JAZZ -at- LAKERS - 4/19 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Ride of the Four Horsemen... After months chasing shadows and ghosts, you finally see the Four Horsemen for yourself. These are the real battles for the Golden Child, for Little Larry O'Brien. Up until this point, nothing was for real.

"These are fights to the death," Angel says as the two of you stand side by side beneath the shelter of bending eucalyptus trees. The clouds that have been swirling around you for days have finally closed in and opened up. The clearing before you is drenched and muddy.

Suddenly, the weather begins to calm. Bells toll, one after another. You began to count... nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, at which point they stop.

Through the rising mist there come shadows. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse slowly emerge riding horses of different colors. The are Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. They take the battlefield, flanked by the Death Riders. You are speechless.

A black hood hangs low over the face of the one called Death. He turns in your direction and nods as he passes. He raises one arm and the horses began to trot. Their hooves thunder across the field as they pick up speed. They disappear over a hill and you begin to run after them, but Angel grabs you by the arm. "Wait," she says. "Larry isn't in play today."

"But I thought--" You are interrupted by screams in the distance. "Patience," she says. You hear twigs snapping and see movement in the bushes. Someone hurdles a boulder. He's covered in purple and gold face paint and leaps over a fallen tree. He tosses a small plastic cassette case at you and continues on at high speed.

Over your shoulder you see the Four Horsemen and Death Riders returning from battle. The bells toll again, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen and then they stop. "They've won the first battle," Angel says.

"What happened?" you ask. She nods at the case in your hand. It's some eclectic jazz mixed tape. You open it up, there is no cassette, only a note from DancingBarry:

The Four Horsemen were here. They charged through their opponent's defenses and sent them reeling. The battle became competitive, but the Horsemen inflicted wounds too severe for their opponent to overcome.

They will fight again. I will continue to track them...

After taking a beating in their last game to exit the playoffs, the Road to Redemption for the Lakers began against Utah.

The Lakers dominated out of the gates, winning the first two quarters by 11 points each. That 22-point lead was cut in half in a matter of minutes to open the second half as the Lakers came out flatfooted. The Jazz, however, could never close the gap and the Lakers won easily, 113-100.

With C.J. Miles back, but Mehmet Okur still nursing the hamstring on the sidelines for the Jazz, the Lakers were able to handle them almost as easily as they had in the final game of the season. They fought through foul trouble and struggled to keep Deron Williams out of the paint, but Kobe and Pau collapsed Jazz defenses. This led to open threes for role players like Trevor Ariza and Shannon Brown. The two connected on 6-7 from downtown, making the Jazz pay.

Although the Jazz won the offensive boards 20-7, Jerry Sloan challenged his team to get nastier. If the game didn't have enough of an edge, look for it to throttle up.

"I'm a game connoisseur," Kobe said, "so I know how nasty Sloan was when he was playing. Pardon my French, but your ass would be kicked out of the league if you played that physical nowadays. You know, it's always been a staple of his teams to be physical and play hard."


