LAKERS -at- HORNETS - 1/20 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings

[DancingBarry]

No D, No W... This was, once again, a game where our lack of depth on our front line hurt us defensively. Still, we should have won.

When the ship was starting to sink early in the third period, Phil gambled. Cook had 4 fouls and couldn't handle West, Vlad wasn't about to do any better. So, he pulled Ronny from the back-up center position and ran him at his natural power forward spot. He also plugged in the more athletic Evans for Luke.

After a long stint, Bynum finally picked up his fourth foul and Phil had to put him on the bench, but the gamble had paid off. The Lakers pulled even again with the Hornets after getting stops on the defensive end and controlling our boards. We kept the score close, resting both Bynum and Turiaf at different times. Phil then had a chance to go back to the Bynum/Turiaf/Evans front court to close out the game...but he never did.

The Lakers squandered a career night from Mo Evans, who had 25 family members in attendance as he went for a career-high 23 points on 8-9 shooting and tied his season high with 7 boards in 28 minutes -- just a sensational game on both ends.


Kobe -- -- Not a good night from Kobe except for the 7 assists with only 1 turnover. He scored 23 points on a poor 7-22 shooting (3-7 from three), grabbed 6 boards, 2 steals and blocked 1 shot. He had 3 shots in the first half and 19 shots in the second half...not quite the balance you would like to see. Late in the game, he had a couple of sequences that ended up burying any chance we had of coming home with the win. Early on, he was a bit too passive with his own shot, although doing a decent job setting up others. He attacked and kicked out to Smush for a three. He hit Bynum with a bounce pass in the lane for a score over a smaller man. He attacked off the dribble and drew a foul on the baseline, he made one FT. He faked the three, attacked and found Ronny who was fouled. He was fouled under the hoop at the end of the quarter and made both FTs. He closed out the half with a bad idea to give Bynum the ball on the break, setting him up for a charge. He bricked a jumper. He had 3 points on 0-3 shooting, not near enough aggression from Kobe in the first half. In the second half, he took 19 attempts. He hit a wing jumper quickly to start the second half. He threw a long outlet to Smush that ignited the break and Mo cleaned it up. He attacked the lane, drew contact on Chandler and a foul, he made both. He hit a pull-up jumper from 19 feet out. He drained a three from the sideline. Great D bodying up Butler on the perimeter and slapping the ball loose, he then took it the distance for a layup after twisting through the D. He wanted the And-1 on that shot, pointed at the ref and drew a tech (he has to watch those as he's getting up there now in the number of T's). He doubled Mason, leaving his man open and the Hornets took advantage for a score (should have just let Evans handle him). He missed a three. He attacked the double team, got into the paint, drew Chandler and fed Turiaf for a layup. He missed a three. He found Evans on a kickout for a three. He hit Smush with a kickout for a three. He had a wide open look at a three at the top of the key off Ronny's screen and drained it. He missed a couple of jumper to start the fourth and Phil sat him. He came back in with the Lakers down by 4 with over 6 minutes left. He attacked and drew FTs, making one with 3:09 for his first points of the fourth. He gave up a three to Butler on the other end, but got it back with a three of his own. A key sequence late in the game: Kobe got blocked on a drive attempt, Butler knocked down a three on the other end in transition, then Kobe missed a three -- that sealed our fate. He attacked, drew contact, missed and tipped it back in. He got stripped from behind for a steal and score.

Walton -- -- He just does not match up while with some of the more athletic players as we have seen in the past couple of games. Phil took him out early in the third because of this. Unfortunately, he put Luke at PF on the bigger West late in the game. Just not a good night for Luke match up wise. Luke scored 9 points on a poor 4-13 shooting (and a poorer 1-5 from three). He had just 2 assists and 3 boards in his 33 minutes. He knocked down an 18-footer on his first attempt. He missed a jumphook in the lane. He missed an open three when his man sagged off of him. He took an inbounds pass, squared up with his feet together and drained a wing three. He got tapped on a series of shots in the lane at the end of the half. He attacked from the wing and powered in a layup. He hit a FT jumper to beat the shotclock. West hit a jumper over him to beat the shotclock. He missed a late three.

Smush -- -- It seemed like a fairly average game from Smush, except he had some trouble finishing in the lane. He had his ups and downs. He finished with 13 points on4-10 shooting (3-5 from three), 2 assists with 1 turnover and 1 steal in 31 minutes. He hit an 18-footer off of the dribble. He drained a wing three on a kickout from Kobe. He got swatted by Chandler on a drive. He knocked down a three from straight away. He missed a wing three. He clanked a pull-up jumper in early offense. He drained a wing three off a kickout from Kobe. He missed a breakaway reverse but Evans cleaned it up. Key sequence for Smush: He had a great steal on one end with a reach on help D, but then he missed a floater on the other and compounded the poor possession when he then gave up FTs by slapping to get the ball back after his miss. In the last minute, he drew FTs on an attack and made both.

