LAKERS -at- HORNETS - 11/12 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Big Easy?... The Lakers stand alone as the only undefeated team left in the NBA after a 93-86 win over the New Orleans Hornets.

They've started the season a perfect 7-0, but have started games with frequent problems. On the second night of the back-to-back games, they finally got out of the gates with some purpose. They crushed the Hornets, holding them to just 30 points in the first half.

"They're making it look easy," James Worthy said at halftime.

The Lakers didn't look like they knew what to do with themselves. They let up and gave up a 12-0 run. They flexed their muscle again and built it back up. Heading into the fourth quarter with a 71-52 lead, the Lakers tried to put the game into cruise control.

Bad idea.

The defense relaxed. They gave up layups, wide open jumpers, freethrow rebounds. Meanwhile, they missed dunks, chippies and freethrows on the other end. The perfect storm was forming and the Hornets cut the lead to just 3.

Then Kobe happened. Shotclock low, Posey on top of him, Kobe rose up and drained a huge three -- the dagger that took the life out of the run in the final minute of play. The standing Hornet fans slumped in defeat around the court.

The coaches: “You have to give Kobe a lot of credit because that was a big-time shot,” Byron Scott said. Phil Jackson: "We sucked the joy out of a good victory."

Ain't that the truth? This was a beatdown. Chris Paul said this would be a statement game for them and the Lakers were making the statement. They were dominating on both ends -- on their way to one of their most impressive wins of the season.

The Lakers gave up 34 points in the fourth. Bynum only played 3:51 in that final quarter.


Kobe -- -- "I said several years ago that he's one of those rare guys in the history of the game that I think can actually make the ball go in," Fisher said in the Times. "When it's a tough shot and three people are on him and he's falling away, mentally he's able to lock in on that rim and get the ball in the basket. I think that's what separates him from some of the best to ever play." His perimeter shot was off most of the night until that big three. Phil wanted him to work more off the ball at the end of the game, instead of pounding the dribble and letting the defense key on him. This is vital when the teams are going to zone him and send help. If he gets the ball on the wing or mid post areas off the ball, he can strike quicker before the D sets up, or he can set up others easier for scores. They also tend to run this a lot for Kobe when he's having a huge game and the D is throwing everything at him. In the fourth when both Pau and Ariza couldn't finish plays, Kobe was in their ears telling them to forget it and trying to pump the team up to win the next few minutes. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 5-15 shooting (1-1 from three, 9-9 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 6 assists, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 38 minutes. The Action: He missed a long jumper to start. He got tapped on a twisting 10-footer. He made a tech FT. He clanked a wing jumper. He was stripped, got it back and drew FTs, he made both. He fumbled away a four-on-one breakaway, not a great pass. He hit a short jumphook over Chandler. He pulled up on the break instead of continuing to the hoop and that erased a two-on-one opportunity. He missed a reverse layup. He hit a 17-footer off the Bynum screen. He fed Bynum off dribble penetration with a high lob for a layup. He had 7 points, 3 boards and 3 assists. Second Half: He missed an elbow jumper. He missed a layup badly with his left. He went to the floor for a loose ball and then passed to Bynum above him for the layup. He attacked and kicked to Fish for a three. He swished a quick elbow turnaround. He attacked off the Bynum screen and fed him for a layup. He missed a catch and shoot. He missed a wing jumper. He attacked the lane to his left, hung and scored off the glass with his right. He attacked to his right, was grabbed by Posey on the drive (this happens just about everytime from Posey), he drew the foul and made both FTs. He forced and missed a tough step-through. He attacked and was called for a charge on the next possession. He forced a wing jumper and bricked. Huge three with a man all over him and the shotclock going off to bump the lead from 3 to 6 in the final minute. He was fouled after securing a defensive board, he made both FTs. He was fouled again with 19 seconds, he made both.

