LAKERS -at- GRIZZLIES - 11/23 - DIY Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Sorry, out sick tonight. It's Do It Yourself night.

Nice to see Jamison get some time at PF and make a contribution. Pau had the benching coming. Too many breakdowns on D. And then it seemed like when they did get a series of stops, they couldn't string together any scores tonight.

[ibitegirls]

pau gasol =
kobe =
howard = see gasol
metta =
morris = see gasol
jammison =

i think ill stick to halo4 until nash returns

[ThreePointBomber]

Says it all...[url=]http://static.quickmeme.com/media/social/qm.gif][/url]
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The most important shot in basketball.

[senthus]

Kobe played alot of iso ball. Worst game for him for the season.

Dwight was getting stripped alot, had the best run when the floor was spread with meeks and jamison in the game with him

Pau missed alot of shots early in the game never got into the game benched in the 4th

Metta played solid today

Darius played ok

Jamison best game of the season. Fouled out at the end

Hill played 4 minutes

[DShotMaker1824]

I was looking forward to this since I missed the game. Get well soon DB.
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"Through the legs to the left, through the legs to the right, we don't run them Laker plays, we just Kobe fadeaway..."

[dirka dirka]

Tell the truth DB, this game MADE you sick.

8 combined rebounds from our starting Center/PF and some how this game is Kobe's fault.
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[SilverBullet]

Grizzlies - 106
Lakers - 98

Lakers lost.

[Arbitrary]

[Laker7]

Positives: Jamison, Morris, Meeks, MWP

Negatives: Gasol (Not motivated), Kobe (too much ISO), Howard (7 pts 4 boards), Hill (0 points)

Too much trying to follow the system, not enough doing what comes naturally.
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[dood23]

Kobe - I don't like hero ball.

Pau - Is not a 4. Is not. A. 4. Hope this is the beginning of that realization for D'Antoni.

Dwight - Quiet game but sparked a run with the bench shooters with simple inside-out play. Needs to get rebounds like he wants them.

MWP - Nothing bad to say.

Morris - Meh.

Jamison - Actually had a good game

Hill - In a game where rebounds killed us we should have played him more. But Jamison had a good game. Yet another logjam created by Mitch's offseason signings.

Meeks - Started getting hot. Got benched way too early for Kobe who would go on to play hero ball.

[angrypuppy]

Coaching:

Or as Dwight stated:

"We've got to find ways to get everybody involved, and when we do, we win."

The front court is simply disengaged. Pau came out and played decent defense early first quarter though ZBo scored on him... but what we inexcusable was Pau mailing it in after he clanked a couple of long 2s. Pau wants to play closer to the basket where he's more effective, and yet that's where Dwight is stationed in this unimaginative offense. Dwight is not a back-to-the-basket shot creator, so dumping him the ball in the post leads to a predictable sequence of moves that result in double teams, strips and poor percentage shots. D'Antoni's high octane offense just doesn't mesh with the personnel in our front court.

Kobe had a bad game, we needed a creator and he's really most comfortable in a scoring role. Unfortunately his shot wasn't falling so he didn't give us either.

It will get better once Nash heals, as he can get our bigs involved pick and roll action and put both Pau and Dwight in a position where they are both happier and more active on both offense and defense. At least I hope that happens... if this team keeps losing they may well tune D'Antoni out.

[angrypuppy]

Addendum: D'Antoni is an idiot if he thinks Slowtime is going to crank out 110-115 points a night. Even with Nash back this team doesn't have the youth, shooting or legs.

[E=MC²]

Gasol: (permanently)

Sums up the year.

[KingKobe]

[Smoothness101]

So its just like the Kings game the night before. expect replace Meeks w/ Jamison.

[ForrestHump]

[Ruby]

[A Mad Chinaman]

Problems when the keys and drivers to the offense are the third and fourth string PGs - on is 2nd year player with little PT and a trade toss-in. This has resulted in Mamba being the PG in essentially a close approximation of last year's team.

