WIZARDS -at- LAKERS -- 12/17 -- Thoughts and :-(( ratings

[wolfpaclaker]

[- Sean -]

Wolf - They were pretty weak defensively with Lamar. Now they are just worse. Even when you look at some of their good wins i.e. verse SA...they still gave up over 50% from the field. It's not like LO's return is going to automatically get this team where it needs to be defensively. Improved? Yes. But there is more to it than that.

[wolfpaclaker]

Ofcourse that is true. They aren't perfect with Lamar, but there is BIG drop off in defense. Not just this season, I saw it last season too when we went into Charlotte and lost without him. We have Charlotte who averages 90 ppg .. 100+ in that loss.

With Lamar you have less oppurtunities for the opposing team because your defensive rebounding is better. You have some sort of rotation and speed at showing on the S&R. Odom would have matched up with Dallas' Nowitzki or Howard and I'm pretty sure that they don't go off for as much as they did. Last night, Odom would have been matched up with Jamison and he doesn't score with as much as ease as he did. Not to mentoin the S&R is just on a new low with Radmanovic/Cook being the guys that have to show .... neither is quick enough to show and then get back inside or just flat out switch on to the perimeter. When you have three players out there who just can not defend at all on a certain night (PG, SF and PF) it's going to hurt you far more than if you have just two.

I wouldn't say this team was "weak" defensively before these past few games, They were giving up 98 ppg at 45%. They had rebounding advantage, shotblocking advantage and were getting 7+ steals. Teams like SA shoot 50% but the Lakers were able to force tons of TO's. Part of forcing TO's as a team is again ... rotating quickly to play the passing lanes. To rotate quickly you need the speed and length and the guys out there right now just don't have it. Walton, Radman and Cook lack any sort of speed, length or defense.

Over the last 2 years the stats have this team being 110 ppg against without Odom. Maybe the stats are not really accurate assessment because of 04-05 season but the last 3 games ... Lakers have given up more than points than in any juncture of the season (3 consecutive games where they are scorched).

Lakers won't be losing these games with Lamar back. They're not perfect with him, but alot better than Rad/Cook at PF.

[magic_bryant]

Rad/Cook are your boys, wolf. Think we shouldn't have got more defensive help, now?

Ugly.

We need some D-first guys...badly.
_________________
Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass."

[wolfpaclaker]

[bluestorm1990]

[- Sean -]

Wolf - I'm not saying this team isn't better defensively w/ Lamar. I said as much in my first post to you. I'm aware that he'd be a better matchup for Dirk and Jamison than what LA had at their disposal.

I do think they are a weak defensive team w/ Lamar as well though.

The only teams giving up a higher % from the field are in the lottery.

Yeah they're 11th in steals w/ 7.7, but they also give up the most amount of steals in the league w/ 8.4. Yeah they are 7th in forcing turnovers, but they lead the league in turnovers committed.

As far as the rebounding advantage you speak of...are you aware of the only teams who they rebound better than for the season? Let me list them for you...Toronto, Charlotte, Atlanta, Golden State, Seattle,
Minnesota, Philadelphia, Memphis, Portland, and Milwaukee. All those teams are terrible.

Lamar is going to improve things for them across the board (including defensively)...but they need more than that to become a good defensive team. Personally, I think they have what it takes on the team to up their defense some....they just aren't putting forth the effort every night.

[magic_bryant]

Shooting and giving up score after score does nothing to help the team.

Turiaf isn't good enough to warrant minutes from Phil. Therefore, you have to get someone that is D-first but has an Offensive game to earn Phil's respect, so that they get minutes.

If the Rad/Cook at 4 thing doesn't change soon, this team will have to fight for the last playoff spot by the time LO gets back.
_________________
Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass."

[wolfpaclaker]

Sean - Ok I see your point, I agree. My only thing is that with 2 of Rad/Cook/Walton being out there along with no PG D that is what's really killing us. Once we get Lamar back and put forth a better effort, things will be better IMO. As you saw against SA, this team is capable of D. It's just about effort and to tell you the truth I question whether Jackson even cares as much about D.

Teams follow their coach. Jackson seems to care mostly about the Triangle in the regular season. My hopes are that by playoff time, Jackson being the genious he is figures out each team defensively too. That way the Lakers have a strategy offensively and defensively.

