LAKERS -at- BLAZERS - 1/5 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Rose Garden Blues... They started out smoking, hitting everything and the offense clicking. Unfortunately, they let the Blazers do the same.

When the Laker offense bogged down in the second half, the Blazers continued to roll any way they wanted to -- layups and open jumpers again and again as the Lakers fell 107-96.

The Laker transition D continues to look atrocious. Their two-man D got picked apart. They never made the Blazers turn the ball over (just 4 Blazer turnovers).

"They busted our ass," Andrew Bynum said. "They came out and just beat us down court in transition. That's it."

The Blazer crowd grew into a frenzy midway through the third quarter as the lead eventually grew to double digits. The Lakers could neither hold the line defensively nor make a dent in that lead on the other end.

Had the Lakers been able to knock down a few of their three's, it might have been a closer ball game. They went 0-11 from behind the arc. That will allow your opponent to pack the paint and run on rebounds. Still, you'd rather hang your hat on the defensive end than perimeter shooting.

"We didn't defend. We didn't play with a sense of urgency," Coach Brown said.


Kobe -- -- He came out of the gates looking smooth and efficient with the jumper. High percentage looks and makes followed. In the second half, he landed on his wrist, trying to take a charge and stayed on the floor in pain for a bit. Later, he got smacked on the wrist on a foul and took a long stroll to walk it off. Defensively, it looked like he was strolling at times. He's so locked in offensively, he's got to make more of a conscious effort to help in transition at times. He is continually getting caught in no man's land when we go from offense to defense. The Stats: He scored 30 points on 13-24 shooting (0-4 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 3 assists, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: His pass was deflected right back to him so he hit the wing jumper to start the scoring. He sank a fade at the elbow working off the post. He posted up, spun away from the double and swished the baseline turnaround. He missed a three up against the shotclock. He found Bynum in transition for a layup at the front of the rim. He sank a wing jumper off the pass from Peace out of the corner. He missed a hanging jumper trying to go around a bigger player. He had 8 points on 4-6 shooting in the first. He missed a turnaround from the midpost over a forming triple team. He swished a wing catch and shoot popping out behind a weakside screen (these are the plays you didn't see in the Tri that don't require much work on Kobe's part). He attacked in transition after we broke the press and scored an And-1 layup (Murphy shed Wallace with a great screen), he made the FT. He split a double team with a hair of space and low dribble to score a layup. He lost his man with a spin move and swished a baseline pull up. He had 17 points on 8-11 shooting and 2 assists. Second Half: He missed a flat, pull-up jumper. He missed a step-through, got it back and scored a layup. He sank a jumper standing on the three line after a weakside screen. Not close on another up and under. He missed a long three, didn't get back (Blake either) and we gave up an uncontested dunk (happening too much on Kobe misses this year). He missed a putback attempt. He posted up and drew FTs, he made both. He had 6 points on 2-7 shooting in the third. He sank a step-back fallaway after backing his man down. He was stripped on a double team. A pass on the perimeter was knocked off him out of a timeout. He hit an iso, baseline pull-up jumper. He was swatted attacking a crowd. He missed a jumper. He was hacked on a triple team right on his wrist, he pushed through the pain and hit one FT. Wild possession, spinning and throwing a pass out of bounds. He missed a jumphook in the paint. He swished a baseline fade off a spin and drive left. He missed a three next time down.

