LAKERS -at- HORNETS - 2/4 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 11:45 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- HORNETS - 2/4 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings

Staggering, Bloodied and on the Ropes... The Lakers added Mihm to the list of the injured, which also includes Odom, Profit, McKie, Slava and Turiaf, who should finally be available. The injuries are no excuse for lack of effort on the defensive end, however.

Certainly Mihm would have helped anchor the D better than we did tonight. We had only 1 blocked shot on the game. The combination of Kwame and Cook was anything but a no-fly zone. The Lakers, in fact, lost the points in the paint battle 50-18. Part of what also played into that number was the Lakers settling for 35 three-point attempts. Talk about flashbacks to the Rudy Three team of last year.

The Lakers lost all four quarters and trailed by as much as 19 points. After the game, Kobe said in the Times: "We've got to get our you-know-what together and get ready to play against Dallas."

Kobe -- -- The Hornets met him with single coverage in the first quarter, and he promptly destroyed them for 19 points out of the gate. After that they decided to make other Lakers try to beat them. Kobe finished with 35 points on 13-26 shooting (5-11 from three), 6 oards, 5 assists and 7 turnovers. He suffered from some second-half foul trouble that got his blood boiling. To start the game, he missed his first couple shots, then drilled a three when Kwame tracked down an offensive board and kicked it to him. He hit a jumper from the side. He then connected on a turnaround from the elbow. He picked up an early first foul against Mason. He pumped faked Snyder into the air and hit the And-1 jumper and Snyder had to sit midway through the first with his second foul. Kobe then drilled a three from the top of the key (scoring 12 straight at this point). He drained a wing three (15 straight). He missed a pull-up three and several Lakers missed jumpers. He got the ball in the high post against Speedy, saw a triple team and kicked it to Smush for the open three (finally someone else hitting a shot). Kobe got out on the break with Smush, took the pass and scored a layup. He held the ball for the last shot of the quarter, got the pick and pulled up at the wing and hit the jumper. In the second quarter, he kicked it to George out of a double for a three. He scored his only points of the quarter when he drained a three as the halftime buzzer went off. He set up Cook for a jumper to start the second half off the two-man game. Kobe missed a three, the Hornets scored in transition and Phil called a timeout to lecture them about not settling for three (something he stressed at halftime). Kobe threw down a windmill dunk off an outlet from Kwame. He exploded past Snyder and threw down a two-hand, And-1 dunk, he made the FT. He picked up his fourth foul in the third and was livid. After a tech, a another tech for too-many men on the court, Phil called timeout and sat Kobe. He came back in shortly later and drilled a three on his first touch. He picked up his fifth foul on a charge early in the fourth and had to sit. Back in with 4 minutes left, he attacked and drew FTs. He missed a three and wanted the foul. He hit a tough baseline fallaway. He forced it against a double team and lost the ball. He lost it again along the sideline.

Smush -- -- Smush had some anticipation on a defensive play, he drew the charge but got popped in the mouth and bled. His tooth went through his lip and Vitti patched him up and Smush got back on the court a few minutes later. He controlled his turnovers tonight with just 1 while he had 6 assists. He finished with only 5 points on a poor 2-8 shooting. He drilled a three off a kickout from Kobe who was triple teamed. He stripped Paul at the top of the key, pushed the ball up and fed Kobe for a score. Lakers were told to go to the hole in the second half, on Smush's first possession he back rimmed a huge throwdown attempt. He hit a pull-up jumper off a screen.

Kwame -- -- A little bit of standing around and too little defensive presence to anchor the D. There was a substitution when Phil put back in Cook and Kwame for Bynum and Luke where the Hornets went on a 14-0 run with easy scores at the rims. The only good part of Kwame's game was his 6 offensive boards. He pulled down a couple offensive boards early, one led to a Kobe three. He fought for another offensive board, secured it, went up strong...and threw it over the other side of the rim (Uggggly). Nice offensive board off a missed FT, he then got hit in the face and made both FTs. Nice two-hand jam off a Sasha missed three. Quick outlet to Kobe for the windmill dunk. Good hustle on the ground to grab a loose ball and feed Cook for a dunk. He posted up, drew a foul and missed both FTs. He posted up and scored an And-1 and made the FT. Too much standing around or sluggish rotations, however.

