LAKERS -at- MAVS - 12/13 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings

[DancingBarry]

Splitting on the Road... This is the kind of game where you look at it in the schedule a couple months back and you knew it wouldn't be easy. The Lakers battled, had the score tied early in the fourth, but then fell apart down the stretch on both ends before losing 110-101. Missing Lamar will most likely be a theme in our losses.

Going into the game, they could live with Dirk getting his and trying to contain Terry and Howard. Unfortunately, both Terry and Howard combined for half of the Mavs 110 points on the night. Said Luke afterward, "We wanted to stop at least one of them, try to stop two of them, and we didn't stop any of them." They missed Lamar on Dirk. Although, Lamar has spent a lot of minutes on Dirk in the past, he also spent a chunk of time on Howard and had locked down on him in those minutes in games last year. We certainly could have used that versatility tonight.

"I thought we were weak-minded the first half," Phil said in the Times. "We didn't fight through picks. Guys were getting mismatched on players they shouldn't have been playing because we just didn't make the effort. Some of that was miscommunication. That'll happen when you have new people in the lineup like we did tonight."

The Lakers played another aggressive third quarter, forcing five turnovers and converting them into 10 points. However, they gave up a ton of FTs and the Mavs still managed to put up 27 points. The Lakers got a little upset about a few calls in this one, Luke especially seemed to not get any love around the basket. On the road, you have to push through those.

There were only 26 defensive boards up for grabs tonight for the Lakers as the Mavs shot 39-65 -- that's 60 percent on a very low number of shots. The Lakers managed to scored 26 points off 20 Mav turnovers, but the Mavs also made 28-33 from the line. While the turnovers kept the Lakers in it, the Mavs were very efficient when they didn't cough up the ball.


Kobe -- -- Kobe started off trying to set up others, then throttled up his own offensive game in the third, where he scored 17 of his game-high 33 points. Kobe led the Lakers in several categories: minutes (44), FGAs (9-18), FTs (14-17), 3PT attempts (1-6), boards (7), assists (4) and, of course, points. Although this game was lost on the D end, we are going to need some guys step up in crunch time with the scoring. Kobe had 11 of our 20 fourth quarter points tonight. There are key moments in the fourth where Phil will call Lamar's number. They are going to have to find someone else or some money offensive sequences that they can go to when teams start keying in on Kobe late in the game. "I'm ready to do whatever it takes," Kobe said. "I'm not in tip-top shape to be able to go 48 minutes full-bore, but I'm ready to do what it takes, as is everyone else." He pulled down a board, pushed up the dribble, attacked and scored a layup for the Lakers first hoop of the game after several minutes. He set up Bynum for a layup off the two-man game. Kobe attacked a double team, got dribble penetration under the hoop and flipped it back up to the rim where Bynum could easily tap it in. He missed a wing three. He pumpfaked twice, drew contact and a foul, he made one FT. He whipped a pass to Farmar under the hoop for a layup. He attacked and kicked out to Farmar for an open three. He hit a wing jumper. He had a pass picked off when he attacked the baseline. He was stripped by Dirk as he attacked for a turnover. He had 5 points on 2-6 shooting at the half. To start his third-quarter scoring, he faced up and hit a wing bank. He hit Luke off the pinch post for FTs. He scooped up a loose ball on the sideline, pushed it up and scored an And-1, making the FT. He rose up, took contact and drained the And-1 wing jumper, he made the FT. He pounced like a panther from behind Dirk on inbounds, stole it and took it to the other end to hammer down a dunk. He hustled to the sideline to track down a loose ball, he then drew a foul and made both FTs. He had George switch on him, he backed up, went between his legs several times and then drilled a three over him. He took a shot to his right arm, hitting the shin of a Mav as he went down, he made a couple FTs, but went out of the game shortly later after he had been in pain on a few sequences. Apparently, it was his funny bone, which was the second time in the game he set it off. Great D to block a layup from behind the breakaway, but Farmar quickly turned it over for a score. He picked up Tech No. 3 of the season when Luke attacked and got hit with no call. He drew FTs when George hit him on a jumper, he made both. He forced up a three and was blocked off the pick and roll. He drew contact and threw up a three and got the whistle, he made all three FTs. He missed a three on his next attempt. He drew FTs on an offensive board, pumpfaking a big and drawing contact, he made one. He pulled up and hit a wing jumper. He got into the D off the dribble and hit a short fade. He drew more FTs, made one.