Nash would have ran a series of P&Rs with Pau and Superman to get them involved

[AprilRyan]

Memphis realized that Kobe is the one controlling the team offense, playing both SG and facilitator the past games. To disrupt, Memphis played great perimeter D. Kobe had 2 guys on him the whole time (Tony Allen + help). The one time Rudy Gay guarded him, Kobe went right past and dunked. So props to Tony Allen and the defensive scheme.

Without Kobe creating for them, the starters faltered. Lakers only offense was Pau shooting elbow jumpers most of which he missed. Either that or D12 getting stripped.

The only time the Lakers played well was when our bench played the Memphis bench. Great job by Jamison, Duhon and Meeks. Dwight was mostly a decoy. Good defense by this line up as well.

When starters came back, it was downhill again. Only one who played well was MWP.

I agree with playing Jamison at the 4. Good call by D'Antoni not playing Pau. And I can't believe he started going on about how bad the shots he was getting were, and didn't say a word about getting only 4 rebounds and having numerous others stripped by Memphis bigs.

I hope Mike figures out how to use Hill and Jamison (hint: lesser minutes for Pau and Dwight). And basically, just play whoever is playing well.

[IPK]

Slacker.
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Our tribute to Phil, the man behind LG

[A Mad Chinaman]

It has been mentioned that Pau is a better post player while D12 is a better P&R player, maybe D'Antonj can utilize this - especially with D12 getting stripped multiple times.

Pau should be playing with Jamison and Meeks that would allow the starters to rest more.

Wonder why Kobe didn't use the P&R more often with Pau and D12 more often. Understand that the PG defender will always be helping, with Metta's man hedging.

The Lakers have been scouted. Presently having downgraded at PG (with no Nash and Blake), D12 still not in shape and learning a new system (again) - it will take some time to effectively mesh the parts.

[Chronicle]

Bad game. I'm not quite sure what was going on. We could have won this, but there were just too many things going wrong.

I'll go DB style

Kobe Bryant : He played pretty well, and had to play the point guard role again for some significant minutes. It was different for this game, though, because he couldn't get the ball to Pau or Howard (because they were just not into the game). He started out averagely, then got hot and took over in the fourth quarter. But what we've seen lately is that IF kobe has to take over in the last six minutes, he is going to miss his shots. The law of averages should fix that soon, meaning that he will make those game winning shots later in the season because he always does, but he is just not getting them now. And who can blame him? He is doing almost all the work, with only one to, at most, three other players on the floor with him that are also trying to win the game. It's like hardly anyone on the team gives a damn.
37 minutes, 30 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 4 fouls. His assists were down because his teammates were not making shots, not attempting the shot kobe gave them the pass for, or just flat out not into the game. He got one or two bogus fouls, but so did Memphis.

Dwight Howard : He needs to stop laughing and get into the game. You can't blame him not getting passed the ball on his teammates. He is not posting up enough, not asking for the ball enough, and seems even afraid of getting fouled on some attempts. It's like he's afraid of shooting free throws. This is very bad, because it's already a mental issue for him from the charity stripe; if the rest of his game is going to be a mental issue too, say goodbye to 20pts 15rbs. On the defensive end you mustn't blame everything on him, though. Teammates weren't helping him when he was helping others. He did get some blocks, but his timing is just not there yet, which we shouldn't expect back soon unless his teammates help him on D more.
39 minutes, 7 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 4 blocks, 4 fouls. He needs to get into the zone soon, because if not, the mental thing will only get worse. He needs a good game to get back into rhythm.

Pau Gasol : Started out strong, but he always does. And this time it didn't last long either. Memphis was exposing his lateral slowness, and he only seemed to be defending well when he was switched onto Marc. Don't blame it all on him, though, because there were a couple of times where a guard misstepped on D, causing Pau to have to switch at the last moment, resulting in a desperation bail out foul. The problem was that those bail out fouls weren't enough and those balls were going in despite the foul. He looked fatigued as the game went on, but for some reason D'Antoni kept him in. He should have given him rest in the first quarter, and more in later quarters, but didn't. It seemed like whenever Pau was out, the lead was getting trimmed and we were getting back into the game. But you can't blame this all on Pau. D'Antoni benched him for the fourth quarter, but it was already too late. Maybe he needs to bench Pau for a game or 5 so he can get his act together, or just get some rest. Don't forget that Pau has bursitis on his elbow, a very painful injury.
27 minutes, 6 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 fouls. Bad offensive game, his shots weren't falling. So he hesitated with shooting and tried to find his teammates, who were all not where they were supposed to be, resulting in bad passes and turnovers. Again, this was not all on Pau. But he really, really, needs to box out more.

