SUNS -at- LAKERS - 4/29 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings

[DancingBarry]

Battle of Wills... The game -- the series -- seemed on the line in the middle of the third quarter. Lamar Odom sensed it, urging the crowd to make some noise. He then went on a ferocious offensive spurt. Despite Lamar and Kobe's best efforts, they found themselves as the only two Lakers capable to step up to the fight. The Suns adjustments on both ends controlled the game, and they pulled away for a 113-100 win.

The Suns made a simple adjustment to the Lakers defensive trapping: slip the screens and quicker passing. The Lakers were too eager to trap Nash before the pick was actually set, and they got burned time and time again. Nash went for 23 assists, and even after a first half of seeing this, we still made the same mistakes coming out of the second half. When the slip screen wasn't there, the Suns popped a shooter out to the level of the ball on the perimeter for open jumpers.

Offensively, in the previous game with the Lakers pounding the ball inside to Kwame or driving with Kobe while the Laker guards missed their shots, the adjustment for the Suns was predictable and simple: Pack the Paint. That's what the Lakers saw. Two stats show this: Kobe's 9 assists and Kwame's 9 points.

They took away the drive by sagging into the lane and they crowded the post. At the end of the day, we still had enough points to win the game and the Suns didn't torch us on the break, scoring just 12 fastbreak points. The Suns had a bit more of the tempo in their favor until the end of the game, when they could use clock.

The disparity in ready-for-prime-time talent in this game was about as plain as day.


Kobe -- -- Kobe was 3 boards and an assist from a triple-double. The Suns made him shoot over or through multiple defenders or pass the ball to the open man. He did a decent enough job, the Lakers just lacked the firepower to hang with the Suns on both ends. There was no respect for our perimeter shooters and poor recognition of what the Suns were doing on the other end. Kobe did what he could. He scored 31 points on 12-25 shooting (1-5 from three), he dished 9 assists with 6 turnovers and pulled down 7 boards in 46:22 of playing time. From the action noted below, you can see how much more perimeter-oriented Kobe's game was. First Quarter: He scored a layup off an inbounds pass. He sank a wing three. He missed a three. He hit Kwame with a jumpass for a score over Amare. He missed an elbow jumper. He missed off a spin in traffic. He posted up Marion and hit an And-1 jumper in the lane, he hit the FT. He missed a layup on the break taking contact. He hit a pull-up 17-footer. He missed a tough fade. Second Quarter: He attacked and kicked out to Mo for a three. He lost the ball on the dribble. He got hit on a pull-up jumper and made both FTs. He got about 5 or six bounces on the rim before another pull-up jumper finally settled in. He swished a 19-footer from the wing. Good rotation as the Suns ran their double-high post slip-screen scheme and Kobe intercepted the pass. He posted up Bell, pounded the dribble until Bell flopped, then he powered in the layup. He missed a baseline jumper. He attacked, took a lot of contact with no call and missed. He attacked, took more contact with no call and banked. He had 20 points on 8-17 shooting. Third Quarter: He hit a jumper standing on the three line. He missed a 20-footer. He drew a handcheck foul on a drive, he made both FTs. He tried to freelance, had defenders sagging on him on the perimeter and he got caught in the air and threw the ball away for a dunk. He missed a three next time down. He attacked off the pick and roll, spun and scored a layup. He attacked against multiple defenders and scored a layup over a man. Fourth Quarter: He drew the D and kicked to Mo for a three to start the fourth. Next time down, he forced the shot against the triple team instead of hitting an open teammate (Shammond), he was called for the charge. He blew past Marion on the baseline and hit a reverse. He was called for a travel next time down, he was irate he didn't get a foul. He missed a three. He hit Odom cutting for a layup.

