LAKERS -at- SPURS - 1/17 - Thoughts and :-)) ratings
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 1:15 am    Post subject: LAKERS -at- SPURS - 1/17 - Thoughts and :-)) ratings

Rising to the Challenge as a Team... Eight Lakers scored in the fourth quarter, none bigger than Ronny Turiaf attacking Duncan off the dribble to bank in a one-hander over him with 10 seconds left. It was a key play as the Lakers tightened up their game in the last minute and a half to take the 100-96 road victory over the Spurs.

"Tim Duncan's my idol," Turiaf said in the Times. "I just saw him play so many times on tapes and stuff. For me to be able to go out there and score over him was kind of special."

Our young bigmen had their ups and downs against Duncan, but held down the fort. Kobe was cruising in this game, combining some fierce scoring with some great passing, until he stumbled into a painful late-game turnover spree. After giving up a 10-point lead, he rallied, his teammates stepped up and the Lakers closed out the Spurs with some clutch play.

The Lakers just dropped two veteran, contending teams in the Heat at home and the Spurs on the road. They are finding a way and growing in the process.


Kobe -- -- Kobe was putting together a splendid mix of scoring and setting up teammates, captaining the team to a 10-point lead late in the fourth...then the wheels came off on a series of passes and turnovers in crunch time. He rallied, hitting a clutch jumper with over a minute left and a couple freethrows with 4.9 seconds in the game to ice it. Despite the late-game problems, I still love how he is driving this team right now. Getting that mix of scoring and making your teammates better turns the Lakers into a tough team...even undermanned and on the road against a veteran contender. Kobe had 34 points on 12-19 shooting (10-11 FTs), 8 assists, 6 boards and 7 turnovers in 36 minutes. You wouldn't know it, but Kobe picked up a couple of quick fouls and had to sit with foul trouble very early. After that, he didn't pick up another foul in the game. A couple of the turnovers were on simple, yet poor fundamental triangle execution...just one of those games, I guess. Kobe also had a couple of explosive, get-off-your-seat, highlight-reel dunks over Duncan.

Let's get to the action: He started with a horrible pass to Smush with Tony Parker taking the angle away and it led to a steal and hoop the other way. He pushed Oberto under the hoop for a foul. Luke fed him under the hoop for a layup. He busted out, Luke fed him and Kobe drew the clear path foul, he made one FT, missing the other (his only miss of the night). He attacked and kicked to Vlad for a three. He attacked the lane and charged trying to feed Bynum, his second foul with 8:30 left in the first, and he had to sit. Starting the second, he missed a wing three. He faced up on the low block, slapped the handcheck by Bowen away, attacked the baseline, took another handcheck and a reach and scored an And-1 reverse layup, he made the FT. (He does a superb job using his off hand to erase or deny Bowen the clutches, handchecks and other things the refs let Bowen get away with too much.). He shed Bowen under the hoop, sealing him, Bynum fed him with a no-looker and Kobe got an And-1 layup to fall in after Duncan fouled him, he made the FT. He crossed over Bowen and hit a wing jumper. He swung through and hit a stepback fade over Bowen. He whipped a pass to Bynum in the lane for a dunk. He blew past Barry and powered in a layup over Duncan. He took the weakside bounce pass, attacked with speed and scored an And-1 layup, he made the FT. Kobe lost the ball, got it back, attacked off the dribble slicing through the D and powering up a left-handed reverse layup with ease (as Duncan was pulled from the game). He attacked off the dribble, missed, but Turiaf tipped it in. Despite the early foul trouble, Kobe ended up with 20 points in the first half on 8-10 shooting to go with 3 assists. He hit Cook with a sweet, no-look, over-the-head return pass off the pick and pop for a score. Kobe pulled the ball back out to the wing to iso against Bowen, he blew past him, Duncan came over to help and got caught in no man's land as Kobe elevated flushed right over him...nasty. Out of a timeout on our next sequence, Kobe cut back door, took the lob, got up high again and threwdown with both hands over Duncan (should have been an And-1). He attacked on the baseline, took contact for a foul and made both FTs. He kicked out to Vlad for an open three make. He nailed Bowen to the floor with a hesitation move then drew the foul, missing an easy And-1 chance with his left (he was ticked at himself), he made both FTs. He got tapped on a runner at the front of the rim. He spotted Cook in transition under the hoop for an easy dunk. He worked off the high screen, attacked to his right and elevated over Duncan for a wing jumper. Then we hit the horrible series of passes by Kobe with about 4 minutes left: The first was a telegraphed pass to Mo on the wing that was easily picked off by Manu for a score the other way. The second, Kobe got into the air, looked to pass then fumbled it away. The third straight turnover, Kobe ran a pick and roll with Bynum, but gave Bynum the ball back in a crowd in the middle of the lane (he usually doesn't hit the bigs on those return feeds if there is help D there that can pick up the charge, but he tried on this one and Bynum picked up his sixth when he banged Barry to the floor...not Kobe's fault, but a tough situation you don't want to get yourself into). He then threw a pass behind Ronny who was cutting down the lane and the Spurs picked it off. Finally, we got something when Kobe was doubled on the sideline and hit Luke coming weak to strong for a score around Duncan. He swished a high arching wing jumper, pulling up off the dribble with 1:24 left to give the Lakers a 2-point lead. With 4.9 seconds left, Kobe was fouled intentionally and swished two clutch FTs to give the Lakers a 4-point lead. A lot of notes on Kobe in this one because he was the engine that drove this win. He took some enjoyment in his teammates coming up big on the road in the Spurs den. "I've been through these battles before," he said. "It's fun to see them go through them."

