SUNS -at- LAKERS - 2/17 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Filling In The Gaps... When you describe the Laker offense this season, a lot of words come to mind. What you most often hear -- and the most polite way of putting it -- has been that this is a "work in progress."

Aspects of their offense have improved (particularly with the second unit). They are starting to go deeper into some of their sets. They've played with more purpose. Taking a 111-99 victory like tonight, however, just hasn't been this team's M.O.

It helps that you play the Suns, who are tied for 21st in giving up points per game. Tonight, however, seemed more about the Lakers getting production from places they haven't.

"I truly believe that our guys are getting it a little bit," Mike Brown said. "...They are starting to understand the spacing concepts we gave them at the beginning of the year."

Perhaps.

We all know the Lakers defense is strong. They are first in the league in holding teams to 1.08 points per shot.

Looking at the other end of the court, the Lakers are tied for 13th for points per shot this season (1.17). (At home, they are tied for 6th for points per shot.) Tonight, they were at a 1.33 pace against the Suns. That equates to 14 more points than they usually scratch out from the amount of shots they took tonight.

The Suns certainly help that, but it's clear...when the Lakers get some production from their PG and SF spots, things go a lot smoother.

DFish scratched the double digit point mark for the second time this month, and the Lakers also got 34 points from their bench. Half of those came from Matt Barnes, who slashed, hustled and worked his way to 17 points on just 7 attempts from the SF spot.

"As long as they have No. 24, they will be thought of [as a contender]," Suns Coach Alvin Gentry said in the Times. "Their record doesn't really matter. They still have him, Bynum and Gasol."

It's filling in the gaps around them right now that is the challenge.


Kobe -- -- Kobe stuffed the stat sheet with points, boards, assists and steals. Just a strong all around game, and he makes it look way easier than all of that is. His left hand was on display tonight in shots in the paint and some passes. The Suns just have no answer for him and he admits to still holding a bit of a grudge against them for getting bounced in the playoffs years back. "They had some choice words for us afterwards," Kobe said of that series. "I'll never forget those." Brown kept his playing time down. Those minutes would have been better had the Lakers been able to extend a 20-point lead instead of let it get trimmed down in the fourth. Very good balance by the Lakers team tonight. They mixed the post play, attacking the paint and some quality perimeter shooting. The Stats: He scored 36 points on 14-25 shooting (1-2 from three, 7-9 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 6 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 35 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He missed a face-up bank. He missed a step-through bank. He attacked in transition, drew contact and hit the And-1 one-hander, he made the FT. His lob to Drew was picked off when Bynum didn't have a clear path to go get it. He was stripped coming off a screen. He attacked with speed from the wing out of a timeout and drew FTs, he made both FTs. He blew past his man and missed a layup and screamed for the foul. He swished an elbow turnaround. He hit Barnes cutting weakside for the layup. He missed an open bank off the Blake screen. He attacked off the Blake screen again and fed Pau for FTs. He posted up, took post contact as he turned and muscled in the short one (then picked up a tech). He attacked, double clutched and drew FTs before going to the floor, he made one. He iso'd on Hill, spun to get under the hoop, pumped a few times then scored. He iso'd on the sideline on Hill, blew past him and was held with 2 seconds left for FTs, he made both. He had 14 points on 4-8 shooting. Second Half: He attacked and kicked to Metta for the jumper. Nash picked him up in transition, so Kobe attacked the lane and hit the runner. He scored a layup cutting under the hoop to take the pass from Pau. He iso'd on Hill, blew past him and hit the And-1 lefty jumphook (Hill had to sit with his fourth), he missed the FT. He missed a baseline fade. He backed Dudley down, spun baseline and scored the And-1 reverse with his left, he made the FT. He probed and swished the short wing pull up. He attacked the paint, drew Bynum's man and no-looked a little hook pass to him for the dunk. He pulled up on the break and hit the short jumper. He airballed a jumper. He stripped the ball on help D on Gortat's dive to the hoop. On the other end he drilled the pull-up wing three. He missed a long pull-up three in transition (rattled in and out). He missed a face-up jumper, got it back and hit Barnes cutting for the layup. He probed and hit the pull-up jumper from the right side. He had 18 points on 8-12 shooting in the third. He missed a long jumper and layup on one possession. He attacked, slammed on the brakes and swished the elbow fallaway. He sliced through the D and hit the lefty floater over Gortat. He attacked the paint and missed the drive, but Drew was fouled while grabbing that board. He chucked a left-handed pass cross court like a baseball to Fisher for the three. He slipped on the sideline and lost the ball.

