LAKERS -at- NUGGETS - 3/15 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings

[DancingBarry]

A Mile High and A New Low... The Nuggets outscored the Lakers 62-35 in the second half. Doesn't matter what side of the ball you want to focus on, it was a dismal half of ball as they got run off the floor 113-86. They've dropped 7 straight.

I didn't expect the Lakers to get this win, despite being 5-1 when we've had our starting lineup of Kwame, Lamar, Luke, Kobe and Smush together this season. I just expected that too much time off and inconsistency with our roster would take its toll. Somehow, however, they managed to play a spirited 21 minutes to start the game and actually pull ahead to a decent 11-point lead. Unfortunately, they got absolutely smoked from that point on.

You've got enough trouble with Melo and AI, but when Linas Kleiza gets in a zone against you and drops a career high 29 points on 10-13 shooting ... you've got your hands full. He started out as Kobe's man defensively, lit him as Kobe played off of him, then after he got hot, he camped out and drained open jumper after open jumper when the D would continue to collapse. If that wasn't enough, we gave up alley-oop dunk after alley-oop dunk to the Nuggets.

Kleiza was 5-6 from three. Meanwhile, the Lakers shot a horrid 3-22 from beyond the arc on their way to shooting 41 percent for the game (the Nuggets shot 54 percent). Kleiza had a career high, AI a season high 13 assists, Carmelo had 26, 8 and 5, Camby 11 points, 14 boards, and Steve Blake had a quiet 15 points.


Kobe -- -- Some poor D in the first half as he was generally not respecting his man in order to float. But he still made a poor effort at times to recover to his man, whomever he was, and that resulted in a lot of open looks. When he tried to take on Melo defensively, he was no answer. He picked up 4 fouls and the Nuggets offense continued to click. Offensively, he did a good job setting up teammates for easy scores, but his perimeter shot was again suffering a little. He went 0-5 from three and 9-19 overall on his way to 25 points, 9 assists and 5 boards. He hit a catch-and-shoot 15-footer on an inbounds. He pulled up and bounced in a wing jumper. He tapped an offensive board to Kwame for a score. He pulled down an offensive board and then powered up for a score. He kicked out to Lamar for an open jumper. He hit Kwame with a behind-the-back bouncepass for a dunk. He swished a 20-footer from the wing. He drew the D and kicked to Shammond for an open three. He attacked and drew FTs at the end of the quarter, he made both. He had 6 assists in the first quarter. He flushed an alley-oop pass from Luke getting up high. He missed a jumper short, but Bynum cleaned it up. He missed a jumper wide left and wanted the foul. He banked in a long jumper off the glass out of a timeout. A series of poor possessions at the end of the half: bricking a forced three, losing the ball for a Nugget breakaway and missing a layup...and the Nuggets pulled even with us after we had a nice lead. He had 14 points on 6-11 shooting in the first half. He handed off to Smush for a jumper and his 7th assist, and he drew the D and hit Kwame under the hoop for a dunk for his 8th assist. He attacked off the dribble, drew a whistle and made both FTs. He scored a layup off the alley-oop from Smush. He faked a shot over Blake from about 18 feet out, then decided to shoot it without getting into his usual motion and still knocked it in. He attacked and banked going to his right. He got his man in the air on a pumpfake, then hit a couple of FTs. He hit Luke under the hoop for a layup, his 9th assist. He missed an open three, short. Defensively, late in the third, he switched onto Melo for a stint, was called for three fouls and the Nuggets scored a number of baskets running their offense through him. He missed a jumper over a double team to start the fourth. He missed an open three short and to the left. He picked up his fourth foul against Melo. He drew a foul on Melo on the other end and made one FT.