Kobe -- -- "They kept knocking at the door, we just never let them in," Kobe said. The Lakers did let the Jazz get a foot in the door with a poor third quarter. The team could have buried them then and there, but came out slow. In the fourth when the Jazz were still hanging around, Kobe drained some key shots and had one of the highlight plays of the game with a nasty And-1 throwdown down the middle of the lane. While the Lakers did look to milk that high screen roll down the stretch, they also got a couple key scores from Pau and LO creating. They need to keep that mix in mind in close games. Kobe had a well-rounded game: perimeter shots, attacks down the lane, post-ups and setting up others. He didn't knock down a three and had too many turnovers on his passes, but he kept the Jazz guessing on how we were going to attack. Thankfully, Ariza, Brown and Luke hit threes when the D left them for Kobe. Those inside-out sequences hurt the Jazz badly. The Stats: He scored 24 points on 9-17 shooting (0-4 from three, 6-7 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 8 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 6 turnovers and 2 fouls in 40 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He threw a pass away to start the game, layup the other way. He whipped another pass off Bynum for a turnover. He attacked and kicked to Ariza for a couple threes. He attacked, got caught in the air and threw a pass away for a score the other way. He kicked out to Brown for the open three. He attacked and missed a floater in the lane. Out of a timeout, he curled down the lane and scored a layup, his first points 10 minutes into a game. He made a tech FT. He had 4 assists, 3 turnovers and 3 points on 1-2 shooting in the first quarter. He sank a long wing jumper off the inbounds pass. He faced up on Brewer next time down, attacked from the wing, took contact, hung and still powered in an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He was shadowed for a second by Korver on a switch so Kobe took advantage and hit a shot jumper on him. He was cut off on the drive, spun back and hit the long baseline turnaround, can't defend that. He missed an early offense three. He lost his man with a between-the-legs dribble and setup Luke for the three. Kobe had 12 points on 5-7 shooting and 5 assists at the half. Second Half: He attacked, took contact and didn't get a whistle on the miss. He picked up a tech a couple minutes later to essentially erase our only point of the half (not a good time for it as the Jazz were closing the gap). He posted up and drew FTs, he made both. He airballed a three out of a timeout, not getting squared up. He got caught in the air and threw a pass away. He swiped a pass. He was fouled and made one FT. He swished a pull-up jumper from the wing. He hit a top-of-the-key jumper. He drained a wing jumper with his toes on the three line next trip down. He was picked trying to iso on AK, but he challenged AK in transition D and helped force a turnover. He didn't box out AK and gave up an offensive board ballwatching, this ended up fouling Pau out with 3 minutes left. He missed an open elbow jumper. He missed a three next time down. He swiped a pass on D and it led to Ariza FTs on the other end. He attacked off the weave, had Korver suddenly on him, he got to the rim and threw down a vicious And-1 dunk over Milsap with 1:26 left ... wow ... he made the FT. He was stripped in the lane.

Gasol -- -- Offensively, Pau causes the Jazz so much trouble. There were stretches when we went away from him. If Boozer is on Pau, we need to make Boozer work. Draw some fouls, get to the line, sit Boozer down. Phil mentioned that last season the Lakers kept Boozer from getting into a rhthym because of the foul issues. If we don't exploit it, you see the kind of damage Boozer can do on the other end. He had 27 points today on 11-16 shooting. The Lakers need to be mindful to keep working that one-two punch and getting into the post. "They have always been a team where you have to match their physicality and toughness," Pau said afterward. He put in a good first half and anchored the D well. He looked very sluggish to come out the second half and wasn't matching that Jazz physicality. He was standing around on D under the hoop too much instead of fighting for boards. The Jazz started getting more and more second and third chances. Pau become more and more reactive instead of proactive. He started to pile up the fouls. Pau is also going to be our key bigman on the screen-roll D. He struggled at times to properly deny Williams an easy path to the hoop. That usually resulted in fouls for him or others. Late in the game, when Kobe didn't box out, Pau ended up fouling out. Thankfully, the Lakers had a decent lead at the time. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-11 shooting (6-6 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals, 4 blocks, 1 turnover and 6 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He iso'd on Boozer and hit a jumphook over him for the Lakers first score. He jumped a passing lane to steal the ball. He challenged a shot on one end to get a miss and dunked filling the lane on the other. He posted up, drew a double and hit Ariza for a dunk. He worked both directions in the post, then hit a lefty hook over Boozer. He scored a layup on the break with Pau. He had 8 points on 4-4 shooting and 4 boards in the first quarter. He posted up Boozer and drew his third foul with 41 seconds left, he made both FTs. Second Half: He missed finishing a tricky lob pass that was over the rim. He missed a turnaround in the post. He banked easily over his man on the post-up next time down. He fouled Boozer on back-to-back stands. He missed a turnaround off the glass. He took contact across the lane and bounced in the jumphook. He dunked back in an Odom missed layup. He posted up and drew FTs in the lane, he made both. Bad position D, not walling off Williams on the two-man game and Deron got FTs in the paint. He missed an easy bank in the post. Again, he left space on the two-man D, this time the foul was called on him when Deron split the D for FTs. He drew FTs with a quick attack from the high post, he made both. He fouled out next time down when Kobe didn't box out on a board, Lakers had more than 3 minutes left to play.

