ROCKETS -at- LAKERS - 10-28-14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Sickening… The life had been sucked out of the building completely. Julius Randle was just wheeled off the floor on a stretcher, his right leg in a cast. His first regular season NBA game not how anyone imagined it.

No, no, no, no. Not the kid. Not Julius.

Silence settled on the Staples crowd.

The news would eventually get out, a fractured right tibia. The game was an afterthought at this point. Nearly half a quarter left of garbage-time ball that no one in purple and gold wanted anything to do with. The Rockets ended up blowing out the Lakers 108-90, but the loss of young Randle was the real blow.

“The last 3 or 4 minutes, obviously, we weren’t thinking a whole lot about basketball. We were just thinking about Julius,” Byron Scott said.

The Lakers were still in preseason mode in this game. After all the choppy rotations with injury issues in the preseason, they threw together lineups that hadn’t seen a lot of time on the floor together. They struggled with their chemistry in the first half as a result.

With Lin in foul trouble and not in his comfort zone early on, the offense struggled as just Kobe was able to score with frequency. In the second half, Lin got on track. His dribble penetration collapsed the Rocket D and the Lakers cut the Rockets 18-point lead down to 7 midway through the third. Meanwhile, the defense battled, holding the Rockets to respectable number in the third after giving up 62 to them in the first half. But eventually the dam burst.

Frankly, who cares about any of that? Get well soon, Julius.

Kobe -- -- The Julius situation overshadowed the Kobe/Howard drama. Kobe was patting Julius on the chest and in his ear. I don’t know if teammates will be able to go visit him having to take off for another game tomorrow. Kobe looked sick to his stomach on the sideline afterward. “Keep your spirits up, man. Try not to think about this too much right now. Just try to keep your spirits up.” Kobe said it’s tough for vets to go through this, let alone a 19-year-old. He took exception to Howard swinging some elbows and hitting Kobe in the jaw in the fourth. The two exchanged words. For a long time. Clearly, Kobe thinks Howard is a punk. Flagrant-1 against Howard after review. “They don’t like each other,” Scott said. “Simple as that.” Kobe: “I think it’s fantastic. That’s the game. Elbow’s part of the game. Trash talk is part of the game. I don’t know where the NBA became so sensitive.” Kobe took that elbow like an Old Schooler. Most of the new NBA would have soccer flopped. He just took it and got pissed. Annoying listening to Reggie Miller say it’s going to be tough for Kobe now that teams can go single coverage against him because he has not Shaq or anyone to relieve him. Kobe was drawing all kinds of help D. He had to deal with doubles and even scored through three defenders in one single move in the first half. He’s so skilled offensively, he will figure out ways to be effective. Give the Lakers a dozen games to really carve out Kobe’s game and the team’s flow. Defensively, he’s got challenges. We’re giving him the easier assignments to both protect his legs for the game and because these are going to be tough to cover for him. It may improve in time. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 6-17 shooting (0-1 from three, 7-8 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He got tapped on a top-of-the-key jumper. He sank a wing jumper off the catch and shoot. He missed an elbow pull-up jumper. He iso’d and swished a baseline jumper over Ariza. He missed a pull-up jumper. He missed a turnaround jumper on iso. He posted up, wheeled around Ariza into the lane and hit the short one. He missed a short step-through in the paint. He wheeled around the paint in transition and hit the 10-footer. He missed a 20-footer off the screen. He attacked and charged over the help D. He crossed over in transition and scored a layup. He pushed up the break, probed and then whipped a pass over Dwight to Wes for the dunk. He worked off the wing screen, pulled up at the FT line and was fouled, he made both FTs. He set up Hill for FTs on a jump pass in the lane. He drew FTs on the defensive glass, he made both. He blew past Ariza, spun around a second defender and then hit the floater over a third in the lane all in one move, wow. He attacked and was blocked on the pull-up. He had 16 points on 6-13 shooting. Second Half: He missed a runner to his right. Kobe picked up his fourth foul midway through the third. He got tapped on a baseline turnaround. He split a double and found Price for a three. He attacked the paint and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a long three out of a timeout. He made a tech FT.

