LAKERS -at- HEAT - 12/25 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings

[DancingBarry]

Coal in the Lakers Stockings...Again... Kobe had his second dud on this roadtrip, while DWade put on a show. That was all she wrote.

The Lakers stayed within striking distance all day, but could never pull even with the Heat. If they get any kind of typical Kobe game, they are probably even with the Heat most of the night. That, despite having virtually no Laker interior presence until Ronny Turiaf got minutes.

We probably play the Heat better with Shaq in the game versus Zo. The Lakers looked to get Zo into foul trouble by going at him with some intent early on. Unfortunately, it was Kwame and Bynum who ended up riding the pine with fouls early on. Eventually, they got to Zo early in the third, getting his fourth foul, yet they failed to take advantage of the weakened Heat interior.

The refs certainly have no ordinary love with DWade, but he played an excellent game attacking our soft pick and roll D and setting up teammates. The Laker bigs generally did a poor job of contesting and trapping Wade. He went off for 40 points, 11 assists and threw in 5 blocks and 4 steals on the other end.

Kobe -- -- Kobe scored just 16 points on 4-17 shooting (0-4 from three to go with 4 assists. No sense evaluating it, just a poor night on the road even with the continued flu bug issues. Defensively, he covered DWade a ton. He probably should have played him for the shot a little more as Wade is determined to drive. Early on, Kobe attacked and missed a scoop with his left as Zo pushed him in the body with no call. He pumpfaked on the perimeter to get his man in the air and drew FTs, making both. He got backdoored by Wade and gave up a dunk. He missed a three. Kobe missed a couple of drives getting contact on Zo under the hoop but couldn't get the second foul whistled on Zo in the first quarter. He missed a baseline jumper. He lost the ball when it looked like it might have been kicked with no call. He finished the first quarter 0-6, with 2 points. He swished a wing jumper on his first attempt after getting back in the game. He missed a floater in the lane. He attacked, spun on Wright and got swatted out of bounds. He touched DWade on his shorts and drew a foul on a jumper. He stole the ball from Wade and it led to a dunk by Ronny. He got stripped from the blindside by Wade and gave up a score. He found Vlad for a score along the baseline. Kobe was 1-9 for 4 points in the first half. He missed a jumper from the top of the key. He hit a wing jumper. He airballed a jumper and wanted the foul. He attacked the paint and drew Zo's fourth foul early in the third and Zo had to sit, Kobe made both FTs. He pumped twice and drew a foul on Wright, he made both. He hit Luke in the post for a score. He blew past GP, hung in the air around Doleac and hit a reverse layup. He got tapped on a three. He was called for a foul on Wade when it looked like Wade screamed and flailed in midair as Kobe got over to contest him. He bricked a three from the wing badly. He attacked and scored an And-1 over Zo, to foul him out. He made a few late FTs.

Walton -- -- Luke didn't get into the playmaking role where the offense is flowing and clicking around him. He scored 10 points 3-5 shooting in 30 minutes. He had 4 boards and 1 assist. He took an entry from Cook and put it in behind his head while still in the air for a score. He missed a post up badly on the baseline. He posted up and got blocked by Zo. He posted up again and hit a turnaround. He posted up, attacked, drew contact on Zo and got his third foul of the first half (potentially big play if the Lakers could capitalize in the second half), he made both. He drew a foul attacking from the perimeter and made one FT. He posted up, took the feed from Kobe and quickly scored over the double. He attacked in transition and drew FTs, he made one. Nice hustle to bring down a couple of offensive boards.

Smush -- -- Smush helped lead our guards in a round of "Silent Night". He scored 7 points in 28 minutes on 3-9 shooting. He hit a late garbage time three to quiet the "Kobe sucks" chant late in the game. He missed an ugly one hander on attacking on the left side an pulling up in midrange. He hammered down a dunk on a feed from Kobe in transition. He took a ridiculous three from long range and missed. He missed a three at the halftime buzzer. He hit a runner in the lane. Poor D on GP on a couple of stands, resorting to fouls to prevent scores.

