LAKERS -at- SIXERS - 3/9 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings

[DancingBarry]

March Madness... After a 31-point second quarter, the Lakers were held to just 35 points in the second half on their way to dropping another road game 108-92 to the Sixers.

Again, their depleted lineup left them playing some unusual combinations. With Cook in foul trouble and eventually fouling out, Phil had some small lineups out there with players like McKie at power forward.

The Lakers offense stalled out twice in the first six minutes of the third and fourth quarters. Kobe was hot in the first half and not in the second half. Shammond was the Lakers second scorer with a new Laker high of 14 points. Kwame added a double-double of 11 and 10.

What can the Lakers do?

Simple. Get healthy.


Kobe -- -- Kobe put together a great first half, then fizzled out. He finished scoring 30 points on 12-27 shooting (3-7 from three, 3-3 from the line...little attacking), he grabbed 4 boards and dished 4 assists in 44 minutes. He hit a jumper from the top of the key on his first touch. He forced up a three with a man on him and bricked, odd decision. He sank a baseline turnaround. He hit another pull-up from the top of the key. He attacked in transition, threw a sweet no-looker to Mo, who fumbled it to Smush for a score. He sank a three from the wing. He missed his next three attempt. He sank a corner three in Korver's grill. He missed a baseline pull-up. To start the second quarter, he hit a turnaround in the lane and got hit with no call. He then kicked out off the double to Shammond for a three. He hit another turnaround from the elbow. He picked up his second foul with 9 minutes left in the half. Kwame found him cutting backdoor and Kobe flipped in the reverse. He split the double, attacked, took contact and finished an And-1 with his left, he made the FT. He had 21 points on 9-13 shooting in the first half. He fouled Iguodala and gave him a four-point play. He missed a pull-up jumper. He swished an elbow jumper. He then clanked several more shots. He swished a 30-foot three with Iguodala right on him. He then swiped the ball and drew a foul, making both. He missed a couple more shots and sank a meaningless FT jumper. He scored 9 points in the second half.

Bynum -- -- He looks like he's dragging a bit out there. Still, he had some nice sequences of blocking shots or boxing out on the boards. Offensively, he was a non factor and not very aggressive. He scored just 2 points on 0-4 shooting, 2-4 from the line, he grabbed 5 boards, dished 3 assists with 4 turnovers and had 4 blocked shots in 33 minutes. He missed a two-footer, short, and Phil got mad at him for not being more aggressive. He lost the ball trying to make a spin move. He missed a jumphook. He grabbed an offensive board and was called for a travel, looked like it should have been a foul. Kobe set him up for FTs and he made one. Nice help D, roofing the dribble penetration and igniting the break. He traveled off the screen-roll. He missed about a 17-foot jumpshot in this one. If he could pick up his perimeter game at some point, the Kwame-Bynum lineup might have a bit of chemistry.

Smush -- -- Smush sucked badly on both ends. Miller had his way with him and their was a very noticeable difference in the game with Smush in vs. Shammond in. Smush finished with 4 points on 2-8 shooting (0-4 from three), 3 boards and 3 assists in 28 minutes. He missed a jumper from the corner. He scored a layup in transition when Mo fumbled a Kobe pass. He hit a pull-up wing jumper behind a Bynum screen. He missed a fading three, poor decision. Miller was killing him on penetration and Smush got benched midway through the third. He missed a layup.

Evans -- -- The rare Warm Mo made an appearance tonight. He scored 9 points on 3-7 shooting and had 3 boards with 3 turnovers in 25 minutes. He hit a wing jumper off the pinch post. He was fouled on a putback attempt and made both FTs. He missed a baseline one-hander. He tipped in a Kobe miss. He hit a corner three out of a timeout, the Lakers second hoop in six minutes to start the fourth.