Walton -- -- Not Walton's prettiest game, for sure, but he was still that second guy running the offense for the team. They had him in the Lamar Odom role a number of times in this game, bringing the ball up and initiating the offense. When LO comes back, we can cycle through Luke, Kobe and Lamar running the offense (even in crunch time) and that will give the team a very diverse structure. Luke scored 8 points on 4-10 shooting, grabbed 3 boards, had 2 steals and dished 5 assists with 3 turnovers in 32 minutes. He attacked the lane and fed Kobe for a layup. He doubled Duncan, stole a pass and fed Kobe for a clear-path foul. He cut down the lane, took a feed from Bynum and powered a layup over Oberto. He knocked the ball away from Bowen on a drive. Oberto tried to flop on Luke, he put on the breaks and drilled wing jumper. He missed a post up over Barry. He pulled the ball out and drained a top-of-the-key jumper over Duncan. He missed a jumphook over Finley in the post. He attacked and missed a reverse. Good work on the offensive glass, slipping in front of Bowen to get to the board and drawing a foul. He attacked into the lane, drew Duncan, then slipped the ball to Bynum for a dunk. He attacked baseline and couldn't score over Duncan. He took an outlet and was called for a charge when he caught the ball and turned into Horry (bad call as he wasn't given room to change directions after catching the pass and Phil was all over the ref). He used an off arm in the air and was called for an easy clear-out foul against Duncan. He flashed to the strong side, took the pass and banked over Duncan, using his body well. With the clock low, he hit Ronny with a pass at the elbow and Ronny took it to Duncan for the score.

Smush -- -- Rough game for Smush out of the gates, but he came up big again down the stretch. Tony Parker was just killing us from the start, getting into the lane and exposing or collapsing the D for scores or assists...or taking it to us in transition. In the second half, Smush started to deny the penetration a bit better by going under the screens, and also did a much better job (in fact a great job) in transition D. Smush scored just 7 points on 2-6 shooting, grabbed 5 boards and had 2 steals. Early on, he missed a 30-foot three taken too quickly in the offensive set. He missed another three not getting squared up. He bricked a reverse layup badly. He missed a wing jumper. Good job to help on Manu in transition and swipe the from him as he looked to attack. Great lob to Kobe out of a timeout for a two-hand jam. He attacked the lane and drew FTs, making both. He drained a huge three from the wing on a kickout from Luke. He attacked from the wing and hit a teardrop over Duncan a minute later. Great steal after Kobe threw a turnover, Smush came up with the reach in transition D to prevent a breakaway score. Glad to see Smush, despite the early struggles on both ends, rallied to give the Lakers some big plays on both ends late in the game (good job keeping his head in the game).

Cook -- -- Interesting game from Cook. He only played 18:25 of action and had some troubles at the PF spot...but he actually gave the Lakers a few solid defensive stands against Duncan as our C for some key minutes in this one. Cook scored 8 points on 4-9 shooting, grabbed 3 boards, had 2 steals and 1 block with 3 fouls. He was benched for Vlad after a couple of minutes for getting killed on the offensive glass early on by Oberto. He set a weakside screen for Luke, came off it and Bynum hit him from the post for the elbow jumper. He missed a wing jumper. He worked the pick and pop with Kobe, faked the three, stepped in and drilled the wing jumper. He telegraphed a pass into the lane and it was easily picked off. He had a mismatch against Manu, faced up and drilled a 15-footer over him. He missed a wide open corner jumper. With Bynum picking up his fifth foul, Phil went to Cook. He held his ground on Duncan's first post attempt and drew a brick. Good hands, deflecting a pass in the lane for a turnover. Duncan forgot about Cook under the hoop and Kobe whipped the pass to him for a two-hand dunk. After a few possessions, the Spurs finally went back to Duncan in the post and he scored over Cook. Phil then called a timeout and made a sub...but good work by Cook holding ground.

