Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 12:46 am Post subject: CELTICS -at- LAKERS - 2/18 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings
Fool's Gold... What you thought was rising columns of smoke in the distance, turned out to be something very different as it neared the city. Once again, you are confronted with towers of swarming flies -- millions of them, mating, laying eggs and dieing of old age before your eyes. A cycle they repeat again and again.
They've come to infest the city, you think. However, the screen they provide shields from view an even more disturbing menace: small, pale bearded Leprechauns -- hordes of 'em. (Or is that a herd, gaggle or flock?) A bloat of Leprechauns, maybe.
They scurry through debris and over the rocky perimeter walls. You punt one back over with a drop kick, but more come. The Horsemen, minus their most lethal of riders, charge into the fight.
It is an ugly battle: scratching, clawing, biting, and that's just the Leprechauns. Finally, a gang of them come running from one of the city's banks in celebration. "Me, gold!" one yells. They've got a sack of gold and leap over the walls with much satisfaction.
You make your way to the bank and part through the middle of a gathering crowd. On the broken door is a note. DancingBarry:
The Horsemen were here. They put up a scrappy battle, but the little green buggers took the gold. No worry. It's Fool's gold. Let them enjoy it. The Horsemen will move on.
I will continue to track them...
The Celtics had just played one of their more complete halves of the season. They followed that up with a quality third quarter. Then, the Kobe-less Lakers clamped down.
They went on a 13-0 run and held the Celtics to just 11 points in the fourth. Unfortunately, the Lakers would score just 2 points in the final 7 minutes to fall 87-86.
How they managed to stay in this game while doing that is really a testament to what this team's done since Kobe's injury. They've buckled down on D.
Missing Kobe couldn't have been more obvious than tonight. It hurt the Lakers, however, in a variety of ways tonight. First, the team didn't make Ray Allen play any D. Having Allen guard Kobe makes that Fisher/Allen cross match much easier for DFish since Allen gets worn down. Instead, Allen went off. Second, this team doesn't go on 7-minute scoring droughts with Kobe. He'll always find a way to score. The Lakers missed his closer skills and the team floundered. Third, the team's depth took a beating. when Ron picked up a few cheap fouls and had to sit, the Lakers were forced to slide Lamar down to SF and bring in Powell. They also had to run Shannon on Rondo to start and paid the price.
The Lakers starting guards shot 3-18. DFish was horrible on both ends. The Lakers had three runs of 7-0, 7-0 and 13-0 while Fish was on the bench.
Despite that and despite the ripple effect that missing Kobe has on all those areas, the Lakers nearly won.
"Our defense gave us a chance to win (at the end), but we couldn't get it done," Phil said in the Daily news. "We slowed down at the end. Not very good shot selection."
Again, their play of late isn't about touches. It's about digging in defensively and playing with a sense of urgency. They held another team to under 90 points and that will get you wins on most nights. They did that again tonight, they just missed their ace when the guards went stone cold. You've got to have that offensive balance.
Gasol -- -- Phil on the timeout that Pau called after we got the stop. "I called it with six seconds, Pau gave them the signal with five," Phil said. They got the ball with 2.2 left. That would have made a huge difference in the final play. However, could the Lakers even score with it? The guards were playing hideous and Pau couldn't right the ship in crunch time. Pau seemed to be looking for Shannon like he was Kobe. If you think about it, these two were the one-two punch to close the game in the last one. Tonight, they had nothing. No one filled the vacuum left by Kobe. Defensively, got to love the Lakers fourth. Pau and Lamar showed that sense of urgency that has characterized the team's lockdown effort. Scrappy game on D from the front court. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 7-12 shooting (8-8 from the line) to go with 7 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He airballed a jumphook with his left to start the game. He swished a face-up wing jumper. He drew FTs attacking Perkins off the dribble, he made both. He was hacked by KG on an offensive board, he made both FTs. He faced up, stepped around Sheed and dunked on the baseline. He swished a 17-footer off the drive and kick from Sasha. He was blindsided by Rondo and it led to a Celtic breakaway dunk. He had 10 points on 3-4 shooting and just 1 board. Second Half: He drew FTs trying to finish over Perkins, he made both. He drew more FTs on the high-low from Bynum, he made both. He missed a turnaround. He blocked Sheed's jumper then leaked down court for a layup. He swished a wing 19-footer. He airballed trying to beat the shotclock on an inbounds. He missed a reverse, then was stripped. He scored a layup on the push-out by Lamar. He sank a jumper in the lane. He hit Bynum for a dunk off the two-man game with LO, then yelled at his teammates to make another defensive stand (that's how they've been playing lately). He missed a lefty jumphook.