Walton -- -- Luke missed a few chippies tonight around the rim and ended up with a poor 3-13 shooting. With Lamar out, teams can try to focus on Luke a little more...and Luke may also try to force the issue scoring-wise, too. We'll see. I'm not so sure that was at play too much tonight because Luke was missing a few of the kinds of shots he has been making of late. They had him bringing up the ball a few more times than he usually does, filling in for LO in that regard. He wasn't playmaking as much as LO or as much as Luke did against the Rockets. Even though Luke shot 7-8 from the line, he didn't get a lot of love from the refs at times and was a little ticked at some of the easy calls that went without a whistle. In the end, he finished with 13 points, 7 boards (4 offensive), 2 assists and 1 steal. Luke was a +20 last night, he was a-23 tonight. Ouch. Early on, his man backscreened Kwame and it resulted in an uncontested layup for Dampier (Smush was there and didn't react to it either). He attacked off the dribble, spun and set up Kwame for an And-1. He took the ball in high post and beat Dirk easily for a layup. He missed a three and an open wing jumper. He hit a wing jumper in transition. He attacked off the dribble, drew FTs and made one. He fouled Howard on the three line for 3 FTs. He attacked off the dribble, got into the lane and fed Vlad for a layup. He attacked and missed a runner, then got it back and drew a foul for FTs, he made both. He drew FTs working off a low pinch post with Kobe, he made both. He missed a three, a step back J and then a baseline jumper that he yelled at the refs about for not calling a foul. In for Cook to match up with George and he drew a charge beating George to a spot. He attacked, got into the paint, was hit several times and missed with no call, Kobe then got a T. Nice drive, but he couldn't finish the layup (Kwame got the board, but couldn't finish a dunk). He somehow missed a point-blank putback. He finally got a layup to go after trailing Turiaf on a break. "Last night we played most of the game without (Lamar) and played pretty well. But tonight was different," Walton said in the AP. "They made big plays and we made boneheaded plays. You can't do that against a good team like Dallas. Tonight our defense got away from us. We've got to learn from this and let it go."

Smush -- -- Smush had a very slow start, playing sluggishly in the opening minutes. Phil sat him for an extended period in the first half. In the second half, he brought the energy level up and that helped the Lakers in that third quarter. Smush scored 12 points on 3-8 shooting (2-5 from three), he had 2 assists and 1 board in his 25 minutes. He gave up a couple of easy layups (ball watching badly on one) to start and Phil brought in Farmar a couple minutes earlier than usual. After sitting for 15 minutes, Smush missed a long three early in the offense. Out of a timeout at the end of the half, the Lakers play broke down, Smush attacked off the dribble and swished a floater to beat the clock. Good steal of a Harris pass using his vertical reach, then he drew Harris's fourth foul. He drew a foul off an aggressive weakside attack, he made one FT. He let his man fly by as he faked a three, then Smush stepped to his left and hit the three from the sideline. He didn't switch and box out as his man cut across the lane and after a jumper was missed the Mavs rebounded easily and scored. He attacked off the dribble and drew FTs, making one. Great D with Luke, double teaming in the back court to force a violation on Terry. Then, they gave it right back as Smush didn't meet the inbounds pass and Terry hustled to steal it and draw a foul. He hit a three and got some FTs when the game was all but over.

