LAKERS -at- GRIZZLIES - 3/22 - Thoughts and :-)) ratings

[DancingBarry]

An Unnatural Basketball Act... The league better watch out or Kobe might just go off for some big numbers. Kobe became only the fourth player in NBA history to score more than 50 points in three consecutive games. He is only the third player to score 60 or more in four games. Another unnatural basketball act by Kobe Bryant.

How do you give up 119 points and 55 percent shooting and still win? Score 121, I guess. Although Kobe's 60 will make any offense look pretty good, the Lakers executed well against some extended minutes facing their season-long nemesis -- the zone.

Lamar and Luke exposed the zone that the Grizzlies tried to run to befuddle the Lakers...and limit Kobe. They got into the middle and worked the baselines for numerous easy scores. After the game, Kobe gave them some credit for helping open things up for him. "They're doing such a great job seeing the whole floor and getting me those easy opportunities," Kobe said. It doesn't matter what kind of D you send against Kobe...the only thing that stops Kobe is Kobe.

Kwame and Luke had problems defensively with their matchups against Gasol and Miller, respectively. Late in the game, Kwame came up with a series of defensive stops with some aggressive D. Prior to that both Memphis players were just scoring at will over the top of our defenders. The Lakers transition D left a lot to be desired, as well.


Kobe -- -- This wasn't one of those "in the zone" performances. This was skill and will. This was Kobe displaying the advanced arsenal of offensive weapons and imposing them on an opponent. And, really, that's the thing about this performance that is so awe inspiring or scary (depending on what side you are on). He was hot, but not in the zone. Again, we saw a lot of Kobe able to set up on the wing and go to work before the double came. We also saw him pick apart the D off the dribble. He got out in transition with the D on its heels for a few scores, too. Just a wide range of skills at display. He played a team high 45:11 and shot 20-37 (3-7 from three and 17-18 from the line) for his 60 points, he grabbed 5 boards and dished 4 assists in the process. First Quarter: He kicked out to Luke for a corner three. He blew past Miller on the baseline and hammered down a nasty reverse. After missing a couple jumpers, he dialed it in and hit a pull-up from the FT line in semi-transition. He swished a 28-foot three from the wing. He missed his next three attempt. He pump-faked Warrick in transition and drew FTs, he made both. He attacked hard to his left, spun to his right losing his man with ease and scored a layup. He hit a wing jumper over a double team. Second Quarter: He started the second quarter, taking his only break after a few minutes more of action. He spun on his man, took the lob from Shammond and crammed it home. He hit a pull-up baseline jumper. He missed a tough hanging elbow jumper. He hit a little step-through one hander from the elbow. He forced a tough baseline jumper in transition and missed. He hit a catch-and-shoot turnaround from the wing. He swished a rainmaker wing three from 30 feet out. Very aggressive half, scoring 24 points on 10-16 shooting and grabbing 5 boards. Third Quarter: He missed a jumper on his first attempt. He drew FTs on a breakaway and made both. He airballed a tough wing jumper. He attacked, took some contact with no call and missed. He attacked off a jumpball, took contact from Gasol with no call but still scooped in the layup. He missed a fallaway, then he sank a baseline fallaway. He attacked the baseline, spun away from his man and drew a foul, he made both FTs. He jab-stepped then swished a wing three. Out of a timeout, he sank a fading wing jumper getting his legs under it. He drew FTs getting held while setting a pick, he made both. He attacked, split a double team with a spin and drew FTs, he made both. He pumpfaked to lose one man, then shot over another to drain a 20-footer at the end of the third quarter. He had 43 points after three. Fourth Quarter: He took a lob pass in the lane and scored an And-1 and hit the FT to start the fourth. He missed a three. He cut down the lane, took the pass from Bynum and scored a layup. He was hit on a long jumper and made both FTs to reach the 50-point mark. He made a tech FT. He pumpfaked Gay into the air, took contact and made two FTs. He worked off the wing screen-roll, rose up and drained the top-of-the-key jumper over the help D. He swished a short midranger in transition over Gasol. He blew past his man with a quick first step and drew a foul, he missed his first FT of the game, made the other. He attacked Miller in transition, took contact and hit a runner, but they called a charged and erased the potential And-1. Kwame knocked an entry pass loose to Smush, who kicked it ahead to Kobe and he flushed his 60th points on the break. He got called for a push off foul on an inbounds late in the game.