Gasol -- -- The Lakers had that one-two-three punch tonight, but little else. Pau had some nice moments working off Kobe and Bynum and finding open spaces. Still, he's not quite playing at the threat level he was when he was in the triangle. Defensively, the Pau/Bynum lineup had to move it as the Blazers pushed the pace with success. It doesn't help when the Laker guards aren't hustling like they should, either. Again, here is a place where you miss Lamar as he was frequently one of the guys who got back in transition D to slow down opponents. With McRoberts out, that lack of hustle was missed. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-10 shooting (5-5 from the line) to go with 7 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He blocked Wallace on help D. He swished a jumper from the FT line, wide open off the Kobe/Bynum two-man game. He swished an open baseline jumper on the next possession. He swished another open jumper on a drive and kick from Fish. Great lob to Bynum after we broke the press. He tipped in a missed drive from Blake. He had to sit with his second foul. He had 8 points on 4-4 shooting in the first. He was blocked from behind not going up fast or strong. He missed a turnaround jumper from a few feet away. Second Half: He sank a jumper in the middle of the lane. He drew FTs on a turnaround and made both. He missed an easy putback. He fumbled away a sure dunk. He had 12 points after three quarters. He swatted dribble penetration. His man crowded him, he attacked, bumped him off with his off hand and scored an And-1 layup (should have been a charge), he made the FT. He tipped in a Kobe missed FT. He drew a couple FTs and made both.

Bynum -- -- Decent game from Drew as one of the few to be up to the challenge tonight. He made his first 8 shots before going 1-8 after that. He was a little sloppy showing too early on the screen-roll defense and allowed the guard to split the defenders more than once. He had some moments anchoring the D, but those were rare highlights of the Laker D. You wonder if his freethrow shooting issues have to do with conditioning. He's not a 50 percent freethrow shooter, but that's about what he's doing this season. That should come around at some point. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 9-16 shooting (3-6 from the line) to go with 12 boards, 1 assist, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He drop-stepped and scored off the glass easily. He was called for a travel from the high post. He threw down a lob pass from Pau after we broke the press. Nice job running the floor again, he took the pass at the front of the rim and scored the layup. He worked the post with low position and scored easily between two players. He fumbled a pass away. Power drop step and he dunked around Thomas. He had 10 points on 5-5 shooting in the first. He rejected Wallace's shot badly to ignite a break. After an up-and-down sequence of missed layups by both teams, Blake lobbed to him for a throw down. Nice position sealing his man for a corner entry and he drew FTs after getting wrapped up, he missed both short. He got hacked on a layup over Wallace but still scored it despite the no call. He had 14 points on 7-7 shooting. Second Half: He faked right, swung left and hit the jumphook in the middle of the lane. He missed a lefty jumphook (his first miss of the game). He blocked a shot that went off the top of the backboard and in, but it wasn't counted. He missed a putback attempt. He had the ball poked loose, didn't get out of the lane, got it back and scored (lucky not to get the three second call). He missed a baseline jumphook. We kicked it back to him and he got hacked for FTs, he made both. He had 6 points on 2-5 shooting in the third. He erased a Felton drive with a well-timed swat. He missed at the front of the rim on the other end. He was fouled under the hoop after we broke the press, he made one FT. He was hacked with no call. He missed a jumphook.

Barnes -- -- Gerald Wallace was giving him a tough time right out of the gates. Some of the cuts using baseline screeners under the hoop left Wallace open and Barnes in trouble. Not bad minutes from Matt as he got some boards and gave the Lakers some transition offense, but the team was torched by Wallace for 31 points. Didn't matter who was covering him. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 1-3 shooting (4-4 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He and Bynum tipped in a defensive board with no one else around. He cut, missed the layup, got it back and put it in. He got beat by Wallace for a layup, but busted down court and was fouled on a breakaway layup, he made both FTs. He attacked off the three line and was tripped for FTs, he made both. He had a layup goaltended with no call, weak. He had 6 points and 7 boards at the half. Second Half: He attacked and threw a pass away.

Fisher -- -- Fish actually led the Lakers in the +/-, pretty much ducking out when the game turned on the Lakers. Felton may not have scored a lot or shot well, but the 10 assists and breaking down the D off the screen roll hurt. Fish also led the Lakers with 6 assists, but with only 15 assists for the team, that wasn't hard to do. Where Fish gets his assists most consistently is spotting shooters getting freed up off our screens. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-2 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 6 assists, 2 steals and no fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He swished a long jumper in transition, standing on the three line. He attacked and kicked to Pau for a jumper. He swiped a pass on the break. He sank a wing jumper off a screen. He attacked down the middle of the lane, pulled up and drew FTs on the jumper, he made both. He had 6 points and 4 assists at the half. Second Half: Nice job spotting Pau freed up in the middle of the paint for a jumper.

