KINGS -at- LAKERS - 3/2 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings

[DancingBarry]

No Sense of Urgency... While the Lakers got Kwame back in the lineup, they lost Mo Evans with injury for this game. Swap Cook for Mo and that lack of infectious energy was apparent from the start. The Lakers just kept giving up easy looks on the defensive end on their way to the 116-108 loss.

The Lakers came out flat, got down quick after the Kings went on a 10-0 run to start. Then, they saw the Kings get some distance from the freethrow line in the second quarter. The Kings were able to get easy, wide open looks and tons of freethrows in the first half to pull to large 64-48. They were also the aggressors on D in the first half, trapping, playing tight on the ball, and overplaying passing lanes off the ball.

After both teams played even in the third, the Lakers mounted a comeback behind Lamar. They cut the lead under 10, but again got caught giving up easy FTs and scores.

While Kwame was back, he was clearly out of rhythm on the offensive end. He did okay on the defensive end. Hopefully, he can ramp it up during this roadtrip. Mo out, Kwame in, Bynum not practicing because of sickness, Luke still sidelined with Vlad and Mihm...new lineups with Shammond and McKie...the team badly needs to get some health and stability in the last quarter of the season.

Kobe -- -- Kobe had 30 points and 10 assists with just 1 turnover mostly against Artest. Nice offensive game, impressive numbers. Defensively, pretty average at times against Martin or on his rotations. After the Kings went on a 10-0 run, Kobe hit a jumper to open the Lakers scoring. He attacked next time down, spun on Artest and drew a foul, he made both. Nice bouncepass to LO for a dunk. He posted up, turned in the lane and hit a short jumper. He knocked down a wing jumper over Artest. He attacked and kicked to McKie for an open jumper. He hit a wing jumper in front of the three line. He pulled up and nailed his fifth straight shot. He then missed a couple of threes. He spun away from the double, drew a foul and made both FTs. He beat his man with a step-through move and hit a floater in the middle of the lane. He broke the zone press, getting into the middle and hitting Bynum with a no-look bouncepass for a dunk. He kicked out off the two-man game to Cook for a jumper. He airballed a turnaround. He had 16 points and 6 assists in the first half. He hit Drew with a bouncepass off the pick and roll for a throwdown. He cut off of Lamar who was iso'ing, took the pass and scored a reverse. He attacked in transition, missed, but LO threw down. He scooped up a loose ball and took it the distance for a soft dunk. He hit Bynum again off the screen-roll for a dunk. He hit a tech FT. He spun, missed, wanted the call and lost the ball. He hit a wing jumper with Martin trying to avoid contact. He attacked a couple of times and made all four FTs after getting the calls late. He hit a three. He missed a three. I'll take 30-10 games with 1 turnover all year long...but they are meaningless when we can't clamp down on D.

Lamar -- -- A tale of two halves for Lamar. He was sleepwaking in the first half on both ends, then turned it on in the second half and helped the Lakers mount a small comeback. One thing was consistent, he couldn't finish around the rim, missing several easy ones. At the end of the night, some very good numbers: 26 points on 8-19 shooting (9-10 from the line), 13 rebounds, 6 assists with just 1 turnovers and 1 steal in 37:34 of action. Lamar was icing down his shoulder after the game. He said it was just sore, but it did seem to be bothering him at times during the game. HE will get an MRI done. Phil didn't like some of his decision-making in the first half. He missed a jumper on his first attempt. He got yelled at by Phil for not running the Tri right. He threw a behind the back pass that was picked off for a score the other way. He took the bouncepass from Kobe and dunked on Miller. He scored a layup attacking to his left in semi-transition. He somehow missed a point-blank layup, then airballed a three early in the shotclock on the same possession. He picked up his third foul and had to sit in the second quarter. Poor first half, he had 4 points, 2 assists and 2 rebounds...so that means he had 22 points, 4 assists and 11 boards in the second half. Wow. He hit a little fade from 8 feet to start the third. He missed a point-blank layup again, uggh. He hit Kobe cutting to the hoop for a reverse. He followed up Kobe's bust out, dunking back in his miss. He drew FTs attacking from the top of the key, he made both. He stole an inbounds, drew a foul and missed an easy And-1, he made both FTs. He missed another easy And-1, but drained both FTs. Great help D to come over and contest a shot, after gathering the miss, he pushed it out quickly and hit Sasha filling the lane for the layup. He missed a three. He attacked off the dribble to his left and finger rolled in a scoop. He took contact, no call and missed. He was outraged on the other end when his man slapped his arm away for a score and he picked up a tech. Ticked, he posted up, drew a foul and made both FTs. He hit a catch-and-shoot baseline jumper. He overpowered Artest in the post and scored an easy layup. He backed him down again, then airballed a jumphook, should have been a foul...he then got whistled for a touch foul on Bibby running back up court. He attacked, missed a finger roll, got it back and drew FTs. making one (he reached back up with his left and took some contact and grabbed his shoulder, it had been bothering him a little before that play but it was more noticeable on this one). Overall, great second half. Wish we could have had him throttling it up early, too.

