LAKERS -vs- NUGGETS - 10/23 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Buzzkill... "They should just declare indifference," Jeff Van Gundy said of the Lakers in the second half. The Lakers didn't play Bynum or Pau from the start, then added Kobe and DFish to those not breaking a sweat. Ron Artest was the only likely starter to actually start the second half of tonight's Denver/L.A. match-up.

That didn't prevent some chippy minutes out there, including 6 techs and 2 flagrant fouls. The replacement refs went out with a bang. The Nuggets have a few big mouths on their squad and that generally won't sit well with the Lakers. For a minute or two, Lamar Odom looked like he was wishing he was back in the boxing ring with the Birdman. A couple shoving matches broke out, but that was it.

The battle of the deep bench lineups went to the Nuggets tonight, who took the ugly 119-105 win. Speedy rookie Ty Lawson scored 29 points, while Sasha Vujacic led the Lakers with 18. The two teams combined for 46 turnovers.

Thank goodness the preseason is over.

The Lakers didn't get a chance to build much cohesiveness heading into the regular season. Pau took a step back in his hamstring recovery and appears questionable for opening night. "It got a little worse," he said of his attempt to try it out two days ago. "It got a little aggravated so we took a step backward. Now we’re just trying to let it heal so I can go back out there."

Despite the buzzkill of a game, the Lakers have much to take away from the preseason. While they know what they are going to get from Kobe and Pau, others were bringing something to the table:

- Ron Artest is playing unselfish ball and will give the Lakers another versatile weapon to run offense through. He's already playing more in the post than he has in the past few seasons with the Rockets and Kings.

- Andrew Bynum had his best preseason of his career and looks like he will get off to a fast start.

- Lamar's shot appears to be in post All Star break form instead of how he has started previous seasons.

- Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown brought a lot of energy and effectiveness off the bench to the Laker PG spot.

- Sasha Vujacic has apparently found his shot again, shooting over 50 percent for the preseason.

- The third-string Laker bigmen, Josh Powell and DJ Mbenga, seem like they are ready to step in and provide some effective minutes.

- Even Adam Morrison looks like he may be able to give the team some decent minutes.

Good signs for a title defense. The regular season now begins...

...but first we have a banner to unveil.



Kobe -- -- Phil let him run a 10-minute stint, then shut him down. Sorry, San Diego. Kobe did hustle while he was out there, diving to the floor for loose balls and hounding his man on D. He's good to go. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-4 shooting to go with 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 10 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He was called for an offensive foul trying to post up, weak call. Back in the post on the next possession and he earned FTs in the lane, he made both. Sensational ball hawking and diving in the backcourt for a loose ball to get a possession (still preseason, is it?). He posted up again, crossed the lane and banked. He missed a pull-up wing jumper in early offense. He faked one way, cut the other and Ron threw it where Kobe used to be and out of bounds (Kobe took the blame). He stalled the offense, then missed a turnaround from 17 feet out. He stripped Smith, tracked it down, ball-faked and then hit the bank from 14 feet out. He was doubled, attacked and threw it away. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Lamar -- -- Last season, Lamar was one of the guys who stood tall and instigated a lot of the psychological warfare. He'd go nose to nose with people and later smile about it. This offseason he spent time in the boxing ring working out. He said that's helped him with his mental approach to the game. Tonight, he didn't like some trash talk and cheap shots from Andersen and let him know it at midcourt...shortly later, they got tied up and Lamar got in his face. Kenyon came over and whistles started blowing. LO was ticked. Techs were flying. LO was later smiling again at the bench. The Nuggets seem to think talking up their game is going to help them succeed. They're just making it more difficult on themselves. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-6 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-6 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. The Action: He sank a three for the Lakers first points on our first attempt. He attacked down the lane and drew FTs, he made one. He posted up and missed a finger roll at the front of the rim. He missed a three, short. Second Half: He missed a baseline jumper. He telegraphed a pass with a wind up and it was picked off. He attacked from the wing and earned FTs, he missed both of them. He airballed a three after stalling the ball and letting the shotclock run down. He pulled down a Farmar miss and was fouled, he made one. He missed a wing three.

