LAKERS -at- TWOLVES - 12-14-14 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Passing Jordan… He’s a virtuoso. A master at work. With five rings and now third all-time in scoring in NBA history, he’s Kobe Bryant.

In the second quarter of the Lakers 100-94 win over the Timberwolves, Kobe attacked to his right and drew a whistle on the baseline. A moment later, he tied Michael Jordan and then passed him with the two freethrows.

Fans got to their feet as the Timberwolves stopped the game briefly and honored him. Classy move, great moment. Kobe said it was unique since he’s so used to playing the role of the villain on the road. It’s a role he’s enjoyed over the years as he stokes the internal fires of the ruthless competitor deep inside him.

“You can’t get to a supreme level without channeling the dark side a little bit,” Kobe said afterward.

The haters, of course, have always been eager to run their mouths as he has left a trail of destruction in his wake over the years in hostile arenas (and shamefully by an occasional Laker fan). As a fan you suffer through their comments, shaking your head. It’s like going to the Getty and standing in front of Van Gogh’s Irises while some schmuck next to you critiques individual brush strokes. Just shut up already. The more you talk, the more you embarrass yourself.

Stand back and look at the dedication, the years of hard work, the thousands of hours working on the basics. All of that is in there…in the every detail of his craft. In every shot and in every point. Enjoy it. Savor it.

It’s said two types of people work on the fundamentals endlessly – beginners and the masters. Kobe studied MJ and the greats, not for the flash and ESPN highlight reel plays…but the details.

“What I saw was the footwork, the spacing, the timing, the fundamentals,” he said of studying the greats to become one himself.

As he moved into third on the scoring list, congratulations came in from the legends. Magic said Kobe was a top five player all time.

“That’s the most important thing for me, I think,” Kobe said. “Playing for that, playing for the respect of the greats and feeling like I’m a part of that culture, a part of that brotherhood.”


Enjoy the ride. He’s not having a great season by Kobe’s standards. Another new coach, another new system, another roster of new players and he’s trying to find his way after the two injuries. Some fans can’t seem to look through all that to see how much he has stacked against him at the moment.

Enjoy a master at work. Savor it. It’s there in the details of every game … 32,310 points and climbing.


Kobe -- -- He wasn’t expecting the Timberwolves to stop the game. He was told it was coming, but forgot in the moment of the freethrows and game. “That was awesome, man,” Kobe said of that moment. “It felt great to have that. I didn’t know what it was going to feel like.” This moment was expected to come about a year ago, but Kobe’s injuries delayed it. Then it finally happened. The points. The crowd standing for him. Game ball in his hands. Teammates and opponents coming over to congratulate him. A long hug from BScott. A hug from Vitti who’s been there for every season. I’m glad it was Scott there. It would have been unfitting for D’Antoni or Brown. Scott was the vet leader for the young Kobe when he entered the league. “I’m just happy I was able to share with him at the beginning and at this point, as well,” Scott said. “And that’s what I told him, I was there when he made his first basket and now we go back 17, 18 years and this is where he is. I just told him how proud I was and how much I loved him.” Scott said he thinks Kobe is happy it’s over with. “It’s a huge honor,” Kobe said. “It’s so much work to get to this point. It’s unbelievable, time has flown by.” Jordan on Kobe: “I congratulate Kobe on reaching this milestone. He’s obviously a great player, with a strong work ethic and has an equally strong passion for the game of basketball. I’ve enjoyed watching his game evolve over the years and I look forward to seeing what he accomplishes next.” I remember seeing Kareem set his record when I was young. I was happy I was able to share this moment my child. Congrats, Kobe. You’ve put on a hell of a show for a hell of a long time. The Stats: He scored 26 points on 7-20 shooting (2-7 from three, 10-13 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 35 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He missed a 22-footer on his first attempt. He fumbled a dribble on the baseline, turnover. He missed a wing three. Poor D on back-to-back possessions giving up easy scores to Wiggins. He crossed over and missed a wing jumper. He got tapped on an And-1 bank getting Wiggins in the air for the foul, he made both FTs. He took a pass in the lane and hit a little fade over the D. He attacked a crowd in transition but couldn’t finish the layup. He sank a wing three in transition after returning in the second quarter. He missed a turnaround jumper from the post. Quick first step baseline as he attacked to his right and he drew the FTs, he made one to tie MJ and one to pass him with 5:24 left in the second quarter. They stopped the game, players congratulated him from both sides and they gave him the game ball. Great moment. He drained a wing three in front of his bench (later changed to a two), now chasing Karl Malone. He swung through and drew FTs from the same spot shortly later, he made all three. He missed a pull-up from three straight away. He missed a three (looked like he wanted the foul). He had 14 points on 3-10 shooting in the half. Second Half: He poked a ball loose on a reach around and then hit Price on the break for the FTs. He missed a long pull-up jumper on iso. He spun baseline and drew FTs on a reach, he made one. He hit Wes trailing the break for the open three. He pumpfaked and drew a late whistle after taking contact on a jumper he airballed, he made one FT again. He stripped a ball off his man and out of bounds for the stop. He missed a two-for-one three. Back on the floor, he popped out at the wing and hit the catch-and-shoot three (later reviewed and made a two for the second time this game). He settled for a tough three and missed. Nice transition D to force a brick and we recovered it. He called for the high screen, attacked the paint and hit the pull-up jumper. He missed a 19-footer. He missed an open pull-up jumper wide right. He attacked off the high screen, got deep in the paint and hit the floater. He was stripped on a double team at half court off a high screen, dunk for the TWolves. He drained a long bail-out three with a minute left. He missed a long forced jumper. He was intentionally fouled with 20 seconds left, he made one FT. XXX

