LAKERS -at- SUNS -- 4/23 -- Thoughts and :-(( ratings
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:10 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- SUNS -- 4/23 -- Thoughts and :-(( ratings

Searching for a Road Win... They Lakers looked to establish everyone but Kobe for the first three quarters. By the time the game hit the fourth, Kobe struggled to get into the flow and the Lakers trailed. Still, they kept the game close into the last minute. After a missed three by Smush and a Nash three the other way, the Lakers went from a possible tied game to trailing by six in the last minute. The refs missed a key no call on a Kobe drive that could have changed the complexion of the last few possessions and the Lakers lost the game 107-102.

The Lakers gave up 39 points out of the gate to trail by 10 after the first quarter. The layoff and possibly their youth had them off to a slow start defensively. After tightening things up and controlling the pace, they evened things up to start the fourth. Part of the strategy was for Kobe to involve his teammates and then take over late in the game. He was a bit too passive throughout and struggled to get it going in the fourth.

Counting team rebounds, the Lakers out boarded the Suns 60-41. The Suns got to the line too much, shooting 32-35 on their free throws, while the Lakers shot 21-27. The Lakers had just 10 turnovers in the game, but some of it was on some sloppy post-entry passes. Tim Thomas had 22 points and 15 boards for the Suns.


Kobe -- -- Hopefully, we will see a more integrated Kobe in the next games. He needs to pick more spots and attack the lane with more aggression. It's one thing to involve your teammates, it's another to do so without involving yourself. He finished with 22 points, but on 7-21 shooting (7-8 from the line). He had 6 boards and 5 assists with 3 turnovers. Perhaps, establishing his teammates' confidence early in the playoffs will pay off in the next games. He swished a long baseline jumper to start. Then, he sat back for the next several minutes and let his teammates drive the offense. He picked up a foul stripping Bell, coming off the ball onto his hand. He found Luke for a layup wide open under the hoop. Finally, Kobe went to the attack and he drew FTs easily on his first step, he made both. One attack, two FTs. He spun baseline in the post, fought for the backdoor pass and scored at the rim. He missed a wing three and it resulted in a layup for Barbosa on the other end. Back in after a short rest at the start of the second, he missed a turnaround when the offense stalled. He missed a wing jumper. He posted up and missed an easy one in the lane. He finally attacked for the second time off the dribble at the 7 minute mark of the second and fed Kwame, who got stripped as he went up for a dunk. He missed a tough three with the clock low. He called his own number and quickly drew a foul on an attack at the end of the second quarter, he made both FTs. Kobe had 8 points on 2-7 shooting in a very passive first half. After a few minutes of sitting back to start the second half, he got the ball, attacked and instantly drew a foul. He lobbed to Smush on the break, Smush missed but Kobe cleaned it up for his first score of the half (after 6 minutes). A rare attack, he spun and missed point blank at the rim, but the Lakers got the ball back. He started to get a bit more aggressive at the end of the third. He faked a three he would normally take, then ran a pick and pop and hit Cook for the long two. They ran a pick and pop again, Cook missed a three, but we got it back. They ran it again, this time Kobe attacked, got into the lane with ease and scored up a layup to tie the game. He took more shots to start the fourth. He missed an open three. He missed a turnaround. He missed another wing jumper. He missed on an attack in the lane over Thomas. Midway through the fourth, the crowd started chanting "Kobe sucks"...next time down the court he attacked Diaw and scored a layup. Next possession, he attacked again and drew FTs, he made one. Next possession, he attacked off a pinch post and scored a layup. He sagged off Barbosa on the defensive end and gave up a three. He attacked off the dribble and drew FTs. He posted up and found Odom who hit a short jumphook. In the final minute, Kobe attacked off the dribble, was hit in the head and didn't get the whistle (that would have cut the lead to 2 with his FTs and a couple more Laker possessions left). Kobe swished a three on the next possession. He missed a half-courter at the buzzer.