Hill -- -- Just 36 boards for the Lakers tonight and Hill pulled down 10 of them. Tricky assignment for the bigs tonight with the Rockets constant whistle. The Rockets shot 50 FTs in the game. Howard you want to foul, but Harden gets the benefit of some of that as you get into the bonus. So you really have to pick your spots. Hill handled it better. Davis fouled out. I think there will be a constant wonder whether Davis can replace Hill in that starting lineup. We’ll see. Losing Randle, the bigs could use Kelly’s return right now. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-7 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards (4 offensive), 1 assist, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He got caught under the hoop and threw a shot out of bounds off the backboard. He missed a tip. He tipped in a Kobe miss after working the two-man game with him. He missed a FT jumper. He cut to the front of the rim, opened up and hit the jumphook off the pass. He grabbed a board and missed a putback jumphook. He drew Howard’s third foul with 1:29 left off the Kobe jump pass under the hoop, he made one FT. He had 5 points and 7 boards. Second Half: He missed a point-blank layup. Nice help D closeout to force a shotclock violation on a switch. He traveled, shuffling his feet under the hoop trying to power up. He drew FTs in the paint off the Lin drive and dish.

Boozer -- -- “It’s heartbreaking, man…I just feel bad for the kid, man,” Boozer said. He mentioned they are going to try to see Randle after the game before they head out for the tomorrow’s game. He said the team needed to get to their spots better offensively. That’s for sure. In the first half, that was really the problem offensively. None of the guys were really playing to their strengths. They will iron it out. In the second half, we saw Boozer get set up more and some finishes around the rim. At the end of the night, he had decent scoring production. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-13 shooting (3-3 from the line) to go with 7 boards (3 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He airballed or was blocked on his first attempt, looked like a goaltend on top of it. Not close on a baseline jumper. He missed a tip. He found Hill posting up at the front of the rim for the score. He posted up and hit a jumphook at the front of the rim. He took a pass from Lin trailing the break and scored an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He gave up a putback score, not securing the defensive glass. He had 5 points and 6 boards. Second Half: He grabbed a loose ball and scored the layup. He faced up at the elbow, swung through and scored a layup off the dribble. He attacked the paint quick off the high screen-roll and drew FTs, he made both. Brick on iso that he should have attacked. He missed an elbow jumper. He scored a layup off the great drive and dish from Lin. He sank a turnaround in the lane. He scored a layup getting down court ahead of his man.

Johnson -- -- Not much of a game from Wes. He struggled to contain Harden and didn’t return much punch on the other end. At least he didn’t give anything away with turnovers. Offensively, I haven’t seen much chemistry with him and anyone else. He needs to be slashing and spotting up, running the floor and flying around. None of that in this one. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 2 boards and 5 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He sank a wing three in early offense for the Lakers first score. Phantom second foul on the break and he had to sit after 4+ minutes. He missed a sideline three. Kobe pushed it up, drew the D and whipped a fastball to Wes for the score at the rim. He moved in off the three line and clanked a baseline jumper. He then picked up his third foul and sat. Second Half: Nice crash of the D glass to help out and he drew a jumpball instead of giving up a putback, he won the jump. He missed an elbow jumper. He sank a long pull-up jumper from the wing. He missed a wing three.

