THUNDER -at- LAKERS - 1/17 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Meeting the Intensity... If you were a betting man, it sure seemed like this would be one of those games where the Lakers wouldn't meet the intensity of their opponent. The only thing that fell flat tonight was the Thunder's three ball as the Lakers took the 101-94 win against one of the better opponent's they've faced.

The Thunder had everything going for them in this one. They had all summer long to think about the team that knocked them out. The first time they met would surely be a statement game.

Maybe they were ready. Maybe the Lakers were, too.

In the playoffs, the Thunder caused all kinds of problems for the Lakers by overplaying the passing lanes defensively. This forced the Lakers to go deeper into their offensive counters resulting in a number of issues -- inability to feed the post, settling for threes late in the shotclock and poor overall shot selection.

The Lakers didn't forget how to play their opponent. Kobe played active and aggressive, talking to teammates throughout the night to keep them fired up.

They worked more off the dribble to get into the paint. They often attacked off the three line instead of settling for threes. They also got into their offense much earlier than in the playoffs. All of that helped the offense to click, instead of dying a slow death up against the shotclock.

Defensively, they struggled to contain Westbrook despite switching Kobe onto him. "I told my big guys to get ... out there," Kobe said in the Times. "If I'm going to get lit up, I'm going to get lit up one-on-one. I'm not going to get lit up because they don't show up."

The Lakers stayed tight on the shooters, however, holding the Thunder to just 2-22 shooting from three and very few attempts without a challenge.

"It's a good win for us," Phil said. "Our intensity was right on a back-to-back night. We had the energy necessary to win against a young and very active team."


Kobe -- -- Mmmmm. Kobe looked spry, aggressive and provided that well-balanced mix of creating offense for himself and for others. The team relied on him more for dribble penetration in this one since we weren't able to simply dump it into the post with ease and aren't at the top of our game with our deep triangle counters. A hesitation dribble and a quick first step often got Kobe a step or two past his man and into the heart of the D where he wreaked havoc. The only real hitch in his game was some horrid freethrow shooting (especially in crunch time where his touch from the line really fell off). Despite the team letting one get away from them against the Clippers, Kobe feels positive about the team's direction. "I think the sense of urgency is getting better," he said. He's talked repeatedly about the mental side of the game as being one of the biggest issues for this team. That's three-peat experience. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 7-12 shooting (1-1 from three, 6-11 from the line) to go with 5 boards (3 offensive), 7 assists, 1 steal, 5 turnovers and 2 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He hit Bynum trailing the action for a dunk. He attacked a gap with speed and was fouled at the rim, he made both FTs. He collapsed the D and kicked to Pau for the jumper. He took contact on a layup with no call and missed as he fell to the floor. He swished a 21-footer losing Durant on a fake. He was blocked from behind, got it back and scored the And-1 after pumping a man in the air before the layup, he missed the FT. He worked off the screen, spun away from a double to draw a third defender, then dumped it to Pau for the dunk. He blew past Thabo next time down and slammed over everyone with both hands. He blew pas Thabo again and scored a layup at the front of the rim. He had 10 points on 4-6 shooting and 5 assists. Second Half: He kicked out to Fish for a three. He swished a step-back three as the shotclock buzzer went off. He missed a tough baseline fade with the shotclock low (Pau tipped it in). He picked Westbrook, pushed it out and was fouled to the floor on the break, he made one FT. He pounded the dribble in the post and hit a pumping baseline turnaround. He was called for a travel off a hand off. He had 6 points on 2-4 shooting and 1 assist in the third. Off the bench after a long rest and he swished a 19-footer. He set up Pau on the pick and pop for an open 18-footer (Kobe was pumping him up after that make as they went to the timeout). He got tapped on a jumper after losing his man. He was hit on a cross over with no call and lost the ball (had a few words for the ref). He got checked on the perimeter for FTs with 38 percent, he made just one to lead by 5. He went up high for a board and was fouled intentionally, he missed both this time. He was fouled again with 15 seconds left up by 5, he made both this time.

