HAWKS -at- LAKERS - 12/8 - Thoughts and :-)) ratings

[DancingBarry]

Stepping Up with Kobe Out... Luke Walton, Mo Evans and Jordan Farmar all went for career highs in points, and Kwame Brown added a career-high in assists as Kobe sat out.

"We made the final decision not to play about 20 minutes before game time," Kobe said in the Times. "Gary Vitti tried everything as far as taping up my ankle to the reduce the pain, but we couldn't do it." Phil said Kobe wasn't able to make a certain inside cut, but he did sound optimistic that this wouldn't be as big an issue for the next game.

The Lakers moved Lamar out to the guard spot to organize the offense for the starters. While this opened up the floor a bit, Lamar looked a bit rusty running from that spot in the offense. Luke filled some of the void at the wing attack with some aggressive play, and Mo chipped in a little bit everywhere.

The key for the Lakers is production at the C and PG spots. That's really where we are the most sketchy from game to game. Tonight, we had some nice inside-out presence with Kwame in the post. And, off the bench, Farmar helped throttle up the Lakers game and lead the bench scorers. He and Smush outplayed the Hawks guards.


Odom -- -- Lamar didn't get in a position to score in this game, mostly by design. The Lakers moved him back to the guard spot where he played early last season and he hung around the perimeter as we looked for other inside options. He still needs to show a bit more savvy in that position instead of settling for threes (he went 0-4 from behind the arc). When he did get closer in, he managed a couple of scores going 3-4 inside the arc for 6 points. He grabbed several boards on the defensive end early, pulling down 8 of the Lakers 13 rebounds in the first quarter. He finished with a game-high 15 boards, all on the defensive end (one shy of his career high for defensive rebounding). Lamar and Kwame led the Lakers with 7 assists each. Early on, he attacked off the pinch post and dunked (we didn't see enough of that). He missed a couple of threes and a post up. He finally got himself into scoring position again and powered in a layup easily on the quick entry. He tried to thread a needle through players on the break instead of over them and turned the ball over (one of five on the night). That got him irked, so he blocked Marvin Williams twice on the next sequence as the Hawks tried to score. He got into scoring position again, went to work in the post and scored an easy jumphook. He settled for a long three and missed. He settled again (a better look at a three), but missed. He gave Evans a nice entry over a fronting Lue, before the help defense could get to it and we got a layup. Good job on the boards. He needs to play with a bit more savvy out of that guard spot, however, to impose himself more offensively on the game.

Walton -- -- Whether it was the threat of Vlad taking his job, a contract year, or Luke just having pride in improving his game, he's stepped up his game and then some this year. Phil said he had Vlad penciled in as a starter, but with the injury and Luke's professionalism to work on his shooting, he retained the job and hasn't given it up. Luke led the Laker attack with his career-high 25 points on an efficient 10-13 shooting (1-1 from three) in 34 minutes. He also added 6 assists, 4 boards, 1 steal and 1 block. Great, great job stepping up and being one of the focal points offensively with Kobe sidelined. "He's definitely a leader," Phil said. "He's a guy who talks basketball and everyone likes to play with him." He posted up on Sheldon, spun to lose him and scored a layup. He posted up Sheldon again and scored over him after freezing him with a couple of moves. He attacked off the dribble from the wing and scored a layup. He fed Kwame in the post after he sealed for a score. He scored a layup when Farmar spotted him breaking out ahead of the Hawks. He pulled up in the lane and hit a short jumper. He tried to attack Sheldon in the post, this time not faking and he was blocked twice. He posted up and hit one of his fades over Sheldon on the baseline. He had 12 points on 6-9 shooting in the first half. He started off strong in the second half, hitting a 14-foot jumper off a handoff from Kwame. He then drained a three from the sideline on his next touch on a Kwame kickout. He attacked off the dribble from the wing and scored a layup in traffic. He knocked down a pass, pushed it up and drew FTs, making both. He was involved in a 5-point trip down the floor for the Hawks when he fouled the man on the break passing the ball off and they gave the Hawks two plus the ball (bad call, it looked like Luke fouled the man as he was passing, should have been a great play). He posted up and drew FTs, making both (21 of his last 22 FTs). He was called for a charge on a pass off. Kwame was getting fronted, Luke emptied out the backside with a good Tri read, coming to the FT line, quickly took the pass from Lamar and threw the high-low to Kwame and it drew an instant foul. He fed Kwame, faked a couple times on his cut, then took a bounce pass in the lane and scored a layup. I'm loving the confidence and decisiveness that Luke is playing with so far.