Gasol -- -- He continues to run the break well and teammates are always on the look out for him. Nice to see that kind of effort on the second night of the back to back. He was a little frustrated with the ticky-tack foul calls he got early in the game, but stayed composed. Defensively, he had some mixed success. He wasn't able to anchor the D as well as prior games when he was in at C, and West provided him some challenging footspeed on a few occasions. We locked down early, but missed our size out there late. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-12 shooting (2-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 34 minutes. The Action: He and Bynum beat Chandler down court and Pau was rewarded with an easy dunk. He faced up and simply shot over West, going glass on a 10-footer. He missed a short hook after losing West on an attack. He was left alone under the hoop after some great Laker ball movement and dunked. He hit Bynum with the high-low pass for FTs (note: this was keyed on the Kobe/Gasol two-man game, which hasn't been run enough). He missed a wide open wing jumper. He picked up a couple cheap fouls and had to sit. He hit a one-hander in the lane. He iso'd against West, swung threw and drew FTs, he made one. Second Half: Tough shot, turning in the lane, having to adjust to a reach-in and hitting the jumper all in one motion. He drew the D and kicked to an open Fish for three. He missed a short floater. He missed an open 18-footer. Great iso D against Paul, holding ground as Paul tried to probe off the dribble and eventually forcing him to pass. He got stripped on the other end. Ariza set him up for a layup and he choked it. He scored a layup on the Ariza drive and dish. He missed an open baseline jumper. He was fouled on a dunk attempt on the break and made one FT.

Bynum -- -- Bynum was dominating the game defensively in the first half. He had to run some extended PT (23 first-half minutes) as Pau got into a little foul trouble. Phil was worried that this would affect him later in the second half on the second night of the back to back. There may be some truth to this. All but 2 of his boards came in the first half and all of his blocks came in the first half. Down the stretch we were giving up easy layups and could have used his presence in there. "In the fourth quarter, we got kind of lax," Drew said. There were a lot of great rotations on D in the first half, but Drew was a huge reason we held the Hornets to 30. He led the team with a +20. Also, good job avoiding fouls. He gave Posey a hard shove when he felt Posey was undercutting him on a rebound. Offensively, his teammates did a better job of playmaking for him. We've missed that in the past couple games. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-10 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards (2 offensive), 1 assist, 4 blocks and 1 foul in 35 minutes. The Action: He swatted Chandler's post-up attempt on the first defensive stand. That was the end of that. He blocked Paul (who came down with the ball, should have been a jumpball), Paul attacked again and this time Bynum rejected him out of bounds. He drew FTs when his man left him alone to help on Gasol, he made both. He swatted dribble penetration from James. He dunked after taking a pass from Vlad while trailing the break. He missed a layup attempt, not getting the ball in full control. Great pop out onto Gasol's man to block the shot in the paint. He took exception to Posey undercutting him as he jumped for a board and gave him a shove. He scored a layup off the high pass off the dribble from Kobe. He had 8 points, 6 boards and 4 blocks. Second Half: He missed a layup off the high entry from Vlad. He took a pass from Kobe who was on the floor under the hoop and scored a layup. He set a pick for Kobe, rolled to the hoop and got it back for the easy layup. He took the low entry pass and hit the hook on the right block. He missed a short jumper.

Radmanovic -- -- Some more Space Cadet moments from Vlad. Completely blowing the two-handed dunk on the break was probably the worst. He was in on a couple really nice passing sequences that resulted in scores for his bigmen. Defensively, I thought he did a better job. This team is more suited for him than Dallas. Peja struggled to get anything in the first half. Vlad did an excellent job playing the angles to funnel his men to help. In the third, however, he had a couple breakdowns (backdoored and another poor read in transition). The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-6 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 24 minutes. The Action: He pushed out the break and hit Pau who beat his man down court for a dunk. He swished a three after losing his man behind some screens. He missed a wing three. Sweet extra pass after some quick Laker ball movement and it led to an uncontested dunk for Pau. He hit Bynum trailing the break with a bounce pass for a dunk. Excellent help D challenge to force a brick. He fumbled a pass away and sat for Kobe. He missed a short jumphook. Second Half: He bricked a wide open two-handed dunk on the break...horrible. He missed a three. He drew contact in transition and got to the line, he made both. He got back doored for a layup. He swiped a pass on the perimeter.

