LAKERS -at- RAPTORS - 2/9 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings

[DancingBarry]

Back-to-Back Weak Efforts... The Lakers got their game together late in the fourth and went on an 11-0 run to climb out of a hole they had been digging for three quarters. Unfortunately, your margin of error is so small at that point...if you don't score or lockdown, it's over. And that's what happened in the final minute as the Lakers lost 96-92.

It seemed like they got the Raptors on their heels for the first time all game by working off the wing screen pick and pop to ignite our offense. (It's simplifying the game and something Phil will go to late in games rather than early.) Throw in a few steals that turn into buckets and the Lakers clawed their way back into a late lead. In the final minute, the Raptors hit their shot, we didn't. Some really sloppy ball at times, giving up 28 points off of 17 turnovers. They also shot 9-27 from three, and they had just 12 assists on the night. All those stats point to poor execution and a general lack of playmaking.

"You know, we just didn't play well," No. 24 said. "We didn't play with the kind of enthusiasm, the kind of passion we needed for this kind of game. They jumped on us for three quarters and we managed to make a game out of it somehow in the fourth but they hit timely shots."

The Lakers have one game left on the roadtrip. If they can pull it off, they pull even. Not what Phil wanted, but still treading water. Time to make a stand again.


Kobe -- -- Kobe didn't look real comfortable until late in the game when we went to the wing pick and pop plays. He had iso action in other areas of the floor, but couldn't get it in gear until we switched to the two-man game. Once we did that, the offense started to click. Defensively, he was a little soft early in the game, but he turned it up late and made some key plays. Kobe finished with 25 points on 10-23 shooting (1-4 from three, just 4-4 from the line), 9 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals and 1 block in 43 minutes. He missed a jumper early in the first. He ballwatched a couple of times to give up scores to Parker. He drained a wing three on his second attempt. He missed a wing jumper. He faced up, attacked the baseline and reversed. He missed back-to-back jumpers before attacking the lane and scoring a layup. He missed a three at the buzzer. He hit Cook with a between-the-legs pass on the break for FTs. He swung through on the baseline to draw FTs. He sank a turnaround jumper on the baseline. He split a double, but missed a finger roll in the lane. He had 11 points on a poor 4-12 shooting in the first half. He spun backdoor on Parker, took the lob from Odom and dunked it in. Poor perimeter pass and it was picked off for points the other way. He hit a turnaround on iso. He missed his next one. He lost the handle on the ball for a turnover. He attacked and hit Evans for a three at the end of the quarter. He attacked, threw up a wild shot and came down injured, apparently kicked in the leg (after a timeout he was able to go, but with a limp at times). He drew FTs on the perimeter, he made both. He stole a pass and took it the other way for a soft dunk. He missed a baseline jumper. He attacked the lane and scored a layup. He hit Cook off the pick and pop for a three. He hit Mo working off the high Cook screen and he swished a three to tie the game with 3:25 left. Kobe stole a pass, pushed out the break and finger rolled it in to take a 2-point lead with 2:40. Again, with the threat of a Cook screen on the wing, the D gave up a lane, Kobe attacked and threw down with fury to take a 2-point lead with 2 minutes left. He missed a three from the wing. He missed a long three out of a timeout to tie the game.

Lamar -- -- Lamar put up a double-double but it never looked easy. A lot of attacking off the dribble, some jumpers, no real action in the post. He scored 17 points on 6-12 shooting, pulled down 12 boards (5 offensive), dished 2 assists with 4 turnovers in 39 minutes. He pulled down an offensive board, missed, got it back and scored. He attacked off the dribble and missed. He attacked the baseline took a ton of contact with no call and threw the ball away. He sank a catch-and-shoot baseline jumper. Poor job captaining the second unit to start the second quarter, he missed some shots and had a turnover and the Raptors went on an 8-0 run. He attacked the paint and scored a layup over his man and wanted the And-1. He had 8 points on 4-8 shooting and 10 boards in the first half. He jab stepped, cut the other way and drew FTs, he made both. Nice lob pass to Kobe who back doored his man and Kobe dunked it in. He hit a three on a kickout from Bynum. He got blocked, got it back, attacked and airballed a reverse layup. He hit a wing three on the next trip down. Out of a timeout, he got low position, drew a foul and made one FT. He couldn't secure a missed FT in the last few seconds, which would have gotten the Raptor lead to just 2, instead we had to foul again and trailed by 3 when Parker missed one FT and made one.

Bynum -- -- Not much of an impact in this game. He didn't use his size to his advantage. He scored just 2 points on 1-3 shooting in 19 minutes. He pulled down 4 boards, passed out 2 assists and had 1 block. He backed down his man and bricked under the hoop. He picked up two fouls midway through the first and had to sit. He didn't get off the bench the rest of the first half. He hit a long hook in the lane to start the second half. He missed a short jumphook, got it back and kicked it to LO for a three.

