LAKERS -at- JAZZ - 2/26 - Thoughts and :-)) ratings

[DancingBarry]

Cranking up the D... Makes you wonder what a little defensive practice every so often might do for these guys. After a couple of practices working on D and running with a more veteran oriented lineup, the Lakers have started to flex some defensive muscle. The Lakers held the Jazz to 40.7 percent shooting on their way to a 102-94 road win.

The blowouts in the previous two games and the early starting time in the last game, made the back-to-back road situation much easier on the Lakers. Defensively, Phil put Lamar on Okur and Bynum on Boozer and we essentially shut down their post game. We also stayed tight on both players when they were shooting jumpers.

Offensively, Kobe got to the freethrow line again and again in the second quarter, manufacturing points while his perimeter game was still cold. Down the stretch Kobe hit some big shots along with Lamar, who was an assist shy of a triple-double, and Smush who went 6-8 from three.


Kobe -- -- With a sore throat and a hyper-extended left elbow, Kobe painfully carried his team over the Jazz. He closed them out with a couple of huge scores and clutch freethrows in the crunch time, including a sensational putback dunk. Kobe got to see how D-Wade lives in this one, getting to the line 24 times and making 21. He had a Laker record-setting second quarter from the line when he made 14 FTs. He scored 35 points on 7-21 shooting (0-4 from three), grabbed 8 boards dished 4 assists and had 2 steals in 44 minutes. Great game. He attacked Giricek twice off the dribble and drew fouls on AK who contested, Kobe missed his first two, made his second two and AK went to the bench early. He missed Bynum wide open under the hoop as Fish deflected his pass. He attacked and kicked to Smush for an open three. He missed a pull-up from the wing. He swung through and drew FTs to start the second quarter scoring, he made both. He backdoored his man, took the pass, showed the ball on one side of the rim, brought it back down and back up to hit the reverse. He drew a double on the perimeter and it led to a Cook three. Nice D, stepping around his man with speed to knock a ball loose, gather it and throw it back in bounds. He entered the ball to the post, cut quickly, got it back and drew the foul, he made both. He pumped a couple of times, rose up for the jumper and got tapped on the elbow by Giricek, who then drew a tech, Kobe made all three FTs (and there was much gnashing of teeth by Jazz fans). He missed a three. He stole the ball from Brown and was wrapped up on the other end, he made both FTs. He put on a left arm sleeve and finally hit another jumper, this time from the wing. He faked Giricek in the air, jumped into him to create contact and drew three FTs, he made two of three. Sloan got a tech on the other end shortly later, Kobe sank that. He kicked out to Smush for a three. He missed a three over the zone. He got trampled on the perimeter and hit both FTs. He hit a pull-up wing jumper going two-for-one. He didn't get a shot off at the half, dribbling it too far into the corner. He scored 22 points on 16-19 FTs in the first half. In addition to setting a Laker record for FT makes in a quarter with 14 in that second quarter, he tied Laker records for attempts in a half and a quarter. He missed a pull-up jumper. He missed a crazy turnaround attempt over Giricek (needs to attack off the dribble). He attacked his next possession and drew a foul on AK under the hoop. He hit back-to-back wing jumpers with AK on him to start the fourth. He then lost the ball on a drive and missed a three. He attacked and kicked to Smush who hit the open three. He made a tech FT. He airballed a fading three trying to beat the shotclock on an inbounds play and airballed a pumping jumper against AK on back-to-back possessions. He missed a corner jumper against the shot clock, Mo grabbed the board, missed a putback, but Kobe darted in from the corner snagged it with both hands and flushed--huge putback dunk late in the game. He hit a big fading jumper across the lane. The Jazz fouled him and he made both FTs with 19 seconds left. Nice job again on both ends of the court by Kobe. They said he was a game-time decision...but if he can walk and shoot with one hand, he will play. "He forced us to help in a lot of situations and Smush Parker was able to get a lot of open looks at the basket," said DFish. "Defensively they are a tough team to match up against."