Bynum -- -- Bynum v. Duncan. The youngest player in the league versus the savvy vet he idolizes. A year ago, if we had to rely on Bynum,Turiaf and Cook (with LO, Kwame and Mihm out), we would have been toast against the Spurs. No way Bynum can give you 27 minutes and you somehow walk away with the W...even with Duncan's health not great last year. He gave the Lakers some serviceable minutes, showing some splashes of his potential and some mistakes from inexperience. When he looks at this game, he might be able to take away a couple of things. He picked up an over-the-back foul on the offensive end (his fourth foul late in the third) and later a charge in the lane to foul out. When playing with foul troubles, when he need him defensively, he's got to reel in some of that offensive aggression. No doubt, that will be pointed out. He also got to see some crafty scores by Duncan that he can learn from, as well. Bynum didn't have much success in the post, but later put together some strong finishes. He scored 6 points on 3-9 shooting, pulled down 8 boards (3 offensive) and blocked 4 shots. He swatted Oberto on help D to save a hoop right from the start. He fed Luke cutting under the hoop for a score. He got tied up when Duncan got a piece of his first shot and he came down with the ball. He lost the handle or had his second attempt blocked or swiped by Duncan when he was in the middle of the lane. He missed a good look at a bank jumphook. He faced up and missed a jumper, short. He picked up an odd foul against Duncan in the post (very cheap), might have been a handcheck. He blocked Parker's attempt to hit a floater over him. Back in to match up against Duncan, he took an offensive board, then fed a no-look feed over Duncan's head to Kobe, who scored an And-1 layup when Duncan fouled him (Bynum threw that pass and started walking back up court knowing it was going to be a score. He's going to be a tremendous passer). He contested Duncan well on an iso post up, then tapped out the miss to a Laker. On the other end, he dropstepped Duncan and tried to power in a layup but Duncan got a piece of it from behind (in a couple of years, guys will be bouncing off Bynum when he gets his strength on that move). He tried to contest penetration and recover back on Duncan and picked up a foul. Duncan faced up for the bank shot, Bynum challenged and may have gotten a piece of the shot. He took a feed from Kobe and threwdown on Duncan with one hand. He got beat down court by Duncan after that for a layup. Duncan attacked off the dribble across the lane and scored with a layup. Good defensive sequence to start the second half, he rejected Oberto badly, the Spurs got it back, Parker got under the hoop and Bynum came over to strip or block a shot. On the next defensive sequence, Drew didn't rotate to help on the pick and roll and we gave up a layup. Kobe drew a double, bounced to Bynum and he power dunked an And-1 over Oberto. He kept an offensive board alive to Luke, who was fouled. Luke attacked the lane, fed Bynum and Drew threwdown again with both hands (good sequence of playing above the rim). Duncan posted him up, turned with the ball out to get it under Bynum's outstretched arm, then drew the contact on the arm and scored an And-1 (vet move, Bynum could learn from that). Phil left him in the game when Duncan sat and Bynum picked up his fourth foul going over the back. He brought him back in to match up in the fourth and Bynum picked up his fifth foul and had to sit again. Back in with 3:18 left, Kobe tried to hit him in the lane on a pick and roll and Bynum charged on the help D and had to sit 13 seconds later with his sixth. Some ups and downs, and plenty to learn from, but we got the win and he made a decent contribution.

Radmanovic -- -- With no clear-cut second option in this game, we needed someone to step up. Vlad gave the Lakers the kind of spark they were hoping to see with a bit more consistency this season. "That was a big difference in the ballgame," Phil said. "His three-point shooting, his dunk, his steals, little things he did during the course of the game." He was a definite x-factor for the Lakers in this one. Holding his own on D against the weak non-Duncan bigmen of the Spurs, Vlad gave the Lakers some offensive punch off the bench. He scored 13 points on 5-7 shooting (3-5 from three) and a couple of steals in 15 minutes. He came in early to cover Oberto with Cook not getting the job done. He swished a wing three off a kickout from Kobe. He flashed to the post and quickly hit a hook with his left (again) over Horry. He cut off the Tri and never saw a bounce pass that Bynum threw to him (got to pay attention on those cuts), luckily we got the ball back. He collapsed on Parker and took the ball away under the hoop, he then got blocked from behind by Horry on the break. He took a Kobe kickout at the wing and swished a three. He ripped the net on his next three attempt when Farmar swung the ball to him in the corner. He tried to create against Horry and missed a jumper from the wing. He took a pass from Sasha in transition, attacked the baseline and threwdown with one hand as Finley and Duncan tried to contest (very nice). Great hustle to challenge a Finley jumper and he forced a miss. Nice strip to get the break going, then he and Evans couldn't connect and it resulted in a turnover.