Gasol -- -- A choppy game from Pau offensively. It didn't seem like he could get anything clean. We needed to see more of those running hooks across the lane or that lefty hook in the post. That's his bread and butter, but it wasn't happening. He says the trade rumors are on his mind and he tries to play through them. You could probably psycho analyze his entire game or his troubles handling passes this season if you wanted, but those are excuses. Pau put in a good effort filling in where he could by crashing the glass and doing the little things. The bigman duo combined for 27 points and 27 boards. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-13 shooting to go with 13 boards (5 offensive), 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 36 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: His face-up wing jumper rattled in and out. He lobbed to Drew for a score off the Kobe/Pau two-man game. He was blocked in the post. He deflected away a Nash lob and it led to a Kobe breakaway score. He wasn't ready for a pass under the hoop and got beaned in the head. He attacked baseline from the post and scored the layup. He drew FTs off the Kobe drive and dish with 5 seconds left, he made both. He missed a fading turnaround jumper. He attacked strong along the baseline and drew FTs trying to power up on the drive, he missed both. He had 5 points on 1-4 shooting, 5 boards and 2 steals. Second Half: He dunked after the Suns got lost on the Kobe down screen and Pau was left open. He missed a layup attempt falling backward to the floor. He hit Kobe under the hoop for a layup. He swatted a drive on help D to ignite a break. He grabbed an offensive board and no-looked to Barnes for the dunk. He fumbled away a sure dunk on a bullet feed from Kobe, uggh. He was blocked trying to score in front of the rim. No close out on Brown at the end of the quarter and we gave up a three. He attacked down the lane but couldn't finish. He swished the Blake kickout. He crashed the glass twice to regain possession on one set. He took the post feed, spun baseline and slammed.

Bynum -- -- Drew got a healthy amount of post touches in this game. "I get the ball down low. I try to score. That's my game," he summed up about as simply as he could. He did hit a 15-footer on a pick and pop. "I want to add it to my game because I think it will really help me," Drew said. If you noticed Gortat's ability to hit those little jumpers was a skill that really opened up his game with Nash. It made for some easy points. Drew doesn't quite have that in his game, but the Lakers have always projected since Bynum was a rookie that he will. Drew struggled with the turnover bug with 4 turnovers, but managed to pound his way to a fairly productive night. Defensively, the Lakers had to deal with the Nash/Gortat screen-roll. This usually involves a third help defender stepping in and that wasn't happening in the first half. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-13 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 14 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He drop-stepped and scored an easy lefty bank to start the game. He hit the 15-footer on the pick and pop with Fisher, then gave it right back to Gortat on the other end on the same play. He took the Pau lob of the Kobe/Pau two-man game and scored. He traveled off an awkward attack from the wing. He missed a jumphook on iso on the right block. He missed a short wing jumper on the pick and pop. He had 6 points on 3-5 shooting and 2 turnovers in the first. He swished a jumphook on iso to start the second quarter. He missed a turnaround in the post. He attacked baseline and powered in an easy layup on the next possession. Sweet bounce pass from the elbow to a cutting Murphy for the And-1. He had the ball stolen when doubled in the post. He was called for three seconds not clearing out from under the hoop out bounds. He had 10 points on 5-8 shooting, 4 turnovers and 4 boards. Second Half: He got a peace of a Nash teardrop. He missed a jumphook trying to create on the other end. He threw down on the drive and dish from Kobe. He iso'd and hit the jumphook. He missed a lefty jumphook. He missed a lefty jumphook. He grabbed the Kobe missed drive and was fouled, he made both FTs. He got beat down court by Gortat for a layup. He was purposely fouled on an inbounds, he made one FT.