Cook -- -- You know were in trouble when we can't afford to have Cook get into foul trouble. With just 3 bigmen to cover the PF and C spots, Phil has got to have some luck go his way. That was not the case tonight (or most of the season for that matter) as Cook fouled out a minute into the fourth after playing just 18 minutes. Cook scored 11 points on 5-9 shooting and grabbed 5 boards. Those are good numbers in that amount of minutes, but the 6 fouls was not. Cook hit a jumper standing on the three line out of a timeout. He missed a midrange jumper that was contested. Great job taking a charge on a one-on-three Sixer break. He swatted a shot from behind. Rare attack full court off the dribble and he gave an interior feed to Bynum who couldn't finish an easy one. He scored a layup in transition on the next trip down. He hit a fade from the elbow. He picked up his third foul with more than 7 minutes left in the half, forcing us into extended Kwame/Bynum minutes. He threw a pass right out of bounds on our first possession. He hit a three from the side, the Lakers only basket 6 minutes into the second half. He sank a jumper off a pitch out from Bynum. He then fouled out after a minute, with 10+ to go in the game.

Kwame -- -- Kwame put together his second decent game in a row. He was bouncing bodies around, battling on the boards and on his way to a double-double. He's looking a bit more comfortable out there and making some nice reads on both ends. He finished with 11 points on 5-7 shooting, 10 boards, 4 assists and 2 blocked shots in 34:30 of run. Nice feed to Kobe from the high post for a reverse layup. He hit a jumphook from about 6 feet out. He rejected Hunter out of bounds. He then deflected a pass to get a shotclock violation. He finally dunked when Shammond set him up on the break. He went up soft against Miller and missed the And-1, he made one FT. He posted up and had a shot goaltended. He sealed his man, took the entry and scored easily.

Shammond -- -- Very good game from Shammond. He was feeling it from the perimeter offensively and did an excellent job defensively. I wished Phil would have brought him back in late in the game when the Lakers went on a small run, but it probably wouldn't have mattered. Shammond finished with 14 points on 5-7 shooting (4-6 from beyond the arc), he had 3 boards, 2 assists and 1 steal in 20 minutes. He hit a wing three off a kickout from Kobe. His man tried to deny the pass to Kobe, so Shammond said, "whatever," and drained the three. He pushed up the break, then hit a floater when the defender tried to deny the pass. He drained another three from the corner with a man on him. Great first half. He had 11 points, making all three three-pointers he took. He pushed up the break and bounced to Kwame for the dunk (a rare set up for an easy hoop from our PG spot). He hit another three on his next attempt. He missed his next one. Then he tried to draw a foul on Iguodala and airballed. Good D coming off the bench in the third after Miller had been killing us and Shammond put a stop to that.

McKie -- -- Phil ran him at PF in the second half, going against Hunter when we were in some foul trouble. That's not the first time we've had to do that. McKie has done a steady job since his return. Unfortunately, we need some guys who can do some heavy lifting right now. He got a nice cheer from Philly fan tonight. He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting, grabbed 3 boards and played 14 mintes. He sank an open baseline jumper for his only make. Nice double with Kobe on the sideline and it forced a Sixer timeout.

Vujacic -- 8) -- With Kobe out, Sasha scored some key points in a second-quarter stretch. He also played some spirited D on Korver. Sasha scored 9 points on 2-8 shooting (2-3 from three, 3-3 from the line). He also had 2 boards with 2 assists in 23 minutes. He drained a three from the wing. He drew three FTs on Korver when he was fouled trying to beat the shotclock from three, he made all three FTs. Nice shotclock recognition, draining a catch-and-shoot three as the buzzer went off. He bricked a runner at the third-quarter buzzer. He got rejected badly on a soft drive down the lane.

Phil -- -- With all the injuries, it's useless to get on Phil with the cards he's playing with. You can critique the close games, but he's got his hands full every night. It would be nice if the league could give us that extra roster spot, which they have done for other teams which have been depleted in the past. (The Bucks come to mind a couple years back). That would make adding a Pippen a no brainer. At the very least, he might give the Lakers a Tri initiator and player/coach. Pip would be more important, IMO, if he could get into Lamar's ear, which is now not as meaningful with LO's latest injury. No way would I give up Mihm's Bird rights. Dumping McKie seems like the only other thing the team might do if they can't get an extra roster spot. That would probably be more of a lateral move, unless Pip can drop some Tri knowledge on our youngins... The Lakers went 6-11 from three and shot 55 percent in the first half to the Sixers 50 percent. Their shooting percentage dropped to 44 percent for the game after the horrid second half... The Lakers came out of the half flat and soft. Cook picked up a couple early fouls and Phil went with Kwame, McKie, Kobe, Mo, and Shammond. He then sat Mo for Sasha... After starting out the third with a long dry spell, the Lakers did the same to start the fourth and that was all she wrote...