Lamar -- -- It's good to see Lamar out there, but I really wasn't sure what to expect from him. He looked decent despite the injury and I didn't notice any specific issues limiting his game because of it. We'll have to see how he reacts when he takes some contect or pressure against that shoulder. He started on Melo defensively and had his hands full. He's really the only one on the team who can probably guard him. Kobe and Mo don't have enough size. Luke will have difficulty with both speed and size. Melo is going to get his, we'll just have to try to limit how much the other guys get. Lamar scored 9 points, all in the first half, and shot 4-11 for the game (only taking 2 shots in the second half). He pulled down 7 boards and had 3 assists with 3 turnovers in 32:21. He missed a jumper from the right baseline. He knocked down an open one from the other side. He missed a fade, but scooped up a loose ball that Kobe knocked free and was fouled on the drive for FTs, he made one. He iso'd against Melo and hit a turnaround over him. He attacked off the dribble and hit Ronny for a score. He missed a three, early in the offensive set and drew a yelp from Phil. Quick first step from the wing to blow past his man and score a layup. He attacked off the dribble, missed a scoop, but was quickly back up to tap it in. He had 9 points on 4-9 shooting and 6 boards at the half. He blocked Nene in transition and then Nene traveled after getting it back. No other second half highlights. He got some extended time on the bench.

Walton -- -- Wow. I was certainly surprised to see how well his timing was and his offensive reads after sitting out for so long. I think he showed a few more signs defensively, but he still played surprisingly well on both ends of the court. He started on Camby defensively as we looked to match up LO with Melo. There were only a couple of times where that seemed to affect us. Overall, Luke looked quick, made the offense click when he had the ball in his hands and gave the team some much needed life. Luke scored 13 points on 6-11 shooting (1-4 from three, seemed like he had send up more shotclock beaters than usual), he pulled down 7 boards and dished 6 assists with 4 turnovers in 29 minutes. He swished a corner three for his first score. He missed a three from the other side next time down. He pulled down a missed FT, got it back and blew past his man with a quick first step and scored a layup with his left. Sensational lob pass to Kobe from the wing for the dunk. Another great pass to Bynum trailing a play for a dunk. He teamed up with Ronny to roof Melo on the baseline. He missed a three trying to beat the shotclock. He pulled-up in the lane and hit an 8-footer. Great help D, rotating to deflect a pass and save a hoop. Again, good help D in transition contesting a shot and we gathered the miss. He came weak to strong, took the entry, bumped off his man and hit a short jumper in the lane. He took a feed from Smush and hit a breakaway layup in stride. He had 11 points, 5 boards and 4 assists in the first half. He gave up alley-oops a couple of times early in the second half. He surveyed the floor off the dribble and hit Kwame in transition with a quick pass for the And-1. He was doubled but still found Bynum under the hoop for a dunk. He missed a three, trying to beat the shotclock. Kobe found him cutting under the hoop and he scored a layup over Blake.

Kwame -- -- Seemed like a typical Kwame game of late. He's banging in the post and finishing a lot stronger with his bad wheel feeling better. Kwame scored 11 points on 5-7 shooting, grabbed just 4 boards, blocked 1 shot and had 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He swatted Melo's drive early on. He dunked off a tap pass from Kobe. He missed a jumphook in the lane. He dunked again when Kobe set him up with a behind-the-back bouncepass. He bricked a shot off the backboard. He dunked when Kobe drew the D and found him alone under the hoop. He drew a foul under the hoop and missed both FTs. He took a pass from Luke in one of those secondary, transition offense sequences and scored an And-1, he made the FT. He stepped in front of Melo to take a charge. He posted up, worked a series of moves then scored with his left while taking a shot to the head with no call.

Smush -- -- He did a reasonable job on AI defensively, but was in foul trouble picking up 5 fouls in just 20 minutes. We tried to help out a lot on whoever had to cover AI. On the other end, Smush was horrible. He went 1-8 (0-3 from three) and scored 4 points in 20 minutes. He missed a three. He blew a layup opportunity when Luke zipped a pass to him and he wasn't ready. He took a pass and drew a blocking foul, making both FTs. He missed a three against the shotclock. He hit Luke with a quick outlet for a breakaway score. He poked the ball loose from AI, who got it back, then he poked it loose again to force the turnover. He picked up his third foul a couple possessions later and had to sit late in the half. He swished a jumper off the Kobe handoff, despite not getting squared up. He picked up his fourth foul with only a minute into the second half, but Phil kept him out there. He threw a quick backdoor lob from the top of the key to Kobe for the score. He picked up his fifth foul midway through the third and sat.

Evans -- -- Mo still doesn't look like himself out there. None of that energy is showing up as the injury seems to be keeping him from providing that sparkplug game. Offensively, he was Cold Mo. He missed a midrange jumper on his first attempt...uhoh. He missed another short one behind a screen. He tried to post up, then lost the ball as he attacked. He played soft in transition and gave up an oop to Melo. In 14 minutes, he didn't score on three attempts and had just 1 rebound.