Cook -- -- The good news was that he looked like he got his shot back after some poor shooting games. He finished with 13 points on 6-10 shooting and 7 boards in the game. The bad news is we have no interior presence with Cook and Kwame on the floor at the same time and the Hornets took advantage. Cook seemed to get his points in flurries at the start of each half. He drained the Lakers first two shots, each about 20 feet out. Nice hustle on the floor for a loose ball and it led to a score. Weak D, giving up layups, one time his man just going around Cook like he was nailed to the floor. He drilled a catch-and-shoot jumper off the two-man game with Kobe to start the second half. He hit a 21-footer off a kickout from Sasha. He drained a three from the top of the key. He dunked off a feed from Kwame, who grabbed a loose ball. He ballwatched and his man stepped around him, in between several Lakers, to grab an easy offensive board. Typical of our defensive effort.

Vujacic -- 8) -- Sasha got the start and had some fiesty moments on D, ending the night with a team-high 4 steals. He clanked like crazy from three, however. He went 1-8 from beyond the arc and finished shooting 2-10 on the night for 5 points. He had 3 assists and 3 turnovers. He set up out of bounds when he took a kickout from Smush and turned the ball over. He dribbled the ball out of bounds on an iso on the sideline. He swished a three when Bynum tapped out a board. Nice blindside steal on Williams. Great steal on the inbounds in the backcourt, then he attacked and scored a layup. He drove and kicked to Cook for a jumper. He knocked a loose ball free, Kwame pounced on it and fed Cook for a dunk. He drew an offensive foul on Snyder who dislodged Sasha with an elbow. He stole the ball, pushed up the break and traveled.

Walton -- -- He did a good job on the offensive glass, pulling down all 4 of his rebounds on that end. He didn't do much else. He finished with 2 points on 1-5 shooting and 1 assist in 15 mintues. He traveled, posting up Speedy. He bricked an easy one a few feet away. He bricked an open jumper. He swished a catch-and-shoot jumper from the wing.

George -- -- Devean seemed to be one of the rare two-way players on the floor tonight. He dropped a season high 21 points on 8-15 shooting (5-10 from three). He pulled down 4 boards and tied Sasha with a team-high 4 steals. He curled off the pick and hit an elbow jumper. He drained a wing three as the Lakers worked it around the perimeter off a Bynum offensive board. Nice steal, stepping into the passing lane to snag the ball. He drained a long three a couple feet behind the line with 2 on the shotclock. He grabbed a loose ball in the back court, attacked and scored the reverse (with Ronny Turiaf jumping up and down in the background). He missed a three, got back his own rebound and was fouled on a bit of a wild foray along the baseline, he missed both FTs. He hit a 19-footer from the wing. He hesitated, then lined up a three from the wing and hit. He swished a three again on his next shot. He snagged a couple steals jumping in the passing lane as the Lakers played some late pressure D. He swished another three. Nice game by DG, one of the few bright spots on the night.

Bynum -- -- He had his moments in the game. His best work was keeping some offensive boards alive that he didn't get credit for, but they led to Laker second chance points. He missed a layup trying to power it up in a crowd. He got the ball knocked away from him for a 24 second violation when he tried to take a dribble in the lane. He tapped out an offensive board and Sasha hit a three off it. He kept after another offensive board, tapping it out and George hit a three off of it. He backed down PJ Brown with ease, but traveled as he lost his footing. Good hustle for an offensive board, but he threw it away. He dunked off a high interior feed from Von. Bad looking post possession where he bricked an awkward jumphook. He got 9:31 of action. With Mihm down, he's going to get some valuable PT.