Peace -- -- Not much of an offensive game, but his hands on defensive were disruptive as hell. He had 3 steals and a controlled block that was just like a steal. Defense needs to be his constant. Even if he's not covering a tough SF, just being disruptive no matter who it is can make an impact. To start the season, those hands weren't there. Glad to see that part of his game is starting to come back to him. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: Great reach to steal the ball from his man in the corner. More excellent help D to reach in and strip/block the ball from Kobe's man (very smart jump out along the baseline to do that). He missed a chuck from the wing. He switched onto Gortat, who then spun to the floor as Metta stripped him from behind. He forced Hill into a bricked jumper. He had 3 steals in the half. Second Half: He swished a baseline jumper off the Kobe kickout. Wild kickout pass, turnover. He blocked his man on the close out, took it the distance and missed the challenged layup, then tried to flip a putback in over his head and missed (he got shoved by Nash on that second one and wanted the foul). He threw a pass right to Gortat.

Fisher -- -- His 525th consecutive game and 403rd consecutive start. No sinusitis is going to hold DFish out of a game. He actually had a good one tonight. He hit some key shots in the fourth to make sure nothing crazy happened. Perhaps, the extra days off helped. He's more productively offensively on 2 days rest. How nice is it to get some production from the point? Fish had six straight games averaging just 3.5 points as our starting PG before this one. That's awful. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-8 shooting (1-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He missed an open corner three. He was blocked on a layup under the hoop. He missed an open three. He sank a sideline jumper off a busted possession. He attacked in transition, changed directions in the middle of two long strides around Nash and finger rolled in the layup (that looked like a real PG finish). He drew contact pushing the break next time down in transition, he made one FT. Second Half: He hit Pau wide open off the screen for a dunk. He swished a baseline jumper out of a timeout. Too low on the lob to Drew and it was picked off. He iso'd on a busted play and swished the jumper. He swished a corner three of the Kobe cross-court feed.

Blake -- -- He floor generals the second unit offense by relentlessly going into Drew in the post. Our second-unit guards in the past had the opposite problem. And while we have the occasional perimeter-oriented stretch, Blake makes sure we try to stay true to the inside-out game. That's just being an extension of the coaching staff, which helps the second unit. He also sees his cutters and opportunities for easy buckets in transition. Barnes gave Steve Blake a lot of credit for his success on the second unit. "He throws the ball ahead, looks for me on cuts, finds me in the corner for threes," Barnes said. "I could be the happiest person that he's back." Blake got a little sloppy in the second half as the turnovers seemed to be contageous. Put him around shooters and you get some decent PG work. If he's the guy who needs to finish or score, that's not going to work. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-4 shooting (1-3 shooting) to go with 1 board, 6 assists, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He forced Nash baseline and out of bounds for a turnover. His outlet to Barnes was picked off. He lost the handle while turning the corner on the attack. He whipped a pass to Barnes in the middle of the lane for the jumphook. He hit Murphy in transition for the three. He pulled up from three in transition next time down to hit the Billy Mac "Fresh Snow" three. He had 4 assists in the half. Second Half: He dished off to Kobe in transition for the three. Not close on a pass in transition, over Pau's head, turnover. He missed a wing three. He drained a corner three off the inbounds. He got tapped on a sideline three and wanted the foul. He was pressured backcourt and pushed it up to kick to Pau for the score.

