up the domination this season, too.

Even with the Billups-led squad, it was never in question. The Lakers got out to an early lead and the Nuggets never recovered. The Lakers are too big, too athletic and have a force of nature in Kobe that wreaks havoc on the Nuggets defense. The Lakers cruised to a 104-90 win and extended their record to 10-1.

“We’re not in it for a 10-1. We’re in it to be the last team standing,” Kobe said afterward.

Kobe — — The defense tried fronting, sending doubles, a third defender, you name it early on. Kobe was killing them. His jumper was on and that’s all she wrote. Especially nice was the way Kobe worked off the ball. There wasn’t a lot of overdribbling. It was a mix of working the post and working off screens to get passes. The Nuggets were helpless. The Stats: He scored 29 points on 12-18 shooting (1-3 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 30 minutes. The Action: He missed a stepback wing jumper. He posted up and hit the turnaround from the wing. He spun away from the double team and swished a baseline turnaround. He pumpfaked Jones in the air and hit the And-1 fallback jumper, he made the FT. He sank a 20-footer off the high pinch post from Bynum. He missed a one-handed lob throwdown on a good read from Pau (Nuggets trying to front Kobe). He had three Nuggets looking at him and found DFish for the open three. He posted up and was fouled on a turnaround (looked like a good block, actually), he made both FTs. He attacked baseline and hit a cutting Ariza for the dunk. He missed a long jumper, followed it up, grabbed the board and reversed. He was left alone off the pinch post handoff and dunked. He spotted up and swished the three from the top of the arch. He had 18 points on 7-11 shooting. Second Half: He lobbed to Bynum for the dunk. He attacked, stepped back and hit the FT jumper. He forced the dribble through traffic and was stripped. Excellent hustle to run down the loose ball on the sideline, leap and throw it off Nene to keep a possession. He missed a three. He swished a wing jumper with a turnaround on iso. He jumped the passing lane and took the ball the distance for the dunk. He pulled up from the wing and swished a jumper. He airballed a 30-footer with the shotclock low (he had room to move in). He manufactured FTs creating off the dribble, not settling for a jumper, he made one. He cut weak to strong, took the pass and hit the 10-footer. Kobe had 11 points in the third on 5-7 shooting.

Gasol — — Whenever Bynum was out, the Nuggets seemed to attack the rim with not much anchoring. Quiet game from Pau on both ends. On the good side, Pau had some great reads in the offense to set up teammates. Another 4 assists to go with the 9 he had last night. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-9 shooting (2-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 4 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. The Action: He got the ball for the game’s first possession and easily hit the jumphook over Kenyon. He missed an elbow jumper short. He missed a turnaround in the post. He worked from the right block and drew FTs going to his lefty hook, he made one. Sweet read on a backdoor lob to Kobe, but Kobe couldn’t finish the flush. Great touch-pass on a high-low to Lamar for the dunk. He posted up Nene and hit the short jumphook from a few feet away. He dunked after being left all alone in transition for Jordan to find him. He ball-faked then hit the elbow jumper. He got smacked in the face by Kenyon going over his back on the defensive boards, he made one FT. He had 10 points on 4-6 shooting and 3 assists. Second Half: He finally got a shot attempt midway through the third quarter, but he missed the finger roll. He swished thebaseline jumper off the kickout from Ariza. He got tied up in the lane, but we won the jumpball. He missed a jumper in the lane, short. He hit Kobe coming weak to strong for a jumper in the paint. He didn’t play in the fourth.

Bynum — — He did a good job working the post and the ball to others, tallying 5 assists in the first half. “I was drawing a double team and they were leaving guys open so it was kind of easy to pass the ball and pick them apart,” Bynum said. Very steady offensive game from him. To start the second half, we seemed to really force the issue trying to find him on several straight possessions. Defensively, he’s the difference-maker — a team-leading +19. He shuts down the paint and erases the mistakes and gambles. He didn’t have the block stats this game, but the Nuggets were clearly a different team facing him. When he was out, they went to the rim with some success. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-9 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 13 boards (3 offensive), 5 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 29 minutes. The Action: He posted up, drew the double and hit an open Farmar for a three. He cleaned up the Farmar miss in transition with a throwdown. He slammed the lob from Sasha easily. Sasha’s next passed bounced off a couple of Nuggets, Bynum scooped it up and scored the And-1 dunk, he made the FT. He hit the short one-hander in the lane with the Lakers playing hot potato with the ball. He surveyed the floor from the wing and spotted a cutting Lamar for the dunk. He had 9 points on 4-4 shooting, had 4 boards and 5 assists at the half. Second Half: He traveled before throwing down the dunk in the lane and that erased his bucket. He missed a putback attempt off the Vlad miss. After several missed lobs, Kobe finally connected with Bynum for the oop. He missed a jumphook. He took the post feed, bumped with Nene and still hit the jumphook (nice to see him take and give contact and still score). He ate up Melo’s drive attempt and controlled the miss. He spotted the double team trying to blindside him and found Ariza under the hoop for FTs.

