LAKERS -at- MAGIC - 1/20 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

1-6 on the Road... The Lakers picked up where they left off in the last eight quarters. They scored just 10 points in the first quarter and trailed by as many as 23 in the first half on their way to the 92-80 loss to the Magic.

If you want to see the Laker offense get on track this game, fast forward to just a few minutes left in the first half. That's when they finally start running the Pau-Kobe-Fisher high sideline triangle sequences for the first time in the game.

Those layups and dunks for Kobe throughout this game came out of those exact sequences. The guys got into their offense fast and ran it with purpose. They put the ball in Pau's hands where he was more of a threat to pass (as opposed to how we've made him just a shooter).

It took a good 21 minutes, however, before we started playing to our strengths in this game. We won those last few minutes of the half and the next two quarters after that. Unfortunately, we didn't sustain that focus from the start.

Both Kobe and Mike Brown believe they are better offensively than they are showing right now. Several Lakers mentioned seeing progress in this game. It was certainly there, but they play too many minutes without intelligent effort.

"We were always able to score," Bynum said of his years as a Laker. "Most of the time, it was our defense letting us down. We'd give up 110, 115 points, but now we're playing pretty solid 'D' and we're just struggling to score."

The Laker bigmen had no field goals in the first half and few low-post touches with the sets they were running. To start the second half, you saw them running some nice screen sequences that allowed for those.

The Bynum-Howard match up turned into somewhat of a bust when Drew picked up early fouls and had his minutes reduced severely. Meanwhile, Howard dropped a 20-20 game.

This is a team game, however, and right now the group is struggling to be greater than the sum of its parts on offense.

The Lakers haven't scratched the 100-point mark in 9 straight games. According to the Times, that is the Lakers third longest streak since the shotclock era began. This team is better than that.


Kobe -- -- Some better usage of Kobe tonight. We saw him get layups and dunks off those triangle split plays (some great cuts by Kobe). We had him come off the weakside screens to get looks at the FT line. And Kobe was hitting open men all night as he drew instant doubles. We need to have a better plan, however, when he draws those double teams. If a non-shooter is left open, he can often draw defenders away from a shooter by attacking instead of settling, then giving it up. Or, you go back to Kobe in the low post and send cutters when the double comes. A little more purpose in our attack would go a long way here. Kobe ran another 44 minutes tonight. That's the bad part of his usage. We can't run him 85 minutes in back-to-back games like we did here. Despite all the Laker issues, they had a chance to get close. Kobe picked up a cheap tech when he thought he had forced Dwight into a turnover. We had the lead down to 8 (Kobe then got beat for layup). We gave up a three on the next possession and instead of having a chance to cut the lead to 6 by getting that Howard call, it was quickly turned into 14 points. That was the final nail in the coffin for the Lakers. Of course, had we played even reasonably on offense in the first half, we would have been right in the thick of the fight. The Stats: He scored 30 points on 11-22 shooting (1-3 from three, 7-7 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 8 assists, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 44 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He sank a FT jumper off the Bynum screen. He swished another FT jumper coming off the weakside screens. He missed a one-handed slam off the backdoor lob. He drew a double team and hit Fish for the jumper. He tapped an offensive board twice to get it away from two Magic players and was fouled. He missed a baseline turnaround. He was stripped in the middle of the paint. He hit Murphy in the corner for the open three. He weaved his way through defenders and banked in a tough one-hander (he wanted the foul). He missed an open three. He scored a layup when Pau hit him off the high triangle sequence. He banked an And-1 off the left wing attacking after another triangle sequence, he made the FT. He sank an elbow jumper (again off the tri). He was fouled on the sideline and made both FTs with 8 seconds left. He had 15 points on 6-10 shooting. Second Half: He drew a double and hit Fish for the three. He banked an open jumper off an offensive board. Lazy pass in transition behind Pau and it was picked off. He dunked off the tri split play with McRoberts up high. He was expecting a foul call that never came and threw up a prayer. He attacked and was blocked (body checked by Howard with no call) on the next play. He was run over before an inbounds pass and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a floater. He set up in the sideline triangle and hit McRoberts cutting for FTs. He missed a pull-up 15-footer. He barked at the ref for not calling a foul then swished the three. He picked up a tech for griping about a ball he thought he knocked off Howard. He missed a long three (should have reposted to Drew). He cut baseline on the triangle split play, took the pass from Pau and scored the layup. He missed a long wing jumper off the same play out of a timeout. He attacked to his right and drew FTs, he made both.