Bynum -- -- This is one of those games where you see Bynum's growth. He's playing through pain, he's playing physical and he's imposing his size on the floor. He had some very nice finishes (and a sweet up-and-under that had KG turned around lost that I wished he finished). I don't think the refs called a very good two-way game. The Celtics were able to get away with a lot that Bynum wasn't. He was getting hit the arm on the shot without any calls. Still, he played through it. With the KG/Sheed duo on the floor, Phil had Bynum defending KG and Lamar on Sheed. KG picked up a couple first quarter fouls and had to sit as Bynum ended up imposing his size. Perkins was scoring on some garbage, but the Celtics did not have a post game. With Bynum out there, they keep the Celtics into donut mode and that may be their ultimate downfall. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 7-15 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards (3 offensive), 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He hit a jumphook over Perkins for the Lakers first score. He fought for the post feed and powered in a layup. He made a 10-footer. He was hit on a turnaround with no call. He missed a pumping one-hander over Sheed. He yanked an offensive board down as he dodged Sheed at his feet, then powered up an And-1 around KG (Ron gave him a forearm to the chest), he missed the FT. He airballed a lefty jumphook against Davis. He missed a layup on an up-and-under on KG (totally lost him on the ball-fake). Bynum picked up a couple of super-weak fouls against Perkins in the post and had to sit with a minute left. He had 8 points on 4-9 shooting and 6 boards. Second Half: He found Pau on the high-low for FTs. He grabbed a Shannon miss and scored it easily. Next time, he screamed as he grabbed the offensive board, screamed again as he put in the And-1 reverse, he missed the FT. He lost the handle on a post-up and airballed (looked like he wanted a foul). He dunked off the LO/Pau two-man game, sealing the help defender. He missed a jumphook in the lane. He was hit on a jumper by Perkins with no call. No box out on Perkins to allow a dunk.
Artest -- -- Ron was balling on both ends. I actually wish he would have gotten the last shot of the game, but he was the inbounds passer. He can usually get that fallaway jumper off on anyone. The Laker guards couldn't hit the Sahara if they were standing in the middle of it. Ron showed his feet must be feeling better with a couple of dunks. The facial on Sheed at the rim was one of the highlights of the night. The refs called a very inconsistent game. At times, they seemed to whistle ticky-tack fouls at other times, they let a lot go. Ron ended up in foul trouble when he picked up his fourth foul getting called for a hold while trying to seal Rondo in the post in the third quarter. That forced the Lakers to sit him and scramble their lineups. He did an excellent job on Pierce defensively. How nice is it to have Pierce score just 11 points? In the two games, Pierce is averaging 13 points on 40 percent shooting and 2.5 turnovers. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-14 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards (3 offensive), 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: He missed a three. He overpowered Pierce on a drive from the wing for FTs, he made both. He posted up Pierce next time down, missed, but tipped it in. Great D rotating on a couple players before blocking a jumper to get a shotclock violation. He swiped a perimeter pass and took it for an uncontested dunk (yes, he can dunk). Pierce bounced off him as Artest flashed to the ball, he took the pass and dunked it in Sheed's face (yes, he can dunk over someone, too). He missed a wing jumper. He grabbed an offensive board, attacked and muscled in a layup. He pushed the dribble up and went coast to coast for the layup. He couldn't connect in the post trying to draw Pierce's third foul. He scored 12 points on 5-10 shooting to go with 6 boards (3 offensive). Second Half: He sank a wing three on a Shannon kickout. He couldn't finish around Pierce off the dribble. He was called for a hold trying to seal in the post. He missed a wing three. He was blocked out of bounds trying to muscle up a shot.
Fisher -- -- When Ray Allen doesn't have to defend Kobe, that sure makes life much easier for him in the Kobe/Fish cross-match that we usually play. Allen was torching DFish. Phil let the abuse go on while Fish provided absolutely nothing on the other end. When Fish finally sat (and Allen was 9-10 at that point), the Lakers made a run, dug out of a hole and actually had a 4-point lead. Allen would shot 1-5 for the remainder of the game. When Fish returned, the Lakers were down by 1 with 3:30 remaining in the game. During that stretch DFish tried to attack on a one-man break and missed a layup trying to draw FTs. Poor, poor possession. He then missed an off-balance twisting heave at the buzzer. "Fish broke off his cut," said Phil in the Times. "He was supposed to open the floor up..." Horrible game from DFish on both ends, he even struggled from the line. With the trade deadline come and gone, the Lakers main weakness was badly exploited tonight. Frankly, cut DFish's 25 minutes down considerably and the Lakers would have had a lot more success. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-9 shooting (0-3 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He missed an 18-footer. He made a 20-footer. He made a tech FT. He missed a layup. He knocked a pass free and it led to a breakaway score for LO. He pushed up the break and drew FTs, he missed both, arggh. He missed a three on the next possession. He missed another three on a kickout. He had 3 points on 1-5 shooting. Second Half: He went under a screen and gave up a three to Ray on one end, then was swatted on a layup on the other. Another Allen score over him, Fish tried to counter and bricked a three at the other end. After a long rest in which the Lakers came back from a hole and took a lead, DFish returned with 3:30 left. He pushed up a one-man break and missed the layup, arggh. He airballed trying to heave up some kind of off-balance leaner at the buzzer.