Murphy -- -- He hesitates way too much on his shot. You will see him with the ball and an open look, but he's not always ready to let it fly. That hurt the team today. The Portland bigs were sagging off him later in the game. Not sure what happened to his confidence, but he needs to find it. The Laker three shooting could have used a threat of any kind. Defensively, we could have also used McRoberts in this game since he is a step or two faster. With all those Portland pick and pops, you've got to have fast rotations. With No McRoberts and Peace giving nothing, the Lakers bench definitely missed Lamar in this one. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting and had 2 boards, 1 block and 3 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He missed a lefty step-through at the front of the rim. He leveled Wallace on a baseline screen to free Kobe up for an And-1. Second Half: He rejected Aldridge out of bounds on iso D.

Blake -- -- The Lakers missed the three shooting. A few makes there would have made life much easier for everyone. Blake couldn't connect and took the most attempts. Brown makes sure he has Blake on the floor when Kobe is off it. It's a necessity when the clock is low and you need a ball handler to create. But Brown also alters his rotation to close with both Blake and Kobe on the floor if needed. Despite the poor three shooting, some good moments for Blake setting up Bynum for easy scores. This is an area where increased minutes from a true point guard on the floor would create more of these types of easy opportunities for the Lakers. We get some of those moments from Blake, but we don't have that continual set-up man for all 48 minutes. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-9 shooting (0-5 from three) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists and no fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: He attacked the paint and missed a layup, but Pau cleaned it up. He missed a wing three. He fumbled the ball away on the last play of the quarter. He swished an elbow jumper off the Bynum screen. He missed a corner three. He lobbed to Bynum in transition for the hammer down off the post spin move. He attacked baseline and hit Bynum with a bounce pass for a layup. He had 2 points and 2 assists at the half. Second Half: He didn't run back on D while Kobe was shooting a three to help cover for him. He missed a pull-up jumper. His three was blocked trying to beat the shotclock. Sweet turnaround swish from the corner with a second on the shotclock on an inbounds pass (looked Kobe-esque for half a second). He missed a three (layup for Wallace in transition).

Peace -- -- Anytime he catches it on the perimeter and lets it fly, it's an instant stop for the other team. It's an automatic miss, head down court because it's not going in. It's either a foot too long, a foot wide left or foot wide right. It's never even close. That's how it's been the last several games. Where he has made a difference is by getting in the post or creating for others off the dribble. You saw none of that in this one. We played to his weaknesses and paid the price. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-5 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He dove into the third row trying to save a ball. Not close on a wing jumper in early offense, uggh. He attacked baseline and choked a wide open layup, double uggh. He missed a baseline step-back jumper. Second Half: He was nailed to the floor as Wallace blew past him. He bricked a three. Hard foul on Aldridge cutting to make sure he didn't score (it saved a point on a missed FT, too). His offensive board led to Bynum FTs on the repost. He was stripped on a drive, turnover. He missed a face-up jumper on the next possession.

Kapono -- -- Short minutes, but he managed to nearly lead the bench in scoring. That was one of the bigger problems for the team with just 14 points from the bench. The Blazers bench had 10 more points and some spark in Jamal Crawford. There was no spark in the Lakers game tonight. The Stats: He had 5 points on 2-4 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 10 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He sank a tech FT. He let a man fly by, moved in a step and drained the jumper. He was called for a travel after faking a shot. He missed a quick-fire sideline three. He gave up an And-1 to Crawford on a jumper on the other end. Second Half: He was stripped under the hoop, got it back and made the layup.

Ebanks -- -- With the Blazers running on the Lakers and the lead lost early in the third, Brown brought in Ebanks for Barnes. The tide was changing and he wanted to get a different look in there. With how Peace played in this game, he would have been much better off playing Ebanks and Barnes all game. He might have been better off giving Goudelock a look with how badly our three shooting was. So-so minutes from Ebanks. He missed a point blank dunk and also had an airball. That seemed to be par for the course. The Stats: He had 5 points on 1-5 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed at the rim on a scramble under the hoop. He was called for a travel trying to pivot after a cut down the lane. He got backed down by Wallace for a layup. Nice job grabbing a blocked shot and drawing FTs with a couple seconds left on the shotclock, he made both. He choked an uncontested dunk, got it back and drew FTs, he made one. His man sagged off him so he sank a 20-footer. He airballed a pull-up jumper.