Murphy -- -- Good first half for Murphy as the Laker bench clocked the Suns and turned the tables after a slow Laker start. He sank his only three to improve his percentage again. For the season, the Lakers are shooting .298 from three (29th in the league). In February, they are slightly better at .308, which puts them at 23rd. Murphy is 6-11 from three in his last four games. On the low-light side, he got posterized by Gortat when Pau was nailed to the floor on D and he tried to help. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-4 shooting (1-1 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +16. The Action: He sank a sideline jumper off a drive and kick. He missed the 20-footer next time down on the Blake kickout. Smart foul to give with 0.4 left on a Nash drive to get the stop. He cut weakside off the post entry to Bynum and scored an And-1 layup off the bounce pass from Drew, he made the FT. Quick swing pass to Barnes for the open three. He drained an open wing three in early offense to force a Suns timeout. He swiped a cross-court pass thrown practically to him. He had 8 points on 3-4 shooting and 3 assists. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Barnes -- -- Season high for Matt, and an extremely efficient 17 points on just 7 shots. Got to love that. His off-ball activity killed the Suns in the first half as he scored 11 of his points in that first stint. When others draw doubles in this offense, Barnes times his cuts well and benefits. "I think teams get locked into our big three when I'm out there with the first unit," Barnes said." You know, they are paying so much attention as soon as they turn their head, I go." He gives the offense a nice dynamic and makes the D stay honest or pay the price. This is him doing his thing. Without him, the offense gets very stagnant off ball. His activity also results in boards and possessions. Very nice work. Matt's only miss in this game was a chuck up against the shotclock. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 6-7 shooting (1-1 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: He cut from the weakside off Kobe and scored easly in the lane. He swiped a post entry pass. On the other end he attacked quickly along the baseline and drew FTs under the hoop, he made both. He cleaned up a missed Bynum post shot. He drained an open sideline jumper off the quick swing pass. He faked a screen under the hoop, opened up, took the pass and hit the short jumphook. He had 11 points on 4-4 shooting. Second Half: He dunked off the no-looker from Pau in the interior. Nice cut when Kobe drew the double and he scored the layup. He missed a tough wing jumper trying to beat the shotclock, his first miss. He was fouled intentionally with 28 seconds left, he made both.

Goudelock -- -- He went to the bench sheepishly in the fourth quarter after pulling the ball back out on the break to airball a three. Ouch. His perimeter shot wasn't there on his few attempts, but he still attacked the paint to manufacture some points. He hit one of his money teardrops, but also a running jumphook across the lane, too. First time we've seen that. He had a few possessions defensively against Nash, but rotations didn't match up. That would have been a tough test for him. His highlight on that end, however, was stepping in on Warrick trying to attack and drawing the charge. DFish would be proud. If you are going to learn something from Fish, that's a skill he's a master at. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting (0-2 from three) and no fouls in 13 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He ball faked to clear a lane, attacked and hit a running hook. He switched onto Warrick to draw a charge on a drive. He missed a corner three. Second Half: He missed an open wing three a step behind the line. He attacked from the wing with the shotclock low and hit the teardrop. He airballed a three in transiton instead of attacking (the bench got a kick out of that...he should have pulled up from about 12 feet out instead).