Gasol -- -- If Pau can hit that pick-and-pop jumper consistently, that's a nightmare for opponents when he and Kobe go to the two-man game. He and Kobe teamed up a few times in this game off that play. With the post getting fronted a ton, the Lakers couldn't go to their normal triangle sequences. When Pau did get the ball in the post, he learned he needed to go quick or the help D would be all over him. He was getting slapped at and hit quite a bit (even bleeding from the arm) without any calls when the D could swarm. With Bynum in foul trouble, we had to run Pau a little extra (41 minutes). He seemed to show good energy despite it being the second night of a back to back. As mentioned, it just seems to be more mental fatigue with him than anything else sometimes. Kobe mentioned that mental edge as an issue for the team. Asked if they get bored at time, "It seems that way," Kobe said. He said it was important to "individually find something that challenges you, motivates you and gets you ready to play." If anyone on that team struggles with that, it sure sounds like Pau sometimes. Tonight, the Thunder and the loss of the win streak had the Lakers focused. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 8-19 shooting to go with 7 boards, 2 assists, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 41 minutes. He was a +17. The Action: He missed a face-up jumper. He sank a 12-footer off the feed from Fish. He scored a layup around a defender off the nice post entry from Ron. He was blocked on a turnaround and wanted the foul. He choked a jumphook instead of powering up a layup after a man was caught in the air. He sank a wing jumper off the Kobe kickout. He missed a wide open elbow jumper. He missed a jumphook on the right block. He swatted dribble penetration. He hit a cutting Brown for a layup. He didn't grab a defensive board (tried to tap it when he could have controlled it) and it led to a score. He set a screen for Kobe, rolled as Kobe drew three defenders before setting up Pau the easy dunk. He airballed a short post up. He had 8 points on 4-11 shooting and 2 blocks. Second Half: He was stripped as he went up. He crashed the glass and tipped in a missed pull-up jumper by Kobe. Quick attack from the pinch post at the elbow and he drew FTs, he made both. He ball faked and attacked quickly to draw FTs, he made both. He swished an And-1 baseline turnaround and made the FT. He hit Lamar cutting for a layup. He blocked Durant's three on a switch. He missed a pumping turnaround (needed to attack earlier). Bad idea passing to Ron as he was clearing out of the way to Pau could go iso, Ron was out of bounds. He missed a baseline jumper on the Kobe kickout. HE scored a layup on the drive and dish from Lamar. He sank the 18-footer off the Kobe pick and pop. He missed a baseline turnaround.

Bynum -- -- He struggled with some foul trouble with all that speedy dribble penetration to deal with. The Thunder have no post game against the Lakers. It's that Westbrook/Durant attack that caused some issues. If he's going to foul, I'd like to have seen Drew get his money's worth. You know, some old school hard stuff that makes you hesitate the next time you want to draw contact against him. The Lakers did tend to have more one-and-out possessions with Drew in there rebounding (despite a missed FT rebound in the final minute). Offensively, the best part of Drew's game might go unnoticed, but he set some very nice screens for Kobe. It seemed like the Thunder got away with a lot of slaps our bigs when they got swarmed in the paint. Pau and Bynum were better off if they were able to go quickly before the D could surround them. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-8 shooting to go with 10 boards (3 offensive), 1 block, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He blocked Green on the first stand. He hit a 7-footer for the Lakers first score. He grabbed a Pau miss and scored in the lane. He tried to power up in a crowd and missed (he wanted the foul). Massive slam trailing the action when Kobe found him. He tipped in a miss by Ron. He took too long to power up and got blocked. He drop-stepped on low position and scored with ease. He picked up his third foul on the other end (just having trouble with the penetration). He had 10 points on 5-7 shooting. Second Half: He was stripped on an interior feed from Pau. He couldn't finish a lob. He couldn't secure a missed FT rebound.