Kwame -- -- He has struggled on this roadtrip to provide some inside presence for us. Bynum picked up the slack to spark the team, but today it was Turiaf who had to do a little covering up for Kwame. He played some poor pick and roll D at times today and couldn't give us the post presence offensively that we wanted early because he got into some foul troubles. Late in the game, he seemed befuddled on how to provide help D on Wade. Kwame scored 7 points on 3-4 shooting, had 2 boards, 2 assists and no blocks in 21:30. They went to him early to challenge Zo. He had a pass deflected out of bounds, missed a bank shot and drew a foul on three post attempts in the first few minutes. Immediately after drawing that foul on Zo, they gave Kwame the ball in the middle of the lane and he turned and threwdown over Zo. Could the Lakers start going to Kwame and attack Zo, who didn't want to get another foul? Unfortunately, on the very next defensive stand Kwame picked up a tripping foul on Wade and had to sit with his second four minutes into the game. Back in to start the second, he drew a foul on an interior feed, he made one FT. Great hustle trying to get a loose ball, he didn't come up with it, but he deflected the ball away from Zo for a steal, tracked it down and scored in the backcourt. He picked up a cheap third foul on Zo on what looked like a good block. He tried to attack off the dribble, then kicked it out to no one. He scored in the lane with his left.

Cook -- -- Cook got the start, but like others, gave us too little. The Lakers certainly could have used his offense in this one. He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting and grabbed 4 boards in 19 minutes. He was called for a travel when he faked a three. He swatted Williams penetration. He got blocked, airballed and bricked his first three attempts of the second half. He drained an open 10-footer in the lane on his next attempt. He got tapped on a three attempt.

Bynum -- -- Seven minutes and five fouls. That's a new one from Bynum. He and Kwame both suffered from foul trouble. Although Bynum has given the Lakers a lift in the last two games, he was lifeless in this one. He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting and grabbed 3 boards, but the foul/minutes numbers say it all. He came in for Kwame and gave up an And-1 to Zo right away. He posted him up on the other end, got blocked, got it back and scored over him. He picked up a touch foul in the post and had to sit with his second foul after 3 minutes. He picked up his third foul midway through the second, contesting Walker and had to sit. Quick stint, he pulled down an offensive board off a missed FT, he missed a jumphook in the post and sat shortly later.

Turiaf -- -- It is extremely difficult to figure out the 12th man role that Ronny appears to have with Phil. Today, however, the reason he got playing time was because our other bigs were in severe foul trouble. No difficulty in figuring out this one. Ronny answered the call. He was the Lakers second leading scorer and the leading rebounder. He led the bench with 13 points (6-10) and 7 boards in 19:30 of action. With Kwame and Bynum both picking up early fouls, Turiaf got in the game midway through the first. He picked up a touch foul on Wade on the perimeter after getting in. He worked the two-man game with Kobe and scored a layup. He swatted Wade under the hoop. He faced up, spun and swished a turnaround from about 10 feet. He hammered a dunk over Wade on the break, should have been an And-1, foul on Wade. Good D on the other end to force an airball on a Haslem jumper. He went up high for an offensive board and scored off the glass. He drained an open FT jumper. He got swatted in transition. Great hustle at the end of the third to putback in a missed FT by Farmar. In the fourth, he missed a tough fade in the post and another post jumper and Phil sat him.

Radmanovic -- -- With LO out, we definitely need someone else to step up. Vlad his given us a little spark of late, but he had little to offer in this one. He scored 6 points on 2-7 shooting (0-4 from three). He did grab 6 boards in his 20 minutes. He missed a corner jumper on his first attempt. Strong baseline attack trying to throwdown and he drew Zo's second foul in the second quarter (Vlad made both). He took a Kobe feed, attacked the baseline and scored a layup. Poor pass to Kobe that was picked off. Wow, tough score as he faced up on his man, attacked off the dribble and scooped in a shot with his left with a man all over him. He charged on an attack down the lane.

Evans -- -- Average game from Mo. He didn't do much special on either end. He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting in 22 minutes. He hit a turnaround in the lane on his first attempt. He attacked a seam, but went up soft against Zo instead of throwing down and was blocked. He drew a charge on Walker in the post. He attacked, then had his pass picked off. He sank a three from the sideline. He missed a three. He missed short wing jumper.

Farmar -- -- Some up and down minutes from Farmar. He had some moments where he was a spark and a short stretch where he was quite the opposite. He scored 6 points on 2-6 shooting (1-3 from three) and dished a team-high (tied with Kobe) 4 assists with just 1 turnover in 20 minutes. He missed an open wing three on his first attempt. Good contest on the perimeter and Williams airballed a three (I love it when he surprises guys with a shot contest). He gave the Lakers a lift at the end of the third, draining a wing three and then drawing a foul on Wade at the end of the quarter (he made one, Turiaf put back in the miss). He kicked out to Sasha for a three. He then had a bit of a life-sucking stretch in the fourth where he got blocked by Wade from behind, threw a pass away, and missed an open three all on three straight possessions. GP posted him up for good measure on the other end and scored. He scooped up a loose ball and took it in for an uncontested score. He missed a wide open floater in the middle of the lane.