Gasol -- -- Do you want Pau as just a shooter or do you want him in positions where he's a threat to score or pass? When we use him as a shooter, you have games like that last one where he put up good numbers but the team chemistry suffered and we were easy to defend. Or you have the flat first-half minutes we saw without a field goal. We can't have him as just a catch and shoot guy. That's vastly under utilizing his skills. As mentioned above, when we put him in the position to pass in the high post out of those triangle sequences, good things happened. Same with when he gets the ball in the low post (like at the start of the second half...or in the traditional sideline triangle). Mix in cutters with that and you have him as a more lethal weapon. It is vital for the team to do this -- to get Pau into more playmaking -- as we don't have any traditional PGs to collapse the D and set up teammates. It felt like the team made more of an adjustment to that this game, but not until it was out of hand. They need to focus on this more. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-12 shooting (0-1 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 41 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a fade in the post (should have gone strong with the low position he had). He missed an open wing jumper. He missed a baseline jumper. He drew a blocking foul on Big Baby's flop, he made both FTs. He settled for an open jumper when he had the lane available to attack and missed. He missed a layup that should have been an And-1, he made both FTs. He hit Kobe for a layup off the high triangle sequence (more please). He fumbled a ball out of bounds on an outlet. He was 0-5 shooting in the half. Second Half: He slammed off the high-low sequence. He slipped a screen and hit the floater over Howard. He swished a baseline jumper off a good sequence of passing and penetration. He missed an open baseline jumper. He missed an open corner three. He fumbled a lob, recovered it and powered up for the score. Way short on an open wing jumper. He lost his man in transition and gave up a dunk. He hit Kobe on the triangle split play and Kobe scored a layup. He attacked across the lane and drew FTs, he made one.

Bynum -- -- The two likely starting centers in the All Star game and, of course, all the off-court trade talk about the two, gave the center match up some added interest. Drew gave a little speech before the game to pump his team up. You just hoped he could play head to head without foul trouble. Bynum picked up two fouls at the 6-minute mark and had to sit. When he returned to the game, he picked up his third foul against Dwight and had to sit again. Howard drew a number of fouls on the same move across the lane as he initiated contact into Drew going across the lane and drew the whistle. Same move on multiple occasions and Bynum essentially lost the battle with that. He got a double-double, but Dwight went 20 minutes more and doubled Drew's numbers with the 20-20 game. "He faces up, he puts his shoulder down, he takes a hard dribble and he runs into Drew," Brown said afterward. "So that's tough for anybody to defend. Yes, can Drew do a better job? Yes, he can." Drew will look at the tape and wish he dealt with that one simple play a bit better even if it was a bit cheap (insert fan conspiracy theories here). He might also wish he had a chance to draw first blood against Howard or push the advantage when Howard got into a few quick fouls in the second half. But we didn't pursue it. Defensively, Drew was trying to be careful not to give up lobs to Howard off penetration. Sometimes that was to a fault without a challenge on dribble penetration. Later in the game, however, he played it well and got some blocks. Of course, he was frustrated that he got no help from teammates on Howard after those plays. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-6 shooting (2-5 from the line) to go with 12 boards (5 offensive), 2 blocks and 5 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He missed a tip at the front of the rim (probably could have slammed that). He got tapped on a jumphook from the right block. He picked up two fouls on one possession (the second sent him to the bench after 6 minutes). He drew FTs in the post to start the second quarter, he made one. Another foul and he was out again. He was 0-2 in the first half. Not enough minutes or touches to very too effective. Second Half: He hit an And-1 jumphook on Howard to start the second half, he missed the FT. He swatted penetration. He scored an easy putback off the missed Pau jumper. He picked up his fourth foul on another attack across the lane by Dwight. He grabbed an offensive board from Dwight, bumped him under the hoop, then drew FTs on a layup attempt, he made one. He took an offensive board from Howard and scored the layup. Another foul on Drew as Howard attacked across the lane. He swatted Nelson's drive off glass, but Pau didn't box out Howard. He missed a turnaround jumper in the lane, but the refs said someone interferred with the rim and gave it to him.

Barnes -- -- The Laker SF position didn't pull its weight in this one. Brown decided to play more Kapono and slide Kobe to the SF as a result. A good decision as they didn't leave Kapono open like they did both Barnes and Artest. He was the only starter not in double digits. Matt had some good moments on help D on Dwight. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He hit Fisher cutting for a layup. He forced Howard into a turnover with a nice reach. He missed a corner jumper. Poor pass not high enough over the fronting post D and it was stolen. He swatted Howard out of bounds on help D. He missed an open wing three. He crammed down a jam off the quick passing sequence initiated by Kobe's attack. Second Half: He missed an open wing three. He attacked the paint and drew FTs, he made one.