Brown -- -- Down the stretch, Shannon missed two jumpers from either side of the court. These were the "Kobe shots" that the team typically relies on. Phil got on him for not reposting on that second miss. Not having Kobe, as mentioned, hurt the team in a variety of ways. As well as Shannon played in the last game, this shows why he's still a role player -- consistency. He just needs to keep working hard and good things will continue to happen for him. Defensively, he took on the Kobe role of guarding Rondo while Fish continued to cover Allen. Shannon didn't do well in this match up last time in Boston, but the more minutes he gets in it, the better served the team will be if they happen to face each other again. Rondo took advantage early on, but the team started to play him better as the game wore on. Just a couple more makes (even from the line) and this game has a different outcome. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-9 shooting (1-1 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He bricked a 20-footer, not running the offense that time. Rondo was giving him trouble, scoring several times to start the game. Shannon sagged off Allen and gave up a three (wrong player to sag off). He attacked Allen off the dribble and drew FTs, he made both. Good help D rotation to knock a pass off Baby. He drained a sideline three on a kickout from Lamar at the first-quarter buzzer. Rondo swiped his pass for a layup. He short-armed a runner. He pushed up the break and hit LO for the And-1 dunk. Rondo nearly got to another of Shannon's passes. He had 5 points on 1-3 shooting. Second Half: He kicked out to Ron for a three. He missed a baseline jumper. He probed in early offense and drew FTs, he made one. He sank a long sideline jumper (not making the post entry). He missed a tech FT (I hate that). He choked a layup he should have finished. He bricked an open wing jumper out of a timeout with 3 minutes left. He missed another wing jumper with 1:10 left, and Phil yelled at him for not reposting to Pau. He was shoved out of bounds with no call trying to get a pass with 30 seconds left.
Lamar -- -- I wonder what would have happened had that timeout not been whistled? Did Lamar let up on his concentration when he heard the whistle. Would he have made that layup on the break to close the game? Or did he not hear the whistle and his miss would have been just that? His push-out wasn't a bad idea. Calling a timeout on the rebound would have been good, as well. Either way, the game kind of fizzled out for him at the end there. He had been balling on both ends prior to that. Lamar had a couple posterizing dunks in the first half, coming out with some good intensity. Loved those. He even yelled at KG after tying him up on D, showing that mental edge he holds over the Celtics. Lamar also hit a huge three to cap a fourth-quarter run and tie the game earlier in the fourth. Defensively, he covered a variety of players and had 10 boards in the fourth. He had to defend Pierce as our SF when Ron picked up his fourth foul and when the two switched at times late in the game. He did a pretty good job in those situations and Pierce was held down all game by that duo. The Lakers missed the Kobe two-man game which exploits the Celtic defensive rotations. Lamar ran it once with Pau and it led to a key Bynum dunk. Wish we could have seen that more. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-9 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 14 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: He couldn't finish a layup around KG in the post. He iso'd on Baby at the top of the key, attacked, drew the D and kicked out to Shannon for a three at the first-quarter buzzer. He attacked across the middle of the lane and was tripped for FTs, he made one. He missed an early offense three. He attacked off the three line past KG and dunked over Perkins (then stared at him as he headed back down court). He flattened Ray Allen on an And-1 dunk on the break, he made the FT. He crashed the glass to yank down a missed DFish jumper, then bounced back up and swished the short baseline shot. He had 8 points on 3-6 shooting and 2 boards. Second Half: He bricked on a drive at the end of the quarter. He pushed out a rebound and hit Pau for a layup. He drilled a wing three to tie the game up. He worked the two-man game, hit Pau who then hit Bynum for the dunk against Allen. He was called for an offensive foul trying to seal Daniels in the post. He tied up KG, yelled at him and we got the possession off the jumpball. Great D on Pierce smothering him in the lane on iso. Pierce pumped him into a foul for FTs on the next switch (Phil reminded him to stay on his feet, Pierce missed both). He put back in a missed jumphook by Pau. More good D on Pierce to get a stop with 7 seconds left, he then pushed it up and Pau called a timeout as Lamar was on the move.