M_B - you are overreacting. Still 2-2 without LO and 1 road win to go with 1 home win. They should be able to go 3-3 on this road trip and then have Philly, Denver, Dallas, Orlando at home with the road games being Sacto, Memphis and Houston. That puts the Lakers through to a matchup against Miami at home and almost 5 weeks without Odom. I don't see why the Lakers can't win atleast .500 of their games until that point.

[magic_bryant]

Chi- Gordon/Hinrich, Nocioni/Deng will score at will on us and we won't get 30 team rebounds. Kwame has no great player to defend.

Minnesota- KG will eat us up and go for 25 and 15 just to let us know Bynum/LO isn't as good as he is. Add James/Davis' penetration.

NJ- Kidd/Carter/Jefferson. We barely win that matchup WITH LO. Just a bad matchup altogether for us. Again, Kwame has no matchup to defend, so it's 4-on-5 when he's out there.

Miami- Wade lives at the foul line, Haslem will score his 20, and Kwame has no one to defend. Again, another bad matchup.

Orlando- Dwight punks any and everyone. Kwame will be no different, because he doesn't have an athleticism advantage. Maybe Kobe steals this one.

Charlotte- See Orlando. Get out the KY, because Felton and Knight will LIVE in the lane.

Conclusion- We'll be lucky to be 2-4 on this trip.
_________________
Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass."

[Dr. Funkbot]

[Klone_dd]

^^ You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.

[A Mad Chinaman]

Chi- Gordon/Hinrich, Nocioni/Deng will score at will on us and we won't get 30 team rebounds. Kwame has no great player to defend.
** Another take is the following: Kwame will be able to block out Wallace so that the Bulls will have less 2nd chances. Since the Bulls don't have any "lights-out" offensive players, the Lakers can win the game.

Minnesota- KG will eat us up and go for 25 and 15 just to let us know Bynum/LO isn't as good as he is. Add James/Davis' penetration.
** Another take is the following: James/Davis are not "quick" guards, hopefully players such as Smush/Sasha/Evans will able to guard them. KG is always a load, but they have no legimate center and with Cook/Vlad taking KG away from the paint - a chance to win the game

NJ- Kidd/Carter/Jefferson. We barely win that matchup WITH LO. Just a bad matchup altogether for us. Again, Kwame has no matchup to defend, so it's 4-on-5 when he's out there.

** Another take is the following: Maybe Smush/Jordan/Sasha can slow down Kidd and with the Nets not having many legimate front court players (C/PF), if they can control the tempo - they can win

Miami- Wade lives at the foul line, Haslem will score his 20, and Kwame has no one to defend. Again, another bad matchup.
** Another take is the following: Kwame will able to block out Zo and Haslem will not get his 20 - then its Kobe vs. DWade. Advantage Kobe

Orlando- Dwight punks any and everyone. Kwame will be no different, because he doesn't have an athleticism advantage. Maybe Kobe steals this one.
** Another take is the following: If Kwame can block out Howard, Lakers will have a chance.

Charlotte- See Orlando. Get out the KY, because Felton and Knight will LIVE in the lane.
** Another take is the following: The greatest danger here is that it is the last road game. The baromoter will be how the reserves play in this game. Jordan vs. Knight, Turiaff vs. Felton


Note: If the Wizzards are playing a "run&gun" offense where Arenas can take any shot and make them - any team will appear slow. The Lakers were a little slow, but with Arenas going off - it looked worse

[magic_bryant]

If Kwame can't block out Brendan Haywood, I'd have serious reservations in saying he'll block out Ben Wallace or Dwight Howard.

I also have trouble suspecting that Kwame can find anything to even do on the court when he doesn't have an elite player to keep his attention. Honestly, does Kwame ever do anything when he's not playing Duncan, Yao, KG, or JO?

I have trouble expecting Davis/James to be slowed at all by Smush/Sasha/Evans. Expecting offense to win games is hardly reassuring, or did you not see last night's game? Think Cook/Radman wasn't stretching the D?

Wade will live at the foul line. And when he's not getting fouled, Radman/Cook will be sliding over to stop his penetration. Guess what happens then? Work horse, Haslem, gets the easy layup.