Wafer -- -- The only Laker with a positive +/- number tonight as he finished with a sad +1. In for Kobe early in the fourth, he got tapped a three attempt. Then he got dunked over badly by Snyder at the other end in transition. He attacked the interior and gave a high feed to Bynum who dunked. Wafer tried to dunk along the baseline and got rejected badly. Ouch.

Phil -- -- Lakers D was very soft as the Hornets scored most of their points around the rim in the first quarter and throughout. It was a 20-2 advantage on points in the paint as Phil took a timeout in the second quarter... He sat Kobe to start the second and brought in Bynum at backup C... After he subbed back in Cook/Kwame lineup we started giving up layups again and went down by our biggest margin in the first half... The coaches stressed not shooting threes and getting to the hole at halftime. The first shot Kobe took was a three, after a long rebound the Hornets got a dunk in transition. Phil took one of his fastest timeouts of the year... Phil benched Kwame briefly midway through the third for Bynum when Kwame gave up an uncontested dunk in semi-transition... Phil got a tech complaining to the officials after they called a ball out of bounds off Bynum. At that point, he was a bit frustrated with the officiating in general... With yet another injury, hard to crack on Phil in this game. Mihm says: "We're trying to do everything we can to get it to calm down but right now I can't raise my arm. Even kind of walking around right now, if I move it the wrong way, it hurts."...
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lakeshow03
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 11:47 pm    Post subject:

thanks DB

very sad game
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 12:12 am    Post subject:

A really like having these recaps after the Lakers get blown out because I just can't stand watching the entire game continuously.

I have to click away to ESPN or Fox News for a few minutes.

Otherwise I would throw my remote at the screen.
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 12:45 am    Post subject:

Devean summing things up in under 50 words:

"We're worried about scoring in the offense, and that's not the problem," George said. "It's our effort on defense, talking on defense, getting second-chance shots. We need to bring that every night. The offense is not going to be there every night. That's hit or miss."
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A Mad Chinaman
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 1:48 am    Post subject:

DB, I agree that it is easier to read your recap than to watch this a... game.

Watched "Big Game" James describe how lame Kwame was on defense highlights the question of what is Kwame THINKING (assuming the fact that he wants to increase his Basketball IQ) while he is on the court?!?!? He is not hustling, ball watching, trying to steal the ball from a PG and/or not even looking to rebound misses.

btw: Could Boozer be a possibility for the Lakers?
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 4:38 am    Post subject:

thanks, DB...
the last two games should show something to many "experts" of a dogmatic idea of teamwork... both games kobe took less shots, shared much more with his teammates, had better percentages... and we lose against the worst team today in the game and a mediocre team... as long as we have these soft players, the only way to win is if kobe shoots much more, even forcing... i know, that's not teamwork -and i only have love for good teamwork- but without players with character and skills there's no real team...
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twoface723
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 9:00 am    Post subject:

This game was pitiful. It's time for a change in the roster.
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wolfpaclaker
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 9:10 am    Post subject:

I don't think Mihm will be back for atleast another 2 games.

His injury sounds like a week or two type.
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KobeButler
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 9:58 am    Post subject:

DancingBarry wrote:
Devean summing things up in under 50 words:

"We're worried about scoring in the offense, and that's not the problem," George said. "It's our effort on defense, talking on defense, getting second-chance shots. We need to bring that every night. The offense is not going to be there every night. That's hit or miss."



ABOUT DAMN TIME somoene said it.


w can live off missing a few shots. Heck we could win with 90 points on most occasions. We cant live off not playing defense and giving up too many easy oppurtunites.

I really feel our level of play has decreased ever since January. In January our bad defesne was covered up mostly cause of Kobe's heroics(43 pts, 50% average for the month.) If you remeber his 81 point games, we were down by 18 points against the Raptors!!!! If it wasnt for Kobe;s huge night, we could of lost big time.

We need to go back to playing defense, otherwise were guranteed lottery.
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wolfpaclaker
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 10:03 am    Post subject:

^
Indiana scored less than 100 and beat Detroit.

Why? They play defense.

It starts with coaching. Phil has stopped focusing on defense and wants this team to improve on offense.

