LAKERS -at- SONICS - 3/31 - Thoughts and :-)) ratings
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- Sean -
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 2:48 am    Post subject: LAKERS -at- SONICS - 3/31 - Thoughts and :-)) ratings

(Note: DB kindly gave me the liberty to drift away from format for this game. I can't do what he does as well as him...so I deviated a bit just to mix it up and make it feel less like a cheap imitation (even though it is). In any case, DB will be back soon...so please bear w/ me tonight. Thank you.)


Lakers vs. SuperSonics 2005-2006

November 24, 2005 @ Staples W 108-96 – The Lakers overcame a Rashard Lewis fueled 8 point halftime deficit to defeat the Sonics behind 29 2nd half points from Kobe Bryant. Lamar Odom added 23 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists.

March 16, 2006 @ Staples L 120-113 - 6 Sonics scored in double figures to lead a blistering 59% team shooting performance as Seattle defeated the LA Lakers to split the season series. Kobe Bryant was held to 28% shooting from the field. More importantly, it was in this game Chris Mihm suffered the severely sprained ankle that is currently threatening his availability for the season.




March 31, 2006. . . W 106-93

The Los Angeles Lakers rebounded from yesterdays loss to the defending champion San Antonio Spurs w/ a win in Seattle verse the hometown SuperSonics to seal the season series 2-1. In a season where their 3rd quarter performances have usually been their undoing – The Lakers turned the tables and used the 3rd as a springboard towards victory. Behind a resilient team performance headed by Kobe Bryant, the Lakers scratched and clawed their way to their 39th win of the season.

LA holds a 1 ½ game lead over the Sacramento Kings for the 7th playoff spot.



Kobe Bryant

#'s
46 Minutes
43 Points
4 Assists
5 Rebounds
1 Steal
1 Block
6 Turnovers
3 Fouls

%'s
FG: 45% (17/38 )
3PT: 25% (1/4)
FT: 100% (8/8 )


1st Quarter

• Hits jumper from the FT line
• Consistantly getting picked off to open Ray up. Teammates aren’t rotating, As a consequence Ray is hot.
• Swishes a baseline fallaway on the left side in Allen’s face.
• Misses 2 from midrange.
• After stopping Allen on one end, he uncharacteristically misses a layup on the other.
• Realizing that Watson is on him, he turns around and buries a 16 footer on him w/ ease.

2nd Quarter

• Misses a shot on the right side and glares at the refs after the no call.
• Flies past Allen to the basket. Swift fouls him on the attempt. Hits both FT’s.
• Calmly drains a 3 off a Walton pass from the top of the key.
• Drives past Allen and charges over Moore. After the call, gets a subsequent technical. Neither Kobe nor the bench can believe it. Later on, the ref says it’s because Kobe put a little heat on the ball when handing it to him, as if he were shoving it into him.
• Kobe responds to the tech w/ his worst stretch of the game. He misses a wild 3. Then he gets stripped on a running jumper, and complains instead of getting back down court. As a consequence, Ray hits an open 3. Kobe then bricks a 14 footer, travels w/ the ball after a pass from Kwame….then gets swatted by Petro on his next attempt. He trailed the play after being rejected and ended up swatting a Lewis layup attempt out of bounds.
• After taking a couple possessions off (and maybe calming down) he finds Ridnour on him, so he elevates and sinks the midrange bucket on the right side over him.
• Kobe weaves to the basket on the break, draws the D, and finds Kwame for the easy dunk.

3rd Quarter

• In the post, he surveys the floor and throws a no look to Kwame behind him for the dunk.
• After he forces a miss by Allen, Kobe jets up court and receives a pass from LO leading to a relaxed reverse dunk w/ Watson looking on.
• Turnaround 17 foot make in Rashard’s grill.
• Gets his shot blocked by Swift and fails to get back in time. Allen scores.
• Catches the ball 24 feet from the basket. Takes 2 dribbles front right and hits the long 2 in Ray Allen’s face.
• Kobe cherry picks w/ a layup off a Smush baseball pass.
• Misses a couple long 2’s
• After Turiaf blocks a Rashard Lewis attempt, Kobe gets the ball and races upcourt…he loses Watson on the hesitation move and goes into 5th gear towards the basket…he senses defenders nearing…so he elevates…uses the basket as an ally and scores the up and under layup to give LA an 8 point lead after 3.