Bynum -- -- Drew struggled with foul trouble throughout the game. This was probably his least effective game since his return. He wasn't getting that early low position by running the floor. That is vital to get the Jazz bigmen in foul trouble to disrupt their offensive attack on the other end. He didn't dominate the boards on either end. Our interior size and height was neutralized much more than it should have been, and it won't get easier when Okur gets into the mix. Bynum needs to do a much better job imposing his game. The Lakers need to make sure he is active and aggressive from the start. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-5 shooting (3-5 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 5 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He missed a turnaround in the post. He swiped an entry pass. He posted up Boozer, faked right, went the other way with a step-through and powered in an And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He missed a two-footer with another step-through. He denied a layup with a good challenge. He was fouled with a second left on the shotclock, he made both FTs. He had 6 points and 2 boards. Second Half: He traveled on the post up attack. He drew FTs in early offense, he made one. He had to sit with a reach foul. Back in, he missed a short jumphook, but LO cleaned it up. He then picked up his fifth foul trying to block Milsap's drive. Phil had some late offense/defensive subs with Bynum when Pau fouled out.

Ariza -- -- Sensational game from Ariza. The Jazz would sag off him to help on others and Ariza would make them pay again and again in the half court with threes. Combine that with his Cobra strikes going from defense to offense in transition and the Jazz paid the price. He had a huge reverse throwdown on Boozer on the break that helped bring a little life into Staples. He had several other dunks in the first half. At the end of the day, his 21 points were a new career playoff high. "He's playing phenomenal basketball," Kobe said afterward. Kobe mentioned Trevor's D on Korver shouldn't also be overlooked. Korver had just a couple open looks and shot 2-6 for 7 points. We probably could use more help from Trevor and others on the defensive glass if the bigs can't handle it, but that will take away from his ability to counter attack on the break. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 8-10 shooting (3-4 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He swished a wing three on his first attempt. He banged down a sideline three in transition. He pushed out a Gasol steal, no one stopped him so he took it in for the dunk. He missed a sideline three in transition. His man left him to double Pau, Trevor dunked on the pass. He then gave up a three on the other end, not sitting on Korver's shot. He missed a layup on the break, Brown hustled to get it back and fed him for the dunk. He had 12 points on 5-7 shooting. Second Half: He threw a pass away trying to give it to Pau on the perimeter. He filled the lane, took the pass from Fish, bobbled it but scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He swiped a Boozer pass, pushed out, passed him on the break and reverse jammed on Boozer to get the crowd to wake up a little. He drew FTs in transition, he made one. He swished a wing three.

Fisher -- -- DFish led the Lakers with a -8. Deron is able to get into the paint against him and cause all kinds of problems. This is our soft spot and the Jazz will continue to exploit it. Last year, everytime Farmar came in the game the Jazz killed us. In this first game, DFish had some similar minutes. He wasn't as bad, but the team played better when Brown was out there in this first one. Williams had 17 assists and played all but 3 minutes. We had him in brief foul trouble early, but he was able to play through it as we aren't adept at attacking from the PG spot. The Lakers had a couple areas where they played Deron better. They did a good job of not letting Deron shoot well, holding him to 4-14 shooting, but all that attention had a price. They kept his transition attacks way down, which was probably their best aspect of D against him. The key is to limit Deron's straight lines to the hoop and collapsing the D at will. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-4 shooting (0-1 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assists, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He missed a corner three. He picked up a foul on the sideline, then one in transition and had to sit after 2:25 of action. He sank a long sideline jumper. Great defensive boxing out on Milsap to draw a foul and FTs, he made both. Fish played just 6 minutes in the first half. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper in early offense. He was called for a charge on the runner in the lane, should have pulled up. Crazy pull-up off the dribble against Korver and he sank it along the baseline. He drew FTs on a weakside drive against Korver, he made both FTs.