Odom -- -- It seemed like it took Lamar just a bit to get going, but then he put together a strong game. I wished he was a bit more aggressive early on against Marion. He had just a couple scores in the first quarter. He finished with 21 points on 8-15 shooting (4-8 FTs), 14 boards and 3 assists. He missed a layup at the rim. He cleaned up a Walton miss with a layup. He was called for a weak charge in the lane. Bad pass out of the post and it led to a breakaway. Nash swished a jumper over Lamar on a switch. His man went for a steal at the end of the first, Odom got the ball and dunked. He let Marion score a putback. He sagged off Marion and gave up a three. He fouled Barbosa contesting a perimeter shot. He posted up and drew a foul for FTs, he missed both. He posted up and missed a jumphook. Bad pass to Kwame for a turnover. He missed an attack in transition. He drop stepped Marion and over powered him for a layup. He was blocked, got it back and drew a foul on Marion under the hoop, he made both FTs. He posted up and found Walton for a layup in the lane when he drew a double. He missed a three. He posted up and over powered Marion for a score at the rim. He attacked off the dribble, drew a foul and missed both FTs. He stepped into a three, had good form and hit. Nice hustle to tap an offensive board to himself, then he went back up strong and scored. He posted up and kicked it back out to Luke for an open three. He sealed Marion and kept him on his hip as we worked the ball around the perimeter and finally found him for a layup. He posted up, drew a double and kicked it to Sasha who missed a three. We did it again next time down and Sasha hit the three. Great fight tipping at a defensive board, then hustling to the sideline to have it go off a Sun. He posted up, got Marion in the air and drew FTs, making both. He attacked the lane and found Luke for a reverse layup. He hit a short jumphook off a feed by Kobe. He missed an open three, but Smush got it back and scored.

Kwame -- 8) -- Kwame got a lot of touches early in the post and had mixed results. I was hoping we would see more attacking by other Lakers, setting Kwame up or freeing him up at the rim for putback scores. We went to more of a traditional dump-the-ball-into-the-post game with him today. He finished with 14 points on 5-12 shooting and just 6 boards (3 offensive). Considering his youth and inexperience in the post season, he had some reasonable production today in his 30 minutes. Defensively, he needed to play a little tighter on Thomas on the perimeter, but he did do a great job anytime he had to switch on Nash. He drew a foul on his first post up. He scored an And-1 with an up and under on Diaw on his second post up in the same offensive stand, he made the FT. He gave Thomas space on the perimeter and gave up a couple of threes. He missed a few post ups in a row. He flashed to the FT line to set up a high-low sequence, it wasn't there so he hit the 16-footer (nice read and react, glad to see him also knock that J down). He drew the third foul on Thomas, posting up and Thomas had to sit. He got an entry pass finally after a couple of failed attempts and then scored a jumphook. He posted up and scored a jumphook off the glass. Nice close out to contest a Nash three and force a bad miss. He posted up again and missed. He ran a pick and roll with Kobe and drew FTs, he made one. He got called for a weak blocking foul that gave up an And-1, should have been a charge (and should have been a push-off foul earlier when the player drove). Nice hustle to grab a miss by Luke and draw FTs, he made both. He got called for a moving pick on a high pinch post. He drew a loose ball foul on Thomas fighting for an offensive board of a Kobe missed three. He just missed a tip in on a Kobe miss. He overpowered his man to take away a miss by Smush and put it back in. Pretty good game, considering all the back-to-the-basket plays we were asking him to make. I wish we could have had a few more drives and dishes to him for dunks.