Fisher -- -- As bad as DFish was offensively in the last game, he was good in this one. Complete turnaround. He was raining threes on the Hornets again and again in the first half. He ended up tied with Kobe for the Lakers high scorer. He was a big part of why we dominated the team offensively. Good D in the first half, drawing offensive fouls and keeping Paul where we wanted him for the most part. In the second half, when the D relaxed and our rotations and anchoring weren't there, Paul was able to score multiple easy layups. We offered little resistence down the stretch. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-11 shooting (4-6 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. The Action: He missed a long three. He drilled the three from the same spot next time down when his man left to double Kobe. He swished another three behind a Bynum screen. He attacked off the three line, pulled up and hit the FT jumper. He missed a corner three. He drew an illegal screen on Chandler who turned with the ball in his hands (easy call). He missed a sideline jumper. He drained a long jumper with his toe on the three line. Second Half: He got crossed up with Vlad, couldn't hold a pass and it led to a score the other way to start the second half. He probed the lane and some how hit over Chandler. He sank a wide open three from the left sideline in transition. He sank a wing three off the Pau kickout. He missed a wing three. He stole the ball, pushed out the break, got hit and a late whistle, he made both FTs with 37 seconds left.

Lamar -- -- His hustle plays in the first half caused all kinds of problems for the Hornets. I'm not sure how many second-chance points we got from some of his dirty work, but there were many of those plays throughout the game. I have notes on 10 second-chance points coming from Lamar's dirty work. Very nice. He didn't have his shot going and struggled to create anything for himself offensively. Still, his aggressive game was there until everyone phoned it in. Down the stretch, he makes you nervous on the offensive end when you need a score. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-7 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 9 boards (3 offensive), 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 27 minutes. The Action: He missed a corner three. He missed a short baseline jumper. He missed a three against the shotclock, hustled after the miss and threw a high entry to Drew for a score. He knocked a ball loose and Farmar scored a layup on the next trip down. He pulled down an offensive board and hit Sasha for the jumper. He hustled for an offensive board and hit Kobe for a score. He drained a wing jumper after posting up. Second Half: He missed an open three. He swiped a ball in the backcourt and it would eventually lead to a score. He missed a runner.

Ariza -- -- Trevor led the bench in scoring, even though he left a few points on the table. His overall energy and effort has made him the clear go-to guy at the SF spot. It seems like every game he will get a dunk or two on the break after causing a turnover. Those plays just kill teams. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-7 shooting (0-1 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. The Action: He attacked the baseline and was fouled, he made both FTs. He busted out when we stole the ball and dunked with both hands. Next time down, he charged trying to fill the lane. He scored an And-1 reverse off the Sasha drive and dish, he missed the FT. He missed an open corner three. He missed a short jumper trying to beat the clock. Second Half: He swiped a Paul pass, pushed out the break and drew FTs, he made both. He overplayed Paul at the end of the quarter and gave up FTs 60 feet from the hoop with 0.5 left. He out ran Pau for an outlet and dunked. He missed a chippie in the lane. He couldn't finish a dunk. Huge play, attacking the lane, drawing the D and setting up Pau for a layup.

Farmar -- -- Farmar has enough confidence that he should be able to put together some better road games. He's had good halves in the past two games, but hasn't had a complete game. He still needs to work on his freethrow shooting, clanking a couple that would have helped in the fourth. We needed to win that opening of the fourth quarter and we couldn't. As soon as Farmar sat, it seemed like the wheels came off completely. Nice job on the boards by Jordan. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting (0-2 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 foul in 19 minutes. The Action: he deflected a pass to cause a turnover and breakaway. He worked off the Bynum screen and hit the wing jumper just before the clock went off. He was blocked on the breakaway. He missed a layup on the break, Lamar knocked it back to him and he powered up for the score. He sagged of his man, reached and swiped the ball on help D. He missed a three. Second Half: He missed a sideline three. With a burst of speed off the weakside pinch post, he drew FTs on the layup attempt, he missed both FTs.

Vujacic -- -- Some nice hustle D from Sasha in this one. He plays the weakside rotations very well and he also created some points to start the fourth with a backcourt steal. If the shot is not falling, it's those kinds of plays that will still earn him some run. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-4 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 assists, 2 steals and no fouls in 11 minutes. The Action: He attacked and fed Ariza for an And-1. He stepped back, but couldn't get behind the line and hit a long jumper. He missed a fading 19-footer. Second Half: He missed a sideline three with the shotclock low. He stole the inbounds pass to start the fourth quarter, attacked and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a wing jumper.

Phil -- -- The team was primed and jumped down the Hornet's throats from the start. The starters pulled out to a 10-point lead in the first quarter, keyed by some great interior D from Bynum and some hot shooting by DFish... The Lakers led 28-17, holding the Hornets to 6-22 shooting... The second unit extended the lead, locking down and getting the break going. Drew had to run some extended minutes with Pau in foul trouble. He played 23 minutes and it had an impact... The Lakers led 51-30, holding the Hornets to 12-43, 28 percent, shooting for the entire half. The Hornets were 0-8 from three. The Lakers had 11 second-chance points... The Hornets got out to a 12-2 run to start the second half, but the Lakers rallied back (despite multiple blunders from Vlad in the third quarter again)... Up by 21 and the Hornets switched briefly to a zone near the end of the third... The Lakers led 71-52 heading into the fourth... The second unit missed FTs, chippies and dunks and the Hornets were able to chip the lead down against the Pau, Lamar, Ariza, Sasha, Farmar lineup... A couple starters returned and the lead was cut to 3 with the Lakers giving up easy layups and forcing bad shots... Phil didn't put Bynum and Gasol on the floor together in the fourth quarter. I think that had a big effect on the number of easy shots that the Hornets were getting in the paint... Again, our offensive execution bogged down in crunch time. A lot of difficult shots. No real bread and butter... Very nice job by the team limiting turnovers. We had just 9 for the game, which the Hornets turned into only 5 points. That will keep the fastbreak down and allow the Lakers to set up the defense... "We didn't convert all the fastbreak opportunities we had and that came back and haunted us toward the latter part of the game," Phil said...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Just a couple of key runs from the Hornets. If you let up against a good team, they can take advantage in a hurry.

[kareemKobe]

As always great recap. Thanks

[japanesebeef1]

Thnx DB. Excellent recap.

[Dr. Laker]

Typo under VladRad:

[BLP711]

Excellent as always DB!

[guitargodhoracegrant]

[Mation]

Thanks DB!

Always respect the way Phil handles everyone's minutes. He has a good sense of how to maintain players and was probably right with Bynum. If something, God forbid, went wrong on the Posey undercut, I would've blown a fuse! He's a defensive rock out there and saw some nice cohesion with Bryant on the offensive end.

Radman needs to watch a lot of tape from these two road games. Bring back the Impaler.

[limchrc]

Thanks. Glad we got the win.

[Critical Beatdown]

I would have freaked out had we blown this game, but luckily we reeled it back it in at the end there.
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!
Per 100 possessions, we're winning 118-102 with LO on the floor, and losing 109-111 without him. (updated: 4/1/09; source: 82games.com)

[chilake24]

DB，who can do better than you. i am addicted to your recap and analysis, i need help or may be not

[StuLantz#1]

I was upset with how they gave up the huge lead they had the whole game, but it was still a big win. Taking one from one of the best teams in the NBA, at their home, on a back-to-back, is no doubt impressive. They seemed to be thrown by the zone the Hornets through at them at one point, which is surprising since you'd assume they would have prepared for that a little more after what they saw in the finals.

Fisher really was excellent offensively, but Paul was just unstoppable. Crazy how dominating he is. Bynum's stats aren't mind blowing, but his impact was definitely felt tonight. And I guess Odom did some other good things on the court, but his being aggressive with his jumpshot will usually end badly for us--that absolutely won't work (even if he's open).

[Dr. Laker]

[DancingBarry]

[SladeRider]

I know this might get merged with the game thread and if it does, so be it.