Artest -- -- I think anyone will take 24 points from Durant on 8-24 shooting. That was Durant's second lowest shooting percentage of the season for a game. The haters will chalk it up to various excuses, but Durant himself has commented on Artest's defense. He makes life difficult for him and the Thunder have to try to shed Artest to free up Durant (so good team D is important, as well). It was nice to see Ron actually on an SF this game versus all the SGs and smaller players that we've used him on to save Kobe. Tonight, Kobe had his assignment with Westbrook and Ron had to take the league's leading scorer. Would have been nice to see how Barnes fit into the equation against the Thunder, but Ron held things down. On the other end, he was aggressive at times, getting into the paint on a few plays to score or set up teammates. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-6 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 5 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He was thrown to the ground with no call. Nice bounce pass to Pau around the side fronting post defender to get a score. He attacked strong to his left, spun to his right to lose Durant and he scored a layup. He attacked his man next time down, overpowered him in the paint, but missed the short one (Drew tipped it in). He knocked a ball off Durant's leg to get a turnover. Quick first step and he drew FTs on Durant, he made one. He hit Lamar cutting weak to strong for a score. Aggressive post attack and he drew FTs, he made one. Second Half: He missed an open sideline three off the kickout. He drained a wing three on the drive and dish from Fish. Great D on Durant as he tried to do his swing through, Ron had crowded him but quickly held both of his hands behind his own back as Durant made his move (Durant bricked badly). He missed an leaning jumper on the baseline. He stripped Durant's drive. He grabbed a Kobe miss and reset the offense. He airballed a sideline catch-and-shoot three (never got planted).

Fisher -- -- This was one of DFish's better games of the season. He played more like a PG or SG that can attack off the dribble as well as hit from outside. That dynamic makes off the offense less stagnant, less predictable and much more effective against a team that wants to get out on the break. The Lakers weren't going to settle for threes tonight. When they did shoot them, it was on inside-out sequences for the most part. Defensively, Kobe and Blake took the Westbrook assignment, in case you didn't notice. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-10 shooting (2-3 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He sank a three off a Kobe pass. He missed a running bank. He missed a baseline jumper. He stripped Green in the post to get a stop. He probed baseline and then found Pau open for a jumper. He swished a toe-on-the-three-line jumper from the sideline. He airballed a wing three. He attacked baseline next possession and muscled in an And-1 layup after taking contact, he made the FT. He attacked the paint and hit Lamar for the And-1 layup. He attacked in transition, got contact into Green and drew FTs, he made both. He had 10 points on 3-6 shooting and 2 assists. Second Half: Off target on a drive and dish lob to Bynum, layup the other way. He attacked off the three line and hit the floater. He swished a sideline three next time down on the Kobe kickout. He had two players rushing at him next time down on a Kobe kickout and he attacked and hit Ron for a three. He drew a charge on Durant on the break. He slapped away dribble penetration on help D. He was blocked on a forced jumper. He missed a three on a kickout next time down.

Lamar -- -- Last summer there was a lot of talk about how well Serge Ibaka played Lamar. This Lamar is a different player. Lamar played his game today and didn't seem to have any problem doing so. He hit a couple threes, he attacked the paint aggressively, and he found teammates with passes. They also got into their offense a lot earlier (until the end of the game) than they did in the playoffs, where Lamar would often slowly walk it up. He's been putting together one of his best seasons as a Laker (the .566 shooting percentage is a career high), and even though he is coming off the bench now, his scoring is only down from 15.6 to 14.9 as a bench player. That's in 6.6 less minutes, so the aggression and effectiveness are still there. "I think from the experience he had this summer," Kobe said, "his game is going to another level...he's believing in himself, and he's playing the kind of basketball that we all knew he was capable of." Lamar is playing All Star ball on a contending team, but Blake Griffin dropped 47 points today and Kevin Love, of course, has put up some crazy numbers of his own. Those kind of stats usually get All Star notice. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-9 shooting (2-4 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He curled around a screen, sealed his man, took the pass and banked. He missed a point-blank layup looking for the foul call. He swished a sideline three on a kickout. He was stripped on an up and under as he was about to score. He cut backdoor and Blake found him for the layup. He sank a wing three on the pick and pop with Blake. He scored an And-1 off the drive and dish from Fish, he missed the FT. He airballed a heave from midcourt. He had 12 points on 5-7 shooting (2-3 from three). Second Half: He missed a three at the end of the third. He attacked off the Pau baseline handoff and earned FTs, he made both. He cut from the weakside, grabbed a hot pass and scored a layup. He attacked from the three line and hit Pau for the layup.