[magic_bryant]

Pippen getting into LO's ear was the ONLY reason I wanted Pippen.

That's now down the drain.
_________________
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."

[DancingBarry]

[magic_bryant]

I really don't have any faith in Lamar EVER "getting it". Pippen in his ear and a legit PG are the only two things that COULD help that hasn't been tried before.

But then again, Andre Miller was a real PG and LO didn't play too well with him.

So, perhaps, Pippen is LO's only hope.

Just hurry and get the PG or Pippen, so that LO can prove that he is who he is. A good player who will never go above and beyond to be a great player.
_________________
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."

[A Mad Chinaman]

[LakersSpirit]

[magic_bryant]

[LakersSpirit]

It may as well have been called "The Shamu and Mamba Show", as Kobe and Shammond Williams were about the only real bright spots, for the Lakers. Two Philly Cheesesteak kind 'o guys..... Know what I mean??

Shamu decides to come alive, and most everyone else crawls into their shell... Poor Andrew... He tries, but after tonight, I was thinking... "Maybe, he might be better off, in a developmental league"??
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"Teamwork is a nebulous thing. It is as ephemeral as love, disappearing at the latest insult.".... Phil Jackson

[8750]

thanks, DB...
the injuries, ok... but lack of identity of this team is not acceptable... their weak body language, their sad attitude... our coach has totally lost these players... they don't believe him anymore... tonight coaching was very difficult, with so limited choices... but taking shammond williams from the game when he was on fire and putting in smush was an evident, macroscopic mistake... sasha on korver was an evident, macroscopic mistake... kwame and bynum together was another evident, macroscopic mistake... our coaching is more and more embarassing...

[maddprophet]

kwame at least is bringing some effort, although he still won't just dunk it whenever he gets the chance.

i do like the lineup of kwame and drew together. when completely healthy, i'd still like us to look at that. it would really put pressure on other teams down on the block on both ends of the floor.

outside of that, please, someone shoot me
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Spark the ism, my expertism, is lyracism, my flow will take you over like I was hypnotism...so where's the lighter, to start the cypher....

[Sage_10]

[DancingBarry]

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

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

[vahe]

[LakersSpirit]

[Mation]

Thanks DB,

At least Kwame has strung together two considerable outings. With the four assists, he seems to working the tri as a big should. I could be wrong though.

[A Mad Chinaman]

[angel]

Thanks DB!

We can always count on a good effort from you, even if the Lakers aren't playing well.

This losing is tough to stomach.

Andrew seems to be unmotivated.

Kwame is playing fairly well, but he's still hobbled a bit. I would guess Kwame will get the starting job back. When Andrew doesn't play with intensity, and Kwame is hobbled by his injury, the Lakers interior defense is not good. When Kwame is healthy, he can be a definite asset against a bigger lineup like Tim Duncan playing with another center. He seems to be showing a little more aggressiveness near the basket.

Ronny said he would try to play Sunday if possible.

Brian Cook played like a reserve. He had good intensity, but it came with foul trouble. If Ronny was available, it would have been okay. As it was, losing Cook left the Lakers vulnerable.
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"Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." ~~Martin Luther King Jr.~~

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

joel: should we call him radar? (after kobe made that reverse under the hoop)
_________________
"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[ProjectAB]

With Kwame and Bynum on the floor, you need as many guards that can shoot contested midrange shots as much as possible(big reason why Odom struggles at SF.) With four big men blocking the driving lanes on both sides, any attempt to penetrate is blocked, and any interior passes becomes risky.

Kobe used to be able to do this at length last year. But this year, the surgery has taken away a lot of the legs on those shots. I'd like to see Shammond when Kwame and Bynum is on the floor together more, as he has shown some ability to make contested shots.