Lamar -- -- He was in the middle of some scrappy battles with Harpring and Milsap. He won the battle against Harpring, but not against Milsap who had 7 offensive boards. You can't give up that many second chances. Lamar just needs to be more mindful around the hoop. He was fighting and battling when the ball was up for grabs, but he needs to do more work before that point. I'd like to see him a little more aggressive against his men on the offensive end. We need to draw fouls on their bigmen, not vice versa. He can collapse the D and knows that his got teammates around him who can capitalize. "They're going to get their looks, they're going to take them and make them," Lamar said of his teammates. Lamar picked up a tech and nearly had another late in the game upset with a call. But the tech he did get was pretty bogus, just some tangling under the hoop after a play. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-8 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls. He was a +15. The Action: He shoved Harpring trying to get a defensive board, then Harpring posted him up and scored a layup. He drew FTs in transition at the end of the first quarter, he made one. He scored an And-1 layup off the great bounce pass from Luke, he made the FT. He busted out and threw down an uncontested dunk off the turnover and outlet. He busted out with Farmar, took the pass and jammed. Another over-the-back foul against Harpring, Lamar's second. He had his legs taken out from him when Kobe set him up, he made one FT. He missed a corner three. He missed a leaner taking contact with no call. He had 9 points on 3-5 shooting and 3 boards in 15 minutes. Second Half: He fumbled or threw a way a pass on the break. He picked up a tech when he and Harpring got tangled up (horrible call). He tipped in a Bynum miss. He missed a layup when Brown set him up nicely, but Pau hammered it down. With Pau just fouling out, Lamar attacked with speed to his left and hit the little floater with 3:22 left.

Luke -- -- Luke struggled a little with that mid-range shot. Most of those misses he seemed to be rushed or off-balance. He did do a pretty good job of trying to attack off the dribble or collapse the D in the paint to set up others. He made his only three when we spread the floor for Kobe to create at the end of a quarter. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-6 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 11 minutes. He was a +/- of 0. The Action: He attacked in tight quarters and wrapped a bounce pass around a man to hit Lamar for an And-1. He surprised his man with a quick attack, then fed Bynum for the dunk. He swiped a pass under the hoop and outlet to Lamar for the dunk. He missed an awkward looking wing, pull-up jumper. He missed a step-back one-hander short. He swished an open corner three off the Kobe kickout. He had 3 points and 3 assists in 5 minutes. Second Half: He clanked a baseline jumper. He reset the offense on a good offensive board, then he hit the elbow jumper. He bricked a layup at the front rim, didn't power up and tried to flip it over the front instead.

Brown -- -- Off the bench and into the fire early. This is precisely why we had to play Shannon late in the regular season no matter how badly he played while trying to adjust. Thankfully, Brown didn't play too badly while learning. The minutes equated to trust from the coaches instead of Shannon being buried on the bench, which a lot of fans thought should happen, Brown is now more like Trevor has been off the bench. He's providing the team spark and life...and a hair more on the defensive end. Farmar and Fisher combined for a -7 at the PG spot. Brown was a +20. He was in the game when were on our runs and he also held serve in the second half when the Jazz were on their run. When left open he was deadly from three, hitting all three attempts he took. That is deadly for opponents. "Everything was clicking for us, but in the second half we let up a little bit," Brown said. "They started getting out running, getting steals, causing turnovers, getting easy looks. We had to get the game back in hand." The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-4 shooting (3-3 from three) to go with 2 offensive boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a team-high +20. The Action: He swished an open wing three on a Kobe kickout. He pushed out the break and fed Gasol for the dunk. He charged trying to curl down the lane off the dribble. He stole the ball from Deron, went behind his back to get around AK, pushed out the break and set up Pau for the layup. He drained another open wing three on the Sasha kickout. He threw a pass away in transition trying to thread a long one to Pau. Good hustle to trail Ariza on the break and get his miss, then he fed Ariza for the dunk. He had 6 points on 2-2 shooting, 3 assists and 1 steal in 12 minutes. Second Half: He drained a corner three. He whipped a pass to a cutting Lamar, who blew the layup, but Pau cleaned it up. He missed a pull-up jumper.

Farmar -- -- With tendinitis in his right foot, he was seen limping before the game. He may just be matched up with Knight in this series. If DFish can hang longer with Deron, he may not even get that as Brown probably gets those minutes. The limited minutes kept the Jazz's easiest point of attack on the bench. Phil was quick to yank Farmar when Deron returned to the game. Aside from a silly turnover off a brain cramp offensive sequence, Farmar had some decent plays on both ends. He never got to do too much and he didn't allow Knight to do anything either. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting, had 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover and no fouls in 4 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: Horrible pass trying to create something that wasn't there, wasn't even close to the man he was aiming for, turnover. He swatted Knight's jumper on a good close. He pushed out the break, broke his man down and fed LO for the dunk. He missed a hanging jumper trying to create with the shotclock low. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Vujacic -- -- Looks like the speedy jumper was back. Sasha was back-rimming his shot again, not getting those same soft shots off that he ended the season with. Defensively, he had a pretty decent game. He was disruptive a number of times and generally had some good team D squences and positioning. He's got to watch the fouls as those second units will set the tone for some of the quarters. You don't want the Jazz in the penalty early. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, no turnovers and 2 fouls in 12 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He drew a foul on Boozer who tried to neck screen the Machine. Nice challenge on a couple shot attempts to force misses. He poked an entry pass free it led to a dunk for LO on the other end. Second Half: He missed a wing three, too long. He bricked another pull-up jumper, too long.