Smush -- -- Between Smush and Farmar the Lakers got 26 points on 9-14 shooting from the PG spot. That helps a lot. Smush scored 11 of those on 4-8 shooting in 25 minutes. Speedy and Lue combined for 15 points on 6-14 shooting and 6 assists with 5 turnovers. Certainly not the roasting they got from Paul and Pargo in the previous game. Smush had just 1 assist early on, feeding Kwame with an extra pass in the paint for a score. He attacked Smith off the dribble and hit a teardrop over him. He telegraphed a pass and it led to an oop on the other end. He was left alone under the hoop and scored a layup. Smush was taken off the dribble without a pick and gave up a layup. Bad sequence at the end of the half, fumbling a ball and throwing it into a defender. He curled into the lane off the dribble, spun on Speedy and banked an And-1 in (Smush has been pretty solid finishing those And-1's off the glass this year), he made the FT. He drew FTs on a throwdown attempt and made one. He drew a moving pick call, trying to fight through a screen. He knocked down a corner three. He missed an open three at the end of the third quarter.

Kwame -- -- Kwame gave the Lakers a post threat that the Hawks had to respect in this game. That allowed for Kwame to also set up teammates and give the team some nice inside-out presence in the post. He scored 13 points on 5-6 shooting, had 7 boards and a career-high 7 assists in 30 minutes. Kwame traveled on his first post up. He got good position early in the offense and scored easily on an entry from Smush. Can't believe I'm going to say this, but nice hands, or hand, as he caught a bullet from Luke with one hand then scored a layup. (Whether it's that new ball or new confidence from Kwame, he's holding on to passes that would have been turnovers last season.) He overpowered Zaza in the post for an easy layup. He contested a shot coming from the weakside on one end to force a miss, then posted up and scored with his left on the other. He posted up quickly, took the entry feed and hit a jumphook in the middle of the lane. He posted up and drew a foul, making both FTs. Nice help D rejection, popping out on a guard to swat the shot and it ignited the break for Mo's spectacular score. He kicked out to Farmar for a three. He drew FTs, sealing his man and taking a high-low feed from Luke, he made the first then yelled as he released the second and it thudded off the backboard. He took the post entry from Luke, waited for the cut, then gave him a bounce pass for a layup. Certainly some nice shooting by the Lakers tonight, but Kwame's 7 assists shows an improved comfort level in the offense, especially over this time last year when he was struggling.

Evans -- -- A game like this without Kobe last year would have most likely been a loss. Bringing Mo off the bench to start gives you a lot more impact than Sasha would have in this position last season. You definitely won't get a career-high 22 points on 8-14 shooting like Mo gave every night. But, you will get a little something more on both ends than Sasha, and that definitely helps. Mo even filled in on a spectacular Kobe-like play in the second half. Early on, he flashed from the weakside to the FT line and knocked down a jumper (this is a standard shot available in the Tri, good to see him finally take advantage of that). With Lue on him, he scored an easy putback layup. He dunked off the break with Farmar, who pushed it up quickly. He deflected a pass off a Hawk for a turnover. He kicked out to Farmar after collapsing the D with Lue on him and Farmar hit a three. He pulled up off a Bynum low-post hand off and hit the short jumper. Poor pass on the break trying to hit Farmar and it was picked off easily. He drained another midrange jumper from the wing. He missed a heave at the half after picking up a loose ball. He had 10 points on 5-8 shooting at the half. He drew FTs on the break, but missed both. He missed a wing jumper on his next touch. He fumbled away a post entry pass. He cut the baseline against the zone, drew FTs and made both (that ended the Hawks lone zone attempt in the third quarter). He drained a three from the corner on a kickout from Farmar. He choked a layup off a good feed from Sasha. Lue fronted him, he took the high entry and scored a layup over the help defender. He posted up Lue in the high post, turned and drew a foul on a jumper, he made both. Out on the break, he attacked and did his best Kobe by taking contact, spinning in the air and flipping in a no-look And-1 over his shoulder and off the glass, he made the FT. Evans led all Lakers with a +18.

