LAKERS -at- RAPTORS - 1/24 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

One Night Only... You spot signs along the river bank that say, "One Night Only. See the Locals Battle The Horsemen!" The signage points the way. You follow their arrows as the river winds across the border.

Up ahead, there's a celebration with figures dancing around a large bonfire. Confetti floats in the air and covers the water like an abstract painting. The boat slowly cuts through the sea of confetti as you near the shore.

That's when you spot what is fueling the fire -- a sizeable wooden effigy of The Horsemen. The locals poke it with sticks sending orange sparks into the air. It's a religious ceremony, their intent is clearly to banish The Horsemen from their village.

"Keep the boat moving," you tell the captain without taking your eyes off the shore. Before it is completely engulfed in flames, you read a message on the side of the effigy. DancingBarry:

The Horsemen were here. The locals were waiting for them. They tracked them down and then closed. The Horsemen went down in flames in the final seconds.

I will continue to follow them...

One Night Only. The NBA Champs are in the house for the only time of the year. That's how it's going to be on this road trip. Teams will bring their "A" games and the Lakers have to match their intensity and sense of urgency.

Tonight, the Raptors were playing host, and they wanted to treat their fans to a big win. With the clock winding down, Hedo Turkoglu attacked head first into a crowd of Lakers. The home-court whistle came with 1.2 seconds left and he made both FTs to take the 106-105 win.

There would be no last second heroics this time from Kobe to swipe victory at the buzzer. Kobe's long three from the right wing just missed.

In a moment the Lakers lost the lead and the game, but it was a series of poor plays down the stretch that allowed the Raptors to close with a 5-0 run and win the game. The Raptors are a .500 team. These are the opponents you have to beat on the road.


Kobe -- -- Kobe looked very spry on his feet tonight. Aside from a bad shot with a minute left, Kobe played a great game. He was boarding like mad and working the ball to teammates well. He was just one assist shy from the triple-double. The last minute of the game the Lakers came up shooting blanks. Kobe missed three times in the final minute, two on a couple of heaves against the clock that he had to take. The other shot was really the one to look at. With a minute left and 10 on the shotclock, he missed a fading sideline pull-up jumper. On his previous make, he worked iso with no screens and scored easily over Hedo. The Raptors were trapping Kobe on the high screens. On this attempt, however, Drew came over to set the pick again and Kobe got funneled to the sideline where he chucked up the miss. Just poor shot selection and poor execution at a bad time. Defensively, Kobe was cleaning the glass and hustling for boards. Some hands down on his defensive close outs early on that made the D a little softer than it should have been. The Stats: He scored 27 points on 11-24 shooting (1-6 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 16 boards (3 offensive), 9 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 40 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He blew past his man with ease for a layup. He missed a baseline chuck trying to beat the shotclock on the inbounds with just a second. He follow-slammed an Artest miss on the break. He sank a baseline jumper. He fumbled a dribble away (bad hand). He missed a half-court heave. He had 6 points on 3-5 shooting and 7 boards in the first. He lobbed to Bynum for a dunk. He missed a three. He sank a tough elbow fade. He posted up and kicked to Farmar for three. He hit Pau on the pick and pop for the easy jumper. He tried to kickout instead of taking the 5-footer and threw it away. He lobbed to a spinning Drew for the And-1. He missed a pull-up three, then fouled in transition. He was blocked on a drive, should have been FTs with the body check. He swished a pull-up wing jumper. He sank another off the Bynum pick on a two-for-one situation. He drained an elbow pull-up jumper with a second left. He had 14 points on 7-12 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 8 boards and 5 assists. Second Half: He hit Pau on the pick and pop for a jumper. He missed a lefty jam on a drive. He got it back and hit a corner three a few seconds later to force a timeout. He rejected Bargnani's drive at the rim. He spun around DeRozan and threw down a monster baseline jam. He lost a dribble in a crowd. He swiped a pass on the perimeter and was fouled. He lobbed to Bynum from about 30 feet out for the throwdown. He got body checked in mid flight by Bosh for FTs, he made both. He tripped and lost the ball. He missed a baseline fallaway. He attacked and kicked to Farmar for a wide open three. He was stripped on a drive. He subbed in and instantly drew FTs before the inbounds pass took place, he made both. He missed a one-handed leaner out of a timeout. He cleaned up a bricked two-footer by Pau with a jumper in the paint. Great dribble drive, he somehow missed way short and somehow got it back, and while on his tip toes falling out of bounds he fed Drew for the layup. He iso'd on Hedo, backed him up and swished the 10-footer (note, he didn't ask for a screen on this play as the Raptors were trapping). He missed a long chuck at a jumper with a minute left (shouldn't have had a screen come over). He missed a sideline heave at three on an inbounds with just a few ticks on the shotclock and a few seconds left. He just missed a long wing three at the buzzer, so close.