4th Quarter

• Tries to get Allen to bite w/ a series of fakes to no avail. Determined to score, he shoots and makes it anyway.
• Misses 4 shots from 15-20 feet out
• This time from 20, he dribbles twice to the left and swishes.
• W/ a 4 on 2 break, he uses a herky jerky move to draw the foul on Lewis. He hits both.
• Catches and hits a 21 foot rhythm shot in Allen’s mug.
• Strips Allen, attacks, draws another foul. Makes both free throws.
• Drives right, draws the D…finds LO parked on the other side of the court…and assists him for the threepointer.
• Scored 40+ points for the 21st time this season. He needs one more to tie Elgin Baylor for team record. Barring injury, Mr. Baylor will be looking up at Kobe on that list 8 games from now.


8) Lamar Odom

#'s
38 Minutes
12 Points
5 Assists
10 Rebounds
2 Steals
1 Turnover

%'s
FG: 63% (5/8 )
3PT: 100%% (1/1)
FT: 50% (1/2)

1st Quarter

• Took Petro off the dribble and scored w/ a layup.
• Sweet bounce pass to Kwame in traffic resulting in a pair of free throws.
• Misses a chippy near the basket
• Feeds Turiaf in traffic for the layup.
• Guards Lewis well. Shard only has one FG on him at this point

2nd Quarter

• Grabs a tough rebound off a Kobe missed 3 and drops it in for 2.
• Forces Lewis into a tough fallaway
• Steals a baseball pass to end the half

3rd Quarter

• Forces a couple ill advised jumpers on Lewis and Allen
• Fights for an offensive board, gets it, and on the way up is fouled. He hits 1.
• Right after Wilkins comes in, LO takes him to the post and scores w/ his jumphook.
• Finds Kobe racing up court and assists the dunk.
• Wilkins goes for the kamikaze steal, Lamar loses him and takes it to the basket where he slams w/ authority.
• In the post finds a cutting Turiaf who catches and gets fouled on the attempt.

4th Quarter

• Caught a cross court pass from Kobe and drained the open 3.


Brian Cook

#'s
9 Points
1 Assists
6 Rebounds
3 Blocks (Season High)
3 Fouls

%'s
FG: 50% (4/8 )
3PT: 33% (1/3)


1st Quarter

• Misses a layup off an offensive board.
• Wilcox backs him down on the left block and slams it in his face.
• Makes a spinning baby hook on Wilcox.
• Gives up an offensive board to Seattle that results in a Petro dunk.
• Wilcox backs him down and shoots and makes over him.
• Swishes a 12 footer right after being scored on.
• Starts to help Kobe guard the screen and roll better, highlighted by a block on an Allen jumper.

3rd Quarter

• Plays nice help D to force a Ridnour missed layup.
• Keeps Wilcox out of the paint and forces 2 straight misses from outside.
• Bricks a 17 footer, but gets back on D in time to draw a charge on Allen


Kwame Brown

#'s
32 Minutes
12 Points
13 Rebounds (Season High)
1 Steal
1 Block
2 Turnovers
4 Fouls

%'s
FG: 80% (4/5)
FT: 50% (4/8 )


1st Quarter

• Fights for position inside, is rewarded by LO. Gets fouled. Hits both FT’s.
• Catches it in the paint, gets fouled on the attempt again, hits 1 of 2
• Goes up strong yet again, gets fouled, misses them both.
• Grabs the offensive rebound off a Smush miss, goes back up again and converts the layup over Swift.
• Six 1st quarter rebounds.

2nd Quarter

• Backs down Swift. Fakes the attempt, goes left, and draws the foul. Hits 1.
• Gets the ball in the post and holds onto it too long resulting in a strip by Ridnour.
• Steals the ball from Allen.
• Good help D on Ridnour.

3rd Quarter

• Misses a 7 footer.
• Good help D on Wilcox, forces a couple misses.
• Grabs an offensive rebound and finds Smush cutting to the hoop, where he earns a goaltending violation.
• Secures the offensive rebound and bumps Swift before scoring a strong layup over him

4th Quarter

• Caught looking, Wilcox scores on the lob dunk behind his back.
• Gets the ball stripped from him by Allen.
• Petro fails to steal a pass into Kwame, which opens up the path to the basket. Brown gets fouled and hits 1 of 2.


Smush Parker

#'s
34 Minutes
10 Points
7 Assists
3 Steals
1 Turnover

%'s
FG: 23% (3/13)
3PT: 25% (1/4)
FT: 100% (3/3)

1st Quarter

• Calmly hits a 3 pointer in the right corner off a Lamar feed.
• Misses a 3 from the other corner.
• Steals a Watson telegraph.
• Didn’t stop the ball. Ridnour had 4 easy assists in the quarter.