Blake -- -- Better game from Blake than we've seen in a couple weeks. Not that he scored a lot, but he was generally more aggressive in the offensive sets. Defensively, however, he did a very respectable job on Westbrook when the two were matched up. That was one of the takeaways from this game and hopefully another option for Lakers against Westbrook because Phil isn't going to throw DFish into that again if he could help it. Might also be interesting to see Barnes on Westbrook, too, with his length but I think we'll have to save his fouls for Durant. Back to the offense for a moment...this could have been a very difficult game for Blake and prone to a lot of errors. The Thunder make you go into your counters in the triangle and any of the new guys are going to have a tough time with that. Blake had one miscue because of that, but generally stayed out of trouble and even hit Lamar on one counter. The second unit went a little flat in their first stint, but they hung in there better in the fourth. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting from three to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He got caught on a swing-through move from three by Durant to give up FTs (tough call). Bad post entry pass as a fronting defender stepped around his man and the Thunder capitalized for a score the other way. He hit Lamar going backdoor for a layup. He worked the pick and pop with Lamar to get him a wide open three. Second Half: He drained a corner three on a kickout to end a 14-2 run. He poked a ball from Westbrook from behind. He challenged an inbounds pass and forced a backcourt violation on Westbrook.

Brown -- -- Kind of an awkward game from Shannon. It seemed like he was caught in bad positions trying to be aggressive at times. Kind of reminded me of Von Wafer when he was here. He never really got on track and struggled with his flow on the offensive end. Phil still managed to play Kobe just 33 minutes, getting some good rest for Kobe when the second unit held down the fort in those first 5 minutes of the fourth. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-9 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards and 2 turnovers in 17 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He bricked a pull-up jumper. He pushed up the break with speed and drew a goaltend call. He missed a short one in the paint. He lost the handle trying to go around his back in transition (dunk the other way). He missed a three. He cut down the lane and Pau found him for a floater. He ball-watched to give up an oop. He missed a short baseline jumper but got it back. Second Half: He missed a pumping three, dunk the other way. He took contact and missed a layup with no call. He stopped his dribble, then couldn't pass and changed pivot feet for a travel, uggh. He swished a fade at the FT line.

Walton -- -- He had to go up against Durant to start the fourth quarter. If you weren't nervous, you're kidding yourself. Luke and the Lakers kept the lead the whole time. That's not easy to do, but a good effort by Luke...and the bottom line is they didn't give ground. Durant was very aggressive during that stretch, too. You kind of worried that KD might get hot and carry that over to Artest, but that didn't happen. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 11 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He attacked and kicked out to Lamar for three. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper. He hit a runner in the lane attacking from the elbow. He threw a ball out of bounds on a lob out of a timeout.

Phil -- -- Phil started with the cross-match with Kobe against Westbrook like they switched up to help win the series last year... The Lakers led 15-12 midway through the quarter when the break came. Then they extended that to 23-17, forcing a timeout... Phil brought in Lamar for Pau and Shannon for Fish at that timeout... They were tied 26-26 a couple minutes later... They were tied 28-28 at the end of the first... Phil started Pau, Lamar, Luke, Shannon and Blake... Up by 1 midway through the quarter, he brought in Kobe, Fish and Artest for Brown, Blake and Luke... Westbrook went on one of his runs scoring or setting up everything for several minutes. Kobe went on one of his, as well... The Lakers led 58-55 at the half. They shot 53 percent (24-45, 3-5 from three, 7-11 from the line) with 15 assists. The Thunder shot 46.5 percent (20-43, 1-9 from three, 14-15 from the line). Thunder had just 3 turnovers, Lakers only 6. Four Lakers were in double digits in scoring... The Lakers pulled out to a 7-point lead on a couple drive and kick threes to force a Thunder timeout... They extended it to 15, but started to fade after Lamar came in for Bynum. Drew had been setting some nice screens and controlling the glass... Phil brought in Blake and Shannon for Kobe and DFish with 2 minutes left up by 9... The Lakers led 81-75 heading into the fourth. Phil didn't like the offensive execution at the end of the quarter... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Luke, Brown, Blake unit... Drew picked up 2 fouls early in the fourth and had to sit for Pau... Durant went at Luke during this stretch. Still, the Lakers maintained a 7-point lead... Phil brought Kobe and Ron back in for Blake and Luke with the lead still 7 after 5 minutes... They extended the lead to 10, forcing a timeout with 3:47... Lakers got too passive running clock and the Thunder trimmed the lead to 4... Kobe missed several freethrows, Westbrook returned the gift with a couple misses himself... The Lakers held on and didn't lose a quarter... The Lakers shot 7-14 from three (and 50 percent overall for the game, as well). They kept the Thunder to their average of 16 points on the break, but locked down on their shooters...

[mhan00]

great win

[10scott10]

Great balance out there tonight. We had 5 guys make big impacts, and Bynum would have been even better if he didn't get called for the ticky-tack fouls.


Blake and Brown really need to come out of the slumps. Brown is forcing shots and Blake is shy to shoot. They both need to just play their game, and it will come to them.

Fun game to be at in in person

[SweetP]

Nice game
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“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[mhan00]

really liked blake's game tonight, even though he still wasn't aggressive enough for my taste. defensively, i thought he did a good job when he was in, and imo, he was the best at defending westbrook tonight. that was more what i expected from him; i would love to see him get some more time against westbrook in our next couple of okc games just to see if he can keep that up.

pau started a little slow, but he picked it up in the second half, especially defensively. a lot of people were ripping on pau in the game thread, but there was a reason why we were playing some of our more effective ball with him in the game. he's still looking tentative with his post game right now. not sure where all his nice hook shots have gone, but he's been settling for the fadeaway and second guessing himself on some of his moves too much. getting real sick of refs letting guys just straight out grab his arms on rebound attempts with no call too. that last ft kobe had where the guy trying to box out pau literally just turned around and straight up grabbed him and started to try to force him out like a football linebacker right in front of the ref was unbelievable.

'drew would have been great, if he could have stayed on the floor. he was getting the short end of the stick as westbrook would continually just blow by the man guarding him or just come off a screen against 'drew in basically a one on one situation and that's just a recipe for disaster. completely agree that 'drew should have gotten his money's worth on a couple of those cheap calls. once he saw refs were going to call some bs with him going straight up and westbrook going right into him, he should have just laid westbrook out a couple of times.

kobe was a master of this game. just orchestrated everything for us offensively. had a few hiccups down the stretch with too much iso and the missed fts, but he's definitely thumbing his nose at the people who keep saying he's done year after year and doing his mvp thing. westbrook did blow by him a few times, even without a screen, so that was a little worrisome, but hopefully blake shows that today was not an aberration and he can help take some of the load off of kobe later on in the year. fisher is just a disaster when he tries to guard russell.

fish was amazing today. if he was only hitting the shots he was hitting today yesterday, we would be on a 9 game win streak right now.

lamar continues to make a very strong bid for the all star game.

and i'm bored now, not sure how dancingbarry does it, but i'm damn grateful he does.

[DancingBarry]

[mhan00]

forgot to mention that 'drew seems to be getting treated like shaq by the refs. he's getting hit across the arms and head when he's trying to go up with no call. we give guys like westbrook and chris paul weak ass hand check fouls, but we can't call anything for guys getting mauled down low? what the heck? he's getting punished for his size.

[mhan00]

[thurloly]

Pau was murdered in the post- NO CALL!

Bynum breathe- FT CALL for Thunders players!

I rest my case.

[Bynum4MVP]

Props to Ron for his superb defense.
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Before Lamar trade: Lakers-57 wins (2011)
After Lamar Trade: Lakers 41 wins (2012)
Lol, people actually thought trading LO would be a GOOD thing

[Vicky T]

Thanks DB. Funny, everytime I think of Phil I think of a banana with a whip
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Macho Men:
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[babyskyhook]

[babyskyhook]

[babyskyhook]

[babyskyhook]

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB. I missed the game but I recorded it on my DVR.

Love the way that Kobe was facilitating in the begging and getting the bigs involved. He had 7 impressive assists tonight. In the 2nd half and especially in the clutch he showed that he can still close games. Very efficient game by the Mamba.

LO is playing like he is a legit #2 option right now. He has a swagger about him that I haven't seen since his Clipper/Heat days. Man I wish he could get voted into the ASG. He deserves it but probably won't make it. Again.

Artest is still in KD's head. I was impressed with Artest's defense tonight.

Bynum needs to move his feet. Maybe he is playing with too much weight? A couple of opportunities were lost rebounding, scoring, and swatting - all due to his slow movements. I also would like to see him make his fouls count. None of that ticky tack bleep.

Blake needs to be aggressive. That 3 he hit looked confident and pure. He needs to look for his shot more often. I like the way he runs the offense but in order to have more spacing out there he needs to shoot when he is open.

Bottom line for me is they brought enough intensity to slow down a well rested Thunder team that had been averaging 117 ppg their last 3 games. We were on the 2nd night of a back to back. After tonight's win we are 8-1 on the second night of a back to back. That tells me that we still mental toughness. Very good win by the champs. I'll take it.

[All Net]

Nice win

[wolfpaclaker]

We got
IMPACT Gasol
IMPACT Artest (D on Durant)
IMPACT LO

When that happens alongside Kobe being Kobe, the Lakers will beat a top 10 team like Thunder easily.

We're not even using guys like Blake properly yet and missing Matt Barnes. This team is far from peaking and still boasts the 2nd best record in the West, tied for 3rd in least losses overall in the NBA. Gasol is coasting, and he can play a lot better still. I'm looking forward to the playoffs and I still feel this team can improve it's overall execution level.

[BigE32]

I totally agree about Blake. I thought that was his best game in the past couple of weeks. He actually stayed in front of RW and made a couple of nice passes to LO in the 2nd quarter. Nice win. Thanks, DB.

[babyskyhook]

[babyskyhook]

[Rick12322]

Thanks DB.`

Bynum has a target on his back. Pau's had the target on his for no-calls while Bynum has it for no-calls, ticky tacks and minor infractions that are rarely called. Pau's been getting beat up since our eight game winning streak ended. My guess is Bynum's recent domination of Amare ruffled some feathers in New York, and they got on the phone and complained bitterly to David Stern, who's from new york. I think he put that target there because one of his buddies was pissed off that their star Amare was beaten badly.

Last night the refs actually called some of the Thunder fouls and we won.
Had they swallowed their whistles like they have at other times, we most certainly would have lost. This team can't compete against athletic hackers when the rules aren't enforced.

I liked Ron's offensive aggressiveness. On one play he spun around Durant and bolted to the hoop in Blake Griffin style, all but the jump, of course. I am a believer in making good offensive players work on D and that was just the right thing to do there. Ron's D was better than I expected, I really hate to see him waste his abilities on 2 guards.

My last thought is an offseason of shadow boxing would do Bynum a world of good. Look how it elevated LO's game. I remember a couple years ago when LO announced how he'd maintain his conditioning in the offseason, I was thinking what the heck! Why don't you work on your right hand and shooting? But I have to say, that was the best thing he's ever done for his career.

[Mike D]

[Luca Brasi]

as mentioned in a prior TAR by DB, we witnessed the cross-match of placing a SF on kobe (in this case) durant, and trying to guard ron with SG (in this case) harden. predictably, ron ran harden into the post. he didn't score every time, but harden had no choice but to foul him, and that's important because it allows the lakers to get into the bonus faster. it might appear to be only a minor advantage - and in this case, the thunders employed it, not in order to save the legs of their scorer (as other teams are apt to do) but because durant's length could be more effective versus kobe. regardless, ron's ability to post, and once he does, completely seal his man on the block, is an advantage not to be over-looked when assessing his value tot the team, and will be used against teams like boston, heat, or spurs, if they guard kobe with their SFs.
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"i was born down in the valley where the sun refused to shine, but i'm climbin' up to the highlands, goin' to make that mountain mine" ~ Lakers, 2011