I understand alot of people are upset with the 2nd half collapse of the Lakers against the Hornets and the problems in the 4th quarter but I feel there are two important things to see when looking at tonight's game.

1. The Lakers were on a back to back, on the road to the 2nd best team in the west. They played Dallas 24 hours earlier where Dallas came out all hustle and energy against the Lakers and were bringing it to the Lakers during most of the game and they didn't really let up with their hustle plays during the game either. This forces the Lakers to expand alot of energy in the game that if they saved, would of meant they could of saved it for the entire Hornets game. And people should remember that the Hornets had 3 days off before this game, making them well rested for the game.

2. Bynum played 23 of the 24 first half minutes. He is coming back from a knee injury and is just getting back into the groove of things. If Pau wasn't in foul trouble in the first half and Bynum had played less minutes in the first half, he probably plays more in the 2nd half and more improtantly, more in the 4th. I don't know if either Phil or Drew explained why Drew wasn't in that much during the 4th but the logical reason would be that Drew played nearly most of the first half and he wasn't ready to play big minutes in the 2nd half.

With those two things combined, the Lakers most likely didn't have enough gas to givei t full throttle in the 4th, this is why they built the big lead in the first half. I believe it would of been a different story if the game wasn't on a back to back and the Lakers would of won with ease.
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"This is a comptitive city. We're used to winning titles, not just winning games and being in the first round. We want to win championships. Now's the time.", "do something, and do it now."
- Kobe Bryant

[Discoflux]

I agree with the above on sorta running out of gas due to the Dallas match.
I had a few other thoughts as well:

- Lakers Defense is forcing a lot of bad shots from NOH. A lot of off balance and low% shots late in the clock.

- LAL throwing up a lot of 3's, but good open shots

- NOH PA announcer, one of those guys who tries to involve himself in the game because they are trying to gain an edge. It doesn't work against the Lakers. Lots of "Day-Oh's" and Charge! or Defense! music.

- CP3 is unguardable.

- Great ball movement is opening a lot of scoring opportunities for a Lakers team that can score from any position.

- Great defensive rotation by LAL. On one sequence Space Cadet ended up guarding CP3 by mistake, but LAL recognized the mismatch, Odom rotated on the weak side to cut off a weak side dish... then when the ball went down low Gasol shifted over to contest and force a missed shot.

- LAL can be lazy boxing out and sometimes give up easy offensive rebounds.

- I wish the NBA would show replays of all fouls. So many times I don't see the foul and would love to see a slo mo replay. Do they protect refs from bad calls in this manner?

- 17 Q1 points for NOH. NOICE.

- I like Farmar's quickness on CP3, but we need the ice water in Fish's veins to drain those needed 3's. I'm not sure who I want out there. Probably Fish. Great game for him.

- Lakers are on another level than NOH and area showing it all game long. At the end they almost ran out of gas. Otherwise, on a different level altogether.

- Space Cadet came off West to double in the low post on a wild, hacking defense against CP3. At best, we'll draw a foul. At worst, CP3 easily finds Cadet's open man for an easy lay in. Space Cadet drives me nuts with his decision making sometimes.

- Bynum has a little limp favoring his left knee. That's a $57 million dollar question mark right there.

- Is there anyone more likely to miss a wide open perimeter shot than Lamar Odom?

- Ariza jumping into passing lanes with the perfect "anticipatory" timing is a thing of beauty.

- Great win for the Lakers... I wish they didn't cave at the end, but its a long road trip and they're in hostile territory... yet they pulled it out. Great win.

- 98-0 is still alive!

[DancingBarry]

[revgen]

Nice writeup DB. The team did look tired later in the game, no doubt the B2B was affecting them.
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[BT]

40% of Hornets points were made in the 4th quarter.
I remember reading some hesitation about Paul's 'clutchness' not so long ago, btw.

...but a win is a win, and three 7 point wins in a row to make the 7-0 streak is sweet!

Thanks DB!