Fisher -- -- The huge number of attempts from Fish were mostly a result of the Magic leaving him wide open. He had to try to make them pay. There were a few shots where he didn't, particularly in early offense. Most teams would prefer to make Fish beat you these days for the course of the game (not the last few minutes). The only place where he seems to be a consistent threat is around that 15-foot range. Defensively, Nelson got past him with too much ease. So, we miss Blake's three shooting and his D. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-14 shooting (2-5 from three) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists and 2 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He cut off the Pau backscreen, took the pass from Barnes and scored the layup over a closing Howard. He missed an open wing jumper. He pulled up in transition next time down and missed a 17-footer. He sank a foot-on-the-three-line jumper off the Kobe double team. He missed a sideline jumper. He missed an open three from the top of the arc. He sank a jumper (again off the high triangle sequence). Second Half: He drew a moving screen on Howard. He missed a short baseline jumper off the ball reverse and attack. He missed a sideline three on the next possession. He sank an open wing three off the Kobe double team. He missed a foot-on-the-three-line jumper. He missed an open 17-footer. Not close on an open sideline jumper. He sank an open three at the end of the game.

McRoberts -- -- His lone point was scored when he cut down the lane off Kobe who drew a double team. It's hard to tell whether he knows where to be in some of these offensive sets. Sometimes, he looks like he's moving just to move and it might be mucking things up. He and Kapono got mixed up on D for some ugly defensive stands that allowed Baby to hit two key jumpers early in the fourth quarter. He then threw a lob away on the offensive end. The Lakers were within 10 points then with 10 minutes left, but those were rally killers. The Stats: He scored 1 point off 1-2 shooting from the line to go with 7 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He was stripped under the hoop. He hung on the rim to erase an And-1 for Pau. Second Half: He drew FTs cutting down the lane off the Kobe sideline triangle sequence, he made one. Turnover on a lob pass anticipating that Pau could get to it but he was bodied up (that and a couple defensive sequences got him benched, it seems).

Murphy -- -- The second unit offense looked its most comfortable when Murphy was out there getting some simple pick and pops. Not that he was knocking them down, but at least they had a purpose. He also had a couple smart passing plays that led directly to Laker points. Defensively, he struggled a bit again to help the team get one-and-out possessions. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-5 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 1 foul in 11 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He swished a corner three when Kobe got doubled. He got tapped on a wing jumper. He attacked and bounced it to Barnes for a dunk. He missed a three, short. He missed a open baseline jumper. He hit Pau cutting for an And-1. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Peace -- -- His -9 in 8 minutes was pretty accurate. He missed four shots during those brief minutes. A couple were long attempts from three with clock issues, so that wasn't a problem. The general lack of purpose from the offense was what hurt. When teams don't have to cover him, that makes it so much harder for others offensively. Defensively, he also didn't match up with Wafer whome we had him cover for whatever reason. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-4 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with The Action: He missed a long three having to bail out the offense against the shotclock. He airballed a half-court heave at the buzzer. He missed an iso wing jumper. His drive was blocked by Howard, he reached in transition to get a steal on the other end and get it back. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Goudelock -- -- Our second-round draft pick backcourt was on display tonight as Brown went to the Goudelock/Morris combo. He got his first steal of his NBA career going to the floor to battle for a loose ball. He doesn't make a lot happen on that end of the floor. Of course, he's only played 53 minutes, but that was good to finally see. In those 53 minutes, he has gone 3-14 for 10 points to go with 2 assists and 6 turnovers. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting from three to go with 1 steal. He was a -5. The Action: He missed a three off the Morris kickout. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Kapono -- -- He led the team with a +4. The Magic didn't need to cover Barnes or Metta, but they did have to stay with Kapono. This resulted in some better floor spacing. We also ran some of those triangle sequences putting Kapono on the weakside of those. Offense just clicked better. Defensively, we had some issues and teammates tried to compensate for that with some help. Still, we were beating the Magic while he was on the floor. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 1 board and no fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He missed a quick-fire corner three. He drained a three over Baby. Poor D on the inbounds play and Kobe's man got an easy layup off the pass. He missed a short jumper in the lane.

Morris -- -- The second units were particularly clueless tonight. Morris struggled to find the balance in his game and ended up with the team-low -13. At first he was trying to be aggressive and missed shots or attacks. Then, he'd go into an indecisive mode that allowed the defense to catch up after scrambling off plays by our impact ballers. It doesn't help that Peace is also out there on the floor mucking things up as the ball seems to find him way too much since he's wide open. If you want to see how not to run those triangle split plays, watch Metta and Morris muck it up at the 9 minute mark of the second quarter. Those two just are not a good combo on the floor. Late in the game, Morris hit an open three and attacked off the three line for a layup. In both occasions, it seemed like he knew exactly what he wanted to do and good things happened. He needs to find that comfort zone. "It was great to see Darius Morris step up," Brown said in talking about the bench production. Morris led the bench in scoring. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 1 board and 2 fouls in 15 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: He missed a good look at the 10-footer off the dribble. He attacked and missed a runner. Second Half: He airballed or had his three blocked with the shotclock low. He sank an open wing three on a kickout. He attacked quickly off the three line and scored a layup on the next trip down.