Powell -- -- When the phone rang for Powell, he answered the call. He came in the game with a minute left in the third when Bynum and Pau both had 4 fouls each. After sitting all game, he mmediately provided some impact. That's what you love to see from your end of the bench. All those minutes he played during the season will come to play when he's out on the court in the heat of the battle. His teammates know his game and know how to use it. Kobe worked the pick and pop with him. Powell worked that for a couple of scores. Shannon Brown saw Powell posting up strongside, he worked the ball away from that. So, in the few minutes Powell saw in this game when we were under pressure, the Lakers held the line. We had 7 offensive boards in this game, Powell had 2 of those in his short stint. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-4 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 2 offensive boards and 1 foul in 4 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: Did not play in the first half. Second Half: He swished an open baseline jumper right off the bench at the end of the third. He got Brewer to step out of bounds on the baseline on the other end. On the next offensive set he drew a foul on Brewer on the Kobe screen-roll, he made both FTs. He missed a pick-and-pop jumper, followed his shot, got the board and scored the layup. He couldn't finish a putback attempt.

Phil -- -- Phil stressed "tandem defense" in transition during the game. Essentially, they have to help on Deron's push out or he will go coast to coast... The Lakers struggled with Deron's dribble penetration at the start. On the offensive end, they were draining threes and led 17-10 midway through the first quarter... Some good minutes by Brown taking over for Fish who got into early foul trouble. The Lakers led 30-19 after the first quarter... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Luke, Sasha, Farmar lineup. They committed two fouls in the first defensive stand, but were able to force turnovers and get the break going. Several dunks led to another Jazz timeout when the Lakers stretched to a 39-23 lead... The Jazz brought back in Deron with two fouls and he went against Farmar... Phil subbed back in Fisher a minute later... The Jazz were in the bonus after just 4 minutes of the second quarter... The starters and LO kept the fouls down, then started picking apart the Jazz on the other end... After those first few minutes of the game, the Lakers did a great job of keeping Deron out of the paint in the half court and on the break. They won the second quarter 32-21... The Lakers led 62-40 at the half, shooting 66 percent to the Jazz 35 percent. The Lakers were 5-9 from three, 11-14 from the line. The Jazz were 1-7 from three, 5-7 from the line... The Lakers came out the half sluggish and Staples was too quiet. The Jazz scored several baskets with no answer to cut the lead down with a 9-0 run... Phil subbed in Powell for Pau with a minute left in the third and Powell immediately knocked down a jumper, got a stop and then got to the line for a couple more points... We trapped full court with 8 seconds left and gave up a dunk... The Lakers lost the third quarter, 33-24... "You go into the locker room and tell them the first 5 minutes are the most important...they went through the motions," Phil said at the start of the fourth... Phil had to shuffle through his bigmen during the fourth as Bynum picked up his fifth and Pau eventually fouled out... The teams traded hoops for the entire fourth quarter. The Jazz never closed the gap... The Lakers gave up 60 points in the second half. Deron got into the paint and was able to cause problems... The Jazz scored 20 points off 17 Laker turnovers in the game. The Lakers exploited 14 Jazz turnovers for 20 points, as well. The Lakers won the fastbreak, 19-10... The Jazz shot 35 FTs, the Lakers 32... Phil will have plenty to harp about to keep the team throttling up their game...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Some dominating first-half runs. That little 9-0 blip of a run in the second half kept the Jazz in striking distance.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

1st Thanks DB!!!

One Down, 15 to go!!!

[10scott10]

Shannon has been looking great recently.

I wonder when the last time he missed a three was, he has hit all of them since he has been a laker as far as i can remember

[All_Star_Laker]

thanks DB
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[DancingBarry]

[Klone_dd]

Great 1st half, then Utah-style muck it up ball in the 2nd. Thankfully, no panic on the Lakers side and when Kobe is pacing himself, you know it's only a matter of time before the Mamba in him comes out.