Lamar -- -- Mr. Near Triple Double, back again. It's been a while since I've been able to say that. Huge game from LO. Defensively, he started out on Okur and mostly covered him, except for some stints on AK when we needed him there. Lamar challenged Okur in the post and challenged him on the perimeter, never giving him easy looks. He held the All Star to 3-19 shooting and just 9 points...one wonders if there wasn't a little statement being made there. Lamar was fairly aggressive throughout. He scored 19 points on 7-13 shooting, pulled down 14 boards and dished 9 assists with just 1 turnover in 39 minutes. He posted up Boozer and hit a jumphook over him. He missed a pull-up jumper. He attacked the baseline and fed Bynum for a layup. He followed Mo's breakout, missed, got it back and put it over the front of the rim. He posted up Milsap, attacked in the paint and scored easily over him. He isolated at the top of the key, attacked to his left, cut back to his right and scored a layup with his off hand. He hit Cook with the extra pass for a three. He had 8 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in the first half. He hit a step-back 17-footer over Boozer. He drained a three from the top of the key. He missed a layup trying to take it coast to coast, boat it was cleaned up by Turiaf. He missed a three at the third-quarter buzzer. He attacked and hit Ronny who drew FTs. He attacked and kicked to Smush for a three. He sank a baseline jumper with 3:50 left. Out of a timeout on the next possession, he iso'd against Boozer, drew the D and kicked to Evans for a three. Aggressive on the next possession, he drew a foul on a jumper and made both FTs. He hit a couple of late FTs when the game was iced.

Bynum -- -- Man, he didn't fill that stat sheet but he did have a solid impact on this game. He held Boozer into pretty much a non-factor, using his length well to challenge shots. There was never a sense of the Jazz able to bleed us in the post, despite their attempts. Bynum played 33 minutes and scored just 2 points on 1-2 shooting, grabbed only 3 boards and blocked 2 shots. He got a bad call as Boozer lowered his shoulder into him, then tried to shoot over him while Bynum stood still with arms up and Bynum somehow drew the foul. He scored a layup off a Lamar drive and kick for his only hoop. He rejected Okur badly at the front of the rim. Nice contest on another drive and it looked like he got a piece of the shot. He hit Mo cutting baseline and it drew FTs. He missed a jumphook. Nice help D block on Okur, jumping out on him in the lane.

Smush -- -- Big offensive game from Smush, including hitting a couple of clutch threes. Unfortunately, his D consisted of either not challenging jumpers or fouling DFish when he did challenge to give up a crunch-time four-point play. Thankfully, we weathered that. Smush was on fire from the perimeter, sinking 6-8 from beyond the arc and 9-13 shots overall for 24 points in 35 minutes. He hit a deep baseline jumper from a tough angle. He sank a three off a drive and kick from Kobe. He sank another long three over his man. He pulled up on the break and swished a jumper. They set up a shot for Smush next time down, he bounced out from under the hoop at the wing and swished a quick catch-and-shoot three. He had 13 points in the first quarter on 5-5 shooting. After resting 6 minutes, he came back in and hit a three from the corner on a kickout by Kobe. He missed a three over the zone. He dribbled the ball off his feet, OC on the break. He had 16 points in the first half on 6-7 shooting. He missed a three. He missed a mid-range jumper. He hit a runner off the glass. He picked up a couple of fouls and had to sit with four with more than 4 minutes left in the third. He drained a wing three on a kickout from Kobe midway through the fourth. He sank another catch-and-shoot three off a kickout from Lamar with 4:24 left. Stupid foul on DFish, giving up a four-point play in the last minute. Very efficient game from Smush, getting those 24 points on just 13 shots.

Evans -- -- The Iceman Cometh Back. After stringing together a few games of the Mo on Fire...we saw the Cold Mo back again. His streakiness nearly got the better of us in this game, but he hit a big fourth-quarter three when we needed it. Mo went 2-11 (1-4 from three, 5-6 from the line) for 10 points, he grabbed 7 boards and had 1 assist in 34 minutes. It wasn't pretty, but 10 and 7 isn't too bad. He missed his first four jumpers. He then missed a layup in transition. Good hustle to get an offensive board, he then fed Bynum, cut, got it back and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a three over the zone. He attacked from the elbow off the weakside counter and he drew FTs, he made one. He airballed a three from the corner. He missed a short baseline jumper. The Jazz started posting up AK on Evans, so Phil finally pulled him. He curled from the weakside, took the pass and threw down to get his first hoop of the game in the fourth. Finally, a perimeter shot...his man left him, Mo took a pass and swished a wing three with just over 3 minutes left. Nice job on the offensive glass, pulling down a board, missing, but Kobe cleaned it up rather nicely. He just dropped a ball right out of bounds in the last minute. He hit a couple late FTs after grabbing a defensive board.