2nd Quarter

• Ridnour is still going around him w/ ease.
• Bricks an 18 footer.
• Assists Cook for the 3.
• Drives past Ridnour, past Allen, and absorbs contact from Mikki Moore while converting the layup. He makes the and 1.
• Attacks Ridnour and gets to the line. Hits them both.

3rd Quarter

• Misses an 18 footer.
• Misses a layup but gets it back to score after Kwame gets the offensive board.
• Misses a floater off the drive.
• Deflects a Wilkins pass.
• Guards Watson a bit tighter and forces a traveling violation.


Ronny Turiaf

#'s
16 Minutes (Career High)
6 Points
3 Assists (Career High)
7 Rebounds (Career High)
1 Block
1 Turnover

%'s
FG: 67% (2/3)
FT: 50% (2/4)

1st Quarter

• Cuts to the paint where LO finds him for the easy layup.
• Odom finds him again but he can’t convert.
• Strong rebounding

3rd Quarter

• Sets a nice high pick for Kobe that results in a made 20 footer.
• LO finds Ronny cutting again, this time he is fouled. He hits 1 of 2.
• Lewis blows by Walton for what he thinks is an easy score. Turiaf rejects the attempt and it turns into a 4 point switch in favor of the Lakers.

4th Quarter

• Pulls down an offensive board after a George miss.
• Ronny times his jump perfectly to tip in a Walton miss.
• Mistimed a rebound and gave up the board and score to Ray Allen.
• Secures 2 long Allen misses.


Sasha Vujacic

#'s
15 Minutes
3 Points
2 Assists
1 Turnover
2 Fouls

%'s
FG: 33% (1/3)
3PT: 50% (1/2)


1st Quarter

• Dribbles into traffic, turns it over. This sequence turns into a Lewis dunk on the other end of the court.
• Bricks an open 3 in the left corner

2nd Quarter

• Misses an open 22 footer.
• Watson blows by Sasha in the backcourt, breaking the Laker defense in the Sonics attacking 47…resulting in a Wilkins layup. Phil calls a time out and is seen talking to Sasha about what just happened.
• Catches a pass from Luke at the top of the circle, takes and nails the 3.
• Earl pulls up in Sasha’s face and buries a three pointer.
• Watson drenches Vujacic in butter but fails to convert off the open look.

4th Quarter

• Can’t keep up w/ Watson so he uses his hands…is called for a foul. As soon as the play is live again, he hooks Earl and is called for another foul.
• Mikki Moore wins a jumpball w/ DG, but Sasha manages to tip it to Luke.
• Assists DG for a made 3 extending the Laker lead to 9.
• Had possession of the basketball w/ seconds remaining…he did not attempt to score.


Devean George

#'s
13 Minutes
3 Points
2 Steals
1 Block
2 Fouls

%'s
FG: 50% (1/2)
3PT: 50% (1/2)


1st Quarter

• Is attached to Wilkins jersey.
• Excellent D in transition forces a Seattle turnover. Wilkins was racing up court to catch the ball from his passer and score. George was right behind him, which forced the catch on the baseline. No real estate. Laker ball.
• Plays tight on Allen forcing a miss on the left wing.
• Strips Wilkins on a shot attempt from 15 out.



4th Quarter

• Misses a 3 w/ the shot clock running down.
• Ties up Mikki Moore to force a jump ball. LA ball instead of Seattle dunk.
• Forces a 18 foot miss from Ray Allen.
• Hits one from downtown off the pass from Sasha to extend the Laker lead to 9.


Luke Walton

#'s
22 Minutes
8 Points
4 Assists
5 Rebounds
1 Steal
2 Turnovers

%'s
FG: 50% (3/6)
3PT: 67% (2/3)
FT: 0% (0/1)


2nd Quarter

• Bounce pass to Kobe near the baseline for the layup.
• Bricks a 3 in the left corner.
• Assists Kobe for a 3 pointer from the top of the circle.
• Assists Sasha for a 3 in the same vicinity.
• Fights Kwame for the offensive board and gets it.
• While leading the break charges over Earl Watson


3rd Quarter

• Turiaf drives and kicks to Walton who makes the 3.
• Lewis beats him on the Sonics final possession of the half.


4th Quarter

• Attacks the basket, misses..but the ball is tipped in by Turiaf.
• Hits a 3 from the left corner.
• Fakes Moore into the popcorn machine but can’t convert the 16 footer.