Bynum -- -- No practice for several days straight with the flu, but he put together an okay game. There were a couple of incidents where he wasn't anchoring the D or getting out to contest shots. Nice job working the pick and roll with Kobe on the offensive end...it would be nice if we had a PG setting him up that way a little more, too. He scored 11 points on 5-7 shooting, grabbed 6 boards, had 2 assists, 4 turnovers and 2 blocked shots in 28:26 of action. He had some footwork/three-second type of turnovers...one of those was bogus. He was called for moving his pivot foot after sealing and trying to reverse. He missed a turnaround jumper, short. He dunked off a bouncepass from Kobe against the zone. He set a screen for Kobe, rolled to the hoop, took the return feed and was able to take a couple steps and throwdown. He was fouled by Martin while going up to finish, he made one FT. He flashed to the ball, took the pass in the paint and hit a jumphook. He scored a layup off a high pass over the D from Smush. He set the screen for Kobe, rolled and threwdown again. He was called for a bogus travel when he faced up to shoot in traffic (his pivot foot was anchored). He missed a turnaround against the shotclock.

Smush -- -- A flat-footed game from Smush at times on the defensive end. He ended up getting benched late for Sasha. He led the Lakers with a -20. Hopefully, he gets up for the next game...he's got his hands full. Smush scored 8 points on 4-6 shooting, dished 3 assists wtih 3 turnovers and had 2 steals in 24 minutes. Out of a timeout, he worked off the Bynum screen and hit a baseline jumper. He filled the lane and threwdown on the break. He threw a couple bad passes, a lob Kobe couldn't get and another pass out of bounds trying to hit Cook inside. He faked the three, attacked the paint and finger rolled in a layup. He missed a three. He hit a pull-up jumper from the wing. He missed a runner. He picked up his third foul and had to sit late in the first half. He had 8 points on 4-6 shooting in the first half, didn't score in the second half. He hit Bynum with a high entry for a layup. He had an entry pass picked off. Martin went around him like he was standing still...wait, he was standing still.

Cook -- -- Uggggh! He was a one-man rally killer at one point in this game. Very poor defense and he couldn't take advantage of Kevin Martin covering him on the other end. When we have to start him, we are more open to his weaknesses being exposed. That was the case tonight. He scored 7 points on 3-5 shooting, grabbed 7 boards (a nice bit of defensive rebound just prior to getting his fifth foul) and had 6 turnovers...6 in 21 minutes. Ouch. He posted up Martin, took the pass over the fronting D, spun and hit over the help defender. He hit a long wing jumper off the two-man game with Kobe. He hit a frozen rope three from the top of the key. He had a series of turnovers (travel, three-seconds, dropped pass) against Martin in the post, pretty inept play...while giving absolutely nothing on the other end. Then, he threw a long outlet pass out of bounds, horrible pass and Staples was booing. He was killing us. He picked up his fifth foul and sat late in the third.

Kwame -- -- "My ankle got kind of sore in the second half, so I wasn't able to assert myself," Kwame said. "Hopefully, against Phoenix I can do a little more on the offensive end." He added that he was pleased with how it held up, and that he was able to provide something on the defensive end even though we got killed. The Kings were able to take advantage of him a bit with smaller players defensively and some full-court pressure, which often wound up with the ball in Kwame's hands, not knowing what to do with it. Kwame played 19:34 of action, he didn't shoot or score, grabbed 3 boards, tallied 3 assists and had 1 block. He came in for Bynum with 3 minutes left in the first quarter. He hit McKie in the paint for a score. He got away with a goaltend, knocking a shot after it hit the backboard. He was called for a foul on what looked like a very good block shortly later (make up call).