Smush -- -- Not a pretty game from Smush at first, but he turned it around as the contest went on. Defensively, he properly exposed Ford's lack of perimeter skills and kept him from collapsing the defense. Smush finished with 18 points on 7-14 shooting (2-7 from three), pulled down 3 boards and had 0 assists with 2 turnovers in 33 minutes. He missed a catch-and-shoot jumper backing away from the hoop. He scored a reverse layup in transition. He bricked several jumpers and threes. He hit a turnaround on the baseline. Ridiculous flat pass forcing it into Kobe and it was stolen for an easy dunk the other way. He sank a three off a kickout from Kobe (the D was leaving Smush every time early on). LO kept the ball a hair to long at the end of the half and Smush's three was erased as it was barely in his hands when the buzzer went off. He missed a three on a kickout. He nearly lost the handle, got it back and banked in the lane. He cut back against the defense off the weave, got into the lane and banked in an And-1, he made the FT. He attacked off the pinch post, got contact and banked the And-1 on the next trip down, he made the FT. He tried to create off the dribble instead of using the offense and was called for a charge (weak call as Ford basically threw his body into Smush). He sank an open catch-and-shoot corner three to cut the lead to 3 with 4 minutes left.

Radmanovic -- -- Another game where Luke's play making was sorely missed as Vlad replaced it with turnovers and bricks. Vlad didn't score in 12 minutes, going 0-4 and had 2 turnovers during that time. He threw a horrible pass to Kobe that was picked off. He was picked trying to attack off the dribble. He missed a jumper early in the offensive set. He missed an open three. To start the second half, he missed a wide open baseline jumper. He missed a wing three next time down. Phil benched him and didn't put him back in.

Turiaf -- -- Turiaf was in the mix on both ends. Phil used him a little more at PF in this game that usual, moving Lamar down to the SF. Ronny scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting, had 5 boards and 1 block in 28 minutes. He hit a baseline jumper on his first attempt. He missed trying to beat the shotclock from 20 feet, we got it back and scored. He missed a layup, getting undercut with no call. He rebounded a Sasha miss, gathered himself and dunked, tweaking something when fell to the ground. Good contest on the other end on dribble penetration to force a miss. He was called for a travel trying to attack from the FT line.

Evans -- -- Very good game from Mo, who ended up as the Lakers second leading scorer. He's streaky, and when he gets it going he seems to do it in bunches. They needed his offensive punch as the team was struggling. Tonight, he scored 19 points off the bench on 7-11 shooting (3-4 from three) in 29 minutes. He hit a 20-foot pull-up jumper off the Turiaf screen. He didn't give Sasha the pass off the pinch post, his man sagged and he attacked down the lane with a jumpstep and scored at the front of the rim. He missed a three. He hit a pull-up jumper from the wing. He missed a tip in and an easy layup attempt with his left. He drained a corner three at the third quarter buzzer. He attacked Bosh off the dribble, got into the lane and hit a little runner. He sank a three from the sideline on his next attempt. He swished a three as Kobe came off the high Cook screen to tie the game with 3:25. He attacked off the pinch post, stopped, got Peterson in the air and drew FTs, he hit both to tie the game again. He missed a shot over Bosh in the lane, but kept it alive for the Lakers with 45 seconds left. Nice game, hitting some clutch shots for the team in the fourth.

Farmar -- -- Quiet game from Farmar, not scoring in two shot attempts. He worked the two-man game with Turiaf and Ronny hit the jumper for Farmar's one assist. Nice D to knock a ball away from Bargnani and he drew a foul. He missed a three and got blocked on a layup attempt.

Cook -- -- Well, 24 hours after the bench blow up, Cook was back on the floor playing a pivotal role. The Lakers worked the wing pick and pop with Kobe late and it opened up the offense. On the other end, the matchups weren't abusing Cook so the move was paying off as we went on an 11-0 run to take a brief lead. When you can get his jumper going and he isn't a liability on the other end, the game becomes real simple offensively...which is what the Lakers needed in this one as it allowed Kobe to go to work. Cook scored 7 points on 2-4 shooting in 17 minutes, he also had 3 boards and 1 steal in that time. He came in early in the second quarter with Kobe. He trailed the break, Kobe went between his legs with the pass and Cook drew FTs, making both. He hit an elbow jumper on his first shot. He knocked a couple of offensive boards loose from Raptors that won't go as a stat. He poorly timed his jump on a defensive board, several other Lakers stood around as the rebound hit the floor and Bosh scooped it up and scored. Back in midway through the fourth, he missed a three from the top of the key. He sank a big pick and pop wing three to cut the lead to 6 points with 4:29 left. He missed a pull-up three in the last minute out of a timeout. For the last 5 minutes of the game, the Lakers ran the same wing pick and pop game.

Vujacic -- -- Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank. That was Sasha from three in 10 minutes, missing all four attempts. He missed a three from the top of the key. He missed a corner three. He back-rimmed a couple of threes. Nice job getting a loose ball on the floor and outleting while on the ground to ignite the break.