Turiaf -- -- In the last game, I mentioned the positive effect that clutch/overtime minutes will have for our young guys. Well, with Bynum fouled out and the game neck and neck, Turiaf got the ball in his hands late in this game twice against Duncan. Not exactly the go-to option you are looking for, but Ronny came through on a huge shot with 10 seconds left. He had just 4 points on 2-7 shooting to go with 6 boards, 1 block and 4 fouls in 17 minutes. Phil was largely looking to avoid the Turiaf/Duncan match up if he could help it, but he had no choice late in the game. Early on, Ronny picked up his first foul contesting Manu's drive and gave up an And-1. He missed a jumphook in the lane. He drew a charge on Manu attacking the lane. He took a tough jumper over Duncan and missed badly. He rejected Parker's penetration out of bounds. Great hustle to tip in a miss by Kobe near the end of the half. Turiaf should have drawn a charge foul on Barry who ran into him with just over a minute left, but it resulted in Duncan FTs a few seconds later. Well...now comes the crunch-time last minute of action for Ronny. The Lakers dumped him the ball in the lane with over 40 seconds left and he missed a jumphook over Duncan. After we secured a rebound on the other end, we used up the clock, got the ball to Ronny at the elbow with the shotclock low, he attacked Duncan off the dribble to his right and banked a one-hander over him with 10 seconds left to give the Lakers a 5-point lead. Duncan looked stunned...or happy...or sad...who knows, but he seemed a bit surprised the young guy exploded off the ground on him to get that huge score. Ronny signed with the Lakers a year ago to the day. "To realize what I've been through over the last 12 months is pretty special," Turiaf said in the Times. "It's really hit me. It's like, wow, a year ago is when I began here."

Evans -- 8) -- With Kobe in early foul trouble, we needed Mo to step up again shortly after the opening whistle. One thing we may have learned in this game to store away for future use is that Mo can defend Manu pretty well at times. Manu went for his season average, but he wasn't collapsing the D with regularity. In fact, he was quite a bit less noticeable a problem as he usually is...and wasn't really a factor late. Props to Mo for the heavy lifting on that end. He also stepped up to give the Lakers 11 points, 5 boards and 2 steals off the bench in 30 minutes. Mo actually played some PF in this game for about a 7-minute stretch in the second quarter when both teams went small. He missed a turnaround on his first attempt of the game. He faced up and swished a wing jumper. He missed another turnaround badly. He couldn't hit a corner three. He drew a foul with a good effort on the offensive glass, but he missed both FTs. He attacked in transition, lost Manu with a spin, then hit an And-1 over Oberto, he made the FT. He came off the sideline Tri screen, Kobe fed him and he hit the wing midrange jumper. Off the bench late in the third and he drilled a baseline jumper on his first touch. He tried to create off the dribble against Bowen and lost the ball out of bounds (not a wise decision). He missed a wing jumper. Bad inbounds pass, getting it deflected and it resulted in FTs when Cook fouled. Vlad came up with a steal then passed to Evans on the break who was too close with his spacing and Barry got a hand on the ball to knock it out of bounds (refs said it was off us, bad call, went off Barry's knee...ref was totally guessing, too, when he hesitated and made the call). The Spurs threw the ball into the backcourt, Evans hustled after it and was fouled with 1:14 left, he made both clutch ones to give the Lakers a 4-point lead. He reacted slow to a switch and gave up a three to Barry with 6 seconds left. A few mistakes in this one, but you can always count on the effort. He and Vlad both outplayed the guys coming off the Spurs bench.

Farmar -- -- Quality minutes from Farmar tonight. Good to see him string a couple of good stints together. He hit both shots he took and scored 5 points, added a board and an assist without a turnover in 15 minutes. He attacked Udrih off the dribble and scored an easy layup. Bowen sagged off of him so Jordan swished a wing three. Good transition D on Parker, staying tight and he drew a carry call. He hit Vlad with a quick swing pass for a corner three.