Hoping for 2-4 out of the next 6.
_________________
Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass."

[expertla]

[LakersSpirit]

I thought something was wrong, at the beginning of the game. Sorry, to "point-the-finger", but I thought that Luke, in particular, looked too awkward, and not in sync... If you check it out, you'll see some early turnovers, and, relatively easy - missed shots, just from Luke. One, or two players, being out of sync, can knock the whole team out of sync.

One thing, that was very disturbing... I kept seeing loose balls, or lazy passes, going right past a group of Lakers, who didn't look very interested. Also, we didn't seem to be intense enough, on defense. Smush, in particular, continues to stand in a corner, with his hands in his pockets[in particular, after one of his missed shots]... I think that's why Phil took Smush out. We didn't seem to be using any anticipation, until late in the game. Phil has to focus on these defensive weaknesses... 1.) intensity; 2.) anticipation, and 3.) just plain court-awareness (at least look interested).

We seem to have finally come together, as a team, but it took a long time, and that gave the Wiz a lot of momentum. Arenas always seems to kill us. I remember, Gilbert was one of Chick's favorite prospects... I think Chick really wanted Arenas to come to the Lakers.

Phil's rotations may be a sign, that he wants to get everyone ready to play together[if this makes no sense, see some of my other posts..]. Kobe, also seemed to defer to others, in crunch time. It was, as if, Kobe was sending a message, to the team.
_________________
"Teamwork is a nebulous thing. It is as ephemeral as love, disappearing at the latest insult.".... Phil Jackson

[LakersSpirit]

Personally, I still think we can do much better, by using a certain combination of players, to give us energy, and I even think Phil sees the same thing... Phil, however, may want everyone to be ready to jump in, with whatever combination is out there...??

What I call the "energy-team", consists, at various times, of: 1.) Farmar; 2.) Sasha(yes, laugh, or throwup); 3.) Turiaf; 4.) Mo Evans; 5.) Kwame... I don't feel like this "energy team", off the bench, is getting enough time, on the court, together, to get really warmed up, and going. In the preseason, and when Kobe was out, the "energy-team" was being allowed to work together more, and it was working!! I think the "energy-team" can give us that spark, that we desparately need. Kobe, and Lamar, could be resting, and getting ready to close the game out. We need to use players wisely, then again, I'm no Phil Jackson...
_________________
"Teamwork is a nebulous thing. It is as ephemeral as love, disappearing at the latest insult.".... Phil Jackson

[A Mad Chinaman]

If Kwame can't block out Brendan Haywood, I'd have serious reservations in saying he'll block out Ben Wallace or Dwight Howard. I also have trouble suspecting that Kwame can find anything to even do on the court when he doesn't have an elite player to keep his attention. Honestly, does Kwame ever do anything when he's not playing Duncan, Yao, KG, or JO?
** I believe that Wallace and Howard are elite and/or very good players that would get Kwame's attention - if not, it will get Bynum's attention who craves to play against top competition. Recognizing the Lakers' versatility and depth, they can tap into Turiaff to guard Wallace since there are many similarities between them.


I have trouble expecting Davis/James to be slowed at all by Smush/Sasha/Evans. Expecting offense to win games is hardly reassuring, or did you not see last night's game? Think Cook/Radman wasn't stretching the D?
** I think that Smush (if he can find his head) can make it difficult, Sasha will be the pest that he always is and Evans has the athletic ability/tenaciousness to stay with Davis and James. Did you not see them play against the Spurs?

Wade will live at the foul line. And when he's not getting fouled, Radman/Cook will be sliding over to stop his penetration. Guess what happens then? Work horse, Haslem, gets the easy layup.
** An old argument on the vast number of "in the proximity" fouls that DWade gets will arise during that game. If the refs call the game even on both sides of the court, they will be able to defend him. The game plan will probably to recognize that DWade will get his points, the goal is to eliminate the other players' contribution. If the Lakers are active, Haslem won't get many clean and uncontested shots - hence not score many points.

What is great is that if the Lakers play their game, they will at least win half the games on this road trip, if not - it will be another lesson that they will have to learn for their next road trip

[LakersSpirit]

[magic_bryant]

[angrypuppy]

[Texas_Pete]