Metta World Peace : Laker fans should know by now that Peace will always give complete effort. Even on bad shooting nights, or actually, bad lay up nights, he will give his all on Defense. He got into foul trouble though, which stopped some of his aggression on D. It looked like he played for 36 straight minutes. I'm not sure what D'Antoni was thinking, but it was not like we had any replacements. He finally got some rest in the beginning of the fourth, where there was a 2 frontcourt 3 backcourt rotation going on, which we might see some more in the future as long as Ebanks is still suspended or just plain bad (either of these could be the reason he's not playing). They should at least consider finding a back up for metta, because even though he will give his all, he will not be able to play so many minutes. He is not that young.
40 minutes, 16 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 4 fouls. He shot 40% from three, which we've gotten used to him doing as of late. He missed two layups, but got bailed out on one with a bad foul call. He shot 4 for 4 from the charity stripe. Pretty good game from Metta. It's a lot easier said than done that he needs to rest more when he has no real back up, or at least not as long as D'Antoni wants Jamison to play the back up 4 instead of Hill.

Darius Morris : He gave effort, and that's all you can ask for a third/fourth string point guard. We've really been seeing what the FO has been claiming they saw all along; his potential. Should Nash finally come back, should the offense finally be flowing, and should Morris get some minutes still when Blake is back as well, then he might develop into a nice back up guard. He played pretty decent, was aggressive, and was mostly good on D, although he did have some slow initial steps which led to the bigs having to bail him out. He shot quite well, but D'Antoni wanted to play Duhon instead of him late in the game, until Jamison was fouled out.
27 minutes, 9 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 fouls, 1 steal. Duhon might not be the best point guard in the world, but there's one thing he can do; read passing lanes. It seems like Morris has been learning this from him because he's done that quite well the last few games, this one including. He kept up quite well with Mike Conley, who you might say is an underrated point guard. Most of Conley's points came when Morris wasn't on him (either because they switched or because Morris was on the bench). But Morris isn't really ready for the real deal yet, he needs more experience. We really need Nash back in order to restore some order in the offense. One good thing to close off this paragraph, though: He finally used his height well. Albeit that was on only one possession, he needs to do this in order to make full use of his 6'4 (or 6'5) size, which would allow him to mismatch smaller point guards. That is all in the later future, though, but the more he does it, the better he will get at it.

Jordan Hill : He got 4 minutes and didn't get anything on the box score except for a foul and a board. He is a defensive/hustle player, so in theory, D'Antoni might not want him. But he is still our best bench player, so he better get some minutes. Consider putting him at the five when the opponent has their second unit bigs in, so our bigs can get some more rest. That way D'antoni can still play Jamison at the 4.
4 minutes, 1 rebound, 1 foul.

Chris Duhon : It took a while for him to get into the game. He seemed a little too happy after he nailed a three pointer. Hit some more and you can be happy. Kobe passed him a ball for a three, but he decided instead that he would drive, resulting in a charge. Still, he didn´t play all that bad overall. He´s getting more aggressive and as a whole the bench is getting somewhat better, especially in the last two games when our two starter bigs are not showing up.
26 minutes, 8 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 fouls. He shot 66% from three, and he can shoot those threes, but he needs to be less stubborn. He already decides what he will do when he gets the ball before he gets the ball, which isn´t necessarily bad, but this game it made him give up open looks in favor of botched drives.