Smush -- -- This is a tough assignment for Smush to get his first playoff experience, but Smush stepped up and put in a good effort. He missed a critical game-changing three in crunch time and saw Nash hit one after the Lakers couldn't recover a defensive board. That hurt. Smush finished 1-5 from three, wish we could have made that 2-5. When the dust settled, Smush had 15 points on 5-13 shooting (4-4 from the line), 6 boards (3 offensive), 2 steals and just 1 assist. There were some occasional problems with our pick and roll D and a couple times early where Smush didn't get any help D. After Nash blew past him on one end, Smush took it to him on the other and drew a foul and FTs, he made both. He stole a pass in the backcourt and drew FTs attacking the rim, he made both FTs. Great cut down the lane and Luke hit him for a finger roll. He posted up Nash and Smush swished a short turnaround. Smush knocked down a wing three to start the second quarter. Nice job drawing an offensive foul on Marion setting a pick. Smush was called for offensive interference after trying to putback in a reverse jam and hanging on the rim a little too long for the refs' liking. He picked up his second foul when Nash attacked. He scored a layup in transition off a feed from Luke. He posted up Nash and kicked it to Jackson for a jumper. He missed an open three off a Kobe kickout at the end of the half. He attacked Nash, missed but wanted the foul. He switched, got taken into the post, then drew an offensive foul with a brilliant flop. He switched again on a bigger man and drew a travel violation. He missed an open three to tie the game with 1:32 left. On the other end, our D was scrambling, but couldn't pull down a miss and Nash hit an open three to give the Suns a 6-point lead with 1 minute left. Nice offensive board on a Lamar missed three and Smush scored to cut it to 4. Too bad about a couple of those clutch threes (close of the half and last minute). Overall, he was solid enough defensively and forced several turnovers on the Suns.

Walton -- -- Luke scored a season-high 19 points (matching his career high) on 9-16 shooting. He also grabbed 6 boards, dished 2 assists and had 2 steals. He had a couple hitches late in the game, but you really can't ask for a much better game from Luke. Glad to see him continue to step it up. He swished his step back jumper from the elbow. Great read on Smush cutting down the lane and Luke found him with a bounce pass. He missed a post up out of a timeout. He blocked Barbosa on one end, then scored an open layup on the other when Barbosa trailed. He posted up Barbosa and swished another turnaround. Another nice D play by Luke forcing an airball with a good perimeter contest on Bell. Walton posted up and again swished a baseline turnaround. He finally got his first rest at the 9:30 mark of the second quarter, great first stint. He helped strip a ball then found Smush for a layup in transition. He scored a layup in the lane when his man doubled the post. Nice snag of a post entry pass. He hit a floater on the baseline. He faked a swing pass then stroked a very smooth looking three from the top of the key (you knew that one was dropping just by looking at his form). He cleaned up a missed drive by Sasha with a putback at the rim. Barbosa faked Walton out of his shoes on help D then scored a layup. Thomas hit a three over Walton. Luke missed a layup on a drive. He scored a reverse off an interior feed from Lamar. Good game. I wish we could have seen Luke connect a couple of times with Kwame to set him up for dunks.

George -- -- Devean played 9:23 of action off the bench. I've got no notes for him. That should say it all. Next.

Cook -- -- Phil went to some aggressive pick and pop play with Cook and Kobe late in the third and a little in the fourth. Unfortunately, Cook missed a couple too many. He led the bench in scoring with 6 points on 2-7 shooting and also pulled down 5 boards in just 10:49 of action. He knocked down an 18-footer in his first stint. Off the bench at the end of the third, he hit a 20-footer on his first touch on a pick and pop with Kobe. He missed the next pick and pop. He missed another pick and pop from the other side. He missed an open three, then Kobe was called for a loose ball foul for FTs (a 5-point switch midway through the fourth). He was called for a loose ball foul on a Laker miss, but we would have likely had to foul anyway. He drew a foul and made the FTs.