Artest -- -- Phil had him running the show with the bench to close out the half. LO and Kobe sat during this stretch, clearly Phil wanting to get Ron more aggressive offensively. He did a nice job creating for himself and others in that stint. He had 5 turnovers in this game, but a couple of those were on others who weren't ready for a pass, or who cut the other way as he was passing. Chemistry issues. He couldn't connect on his three shot. He was 6-24 from three in the preseason, not very effective from beyond the arc. He also shot only 15-26 from the line. Once he combines his shooting touch with that passing, look out. Question: How many times are we going to have to watch the Kobe vs. Artest montage before nationally broadcast games this season? The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting (0-3 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 5 turnovers and 1 foul in 25 minutes. The Action: Weak kickout pass and it was easily picked off. He overpowered Afflalo in the post and muscled in an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He missed a layup over a help defender. He hit Mbenga with an interior feed for a layup. He iso'd in the middle of the court, took his man off the dribble with a series of moves, collapsed the D, then set up Mbenga for a dunk. He froze Balkman with a rock-back dribble, then muscled his way for a lefty layup. He posted up and picked up a foul on the post entry (once a game foul call). He attacked baseline and hit Mbenga for a jumper. He organized the offense, attacked off a screen and hit Morrison for an open three. He got tapped on a three. He stripped Birdman from behind. He led the team with 4 assists in the half. Second Half: He forced an illegal D call while posting up. He missed a wing three on a kickout. He was called for an offensive foul coming weak to strong. He hit Mbenga with an interior feed after fighting for a ball. He missed an open wing three. His cross-court pass was picked off.

Mbenga -- -- Given the minutes and the start these last two games, Mbenga has responded. Last night was the blocks, tonight was the scoring. You can't really dump the ball to him like our other bigs and let him go to work. To be effective offensively he needs others to create for him. This is what the Lakers did. Mbenga worked off others collapsing the D and hit jumpers, cleaned up mistakes and finished around the rim. He won't help us on the inside-out game, but these are the kinds of things you want from him offensively. Good preseason from Mbenga. We may need him to step up on opening night if Pau can't give us backup C minutes. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-6 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. The Action: He was called for a goaltend. He cleaned up a DFish layup with a putback jam. He took the interior feed from the Artest post, pivoted around his man and scored a layup. He sank a baseline jumper on a kickout from DFish. He was called for a clear-out foul on the post entry pass. He dunked when Ron broke down the D and fed him. He swished a 14-footer off the Artest drive and kick. He swatted Birdman in front of the rim. No box out and Birdman dunked in a miss. He led the Lakers with 10 points on 5-5 shooting. Second Half: He was fouled on the break filling the lane with Farmar, he made both FTs. He scored a layup off the interior feed from Artest.

Fisher -- -- It all went downhill after DFish left the game. Not that he had much to do with that (Lamar also went out at that same time and the rest of the bench soon entered). The team fizzled to close the quarter and fell behind from there. DFish was another of the vets who got light action, just that one stint. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-4 shooting (2-3 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 1 turnover in 9 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: Horrible entry pass, too low over a fronting Carter and it was picked off. He let his man fly by then drilled the sideline three. He missed a wing three. He attacked and missed a layup, but DJ cleaned it up. He missed a tech FT. He was taken off the dribble by Carter for a layup (why crowd him). He drew a moving screen on Kenyon in the backcourt. He crossed over his man, attacked and kicked to Mbenga for the baseline jumper. He sank a sideline three off a Kobe swing pass. Second Half: He did not play.

Luke -- -- Still a bit rusty. He's trying to force a few passes that aren't there. He's making footwork mistakes. He also put up a few ugly shots. Physically, he looks like himself. There don't seem to be any noticeable or lingering issued. He and Balkman had a few words as part of the general chippy nature of the game. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-10 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 22 minutes. The Action: He missed a wing three. He tied up Graham, then lost the jumpball. He pumpfaked, then swished a baseline jumper. He fumbled away a steal he thought he had. He missed an ugly runner, then was called for a foul while following it up (looked like he had position on the board). Second Half: He traveled trying to create off the dribble. He grabbed a Brown airball, was blocked, got it back and tossed it in just before the third quarter buzzer went off. He drew three fouls in one offensive sequence. He was called for carrying the ball while backing his man down. He airballed a jumper. He faced up at the midpost and swished a jumper. He missed a short runner. He missed a face-up baseline jumper from the left side. He sank a face-up jumper from the right side. He attacked off the dribble and drew FTs, he made both.

Brown -- -- Shannon had another of those launch pad dunks in transition. That is going to be fun to watch this season. Again, he had some real pretty moments or real ugly ones. Phil continues to run him at both PG and SG. We're going to have a real battle at those spots for PT this season. In the preseason, he made 5-18 threes this preseason. Those deep reserve lineups forcing him to create and not letting him step into shots or square up hurt those numbers. He looked better in the past few games. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-7 shooting (1-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 block and 2 fouls in 20 minutes. The Action: Dumb decision trying to save a ball that was poked loose by the Nuggets and he fumbled it out of bounds. He got set on a kickout by Sasha and hit the corner three. He fumbled away a sweet bounce pass from Artest. He was called for a flagrant trying to swat a drive. He was stripped on the outlet and fumbled it out of bounds trying to save it. Soaring defensive board to get it back. He swished a 12-foot turnaround in the lane, tough shot. Second Half: He short-armed a baseline runner. He missed an 18-footer on iso. Explosive dunk, soaring from a couple steps inside the FT line in transition. He drew FTs at midcourt off the dribble, he made both.