Cook -- -- Decent game from Cook. He mixed it up well on the defensive glass and led the bench scoring. He also allowed us to move Lamar to SF for some stints. He scored 8 points on 3-7 shooting (2-4 from three), grabbed 4 boards and had 1 assist. Nice backdoor bounce pass to Kobe for the reverse on his assist. He swished an open three from the corner. He sank a wing jumper over Boozer. He missed a three over the zone. He tried to take Milsap off the dribble and missed a spinning bank. He sank a three out of a timeout. He missed a long three. He missed a wing jumper.

Turiaf -- -- Ronny fouled out in just 15 minutes. Hopefully, Kwame gets back soon and Ronny can go back to his more natural PF position. He still provided some decent team D and did his best to anchor the paint. He scored 4 points on 1-1 shooting, 2-2 from the line, grabbed just 1 offensive board and blocked 1 shot. He winged a shot in the paint on a nice contest. He was credited for a hoop challenging for the offensive board and getting Milsap to tip it in. Lamar collapsed the D and fed Ronny, he was fouled and made both. Wow, a very nice challenge late, then he ripped an defensive board right out of Araujo's hands. He fouled out with 4:42 left trying to defend the post against Okur.

Shammond -- 8) -- Shammond came off the bench again as the No. 2 guard, neither Farmar or Sasha saw minutes...which was Phil's plan the last two games until they turned into blowouts. Shammond had a +3 on the night and didn't take a shot in his 13 minutes, although he tried once. He had 1 steal and 2 fouls. He drew a tech on a touch foul call trying to stay with his man cutting down the lane (the refs were a little hyper sensitive at this point of the game). He attacked the paint off a high screen and kicked to Cook for the three. He forced a pass when he was challenged trying to beat the buzzer and Bynum was forced into a 24-second violation.

McKie -- -- McKie played 10 uneventful minutes...which is better than 10 minutes doing things poorly. The result, a 0 on his +/- rating. I have have no notes on his game. He didn't take a shot, grabbed 1 board and had 1 foul.

Phil -- -- Phil finally planted Farmar and Sasha firmly on the bench, as he was planning in the last two games. When Kwame and Luke do return, it will be interesting to see who goes to the IR... The Lakers got the Jazz in the bonus early in the second quarter and manufactured points at the line, eventually pulling to a 14-points lead... The Lakers had a 12-point lead when the Jazz went to the zone. They missed three straight three attempts before Phil called a timeout with the lead cut in half. Phil subbed in Cook to help with the zone, but it didn't make much impact. The Jazz rallied back to trail by 5 in the first half. The lead was lost quickly into the second half... Phil brought Cook in at PF for Evans midway through the third, sliding LO to the 3 spot... Down the stretch, Phil was more liberal with his timeout usage. He called one with 3:23 left, up by three. We went to LO on iso attack against Boozer, he drew the D and kicked to Mo for a three. A big possession... Phil said he got on Lamar to be a little more aggressive. LO led all Lakers with a +15 when he was on the floor. The next highest Lakers were Kobe and Ronny with +6 each...

[1hu2ren3dui4]

WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!!

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-Most people learn by saying mother, numb, horse, angry... I learned mine by saying Lakers, add gas. - HRD.

[1hu2ren3dui4]

GO LAKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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-Most people learn by saying mother, numb, horse, angry... I learned mine by saying Lakers, add gas. - HRD.

[ocho]

defense should be practiced EVERY practice. it should be the main focus of the team right now. scoring hasn't been a problem since....well...i don't think it's been a problem for any laker team. we always score enough points to win. it's getting the stops that we need when we need them that poses the real problem.