Lin -- -- He got off to an awful start with turnovers and fouls to open the game. The Lakers were completely out of rhythm and fell behind deep. In the second half, Lin got into attack mode and the game changed. “He was much more aggressive and that’s what the Lakers need him to be,” Scott said. As I mentioned, this is going to be Lin’s and Kobe’s team to run offensively. There’s no way around it. It’s a good situation for Lin, he just needs to step into that role like he did in the second half tonight. He was getting dribble penetration and good things were happening as a result. Only thing you worry about was the amount of contact he was taking and how many times he hit the floor. No need to state the obvious here about the Lakers injury bug. He didn’t shoot the ball well tonight (missing a big three that would have trimmed the lead to 4 in the second half), but no one did in this game with how much difficulty the team had in getting into flow. Fun third quarter. Just need to string a few of those together. Only way to do that is get more minutes together to figure each other out. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 1-5 shooting (0-1 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 6 assists, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -17. The Action: He lost the handle trying to create, turnover. He fouled Ariza on a three for a 4-point play. He attacked the paint and was blocked. He attacked the paint, took contact and got no call on the miss. He then picked up his second foul running into Harden and had to sit. Back in, he lost the dribble bringing it up, dunk the other way. Sheesh, couldn’t be a worse start for Lin. He pushed up it in transition, drew the D and dumped if off to Boozer for the And-1. He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting to go with 2 assists and 2 turnovers in 14 minutes. Second Half: He attacked the paint and got body-slammed by Howard to draw his Dwight’s fourth, he made one FT, but got it tapped back out to him. He split a double team, attacked the rim, took contact and flipped in the lefty And-1 before going down, he made the FT. He attacked off the high screen, through the D, drawing a third defender at the baseline before dumping it off to Boozer for the layup. He attacked, drew the D and setup Hill for FTs. Not close on a big three attempt that could have cut the lead to 4 (that would have been big). He attacked baseline and found Davis for the layup. He made a tech FT. Sloppy kickout off a semi-trap, turnover at mid court. He attacked from the wing and took contact for FTs, he made both. He attacked but couldn’t finish the layup high off the glass.

Randle -- -- Wow. In disbelief. He attacked the paint in the fourth and got tripped up on a drive and went down. And stayed down. It was a little awkward as he kicked the back of his own leg on the drive, and Vitti was over at his side quickly. Players heard a pop. Julius said he felt something snap. They had to put an air cast on his leg and take him off on a stretcher. Kobe was in his ear, but the whole team was shaken. Broken tibia. This was to be his debut, no doubt a nervous one, but you get that out of the way and build on it. Instead, it turned into something completely different. “It kind of reminds me how I ended my rookie season,” James Worthy said. “It was in April when I broke my leg.” Same break Worthy had and he obviously went on to a great career. “It was heartbreaking,” Scott said, mentioning all the hard work Julius put in. The Lakers were going to throw him in the mix for a lot of minutes and build his game up. Fans were looking forward to watching him play even if we took our lumps in the process. It’s a blow for Julius, for the franchise and for the fans. But he will be back. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 1 turnover and 1 foul in 14 minutes. He was a -18. The Action: He attacked with speed around his man but couldn’t finish the layup. He faced up, attacked right, got separation on a bump and hit the short, controlled baseline jumper. He had 2 points on 1-2 shooting in 7 minutes. Second Half: He attacked and drew FTs on the pass off, he missed both. He drew an illegal D on iso. He missed a catch-and-shoot jumper, a little off balance. He attacked and passed up the shot instead of trying to finish at the rim as he immediately knew something was wrong on the take off.

Clarkson -- -- We put Clarkson on Harden for his first NBA defensive assignment. Yikes. He’s not ready for that, but spirited effort on both ends by Jordan. He scratched out some points, moved the ball okay and played with about as much confidence as you’ve probably ever seen out of a second-rounder. Pretty decent impact, as well, nearly getting to double digits in scoring and 6 trips to the line. With Young out and Xavier trying to work himself into game shape, hopefully Clarkson makes an impact. The Lakers need some good news. Hopefully, our second rounder duo of Kelly Clarkson provide it this season. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 1-4 shooting (1-2 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He attacked and missed a wild looking floater for his first NBA attempt. He got a nice bounce on a corner three for his first NBA hoop. He missed a wing three in transition next time down (love that he has the stones to take that). He grabbed a board and pushed it out aggressively to draw FTs, he made one. He missed a pull-up 17-footer trying to beat the shotclock. Second Half: He attacked and drew FTs. He broke his man off the dribble and hit Davis for the score. He probed baseline and drew FTs. He was fouled pushing the ball out of the backcourt, he made both FTs. He hit Xavier cutting for FTs.

Davis -- -- Strong effort from Ed, despite fouling out. As a big against Howard you have to take a few. The Lakers don’t have any true centers outside of Sacre, so you may see some tough nights like this foul wise. We had some good chemistry with Randle and Davis on the floor. I’m hopeful that Kelly will return and have that, as well. He and Davis might struggle with the size, but the two can play some pretty good help D. Offensively, we missed that Lin/Davis combo with the rotation changes. He still scratched out double digits. It didn’t look like he really wanted to be in the game late in the fourth after Randle’s injury. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-7 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 steal, 2 blocks and 6 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -16. The Action: He swiped a pass under the hoop. He rejected Beverly’s drive out of bounds. He picked up a couple of fouls on Howard dunk attempts. He sized up Howard, attacked to his left and scored a layup over him. Good job running the floor, he took the pass from Price, ball faked and scored the layup. Second Half: He scored a layup off the Lin drive and dish. He missed an off-balance jumphook across the lane. He got hacked at the rim for FTs, he made one. He forced Dwight into a turnover on a partial front of the entry pass. He hit a jumphook on iso. He missed a turnaround in the paint. He dunked off the Clarkson drive and dish.

Price -- -- Some different lineups, running both Price and Lin on the floor at the same time tonight. Lakers trying to figure things out on the fly. The second unit just lost a scorer and play maker in Randle. They already lost Young. They are going to have to find a way to create some offense. Price will have to step up. Clarkson, however, is really the only guy left capable of breaking down the D with frequency. Sigh. Defensively, we threw him on Harden some. Lakers struggled to get stops with any consistency outside of their one third quarter run. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 1-7 shooting (1-3 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He missed a pull-up bank in transition. He attacked and kicked to Clarkson for three. He missed a long pull-up jumper against the shotclock. He drew FTs and made both. He drew FTs on a drive, a little out of control, he made both. He was blocked on a drive at the buzzer. He missed a long three at the shotclock buzzer. He stripped Howard in the post on the dig. He couldn’t finish a flip in over Howard, but we drew a foul on the putback attempt. He had 4 points on 0-5 shooting and 5 assists.Second Half: He drained a wing three off the Kobe kickout at the shotclock buzzer. He missed a three on a kickout. He set up Davis for FTs off the two-man game. He threw a kickout away. He threw a pass away, trying to hit Boozer in a crowd, ill-advised. He hit Sacre for a baseline jumper.

Henry -- -- He was cleared to play and Scott threw him into the fire. He looked very rusty, not trying to do too much on the offensive end. His first jumper he airballed. His second miss an uncontested reverse layup. Honestly, as bad as Ellington played, go ahead and throw him in the mix. He needs to get game time. Defensively, when healthy, he was one of our best defenders last year. That part of his game will need a little warming up, as well, but it’s serviceable for now. He forced the Rockets into a few turnovers late in the game. Hopefully, we get back to seeing the Xavier that attacked the rim and got the line with frequency. That will be the true test of whether he’s back to himself again. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 0-4 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 steal and 1 foul in 18 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He couldn’t inbounds a ball, 5-second violation. He choked a layup when he could have dumped it off to a Laker under the hoop for a score. Second Half: He airballed a long pull-up jumper from the sideline. He missed an uncontested reverse layup at the buzzer, ouch. He missed an open elbow pull-up jumper. He knocked a ball loose, busted out and was fouled on the layup attempt for FTs, he made one. He stripped a man again on the sideline. He slapped a ball off a Rocket to get another stop. He cut down the lane and Clarkson found him for FTs, he made both.

Sacre -- -- “What’s going on with us? Why are guys going down like this?” Sacre said that’s what the mood was when Randle went down. The team feels snake bit. He got some garbage time run and fired away, connecting on one shot. With Randle out, he’ll see some time. Unless, Kelly, who is close, makes his return. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting to go with 1 steal and 1 foul in 7 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He airballed a face-up jumper. He swished a baseline jumper. He missed a turnaround jumper. He missed a baseline jumper.