Bynum -- -- Not a bad game from Drew. I think there were a couple instances when he probably should have stayed home instead of challenging on help D, but had he gotten any kind of help under the hoop early on, we might have been okay. He had a good, long stint in the third quarter going without fouls until late and that allowed the Lakers to D-up with Ronny at PF and pull even. The foul trouble, though, sent him back to the bench. He finished with 9 points on 4-7 shooting and 9 boards in 31 minutes of action. He worked the low pinch post with Cook and set him up for a jumper. He worked solo against Chandler and hit a jumphook over him in the middle of the lane. He sealed a smaller man, Kobe found him down low, and he turned and banked easily over him. He went up high for an offensive board and immediately powered a score over Chandler. He picked up two fouls contesting shots while Chandler got the miss and scored, and Bynum had to sit midway through the first. He drew an illegal D holding the ball in the post. He was called for an illegal D himself shortly later. He had a physical battle with Jackson under the boards and he pulled down a rebound. He wanted to go at him on the other end, made a strong move to his left but missed the easy jumphook off the glass. Great up and under move on Jackson and he somehow got tapped on the easy one. Ticked after he got tripped with no call, he threwdown hard after working off the two-man game with Smush. He traveled when he took a pass in traffic. Kobe flipped him a pass trailing the break and Bynum took out Chandler and Pargo like bowling pins for a charge. Chandler contested Ronny's offensive putback, Bynum pulled the board down and drew a foul, making one FT. After a good stint of D, he picked up his fourth foul and steam was coming out of his ears as he went to the bench late in the third. He came back in late for five minutes and pulled down a couple of boards.

Cook -- -- His weaknesses on D will get exposed when we don't have a good match up for him. Tonight, he got torched by West and against provided little presence in the interior. He played 16 minutes and scored 8 points on a solid 4-6 shooting, had 3 boards, but 4 fouls in that short time. He hit a midrange jumper off a Bynum pitch out. He faced up and hit another jumper from the other side. He hit an open baseline jumper on his next touch. He missed a three on his fourth attempt. He scored off an inbounds play that we never saw on KCAL. West was scoring at will over Cook whenever he wanted. Cook picked up his third foul at the end of the half and had to sit. He picked up his fourth foul early in the fourth and never got off the bench again.

Turiaf -- -- We haven't had much chance to play Turiaf at the PF since Kwame went down because of the sketchy foul situation with Drew. Being able to go to our bigger PF/C lineup with Turiaf/Bynum allowed the Lakers to control the bleeding, which had affected us in the first half of this game (and the entire last game). Ronny locked down on West and the Hornets game crawled to a grind for one long stint in the third quarter. Ronny's statline wasn't impressive, but the impact was there. He scored 6 points on 2-4 shooting, grabbed 4 boards, dished 2 assists and had 3 fouls in 23:35 of action. In one long third-to-fourth quarter stint, he played 17 of those minutes. During that time, he was a +10 when allowed to run at PF and a -1 when at the C spot. That pretty much describes our situation night to night right now. On his first touch, Ronny airballed an open baseline jumper. Kobe found him under the hoop and Ronny was fouled, he made both FTs. He gave up an oop to Chandler, sagging off him too much. West finally missed a jumper when Turiaf took him early in the third. Good contest on West again in the lane to force another miss. Ronny sagged too far off and West hit a jumper over him. Kobe set Ronny up under the hoop for an easy layup. Great D again on West, challenging the post shot, then grabbing the miss. He knocked down wide open wing 16-footer off a kickout from Farmar. He stepped around West to poke a ball loose, then pushed up the break, after getting the ball back from Farmar he hit Evans for a score. West tapped in a miss after sealing Ronny. Great job drawing a charge on West after rushing to contest. Great job, wish we could have seen him more with Bynum late in the game. I heard some props for Ronny the other night when someone described Diogu going to Indy as a chance for him to be their Ronny Turiaf (Diogu was the 9th pick in the draft, just before Bynum...and Ronny, of course, the 37th pick).