Lamar -- -- I liked the fight in Lamar in this game, and he definitely knew when it was time to make a stand or die trying. Some great effort imposing his game in the third quarter in the thick of the fight, but in the end our two-man Alamo was overwhelmed. Defensively, he got burned like others with the Suns slip screens. Despite struggling early and dealing with foul trouble, he went out fighting. He finished with 19 points on 8-19 shooting (1-5 from three, a poor 2-6 from the line), 13 boards, 5 assists and 1 block. He posted up, missed a jumphook and then fouled on the first possession. He hit Kobe on the inbounds for a reverse layup. He missed a 20-footer. He picked up his second foul with 6:49 in the first and had to sit. He got blocked in the lane. He missed a three. He and Kobe couldn't connect on the pick and roll for a turnover. Good D on a switch on Nash, keeping him in front, then challenging the jumper. He threw down a lob dunk off the weave. He let Marion slip the pick on the first play of the half for an And-1. He posted up and hit an And-1 jumphook, he missed the FT. He reached for a rebound in stead of going after it, the Suns got it and hit a three. He took a long pass in transition, was shoved out of bounds and made one FT. He pushed out on the dribble, avoided Bell trying to take a charge and drew FTs, making one. Lamar was sensing the game on the line midway through the third at this point with the Suns leading by double digits, so he started getting the crowd going. He then attacked, missed a jumper, but charged in and tipped in his own miss (excellent sequence of imposing his will after struggling). On the next offensive set, he attacked aggressively off the pinch post, drew contact and hit the baseline And-1, he miss the FT. Next play down, complete imposing of his will, he attacked Diaw off the dribble, lost him to the floor with a between the-leg-dribble, then crammed a nasty left-handed dunk over Amare, wow. He missed a three a few possessions later. He hit a 19-footer on his first attempt of the fourth. He hit Shammond cutting when the D collapsed on him in the post. He missed a turnaround when the D collapsed and all the Lakers stood around. He missed a three. Nice dive cut to save Kobe, he took the pass and scored a layup. He sank a sideline three. He got tapped on a couple of attempts battling under the rim. He missed a long three.

Luke -- -- He hit a couple of early threes, but beyond that...blech. He finished with 10 points on 4-11 shooting and a team-high 7 turnovers with just 2 assists. His presence versus last year against this Suns team is not at the same level. He missed a bank in the post. He missed an 18-footer. He sank a corner three and when the Suns tried to push out after the make, he knocked the ball away from Amare. He sank another three from the other corner. He posted up Diaw and powered in a bank. He missed a runner over Barbosa, but Kwame tipped it in. He threw a lob a little to fast for Bynum to get to. He threw an outlet away. He hit Lamar off the weave for an alley-oop dunk. He got called for a phantom foul with Barbosa OC at the end of the half. He missed a heave at the buzzer. He powered in a layup over a flopping Jones.

Farmar -- -- Very much a not-ready-for-prime-time game from the rookie. He didn't score on 0-3 shooting and played 12:49, only getting 1 assist. Nash took him off the dribble with ease for a layup. Nash attacked again quickly and Farmar fouled him. Poor start to the second half. He back-rimmed two jumpers and missed an ill-advised drive in transition. He also threw an outlet pass away.

Kwame -- -- Kwame had an efficient game when he got the ball, but we didn't see the same kinds of drives and dishes against the Suns D as the last game. He finished with 9 points on 4-6 shooting, 4 boards, 5 fouls and 1 block. (Amare went for 27 points and 21 boards). He got blocked from behind and wanted the foul. He hit a jumphook in the lane. Late rotation out to a perimeter player and we gave up a three. He took an entry and banked easily over Amare. He tipped in a missed runner by Luke. He went to the locker room late in the first quarter as he was in noticeable pain with a tight back through most of the first quarter. He stretched it out and came back to the bench at the end of the quarter. He scored an And-1, after losing the dribble for a second before powering up, he made the FT. He gave up an And-1 trying to contest a cutting Marion to start the second half. Big basket erased when Diaw went down under the hoop, weak, weak call. We then gave up an And-1 on the other end.