Kwame -- -- Poor night finishing around the rim and from the line. Defensively, he had a couple of moments, but we didn't have any real defensive anchor tonight. Kwame finished with 5 points on 2-7 shooting and 1-4 from the line. He had 4 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist and 2 steals. He posted up and missed a jumphook. He scored an And-1 layup off a drive and dish from Luke, he missed the FT. He faked right, faked left, stepped through and scored an And-1 on Dampier, he made the FT. Back in to start the second against Dirk, he bodied Dirk up on the dribble and we took the ball from him. Great D, jumping a guard to poke it free, then he dove on the floor to save the loose ball. He took an offensive board and tried to one-hand flush it, but was fouled and missed it, he then missed both FTs. He missed a layup under the hoop.

Radmanovic -- -- He got the start against Dirk, and while he had some better minutes offensively...he was also foul prone (not just against Dirk). He had 5 fouls in 18 minutes. He seems to hack quite a bit under the hoop when a team is threatening to score. Phil yanked him early in his stints a couple of times tonight. Vlad scored 11 points on 5-9 shooting (1-2 from three) and had 3 boards. He missed a jumper on his first attempt. He threw the ball off Kwame's leg for a turnover. He was left alone under the hoop and scored a layup. He handchecked Dirk for a foul on one end, then swished a three on a kickout from Farmar on the other. He attacked Dirk off the dribble and hit a hook with his left in the middle of the lane. He took an interior feed from Luke and scored a layup. He got caught on a screen and gave up an open jumper to Dirk (Phil gave him an earful during a timeout). He started the second half and was quickly subbed out again after a couple of minutes. Before that, he curled off the weakside screen, took the pass and scored a layup...then he missed another layup he should have finished on a similar play. Bad foul, jumping out to contest Howard on the perimeter and giving up an And-1. He switched on Terry, sagged way too far off and gave up a three. He was sent to the bench shortly later as Phil was very irked with D.

Bynum -- -- Phil went to him early, midway through the first quarter...then left him on the bench for most of the game. He doesn't trust Drew against the screen-rolls, so that probably had something to do with it. Bynum scored 4 points on 2-2 shooting, grabbed 3 boards and had 1 assist. He ran the two-man game with Kobe and scored an easy layup as Kobe drew the D. He tapped in a reverse layup miss by Kobe after he got dribble penetration. He posted up, drew a lot of attention and spotted Farmar across court for an open three. Back in the game with just 3 minutes left and the lead at double digits, he got called for a weak touch foul on Dirk who attacked him off the dribble.

Turiaf -- -- Decent minutes from Turiaf as Phil mixed him in to a few lineups. We probably could have used him starting at PF tonight because of his quick rotations defensively. However, Phil didn't give him any run in the first half. Ronny played 14 minutes and scored 4 points on 4-4 from the line and 0-1 from the floor. He only had 1 board, although, I guess there were few available tonight with the rate the Mavs were scoring. Phil went to Turiaf midway through the third instead of Kwame. He drew FTs boxing out Dampier on the D end, he made both. He posted up Diop and got blocked. He posted him up again and drew a foul, making both FTs.

Evans -- -- Mo was the only Laker not to scratch tonight, going 0-3 in 14 minutes. He spent a little bit of time on Dirk defensively, but didn't seem to impact the game either way. He missed at the front rim on a transition attack. He got tapped on a wing jumper.

Farmar -- -- Despite the 5 turnovers (including one off a great block by Kobe), the rookie played a pretty good game. Phil gave him some extended run on a long stint in the first half. He came in early, with 4 minutes left in the first for Smush. He drained an open wing three on a kickout from Bynum on his first attempt. Good D on Terry, contesting a shot in the lane (looked like he got a hand on the ball) and Terry bricked. Good anticipation, leaping to snag an entry pass. Bad pass himself as he attacked, drew the D, then threw it to no one trying to hit Bynum. He cleared out to let Kobe isolate, then he cut back to him under the hoop, took the feed and hit a reverse while still in the air. Tough finish after taking a pinch-post pass from Cook, he flipped it in over the D with his left. He swished a three a step behind the line on his next attempt. He missed an open wing three short, Phil decided 15 minutes straight must have been enough and went to Smush, but Farmar threw a perimeter pass away for a score before the substitution. Phil's criticism of not fighting through picks no doubt led to Farmar's extended first-half run, since he does a good job in that area. He led Laker scoring with 10 points at the half. He took a board to start the fourth, brought it up slowly, called for the pick from Kwame, then was left wide open off it and nailed a 17-footer from the left wing (when he's rolling, he ought to call his own number on those a bit more). Somehow, he lost the ball after Kobe blocked it and it resulted in a score early in the fourth. He jumped the lane on inbounds pass to knock it away and draw Harris's fifth foul early in the fourth. He led the Lakers bench scoring with 12 point son 5-6 shooting (2-3 from three). He had 3 boards, 1 assist and 2 steals in his 23 minutes.