Gasol -- -- Pau got a season-high 23 field goal attempts. He was 1-4 on those in the fourth quarter. Just a very poor close to the game. There was one play where we got dribble penetration, threw up a shot and Pau was in perfect position to get an easy putback score. Instead, he grabbed his face because he got hit. Instead of playing through the pain and taking the two points, we got nothing. If you want to take road wins as a defending champ, you've got to play tougher than that. Two points was the difference in the game. With 15 seconds left, Pau also tried to kickout on a screen-roll pass with the shotclock low. He got nothing on the pass and it was deflected, leaving the Lakers in a bad situation. Got to pull up and take the jumper. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 10-23 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards (5 offensive), 2 assists, 2 blocks and 3 fouls in 40 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He hit a runner off the glass when Artest hit him on a drive. He missed a turnaround stuck in the middle of the lane. He missed a FT jumper. He powered in a layup with low position. He missed a short, open turnaround in the paint. He scored a layup in transition. He missed a hook badly. Great job filling the lane and Fish found him for the high-speed dunk. Bargnani blew past him for a dunk. Bosh blew past him for an easy score. Pau went right back at Bosh on the other end, overpowering him for a layup. He had 10 points on 5-9 shooting in the first. He swished a 16-footer on a pick an pop with Kobe. He missed in the post, but tipped several times until Bynum finally got a tip in to go. He swatted a shot out of bounds. He hit a wing face-up jumper. Second Half: He hit a pick and pop FT jumper. He found Bynum on a pass over Bosh for a layup. He bricked a turnaround jumper in the paint. He got hit in the face and gave up on the play, could have been a score. He didn't draw iron on a face-up wing jumper. He missed a short one with his left in the paint. He was hit on a short baseline turnaround to draw FTs, he made both. He faked right, went left and hit the righty jumphook. He bricked a two-footer with his left off the Kobe drive and dish. He threw a soft pass across court to be deflected out of bounds with 3 seconds left on the shotclock instead of pulling up for a jumper, arggh. He was called for pushing Hedo in the back on the final drive, looked iffy.

Bynum -- -- The subplot of this game might fall here where the Bynum for Bosh rumors may have danced in Phil Jackson's head and somehow made their way into the press. Would this inspire Bynum or Bosh? Bynum missed the team flight to Toronto. That would have been embarrassing to not make it after that trade talk. He got there and dominated in the first half. Bosh struggled to score around him and the Raptors and not post play. Drew was being set up for a number of lobs and went to work in the post on several occasions. In the second half, that all came to an abrupt halt. Drew got few looks and the Raptors sent help on the few he did get. The Lakers also, generally, opted to work the ball to Pau more. Phil did, however, run Bynum in the fourth as Lamar was playing horrible. Of course, he opted to take Bynum out for Lamar on the final stop. Nice game by Drew. It's rare we see both him and with as much offense as the two got. Kobe helped orchestrate a lot of that. Bynum led the team in +/-. It seemed like the refs weren't giving him the bogus little fouls that we've seen with some frequency. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 9-15 shooting (3-3 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He was stripped trying to power up on a lob entry. He swatted Bosh's baseline turnaround attempt. He tipped in a miss right behind Bosh. His first post touch and he overpowered Bargnani for a layup. Bosh traveled trying to drive on Bynum. He was looking for a foul as he tried to power in a layup that he missed. He had 4 points on 2-4 shooting in the first. He missed a bank. He threw down an interior lob from Kobe. He cut and Luke hit him for an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He missed a short jumphook over Rasho. He posted up Rasho again, great footwork on an up-and-under to bank in an And-1, he made the FT. He tipped in a Pau miss. He spun and threw down an And-1 lob from Kobe over Bosh, he made the FT. He had 17 points on 7-12 shooting to go with 5 boards. Second Half: Nice challenge on Bosh's turnaround. He denied a drive on the next possession. He took a high entry over Bosh and scored a layup. He rejected another Bosh turnaround jumper attempt. He traveled when Bosh pulled the chair on him. He dunked in a long lob from Kobe when he was left alone. He was stripped on a double team in the paint. He scored a layup off the interior feed from Kobe.