Smush -- -- Decent effort from Smush. He missed a three in the thick of a Laker surge in the third that all of Staples was waiting to erupt on. He finished with 11 points on 3-6 shooting (4-4 from the line) in 20 minutes. He hit a 15-footer from the wing. He missed a floater, but got it back. He missed the huge three in the middle of that third-quarter surge where we were fighting for our lives. He sank a three from the wing.

Bynum -- -- Some nice stints of effort by Bynum. There are still rookie-like things that the Suns expose by putting him in the position to make a defensive decision. Just smart ball by them against a green player. Bynum didn't score, only had 1 attempt and had 3 boards with 2 blocks in 13 minutes. Amare ran right around him for an And-1 dunk. Great play, wow, Drew stepped out to D-up Nash, after Nash passed into the lane to a cutter, Drew chased after it and swatted the shot off the rim, then he went to the floor to tie-up the loose ball, Staples loved the effort. He missed a hook on the baseline, but got back in transition to swat Marion's layup attempt out of bounds.

Evans -- -- Hot Mo showed up and scored 11 points on 4-8 shooting (3-4 from three) in 19 minutes. His three shooting helped the Lakers, but his interior work was ineffective. He missed a post-up attempt over Barbosa. He knocked down an open jumper from the top of the key (good sign). He drained a wing three on his next attempt. Kobe kicked out to him shortly later and Mo sank another three, open from the corner. He missed an attack in the lane trying to beat the shotclock. He missed a three. He swished a big three to start the fourth quarter on a kickout from Kobe. Good hustle to chase down a defensive board on the other end. Barbosa went right around him for a score.

Cook -- -- Cook minutes were reduced a bit from the last one as Phil went with multiple lineups. He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting in 7 minutes. Good hustle, nearly keeping a ball alive for the Lakers. Nice rotation to get in front of Barbosa and draw the charge. He missed an open three. He lost Marion (wow) and scored a layup.

Turiaf -- -- He got 5:26 of run, didn't take a shot, had 1 board and 1 block to go with 2 fouls in that time. He was part of a big Bynum/LO trio lineup at one point. He got called for a moving pick. He was whistled for a blocking foul on Amare. He roofed Amare to get a stop.

Shammond -- -- The Suns were leaving him quite a bit on the perimeter. He scored 5 points in 20 minutes on 1-3 shooting. He missed a pull-up jumper from 20 feet. He got blocked by Nash on his jumper (ouch). Nice cut to the hoop when the D collapsed on Lamar and he scored a layup (we did that far too little). He attacked off the dribble and scored a layup. He hit a wing three, left alone.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha got a stint that had the Lakers nearly even with the Suns until some late scoring. Big steal after Kobe hit a shot, Sasha swiped the inbounds and attacked for a layup. Sasha went flying on a Nash push off to draw the offensive foul away from the ball. Good couple of plays in the thick of a run.

Phil -- -- Phil threw out a lot of different lineups in this game. This is usually the kind of thing he does at the beginning of the season, before tightening the rotation... Some poor matching up with Marion and other Suns, giving them easy scores. The Suns were slipping a lot of screens to try to take away the trap... He went to Smush as the second guard off the bench late in the first. (He brought Shammond in when Barbosa went to PG)... The Lakers lost the battle of tempo in the first quarter, but were able to hang with the Suns by scoring, hitting at a decent click from the perimeter... Great play out of a timeout, we ran the weave up top, getting Lamar to curl off a Kwame screen with the ball still in Luke's hands and they contected for an alley-oop dunk... A lot of mixed up lineups out there in the first half. We saw some Bynum/Turiaf/Odom briefly. We saw Sasha at PG... Nash had 15 assists in the first half and the Suns were able to score at a high rate... He brought Smush and Ronny in early in the second half for Kwame and Farmar... The Suns imposed their will on the Lakers in the third quarter. That was the battle for the series. Only LO and Kobe stepped up to the challenge. Everyone else faded... The Lakers lost the battle on the offensive glass 11-10...