Phil Jackson

This was a well coached game. One wouldn’t have thought that’d be the conclusion after the first quarter of play – But coaching is about adjustments. Phil made them. The team started off leaving Bryant out to dry w/ the pinball machine that is Seattle’s scheme for freeing up Ray Allen. However, by the end of the first quarter – Laker big men were coming out to challenge Ray whenever Kobe got picked off. The Lakers will take Ray Allen shooting 37% any day of the week. As the game went on, the Wilcox dunks turned into bricks from 15 out. The lanes went from empty to clogged. The spacing also improved. We’ve grown accustomed to poise w/ Phil Jackson teams. Up until very recently – We weren’t getting a sense of that. The Lakers were choking at the most inopportune times of ballgames. Yes, the Lakers were playing a lottery team – But character is something that can be defined no matter who the opposition…no matter what the time. Whether it’s preparation…practice…to the Sonics…to playing the Spurs in the playoffs. The Lakers imposed their will on the Sonics tonight. They turned what was poised to be an ugly loss…into a reference point for gut and determination. Phil Jackson’s fingerprints were on the moxie this team conveyed tonight…from Kobe on down.


Last edited by - Sean - on Sat Apr 01, 2006 4:16 am; edited 5 times in total
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lakerboy
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 3:06 am    Post subject:

wow, it's great

thank you


just one thing:

shouldn't the second game be "L 120-113"??


Last edited by lakerboy on Sat Apr 01, 2006 3:09 am; edited 1 time in total
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cmonkee
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 3:08 am    Post subject:

thanks Sean 2023!
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Colby Briant
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 3:13 am    Post subject:

that was awesome man. good work.
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- Sean -
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 3:14 am    Post subject:

Thanks guys...and lakerboy, you're right..it's fixed now, thanks for telling me.
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kups
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 3:20 am    Post subject:

Thanks for the recap sean! Solid game from Kwame again.
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ToughKarl
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 3:29 am    Post subject:

Thank you. Excellent Job!!!
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Hydro21
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 4:39 am    Post subject:

Bynum,mihm,brown,turiaf are turning into a nice group of young big men.
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Endure 12
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 4:41 am    Post subject:

Thanks a lot man, Kwame is really coming along.
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BigE32
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 5:20 am    Post subject:

Thank you for the excellent recap, sean2023. Kwame had another excellent game. Turiaf provided some energy off the bench. The only thing I was disappointed with was that Seattle had a lot of offensive rebounds. All in all, I'm very happy with the win. This team showed a lot of guts last night. Seattle's been playing well at home lately, as evidenced by the fact that they beat the Spurs last Sunday night. To go up there after losing to SA on Thursday night says a lot to me. The difference was the defense in the second half. I thought we slowed the tempo down in the second half. The result was that Seattle didn't get as many transition baskets. They were going up against our half court defense and only scored 37 points in the second half, as opposed to 56 points in the first half. Very nice win.
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jeremysnow
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 5:35 am    Post subject:

excellent sean!

kwame is going to learn how to lessen the big man dunks at the basket (as chris did following a few games last season).

I've stated it before and will state it again, turiaf's positive influence on the team is infectious!

he could well be the scott williams of '06 (i.e. williams was an undrafted rookie big man out of UNC and was a monster in the playoffs, in his rookie season for chicago. yes that same scott williams that basically ended karl malone's attempt for a championship ).
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jmark
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 5:55 am    Post subject:

Nice job Sean. Thanks.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:05 am    Post subject:

Nice recap sean, thanks for doing it
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Prometheus8
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:18 am    Post subject:

Many thanks Sean!

Kwame seems to keep feeding off his recent successes, getting stronger and more confident.
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Klone_dd
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:25 am    Post subject:

Way to sub in, sean.

Kobe proves yet again why he is an MVP candidate and why there's a Non-Kobe POG. He was in attack mode all night, definitely wanting to repay RayRay for the loss at Staples.

NKPOG = Kwame. Patrolled the paint very well, a season high in boards, very active and dare I say - Ben Wallace-like? He's almost there with his consistency, too.

The team showed a lot of determination to not let the loss to SA get them down.
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bballfan4life
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:41 am    Post subject:

wow that was great. Thanx
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tw-lakbfan
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 8:27 am    Post subject:

You put lots efforts on it, thanx.

Our big men have to improve their defensive abilities, especially denying the penetration and back door dunks/layups.
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angrypuppy
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 8:34 am    Post subject:

Bravo Sean!
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prisma8slg
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 9:32 am    Post subject:

thanks sean
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Mr. EiGhTy-OnE
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 10:03 am    Post subject:

i'm glad we won but smush and sasha are going to hurt us in the playoffs. the smush play that sticks out is in the 3rd qtr he was guarding watson and felt a screen coming so he stepped back to go around the screen and left watson all alone to nail a wide open three. when sasha first came in he turned the ball over and missed 2 straight 3's, then phil yelled at him during a timeout and he seemed more focused. Why is Jim Jackson getting absolutely zero minutes?
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RYZ
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 10:04 am    Post subject:

Stellar perfromance, Sean. Did you just come up with that format on the fly, or did it take some consideration? It was very comprehensive yet easy to follow- tough to balance those two, but you did a really good job.
Thanks for the time and effort.