Evans -- -- With his family in attendance, Evans put on a show. In 28 minutes off the bench, he scored 23 points on 8-9 shooting, 5-5 from the line. Somehow, he missed a shot with the left in the lane, other wise it would have been a perfect night for him from the floor and the line. He also added 7 boards (4 on the offensive end, showing his energy and effort). One last stat, he led the Lakers with a +8. It's matchups like tonight and the last game, where you want Evans to start for Luke against those more athletic players. And, again, I'm reminded of the Fox/George combo and how there were those same kinds of nights. On to the action: He went up high to pull down a defensive board from behind Chandler. He sank a wing three when his man sagged off. Great hustle to hit the floor and recover a loose ball. He attacked off the dribble, held the ball up high and swished a runner. He pulled down a Bynum miss, drew a foul and made both FTs. Out of a timeout, he worked off a wing rub screen, took the pass from Vlad and scored at the front of the rim. In very early in the third quarter for Luke, he threw down a two-hand jam when Smush missed on a breakaway. He worked off the Bynum screen and hit a wing jumper over Chandler. Good D on Mason on one end to force a brick, he then drew FTs and made both on the other end (Stu was right, Mo looked like he bounced off a trampoline the way he went up off that jumpstep to draw the foul on Chandler). He then sank a three off a kickout from Kobe. Grat job fighting for an offensive board and it led to a Smush three. He then caused BJax to turn the ball over in transition. He finished under the hoop when Ronny made the extra pass in transition. He missed a layup attempt with his left. He cut to Kobe who had penetration, took the pass and drew contact on Chandler as he banked in the And-1, he made the FT. Great game. Can we fly his family in for the rest of the road games this year?

Radmanovic -- -- He played under 10 minutes, scored 4 points on 1-3 shooting, had 2 offensive boards, 2 assists and managed 3 fouls in that time. He missed a three wide left. He grabbed a Farmar miss and was fouled, he made both FTs. He sank a face-up jumper from the elbow. He missed a three. He hit Evans coming off a rub screen for a score. That's all that is worth mention.

Farmar -- -- Not much to talk about in this one. His best moments, I think, were when he was fighting Chandler for boards. Jordan scored 4 points on 1-5 shooting (0-3 from three), had 1 offensive board, 1 assist and a turnover in 17 minutes. Nice job contesting a defensive board to knock it from Chandler. He bricked a short jumper. He missed a three. He attacked the lane and kicked it to Turiaf for a jumper. Good job battling for a board again to tap it away from Chandler. He missed a wide open three from the corner. Good work again battling for a board and he drew a loose ball foul when he got decked by BJax and Chandler. Unfortunately, he missed both FTs, then gave up a three to Pargo giving him too much space. He hit a pull-up jumper on the baseline over Pargo to give the Lakers their first lead of the second half with over 8 minutes left in the fourth. He got back screened and gave up an open jumper to Pargo. He attacked off the pinch post with speed, drew a foul and made both FTs. He tried to hit Luke cutting on the baseline and it was picked off. He missed a wing three.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha played 11 serviceable minutes and scored 4 points on 1-2 shooting and 1-1 from the line. He made a tech FT when Bynum drew an illegal D in the post. He sank a wing three out of a timeout. He missed a wide open corner three.

Phil -- -- He had the blueprint for success in his hands. Running Ronny and Bynum on West and Chandler, respectively. It was a gamble that paid off and got the Lakers out of a hole in the second half. But he didn't go back to it again late in the game and it burned us... "Giving them 113 points, that's a problem," Phil said. "Not having a chance down the stretch, that's not smart on our part."... The Lakers started off 8-8 in the first quarter, but they ended up giving the Hornets a 59-point first half... The Hornets won the battle of the paint 26-12 in the first half. They extended that to 42-26 when it was all said and done... At the half, the coaches wanted better execution offensively and better transition D... Phil went to a Bynum, Turiaf, Mo, Kobe, Smush lineup after just 2 minutes into the second half. Putting Turiaf on West. Drew finally picked up his fourth and Phil had to leave Turiaf in at C late in the third... With 6 minutes left, he gave Turiaf his first rest after a long stint, going with Bynum, Luke, Evans, Kobe and Farmar... He didn't bring back Ronny to cover West and West put the nail in the coffin with a turnaround jumper over Luke with over a minute left. He later hit another jumper over Luke to beat the shotclock (we had brought Ronny in but put him on Chandler, taking out Bynum). Grrrr... The Lakers gave up 17 offensive boards in this game... Well, we were happy with the Texas split, but dropping this one makes for an unsuccessful road trip... No telling exactly how soon Kwame or Lamar will be back. They say it's any day now, but until they actually start full contact practicing, who knows? "It'll be good to get them back," No. 24 said. "They'll definitely help our defense. Right now, we're pretty inexperienced."...