Hill -- -- Just 3 boards from Hill. Anytime he’s not close to a double-double, probably not a great game from him. We need him beasting on the glass. Quite a few long jumpers, even a big miss when they trapped Kobe in crunch time. Teams are going to make him beat them, not Kobe. Lakers really need to be selective about how they are executing down the stretch. The starters don’t get a tremendous amount of penetration, which would really help both Hill and Davis as they clean up on the glass. Nice block by Hill late in the game to erase a mistake by Wes. We need that consistently. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-10 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He missed an open 16-footer to start the game. He was called for a travel as he tried to power up for the dunk. He sank an 18-footer from his spot when Kobe drew a crowd. He scored a layup off the interior feed from Davis. He missed a 19-footer from the wing. He sealed his man and drew FTs in the paint, he made one. He swished a 20-footer. He missed an open elbow jumper. He drew FTs on the defensive glass, he made both. Second Half: He faced up, worked his way to the middle of the paint and hit the jumphook. He tipped in a Davis miss off Kobe dribble penetration. He missed a jumphook in the middle of the paint. Nice help D when Wes gambled and came up empty, looked like Hill blocked it off the man, too. He kept a board alive and Boozer scored off it. He missed a long jumper when the trapped Kobe.

Davis -- -- Nice to see us try to find him in the paint a couple of times. He’s a good finisher in there and we seem to ignore that quite a bit. They could still work the ball to him or Hill down there a little more than they do. Five blocks from our starting front court in this game. Davis had one of them. Steady minutes, but nothing that really stood out. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-6 shooting to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and no fouls in 21 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He took a pass in the lane, spun and hit the jumphook over his man. He drew a double and hit Hill cutting for the layup. He spun and missed a layup. He scored a layup on the break. Second Half: He was blocked from behind on a dunk. He missed a layup setup by Kobe. He shed his man, took the pass on the inbounds and dunked.

Johnson -- -- A mixed bag for him defensively. He did great blocking his man on several occasions, but he also fell asleep more than once to give up backdoor scores. Good job moving the ball to tie Lin with a team lead of 6 assists. He drained a couple of threes, which his important to help release some pressure on Kobe. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 3-7 shooting (2-3 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: Nice recovery to block his man from the side. He found Davis in the paint for a score. He drew FTs out on the break with Ronnie, he made one. He scored a layup after another steal by Price. He drained a sideline three on the catch and shoot. He fell asleep and gave up a backdoor dunk. He missed a pull-up at the FT line. He airballed a three so badly it went off an opponent and out of bounds. Backdoored again for a dunk. Second Half: Quick counter attack off a made basket and Wes earned FTs at the rim, he made one. Poor post entry pass, right out of bounds as Ed was trying to get a seal. He back-rimmed a 15-footer. He rejected his man on iso D in the post. He attacked off the three line with purpose and drew FTs on contact under the hoop, he made both. He rejected his man out of bound badly. He drained a wing three trailing the break. He couldn’t finish a lob in transition.

Price -- -- Price equated this to one of those NBA classic games and how special the moment was. “To now actually be on the court to be affiliated with one of those moments is something I will never forget. It’s something me and my family, my kids, my kids’s kids, will enjoy,” he said. A lot of respect for Kobe and for the game, right there. He said he wanted to do whatever he could to get the W tonight. He had a strong defensive night with 4 steals and drawing a charge, as well. Offensively, he was shooting blanks again. The TWolves are bad enough we can get away with that if our D is holding up (unlike last time we met). Still, it makes it much tougher on Kobe. Things like those split plays on the sideline are much less effective. We still are going pointless at the end of games. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-3 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 4 steals and no fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He picked his man to ignite a break. He swiped the ball from his man again next time down and it led to more points on the break. He got picked in the backcourt as he looked to push it out. He missed a 20-footer, dunk the other way. Good footwork to stay in front of his man and force a turnover. He reached to knock a ball loose and nearly hit a half court heave at the buzzer. Second Half: He was fouled on a layup on a feed from Kobe in transition. He missed a wing three in transition. He drew a charge stepping in on help D.