Vujacic -- -- Early in the fourth, Brent Barry hit Sashaafter he released a three, Sasha went down and got the whistle, then he knocked down all three FTs. Sasha went 0-2 in this game, but scored 4 points all on freethrows. Those came at a key stretch when Kobe was resting in the fourth and we needed to manufacture some offense. Sasha had a poor illegal D earlier, just zoning up right in the middle of the lane and stopping as Duncan was going to work. He missed a wing jumper. He hit a tech FT when the Spurs put only four players on the court to start the fourth.

Phil -- -- Phil was matching up Duncan with Bynum whenever possible. Although, late in the third when Duncan sat, he kept Bynum in the game and Drew picked up his fourth foul going over the back. This set up Phil for some difficulties later, but he managed to get some serviceable post D from others... The Lakers went to a small Turiaf, Evans, Kobe, Sasha, Farmar lineup to match up with the Spurs in the second quarter... Parker's penetration was killing the Lakers. The coaches made an emphasis on it and transition D at the half. The Lakers seemed to respond and weren't getting killed at the rate they were early on... I thought the Lakers were coming out in some kind of zone to start the fourth as we were doubling on the perimeter and rotating, finally the refs blew the whistle, turned out San Antonio had only four players on the court and got a T. Oops... The Spurs were in the bonus with more than 6 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. They manufactured a ton of points at the line and made us pay... With Bynum in foul trouble, Phil went to Cook in the middle of the fourth for 3 minutes against Duncan (we only gave up one post score). After that score, he switched Turiaf on him. After a short stint, Phil went back to Bynum with 3:18 left and he fouled out 13 seconds later. We rode Turiaf to finish the game, and Ronny delivered...
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cmonkee
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 1:23 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB! I couldn't watch the game tonight... but your Thoughts & ) ratings always do a great job softening the blow =D

I can sleep now that I've read them, thanks again as always!
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 1:50 am    Post subject:

cmonkee wrote:
Thanks DB! I couldn't watch the game tonight... but your Thoughts & ) ratings always do a great job softening the blow =D

I can sleep now that I've read them, thanks again as always!


Ditto. Good job!
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 1:59 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB, great recap as always.

They actually showed this game this side of the world (the first game ive seen since we played in NJ) and i was so proud of the guys to grind this win out. We really showed some character to regain our focus after that sloppy patch in the 4th.
Kobe was just sensational (apart from the TO spree in the 4th), we was constantly talking to the guys and incouraging them and you could see the confidence he gives them out there. Im so proud of the way he is leading this team, he is like another coach out there on the court. Great to see his explosiveness on a few plays tonight, its hard to imagine that he hasnt been 100% healthy at all this season and he is still in the MVP race. Another thing i really liked about his game tonight is the quality of the shots he took, i can only think of a couple of times where he forced it. He made up his mind early to get to the rim and attack and he rarely settled for tough shots. This game for me was better than his offensive explosions last year.
I love what Mo brings to the team defensively, he's obviously not big enough to guard the LeBrons and Melos of the league but he can give Kobe a break on tough perimeter SGs if Kobe is in FT like the 1st quarter. The guy is built like a tank to, no way could any 2 guard outmuscle him.
So many other great performances from guys like Vlad and Turiaf etc, it seems like the offense is starting to click and we had some nice defensive rotations at times to.
One last thing to remember is that we just beat Dallas, Miami and San Antonio without Lamar and Kwame. This team is gonna be sick once they get back now the bench is battle tested.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:05 am    Post subject:

Great win for us tonight, what is our record with Odom and Kwame out?
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:18 am    Post subject:

koolruningz wrote:
Thanks DB, great recap as always.

They actually showed this game this side of the world (the first game ive seen since we played in NJ) and i was so proud of the guys to grind this win out. We really showed some character to regain our focus after that sloppy patch in the 4th.
Kobe was just sensational (apart from the TO spree in the 4th), we was constantly talking to the guys and incouraging them and you could see the confidence he gives them out there. Im so proud of the way he is leading this team, he is like another coach out there on the court. Great to see his explosiveness on a few plays tonight, its hard to imagine that he hasnt been 100% healthy at all this season and he is still in the MVP race. Another thing i really liked about his game tonight is the quality of the shots he took, i can only think of a couple of times where he forced it. He made up his mind early to get to the rim and attack and he rarely settled for tough shots. This game for me was better than his offensive explosions last year.
I love what Mo brings to the team defensively, he's obviously not big enough to guard the LeBrons and Melos of the league but he can give Kobe a break on tough perimeter SGs if Kobe is in FT like the 1st quarter. The guy is built like a tank to, no way could any 2 guard outmuscle him.
So many other great performances from guys like Vlad and Turiaf etc, it seems like the offense is starting to click and we had some nice defensive rotations at times to.
One last thing to remember is that we just beat Dallas, Miami and San Antonio without Lamar and Kwame. This team is gonna be sick once they get back now the bench is battle tested.