Farmar -- -- Just an all-around superb game from Farmar. His statline shows the efficiency and effectiveness he had on the game tonight. He scored 15 points on 5-6 shooting (3-3 from three), 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 boards and 0 turnovers in 23 minutes to lead the bench. He attacked from the wing and drew FTs on Lue, making one. He deflected a pass, busted down court, got it back and scored an And-1 layup against Wright and Smith, he made the FT. He pushed out the break and hit Evans for a dunk. He hit Walton with a long outlet for a breakaway score. He swished a three on a kickout from Evans. He had 7 points at the half. At the start of the fourth with the shotclock low, he pulled up off the dribble and drained a three at the top of the arc. He attacked the paint from the corner, collapsed the D and kicked it out to Evans for a three. He attacked off the dribble with the shotclock low and hit a teardrop. He got taken off the dribble without a screen by Lue for a layup. He swished a catch-and-shoot three, getting a kickout from Kwame. He contested his man in the paint, then switched to steal a pass off. He and Evans give this team some nice hustle and speed at the guard spots, and the seem to really look at their best in the open court. "He comes in and brings a fiery energy," Evans said of Farmar, "and I love being on the floor with him because we play up tempo. We really have a lot of fun out there." Farmar added about Evans, "I always keep him in the corner of my eye because he likes to drift to the corners and that's his shot, and in transition he's a dangerous player."

Bynum -- -- Serviceable minutes from Drew, although he had a few players and coaches in his ears about certain things. He played 16 minutes, but didn't get a whole lot of opportunity to got to work offensively. He scored 4 points on 2-2 shooting (they must have called one his shot attempts that he got blocked on a strip and turnover). He grabbed 3 boards and dished a couple of assists. On his first touch in the post, he knocked down a left-handed hook from about 6 feet away. He was blocked by two Hawks on one post up attempt. He didn't control the defensive glass and gave in a tip in. Nice board in a crowd next time. He took a post feed, faked to his right, went left and sank a 10-foot jumphook (very hard to defend, if that becomes money...look out). Nice feed to Sasha cutting on the baseline and Sasha choked the score. Bynum started to get ticked at Sasha for not making the post entry passes. Farmar snapped at Bynum for not coming out on the pick and roll D when Lue hit a jumper (it looked like the coaches said something to Bynum, too, because after a timeout, he was showing off the screens). With Drew's 2 assists, the Laker centers had 9 assists in the game. Both he and Kwame are very willing passers in this offense. The guys need to keep working off them and improving their off-the-ball movement.

Radmanovic -- -- I swear Vlad looks like he's one of the cast of Survivor with that beard and headband. Maybe once he gets his game back, he will come out of hiding and shave that thing. He scored 5 points on 1-5 shooting and grabbed 4 boards (3 offensive) in 11:29 of action. He missed a rushed three and a layup. He attacked off the dribble and was blocked. He swished a quick released three from the corner over the zone in the fourth, so his one make helped to also keep the Hawks from contiuing to zone us. He drew FTs on a quick attack and made both.

Turiaf -- -- Phil said it's not time yet to start Ronny...but no doubt he likes leveraging his players against each other to step up their game. Our bigs responded better tonight. Ronny played just 5:24, had 4 fouls in that time and was the only Laker not to score. Some of his fouls came as the game was no longer in question. He pulled down some offensive boards at the end of the game on one end, and some fouls on the other. He finished with 4 rebounds.