Cook -- -- I mentioned in the last Ratings thread that I thought he would get the start tonight because of his familiarity with the Tri. Phil went to Vlad, but had a very short hook. Both he and Vlad had some foul-prone minutes, but Cook ran the offense well. He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting in his 11 minutes. He had 1 offensive board, 1 assist and the 3 fouls. Right off the bench, he missed a good look at a three to start the second quarter. Nice pass to Farmar who cut off the high pinch post and scored a layup. Next time Farmar flied by on a pinch post, Cook faked the past, kept it and hit a 15-footer when the D sagged off. He popped out off the weakside, stepped back and hit a 19-footer over Dirk. He got an offensive board off a FT miss and it resulted in three more points from Kobe. Cook led the Lakers with a +11, followed by Ronny with a +8. It will be interesting to see what Phil does with that PF spot.

Vujacic -- -- Speaking of foul prone minutes, Sasha had 3 fouls in just 9 minutes. He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting. He came up with a steal helping on Dirk, but pulled up from 20 feet on the break and clanked. Good hustle to dive on a loose ball and get a jumpball. He drew FTs on a perimeter jumper and made one. He went for a steal in a passing lane, missed and it resulted in an open Mav three. Stupid foul overplaying Buckner away from the ball for no good reason and it resulted in two FTs. Sasha got it back hitting a wing jumper at the end of the third.

Phil -- -- The Mavs opened up with an 8-0 run, getting layups easily and Phil called a timeout. He brought in Evans for Vlad after just a few minutes. He later subbed out Kwame and Smush earlier than usual.. The Mavs scored 33 points on 71 percent shooting in the first quarter... The Lakers shot 49 percent for the half to Dallas's 66 percent. The bench outscored the Mavs bench 19-3... At the half, the coaches harped to the Lakers to do a better job fighting through screens... He went to a Turiaf/Cook lineup midway through the third, sitting Vlad, then Kwame and Luke. The Turiaf, Cook, Evans, Kobe, Smush lineup went on a +8 run... With just over 6 minutes left in the third, the Mavs were in the penalty. The Lakers got in the penalty, too, sending the Mavs to the line numerous times in the quarter, as well. The Lakers shot 16-18, the Mavs 13-14 from the line in the third. We forced the Mavs into 5 turnovers and scored 10 points off of them (without committing a turnover ourselves). Good D by the Lakers and they trailed by just 2... The wheels fell off to start the fourth quarter after we tied the game up. "All of a sudden, it seemed like an uphill battle again," Jackson said. "I think sometimes that last run is the hardest to do on the road."... The Lakers had just 14 assists in the game...

[A Mad Chinaman]

Appreciate your analysis!

Interesting game as Phil is searching for effective lineups with the absence of LO that included short hooks with new players in the rotation. It appears that this is an excellent opportunity for Vlad, Turiaff and Jordan to getting more PT - along with Cook in certain situations.

As Eric had stated on another thread, Phil might start using more a lineup with Jordan/Evans (@ "2")/Kobe/Luke/Kwame more often - though this wouldn't work with "power" teams. If Vlad can step up, a good line-up would be Kwame/Vlad/Luke/Kobe/Jordan - if Vlad can effectively work within the offensive/defensive sets (at this time, he is still uncomfortable - though that can only be solved with PT).