Pretty amazing, considering that Lamar is our best passer and our best rebounder. And he is our most versatile forward defender, able to check anyone from Marion/T-Mac to KG/Dirk.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:33 am    Post subject:

Good job as always DB.

I didn't think the undermanned Lakers were going to be able to go in the Spurs building and take them out. I figured they'd lose against SA and Dal. Wrong. Very impressive team effort.

Kobe was phenomenal until that little stretch (which was salvaged by the jumper and FT's). There were significant blocks of game time where he was playing flawless basketball. The Spurs interior is weaker than it's ever been in the Duncan era (Oberto is horrible IMO)...combine that w/ Bowen showing signs of age...and Kobe can feast on them virtually whenever he wants. He was getting some good screens tonight and used them to attack for himself very well.

Also, while a couple of those turnovers at the end he had were definitely bad...I liked that he was trying to use his teammates rather than completely take over. I've found that sometimes when the team is having success w/ the offense, they'll still turn the game over to Kobe w/ 3-4 minutes left. That's too much time IMO. If they are scoring well as a team, I don't see the point in turning it into the Kobe show for 30% of a quarter...now when they get to 1:30 or so remaining...that's reasonable...but 3-4 minutes of him going solo usually allows the opponent to anticipate everything and consequently develop a nice defensive rhythm. So, I like the intention tonight. Things just need to be sharpened.

I agree w/ you about Smush. He didn't let his early difficulties take him out of the ballgame...he showed good character. There were some huge plays he made down the stretch that the Lakers needed if they were going to win this.

On a different note, I'd like to see him run the offense a little more at times. He has a tendency to take quick shots.

Radmanovic was big. They needed someone to stretch the defense. LA was 2-10 from 3pt land outside of his 3-3. He's had a couple of good games from range in a row. Hopefully it continues.

Speaking of range, I also hope Walton finds his three point touch again. He is shooting 30% from outside going back to December 1st (12 for 40 since). I don't expect him to hover around 50-55% like he did the first 5 weeks...but consistently somewhere in the 37-38% area would be nice...not only does it soften things up for his teammates, but by forcing the opposition to play him tighter...there are more opportunities for Luke to get a step on his man and pick apart the D off the dribble.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 3:33 am    Post subject:

Great team win with Kobe the driving force behind it.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 3:54 am    Post subject:

Quote:
Speaking of range, I also hope Walton finds his three point touch again. He is shooting 30% from outside going back to December 1st (12 for 40 since). I don't expect him to hover around 50-55% like he did the first 5 weeks...but consistently somewhere in the 37-38% area would be nice...not only does it soften things up for his teammates, but by forcing the opposition to play him tighter...there are more opportunities for Luke to get a step on his man and pick apart the D off the dribble.


Yeah, I think a realistic goal for Luke would to be shooting around 40% consistently which would be great if we go with a lineup of smush, kobe, luke, odom and brown you would have 3 good 3 point threats and odom (I'm not sure how well odom would be shooting from downtown but he can hit them).

I was amazed that we won this game with odom out because there were stages where we really missed his defensive rebounding. I also thought that 'Drew would really struggle with TD but he impressed me. Although he got himself fouled out he played some great D in stretches and challenged Duncan.

A great win for this young team!
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 4:03 am    Post subject:

dot3 wrote:
Quote:
Speaking of range, I also hope Walton finds his three point touch again. He is shooting 30% from outside going back to December 1st (12 for 40 since). I don't expect him to hover around 50-55% like he did the first 5 weeks...but consistently somewhere in the 37-38% area would be nice...not only does it soften things up for his teammates, but by forcing the opposition to play him tighter...there are more opportunities for Luke to get a step on his man and pick apart the D off the dribble.


Yeah, I think a realistic goal for Luke would to be shooting around 40% consistently which would be great if we go with a lineup of smush, kobe, luke, odom and brown you would have 3 good 3 point threats and odom (I'm not sure how well odom would be shooting from downtown but he can hit them).

I was amazed that we won this game with odom out because there were stages where we really missed his defensive rebounding. I also thought that 'Drew would really struggle with TD but he impressed me. Although he got himself fouled out he played some great D in stretches and challenged Duncan.

A great win for this young team!