Cook -- -- Cookie got in with under a couple minutes left, for his first appearance in 9 games. He missed a turnaround jumper. He drew FTs after pulling down an offensive board, he made both.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha was building a brick house out there. He telegraphed a pass and it was picked off and resulted in a score on the other end. He drained a wing three on his first attempt. He snagged a pass jumping into a passing lane for a steal. He badly bricked a short 6-foot jumper. He then choked a layup off a nice cut around Bynum. He bricked a long jumper after ignoring the post entry. He had a team-low -6 on the night.

Phil -- -- The Hawks went to the zone once in the third and we exploited it for two FTs when Evans had to be fouled under the hoop. They then went out of it on the next possession. The Hawks later returned to zone in the fourth and Vlad swished a corner three. So, that was that in this one... Phil ran some Turiaf/Bynum lineup in the second. We were +5 in that short stretch... The Lakers still had turnover issues in this one with 19 on the night, giving up 18 points off turnovers. However, they managed 22 points off the Hawks 15 turnovers, taking the point differential in that stat... When they were able to get a shot off, they did it at an efficient pace, shooting 55.7 percent on the night with 29 assists on 39 makes...

[dino]

nice read db, glad the team was able to bounce back...

nice to see odom go after the boards...seems we needed every one his 15 rebounds because we only outboarded the hawks by 7 or so...

looking at the box, great contribution from the point position tonight...

hope kobe is ok for the texas triangle...

[zeroakuma]

3rd post!
2nd post after db...good analysis.

Btw....it is refreshing to know that the offense flows when Farmar plays.
It's too bad that we have 3 low quality point guards.
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D.Moogle ~ odom raised the eyebrows of everyone in attendance,except for Charlie Villanueva"on Lamar postup"

[BigE32]

Thanks again for the write up, DB. It really is nice to have a player like Evans coming in and replacing Kobe due to injury. They say that hard work pays off and Luke has been working hard on his perimeter shot and it shows. I hope Kobe can play against the Spurs Sunday night. That will be a nice early season test for our young team.

[AllorNothing]

Man, that Cook sighting was strange to say the least. Cook was by far our best bench player last year too.

[A Mad Chinaman]

Interesting Saying
On radio, Mychal was asked why they reinserted Smush into the game at the end of the first half. His reply: So that Smush wouldn't sulk on the bench.

Paul Westphal stated that "he wanted Sacramento to trade for Iverson" - Jack Haley laughed at the possibility of having Artest and Iverson on the same team?!?!


(One of the) Best Play
Kwame block that Jordan (upon receiving the ball) immediately passed the ball to Luke at near mid-court where he immediately passed it to Evans who made a circus shot. Note: Would Smush have even thought about making the pass - Naahhh?!?!?! As Stu had mentioned, isn't it amazing that Jordan looks to pass the ball to players where they are in a position to create damage.


Best Lineup if Kobe Isn't Playing
Farmar, Evans, Luke, Kwame, LO

Worse Lineup if Kobe Isn't Playing
Smush, Sasha, Vlad, Cook, ?

[twoface723]

Good bounce back win. I still don't know how we lost to New Orleans .... But oh well. Farmar looked excellent. I wish Phil would start him.

[20,000]

That was a good game, but is it me, or was the officiating horrendous last night? The Hawks got too many calls the Lakers did not.
_________________
Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[Sage_10]

Thanks for the recap DB. Good stuff.
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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

[Freakout]

Atlanta seemed set on doubling Lamar anytime he put the ball on the floor.

[hoopschick29]

Mo Evans....what a find by Mitch.

Jordan Farmar...Is this kid a god send or what??

Sasha...I feel like we're the ones being punished everytime he comes into the game.
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So glad we gave you your flowers while you were here, Kobe.

[LakerLanny]

[Texas_Pete]

Kwame with the near triple double 13/7/7. He's got the energy, why is he not getting at least 10 rpg though? He is the key to our playoff hopes in my opinion. If he can inch towards 15/10 by season's end we will be styling 8)

Great team win last night.