Brown -- -- It would take the team nearly all first half until they finally got it in gear offensively... Bynum got into foul trouble with 6 minutes into the game and had to sit for McRoberts... Down 9, Brown brought in Morris for Fisher and Metta for Barnes... He sat Kobe for Goudelock down 10... The Lakers trailed 22-10 after another inept offensive quarter... He started a Bynum, McRoberts, Peace, Morris, Goudelock unit... He brought back in Kobe down 17 after a couple minutes... He had Metta on Wafer, that resulted in instant dribble penetration... Drew picked up his third foul against Dwight and had to sit after 3 minutes... Down by 20, he sat Barnes for Kapono... The Lakers started running the high triangle sequences between Kobe, Fisher and Pau. It resulted in several scores in a row at the end of the half. It was the only thing working for them... They trailed 48-31 at the half. The Lakers shot 29 percent (11-38). The Magic shot 41 percent (16-39)... They started putting the ball in Pau's hands in the low post to start the half, and they cut the lead down... They sat Pau for McRoberts down by 13... Down 10, he brought in Morris for Fisher. They trailed by 15 shortly later as the offense stalled out, running without purpose again... The Lakers trailed 67-52 heading into the fourth quarter... Brown started a Pau, McRoberts, Kobe, Kapono, Morris unit... A three and layup by Morris and they cut it to 10 to force a Magic timeout... He brought in Murphy, then Bynum down 12. They trimmed if further but gave up some open scores and trailed by 14 again, forcing a Brown timeout with 5 minutes left. He went with the starters and Kapono, but the game was all but over... In two losses, Kobe played 41 and 44 minutes. Brown asks Kobe whether he needs a rest in the second half. Dude, you are just going to have to sit him. He's Kobe. He's not coming out unless you take him out... The Lakers shot 38 percent (29-76, 6-20 from three, 16-22 from the line). They gave up 15 offensive boards to the Magic... "There is no magic dust or no magic potion to get us wins on the road," Brown said...

[Omar Little]

Tough task tonight. Thanks, DB
_________________
“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel

[Koalita]

Thanks DB! Time for bed now

[tw-lakbfan]

Too many minutes for the old man Kobe.

[jack13]

You're great as always, thanks DB!
_________________
"These young guys are playing checkers. I'm out there playing chess." Kobe Bryant

[Klone_dd]

"There is no magic dust or no magic potion to get us wins on the road," Brown said...

We need Mitch's magic wand!!

It's not strange that the Lakers offense becomes more fluid and purposeful when they run triangle sets. DB hit it on the head that we are a triangle-skillset team trying to run a traditional offense.

I like when Kobe can get shots coming off screens or cuts. That way he doesn't have to work as hard getting easier looks. I like Pau in the triple threat post.

Can't stand the 2nd unit. Maybe Blake is the MVP of the team? Didn't like that Drew was hampered by fouls and that he played like he was telling Orlando, "Don't trade for me." Didn't like that D12's 21/23 equalled Pau & Bynum's combined 23/22. Maybe the Magic GM ain't so crazy asking for both of our bigs after all.

Terrible stretch of games, but some rest and practice time soon.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB.

[Nobody]

I knew how the game was going to go with the scored tied at 2-2. Nelson broke free and instead of rotating and challenging him at the rim Andrew just stood adjacent to the FT line, with Barnes also being nearby. Horrible defense. Pair that with mustering 10 lousy points in the first and I quit watching midway in the 2nd quarter. (bleep) if I'm getting up at 2AM to watch this ridiculous offense.

The thing is, I can't blame Brown. I mean, sure, he's not an offensive guru, but his Cavaliers were among the very best offensive teams in his last two years. It's the personnel, in my opinion. The Cavs had knock down shooters and we have none of those... well we have 2, one that is coincidentally the only penetrating wing and creator for others and one that is a deadly midrange shooter in Pau... sometimes we have three, but so far Kapono is looking like last year's Kapono, not the guy who has the 6th highest 3pt% of all time. Metta, Fish, our rookies, Barnes.. how the hell can you get millions for throwing the ball in the basket and you can't even be close on wide open shots??? I cannot for the life of me understand these incompetent players.

[Arbitrary]

Thanks DB!

[Jay32]

Well the good thing is that the offense looked much better in the second half...that's not much saying much though...

[limchrc]

Thanks. Let's win the next game.

[Rick12322]

thanks. Have you ever seen so many wide open shots bounce off the rim? If the object was to hit the rim and NOT have the ball go in we would have smoked them.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB.

Tough game, tough trip to Florida. Lots of offensive talent and no offense. For basketball reasons I guess.

At least there was an encouraging stretch in the 2nd half. Maybe Brown realizes Tri ball is best when Fish is on the floor, and we can shelve the rest until Blake recovers.

[RVCdesigns]

Thanks DB!