Artest -- -- Ron held Hedo down all game. When Phil brought him in for that last sequence, he switched off and Hedo got bailed out on a drive into traffic. Otherwise, Hedo was nothing all game. Some better effort by Ron to move around screens most of the game and not let Hedo score (1-6 from the floor, 6-6 from the line). Offensively, not much of a game from Ron, either. He missed a number of open looks. Phil went with Kobe and Luke for almost the entire fourth quarter until that last defensive stand. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-9 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists and 1 turnover in 26 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He attacked and dished to Pau for the first score. He missed an open wing three. He missed an open wing jumper off the split play. He missed a tough layup in transition, but Kobe slammed it back in. He missed a corner three. He missed a fallaway from the elbow. He was 0-5 in the first, but had 3 assists. Second Half: Hedo hit a three on him on one end, Artest knocked the sideline three down on the other. He sank an iso face-up baseline jumper on the next possession. He missed an open three on the Kobe kickout next time down.

Fisher -- -- There were points in this game where Jarrett Jack got to the rim or in the paint with ease. Bynum was back there under siege. Jack had 18 points and a handful of assists. Farmar easily outplayed Fish on both ends and was the closer. Fish was definitely a soft spot in the D (unless it's an odd-man situation in transition, then he's gold). The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-6 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 foul in 25 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He missed a DFish Special with the toe on the three line from the wing (he's usually automatic on those). Great D in transition to switch off a big and force a guard to brick. He was blocked on a layup in transition. He hit Pau on the break for a dunk. Second Half: He swished a rainbow wing three. Jack was getting a ton of penetration and Phil called a timeout. He posted up Jack out of a timeout and hit the turnaround. He missed a wide open three, dunk the other way. He missed a drive that Pau should have cleaned up. He erased a three-on-one break taking a charge (so good a that).

Lamar -- -- Worthless game from Lamar. He was not just a disappearing but was actually a negative force at times. Usually, he's doing some things positive out there. Tonight, he just had the touch of death. Anything he was involved in seemed to go south for the team. He came in for Bynum at the end of the half and a decent Laker lead was erased in about a minute and a half. This was a close game all night long and Lamar seemed to make sure of it. He led the team with a -4. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnover and 4 fouls in 15 minutes. The Action: He clanked a fading wing jumper. He scored a layup on an inbounds under the basket. He missed an open lob to Bynum, then attacked and was stripped. He tapped a rebound away from Walton and right to Bosh for a score. He missed a wing three. He was called for an offensive foul trying to get position in the post (weak call). Horrible half. Second Half: He tried to one-hand in a layup and bricked, looking for the foul. He dunked off the behind-the-back pass from Luke. Off-target outlet to Farmar, turnover.

Brown -- -- One of the key plays late in the game came in a botched transition situation. Shannon over-passed in tight quarters to Pau instead of either trying to score or pulling it back out. The ball was too hot for Pau to handle and went out of bounds. Careless possessions on the road cost you. If you want to know how not to run a break, look at situation when Shannon is forced to make a play. He is typically very sloppy if he's not finishing. This is that lack of playmaker skills that has had him as a journeyman guard. Defensively, he was solid for most of the game. January seems to be an on/off month for Shannon. Seems like many of his good games are followed by quiet games. He went from 22 points to 5, then 11 to 2 in the past four and has done that for most of the month. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He bricked a reverse badly, should have had that. Nice job stripping a man in transition. Second Half: He cut baseline in the Tri, took the pass from Farmar and threw down the reverse jam. He fouled Belinelli on a three. He blocked a baseline jumper. He missed an open sideline three. He threw a ball out of bounds instead of powering up to try to score under the hoop or pulling it out.

Farmar -- -- Great game by Farmar. One of his best. He was draining his long ball, but also not getting into situations where he is out of control. That is what you want to see on the road. Defensively, after the Lakers were getting torched in the second half by guard penetration, Farmar did a better job. He wasn't without problems, but he was much, much better. He got strapped with some cheap fouls in the first half. Getting that quality play on both ends, Phil let him close out the game again. "We need to control the tempo and play our style of game," Farmar said before the game. He also mentioned defensive communication, which was a problem in the last game. He did a good job in both of those regards. Bummer the Lakers waste a 17-point game from Farmar. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-11 shooting (3-4 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls. He was a -1. The Action: He took a baseline pass from Pau, didn't try for a reverse, but hit the short turnaround in the lane instead, nice control. He missed a tip-in attempt. Great strip on Bargnani in transition, bogus whistle. He missed a baseline jumper, then got it back when a loose ball went right to him for a layup. He sank an open three off the Kobe kickout. He had to sit after picking up three fouls, all cheap. Second Half: He blew past Jack and hit a wide open floater in the lane. He swished a wing three on a Kobe kickout. He missed a pull-up three in transition. He sank a step-back wing three on iso. He drew a moving screen foul. He attacked the paint and hit a floater to just beat the shotclock. He then stole the ball on D by knocking it away from the post on a reach while cutting. He came up short on a baseline mid-range jumper out of a timeout. Jack dribbled him under the hoop and drew FTs on the other end.