Farmar -- -- This was an instance where Farmar was not playing well -- quite poor, in fact -- but he wasn't as bad as DFish. He couldn't hit from the perimeter or the line, just like Fish. However, the team just wasn't getting torched as badly on the other end. Farmar split his time against Rondo and others. Without House and Nate not yet playing, Farmar had to cover Tony Allen in the first half. He then covered Rondo in the fourth and played the zoning, sag-off, position D that caused Rondo some problems. He wasn't very disruptive with his help D in that, but the Lakers still cooled off the Celtic attack. Fish and Farmar were a combined 1-5 from the line. You guys are supposed to hit your FTs. You're PGs. Fish is usually consistent, but Farmar can't let this problem creep back into his game. Think we could have used 2 FT makes tonight? Hell, yeah. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-7 shooting (1-5 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 turnover and no fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He missed a three. He attacked down the lane, switched hands and banked a runner. He missed a three on a kickout. He filled the lane on the break and drew FTs, he bricked both, sigh. Second Half: He airballed an open corner three, ouch (just didn't square up). He scooped up a loose ball and hit a pull-up three in transition. He airballed a three. He tried to create around Rondo and was picked for a dunk. He missed a three on the next trip down.
Vujacic -- -- Sasha helped spark the team in their fourth-quarter run. (He actually led the team with 6 points in the fourth.) He got into the paint for a couple of scores and also swished a jumper off the inbounds play. Got to give him some props for his play during that key stretch. Wish he could have also knocked down a key three there with 4 minutes left, but he did a good job in his role today. Unfortunately, all he got out of it was a "L" and a shoulder sprain that looked like it happened when he got sent to the floor on the defensive end. Grade one sprain, he's listed day to day. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-6 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He attacked and kicked to Pau for a jumper. He attacked and charged on the next possession. He grabbed a rebound and pushed out the break to set up Farmar for FTs. He missed a sideline three. He missed a quick-fire wing jumper. He was called for a foul when Ron and Sasha trapped Pierce in the middle of the court. Second Half: He had his head down on the dribble and missed a wide open Pau under the hoop. He crashed the glass and put back in a Farmar miss. He curled off the high post and scored a layup. He swished a catch-and-shoot jumper out off a timeout. He bricked a wing three with 4 minutes left.
Powell -- -- With the injuries and some brief foul trouble for Artest and Bynum, the Lakers were forced to slide LO to the small forward spot for a few minutes. Again, this is the ripple effect of losing Kobe. Powell hustled and handled himself well, but in a big game we had to go with an experimental lineup the team hasn't run. Not ideal. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting, had 1 board and 1 steal in 3 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He missed a jumper trying to create against Daniels, not a good possession.
Phil -- -- He went with the same starting lineup with Shannon at SG in the Kobe role... The Lakers trailed 19-12 at the midway point of the quarter... Phil sat Pau for Lamar midway through the quarter. Bynum was on KG and LO on Sheed... He brought back in Pau at the end of the quarter for Bynum... The Lakers closed on a 7-0 run to trail 30-27 after the first... Phil started a Pau, LO, Sasha, Shannon, Farmar unit... He brought back in Ron for Shannon... Then went with the starters (minus Bynum for LO)... Out of a timeout, he brought in Bynum for LO. The Lakers turned the ball over for two straight breakaway scores... The Lakers then countered with a 10-2 run... The Lakers trailed 53-48 at the half. The Lakers shot 43 percent (18-42, 1-8 from three, 11-17 from the line). The Celtics shot 56.4 percent (22-39, 3-5 from three, 6-8 from the line). Just 7 assists for the Lakers, but the Celtics were fouling a lot. Lakers just missing too many FTs... Allen torched Fisher again in the third. Fish was useless on both ends. The Celtics stretched their lead to 11 points... Phil went to the triple-tower lineup when Ron picked up his fourth foul. When Bynum picked up his fourth foul on a moving screen call, that forced Phil to bring in Powell down by 8 to run at the PF... "We've been awful," Phil said after the third quarter. The Lakers trailed 76-69 heading into the fourth... Phil started Sasha on Pierce in the fourth with the Pau, Lamar, Sasha, Brown, Farmar unit. Pierce sat a minute later. Sasha then moved over onto Ray Allen... They tied the game up 80-80 after 4 minutes, pushing the tempo... Phil then subbed in Bynum and sat Brown... A jumper to Sasha and a two-man game that set up Bynum for a dunk and the Lakers went up... Up by 4, he brought back in Ron to cover Pierce who came in at that time... Down 1, Phil subbed out Bynum for Pau and Fisher for Farmar with 3:33 left... Neither team could score. The Lakers struggled to run anything with a purpose... The Lakers got a stop down by 1. The refs finally whistled a timeout with 2.2 left. Should have been more time on the clock... The Lakers got nothing on the inbounds to Fisher. (Phil had wanted 4 seconds on the clock.) The clock stopped when Lamar was at the rim on the other end... Fish broke off the play call and missed a bad heave at the buzzer... The Lakers starting guards shot 3-18 from the floor...