It's obvious in the numbers too. The Lakers PPG has gotten really up there in the last 6 weeks. The PPG against and FG% against has also increased significantly.

If that trend doesn't stop, the Lakers might slip out of the playoff picture.

Go back to the basics guys. Play defense first and not worry about the Triangle as much.
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 10:35 am    Post subject:

wolfpaclaker wrote:
^
Indiana scored less than 100 and beat Detroit.

Why? They play defense.

It starts with coaching. Phil has stopped focusing on defense and wants this team to improve on offense.

It's obvious in the numbers too. The Lakers PPG has gotten really up there in the last 6 weeks. The PPG against and FG% against has also increased significantly.

If that trend doesn't stop, the Lakers might slip out of the playoff picture.

Go back to the basics guys. Play defense first and not worry about the Triangle as much.


Agreed.
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The Mike
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 10:54 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB, I now it must be hard to type these up when we are going through the worst of times(meaning no effort on D, and ugly losses.)
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 11:06 am    Post subject:

its a shame when the best part of the game was wafer getting dunked on
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 12:07 pm    Post subject:

The only bright spot about this road trip is that after Wednesday, the Lakers will have only 12 more road games (including a Clipper game) left in the reg. season. If the Lakers can keep winning at home, they'll still be in good shape(for the 7th spot). I don't think they'll beat Dallas this time so hopefully they'll play above their heads a little and upset the Rockets and at least go back home 1 game over .500.

Since the 2nd half of the Wizards game(on the 26th), the Laker defense on the road has ranged from mediocre to pathetic. They've won a few road games but the Lakers had to hit a bunch of threes while playing 1 quarter of good defense (the Knick game probably being the exception).

Like Friday night's game, last night's game was over by the 2nd quarter because there was no way LA was gonna stop NOK enough to make a big comeback. After Paul's drive at the end of the 3rd, I had enough and turned to INDY/DET.

I would start Bynum in the Texas games with Kwame at PF and Devean at 3.

Will Turiaf be cleared to play on Tues.?
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 2:06 pm    Post subject:

How about Kwame forgetting to tell the player who he's subbing in for leading to a technical foul?
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Mr. EiGhTy-OnE
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 2:54 pm    Post subject:

i'm not just saying this because we lost, i'm tired of sasha camping out behind the 3 point line. isn't there suppose to be motion in the triangle?
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Mr. EiGhTy-OnE
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 2:55 pm    Post subject:

DIE BY THE THREE
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A Mad Chinaman
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 3:24 pm    Post subject:

wolfpaclaker wrote:

It starts with coaching. Phil has stopped focusing on defense and wants this team to improve on offense.


PJ might be focusing on the offensive schemes because if they run the sets correctly, they will have the proper balance on defense. There seems to be an increased amount of "run-outs" and long rebounds that led to quick points for the opposition.

When you have 35 attempted three point shots, it is obvious that they were not listening to PJ's instructions during halftime when they were instructed to ATTACK THE PAINT!

PJ has done better than expected with talent that is (outside of Kobe) not as good as the Bobcats and the Hornets. This edition of the Lakers will only be successful once they understand that playing as a team is their only viable option so that Kobe can do his magic at the end of games.
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 4:53 pm    Post subject:

We may as well have come out wearing clown suits, for the second half...

I've seen some dark days, and some really bad game, but this has got to take the prize.... Each time we have games like this I hope it is the worst we'll get... Well, I think we've reached rock bottom... This has to be the sub-basement, of sub-basements...

Turiaf may be one of our only bright spots... Sorry to sound so pessimistic... Let's all keep a spark of hope shinning... :roll:

We have to go back to fundamentals... When Kobe is getting doubled, or tripled... Find the open man!!... On defense, be alert, don't leave anyone open... Show some intensity!!
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angel
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2006 5:05 am    Post subject:

It was a very good game for DG. It was a very good first quarter for Kobe. They made some effective adjustments. Kobe was getting doubled and tripled. The only one to step up was DG.
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:24 am    Post subject:


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