Vujacic -- -- One of the better trends of the preseason was the resurgence of Sasha's shot. He hit 19-36 shots in the preseason. He was a strong 8-16 from three. Put together a couple months of shooting like that and he might earn that paycheck. Very good start. With the extended run for the reserves, that improvement was on display. He led the team with 18 points, hit half of his threes and a number of techs. Combine that with a number of steals and getting under the skin of some Denver Nuggets in this game and ... the Machine is ready. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 5-9 shooting (3-6 from three, 5-5 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 4 steals and 5 fouls in 33 minutes. The Action: He missed a long, challenged three on a kickout. He cut around the screens, took the inbounds and hit the baseline jumper. He ended up on the floor and was rewarded with a tech. He got back up, got into Graham with some pressure D and drew a tech on an off-arm shove, flagrant-1 just seconds later. He made the techs. He attacked and kicked to Brown for a three. He missed a quick heave at a three. He biffed a weave play and Morrison ended up fumbling it out of bounds. Second Half: He made a tech FT. He sank a three from the top of the key. He made a tech FT. He deflected a pass off his man on full-court pressure. He deflected a pass on the sideline trap to get a turnover. He got completely tapped on a wing jumper, way down before coming out. He swished a wing three. He sank another three from the top of the key. He made a tech FT. He was blocked on a three. He scored a layup when Luke found him.

Farmar -- -- The first half was probably his worst of the preseason. He had a series of sequences where he followed up one mistake with another. The second half wasn't much better. Again, those are the things that got him in trouble last season. He needs to be mindful when he imposes himself on the game as a negative factor. After a miss or mistake, ease back on the throttle for a possession or two and let the triangle work its game. Farmar led the team with a -14. None of our guards gave much resistence to Ty Lawson. Farmar was thoroughly outplayed by the speedy rookie, who had 29 points on 8-12 shooting. Farmar shot 12-16 from the line this preseason, 75 percent is acceptable. Keep that up. Prior to this game, he was 7-18 from three, but adding in tonight's 2-7 and he's down to 36 percent behind the arc. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-13 shooting (2-7 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 25 minutes. The Action: He was stripped from behind. Next possession, he was stripped off his leg, turnover (compounding mistakes). He missed a layup on a drive, then yelled at the ref and got a tech for it with 1.2 seconds left. He attacked and overpassed, shotclock violation. He missed an off-balance chuck at three, then he missed a bank next time down (compounding mistakes again). Second Half: He missed a corner three. Nice catch on a long outlet and he quickly threw it up and in. He missed a layup on the break and wondered where the call was. Excellent extra jump pass in transition to Artest under the hoop for a layup instead of taking the pull-up three. He sank a corner three in transition. He bricked a wing three badly. Lawson blew past him with ease. He missed a wing three. He attacked and fed Morrison for the dunk. He tried to throw a full-court outlet, it was picked off and returned in front of him for a dunk. He split a double team and was held for FTs, he made one. He missed a three in transition. He missed another three. He reverse jammed with two hands in the final few seconds.

Powell -- -- Stuffed by the rim. Powell did a good job on the offensive glass tonight and on one such offensive rebound, he shed defenders, was all alone and threw a dunk right off the front of the rim. He and Mbenga tag teamed the center spot. Powell is not going to anchor our D and the team will suffer without a presence back there. He did a good job battling on the offensive glass, as mentioned, but we need to get him back to his preferred position. If Pau misses the first game, that will throw Powell into the mix at backup PF on opening night. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-5 shooting (0-1 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls. The Action: He missed a 30-footer trying to beat the shotclock. Great offensive board, then he had his dunk blocked by the rim with no one around, oops. Next time down, he grabbed the offensive board and powered up a layup. He swished a 20-footer. He grabbed an offensive board, spun and drew an offensive foul sending Andersen to the floor. Second Half: He choked a layup off a great pass from Sasha, then he got fouled for FTs, he made both.