Lamar -- -- Lost amid Kobe's 60 points was Lamar's 20-point, 15-board performance. He used his length well against a couple of smaller defenders and was able to grab 6 offensive boards. He scored his 20 on an efficient 8-12 shooting (but just 4-8 from the line). He also had 4 assists and 3 steals in 42:41 of run. Early on, his man left him under the hoop and Kwame hit him with a pass for a dunk. He attacked the baseline, after Luke exposed the zone and Lamar dunked. He traveled on the next possession, shuffling his feet before he attacked. He cleaned up a missed jumper by Kobe. He missed a three. He hit Smush from the top of the key for a layup against the zone. He clanked a wing jumper. He putback a Sasha miss using his length to grab the board. He sealed his man and took an interior feed from Luke for a score. He missed a three. He threw the ball away trying to hit Bynum. He scored a layup cutting baseline to get a Smush pass. He drew a perimeter foul with 2.2 seconds in the half and made both FTs. Excellent first half, scoring 14 points, pulling down 10 boards and coming up with 3 steals. He drew a couple fouls at the rim, but made just 1 of 4 attempts at the line. He reverse jammed off a Kobe fastbreak pass. He scored a layup off a quick interior feed from Kwame. He took an offensive board then hit Kobe with an And-1 lob down the middle of the lane. Gay took LO off the dribble and hammered a dunk on him (ouch). He pulled down an offensive board and was fouled, he made one.

Luke -- -- He was getting lit up by Mike Miller, including 17 points in the third. Miller finished with 33 points on 11-16 shooting. Luke had the lowest +/- on the night with a -9. Just some very weak perimeter defense. This is where we could definitely use that versatile defensive player off the bench to fill in on nights when Luke is having problems (Sasha and Mo aren't going to put out fires any time soon). Offensively, Luke was one of the keys to breaking down the Memphis zone. He and LO make Kobe's job on the offensive end a lot easier. He scored 11 points on 4-7 shooting, dished 4 assists, blocked 1 shot, stole 1 ball and grabbed 2 boards in 34 minutes. He hit a three from the corner when Kobe found him. He scored a bustout layup off a Memphis turnover. He blew a layup in transition with Kobe. He took a pass in the middle of the zone, hit Smush on the baseline who quickly fed Kwame for the dunk. He posted up and had a short three-footer crawl over the rim. He posted up, then hit Lamar who sealed his man for a score. He drew FTs when Shammond found him under the hoop. He had 9 points on 3-4 shooting in the first half. He missed a wing jumper. He hit a baseline jumper after setting part of the double screen for Smush.

Kwame -- -- He couldn't play as tight on Gasol as he needs to in order to make Gasol try to put the ball on the floor, nor could he challenge shots very well. So, Gasol was able to shoot over him with ease. We never sent a double and Kwame got lit up for 35 points on 17-23 shooting. Late in the game, however, Kwame came through with a series of stellar, crunch time defensive plays...a couple of which led to scores the other way. Kwame scored 8 points on 2-5 shooting (4-8 from the line), dished 3 assists and grabbed just 4 boards in 38:32. He also had 2 steals and 2 blocks. He found Lamar alone under the hoop for a dunk. He missed a jumphook. Smush fed him in the paint and he was fouled trying to throwdown, he hit both FTs. He dunked off a quick interior feed from Smush. He missed a jumphook badly, wide left. He blocked Chucky in transition. He posted up, got hit and made a couple of FTs. He double dribbled in the post. He picked up a tech when he was called for a touch foul against Gasol in the post. Gasol had 21 points on 10-13 shooting in the first half. Kwame dunked off a drive and dish from Smush. He drew a foul and missed both FTs. Nice interior feed to LO for a layup. Great hustle to save a loose offensive rebound back in to Lamar, unfortunately, Kobe fed him with a pretty behind-the-back feed that Kwame caught like a greased pig for a turnover. He stepped around Gasol and stole the entry pass and ignited the break. He stole another entry feed and it again led to a crunch time score by Kobe. He bricked two FTs in the final minute. Nice swat under the hoop to save a basket.

Smush -- -- Some fairly ugly defensive minutes from Smush tonight. He just looked very flatfooted and gave up a lot of penetration. Offensively, he did a very nice job making the extra pass and setting up teammates. He finished with 6 points on 2-6 shooting (0-3 from three) and had a team-high 7 assists with 2 turnovers. He outlet to Luke for a breakaway layup. He missed a FT jumper. He hit Kwame with a pass in the lane and it led to FTs. He cut on the baseline against the zone and Lamar found him for a layup. He hit Kwame with a quick interior feed after great baseline position again against the zone. He hit Lamar cutting under the hoop for a layup. A rare drive and dish from Smush and he set Kwame up for a dunk. He traveled at midcourt getting ready to make the first pass in the offense. He attacked off the pinch post and scored a layup. He made a couple late FTs.

Bynum -- -- Bynum didn't attempt a shot in just 7 minutes of action, during which he picked up 3 fouls. He was called for a hook on his first touch. He sat a couple minutes later after picking up another foul. Nice shovel feed to Kobe cutting behind his man for a layup. He could certainly use the reduced minutes at the point in the season. While he was out there he had the second highest +/- with a +7. But Phil was trying to match him up against the Grizzlies second unit bigs. Gasol played 44 minutes, so not a lot of time there.

Turiaf -- 8) -- Not a lot of action for Ronny tonight. Had he gotten the minutes, the stroke on his jumper was looking nice. He scored 4 points on 2-2 shooting, blocked 1 shot and grabbed 1 board in 7:39 of action. He hit an elbow jumper against the zone. In for Lamar early in the fourth and he swatted Gasol on help D. He then hit a baseline jumper over him on the other end.

Shammond -- -- Excellent game from Shammond off the bench. He played some smart ball on both ends and hit some shots, looking slightly more aggressive with the jumper. He led the bench scoring with 9 points on 3-6 shooting and had 6 assists without a turnover in just 18 minutes. Very nice. He made a heady play after saving a loose ball in the backcourt, he took the pass from Kwame and quickly fed it up court to avoid a Laker 8-second violation. He missed a wing jumper. He drained a corner three shortly later. He ran the screen-roll with Bynum and hit Luke under the hoop for FTs. He sank a wing jumper standing on the three line. He then drew a charge on Harrington on the other end. Nice blindside on Gasol at the end of the third to tie him up for a stop. He grabbed an offensive board, attacked and fouled out Swift (6 fouls in 5:34 of action), Shammond made one FT. He missed a three. He missed a corner three, passed up on his next one, then Kobe gave it right back to him and he swished it.

Vujacic -- -- With Mo sidelined with that swollen knee, Sasha got some extended minutes at the SG as we slid Kobe over to the SF. He bricked a couple of wide open jumpers. After we gave up an And-1 to Miller, Sasha threw the ball against the standard and drew a tech and a seat on the bench. He creeped into the play and grabbed a FT miss by Shammond. He drained a wing three on our next possession of the fourth. He finished with 3 points on 1-4 shooting in 14 minutes. Although Sasha had the highest +/- of the night with +11, I think that had more to do with Luke out defensively and Kobe moved over on Miller.

Phil -- -- With Luke and Odom back, but the team struggling, the Mamba has been unleashed on the league. If only we could play a little D... Gasol went for 21 points on 10-13 shooting in the first half on single coverage against Kwame. The Grizzlies shot 57 percent in the first half to the Lakers 54 percent, but we led by 6. The Grizzlies had 10 turnovers to our 6, which we converted into 15 points... Miller had 17 points in the third quarter on Luke. We rotated Kobe over late in the quarter as part of our usual rotation and that slowed him down... With Mo out, I might have liked to see some minutes from McKie out there. Our defense could have used it... Mo says he was playing at about 20-30 percent of his capability with the knee injury the past three weeks. He's had it drained twice, the only thing he hasn't done is rest it. So, that's what they opted to tonight. Meanwhile, Phil said he expects Vlad to resume practice in about two weeks, but doesn't expect him to be able to hit from three with his shoulder...

[LakerLanny]

DB, you make a great point.

This was a smooth 60 and without the incredible "in the zone" shots that he hung on Portland. This was just a guy with too much skill, too many moves and too much will for the other team to deal with.

I like how Kobe is moving away from placating the media, public, haters and just doing what he does. Oh, the knee is looking pretty healthy right about now also eh? I was worried about that earlier in the season.

The team defense as you alluded to is still atrocious, but this is now must see basketball every single game and not just for Laker fans. Even the haters are watching what he is doing in wonder/hate/bewilderment

The thing is...what if he gets in zone vs a no D running team like say the Warriors or Suns and the game is close?

I think 100 is very much within the realm of possibilty. He was 20-37 from the floor and only luke warm (for him) from 3 tonight.

Say he has a night where he hits 7 3's and goes 27-39 from the floor some night with a lot of FT's? What does that add up to?

This guy can do it if need be.....whenever he wants to. Except vs Detroit for some reason.
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Love, Laker Lanny

[M. Hicks]

^^^^

Probably another 80-pointer Lanny, provided the free throw love...

The buzz around the scoring is letting the refs give Kobe a little more love, keep giving the media momentum (positive) on something to write about, and the refs (and Stern/Stu Jackson) have to buckle under the pressure and cut Kobe more slack.
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M. Hicks
Louisville, KY

[RYZ]

Thanks, DB.

Definitely not an "in the zone" night, but even more than that, his teammates actually found him (and he found himself ) for some easy baskets. The remarkable thing about the '65' game (aside from the context) was that he only had two made baskets from inside of 5'. Tonight at least he had some dunks and layups. Kobe alongside a PG who could acually find him the ball in high percentage spots on the floor could probably see him avg. 35 ppg, and with a lot less effort than was required of him last year.

Nonetheless, the guy is inspiring to watch. Period.

Oh yeah, credit to Phil also for leaving Kobe in throughout the fourth. No doubt the game was still in the balance, but normally Phil would have spelled him for at least a couple leading up to the 6 min. timeout. Phil was mos def aware of the situation, and after all those games (56 in three quarters v. Memphis/ 62 in three v. Dallas) of sitting Kobe when he was on the virge of history, it's nice to see Phil control his own curmudgeonly instincts since "81".

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

START SHAMMOND!




by the way, that kid from lower merion is pretty good

props to Phil for leaving Kobe in there in the 4th Qtr.


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

[20,000]

I think an overall good game by all players, though not so good on the team defense. Maybe they will practice that at some point this season?

While I try focusing on the positive, and I don't want to hark on any negatives for any particular player as long as they are a Lakers, I just cannot fathom what the problem with Sasha is. Has he lost all the confidence he ever had? Is he injured? Did he hit his head on something? Granted, he didn't seem to have much confidence before, but whatever he had is all gone now.

What is your deal, Sasha?!?!
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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.'

[The_Coach]

Hey DB ... wasn't it just about a week and a half ago that you are I were speculating on why Kobe's jump shot looked flat and short? I really thought he was hurting or injured. Now it just looks like it was mental fatigue from literally carrying a scrub team on his back. Since Lamar and Luke have returned he is looking like a 24 year old Kobe again.

I watched the game again this morning with my 8 year old. The look of awe and hero-worship on his face was classic. He's watched each of the last three games and I can guarantee that some day ... when he is an old fart like me ... he will be telling stories to HIS kids about the time when Kobe made history.

[The_Coach]

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

heres a scary thought....

if Kobe had "only" scored 45 points in each of the last 3 games, we would be on a 10 game losing streak.
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB.

it's great to see Kobe have all these historic moments. more importantly, they're coming in wins.

the more I see shammond play, the more I like him.
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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."

[LakersPimp]

[Rick12322]

[The_Coach]

[Texas_Pete]

[Klone_dd]

Defense? We don't need no stinkin' defense.

It's amazing that a team shoots 55% at home, outrebounds their opponent and scores 119 points -- and still loses. But these are the 06/07 Grizz.

Kobe may not have been in a zone in this game, but he was still very efficient, thanks to getting some easier attempts because his teammates were finding him. Nevertheless, Kobe looked so much quicker than any one on the floor, mentally and physically.

LO with a quiet 20/15 -- if you can call that quiet.

[Dr. Funkbot]

"Gay took LO off the dribble and hammered a dunk on him (ouch)."

Sorry, I just thought that sounded a little funny. And I agree that Smush should be benched in favor of Shammond. I guess Shooz was right about Smush's recent interview where he stated that he would sacrafice O and play better D. Smush was LYING.

Bench his non-D playing arse until he can stop some penetration on the perimeter.
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R.I.P. Doc Buss

[LakerLanny]

[Luke]

[MIMLaker]

I think we really need a Kobe-only Smilie... something reserved for when Kobe does another one of THESE things that only he can do.

I'm thinking something like an animated purple and gold mushroom cloud, maybe three lines tall, with about a half-dozen miniaturized and charred dead bananas lying around it or something.

MIM
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Keep or Dump Power Rankings (4/12/23):
1 - Bron; 1a - AD; 2 - Reaves; 2a - DLo; 3 - Vando; 4 - Rui; 5 - Shroo; 6 - Christie; 7- Brown; 8 - Gabriel; 9 - Beas; 10 - Bamba; 11- Lonnie

[CorkyTomjanovich]

Dahntay Jones got away with several fouls against Kobe, one was that airball jumper Kobe shot. Jones hit him on forearm there.

[manlisten]

[Dr. Funkbot]

[Klone_dd]