Phil -- -- The offense has been stalling out badly on this trip at times. It took a while before they dialed it up tonight, even then it was by going to their late-game wing screens they like to run. People don't want to hear it, but some of it could be how much we miss Luke's playmaking and some of it is LO not getting easier shots for himself. Right now, Kobe is our only real playmaker... The other part of the equasion is our hoop IQ. We aren't taking advantage of mismatches and we are setting for threes instead of cutting and attacking. Or, we force the ball into teeth of the D... Phil benched Vlad in the second half for Ronny and we went with a Bynum, Turiaf, Lamar, Kobe, Smush lineup... The Raptors scored 14 points off of turnovers in the third quarter. Absurd numbers for one quarter... The Lakers got into the bonus in the fourth with more than 7 minutes left, but never really took advantage... Mitchel put Ford back in and Phil subbed in Cook midway through the fourth and the Lakers went on an 11-0 run as they started working the high pick and pop to get a three for Cook, Smush and Evans and a layup and dunk for Kobe... Trailing by 1 with 44 seconds left, the Lakers called a timeout. The play was scrambled and we ended up with Cook missing a pull-up three... With 11 seconds trailing by 3 out of a timeout, Kobe missed a good look at a long three... Got to make a stand in the next game...

[A Mad Chinaman]

Thanks DB for what must have been a tough job to analyze this game.

Question:
Since Kobe previously stated that he will not be 100% healthy till mid/late February, could this be some of the reasons why Kobe doesn't seem to have his "normal" hops?

Are the games, and this long road trip, finally getting to Bynum (shouldn't he have done better against Bosh?!?!) and Farmar (shouldn't he be better able to stay with Chris Ford?!?)?

What do you feel are Vlad's issues of not producing?

[ProjectAB]

At this point, I'm seriously concerned about Bynum's development. It seems like he's no different from 4 months ago, as far a being able to gain position on his defender. It's a shame because he's showing some good moves down there, but he's getting pushed so far out that he's never in position to show them much.

I don't get why the coaching staff doesn't try to get him to pack on some muscles already. I mean, if Howard is able to gain 25 lbs in such a short amount of time, surely, Bynum could gain about 10, which IMO, would help a lot.

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[And 1]

[8750]

thanks, DB...
it seems to me that the philjacksonization of kobe bryant -good idea on paper- takes off that spark that comes only out of a contradiction... we play as a team, but without fire...

[ProjectAB]

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[magic_bryant]

[eniq 0x00]

[jmark]

Start Cook instead of Vlad. We need offensive punch at the start & Cook for all his faults can shoot. Vlad isn't getting it done.
_________________
"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

[bayoucity]

You guys will be OK when Walton gets back. At least that's what I tell Rocket fans. The Lakers miss him more than most people realize.

[Rick12322]

[ProjectAB]

The game is only 2 hrs long. If he has the commitment, then he can certainly do so.

In addition, by saying that he can't, you're implying that we are hurting Bynum's development by playing him, when he could just sit out and build up his body.

[golakersgo121]

[ProjectAB]

From what I've seen, in terms of rookie mistakes(like moving screens, 3-sec, etc), he's learned all that he has to learn. Seriously, if playing games is the reason that he can't build up his body(which I don't agree), then I think it's better that he sits out and starts training. Really, there's only so much you can learn. There comes a point where it's all about having a great physical advantage over your opponent, and he needs to start, NOW, before it's too late.

Yao got injured and came back better than ever, same with Boozer, even Gasol is much improved over last year. That suggests that in terms of personal growth, it's actually better if you sat out and worked on other things(ironically, the only guys that didn't come back better are on our team, which once again, makes me question how effective Phil really is, at developing talent.)

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

Stop me if you have seen this before.....

Kobe tries too hard to get others involved, never develops a rhythm for himself and we end up losing a winnable game.

When is Kobe going to go back to being a scoring shooting guard, now that LO is back to facilitate?
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[LakerLanny]

The Lakers looked very road weary vs Toronto

Sometimes people forget how hard it is to travel, I am usually sick after a week on the road....8 game trip is insane, I was hoping they could dig deep and get the last couple of games but they look beat.

Even staying at the Four Seaons and flying Charters like the Lakers do is taxing, sure it isn't Southwest Airlines with three layovers and the Best Western by the freeway....but it is tiring still.

It will take a huge effort to beat Cleveland after such a long time on the road, I am expecting horrible officiating (remember last year in Cleveland?) and a probable loss.
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Love, Laker Lanny

[prisma8slg]

thanks db...I don't know how you do it...
_________________
"I define success by championships, by winning..." Kobe Bryant

"I've seen it all. Sasha dunked on somebody," Kobe Bryant said. "I'm ready to retire now."

[A Mad Chinaman]

[- Sean -]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[DancingBarry]