Morrison -- -- Adam doesn't look like he has the athleticism to stay with this Nuggets team. He didn't look like he could hand Melo in any way yesterday. Artest and Luke will likely take Melo and the reserves at SF. He had moments where he was exploited in this game by J.R. Smith whenever they crossed paths. Kobe, Shannon and Sasha will deal with the SG spot. So, that will likely leave little remaining opportunity against this team. Offensively, he was aggressive and scored in a variety of ways. Decent turnaround to his preseason over these last few games. He was a ghost out there to begin with, but gradually he seemed to develop confidence. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-8 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 23 minutes. The Action: Smith went right around him with a spin and drew FTs. He sank a corner three on Artest's kickout. He fumbled the dribble away trying to run a weave that Sasha biffed. He missed a wing three. Second Half: He clanked a corner three attempt. He posted up and hit a turnaround. He missed a face-up jumper from the wing. He missed a chuck at a three. He drew FTs after a series of moves in the paint, he made both. He cut baseline and dunked off the Farmar drive. He picked off a pass in the trap and scored a layup.

Phil -- -- Same starters for the Lakers as last night (no Bynum or Pau). The Nuggets, however, didn't run Melo or Billups... The Lakers D was collapsing too easily and not helping the helpers early in the first quarter... First rotations: Mbenga stays with Powell, Luke, Sasha, Farmar coming in. That unit helped give up a 10-0 run and the Lakers trailed 29-25... Down by 7, he brought back in Artest at the PF spot. Phil clearly had Artest taking a leadership role in that unit and Artest responded... Backcourt athleticism gave the Laker bench problems. They trailed 57-49. The Lakers had 16 turnovers, the Nuggets 7... Lakers started Farmar and Sasha, sitting Kobe and Fish in the second half. Nuggets had bench out there, too. That's what you get with this preseason back-to-back game (and 5th in 7 nights for L.A.)... The Lakers fell behind by 18, then cut it down to 8 with a 12-2 run. The Lakers went with full-court pressure and trapping... The Lakers trailed 84-71 to start the fourth. They went with a Powell, Luke, Morrison, Sasha, Brown lineup... Ty Lawson continued to have his way with our lack of defense... Ugly second half of ball... The Lakers cut the turnovers to 9 in the half while the Nuggets had 14... The Nuggets shot 57 percent...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Once the first substitutions were made, the game went downhill. That was all the run for Kobe and DFish.

[Paillard]

First.

OK, I just had to do that at least once.

DB- I love your post-game analysis.
Keep up the good work.

[IPK]

2nd

DB FTW!!! IAL!!!

Now, let the real show begin...
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Our tribute to Phil, the man behind LG

[MedRomLaker]

Thank you much DB, I'm glad to see your off season ended once preseason started .
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11/9/12 the day the brown was flushed down!!!!!!

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

[Ray_Gonzoles]

Thanks again for the recaps DB.

Glad the preseason is over and the 'real' game begin.

Onward 'till Tuesday when the rings are distributed and the Championship Banner is raised.
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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.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Now on to some games that count!

[sbl8607]

thx~~~

[Laker7]

Well that game was ugly.

Sorry Ammo. I like you and what your shooting can bring but your shot is not good enough to make up for your weaknesses on the defensive end. Time for you to go to the end of the bench and stay there until the end of the year (or until we have so many injuries that we absolutely have no choice but to play him).

Another good game from DJ. Played within himself and the offense. My gut tells me Bynum will play in the opener but Pau will not causing DJ to get some minutes at the backup C position. If he keeps playing like this, I do not see it as a big problem as long as it does not go on for too long.

JVG noted that Farmar and Sasha must not be friends because they never pass the ball to each other. ROTFLMAO. How true. At times it was like they were playing 2 on 5. One of them would shoot while the other 3 ran around trying to get rebounds.
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[Sage_10]

Thanks DB! Good stuff.
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"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[mhan00]

adam morrison is slower than luke, a LOT slower than luke. that is scary.

[limchrc]

thanks

[Hector the Pup]

If the Lakers can't beat the Nuggets who didn't have Melo and Billups without their starting 4 and 5 and with Kobe playing 10 minutes then they don't stand a chance this season.

Lottery here we come!!!

[angrypuppy]

[mike_dee23]

The Lakers played last night?
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MTFBWYA

[JTS1]

[sonimala]

And the Machine seems ready...good news!?!
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Miami police will not arrest Dirk for stealing LeBron's ring. The victim never witnessed the crime since he left 12 mins before the theft. As tweeted by: The Bill Walton Trip

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB
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"I define success by championships, by winning..." Kobe Bryant

"I've seen it all. Sasha dunked on somebody," Kobe Bryant said. "I'm ready to retire now."