Brown -- -- A scorching pace to start, after just 5 minutes the Lakers led 18-17... The Lakers made 12-14 shots and the Blazers hit 9-13 before the first timeout came. Drew sat for Murphy, Barnes for Peace, Fisher for Blake with 5 minutes left... The Lakers led 31-27 after the first, shooting 68 percent (15-22)... Brown started a Bynum, Murphy, Peace, Kapono, Blake unit (same unit that finished the quarter)... Down 1, he brought in Fish and Kobe... He brought in Blake to close the half with 3:15 left, up by 1... The Lakers led 56-52 at the half. They shot 61.5 percent (24-39, 0-4 from three, 8-10 from the line). The Blazers shot 44 percent (21-48, 3-8 from three, 7-9 from the line)... Coaches were fine with the offensive execution, but they wanted better work getting around screens on D and securing the glass... The Blazers were running on the Laker bigs and took a 64-62 lead. Brown called a timeout... Brown subbed in Ebanks for Barnes, looking for an answer out of that timeout... Down 6, he sat Pau for Bynum and the crowd was in a frenzy. The lead grew into double digits... He sat Kobe for Ebanks with a minute left down 9... A long three at the end of the quarter by the Blazers and Portland led 84-74 heading into the fourth. The Lakers made just 5-20 in the third... Brown started a Bynum, Murphy, Peace, Ebanks, Blake unit... He sat Peace for Kapono after a couple bricks by Peace... He sat Bynum for Pau down 9 after 4 minutes... The lead was still 9 nearly 5 minutes later... The Lakers couldn't lock it down on D... The Blazers had just 4 turnovers in the game... "They got clean, easy looks at the rim," Brown said...

[Omar Little]

First
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“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel

[ChefLinda]

Second.

[moonriver24]

Conspiracy. 24 first, ChefLinda 2nd.

Andrew bynum summed it up well.

Transition D sucked, help D sucked, and it didn't help when they seemed to make all kinds of shots.
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Kobe's Top 5 Dunks, 81 points, MJ last gm @Staples

[Omar Little]

[ibitegirls]

How many times is Kobe going to fall on his wrist? This season is so hard to watch. I'm not sure how his wrist is going to improve if he keeps falling on it every other game.

MWP is extremely sorry, I don't understand how he is allowed to shoot beyond the paint. I mean don't our coaches tell him anything? He take low percentage shots regularly and its horrid, excruciating, whatever i need a drink

[revgen]

What really killed us were 3 things.

1) We played at the Blazers tempo. We need to play at a slower pace. Wears out our bigs.

2) TO's. We had 14. Blazers had 4. Most of those TO's turned into easy fast break points.

3) They have a 6th man, Jamaal Crawford. We have Artest, who scored 0 points.
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[chilake24]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Just got back from the Rose Garden. I'm pissed as usual.


Thanks DB for enduring this game to put together another excellent T&R as always.

[dcarter4kobe]

Will never understand why the Lakers didnt pursue Crawford in a sign and trade

Would have been a win win
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"He's a Zen master, so he can speak to you, and he doesn't need a microphone; you can hear him in your head, 'Ron, don't shoot, don't shoot.' Whatever, pow, three. I love the Zen, though."

[Klone_dd]

We never seem to play very good in P-land. But I thought our big 3 worked well together. Everyone else, especially the Peace Corps, kinda sucked.

Poor transition D, highlighted by Kobe's beat-the-clock heave and subsequent runout by Wallace. Even when the Blazers got into halfcourt sets, they were able to get anything they wanted. We got abused, plain and simple.

The road hasn't been kind this season.