Radmanovic — — The Impaler got impaled by a finger to his right eye and went down in the second half. He didn’t return, but looked okay. The eye was a little red. We have kept Melo from hurting us lately. Vlad gets a lot of credit. Carmelo had 10 points on 5-19 shooting. What’s the secret? “Focus,” Phil said. “Not giving him open opportunities. Getting a body on him when he gets the basketball. Turning him to baseline a lot of times, trying to keep him from middle penetration.” The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 1 block, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 16 minutes. The Action: He swished a three on a kickout from Bynum on his first attempt. Horrible lob attempt out of the timeout on a busted play and it was easily taken away. He missed a wide open three from the wing. Second Half: He missed the short jumper on the edge of the paint. He missed a wide open corner three. He then got injured and sat for the rest of the game.

Fisher — — He had one brief binge of early offense long-range bricking in the second-half that made you cringe. He didn’t force the action in the paint. So, there’s that. Good team defense tonight helped keep the guard penetration to a minimum. Billups and the Nuggets never seemed to be much a threat, despite their recent strong play after the trade. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 22 minutes. The Action: He attacked, drop-stepped and banked the layup in. He buried a long sideline jumper in early offense. He missed a wide open three. He buried the open three next time down. Second Half: He blocked Billups jumper from behind, then pushed out the break and drew a foul. He missed back-to-back early offense long-range jumpers, uggh. He missed a long three with the shotclock low.

Lamar — — Short minutes tonight, but again, very, very active. He scored 13 points in just 18 minutes. The role off the bench seems to suit him well. Whether it’s the up-and-down tempo or being able to watch the game before entering, or Lamar thinking he needs to get some numbers in a contract year…whatever it is, he’s been playing with a very aggressive nature. Four of his five hoops tonight came from work off the ball. That’s showing some good Triangle savvy. After extended minutes last night, good to see him able to get rest tonight. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-7 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 steal, 1 block and 1 foul in 18 minutes. The Action: He dunked off the high-low touch pass from Pau. He scored easily on the set-up from Ariza. He scored easily again over a smaller man under the hoop. He posted up and drew FTs from the right block, he made one. He grabbed the rebound, pounded the dribble, accelerated past Nene and scored the layup. Good cut off the ball and Bynum spotted him for the dunk. Great effort in a crowd on the defensive glass, working the boards and challenging shots several times until we finally secured the ball. He had 11 points on 5-6 shooting in 10 minutes. Second Half: He drew FTs working the offensive glass, he made both. He missed the turnaround jumper.

Ariza — — Trevor led the team in minutes. That kind of heavy lifting from the bench helps the starters in the long term. I think Phil liked his energy level tonight, thinking a lot of the other guys looked sluggish on the second night of the back to back. Trevor hit the offensive glass and came up with a few steals, as well, showing that energy and hustle throughout the night. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-6 shooting (1-2 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 7 boards (4 offensive), 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 32 minutes. The Action: He set up Lamar for a layup with a spin move. He dunked over his man when Kobe spotted him with the jump pass. He missed an 18-footer. He stole the ball from Melo on the wing. He swiped an outlet pass. Second Half: He attacked off the pinch post and dished out to Pau for the jumper. He swished a long sideline jumper. He drew FTs when Bynum found him under the hoop, he made both. He missed a three out of the timeout. He grabbed an offensive board, didn’t know the clock until he was yelled at by the fans and hoisted up a heave of a three with the clock going off as it went in. He attacked off the offensive boards and drew FTs, making both.