Brown -- -- A 111 points from the offense... The starting unit began to fade late in the first and the Lakers trailed by 7 before he brought in Blake for Fisher and Murphy for Bynum. The Lakers had 6 turnovers... They were down by 5 when Barnes came in... They trailed 25-21 after the first... He started the Bynum, Murphy, Barnes, Goudelock, Blake unit. They quickly tied it up running the offense through Drew and some hustle work from Barnes. They took the lead shortly later... After more scores from Barnes and Murphy to pull ahead 42-35, the Suns called timeout (21 points from the Laker bench already at this point)... An 11-0 Laker run to lead by 10 at this point... Up 6, Brown sat the two Drews... The 10-point lead was quickly drained down to just 2... He sat Barnes who had 11 points for Metta... Up 4, he brought back in Fish for Blake... They closed the half with a 9-0 run behind some Kobe/Fish scores and Metta D... They led 57-48 at the half. The Lakers shot 57% (21-37, 3-4 3PT, 12-16 FT). The Suns shot 51% (21-41, 1-7 3PT, 5-8 FT). The Lakers had 10 turnovers, the Suns had 15 (which the Lakers converted into 17 points)... He sat Metta midway through the quarter for Barnes... With Kobe heating up on iso and collapsing the Suns D, the Lakers pulled out to a 13-point lead to force a Suns timeout... Blake in for Fisher and the Lakers pushed it to an 83-63 lead to force another timeout. More Kobe on offense in this stretch... Sloppy ball in transition out of that timeout and Brown called a timeout of his own up 16... The Lakers led 87-73 heading into the fourth quarter... He started the Bynum, Murphy, Barnes, Goudelock, Blake unit... The lead got trimmed to 11 after 4 minutes and Brown called a timeout. He sat Bynum for Pau... Up 10, he brought back in Kobe with 6 minutes left to try to restore some order... Timeout. He brought in Metta for Barnes. They immediately gave up an And-1 on a turnover out of that timeout and he sat Blake and Murphy to bring back in the starters... DFish hit a couple of jumpers and the Lakers kept the Suns from getting closer... The Lakers outrebounded the Suns 52-36. They shot 53% from the floor, including 5-11 from three... "It's a process for us that we're trying to figure out," Brown said...

[SweetP]

Nice win.
_________________
“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[GoldenThroat]

It's amazing what even a meager level of offensive production from the PG and SF positions gives us.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Fun game to watch this time! It's great to see what this team looks like when our outside shots start falling, we're getting steals, and people are making cuts on offense.

[busym]

A good game and a win. A balanced game. Kolbe was Kolbe and Drew played good. Barnes came through when needed. The Lakers need every win they can get . Another great writeup DB . Thank you.

[thurloly]

When Fisher shot like this, well....awesome?

When Barner took over a SF, well...awesome?

We all have waited for our PG and SF doing well.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[Dr. Laker]

[limchrc]

Thanks, nice win.

[Rick12322]

Thanks, DB.

How many times have we seen the trade deadline roll around and players pickup their games after? In years past the whole team always upped it's play after the trade deadline.

Barnes cutting off ball isn't rocket science, i can't imagine why he's the only one doing it.

I always knew Kobe could be a PG, he made some great reads last night. He could average 10 assists per night if he put his mind to it. We should put him in more two man games with Bynum or Gasol at the top, he could wreak havoc off the screen roll like Nash does.

Gortat's offense comes from the pnr with Nash, very little of his offense comes from creating his own shots. Bynum would easily average 20pg with Nash and it would take less effort than it does now.

Stu makes much ado about left handed passes and shots, I don't know what the big deal is, I always used both hands to pass, shoot or dribble when I played. Not everyone his hardwired Dominic right or LO left.

On Glock's last shot, LoL, that was a, I got a get a shot, shot.

I wish I can say I was confident going into Phoenix, but I felt like the team only won because they hit their open shots. When they're on the road they don't shoot very well. Also, they really need to get more easy shots. That should come from pushing the ball up the court more, and better passing and for the love of snitchel, can't someone else figure out how to cut off the ball?

[AceFresh]

Wish every team we faced was like Phx.

Thanks again DB!

[Arbitrary]

Thank you DB!

[Lakersneuron]

Thanks DB! Does any one know what up with McRoberts? He is completely wasting away on the pine. His toe should be better by now. Is Brown pissed at him and if so, why?

McBob doesn't suck. He could really help the second unit.

[gumby]

[Lakersneuron]

[Tanlentueux]

[HoumanMD]

kobe didn't wear anything on his wrist.... was this the first game like this?

[DancingBarry]