Inspired ball from Ariza and ShanWow. If those guys continue to hit the open shots they're presented with, this series will be quick.

Our bigs got ignored for long stretches. Bynum was a non-factor and Pau was productive when he got touches.

When you don't make Boozer work defensively, his offensive game gets better. Playing both him and Milsap together allows the Utes to crash the boards better, especially if one of Pau/Bynum are in foul trouble.

Now comes the adjustments. Really, if the Lakers would avoid the fouls, they would shut down 1/2 of the Utes offense. Keep DWill out of the lane (I know, easier said than done). Rebound, rebound, rebound.

[LakerLanny]

The Ariza up and under finish with the dunk and Kobe's throwdown over Milsap were tasty.

Not feeling you on Vujacic though, I thought he stunk it up today which was of course predictable.
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Love, Laker Lanny

[LakerSanity]

Much like last year, if we can limit their ability to get offensive boards, they have little chance of a win. This is especially the case in games on Utah's home floor. Limiting their offensive rebounds when their at home will be necessary if we are to have any chance of overcoming the home-cooking that will come in Utah in achieving a win. I just hope we don't have another game 3 debacle there.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

I'd swear I remember the knock on Shannon Brown coming out of the Charlotte blogs was that he was prone to bonehead plays?!?

His court awareness and decision making has been consistently very good, and in spite of some stellar dunks recently he's played within his capabilities, not forcing bad passes or ignoring open scorers.

Seems to me the Charlotte fans were a bit misguided? Or has the Tri played out well to Shannon's strengths?

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

[10scott10]

[Annihilator]

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB!

Ariza played within himself today on both sides of the ball. I hope he can keep playing with confidence.

Maybe, just maybe they will let Drew play next game. Good to see him out there.

Kobe got his guys involved early and took over late.

Only knock for me is rebounding. We are too big to not outrebound every team in the league. Jazz got too many offensive rebounds/put back dunks for my liking. I suspect PJ will make adjustments to DWill's drive and kick/dishes. Solid win. One down, 15 more to go!

[VonTrapp]

[Amara D'Antona]

[MedRomLaker]

Nice recap to go with nice win, thanks DB, I think Shannon has found a team and system he really fits well with, glad to see him contributing in a positive manner.
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11/9/12 the day the brown was flushed down!!!!!!

4/30/14 the day the ant left the building!!!!!!

[20,000]

6 turnovers by Kobe. Ugh!

Nice to see Powell make the most of his minute on the floor. And he actually made a running jumper-type shot. I cringed when I saw that, but fortunately it went in.

I know Phil called out the Jazz screens before the series began, but it is even nastier than I had envisioned. Not the moving, but the reaching. I saw Boozer stick out his arm and nearly clothesline several Lakers on screens with no calls, aside from the one Sasha got when he was choked. Gladly no one was hurt on those plays.
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Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[Mation]

Thanks DB!

[-Yo-]

I though Ariza was great.

Kobe played a better than average game, but I taped the game and watched the whole thing over.

It was very strange. At many points in the game, Kobe had an open look or a (pretty much) clear path to an easy shot, but then he dribbled into multiple defenders or ended up taking an "insane degree of difficulty" shot.

This happened 6 or 7 times with Kobe today.

It was really weird... like he was deliberately making the game hard as possible. I hope Kobe watches tape and curbs this tendency. If you have an open 10 footer, why dribble into a double-team then have to make an insane, double-fake twisting fade-away to beat the clock???

[h2omike]

Thanks DB

[PopcornMachine]

[najim]

time to bring back the playoff sig.
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This is what a B. Scott offense looks like: http://i.imgur.com/q2hlUZc.jpg
(everyone standing still, and three guys pointing to each other)

[Dr. Laker]

Tks DB - I couldn't watch the game so your recap is priceless to me.
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[Ray_Gonzoles]

As always, thanks for the recaps DB.

One down, 15 to go.

Get another one on Tuesday.
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"Just show up ready to work, ready to play, Have your big boy pants on, leave your diaper at home." Kobe Bryant
Anything less than a championship is a failure. Period.

[limchrc]

Thanks, nice win.