I was more surprised that they left Cook on an island with Duncan, and TD struggled to hit shots inside. Either Cook turned into a stopper, or TD is slowing down, because in years past Timmy would have his way with guys like Cook and Vlad.
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Sage_10
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 4:40 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB. Great game.
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prisma8slg
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 5:33 am    Post subject:

thanks DB
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 7:11 am    Post subject:

As always, this is my first stop after games from the night before. Stellar as usual, thank you DB!

What a great game! I was screaming down to the wire. My daughter walked it at the 9.9 seconds to go mark and said "oh - they won the game" and I was like "not yet! I've seen them come back - you can't say they've won until the final buzzer!" Sure enough - they came back a little and it was a close one.

I love how this team is finding ways to get it done. I love Kobe the facilitator, but how much fun was it to watch him get the step and dunk? The lob pass - like dessert after a diet. Just a great game in so many ways - even the mistakes at the end were used to help them learn and gain confidence. I'm so happy with this team. I don't want to mess around with the chemistry one bit, and think they have a chance to do major damage come playoff time.

GO LAKERS!!!!!
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 7:36 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB, as always. Even though we had more turnovers in the fourth quarter than the first three quarters combined, we were able to regroup after SA went up 91-90 with a little under three minutes left. The fact that we shook off losing a ten point lead and executing our offense over the last few minutes was very impressive. I'm hoping that this game gives Vlad confidence. He was huge off the bench with big threes and just being a big factor in this game. I still remember Draft night when I went to bed after the draft, woke up a little while later and came on LG. I saw that we acquired Evans for our second round pick. I thought that was a steal on our behalf and you saw why last night. I thought he came in the first quarter and provided with a lot of energy while Kobe was on the bench with two fouls. He was getting hands on loose balls, and was active in trying to secure rebounds. I was impressed with how Smush ended the game. Even though he was getting abused by TP, he kept on playing and made some big shots for us down the stretch. Very encouraging win for our young guys.
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Mr. EiGhTy-OnE
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:00 am    Post subject:

thanks DB. as happy as i am with the win, i hate beating the spurs of the world only to lose to the bobcats of the world. hopefully this team has turned the corner.

Kobe- i loved the way he attacked the basket. he should have gotten an and-1 on the alley-oop. Clutch J over Bowen to seal the deal

Refs-were good tonght, only a couple blown calls. (the above mentioned alley oop foul on TD and when Barry kicked the ball out of bounds in the 4th and they called it out on Mo.

Smush-Clutch 3 and floater near the end but i am tired of the street ball mentality. everytime his man abuses him on one end he tries to take it right back at the other person with a quick shot. he doesnt even attempt to move the ball around.

Bynum has to learn how to stay out of foul trouble.

Turiafs last shot was clutch

Vlad finally earned his MLE

i cant believe im saying this.....im starting to like Sasha

im just glad all those turnovers in the 4th didnt cost us this big win

hurry back L.O.

i swore Kobe's first foul should have been called on Cook
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limchrc
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:07 am    Post subject:

Great win.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:19 am    Post subject:

Great game last night!!! woo hoo! I love watching these boys play together. Regarding Vlad, BigE32, I think his problem is his hand injury combined with trying to find his place in the offense. Remember Odom and Kwame and some of the other bigs seemed lost alot until they figured out their place in the offense and felt comfortable. I think he'll be fine and one day, the light will just come on, like it did for LO after the all star break last season, and it'll click for him. Kobe has spoken of this many times. He'll come along and be big for us in the playoffs. We just need to be patient with him.

oh, and I can't wait for LO and Kwame to get back. I want to see what this team can do at full strength.

Great job, DB as always.

Go Lakers!
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:35 am    Post subject:

sean2023 wrote:
Good job as always DB.

I didn't think the undermanned Lakers were going to be able to go in the Spurs building and take them out. I figured they'd lose against SA and Dal. Wrong. Very impressive team effort.

Kobe was phenomenal until that little stretch (which was salvaged by the jumper and FT's). There were significant blocks of game time where he was playing flawless basketball. The Spurs interior is weaker than it's ever been in the Duncan era (Oberto is horrible IMO)...combine that w/ Bowen showing signs of age...and Kobe can feast on them virtually whenever he wants. He was getting some good screens tonight and used them to attack for himself very well.



The Spurs are like the Lakers in 2003, they are an OLD vetran team and age is begining to slow them down. I loved Joel's comment about Finley, he said "Finley is 33 and many say that he plays much older than that!"

The Mavs & the Suns with Amare are definatley the best in the NBA now.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:36 am    Post subject:

sean2023 wrote:
Good job as always DB.

The Spurs interior is weaker than it's ever been in the Duncan era (Oberto is horrible IMO)...combine that w/ Bowen showing signs of age...and Kobe can feast on them virtually whenever he wants. He was getting some good screens tonight and used them to attack for himself very well.