[1hu2ren3dui4]

evans was just about the only bright spot. too bad his team couldnt pull it out.
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-Most people learn by saying mother, numb, horse, angry... I learned mine by saying Lakers, add gas. - HRD.

[Mation]

Thanks for the recap DB, glad to hear Lamar and Kwame are coming back soon.

[Triple-Threat-Lakers]

Typical Laker loss. Lakers take a padding in the overconfidence department prior to the game and lose to one of the worst teams in the West.

[8750]

thanks, DB...
let me be polemic for a moment... many posters here assert that (a) phil has nine rings so he's indisputable and (b) our players ae good, young and improving... but when you see the way this team plays in these games, it's evident that something is wrong with these assertions... so (a) the way this team plays -especially on d- is not the way a nine rings coach should teach his players... or (b) these players don't have the mental and technical skills for a winning team...
my humble opinion is that (a) phil is one of greatest coaches in the game and he's doing a great work, but he's very dogmatic with his formula... (b) most of these players are very soft, good when everything flows and weak when something doesn't work...
phil is giving an identity to this team... that's obviously very good... but this new "kobe as facilitator" is going beyond the limits... it's like watching a tiger into a cage... we desperatley need that sometimes kobe takes the game away from the very soft hands and minds of these players and takes responsability of the game... otherwise we lose every rhythm, we let the game slip away without any reaction from the players and any countermove from the coach... as i said in another thread, if in certain moments jack bauer doesn't throw himself beyond the rules, we are lost... 24 is definitely the right system for our 24...

[DancingBarry]

I am hoping that once LO gets back that this will help Kobe get back into a more aggressive scoring mindset. I don't think they want him taking just 3 shots in a first half and 19 in the next with any regularity. And I hope Kobe doesn't get predictable with opening games like this, either...find the right balance.

Jack Bauer is relentless, but he has a good mix. He knows when to get Chloe to give him the support he needs. He also knows when he has to step up and get the information he needs himself. But he never stops being relentless, he imposes his will on the situation continually. He's also versatile like Kobe. He knows when to shoot someone in the leg to get information, when to shoot their wife in the leg, or when to use a lamp cord to make sure a family friend is telling the truth.

[Sage_10]

Another disappointing loss.
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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

[targetman]

[twoface723]

Another bad loss for the Lakers... How do you lose to the Bobcats, Grizzlies, and Hornets TWICE!??!? This proves the Lakers are not a great team, just a good team. An inconsistent team, also. They beat the good teams, and lose the bad teams. You should beat these team even if you're missing your second best player. An embaressing loss. Great teams limit thier bad losses in the season.
I really hope Odom comes back though. I hate Brian Cook in the starting line-up. As a matter of fact, I hate Brian Cook on this team.

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

thanks DB for giving more effort than the Lakers. I really hate losing to these bottom dwelling teams. How do we beat the Spurs 2x but lose twice to these scrubs? Luke had no business at PF guarding West.
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[wolfpaclaker]

Bynum, Turiaf and Evans. I really would like to see these guys out there with LO + Kobe more.

Something like

Offense:

5 Bynum
4 Turiaf
3 Evans
2 Kobe
1 Odom

Defense

5 Bynum
4 Turiaf
3/2/1 Odom/Kobe/Evans

Odom and Kobe's ballhandling should allow for this lineup to be played offensively. The spacing would be an issue but if they focus on getting the ball inside - they have 4 big mismatches inside with Drew, Turiaf, Odom and Evans who should all be defended by smaller guys.

Big reason I want to see this lineup is that defensively, it would give us alot of ability. Dual shotblockers, perimeter defense and even interchangability at the 1-2-3.

[prisma8slg]

[angrypuppy]

Thank you again, DancingBarry.

[TheProdigy]

Did Phil really take out Bynum for that last possession when West hit a fadeaway, even though it was clear West was imposing his will on Luke? Wow, truly moronic.

[Vlade]

i think this was the worst loss of the season for us. Following a blow out loss to the Mavs, and comments in the press that the lakers need to beat these lowly teams, we nevertheless fail to do so. Really unbelievable. Shows me this team just doesn't have it. Maybe once Lamar is back. Maybe.

On a side note, when Cook picked up his 4th fould earlier in the 3rd, Phil put Vlad out there, but yanked him quickly and he never got back in the game. Anyone know why?
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"All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie."

[A Mad Chinaman]

[TheProdigy]

[SladeRider]

I think that now Phil has a chance to get the team back on home court and back in LA after the trip around the Southwest division, he can get them working on the rebounding and hussle and bussle that is needed in our front court so we don't get out rebounded again like we were in Dallas.