Game Flow -- LINK -- Huge 13-0 run by the Lakers in the fourth, then the offense completely bogged down. LO had 10 boards in the fourth.
Joined: 14 Jul 2006 Posts: 46884 Location: Coming soon and striking at your borders.
Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 12:52 am Post subject:
Thanks DB
Gotta give the kids credit on the defensive end. Scrappy determined game they played. A few more makes and a few less turnovers and Boston is dry heaving right now instead of L.A. _________________ *sighs*
It's hard to watch the games when Fish gets the bulk of the minutes at PG. Just brutal. The guy's ego won't allow him to make the smart plays ... instead, he tries to go beyond his limited skills which ALMOST ALWAYS ends badly for the team. He'as catch and shoot (when open) player at this point. Period. He can't do anything else save draw a charge now and then. His defense is almost laughably bad. How bad? Even Sasha is better at this point. Think about that!
And PJ's stubborness is just crazy. Mark my words, if this team loses, a big reason, maybe the biggest reason, will be PJ's loyalty to a washed up player, and that player's ego-need to be a hero.
Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 90320 Location: Formerly Known As 24
Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 1:13 am Post subject:
Keyser Soze wrote:
Phil got outcoached bigtime in this game.
When a team missing the best player in the league almost pulls out a win against a fully loaded contender, it hurts, but it definitely isn't being outcoached. They should have buried us... _________________ “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel
Normally, I would be encouraged by Bynum's play, but 14 and 9 against Perkins, who is actually the 2nd weakest out of all the physical presences, is simply not enough. Right now, it's about overcoming Dwight and Shaq, not 2nd class bruisers like Perkins and Nene. We need him to become THE best center in the league, period. We need him to become strong enough to where he can seal Perkins and dunk on him at will. He did that a couple of times today, which was good, but we need him to do it to the tune of 20 and 10, not 14 and 9. Only then will he be able to defend Shaq for 30+ min, without getting into foul trouble.
Now I don't think he can ever overpower Shaq, but holding him to 8 and 6 lines is just as good. That'll force the Cavs to be "one-dimensional," and that means no getting past 3 defenders for a layup by Lebron toward the end of games(which is pretty amazing when you think about it. That means that your resistance must have been so weak in the first 45 min to allow him to have THAT much energy left.)
We have 5 days till the next game. I want to see Drew becoming so strong that he can put Marc Gasol in foul trouble within 6 minutes.
Quite frankly, I really don't see the wisdom of playing Bynum, now that Phil's obsession with Fisher has all but taken away our last chance to take homecourt advantage against the Cavs. The officiating will ALWAYS tilt in such a way to assure that the Cavs will stay ahead, which means we need to be perfect, especially without Kobe, and Phil hasn't even come close. Now we have to hope that they lose 3 games with Jamison, and I don't see that happening, even if we rushed Kobe back.
Joined: 14 Jul 2006 Posts: 46884 Location: Coming soon and striking at your borders.
Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 1:22 am Post subject:
24 wrote:
Keyser Soze wrote:
Phil got outcoached bigtime in this game.
When a team missing the best player in the league almost pulls out a win against a fully loaded contender, it hurts, but it definitely isn't being outcoached. They should have buried us...
They almost did a couple of times, but we fought back and could've won anyway. _________________ *sighs*
When a team missing the best player in the league almost pulls out a win against a fully loaded contender, it hurts, but it definitely isn't being outcoached. They should have buried us...
Kobe isn't the best player in the league. In fact, I'm not sure he's even better than Carmelo. Their lines are very similar, on teams with equal talent(if you take into account guys like JR Smith and Ty Lawson.) However, Carmelo gets his by attacking the basket a lot more, which is the best way to get Shaq in foul trouble.
If Bynum doesn't become our best player in the Finals, we probably won't win.
Lakers without their best player against a fully loaded Eastern Conference top 3 team and only lost by 1 point (on a bad shot selection by Fish) tells a lot more about the Lakers than any other thing in this game.
On to Tuesday when Kobe might be back ready to play. _________________ "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.
Joined: 23 Jun 2005 Posts: 12825 Location: Somewhere watching a Laker game
Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 1:44 am Post subject:
Thanks DB. Since that fiasco against the Thuggets, the Lakers' D has stepped up. We're giving up 86.6 ppg against playoff teams without Kobe going 4-1. Plus we're still 5 games ahead of the Thuggets for #1 in the WC. I'm not happy that we blew a golden opportunity to draw within a game with the Cavs, but I am loving our effort. This may be officially a loss, but this is an opportunity for other players to step up and gain some valuable game experience.
There is no such thing as a bad loss, but considering the Celtics had their big 3 and beat us by one point, the Lakers have to still be feeling good about themselves. Can't wait for Just The Quotes - to hear what the Celtics think about barely beating LA without Kobe playing.