Turiaf -- 8) -- With Kwame back, Turiaf off got to run at the PF again. This should help us defensively, unless Phil buries Turiaf on the bench again. We could have used Ronny's energy in the starting lineup instead of Cook. That would have also made it much more difficult on the Kings, who were able to stick Martin on Cook and match up better against Kobe and LO. Ronny played just 10:15, scoring 2 points on 1-3 shooting, pulling down 5 boards in that time and blocking 1 shot. He swatted dribble penetration early on. He cut off Garcia and drew a charge. He hit a catch-and-shoot 18-footer from out top. He picked up a double tech with Williamson, bumping him and then staring him down when he grabbed ahold of Ronny's jersey.

Shammond -- -- Shammond played 12 minutes and scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting. He missed a three. Bad position D, allowing Bibby an angle to get into the lane and draw a foul. He swiped a ball from Bibby but couldn't get the layup with his left to go at the third quarter buzzer. The offense froze off an inbounds, so Shammond took the three and drained it for his lone score.

McKie -- -- Who was that in the first half? Did we pick up a new player off waivers? Did he call up Mutombo and ask what he's been drinking? McKie scored more points in the first half of this game, then he did all last season. He sank his first six shots of the game, by far his best stint offensively of Laker ball. He hit a long sideline jumper, standing on the three line. He took a feed from Kwame and finished in the lane. He hit a jumper from the top of the key. He posted up Martin and swished a turnaround jumper. He hit a wing jumper. He then stole the ball on the other end from Bibby. He faked a three, took a dribble in and hit another wing jumper. He had 12 points on 6-6 shooting in the first half. He missed an FT jumper on his only attempt of the second half. He also had 3 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals and 5 fouls in 25 minutes. He had to cover Artest for a few sequences in the game.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha got a little more run in this game with Mo out and Smush not providing much defensively. Sasha played some soft D, combined with perimeter fouls with some energy mixed in. He finished with 7 points on 3-7 shooting in 19:29. Stupid perimeter foul, giving up FTs 40 feet away. He missed a three. He missed another three. He got out on the break as Lamar pushed it up, took the pass and scored the layup. He pushed Martin trying to get to a loose ball rebound. The Lakers finally got the lead under 10 when Sasha drained a three off a swing pass midway through the fourth. He then gave it back on two possession in a row...he gave Bibby FTs with a reach in the backcourt (phantom foul, IMO), and then his man backscreened Kobe and Sasha didn't switch, giving up a layup. He missed a three. He scored a token layup, late. He missed a runner.

Farmar -- -- In for the last minute of garbage time, he scored a layup off an inbounds pass.

Phil -- -- We started with Cook in place of the injured Evans, sliding Lamar to SF. I thought with Kwame back, it would have been nice to start Ronny at PF to give us some of that missing energy. Plus, we could have gotten some better defensive match ups for one of Kobe or LO. We ended up on our heels for the first three quarters... Phil matched up small against the Kings late in the first, bringing in McKie to cover Artest. He then went to Turiaf in at PF... The Lakers got caught in the FT grinder in the second quarter, giving up easy points all quarter long from the stripe... The Kings went 19-24 from the line to the Lakers 4-4 in the first half... The Lakers also had trouble with the Kings trap and zone. We ended up with Kwame getting the ball in the middle of the zone on several occasions. That's not normally going to work, but especially when he's just come back after being gone for a couple of months. Finally, we got Kobe in the middle of that zone and that was that... At halftime, the Laker coaches cited the team's lack of energy as a problem to start the game. Did I mention we should have started Ronny?... Luke will see a specialist at USC on Monday and will be re-evaluated. It feels good walking and then I try to play basketball, and I just can't," Walton said. "Cutting and jumping, I can't do."...

[A Mad Chinaman]

It's hard for Kobe/LO/Bynum to defend 5 players consistently.

With Smush's PT going down to 24 minutes, when will he be motivated to be consistent?

It was HHAAARRRDDDD watching Cook miss a pass from Kobe that hit him on his hands (I guess it was the wrong place), missed a defensive switch that allowed Miller to have a clean uncontested shot than threw a pass completely over Smush's head with LO right next to him asking for the ball!

Maybe Kobe has to get into somebody/everybody's face to FOCUS and COMMIT to winning instead of just playing "around!"

[PLATNUM]

Just when you think the team might be turning the corner and "getting it" they suffer a defeat to ANOTHER turd of a team. That's your '06-'07 Lakers for ya. Disappointing.
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"Dread it, run from it... destiny arrives all the same."