Vujacic -- -- If it wasn't for a putback score, all of Sasha's attempts on the night would have been from behind the arc. Sasha really need to mix up his offensive game. Don't know if that's possible, but he'd do himself some good to get in for some midrange jumpers. He finished with 9 points on 3-7 shooting and had 1 assist in 15 minutes. He missed a corner three. Nice steal anticipating a pass, then he hit a three on the other end. He clanked his next two attempts from three. He bricked yet another long range three. All those were taken in about a 5-minute span. Good hustle to push his way through a screen and draw a weak call from the refs on Doleac. Excellent crash on the offensive boards on the next sequence and he scored a putback off a missed Evans jumper. On the next possession, he drained a wing three on a kickout from Farmar. He also hit a tech FT.

Phil -- -- I think they had the right idea to go at Zo to try to get him in foul trouble. But they were never able to take advantage of that offensively when he was out... They lost the battle early trying to get him into that foul trouble as both Kwame and Bynum were tagged with 2 fouls each in the first and had to sit. Kobe got contact on Zo twice with no call under the rim in that quarter... Phil was ticked about a non-call on Wade when Ronny dunked on him and took contact on the body and hit on the arms. He yelled at the refs for a minute on that one... We shot 1-13 from three in the first half... With 9 minutes left in the third, we picked up Zo's fourth foul and he had to sit. We trailed by 9 points at the time, but never made a dent... The Lakers shot 39.2 percent on the day and had just 16 assists. Some good D by the Heat, but the Lakers execution was definitely flat... The Heat had 10 blocked shots to the Lakers 2... The Lakers were a poor 5-23 from behind the arc...

[jmark]

Lets face it D Wade is the current fav of the League and he gets calls. We played pretty poorly from top to bottom. I thought Ronny played well.
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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

[JUST-MING]

Never like playing in Miami. It appears the 12th man for them is the (bleep) officials.

[ocho]

gotta tip my cap to wade....he played great and took advantage of a lethargic laker squad.

no defense the entire game. none. got disoriented early. didn't run our offense. threw too many errant passes. just looked lazy out there. we'll get em' next time.
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14-5-3-12

[lakerboy]

no more christmas games please

[CIX]

The problem is how many face are in your post..we had too much of and not enough

I do think that we are at a point in the season where a judgement about what Kind of team we have can be accessed. The truth is we have a average team one and done in the play-offs and if lucky 2nd round and then done..and if that's the goal for this year then that's all good.

Here are my suggestions if we plan to do anything this year..beyond the 1or 2nd round if not then we can stay as we are:

PG Play:

Smush should come off the benchor be traded, there is no doubt that he is so sometimey that it hurts us not knowing what will we get night in and night out.

I do think we should bite the bullet and try to get andre miller ..it will make a huge difference in TO's and easy buckets and offensive production and it wouldn't hurt to have a vet on Defense.

Plus smush can't teach Farmar nothing...lets get a vet in here.


PF Play:

Brown needs to Play PF or come off the bench behind Bynum ( if we don't trade for one)..Bynum needs to start at all cost the more he is in there the better he will be. If this team isn't poised to win a ring this year then we suffer nothing by starting Bynum. We need him too develope as quick as possible and that mean he needs Game I.Q

We need brown as a banger and rebounder and Defensive presence at that PF spot..or we need to find some one that will have no problem doing it...

Last is trade

Because we have shammond,Mihm and or his injury ex,Mckie,sasha, all in their last year and contributing nothing to speak of..we need to move them for a player or two that can help us now instead of bumps on a log that can't..

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

1.Wade played great
2.Kobe had a bad game
3.The Refs were horrible

GAME OVER

Even though Kobe was under the weather, I feel like he tried too hard to show the world that he is unselfish and just never quite got into a rhythm.

*Please Cut Sasha
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

[LakersSpirit]

It's pretty bad, when one of the biggest highlights, is a woman with a very tight outfit, exposing her boobs... It's really a shame... This team can't seem to do without LO.

Kobe definetly looked like he was under the weather. We started out well, just after the tip-off, and from there, it just seemed to go downhill, as many Lakers seemed to have forgotten how to think, anticipate, and keep their composure. By the 3rd period, we already looked like a desparate team, as we started to just jack it up, beyond the 3 point line.

One observation I made, in the gamethread, seems to ring true, for our defensive effort, throughout the game... It looked like Kwame, Cook, and some others, decided to play, turnstile, with their arms extended, as Wade drove the lane. It looked like we were one of those turnstiles you see, in a subway.