Young -- -- Some props to Nick for the D side of things tonight. He gave a good effort there at times and had some nice defensive sequences in the post on iso to force bad shots or poke balls loose. He really tried to hold his ground there. He also came up with a big late-game steal. Offensively, he wasn’t as effective. A lot of his shots had a high degree of difficulty. His one three he made was his best look of the night, wide open so he could measure it. We need to get him a few more of those than some of the ridiculous makes he’s forced to pull out of his hat sometimes. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-9 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 steals and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He crossed over and missed the 18-footer. He missed a long pull-up jumper on iso. He missed a wing three. He drained a wing three working the two-man game with Sacre. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper on iso. He missed a sideline three. He crossed over and clanked the jumper. He attacked the paint and missed the short one. Wide open after popping out off the screen and he could measure it and make the three. He poked away a post entry pass and was tripped on the bust out, no clear path, but it was close. He deflected another post entry. He swiped a pass in the final minute, big stop. He was intentionally fouled with 9 seconds left, he made both.

Lin -- -- Chemistry with Boozer is improving. The two did a good job getting their men to switch and take advantage of it. Lin is great at throwing passes over the top of the D when they front off those switches. These two should be able to focus more on refining this part of the game as one of our key weapons along with Nick during those second unit minutes. We still need to get him on the floor to close games. Kobe isn’t a point guard and anytime we have him attack off a screen they will trap to take the ball out of his hands. We just need more of a mix out there so that we aren’t as predictable. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-5 shooting (4-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He missed a pull-up wing jumper. He kicked to Sacre for the jumper. He pushed out the loose ball and hit Boozer filling the lane for the dunk. He erased a break stepping in for a charge. He missed a sideline jumper. He jumped a passing lane, swiped it and took it the distance for a layup over a man. Indecisive on a kickout and he traveled. He was stripped in the lane (wanted the foul), dunk the other way. Nice challenge on a jumper to force a miss. Second Half: He pushed out a loose ball and drew FTs on a reach, he made both. He attacked off the three line and scored around the help D. Great post entry over the D to Boozer for the layup after the two got their men to switch. He was hit hard on a layup attempt with no call, should have been FTs instead of a miss. He went up high for a defensive board, pushed it out and threw another nice pass over the D to Boozer for the layup. He got a switch, attacked it and drew FTs on the drive, he made both.

Boozer -- -- “Honored to be a part of that. Honored to be a part of this team and be able to witness greatness,” Boozer said of Kobe’s milestone night. Another very good game from Boozer off the bench. He banged, pushed, battled and came up with 6 offensive boards and putbacks off that. At the end of the night, 22 and 13 off the bench are ridiculous numbers. The role really fits him. He and Lin looked better in this game and that led to easier points. They did a good job getting mismatches. I’d still like to see Boozer set some stickier picks at times, but they were effective. Boozer closed the game again (some late D subs). The Stats: He scored 22 minutes on 10-14 shooting (2-3 from the line) to go with 13 boards (6 offensive), 2 assists, 1 turnovers and 4 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He fumbled a couple passes away. He dunked when Lin hit him in transition. He missed a drive. He sank a high arching turnaround jumper. He swished an elbow jumper. He was undercut from behind on a jumper for an And-1, he missed the FT. He had 8 points and 6 boards. Second Half: He worked the pivot and sank the face-up jumper. He scored a layup when Lin hit him with a nice post entry over the fronting D. He drew FTs getting a board off Young’s dribble penetration, he made both. He busted out with speed when Lin gathered a rebound and Lin found him for the layup. He put back in a missed Ellington jumper easily. He got tapped on a long turnaround jumper from the high post. He took an inbounds and banked the fallaway. He grabbed a board and put it back in at the front of the rim.

Ellington -- -- Shooting blanks again. He hasn’t been as effective with this new bench. He was the only Laker not scoring tonight. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-4 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 5 boards in 11 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He missed an open wing three. He missed an open sideline three on a kickout. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper. He missed a baseline pull-up jumper.

Sacre -- -- He used his muscle well out there tonight on a few possessions. I think 19 minutes is probably a bit much for him, but the second units have enough scoring and we’ve reduced our reliance on him to create. He needs to work on more of those garbage man points since Lin, Boozer and Swaggy will be getting most of the looks. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He tapped out an offensive board. He sank a baseline jumper. He tapped a board off glass, got it back and muscled in the score, great effort at the end of the quarter. Second Half: He grabbed a loose ball and was rejected badly at the rim. Poor high-low pass, turnover.