Scott -- -- Lakers go to the post on the first couple possessions. Rockets, too. Not much after that early on from the bigs… He brought in Price for Wes when Wes picked up his second foul a few minutes in, sliding Kobe to SF… The Lakers got Dwight into foul trouble and he sat a few seconds later… The Lakers trailed by 7 when Lin had to sit with his second foul for Clarkson midway through the quarter… Scott called timeout down 18-9, nothing working on either end. Long jumpers for the Lakers and the Rockets getting what they want… Lakers trailed 20-14 when the next timeout came, L.A. shooting 6-21. He brought in Randle, Xavier and Davis for Kobe, Boozer and Hill… Not sure why we got Clarkson on Harden… Lucky bank three at the shotclock buzzer for the Rockets and the Lakers trailed 31-19… He started a Davis, Randle, Henry, Clarkson and Price again. Not getting any time for Davis/Lin with Lin’s foul trouble and these rotations… Rockets overplaying the passing lanes, taking the Lakers out of their plays… He brought in Kobe after 3 minutes for Clarkson and Wes in for Henry… Starters all back in, shortly later… Rockets raining threes on the Lakers… Lakers push back with a series of scores at the rim to force a Rocket timeout, Lakers down 11… Wes picked up his third with 1:42 left and had to sit for Clarkson, who got the Harden assignment again… The Lakers trailed 62-45 at the half. About to get blown out if they don’t find some chemistry in the second half. The Lakers shot 36%. Harden had 22 points again Wes and Clarkson… Howard out after a minute with foul trouble on a Lin drive… Lakers in the bonus after 3 minutes down 13. They need to get to the line like mad… Lin igniting the Lakers with dribble penetration to force a timeout, down 9 now… He brought in Davis for Hill down 12 again (was just 7). He brought in Price for Wes, as well… He brought in Randle for Boozer down 10 with 4:15 left… Davis, Randle, Henry, Price, Lin in… The Lakers trailed 85-69 heading into the fourth… He went with a Davis, Randle, Henry, Clarkson, Price unit… The Lakers fell back by 21 and Scott called a timeout after 2 minutes. He sat his rookies and went with Davis, Boozer, Kobe, Price and Lin… He sat Price for Wes after a couple bad sequences… Eight minute stretch before the Lakers finally scored another field goal… He sat Kobe, down 26 after taking the flagrant… Sacre, Randle, Johnson, Clarkson, Lin… Randle down…

[mhan00]

Awful start.

[TooCool]

Really awful start. The team came out bricking shot after shot in the 1st quarter too... which is never a good sign.

I gave up watching in the 3rd quarter. I was beyond annoyed with how bad this team really was and with a bad day, I couldn't take it anymore. Now I find out that Randle (who I thought could be a sleeper pick for Rookie of the Year) got injured in the 4th. Great... just freakin great.

It's gonna be a long year. Thanks for the writeup DB.
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[cheesysapien]

Thanks for the write up DB. It is good to be able to count on good old DB
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"We have a lot of guys that have been kinda discarded ... Myself with the injury and the age. Jeremy ... a bunch of players who other teams really felt they had no use for. So we have that kind of attitude built into ourselves" -- Kobe Bryant

[13th Man]

Thanks for the write up DB. It was hard to read (not your writing style but the disheartening mood after this game). Best wishes to Julius Randle for a speedy recovery.

[PLATNUM]

Team showed some fight in the 3rd

X had no business out there at all. Price had some ugly TOs.

Team wasn't very fluid at all.

Liked the grit Booz showed out there.

Davis had some nice plays. Wes needs to step up.
Lin needs to play more assertive. Liked the energy from JC.

The team can either fold OR use this travesty of a season opener to band together and make something good happen. It's all up to the leaders of this squad.
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"Dread it, run from it... destiny arrives all the same."

[Omar Little]

The sad thing was, right before Randle went down, i was thinking that this team has some upside once they get some continuity, young back, and Randle settles in. Then bam!
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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

[PLATNUM]

[fiendishoc]

Thanks DB. It must have been hard to summon the energy to put together this recap after what happened. I know I need a break from thinking about it. I'm devastated by the Randle injury. My only hope now is that he can come back 100% for the rest of his career, rest of the season be damned.

[i_am_luv_sic]

Hello everyone. Been lurking since the summer but finally registered. Tough first game, feel bad for randle too. Does anyone think Lin should have attempted more shots though? Seeing how bad the rest of the team was offensively he should probably have taken more than 5 attempts right?

[Honeybadger81]

the thing bothers me the most is this team has no quick attack, every possession was facing the set defense of Rockets, the tempo is too slow...
if you see how easy the rockets get their points, you realize that they attack early, before the lakers set their defense...
This lakers team can not play the grind style like Memphis Grizzilies or Indiana Pacers, we just don't have those type of players...

[freethrow]

[Shaber]

[dxdx]

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB.
Just a plain awful thing to deal with.

[ThreePointBomber]

This is freaking sad, I can just tell that Randle is going to be a problem in the NBA for years to come, perfect situation for him to get alot of minutes and learn his game. As awful as things were tonight, Lin, Kobe, Clarkson, Randle, Davis are def. keeping me tuned in this year.


Reggie Miller with the hands down disrespectful commentary, but I expect nothing less.

Also can't believe people were actually against signing Nick Young. A guy who can create his own shot is freaking valuable, especially on this team. I pray RKelly and Xman come into form, we need them badly.
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The most important shot in basketball.

[jorkerjork]

It's awful, but man, sports science is the one area that needs to improve. Seems like everyone in the NBA is getting injured. If you think we're bad, look at the Pacers as well. Wish Randle the best recovery ever, but one has to wonder whether our lack of spacing made Randle ram into all those bodies which was more conducive to injury. That's where having a Ryan Kelly or even a Nick Young would have helped.

[kastuul]

Considering this starting lineup didn't play together too much in pre-season, we should have patience for their chemistry.

Kobe's post up was too much. They didn't move the ball wisely.

[jlinfan]

As always, thanks for keeping things in perspective and for finding the silver lining.

Mostly ugly to watch but lets put this one behind us and move on. Good thing we play tonight and Friday - won't give the guys time to hang their heads, got to get up and back on the saddle.

[Richmond]

What I thought hurt the early rhythm, not that it would've changed the outcome....was the Rockets getting calls for just about any contact while the Lakers couldn't buy a foul. The 4 point play call against Lin was well after the shot and he barely made contact. Then Lin gets hit twice and nothing. One of the announcers said that Howard went straight up on one of Lin's shot attempts...sure, but then he whacked his arms...

BTW - DB, thank you for putting your time and effort into recaps. We ALL enjoy reading them, even if they portray a bad picture.. and Julius??? Wow, how snake-bit are the Lakers>?

[Lakerscode]

Let's not make excuses Lakers played poorly last night but that's basketball everyone has a sh!tty game and I noticed that Houston had prepared for this game against us and we didn't.The Lakers offense is weak Scott needs to adjust his line up, Hill is not a starter quality and he doesn't know how to play PnR I hope Scott will slide him to the bench.The only bright spot for Lakers last night was Boozer and Davis and I was surprised w/Booz he still has it but they we're just too small against Houston's front line.Our campaign this year is gloomy especially with Randle's injury unless Scott can find a combination that could work.His brand of offense is the worst offense that I've seen so far,he preached a lot but this is not 80's or 90's anymore where 1 on 1 is your main bread and butter,the defensive scheme of every team had change and it erases all your 1 on 1 capability unless you spread the floor provide screen and look for the best shot possible either it's a 2 or 3 point shot but then again this is only the first game,I might be wrong w/ our offensive schemes.I hope they'll bounce back tonite!

[70sdude]

Appreciate the recap.

Oooof.

I've been struggling to assemble any sort of positive mental attitude about this Laker season - all Summer and Fall. I've opined that this season would be worse than last.

Sucked up courage and tuned into game one to see the Laker liftoff with the Rockets. Oh baby, this one was as bad a start as I can recall. The best part was that Kobe seems as capable as I dared dream he could be. The worst part was Randle's leg. Not a lot more to say right now.

[Lakerscode]

Thanks for the recap.

[yinoma2001]

Get well Jules. He still has a bright career ahead of him.
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From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals

[DShotMaker1824]

Thanks for the recap DB. All I saw was a scared team (minus Kobe) in the 1st half. They fought in the 2nd half. Hill poor post defense was exposed. I still remember Kanter schooling him 2 years ago in a pre-season game.
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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..."