Agreed on Phil's coaching performance last night, though I'll add that it was refreshing in light of a lot of questionable decisions on his part lately. All part of his 'master plan' I suppose.
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magic_bryant
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 10:34 am    Post subject:

JJ doesn't get minutes cause he doesn't make enough swing passes. He's too much of a chucker it appears.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 12:09 pm    Post subject:

Very nice writeup, Sean! I didn't get to watch last night's game and this told the tale really well. Thanks!
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LakersSpirit
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 12:47 pm    Post subject:

The game started out, and I thought I was watching clowns, in a circus... We just weren't in sync. It was as if we had totally forgotten how to play together. I think this happens, whenever we have too long a break between games.

Finally, in the 2nd half, we began to get some breaks, because, they were creating as many turnovers, as we were. Kobe sputtered to life, and Lamar kept penetrating. I don't know if anyone else noticed, but we got into this weird rhythm, that was somewhat comical, in itself... Even though we were still out of rhythm, with one another, we seemed to be throwing the Sonic's Game off as well... I think alot of this weird comeback happened around the time that there was that crazy confusion, over who was going to jump the ball, for the Sonics, and, I think the clock got stuck... What made everything even more weird was the way that people on the game update thread had been talking about how bad our team sucked... I was tempted to say "Yes, folks, we have just entered the Twilight Zone", or words to that effect. Kwame continues to be our main cleanup man under the basket.

Clearly, I think we can use some quality ballhandlers that can keep this team playing together. Overall, however, this team is starting to show that we can build a nice foundation, until we get a few more superstars,... hopefully, sometime, in the next few years??
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- Sean -
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 3:56 pm    Post subject:

You're welcome everybody, I'm glad some people got something out of it.

Jeremy - You're right, and I think Kwame was showing signs of that learning process during the game itself. Aside from the late lob he gave up to Wilcox - He conveyed more awareness as the game went on. On the surface, one might look at the fouls he commited and think negatively upon them. However, what I saw was a guy who was trying to work his reflexes into a lather - And rather than give up the easy dunks, I saw Kwame reacting to plays (albeit a bit late) and consequently commiting fouls around the bucket. As Kwame continues to develop the mindset of a defender - The fouls will turn into better defensive position, blocks, and strips. Considering he's already a pretty terrific defender - His potential is sky high.

Not to mention, if a player has fouls to give - I'd rather see him use them and make the opponent work for the points rather than to give up an easy dunk. There is something demoralizing about a dunk that can rev up both a team and their home crowd. A foul tells them nothing is coming easy.

Klone - When Kobe was having his mini meltdown in the 2nd - I thought of your NKPOG - And I was thinking for that night it might mean "Non-Kwame Player Of The Game." Kobe ended up kicking it up another level later on...making that thought fleeting. Brown was solid though. I loved the awareness. (The tough offensive board and assist to a cutting Smush comes to mind).

Jeremy mentioned the influence of Turiaf - And I think that can be seen in Browns awareness/activity most of all. Kwame is a guy that had the tendency to go to sleep....now that Turiaf is battling him every day - It's paying off dividends in his activity levels. Imagine having to match Ronny step for step in practice...having to hear him talk in your ear....it seems like it would be an awakener - And watching the change in Brown, perhaps it is. That's all everybody wanted to happen...the guy has the tools...it's about turning the light on...and leaving it on. If Turiaf is the switch, that's quite the value for a 2nd rounder in and of itself.

RE: Cook. Though Cook was getting worked early, I have to give him props for focusing on getting Wilcox out of his sweet spots later on. I didn't think he'd be able to, but he did. He also recovered off a couple bad plays by getting back on D quickly. The guy is flawed...probably should not be a starter...struggles when his shot does - But IMO he is a solid NBA player. He will have a long career barring injury. He tries to make adjustments....and does have a skill set that is developed enough to help most teams. I can't say the same for Sasha...

RYZ - I was thinking about it for a day...and by game time, I decided to go in a different direction. I knew that I'd include the season history...and easy to read stats for each player...but I couldn't decide on how to break the action down. Ultimately, I figured doing it bulleted by quarter would at the very least be both informative and readable for you guys. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you, and you're welcome.
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