Scott -- -- It’s slow coming, for sure, but the Lakers are starting to play more to their potential. They were badly underachieving… The Lakers trailed 14-12 after 7 minutes before Young and Boozer came in for Davis and Johnson… Down 18-12 when Lin and Sacre came in for Hill and Price… Lakers up 20-19 when Ellington came in for Kobe in the final minute. Usual rotations from Scott of late… The Lakers led 22-19 after the first quarter… Same unit to start the second that ended the first… Up 5, he brought in Hill and Johnson for Sacre and Ellington… Davis in for Boozer, up 6… Lin out and Price back in… The Lakers led 49-44 at the half… Up 8 and Boozer came in for Davis with over 4 minutes left. Longer run here than usual before subs. He brought in Lin for Price a few seconds later… Up 8, Young in for Wes and Sacre for Hill… A 12-4 run for the TWolves at the end of the third… The Lakers led 71-69 heading to the fourth… He started the same Sacre, Boozer, Young, Ellington, Lin unit… Up 3 and he sat Sacre, Lin and Ellington for Kobe, Price and Hill… A couple scores by Kobe and they pulled out to a 91-83 lead. Timeout TWolves. Good to see the starters step up a little… Young in for Price up 6 with 3 minutes left… Kobe at PG down the stretch again. Very predictable… Tied up at 94-94. They took the ball out of Kobe’s hands for a possession and put it in Young’s and Kobe hit a long three. Kobe and Young with some bail out shots in the last couple… Back in with a Johnson, Young, Kobe, Ellington, Price lineup up by 4 to defend the three line for possession. Lakers close the deal… Don’t look now, but the Lakers are on a win streak…

[DancingBarry]

Sorry for the delay. Christmas party to attend to this afternoon so I started this a few hours late.

[Hard_Butter]

Congrats, Bean.
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The butter's hard and the eggs are chillin' in the dark.

Kiss my Converse.

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[fiendishoc]

Thx DB!

Some observations:

- Lakers terrible luck with injuries getting paid back with a nice streak of favorable injuries to opposing teams' starters
- Minnesota's color commentator really seems knowledgeable about the game, discussing what things the Lakers like to run. Not sure if it makes for good TV, but I enjoyed it
- Nice gesture by the league and Wolves to stop the game to congratulate Kobe. And Kobe genuinely appreciated it
- Refs didn't know what they were doing this game. That no call after Shabazz shoved Lin on the break was particularly ridiculous. Poor guy gets no respect
- Given how often they double non-threats in the post, it was surprising they let Shabazz post up on single coverage all game, even though he had like 30 pounds on the wings
- While it doesn't work on starting guards, Ronnie Price does a good job pressuring backup PGs and rookies
- Lin does a decent job at getting the bigs good passes inside. Hmm... I bet he he'd have pretty good chemistry with that Davis guy if they ever managed to play together.
- Sacre set a really good screen on the flex action that got Swaggy all the time in the world for his top of the key 3
- Boozer did a great job getting position all night for deep baskets and offensive boards
- Byron really loves to run the same play over and over again in crunchtime, even after the other team starts adjusting
- Even though he played too many minutes, Kobe looked like he had his legs under him tonight, and it showed down the stretch
- Replay reviews are a snoozer, but its good that they actually take the time to get things right. Maybe send it up to a fourth ref already in a replay booth to speed things up.
- Lakers are now 3.5 games out of the 8th seed!

[Goldenwest]

[rokobe81]

3.5 but okc will be a lot better.
we are 8.5 games away from dallas/clippers

[EddieJonesss]

Thanks DB!

[A Mad Chinaman]

[TooCool]

Thanks DB! Congrats Kobe!!!!!

What's crazy is that we're only 4 games out of the last playoff spot... I know it seems impossible and insane to think about right now, but just saying.
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[Shaber]

[Shaber]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[Crystal99]

[rokobe81]

[Richmond]

[Vin]

[K28]

Maybe I'm giving Byron too much credit, but the reason I am thinking that Lin ended up only playing 19 minutes in this one is that Byron has clued into Lin's struggles on b2b games. So he gave him less work to do in this with the hope that Lin handle the second game's workload a bit better.

[Vin]

Price was also playing some solid on ball D.

[K28]

The Lakers consistent problem is perimeter defense.

1. We lack true lockdown perimeter defenders.
2. We also lack any semblance of rim protection in our interior defense.

So when we play a lethal 3pt shooting team like a Golden State, we are consistently in no-man's land. We can't play them close for the shot because then they just have a free lane to the rim. If we play off, they just shoot over us.

Only chance: We get some better defensive bigs.

[LakersMDGurl]

[LakersInFour]

[yinoma2001]

Wish it could have been on national TV. But kind of symbolically nice to pass MJ against Minny. And kudos to that team/crowd for giving Kobe the respect. Great achievement for kobe.
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From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals

[bws94]

Congrats to Kobe. Kobe, please stay healthy.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB