LAKERS -at- BOBCATS - 2/3 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 11:29 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- BOBCATS - 2/3 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings

Slump Busters... Injuries plaguing you? Haven't won lately? Want a sell out crowd so that you can snap your losing streak in front of them? Who you gonna call? Slump Busters.

Without Lamar, the Lakers took on a team that celebrates wins like division championships. The Bobcats snapped their 13-game losing streak as ex-Laker Jermaine Jones went for a career-high 31 points. The Bobcats plan defensively was to let anyone else score but Kobe...and the Lakers struggled with that despite scoring more than 100 points. Poor offensive execution led to 24 turnovers (a season high); the turnovers led to easy scoring for the Bobcats. There were a ton of open looks for Kobe's supporting cast whenever they wanted them. Unfortunately, Smush was the only Laker besides No. 8 who had a perimeter game.

The Lakers defensive plan was to lull the Bobcats into a over-confidence by giving them a 40-point first quarter. When the Lakers finally started getting some stops to start the fourth quarter, they couldn't buy a basket. They went 5 minutes straight before scoring their first field goal in that quarter.


Kobe -- -- He was facing instant doubles everytime he touched the ball. Despite that, he still scored 35 points on 12-18 shooting. He also had 9 boards, 5 assists (should have been double that), 4 steals and 7 turnovers. A couple turnovers were from poor passes. But also credit some of those turnovers to his teammates as Kobe had to force the issue at times because few teammates could shoot the ball during stretches...making Kobe's scoring even more difficult. He took a handoff from Mihm and scored at the rim. He anticipated a post entry pass and stole it. He kicked it to Smush off a double and Smush hit the three. He drilled a three from the wing. He attacked on the weakside and reverse jammed with both hands. He posted up at the wing, turned and hit before the double came. He scored a reverse, attacking with speed of a shovel return feed from Bynum. He slithered through a double team and scored the And-1 from 5 feet on the continuation. He drew FTs from the perimeter, made both. He found Smush under the hoop with a pass for a layup. He had 16 points at the half. He started the second half hitting wing 19-footer over a double team. He took a long pass, popped up and hit a baseline jumper. He dribbled to the wing then hit a fade. He tried to dribble through five players and lost it. Kobe attacked the lane then kicked it to George for a three from the side. He drew a perimeter foul and hit both FTs. He got the ball at the top of the key, squared up and hit the jumper. He looked for George and Cook for open shots, both missed. He spun and swished a fallaway over Rush from the baseline. He stole the ball, pushed up the break and it led to FTs for Cook, which he missed. Kobe took a pass and ran out to the top of three line and buried the three. He drew FTs on a jumper and made both. He was fouled in transition and hit both FTs.

Mihm -- -- Brezec scored on Mihm early and often. In fact, I would have preferred Phil to go with Bynum early for a stretch to see if he could cool Brezec down with his better length. Mihm still managed to get 15 points on 5-8 shooting and 9 boards in 31 minutes. He set up scores for Kobe and George off post handoffs. He pulled down an offensive board and banked in a shot from a couple feet away. He grabbed another offensive board and scored a layup. He got fouled on a jumphook and hit FTs. He got lost on the D end and his man hit an open jumper. He powered up an And-1 layup off an inbounds feed and made the FT. He hit a jumphook in the lane in crunch time. He took contact and still banked in the shot as he fell backwards for the And-1 (he made the FT).

Smush -- -- Smush was the only Laker who could hit a perimeter shot all night. He scored 19 points on 7-12 shooting (5-8 from three), had 2 assists and 3 steals in 42 minutes. His decision making was poor throughout the game, especially when trying to take Knight off the dribble. Smush led the Lakers with 8 turnovers, filling Lamar's role of late in that category. He picked up a tech early griping at an official. Sloppy perimeter pass with bad fundamentals and it caused a turnover. He knocked down a three off a kickout from Kobe. Next time down the court he drilled a three from the corner. He tried to attack off the dribble and Knight picked him clean and it resulted in a score at the other end. Nice steal doubling the post man. He doubled off the cutter and gave up a layup. He drilled a three from the corner. Kobe found him under the hoop, Smush wheeled around in the air and hit the layup. He swished a three straight away off a pass from Bynum. He got stripped by Knight. He forced a pass for a turnover and layup on the other end. He spotted up and drilled the three at the top of the key. He attacked the lane and hit a floater. Key charge, taking a handoff by Kwame and running over Ely late in the game. Glad to at least see that someone other than Kobe could hit a jumper in this game.

Kwame -- -- Kwame scored 8 points on a poor 3-9 shooting. He grabbed 5 boards and had 2 turnovers in 23 minutes. He played soft like just about everyone else on the D end. Nice up and under move on Ely for an And-1, he also made the FT. He dunked on an interior feed from Luke. He busted down court, got the feed, dribbled to avoid Knight and then dunked. Poor post D, gave up a layup. He was getting contact on a few misses but no calls. He finally got a whistle on an obvious one and made one FT. He bricked a jumper in the middle of the lane (a shot that is there in the Tri if he can hit it). Very quiet second half.

George -- -- Devean robbed several assists from players throughout the game as he shot 2-9, missing many wide open jumpers. He still managed 12 points in the start in place of Odom. He pulled down 5 boards, dished 3 assists and had 3 steals. He inbounded to Mihm, got a handoff and attacked for FTs. Defensively on Knight early, but that was changed up shortly later. He was fouled on a three attempt from the corner and made all three FTs. Watched Jumaine grab an offensive rebound next to him for a putback score. Nice one, Dev. He missed another wide open three. He was fouled and missed both FTs.

Cook -- -- A total suckfest from Cook tonight. He scored 2 points off 1-8 shooting in 20 minutes, doing a good job missing every single open jumper he took. He missed his first three jumpers. He then dunked in the lane off a Walton pass. He bricked another jumper. He couldn't finish a layup after being fouled by Knight, he then bricked both FTs. He clanked two more perimeter jumpers. The Lakers should have ran more Kwame or Mihm at PF and got Bynum some time at C because Cook was killing them. Sounds like Ronny's visa will make him available by Tuesday.

Walton -- -- Another guy who can't hit an open jumper. Luke went 1-6, his only field goal coming off a nice layup where he took contact. He managed to get to the line quite a bit going 7-9. He finished the game with 9 points, 7 boards, 5 assists, but 4 pretty sad turnovers. He had to do a lot of bringing the ball up tonight in place of Lamar. He found Kwame in the lane for a dunk. Nice post feed to Cook cutting down the lane for a dunk. He posted up and drew FTs. He got fouled twice grabbing defensive boards and made three of four FTs on back-to-back possessions. Forced a pass to Cook, turnover. He scored the Lakers first field goal of the fourth after five minutes when he attacked to his left off the dribbled and powered in the And-1 layup (he missed the FT). He attacked, drew FTs and made both.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha was good for 5 fouls, 0 points on 0-3 shooting and 1 assist. Stupid foul when Kobe threw a bad pass at the end of the quarter and Sasha gave up three FT fouling at the midcourt with 1.3 seconds left in the first quarter. Nice D on Felton, tipping the ball away once, then getting his hands in on another time to cause Felton to lose it. He got swatted badly trying to score across the lane. He missed an open jumper off a Kobe kick that Kobe got ticked about.

Green -- -- Got 3 minutes of action in the fourth, nothing to report.

Bynum -- -- Finally in the game with 5 minutes left to go in the first half. Phil again had plenty of opportunities to put him in and plenty of reasons to do it. Our bigs were getting torched early and we gave up 40 first quarter points. How much damage could young Bynum do, when he looked like he would probably match up fairly well. Well, in his few minutes on the court Bynum led the team with a +9. He didn't see any time in the second half. He grabbed a Kobe miss and dunked strong at the rim. Nice shovel pass return feed to Kobe who scored a reverse. Good D to contest a shot and the Lakers grabbed the miss. Great poise again surveying the floor from the perimeter as players moved around then he found Smush wide open for a three.

Phil -- -- I've already ranted about wanting to see Bynum more. Phil has got his hands full with Lamar out and Kobe having to do even more heavy lifting... The Lakers had 9 turnovers and gave up 40 points to the Bobcats in the first quarter. Jumaine and Brezec scoring with ease, the two combing for 26 first quarter points. Bobcats shot 62% in the quarter... Lakers gave up 4 second chances on one sequence in the second quarter before the Bobcats finally scored. Phil finally brought Bynum in after that last sequence, and Kobe who had been on the bench for 7 minutes... The Kobe-Bynum lineup got things going on both ends and the Lakers cut the Bobcat lead to single digits at the half... The Lakers didn't score their first field goal in the fourth until five minutes into the quarter. They were getting stops but could do nothing on the other end... The Lakers finished with 24 turnovers, that led to a fastbreak points. The Bobcats won the break 23-4... Phil on Jumaine Jones's great game. "We deserve that," Jackson said in the Times. "He was a player that we had no idea how good a player he was." What...are...you...taking...about???!!! Arggh. Seriously, did you watch last season?...
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Drifts
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 11:47 pm    Post subject:

Kobe shouldve had 15 asts if guys could only make their open shots...

DB wrote:
"We deserve that," Jackson said in the Times. "He was a player that we had no idea how good a player he was." What...are...you...taking...about???!!! Arggh. Seriously, did you watch last season?...


Phil was in Australia swimming in the Pacific. Remember?
That or he's just not too good at judging players. JJ would've brought hustle and energy off the bench, things we miss big time.
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ARCADE
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 11:57 pm    Post subject:

Quote:
Phil -- -- I've already ranted about wanting to see Bynum more. Phil has got his hands full with Lamar out and Kobe having to do even more heavy lifting... The Lakers had 9 turnovers and gave up 40 points to the Bobcats in the first quarter. Jumaine and Brezec scoring with ease, the two combing for 26 first quarter points. Bobcats shot 62% in the quarter... Lakers gave up 4 second chances on one sequence in the second quarter before the Bobcats finally scored. Phil finally brought Bynum in after that last sequence, and Kobe who had been on the bench for 7 minutes... The Kobe-Bynum lineup got things going on both ends and the Lakers cut the Bobcat lead to single digits at the half... The Lakers didn't score their first field goal in the fourth until five minutes into the quarter. They were getting stops but could do nothing on the other end... The Lakers finished with 24 turnovers, that led to a fastbreak points. The Bobcats won the break 23-4... Phil on Jumaine Jones's great game. "We deserve that," Jackson said in the Times. "He was a player that we had no idea how good a player he was." What...are...you...taking...about???!!! Arggh. Seriously, did you watch last season?...


That says it all right there. He'll wake up soon. There has to be some accountability applied here.
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8750
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 12:19 am    Post subject:

DB, you are a very courageous man...
what about "we have to be patient... these players are young and learning... the teamwork is improving, so we don't need to trade... kobe needs to trust his teammates... phil jackson will turn odom into pippen... kwame will be a 20-10 player"?...
i said in preseason and i keep on repeating: these players are soft and losers... we need an outside shooter, a blocker, a defensive specialist... with this team, our only hope is kobe always scoring 40 or 50...
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 12:21 am    Post subject:

What about some kind of response, showing some intensity and fire on the defensive end after losing to the Pacers?
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8750
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 12:25 am    Post subject:

that's the problem, DB... no character... players with no character at the end are always losers...
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Klone_dd
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 12:36 am    Post subject:

NKPOG = Jumaine Jones. What? He's no longer on a Laker? Never mind.

Phil wins the stupidest statement of the year: "He was a player that we had no idea how good a player he was." WTF?

The Non-Kobes are going to cost Kobe the MVP. Will somebody please step up?
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RYZ
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 12:38 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB.

I agree with Drifts: Kobe's assist total could have easily been tripled if his mates had answered the bell. He could have had 6 or 7 more in the 4th alone.

Agreed on Phil and Bynum. I'd secretly held onto this theory that Phil wasn't playing Andrew a lot during the Artest sweepstakes for fear of creating a fan favorite who would then be difficult to trade from a p.r. standpoint. So much for that notion. I mean, plainly put, in all but the rarest of matchups, Bynum is better than Kwame right now. Forget having nothing to lose when inserting him in the midst of allowing 40 first quarter points, there's was an immense amount to be gained.

The scary thing about Cook tonight was his inability to knock down catch and shoot Js. I discovered at Illinois that he couldn't hit off the dribble (an epiphany apparently yet to strike him), but when he can't spot up and connect, he literally has no business being on the floor.
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targetman
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 3:58 am    Post subject:

When John Ireland asked Phil what Bynum had to do to earn more playing time Phil sounded exasperated and said he was sorry to see Ireland falling for that idea. He said Bynum knew the offense but had a lot to learn on the defensive end. Is he thinking that Bynum has more to learn than Kwame or Mihm, because I'm not buying it. Phil sounds like a stubborn man who is sticking to his opinion despite all evidence to the contrary.
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orido86
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 4:30 am    Post subject:

tnx DB
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expertla
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 6:57 am    Post subject:

Klone_dd wrote:
Phil wins the stupidest statement of the year: "He was a player that we had no idea how good a player he was."


You got that right.

And somebody please tell me who is "WE"?

There's a whole lotta "we's" that knew exactly how good JJ was. Man that's stupid.
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bounty
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 7:17 am    Post subject:

That felton shot late was disastrous. Kobe worked to get us back in and "walla" the supporting cast shows their ugly face.
Thanks DB
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 7:40 am    Post subject:

I was at the game last night. You have to jump on a team like the Cats and show them they have no chance early. Instead we give up a 40 point quarter and play up hill the rest of the night. The crowd gets into it and you have a war on your hands. Kobe was too passive at first trying to get his mates going and by the team he gets going we are 25 down. JJ was open from the wing all night because of dribble penetration. They have two quick guards who we could use ourselves. Bynum changes the game when he comes in. I can live with his mistakes. He and Kobe play well together. Mistakes by DG, Luke, Cook & Sasha are harder to take. Kobe made some incredible shots last night. We missed LO's rebounding. They outhustled us and got every lose ball it seemed. If you never seen LA on the road (all my games I have seen in person are) most of the teams this is their Super Bowl and they play over their heads. I believe Charlotte beat Miami at home too........
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kobe_somebody_odom
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 7:57 am    Post subject:

8750 wrote:
DB, you are a very courageous man...
what about "we have to be patient... these players are young and learning... the teamwork is improving, so we don't need to trade... kobe needs to trust his teammates... phil jackson will turn odom into pippen... kwame will be a 20-10 player"?...
i said in preseason and i keep on repeating: these players are soft and losers... we need an outside shooter, a blocker, a defensive specialist... with this team, our only hope is kobe always scoring 40 or 50...


See this is the problem. Phil wants Odom to be Odom, not Pippen. Us fans want want him to be Pippen. The media wants him to be Pippen. He is NOT Pippen. He is Lamar Odom (15/9/6/1/2), and a key piece to the triangle. Mitch is not stupid becuase being patient takes more than 1/2 YEAR of rebuilding.

So far the future looks good with Kobe, Odom, Bynum, (Cook, Sasha, Walton, Smush, and Turiaf off the bench). Kwame will be gone in 1+ years.

We need Boozer via Kwame Trade/Young talent ala developing Wafer + picks in a year or two.
We need a good 07 pickup at PG. Not even a great PG but a 2nd-tier star PG. Hinrich would be a nice option.

Hinrich/ Sasha(will be good IMO)
Kobe (@) 30/Smush(same as Sasha)
Odom/Profit(if healthy)
Boozer/Turiaf/Cook
Bynum/Mihm

This team competes for years IMO- potentially 3-peat again
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 8:44 am    Post subject:

Drifts wrote:
Kobe shouldve had 15 asts if guys could only make their open shots...

DB wrote:
"We deserve that," Jackson said in the Times. "He was a player that we had no idea how good a player he was." What...are...you...taking...about???!!! Arggh. Seriously, did you watch last season?...


Phil was in Australia swimming in the Pacific. Remember?
That or he's just not too good at judging players. JJ would've brought hustle and energy off the bench, things we miss big time.


Thanks again DB. Great Job. If the rest of the team could hit an open jump shot Kobe would be leading the league in assists.
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 3:02 pm    Post subject: Re: LAKERS -at- BOBCATS - 2/3 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings

DancingBarry wrote:

The Bobcats plan defensively was to let anyone else score but Kobe...and the Lakers struggled with that despite scoring more than 100 points. Poor offensive execution led to 24 turnovers (a season high); the turnovers led to easy scoring for the Bobcats. There were a ton of open looks for Kobe's supporting cast whenever they wanted them. Unfortunately, Smush was the only Laker besides No. 8 who had a perimeter game.


DB - As always and repeating what others have stated, GREAT WORK!

Re: Lineup Changes
Everybody is hoping that what is happening is that PJ is giving the current lineup till the All-Star Break before initiating any substantial changes. Recognizing that it is hard to play if you are always looking over your shoulder, this seems to be a prudent move on this very young team. HOWEVER, after the All-Star Break - one looks forward to PJ adjusting the PT to players that are actually producing. Does anybody else see this as PJ's plan for the lineup/rotations?

Re: ABomb (aka Bynum)
Hopefully after the All-Star Break (see above), ABomb will be getting increased PT when the other "bigs" are having problems. He is not at a stage where he can get major playing time because he can be too easily rooted out of his post position - as noted by PJ. He does provide a major energy boost whenever he gets into the game. Does anybody really believe that ABomb can play between 15 to 20 minutes?!?!

Re: Shooters (Are there any - besides Kobe - on this team?)
Cook - Isn't he supposed to be the "consistent" shooter on this team? If he is not draining his "j's" - he is useless unless he is able to get his "garbage" points from layups & putbacks. DGeorge - I thought that PJ gavie him the "green light" to be the scorer off the bench, what happened? Will Von Wafer will be getting more opportunities given this defensive schemes that opposing teams will start to use more often?

Re: Energy
Since PJ torched them the day before during the "tape session" - what is with this team that came up flat as a doornob?
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:25 am    Post subject:


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2006 7:57 am    Post subject:

Who was it that dunked on Von Wafer?
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