Luke -- -- Luke seemed to take command of the second unit with only one starter out there for some stretches. He helped set up teammates and keep the team playing even. Some very good defensive rotations, as well. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 3 boards, 2 assists and 1 turnover in 9 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: Great feed to a cutting Bynum in traffic for an And-1. He tapped in a missed Bynum shot. Second Half: He attacked into the paint and no-looked behind his back right to LO for the dunk. He was trying to lob to Farmar from the wing, but Farmar decided to fade instead, turnover on the miscommunication.

Vujacic -- -- A real brief stint for Sasha when Farmar picked up his third foul of the half. He gave up FTs within seconds. The Stats: He had 1 foul in 1:29. The Action: Half a second after entering, he fouled Belinelli on the perimeter for FTs. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Phil -- -- Phil matched up Bynum with Bosh and Pau with the Bargnani who has longer range... The Lakers led 16-13 when the first subs came, all of their points were in the paint. None of the Lakers jumpers were falling early on. Phil brought in Farmar and LO for Fish and Bynum... The Lakers led 24-21 after the first... Phil started a Bynum, LO, Kobe, Shannon, Farmar unit... He bright in Luke for Kobe... The Lakers got their first FT of the game at the 7:41 mark of the second quarter... When Farmar picked up his third foul, Phil dusted off Sasha briefly... Phil went with the starters and Luke midway through the quarter... Phil sat Bynum for LO with 3 minutes left, Lakers up 7. He brought back in Bynum a couple minutes later with the score tied... The Lakers led 56-54 at the half. The Lakers shot 45 percent (26-58, 1-7 from three, just 3-3 from the line. The Raptors shot 50 percent (20-40, 3-6 from three, 11-14 from the line). The Lakers had a 12-3 advantage on the offensive glass... The Lakers had a 36-18 advantage on points in the paint... The coaches didn't like the soft Laker D... The Lakers jumped out to a quick 7-0 run to start the half... The Lakers lead was cut when Jack was getting into the paint with ease. Phil called a timeout up by 4 with 4:32 left... Up 79-74, Phil sat Fish and Pau for Farmar and LO... The Lakers ended up playing even with the Raptors in the third and led 84-82 heading into the fourth... Phil went with a Pau, Lamar, Luke, Shannon, Farmar unit. They played even until a timeout with 8:37 left. Key stretch with three starters resting. Phil didn't make any changes at that timeout... He brought in Bynum at the 8-minute mark with the score tied... He subbed in Kobe for Luke with 6:42, a long rest for Kobe... Up by 1 with 3 on the shotclock and 15 seconds left, Phil called a timeout. Priot to that he had whistled a play to Kobe who let the clock wind down and then attacked, feeding Pau who biffed the play. Now, they had to get something. On an inbounds, Kobe missed a sideline three... They had to play D for 11 seconds. Phil brought in LO for Bynum and Ron for Shannon. Pau switched on Hedo and was called for a foul on a drive with a second left. Hedo took a 1-point lead with 1.2 left... Kobe just missed a fading wing three after recovering an off-target inbounds pass... The Lakers won the break 22-18, won the offensive glass 16-10, won the paint 56-38, but lost from the line, making 9-9 while the Raptors feasted on 21-26...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Lakers led for most of the night, sometimes by as much as 10. Raptors closed the game with a 5-0 run.

[Burgundy]

Oy vey...this team needs a serious kick in the @$$!

[GoldenThroat]

For the life of me, I don't understand why we consistently abandon Drew in the post, especially after he plays well in the first half.

[Heyvoon24]

pau gasol has really been pissing me off since his contract extension.

he sits out a few games for his hammy to be "100% healthy" and comes back playing scared.

[Vishnu]

thanks DB

[JUST-MING]

This one had the feeling of a loss. I can't explain it.

[hellolaw5]

Maybe they should've gone to Bynum more than Pau. Pau's matchup is undersized and he still cant score.

[BigE32]

Clock management. Up four with the ball in our hands with ninety seconds left and we're pushing the tempo instead of running the clock and getting into our set offense. We didn't have numbers but yet, we're forcing the action when the clock is our ally. We should have pulled it back and run our O. We asked for trouble and we got the L. On another note, LO has really been non existent on this road trip IMO.Thanks as always, DB.