With LO out for 3-5 weeks, having Smush in the lineup is even more of a liability since he is not an effective scorer and undependable defender that's even more exposed without Kobe and LO on the court. As you stated, it allows team to now double-team Luke more often since they don't have to guard Smush.

Conclusion - with this being the 2nd of a "back-to-back" and playing against an elite team (defending Western Conference Champions) on the road, it was good to see them not give up and lose because they lost steam/still adjusting to the lost of LO/playing a very good team. Note: they are dong a lot better than the Clippers?!?!?!?!

[Omar Little]

Thanks DB,

I was pleased with the way the lakers came out and scrapped in the second half. A lot had to do with some pretty great shooting by the Mavs, even when the d was good. A tremendous streak of bad calls on top of no calls after they tied it up. It broke their momentum. Kobe and Luke got mad, and the team got tentative. That's all it takes against Dallas.
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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

[George W Buss]

This kind of games makes me realize how valuable Odom is for our team ... He provides so many things for us, defense, rebounds, points, assists ...
Damn, I miss him already ...

[jsi106]

What is the reason for our defense break down in 4th quarter? I know in a good stretch, Josh Howard seem to take over the game on both end, but did Mav run any particular match up, offense, or did we just we not have enough gas and focus to finish the game on the road? (Like PJ said).

Depending on when LO comes back, we might play Mav again in Jan without him, I hope PJ really study tonight's loss, so it doesnt repeat. Beating an elite team like the Mav really boost the confidence

[TooCool]

Nice job DB.

I loved DG. So painful to see him in a Mavs jersey... I hate the Mavs.
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[jmark]

If Luke & Kwame finish around the rim we win this game.
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"I appreciate all those who have supported me. Thank you for believing in me. My family and I are going to need your support and prayers now more than ever." Kobe

[prisma8slg]

[ElginBaylor]

This is as close to a scheduled loss as it gets. Although I'm never totally satisfied unless our guys win, I'm not all down in the dumps about it either.
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Not a legend

[20,000]

I am not too upset by this loss. Not sure why. Maybe cause it was the second of a back-to-back. Maybe cause it was in Dallas. Maybe because the Lakers are still exceeding expectations and still learning. Maybe because Odom was out.

I think mostly because the Lakers were down early, but still came back and tied it.

Either way, this one does not hurt the way the other losses have.
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Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[Terry_Teagle]

Unlike most of the other Laker losses, I was not that upset after this one. I still thought they should have won though, nothing new there. Three points: I thought they brought good energy to the game, just came down to shots not falling. I could recall at least three layups at the end that could have changed the outcome of the game. The absence of Lamar REALLY hurt us yesterday. We had no answer for Dirk offensively, and did not make him play any defense. We should have put Bynum in the game in the fourth. Kwame had an off night and was very inaffective. We kept him in there too long.

[angrypuppy]

Thanks DB.

Farmar was All Rookie last night in both the complimentary and derogatory sense. In particular, that sequence where he had the ball stripped on offense, ran back and recovered the ball after a sensational Kobe block, only to be stripped again two seconds later for an easy Dallas score. That took a lot of wind out of our sails, as we were threatening to overtake the Mavs. The momentum was lost and never regained.

[RYZ]

[LakerLanny]

Josh Howard being guarded by Luke Walton is not a good matchup for the Lakers.

Walton's offense is greatly improved, in fact I don't ever remember a player improving so much offensively in one year.

But his defense is not good, I don't want to dog the guy....but he has no chance of guarding a player like Josh Howard and Phil should be smart enough to recognize that and adjust the matchup and/or defense.
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Love, Laker Lanny

[maddprophet]

[maddprophet]

[wolfpaclaker]

^
Lanny I was thinking the exact same thing. Against Dallas, our best bet is to have Odom defend either Howard or Nowitzki. He is longest, most atheletic forward we have on the team (I consider Evans size wise a guard) and neither Walton, Radmanovic or Cook could match up with them.

We will have alot of trouble with some forwards now. Maybe put Turiaf on them - but Ronny certainly can't guard the SF's or quicker PF's.