[Klone_dd]

How appropriate - a Cook with 6 turnovers. Makes you wanna pop him fresh, doesn't it?

Cookie + Smush in the starting lineup = two lackadaisical attitudes that infect the other three.

Good games by our primary ballhandlers and scorers were wasted by non-communicating, slow rotating defense. It's funny how we all complain that the guys are too tired to play b2b's and then play with even less energy when they have an extended period of offdays.

Glad to see LO get super aggressive, but where was that in the 1st half? Welcome back, Kwame. Get well soon, Mo and Luke - we need one of back so we can get Cookie back to the bench. McKie may have some gas left in the tank after all.

[TooCool]

Thanks DB again.

Losing to the Suckramento Queens always stinks...
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[DancingBarry]

[magic_bryant]

$3 million extension.
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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."

[Mation]

At least we got the one-two punch from Odom and Kobe. Too bad Kobe was on the bench while Odom started to heat up in the second half. We need that one-two punch when both of them are on the floor together.

[laker4life]

[angrypuppy]

What is Cook's natural position?

a. At Shooting Guard.
b. In a lower Euroleague.
c. On the floor, after a weak flop.
d. Fetal, after yet another beat down.
e. All of the above.

[8750]

thanks, DB
that's definitely the genetic code of this team: a bunch of soft players without any character and an old, lazy, conservative coach without any energy... at this point it's sadly evident that our coach is not able to motivate these players...
what is worse is that while cook and smush and sasha are only bad role players, andrew bynum is so far showing a very weak attitude... he's very young and we have to wait, but it would be very sad if the fundament of our future would be another talented player with a soft character...

[Sage_10]

Thanks DB, tough loss. I really expected a W.
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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

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

-bad refs
-horrible D
-Lamar needs to play like he did in the second half all the time
-no more deep 3's by smush and lamar with 15 secs left on the shot clock
-we always play horrible after a layoff........unacceptable!
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[Rick12322]

[LakersSpirit]

Just when you thought that they had figured it out... What a comedown... On our own homecourt!!... These are not the Lakers, that originally attracted me, in the 80's. The play, last night, was not much different, from the way we were playing in the 90's, or the period just after Phil had, temporarily, retired.

I had to do a double-take... It started to look like the game was being played in Sacramento!! They played, as if, they felt right at home. Our players played, as if, they had just come from a pot party. Lamar, especially, looked like he was totally bonged out. Later, Lamar sputtered to life, as he sliced through the defense. Even some of Lamar's layups, however, seemed to be unfocused, and failed to go in.

The only consistent bright spot seemed to be the play of McKie, who was given a rare chance. I was already sold, on McKie's ability to distribute the ball, and instigate the offense... McKie's ability to score, demonstrated in this last game, is just a big bonus. Last night's game bolstered one of my theories, that we just have to give our better ballhandlers a chance to run the offense. Give them a chance to run the team, on the court. Have the rest of the team play to the rhythm and tempo that they set.

We have bigs, that are struggling, with their defense. Andrew is just learning how to move his feet, gain position, and how to stay out of foul trouble. Kwame is trying to get into shape again, but I couldn't help noticing, that he seemed to also have trouble moving his feet, and getting into a good defensive position. It really isn't any wonder, that Kwame injures his ankles, the way he wildly jumps around, on defense. Kwame needs to start playing like a veteran.

Laker Fans are just going to have to "bite-the-bullet" again, this season... The rest of this season looks very bleak, at best. We may have a coach, that fails to recognize what works, and applying it. We have good ballhandlers, that are not getting the chance to run the offense. We seem to have a few star players, that still get in one another's way. Our whole team looks disjointed, instead of playing, smoothly, and together.
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"Teamwork is a nebulous thing. It is as ephemeral as love, disappearing at the latest insult.".... Phil Jackson

[ProjectAB]

It remains to be seen, but so far, the success with Turiaf at PF has been very sporadic. It was clear that the Kwame, Turiaf, and Odom frontcourt wasn't going to make any ground yesterday. In addition to Odom being ineffective at SF, Turiaf still doesn't have enough confidence on his shot, which leads to him passing up wide open shots, all of this nullify the potential defense of such a lineup.

[SweetP]

[LakersSpirit]

[SweetP]

[akk7]

DB in the Odom section it says he shot 9-10 on three point land, but only made 8 shots the whole game. Check that out.

[ProjectAB]

[PopcornMachine]

[jmnluvr]

[Addicus]

[CorkyTomjanovich]