LAKERS -at- CAVS - 2/11 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings

DancingBarry

End of the Road... The Lakers stagger home, limping after dropping their last three road games and finishing the eight-game trip just 3-5 -- a big difference from the 6-2 Phil was hoping for.

Kobe was putting together a great second half of ball and helped get the Lakers a late lead. He was occasionally forcing the issue a bit against doubles, but still manufacturing points. With the Lakers trailing, he was stripped on a double team after holding the ball too long, and the Cavs scored an And-1 on the other end to just about ice the game. There was some contact after the strip, but he should have been moving the ball sooner on the play.

He got too little help from Smush and Lamar. Vlad put together one of his best games of the trip with a double-double. The Lakers shot a poor 4-20 from three, but stayed in the game with 24-28 shooting from the line. Again, they missed playmaking with only 15 assists.

The Lakers let Sasha Pavlovic score 21 points (three shy of his career high), getting too much penetration and scoring key hoops all game long. He had 13 points in the fourth on the way to the Cavs 99-90 win.

Kobe --

-- Quality game from Kobe despite the late-game turnover. He scored 25 of his 36 points in the second half. The Cavs doubled Kobe leaving others open and Kobe still scored over the doubles. He probably should have mixed in a little more setting up for others, but I don't think he trusted the shooters, to be honest. He shot 12-24 (1-5 from three, 11-11 from the line), pulled down 7 boards and dished 6 assists with 4 turnovers in a team-high 44 minutes. He sank a three with the shotclock buzzer going off on his first shot midway through the quarter (does that sound like one of those reluctant first quarter shots or what?). He throttled things up just a little sooner than usual shortly after that. Out of a timeout, Kobe popped out and hit an open wing jumper. He missed a baseline turnaround. He banked a wing turnaround. He airballed a runner and wanted the foul at the end of the first quarter, meanwhile his man dunked when no one got back. He was stripped for a layup the other way (seems like this has happened way too much in the past several games). He posted up and hit a turnaround over Snow. He busted out on the break, took the pass from Smush and dunked. He missed a couple of pull-up jumpers and a sideline three, two of those forced a bit, all on three straight possessions. He had 11 points on 5-11 shooting, 4 assists and 4 rebounds at the half. He exploded around Z at the FT line and threwdown a dunk to start the second half. He pumpfaked Hughes into the air and drew FTs, making both. He drew FTs off a Bynum handoff. He attacked Z off the screen again and drew as foul, getting hit on the arm (the Cavs got a tech, which Kobe sank), then he hit the two FTs. He missed a three. He banked a tough one-hander after not being able to get past his man. With Z back in late in the third, Kobe called for the screen, split the double team and kicked to Sasha for a three. Kobe scored 11 points in the third, 7-7 from the line. He missed a turnaround to start the fourth. He hit a wing jumper. He traveled on an attack in the lane. He hit a turnaround from the elbow. He hit a long one-dribble wing jumper on his next attempt. He somehow tip-toed around defenders on the baseline, then flipped a shot over his head from under the front of the rim. With the shotclock low, he pulled up at the top of the key and knocked down a jumper. He drew FTs, forcing one over the double, he made both. He drew more FTs on a jumper, he made both. He missed a long corner jumper fading away from the double. He drew the double, kicked it out and we got it to Turiaf under the hoop for FTs. He hit Smush on a kickout for a jumper. Huge play, he held on to the ball too long when Smush's man left to double him, they knocked it loose and scored an And-1 on the other end with just over a minute left. He forced a one-on-five attack and airballed.

Lamar --

-- Lamar did the Cavs a big favor by not getting into the post with any consistency. It gets tiring to report, but it happens far too frequently. He had some good moments when he got in there, but pretty much hung out on the perimeter for extended stretches. He was passive and didn't collapse the D, as is reflected in his assist total. He shot 5-13 for 11 points, grabbed 11 boards and had 1 assist. He was 1-6 from three, though most of those threes came in the last couple possessions when the game was all but over. He missed a 17-footer, not squaring up. He missed a long three trying to beat the shotclock. He missed another three to start the second quarter. He gave up a 4-point play on the other end. Finally, he flashed to the post, got the entry feed and scored under the rim (more please). After a rest, he came back and went to the block again, this time scoring easily over Gooden. He posted up and hit Vlad with an interior feed for a layup. He missed a point-blank layup off an offensive board. He gave up a putback score to Gooden. He had Hughes on him, took him off the dribble, spun in the lane and scored easily at the front of the rim. He missed a three. He hit a late stepback jumper from the baseline. With game over, he missed a three, hit his next attempt, then airballed his third three attempt. Get off your beach on the perimeter LO, get mix it up.