[City_Dawg]

Thanks DB
_________________
*sighs*

!...

[night89]

Honestly, at this point, I just want to look toward to what Bynum will look like in a month. Too bad we didn't have "this" Bynum against the Cavs. He probably would have been able to block one of Lebron's shots, and probably would have played in crunch time over Pau.

I think the Bynum doubters will be glad that we'll have him in the postseason to deter penetrations. Right now, he is very very close to being able to guard Fisher's man, and his own. Guys are having to resort to "trick shots," and yet he's just inches away from blocking them.

Also, I think people need to stop telling Bynum to play with "heart" or hard. Playing hard increases your chances of injury, and that's definitely not what he needs. We need Bynum to be in the best possible condition by the postseason, not what line he can put up, by playing as hard as he can, in January.

Instead, what people need to do is blame Phil for not making it any easier on Bynum, by starting Erek Fisher, in place of Shannon. Bynum's job would be so much easier if the point guard could just do a decent job of staying in front of his man. I mean, he could probably get a little more athletic to compensate, but not grow two more inches(though he could probably grow 1 by sleeping a lot, eating lots of protein and drinking lots of milk.)

The last two losses have been by a combined 3 points. Someone playing better in place of Fisher would have definitely altered the outcome.
It seems that the onus is only on Bynum to improve. However, with Kobe's finger the way it is, they can't make up for Fisher and hostile officiating(actually, any kind of injury and they can't make it up it seems.)

I guess Phil is willing to go to his grave with Fisher. Too bad, 'cuz he'll never get a front office job, due to this decision.

[Klone_dd]

Poor defense all night. Too much PG penetration. Everytime you thought the Lakers would just pull away, they allowed the Raps to jump back in the game.

Kobe did look very spry today and Bynum was energized in the 1st half. Once again, the team did not execute in the final minutes of play. Phil still seems intent to let JoFar and Shanwow close the game. Very curious.

JoFar was at his best, very controlled and deadly. Shannon botched the pseudo break at the wrong time. Probably the best thing would have been to back it out and run some clock.

[Sister Golden Hair]

It won't happen, but Farmar should replace Fish at this point. Fish stinks.

[mirak]

Thanks DB.

Weird game. Kobe was superb, except for one play down the stretch -- near triple double, career high in rebounds, setting up Bynum for easy buckets. Gasol and Bynum combine for 43/18. Bosh doesn't go wild, and he has to work for his 18 points. Fish has a stinker of a game, but Farmar makes up for it with 17 points and stellar shooting. We led just about the whole game, and had the lead going into the final minute. Yet we still lost.

What a strange game.

[JTS1]

[AutoShackMotorSports]

[night89]

Here's the thing, how does a coach like the Raptors know to start Jarret Jack over a guy like Calderon(which makes one wonder how much impact Calderon really has, if he's being benched for a role player), and they start winning, whereas Phil can't even make the obvious choice of starting either Shannon or Farmar over Fisher?

It's sad that Phil is being outcoached by some unknown or "uncelebrated" coaches(think Phil would ever pull Fisher as fast as Mike Brown did with JJ Hickson and put in Big Z in the first game, which as it turns out was a brilliant move?) At the very least, they seem to value defense more.

[GoldenThroat]

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB.

Kobe needs to be in facilitator mode until his finger heals. We have the advantage in the post on most nights - milk it - and pick your spots to dominate until he is healthy again.

Farmar needs to start over Fish. For better or worse, it is time to see if he is worth keeping around past this year. There is nothing that Fish can do that Farmar shouldn't be able to do better.

[Canadian Laker]

[Ray_Gonzoles]

Thanks DB.

The Lakers need to fix those late game 'brain farts' and win the games they should.
_________________
"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.

[A Mad Chinaman]

Thoughts

LO thinks that the Lakers are cocky (while they are being punked since the have a large X on their backs). As Ali states, one can be as cocky as they want, just as long as they keep winning. Uh, where does that leave the Lakers at this time.

Playing Hard - As stated in the L.a. Times, the Cavs are playing harder than the Lakers (just like what the Celtics did last year). Admittedly there is a fine line of playing harder than the other teams and monitoring that the teams doesn't get into many bad habits.

Shaq/Kobe teams teams had the reputation that if they were leading and/or very close to the lead at the start of the fourth quarter - they usually win these games. These Lakers are losing the close games and that has to be a concern. Just like we have to monitor if Pau will be the 2010 version of Charles Smith?!?!?

[limchrc]

Thanks. Hope we win the next game.

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB
_________________
"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."

[Keyser Soze]

[lakerboy]

thanks db

we surely don't look like a contender on the road