Antawn Jamison : He played well, shot 7 for 11 and even got in his signature miracle shots. He scored the touchdown that Metta passed him, which seemed to ignite his motor some more for the following quarter. He finally got some decent minutes, which might also have allowed him to play good. It's looking more and more like he's not an "instant offense' kind of player, but instead one that needs to know when he plays and play a decent amount of minutes in order to get into the flow of the offense. He is bending way too much over for this three point shots, which cause them to brick or go way off target. This has happened all season long. I'm not sure if that will get better, but Jamison never was much of a three point shooter; he gets the backdoor cuts and the strange underhand shots and layups. This means he needs to get into the paint. This means he can't play with both Pau and Howard on the floor.
26 minutes, 16 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 6 fouls. He got some bogus calls, but not all. He's actually been somewhat better on the defensive end than expected, he's aggressive and knows what to do against smaller players. Still, the defense overall is barely decent, but we were all expecting it to be just plain terrible. He's rebounding very well, and he's done that all season. Cheers for that. Rebounds win games.

Jodie Meeks : He is a streaky shooter, but, taking last game into account too, it seems like he's finally accepting that he is a catch and shoot player, and not a dribble and shoot/layup player. He will miss those 9 out of 10, yet make his catch and shoot 5 out of 10, on average. Those really depend on whether he's hot or not. Still, we should never be mad at him for taking an open three pointer, because those will go in eventually. 40% from 3 tonight, and 40% overall because he only shot threes. He was part of the comeback movement in the fourth quarter.
12 minutes, 6 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 foul. It's not like you can expect him to get 10 boards a game, but he does seem to give it his all whenever he sees the chance to get a rebound. That's great for such a short guard. Only 1 turnover this game for him. He played in the 3 backcourt 2 frontcourt system.

Mike D'Antoni : It seemed like he played Metta world peace three straight quarters. He's playing the starters too many minutes, and you might say "who can blame him because the bench is bad", but whenever the bench gets some decent run, they're not all that terrible. Still, the right five players need to be on the floor during those rotations, and he's still working out which ones they are. He kept Pau in too long during the first quarter, instead letting Dwight rest, while Pau was the one who was cold. He might have hoped that Pau would play his way into the game, but he didn't. He kept in players with foul trouble, with the exception of Pau who he finally took out and then benched him for the rest of the game as he saw a decent rotation of Morris, Duhon, Metta, Jamison and Howard (or Meeks instead of Morris) work the lakers back into the game. He didn't call timeouts when the opponents were hot, or when the lakers were just ice cold. He visually said the "F" word on television after no laker helped on D, allowing a Grizzly to just get a wide open layup. So far, he looks somewhat stubborn. But it's still too early to make a definitive call about his coaching for the lakers, and he, and we, have high hopes for the Nash + D'Antoni offense.

Unfortunately, we have another game tonight. Our starters need rest.

[Jannemann7]

I got sick and tired watching the Lakers play Ball like that.

If we play Ball like this we might as well donate the coaches money for charity.

Kobe was at his worst, not moving the ball, playing ISO or Pick'n'Roll just for jackin' up shots. On defensive he showed teammates off by acting and clapping "Come on" and played his worst defensive game. The Alley to Allen was the best example. late on help sides, late on rotations...

We got a big BIG and a talented Big and we can not orchestrate a better offensive flow? Why is everybody so scared to tell Kobe to stop playing that kinda ball?

With Pau...man, I love his game to death, but he was terrible also...soft hands, no toughness...good benching him.

And Dwight...geht used to the face cinema he puts on if we continue to play like that...at times there were 3-4 offensive trips where he didn't even touch the ball once. And just using him for a pick is really sad.

If we continue like that we don't see much of Dwight next year, he'll leave at ease. Why is it, that Kobe can't just relax and involve people? I've been following this team since the early 80's and when you see how unselfish the Showtime Era was...crazy...

Big Ups to the second unit...actually we might've won the game if we played them at the end.

JAMISON - great game on both ends, finding his rhythm without playing selfish

MEEKS - Shooooooooter

DUHON - did a good job controlling the offense and had a few good shots. Got exposed just a few times, but who didn't.

Last, but not least...all the props to MWP!!!!
He was just great on both ends and kept fighting. Remember that some of the LGs wanted amnesty on him or a trade. I think he showed all of them no-believers was he is all about...

[Nobody]

Meh, you just knew the outcome of this game midway through the 1st. It's been the same trend on the road every since our last championship. Fall down double digits against a good team, try to get back only to ultimately shoot ourselves in the knee.

[DancingBarry]

Nice job, guys. Good read, Chronicle.