Bynum --

-- His contribution on the boards was MIA, pulling down just 2 in 29:28 of action. It reminded me very much of the summer league when he looked run down after a series of games. He did score 10 points on 3-6 shooting (4-7 from the line) and blocked 1 shot before fouling out. He scored a layup, gathering himself after an interior feed by Vlad. He took the entry, went to work and hit a jumphook in the lane. He was fouled in the lane and made one FT. He got the ball back and missed a point-blank layup and a putback attempt, not going up strong. He drew a foul in the paint trying to finish and made one FT. He surveyed the floor, spotted Evans in the lane and fed him for a layup. He blocked Gooden trying to throwdown (from Bynum's body language it looked like he expected a whistle to be blown). He drew a foul on a set inbounds play where we threw the long backcourt inbounds to Bynum in the lane and he made one FT with 1.5 left in the half. Good contest and then he pulled down the defensive board, his only one of the game. Nice, no-look handoff to Kobe and it drew FTs. He took the high entry, turned and a scored an And-1 as he got hit from behind on the layup, he made the FT. He picked up his fourth foul 5 minutes into the third and had to sit. He got screened under the hoop by a smaller man and Z scored an easy layup as no one helped. Z attacked off the dribble and scored a layup. He picked up his fifth and sixth fouls in a short span and had to watch the last few minutes from the bench.

Smush --

-- Not much of an impact from any of our PGs in this game. Smush scored just 6 points on 3-10 (0-4 from three), he pulled down 4 boards and dished 4 assists with 2 turnovers. He missed a three. Beautiful perimeter reach on help D, it knocked a ball loose that Kobe picked up and outlet to Smush for a layup. He missed a three. He traveled trying to attack before putting the ball down. He knocked down a wing 18-footer. He hit Kobe for a dunk in transition. He missed a floater. He forced up a stupid long baseline fade, missed, then fouled. He took the kickout from Kobe, faked the three, stepped in and knocked down a 17-footer. He missed a three.

Radmanovic --

-- This was one of Vlad's better games of the roadtrip. He didn't stick out negatively on the offensive game (no turnovers) and he was actually a positive factor on the defensive end at times. Phil didn't reward him with late minutes, however, despite how poorly Mo was playing. Vlad gave the Lakers a double-double in 27 minutes, scoring 12 points on 5-8 shooting and pulling down 10 defensive boards. He also had 2 assists, 1 steal and just 1 foul. They looked to get him going early (which may be the key), giving him the first possession. He attacked from the post and hit a little hook with his right. On his second touch, he hit another hook in the lane. He hit Bynum with an interior feed for the Lakers third score of the game. He got a lucky high bounce on a three and it dropped in. He ballfaked, attacked the baseline and reversed. He missed a fading FT jumper. He scored a layup off an interior feed from Odom. He knocked away an entry pass and it ignited a breakaway score. He got blocked forcing a shot in a crowd. Good D, contesting Gooden then securing the board, he got hit from behind and made one of two FTs. He missed a corner jumper. Good D again on Gooden forcing a brick. He switched on LeBron and challenged a three well to force a miss. Great block on LeBron in transition.

Turiaf --

-- Solid minutes from Ronny at the back up C, although you would have liked to see a few more boards and him holding on to the ball a little better. He also saw some short stints at PF again in this one. With Bynum in foul trouble it was key that Turiaf hold down the fort. He scored 6 points on 1-3 shooting, made all 4 FTs and grabbed 3 boards and blocked 1 shot in 20 minutes. He couldn't handle back-to-back passes for turnovers. He drew FTs in transition and made both. He cleaned up a miss by Evans with a short jumphook. He winged a Z jumphook with a good quick challenge. He drew FTs under the hoop when his man left to double Kobe, he made both with just under 3 minutes left.

Evans --

-- Poor game from Mo on both ends of the floor. Pavlovic was taking him off the dribble on one end, and Mo -- streaky as ever -- was clanking on the other. He went 1-9 from 6 points, he had 5 boards (3 offensive) and 1 block in 22:37. Some poor defense on his first stint, giving up a lot of penetration. He pushed out a rebound, spun and drew FTs, he made both. He was blocked under the hoop. Nice cut to the lane, Bynum found him and he powered in a layup, his only field goal. He missed on an attack but Turiaf grabbed it and scored. He chucked up back-to-back corner jumpers, missing both. He was fouled when Sasha found him under the hoop and he made both FTs. He missed a post-up turnaround in the lane. He dribbled the ball off his foot out of bounds in a key possession.