Sasha -- -- He's another of the guys who will gain something just from getting his playoff shoes wet. Unfortunately for us, we've got two such guys at our PG spot. Sasha banked in about a 50-footer with 0.4 on the first quarter clock when he got the ball, turned and heaved it. They reviewed it and waved it off. (There probably could have been 0.3 more on the clock after the Suns make, but they never look at that kind of thing.) He missed on a drive, but Luke cleaned it up. He fumbled a pass, then didn't get a shot off to beat the shotclock. He drew one of his push-off fouls on House early in the fourth. Nice contest on a baseline jumper by House and we got a miss. We posted up Lamar, the Suns left Sasha and he missed a three. Next time down, we did the same thing, this time Sasha hit the three to give the Lakers a one-point lead. He fouled Nash on a drive for FTs. Phil then sat him for Smush.

Jackson -- -- I guess, he gave us some serviceable minutes. Nothing much to write about other than I sure miss Profit right now. JJ finished with 2 points on 1-2 shooting in 8:47 of action. He was called for a loose ball foul trying to secure a defensive rebound. He missed a baseline jumper. Nice offensive board off a Kobe missed three. Bad entry pass and it resulted in a dunk the other way on the break. He helped strip a ball and it resulted in a Laker transition score. He hit a pull-up J at the FT line on a post kickout. He then gave up FTs on an away-from-the-ball foul.

Phil -- -- Phil changed things up quite a bit with the Lakers attempting a much more deliberate, traditional post-up game. It's a good idea to get the pace of the game in our favor. However, we have got to mix that with Kobe aggressively attacking the soft interior and getting to the line. Kobe was too passive early and struggled to get in gear at the start of the fourth when Phil was looking for him to take over. We need to feed the post, but we also need dribble penetration to attack the paint... The Lakers got into the bonus early in the first quarter, but didn't take advantage of it. The Suns, meanwhile, jumped on the Lakers early... Lamar was quiet in the first quarter and Kobe was passive as he let his teammates get involved early. The Lakers gave up 39 points in the first quarter to trail by 10... The Lakers held the Suns to 19 in the second quarter... Some excellent rotations by the Lakers defensively at times during the third quarter. They finished the quarter going with the two-man Cook-Kobe game. The Lakers won the quarter 25-17 and ended up tied after three... Phil brought back in Cook for Kwame and they ran the two-man game with Kobe again at the 7 minute mark of the fourth. He then started to get a little more production from Kobe, who had missed several shots early in the quarter... The Lakers held the Suns to a reasonable 10 points on the break... Close game. So, a lot of possessions and little decisions could have changed the outcome. The Lakers need to start and finish the next game better if they are going to steal one on the road...
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nateball
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:43 pm    Post subject:

D looked good for 3 Q's.

Forgot it was legal to tomahawk chopp players in the head though.
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Krispy Kreme
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:45 pm    Post subject:

I agree with your assesment of kobe. people here will grill me for this.. but i feel when it comes to finding the balance between being a playmaker and a scorer, wade and lebron are superior to kobe. kobe just focuses on one aspect. either scoring mode or playmaking mode. but overrall, im happy with the way we played. i hope we can pick up our defense at the START of game 2.
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:46 pm    Post subject:

Krispy Kreme wrote:
I agree with your assesment of kobe. people here will grill me for this.. but i feel when it comes to finding the balance between being a playmaker and a scorer, wade and lebron are superior to kobe. kobe just focuses on one aspect. either scoring mode or playmaking mode. but overrall, im happy with the way we played. i hope we can pick up our defense at the START of game 2.


He did not look comfortable out there today, that is for sure.
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akk7
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:49 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB tough loss I liked Kobe's style today just needed the ball more and needed to attack more often.
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:51 pm    Post subject:

this game was outstanding even though the lakers lost, some things i saw as i watched it

it looked to me that lamar odom was the only one going for rebounds? kwame should have helped some more

kobe was not having a 40+point game against the suns like he normally has but in the time of need he was helpful

! kobe gets hit in the eye by tim tomas, the refs dont call anything!! lakers could have won, next game kobe will step up
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prisma8slg
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:56 pm    Post subject:

thanks DB. even though we lost, I saw a lot of promise. I guess everyone has an off day, and today was kobe's (offensively). I'm glad the rest of the team was able to step it up. and I hope phil fine tunes all the little things. despite his fair share of ball mishandling , kwame had a decent game. I think Smush had a good game, considering this was his playoff debut.
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angrypuppy
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:57 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB.

Tough loss, in that the game looked very winnable. If there is a silver lining, it's that the coaching staff has a much better idea of what will work defensively. They were robbed of that opportunity the during the final meeting between these two teams during the regular season.

What I found particularly frustrating is that once we finally (and all to briefly) caught them, we departed from what was working: Scoring in the paint using size mismatches and attacking the basket. The Suns responded by packing the paint, and we then began to take long jumpshots, which fed their tempo... allowing them to rebuild momentum.
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Texas_Pete
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:59 pm    Post subject:

I love this team. Seriously. We are going to have some growing pains like today. We made a valiant comebacka against the #1 offensive team in the league. To give up only 37 total points in the 2nd and 3rd quarters is huge! Inexperience is the only thing I see that's wrong with this team. The world is seeing this team grow by leaps and bounds. Phoenix says they played bad, but our defense had a lot to do with it. I have a good feeling about this series. We definitely have Phoenix attention.

It's also funny how the Laker haters didn't call me today.


Last edited by Texas_Pete on Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:08 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:00 pm    Post subject:

Kobe's game was so strange...I never got a sense that he put his stamp on it...be it offensively or defensively....and they won't be winning anything if he doesn't play like the superstar he is...in some form or another.

Great games by Luke and LO.
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:04 pm    Post subject:

WTH has gotten into Luke? He looked like our 3rd best player out there. And LO was robbed of a few opportunities to exploit his matchup v. the Matrix. He outscored and out rebounded him. Put him on the block PJ! Make the Matrix play more defense. I said if we could keep the Matrix between 15-20 we had a good chance. Too bad the refs had to mess things up.
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Sleepy
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:06 pm    Post subject:

It's going to take some serious makeup calls to make me forget that HORRIBLE non-call that left Kobe with a knot on his head. Some yahoo on another board actually had the ignorance to say he didn't think Kobe's free throws would have changed the outcome of the game. Being down by 2 with 22 seconds is no different than being down by 6? Really? :roll:

If L.A. picks up where they left off, the Suns don't stand a chance. They had 1 good quarter and the Lakers owned the rest of the game's tempo.
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:19 pm    Post subject:

angrypuppy wrote:

What I found particularly frustrating is that once we finally (and all to briefly) caught them, we departed from what was working: Scoring in the paint using size mismatches and attacking the basket. The Suns responded by packing the paint, and we then began to take long jumpshots, which fed their tempo... allowing them to rebuild momentum.


That frustrated me as well. I doubted whether the gameplan was going to ever work as LA went down big early...but their discipline paid off. By the time Sasha hit that 3 that gave them the 1 point lead...I was really impressed w/ the way they relentlessly stuck w/ feeding the post as a first option..and letting the table get set from there...but then they deviated from it...and everything went to hell. It kind of pissed me off how they could go away from what got them there.
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:25 pm    Post subject:

Disagree about Kobe. Anytime the team scores 102 points I don't see how his relative lack of offense was all that important. The difference to me was that the entire team missed easy (exceedingly makeable) wide open shots (Smush, Sashsa, and Cook, especially). You can't ask Kobe to set guys up, have those guys miss badly, then get on him for not taking over. Nash did what Kobe did except that the Suns hit those shots. Again, the other guys have to step up (Cook, especially, needs to realize that he doesn't have to launch a three everytime he gets the ball -- it's frustrating to watch him play as if he were on the Phoenix roster).

A few other crucial points: they had some untimely, unforced turnovers. TOs, against the suns, is like chum in the water for Sharks -- suicidal. They had 11 TOs which is not bad, but a couple of them kept them from gaining momentum (I consider early, missed threes TOs, to, by the way).

Third, they had defensive lapses, although the D for the 2nd and 3rd quarters was excellent. They simply have to stay home on their man. Let the guards do what they can with Nash. In the crunch, PJ will mix it up and try some traps and such, but the damage against the Suns comes when everyone tries to help out on Nash and leaves their shooters open.

Fourth, speaking of Nash, they have to get in his face as soon as the Suns get a rebound. Their first look is to get it in his hands. The Lakers simply let him get the ball and come up court unmolested. That's a huge mistake against them because of his court vision. Just get in from of him and try to bother the long passes. which often lead to uncontested threes.

Fifth, the lakers have to realize that the SUns do not let up on offense. Their offense, broken down to it's most fundamental precept is: get the ball up court and get off a good shot before the defense can set up (whether in a fast break or a delayed break). In practical terms, this means the lakers have to be conscious of the SUns running down court after misses or makes and spotting up at the arc. The lakers cannot relax in transition: find a man and bother him -- do not leave him open.

Finally, rebounding. The Lakers played well but can do even better. They need to study the Phoenix shooters to get a feel for where their misses come off the rim (I guarantee you Marion does this vis-a-vis his teammates -- that's one reason his anticipation is "uncanny"; Rodman was another master at this). Too many times, Phoenix rebounds come off long and it's like the Lakers never expected it -- magically, however, the ball ends up right back in Phoenix's hands.

Overall, an excellent game, and it was eminently winnable. They need a bit more discipline on dfense for all four quarters.

Kobe won't have too many poor shooting games where the ball simply wasn't dropping.

I came away thinking the Lakers can still beat Phoenix this series.

BTW, that non-call against Kobe WAS CRITICAL. Funny how time and time again he's on the shoirt end of those swallowed whistles. If it were Nash who gotten breathed on in that instance, he would have been shooting FTs. It's a shame. Kobe and Phil were right to be enraged.

SGH
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CorkyTomjanovich
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:29 pm    Post subject:

2nd and 3rd quarters were excellent. Didnt catch any breaks though in this game-

I thought, looking at the replay, that Sasha's 3 was good. Immediate catch-and-shoot. You can do that in 0.4.

Smush's putback that was called offensive interference? I think that was the wrong call, I see sloppy dunks like that all the time where the ball bounces back in and the player has hold of the rim. Replay shows ball was off the rim.

Hope we pull it out on Wednesday.

And NOBODY should be worried about Kobe's play, he will be fine.
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Exick
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:34 pm    Post subject:

CorkyTomjanovich wrote:
2nd and 3rd quarters were excellent. Didnt catch any breaks though in this game-

I thought, looking at the replay, that Sasha's 3 was good. Immediate catch-and-shoot. You can do that in 0.4.

Smush's putback that was called offensive interference? I think that was the wrong call, I see sloppy dunks like that all the time where the ball bounces back in and the player has hold of the rim. Replay shows ball was off the rim.

Hope we pull it out on Wednesday.

And NOBODY should be worried about Kobe's play, he will be fine.

Not sure what the rule is about hanging on the rim, but the ball clearly bounced off the backboard while Smush was hanging there. I think that still counts as offensive interference. As for Sasha's shot, I thought it looked good too at first and you can definitely do a catch and shoot with 0.4 seconds. However, Sasha's shot wasn't immediate and after seeing the replays, it was still in his hands when time expired.

Tough loss tonight for the team, but I really liked what I saw after the first quarter. If they make some of their chippies or keep Phoenix off the foul line (or someone who isn't BLIND blows the whistle when Kobe gets raked across the eyes going to the hoop! ) then they win this game. I hope to see much more of the same in game 2.
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:47 pm    Post subject:

Lamar was friggin awesome today.
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critical_beatdown
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:08 pm    Post subject:

Tim Thomas was the difference, along with the 39 point first quarter and Kobe being a little off.

We'll take Game 2.
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:17 pm    Post subject:

Nice job DB. Kobe needs change his approach to getting his teammates involved-- drive and Kick. When he drives the lane and attracts 2 or 3 defenders is when he should get unselfosh and kick the bal outside. passing up wide open shots to let luke or smush take the three accomplishes nothing.
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LakerFan4Lyfe
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:23 pm    Post subject:

first it was Doug Eddings of the MLB and now this schmuck
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:26 pm    Post subject:

jwbrown77 wrote:
Lamar was friggin awesome today.


Co-sign. He keeps this up and we will have 2 Lakers in the All-Star game. I just thinks he needs to post up more. The Matrix had no answers for him. He is such a mismatch on the low block. Kobe is the man, but put LO on the block and run the offense through him. Besides, Kobe will get his.
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:28 pm    Post subject:

Sister Golden Hair wrote:
Disagree about Kobe. Anytime the team scores 102 points I don't see how his relative lack of offense was all that important. The difference to me was that the entire team missed easy (exceedingly makeable) wide open shots (Smush, Sashsa, and Cook, especially). You can't ask Kobe to set guys up, have those guys miss badly, then get on him for not taking over. Nash did what Kobe did except that the Suns hit those shots. Again, the other guys have to step up (Cook, especially, needs to realize that he doesn't have to launch a three everytime he gets the ball -- it's frustrating to watch him play as if he were on the Phoenix roster).


This is the Suns, where good offensive execution leads to controlling the pace...which means taking them out of their transition game. Good offense, means better defense. I don't have a problem with Kobe setting guys up...but he also needs to pick his spots as well. He can't expect to be that passive and suddenly turn it on. It doesn't need to be much, but a few possession in each of the first three quarters could mean a lot in this game. He also was very passive in setting up people...there were literally no drives and attacks for most of the first three quarters where he created something for others. We needed just a few more possessions of him on dribble penetration, drawing fouls, getting into the paint...scoring and slowing down the tempo. Come fourth quarter, we don't have to wait for him to shake off the rust on several possessions.

Agree on the other points.

Quote:

BTW, that non-call against Kobe WAS CRITICAL. Funny how time and time again he's on the shoirt end of those swallowed whistles. If it were Nash who gotten breathed on in that instance, he would have been shooting FTs. It's a shame. Kobe and Phil were right to be enraged.

Yeah, that definitely changed how the last several possessions play out. Kobe even sank a quick three in there, too, that could have been big had we gotten those 2 FTs.
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jwbrown77
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:28 pm    Post subject:

Texas_Pete wrote:
jwbrown77 wrote:
Lamar was friggin awesome today.


Co-sign. He keeps this up and we will have 2 Lakers in the All-Star game. I just thinks he needs to post up more. The Matrix had no answers for him. He is such a mismatch on the low block. Kobe is the man, but put LO on the block and run the offense through him. Besides, Kobe will get his.


I was just as his impressed with his work on the glass...
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- Sean -
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:29 pm    Post subject:

Sister Golden Hair wrote:
Disagree about Kobe. Anytime the team scores 102 points I don't see how his relative lack of offense was all that important. The difference to me was that the entire team missed easy (exceedingly makeable) wide open shots (Smush, Sashsa, and Cook, especially). You can't ask Kobe to set guys up, have those guys miss badly, then get on him for not taking over. Nash did what Kobe did except that the Suns hit those shots. Again, the other guys have to step up (Cook, especially, needs to realize that he doesn't have to launch a three everytime he gets the ball -- it's frustrating to watch him play as if he were on the Phoenix roster).




Sasha didn't even take any shots after the three pointer that gave them a 1 point lead. Cook took one. Parker is the only one that took a few (not before LA went down 6). The Lakers slid during a 3:40 stretch after the Sasha three...I put in bold what they did offensively from the time Vujacic hit the shot...to them facing a 6 point deficit 3:40 later.