[angrypuppy]

Thanks DB.

No, it wasn't sustainable (the defense from Game 3). As I said in one of your game write-ups a couple of weeks ago, this Laker team lacks character. There is no sense of urgency, now that a sweep has been avoided.

I was hoping to see less Luke Walton. Walton has been atrocious, missing shots on offense, over-passing, and moving like a slug in when the Suns work the transition opportunities. When we made that nice stand on defense during Game 3, it was with Luke riding the pine. I had hoped that Jackson would have gone with a smaller lineup (sans Luke), but frankly I'm not sure if it would have made a difference this game. There were too many other missing pieces.

[DancingBarry]

[PopcornMachine]

[Sage_10]

Thanks DB, sorry U had to bare the burden.
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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

[hoopschick29]

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

just got back from the game

-luke kept leaving his man (barbosa and jones) wide open for 3s
-refs did well all game until a couple of bad calls that cost us in the 4th
-i dont understand why bynum was on amare for much of the 3rd
-we were one and done (no offensive rebounds like last game
-lamar needs to make his free throws (and stop shooting 3s)
-during a timeout they cut into the miami game(on the scoreboard) to show them getting swept (the crowd went crazy)

hopefully we win on wednesday and come back to staples for game 6
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[DancingBarry]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[LakersSpirit]

The first few unfocused shots sort of set the tone, for most of the game. We needed to come out intense, and focused, in order to take Phoenix out of their game. Lamar, in particular, looked flat, half-asleep, and unfocused, to start the game. Lamar later heated up, in the 3rd period, but it looked like he was afraid to take his shot, sometimes. These things tend to throw the whole team off.

Luke also looked out of sync, on many of his passes. There were bad decisions. Kobe turned the ball over, at least twice. Farmar also went back to looking like a rookie, in the second half. All these things should be worked out, in practice. We can beat this team, but we have to play, as one.
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"Teamwork is a nebulous thing. It is as ephemeral as love, disappearing at the latest insult.".... Phil Jackson

[TooCool]

This team needs to learn how to hit OPEN shots. Argh. Phoenix does it with ease, and we have guys who love to brick em.

One positive I saw was Mo Evans. This dude woke up! He's finally hitting his shots after really bad Games 1, 2, 3. I hope he still has the energy and do the same in Game 5.

As for Odom, he was good... but needs to post up much much more. He still kept settling for outside jumpers, and especially the 3 pointer which he kept missing.

Farmar. OMG. First time I yelled "WTF ARE YOU DOING FARMAR?!" during the beginning of the 3rd quarter. He had like 3-4 bad plays in a row... when he was shooting it, driving it, defending... all in like 1-2 minutes. Totally allowed Phoenix to make the lead higher right after halftime.

I won't be surprised if Smush gets the start again in Game 5. Smush woke up a bit and did a good job on grabbing Barbosa during his layup attempts... instead of his silly touch fouls.

Kobe needs to stop being stunted at times. I mean, I know he's trying to do his thing... but a few times in the game, he just jumped in the air and looked for a jump pass of all things. When you're in the air, the last thing you should be doing is looking to pass. Because when teammates aren't cutting or near you, you're not going to get the ball to them. He caused a few turnovers doing this.... and they're costly turnovers.

Basically, I still feel like the Lakers can beat the Suns. Tighten up on Defense (a little), but most importantly... HIT THOSE OPEN SHOTS. And most importantly... FREE THROWS. The most easiest thing in the game of b-ball. You guys are getting millions of dollars, quit missing your free throws. If Ben Wallace can do it, so can everyone else.
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[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

[Rick12322]

[Smel Counts]

Hey db thanks for all the work you do. These reports help me out a ton.

[LakersSpirit]