My hopes for Farmar, to bring the team together, were dashed. I hope I'm wrong, but it looks like there is a bit of a power struggle, as to who will be the main ballhandler, or instigator, of the offense. When there are two, or three ballhandlers, we look like a three-headed monster, with each head trying to go in a different direction.
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"Teamwork is a nebulous thing. It is as ephemeral as love, disappearing at the latest insult.".... Phil Jackson

[Dylandogg]

[ForTheWin]

lies the highlight was when Dwade fell and "hurt" his ankle sorry but that was so funny lol you see him run across then slip and fall on his face >.<

[kups]

[angel]

Thanks DB!

Too bad this one couldn't be phoned in.

Ronny Turiaf was the one bright spot.
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"Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." ~~Martin Luther King Jr.~~

[A Mad Chinaman]

The Lakers were too easily settling for 3s. Upon watching the play, Turiaff was never in the poast - nor were there many attempts to drive to paint via the seams of the defense to force the defenders to move their feet and/or collapse on the driver.

As a young team whose energy is based on the amount of energy on the floor, there will be inconsistency (such as this game) - especially if the veterans players (in this case, it is only Kobe - who was under the weather - and Luke - whose main asset is to get other players going) are not able. This might have been the time to explore a 2 man between Kobe and Luke.

Kobe - despite being severly under the weather, he didn't offer that as an excuse. As one basketball commentator stated, if one is well enough to be on the court - one is well enought to play to win (Mark Jackson's "paraphrased" words). He was affected, there just wasn't any other player able to step up for this game.

DWade - does anybody have footage of his vintage move that is described by Phil - "Jackson was in critique mode in other areas before the game, picking at one of Dwyane Wade's signature moves. "He travels on that spin move," Jackson said. "He picks up that pivot foot … everybody knows it. Dwyane Wade can cover so much ground when he makes that move. As you know, he can go 20 feet with that spin move and get to the basket." (http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakerep26dec26,0,6187147.story?track=mostviewed-homepage). What is the validty of DWade's move? The problem with DWade was specifically his 40 points or 11 assists, it was that he got both. What was preventing him from just getting all the points (the preference) or all the assists (not the preference).

Shoot the 3s, Die by the 3s!!
"Did you guys check the three-point shooting out?" Jackson asked. "Pretty pathetic. That's where we've lived and died lately. You can't depend on it and rely on it. It's got to be more than that." (http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lakers26dec26,1,5784392.story?page=2&cset=true&ctrack=1&coll=la-headlines-sports). One sure sign that the Lakers were ready to play since it doesn't take much energy/stamina/passoin to shoot 3s (paraphrased from people such as Jack Haley and Stu Lantz)

Road Trip
They are now 2-2 on this trip for this young team. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next game.

[I'm The Dan]

What was so bad about the refs this game? There were only one or two fouls on Wade that could be questioned. Wade flat outplayed the Lakers today.

Wade is the best player in the NBA right now. Yeah, I said it. I've been a Kobe fan ever since he came into the league and he's still my favorite player, but Wade is playing on a different level right now. He's doing it without Shaq, and still fourth in league in scoring and averaging over 8 assists a game.

If Wade ever gets his man defense down, I think he's the heir to Jordan more-so than Kobe or LeBron. He just does it all.

[magic_bryant]

[TooCool]

I hope people boo the hell out of Wade and the refs when the bogus calls are against us on OUR home floor at Staples Center.
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[I'm The Dan]

It's really discouraging to read people's comments about a player on here once he's doing better. Wade is playing out of his mind right now, and everyone is fast to blame the refs. Nobody says a word when Kobe is get 12+ free throws a game. Nobody said a WORD when Kobe got 20+ free throws the game that he got 81 in.

The conspiracy theory's around here are annoying as well. Just enjoy the game.

[magic_bryant]

Kobe doesn't get the "touch foul" that Wade does on the perimeter. Try to "get into" Wade on the perimeter, like defenders do Bron and Kobe, and it's a foul. Bruce Bowen, Tayshaun Prince, Jared Jeffries, etc have been lauded for "getting into" Kobe and Bron, but if they tried to play defense that same way on Wade, it's a foul.

When Kobe and Bron come off a screen, the defender will "rub" them just enough to slow them down and allow for a recovery by the defender. This play is CONSISTENTLY called a foul for Wade. And defenders know it, hence, they back off most of the time.
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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."

[Shaber]

[postandpivot]

[I'm The Dan]

[I'm The Dan]

oh, one more thing..

to harp on Wade a bit.

Isn't it traveling when Wade does those spin moves? He picks up the dribble before or during the spin (which moves his feet) then takes another two steps toward the basket.

Maybe I misread the rule, but I think that's traveling.

[Drifts]

[twoface723]