Outstanding recap DB!

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB. great job of everyone showing what they can do without kobe. now lets see what they can do with kobe.
_________________
"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."

[Klone_dd]

It was a huge letdown going to the game and not seeing Kobe play, but the rest of the guys made up for his absence. 4 guys with career highs!

Luke was sensational. He looked very confident and decisive. Kwame played extra-manly in the post. Mo was great. And JoFar is just too savvy on court. He and Ronny really turned up the energy level in the 2nd Q, leading the team out of its doldrums.

Sasha provided some good comedy (better that than tears). After getting fouled, he tried 4 or 5 close-in shots after the whistle and hit 0. The crowd groaned, then laughed. Reminds me of that "Sasha laughed at me" thread.

[ajaxxx]

DB the most consistant Laker of them all.
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New Orleans Hornets superstar point guard Chris Paul is reportedly headed to the Los Angeles Lakers in a blockbuster trade.

[wolfpaclaker]

Improvements in this game.

- Post recognition.
- 3 point shooting.
- Rebounding.
- Defensive rotations.
- Consistent ball movement.

Well I'd gladly say the Lakers have fixed their defensive issues, but they haven't until I see them play D against a good to great PG. Sunday will be a good test against Parker.

It's scary when you see the Lakers put up the amount of points they have this season with Kobe out. How far have they come from the last season. They no longer rely on him to create so much for them.

Top Reasons

1- Walton. This guy just knows his spots in the Triangle and how to take the good shots. Luke has to be the Diaw of this season and arguably should win the MIP award.

2- Farmar. Another creator. Without Kobe, I felt that Jordan was the key. He makes things happen.

3- Evans. Someone that can get up and give you 15 points when Kobe is out. This is HUGE. All for 1.5 million - which by NBA standards is a steal.

Just comparing this roster to last years - you feel the improvement.

[TheProdigy]

Sounds like Kobe is not going to be ready, at least without needing to watch himself, for the Spurs game, and that is trouble, because Bowen will make sure that he stays low.

Honestly, if Kobe can't play without needing to compensate, then I'd rather that he sits. A weak Kobe going against their strong link defensively is not going to help our offense much. Farmar against Parker would probably be our best matchup, and probably our best shot to win, if Kobe does sit out.

[Addicus]

Thank you DB for:

1. A great, fair analysis.

2. Not fueling the Smush hate.
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Stop crying and start doing.

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

[LakersSpirit]

You just have to wonder... I feel like my own perceptions were proved out, in this last game... Why has Phil not been going with this energy team, that I recognized, from preseason??

There is still a lot of room for improvement, but we have some good elements, if we use them right. Farmar brings some nice ballhandling, and "on-court-generalship". I feel that Smush still contributes, with his athleticism, and "Streetball-Showmanship"... Smush also has some ballhandling skills, as well... Sasha??... I still have faith, that Sasha will come 'round, by mid-season. I know my memory doesn't fail me, when I say that Sasha has bailed us out, in the past. In recent games, Sasha has appeared too lackadaisical, for me... On offense, it looks like Sasha is not aggressive enough; he fails to attack the basket. On defense, Sasha does not show any intensity, in going after the ball. In addition, Sasha's shooting seems to have suffered, by his time on the bench. Overall, I don't see such a gloomy picture, as some, in respect to our PG's.

Mo Evans displays some rookie mistakes, but I just knew that his game would reap us some benefits, if given enough PT. I'm still not fully satisfied, with Luke... I think Luke has some tremendous potential, maybe, even as much as his father??.. :roll: I keep seeing Luke changing his mind, at the last minute, and causing turnovers. On other occasions, it looks like Luke has trouble, reading the situation, or the court... Luke, sometimes, fails to recognize, when he should take his shot.... Once Luke recognizes, and works on some of these weaknesses, he will really be something special.
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"Teamwork is a nebulous thing. It is as ephemeral as love, disappearing at the latest insult.".... Phil Jackson

[BigE32]