Bynum -- -- Apparently, Bynum has a swollen ankle himself now. He came off the bench to play 14 minutes and scored 9 points on 4-6 shooting and grabbed just 2 offensive boards. One offensive board clanked right into his chest and he dunked. He trailed a play, took a pass in the lane from Luke, spun away from the D and dunked (very nice). He missed a short turnaround. Luke found him under the hoop and he dunked. He drew FTs on a post up and made one. He took a pass at the top of the lane, turned and hit a 13-foot jumper.

Turiaf -- 8) -- Ronny looked a little looser out there than the last game where he was running up down the floor pretty stiffly. Very nice seeing him get the minutes at PF again. He scored 5 points on 2-6 shooting, grabbed just 2 boards and blocked 2 shots in 22 minutes. Poor entry pass to Kwame and it was turned over. He caught a rocket from LO and hit a jumphook over his man. He roofed Melo with Luke to force a turnover. Melo tried to cram over him at the front of the rim and Ronny stuffed him badly. He missed a 20-footer. Farmar set him up with an interior feed and he drew a foul, he made one FT. He curled into the lane, took a pass and hit a jumper. He had to force up a long jumper to beat the shotclock and missed.

Shammond -- -- I would still like to see him be a little more aggressive with his shot. I feel like he's going to sink a jumper every time he takes it. We need more consistency from the 1 spot. Be nice if he could throttle it up a little. I still remember that ultra aggressive Shammond that lit the Lakers up years ago. It's got to still be there, lurking somewhere inside him. He swished a three off a kickout from Kobe for his only points. Nice job moving his feet to draw a charge on AI at the end of the third. He missed a runner trying to beat the buzzer.

Farmar -- -- Farmar got some extended run with Smush's foul issues and the extended garbage time. He scored 3 points on 1-5 shooting, dished 2 assists and, again, did a good job hustling for boards, pulling down 4 in 17 minutes. He pulled up in transition and hit the 15-footer for his only basket. He missed a runner. He attacked off the dribble and set up Turiaf for FTs. He missed a pull-up jumper. He was given a couple of FTs and made one.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha matched Farmar's 1-5 shooting with a 1-5 of his own. In to start the fourth, he drained a wing three on his first attempt. He missed a three on his next attempt. He drew a foul on the perimeter and made one FT. He got the ball back after his missed FT and missed an open 17-footer. He missed another three. He finished with 4 points and 1 assist in 13 minutes.

Phil -- -- Phil extended his longest losing streak to 7 straight games. The last two haven't even been close in the second half. "Luke ran out of gas, and Lamar just wasn't ready to play. We just have to get our legs underneath us and we'll be fine," Phil said... With the Nuggets on a run late in the first half, he called a timeout and set up an iso play for Kobe, who banked in the jumper. That was a nice use of a timeout to try to stop momentum. But it didn't matter. I know some thought his usage of timeouts were to blame for the last loss. But there are no guarantees they will turn the tide. Tonight, a perfect example. That was in the middle of a 13-2 run. We ended up giving up additional runs of 10-4, 15-4, and 15-6 without a return run of our own... The Nuggets had 14 points off of 7 turnovers in the first half, the Lakers had 2 points off turnvoers. The coaches emphasized the turnover issue in the locker room... They also mentioned the Lakers started to settle for jumpers at the end of the half when they lost their lead. They were 2-12 in the first half beyond the arc. We went 1-10 from three in the second half... The Laker offense stalled in the third a little, but their D was ultra soft, giving up 36 points. The Nuggets were able to get whatever they wanted... Not a single Laker had a positive in the +/- numbers. Kobe led all Lakers with a -22...

[Mation]

Thanks Phil,

[Siguy]

Guys, I don't think I can take this anymore. I believe in the Lakers, but this team is really messed up.

I'm taking a week off from listening to radio broadcasts and obsessively reading these forums. From now on I'm only gonna look at box scores after a game is done. At least until the team shows some minor sign that they're interested in winning again.

[A Mad Chinaman]

DB - Another hard game for you to analyze?!?!?!