[PakaLOLO]

thxs! 4am and i have to read this b4 i head to bed
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[BigE32]

Thanks, DB. I know we struggled in the fourth quarter as the lead got dwindled to three, but it's still a very impressive feat. Playing NO in their house on the second night of a B2B and getting the W. I loved how we came out with energy and purpose from the very beginning. We've been struggling in the first quarters lately. Nice win. I love the title.

[Tanlentueux]

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB! My Laker hating Celtic loving cousin was speechless last night!

[RCS926]

Great write-up as usual DB. Even with the Lakers stumbling at the finish line last night due to the 2nd of a back-2-back and poor effort/focus in the 4th, the Lakers showed that NO is not as the same class as them. I give the Hornets absolutely no credit for their comeback in the 4th. The Lakers simply stopped playing. Through 3 quarters, the Lakers showed that they can neutralize Chris Paul, who was having an average game prior to the 4th, with their defense. The Lakers showed that the Hornets’ 2nd best player, West, is going to have a hard time scoring from midrange due to the length of Pau/Odom and even more trouble scoring in the paint with Drew controlling the basket. The Lakers showed once again that Chandler is basically a non-factor due to being overmatched by Drew. With those 3 guys kept in check, the Lakers were able to choke off the shooters and really exposed NO’s lack of an inside game. The scary thing for NO is that the Lakers played a mediocre offensive 1st half, but their defense allowed them to build up a 20 point lead. The finish was disappointing, but you can’t complain about a generally dominating victory against the supposed 2nd best team in the West on the 2nd night of a back-to-back. In terms of individual play, the following players stood out for better or worse:

Drew: He was absolutely dominant, and IMO, he’s the main reason why the Lakers were able to build up a huge lead on NO. His ability to lockdown the paint allowed the perimeter defenders to choke off the shooters. I give Drew a lot of credit for the subpar to average games that Paul and West were having up until the 4th quarter.

Fish: He had another big game against Paul, who hasn’t seemed to learn that you can’t be a rover when you’re guarding Fish. He did a great job of sticking to the gameplan against Paul until the 4th quarter, but honestly, I put that more on the Pau and LO because they didn’t provide the kind of support that Drew had been through 3 quarters.

Pau: This is the 1st game since Pau joined the team where I was upset with his effort. He was the Lakers center to close out the game and played absolutely no defense. His pick-n-roll defense was awful. There were several plays where he got stuck on an island with Paul and didn’t even put a hand up to contest his jumpers. He did not protect the paint at all, which resulted in Paul getting numerous lay-ups in the 4th. The rebounding was subpar compared to the way he’s been boarding all season. The sequence in the 4th where he held the ball too long and got picked from the blindside showed a lack of focus. Finally, he had a couple of wide open midrange Js that would’ve iced the game, and he absolutely bricked them. This game was definitely an anomaly for Pau, but he still deserves criticism for his lack of effort and focus especially in the 4th. Up until then, he had done a nice job of protecting the paint along with Bynum and making West’s night miserable. Still, if he’s going to man the 5 to close out games, which has been the pattern thus far, he needs to step up defensively.

Kobe: Up until the 4th, even though Kobe was struggling from the field, I would not have characterized his game against NO as a bad one. However, his shot selection (taking contested shots in traffic) and decision-making (dribbling the ball too long without making decisive moves) in the 4th left a lot to be desired. I’m glad Phil called Kobe out for that 4th quarter performance because even the Lakers were lethargic offensively to close out the game, Kobe’s overdribbling and poor shot selection was not what the team needed. NO basically knew that Kobe was going to dominate the ball and take all the shots, so they basically loaded up on him. It’s up to Kobe to recognize what the defense is doing. To be fair, he did find Pau and LO for a couple of wide open jumpers each in the 4th, which they both clanked, but I’d still like to see better end-game management from Kobe. Kobe simply needs to take better shots at the end of games and make a better attempt at getting his teammates involved as well. Playing team ball for 3 quarters and then turning into a blackhole in the 4th isn’t a recipe for success, and I know Kobe will make the adjustment.

[southgate]

nice write up

see if this was last year's team they wouldve lost that game!!

[LakersMD]