Anyway, I think I've learned a pretty big key in the Cavs/Nuggets game(skewed officiating aside, that was a very entertaining game, watching Carmelo and Lebron going against each other was like watching two heavyweights exchanging punches.) You know how at the end of the game, there are certain scores where you should not take the 3-point shot? The 3-point shot makes you think inherently(which is the only reason that it's considered a "low percentage" shot, and has little to do with the distance), so I tried to imagine what if you were to laugh inside in those situations instead, and to me, it works anytime you are "behind, but are within 3," provided that the shot is not well-defended(which against a guy like Lebron, there's no such thing. The 3-point shot is one that you have to concede. Hopefully, he'll never figure this out).
In fact, it seems to me that anytime you feel tense, just laugh about it, and then the game becomes real easy. For a guy like Sasha, this will help a lot, because with his release, there really isn't good physical defense. It's all about being in the proper mental state.
Now I wasn't going to say this, which would just give Phil another excuse to stick with Fisher, but I had the team at over 61(and winning the West and the Finals ), and incredibly, that seems to be in jeopardy at this point.
When a team missing the best player in the league almost pulls out a win against a fully loaded contender, it hurts, but it definitely isn't being outcoached. They should have buried us...
Kobe isn't the best player in the league. In fact, I'm not sure he's even better than Carmelo. Their lines are very similar, on teams with equal talent(if you take into account guys like JR Smith and Ty Lawson.) However, Carmelo gets his by attacking the basket a lot more, which is the best way to get Shaq in foul trouble.
If Bynum doesn't become our best player in the Finals, we probably won't win.
Kobe' production is skewed by injuries. Kobe healthy is much better than Melo. I do think lebron is a better regular season player but Kobe is better during winning time.
Joined: 24 Feb 2003 Posts: 6414 Location: Past left field
Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 5:09 am Post subject:
1. As has been stated multiple times, Fish (gonna start calling him Carp because like Carp, not good for anything) killed us. As much as it pains me to say, Sasha was better on both ends and should have stayed in the game at the end.
2. We had our best run when Farmar and Sasha and Lamar were running the court (another WTF...we played well with Farmar and Sasha on the court at the same time) fast breaking in the fourth. Instead of staying with the run, Phil slowed the tempo down. Against an older team, you run, run, run until they are so tired they quit. Just like during Showtime, Boston plays best in a half court game. Take advantage of your opponents weaknesses, not play into their strengths. _________________ Darvin Ham is an idiot!
Hey Dr. Buss/Mitch, ya still think we shouldn't have traded Fisher?
This is what we've been getting from Fisher since last year, and we're going to continue to get this until we get ousted. A 2-3 clutch shots doesn't make up for years of horrible play. _________________ *On Thin Ice*
I guess I am kind of injury prone.- Andrew Bynum
These young guys are playing checkers. I'm out there playing chess.- Kobe Bryant
Terrible timeout, both in terms of plan and execution.
What were we going to do, even with five seconds left? You allow the Celtics to make defensive substitutions and get their defense set. And what could we possibly have in terms of a play coming out of a timeout? We didn't have anyone capable of creating their own shot. We didn't have a PG capable of creating for others. We didn't even have anyone who could hit an outside shot last night, save for Lamar and Sasha, and you don't a play written up that relies on either scoring from from the perimeter.
Sure, the refs blew it... awful crew last night. But why did Phil want that timeout?
Either we're infants at running the Triangle or it's time we explore other options... like running more pick and rolls. Last night Denver ripped Cleveland a new one with a hoard of simple pick n rolls. It's the most basic play in basketball and still one of the most effective and we rarely use it.
another great defensive effort - fifth straight opponent the lakers have held under one hundred points. sadly a wasted effort.
two straight possessions, with under a minute to play, we throw the ball in the post into one of the most offensively skilled big man the league has ever seen, he faces up his man as is the correct move in that situation, and as skilled as he is, he as all the options in the world: if he gives me space, i shoot a 12 footer on him, i also have the option of driving left into the lane and shooting a left-handed running hook, that not even a center named Kareem possessed, or i could drive to the baseline, like i did earlier in the game, and finish at the rim. yet, he did neither of these things, he gave up the ball when he didn't need to. he passed twice, once to a teammate in worse scoring position than himself, then forcing a pass to a man that was not open which resulted in a turnover.
"I should've held it," Gasol said, "and made sure I took care of that possession myself. That's what happens when you're too unselfish."
no, that is not what happens when your too unselfish, that is what happens when you don't want the enormous responsibility that comes with failing, and then try to rationalize your actions.
the laker org is tickled pink to have you on their team, we pinch ourselves everyday with our good fortune of lucking into you. but it's now clear what you "are" and what you are "not." _________________ "i was born down in the valley where the sun refused to shine, but i'm climbin' up to the highlands, goin' to make that mountain mine" ~ Lakers, 2011
Terrible timeout, both in terms of plan and execution.
What were we going to do, even with five seconds left? You allow the Celtics to make defensive substitutions and get their defense set. And what could we possibly have in terms of a play coming out of a timeout? We didn't have anyone capable of creating their own shot. We didn't have a PG capable of creating for others. We didn't even have anyone who could hit an outside shot last night, save for Lamar and Sasha, and you don't a play written up that relies on either scoring from from the perimeter.
Sure, the refs blew it... awful crew last night. But why did Phil want that timeout?
I agree with this take 1,000 percent. The Lakers I would say have to be the WORST team in the NBA when it comes to drawing up a play after a timeout, so I would've just went with the last play with no time out.
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-- Phil on the timeout that Pau called after we got the stop. "I called it with six seconds, Pau gave them the signal with five," Phil said. They got the ball with 2.2 left. That would have made a huge difference in the final play. However, could the Lakers even score with it? The guards were playing hideous and Pau couldn't right the ship in crunch time. Pau seemed to be looking for Shannon like he was Kobe. If you think about it, these two were the one-two punch to close the game in the last one. Tonight, they had nothing. No one filled the vacuum left by Kobe. Defensively, got to love the Lakers fourth. Pau and Lamar showed that sense of urgency that has characterized the team's lockdown effort. Scrappy game on D from the front court. 
-- This is one of those games where you see Bynum's growth. He's playing through pain, he's playing physical and he's imposing his size on the floor. He had some very nice finishes (and a sweet up-and-under that had KG turned around lost that I wished he finished). I don't think the refs called a very good two-way game. The Celtics were able to get away with a lot that Bynum wasn't. He was getting hit the arm on the shot without any calls. Still, he played through it. With the KG/Sheed duo on the floor, Phil had Bynum defending KG and Lamar on Sheed. KG picked up a couple first quarter fouls and had to sit as Bynum ended up imposing his size. Perkins was scoring on some garbage, but the Celtics did not have a post game. With Bynum out there, they keep the Celtics into donut mode and that may be their ultimate downfall. 
-- Ron was balling on both ends. I actually wish he would have gotten the last shot of the game, but he was the inbounds passer. He can usually get that fallaway jumper off on anyone. The Laker guards couldn't hit the Sahara if they were standing in the middle of it. Ron showed his feet must be feeling better with a couple of dunks. The facial on Sheed at the rim was one of the highlights of the night. The refs called a very inconsistent game. At times, they seemed to whistle ticky-tack fouls at other times, they let a lot go. Ron ended up in foul trouble when he picked up his fourth foul getting called for a hold while trying to seal Rondo in the post in the third quarter. That forced the Lakers to sit him and scramble their lineups. He did an excellent job on Pierce defensively. How nice is it to have Pierce score just 11 points? In the two games, Pierce is averaging 13 points on 40 percent shooting and 2.5 turnovers. 
-- When Ray Allen doesn't have to defend Kobe, that sure makes life much easier for him in the Kobe/Fish cross-match that we usually play. Allen was torching DFish. Phil let the abuse go on while Fish provided absolutely nothing on the other end. When Fish finally sat (and Allen was 9-10 at that point), the Lakers made a run, dug out of a hole and actually had a 4-point lead. Allen would shot 1-5 for the remainder of the game. When Fish returned, the Lakers were down by 1 with 3:30 remaining in the game. During that stretch DFish tried to attack on a one-man break and missed a layup trying to draw FTs. Poor, poor possession. He then missed an off-balance twisting heave at the buzzer. "Fish broke off his cut," said Phil in the Times. "He was supposed to open the floor up..." Horrible game from DFish on both ends, he even struggled from the line. With the trade deadline come and gone, the Lakers main weakness was badly exploited tonight. Frankly, cut DFish's 25 minutes down considerably and the Lakers would have had a lot more success. 
-- Down the stretch, Shannon missed two jumpers from either side of the court. These were the "Kobe shots" that the team typically relies on. Phil got on him for not reposting on that second miss. Not having Kobe, as mentioned, hurt the team in a variety of ways. As well as Shannon played in the last game, this shows why he's still a role player -- consistency. He just needs to keep working hard and good things will continue to happen for him. Defensively, he took on the Kobe role of guarding Rondo while Fish continued to cover Allen. Shannon didn't do well in this match up last time in Boston, but the more minutes he gets in it, the better served the team will be if they happen to face each other again. Rondo took advantage early on, but the team started to play him better as the game wore on. Just a couple more makes (even from the line) and this game has a different outcome. 