Quote:

Vujacic Jump Shot: Made (3 PTS)
Assist: Odom (2 AST) 10:01
[LAL 80-79]
George Foul: Personal (2 PF) 9:44
9:44 House Substitution replaced by Nash
9:44 Jones Substitution replaced by Thomas
9:29
[PHX 82-80] Thomas Jump Shot: Made (18 PTS)
Assist: Diaw (3 AST)
9:10 Bell Foul: Personal (5 PF)
Parker Substitution replaced by Brown 9:10
9:10 Bell Substitution replaced by Barbosa
Brown Foul: Offensive (3 PF) 9:00
Brown Turnover: Foul (1 TO) 9:00
8:48 Diaw Layup Shot: Missed
8:46 Diaw Tip Shot: Missed
8:46 Diaw Rebound (Off:2 Def:3)
Team Rebound 8:45
(8:45) Timeout: Official
Bryant Jump Shot: Missed 8:35
Team Rebound 8:35
8:35 Thomas Foul: Loose Ball (4 PF)
Bryant Turnaround Jump: Missed 8:25
8:22 Thomas Rebound (Off: Def:10)
Vujacic Foul: Shooting (2 PF) 8:10
8:10
[PHX 83-80] Nash Free Throw 1 of 2 (14 PTS)
Vujacic Substitution replaced by Parker 8:10
8:10
[PHX 84-80] Nash Free Throw 2 of 2 (15 PTS)
7:59 Marion Foul: Shooting (4 PF)
Odom Free Throw 1 of 2 (18 PTS) 7:59
[LAL 81-84]
Odom Free Throw 2 of 2 (19 PTS) 7:59
[LAL 82-84]

7:39 Nash Jump Shot: Missed
Bryant Rebound (Off:1 Def:4) 7:37
Bryant Jump Shot: Missed 7:20
Brown Layup Shot: Missed 7:19
Brown Rebound (Off:2 Def:3) 7:19
7:17 Thomas Rebound (Off: Def:11)
George Foul: Personal (3 PF) 7:02
7:02
[PHX 85-82] Barbosa Free Throw 1 of 2 (7 PTS)
George Substitution replaced by Walton 7:02
Brown Substitution replaced by Cook 7:02
7:02
[PHX 86-82] Barbosa Free Throw 2 of 2 (8 PTS)
Bryant Jump Shot: Missed 6:47
6:45 Thomas Rebound (Off: Def:12)
6:40 Marion Layup Shot: Missed
Walton Rebound (Off:2 Def:3) 6:39
Cook Jump Shot: Missed 6:24
6:21 Barbosa Rebound (Off: Def:1)
Bryant Foul: Personal (3 PF) 6:21
6:21
[PHX 87-82] Barbosa Free Throw 1 of 2 (9 PTS)
6:21
[PHX 88-82] Barbosa Free Throw 2 of 2 (10 PTS)


Kobe missed 4 shots. Cook missed 1. Kwame missed a put back after a Bryant miss. LO hit 2 FT's.

After getting down early, the first time the Lakers got to within 6 was at the 9:57 mark of the 3rd quarter. It took them over 6 more minutes to get as close as 5.

LA battled them for over 5 more minutes to get that 1 point advantage....so, for them to slide back down by 6 was huge. That stretch was crucial. That stretch gave Phoenix control.

Kobe going 3 for 10 in the 4th, including 4 straight misses during a portion of the game where LA went from being up 1 to down 6...it was key.


Last edited by - Sean - on Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:32 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:29 pm    Post subject:

I was surprised to see Kwame hit that long jumper, hopefully he can keep up the confidence to hit those shots. Everyone did their part save for the refs. Kobe had better regain his stride soon and someone needs to stick to Thomas.
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