Just will have to live with it for a while and hope that Walton comes up big offensively. Some zones wouldn't hurt .....

[karlmalonefan]

Without LO, we didn't match up well with them, kind of like how Houston didn't match up well with us without tracy. we didn't have anyone we could put on dirk or Howard. The way we played the first quarter, I expected us to be blown out by quite a bit. I was pleased at how scrappy we were, we just didn't have the horses to pull this one out on the road.
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[LakerLanny]

[k0pr0phage]

I wanted to make some observations. I was at the game last night, and it was a pretty amazing atmosphere. Especially in the third quarter when LA made their push.

Kobe had to carry too much of the load last night. His TOs were a result of this. Once he got going shooting the ball, he was pretty amazing. No one could guard him.

Vlad played a solid game, showed good skill in taking the ball to the hoop. His D wasn't bad. People were getting hands in Dirk's face, but he's such an awesome shooter there's not much can be done.

Farmar's 5 TOs surprised me when I looked at the boxscore. He flat out destroyed Smush in terms of production. Looked great shooting the ball all night long, ran the offense well, made some good passes. I'm assuming that one TO was a pass off Kwame's hands that Kwame should've had.

Smush looked atrocious. He made zero defensive effort. I think he's playing too close to his man too far from the basket. If someone, espcially a good outside shooter like Terry, can drive, Smush is lost. He gets beaten by a step and then it's foul time for someone down low or it's a bucket. Smush also lost his man repeatedly on D. Horrendous effort.

Kwame should have eaten up Dampier all night long. He didn't. He went up weak with shots that he could have dunked, he didn't fight hard for rebounds. He did play some good D, which was nice to see. In fact, he even looked good in rotating defensively, which is something he doesn't often do.

Walton looked very good offensively. That team flows so much better with him on the court, and he's one of the few reliable scorers. Defensively, he didn't do a bad job. Phil is quick to call Luke a defensive liability, but I didn't see too much of it. Mavs were shooting lights out. I think they shot 66% at the half.

Turiaf needs to play more.

[Freakout]

Luke and Kwame was awful. So many point blank layups and wide open dunks missed. Then you add in Luke playing as if he's suddenly brain dead. Kobe did everything he could last night but his teammates let him down.

[Klone_dd]

It was another game of the Lakers recent pattern of starting slowly, turning it up in the 3rd and trying to hold on thru the 4th. LO's absence confounds that pattern since no one wants Kobe to go all out for 48 minutes.

Offensively, sure if Luke and Kwame do their normal thing, the game might have been the Lakers. However, it's rare that you allow a team to shoot 60% and still win the game. So, for me, it was lost on the defensive end. Lots of indecision led to wide open shots for Terry & Josh. Dirk was on cruise control for most of the game and then did his things in the 4th.

DB - good point about teams now being able to concentrate on Luke without having to worry about Lamar. Still, the shots Luke took weren't forced or necessarily well contested. He was simply unable to make them.

Since the Lakers had to make a quick adjustment to playing without LO, I thought they'd be a little flat. They'll do better on Friday once they get used to the idea of no LO and the coaching staff should have a better plan in place.

[NYLakerFan]

[k0pr0phage]

^ Turiaf did a solid job while he was in there. He could've guarded Howard more. I still don't understand why Ronny isn't playing more minutes. Generally, though, I agree with your sentiments. The only thing Phil clearly should have done is put in Farmar with the game on the line. Smush was atrocious.

[Texas_Pete]

Great analysis DB.

Dallas is considered an elite team. For some reason they couldn't really put LA away. If this is the supposed best in the West, I was not impressed because we should have won that game. The Lakers clearly didn't bring their A game, yet they were there and had we not played the previous night we would have won in my opinion. And this is without LO.

I was kind of frustrated last night because despite the huge void LO left in our lineup, I thought we should have still won.

Let's see, we beat SA, Utah, Suns and should have beaten Dallas. We'll be fine

Get well soon LO!!