Good point, Sean. It looked like 2000-2001 out there last night, with the Spurs soft underbelly providing zero resistance. Kobe was going wherever he wanted last night, at will. Definitely the easiest go if it he's had in the Bowen era of S.A. b-ball.

And to confirm your other observation, I swear that's (in the first half) the most off-the-ball work/success I've seen from Kobe in years... a pleasant development to be sure.

Thanks, DB.
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angrypuppy
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:53 am    Post subject:

RYZ wrote:
sean2023 wrote:
Good job as always DB.

The Spurs interior is weaker than it's ever been in the Duncan era (Oberto is horrible IMO)...combine that w/ Bowen showing signs of age...and Kobe can feast on them virtually whenever he wants. He was getting some good screens tonight and used them to attack for himself very well.



Good point, Sean. It looked like 2000-2001 out there last night, with the Spurs soft underbelly providing zero resistance. Kobe was going wherever he wanted last night, at will. Definitely the easiest go if it he's had in the Bowen era of S.A. b-ball.

And to confirm your other observation, I swear that's (in the first half) the most off-the-ball work/success I've seen from Kobe in years... a pleasant development to be sure.

Thanks, DB.



I couldn't help but notice the decline in Bowen as well. Considering that Kobe was forced to rely more on hesitation moves, it is safe to say that Bryant will torch Bowen once he regains his quickness.

The Spurs need a new stopper, or at least a decent quality athletic scorer to balance their attack and compensate for the deterioration of Bowen. And if that isn't tough enough, they must also find a decent big to help Duncan, as Oberto isn't even as good as the seasons-past version of Rasho.

Still I was pleasantly surprised that the Lakers could beat SA (on the road no less) without Kwame. The tables are now turned from the old days, when the Spurs would rely on Bowen to try slowing Kobe down, and the Lakers couldn't really counter with a quality defender on Duncan (except of course the brief tandem of Grant & Horry). Now the Lakers have Kwame to try reducing Duncan's effectiveness, while the Spurs have a slower Bowen. As they say in Texas, it is time for them to eat a bullet breakfast.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:10 am    Post subject:

i cant believe Tony Parker was only called for one palming violation
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:26 am    Post subject:

Big win.

Tony Parker travels alot. Phil Jackson was calling for it many times. He travels both on his spin move and a couple times takes 3 full steps before going for a layup. Both got Phil up in the air quickly.

Great effort by the guys. Big time props to Kobe, Radmanovic and Evans in particular. Very impressive games by them.

Good stuff also provided by Farmar (very nice cameo), Turiaf (clutch shot, rebounding/energy as usual) Drew (Good D on TD at times and very good swatting), Walton (usual all-around stuff) and Cookie (shooting + some big defensive plays).

Smush had a poor game but as usual came up big towards the end of the game.

DB - Two things.

1) I don't think Smush should be handling the ball in crunchtime. I think it should be Kobe. Maybe Lamar when he comes back, but I don't even trust LO with the ball at that point. IIRC, Jordan used to handle the ball alot in the 4th qtr of Bulls games (when they were that close). I think we almost gave the game away trying to get Smush play against that pressure D. Thoughts?

2) Do you agree that Evans needs more PT? You see IMO Mo improves the Lakers defensively. He's not a doberman, but his rotations are quick and his off the ball D very good. I think we really need his athleticism to play defense. Best 2-way lineup IMO is Bynum, Odom, Evans, Kobe and Parker. Not that I think that should be the starting lineup (Luke should start) .. just that I think that's our best defensive lineup (You can probably replace Bynum with Turiaf or Kwame depending on the matchup) and we should be playing it more than we actually do.
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TheBigRuski
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:39 am    Post subject:

I cracked up when Vujacic was taken out of the game in the 4th and on the bench you can see him say "Come on!" as if to say "what's up with taking me out?"
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:41 am    Post subject:

DB -- Brother, you rock.

I used to get really ticked when I was stuck in traffic after work and couldn't watch big games on TV. Fortunately, by the 2001 Finals, I realized listening to Chick was pretty darn close to being just as good.

We may not have Chick anymore, but for those of that miss parts of the game for whatever reason, your next-day recaps are pretty darn good.

Thanks for all your hardwork throughout the season, buddy.

MIM
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:46 am    Post subject:

^^^Wolf....

Evans should play more....but he was straight up lost on Barry's late 3. He was late as hell. In football terms if her were a DB...he got caught looking into the backfield...complete brain fart on his part.
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