It's hard to start at any one aspect of the game since they were all AWFUL!!

The only good thing is that LO and Luke got into the game to get the kinks out. btw: The other "good thing" is that they don't have to "worry" about teams with worst records since that might necessary be true when they meet?!?!?!

Just some starting point (among countless others) that were keys to success:

Smush - at least he partially "stopped" by AI by fouling him. However, with Smush doing nothing on the offensive end - that provided AI the ability to roam since Smush wasn't going to score

Kobe - his defense is getting softer and softer. Though he has a legimate excuse (his major PT, scoring responsibilities, on-court leadership, team's dismal play, lack of experienced players on the court etc.), it is hard to take at times

Bynum - he is not providing much, though his legimate excuse is that he is injuried and really still a "rookie" that has "hit the wall."

LO - he had trouble limiting Melo, though his legimate excuse is that this was the first time he has been on the court and it was good to see.

Note: If the Lakers play .500, they will probably still be in the playoffs and it really doesn't matter if it is the Suns, Mavs, Spurs or Jazz - they are all tough opponents that the Lakers can legimately beat if most of the team can play relataively injury-free

[prisma8slg]

thtanks DB, after a loss like this (one where we had the game under control in the first half), it definitely leaves a bad taste in my mouth. reading your thoughs on the game the next day helps remind me of some of the brighter spots instead of just focusing on the negative.

it was nice to see kwame dunking with two hands instead of one.
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"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."

[20,000]

30 points in the first quarter.

30 points in the second half.

I stopped watching after 3 as I couldn't take it anymore.

Has this team quit?
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Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

nice lineup to start the 4th when we were already down 15 Phillip. I wish Kobe gave the same defensive effort to Blake and Kleiza that he gave to Melo.
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[maddprophet]

iceberg straight ahead..........
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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....

[angrypuppy]

Thanks DB.

Luke really gives this team a different look when he's playing. Though I appreciate Lamar's versatility and stat contribution, Luke has become what everyone thought Lamar was going to become in terms of facilitating the offense. It's remarkable in that he looked like he had no time off, picking up where he left off. If anything, he looked a bit fresher.

Lamar was assertive on offense, less so on defense. Though he didn't rub or favor his shoulder, you have to wonder whether he wants to bang. He's a trooper coming back, but the yellow caution flag is up regarding his defense.

Kobe... Is there a conditioning problem? Great energy in the first half on offense, but poor defense... almost like he was pacing himself. Then in the second half, he looked fatigued. He didn't have his usually great cardio entering the season due to knee surgery. I now wonder if he played too many minutes too soon.


They looked great on offense the first half... but the piss poor defense is inexcusable. They have serious problems getting defensive stops, and have the annoying habit of played into a faster opposing team's rhythm (they stink against teams that excel in transition).

[limchrc]

Hope we can play better in succeeding games.

[Klone_dd]

The good feelings lasted about 20 minutes. The ball was moving, Kobe was scoring and dishing, Luke made it all look easy and LO was aggressive. Then, it looked like that scene from 300 where the Persians were pushed off the cliff.

I imagine conditioning and altitude were part of the reasons for the collapse. No matter how you dissect it, it was a pretty poor effort.

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

[re4ee]

There certainly seemed to be stamina issues. Mile high = thin air, they looked lioke they spent themselves in the first half, DEN came back from the break with a vengence.

Here's hoping the Lakers make POR the recipient of the Lakers' vengence.
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"Ev'rybody's got somethin' to hide, 'cept for me and my monkey"
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[indnkid]

lakers stink........ go 08' lakers!!
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mj > magic > kobe > russell > chamberlain

[A Mad Chinaman]

DB - what are your thoughts on how to build the stamina of Luke and LO for the playoffs - in increments or just play. If one plays tired, however, that is the time a player gets injuried.

what are your thoughts on when Smush is doing nothing on offense (like the Suns playoff series) where the Lakers are playing 4 on 5 and what options (despite being late in the season) might be available. Maybe they should just start rotating McKie, Williams, Sasha, Jordan and Smush since they are producing at about the same level.

We would have 30 fouls to give, players wouldn't be "tired," they bring something, the major PT would be to the player that happens to be the most productive that night, they can play 150% when they are on the court. In addition, the team is familiar with all the players on the court.