Farmar --

-- No impact in the game offensively, just going through the motions at times. He threw a pass away. He got tapped on a three. He blocked a shot. Phil played him just 9:35 as it was a sleepy game from Farmar.

Cook --

-- He played just 3 minutes and missed 3 shots. He missed a wing three, another jumper, and he got blocked on a soft putback under the hoop.

Vujacic -- 8) -- Decent short minutes from Sasha. He put in a good effort and made his only jumper. He sank a corner three when Kobe collapsed the D off an attack and found him. He whipped a pass to Evans under the hoop and it drew FTs. He also grabbed 2 boards in his 7 minutes.

Phil --

-- I thought Vlad deserved some late-game minutes in this one. He played well on both ends and Mo was having problems. But Phil clearly trusts Mo more than he does Vlad when the game is on the line right now. Hard to say I blame him, but both players seem streaky and we had the wrong streak guy in the game. Mo led the Lakers with a -17, while Vlad led on the positive side with a +14. The stats backed that impression up today... Lamar reminds me very much of that first-half-of-the-season player we saw last year. Not the guy who had it clicking early on. Hopefully, he can start seeing the game better and the coaches can get his duff down on the post a bit more... The Cavs went on a 9-0 run in the last couple minutes of the first half as the Lakers settled for jumpers offensively and missed everything they took... After holding the Cavs to 12 points in the third quarter, the Lakers allowed 35 points in the fourth... Painful end to this all-too-often ugly roadtrip...

lakermann44 · Starting Rotation Joined: 13 Apr 2001 Posts: 272

this team is spinning it wheels and they need to make a deal.
the lakers are playing terrible basketball and jackson needs to get this team moving in the postive direction.

CorkyTomjanovich · Star Player Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 3486

Mo over Rad completely baffled me.

Evans was making mistake after mistake on both ends. Bringing his man (Snow) in so he could cause the turnover on the Bynum post up, for example. Flashed to the paint when Odom was going to post up Gibson as well.

He was awful, and I thought Rad was looking really good.

magic_bryant · Franchise Player Joined: 16 Oct 2002 Posts: 18179

The team needs to find more minutes for Sasha honestly. The way his shot is dropping, he could really help things, so long as the matchup allows it.

Would love to see his shooting percentage the last 4-5 weeks.
_________________
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."

RYZ · Star Player Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Posts: 1393

Thanks, DB.

Evans didn't play good 'D' because he's not a good defender, despite what he was branded prior to his arrival here. What he is, is a second rate offensive player who can't dribble or pass, who has terrible mechanics on his jumper, who can leap incredibly quick and high. Now don't get me wrong, he's still a remarkable upgrade from last season (when he plays backup 2), but I just don't get disappointed with his 'D' anymore because I don't think any is forthcoming.

As to L.O., he just can't be bothered right now, plain and simple. When he decides to care again, the Lakers will be measurably better, instantly. Still, it would be nice to see Phil periodically run some timeout plays
in the low post for him.

Also, I agree with your recent sentiments vis a vis Luke: They do miss him a lot. Lamar in particular misses him a lot... at least as much as Luke missed Lamar when Odom was injured.

angrypuppy · Retired Number Joined: 13 Apr 2001 Posts: 32754

Thanks DB.

As crazy as it sounds, I think Phil wanted to "bottle" Vlad's performance by not putting him back into the game, so that he had something to build upon. Needless to say, that's quite a sacrifice, but I'm hard pressed to find another consideration. He played pretty good D.

I fear that the loss of Kwame has begun to manifest itself, in the form of Andrew Bynum hitting the wall. He's looked fatigued the past few games. Some fans were way too premature in badmouthing Kwame, and laughing off suggestion that Bynum wasn't ready. Bynum has come a long way from just the summer league, but to suggest that he can handle 50 or so games of starter minutes is patently absurd, when you consider the state of his cardiovascular from the SPL. Even if Andrew was juiced on 'roids, that is too much to expect from him in such a short period of time.

Mr. EiGhTy-OnE · Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 6:13 pm Post subject:

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

dcarter4kobe · Franchise Player Joined: 30 Jul 2005 Posts: 17680

it amazes me why Vlad only played 26mins...he was haveing his best game of the season...If he could play like that 4 out of 5 games we got a steal at the MLE
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"He's a Zen master, so he can speak to you, and he doesn't need a microphone; you can hear him in your head, 'Ron, don't shoot, don't shoot.' Whatever, pow, three. I love the Zen, though."