[Lakersneuron]

thanks DB. Definitely sensed some frustration in your write up tonight. Hopefully the team will give you a reason to be more up beat in the next one.

[Arbitrary]

[mhan00]

This was a game where Pau should have gone for 30+ points. Nobody on the Blazer can guard him, and he proved it several times tonight, he just didn't get aggressive enough. He finally started doing it in the fourth quarter, but we needed that from him in the third when it was obvious that the Blazers were sending everyone and the kitchen sink at 'Drew and the rest of the team was just straight up horrible on offense.

[lounger]

Please bounce back Lakers.

[DaMamba]

Just got back from the game as well, not too fun and kinda upset it's my only game this year.

This was easily the worst the bench played all season, no one showed up. Blake didn't do much, Metta was awful, Murphy played a lot of minutes but had his worst game as well, Kapono didn't do anything.

Bynum had a great 1st half, then the Blazers put Thomas on him and that was basically the end of that. Bynum's 2nd half was nothing special.

Kobe was Kobe, solid game.

Was shocked to hear Pau had 19 points, didn't notice it. Thought he was more in the 12-14 range, seemed to be a very quiet 19. He should have been more aggressive.

Oh and the Blazers only had 4 TOs all game, and the Lakers didn't even hit 1 three pointer all night. Those stats are pretty telling, Lakers had ZERO defense tonight as they often do in Portland it seems.

I really don't like Portland's fan base, they're (bleep) annoying. Hope the Lakers stomp the Blazers the 2 times later this year when they're in LA.

[The_Joker]

I think Bynum can add 5-10 lbs of muscles without slowing down. I'd like to see him do it, because it looks like he ran out of gas a little bit in the 2nd half.

Also, one thing I'd like to see from Brown is to start Ebanks and put him on the opposing team's best guards right from the start. Kobe's knees won't allow him to give maximum effort defensively, and you can't do that and hope to affect a guy like Mathew, and of course, we now know what to do with Crawford.

[moonriver24]

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB.

[limchrc]

Thanks. Let's win the next game.

[Rick12322]

[yinoma2001]

[Rick12322]

Thanks for the recap DB. In the first half the Lakers came out running an offense, they were actually running plays, setting screens, passing. It looked good. Then they went away from that. Portland adjusted, and the Lakers had no counters.

I'm usually the optimist who says we don't need help, but the fact is, we do. Ron is a joke and a disgrace. There's no excuse for his piss poor inconsistent play this year.

LO came into camp out of shape so there's no sense in wishing he's back, he wouldn't have been able to do much in this game.

Bynum doesn't have his wind back yet, and it's not coming back overnight. It will take at least a month. But he still put out a 20 and 10 w/3blocks and shooting 60%. The stats lie because the refs outright cheated on his last FGA. He was royally butchered without a call. In fact he was fouled on some of his makes without a call. You barely touch Wallace and the whistle goes off, but it's open season on Bynum and Kobe.

This team has no one who can guard Gerald Wallace. Ron is the perfect body type, he's strong enough but not fast enough.

Kobe is a giant liability on defense, and he can't finish games like he used to. Jaamal Crawford is now a better finisher than him.

Brown is seemingly bewildered over the lack of hustle the team has. Does he realize what he's working with? A bunch of players ready for retirement.

The refs. I couldn't help but notice when our players reached, the whistle always blew, but just about every time Portland did the same thing, nothing.

This is why Joe McDonald mentioned an interesting statistic about FT disparity. Our last 6 years in Portland games, it was something like 100 FT's for Portland to 50 for the Lakers.

That may not have been the difference in this game, but I saw the same discrepancy aligning on the reach type fouls in this game. Nothing is going to give a team more confidence than getting away with fouls that the other team does not.

[Shaber]

No D, no W.
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Lakers depth chart

PG Johnson / Goodrich
SG Bryant / West / Scott
SF Baylor / Worthy / Cooper
PF Mikkelsen / Hairston / McAdoo / Gasol
C Chamberlain / Abdul-Jabbar / O'Neal / Mikan

[No. 17]

Rose Garden. Next.
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It's winnin' time!