-- I wonder what would have happened had that timeout not been whistled? Did Lamar let up on his concentration when he heard the whistle. Would he have made that layup on the break to close the game? Or did he not hear the whistle and his miss would have been just that? His push-out wasn't a bad idea. Calling a timeout on the rebound would have been good, as well. Either way, the game kind of fizzled out for him at the end there. He had been balling on both ends prior to that. Lamar had a couple posterizing dunks in the first half, coming out with some good intensity. Loved those. He even yelled at KG after tying him up on D, showing that mental edge he holds over the Celtics. Lamar also hit a huge three to cap a fourth-quarter run and tie the game earlier in the fourth. Defensively, he covered a variety of players and had 10 boards in the fourth. He had to defend Pierce as our SF when Ron picked up his fourth foul and when the two switched at times late in the game. He did a pretty good job in those situations and Pierce was held down all game by that duo. The Lakers missed the Kobe two-man game which exploits the Celtic defensive rotations. Lamar ran it once with Pau and it led to a key Bynum dunk. Wish we could have seen that more. 
-- This was an instance where Farmar was not playing well -- quite poor, in fact -- but he wasn't as bad as DFish. He couldn't hit from the perimeter or the line, just like Fish. However, the team just wasn't getting torched as badly on the other end. Farmar split his time against Rondo and others. Without House and Nate not yet playing, Farmar had to cover Tony Allen in the first half. He then covered Rondo in the fourth and played the zoning, sag-off, position D that caused Rondo some problems. He wasn't very disruptive with his help D in that, but the Lakers still cooled off the Celtic attack. Fish and Farmar were a combined 1-5 from the line. You guys are supposed to hit your FTs. You're PGs. Fish is usually consistent, but Farmar can't let this problem creep back into his game. Think we could have used 2 FT makes tonight? Hell, yeah. 
-- Sasha helped spark the team in their fourth-quarter run. (He actually led the team with 6 points in the fourth.) He got into the paint for a couple of scores and also swished a jumper off the inbounds play. Got to give him some props for his play during that key stretch. Wish he could have also knocked down a key three there with 4 minutes left, but he did a good job in his role today. Unfortunately, all he got out of it was a "L" and a shoulder sprain that looked like it happened when he got sent to the floor on the defensive end. Grade one sprain, he's listed day to day. 
-- With the injuries and some brief foul trouble for Artest and Bynum, the Lakers were forced to slide LO to the small forward spot for a few minutes. Again, this is the ripple effect of losing Kobe. Powell hustled and handled himself well, but in a big game we had to go with an experimental lineup the team hasn't run. Not ideal. 
-- He went with the same starting lineup with Shannon at SG in the Kobe role... The Lakers trailed 19-12 at the midway point of the quarter... Phil sat Pau for Lamar midway through the quarter. Bynum was on KG and LO on Sheed... He brought back in Pau at the end of the quarter for Bynum... The Lakers closed on a 7-0 run to trail 30-27 after the first... Phil started a Pau, LO, Sasha, Shannon, Farmar unit... He brought back in Ron for Shannon... Then went with the starters (minus Bynum for LO)... Out of a timeout, he brought in Bynum for LO. The Lakers turned the ball over for two straight breakaway scores... The Lakers then countered with a 10-2 run... The Lakers trailed 53-48 at the half. The Lakers shot 43 percent (18-42, 1-8 from three, 11-17 from the line). The Celtics shot 56.4 percent (22-39, 3-5 from three, 6-8 from the line). Just 7 assists for the Lakers, but the Celtics were fouling a lot. Lakers just missing too many FTs... Allen torched Fisher again in the third. Fish was useless on both ends. The Celtics stretched their lead to 11 points... Phil went to the triple-tower lineup when Ron picked up his fourth foul. When Bynum picked up his fourth foul on a moving screen call, that forced Phil to bring in Powell down by 8 to run at the PF... "We've been awful," Phil said after the third quarter. The Lakers trailed 76-69 heading into the fourth... Phil started Sasha on Pierce in the fourth with the Pau, Lamar, Sasha, Brown, Farmar unit. Pierce sat a minute later. Sasha then moved over onto Ray Allen... They tied the game up 80-80 after 4 minutes, pushing the tempo... Phil then subbed in Bynum and sat Brown... A jumper to Sasha and a two-man game that set up Bynum for a dunk and the Lakers went up... Up by 4, he brought back in Ron to cover Pierce who came in at that time... Down 1, Phil subbed out Bynum for Pau and Fisher for Farmar with 3:33 left... Neither team could score. The Lakers struggled to run anything with a purpose... The Lakers got a stop down by 1. The refs finally whistled a timeout with 2.2 left. Should have been more time on the clock... The Lakers got nothing on the inbounds to Fisher. (Phil had wanted 4 seconds on the clock.) The clock stopped when Lamar was at the rim on the other end... Fish broke off the play call and missed a bad heave at the buzzer... The Lakers starting guards shot 3-18 from the floor...
), and incredibly, that seems to be in jeopardy at this point.