Triple-Threat-Lakers · Star Player Joined: 18 Jan 2007 Posts: 7504

This loss is all on Phil. Nuff' said.

elroy65 · Sixth Man Joined: 09 Feb 2006 Posts: 51

It seems like Smush is the kiss of death for us.
When he plays he looks lazy, turns the ball over, can't shoot, has bad hands, makes dumb errors?
I'm not a big Smush guy as you can tell.I'd rather see Farmar get minutes and take his lumps, or play Sasah more. Maybe a few matchup minutes for Smush, but he's really stinks.
Just a sloppy game.
Yeah...and Phil makes me scratch my bald head too.

mike_dee23 · Franchise Player Joined: 03 Feb 2005 Posts: 11703

Smush made one of the best moves of his Laker career today when he pumped faked a three and then took a couple of dribbles in and nailed a 20-footer instead. I'd really like to see him doing that!

But Mo Evans has been playing horribly offensively as of late. He needs to stick to playing defense and rebounding. He has a horrible long-range jumper.

bayoucity · Sixth Man Joined: 19 Aug 2005 Posts: 73

Don't worry, LO will get it going eventually. He probably won't be up to full speed for another couple of weeks.

The reason you lost is because of the long road trip. This game was yours for the taking because the Cavs are incredibly stale on offense but the Lakers defense let them off the hook. Mo Evans killed you today. He deserved the hook.

IMO, the bottom line is you guys miss Luke Walton. He is incredibly important to your creativity and flow on offense. When he gets back, a lot of things will fall into place. He is the "glue" guy and may be more important to this team than LO.

Lastly, you better hope for a PG trade of some sort. In Houston, we complain about Rafer Alston but Smush Parker makes Rafer look like Einstein.

Sage_10 · Star Player Joined: 24 Dec 2005 Posts: 6668

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"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

JUST-MING · Retired Number Joined: 23 Jun 2005 Posts: 43990

Our defense lost this one. Did anyone count the layups and dunks? Pitiful.

A Mad Chinaman · Star Player Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Posts: 6148

DB - it seemed like the Lakers just ran out of gas. It was especially noticeable when LO didn't seem to have the energy to impose his game/will in the low post - unless he was trying to bring Gooden out of the paint because of their dominance on the boards.

DancingBarry · Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 11:37 pm Post subject:

^ I think that was the case for a couple guys. Bynum looked like tired Bynum from the SPL. But I think LO looked very much like the one early last season where he hung out on the perimeter a bit. His lack of movement at times and his positioning was deja vu. We were also doing that watch Kobe thing from last year, too. (Definitely miss Luke in that regard).

Runway8 · Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 11:44 pm Post subject:

"According to Kobe, no one else wanted to step up in that sequence," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "That was something we were looking for: somebody else to try and get going."

Why does he have to say according to Kobe? Does he have a difference of opinion? Why did he lave Mo Evans out there who can't hit squat and was schooled by the other Sasha all game, while Radman sits on the bench after having his best 3 quarters in a while?

8750 · Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 11:52 pm Post subject:

thanks, DB...
you can play as a team and you can convince (aka brainwash) kobe to trust his teammates, but at the end you can't draw blood from a stone... if your players don't have any character, you can't transform them into fighters... if most of your players don't have defensive and/or offensive skills, you can't change their talent... if most of your players don't have decent basketball iq, you can't make them smarter teaching triangles... at this point kobe the facilitator is sadly showing how poor his teammates are... for me, it was evident from the beginning.... never trusted the naive "we are young, talented and improving"...
and then the triangle... i appreciate the intricacies of the triple post offense, but many and many times here -as you perfectly know, DB- i demanded a more open-minded vision of that formula... it seems to me that the problem is about spacing... spacing is becoming more and more difficult because today the players are higher, faster, much more athletic than in the past... maybe the only way to find good spacing is running a very fast style, like suns and also mavs... is triangle becoming obsolete?...

DancingBarry · Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:06 am Post subject:

DancingBarry · Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:50 am Post subject:

A Mad Chinaman · Star Player Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Posts: 6148

DancingBarry · Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 1:12 am Post subject:

magic_bryant · Franchise Player Joined: 16 Oct 2002 Posts: 18179

he_is_the_one · Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:44 am Post subject:

A Mad Chinaman · Star Player Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Posts: 6148