Farmar — — L.A. Law entered the game and caused the Nuggets all kinds of problems. Trevor and Jordan combined for 6 steals, 5 offensive boards and 8 assists. The extra pass, the extra hustle play, jumping the passing lanes…all the little things that make our bench so effective. With Phil worried about the energy, both got starter’s type of minutes with their effort. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-9 shooting (1-2 from three) The Action: He drained an open three on the kickout from Bynum. He swiped a the ball, missed a layup, but Bynum cleaned it up. He swiped another pass next time down and this time finished with a dunk. Excellent challenge on a three-on-one to force the Nuggets to miss the layup, they then fouled a Laker trying to get it back. He hit Pau who was left alone in transition for the dunk. He was swatted by Nene in the paint. He had 5 points on 2-5 shooting, 5 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper. He missed a leaner from 17-feet with the shotclock low. He was blocked on a jumper with the shotclock low. He jumped the lane and swiped the pass, pushed it out and scored the layup.

Vujacic — — Clank. Clank. Clank. Someone turn the Machine off! Quick! Clank. Clank. Clank. Where’s the switch? Clank. Clank. Clank. There it is. Yikes. The Machine had the second most shots to Kobe in his limited time. The Machine needs a reset. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-11 (1-7 from three) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls. The Action: The ball died in his hands, so Sasha launched and missed a three. Great read, he lobbed to Bynum on the weakside for the dunk. Machine put magic spin on ball, ball spin off Nuggets hands and feet right to Bynum for dunk like Machine planned. He missed a 14-footer from the wing. He curled off the Bynum screen, took a pass and hit the elbow jumper. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper a few seconds after entering the gmae. He crashed the boards, went up high and pulled it down to reset the offense. He missed the corner three. He bricked a three. Next time down, he swished from the top of the arch. He missed an early offense three. He missed another long three with the shotclock low. He missed a corner jumper. He threw a long outlet (and by long, I mean about 15-20 feet in front of the nearest Laker and out of bounds). He missed another 22-footer.

Mihm — — He got some fourth quarter run trying to keep the Nuggets from making a run. He looked a bit rusty. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting and had 1 turnover. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He was stripepd in the post. He missed a jumphook badly.

Luke — — With a 19-point lead and under 8 minutes left, Luke came in. Okay minutes from Luke. Nothing crazy happened and the Lakers cruised to the win. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards in 8 minutes. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: Good effort on the offensive glass to regain a possession. He couldn’t make an in-bounds pass with Sasha yelling for it right in front of him and he called timeout. He missed a corner jumper. He saw a lane from the corner and Powell screening a man, he attacked and scored the layup.

Powell — — Up by 23, Phil brought in Powell in the second quarter. He held a block party under the hoop, rejecting several Nugget dunk attempts. Phil said Lamar played short minutes, but hard minutes, so he wanted to get him to rest. No board work, but the swats were nice. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-1 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 3 blocks and 1 foul in 10 minutes. The Action: He missed a short jumphook and a tip attempt. He swatted Kenyon’s drive and dunk attempt. He blocked Kenyon again on a throwdown attempt. He didn’t have enough time to throwdown his own dunk on the other end as the halftime buzzer expired as he was winding up. Second Half: He blocked a Kleiza two-handed dunk attempt. He drew FTs on the other end and made both.

Phil — — Kobe just destroyed the Nuggets defense to start. He did it not just by scoring, but just drawing so much attention that it left others open. Great Laker ball movement exploited it. The Lakers led 35-20 after the first quarter… The second unit with Bynum, continued the domination, stretching the Laker lead to 23 points. The lead edged up to 27 points from there. L.A. Law had a combined 4 steals in that stretch… The Nuggets cut it back to 67-47 at the half. The Lakers missed Bynum’s presence in that stretch and missed a few shots on the other end… The Lakers shot 62 percent in the first half… “Hopefully, we start the second half like it’s 0-0,” Hamblen said. (The Lakers would only score 37 points in the second half)… The Lakers started the second half with back-to-back turnovers trying to get the ball to Bynum under the hoop. Next time down, they finally got him the ball and he traveled. A couple plays later, another bad pass to Drew, turnover… Vlad got hit in the eye, forcing a timeout because of the injury. The lead was cut down to 11 on a series of easy layups and scores from the Nuggets, while the Lakers turned the ball over. Phil let them ride the lead… We went on a 10-0 run after the timeout… The Lakers had 5 turnovers in the third quarter, but still led 88-67… Phil brought in Luke and Mihm with under 8 minutes left and a 19-point lead. Phil must have enjoyed playing with matches as a little kid. He did not get burned. He’s seriously focussed on the long-term wear and tear of his starters and is trying to find minutes where he can… The Lakers shot 49 percent to the Nuggets 43 percent…