GREAT win. especially with kobe not feeling too hot.

lamar deserves big props.
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14-5-3-12

[magic_bryant]

Big props to LO. Finally woke up.

Now, gotta string together a few games like this.
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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."

[LakerLanny]

Big big win.

Kobe was great I thought, LO too.

Gotta give it up for Smush and Sasha finally played his role to perfection.
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Love, Laker Lanny

[- Sean -]

The D has definitely picked up. Evans has a lot to do w/ that IMO. His activity level is infectious...and in a way, intimidating to the opposition.

Utah is the team LA needs to face in round one.

[Mation]

Awesome win!

Man, the Jazz team is pretty deep.

Can't believe they outrebounded us only by 1.

Shammond had some good defensive pressure when the Jazz guards were bringing the ball up.

Wish D-Fish was still in the P&G!

Thanks DB!

[DancingBarry]

Nice quote from Kobe...wish I had it before I did my report:


"If I was feeling a little wimpish, I got a good dose of [General] Patton today on AMC," Bryant said. "That knocked the yellow belly right out of me."

[DancingBarry]

[Klone_dd]

Very satisfying win in a building that hasn't been too friendly to opposing teams.

"Kobe got to see how D-Wade lives in this one" - nice one, DB. Kobe was really struggling from the field. It seems that the Utes were primed to knock him around physically so he wouldn't be able to take over in the 4th. Nevertheless, Kobe was able to make the big play at the end.

Other guys stepped up in the 4th. Clutch shots by Lamar, Smushie and Mo. Some good interior D shut down Boozer and putting LO on Okur was excellent strategy. See, Phil actually can coach.

[DancingBarry]

Look at all these vet posters in this thread already. Nice to see.

[1hu2ren3dui4]

^boy, DB. i dont post much this season as much as i used to, but ive certainly had a good time this season. after the recent few games we had, it's nice to see the lakers take this one on a back to back (and three in a row).

the collective laker nation took a deep breath tonight.
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-Most people learn by saying mother, numb, horse, angry... I learned mine by saying Lakers, add gas. - HRD.

[A Mad Chinaman]

It appears that Phil did a "Pat Riley" with Shammond and McKie (allowing the older players take it easy before the All-Star Break while using the games after the break to get ready for the playoffs) and it is presently working - especially on the defensive side of the ball which allows Bynum a decent shot at staying in the game (instead of constantly having to leave his man to defend the driver?!/!?!)

With Shammond and Williams getting more and more minutes, the defensive lapses of Smush are limited by his playing time with Sasha/Jordan learning on the bench.

DB - It will be interesting who will be on the IR with Vlad. Seemingly it will be one guard (probably Jordan since he appears to be physically drained to play at NBA-level) and one forward (Cook?!?!?!) - which one do you think it will be.

[TooCool]

Great win by the Lakers. I love seeing Kobe with all those Free Throws. Joel and Stu sounded so surprised... which is not a shocker.

Kobe SHOULD be going to the line that often, since he gets assulted everytime he's on the floor. Finally the refs decide to call something fair, and see what the outcome is?

Great game though, but the whole unable to counter against the Zone is a bit ridiculous to watch sometimes... since we just start jacking up 3s.
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[waterman40]

It's rewarding to see this team beat a quality team like the Jazz, with such a decimated front line. Man, if we get Kwame and Luke back healthy, we will be in good shape for the playoffs.
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LAKERS 2019-2020: NBA World Champions!

[- Sean -]

[LA]

how long is Mo's contract? how much is he set to make next season?
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[A Mad Chinaman]

[Laker_Holic]

[- Sean -]

[Shaber]

I wonder what Phil is up to with Farmar and Sasha?

Farmar may just need some rest. That's OK.

Sasha has been rather solid this year. Not exceptionally good, but solid. And his D has been there. Are McKie and Williams really better in D than Vujacic? They for sure are not better offensively. It is great that they move the ball, but think of it, they had 23 minutes combined and did not even attempt a single shot. Neither did they get an assist. That's weak!

[LA]

[Sage_10]

Huge win. Thanks DB.
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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

[lakerican]